Money doesn’t talk – it screams. It sits upon the periphery, dancing into one’s eye line when needs demand, offering lifelines for a price.
As an element in itself, money doesn’t always deliver quality – nor does ever promise it – but since when has quality ever been money’s command.
In times of crisis, money’s haunting scream envelopes all, echoing loudest where it is rarely present. Indeed, the arenas where money is scarce tend to whimper longingly – rarely is that solemn ever tempered.
As the whimpering becomes more telling, money becomes a saviour – temporary of course – yet one often wonders if the short term price is worth the long term cost.
And when money takes complete command, it plays games with its suitor.
Musical chairs is a crude example. When children play, the rush for a seat plays out somewhat evenly, as children shove playfully through the pack.
When adults play, even hands fall away from sight and as the music stops, those with larger accounts take to the chair, serenely unchallenged. This is not a new idea – certainly not fair, but not new.
Others who refuse to play by any rules, simply take their toys and go home. Suddenly, the games stop.
And thus, we nod to seats filled in the past week; whereas in the west, some were simply removed from the game.
Now the dance gets ever more frantic as the choices narrow – some already are throwing their hands into the air in resignation, knowing inside their time will never arrive.
Dreams once bright, now sit in damp solitude, fostering private grievances to be taken elsewhere.
The game is a cruel one and rarely fair and some are only now coming to understand the harsh features of altitude.
Perhaps it is the game that needs to change after all.
Macau. © Creative Commons / Sentoan
Prema Powerteam’s Daniel Juncadella powered to a spectacular victory at the 58th Macau Grand Prix on Sunday.
Juncadella beat Felipe Nasr and Marco Wittmann to the chequered flag in a race peppered with incident and multiple safety car periods.
The result meant Juncadella became the first ever Spaniard to claim the prestigious event in its illustrious history.
A good, if frantic, start helped Juncadella, who jumped two spots to 4th off the line, while pre-weekend favourite Roberto Mehri stalled on the grid, impotent as cars rushed by either side of him.
It quickly turned to carnage as first Laurens Vanthoor clouted Mehri, before rebounding into the innocent Daniel Abt. Mehri’s poor day was compounded moments later – the Spaniard would moments later be rammed up the rear by the blind-sighted Richie Stanaway, ending both their Macau challenges.
For poleman Wittmann, the start was relatively easy. A swift launch into an early lead, aided by fellow-front row man Nasr falling to 3rd behind Valtteri Bottas before the opening turn.
Juncadella rose to 4th before the opening turn, heading off a challenge from Japan’s Hideki Yamauchi (5th) and Yuhi Sekiguchi (6th).
There was still more opening lap drama at Lisboa, when a spun Carlos Huertas met with Marco Asmer in the barriers. Both would continue, but too far behind the field to make any moves.
With an air of inevitability, the safety car made its first appearance of the race, cancelling Wittmann’s early advantage.
Saturday’s race winner continued his charge at the front, fending Bottas and Nasr off once the race restarted on the fourth lap. Bottas, however, wasn’t quite as sure footed. A mistake entering the final set of corners gave Nasr the edge he needed to pass the Finn; however it was Juncadella who proved the most decisive.
Sitting in Nasr’s slipstream, Juncadella drafted passed the Bottas / Nasr fight, assuming 2nd spot, while the Brazilian maintained 3rd as he sped passed Bottas. There was a certain finality to Bottas’ backward step – eager to keep close to Nasr, the Finn lost his Dallara in San Francisco corner, hitting the barrier.
With Bottas out, Yamauchi was promoted to 4th, although it would not be long before the Japanese pilot lost out to a fiery Sekiguchi and Hannes van Asseldonk. As the trio shuffled for position, Yamauchi fell to the rear of the group, with Sekiguchi assuming 4th.
Little of this registered with Wittmann – the German now found himself nearly three seconds ahead of the pack; however this lead would soon be cut short.
Felix Rosenqvist’s torrid Macau experience came to an early end on lap seven, after his Mücke-Mercedes machine became enamoured with the barriers at Faraway.
With this came the second safety car period – one that would prove to be the game changer.
Come the lap ten restart, Wittmann’s restart was slightly less assured, allowing Juncadella, Nasr and Sekiguchi to run alongside as they approached Lisboa. What was looking like an assured Macau victory only minutes beforehand, turned on its head thanks to a disastrous getaway by Wittmann.
Squeezed at the corner entry, Wittmann dropped to 4th, becoming 5th when van Asseldonk slithered by moments later.
With Wittmann relegated down the order, Juncadella led ten laps from Sekiguchi, Nasr and van Asseldonk; however neither Nasr nor Wittmann were ready to settle.
Sensing the top spot, Nasr pressed and pushed Sekiguchi for all his worth, passing the substitute runner into Lisboa for 2nd on lap eleven, while Wittmann grabbed 4th back from van Asseldonk one tour later.
Macau would be slightly less forgiving for those behind the front men. While the leaders battled hard, Carlos Munoz lost his fight with traction at Lisboa, sliding front first into the barrier and retiring on the spot. It had been a poor weekend for the Colombian, who had struggled amidst the midfield throughout the meeting.
Yamauchi’s luck would also run dry, once the Japanese pilot glanced the barrier exiting the final corner. Yamauchi’s regression down the order would be slow, but it was clear his Toda-Honda had been rendered undriveable by hurt suspension.
Juncadella too came close to making a race-ending mistake – several in fact. The Spaniard survived a ragged twelfth lap with his Prema Powerteam machine unscathed; however Nasr had by now closed the gap to half-a-second.
As Nasr pushed hard, Juncadella’s composure held, allowing the race leader to extend the margin to Nasr to one 1.1 seconds.
Meanwhile, Wittmann was catching the pair of them. A pass for 3rd on the fading Sekiguchi allowed the German to steam up to the rear Nasr; however neither Nasr nor Wittmann would have time to force the issue.
As they crossed the start/finish line to complete thirteen tours, the safety car emerged, neutralising the event.
With twelve’s kilometre’s left to run, a frightening smash occurred at Mandarin bend. A mistake by the faltering Yamauchi caused Fortec’s William Buller to take avoiding action, only for Kevin Magnussen to run over the top of Buller and into the catch fencing.
Sino Vision’s Hywel Lloyd attempts to miss the crash came to nothing, when the unsighted Carlos Sainz Jr. hit him from behind in his Signature machine. The luckless Alexander Sims was caught up in the tail end of the melee, eventually spinning out one turn later.
Both Magnussen and Lloyd were taken to the infield care centre, although both would later be released with mild bruising.
The incident allowed Juncadella to cruise to the flag to claim his victory, with Nasr and Wittmann in close company. Sekiguchi secured 4th ahead of van Asseldonk, while Buller survived the Magnussen clash to come home 6th. Lucas Foresti brought his Fortec-Mercedes to the flag in 7th, heading off Jazeman Jaafar (8th, Carlin), Richard Bradley (9th, TOM’S) and Adderly Fong (10th, Sino Vision).
Hitech’s Pietro Fantin just missed out on the top ten. He beat Kimiya Sato (12th, Motopark) to the line, while Huertas recovered to finish 13th and last. Although the 2011 Macau Grand Prix was certainly interesting, it sadly fell short of being a thriller, but wreckage and safety car spoiled events rarely live long in the memory.
Race Rating: 3 out 5
2011 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix (Feature Race, 15 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Daniel Juncadella Prema Dallara-Merc 42m17.099s
2. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 0.359s
3. Marco Wittmann Signature Dallara-VW + 0.662s
4. Yuhi Sekiguchi Mucke Dallara-Merc + 1.378s
5. Hannes van Asseldonk Hitech Dallara-VW + 2.128s
6. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 3.301s
7. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 3.860s
8. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 4.062s
9. Richard Bradley TOM'S Dallara-Toyota + 4.595s
10. Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 4.819s
11. Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW + 5.551s
12. Kimiya Sato Motopark Dallara-VW + 6.534s
13. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 8.336s
Retirements:
Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW 13 laps
Hideki Yamauchi Toda Dallara-Honda 13 laps
Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 13 laps
Carlos Sainz Jr Signature Dallara-VW 13 laps
Alexander Sims TOM'S Dallara-Toyota 13 laps
Marko Asmer Double R Dallara-Merc 13 laps
Antonio Felix da Costa Hitech Dallara-VW 12 laps
Carlos Munoz Signature Dallara-VW 9 laps
Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 6 laps
Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc 4 laps
Mitch Evans Double R Dallara-Merc 4 laps
Roberto Merhi Prema Dallara-Merc 1 lap
Daniel Abt Signature Dallara-VW 0 laps
Richie Stanaway Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 0 laps
Laurens Vanthoor Signature Dallara-VW 0 laps
Hironobu Yasuda Three Bond Dallara-Nissan 0 laps
Macau. © Creative Commons / Sentoan
Marco Wittmann claimed yesterday’s Formula 3 Qualification Race at Macau, putting himself in pole for today’s Feature Race.
From his initial pole position, the German pilot ran unthreatened to the chequered flag in a race neutralised by a late safety car period.
Admittedly, Wittmann had already lost two of his rivals before the lights went out. Alexander Sims – racing in his TOM’S Toyota machine – suffered an unfortunate accident on his way to the grid, ending his day before it had even begun.
This was further mirth as the field lined-up for the start, when first gear broke on Antonio Felix da Costa’s Volkswagen-powered Hitech machine. Da Costa would get four laps in eventually, before pulling into the pits to finish.
Wittmann still had to manage further challenges off the line – primarily from GP3 Champion Valtteri Bottas and British F3 Champion Felipe Nasr; however as the trio approached Lisboa corner for the first time, Wittmann held the inside line and the lead, never to be worried again.
With a gap of approximately 1.5 second’s throughout the green flag running, Wittmann held a steady lead, enduring the early prize would be his.
Unfortunately for Bottas, the Finn was squeezed out wide at Lisboa’s tight turn-in point, gifting 2nd spot to Nasr. Bottas’ difficult opening tour would be compounded on the second circulation, when Formula 3 Euroseries Champion, Roberto Mehri, scythed passed the GP3 victor, demoted Bottas to 4th.
Indeed it was an impressive start for Mehri, who launched himself from 8th on the grid, making up for spots in the opening few turns. Once on Nasr’s tail, Mehri’s progress faltered, as the Brazilian fought to keep the eager Spaniard behind him.
Nasr had an answer for everything Mehri threw at him, ensuring their places would remain unchanged to the flag. Bottas could do little else, but settle for 4th.
Carlin’s Carlos Huertas took 5th ahead of the fast-starting Daniel Juncadella, who came home 6th in his Prema Powerteam Mercedes.
Like Mehri, Juncadella also enjoyed a stellar opening tour, jumping from 11th to 7th, before displacing Signature Racing’s Laurens Vanthoor for 6th and Huertas for 5th.
Unwilling to lose a top-five placing, Huertas retook Juncadella on the lap seven, earning a place on the clean side of the grid for the Feature. Vanthoor stayed 7th to the flag, just ahead of Daniel Abt (8th, Signature) Kimiya Sato (9th, Motopark) and Hannes van Asseldonk (10th, Hitech).
The race saw relatively few incidents – in fact, only two accidents of note. The first coming on lap seven, as an overeager launched his TOM’S machine over the rear of Mitch Evans’ Double-R Mercedes.
Evans continued to the flag, despite having a damaged rear wing; however Bradley’s day was done.
That was no match for the wreck caused by Sweden’s Jimmy Eriksson, who suffered a huge crash at Faraway on the eighth lap. Eriksson emerged from the incident unscathed; however his Motopark car did not – with the car in an awkward position, surrounded by a large pool of carbon fibre debris, the safety car was called.
With only two laps remaining, there was not enough time to clear the wreckage, rendering the rest of the race a done deal.
The finishing order in this race represents the grid for the Feature Race.
Race Rating: 3 out of 5
2011 Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix (Qualifying Race, 10 laps)
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Marco Wittmann Signature Dallara-VW 25m03.719s
2. Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-VW + 0.867s
3. Roberto Merhi Prema Dallara-Merc + 3.483s
4. Valtteri Bottas Double R Dallara-Merc + 4.270s
5. Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-VW + 4.850s
6. Daniel Juncadella Prema Dallara-Merc + 5.381s
7. Laurens Vanthoor Signature Dallara-VW + 6.512s
8. Daniel Abt Signature Dallara-VW + 7.228s
9. Kimiya Sato Motopark Dallara-VW + 8.154s
10. Hannes van Asseldonk Hitech Dallara-VW + 9.337s
11. Hideki Yamauchi Toda Dallara-Honda + 10.200s
12. Yuhi Sekiguchi Mucke Dallara-Merc + 10.789s
13. William Buller Fortec Dallara-Merc + 11.086s
14. Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Merc + 11.517s
15. Richie Stanaway Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW + 12.167s
16. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc + 12.888s
17. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-VW + 13.967s
18. Marko Asmer Double R Dallara-Merc + 14.933s
19. Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-VW + 15.558s
20. Carlos Sainz Jr Signature Dallara-VW + 16.388s
21. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc + 16.924s
22. Mitch Evans Double R Dallara-Merc + 18.601s
Retirements:
Jimmy Eriksson Motopark Dallara-VW 7 laps
Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 6 laps
Richard Bradley TOM's Dallara-Toyota 5 laps
Antonio Felix da Costa Hitech Dallara-VW 4 laps
Hironobu Yasuda Three Bond Dallara-Nissan 3 laps
Carlos Munoz Signature Dallara-VW 1 lap
Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-VW 0 laps
Alexander Sims TOM'S Dallara-Toyota 0 laps
Macau. © Creative Commons / Sentoan
Whether they appear in the pages of a magazine, on the web or even on television screens, there are places in the world that simply exude romance.
Those destinations whose style, culture and history draw one in with a charm and exuberance oft missing from cities draped in modernisation, with a personality is more than likely shaped by functionality as opposed to class.
Some people look better in a tuxedo, while others find comfort in a stale brown suit.
Situated on the south-eastern tip of China, Macau is probably a tuxedo, albeit one with a touch of creased, hard-edged class. Colonised by Portuguese traders in the early 16th Century, Macau was the first and last European colony in China (becoming independent of European power in 1999), but still stands as one of only two special administrative regions in the country, along with Hong Kong.
Yet for the third weekend of every November, the region once again finds itself colonised, but by some of the world’s finest young racing drivers as opposed to fish traders.
Until Sunday, Macau will be under the thumb of participants from multiple Formula 3 and equivalent categories, as thirty young racers aim to take one of the most prestigious crowns in motorsport.
A curious blend of long straights, swift kinks and ultra tight bends, make Macau one the toughest challenges of the Formula 3 season, both in terms of racing and in finding an optimum set up.
Add into the mix how narrow and bumpy the course is, along with its intensive elevation changes and you have a circuit more akin to a hill-climb course, rather than a racing circuit.
Inaugurated in 1954, several famous names have taken the spoils at Macau; including the late Ayrton Senna, who triumphed in the first Formula 3 running in 1983.
Michael Schumacher, David Brabham and David Coulthard are also on the winner’s list, while current IndyCar competitors Takuma Sato and Mike Conway have also taken the race in the last decade. Ricardo Patrese won the Grand Prix twice in Formula Pacific machinery before the category moved to the current Formula 3 model.
Last year Edoardo Mortara became the first two-time winner since Patrese, somewhat reviving his career in the process.
The Grand Prix also represents the final round of the inaugural FIA Formula 3 International Trophy, a championship dominated by Formula 3 Euroseries champion, Roberto Mehri.
Mehri is very much a favourite of mine, especially following his rather dominant performances in both the F3 Euroseries and the International Trophy – a pair of titles he claimed some time ago.
Yet it was Mehri’s Signature Racing rival Marco Wittmann who claimed the pole position honours with a best of 2:12.790.
Mehri, however, fell 0.064 seconds short of this target, but was later penalised for colliding with Felix Rosenqvist during the first qualifying session.
Several other penalties rendered the original post-qualifying order somewhat meaningless, as nine drivers were demoted after the session – a pair of whom received two penalties.
Before qualifying, I would have given the race to Mehri, but with the Spaniard now dropped to 8th place, he will have a hard time climbing from there. Also watch out for Antonio Felix da Costa, who has now been promoted to the front row.
GP3 veterans, Valtteri Bottas and Alexander Sims will be threatening on the second row of the grid, as will newly crowned British Formula 3 Champion, Felipe Nasr, who lines up 5th.
Nasr’s Carlin teammate Carlos Huertas secured 6th place once the grid sorted itself out. Huertas pipped Japanese Formula 3 Champion Yuhi Sekiguchi by just over one-tenth of a second.
Sekiguchi has proved to be one of the weekend’s revelations thus far, having only been confirmed as a replacement for the injured Michael Ho on Wednesday.
As an aside, Mehri was one of nine drivers hit with a penalty. Such were the numbers of penalties handed out (mainly for collision, ignoring yellow flags and for crossing the pitlane exit line), Daniel Juncadella – who qualified 14th – received a 3-place grid penalty and will start 11th…
The Qualifying Race for the 58th Macau Grand Prix starts at 6am in the UK, but if you manage to find a feed, count yourself lucky – highlights of the event are not due to be shown for another five weeks, which for such a famous race is absolutely shocking.
Bi-lingual commentary for the race is being broadcast live from the Macau Grand Prix homepage and if you can find moving pictures too, then it’s best to celebrate like it’s 1999.
Sunday’s Feature Race kicks off at 7.30am, with the same lack of broadcast notes.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Marco Wittmann Signature-VW 2m12.790 2. Antonio Felix da Costa Hitech-VW 2m13.115 + 0.325s 3. Valtteri Bottas Double R-Merc 2m13.192 + 0.402s 4. Alexander Sims TOM'S-Toyota 2m13.407 + 0.617s 5. Felipe Nasr Carlin-VW 2m13.429 + 0.639s 6. Carlos Huertas Carlin-VW 2m13.704 + 0.914s 7. Yuhi Sekiguchi Mucke-Merc 2m13.850 + 1.060s 8. Roberto Merhi Prema-Merc 2m12.854 + 0.064s *** 9. Laurens Vanthoor Signature-VW 2m13.973 + 1.183s * 10. Kimiya Sato Motopark-VW 2m14.246 + 1.456s 11. Daniel Juncadella Prema-Merc 2m14.064 + 1.274s * 12. Marko Asmer Double R-Merc 2m14.011 + 1.221s * 13. Carlos Munoz Signature-VW 2m14.020 + 1.230s * 14. Pietro Fantin Hitech-VW 2m14.415 + 1.625s 15. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin-VW 2m14.477 + 1.687s 16. Daniel Abt Signature-VW 2m14.513 + 1.723s 17. Hannes van Asseldonk Hitech-VW 2m14.591 + 1.801s 18. Richie Stanaway Van Amersfoort-VW 2m14.625 + 1.835s 19. Carlos Sainz Jr Signature-VW 2m14.511 + 1.721s * 20. William Buller Fortec-Merc 2m14.649 + 1.859s 21. Hideki Yamauchi Toda-Honda 2m14.863 + 2.073s 22. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision-Merc 2m15.022 + 2.232s 23. Lucas Foresti Fortec-Merc 2m15.061 + 2.271s 24. Richard Bradley TOM'S-Toyota 2m15.855 + 3.065s 25. Adderly Fong Sino Vision-Merc 2m16.666 + 3.876s 26. Hironobu Yasuda Three Bond-Nissan 2m22.302 + 9.512s ** 27. Jimmy Eriksson Motopark-VW 2m55.360s + 42.570s 28. Mitch Evans Double R-Merc (no time) 29. Kevin Magnussen Carlin-VW 2m13.518 + 0.728s **** 30. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke-Merc 2m13.528 + 0.738s **** Penalties: * 3-place grid penalty (crossing pitlane exit line) ** 6-place grid penalty (crossing pitlane exit line twice) *** 7-place grid penalty (collision) **** Sent to back of grid (ignoring yellow flags)
The past few months have proved quite difficult in motorsport, as the various forms of racing encounter tragedy after tragedy.
The fatal accidents of former IndyCar Champion Dan Wheldon and MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli may have grabbed all the headlines and comment, but as always, other news escapes the media stranglehold.
In the time since, Graham Rahal’s auction to raise funds for Dan Wheldon’s remaining family has reportedly raised over $400,000. An amazing achievement.
It is therefore heart-warming to see the Formula 1 world also out to support those affected by difficulties. The Tree of Hope Children’s Charity is in currently running an auction to raise funds for the family of 3-year-old Seb Strudwick – a boy suffering with Cerebral Palsy.
According to the charity:
“…the aim is to raise enough money to send Seb to America for a life changing operation that will enable him to sit, stand and walk independently.
The operation led by a team at the St Louis Children’s Hospital has a 100% success rate over 20 years and the lead neurosurgeon is certain that Seb will benefit from Selective Dorsal Rhyzotomy (SDR).
Seb’s father Daniel is an employee at the Brackley Based Mercedes GP Team and has with the help of friends and colleagues put together an eBay charity auction for F1 Memorabilia. To help the fund along Daniel has collected items himself from his personal collection and has also been given many items by the teams on the grid.”
One of the auction’s leading lights has been well known motor racing photographer, Mark Sutton of Sutton Images. Alongside various pieces of Formula 1 equipment, including signed helmets, overalls and some unique car parts, Sutton brought several limited edition pictures from his company’s extensive archive.
“Seb and his family are local to me and as soon as I heard about his condition and the need for his operation I wanted to assist as much as I could. I knew that I could help them through my contacts in the F1 industry and help make a huge impact into the amount they needed to raise for this journey.
The F1 teams have been amazing in their response and I am confident that we will collect the necessary funds to make this a reality.”
The family need in excess of £45,000 to fund the operation and follow-on care for Seb. Although the operation takes place in January, rehabilitation – including daily physiotherapy – will continue for long periods thereafter.
The auction continues for another eight days and can be found at this address on eBay. For more information about The Tree of Hope and Seb Strudwick’s Formula 1 Auction, please click on the links.
Items in the auction:
Signed Caps and Helmets
Red Bull Cap; Sauber (Cap 1, Cap 2, Cap 3); Scuderia Toro Rosso Cap; Williams F1 Cap; Ross Brawn Mercedes GP Cap; Brawn GP Cap (signed by Brawn and Jenson Button); Subaru Prodrive (unsigned) Cap; Lewis Hamilton Replica Helmet; Michael Schumacher Replica Helmet; Nico Rosberg Replica Helmet; Mercedes GP Pit Crew Helmet (signed by Schumacher and Rosberg); Jenson Button Brawn Helmet;
Shirts, Jumpers, Overalls and Gloves
Sebastian Vettel Fireproof Garment; Button and Hamilton T-Shirt; Framed Nico Rosberg Gloves; Framed Paul di Resta Gloves; Button Honda Overalls; Jos Verstappen Overalls; Tyrrell F1 (Coat, Jumper, Shirt 1, Shirt 2, Gloves, Socks, Badge); BAR Shirt; Subaru Prodrive (Jumper, Shirt)
Assorted F1 Car Items
Mercedes Rear Wing End Plate; Force India Rear Wing End Plates (Wing 1, Wing 2, Wing 3); Virgin Racing Rear Wing (signed):
Books, Photographs and Posters
Signed Ross Brawn Book; Team Lotus F1 Book; Williams Photo Book; (signed and framed) Sebastian Vettel; Mark Webber; Jenson Button; Lewis Hamilton; Fernando Alonso; Felipe Massa; Adrian Sutil; Paul di Resta; Timo Glock; Sir Jackie Stewart; Damon Hill; David Coulthard; Alex Wurz; Martin Brundle; Luca di Montezemelo.
Assorted Memorabilia
Sauber Rucksack; Button Drinks Bottle; 2009 Australian GP Programme (signed by Button, Brawn and Barrichello); Sauber F1 Teddy Bear;
Zhuhai Circuit. © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger
A dominant Peugeot squad ensured a 1-2 finish for the French marque at the final ILMC round in Zhuhai on Sunday.
Led to victory by the #7 Peugeot of Sebastien Bourdais / Anthony Davidson pairing, the Michelin-shod squad eased themselves to the chequered flag first, garnering a 38-second advantage as the clocked ticked down.
Bourdais registered the fastest lap along the way, although it was Davidson who finished the race for the lead Peugeot team ahead of the second French manufacturer, piloted by Stéphane Sarrazin and Franck Montagny (#8 Peugeot).
Audi claimed a distant 3rd with Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fässler in the #1 machine, while the second R18 entry – piloted by Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish (#2 Audi) – retired during the event.
Slow Away
It could have gone quite differently for the Peugeot drivers and their 908 machines. A sluggish opening for the French squad saw Montagny fall to 4th, behind the Audi pairing, while Bourdais continued to lead from pole ahead of McNish (2nd) and Bernhard (3rd).
The Audi pair swapped places twenty minutes in, offering Bernhard a chance to displace Bourdais – something he achieved ten minutes later. Bourdais soon fell to 4th overall behind Montagny, with the former Champ Car champion claiming tyre issues.
Montagny was also complaining about his Michelin rubber, prompting Peugeot to pit both cars at the 45-minute mark for fuel and tyres.
Audi made their first visit to the pits at this stage, although where Bernhard’s stop was for fuel only, McNish was stationary for far longer. An early light clash with a Ferrari damaged a legality panel at the rear of McNish’s R18, prompting desperate repairs in the garage, dropping the #2 Audi to 4th.
The day got even worse for McNish not long into the second hour. While lapping the #12 Rebellion Racing machine on the entry into turn one, the Scot received a significant clout from the Toyota-powered machine.
The hit was enough to damage a wiring loom at the rear of the Audi, prompting severe electrical issues as the race aged – issues that would eventually lead to the retirement of the bruised R18.
Over the following three hours, both McNish and Tom Kristensen dragged what little they could from the #2 Audi amidst lengthy pitstops, but with just over two hours remaining, the garage door fell for the final time.
The situation was a little more relaxed in the lead Audi garage – with just over one hour completed, Bernhard led by 20 seconds from Montagny and Bourdais, but it was not to last.
Sensing Bourdais was quicker, Montagny let the #7 Peugeot through into 2nd to chase after the front running Audi.
Where Zhuhai may not be the easiest of circuits on which to overtake, it still left plenty of scope for strategic running and it was here that Peugeot claimed the honours.
Change at the Front
Keeping Bourdais in the #7 Peugeot at the second stops – thereby shortening the stop length considerably – proved to be a masterstroke. With Fässler stepping into the #1 Audi in place of Bernhard, the German squad surrendered the race lead; gifting Bourdais a 12 second lead at the two-hour mark.
A driver change for the #8 Peugeot – Sarrazin in for Montagny – kept them firmly in 3rd, but still closing in on the slightly sluggish Fässler. With each tour, the race was falling away from the German constructor.
Fässler’s Audi would regain the top spot – briefly – gaining the advantage when Bourdais finally gave up his seat to Davidson at the 2 hour 20 minute mark, but it was short-lived.
With both Fässler and Sarrazin stopping for fuel only, the Audi’s lead shrunk to six seconds, while Davidson – in a temporary 3rd – threatened rearguard action.
The ultimate change occurred just prior to the halfway point in the race. Pressured by an ever-closer Sarrazin, Fässler committed an error while lapping a GT runner in turn one, forcing the #1 Audi to slither momentarily.
It was all Sarrazin needed – within a moment, the #8 Peugeot breezed through into the race lead, with Davidson also taking the slightly dented Audi minutes later.
Now heading the field, Sarrazin drew to one side, offering the Davidson the opportunity to front the field, as the LMP1 squads contemplated the next round of stops.
The lead somewhat secure, Davidson stayed for another stint in the #7 Peugeot, while Montagny retook the wheel of the #8 Peugeot from Sarrazin. Fässler, meanwhile, pitted the #1 Audi, letting Bernhard take control once again.
Dominant to the Flag
From here, it was a Peugeot demonstration. Amongst the final series of stops, the #7 Peugeot pulled gingerly away from the Montagny / Sarrazin entry, while the #1 Audi fell further and further behind.
Come the chequered flag, Davidson had drawn a 38.6 second lead from Sarrazin – the pairing confidently bringing their French machinery home, completing 249 laps along the way.
The final indignation came for Audi in the closing hour – first as the #1 Audi lapped by both Peugeot’s, topped off by a lairy spin in the last turn for Fässler with only 15 minutes remained.
Behind the factory squads, Rebellion Racing assumed a fine 4th place with Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost at the wheel of the Lola-Toyota, albeit seven laps adrift in the petrol car.
In some respects, it was a fortunate finish for the #12 Rebellion. Although time was lost following the second hour clash with the #2 Audi, that was all that fell away; however the Swiss squad still had to fight for it.
Finding themselves behind the Oak Pescarolo-Judd in the second half of the race, both Jani and Prost worked hard to close down Oak Racing’s Olivier Pla, eventually taking the Frenchman four-and-a-half hours in.
The Oak Racing trio could do little to stop the advance of the #12 Rebellion. The #24 machine – piloted by Jacques Nicolet and Alexandre Prémat alongside Pla – would eventually lose a lap to the Rebellion runners, yet it was still a credible 5th for the all-French squad.
Indeed, they still kept their heads above water, despite dropping several minutes in the pitlane at the beginning of the third hour, taking the top-five over a lap ahead of the #007 Lola Aston Martin.
Oak Racing’s second trio, consisting of Matthieu Lahaye, Guillaume Moreau and Pierre Ragues secured a quiet 7th place; a long way ahead of the next entry, the Tokai University’s Courage-Oreca. There was some small celebration for the Tokai squad – they became the first (and last) hybrid LMP1 machine to finish an ILMC race.
In their sole ILMC event for 2011, what had been a somewhat positive endeavour for the Tokai team, turned sour with just over an hour remaining, when one of their wheels fell off following a stop. By race end, the Japanese team had fallen 62 laps adrift of the victors.
LMP2
Signatech Nissan took the honours in a dreadfully depleted LMP2 field. The French squad – wheeled by Franck Mailleux, Lucas Ordoñez and Jean-Karl Vernay – enjoyed a fifteen-lap advantage over the #35 Oak Racing entrants – their sole category rivals.
It was a mostly quiet event for Signatech, whose run to the flag was only interrupted by battered front and rear decks in the final hour.
The same could not be said for the Oak Racing machine. The Judd-powered French team parked their entry for extended periods in the closing stages, allowing the Frederic da Rocha / Patrice Lafargue to fall down the overall standings.
LM GTE Pro
The #51 AF Corse team completed just enough laps to be counted towards the LM GTE championship challenge ahead of BMW Motorsport – a shame as it detracted from a fascinating final round battle.
Come the six-hour mark, BMW did indeed take the category win – they took a 1-2 in fact – led by their #55 entry, driven by Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller, with the second M3 machine following one lap behind.
Both BMW’s did lose some time in the early running, with the Farfus / Müller car parked in the pits for a brief period, while the #56 machine (Andy Priaulx and Uwe Alzen at the controls) suffered contact with the #62 CRS Racing Ferrari.
The BMW’s had precious little challenge in the latter stages from #59 Luxury Racing Ferrari F458, manned by Frédéric Makowieki and Stéphane Ortelli. Following the halfway point, the red charge faded as the BMW’s made sure of their Chinese success.
Lotus took 4th with one of their Jetalliance Evora entries, although the Michelin-shod machine managed only 194 laps, after the #64 banked itself deep in the turn 11 gravel with thirty minutes remaining.
The title winning AF Corse squad finished a distant 5th.
LM GTE Am and Others
Proton Competition took their second class win of the season with Richard Lietz, Gianluca Roda and Christian Ried at the wheel of their Porsche 911. They won out in an early battle with class champions Larbre Competition Corvette to pull a lap away. Completing the podium was the #57 Krohn Racing entry, beating its fellow Ferrari #62 CRS Racing by just over a minute.
Gulf AMR gave their Vantage a 5th place finish in GTE Am, hurt no doubt by a long visit to the gravel trap mid-race.
Zhang Shanqi and Wei Liang Chen delivered the PTRS Oreca – the race’s sole FLM car – to the flag in 213 laps, while in GTC, Audi confirmed a 1-2 finish with a pair of R8’s, headed by Edoardo Mortara, Darryl O’Young and Alexandre Imperatori.
Come next year, the World Endurance Championship steps up, as the ILMC ceases to be.
Race Rating: 1.5 out of 5
2011 ILMC 6 Hours of Zhuhai (RD 7; 249 Laps)
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time/Gap
1. LMP1 Bourdais/Davidson Peugeot 6h01m24.879s
2. LMP1 Montagny/Sarrazin Peugeot + 38.651s
3. LMP1 Bernhard/Fassler Audi + 1 lap
4. LMP1 Jani/Prost Rebellion Lola-Toyota + 7 laps
5. LMP1 Nicolet/Premat/Pla OAK Pescarolo-Judd + 9 laps
6. LMP1 Meyrick/Mucke/Primat AMR Lola-Aston Martin + 10 laps
7. LMP1 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues OAK Pescarolo-Judd + 11 laps
8. LMP2 Mailleux/Ordonez/Vernay Signatech ORECA-Nissan + 21 laps
9. GTE P Farfus/Muller BMW + 28 laps
10. GTE P Priaulx/Alzen BMW + 29 laps
11. GTE P Makowiecki/Ortelli Luxury Ferrari + 31 laps
12. GTE A Lietz/Roda/Ried Proton Porsche + 32 laps
13. GTE A Bornhauser/Canal/Beretta Larbre Corvette + 33 laps
14. GTE A Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari + 34 laps
15. GTE A Ehret/Mullen/Wills CRS Ferrari + 34 laps
16. LMP2 Da Rocha/Lafargue OAK Pescarolo-Judd + 36 laps
17. FLM Shanqi/Chen PTRS FLM + 36 laps
18. GTC Mortara/O'Young/Imperatori C Audi + 39 laps
19. GTC Lee/Gruber/Tak Mak Race Experience Audi + 46 laps
20. GTE A Giroix/Goethe Gulf Aston Martin + 51 laps
21. GTE P Slingerland/Rich/Rasmussen Jetalliance Lotus + 55 laps
22. LMP1 Shogo/Naoki Tokai Courage-ORECA + 62 laps
23. GTE P Fisichella/Bruni AF Ferrari + 63 laps
Retirements:
GTC Tsuzuki/Kim/Van Dam Hitotsuyama Audi 169 laps
GTE P Rossiter/Mowlem/Heinemeier Jetalliance Lotus 163 laps
LMP1 Kristensen/McNish Audi 139 laps
GTE P Beltoise/Farnbacher/Firman Luxury Ferrari 110 laps
GTC Cheng/Arnold/Hakkinen AMG China Mercedes 73 laps
GTE A Cioci/Ma AF Ferrari 22 laps
2011 ILMC (Rd 7) LMP1 Manufacturers 1 Peugeot 211 2 Audi 119 GTE Manufacturers 1 Ferrari 171 2 BMW 152 3 Porsche 114 4 Corvette 95 5 Aston Martin 19 6 Lotus 15 LMP1 Teams 1 Peugeot Sport Total 113 2 Audi Sport Team Joest 85 3 Rebellion Racing 50 4 Team Oreca Matmut 47 5 Oak Racing 33 6 Aston Martin Racing 22 LMP2 teams 1 Signatech Nissan 95 2 Oak Racing 63 Level 5 Motorsport 57 LM GTE Pro 1 AF Corse 108 2 BMW Motorsport 101 3 Luxury Racing 38 4 Lotus Jetalliance 27 LM GTE Am 1 Larbre Competition 93 2 Krohn Racing 62 3 Proton Competition 52 4 CRS Racing 50 5 AF Corse 47 6 Gulf AMR Middle East 23
Yas Marina Circuit. © Creative Commons / Arz.
Sebastian Vettel took his fourteenth pole position of the season at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
The Red Bull driver pulled a sensational effort to set a lap of 1:38.481, pushing one tenth ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in the final moments.
Indeed, it looked as if Hamilton would have the advantage as the trio entered into their final Q3 runs, with the Briton initially ahead of Vettel.
This wasn’t to last. Despite improvements for both silver and red machines, Vettel’s sculpted the perfect lap, dragging every ounce of speed from his RB7 to snatch the top spot.
For the Red Bull man, this pole equalled record number of poles set in a season, originally posted by Nigel Mansell in 1992.
Mark Webber could only secure 4th in his Red Bull, comfortably ahead of both Ferrari’s, led by the always quick Fernando Alonso.
Felipe Massa came close to losing his third row place to the younger Mercedes flyer, Nico Rosberg – the gap between Massa and Rosberg, a mere 0.078 seconds.
Michael Schumacher did just enough to garner 8th ahead of Force India’s Adrian Sutil, while Paul di Resta never set a timed lap in the final part of qualifying.
Sauber’s Sergio Perez will line-up 11th for today’s race, with Renault’s Vitaly Petrov alongside. The Mexican missed out on Q3 by nearly three-tenths – a gap that cover the five drivers behind him.
Sebastien Buemi placed his Toro Rosso 13th, despite making a mistake on his final run. The Swiss racer finished two spots ahead of teammate Jaime Alguersuari, while the second Renault of Bruno Senna split the Red Bull junior squad.
A disappointing run saw Kamui Kobayashi claim 16th spot, while the last driver in Q2 – Pastor Maldonado – takes a grid penalty for using a 9th engine, dropping the Venezuelan to last on the grid.
The day was made much worse for Williams with Rubens Barrichello garage-bound throughout Q1. In what is looking like his penultimate race weekend, the Brazilian suffered an oil leak in the earlier practice – an issue not fully fixed come qualifying.
There were no surprises ahead of the Williams pair. Heikki Kovalainen leads an all-row nine Lotus pairing, with Virgin’s Timo Glock starting 19th, just ahead of Daniel Ricciardo (HRT).
On the eleventh row, Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin) beat Vitantonio Liuzzi (HRT) to 21st position.
Qualifying did see a brief stoppage during Q2, following some bollard destruction at turn eight. The bollard – thwacked to pieces by an errant driver – was dragged onto the racing line, prompting race control to have it removed.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m38.481s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.622s + 0.141 3. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.631s + 0.150 4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m38.858s + 0.377 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.058s + 0.577 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m39.695s + 1.214 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m39.773s + 1.292 8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.662s + 2.181 9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m40.768s + 2.287 10. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes Q2 cut-off time: 1m40.554s Gap ** 11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.874s + 2.440 12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m40.919s + 2.485 13. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.009s + 2.575 14. Bruno Senna Renault 1m41.079s + 2.645 15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.162s + 2.728 16. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.240s + 2.806 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m41.760s + 3.326 Q1 cut-off time: 1m42.605s Gap * 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m42.979s + 3.197 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m43.884s + 4.102 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.515s + 4.733 21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m44.641s + 4.859 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m44.699s + 4.917 23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m45.159s + 5.377 24. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosoworth no time 107% time: 1m46.766s * Gap to quickest in Q1 ** Gap to quickest in Q2
Yas Marina Circuit. © Creative Commons / Arz.
Lewis Hamilton made it three practice sessions out of three for McLaren in Abu Dhabi.
His best of 1:38.976 gave the 2008 world champion a four-tenths advantage over a chasing trio consisting of both Red Bull’s and Hamilton’s McLaren teammate, Jenson Button.
Hamilton wasn’t only quickest at the end of the session. The silver and red driver headed the time sheets while on on medium tyres, before the soft-tyred qualifying simulations began.
As the faster stints rolled out, Hamilton was demoted to 5th before returning to the summit in the final moments of the session.
Whereas the McLaren’s headed onto track straight away, both Red Bull’s waited, although for very different reasons. Sebastian Vettel – the quicker of the pair – waited for the circuit to cool somewhat, Mark Webber lost time while his RB7 received heavy set-up changes.
Webber also lost out on a charge for the top spot on his final run, blocked by Vettel and one of the Virgin’s in the final turns.
Button, too, lost time during the session, while he had several components altered on his McLaren.
There was also work being carried out on both Ferrari’s, with Fernando Alonso losing time as his mechanics worked on his experimental rear wing.
Felipe Massa also made drastic changes to his programme, changing to the Singapore specification front wing.
Unfortunately, both Williams and Lotus endured fraught sessions. At Williams, Rubens Barrichello ran only five laps before suffering an oil leak, while Jarno Trulli’s Lotus completed just an outlap when his gearbox ceased to function fully.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m38.976s 17 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.403s + 0.427s 18 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m39.427s + 0.451s 18 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.429s + 0.453s 16 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.661s + 0.685s 16 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m40.135s + 1.159s 19 7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m40.183s + 1.207s 18 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m40.429s + 1.453s 21 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m40.511s + 1.535s 19 10. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.938s + 1.962s 18 11. Bruno Senna Renault 1m41.509s + 2.533s 21 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.527s + 2.551s 21 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.566s + 2.590s 20 14. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m41.594s + 2.618s 18 15. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.622s + 2.646s 18 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.855s + 2.879s 18 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m42.025s + 3.049s 19 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m43.409s + 4.433s 22 19. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m43.861s + 4.885s 5 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m45.262s + 6.286s 23 21. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m45.302s + 6.326s 20 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m45.509s + 6.533s 22 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m45.732s + 6.756s 20 24. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1
Yas Marina Circuit. © Creative Commons / Arz.
McLaren got the penultimate Grand Prix of the season off to a perfect start by topping the opening pair of sessions in Abu Dhabi.
Jenson Button claimed the morning honours ahead of Mark Webber (Red Bull), while Lewis Hamilton crept to the top of the afternoon standings.
Indeed, it was something of a busy morning at the Yas Marina circuit. Amidst a number of off-track excursions, Button set a quickest lap of 1:40.263, edging out Webber by just over a tenth, although the Australian may lay claim to having his quickest lap ruined by a waved yellow flag late on.
Hamilton made it two Mercedes-powered machines in the top three, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).
The top two teams had a far more profitable morning than Ferrari, whose pair of starts – Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa – suffered several spins in snappy and poorly balanced machines.
Despite this, the red duo still claimed 5th and 6th, ahead of a pair of Force India’s (Adrian Sutil, 7th; Paul di Resta, 9th), while Nico Rosberg celebrated his new contract with Mercedes by setting the 8th best lap.
Jaime Alguersuari closed the top ten in his Toro Rosso, just two-tenths ahead of the team’s reserve driver, Jean-Eric Vergne.
Opening practice also saw two other reserve pilots hit the track. Both Romain Grosjean (Renault) and Robert Wickens (Virgin) took to the track, securing 12th and 23rd respectively.
Wicken’s Virgin teammate, Timo Glock, finished the session with half-second advantage over the Canadian, but did himself no favours with a spin as the chequered flag appeared.
It was a tough start for both Williams and Sauber. At the former squad, Pastor Maldonado lost a little time due to a cracked front wing, while Rubens Barrichello lost nearly the entire session after his engine failed spectacularly.
A drive train issue for Kamui Kobayashi made sure his Sauber had limited morning running.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.263s 21 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m40.389s + 0.126 26 3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.403s + 0.140 27 4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m40.755s + 0.492 27 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m40.801s + 0.538 25 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m41.260s + 0.997 17 7. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m41.340s + 1.077 23 8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m42.130s + 1.867 26 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m42.151s + 1.888 28 10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m42.377s + 2.114 26 11. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m42.633s + 2.370 26 12. Romain Grosjean Renault 1m42.685s + 2.422 29 13. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m43.118s + 2.855 13 14. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m43.255s + 2.992 29 15. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m43.389s + 3.126 24 16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m44.412s + 4.149 28 17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m44.484s + 4.221 18 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m44.565s + 4.302 27 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m44.898s + 4.635 25 20. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m46.385s + 6.122 28 21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m46.532s + 6.269 27 22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m48.024s + 7.761 20 23. Robert Wickens Virgin-Cosworth 1m48.551s + 8.288 23 24. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 3
Hamilton headed Button at the top end of the timing sheets in the second practice. The 2008 Champion clocked thirty-one laps of the Yas Marina track – one more than his champion teammate.
The McLaren pairing enjoyed a far quieter session than either Ferrari or Red Bull. Whereas Massa continued to suffer from balance difficulties, Alonso lost control of his Scuderia machine completely at the opening corner, hitting the soft barrier enough to damage his suspension.
Vettel suffered a similar incident only moments beforehand, although with far less damage. The Red Bull man also dropped his RB7 onto the gripless kerbs entering the first turn, sending his Adrian Newey designed machine spiralling toward the barrier for light contact.
Webber also suffered a soft spin under the hotel of flashing lights.
Schumacher headed a group of Mercedes-powered machinery in 7th. The veteran’s best was a clear four-tenths quicker than the Force India’s, led by Sutil; although rookie di Resta lost session time due to fuel line problems.
Rosberg ended the afternoon in 20th after running forty-one laps.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.586s 31 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.785s + 0.199 30 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.971s + 0.385 20 4. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m39.980s + 0.394 34 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m40.104s + 0.518 35 6. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m40.132s + 0.546 26 7. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m40.553s + 0.967 34 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m40.951s + 1.365 34 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m41.021s + 1.435 37 10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.490s + 1.904 34 11. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m41.565s + 1.979 34 12. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.680s + 2.094 33 13. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m41.947s + 2.361 31 14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m41.983s + 2.397 34 15. Bruno Senna Renault 1m42.369s + 2.783 36 16. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m42.798s + 3.212 35 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m42.910s + 3.324 34 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m43.562s + 3.976 36 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m44.050s + 4.464 38 20. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m44.265s + 4.679 41 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m45.486s + 5.900 34 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m46.142s + 6.556 32 23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m46.249s + 6.663 21 24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m46.328s + 6.742 34
© Jakob Ebrey Photography.
With this year’s British Formula 3 season now a mere memory, SRO Motorsport yesterday announced the provisional calendar for 2012.
After beginning this year at historic Monza in April, 2012’s opener reverts to Oulton Park for its now famous Easter weekend racing festival, with the Italian trip following one week later.
There follows a month gap, after which the series makes its way to south west France for the legendary Grand Prix de Pau – a round that may find itself part of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy once again – however the French adventure comes at the expense of the Nurburgring.
Pau will represent the championship’s first street course event for several years.
Rockingham moves from September to a May date, while the round at Brands Hatch remains in June. Paul Ricard moves to the final weekend in June/start of July; however that will only be a precursor to the stellar 24 Hours of Spa some four weeks later.
The final three rounds take place first at Snetterton (August), with Silverstone and Donington closing the season come the end of September.
While the British rounds will be very much supporting the growing British GT Championship, SRO has confirmed that the British Formula 3 Series will act as a primary support for the Blancpain Endurance Series at Monza, Paul Ricard and Spa-Francorchamps, with Pau most likely acting as a stand-alone event.
As with the past two seasons, each meeting consists of three races, lasting thirty minutes (race 1) and twenty minutes (race 2), while the final event measures in at forty minutes. The sole exception will be the Grand Prix de Pau, which will see a dual race format, lasting 30 minutes and 40 minutes respectively.
In a change from previous seasons, full points will now be awarded for race two, where previously half-points were the offering, with the reverse grid format extending to include the top twelve finishers from the opening event. Pitstops for specific events are also being muted.
New cars for the International Class now sees a greater potential for expansion of the Rookie division, with multiple variations of the old Dallara F308 chassis now available for the junior pilots of tomorrow.
A full test day with an International Class squad will be the reward for the Rookie Class champion.
2012 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series (Provisional) Round Venue Dates 1 Oulton Park April 6-7 2 Monza (Italy) April 14-15 3 Pau (France) May 11-13 4 Rockingham May 26-27 5 Brands Hatch June 23-24 6 Paul Ricard (France) June 29-Jul 1 7 Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) Jul 26-28 8 Snetterton Aug 4-5 9 Silverstone Sep 8-9 10 Donington Sep 29-30
"Paint it Orange." © Richard Burns Foundation.
As the climax of the 2011 World Rally Championship hits Wales this weekend, many in motorsport are keen to remember a rallying legend.
Six years ago this month, the world sadly lost 2001 World Rally Champion, Richard Burns, to a brain tumour at the age of only 34.
To mark what will be the tenth anniversary of his championship success, the Richard Burns Foundation recently launched the “Paint it Orange” campaign, in a bid to paint a sea of orange across the Welsh valleys.
The campaign, which has garnered tremendous support from numerous Formula 1 and WRC competitors, aims not to simply add colour to the region, but to support the Foundation in “its mission to help the Brain & Spine Foundation create a nationwide network of brain centres in the UK.”
The charity is also helping to address the lack of neurological provisions in Great Britain.
In addition to the “Paint it Orange” campaign, a charity auction will also be taking place from 6.30pm on Saturday evening at Cardiff Castle.
Several “Paint it Orange” shirts signed by the F1 and WRC community are to lead the auction, while other featured lots include factory tours of the Red Bull, McLaren and Renault team’s, TW Steel watches, Pedro de la Rosa’s McLaren race suit and a cap signed by Burns and his co-driver Robert Reid.
For more information on the Richard Burns Foundation, please visit their website. Even if you are not attending the Wales Rally GB, the “Paint it Orange” shirts can be purchased from Grandstand Merchandise.
All proceeds from the sale of the shirt are going to the Richard Burns Foundation.
As a timely reminder of Burns’ skill behind the wheel and his measure as a person, AMP Films have produced this wonderful short film highlighting Burns’ championship and his later battle with brain cancer.
2001 – when rally cars slid sideways through bends and Kenyan sand mixed equally amongst Monegasque tarmac. Just magic.
New Delhi International. © John Chapman / Creative Commons.
Sebastian Vettel’s dream 2011 continued in New Delhi on Sunday, with the world champion scoring his 11th victory of the season.
Vettel headed off a race long challenge from the McLaren of Jenson Button, while Fernando Alonso secured a credible podium for Ferrari, beating Vettel’s Red Bull teammate, Mark Webber, to the flag.
Quick in Qualifying, Quick in the Race
The champion made it look easy for the most part and while Button kept Vettel in his sights, the Red Bull man rarely looked truly threatened.
Leading from pole, Vettel only had to focus ahead, although the usual first lap melee saw some positions jumble amongst a carbon fibre jungle.
Not for Button though. Starting 4th, the McLaren pilot picked off a sluggish Webber, while the quick starting Alonso hit the gripless surface in the opening corner, rendering him defenceless.
With field behind still sorting themselves out, Vettel led clear away from Button, Webber and Alonso.
Just behind the front four, McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton made another speedy launch, only to be crowded out in the first turns. Taking advantage was Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, assuming 5th ahead of the Englishman.
Behind the leading six were the two Mercedes. Nico Rosberg kept his solid 7th on the grid on the opening tour, while veteran teammate Michael Schumacher jumped from 12th to 8th ahead of Adrian Sutil (Force India).
Bruno Senna made an equally good start in his Renault, leaping to 10th from 14th in initial few miles.
Carbon fibre Love Affairs
It was far from pretty in the pack however. An over ambitious dive into turn one by the Williams of Rubens Barrichello saw the Brazilian clouting Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, who in turn hit Timo Glock (Virgin).
His car’s front end wounded, Barrichello could not help, but plough into teammate Pastor Maldonado. Both Barrichello and Glock would pit to have damage repaired; however Kobayashi’s day was done.
“After the start I was hit from behind and immediately I saw smoke and fire coming from my car. There was severe damage, so I had to stop and switch the car off.”
Kobayashi would soon be joined on the sidelines. Timo Glock managed a further three laps, before the true extent of the damage became clear – come the end of the fourth tour, the German pulled in to retire.
“I just came down into Turn 1 on the outside and all of a sudden I saw bits flying around. I braked a bit earlier than normal and when I turned, suddenly Kamui Kobayashi drove straight into me and I couldn’t avoid the crash. My front wing was damaged so I came back in to change it, and we realised that we also had quite a lot of damage on the left side of the car, so we decided to stop.”
There was to be further calamity two corners on, as hometown hero, Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) spun the Lotus of Jarno Trulli around, damaging the green and yellow machine. He too would pit for repairs.
Maldonado would continue for a time, but as the race progressed the Venezuelan’s gearbox began to cough, eventually giving up on the thirteenth tour.
Barrichello, Glock and Trulli were not alone in the pits; however some chose to play the strategic card surprisingly early.
Worried about losing time on the hard tyres, Sergio Perez (Sauber) stopped for softs after completing the first tour, with Paul di Resta (Force India) and Vitaly Petrov (Renault) doing the same on laps 2 and 3 respectively.
It was a risky move for the trio, all of whom were willing to play the long game on the softs in Delhi’s dusty arena.
Steady Progress
There were no such thoughts up front. His lead growing steadily, Vettel peeled away from Button, tenths-of-a-second at a time.
Four laps in, Vettel was 2.7 seconds up; it was 4.3 second two circulations later – that was all Vettel really needed. As long as the undercut was covered, the race would be in his hands.
Meanwhile, Button’s considerations were elsewhere. All the time one Red Bull was pulling away, another loomed large in his mirrors, while Webber applied the pressure. Webber, too, had to be wary. Not far behind the Australian, Alonso and his red Ferrari kept the Red Bull pilot keenly aware of the Spanish threat.
As the race reached ten laps, the trio were rarely split by more than three seconds, although that gap would extend to just over five seconds as the first set of stops approached.
One driver keen to make progress was Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari. Successful upgrades in recent weeks have allowed the Spaniard (and teammate Sebastien Buemi) to stretch his legs somewhat and this race was no different.
Alguersuari fell to 11th at the start after qualifying 10th – a position rectified on lap nine as the Toro Rosso ushered Senna out of the way in turn four. That would become 9th five laps later thanks to a pass on Sutil – a promising opening stint for Alguersuari whose used Pirelli softs were holding their own.
Buemi, too, spent several laps recovering from a difficult start. Falling to 12th (from 9th) on the opening tour, appeared disastrous initially for the Swiss pilot, although overtakes on Senna (lap 10) and Sutil (lap 15) alleviated the problem somewhat.
Buemi’s progress would soon be halted though. Having risen as high as 8th during the first stops, the Ferrari engine in the rear of the Toro Rosso gasped its last, drawing to a halt twenty-five laps in.
“I am very disappointed with what happened this afternoon, because I was having a very good race. When the car stopped, I was lying eighth and (…) if we look on the positive side, our pace all weekend has been good, confirming the step forward we showed in Korea.”
Making Pirelli Last
Vettel had no such issues in the lead Red Bull machine. Such was his comfort out front, the champion ran the longest first stint of the top four, pitting on lap 19 for a second set of used softs.
His tyres not quite up to temperature, the Red Bull man drove warily for a time – the gap to Button having shrunk to under three seconds. Stopping a lap before the Red Bull star allowed the McLaren pilot to claw back some time, but with only one lap of a difference, it would never be enough.
As soon as Vettel’s tyres reached their optimum temperature, the gap for the lead extended once again – once again, everything was going Red Bull’s way. Well, nearly everything.
Status quo reigned in Vettel’s mirrors beyond Button, while Webber and Alonso enjoyed clean stops (both lap 16), maintaining their respective positions in the process; however the pair had now fallen ten seconds behind the lead.
To add to the feeling of separation, Alonso very nearly lost out at this point as well. Emerging from the pitlane, the Spaniard found himself behind the yet-to-stop Schumacher for a lap and four corners. Despite passing the soft-Pirelli shod Mercedes, the delay cost Alonso time to Webber – and very nearly dropped him behind Massa.
For his part, Massa came in for used softs on lap 17, one lap after the eager Hamilton (also used softs).
Falling into a now common pattern of pushing his tyres early in a stint, Hamilton closed on Massa, pressing the Brazilian in every conceivable venue. Despite every dodge, flicker or skilled shuffle, the Ferrari man had an answer – it would have to be a dive, but where?
Common Friends, Common Foes
After several tours of chasing, Hamilton held Massa close, looking for a opening – a solitary gap that finally appeared on lap 25 but just for a moment. Approaching turn five, Massa offered the briefest of gifts and Hamilton seized, only for the door to close instantly.
As the Scuderia machine pulled back across, Hamilton could not withdraw quickly enough, resulting in an almost inevitable “bosh” between the pair – a sound now common between the pair.
Spinning wilding for a moment, Massa continued, grazed by the contact, while Hamilton bore the brunt of the collision, requiring a replacement front wing – a stop that would drop him to 9th behind Alguersuari.
The McLaren pilot had dispatched the Toro Rosso man for 7th by lap 31, but with his MP4-26 beginning to suffer handling issues that would be as high as he reached. Following the race, Hamilton appeared more bemused than irritated by yet another accident with Massa, claiming:
“…the contact with Felipe was just one of those things. I really didn’t feel like I was at fault – it was a racing incident.”
In a surprise move, Massa garnered a drive through penalty for a clash that was little more than a racing incident. The Brazilian was less than pleased with the stewards’ decision:
“I can only say I do not share the opinion of the Stewards who inflicted the punishment. I simply stayed on the ideal line, braking on the limit and staying on the part of the track that was rubbered in. What else could I do? It’s the umpteenth time that Hamilton runs into me this year and it seems it’s some sort of fatal attraction…”
It all came to nothing soon afterward. After taking his drive through penalty on lap 30, Massa stopped again on the following tour for a new front wing and a set of hard tyres to take him to the end of the race.
Unfortunately, his race ended three laps later with a significant clump into the barriers at turn eleven. As on Saturday, Massa took to much kerb into the quick turn, breaking suspension over the orange slab inside the corner, well and truly ended his race on the spot.
The main beneficiaries of the Hamilton / Massa mess were the Mercedes – a team that has shown improved form of late.
Although still not a match for the “big three”, both Rosberg and Schumacher had pulled away somewhat from the rest of the midfield, leaving them a solid 4th in the Constructors Championship.
With Massa now absent, that translated to 5th and 6th, with Rosberg leading the pairing; however Schumacher’s ominous presence offered a renewed threat for the younger Rosberg, while Hamilton and Alguersuari lingered amongst the Delhi shadows.
Sutil, too, was keeping his head above water. By lap 35, the German was confidently holding his Force India 9th, ahead of the long-running Perez and Senna.
In a surprisingly mature run, Heikki Kovalainen spent the Indian Grand Prix wringing the neck of his Lotus-Renault, reaching 12th place thanks to some solid laps; however even he surely knew the position could not be maintained.
With each passing circulation Petrov and di Resta drew closer to the Finn, demoting him to 14th by the flag.
Unchallenged to the Flag
Not that any of this even entered Sebastian Vettel’s mind. For the German, battles over 12th place and onward ceased to be an issue long ago – now his focus was on winning races, something he was having no problem doing in 2011.
Every lap saw the gap extend ever so slight, reaching a peak of seven seconds, before the life of Vettel’s soft Pirelli’s began to wane. The gap to Button had indeed shrunk to just under five seconds, but that would be as close as the Englishmen could get.
One final stop for hard tyres on lap 47 solidified Vettel’s advantage and as with the previous stints, the champion eked out an untouchable lead, eventually crossing the line 8.433 seconds clear of Button. As with so many other races this year, the German’s victory was a consummate one; appreciated no doubt by the fans around the Delhi circuit.
“It was very good race for us and I enjoyed it. I had a bit of a fight with Jenson in the distance who was always around 4 seconds away, but strangely he kept closing in around the pit stops. It was crucial to manage the tyres and make sure we had enough left at the end, but it was a very smooth race. The car was very well balanced and it was a fantastic race today. It’s been a great race, a great event and the circuit is fantastic, so thanks a lot to all the people in India.”
While slightly disappointed with 2nd place, Jenson Button understood how tough catching and passing Vettel would have been. With the close of the race drawing ever closer, McLaren brought Button in for his hard tyres on lap 46, but as with the previous stop, he did not have enough to capture Vettel.
It was still a sterling effort by the Englishman who had carved a large gap to the Alonso / Webber battle in the final stint.
“I got a good start, made up places on the first lap and then settled down to keep Mark [Webber] behind me. Eventually, I think we ‘broke’ his rear tyres, which enabled me to establish a gap. Then I could set about Seb [Vettel] – but it was very difficult to close him down. At the final stop, it was a risk going to the harder tyre earlier than Seb, but we had to give it a go and it worked pretty well as I was able to close him down by a further three, but it wasn’t quite enough.”
Swapping at the Stops
Unlike Vettel, there was not such a sweet ending for Mark Webber. As the final round of stops approached, the Australian’s rears were suffering once again, only this time Fernando Alonso was the benefactor.
Having lost precious time behind Schumacher, the Spaniard charged toward the rear of the Red Bull, while showing little of the high tyre wear rates that the Ferrari suffered earlier in the season.
By lap 37, Alonso had closed to within half-a-second of Webber, as the Red Bull man dived in for a set of new hard Pirelli’s. Sadly, it was always going to be a lose-lose situation – the time it took to get the hard tyre up to temperature on top of Alonso running in free air hurt Webber badly.
When Alonso did pit two laps later, the deed was completed – the Ferrari exited the pits, with Webber firmly in his mirrors. The Australian still pushed Alonso to the flag, but there was simply not enough left to help Webber overhaul the red machine. The outcome left the Spaniard reasonably with his result:
“At the start, I did not get away particularly well and so Button was able to pass me. Then I tried to stay close to Webber and when he slowed down a bit, I closed right up and, staying out on track a few laps longer than him, I was able to get ahead of him. Being patient paid off.”
The Mercedes also swapped positions in the pits. Indeed fast wearing Pirelli’s hampered the end of Nico Rosberg’s middle stint; however a sluggish final stop (lap 45) held him even further.
As with Webber, it was Rosberg’s rugged pace and early switch to hards that would cost him. As one Mercedes pilot haemorrhaged time, the other held steady, keeping his softs usable for a further five laps.
When Michael Schumacher finally did pit with ten tours remaining, his gap to Rosberg was just significant enough to secure 5th place. It was a top five that would remain unchallenged to the flag.
Just under twenty seconds down the road trailed Lewis Hamilton, still struggling for pace following his clash with Massa. It was a disappointing result for the former-champion who had little choice but to settle for 7th.
In the Distance
If Hamilton appeared to be disappointed with, Jaime Alguersuari would have gladly taken off of him. Alas, 8th was the best the Toro Rosso could manage, but it was enough to send a clear message to his midfield rivals.
The Spaniard had actually dropped to 12th following his first stop, climbing to 8th as others peeled away. It was a position no one could touch as the race aged and despite awarding only four points, it bring the Spaniard ever closer to the top ten in the Drivers Championship.
For the final two points positions, it was a more frenzied affair. A very long middle stint (34 laps) on softs saw Bruno Senna take his Renault to 9th place ahead of Adrian Sutil, Sergio Perez and Vitaly Petrov, but despite the worthwhile tactic, it was not enough to keep the Brazilian in the points at the end.
A regulation change to hard tyres with four laps remaining dropped Senna to 12th – his slowing pace in the latter stages of his stint losing what advantage had been gained.
Realistically, neither Renault had been quick enough in the race, something aptly demonstrated by Petrov’s run to a point-less 11th spot, although he did keep Perez honest.
Long final stints by Sutil-Perez-Petrov trio would eventually bring them together come the flag, with Sutil assuming 9th (only 2.4 seconds up on Perez, 10th). Meanwhile, the Sauber rookie kept Petrov out of the points by a mere 0.877 seconds.
That Perez overshot his pitbox during his final stop and that Petrov had a brief off at turn five on lap 32 should weigh heavily.
Even Further Back
Paul di Resta had little to celebrate in Delhi. His odd tyre strategy was not enough to bring him into points, rendering him a 13th place limbo.
Indeed the Scot had been battling with both Perez and Petrov in the initial stages; however his second stop left him battling amongst the Kovalainen’s Lotus and the HRT’s. Such was the loss of time, di Resta’s race never really recovered.
Heikki Kovalainen did eventually claim 14th after a brilliant run. The Finn did breach the top ten momentarily during the first stops, but he would falter late on, as the Lotus struggled to garner heat for its hard Pirelli’s.
Following his first lap ruckus, Rubens Barrichello endured an utterly forgettable day, coming home 15th.
Only Jerome d’Ambrosio (16th, Virgin), both HRT’s (Narain Karthikeyan, 17th; Daniel Ricciardo, 18th) and a recovering Jarno Trulli (19th, Lotus) finished behind the Brazilian, registering a tortuous day on what must surely be one of his final Grand Prix. That Barrichello only managed to overtake Karthikeyan on lap 43 says much about the Brazilian’s display.
Of note, both Karthikeyan and Ricciardo displayed promising pace, with the India remaining consistent throughout, while Ricciardo peaked at a decent 15th spot for a time.
Admittedly, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix was not a thriller, but the track will be helped with further events.
While the Drivers Championship is long gone, Button closes in on securing the runner-up spot thanks to 13-point advantage over Alonso and a 19-point gap to Webber. Hamilton, meanwhile, is 38 points adrift of his teammate…
Race Rating: 2 out of 5
2011 Indian Grand Prix (Rd 17, 60 laps) Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h30:35.002 2. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 8.433 3. Alonso Ferrari + 24.301 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 25.529 5. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:05.421 6. Rosberg Mercedes + 1:06.851 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 1:24.183 8. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Petrov Renault + 1 lap 12. Senna Renault + 1 lap 13. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 15. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 2 laps 16. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 17. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 18. Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 19. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 4 laps Fastest lap: Vettel, 1:27.457 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Massa Ferrari 33 Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 25 Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 13 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 3 Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1 World Championship standings (Rnd 17; Drivers) 1. Vettel 374 2. Button 240 3. Alonso 227 4. Webber 221 5. Hamilton 202 6. Massa 98 7. Rosberg 75 8. Schumacher 70 9. Petrov 36 10. Heidfeld 34 11. Sutil 30 12. Kobayashi 27 13. Alguersuari 26 14. Di Resta 21 15. Buemi 15 16. Perez 14 17. Barrichello 4 18. Senna 2 19. Maldonado 1 World Championship standings (Rnd 17; Constructors) 1. Red Bull-Renault 595 2. McLaren-Mercedes 442 3. Ferrari 325 4. Mercedes 145 5. Renault 72 6. Force India-Mercedes 51 7. Sauber-Ferrari 41 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 41 9. Williams-Cosworth 5
Occasionally, one comes across moments in motorsport that defy belief and make one question nature’s senses.
Sometimes that can be a stunning overtaking manoeuvre, a moment of bravery, a costly pitstop error, great strategic thinking or even a silly mistake.
Then there are moments when a driver is so utterly reckless on track; all semblance of sensibility dissipates into thin air. It is a time when a driver truly crosses a line into unacceptable behaviour.
This evening at the penultimate round of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch more than crossed the line.
In fact, he changed gear and reversed over it. Then he got out and stamped on the line, all the while kicking dirt in its eye and when he finished all that, he picked up the line and threw it behind the bushes so that no one else could find it.
On the thirteenth lap, Truck Series title contender Ron Hornaday attempted a move on Sprint Cup regular Busch for 2nd place.
As Hornaday began to take advantage, he momentum was checked by a backmarker Timothy Peters, sending the KHI Chevrolet into the middle lane, collecting Busch. Both drew toward and into the wall, receiving notable damage and bringing out the first full caution of the race. Few expected what came next.
With the race neutralised, Hornaday slowed, citing slight damage to his right front, when a furious Busch drove up Hornaday’s rear, pitching him front first hard into the wall. Such was the ferocity of the hit; Hornaday’s engine block was severely damaged in the impact.
NASCAR officials parked Busch on the spot; however such was the damage to his Toyota-powered machine, it is unlikely that Busch could have continued effectively.
His truck destroyed, Hornaday’s title challenge is now over. With only one race remaining the Californian is now 48 points off the top of the standings, held by Austin Dillon. Busch, meanwhile, was ineligible for driver’s points, making the situation even more galling.
Put simply, what Kyle Busch did tonight was just the most pathetic display I’ve seen in a long, long time. At a time when oval racing safety is still a very sensitive subject amongst many motorsport fans, Busch showed the ultimate disrespect on track.
Over the last few years, NASCAR has certainly given the impression that this behaviour is quietly acceptable, as the series promotes the concept of “have at it, boys”, whereby drivers solve problems with other competitors – using force if needs be.
Twice in the last three years, NASCAR has flirted with the spectre of death – at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega – with Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards. On both occasions, the series was very, very lucky not to lose either driver and / or a number of spectators, but this has to stop.
Should this habit continue unabated, NASCAR runs the risk of paying a very high price for the sake of entertainment.
*NASCAR have announced in the past hour that Kyle Busch has been parked for the rest of the weekend. Busch was essentially out of the Chase for the Cup, so it will not make much difference there, but maybe it will signal NASCAR’s intentions to slam such reckless action.
I will wait with bated breath for that one.
New Delhi International. © John Chapman / Creative Commons.
Sebastian Vettel claimed his thirteenth pole position of the 2011 Formula 1 season at Delhi on Saturday.
It was also Red Bull’s sixteenth pole of the year – a record for a team in a single season.
The double-world champion claimed the accolade as others hit traffic on their fast laps – or in the case of Felipe Massa, the barrier.
Vettel set two fast laps in the final qualifying stint – both of which would have been good enough for the top spot; however it was his final run (at 1:24.178) that became the benchmark.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton was 2nd quickest as the chequered flag emerged, but a three-place penalty for a Friday transgression dropped the Briton down 5th, behind Mark Webber (Red Bull), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and McLaren teammate Jenson Button.
Indeed, it would prove to be a nervy run for Button. Suffering from poor grip throughout the session, the former champion used all three sets of his soft tyre, opting for only a single run in Q3.
Button’s quick lap – some seven-tenths shy of Vettel – was initially called into question, as he sped through a yellow flag area while Massa was busy going off. As the incident was still unfolding, Button avoided a penalty.
For Massa, the Brazilian pounded the kerbs at turn nine, breaking the suspension of the Ferrari, sending him careering into the barriers. His first timed run was enough to garner 6th on the grid.
Nico Rosberg completed only one run, assuming 7th on the grid, while Force India’s Adrian Sutil and both Toro Rosso’s did not complete fast runs, in order to save tyres for the Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher heads the sixth row in his Mercedes after Renault’s Vitaly Petrov’s Korean Grand Prix penalty was applied. The Russian had initially qualified 11th with a best of 1:26.319, but drops five places on the grid.
The alteration leaves Schumacher 11th, with Paul di Resta (Force India) alongside, while Pastor Maldonado continues to show rather impressive form in the Williams, taking 13th ahead of the other Renault of Bruno Senna.
Rubens Barrichello (15th, Williams) lost out to his rookie teammate once again – his best was a startling seven-tenths shy of Maldonado. Sergio Perez initially qualified 17th in his Sauber, but a three-place grid penalty from Friday practice incident knocked the Mexican down to 20th.
Perez’ teammate Kamui Kobayashi took that 17th place instead. Like Perez, the Japanese pilot spent the weekend struggling to find any grip in the Sauber C30 chassis; however Kobayashi’s qualifying turned from bad to worse when his Q1 run was blocked by Massa.
Both Lotus’ were also promoted due to the Perez penalty, with Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli assuming 18th and 19th respectively.
Jerome d’Ambrosio (21st) was next up in the Virgin, but only because both HRT’s suffered penalties themselves – a dampener for the Spanish / German squad who had out-qualified both Virgin’s for the first time.
Following the session, Daniel Ricciardo fell to 22nd for changing a gearbox, while Narain Karthikeyan dropped to 23rd for impeding Schumacher. Timo Glock props up the grid due a gearbox failure after two laps.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.178s 2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m24.508s + 0.330 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.519s + 0.341 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.950s + 0.772 5. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.474s + 0.296 ** 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.122s + 0.944 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.451s + 1.273 8. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 9. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 10. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari Q2 cut-off time: 1m26.319s Gap ** 11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.337s + 1.680 12. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.503s + 1.846 13. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m26.537s + 1.880 14. Bruno Senna Renault 1m26.651s + 1.994 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m27.247s + 2.590 16. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m26.319s + 1.662 * Q1 cut-off time: 1m27.479s Gap * 17. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.876s + 1.687 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m28.565s + 2.376 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m28.752s + 2.563 20. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.562s + 2.905 ** 21. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m30.216s + 4.027 22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m30.238s + 4.049 23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.866s + 4.677 24. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m34.046s + 7.857 107% time: 1m32.222s * Gap to quickest in Q1 ** Gap to quickest in Q2
New Delhi International. © John Chapman / Creative Commons.
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel made the best of the dusty Jaypee International Circuit to go quickest in final practice on Saturday morning.
A late qualifying simulation took the Champion to the top of the standings with a best of 1:24.824; over three-tenths ahead of Jenson Button (McLaren), Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Lewis Hamilton (McLaren).
The foursome swapped the top positions several times in the final few minutes, as they lay claim to their qualifying pace, but once again Vettel trumped the field.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa assumed 5th and 6th, albeit one second down on Red Bull’s regular fast man.
The Italian team changed their front wing specification in the latter part of the session, due to the alternate version rubbing violently off the ground as it shook under the forces.
Force India showed pace in front of their “home” crowd, coming home 7th (Paul di Resta) and 9th (Adrian Sutil).
The Anglo-Indian squad squeezed Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes machine, with Sutil one-tenth shy of Rosberg after meeting traffic on his quickest tour.
Like the opening pair of sessions, there were offs galore, topped by two dramatic spins – first by HRT’s Narain Karthikeyan, although this was later bettered by Bruno Senna’s high-speed trip through the turn eleven run-off.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.824s 18 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.191s + 0.367s 15 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.203s + 0.379s 19 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.288s + 0.464s 16 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.784s + 0.960s 17 6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m26.058s + 1.234s 16 7. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.785s + 1.961s 19 8. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m26.873s + 2.049s 22 9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m26.958s + 2.134s 19 10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.146s + 2.322s 20 11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m27.217s + 2.393s 21 12. Bruno Senna Renault 1m27.235s + 2.411s 20 13. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.262s + 2.438s 19 14. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m27.280s + 2.456s 18 15. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.387s + 2.563s 20 16. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.749s + 2.925s 21 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m27.793s + 2.969s 17 18. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m27.875s + 3.051s 20 19. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.355s + 4.531s 21 20. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m29.750s + 4.926s 19 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.683s + 5.859s 23 22. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m30.900s + 6.076s 25 23. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m32.851s + 8.027s 19 24. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m33.246s + 8.422s 16
New Delhi International. © John Chapman / Creative Commons.
McLaren and Ferrari claimed the honours following both free practice sessions for the Indian Grand Prix on Friday.
On a dusty and dirty Jaypee International Circuit, Lewis Hamilton topped the time sheets in the morning with a 1:26.836, although the McLaren pilot would garner a three-place grid penalty in the process.
The 2008 World Champion set his quickest lap while running through a double-waved yellow flag section. Driver steward Johnny Herbert handed the same penalty to Sauber’s Sergio Perez for the same reason.
Hamilton’s best was a clear half-second faster than Red Bull duo, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, with Hamilton’s teammate Jenson Button a further second adrift.
The opening session stuttered somewhat under the weight of several incidents, including a brief red flag period due to a wild dog roaming the circuit.
Jaime Alguersuari obtained some television time when he backed his Toro Rosso his the barriers at turn ten, while several moments later Williams’ Pastor Maldonado pulled off the circuit with a blown engine.
An engine problem also halted Fernando Alonso’s progress before the hour mark, with the Spaniard completing only four laps as a result.
Several drivers also marked the opening session with a number of off-track excursions, the most severe of which coming from Vettel, Bruno Senna (Renault), Adrian Sutil (Force India) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari).
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 01. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.836s 22 02. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m27.416s + 0.580 23 03. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m27.428s + 0.592 27 04. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m28.394s + 1.558 23 05. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m28.531s + 1.695 23 06. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m28.542s + 1.706 29 07. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m28.644s + 1.808 22 08. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m28.705s + 1.869 23 09. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m29.219s + 2.383 24 10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m29.355s + 2.519 29 11. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m29.700s + 2.864 24 12. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m29.705s + 2.869 22 13. Bruno Senna Renault 1m29.799s + 2.963 20 14. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m30.132s + 3.296 25 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m30.367s + 3.531 21 16. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m30.566s + 3.730 19 17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m30.699s + 3.833 22 18. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m30.818s + 3.982 22 19. Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 1m32.487s + 5.651 24 20. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m32.771s + 5.935 24 21. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m33.928s + 7.092 27 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m34.113s + 7.277 30 23. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m35.896s + 8.960 19 24. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m35.899s + 9.063 4
In the afternoon, Massa jumped to the top of the standings ahead of Vettel and Alonso. The Brazilian spent much of session gathering lap data for a new front wing – an element that raised a number of eyebrows due to its violently flexing endplates.
One of the last to set a fastest lap, Massa turned in a 1:25.706, before concentrating on a race set-up stint.
The Ferrari man would complete thirty-three laps before the chequered flag emerged, leaving him with an advantage of 0.088 seconds over the quickest Red Bull.
Vettel held the top spot for much of second practice, garnering 34 laps around the Jaypee Circuit. A gap of 0.136 split Vettel and Alonso (3rd), although the Spaniard may well have been happy to get in a good deal of running, following his abbreviated morning.
Behind the fastest trio was Hamilton. After heading the pack by at least half-a-second in the morning, the McLaren racer’s best was now 0.5 slower than Alonso’s, although qualifying set-up work may not have been a priority.
The afternoon running also hit a few bumps in the road. With numerous drivers falling off seemingly everywhere, a couple were bound to lose it completely.
On this occasion, Williams’ Pastor Maldonado beached his FW33 into the gravel at turn nine, while later Jerome d’Ambrosio hit the barrier hard exiting turn eleven. Sadly for d’Ambrosio, his Virgin Racing car was quite far beyond repair; however Maldonado returned to action late on in the session, once his car had been returned to the garage.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.706s 33 2. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m25.794s + 0.088 34 3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m25.930s + 0.224 34 4. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.454s + 0.748 26 5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m26.500s + 0.794 30 6. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m26.714s + 1.008 28 7. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m27.316s + 1.610 34 8. Bruno Senna Renault 1m27.498s + 1.792 36 9. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m27.853s + 2.147 35 10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.868s + 2.162 35 11. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m27.890s + 2.184 37 12. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.050s + 2.344 34 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.289s + 2.583 36 14. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m28.552s + 2.846 31 15. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m28.691s + 2.985 29 16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m28.708s + 3.002 24 17. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.332s + 3.626 39 18. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m30.241s + 4.535 41 19. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m31.098s + 5.392 38 20. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m31.469s + 5.763 32 21. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m31.804s + 6.098 28 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m32.593s + 6.887 12 23. Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 1m32.768s + 7.062 33 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m32.824s + 7.118 33
With the inaugural Indian Grand now just a few days away, the circuit in Greater Noida on the outskirts of Delhi is essentially completed.
Of course, while the track itself may be done, the perimeter features may only come into play in time to come. For example, the area is to eventually have an international standard cricket ground, amongst other sporting elements.
It will mark the latest addition to Formula 1’s eastern adventure – a precious horizon upon which the future of the sport may lie; however the build-up to the race has not been without its problems.
Continuous stories regarding VISA applications and tax payments have given the Grand Prix a touchy start, but it will still go ahead. Considering the investment, it was unlikely that much would stop this race from going ahead, although one does wonder exactly how much extra this “little problem” cost the Jaypee Group.
Alas, the race will start without Karun Chandhok at the wheel of a Lotus. A mixture of home pressure, lack of suitable track running, as well as a tight battle for 10th in the Constructor’s Championship have conspired against Chandhok in this instance.
Jarno Trulli will therefore retain his seat.
As such, the sole Indian driver to be on the grid this weekend will be Narain Karthikeyan, sitting in for Vitantonio Liuzzi at HRT. A temporary measure of course, but it will offer an interesting yardstick as we see how Karthikeyan fares again new boy Daniel Ricciardo over the course of a weekend rather a single morning practice session.
Another Red Bull associated driver, Neel Jani, visited a different India recently. Jani – a Swiss national of Indian origin – drove an old Red Bull F1 car (possibly be the RB4 or RB5) the world’s highest motoring road – a mountain pass amidst the daunting Himalayas.
Jani took the racing machine to an altitude of 6,000 metres, overlooking the region of Ladakh as he reached the summit.
If this weekend’s Indian Grand Prix in Delhi is only one-tenth as spectacular as Jani’s adventure, then we shall be in for a fantastic race.
We can only hope the passion burns bright amongst the local population – motor racing is no fun when all you do is annoys the locals.
Steele celebrated at the weekend.
Following a dominating performance in Class A of this year’s MSV Formula 3 Cup, 22-year-old racer Aaron Steele has secured a Formula Two test.
Steele claimed an astonishing fourteen wins in seventeen races – a record that also garnered the Rochester man a place in the Grand Am support race for the Daytona 24 Hours in January.
After several seasons competing in the Britain’s lower categories, Steele’s Formula Two adventure may finally be the catalyst that takes his career beyond the borders of the UK.
The test will be run in December at either the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona or the Circuito de Jerez in southern-Spain.
© FIA.
Over the past few days, I have been coming across a number of messages safety in motorsport.
Following Dan Wheldon’s recent passing at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, that is only natural.
It appears many believe that closed cockpit racing may well be the way forward for motor racing – and in time, they may very well be right.
However demanding safety features be implemented without the numbers to back them up can be equally as dangerous.
Earlier this year, the FIA began investigations into the possibility of using closed cockpit units to protect drivers in case of flying debris.
The test saw two varieties put through their paces – a polycarbonate windscreen and an F-16 fighter jet canopy made from aerospace-specification polycarbonate. The project saw a Formula 1 wheel fired upon each shield from short range at approximately 140 miles per hour.
Where the windscreen shattered upon impact on two occasions, rendering its potential usefulness redundant, the jet canopy merely deflected the errant wheel away, leaving the cockpit area unscathed. This result, however, brought problems of its own.
With the wheel successfully deflected away from the cockpit, it continued to travel through the air, eventually landing several hundred metres away.
The face of the problem changed instantly, as the potential of non-competitor injuries and fatalities became apparent.
Of course, the loss of Dan Wheldon was a black moment for motorsport; however the death of a fan or track worker could destroy the sport forever.
It must not be forgotten that three fans died at the CART US 500 at Michigan in 1998, while another three fans perished at an IRL event in Charlotte the following year. In Formula 1, two trackside marshals died due to injuries caused by flying wheels in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
There is plenty of potential in closed cockpit single-seaters, but as with every safety feature, the positives and negative elements need to be thoroughly investigated before they can be implemented.
Without doubt, this will eventually be done, but it needs to be done in the right way.
TheMotorsportArchive.com 