It would only take a few seconds for Sunday’s Le Mans Series six hour race of Paul Ricard to descend into chaos.
As the field lined-up side-by-side on the approach to start the race, the gantry lights flickered green, yet the safety car remained on course at the head of the field. Confusion reigned and some runners – thinking the safety car had pulled into the pits – put their feet to the throttle, while those at the front remained at warn up lap pace.
Behind the LMS group, the GT classes saw only the green lights and really went. A wall of cars grew quickly as the midpack slowed suddenly, but it was not enough warning for rear gunners; most of slammed hard into the gaggle of machines ahead.
It would prove to be a disastrous start to the LMS season and the one element that would garner the most headlines.
© Motors TV.
Today marked the final day of pre-season testing for the British Formula 3 Series and it was Carlin’s Carlos Huertas that emerged the top man.
Having shed the damp cover that spoiled much of yesterday’s running at Snetterton, the Colombian claimed an early advantage in the morning’s cooler conditions, with a best lap of 1:39.521.
Indeed Huertas’ best was half-a-second quicker than yesterday’s best by teammate Kevin Magnussen. As luck would have it, Magnussen was next up on the time sheets, as he registered a solid 77 lap day. The Dane topped the afternoon session, but it was not enough to topple Huertas come the finish of play.
After an encouraging Tuesday test, Double R Racing’s Pipo Derani took 3rd overall, just 0.003 shy of Magnussen; however the young Brazilian only clocked up 46 laps during the day. Derani has displayed quite a bit of speed during the pre-season tests and is certainly lining up to spring an occasional surprise.
Brazil’s Felipe Nasr took 4th place with a quickest lap of 1:39.834. The Carlin driver came away with an advantage of two-tenths over Pietro Fantin (5th, Hitech) and young Briton Jack Harvey (6th, Carlin). Harvey registered some solid running today after technical difficulties cut short his Tuesday running.
Reigning British Formula Ford champion Scott Pye (Double R Racing) secured 7th having taken his fastest stab in the morning. The Australian suffered from limited running, as he clocked up 38 tours of the revised Snetterton circuit.
However, Pye had done enough to jump ahead of Jazeman Jaafar (8th, Carlin), Lucas Foresti (9th, Fortec Motorsport) and Rupert Svendsen-Cook (10th, Carlin).
Riki Christodoulou claimed 11th in Hitech machine, albeit nine-tenths down on Huertas. His best of 1:40.414 beat William Buller (Fortec) to 12th by a mere 0.004; however both will be aiming for higher up the table when the important stuff starts next week.
Adderly Fong (13th) was the quickest Sino Vision runner, but will be disappointed to be entire second off of the pace of the leading Carlin. Fong headed Fortec’s Harry Tincknell (14th) on the timesheets, while reigning National Class champion Menasheh Idafar lingered just behind.
Hywel Lloyd (Sino Vision) took 16th with a best 1.2 seconds down on Huertas; however the Welsh pilot observed a three-tenths advantage over visiting driver Richard Bradley (Double R).
Yann Cunha’s best of 1:41.367 was just enough for 18th, while the sole Rookie Class runner, Bart Hylkema rounded up the field, some 2.93 seconds shy of the top spot.
Fellow Rookie Class pilot, was sadly unable to run today – Kotaru Sakurai’s chassis was damaged late in yesterday’s session, rendering it unusable today.
And with that, the teams will begin to pack away their gear and ship it out to Italy in a few days time.
The first race will be at Monza next weekend.
Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Official testing, Snetterton / 6 April 2011 1 Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 39.521s 2 Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 39.671s 3 Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 39.674s 4 Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 39.834s 5 Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.062s 6 Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.076s 7 Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.161s 8 Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.301s 9 Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 41.219s 10 Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.322s 11 Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.414s 12 William Buller Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.418s 13 Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m 40.526s 14 Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.583s 15 Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.700s 16 Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m 40.723s 17 Richard Bradley Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 41.078s 18 Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 41.367s 19 Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 42.451s
Cool and damp conditions welcomed a twenty-car British Formula 3 field for the first of a two-day test at Snetterton yesterday.
Indeed yesterday saw Formula 3 action on the new Snetterton ‘300’ circuit for the first time and it was Carlin’s Kevin Magnussen who took first blood. The Dane enjoyed a busy day – despite the conditions – as he notched up a best of 1:40.115 during the afternoon running.
Like many of the competitors, Magnussen clocked up seventy laps throughout the day – the Dane himself registered 75 tours – however times did not see dramatic improvement, as the cool temperatures refused to rise by any significant measure.
Carlos Huertas and Felipe Nasr made it an all-Carlin top three, with the Colombian Huertas a mere four-hundredths shy of Magnussen come the chequered flag and Nasr a further tenth in arrears.
It was left to Double R Racing’s Pipo Derani to break up the Carlin party near the front, as the Brazilian assumed 4th spot following a 78 lap day. Carlin’s Rupert Svendsen-Cook rounded out the top-five, some three-tenths shy of Magnussen’s quickest.
Reigning British Formula Ford champion Scott Pye displayed some solid pace as well – eventually the Australian took 6th in the second-Double R machine with a 1:40.539.
Pye headed a brief gaggle of Mercedes-powered machinery. Indeed, Pye pipped Adderly Fong (7th, Sino Vision Racing) and the Fortec pairing of William Buller (8th) and Harry Tincknell (9th).
Hitech’s Pietro Fantin rounded out the top-ten in his Volkswagen driven Dallara following a 69 lap session.
Hywel Lloyd (11th, Sino Vision), Riki Christodoulou (12th, Hitech) and Jazeman Jaafar (13th, Carlin) fell mere thousandths shy of Fantin’s top-ten time.
Lucas Foresti enjoyed the busiest day’s running as the Brazilian notched up 87 laps in his Fortec Motorsport machine; however a best lap of 1:40.837 was only good enough for 14th spot, despite being only seven-tenths down on Magnussen.
Jack Harvey had a tough day in his Carlin Dallara. The young Briton only completed 18 laps in the morning, followed that up with a further 30 after lunch. His best of 1:41.388 was only good enough for 15th.
Harvey was still able to better efforts by reigning Rookie Class champion, Menasheh Idafar (16th, T-Sport), while fellow T-Sport runner Yann Cunha fell even further back.
Japanese Formula 3 contender Richard Bradley ran a spare for Double R Racing yesterday as he aims to get more miles under his belt. The reigning Formula BMW Pacific champion registered 45 laps on his way to a best of 1:42.306, giving him 18th position overall.
This year’s Rookie Class runners Bart Hylkema (T-Sport) and Kotaru Sakurai (Hitech) rounded up the time sheets with the pair finishing 2.51 and 4.38 seconds down on Magnussen respectively.
Today will mark the final day of testing for the British Formula 3 Series, before the 2011 season begins in Monza in one-and-a-half weeks time.
Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Official testing, Snetterton 300 / 5 April 2011 1 Kevin Magnussen Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.115s 2 Carlos Huertas Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.155s 3 Felipe Nasr Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.264s 4 Pipo Derani Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.395s 5 Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin Dallara-VW 1m 40.437s 6 Scott Pye Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.539s 7 Adderly Fong Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m 40.694s 8 William Buller Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.697s 9 Harry Tincknell Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.719s 10 Pietro Fantin Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.747s 11 Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision Dallara-Merc 1m 40.775 12 Riki Christodoulou Hitech Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.791 13 Jazeman Jaafar Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 40.795 14 Lucas Foresti Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m 40.837 15 Jack Harvey Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 41.388 16 Menasheh Idafar T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 41.622 17 Yann Cunha T-Sport Dallara-Volkswagen 1m 41.988 18 Richard Bradley Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m 42.306 19 Bart Hylkema T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 42.626s 20 Kotaru Sakurai Hitech Dallara-Mugen Honda 1m 44.494s
GP2 tested at Silverstone yesterday.
Fresh from his GP2 Asia Series success last month, former Renault Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean topped yesterday’s testing at Silverstone.
The cold, windy and wet conditions provided a tricky day’s running for the twenty-six car field and saw many of the drivers struggle to break the two minute barrier.
It would be an important session though – running the new wet Pirelli’s has been something of a rarity and the drivers were out to nail as many laps as possible while the conditions permitted.
Come lunchtime, it was Lotus ART pilot Jules Bianchi that led the standings with a very late best of 1:55.769, following his 29 lap stint. The Frenchman took the top by a clear four-tenths as Arden’s Jolyon Palmer lined up 2nd on the slowly changing track surface.
Esteban Gutierrez set the pace early on in the session, only for the Lotus ART driver to later slip back to 3rd, while Charles Pic (Barwa Addax) secured 3rd and 4th respectively, albeit half-a-second off of Bianchi’s pace.
Next up was the second Barwa Addax pilot, Giedo van der Garde – the Dutchman ran a solid 22 lap session, taking a best of 1:56.496 in the process.
Max Chilton (Carlin) and Luiz Razia (Team AirAsia) ran well, notching up 6th and 7th respectively. They headed Colombian racer Johnny Cecotto, who was sitting in at Ocean Racing Technology for the first time.
Racing Engineering’s Dani Clos registered 9th with a best 1.5 seconds shy of Bianchi, while Fairuz Fauzy (Super Nova) rounded out the top-ten. His best of 1:57.452 came during a 19 lap morning.
Michael Herck made the most of the morning though – although the Romanian took 18th spot, the Scuderia Coloni pilot clocked up an impressive 40 laps as he builds to his 2011 campaign.
The afternoon proved to be a much drier affair with Grosjean smashing the morning pace. The Frenchman took the top spot with a best 1:40.725 – a full six tenths clear of Arden’s Josef Kral, although Kral only managed eleven laps to Grosjean’s seventeen tours.
Fabio Leimer (Rapax), Sam Bird (iSport) and Bianchi filled out the top five ahead of the returning Christian Vietoris. The Racing Engineering driver decided to give the GP2 Asia series a miss – he would finish his first day back some nine-tenths down on Grosjean in 6th spot.
Luca Filippi completed a 14 lap run in the afternoon behind the wheel of his Super Nova machine to claim 7th. Julian Leal (8th, Rapax), Herck (9th) and van der Garde (10th) all fell just shy of Filippi, if some distance short of Grosjean.
Indeed, it was an afternoon of precious little running, with several teams either working on pitstop practices or digesting the morning’s running
It was a tactic that would disadvantage Chilton and Davide Valsecchi (Team AirAsia) – both completed only three and nine laps each, before red flags finished the session early.
On track, Fauzy lost control of his Super Nova machine, spinning off the circuit, bringing the session to a halt as the afternoon sun began to withdraw slowly from sight.
Morning times Driver Team Time Laps 1. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:55.769 29 2. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:56.146 22 3. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:56.236 21 4. Charles Pic Barwa Addax 1:56.244 29 5. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax 1:56.496 22 6. Max Chilton Carlin 1:56.841 21 7. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:57.027 25 8. Johnny Cecotto Ocean Racing Technology 1:57.270 21 9. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:57.296 25 10. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:57.452 19 11. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1:57.472 11 12. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:57.576 24 13. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1:57.788 29 14. Kevin Mirocha Ocean Racing Technology 1:57.850 27 15. Julian Leal Rapax 1:57.871 20 16. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:58.027 17 17. Sam Bird iSport International 1:58.289 19 18. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:58.293 40 19. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:58.319 14 20. Pal Varhaug Dams 1:58.439 30 21. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:58.770 10 22. Josef Kral Arden International 1:58.048 21 23. Davide Rigon Scuderia Coloni 2:00.070 17 24. Fabio Leimer Rapax 2:00.228 26 25. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 2:00.299 13 26. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing -- 2 Afternoon times Driver Team Time Laps 1. Romain Grosjean Dams 1:40.725 17 2. Josef Kral Arden International 1:41.361 11 3. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1:41.480 14 4. Sam Bird iSport International 1:41.525 14 5. Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:41.555 15 6. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1:41.639 15 7. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:41.651 14 8. Julian Leal Rapax 1:41.781 15 9. Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:41.819 20 10. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:41.900 13 11. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1:42.103 17 12. Johnny Cecotto Ocean Racing Technology 1:42.147 17 13. Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:42.231 18 14. Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:42.360 18 15. Davide Rigon Scuderia Coloni 1:42.376 21 16. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:42.399 16 17. Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:42.488 9 18. Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:42.508 12 19. Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:42.509 16 20. Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:42.929 13 21. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:43.125 14 22. Pal Varhaug Dams 1:43.450 17 23. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:43.479 18 24. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:43.919 16 25. Kevin Mirocha Ocean Racing Technology 1:44.029 21 26. Max Chilton Carlin 1:55.587 3
When Gustavo Sondermann crashed fatality at Interlagos on Sunday, it raised several questions about the level of safety at the circuit and the organisation of the event in question.
In extreme wet conditions, Sondermann crashed during the Copa Chevrolet Montana at the exit of Subida dos Boxes (turn 14), when his stock car barrelled into the outer retaining wall, before ricocheting back on track and into the line of traffic.
As the 29-year-old slid across the circuit, he received another three hits – this time side on from various competitors.
The Brazilian suffered from head injuries and also went into cardiac arrest on site. Initially Sondermann fell in to a coma, before passing away later that day.
Several issues have since been raised. Turn 14 is the same corner that saw Rafael Sperifico lose his life at the tail end of 2007 in a very similar accident, while competing in the same formula of racing.
The corner had a SAFER barrier installed late last year, so provisions for vehicle retention do exist at the corner; however the angle at which cars approach the may be a significant factor for rebounding machines.
Another factor is the construction of the cars themselves, especially with regards as to how well they withstand extreme forces in an accident.
Beyond the circuit and the cars, it must be asked why was the race even started when considering how wet the circuit was. Also when the crash did occur, why did it take so long to stop the race when the ambulances were out? Thereafter. why maintain the safety car when such a significant accident had taken place on track?
Over the next while, the circuit will take a fair amount of criticism, but the race organisers need to paid heed too.
Meanwhile, the racing world must lament and learn from yet another tragedy and while Gustavo Sondermann may not have been heavily on the radar here in Europe, he will still be missed.
Gustavo Sondermann (R.I.P., 1982-2011)
The Future..? © Team Lotus
A practice that is becoming more and more common in motorsports is one of team driven young development programmes.
It is a process that the likes of Ferrari and Mercedes are dipping their fingers into as they prepare themselves for a future beyond their current stable.
However the most prolific of these programmes belong to the Red Bull and Renault outfits, both of which run mammoth – and cut-throat – young driver initiatives.
Marussia also back Manor Grand Prix’s GP3 squad, although whether that truly works as a driver development programme for the Virgin Formula 1 squad remains to be seen.
The FIA Institute have also engaged up and coming talent with the inaugural Young Driver Excellence Academy this year. The programme sees twelve potential future stars being guided by Alexander Wurz (ex-Benetton, McLaren and Williams F1 driver) and former WRC co-driver, Robert Reid.
These programmes not only set out to improve driving skills on the race track, but also aim to establish high spec media skills, while also looking to better a pilot’s concept and understanding of physiology, psychology, nutrition and career management.
Yet the FIA Institute’s programme will only last for less than a year, before the next round of candidates are selected. Young drivers that find themselves working with teams and large companies have the prospect of longer term relationships.
Back in Formula 1, Team Lotus are aiming to tap into the potential of youth and with AirAsia, are implementing a programme to do just that.
Indeed, 2011 saw the début of Team AirAsia in GP2 and while the team (with Luiz Razia and Davide Valsecchi) had a GP2 Asia campaign tainted by accidents and poor luck, the basic foundations are being laid.
Earlier today saw AirAsia’s next step in their driver development programme with the announcement of their continued involvement with Team Lotus.
Although AirAsia is run by the Tune Group, whose CEO is Team Lotus principal Tony Fernandes (and therefore an natural extension), it should also be viewed as AirAsia putting their money where their mouth is with regards to the motorsport prospects.
Launched during a Team Lotus live street demonstration in the Malaysian city of Putrajaya, AirAsia, the ten drivers joining the Team Lotus / AirAsia young driver programme shows a squad readying themselves for the long game.
At the head of the pile is American pilot, Alexander Rossi. The Californian graduated from the famous Skip Barber Racing School, eventually winning the Formula BMW Americas Series in 2008. Since then there have been forays into International Formula Master, GP2 Asia, GP3 and this year World Series by Renault.
Other drivers in the programme include Tanart Sathienthirakul from Thailand, who will be competing in this year’s KF2 European Championship, young Briton Matt Perry (British and International Formula Ford), Max Klinkby-Silver from Denmark (International KF2 Championship) and Malaysia’s Weiron Tan (Asian KF2 Championship).
Both Senna Iriawan (Indonesia) and Daim Hishamuddin (Singapore) will be competing in the Euro KF3 Series, while also taking part in the Asian Karting Open Championship.
There are no guarantees that any of these drivers will ever make it to Formula 1 or any other top-level motorsport, but creating the opportunity and opening the right doors is a factor that the sport needs to invest in for its own sake.
Silverstone Arena layout.
The final day of GP3 pre-season testing at Silverstone would see Lewis Williamson reach the top spot, only for his time to be smashed in the afternoon by Michael Christensen.
Admittedly, the drab conditions were hardly ideal for the morning, with a large chunk of the running on wet tyres.
Indeed, conditions were perilous enough to see several red flags appear throughout the session. However as the looming grey clouds dispersed, circuit conditions improved greatly; so much so that slick tyres were fitted in the run up to lunch.
With the seconds ticking away, Williamson in his MW Arden Dallara, swapped the top spot with Addax pilot Gabby Chaves, while Christensen (RS Mücke) trailed the pair. Eventually Williamson did take the head with a best of 1:52.963.
Mitch Evans also set a solid pace in the dying moments. The Kiwi completed 32 laps, although his best fell 0.618 short of Williamson. It was enough to give the MW Arden driver a three-tenths advantage over Conor Daly (Carlin).
Nigel Melker took 6th for RSC Mücke ahead of the final MW Arden driver, Simon Trummer. Marussia Manor Racing pair Matias Laine and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs secured 8th and 10th respectively, squeezing Carlin pilot Tom Dillmann.
The afternoon proved to be a big improvement, weather-wise, although gusty winds still played a factor for those on circuit. Come the evening flag, it was Michael Christensen that took the biggest advantage, both in terms of speed and distance. The Dane completed 47 laps of the Arena circuit, notching up a best of 1:51.799.
Next up were Alexander Sims (Status GP) and Nico Muller (Jenzer Motorsport) – both ran up distances at the 41 lap mark, falling just over one-tenth shy of the pace setter.
Mitch Evans took 4th spot for the second time, just ahead of Rio Haryanto (5th, Marussia Manor Racing) and morning quick man Lewis Williamson (6th), while Simon Trummer settled for 7th following his 43 lap run.
Tech 1 Racing pairing Tamas P’al Kiss and Andrea Caldarelli took 8th and 9th respectively. Antonio Felix da Costa rounded up the top ten for Status GP.
The final day saw plenty of running from the field, averaging the 60 lap mark, despite the poor morning conditions, although a great deal of that was made in the afternoon.
Also encouraging is the closeness of the field in these tests. Although we have little insight as to the exact settings that each driver or team are running, it is still impressive that the top-ten are split by less than half-a-second.
Final pre-season tests for the GP3 series take place in Barcelona from April 12th-14, after which the Championship heads to Istanbul for the first of eight rounds.
Morning session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1m52.963s 2. Gabby Chaves Addax 1m53.073s + 0.110s 3. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 1m53.176s + 0.213s 4. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m53.581s + 0.618s 5. Conor Daly Carlin 1m53.934s + 0.971s 6. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 1m53.943s + 0.980s 7. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m54.023s + 1.060s 8. Matias Laine Manor 1m54.119s + 1.156s 9. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1m54.392s + 1.429s 10. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m54.659s + 1.696s 11. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 1m54.801s + 1.838s 12. Valtteri Bottas ART 1m54.922s + 1.959s 13. Maxim Zimin Jenzer 1m55.070s + 2.107s 14. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 1m55.074s + 2.111s 15. James Calado ART 1m55.149s + 2.186s 16. Alexander Sims Status 1m55.385s + 2.422s 17. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m55.406s + 2.443s 18. Simon Moss Addax 1m55.913s + 2.950s 19. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 1m55.948s + 2.985s 20. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m55.979s + 3.016s 21. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m56.056s + 3.093s 22. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m56.166s + 3.203s 23. Pedro Nunes ART 1m56.275s + 3.312s 24. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 1m56.352s + 3.389s 25. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m56.399s + 3.436s 26. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 1m56.654s + 3.691s 27. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke 1m56.832s + 3.869s 28. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1m57.132s + 4.169s 29. Thomas Hylkema Addax 2m13.738s + 20.775s 30. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 2m14.291s + 21.328s Afternoon session: Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke 1m51.799s 2. Alexander Sims Status 1m51.868s + 0.069s 3. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m51.967s + 0.168s 4. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m51.973s + 0.174s 5. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m52.018s + 0.219s 6. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1m52.063s + 0.264s 7. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1m52.077s + 0.278s 8. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 1m52.147s + 0.348s 9. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 1m52.176s + 0.377s 10. Antonio Felix da Costa Status 1m52.219s + 0.420s 11. Valtteri Bottas ART 1m52.249s + 0.450s 12. Matias Laine Manor 1m52.413s + 0.614s 13. Gabby Chaves Addax 1m52.484s + 0.685s 14. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke 1m52.539s + 0.740s 15. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 1m52.597s + 0.798s 16. James Calado ART 1m52.608s + 0.809s 17. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS 1m52.816s + 1.017s 18. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS 1m52.821s + 1.022s 19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m52.955s + 1.156s 20. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1m52.969s + 1.170s 21. Maxim Zimin Jenzer 1m52.980s + 1.181s 22. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m53.053s + 1.254s 23. Conor Daly Carlin 1m53.153s + 1.354s 24. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS 1m53.227s + 1.428s 25. Pedro Nunes ART 1m53.750s + 1.951s 26. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer 1m53.850s + 2.051s 27. Simon Moss Addax 1m54.223s + 2.424s 28. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 1m54.330s + 2.531s
GP3 were on the full Silverstone today.
Following a 34 lap stint, the Addax driver topped the morning with a best of 1:50.799, finishing one-tenth ahead of MW Arden’s Lewis Williamson.
Early pace setters Michael Christensen (RSC Mücke) and Nico Müller (Jenzer Motorsport) both completed 31 laps; all the while clocking up best laps two-tenths off of Chaves’ pace.
Second RSC Mücke entry Nigel Melker also broke into the top-five with a quick run of 1:51.082 at the opening session’s midpoint. Alexander Sims fell to 6th, albeit only 0.003 of-a-second behind Melker.
Simon Trummer (7th, MW Arden) and James Calado (8th , Lotus ART) were the busiest runners of the morning. Trummer ramped up 38 laps, while Calado was a single lap shy.
Impressive young Kiwi, Mitch Evans took 9th spot, just over four-tenths down on Chaves. Atech CRS pilot Marlon Stockinger rounded out the top-ten with a best of 1:51.179 before lunch time.
It would prove to be a busy morning – with rain clouds gathering above, the 30 car field took to the track to garner as much track time as possible; however persistent red flags put their own dampener on the test.
The rain did indeed fall during the lunch break, leaving fast lap times stranded beyond the 2 minute mark for the duration of the afternoon.
Times slowly picked up as the session went on, but it was the stunning pace of Lewis Williamson that grasped the top spot. A best of 2:06.902 in dying minutes of the day gave the MW Arden driver an eight-tenths advantage over 2nd placed Alexander Sims.
Carlin’s Tom Dillmann swiped 3rd some eleven thousandths off of Sims, with Gabby Chaves settling for 4th in the damp conditions.
Valtteri Bottas’ (Lotus ART) secured a best nearly one second off of Williamson’s pace following his 37 lap session, with the Finn pipping Marussia Manor Racing youngster Rio Haryanto by a minuscule amount.
Mitch Evans was the first in the 2:08 bracket. The MW Arden driver took 7th after a 36 lap session, finishing ahead of Michael Christensen (8th), Conor Daly (9th, Carlin) and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (10th, Marussia Manor Racing).
While some will have been disappointed that clouds drew in, for many this sort of wet testing is necessary. If a driver can build confidence in their respective machinery in difficult conditions, then the laps run through the afternoon can carry a great deal of value.
Today’s times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Gabby Chaves Addax Team 1:50.799 34 2. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1:50.894 24 3. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:50.966 31 4. Nico Muller Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.059 31 5. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:51.082 26 6. Alexander Sims Status Grand Prix 1:51.085 31 7. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1:51.127 38 8. James Calado Lotus ART 1:51.138 39 9. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:51.154 25 10. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS GP 1:51.179 34 11. Valtteri Bottas Lotus ART 1:51.189 33 12. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 Racing 1:51.319 27 13. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 Racing 1:51.348 25 14. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 Racing 1:51.387 19 15. Antonio Felix Da Costa Status Grand Prix 1:51.409 28 16. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.630 18 17. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS GP 1:51.635 19 18. Rio Haryanto Marussia Manor Racing 1:51.713 33 19. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Marussia Manor Racing 1:51.749 19 20. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1:51.893 34 21. Thomas Hylkema Addax Team 1:52.067 30 22. Conor Daly Carlin 1:52.111 29 23. Pedro Nunes Lotus ART 1:52.134 30 24. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:52.195 36 25. Ivan Lukashevich Status Grand Prix 1:52.318 37 26. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS GP 1:52.526 32 27. Maxim Zimin Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.542 34 28. Matias Laine Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.595 15 29. Fernando Monje Addax Team 1:52.704 34 30. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 1:54.141 8 Afternoon times Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 2:06.902 34 2. Alexander Sims Status Grand Prix 2:07.708 37 3. Tom Dillmann Carlin 2:07.719 24 4. Gabby Chaves Addax Team 2:07.782 34 5. Valtteri Bottas Lotus ART 2:07.855 37 6. Rio Haryanto Marussia Manor Racing 2:07.864 27 7. Mitch Evans MW Arden 2:08.073 36 8. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke Motorsport 2:08.154 22 9. Conor Daly Carlin 2:08.156 39 10. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Marussia Manor Racing 2:08.401 26 11. Matias Laine Marussia Manor Racing 2:08.593 24 12. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS GP 2:08.608 32 13. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS GP 2:08.667 36 14. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 Racing 2:08.741 23 15. Antonio Felix Da Costa Status Grand Prix 2:08.869 36 16. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke Motorsport 2:09.181 31 17. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS GP 2:09.252 35 18. Simon Trummer MW Arden 2:09.258 36 19. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 Racing 2:09.536 17 20. James Calado Lotus ART 2:09.737 24 21. Ivan Lukashevich Status Grand Prix 2:09.750 36 22. Pedro Nunes Lotus ART 2:09.823 38 23. Maxim Zimin Jenzer Motorsport 2:09.884 27 24. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke Motorsport 2:09.969 41 25. Nico Muller Jenzer Motorsport 2:10.294 22 26. Fernando Monje Addax Team 2:10.351 21 27. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 Racing 2:10.364 22 28. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer Motorsport 2:11.061 30 29. Thomas Hylkema Addax Team 2:12.279 27 30. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 2:12.403 16
Silverstone Arena Circuit.
Valtteri Bottas and Gabby Chaves topped the first day of GP3 pre-season testing at Silverstone.
Bottas, piloting the Lotus ART GP Dallara, headed the morning with a best of 1:51.608 amidst a 32 lap stint.
The Finn pipped Antonio Felix da Costa who spent much of the session lingering at the the head of the sheets; however the Portuguese runner would later drop to 6th in the standings.
While da Costa may be slightly disappointed to have slipped down the order, he might take some solace from being the busiest driver of the morning after a 41 lap run.
In the end, it was Lewis Williamson that took 2nd spot in his MW Arden machine, falling some eight-hundredths shy of Bottas, while Nigel Melker took 3rd in his RSC Mücke prepared machine.
Both Simon Trummer (4th, MW Arden) and Nico Muller (5th, Jenzer Motorsport) completed 26 laps and even set best times only 0.015 of-a-second apart, as they nudged ahead of da Costa by mere thousandths.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs took 7th in Marussia Manor machine, some three-tenths down on Bottas after a 20 lap run. Marlon Stockinger (8th, Atech CRS), James Calado (9th) and Pedro Nunes (both Lotus ART) rounded out the top ten.
Late running was curtailed by a Quaife-Hobbs induced red flag.
Unkind weather made the afternoon something more akin to a trial; however new GP3 arrival Gabby Chaves registered the quickest lap of the day before droplets fell. The Addax driver clocked up a best lap of 1:51.449 – just over a tenth quicker than Nico Muller, with Williamson a further few hundredths in arrears.
Alexander Sims (Status GP) finished the session some three-tenths shy of the pace, yet Sims may well be happy he got at least 24 laps in. Less happy will be Stockinger, who only managed 11 tours before the rain cam – his best of 1:51.775 left him 6th.
Vittorio Ghirelli visited the top-ten after lunch for Jenzer Motorsport. The 16-year-old Italian completed 26 laps, while also finishing ahead of Virgin F1 reserve Rio Haryanto (8th, Marussia Manor Racing). Trummer (9th) and Tom Dillmann (Carlin) completed the top-ten.
A brief red flag flew during the afternoon, caused by Mitch Evans (MW Arden), before another stoppage was hailed by Carlin youngster Kotaro Sakurai.
Bottas struggled to carry his morning run through to the afternoon. The Finn ended the session down in 19th, after running 31 laps prior to the chequered flag.
Morning times:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Valtteri Bottas Lotus ART 1:51.608 32 2. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1:51.688 31 3. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:51.755 28 4. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1:51.801 26 5. Nico Muller Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.816 26 6. Antonio Felix da Costa Status Grand Prix 1:51.821 41 7. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Marussia Manor Racing 1:51.920 20 8. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS GP 1:52.017 27 9. James Calado Lotus ART 1:52.025 33 10. Pedro Nunes Lotus ART 1:52.053 34 11. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:52.213 35 12. Rio Haryanto Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.348 25 13. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS GP 1:52.422 18 14. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:52.505 32 15. Alexander Sims Status Grand Prix 1:52.510 25 16. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 Racing 1:52.518 30 17. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 Racing 1:52.556 25 18. Gabby Chaves Addax Team 1:52.563 28 19. Conor Daly Carlin 1:52.777 33 20. Matias Laine Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.794 34 21. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 Racing 1:52.803 34 22. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.935 31 23. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:52.955 32 24. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 1:53.009 28 25. Zoel Amburg Atech CRS GP 1:53.315 38 26. Maxim Zimin Jenzer Motorsport 1:53.490 27 27. Thomas Hylkema Addax Team 1:53.563 40 28. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1:53.858 31 29. Ivan Lukashevich Status Grand Prix 1:54.344 36 30. Fernando Monje Addax Team 1:54.504 35 Afternoon times Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Gabby Chaves Addax Team 1:51.449 22 2. Nico Muller Jenzer Motorsport 1:51.596 19 3. Lewis Williamson MW Arden 1:51.641 27 4. Alexander Sims Status Grand Prix 1:51.752 24 5. Marlon Stockinger Atech CRS GP 1:51.775 11 6. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Marussia Manor Racing 1:51.981 28 7. Vittorio Ghirelli Jenzer Motorsport 1:52.328 26 8. Rio Haryanto Marussia Manor Racing 1:52.472 30 9. Simon Trummer MW Arden 1:52.538 24 10. Tom Dillmann Carlin 1:52.557 19 11. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1:52.741 22 12. Michael Christensen RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:52.770 25 13. James Calado Lotus ART 1:52.886 29 14. Antonio Felix da Costa Status Grand Prix 1:52.940 23 15. Fernando Monje Addax Team 1:52.976 22 16. Pedro Nunes Lotus ART 1:53.021 30 17. Thomas Hylkema Addax Team 1:53.081 18 18. Matias Laine Marussia Manor Racing 1:53.214 23 19. Valtteri Bottas Lotus ART 1:53.249 31 20. Aaro Vainio Tech 1 Racing 1:53.263 19 21. Maxim Zimin Jenzer Motorsport 1:53.436 24 22. Zoel Amberg Atech CRS GP 1:53.682 24 23. Willi Steindl RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:53.803 27 24. Tamas Pal Kiss Tech 1 Racing 1:53.895 27 25. Kotaro Sakurai Carlin 1:53.941 11 26. Andrea Caldarelli Tech 1 Racing 1:53.980 21 27. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke Motorsport 1:53.989 27 28. Conor Daly Carlin 1:54.967 15 29. Nick Yelloly Atech CRS GP 1:55.075 20 30. Ivan Lukashevich Status Grand Prix 1:59.785 19
St Petersburg. © Creative Commons / Will Pittenger.
A commanding performance by Dario Franchitti was more than enough to give the Chip Ganassi pilot victory in the IndyCar season opener in St Petersburg.
Although Penske favourite, Will Power nabbed a Saturday afternoon pole position, it was Franchitti who led virtually all of the race; all the while escaping the early race carnage that saw four full course cautions in the first sixteen laps.
With the flag dropped on the season, Power surged ahead from Franchitti, while chaos reigned behind.
Chaos in the Pack
The chaos started immediately as the field bunched toward the first turn. Approaching the corner far too quickly, Marco Andretti (Andretti-Autosport) and Penske’s Helio Castroneves collided, taking both themselves, but also Scott Dixon (Ganassi), Mike Conway (Andretti-Autosport), Ryan Briscoe (Penske) and Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas) out of contention.
The incident would see Andretti land upside down on his roll hoop bar in the middle of the corner – thankfully the 24-year-old suffered no injuries. Servia and Briscoe continued, but the rest were out.
Another yellow fell at the fifth lap restart, this time caused by two separate incidents. First Danica Patrick (Andretti-Autosport) clipped the rear of Ana Beatriz entering the first turn (necessitating a new front wing), before Beatriz suffered a rather more serious clash with Graham Rahal (Ganassi). The accident would break Beatriz’ left hand, but remarkably, the Brazilian continued unabated.
Continuing his 2010 form amidst all this was KV Racing’s EJ Viso, who spun limply in the 13th corner.
The third green flag dropped on the 11th tour, only for to race to be neutralised again less than a lap later when Briscoe sliced into the rear of Oriol Servia (Newman-Haas) – Briscoe would pit for a new front wing, while Servia pitted to change his punctured tyres.
By the fourteenth lap, things were becoming rather tiresome – as the race restarted, spins in the mid-pack to bring out another full course yellow; the victim on this occasion was the indignant Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti-Autosport).
At a time when the series is trying to sell the drivers as some of the best and most diverse racers on the planet, St Petersburg on Sunday evening made many of the competitors appear more than a little amateurish.
Climbing the Ladder
Amidst all this carnage, Franchitti stole the lead from Power who had fallen to 5th behind the quick starting Simona de Silvestro (2nd, HVM), Tony Kanaan (3rd, KV Racing) and Justin Wilson (4th, Dreyer and Reinbold) as the green flew again on lap 17.
While much attention was being paid to the leaders, IndyCar débutante, James Jakes (Dale Coyne) busied himself with a tidy running.
The Englishman suffered an accident in the morning warm-up, but was repaired to make the race start in 22nd spot, where upon he had taken 8th by one-fifth distance. Unfortunately for Jakes, it would come to little – a pitstop on lap 40 would see the Coyne driver stall in the pits and tumble down the order, unable to recover thereafter.
At least Jakes can claim a better opening weekend than teammate, Sebastien Bourdais, who planted his Dallara-Honda hard into the barriers in the morning warm-up, denying the Frenchman an opportunity to run.
Charlie Kimball was also having an impressive IndyCar début for Ganassi. The Anglo-American started in 23rd position and had made his way to 11th spot by lap 39. Sadly for the rookie pilot, Kimball charged too hard on cold tyres, while exiting the pits, ploughing into the barrier before turn 3 – out!!
Just as Kimball suffered his tumble, the leaders began to pit and it was here that the skill of the Penske operation shun again.
Entering the pits behind a gaggle of machinery, Power blasted out of his box, charging passed Wilson, Kanaan and de Silvestro. The situation full course yellow once again, Power eyed up Franchitti’s lead, while Kanaan saw potential in passing de Silvestro for 3rd.
Applying the Pressure
The race restarted come lap 44, but where Power failed to get the jump on Franchitti, Kanaan stalked de Silvestro, eventually taking 3rd from the ‘Swiss Miss’.
Calm heads did not prevail in the midpack, as Jakes attempted a woeful move on Beatriz in turn 3, sliding too quickly into the turn. Just ahead, a sudden stopping Alex Tagliani was rear ended by Wilson, before being tapped from behind by Patrick, leaving Wilson with a fractured wrist-bone – the second Dreyer and Reinbold driver to receive injuries.
Patrick, meanwhile, would require her third front wing of the day.
Franchitti continued to make the race look easy. The Scot was slowly but surely extending his lead over Power, while the Penske man checked his mirrors for Kanaan’s green Lotus machine. Kanaan, however, was busying himself with pressure from de Silvestro.
With the laps ticking by, the final stops came and went with little fanfare, but while Power edged away from Kanaan, the Brazilian was coming under more and more pressure from de Silvestro. For the race, the HVM runner had not used any of her “push-to-pass” allocation, but with the laps counting down, de Silvestro opened up.
Kanaan though, remained stoic in his defence and for every move or attempt of a move the de Silvestro made, Kanaan had an answer. Claims of foul defending by the 2004 IRL Champion were raised, but none adhered to – this was a battle Kanaan was determined to win.
Making it Easy
When it came to the race itself, Franchitti had it wrapped up. Realistically, it was won thanks to his lap 5 move on Power, but from then on the Scot controlled the pace of the event, picking up the bonus two points for most laps led in the process.
In a race that was declared to be a walkover for Power prior to the start of the weekend, it was certainly strike one in favour on the Ganassi driver.
Power, meanwhile, ran to an uneventful runner-up spot. Unable to reel Franchitti in late on, while also being too quick for Kanaan solidified his position, however the Australian will be keen to redress the balance at Barber Motorsports Park in two weeks.
Kanaan took 3rd ahead of de Silvestro, but only by 0.46 of-a-second. It was a truly fabulous race for the Brazilian, who only secured this drive one week before the season opener. De Silvestro’s run was also noteworthy – the Swiss star started 17th after a difficult opening two days – if she can keep this form, it may be a big year for the 22-year-old.
Takuma Sato took 5th place in the second KV Racing entry after relatively quiet day. It was a good start to the season for the ex-Formula 1 driver, especially considering his rather tumultuous IndyCar début season.
Alex Tagliani also made it a good start to the season after a winter of uncertainty. The Canadian saw his FAZZT Racing team purchased by Sam Schmidt Motorsport over the winter, allowing Tagliani to concentrate on driving. With confidence aplenty, Tagliani delivered 6th place to his new squad.
Raphael Matos (AFS) and Vitor Meira (Foyt Racing) also exercised patience on the way to 7th and 8th respectively; however whereas Meira is signed up for the full season, Matos does not yet have a deal beyond St Pete – this result may be a catalyst for future events.
Oriol Servia (9th), Justin Wilson (10th, despite a sly spin late on) and Danica Patrick (11th) all found themselves in the wars throughout the race, although all three may well have expected a little more from their outings.
Unlike 12th place runner, JR Hildebrand. In only his third IndyCar race (the America drove twice for Andretti-Autosport last year), Hildebrand brought his Panther machine home safely, despite starting in 24th. Should his qualifying improve, the future could be bright for “Captain America”.
Beyond that, Sebastian Saavedra (Conquest Racing) led the rest of the field, albeit two laps down. The controversial Columbian took 13th ahead of Ana Beatriz (14th) and James Jakes (15th).
The recovering Ganassi pilots Scott Dixon (16th) and Graham Rahal (17th) both lost four laps in the early wreckage. They finished ahead of fellow rejoinees Ryan Briscoe (18th), EJ Viso (19th) and Helio Castroneves (20th).
Ryan Hunter-Reay retook to the track following a long stoppage, only to park it again on lap 70.
Race Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Results - 100 laps:
Pos Driver Team Time/Gap
1. Dario Franchitti Ganassi 2h00m59.6886s
2. Will Power Penske + 7.1612s
3. Tony Kanaan KV + 16.1045s
4. Simona de Silvestro HVM + 16.5616s
5. Takuma Sato KV + 29.9435s
6. Alex Tagliani Schmidt + 30.4655s
7. Raphael Matos AFS + 31.5227s
8. Vitor Meira Foyt + 35.7291s
9. Oriol Servia Newman/Haas + 49.1432s
10. Justin Wilson Dreyer & Reinbold + 56.8025s
11. Danica Patrick Andretti + 57.3418s
12. JR Hildebrand Panther + 1m02.9700s
13. Sebastian Saavedra Conquest + 2 laps
14. Ana Beatriz Dreyer & Reinbold + 2 laps
15. James Jakes Coyne + 3 laps
16. Scott Dixon Ganassi + 4 laps
17. Graham Rahal Ganassi + 4 laps
18. Ryan Briscoe Penske + 5 laps
19. EJ Viso KV + 6 laps
20. Helio Castroneves Penske + 15 laps
Retirements:
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti 58 laps
Charlie Kimball Ganassi 38 laps
Mike Conway Andretti 1 lap
Marco Andretti Andretti 0 laps
Sebastien Bourdais Coyne DNS
| Driver | Team / Entry | Points | |
| 1. | Dario Franchitti | Target Chip Ganassi Racing | 52 |
| 2. | Will Power | Verizon Wireless Team Penske | 41 |
| 3. | Tony Kanaan | KV Racing Technology Lotus | 35 |
| 4. | Simona di Silvestro | Entergy HVM Racing | 32 |
| 5. | Takuma Sato | KV Racing Technology Lotus | 30 |
| 6. | Alex Tagliani | B&W Sam Schmidt Motorsports | 28 |
| 7. | Raphael Matos | AFS Racing | 26 |
| 8. | Vitor Meira | ABC Supply Co AJ Foyt Enterprises | 24 |
| 9. | Oriol Servià | Telemundo Newman/Haas Racing | 22 |
| 10. | Justin Wilson | Z-Line Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 20 |
| 11. | Danica Patrick | GoDaddy.com Andretti Autosport | 19 |
| 12. | JR Hildebrand | US National Guard Panther Racing | 18 |
| 13. | Sebastian Saavedra | Conquest Racing | 17 |
| 14. | Ana Beatriz | Lubrizol Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | 16 |
| 15. | James Jakes | Acorn Stairlifts Dale Coyne Racing | 15 |
| 16. | Scott Dixon | Target Chip Ganassi Racing | 14 |
| 17. | Graham Rahal | Service Central Chip Ganassi Racing | 13 |
| 18. | Ryan Briscoe | IZOD/PPG Team Penske | 12 |
| =. | EJ Viso | KV Racing Technology Lotus | 12 |
| =. | Hélio Castroneves | Shell/AAA Team Penske | 12 |
| =. | Ryan Hunter-Reay | DHL Andretti Autosport | 12 |
| =. | Charlie Kimball | Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing | 12 |
| =. | Mike Conway | GoDaddy.com Andretti Autosport | 12 |
| =. | Marco Andretti | Venom Energy Drink Andretti Autosport | 12 |
| 25. | Sébastien Bourdais | Boy Scouts Dale Coyne Racing | 5 |
Piccione and Dusseldorp celebrate. © SRO Media
While much of the motorsport world focussed their gaze upon Melbourne for the opening Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season, the GT1 series gathered in Abu Dhabi for their first round.
Although the Qualifying race passed with little action beyond a turn 1 melee, the Championship race later in the evening was simply fabulous.
The initial stint of the race saw a five car chain battle for the lead, with the Clivio Piccione piloted Hexus Aston Martin calmly stalking the group. However all that changed following the mandatory pitstop at halfway.
As Piccione disembarked for secondary driver Stef Dusseldorp, the Hexus pitcrew worked wonders, allowing the entry to jump into the lead of the race. Dusseldorp – a 21-year-old former German F3 runner – began running quickly up front; however he would soon be drawn in the experienced Richard Westbrook in the JR Motorsports Nissan.
Westbrook closed the six second gap down to just a few tenths and over the final few tours, pressed and pressed Dusseldorp for the lead. In what was a fantastic battle that went to the flag, Dusseldorp refused to bow to Westbrook’s pressure, eventually taking the victory by less than half-a-second.
It was a wonderful achievement, not only for Hexus Aston Martin, but also for their somewhat unfancied driver pairing. That the battle was so tooth-and-nail was the icing on the cake.
The second round the GT1 World Championship comes from Zolder (Belgium) on April 10th, with both races being broadcast live from GT1 World.
If you are not up to much, they are well worth a watch. As is this clip from yesterday…
Melbourne hosted its 16th F1 Grand Prix.
2011 Australian Grand Prix
If Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was dominant in qualifying, he was simply imperious in today’s Australian Grand Prix.
The reigning World Champion led every lap on his way to the chequered flag, crossing the line with a 22 second advantage over McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
Yet while Vettel’s victory was emphatic, it was by no means easy.
Indeed, the Red Bull man fought spent much of the early laps fighting off an inspired Hamilton.
Both dropped the second Red Bull of Mark Webber early on, as the gap between Vettel and Hamilton rarely extended beyond three seconds in the opening stint.
For Webber it was slightly unfortunate that he lost out to Hamilton off the line. While Vettel surged away as if on rails, Webber drew slightly ahead of the McLaren driver through the opening chicane, only for Hamilton to draw away under the KERS 80 bhp boost – a system that neither Red Bull was even running. Thereafter, Webber simply could not match the pace of the leading pair.
It is something that could not be said for Renault’s Vitaly Petrov. The Russian had a fabulous weekend up until race day, as he showed veteran teammate Nick Heidfeld the way and it was a theme that continued in the Grand Prix.
Starting from 6th, Petrov shot passed both Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Jenson Button (McLaren) to slot into 4th behind Webber’s similarly powered machine.
Not everyone’s start was quite as clear cut. Alonso initially got off the line well from 5th, only to run wide at the first turn and emerge 9th. It would not deter the double World Champion – swift moves on Kamui Kobayashi (lap 2), Nico Rosberg (lap 5) brought Alonso to 7th.
Bump and Fumble
However, the Spaniard still faired better than numerous runners behind him. As the field squeezed into turn three, the Williams of Rubens Barrichello outbraked himself, decided the tourist route around the gravel trap was more his style.
That incident, though, was nowhere near as dramatic as the midfield fumbling that caught out Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Heidfeld, and the Toro Rosso pairing of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari.
It was a series of silly little bumps that was instigated by the Spaniard, leaving Alguersuari with a broken front wing and Schumacher with a right rear puncture. Heidfeld for his trouble received plenty of damage on his sidepod, but continued, while Buemi rode on regardless, only losing minor positions in the melee.
Nearer the front, an epic battle was unfolding between Massa and Button. With the Brazilian receiving early warnings that his brakes were overheating, Button smelled blood, but even he could not move in for the kill.
Despite utilising the new-for-2011 Drag Reduction System (DRS), Button could not seize the position from Massa, thanks mainly to the Ferrari’s ever-powerful engine performance and Massa’s questionable on track defensive tactics. While Button ducked and dived, Alonso closed in causing the 2009 World Champion to get more and more desperate.
Eventually, Button made a dive around the outside of Massa through the turn 11 / 12 chicane, passing the Brazilian while off the track. Unwilling to give the position back, the McLaren driver would quickly be penalised.
Come laps 13 and 14, it gave both Ferrari’s an opportunity to pit without having to worry about Button. The former Brawn driver would eventually take his penalty on lap 18, before stopping for tyres two laps later, dropping him to 12th spot.
Cementing the Position
The Red Bull’s also took time out to stop for tyres early, with Webber diving in on lap 12 and Vettel on lap 15; however while Webber slotted out in 9th, Vettel had to deal with Button who had yet to take his drive through. And deal with him did.
Where McLaren may have seen potential for Button to (fairly) hold up Vettel until Hamilton’s pit, Vettel – on new tyres – dispatched Button around the outside of turn four as if he wasn’t there, such was the difference in grip level.
For Hamilton, it was a crucial moment. The Briton had pulled to within 1.5 seconds of Vettel prior to the Red Bull’s stop, but with the reigning Champion now in clean air, Vettel pulled out enough to beat the McLaren driver out, when he pitted on lap 17.
Game over.
It was quite literally game over for Williams débutante Pastor Maldonado. The 2010 GP2 Champion didn’t get too far in his first Grand Prix, as mechanical gremlins brought the FW33 to a halt early on. It was a situation that left Maldonado puzzled.
“We don’t know exactly what happened with the car; we will have to look into the problem with our engineers. There was no warning, we just stopped and that was it for us.”
At Renault, another GP2 graduate was having a stellar day. Petrov, his confidence running high capitalised on his stunning start, with a fabulous drive through the rest of the race. With Vettel and Hamilton charging out front and Webber chugging in 3rd, the Russian settled into a busy 4th place just ahead of Alonso’s Ferrari.
Birth of A New Generation
Whereas veterans such as Heidfeld were having tough weekend’s, a couple of rookies were making their presence felt.
Having started 13th on hard tyres, Sauber’s Sergio Perez ran well, spending much of the day in the top-ten, only a handful of positions ahead Force India’s latest recruit, Paul di Resta.
Perez made his first set of tyres last exceptionally well, with his stint running for 24 laps, changing to soft’s thereafter; he would not need to change his Pirelli’s again. Di Resta meanwhile, was running an extra stop, having originally pitted 15 laps in; however the pace of the young Scot showed definite promise for the future.
Indeed, it could be argued that Perez and di Resta showed more composure than the most experienced driver of them all, Rubens Barrichello.
The Brazilian had spent the early stint picking up a number of positions and was running 9th when he tried a somewhat thoughtless move of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg on lap 24. Barrichello, misjudging his braking distance into turn three, slammed hard into the side of the Mercedes driver, ruling Rosberg out. A new nose was required by Williams driver, who would also be hit with a drive through penalty.
It would turn out to be a poor lap for Mercedes – with too much damage on the car, Schumacher pulled into the pits, finishing his day early.
Afterwards, the seven-time Champion displayed a certain air of disappointment:
“The start of the season certainly has not worked out as we had hoped, and we will tick this race off now and concentrate on the next one in Malaysia. I had quite a good start but was then hit in turn three which punctured the right rear tyre and resulted in damage to the floor. As the damage was quite substantial, we decided to stop the car for safety reasons.”
The Grand Prix also began to turn for the worse at Lotus – Heikki Kovalainen pulled off with a water leak after 23 laps. Virgin’s Timo Glock also pulled in to retire, but rejoined several laps later – the German would not be classified; however with the Virgin short on testing miles, the team decided to register some laps.
Showing the Way (Again)
Shortage of laps was not an issue for Ferrari during testing – they ran the most miles, but that statistic was not going to get Alonso passed Petrov. With each lap, it was becoming apparent that this was to be a battle for a podium, rather than lower points.
As Webber pitted for a second time on lap 27, Petrov held the advantage over Alonso, while the Red Bull clambered further back – the Russian was simply on it and when Alonso pitted on lap 28 (emerging just behind Webber), Petrov stayed out.
And stayed out and stayed out – Webber and Alonso’s plans for a possible podium began to unravel before their eyes.
Hamilton’s race was also becoming more difficult. As the race broke half distance, the floor of his MP4-26 worked loose, finally breaking free on lap 33. With his plank rubbing against the Melbourne tarmac, leaving a deluge of sparks in its wake, the McLaren lost traction, sending Hamilton scurrying across the grass at turn one.
From here on in, car care would be premium.
Vettel, meanwhile just kept extending his lead, despite his fading Pirelli’s, but knowing this was the time to not take chances, Red Bull received the young German at the end of the 37th lap. Hamilton and Petrov also stopped for new rubber on that same tour; both of whom were still keeping a keen eye on the Webber / Alonso feud.
Further down the field, Button pitted on lap 38. It had been something of a poor display from Button, who – while not struggling as such – was clearly not on the pace of his teammate, Hamilton. A race circling alongside an off-kilter Massa and other top-ten infiltrators, such as Perez, Kobayashi and Sutil was certainly eyebrow raising for the former Champion. Several laps would pass before Button could finally put a (clean) pass on Massa, doing so with the aid of the controversial DRS.
Massa, though was clearing struggling with no grip on his patchy Pirelli’s, pitting once again with eight laps remaining. It would give Massa the chance to scoop a position from Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, but 9th spot in the Ferrari sandwiched by Sauber’s and a Toro Rosso simply isn’t good enough.
Webber too, appeared ashen in the face of teammate’s pace and come the 42nd lap, the Australia’s downbeat mood was cast.
Following a clean final stop for tyres, Webber overcooked his RB7 and flew on at the first corner – the slow lap would be enough to give Alonso 4th when he pitted a lap later. For the Spaniard, the race to catch Petrov was now on!!
And so he did. Over the course of the final eight laps, Alonso cut away at the gap behind Petrov, slicing it down from six seconds to just over one second as the chequered flag approached, but it wasn’t enough as Petrov controlled the situation to stay ahead.
While several young stars shun, a veteran cast his down. Following all his tribulations, Barrichello took his FW33 to the pit garage late – the engine off, the mechanics calm and subdued, the day done.
Streets Ahead
Sebastian Vettel had no such thoughts or feelings though. The reigning Champion simply rolled off consistent lap after consistent lap, nailing the Grand Prix victory long before the chequered flag.
Even more startling is the shouting following each win has now dissipated into a determined, stern message over the team radio. It is the sound of a young man who completely in control.
“I don’t think it was easy today. The start was crucial and being on the clean side I had a very good getaway. When (…) we came in, I think it was the right time, as I couldn’t have done more laps. In the second part of the race I didn’t know what was gong on behind Lewis, if he was under pressure or not, but towards the end of the race I could control it more.”
McLaren pulled a very good result out of the bag. Considering how much trouble the team appeared to be in, last minute upgrades were enough to give Lewis Hamilton the pace to take his MP4-26 to the runner-up spot. The team may need plenty of these results, as it may not be until May before the team get to seriously upgrade the machine.
“Second position is a great result. The car felt fantastic, really nice to drive, and I was able to look after my tyres throughout the race. To be able to apply pressure to Sebastian [Vettel] so soon into the season was massively encouraging, too. I don’t really know what happened with the floor, but it didn’t feel too bad to drive. After the race I had a look at it, and it looked quite badly damaged. I was just glad to be able to bring the car home, I was nursing it. The engineers know where there’s more performance to be gained, and we’ll get it to the track as soon as we can. I think we can challenge for the win at Sepang.”
Possibly the result of the day goes to Vitaly Petrov, who snatched the final podium place. The Russian showed last year in Abu Dhabi that he could withstand great pressure from Ferrari’s mighty Fernando Alonso and today was no different. The pair crossed the finish line nearly together, as Petrov held a 1.2 second advantage at the flag. The Renault driver was, understandably, happy.
“I’m delighted to be here on the podium, especially after the winter that we had as a team, which was very tough. I made a great start today, which was probably the key for my race because it got me ahead of Alonso and Button, and I was able to run in some clean air and push hard, as well as looking after my tyres. Our two-stop strategy was clearly the right decision and we made it work.”
Less convincing were Mark Webber and Jenson Button. Following lacklustre performances, they took 5th and 6th and the race conclusion respectively, but both will be aware that they should have achieved more.
Sadly, this should have been a boon day for the little Sauber team. Headed home by rookie Sergio Perez, the Swiss team brought their cars home in 7th and 8th, only for Perez and Kamui Kobayashi to be disqualified after the event due to illegalities with their rear wing.
Picking up the reward was Felipe Massa (7th) and Sebastien Buemi (8th). While Massa’s performance was shoddy at best – reminiscent of his Sauber form from several years ago – Buemi drove a quietly confident race for his Toro Rosso team to take home four points.
The disqualification of the Sauber’s gave points to both Force India’s, with Adrian Sutil taking 9th ahead of débutante, Paul di Resta (10th). The young Scot showed very well on his first Grand Prix running in what appears to be quite an unspectacular car, against a teammate that seemed to be asleep during parts of the race.
Outside the points came Jaime Alguersuari (11th) who did not seem to recover from his first lap incident. Alguersuari led the poor Nick Heidfeld (Renault) home to 12th.
Jarno Trulli was the sole finishing Lotus in 13th (albeit two laps down); however there was some pride for the Norfolk squad, as Trulli put a lap on rival Jerome d’Ambrosio, who rolled up 14th for Virgin Racing, three laps adrift.
The 2011 Australian Grand Prix was a fantastic way to start off the new Formula 1 season; however judging on what was seen today, it is Pirelli that have brought the action to the table, rather than KERS or DRS.
Race Rating: 4 out of 5
The Australian Grand Prix Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia; 58 laps; 307.574km; Weather: Sunny. Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h29:30.259 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 22.297 3. Petrov Renault + 30.560 4. Alonso Ferrari + 31.772 5. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 38.171 6. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 54.300 7. Massa Ferrari + 1:25.100 8. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 12. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap 13. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 14. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps NC. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 8 laps DQ. Perez Sauber-Ferrari + 1:05.800 DQ. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:16.800 Fastest lap: Massa, 1:28.947 Retirements: Driver Team On lap Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 49 Rosberg Mercedes 22 Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 19 Schumacher Mercedes 19 Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 10 Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth DNQ Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth DNQ World Championship standings, round 1: Drivers: 1. Vettel 25 2. Hamilton 18 3. Petrov 15 4. Alonso 12 5. Webber 10 6. Button 8 7. Perez 6 8. Kobayashi 4 9. Massa 2 10. Buemi 1 Constructors: 1. Red Bull-Renault 35 2. McLaren-Mercedes 26 3. Renault 15 4. Ferrari 14 5. Sauber-Ferrari 10 6. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1
The 2012 version of Nissan’s old charger shows up with an astonishing 523 horsepower (admittedly 38 more than it’s street running version). It would enable the machine to lap the Nordschleife with a time of 7:24.22 – proving to be nearly three seconds quicker than the outgoing model.
Also impressive was the time by the Nissan GT-R was only two seconds shy of the quickest lap set by the Corvette ZR1; however the Corvette possessed an advantage of 100 horsepower.
The video includes an introduction by Kazutoshi Mizuno – designer of the GT-R; however it is in Japanese, with no subtitles.
So, for those that just want to see a vastly impressive car lap around one of the world’s most notorious race circuits, just skip to the three minute mark.
Albert Park hosts the Australian GP.
Qualifying
To say that Sebastian Vettel easily took pole position in Melbourne today would be an understatement.
It would probably be more apt if one were to say the Red Bull driver destroyed the field in qualifying.
The reigning World Champion cleared 2nd place Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) by over seven-tenths of a second.
According to Vettel;
“We’ve been working very hard to get the RB7 to where it is now – it’s thanks to all those in the factory and those here, down under, for preparing the car. If you look at the points we still have zero like everyone else, so we need to see what happens tomorrow.”
The McLaren team made a very late change to their exhaust system and upon initial inspection, it appears to have been a big improvement.
“The car felt fantastic, and I owe it all to the guys back at the factory, in the design office and those building components. It was a brave decision to make such a dramatic change to the car, and a superb effort to deliver that change.”
Hamilton also said:
“…although I was pleased with my performance today, my KERS Hybrid stopped working halfway round my final lap – I had 40 per cent left that I couldn’t deploy – but that would have been worth only an extra couple of tenths.”
Red Bull / McLaren also aligned the second row of the grid, with Mark Webber taking 3rd ahead of Jenson Button.
While Webber may be vaguely happy with starting on the clean side of the grid come tomorrow’s Grand Prix, the Australian was be dismayed to be a full eight-tenths off his teammate’s pace.
Webber revealed that he was:
“…disappointed with my performance today. Sebastian put in a very good lap. I’m a little bit mystified by the gap to be honest, I tried my best. I’ll have to go through it and have a look at where I can improve and go from there.”
Fernando Alonso will lead the Ferrari charge from the third row, accompanied there by the Renault of Vitaly Petrov (6th). The Russian has certainly impressed so far this weekend, often showing the confidence and pace that eluded him in 2010.
Petrov was clearly happy following the chequered flag:
“After all the hard work during a very tough winter for the whole team, it feels great to come here and qualify on the third row. The car has felt good right from the start of practice and we’ve improved it constantly during each session. I’m not too worried about the tyres because they have been working well for us so far and we have not seen the drop off that we saw during winter testing.”
Nico Rosberg took 7th for Mercedes, albeit 1.9 seconds shy of Vettel’s pace. The former Williams man beat Ferrari’s Felipe Massa to (a disappointing) 8th, although Massa harmed both his tyres and his final run thanks to a spin at the first corner on his outlap.
Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi (9th) and Sebastien Buemi (10th, Toro Rosso) impressed with runs to the fifth row.
Michael Schumacher will start from 11th in his Mercedes after two minor errors cost him valuable time. The seven-time World Champion pipped the second Toro Rosso of Jamie Alguersuari (12th) and Sauber’s Sergio Perez (13th) by just over one-tenth.
Rookie Paul di Resta (14th) out qualified his Force India teammate, Adrian Sutil (16th), after Sutil botched his fast lap with a very impressive spin exiting the final corner.
It was a similar situation at Williams as Formula 1 new boy Pastor Maldonado (15th) out-qualified Rubens Barrichello (17th). The Brazilian veteran never recorded a Q2 time after spinning into the gravel trap on his outlap.
Despite showing relatively well in testing and in practices, the Renault of Nick Heidfeld was the big name to fall out in first qualifying, although he did possess a large advantage over the second year teams, led by Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen (19th). Both of the Norfolk cars struggled badly with low tyre temperatures, leaving them at the mercy of the field.
Also out were the Virgin’s of Timo Glock and Jerome d’Ambrosio. Both made it comfortably into the race, albeit in 21st and 22nd positions respectively.
Sadly for Hispania, both their drivers missed the 107% cut-off point, with Vitantonio Liuzzi 1.6 seconds off and Narain Karthikeyan three seconds outside the barrier.
They have not been given permission to start tomorrow’s race – a decision which may hasten the demise of the team.
**A note for those that watched the press conference following the end of qualifying.
As James Allen spoke about Vettel’s fastest lap done without KERS, Hamilton gave one of the most telling shakes of the head I have ever seen. An acknowledgement of just how far ahead the Vettel / Red Bull package is?
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m23.529s 2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.307s + 0.778s 3. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m24.395s + 0.866s 4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.779s + 1.250s 5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m24.974s + 1.445s 6. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1m25.247s + 1.718s 7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m25.421s + 1.892s 8. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m25.599s + 2.070s 9. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m25.626s + 2.097s 10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.066s + 3.537s Q2 cut-off time: 1m25.882s 11. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m25.971s 12. Jaime Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m26.103s 13. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.108s 14. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m26.739s 15. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m26.768s 16. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m31.407s 17. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth Q3 cut-off time: 1m27.222s 18. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1m27.239s 19. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m29.254s 20. Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m29.342s 21. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m29.858s 22. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.822s 107% time: 1m31.266s 23. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1m32.978s 24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m34.293s
The Albert Park circuit in Melbourne.
Free Practice 3
On another cool and overcast day at Melbourne, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel topped the third practice session.
The reigning World Champion set a quickest lap of 1:24.507, some eight-tenths faster than teammate Mark Webber.
It was a stunning display by Vettel, who was quickest in every single sector as he laid down his marker for the weekend.
The McLaren pair of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button lined up 3rd and 4th respectively, albeit one second off of Vettel’s pace, although Button spent the early part of the practice struggling with brake issues.
Renault’s Vitaly Petrov finished 5th and Fernando Alonso 6th in his Ferrari; both had several tenths advantage over Kamui Kobayashi (7th, Sauber) and Nico Rosberg (8th, Mercedes), while Nick Heidfeld (Renault) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) rounded out the top-ten.
The second Ferrari of Felipe Massa had a problematic session in a car the Brazilian appears to find difficult. Nearing the end of the session, the camera casing from Massa’s car flew off, while his qualifying simulation was ruined by a painfully slow Narain Karthikeyan – all of which left Massa 2.5 seconds off of Vettel’s ultimate pace.
Williams also had a third practice to forget. Rubens Barrichello’s (16th) session ended early thanks to gearbox oil leak, but not before rookie teammate Pastor Maldonado beached his FW33 into the gravel trap at the turn 6/7 chicane.
At Virgin, an error from a Cosworth engineer necessitated an engine change in Timo Glock’s car – the German driver completed the session in 20th, four-tenths ahead of new teammate Jerome d’Ambrosio.
Meanwhile, the struggling Hispania squad had another poor day with Vitantonio Liuzzi’s F111 stopping after four corners due to an electrical fault. Narain Karthikeyan did eventually set a timed lap in the second Hispania, albeit 17.047 seconds off the pace.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m24.507s 15 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m25.364s + 0.857 14 3. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.553s + 1.046 15 4. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.567s + 1.060 16 5. Petrov Renault 1m25.906s + 1.399 18 6. Alonso Ferrari 1m26.121s + 1.614 16 7. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m26.417s + 1.910 17 8. Rosberg Mercedes 1m26.520s + 2.013 17 9. Heidfeld Renault 1m26.746s + 2.239 17 10. Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.856s + 2.349 15 11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.008s + 2.501 17 12. Massa Ferrari 1m27.011s + 2.504 15 13. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.066s + 2.559 14 14. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m27.087s + 2.580 15 15. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m27.180s + 2.673 15 16. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m28.068s + 3.561 7 17. Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.077s + 3.570 9 18. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m29.772s + 5.265 17 19. Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m30.003s + 5.496 18 20. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.261s + 5.754 15 21. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m30.496s + 5.989 5 22. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m30.704s + 6.197 18 23. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1m41.554s + 17.047 5 24. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth No time 1
Melbourne's Albert Park circuit.
Free Practice 2
McLaren’s Jenson Button topped the second practice session for this year’s Australian Grand Prix.
The 2009 World Champion ran a best lap of 1:25.854 during a 32 lap run, pipping teammate Lewis Hamilton by just over one-tenth in a session that retained the overcast conditions of the morning. Hamilton registered 31 tours of Albert Park, alleviating some of the fears about the reliability of the MP4-26.
Fernando Alonso lined up 3rd in his Ferrari ahead of the Red Bull pairing of Sebastian Vettel (4th) and Mark Webber (5th), although both Red Bull’s appeared to concentrate on race simulations during the afternoon.
Michael Schumacher (6th) bettered his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg (10th) by eight-tenths, as they squeezed Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Rubens Barrichello (Williams), as they finished 7th to 9th respectively.
Indeed Sauber had quite a good afternoon, as they proved to be the busiest on track – between Perez and Kamui Kobayashi, the Swiss team notched up 74 laps in the ninety minute session.
The same could not be said for Hispania Racing. The Spanish squad were only able to manage a single installation lap for Vitantonio Liuzzi – they will be hoping they can run solidly during tomorrow’s third practice session. At Lotus, a fuel pressure problem for Jarno Trulli and a engine misfire for Heikki Kovalainen caused both to lose track time, but both returned to circuit for the last 45 minutes.
There were several excursions during the session – the most notable offs came from Massa, both Williams, both Lotus’, Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Vitaly Petrov (Renault) and Timo Glock (Virgin).
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.854s 32 2. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m25.986s + 0.132 31 3. Alonso Ferrari 1m26.001s + 0.147 28 4. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m26.014s + 0.160 35 5. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m26.283s + 0.429 33 6. Schumacher Mercedes 1m26.590s + 0.736 31 7. Massa Ferrari 1m26.789s + 0.935 34 8. Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m27.101s + 1.247 39 9. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m27.280s + 1.426 34 10. Rosberg Mercedes 1m27.448s + 1.594 23 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.525s + 1.671 31 12. Petrov Renault 1m27.528s + 1.674 29 13. Heidfeld Renault 1m27.536s + 1.682 22 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m27.697s + 1.843 30 15. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.095s + 2.241 35 16. di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m28.376s + 2.522 33 17. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m28.583s + 2.729 31 18. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m29.386s + 3.532 29 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1m30.829s + 4.975 22 20. Trulli Lotus-Renault 1m30.912s + 5.058 23 21. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m32.106s + 6.252 36 22. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m32.135s + 6.281 30 23. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth No time 1
The layout at Melbourne's Albert Park.
Free Practice 1
Mark Webber set the quickest time in the opening practice session this morning in Melbourne.
In cool and overcast conditions, the Australian set a best of 1:26.831 at the tail of the session, some three-tenths quicker than teammate Sebastian Vettel.
Fernando Alonso took 3rd, albeit one second off the pace. The Spaniard clocked up 20 laps in his new Ferrari with no problems.
Admittedly, teams were unlike to be chasing lap times, as they bed in the new Pirelli tyres and run the Drag Reduction System (DRS) in anger; however it may be seen as first blood to Red Bull at this early stage.
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Rubens Barrichello (Williams) were next up, with the McLaren of Jenson Button in 6th. Lewis Hamilton was just four-hundredths of-a-second shy of his teammate in 7th place. Despite being 1.6 seconds off of Webber’s pace, the McLaren pair may take some solace from running 55 laps between them.
Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) and Vitaly Petrov (Renault) rounded out the top-ten, although it was not plain sailing for the Sauber driver – his engine cover flew off the car spraying debris over the back straight with a few minutes remaining.
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa (11th) set the first timed lap of the day, but followed that up with a slide off circuit due to an open DRS in the braking of turn 3 – a feat repeated by Adrian Sutil (13th, Force India).
Daniel Ricciardo (16th) sat in for Jaime Alguersuari at Toro Rosso, while Nico Hulkenberg (18th) took Paul di Resta’s Force India seat.
New Lotus signing, Karun Chandhok ran the first practice in place of Jarno Trulli; however the Indian suffered an embarrassing crash three corners in, ripping off the front wing and damaging the right rear.
Virgin’s Timo Glock suffered gearbox issues, losing the first half of the morning session as a result. Both he and new teammate, Jerome d’Ambrosio set worrying times, some 8.4 seconds slower than Webber.
Neither Hispania ventured out on track and may not run today at all.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m26.831s + 20 2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m27.158s + 0.327 19 3. Alonso Ferrari 1m27.749s + 0.918 20 4. Rosberg Mercedes 1m28.152s + 1.321 16 5. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1m28.430s + 1.599 24 6. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m28.440s + 1.609 29 7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1m28.483s + 1.652 26 8. Schumacher Mercedes 1m28.690s + 1.859 14 9. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m28.725s + 1.894 13 10. Petrov Renault 1m28.765s + 1.93 15 11. Massa Ferrari 1m28.842s + 2.011 20 12. Heidfeld Renault 1m28.928s + 2.097 14 13. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1m29.314s + 2.483 19 14. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m29.328s + 2.497 21 15. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1m29.403s + 2.572 24 16. Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m29.468s + 2.637 23 17. Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1m29.643s + 2.812 18 18. Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m31.002s + 4.171 20 19. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1m32.428s + 5.597 13 20. d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1m35.282s + 8.451 17 21. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1m35.289s + 8.458 15 22. Chandhok Lotus-Cosworth no time 1 23. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth no time 24. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth no time
Oulton Park. © Will Pittenger / Creative Commons
Reigning British Formula Ford Champion, Scott Pye, topped the single of testing at Oulton Park on Tuesday.
The Australian Double R driver became the first to break the Carlin stranglehold in testing this year and also became the first driver to run quickest with a Mercedes engine.
Indeed, it was a busy day for Pye, who had completed a sterling 63 laps by the final chequered flag.
Pye’s fastest lap – 1:27.621, set half-way through a short stint in the morning – was more than enough to keep Menasheh Idafar (T-Sport) in 2nd spot; however the 20-year-old registered his quickest turn on ageing Cooper tyres.
Carlos Huertas (3rd) finished the day as the leading Carlin driver, nearly half-a-second slower than Pye. For the rest of the day, no one was able to improve on Pye’s time in spite of the excellent weather conditions.
Pietro Fantin took 4th for Hitech Racing, albeit seven-tenths back the top spot. The Brazilian just edged ahead ahead of Rupert Svendsen-Cook (5th, Carlin), Pipo Derani (6th, Double R Racing) and title favourite Felipe Nasr (7th, Carlin) by mere thousandths in the final session.
Kevin Magnussen claimed 8th spot with a best of 1:28.402 during a 58-lap day, while the Fortec pairing of Lucas Foresti and Harry Tincknell rounded up the top-ten, albeit one second off the pace.
Riki Christodoulou took 11th for Hitech, a few hundredths ahead of the leading Sino Vision runner, Hywel Lloyd (12th). Next up were Will Buller (13th, Fortec) and the Carlin duo, Jazeman Jaafar and Jack Harvey, who registered the 14th and 15th best times respectively.
Adderly Fong could do no better than 16th, 1.888 seconds down on Pye, yet it was still enough to pip Yann Cunha (17th, T-Sport) and the Rookie Class pair of Bart Hylkema (18th, T-Sport) and Kotaru Sakurai (19th, Hitech).
Accidents for Jaafar and Sakurai brought temporary stoppages for those entries; however Fong’s day was brought to an abrupt end thanks to a more serious incident. A big crash during the second session, knocked out the Hong Kong native for a short time.
Following precautionary checks at the hospital, Fong was given the all clear and released.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Scott Pye Double R 1m27.621s 2. Menasheh Idafar T-Sport 1m27.989s 3. Carlos Huertas Carlin 1m28.093s 4. Pietro Fantin Hitech 1m28.332s 5. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin 1m28.339s 6. Pipo Derani Double R 1m28.346s 7. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m28.402s 8. Kevin Magnussen Carlin 1m28.481s 9. Lucas Foresti Fortec 1m28.643s 10. Harry Tincknell Fortec 1m28.701s 11. Riki Christodoulou Hitech 1m28.716s 12. Hywel Lloyd Sino Vision 1m28.769s 13. Will Buller Fortec 1m28.962s 14. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1m29.117s 15. Jack Harvey Carlin 1m29.139s 16. Adderly Fong Sino Vision 1m29.509s 17. Yann Cunha T-Sport 1m29.807s 18. Bart Hylkema T-Sport 1m30.618s 19. Kotaru Sakurai Hitech 1m31.771s
Admittedly, the piece does sound slightly unrehearsed (potentially due to Schumacher’s somewhat staccato delivery), but it is at a vague insight to the new regulations.
However I have been led to believe that this brief programme extract ought to contain everything we need to know about the ongoing case.
TheMotorsportArchive.com 