Suzuka Circuit, Japan. Sunday 08 October 2017. World Copyright: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images ref: Digital Image _X4I8963
Lewis Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix, and extended his championship lead to 59 points from Sebastian Vettel. The British Samurai, led the race from the pole till the end, without any problem and no pressure. Red Bull was the only team which tried to put some pressure on Hamilton, especially after the second Virtual Safety Car, but still the champion remained first and took the chequered flag at the Japanese Grand Prix.
An engine problem cost the race to Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari’s engineers were working on Vettel’s car just a few minutes before the formation lap, the team thought that they solved the issue but there prays didn’t work out and Vettel retired on the fourth lap. After lights out, the German lost the second position from Max Verstappen and soon dropped down to sixth, the safety car, which deployed due to Sainz’s retirement, allowed him to remain on track for a couple of laps, but at the re-start Ferrari informed Vettel to return to the pits and retire his car.
Suzuka Circuit, Japan. Sunday 08 October 2017. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W08 EQ Power+, leads at the start of the race. World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images ref: Digital Image _ONY8649
Vettel said on Sky “It’s normal you’re critical, especially if things go wrong, so it’s part of our job. I think I need to protect them. We’ve done an incredible job so far. Bitter the past two races with the reliability issues – but you know, it’s like that sometimes. Of course it hurts and we’re all disappointed, but now we need to get back, get some rest and then go flat out for the last four races and see what happens.”
Daniel Ricciardo scored another podium this season and set a new personal-best with nine podiums in one season. The Australian had a quiet evening behind his team-mate compering to Max Verstappen who started fourth but moved up to second place and was trying to stay close to Hamilton during the Japanese Grand Prix. The Dutch, knew that Lewis will not defend his position in case of a battle between them, but Max didn’t have the pace to match and challenge Hamilton.
Suzuka Circuit, Japan. Sunday 08 October 2017. World Copyright: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images ref: Digital Image _X4I8155
An interesting battle for the tenth position took place during the final laps of the race, Felipe Massa was the leader of this battle from the 10th position, challenged by Magnussen and Grosjean. The Brazilian was struggling and didn’t had the pace to stay ahead of the two drivers, both passed him and moved up to the eighth and ninth place respectively. Massa defended his position from Fernando Alonso, who started the race from the back of the gird. The VSC which deployed due to Stroll’s retirement, helped him to keep a distance from the Spaniard and score one point for Williams in Suzuka.
Jolyon Palmer raced for the last time for the Renault and finished 12th, whilst his team-mate, Nico Hulkenberg was unlucky as he forced to retire due to an issue with the DRS.
Next stop is at the Circuit of the Americas, a circuit which suits better to Mercedes and they are expected to be more competitive. Sebastian Vettel was leading by seven points after the Belgian Grand Prix and he was only three points behind Hamilton in Italy, but the next three races were a disaster for him and Ferrari. A start-line crash in Singapore, followed by engine problems in Malaysia and Japan dropped him 59 points behind Lewis. The Brit three-time champion, is on his way for his fourth title which he can celebrate it in COTA.
Davide Giugliano was left without a ride in WSBK last year but he showed he is still capable, finishing 8th and 11th at Magny Cours for the 11th round of the 2017 World Superbike championship.
“It’s was an unlucky race two because I feel I had the pace to be fighting for a top-6 finish. The realistic goal before the start was to finish between 8th and 11th but we turned out to be quicker than we expected”, said a joyous Giugliano.
“It was hard to push when I found myself at the back of the field, because even though I knew I had to make up ground, I was riding on my own so I didn’t know how wet it was on different parts of the circuit and how conditions were evolving throughout the lap. We put together a good comeback, we made some passes and we showed a good pace, so I think there’s a good synergy developing between the bike and myself now”, he continued. Giugliano looks certain to remain with the Red Bull Honda squad for the remainder of the season.
The Italian also hailed the development of the new Honda Fireblade SP2. He gave the team their first start from a top six position since Nicky Hayden at Losail in 2016. The team’s best race result is 6th, from Stefan Bradl in race one at Assen.
“The guys have done an amazing job: I feel that the bike is improving a lot and that was the reason I was chosen in the first place so I’m happy. The top speed was also excellent today. Obviously there is still a lot to improve but things are going in the right direction”.
Running as the main event this weekend in Jerez, Formula 2 seemed determined to offer up drama and madness to the very last lap of the very last race. And if the on track action was not enough, Jerez provided us with the crowning of the series’ first champion, as Charles Leclerc secured the title on Saturday bagging himself back to back GP3 and Formula 2 championships in his bid to earn himself a seat on the 2018 Formula 1 grid.
His qualifying performance on Friday saw him take his eighth pole position of the season, officially equalling Stoffel Vandoorne’s record for the most poles in a season of GP2/F2. Lining up beside him was Russian Time’s Luca Ghiotto, who was looking for a late season surge to seal the Vice-Champion title. And behind them was MP Motorsport’s Sergio Sette Camara, the youngest driver in the field who has hit his form since his win in Belgium. Likely to Leclerc’s relief, his nearest rival Oliver Rowland only managed fourth in qualifying. Knowing that he needed to outscore Leclerc to stay in contention, Rowland had made his job a little harder than it needed to be.
The start of Saturday’s feature race went exactly to plan for Leclerc, who pulled away and began building a gap between himself and the rest of the field almost immediately. With perhaps a hint of desperation, but all the guts and determination worthy of a championship contender, Rowland overtook Sette Camara in the opening laps in an aggressive move that was entirely necessary to keep his title hopes alive. He set about trying to find away past Ghiotto, but while he battled away with the Italian, Leclerc was storming away in front. Eventually he found a way past on lap eleven, with a stunning move coming into turn one, but by this point, Leclerc was several seconds up the road.
Photo: Andrew Ferraro/FIA Formula 2
The first round of pit stops began on lap seven, but the leader did not pit until lap twelve, followed closely by Rowland. While Leclerc was able to inherit the net lead of the race, with only the drivers running the alternate strategy ahead of him, Rowland found himself stuck behind Camara and Albon, both of whom had successfully undercut him. It was around this time, when everyone was completing their first pit stops, that it became apparent that the DRS system was not working correctly after it became disabled for seemingly no reason. Whilst not detrimental to the race, it would turn out to be the first in a sizeable list of malfunctions that would occur over the weekend.
After cutting his way through the field, Leclerc retook the lead of the race on lap twenty-one, with Rowland trying to follow, but struggling due to the greater number of drivers he had to overtake. And despite the Brit setting several blistering lap times in his pursuit of the Ferrari junior driver, he couldn’t quite find the pace to close up the gap fully.
The race almost looked like it would run its course to an untroubled end, with Leclerc taking the title comfortably. That was until there was contact between Santino Ferrucci and Nobuharu Matsushita on lap thirty-two which, after a lap’s delay in which not even a single yellow flag was waved (despite debris on track and Ferrucci’s car beached in the gravel at turn one), the safety car was deployed.
Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2
As the field bunched together and Leclerc lost the advantage he had worked so hard to gain, it became apparent that some of the late stoppers might be able to use their fresher tyres to make a last minute dash for the podium positions, and possibly even the win. But the real headache for the front runners was the fact that the lapped cars of Sean Gelael and Louis Deletraz either would not or could not, unlap themselves and found themselves caught in the middle of the battle between Leclerc and Rowland with the championship at stake.
To make matters worse when racing resumed neither car was shown blue flags and began to battle with the frontrunners, making it so much harder for Rowland to catch Leclerc, who had bolted at the restart. Rowland even came under pressure from Leclerc’s teammate Antonio Fuoco who had made a stunning recovery drive from fifteenth on the grid and benefitted massively from the late safety car to eventually finish third.
In the end Charles Leclerc was only 0.2 seconds ahead of Rowland when he crossed the line. But it was enough to take the title with three races to spare, an achievement he duly dedicated to his late father after clinching victory in a tribute helmet modelled after one of his father’s own.
Photo: Andrew Ferraro/FIA Formula 2
Formula 2 debutante Alex Palou, racing for Campos in place of Robert Visoiu, took reverse grid pole for Sunday’s sprint race after completing the impressive feat of scoring points on debut. After a delayed start due to a broken down safety car, the race got underway about fifteen minutes later than planned, with Palou making a perfect start and managing to pull away as the rest of the field formed a train behind him.
The feature race on Saturday had proved that while some teams suited the medium tyres (the compound all drivers start on in sprint races), others, including Prema, found it incredibly difficult to maintain any consistent speed with them, and struggled badly for grip. That led to a series of pit stops, which are ordinarily only taken if unavoidable due to the low number of laps in a sprint race.
Amongst the stoppers were the Prema teammates, who, after making their way up to fourth and fifth, found themselves slipping down the order, and crucially behind the DAMS and Russian Times drivers, who they are now fighting with for the team’s championship. And the switch to the soft tyre proved to be the right one. Both Leclerc and Fuoco were posting lap times that were around three seconds quicker than the cars in front of them.
While the Prema pair tried to work their way back through the field Nicholas Latifi and Markelov had closed the gap to Palou who was also beginning to struggle with his tyres. The ensuing battle between the three of them allowed Rowland, who was running in fourth place, to join the fray.
Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2
Though Palou coped well under the enormous pressure being applied by the more experienced drivers he was finally passed by Markelov, who had used his uncanny ability to manage his tyres to kick his pace up a gear with just a handful of laps to go. Palou would eventually fall from the podium places with the DAMS drivers Latifi and Rowland able to score a double podium for their team, and the Spaniard would ultimately finish in eighth place.
Markelov would be able to pull away and win by a stunning margin of eleven seconds earned through pitch perfect strategy and timing. Though both Fuoco and Leclerc did make it back into the points, the overtaking and fighting took it out of their softer tyres, and the best the new champion could do was seventh place, which his teammate leading him home in fifth, with Nyck de Vries sandwiched between them. Despite being run off the track on the first lap and having the fight his way from plumb last, Luca Ghiotto made a single stop strategy work for him as well to make an excellent recovery to finish in fourth place.
Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2
It will come as a surprise to few to see Charles Leclerc wrap up the championship so emphatically with a round to spare, but that does not mean there is nothing left to play for when Formula 2 returns in Abu Dhabi for its final two races of 2017. The question of who will take home the title of vice-champion still remains unanswered, and while it may seem like something of a consolation, second and third place in the championship each come with forty super license points – the number required to be eligible for a FIA super license and to be able to compete in Formula 1.
The battle to win the F2 team’s title is also incredibly close, with Prema, DAMS and Russian Time all within six points of each other. It’s anyone’s guess as to who will take home that prize when the chequered flag falls on the sprint race in Abu Dhabi.
For the last three seasons, he has been the King of World Superbikes. Domination has seen him go from the nearly-guy to the uncatchable. He has captivated a whole nation and become one of Northern Ireland’s greatest sportsmen, as well as one of the most successful British motorcycle racers in history. Jonathan Rea has been a poster-boy for Northern Irish sport for the last three years and once more, he was hailed a hero after taking a third successive WSBK title. An achievement that former British WSBK champs like Carl Fogarty, Neil Hodgson, James Toseland and Tom Sykes have never been able to carry out.
Born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, Jonathan Rea could never have dreamt of becoming a World Superbike star in his school-boy days. He was never really a fan of racing on tarmac, as he considered it boring and nowhere near as exciting as motocross. Rumour has it that it was Michael and Eugene Laverty that persuaded him to take his talent from dirt to road and in 2003, he made the move to the British 125cc championship. Rea finished the season just four points behind lightweight class legend Ryan Saxelby, in 15th place – picking up a podium at the penultimate round of the season too, at Brands Hatch Indy.
The following season, he was contesting the prestigious British Supersport category, which at the time had names such as Cal Crutchlow, Leon Camier and Michael Laverty in. He was 12th in the championship before an injury at Knockhill ruined his season. Rea remained on 26 points for the rest of the year.
Fast forward his career and through his British Superbike days – of which he only took 5 race wins – and we find Jonny Rea in World Supersport, teammate to Andrew Pitt at the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda squad. He took his first podium at Assen and his first win at Brno, It was quite obvious that we were looking at a very serious talent in the world of motorcycle racing but surely we never expected him to win three titles?
A step up to WSBK in 2009 saw him take his first victory at Misano, whilst a second win of the season came at the Nurburgring, Germany, beating eventual champion Ben Spies by just under a second. Between 2009 and his departure from Honda in 2014, Rea took 15 wins, including two doubles. He won at least one race in every year whilst riding for Honda but the domination didn’t start until 2015, when he left Honda – having been with them for his whole career – to join Kawasaki.
Since arriving at Kawasaki, Jonny Rea has had a podium hit rate of 89.1%, an extraordinary figure. In the five back-to-back titles that Valentino Rossi won in MotoGP, he had a podium hit rate of 87.6%, so Jonny Rea’s domination has seen him so much more consistent than everyone else and even higher than ‘The Doctor’.
Rea has won 35 races in his time with Kawasaki so far, their most successful rider ever in WSBK. The only circuits that the Ulsterman hasn’t won at on the current WSBK calendar are Jerez and Losail, both circuits of which are up next in 2017. He really has set records. Having said that, he has only scored nine pole positions, which enhances his success. It shows that when he has to, he can come through the field. In 2017, he has won from row three a total of six times and finished on the podium from row three on four other occasions. The statistics go on and on.
Rea is not the only beneficiary. Northern Ireland is being showcased on the world stage in the best possible way. Jonathan is a hero back home, with legions of fans supporting him. School kids are aspiring to be him, he is an idol to so, so many. Maybe one day, he may even be up for nomination for BBC Sports Personality of the Year…
With this success and fame comes interest. In Northern Ireland, a circuit that would be fit to host WSBK and MotoGP has been proposed and is now being built. An estimated 700 jobs are set to be created in the 18-month construction period, which is estimated to cost £30m, in County Tyrone. Lake Torrent is the circuit name. Although the capacity of the venue is only set to be 30,000 per event, Rea would help fill every seat with his fans back home. Overall, it’s a massive boost to the Northern Irish economy as well as the publicity that the country would get from such a top-class facility – which undoubtedly has been driven forward by Rea’s success.
Overall, Rea has been pretty sensational, both on track and off track. Some say that he has ruined WSBK and made it boring but whilst he is racing in the championship, we have to admire the talent and ability that he carries. We have to admire his willingness to never stop winning and to carry on breaking records. Rea is arguably the most talented rider that WSBK has ever seen but as I was told by Neil Hodgson, it is very hard to compare him to anyone else because there is no one else in Rea’s league at the moment, not even Kawasaki teammate Tom Sykes. Jonathan Rea is a legend and will only grow and grow as he racks up win after win, title after title.
While Formula 1 heads to the Far East this weekend, its main feeder series, the FIA Formula 2 Championship, breaks away to run its first and only standalone event of the season at the Circuito de Jerez for its penultimate event of the season. After a chaotic and confusing round in Monza, this weekend’s round at Jerez presents championship leader Charles Leclerc with his first real opportunity to wrap up the Formula 2 title. Such a feat which would make him the first rookie champion of a feeder series at this level since 2009 when Nico Hülkenberg won the GP2 series.
Leclerc’s outing in Monza saw him fail to score any points, after being taken out from the leading pack on the last lap of the feature race and failing to work his way back into the points on Sunday. Luckily for the Monegasque driver, his nearest rivals, Oliver Rowland and Artem Markelov, also failed to score big. This leaves him firmly at the top of the drivers’ standings with a healthy lead of fifty-nine points. Realistically, it would take a series of disasters to snatch the title away from the Ferrari junior driver, who looks poised to make the jump to Formula 1 next year, most likely with Sauber.
Photo: Sam Bloxham/FIA Formula 2.
Whilst Rowland and Markelov have been busy fighting with Leclerc, Markelov’s Russian Time teammate Luca Ghiotto has been slowly racking up the points. After a fourth place and a win in his home race in Monza, he is now only two points behind his teammate and only nine behind the second placed Rowland. The Italian is in with a real chance of snatching away the runners up title in these last couple of rounds. Even a fourth place finish in the standings would mark his best result in single seater racing of this level.
After Antonio Fuoco’s win and third placed podium in Monza, the battle in the teams’ standings has closed up, with DAMS, Prema and Russian Time all in with a chance of taking home the big prize. Prema will be hoping that Monza turns out to be something of a turning point for Fuoco, who had previously failed to quite live up to expectations. But with a double podium performance under his belt, many will be hoping that Fuoco can now help Prema defend their team championship. And possibly even aid his teammate Leclerc in bringing home the driver’s title, provided that he can get in between the DAMS and Russian Time drivers.
The ever-changing line-up of the Formula 2 grid mixes things up again this weekend. Spanish driver Alex Palou, currently competing in Formula V8 3.5, joins Campos in place of Robert Visoiu for the rest of the season, who has left the team for personal reasons. Meanwhile, Rene Binder will become Rapax’s fifth driver of the season, replacing ex-F1 driver Robert Merhi for the round in Jerez this weekend. Rapax are yet to confirm whether Binder will remain in the team for the final round in Abu Dhabi at the end of November.
Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2
Binder will race alongside Louis Deletraz, who had his best weekend of the year in Monza, scoring points in both races, after switching seats with Nyck de Vries just before the round in Italy. The Swiss driver has been vocal about how he feels that Rapax is a better fit for him than Racing Engineering and the flashes of form we saw from him in Italy seems to confirm this, especially compared to his early season struggles. Though following up on that improved performance will be important in order to finish his year on a high and set himself up for what will hopefully be a second season in Formula 2 next year.
This weekend in Jerez also marks the second home race of the season for both Campos Racing and Racing Engineering. While Racing Engineering have found themselves able to compete at the front of the field in previous seasons, this year has marked something of a step backwards for the Spanish team. They will be hopeful that after a lengthy break between rounds, giving them time to properly adjust to their new line-up of de Vries and Gustav Malja, will help them recover to their full potential.
ART had a mixed weekend last time out, but there were clearly signs of lightning fast speed from the team who are currently dominating the GP3 championship. Whilst British-Thai driver Alexander Albon has struggled to retain his early season form since his injury prior to the Baku round, Honda junior Nobuharu Matsushita put on a positive performance for the French team in Monza. Matsushita even succeeded in becoming the first driver, with the obvious exception of Charles Leclerc, to claim an on track pole position this season. The Japanese driver is being touted as a contender for a possible drive at Toro Rosso next season, but it would take a stunning string of results to secure the necessary super license points. However, with such a potential reward waiting for him if he does manage to do this, he has nothing to lose this weekend.
Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2.
All eyes will be on Charles Leclerc in Jerez to see if he can bring home the title, and his competitors Markelov and Rowland will know that this is one of their last chances to stop him. Although Leclerc has not scored a race win since the feature race in Silverstone, despite misfortune he is yet to show that he has any intention of slowing down or slipping up. But it would be premature to consider the Formula 2 title a done deal. As the last round in Monza proved, anything can happen in motorsport, and it usually does.
Techeetah rookie André Lotterer is looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead in Formula E. We caught up with him to discuss Techeetah’s prospects and how he felt about the testing so far.
Lotterer, a seasoned WEC and Super Formula driver, was initially sceptical about Formula E but he admits that his opinions have changed towards the sport.
“I think a lot of people were sceptical about it because nobody was used to it. It’s just that my voice was probably picked out more strongly than others due to my status.” Lotterer reveals. “But then obviously you’re allowed to change your mind and it’s something that everybody needed to get used to. “ “Due to my situation in WEC, racing for Porsche and Audi, I was super happy with where I was but things changed and I began to get more interested. In the end, It doesn’t matter what car you race, you have to be the best at it and there’s a lot of top drivers here. There’s a world championship and it’s challenging so it’s the place to be be now. That finally attracted me and it’s going in the right direction with the new season’s car.” Lotterer said that he was ‘always curious’ about the sport, helped by his regular contact with ex-Audi teammate and current Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi.
”Indirectly [he brought me into the sport]. We talk about it and I was always curious how it is.”
”At the beginning, I didn’t really consider [Formula E] but motorsport is changing and we are racing for the future. This is what you want as a new driver – a new challenge. This was this case for me with everything that is changing in the world right now.”
2017/2018 FIA Formula E Championship. Official Test – Valencia, Spain Tuesday 3 October 2017. Andre Lotterer (GER), TECHEETAH, Renault Z.E. 17 Photo: Sam Bloxham/LAT/Formula E ref: Digital Image _J6I9436
Lotterer has already completed two days of testing with Techeetah and is making use of the limited test opportunities that the team, as a Renault customer, have at hand. For the experienced driver, the test provides more of a learning curve as he admitted that the car has been a challenge to get to grips with.
”It’s very different [to drive],” Lotterer explains, “It’s completely different to anything I’ve done before, not only because of the electric engine but mostly because of the tyres and the nature of the car with the battery and the weight.”
Here, the speeds are lower but the car is more challenging to drive because it has less potential in terms of grip with the tyres. The braking is a very random factor due to the regeneration on the rear axle and the carbon brakes have a specific way of working in different temperature ranges so it is a lot of guessing on the brakes but the driving part itself is quite fun.”
Although positive about the season ahead, Lotterer was realistic in terms of what he can achieve in these early stages.
”First of all, I need to play catch up. It is not an easy task to join the championship with only three days of testing. I was for the first time in the car two days ago, so that’s the way it is as a private team when you’re not a manufacturer. At the beginning there’s a learning curve, for sure, but this is what we have to accept and something I need to catch up as fast as possible. We always push to do the best and achieve but at the beginning, I am going to find out where I am. Here, it is a bit difficult to judge. Thing is, here is not that representative in terms of the circuit. The same guys are at the front that were competing in the championship, so being in the middle of it for the first step is not too bad. I really go race by race, give everything and do my best but I know I am going to have to face some learning time in the beginning.
But I have to say the team is a very good team, packed with a lot of brain cells. The guys in the systems side are very smart. We are only one of the teams that cannot go testing so considering that, sometimes [Techeetah] beating the Renault team is quite impressive.”
2017/2018 FIA Formula E Championship. Official Test – Valencia, Spain Monday 2 October 2017. Andre Lotterer (GER), TECHEETAH, Renault Z.E. 17 Photo: Sam Bloxham/LAT/Formula E
Competing alongside seasoned driver Jean-Éric Vergne, Lotterer was very optimistic about what he could learn from the French driver. “It’s really good to have him [Jev] . Obviously, he’s a really good reference now after winning the race in Montréal so this is good for me to be able to learn from him and he’s a good team player. He wants to have a good global performance of the team and he’s been helping me out with getting up to speed and sharing his information which is not something you can take for granted from teammates in general.”
With Porsche’s arrival into Formula E in Season 6, it seems reasonable that they would want to take on a presumably more experienced Lotterer into their new team, but Lotterer argued that it was not the case, stating that Techeetah was his long term prospect.
“No, of course [this is not a short term prospect]. My aim is to come and find a good situation. As a professional race car driver, you want to optimise everything – my performance, the team’s performance, everything. This doesn’t go from one day to the other so it’s going to take some time but hopefully in the long run, it will pay off. “
Round 11 of the 2017 World Superbike championship certainly didn’t disappoint – which let me tell you – feels superb to say.
It would be an injustice to not focus on Jonathan Rea and the factory Kawasaki outfit creating World Superbike history first. The Northern Irishman finally wrapped up what we’ve known for most of the season – his third straight championship, becoming the first rider to ever reach that feat.
After claiming pole for race one, despite getting cosy with the gravel traps in Superpole, the 30 year old then left the others in his wake as he stormed to victory in immensely difficult conditions under French skies. The perfect race to confirm his place as one of the all time Superbike greats.
Speaking to British Eurosport after his triumph, Rea commented; “I dreamt of [winning] one world championship as a kid. It was all I hung on to through the sacrifices of my parents during my motocross days.”
“To get one was incredible. Then going back to back with the new bike was unbelievable. This one… I’ve no words.”
His outing in race two was cut short after colliding with Eugene Laverty’s stricken Aprilia, nonetheless, an incredible weekend for the-now triple world champion.
Davies first title is by no means far away. A DNF in race 1 was an all too familiar story for the Welshman this year, with inconsistent results letting the man in green run away with the title.
Along with Tom Sykes, the Ducati man has been the other stand out performer this year with seven wins under his belt. He’s shown he can battle and beat Rea. Now, we just have to see it happen over the course of a season and hopefully, we can see Chaz claim his maiden Superbike title that we know he deserves.
All credit to the 30-year-old who proved he isn’t going to slow up for the remainder of the year despite losing out on the title.
Ah, the Pata Yamaha team. I think I can speak on behalf of every World Superbike fan at least and say how pleasing it was to see both Alex Lowes and Michael Van Der Mark celebrate on the podium in race two. The Englishman, twin to brother Sam, secured his third podium of the season to continue what has been a very positive year for Alex, despite consistent podiums eluding him and the team.
His Dutch teammate crossed the line third to pick up his second podium of the season and like his team mate, van der Mark has impressed this year. The boys in blue have cemented their place as the best of the rest, with number 22 sitting on 200 points in the championship and the number 60 sitting on 189. The race to be fourth in the championship, in my opinion, will be the hottest battle out there in the remaining four races.
Moving onto Marco Melandri and like we didn’t know this already, but make no mistake, he’s still got it. He’s only had one win this season which came in Misano race two, however, the wily old fox has only failed to step on the podium at two of the rounds in 2017, Donington Park and Laguna Seca.
So what else did we learn? Leon Camier is the unluckiest guy out there. No one deserves a taste of the champagne more than he does this season after some of the performances he’s managed to strangle out of the out-dated MV Agusta. The devastation from both rider and team were clear to see after the bike gave up on him (again) whilst challenging for an almost certain rostrum in race two, one better than he went in race one.
There are strong rumours linking the former British Superbike champion with a move away from the Italian manufacturer, with Honda being the likely destination if the stories are to be believed, although MotoGP migrant Loris Baz is also rumoured to have that seat.
Overall, the Pirelli French round was an indicator of how great the series can be and still is. Yes, changes need to be made and seeing Jonny Rea win the title with two rounds to go isn’t great for the neutral but the genuine world class talent the series possesses shouldn’t go a miss.
Jerez is next up for the World Superbike circus, before they touch down in Qatar for the last round of the season at the start of November. It is rumoured that WSBK will no longer attend Jerez after this season, whilst Qatar looks set to stay.
Don’t forget to follow me on twitter @journoyork and make sure you’re following our new PitCrewOnline account, CrewOnTwo.
After the Malaysian Grand Prix, drivers and teams are heading to one of the most fascinating places on the Formula One calendar, Japan. Back to back races for the crews with just five races to go and 125 points available for the drivers, Sebastian Vettel has to cover the gap of 34 points between him and Lewis Hamilton, who right now is the favourite for the 2017 world title.
Scuderia Ferrari announced that they will not change Sebastian Vettel’s gearbox for the upcoming Grand Prix, so the German driver will avoid the five place grid penalty.
Max Verstappen with his Red Bull celebrated a victory in Malaysia, first in this season for the young driver, was in full control of the race followed by the Brit champion Lewis Hamilton. Daniel Ricciardo was the third man on the podium, whilst Sebastian Vettel finished fourth. Kimi Raikkonen suffered an issue with his Ferrari and forced to retire from the second position before the start of the race.
Only three drivers have won more than three times in Japan, these drivers are Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Vettel took four times the chequered flag in Suzuka, whilst Lewis Hamilton has scored one less victory than the German champion.
The team with the most wins in Japan is McLaren (9), followed by Ferrari who have won seven times in Suzuka and Red Bull four. Two Japanese drivers have finished on the podium in their home race the one was Kamui Kobayashi and the second one was Aguri Suzuki.
Suzuka International Racing Course
Laps: 53
Circuit Length: 5.807 km
Race Distance: 307.471 km
Lap Record: 1:31.540 (Kimi Raikkonen 2005)
Suzuka built by Honda and used as a test facility in 1962, the circuit was designed by John Hugenholz. In 1987, several motorsport races were held in Suzuka, F2 races were among these events.
Suzuka is a demanding circuit for the tyres, has 18 corners and the brake demanding is low. During a lap the drivers are changing their gears around 45 times and the average lap speed is 220 km/h.
Max Verstappen – “After Malaysia we will spend some time in Tokyo before heading to Suzuka. Japan is full of new experiences and it will be great to spend a couple of days exploring before the race weekend starts. Some people say the Japanese fans are crazy, but I think they are just very passionate about Formula 1, which for me is very nice to see. Suzuka will always be a special place for me because I made my Formula 1 debut there during Friday practice and it’s a proper old-school track. My favourite corner is the fast Esses in the first sector, but it’s also the most difficult section of the track and you really have to concentrate on getting the set-up right.”
Felipe Massa believes that Suzuka suits to Williams and they will be very competitive.
“Suzuka is definitely one of the best tracks in the world and one where I really love racing. I think the car we have this year will be amazing there with the high downforce and the high-speed corners, so I am really looking forward to going there. Another great thing about being in Japan is the fans, who are some of the best we come across during the year.”
DTM driver Dani Juncadella is taking his foray into Formula E as he replaces the departing Nick Heidfeld for the final day of the Valencia test. We spoke to the rookie today on why he wanted to get involved and on his future in the sport.
For Juncadella, the pull of Formula E was aided by him seeing the potential in the championship and by some of his fellow drivers. Juncadella is good friends with a number of drivers already occupying the grid, including his teammate for the test day, Felix Rosenqvist.
”I think it’s a really cool championship from what I’ve heard from some of the drivers,” Juncadella explains. “You know, it’s growing so much that I think it’s the right time to give it a try and be thankful that I got a chance from Mahindra. It’s a great venue. The team is more than half Spanish so I think it’s the best combination possible.” The native Spaniard addressed reports that he was to be Mahindra’s third driver and was optimistic about his hopes to potentially become a reserve driver at the Indian team.
”You clearly have heard more than me because at the moment nothing is confirmed.” Juncadella explains, “I am just going to be testing and of course, they are looking for a third driver and I guess my chances come close to 100% being the only guy they are testing.”
”But on the other hand, I still have a contract with Mercedes so it’s more a first contact with Formula E and we’ll see if I get the chance to be the reserve driver here. For sure, I will take it if I can. If it is so, the idea is to end up with a race seat.”
2017/2018 FIA Formula E Championship. Official Test – Valencia, Spain Tuesday 3 October 2017. Daniel Juncadella (ESP), Mahindra Photo: Alastair Staley/LAT/Formula E ref: Digital Image 580A4250
As a Mercedes driver, it could seem logical for the German team to take on Juncadella for season 6 if he is able to become more experienced within the electric car but he insisted that was not the case.
”If I had a chance [to drive for Mercedes], yes. But it depends on many things, such as whether I am in another team as a reserve or concentrating on another championship. Anything to do with Formula E, I want to give it a try and if I get a reserve seat here, my aim is to then get a [full time] seat here.” As Juncadella prepares for his first outing in a Formula E car tomorrow, he spoke of the controversial chicanes which have been immensely unpopular with the drivers.
”They look tricky from the outside. I had a walk with Felix to try and see where he was braking and try get it from his side. They don’t look great but as long as I stay away from them, I should be fine. I think it’s not a big deal.”
