© FIA.
And then it was wet – again, although at Silverstone there is a touch of inevitability about clouds closing.
By the time second practice had finished, the once threatening clouds had already settled much of their contents.
Filtering through Stowe, the wet-tyre shod Dallara’s tiptoed between the white lines, careful not to draw upon the green patches on the exit of some of the turns.
A few were not as careful though – the sound of wheels spinning, as rear ends fought for control were a touch common; however there was little in the way of malicious damage.
With such little testing now, others were just glad for the time in the car – Carlin’s Jordan King is one such example: “It’s a steep learning curve for me; I’d never driven here much. We’re not doing too bad of a job at the moment, so from that side of things, I think we’re doing OK.”
The 19-year-old finished runner-up in the Formula Renault NEC Series in 2012 and considering his relative lack of testing, the Carlin driver has acquitted himself very well. “In the winter, I only got about seven days worth of testing and pre-season testing, there was only two days, so on that side it was really condensed,” said King.
King added, “There’s the downforce, the tyres, the seating position is different and the gears – everything about it is all different, so you just have to get yourself settled, so you are not learning the car every time you go out.”
One of King’s Fortec rivals, Josh Hill, is focussing on the tyres too. “Previously, I had just used Michelin’s in the Renault championships, where as these [Hankook’s] last much longer and even when they peak, the drop off is very gradual. It may be all late laps that decides the grid.”
Apart from a few scattered Formula Two rounds in 2011, King has generally raced less powerful machinery, with much smaller downforce numbers. His fitness programme has needed to adapt, but the comments that conditions have yet to present him with a truly difficult physical drive.
“We’ve had Monza, which is very low downforce and it’s been wet, so you don’t the g-forces much, but in testing I was OK with the strength side of things, so I have never really had a problem with that.”
Come the end of second free practice, 28 drivers were pounding around the Northamptonshire / Buckinghamshire circuit, allowing the tarmac an opportunity to dry.
Times toppled with each tour, leaving a final running order that may not necessarily reflect the true nature of the order.
2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 2, Free Practice combined, April 12th) Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m10.632s 2. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 2m10.722s + 0.090s 3. Michael Lewis Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m10.796s + 0.164s 4. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 2m11.001s + 0.369s 5. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 2m11.162s + 0.530s 6. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 2m11.259s + 0.627s 7. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 2m11.295s + 0.663s 8. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 2m11.417s + 0.785s 9. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m11.678s + 1.046s 10. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m11.753s + 1.121s 11. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 2m11.957s + 1.335s 12. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m12.004s + 1.372s 13. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 2m12.054s + 1.422s 14. Tom Blomqvist EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc 2m12.071s + 1.439s 15. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m12.206s + 1.574s 16. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 2m12.225s + 1.623s 17. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 2m12.272s + 1.640s 18. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m12.433s + 1.801s 19. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 2m12.577s + 1.945s 20. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m12.765s + 2.133s 21. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m12.857s + 2.225s 22. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 2m13.466s + 2.834s 23. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 2m14.310s + 3.678s 24. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 2m14.455s + 3.823s 25. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc 2m15.275s + 4.643s 26. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 2m15.956s + 5.324s 27. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 2m16.180s + 5.548s 28. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 2m17.554s + 6.922s
Long Beach (1982).
As the Formula One circus pitched up at Long Beach for the first of three American Grands Prix in 1982, the tensions between FOCA and FISA began to heat up once again following the previous meets in South Africa and Brazil.
Protests
In the background Brabham and Williams were still waiting for their appeals against their Brazilian GP disqualifications to be heard {note 1}, while Ken Tyrrell was busy launching a counter-protest against the legality of the turbo engines.
Previous chapter – “Reflections: ‘Prost victorious as Piquet disqualified – 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix (Rd 2)’”
His claim would be a difficult one to press – although turbines had effectively been outlawed in 1971, Tyrrell’s assertion that turbo engines should fall under the same ban gained little serious support.
By April 1982, the likes of Renault had already been running their 1.5 litre turbo’s over five seasons, entering in 65 Grand Prix prior to Long Beach – they would not be going away any time soon.
Following the recriminations in Rio, some of the naturally aspirated runners were undecided as to whether they would use the controversial water-cooled brakes that saw Piquet and Rosberg disqualified.
This did not stop Ferrari’s Director of Motorsport Marco Piccinini from protesting the quicker of the naturally aspirated runners anyway. On paper, all entrants came up to the legal weights (although a few cars may or may not have taken a minor detour en route to the weighbridge) and Piccinini’s complaints fell on deaf ears.
Adding to the absurdity of it all, even the FISA-associated Renault had reportedly been running underweight during the early running in practice.
Turbo’s, Tyres and Wings
Perhaps Piccinini was drawing a smokescreen, or at least preparing for a battle that was to be willed against his own car.
Noting yet another possible discrepancy in the regulations, Ferrari assembled a new and unusual rear wing design for Gilles Villeneuve’s and Didier Pironi’s entries, courtesy of designers Mauro Forghieri and Harvey Postlethwaite.
Instead of a long single plane, the Scuderia drew upon two smaller rear wing planes situated adjacent to eachother on a central strut. While the individual wings fell well within the permitted tolerances, together they stretched wider than the permitted width of the car.
Alas, the wording of the regulations only made reference to limits for the rear aerofoil and there was nothing in the rules to dictate how many rear wings one could have on a car… {note 2}
Interestingly, there was no real performance gain from this design at all and in truth Ferrari were just trying to be difficult, making a point that if the privateer British teams wanted to use with the wording of the regulations to play politics, then Italian squad would do the same.
For Villeneuve and Ferrari, this somewhat obtuse grandstanding would eventually wreck their weekend’s efforts.
Unlike at Kyalami and Rio, the turbo’s influence on Long Beach’s bump riddled streets was not as great, although the long boomerang-like curve down Shoreline Drive did give the manufacturer entrants some little opportunity to breathe.
Minor changes to the layout ensured the course was slower than previous events, with a chicane added at the beginning of Shoreline, eventually leading to a new series of 2nd gear turns before turning back toward Ocean Boulevard at the end of the lap.
Of course, the addition slow corners did much to help the naturally aspirated runners, but Renault – still a leading a leading light for the turbo pioneers – had done a great deal of work to reduce lag and improve reliability – and led by Rene Arnoux, the French team were fast.
To add to it all, the absurdities of the weekend were even stretching beyond the team and driver combinations. Tyre supplier Michelin discovered they had erred when they inadvertently delivered the wrong compound of tyre to their teams for the first qualifying session – an issue finally corrected come Saturday, but not before precious track time had been lost.
And then there were the drivers…
Amidst the lingering political and engineering smoke, the drivers also did their best to create additional tangents through the weekend, although it was not all bad. There were celebrations in the Alfa Romeo pit when Andrea de Cesaris took his first – and only – pole, despite crashing his machine into a wall early in the session {note 3}.
No one had expected to see the Alfa on top – especially not McLaren’s Niki Lauda. The Austrian filled the other side the front row; his lap a typically quick and unruffled effort – the kind that champions peel off with little thought.
Believing pole to a done fixture, Lauda clocked up only five laps during the Saturday session, deciding to finish early and save a set of Michelin’s for the race itself. He was on his way to the press conference when de Cesaris went fastest…
This weekend would be something of a marker point for the Italian, who had endured a nightmare 1981 season that saw him pick up a single point, a lot of crash damage and a P45 from – ironically enough – the McLaren team.
Admittedly Lauda was not always clean. He lost an argument with the barrier during Friday practice, necessitating a spare front section for the Austrian. At the time, one could almost be forgiven for Lauda and de Cesaris had swapped between their near-identical liveried cars.
The barriers also caught out the Brabham pairing of Nelson Piquet and Riccardo Patrese – the latter of whom managed to destroy the suspension mounts of his monocoque of his BT49D completely on Friday.
Piquet then smacked another barrier with his second car during the final session ending his hopes of a final dash for pole, yet whereas Piquet’s chassis was repairable, Patrese’s was too far gone, necessitating a switch to a 1981 tub.
All this came the day after Piquet lost much of the first session due to a blown engine.
Following the end of 1981, Carlos Reutemann’s already fragile relationship with Patrick Head and Frank Williams had cooled even further. The Argentine had grown weary of the almost non-stop bickering in the sport and retired with immediate effect following the Rio Grand Prix.
Williams had approached the recently retired Alan Jones about returning to the team, but after a difficult final year the Australian decided to stay put. Eventually Williams drafted former World Champion Mario Andretti, who had found a convenient gap in his CART schedule.
Lamenting a lack of time Andretti would start 14th – the American later admitted that the lack of testing and the heightened g-forces of the FW07D had taken the 42-year-old somewhat by surprise.
On the other side of the Williams garage, Rosberg had qualified 8th after setting his best time in the opening qualifying session. He may well have been higher up the order, had he not burned out the clutch of his race car during the Saturday session, forcing a switch to the T-car, which itself would develop an oil pressure problem later during the event.
It proved to be a touch of misfortune for the Finn – before his clutch mishap, Rosberg’s had only just moved to an updated chassis; this one having been strengthened to withstand his aggressive, kerb-slamming driving style, which had damaged his previous tub in Rio.
The Race (April 4th, 1982)
In the end, Lauda had little need to worry. The tactic to save tyres in qualifying had worked a charm, ensuring this race was a demonstration of the virtue of patience.
It was no lights-to-flag deal either, as de Cesaris led confidently from the start, initially from Arnoux, with Lauda and Bruno Giacomelli chasing. As Arnoux concentrated on his mirrors, de Cesaris pulled away; however on the sixth tour, the feel of the race turned.
Pressing Arnoux for 2nd, Lauda missed a gear at Le Gasomet hairpin and he flicked to the inside to avoid hitting the Renault. Less intuitive was Giacomelli who outbraked himself, slamming into the rear of Arnoux – both were out and Lauda’s cheeky error gave him 2nd place and a clear track.
Within another half-dozen tours, Lauda had reeled de Cesaris in, although the Italian held his ground until lap 15, when the ambling Raul Boesel blocked him badly in the new chicane.
Robbed of acceleration, de Cesaris lurched onto back straight allowing Lauda to slide easily down the inside line for the lead; however in hindsight, it may have helped de Cesaris’ cause had he not used such a key moment to shake his fist in anger at Boesel.
From there, Lauda reeled off the laps, building a lead of a minute, but was comfortable enough to drop the gap to just under 15 seconds at the flag.
Sadly for de Cesaris, the runner-up spot was not for him either – on lap 34 the Italian slid hard into the walls, claiming a small fire from the back of his car took his attention.
With both Alfa’s out, Rosberg rose to 2nd spot following a measured, yet decisive climb up the order. Rosberg was 5th by lap ten, before a long battle with Villeneuve was settled in the Finn’s favour on lap 21, but not before Villeneuve spun at Le Gasomet attempting a re-pass.
Rosberg then caught and passed John Watson for 3rd within six laps, before de Cesaris’ crash, leaving Rosberg a clear 50 seconds adrift of Lauda, effectively cementing the result relatively early in the event.
Villeneuve passed Watson soon afterward for 3rd, but would spend much of the middle portion of the race fighting a rearguard attack from Michele Alboreto. The Tyrrell racer had been impressive all weekend, signposted by his hard fight against the Ferrari; however Alboreto fell back in the final third of the race, as his 2nd gear faded.
Unfortunately for Villeneuve, there was no reward – the Ferrari was disqualified following another complain lodged by the apoplectic Tyrrell, drawing FOCA further into the political heat.
Taking up the slack was Patrese. Starting 18th, the Brabham racer had yet another incident on lap 26, when he clattered a barrier, losing half of his front wing, although Patrese fared better than Piquet whose solemn race ended in another barrier on the same lap.
The Italian adapted his style and cut through the order, passing the hobbled Alboreto for what would become 3rd on lap 60. Thankfully Alboreto nursed his Tyrrell to the flag, taking what would later be 4th.
Others raced… and crashed
At Lotus, de Angelis took a relatively quiet 5th, after he embarrassingly lined up in the wrong grid slot. To add insult to injury, teammate Nigel Mansell reversed away from his slot to accommodate de Angelis, only for the race to start regardless and leave Mansell standing still on the grid trying to find first gear.
Watson claimed the final point – his strategy of running hard early on soft tyres came to haunt him, when he was forced into a lengthy pitstop before half distance.
The rest of the Grand Prix was filled with tales of incidents and clashes, although several drivers did complain about the track surface tearing up throughout the weekend. It did not help that tow truck vehicles did their best to hog racing lines when removing stricken machinery.
Alain Prost started the race with poor brakes and ended it on lap 12 with none at all, while Long Beach “expert” Jean-Pierre Jarier planted his Osella 10th on the grid, only to slide off on engine oil.
Over at Ligier, Eddie Cheever ran well for much of the race, only for his gearbox to fail close to the end of the event. Cheever’s teammate Jacques Laffite stalled his engine, when a sudden detour to avoid the wobbling Patrese went awry. Meanwhile, Roberto Guerrero finally qualified for his first Grand Prix in the Ensign, only to spin out avoiding Laffite who was avoiding Patrese…
Long Beach would prove to be Brian Henton’s final race at Arrows – by the time the circus reached Imola three weeks later, he would in a Tyrrell, replacing the lacklustre Slim Borgudd, who made his mark on lap one by hitting both ATS cars. Borgudd – who was once proudly sponsored in motor racing by Abba – would never return to Grand Prix racing.
In the end Andretti’s race for Williams came to nothing – during a difficult race, the American clouted the barrier, damaging a wheel and retiring on lap 19. This was also Derek Daly’s last race for the Theodore Ford team. With Andretti unable to commit to more than one Grand Prix, Daly would switch to the Williams squad in time for Zolder.
But first, appeals and Imola…
Alas the appeals against Rosberg’s and Piquet’s disqualification from Rio would be thrown out by the FIA a few days later and what seemed like a simmering pot at Long Beach would quickly begin to seriously boil over.
Still adamant that the rules did not strictly say the act of under-fuelled cars were illegal during a race, FOCA dealt their next hand and Brabham, McLaren, Williams and Lotus would boycott the San Marino Grand Prix.
Despite this Tyrrell, Osella, ATS and Toleman broke ranks and travelled to Imola; however there was still only fourteen cars going to the fourth round, during which the seeds for an all-new and more potent battle would be sown. Only this one would eventually have tragic consequences.
While the sport positioned itself for another fallout, the Austrian national anthem, “Land der Berge, Land am Strome” rang out over Long Beach. Lauda had returned.
{note 2}
As an aside, the regulations governing engines specified a maximum of 12 cylinders, but said nothing with regards to how many engines one could install. Indeed, if a constructor wanted to somehow run a car with two V6 turbo’s, that would have quite permissible.
{note 3}
The 1982 race at Long Beach was a bit of an oddity as it was 75-and-a-half laps long. Although the pits and finish line were on Ocean Boulevard, the race started on Shoreline drive as it was decided the pit straight was not long enough to accommodate the field.
However Shoreline Drive could not accommodate the pits, due to the shore on one side and buildings and roads on the other.
Full results and points standings.
1982 US Grand Prix West (Rd 3, 75.5 laps, April 4th)
Pos Driver Team Time / Gap
1. Niki Lauda McLaren-Ford 1:58:25.318
2. Keke Rosberg Williams-Ford +14.660
Gilles Villeneuve Ferrari +1:04.278 (DSQ)
3. Riccardo Patrese Brabham-Ford +1:18.143
4. Michele Alboreto Tyrrell-Ford +1:20.947
5. Elio de Angelis Lotus-Ford +1 lap
6. John Watson McLaren-Ford +1 lap
Selected Retirements:
Andrea de Cesaris Alfa Romeo 182 - 42 laps (Spun)
Nelson Piquet Brabham-Ford BT49D - 50 laps (Spun)
Mario Andretti Williams-Ford FW07C - 56 laps (Accident)
Alain Prost Renault RE30B - 65 laps (Spun)
Didier Pironi Ferrari 126C2 - 69 laps (Spun)
René Arnoux Renault RE30B - 70 laps (Accident)
1982 Drivers’ Championship (Rd 3)
Pos Driver / Team Points
1. Alain Prost 18
2. Niki Lauda 12
3. Keke Rosberg 8
4. John Watson 8
5. Carlos Reutemann 6
1982 Constructors’ Championship (Rd 3)
1. Renault 22
3. McLaren 20
2. Williams 14
4. Lotus 6
5. Tyrrell 6
Michael Lewis. © Jegasoft Media e.K.
American racer Michael Lewis will rejoin the FIA European F3 Championship this weekend as he steps in to replace Pascal Wehrlein at Mücke Motorsport.
Lewis previously competed with Prema Powerteam in the European Championship 2012, finishing 9th overall, taking three podiums along the way.
The 22-year-old was also registered for the F3 Euro Series last year, during which he collected one win and seven podium finishes to finish 8th in points.
Assuming the seat of DTM-bound Wehrlein, Lewis believes there is plenty of potential in his partnership with Peter Mücke’s famed team. “It is a great honour to be with kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport.
“There is a history of success that Peter Mücke and his team have built, so it gives me great confidence to know I am driving for a very established team. My goal is to go out and win races. With the strong support of kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport, this goal can be achieved.”
Lewis added: “It is exciting to finally get back in the car for the second round at Silverstone and start scoring some points. I am ready to give all of my effort for the next event, and I would like to thank kfzteile24 Mücke Motorsport and Mercedes-Benz for this opportunity.”
The second round of the FIA European F3 championship gets underway at Silverstone this weekend, with the opening practice sessions and qualifying on Friday and the first two races running on Saturday.
The final race of the weekend is set for Sunday morning. All races will be streamed live from www.fiaf3europe.com
© GP3 Media Services.
The GP3 Series have announced that the second round of the 2013 season will take place at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia.
With the series not visiting Monaco this season, there was initially a seven-week gap between the opener at Barcelona and the next meet at Silverstone.
Aside from supporting Monaco Grand Prix, the only other Formula One event in that period was the Canadian Grand Prix, but rather than make the journey across the Atlantic, the series organisers settled for stand-alone event instead.
In a shortened weekend, GP3 will run practice and qualifying on Saturday (June 15), with both races following on Sunday (June 16). It has yet to be confirmed whether any other categories will join GP3 over the course of the weekend.
Upon the addition of Valencia, series CEO Bruno Michel commented, “We are happy to announce that Valencia has been added to the calendar. It will be the first time that the Series will race at Circuit de Ricardo Tormo.”
The new GP3/13 chassis and engine package also delivers another new angle to series, something that strikes Michel as keen. He added, “2013 promises to be a very strong season for GP3 with the introduction of the GP3/13 car, recording a laptime 4.2 seconds quicker than its previous generation on the same track.”
Since GP3 last appeared on site, there have been a couple of minor changes to the driver line-up. On Saturday Adderly Fong was revealed as the final driver in the Status GP, alongside Jimmy Eriksson and Josh Webster, while Carmen Jorda was recently announced as a replacement for Roberto la Rocca at Bamboo Engineering, whose Venezuelan sponsors reportedly bailed in the aftermath of Hugo Chavez’ death {note 1}.
While five seats are still up for grabs, Michel is confident the field will command respect from commentators and viewers alike: “The driver line-up is probably the strongest we have ever had. I can’t wait for the season to start in Barcelona next month.”
Meanwhile Tio Ellinas and David Fumanelli topped the final two days of pre-season testing at a bitterly cold Silverstone this week.
Ellinas pipped ART Grand Prix racer Facu Regalia on Wednesday, with a last dash effort in his Marussia Manor machine. The Cypriot – still without a drive for 2013 – set a best lap of 1:46.211 – a furious pace, some 3.9s faster than the standing GP3 record for the circuit.
Carlos Sainz Jr topped the opening morning session, although the cold conditions ensured minimal laps were completed. The Spaniard would go quickly again during the afternoon, but would have his times deleted when his car was discovered to be underweight. There were several red flags through Wednesday, with stoppages for Fumanelli, Facu Regalia, Luis Sa Silva and Fong.
Fumanelli destroyed Ellinas’ marker yesterday when he went almost one second quicker on the Silverstone circuit. The Italian topped the session with a quickest tour of 1:45.213, several tenths faster than next up Ellinas and Regalia.
Despite the cool conditions, there were few disruptions with Jorda and Fong registering all three of the day’s red flags. Samin Gomez did not take part during the second day’s running due to illness.
After competing for Hilmer Motorsport in the opening round of the GP2 Series season, Conor Daly stepped back into ART GP machine for the GP3 test, although no further feeder series deals have been announced as of yet for the American.
However he has added this year’s Indy 500 to the list of events he will be attempting to run in 2013. Daly will partner former F1 race Takuma Sato at Foyt Enterprises; however the 21-year-old must still partake in the super speedway rookie test, before attempting to qualify for the race.
2013 GP3 Series pre-season test (Silverstone April 3-5; combined times) Pos Driver Team Time 1. David Fumanelli Trident 1m45.213s 2. Tio Ellinas Manor 1m45.821s 3. Facu Regalia ART 1m45.855s 4. Alex Fontana Jenzer 1m46.040s 5. Carlos Sainz Jr MW Arden 1m46.107s 6. Dino Zamparelli Manor 1m46.157s 7. Aaro Vainio Koiranen 1m46.226s 8. Melville McKee Bamboo 1m46.262s 9. Jack Harvey ART 1m46.266s 10. Giovanni Venturini Trident 1m46.282s 11. Nick Cassidy Manor 1m46.336s 12. Robert Visoiu MW Arden 1m46.399s 13. Patrick Kujala Koiranen 1m46.406s 14. Conor Daly ART 1m46.407s 15. Nick Yelloly Carlin 1m46.468s 16. Felipe Guimaraes Bamboo 1m46.526s 17. Daniil Kvyat MW Arden 1m46.539s 18. Kevin Korjus Koiranen 1m46.650s 19. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer 1m46.876s 20. Josh Webster Status 1m47.004s 21. Emanuele Zonzini Trident 1m47.039s 22. Adderly Fong Status 1m47.056s 23. Eric Lichtenstein Carlin 1m47.388s 24. Jimmy Eriksson Status 1m47.402s 25. Luis Sa Silva Carlin 1m47.869s 26. Carmen Jorda Bamboo 1m50.519s
2013 GP3 Series field (as of April 4th) ART GP: Facu Regalia, Jack Harvey, tba MW Arden: Carlos Sainz Jr, Robert Visoiu, Daniil Kvyat Carlin: Luis Sá Silva, Nick Yelloly, Eric Lichtenstein Jenzer: Samin Gómez, Patric Niederhauser, Alex Fontana Marussia Manor: Dino Zamparelli, tba, tba Status GP: Jimmy Eriksson, Josh Webster, Adderly Fong Bamboo Engineering: Carmen Jorda, tba, tba Trident: David Fumanelli, Emanuele Zonzini, Giovanni Venturini Koiranen GP: Patrick Kujala, Aaro Vainio, Kevin Korjus
{note 1}
With the disappearance of his GP3 drive, Roberto la Rocca has moved back down to the European F3 Open series with Team West-Tec. His first round in the category comes in just over three weeks when he will race at Paul Ricard behind the wheel of a Dallara F312.
British Formula Ford Championship (Rd 1-3)
Dan Cammish took the opening three rounds of the revitalised British Formula Ford Championship at Brands Hatch. The JTR racer bested Camren Kaminsky, Scott Malvern and Luke Williams respectively, with former champion Malvern closest to knocking Cammish off the top spot in race two, but missing out by 0.424s.
Driving through cramp and incoming sleet, Cammish held Kaminsky at bay in race one, despite the latter suffering a poor start. George Blundell took 3rd and Lassi Halminen to 4th after Williams fell backward due to excessive tyre wear. Malvern was the only retirement due to drive issues.
Malvern returned the favour in race two as he pressed Cammish to the flag, but could not pass the JTR man. Driving for Jamun, Malvern initially passed Williams for 2nd at one-quarter distance, but could progress no further. Malvern’s Argentine teammate Nico Maranzana claimed his first podium. Halminen and Kaminsky were battling for 4th when they clashed with two laps left, while Williams fell out with electrical gremlins, promoting Blundell to 4th and Ben Anderson to 5th.
Cammish made it three-from-three ahead of Williams and Kaminsky, after the latter was passed for 2nd three laps in. With a 2.78s gap to Williams, this run was slightly more comfortable for Cammish, while the 2nd placed man held a 7.0s gap over Kaminsky. Maranzana clashed with Malvern at the start, but both continued with Maranzana taking 4th; Malvern recovered to 8th. Halminen and Anderson closed out the top six.
Full results and points standings.
It says a lot about how little is going on at the top level of the sport when some ten day after the conclusion of the Malaysian Grand Prix, conversations still veer towards the Webber / Vettel nonsense from Sepang.
There were a few well-placed murmurs that pretended to be truths and some small stories that disguised themselves as big ones, before the veils shifted {note 1}, but other than that, all appears to be obscenely quiet.
Must have been Easter. For some strange reason, people appear to enjoy time off. On the other hand, I was afflicted by a dose of the dreadful manflu – for those who don’t know, an exaggerated version of the common cold that produces extended whimpering and sniffling, while on the search for endless sympathy. Woe is me and all that stuff.
In the unreal world, things are not set to resume in Formula One until next week’s Chinese Grand Prix, during which everyone will be talking about… the Webber / Vettel nonsense from Sepang.
Meanwhile, the GP3 Series are currently several hours in to the first day of their final pre-season test at Silverstone, while World Series by Renault gets going this weekend at Monza (let’s hope they enjoy better weather). On the other side of the Atlantic, the IndyCar Series moves on to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, where it is always sunny, even when it is not. So there is plenty to do and see and watch and entertain one’s self with.
After a weekend sleeping, one is now only catching up with the start of the FIA GT Series from France, where Sebastien Loeb Racing – almost predictably – picked up a win, with Alvaro Parente partnering Loeb. The Frank Stippler and Edward Sandstrom piloted Audi WRT won the Easter Monday feature, although the latter came somewhat controversially thanks to a post-race penalty.
It is something of a shame that the GT Sprint Series is such an unknown entity. The category generally provides some good, if rough and ready racing and its hour long format split by mid-race pitstops makes it almost perfect for television.
While Motors TV do a good job in bringing the category to our screens in Europe, the FIA GT Sprint Series produces a format crying out for a terrestrial television slot.
There are some who get sniffy about a GT race only lasting an hour, but as the mantra goes “if you don’t like it, don’t watch it.”
{note 1}
Clue – if a change in the technical regulations for Formula One have been announced, then it may be best to confirm said changes via a source with or near the FIA rather than taking for granted a foreign language site run through Google Translate.
© Jakob Ebrey Photography.
The British Formula Ford Championship returns this weekend, looking somewhat different to previous generations.
Gone are threaded Dunlop tyres and smooth chassis; since replaced by narrow Dunlop slicks and front and rear aerodynamic wings.
The have also been alterations under the engine cover, with the now standard Ford EcoBoost 1.6l turbocharged engine producing approximately 200 bhp. A pre-season test at Brands with racer and team boss Nick Tandy behind the wheel was considered to be impressive and positive.
Following a difficult period on SRO’s British GT / F3 package, Formula Ford has returned to the TOCA support slot, where it will play as opener to the British Touring Car Championship.
Admittedly at this early stage, the move has not helped boost numbers – the opening round at Brands Hatch this weekend only boasts a twelve-car entry; however a touch of perseverance may see this number rise gently as the year progresses.
There are some familiar names amongst the small pack. Former champion Scott Malvern returns for another shot at the title, while Dan Cammish will be eyeing the title after several months away from the cockpit following a serious injury last year.
George Blundell, Fred Martin-Dye and Luke Williams are three names that previously raced in Formula Ford – they will be hoping for bigger things in 2013. Matt Rao will also return, but is set to miss the opening rounds.
Drivers new to the series include former Kart racer Sam Brabham (son of David) who will be racing for JTR from the 2nd round onward, while Andy Richardson makes the move from Ginetta’s to single-seaters with Richardson Racing.
Falcon Racing have three drivers at their disposal – former Intersteps racer Lassi Halminen, law student (!) Neil Winn and karting graduate Harrison Scott.
Argentina’s recent motorsport push continues with Juan Angel Rosso and Nico Maranzana both making push, although the former misses the opening round at least after he broke his hand in testing. Rosso has being replaced at Brands by Autosport journalist Ben Anderson.
American pilot Camren Kaminsky has also joined JTR, with club racer James Abbott also making the field.
With BRDC Formula 4 on the horizon – never mind the possibility of an FIA F4 category – and a rebranded Formula Renault UK (formerly BARC), this may be Formula Ford’s last shot to firmly cement a position in the market place.
Formula One, Malaysia Grand Prix (Rd 2)
Sebastian Vettel won Sunday’s Malaysia Grand Prix in controversial style for Red Bull, thanks to a late pass on teammate Mark Webber.
Despite receiving orders to hold station, Vettel laid an aggressive surprise attack on Webber on lap 44, with the pair running virtually wheel-to-wheel for several corners until Vettel won out. Complaining vociferously during the race about Webber’s controlled pace, only for the Australian to respond immediately thereafter. Vettel takes a nine-point advantage over Raikkonen going into the Chinese GP in just under three weeks.
Mercedes took 3rd and 4th with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg finishing line astern after team principal Ross Brawn ordered his drivers to stay put – much to Rosberg’s chagrin. Felipe Massa assumed 5th after a poor first lap dropped him back from the first row. His Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso retired on lap two when his broken front wing collapsed under his nosecone.
Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (6th) led teammate Kimi Raikkonen (7th) home ahead of Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber, 8th) and Sergio Perez (McLaren, 9th). Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne took the final point, coming home just 1.5s ahead of Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. A stellar drive from Jules Bianchi saw him win out the Marussia / Caterham battle, as the Frenchman continues to show his worth.
In a race dominated by pit action rather than great racing, Force India had torrid day when wheel gun failures ensured the team could not attach their left front tyres.
Full results and points standings.
GP2 Series round of Malaysia (Rd 1)
Racing Engineering’s Fabio Leimer took the opening race of the 2013 GP2 Series in Sepang thanks to a late pass on Stefano Coletti (Rapax). Leimer spent much of the race battling with Coletti, only for the latter to lose all tyre life in the closing stages, while Leimer’s good pace as he nursed his soft Pirelli’s was particularly impressive. Coletti went backwards still, as ART Grand Prix’s James Calado took advantage of his lack of grip with five laps to go. In the final tours, Felipe Nasr drew toward Coletti, but ran out of laps to take the last podium spot.
Leimer’s teammate Julian Leal drove an impressive race to 5th, leading Jolyon Palmer (Carlin, 6th), Sam Bird (RUSSIAN TIME, 7th) and Stephane Richelmi (DAMS, 8th) home. Simon Trummer finished 9th, while Mitch Evans – hampered by food poisoning – took the final point on his GP2 début.
It was a poor day for Marcus Ericsson (DAMS) who crashed into the back of Palmer on lap one, while Adrian Quaife-Hobbs eliminated himself and MP Motorsport teammate Daniel de Jong three laps later in a clumsy move.
Coletti made up for his race one loss by taking the Sprint Race on Sunday. A startling getaway saw the Rapax man take the lead exiting turn two, despite lining up 6th on the grid. Under pressure in the late stages from Nasr, Coletti held on to the lead and his tyres, while the Brazilian swarmed all over his rear; however Coletti kept a gap to the flag.
Evans grabbed 3rd after he sliced his way up from the fifth row. The Kiwi inherited the podium spot when poleman Richelmi outbraked himself in the final turn on lap 16. Richelmi had enough of a gap to hold 4th ahead of Johnny Cecotto Jr, while Trummer edged Conor Daly to 6th place. Rene Binder scored a point for Venezuela GP Lazarus, finishing only six-tenths up on Palmer who started from the pits following a stall.
Full results and points standings.
IZOD IndyCar round of St Petersburg (Rd 1)
James Hinchcliffe held off late pressure from Helio Castroneves to claim his maiden IndyCar win at St Petersburg on Sunday.
The Andretti-Autosport racer ducked passed his Penske rival during a restart on lap 84, having earlier done the same to Will Power in the other Penske machine. Hinchcliffe ran 4th early on before slipping by Foyt’s Takuma Sato to challenge the Castroneves / Power duo. For Power, his day was derailed, when, under safety car conditions, an embarrassed JR Hildebrand hit him from behind – Power finished 16th.
Marco Andretti picked up a strong 3rd following a late move on Simona de Silvestro. Ripped of tyre grip on the soft Firestones, de Silvestro held a pack at bay throughout the final segment of the race. KV teammate Tony Kanaan also gained 4th from de Silvestro, while Scott Dixon passed the Swiss racer over the line.
It was a fine day for series débutante Tristan Vautier who was in the top four when exhaust damage ended his day, while reigning champion Ryan Hunter-Reay retired on lap 79 with throttle issues. Former champion Dario Franchitti retired following a rookie error when he slammed the wall exiting the pits on cold tyres.
Full results and points standings.
Firestone Indy Lights round of St Petersburg (Rd 1)
Jack Hawksworth won the opening Indy Lights race of the season at St Petersburg, with a little help from rivals Gabby Chavez and Carlos Munoz. Hawksworth was running 3rd on lap 11, when Munoz attempted to grab the lead from Chaves, only for the pair to collide, gifting the lead and eventually the win to Hawksworth. The Englishman had tried for the lead at the start, only to clash with Munoz, dropping the pair to 4th and 5th respectively and allowing Chavez to sneak to the front.
Moves on Sage Karam and Peter Dempsey brought them into view of Chavez, only for Munoz to try an unrealistic move. From there Dempsey brought the car home in a safe 2nd, with Karam a further three seconds behind. Munoz received a drive through penalty, but had climbed back to 4th when his gearbox gave way on lap 42, promoting Juan Pablo Garcia to 4th, Zach Veach to 5th and Jorge Goncalvez to 6th. Only nine cars started, with three not lasting the distance.
Full results and points standings.
[To be updated soon with summary of IndyCar.]
© FIA.
Raffaele Marciello secured his second FIA European Formula 3 victory of the weekend this afternoon amidst some dreadful weather at Monza.
The Italian led for each of the nine laps in his Prema Powerteam Mercedes; however nearly half of that distance was run under safety car due to the persistent heavy downpour.
Behind Marciello for the duration were race winner Pascal Wehrlein (Mucke Motorsport) – in his final F3 race before moving to DTM – and Alex Lynn (also Prema), who assumed his first podium of the season.
As the race aged, conditions worsened bringing on more incidents between competitors. With less than half the scheduled distance completed, the red flag was thrown, ending the event prematurely.
With the race classified at the end of only eight laps, only half points were awarded. For Marciello, it proved a key result that pushed his lead over his next real title challenger – Lucas Auer – to 31.5 points.
The Prema Powerteam driver managed a cool gap to Wehrlein in the short time they were racing, but the leading pair were in a different league under green. Running, at times, several seconds quicker than the rest of the field, Marciello and Wehrlein ran off into the distance, although unlike this morning’s event, the Italian had his rear covered.
According to the young Italian, “It was a tough race, because Pascal was very quick and in these extreme conditions, making a mistake is easy. I have tried to pull a gap, which wasn’t that easy. However, my car was better than in the morning and I was able to get a little advantage as a result.”
The conditions also proved tough for the departing Wehrlein. “It wasn’t easy, because we could hardly see a thing due to the water. I also think that stopping the race in these conditions was the right decision, because the spray was even more extreme in the midfield.” He then added, “It is also a pity, because perhaps, I could have been in with a shot at victory. But I can also live very well with three podium finishes, it is a happy end to my spell in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship.”
Lynn, too, held a solid gap to those behind. Driving a wonderful race, the Briton made up for what had been a difficult weekend up until now, with Lynn delivering on his promise in the most difficult of conditions. By the time the race had been neutralised for the second and final time, Lynn had already worked a 10.4 second gap over 4th place Lucas Auer (Prema).
Speaking afterward, the Englishman was his straight-laced self when discussing the conditions. “All in all, it was very wet and I even reckon that it was slightly worse than this morning. I also understand very well why the race was stopped, because it was indeed slightly dangerous to a certain extent. Of course, I am happy with my podium finish, but I am also happy having scored points in every race of the weekend.”
Next up was Fortec’s Pipo Derani – this time making sure of points following his post-race time penalty from the second race. Harry Tincknell (Carlin) took 6th after Eddie Cheever III (Prema) and Jordan King (Carlin) suffered offs – both of whom finished 7th and 8th respectively. Tom Blomqvist (EuroInternational, 9th) and Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke, 10th) rounded out the top ten.
Sven Muller (ma-con) found himself involved in plenty of action. Whether it be grinding wheels with Rosenqvist and Mucke’s Mitchell Gilbert at the Rettifilo or hitting the rear of Gilbert later at Ascari, running off all by himself at the first Lesmo, the ma-con man was involved in some way.
The second round of the European F3 Championship takes place at Silverstone in just under three weeks, where the English midlands – being April – could possibly be notoriously wet once again.
2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Race 3, 8 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 20m05.546s
2. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc + 2.182s
3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc + 8.455s
4. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc + 18.823s
5. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc + 21.508s
6. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW + 23.935s
7. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 29.684s
8. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc + 32.987s
9. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW + 37.723s
10. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc + 39.326s
11. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc + 40.935s
12. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc + 42.195s
13. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc + 42.927s
14. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW + 47.397s
15. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW + 50.322s
16. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc + 51.624s
17. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc + 55.293s
18. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc + 1m03.648s
19. Dmitry Suranovich Fortec Dallara-Merc + 1m08.533s
20. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 1m19.308s
21. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc + 1m21.158s
22. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc + 1m29.124s
Retirements:
Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 7 laps
Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 7 laps
Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 6 laps
Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 6 laps
Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 6 laps
Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 5 laps
Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 4 laps
Did Not Start:
Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW --
2013 FIA European F3 championship (Rd 1, Race 3) Pos Driver Points 1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 55.5 2. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 49 3. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 24 4. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 24 5. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 19.5 6. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 15.5 7. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 15 8. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 14 9. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Dallara-Merc 12 10. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 7
© FIA.
Mücke Motorsport’s Pascal Wehrlein claimed his first Formula 3 victory of the season with a stellar display at a very wet Monza this morning.
In a race that started – and ended – under safety car conditions, the German racer led Prema Powerteam rival Raffaele Marciello home across the line
EuroInternational’s Tom Blomqvist earned his first F3 podium finish with a top line drive.
So wet were the conditions that a start under the safety was a necessity. For four laps, the field of thirty petered slowly around the historic Monza circuit, while the mist and rain clung to the trees and hung in the air.
Indeed Lucas Auer spinning on a puddle on the approach to the Rettifilo chicane and into the barriers on the fourth lap at safety car speeds made the decision to call in Maserati somewhat dubious.
Auer was out. Now it was down to twenty-nine.
With the race proper under way, it temporarily unravelled for Wehrlein. Pushing to stay ahead of Marciello, the DTM-bound racer ran wide at the second of the Lesmo’s on the fifth lap, allowing Marciello to slip ahead.
Skipping over the gravel and back onto the circuit, Wehrlein stayed ahead of Blomqvist, but knew it was a close call. “In the first lap I did a mistake and thought ‘this can’t be true’ and I had a good start and did the mistake. I really wanted to push and get the gap. You shout in the helmet and you’re very angry, but you have to control yourself and I think I did that very well.”
Marciello initially drew a two-second gap over Wehrlein, but sensing a victory, the German racer cut the gap to his Italian rival. Where Blomqvist fell away, Wehrlein pushed – the gap falling with each tour – 1.9s on lap six, then 1.4s on lap eight. At the tenth time around, it was only eight-tenths…
The crucial change came on lap eleven. A spin exiting the second Lesmo by Spike Goddard left him manoeuvring precariously to regain the road just as Marciello and Wehrlein chanced upon him.
Delayed by the wandering T-Sport racer, Marciello lifted off giving Wehrlein enough room to slip through and into the lead. It would decide the race in Wehrlein’s favour. “I was very quick in the race and I could follow Raffaele very well and then in the end I overtook him. I think there was someone in front of Raffaele who blocked him a bit. I did a good movement and won the race.”
He added, “I found at the beginning it was all very well in the car. Everyone could see it in the end when I took Raffaele that there was good pace and already after one lap I had a big gap, so I’m really happy. That’s a good exit from Formula 3.”
Marciello took 2nd and was relatively comfortable in the knowledge that Wehrlein will not be in contention for the rest of the season. “The race was very hard and easy to make a mistake and for that reason, it is important to take the points and 2nd position is good and I am happy. We need to work a little bit with the car to win again this afternoon.”
Reflecting upon the loss of the lead, Marciello was not overly disappointed, realising the bigger picture at work. “Spike blocked me a bit, but it’s OK – I didn’t fight with Pascal, because he is doing DTM, so it is better to not crash. He blocked me a bit, but Pascal was very fast.”
Blomqvist fell away in 3rd place, but was rarely challenged by the 4th placed man Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport). Despite acknowledgement that he had yet to gel with his Mercedes-powered Dallara, the son of Stig appeared relatively happy with the result. “It was pretty tricky out there in the conditions, especially with the visibility and the spray from two cars. I lost a bit early on and it was very slippery for me, but I persevered to bring the car home.”
Elaborating upon any changes to the car, Blomqvist responded, “There were small adjustments for the weather conditions; I think it helped us out a bit. Had it been dry, we would have struggled a little bit more,” said the 19-year-old.
He added, “It was the first time the team ran the car in the wet, so it was a learning experience for us all. I haven’t been here in the wet, let alone the dry before this weekend. Just got to get to grips and try and improve for the third race, because there’s no doubt it will be very wet.”
The safety car returned to the track following Wehrlein’s move for the lead due to dramatic accident in the Rettifilo chicane.
In a battle for 8th position, Mans Grenhagen completely missed his braking point, rammed the rear of Jordan King launching the former into the air. Before coming down, the Swede landed on the rear of Will Buller’s T-Sport machine, taking the English man out and sending Grenhagen into a series of very scary rolls.
Despite the severity of the incident, all three emerged safely from their torn machines; however Grenhagen’s van Amersfoort car was damaged to such an extent, he will be unable to take part in the final race of the weekend.
With the field static for the final few tours, Rosenqvist took some solace with a decent 4th, helped by a move on Carlin’s Harry Tincknell on lap seven, while Alex Lynn (Prema) slipped by Buller one lap before the latter was taken out.
Felix Serralles and Josh Hill enjoyed solid races to come home 7th and 8th – especially good for Hill, who had never driven an F3 car in wet conditions prior to this race, on a track he had never visited before last week.
Pipo Derani (Fortec) came home 9th but was later penalised for driving without a rear light and ignoring warning flags – he dropped to 19th, promoting Sven Muller to 10th, while Dennis van der Laar took one point for bringing his van Amersfoort machine to the flag in 10th.
2013 FIA European Formula 3 Championship (Rd 1, Race 2, 14 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 37m18.470s
2. Raffaelle Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc + 2.569s
3. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc + 3.018s
4. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc + 5.160s
5. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW + 6.964s
6. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc + 7.888s
7. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc + 8.804s
8. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc + 9.279s
9. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW + 10.584s
10. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW + 11.095s
11. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW + 12.842s
12. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc + 13.273s
13. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc + 15.346s
14. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW + 15.752s
15. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW + 16.496s
16. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc + 17.106s
17. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc + 17.747s
18. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc + 18.791s
19. Pipo Derani* Fortec Dallara-Merc + 10.140s
20. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc + 20.600s
21. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc + 21.510s
22. Dmitry Suranovich Fortec Dallara-Merc + 22.014s
23. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc + 24.581s
24. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 1 lap
Retirements:
Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 11 laps
Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 11 laps
Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 11 laps
Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 11 laps
Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc 8 laps
Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 3 laps
Notes:
Penalties
Pipo Derani penalised 10-seconds for ignoring a warning flag.
2013 FIA European F3 championship (Rd 1, Race 2) Pos Driver Points 1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 43 2. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 40 3. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 20 4. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 18 5. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 15 6. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 14 7. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 12 8. Felix Rosenqvist Prema Dallara-Merc 12 9. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 12 10. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 6
© Auto GP World Series.
Sergio Campana claimed a dominant victory in the first Auto GP race of the season for new team Ibiza Racing.
The Italian finished over seven seconds clear of Kimiya Sato, with rookie pilot Vittorio Ghirelli an additional ten seconds adrift.
Campana initially followed poleman Riccardo Agostini on the opening lap, but forced his way passed Agostini at the beginning of the second tour as they went three-wide with the fast starting Sato on the outside line of start / finish.
As Agostini watched the attacking Sato, both went long into the breaking zone, allowing Campana to slip through the inside of Rettifilo. “We were in the first chicane, I took the [slipstream], but he closed me in the right side of the circuit and I [went over] the white line and also at the same time Sato overtake Agostini on the outside.”
He continued, “Three-car into the first chicane is impossible – my first objective is to finish the race. Also I saw that they went a little long in the corner and I take the right line and [overtook] both of the cars.”
With his lead stretching significantly, Campana had little to fear from his opposition; however he was surprised when he was almost taken out by lapped driver Meindert van Buuren on the lap seven. “It was something that was very bad. He was in last position and he thought was in a race with me and he started to battle with me and touched me.”
It was a strategy that certainly surprised the eventual victor. “I had a little problem in the right mirror, so I couldn’t see in the right side, but I paid a lot of attention in the first chicane, because I saw that he moved on the right side. I think it’s crazy – he was in the last position.”
Beyond that scare, Agostini took his Ibiza Racing machine to the finish to the delight of his new team. “There are some people inside the team that have a lot of experience and this helps, but when you start a new project with a new team, it is always a little bit strange. I am happy to get the team into first position with a first victory.”
Although happy with result, Sato was hardly ecstatic with 2nd place, with the Japanese driver still rueing a disappointing qualifying session that left him 6th. The Japanese driver commented, “It was a good race. I started from p6, so a p2 finish is OK. I had a good start and during the race from the start, the car was OK with balance, so that I could continue consistent laptimes.”
Ghirelli’s drive to 3rd place was quite stunning. The Italian started 3rd, but his car suffered from overly high temperatures on the warm-up lap, dropping his engine in safety-mode.
For Super Nova driver, it almost destroyed his race. “For the first straight and the second straight, the engine was in safety mode and everyone went twenty-seconds away. I started to catch everyone and make nice overtakes, so a late pitstop strategy was a very good idea and I managed to catch up positions.”
A late pitstop helped Ghirelli’s race to a degree, but it almost came apart when he ran too close to teammate Antonio Spavone upon his return to the track. “I saw he was trying to overtake me, when I had cold tyres. I didn’t touch him; I just closed the line in the second chicane and braked in the inside.”
Spavone would eventually drop to 6th, allowing Robert Visoiu to climb back to 4th after he lost places in the pits. Narain Karthikeyan climbed to 15th after starting a miserable 5th, while poleman Agostini endured a dire race. After being passed by Campana and Sato, Agostini continued to fall down the order, but did regain some places during the pitstops – he came home 7th.
2013 Auto GP World Series Round of Monza (Rd 1, Race 1, 14 laps)
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Sergio Campana Ibiza 23m40.402s
2. Kimiya Sato Euronova + 7.575s
3. Vittorio Ghirelli Super Nova + 17.119s
4. Robert Visoiu Ghinzani + 18.895s
5. Narain Karthikeyan Zele + 19.409s
6. Antonio Spavone Super Nova + 19.907s
7. Riccardo Agostini Manor MP + 20.700s
8. Luciano Bacheta Zele + 23.739s
9. Giuseppe Cipriani Ibiza + 35.169s
10. Maxim Snegirev Virtuosi UK + 44.079s
11. Yoshitaka Kuroda Euronova + 1m31.620s
Retirements:
Michele la Rosa MLR 71 13 laps
Meinhart van Buuren Manor MP 4 laps
Giacomo Ricci MLR 71 1 lap
Andrea Roda Virtuosi UK 0 laps
2013 Auto GP World Series Round of Monza (Rd 1, Race 1) Pos Driver Points 1. Sergio Campana Ibiza 26 2. Kimiya Sato Euronova 18 3. Vittorio Ghirelli Super Nova 15 4. Robert Visoiu Ghinzani 12 5. Narain Karthikeyan Zele 10
Marciello celebrates victory. © FIA
Prema Powerteam’s Raffaele Marciello took first blood at Monza today with a dominant performance at the opening round of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship.
Racing at his home circuit, the Italian launched from 3rd on the grid to force his way into the lead prior to the Rettifilo chicane on the opening lap, ahead of the sluggish starting Mücke Motorsport’s Pascal Wehrlein.
From there, Marciello held the lead with relative ease, edging ahead ever so slightly, garnering a two second gap by the end of the tenth lap.
And the margins the race leader gained were small. Every tour saw the gap stretch by a tenth here and a tenth there; Marciello in control all the time. When Wehrlein was quicker, it would invariably only be by a hundredth or a thousandth…
When one hears Marciello speak, it is clear that his English is still relatively weak, but no language barrier was ever going to hide his obvious joy. “It started very well – I got one second on the 2nd car and this was good because of the a difficult slipstream.”
Beaming still, Marciello noted “the car was fantastic. It’s great because it is my home race and it’s my second year here [in F3], so I want a good year and this way is very great.”
Lucas Auer (Prema) also headed Wehrlein briefly through the opening turns, only to lose the spot exiting Curva Grande, but Auer – nephew of Gerhard Berger – closed back to Wehrlein, eventually taking his Mücke rival on the tenth tour.
Pressing Wehrlein over the course of several laps, Auer eventually drove around the outside of the DTM-bound racer; however the 18-year-old was keen to press that it did not feel like the most spectacular of overtakes, even if it did look somewhat special on screen.
Reflecting on the move Auer commented, “We had a great car in qualifying and a couple of laps I had a bit more pace than Pascal and I had a good slipstream and I could make an east overtake – it wasn’t anything special.”
The disappointed Wehrlein concurred. “The Prema cars were very good and it was really hard to follow them and after ten laps, I had some problems and had to let Lucas pass, because I thought maybe I could follow them and in the end overtake.”
Despite the small gap to the leader, Auer quickly understood that catching Marciello would be a quite different story. “There was a guy who got lapped – that was a big help for Raffaele, so he also had a slipstream and then three laps to go Pascal made a little mistake, which was good for me to drive home.”
Wehrlein’s mistake – on lap 16 – came as the German began to push once again, only this time, the 18-year-old drove the car beyond its means. He was lucky to emerge unscathed, “I didn’t want to lose a lot of time, because the 4th place [driver] would also catch. It was a very hard race and in the end, I did a little mistake, but it was still OK. We have to improve a bit, because it was really hard to follow them in slipstream.”
Will Buller also enjoyed a commanded a strong drive, with the Northern Irishman rising from 12th on the to finish 4th. The T-Sport racer made a solid start, jumping to 8th in the opening lap and then taking Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke) and Dennis van der Laar (van Amersfoort) on the second tour.
Buller made that 5th four laps with a keen move down the inside of Parabolica (!) on the grip-less Blomqvist (EuroInternational), before pressing passed Carlin’s Harry Tincknell ten tours later.
While happy with the result, Buller knows there is still plenty to do. “We had a bad qualifying – made some improvements overnight; the tyres and the track temperature caught us out a bit yesterday, but the main thing was we improved and I think we’re still not there yet. There’s definitely room for improvement.”
Along with his teammate, the T-Sport racer is the only Nissan-powered racer in the field full of Volkswagens and Mercedes units, but the 20-year-old is confident that it makes little different. “I think all the engines are quite similar, because we have had them for this long. The Nissan is strong – in qualifying, we were in it without a tow and were a couple of tenths off, so I’m happy with the Nissan.”
While Buller and Tincknell fought it out, Blomqvist fell toward the recovering Rosenqvist, who was also keeping Felix Serralles (Fortec), Jordan Kind (Carlin) and Lucas Wolf (URD) in check.
The quintet drew together occasionally, but the fight was mostly between Blomqvist and Rosenqvist; however it would come to nought for both at the halfway point. Drafting by Blomqvist after six laps, the Mücke runner defended vigourously against his rival, who continued to threaten.
They came together on lap ten when Blomqvist went long into the Rettifilo, clipping Rosenqvist, sending him into a spin. His engine dead, Rosenqvist was left beached, his race over. “From what I heard, he was just behind me and ran into me,” said the downbeat Swede. “We had a battle on the straight and I went to the right, he stayed on the left and I braked and I think he was just behind me and couldn’t stop quick enough and he went into me. It’s quite sad and a waste of good points.”
Naturally, Blomqvist saw it slightly differently. “I was a bit closer to him and got the tow, but we had two cars behind, so my intentions were to work with him and get on with it, because the pace was getting better and it looked like we were slowly catching the guys in front.”
Elaborating, Blomqvist said, “I just wanted to keep going, but he pulled to the inside and went back under braking to the outside, I couldn’t slow down and he stopped on the corner. I gave him the smallest nudge, but the angle was enough to ease someone around – there’s no damage on either of the cars.”
Regardless of their respective situations, it was a disappointing end to the day for both. Rosenqvist mulled over lost points, noting, “In the beginning, [the car] was really good – I really felt like I had some pace, but then I had a battle with Tom, so I lost some time to guys in front and in the middle it seemed like Tom was getting quicker than me. It’s always hard at the first race – you never quite know the tyre pressures and how they will work. The start was good – I managed to go from 11th to 6th on the first lap with a really aggressive approach.”
Blomqvist thoughts drifted along the similar paths. “I really struggled at the beginning and couldn’t get any grip out of the car, especially at the front. I was losing so much through the two Lesmo’s and just lost a tow pretty straight away, because I had no grip there. That’s was just a bit frustrating.”
In a light Kiwi-drawl, he continued, “I was trying to focus on the exits when I had someone behind, but it was slowly getting better and better, but I had so much understeer that I was losing time though there. We need to have a think, because it is the same characteristics I was struggling with for a while. We need to get to the bottom of it. It’s a long championship, but not an ideal way to start”
The race was characterised by some stunning action in the midpack as cars shuffled amongst eachother in a desperate fight for position.
As one might expect, there were occasional collisions with drivers using opponents for physical buffers – a strategy that rarely delivered good results. The main site of contention came toward the end of the race when Lucas Wolf, Jann Mardenborough and Mitch Gilbert all squeezed into eachother exiting the Rettifilo.
The clash spun clumsily Wolf into the Armco, while Gilbert slid out with a puncture and damaged wheel at the Roggia chicane. Mardenborough continued only slightly further than Gilbert, as his Carlin began to shed numerous parts.
It was not a good start for Fortec, as Josh Hill misjudged a gap on the opening lap, crashing into the rear of Mucke’s Roy Nissany, taking the latter out. Hill pitted for a new wing, but finished one lap adrift.
2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Race 1)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 33m27.878s
2. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc + 2.079s
3. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc + 5.200s
4. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 13.956s
5. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW + 15.855s
6. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc + 23.933s
7. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW + 24.316s
8. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc + 27.867s
9. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW + 34.768s
10. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc + 35.304s
11. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc + 36.399s
12. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW + 45.153s
13. Tom Blomqvist Eurointernational Dallara-Merc + 55.303s
14. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc + 56.183s
15. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan + 56.694s
16. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW + 57.796s
17. Dmitry Suranovic Fortec Dallara-Merc + 59.794s
18. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc + 1m00.737s
19. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc + 1m04.155s
20. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW + 1m31.679s
21. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc + 1m33.147s
22. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc + 1 lap
23. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc + 1 lap
24. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc + 1 lap
Retirements:
Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 16 laps
Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 16 laps
Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 16 laps
Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 10 laps
Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 0 laps
Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 0 laps
2013 FIA European F3 championship (Rd 1, Race 1) Pos Driver Points 1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 25 2. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 18 3. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 15 4. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 12 5. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 10 6. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 8 7. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 6 8. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 4 9. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2 10. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 1
© FIA.
It is that particular engine pitch – not a cream by any stretch, but a low, sullen roar.
Although not as aurally threatening in the same way its Formula One parentage can be, the sound of a Formula 3 engine ricocheting amidst the trees at Monza’s famous Parabolica corner deliver their own might.
The characteristics of the engine notes do not chime together exactly. Lyrically they are distinct, but between the Mercedes, Volkswagen and Nissan offerings showcase the dips and peaks of tones that are often so subtle, as to often be unnoticeable to all but the most trained of hearing.
The lines through Parabolica vary too, but like the engine tones, the differing approaches are minor and often dependent on comfort.
Tom Blomqvist is a good example. Still not quite settled in with the Dallara F312, Blomqvist is a touch sensitive through the long, lingering bend, yet manages to hold it together.
That the Red Bull Junior Driver held it together despite his fire extinguisher going off in cockpit toward the tail end of the first qualifying session. He would walk away with a 4th, 4th and 9th for the Sunday races.
A slight change of conditions helped – the afternoon brought with it welcome warmth, allowing one to not only park the jacket, but also for the tyres to generate some temperature.
Unfortunately for Felix Rosenqvist, the Swede would lose out in the rush for time. Unable to garner a powerful draft, Rosenqvist had to make do with the high end of the midpack – 11th, 7th and 12th left him quite brow beaten and lost.
Will Buller suffered the same in the final qualifying session – coming in only six-tenths shy of pole, the Northern Irish racer lamented the hypothetical three-tenths lost without a sparring partner.
At Prema Powerteam, Raffaele Marciello exuded confidence. Wringing the neck of his Mercedes-powered machine, the soft-spoken Italian looked planted throughout the session, but missed the top spot to old and temporary rival Pascal Wehrlein.
Marciello would eventually claim pole for race three, but will make do with a 2nd and 3rd for the opening pair of races.
Competing in his only Formula 3 round before moving to DTM, Wehrlein mastered the slipstream to draft to the top of the standings with his final lap.
Two poles and a 2nd place was Wehrlein’s reward. The 18-year-old just looks so comfortable and quick – his star will be missed for the rest of this year.
2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying Race 1) Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m45.245s 2. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.274s + 0.029s 3. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.280s + 0.035s 4. Tom Blomqvist EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc 1m45.514s + 0.269s 5. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m45.878s + 0.393s 6. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.638s + 0.425s 7. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.692s + 0.447s 8. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m45.723s + 0.478s 9. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m45.806s + 0.561s 10. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m45.870s + 0.625s 11. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m45.900s + 0.655s 12. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m45.918s + 0.673s 13. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m45.919s + 0.674s 14. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m46.086s + 0.841s 15. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m46.090s + 0.845s 16. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m46.119s + 0.874s 17. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m46.177s + 0.932s 18. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 1m46.189s + 0.944s 19. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m46.301s + 1.056s 20. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 1m46.398s + 1.153s 21. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m46.424s + 1.179s 22. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 1m46.486s + 1.241s 23. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m46.936s + 1.691s 24. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m47.085s + 1.840s 25. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc 1m47.131s + 1.886s 26. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m46.388s + 2.031s 27. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 1m47.437s + 2.192s 28. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 1m47.675s + 2.430s 29. Dmitry Suranovich Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m48.596s + 3.351s 30. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc 1m48.836s + 3.591s 2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying Race 2) Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m45.307s 2. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.559s + 0.252s 3. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.626s + 0.319s 4. Tom Blomqvist EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc 1m45.626s + 0.319s 5. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.820s + 0.513s 6. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m45.873s + 0.566s 7. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m45.917s + 0.610s 8. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m45.920s + 0.613s 9. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m45.974s + 0.667s 10. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m46.049s + 0.742s 11. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m46.117s + 0.810s 12. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 1m46.210s + 0.903s 13. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m46.210s + 0.903s 14. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m46.262s + 0.955s 15. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m46.399s + 1.092s 16. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m46.404s + 1.097s 17. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 1m46.408s + 1.101s 18. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m46.430s + 1.123s 19. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m46.548s + 1.241s 20. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m46.574s + 1.267s 21. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 1m46.748s + 1.441s 22. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 1m46.785s + 1.478s 23. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m47.190s + 1.883s 24. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc 1m47.311s + 2.004s 25. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m47.461s + 2.154s 26. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 1m47.484s + 2.177s 27. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 1m47.722s + 2.415s 28. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m47.982s + 2.675s 29. Dmitry Suranovich Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m48.640s + 3.333s 30. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc 1m48.985s + 3.678s 2013 FIA European F3 Championship (Rd 1, Qualifying Race 3) Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Raffaele Marciello Prema Dallara-Merc 1m44.781s 2. Pascal Wehrlein Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m44.946s + 0.165s 3. Alex Lynn Prema Dallara-Merc 1m44.987s + 0.206s 4. Lucas Auer Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.026s + 0.245s 5. Pipo Derani Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m45.240s + 0.459s 6. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m45.259s + 0.478s 7. Eddie Cheever Prema Dallara-Merc 1m45.296s + 0.515s 8. Harry Tincknell Carlin Dallara-VW 1m45.321s + 0.540s 9. Tom Blomqvist EuroIntern'l Dallara-Merc 1m45.355s + 0.574s 10. Will Buller T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m45.452s + 0.671s 11. Sven Muller Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m45.530s + 0.749s 12. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m45.547s + 0.766s 13. Felix Serralles Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m45.662s + 0.881s 14. Josh Hill Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m45.717s + 0.936s 15. Lucas Wolf URD Dallara-Merc 1m46.748s + 0.967s 16. Dennis van de Laar Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m45.774s + 0.993s 17. Nicholas Latifi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m45.822s + 1.041s 18. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m45.919s + 1.138s 19. Mitchell Gilbert Mucke Dallara-Merc 1m46.143s + 1.362s 20. Mans Grenhagen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m46.204s + 1.423s 21. Antonio Giovinazzi Double R Dallara-Merc 1m46.332s + 1.551s 22. Jann Mardenborough Carlin Dallara-VW 1m46.355s + 1.574s 23. Andre Rudersdorf Ma-con Dallara-VW 1m46.725s + 1.944s 24. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-Nissan 1m46.964s + 2.183s 25. Sean Gelael Double R Dallara-Merc 1m47.218s + 2.437s 26. Gary Thompson Ferraris Dallara-Merc 1m47.223s + 2.442s 27. Dmitry Suranovich Fortec Dallara-Merc 1m47.596s + 2.815s 28. Tatiana Calderon Double R Dallara-Merc 1m47.763s + 2.982s 29. Sandro Zeller Zeller Dallara-Merc 1m47.782s + 3.001s 30. Michela Cerruti Ferraris Dallara-Merc 1m48.981s + 4.200s
© GP2 Media Services.
Mercedes F1 reserve driver Sam Bird will make a return to the GP2 Series this weekend, when he lines up with RUSSIAN TIME at Sepang.
The 26-year-old has already enjoyed two years in the category with ART Grand Prix and iSport, picking up a victory for the former at Monza in 2010.
Bird moved to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series last year with ISR Racing, picking up two wins, including a stellar pole-to-flag victory at Monaco.
His move to the Russian squad marks a key move for both parties – Bird, an experienced hand, will be aiming for a title tilt, while new team RUSSIAN TIME will be looking to the Briton to pull the team together.
It is a factor that team principal Igor Mazepa is extremely conscious of. Commenting about the signing, Mazepa said, “I think [Bird’s] experience […] is exactly what we need at RUSSIAN TIME to complete our extremely competitive line-up.”
He continued, “As a team, we would like to give Sam our full support and expertise to help bring him at the top of the standings. I am sure that with the addition of Sam to our team, we will reach our goal which is ambitious as we are aiming at the 2013 Title!”
With Tom Dillmann occupying the second seat at RUSSIAN TIME, the team have managed to secure a reasonably strong driver line-up going into their first season of GP2 competition.
For his part, Bird is glad to be on the grid before the season start. “I am delighted to be joining RUSSIAN TIME for the 2013 GP2 season and grateful to everybody involved, in particular Igor Mazepa, for choosing me for this exceptional opportunity,” said Bird. He added, “I look forward to working closely with the team and to helping them achieve their ambition of fighting for the team championship title”.
Bird and Dillmann certainly have experience and they will need to drag every ounce of it from deep within if they are serious about a title challenge.
As for RUSSIAN TIME, the new boys may find life at this level a tough prospect; however unlike previous slot holder’s iSport, this team does not appear to stuck for cash – for now at least {note 1}.
Meanwhile at Caterham, another former Renault 3.5 driver has joined the fold. Sergio Canamasas has signed up with F1 junior team to race alongside former Chinese Touring Car Champion Ma Qinghua.
The Spaniard raced a partial schedule in GP2 last year with Venezuela GP Lazarus, recording a best finish of 11th at Monza; however he achieved notoriety when he “missed” black flag for several laps during the closing race in Singapore, despite repeated radio messages and feverishly waved signs.
A native of Madrid, Canamasas has raced in Formula 3, Renault 3.5 and GP2 since 2007, but has yet to win a race in any formula.
At the aforementioned Venezuela GP Lazarus, Kevin Giovesi will set up shop alongside Rene Binder.
It will be a massive jump for the Italian, who claimed the European F3 Open Copa Class in 2012; a category several levels below his new challenge – this could either be a brilliant move or one that will bite. One can only hope it is the former for Giovesi.
It has also been rumoured that Trident Racing and Hilmer Motorsport will announce their drivers today, Kevin Ceccon and Nathanael Berthon potentially joining the former, while Conor Daly and Pal Varhaug may be set to join the latter {note 2}.
{note 2}
“Berthon e Ceccon con Trident” (ItaliaRacing.net)
2012 GP2 Series field (as of March 19th) DAMS: Marcus Ericsson Stephane Richelmi Art Grand Prix: James Calado Daniel Abt Arden: Johnny Cecotto Jr Mitch Evans Racing Engineering: Julian Leal Fabio Leimer Carlin: Felipe Nasr Jolyon Palmer RUSSIAN TIME: Sam Bird Tom Dillmann Caterham: Sergio Canamasas Ma Qinghua Barwa Addax: Jake Rosenzweig Rio Haryanto Rapax: Stefano Coletti Simon Trummer Trident: tba Hilmer Motorsport: tba Venezuela GP Lazarus: Rene Binder Kevin Giovesi MP Motorsport: Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Daniel de Jong
© FIA.
The FIA Formula 3 field will receive a minor reshuffle after the opening round when Pascal Wehrlein leaves for the DTM.
Wehrlein is set to take the place of Mercedes pilot Ralf Schumacher at RSC Mücke, after the latter decided to retire from motorsport competition with immediate effect. Schumacher has decided to move into a management role with the Mercedes squad.
When he débuts at the Hockenheimring in May, the 18-year-old will become the youngest driver in the history of DTM. His teammate will be reigning European F3 champion Daniel Juncadella, ensuring Mücke kick off 2013 with an all-rookie line-up.
A race winner in Formula 3 last year, Wehrlein impressed during his opening season in the category. Although he managed only a single victory, Wehrlein’s consistency through the season ensured he remained a challenger right to the close of the season.
Speaking about his sudden move up the ladder, Wehrlein commented that, “It’s like a dream come true, my promotion to the DTM. What’s especially nice is that I will be making my DTM debut with RSC Mücke Motorsport.“
Wehrlein added, “I know Peter Mücke’s and Ralf Schumacher’s team already from previous years when I first competed for the outfit in the Formula ADAC and then later in the Formula 3 Euro Series. Working together always went well and I can’t wait to get down to the business of setting up my new DTM Mercedes AMG C-Coupé for the season opener at Hockenheim with the guys from Mücke.”
Wehrlein is still set to contest this weekend’s opening European F3 round at Monza; however there is still no indication as to who will take his place from the next round at Silverstone.
Lower down the order, Irish racer Gary Thompson secured the second seat with the Romeo Ferraris team, alongside veteran Michela Cerruti. Thompson has spent three seasons competing in the National Class of the Japanese F3 Series with a best finish of 4th overall {note 1}.
Thompson’s signing means there will be at least thirty drivers at the opening event.
Meanwhile, the opening day of final pre-season test at Monza cancelled yesterday following a recent snow flurry. Whether the circuit is in good enough condition to allow any running today is unknown at this juncture.
{note 1}
During Thompson’s three years in Japanese F3, the 20-year-old picked up two National Class wins and twelve podiums.
2013 FIA European Formula 3 grid (as of March 18th)
Carlin-Volkswagen: Jordan King Harry Tincknell
Jann Mardenborough Nicholas Latifi
Double R-Merc: Tatiana Calderon Sean Gelael
Antonio Giovanazzi
EuroInternational-VW: Tom Blomqvist
Fortec-Merc: Pipo Derani Felix Serralles
Josh Hill Dmitry Suranovich
Jo Zeller-Merc: Sandro Zeller
ma-con Motorsport-VW: Andre Rudersdorf Sven Muller
Mucke Motorsport-Merc: Mitchell Gilbert Roy Nissany
P Wehrlein/tba Felix Rosenqvist
Prema Powerteam-Merc: Lucas Auer Eddie Cheever III
Alex Lynn Raffaele Marciello
T-Sport-Nissan: Will Buller Spike Goddard
URD Rennsport-Merc: Lucas Wolf
Van Amersfoort-VW: Dennis van de Laar Mans Grenhagen
Romeo Ferraris-Merc: Michela Cerruti Gary Thompson
The independent motorsport magazine GPWeek began its 2013 run today, with coverage of yesterday’s Australian Grand Prix and others besides.
In a claim for legitimacy, the opening issue also contains a feature from my-good-self, regarding the current structure of junior categories leading Formula One. One can be rest be assured, there will be more to come from my keyboard in future editions.
Released at 10am (UK) following each Grand Prix, GPWeek focusses on in depth analysis and well informed opinion, while also utilising imagery from the banks of Sutton. Samples can be found at gpweek.com, as can the option to subscribe – at £20 for twenty issues, it is rather excellent value.
Meanwhile, this weekend I will be off to Monza to catch the beginning of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, while also taking in the new Auto GP World Series machine. From its initial running, it looks impressive.
Headlining the bill of course is the World Touring Car Championship. It must be said that I am quite looking forward to the WTCC race, as the only touring car races that have ever crossed my path have been DTM events, which bring their own slice and style of entertainment.
For now, the weather in London is rather insipid – an ominous dark grey lingers in the sky, waiting only to release its contents. Right now in Monza, it is snowing. What to make of this..?
©Chris Lobina / BSkyB
Former McLaren and Benetton Grand Prix driver Martin Brundle has spoken out about the rising cost of competing in today’s single-seater ladder system.
Talking exclusively to TheMotorsportArchive.com, Brundle feels that the numbers needed to fund drives no longer make sense.
Brundle, whose some Alex raced in F3 and GP3 before switching to sportscars, jumped straight into Formula One having narrowly missed out on the British Formula 3 title to Ayrton Senna in 1983; however the 53-year-old now also believes the route to F1 has become too complex.
“You could stand back and look at [the ladder system] and say ‘this is crazy’ – it is certainly fragmented and difficult to understand,” Brundle admitted
He added, “British F3 was so strong, but there was a time when German, British, Italian and European F3 were strong and you needed a master series to bring it together. The bottom line is if the kid is winning championships, it probably doesn’t matter to an extent where, just as long as you are moving forward, but it is a bit of a nightmare as to where you go…”
Now a Sky Sports F1 pundit, Brundle is confident the FIA Single Seater Commission, led by Gerhard Berger, can attend to some of the neglect. “I spoke to Gerhard the other day about this and when you listen to his logic, it does make a lot of sense.
“When I came through, it was just as competitive – there was [Ayrton] Senna and Berger and a lot of people like that to beat all the time; it wasn’t easy, but there wasn’t as many of us. If you stood out in British F3, as Senna and I did, you could go straight into F1 – that has gone and I feel sorry for the lads of today.”
The budgets required to compete in the upper echelons of the ladder system have also struck Brundle as out of kilter with the real world – it is a factor that he hopes will be addressed. “If you have got an expensive series as you do with GP2 and GP3 where you really need at least two seasons, the numbers are just terrible. For two seasons of GP2, you will not get away with less than £3.2 million and there are a lot of lads going into their third and fourth season – who is going to find that [money]?”
Continuing on this theme, Brundle said, “These championships are so competitive with quite complex cars and they get so little track time that you need a couple of seasons at it and it just becomes prohibitive. You look at it and think ‘there is no way through the single-seater system at the moment, unless you are absolutely incredible or you have got a vast amount of funding behind you. If you look at what has been spent by Max [Chilton] to get to the point he is before engaging with an F1 team, it is out of reach.”
Where Formula One may be losing potential stars, many young drivers are being diverted to other forms of motorsport – a factor the former Le Mans 24 Hours winner is well aware of.
“I always think of it as an escalator that’s blocked at the top and they’re all spilling out and they’re spilling into GT, LMP1 racing and others just disappear off the scene. But there are so many of them and you have this escalator or teenagers and early-20s that are mechanically, physically and psychologically prepared and conditioned to be professional racing drivers and there is nowhere to go.”
Recession, too, has played a part in how drivers are – or potentially are not – funded in the junior categories, but for Brundle, the manner in which sponsorship is obtained has altered dramatically. “I think what’s changed in the UK is that everyone has become much more accountable. When I came through, there was a couple of guys that sponsored me through their company, because that was what they wanted to do, the tax man doesn’t allow for that sort of thing now. Now everybody is so much more accountable and that has cut a lot of it out.”
Explaining further, Brundle notes, “That’s all stopped and just like the world of media, it’s all become diluted, because there are so many places to spend your sponsorship money, whether it’s the Internet, TV or in-sports sponsorship, everything has developed into such a competitive environment to raise that money. Silverstone used to put money into young drivers and a few others put their own hard cash in and that has virtually disappeared.”
Irrespective, the wheels of junior formulae keep turning and next weekend will see both the GP2 Series and the FIA European F3 Championship kick off their 2013 campaigns.
Whether the true top talent succeeds or loses out to better-funded drivers remains to be seen, but realistically the days of young drivers getting through the maze on talent and a shoestring budget have long since disappeared.
Formula One Australian Grand Prix
Kimi Raikkonen stormed to victory for Lotus in the first World Championship Grand Prix of the season at Albert Park. Despite starting on the fourth row, the Finn drew to front of the pack during the opening stint, eventually taking the lead as tyre strategies evolved. Running one stop less than the chasing pack, Raikkonen managed a 12-second gap to Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and early race leader Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), who filled out the podium.
Felipe Massa also featured initially, but fell away when a very early second stop dropped him out of contention. Force India’s Adrian Sutil surprised on his return by leading twice thanks to long-running his medium Pirelli’s; however a change to super-softs with 11 laps remaining dropped him to 7th – a stellar drive regardless. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) assumed 5th, while Mark Webber (Red Bull) took an anonymous 6th, some way distant of Paul di Resta (Force India, 8th).
McLaren endured a nightmare with Jenson Button and Sergio Perez coming home 9th and 11th, sandwiching the second Lotus of Romain Grosjean. All five rookies saw the chequered flag.
© Jazeman.com
Former British Formula 3 race winner Jazeman Jaafar is set to get his first taste of Formula One machinery this weekend.
The Malaysian was rewarded with an opportunity to pilot a two-year-old Mercedes F1 car around the Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur.
Jaafar – runner-up to Jack Harvey in last year’s British F3 Series – is set to take to the streets for a demonstration alongside Mercedes reserve Sam Bird on Sunday ahead of next week’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
The call up came somewhat out of the blue for Jaafar, but the 20-year-old was required no second thoughts. “Well it came in by surprise really. I had an email and a phone call sometime at the end of January asking whether I was available on this date. They said, “Are you available to drive the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 car in Malaysia?” and in a heartbeat I said “yes”. It’s like a dream come true for me, especially with my debut driving in Malaysia.”
In the lead up to the spectacle, Jaafar has been readying himself for the demonstration, but will not step into the car in anger for the first time this weekend. “I don’t get to drive the car beforehand, so I’ve [been] preparing myself in a simulator in Brackley, which has been going well. I will try to enjoy every wheelspin, burnout, donut etc… as I can and I hope the fans will enjoy it too!”
Grand Prix racing first arrived in the Malaysian region in the early-60s (prior to Singapore’s independence), but Formula One did not arrive in the country until 1999. The Grand Prix has remained solidly on the calendar ever since; however the sport is still finding its feet in the Far East.
“It’s slowing growing. There’s definitely loads of interest and awareness now, but the problem is some of the top categories such as Formula 3, World Series [do] not have an event in Malaysia. The only big event would be Formula 1 and that’s it.”
Despite this, Jaafar is confident that motorsport’s time will eventually come. “It takes time for the nation to understand the grass roots level. Only recently Malaysians got live coverage from these events, but I must say it’s been good and there’s also loads of upcoming talents. [There] will definitely see more Malaysians competing in Europe in the near future.”
Beyond his stint with Mercedes, Jaafar has plenty on his plate for this season, as he makes the move to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series this year, staying with Carlin. After setting some very credible stints in the tests so far, Jaafar has been swift to declare the machine and quick and respectable beast. “The car itself is really impressive, very quick and there is a lot of downforce. To add on top of that, World Series has a very competitive field, having the top ten or twelve within a second.”
As well as being a new machine to throw around circuits, the Formula Renault 3.5 series presents other new elements to Jaafar. “A new challenge for me would also be pitstops and having a longer race which would be very interesting. Testing has been going well and I’ve practiced all the procedures as well. I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my career to learn and do well.”
His aims are simple and achievable should he put his mind and abilities to it. Indeed, Jaafar puts his target as plainly as possible: “Definitely to do well and score as much points as I can.”
Jaafar came close to being the first Malaysian to take an international series in 2012, having missed out on a British F3 triumph by thirteen points; however the campaign did much to raise his confidence a step. “As of last year, having the full points for the reverse grid race has built up my race craft and confidence which would definitely bring it up to World Series. I’m proud to be carrying the title Vice Champion in British Formula 3,” noted Jaafar.
His career will now take him to wider European plains, but will he miss one of the homes of motorsport? “Other than the weather in England, I’ve enjoyed racing over there. The atmosphere, the people, the racing, is just so pure. Most of the tracks are very challenging.”
Nations cheering on a local hero in motorsport is nothing new. Will be Jaafar be Malaysia’s first modern international motorsport star? Only time will tell and right now, the 20-year-old has plenty of it on his side.
TheMotorsportArchive.com 