Year: 2017

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Two-In-A-Row for Mir as Battle Raged in Moto3

After the rain of Saturday’s Qualifying, the riders were greeted with cool but dry conditions for Sunday’s race at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit in northwest Argentina.

Everyone all made good clean starts as the lights went out. Britain’s John McPhee (Starting from pole position) initially lost the lead on the run down to turn one, but regained it quickly after profiting from a more than generous slipstream pulling him down the back straight into turn five. The lead would be disputed continuously throughout the race, as no rider has sufficient power to ever fully pull clear. With such small machines, and only around 40bhp, slipstreaming is a crucial element of racing in the ‘cadet class’. When a group of riders finally pulled away at the front, it numbered eleven competitors.

The race-craft that was required and indeed displayed by these young riders was of the highest quality. Particularly for none more so than Qatar winner, Joan Mir. The Spaniard had looked competitive during Friday practice, but was amongst the riders caught out by the weather in Qualifying. As such, he had to fight his way through the field, having started from P16.

He rode through the field and avoided the chaos which unfolded behind him as Niccolo Antonelli and Romano Fenati came to blows on the second lap. The former being forced to retire, and the latter earning an investigation from the stewards. There was also misfortune elsewhere as with just 10 laps to go, the hometown hero – Gabriel Rodrigo crashed out at turn five. Lorenzo Baldassarri and Fabio Di Giannantonio followed suit the very next lap.

The racing was intense all throughout the field, as every position was fiercely contested. With the championship containing a staggering 31 riders, there is desperation everywhere from these youngsters (most of them between 16-19 years old) to be noticed and sought after by teams in Moto2. Riders who are only just starting their grand-prix careers – such as Kaito Toba and Tony Arbolino – were challenging and beating more seasoned competitors such as Niccolo Bulega, Jakub Kornfeil and Jules Danilo.

And it is not just the boys taking the spotlight. 20-year old Maria Herrera fought her way up through the pack on her AGR-Team KTM machine to fifteenth place, and a coveted championship point. It has not been an easy road for the girl from Toledo, Spain. But having signed for a new team during the off-season now seems to be beginning to flourish in the Grand-Prix paddock.

But it was fellow compatriot, Mir, who eventually claimed the spoils. Back-to-back victories and a maximum complement of 50 points from the two opening rounds puts him in early command of the championship. McPhee once again had to settle for the second step on the podium, again still defying much of the pre-weekend expectation. Jorge Martin, on the Del Conca Gresini Racing machine, the front runners more than honest. His podium finish a just reward for his efforts.

Race Results – Top 10: (1) Joan Mir, (2) John McPhee, (3), Jorge Martin, (4) Phillip Oettl, (5) Andrea Migno, (6) Livio Loi, (7) Romano Fenati, (8), Tatsuki Suzuki, (9) Juanfran Guevara, (10), Kaito Toba

Eddie Hocknull @EddieHocknull

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Totally Toro Rosso in China

Firstly lets have quick recap of what happened last time out in Australia, both of our driver had a solid start to the season both finishing in the points with Sainz in P8 and Kvyat in P9 keeping the teams recent record of scoring points in Australia 4 times out of 5. So let’s move 10 days into the future and arrive in China.
Quick words from our drivers asked about the Chinese GP firstly Kvyat “it was a very nice feeling to stand on the podium here last year, I have very good memories of that moment” and secondly “the strangest gift a Chinese fan has given me is a panda with a picture myself on it”. Thirdly “the track has very unusual and unique corners like turns 1 and 2 where you can take many different lines”. And finally “I have a few favourite places to eat in shanghai its European food though im quite traditional in that aspect”
And now a let move on to Sainz “I love duck, it’s actually one of my favorite dishes when I travel to Asia, especially China again this year” and secondly “the only Chinese word I remember is ‘NI HAO’. It’s a useful one to know so I can say hello to everyone.”I have to say that the paddock in China is the biggest one I’ve ever seen its enourmous”. And finally “I have very good memories of the drivers dinner we organised in Shanghai last year, all 22 of us.
And some quick new from the Kvyat side on Tuesday he annouched he was releasing a book about his way into F1. He will be annouching the release day and more details on his twitter on the 26th April 2017. We can’t wait to read it Danill.
On a rainy Thursday Kvyat and a few engineers took for a walk around the track, while Sainz was facing the qusetion’s of the world’s media outlets in the drivers press conference. Saying “it was a tough winter for us only doing more laps than McLaren and to get both cars in the points shows how much potential the car has”. While Kvyat headed back to the paddock to sign some autographs.
Then Friday arrived and so did a load of rain and thick fog which ment only 15 minutes of running all day but both of our drivers took advantage to learn what they could in the small amount of time they had alvalible to them. Sainz getting a 1.52.7 and Kvyat a 1.53.2. All the teams were praying that Saturday would be dry so the could gather as much data as possible in the 1 hour long practice 3 session.
Saturday arrived and it was dry so all the drivers were on the track for most of the session collecting race and qualiflying data that the teams really needed. Sainz finished the session in P10 with a 1.35.2 and Kvyat finished 1.35.8 showing how close the midfield battle really is. Then arrived qualiflying Sainz got knocked out in Q2 and qualified in P11 but had a free tire chocie avalible to him. Kvayt managed to get through to Q3 and qualifly in P9. Meaning he had to start on the red striped super soft if dry. Lets see what the weather will bring us tomorrow as the forecast is wet wet wet.
Here it was race day in China round 2 of the 2017 F1 World Championship and the circuit was damp and very slippery teams and drivers had to choose which tire to start the race on the inter or a slick compound they qualifled on. with Kvyat lining up in P9 he choose the inters but Sainz who was starting in P11 choose the super softs the only driver to do so. Team boss Franz Tost said he was crazy. Then they all lined up on the grid the 5 lights went out it was a good start for Kvyat but Sainz was slow off the line as he had no grip and was at the back of the pack and had a spin at turn 1 and kissed the wall at turn 2 but luckly no damage to the car. But soon can out the virtual saftey car which a lots of drivers pitted under to put the slicks on which helped Sainz claim places. Then a couple of laps later the saftey car was deployed after a sauber crashed on the pit stright. At this stage Sainz strating on the soft was in P7 and Kvyat wa in P9 good call by sainz to start on the soft saved him a pit stop. Lap 18 arrived and their was a problem on Danills car he had to pull over and retire a hyrolic problem it ended up. Which left only 1 Toro Rosso left so it was cruical we got across the finish line with this car. And Sainz just kept on driving brilliantly ended coming home in P7 “best of the rest” scoring the team some crucial championship points and moving them up into P4 in the constcutors world championship, with sainz moving up to P7.
In the interviews after the race Sainz said that he glad his gamble paid off in the end. He was a little worried when he saw the rest of the pack on inters, but after turn 6 the track was dry and he could catch the pack and make his up the field as the rest of the cars pitted for slicks, and he said nows whos the clever one. Also P7 was the best he thought the Red Bulls, Ferraris and Mercedes were 1-2 seconds a lap faster than him. Kvyat said “what a shame we had a hydraulic problem which still needs to be investigated .. on the positive side we’ve shown the perforence is their and we can be strong going forward. We have the pace and I look forward to next weeks race in Bahrain.

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Chinese Grand Prix, It’s Hammer Time

The second Grand Prix of the season was more dramatic than the season premiere in Australia. Mercedes had to respond to Ferrari’s pace and show that they are still in the game.

Hamilton started and finished the race in the same position and claimed his first victory of the season.

The weather played its role, and it was obvious that the key to the victory was the strategy. Almost all the drivers started the race on the intermediates, only Sainz decided to risk it and start on supersofts.

A clean start allowed to Hamilton and Vettel to remain first and second, respectively, while Ricciardo passed Raikkonen and moved up to fourth.

Ferrari took a risk with Vettel’s car, on the second lap, Stroll ran onto the gravel after he punted off by Perez. The Virtual Safety Car deployed and almost everyone pitted and switched to slicks. Ferrari called in Vettel and switched to soft compounds.

At that point, the German had an advantage compared to the other drivers who were in front of him, as he re-joined sixth, all the others were on intermediates, but Giovinazzi wanted to repeat the move which allowed him to move up to Q2. Antonio lost the control of his Sauber on the final corner and crashed into the barriers, the Italian walked out of his car and the safety car was deployed.

The front drivers took advantage of the incident and pitted for a fresher set of tyres. Hamilton switched to softs, whilst the two Red Bulls switched to supersofts. Vettel had to pass his team-mate and the two Red Bulls in order to be placed behind Hamilton. The Brit, had the lead of the race and he managed to remain in control of the race until the end.

Max Verstappen started from the 16h place, and moved up to nine in the first lap, he continued to impress all of us with his skills, when the safety car returned into the pits, Max was fourth behind his team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, and he was looking for a space to pass him. On the eleventh lap, he passed the Australian, with another excellent move, and was chasing Hamilton for the first position.

Kimi Raikkonen was struggling to pass Daniel Ricciardo and it was then when Vettel decided to take his fate in his own hands. After almost 10 laps behind Raikkonen and Ricciardo, Vettel passed his team-mate in turn 5 and he was after Ricciardo. Two laps later, the German completed on of the most impressing overtakes of the race, he took the outside on turn five, had a wheel to wheel battle with Daniel, they touched a bit and the four time champion managed to remain in front and passed the Australian.

Max Verstappen’s mistake on the 14th turn allowed to Vettel to complete an easy pass and move up to second place on lap 28 and that was his final position.

Valtteri Bottas didn’t have a good race as a spin behind the safety car dropped him to 12th place, which he managed to recover to sixth and finish behind Kimi Raikkonen.

Another disappointing weekend for McLaren, Vandoorne retired due to fuel issues, while Fernando Alonso was seventh for a big part of the race, but he retired as he faced some technical problems.

Very impressive performance by Carlos Sainz, he finished seventh with his Toro Rosso and scored some points for his team. Both Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished in the points, ninth and tenth respectively. Kevin Magnussen, with his Haas completed the top 10 as he finished eighth.

Moment of the Race

Clearly, it was Vettel’s move on Ricciardo. A great fight between the two drivers, both respected each other and Sebastian Vettel understood that DRS was not enough and took the risk to pass the Australian, from the outside of Turn 5.

The next race will take place in seven days in Bahrain, different circuit different set-up for the cars, temperature will also play its role. It will be interesting to see if the battle between the two top drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel can last until the end of the season.

Victor Arhcakis – @FP_Passion

(Image Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

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Mackenzie On Fire In Supersport Opener

Photo courtesy of Gareth Davies of Full Factory Media.

Tarran Mackenzie kick-started his 2017 British Supersport campaign with a win in Sunday’s race, in a thrilling race-long battle with Alistair Seeley, Ben Currie, Andy Irwin, David Allingham and replacement rider, Keith Farmer.

The McAms Yamaha rider was in the 4th and 5th for the majority of the race, as the Gearlink Kawasaki pairing of Ben Currie and Andy Irwin did battle with the Team Spirit Moto2 bike of Alistair Seeley, as the three swapped places numerous time each lap.

David Allingham battled with EHA Yamaha teammate Ross Twyman until he broke clear and bridged the gap to the leading group. Jack Kennedy on the MV Agusta also came through the pack and joined the crew at the head of the field.

On the penultimate lap, all hell broke loose as Seeley and Irwin went side by side through the Old Hairpin and Starky’s before Tarran Mackenzie took both of them into McClean’s. Into the Melbourne Loop, Irwin nearly knocked Mackenzie off as he went for the inside, whilst former Superstock 1000 champion Keith Farmer barged his way through past Seeley.

On the final lap, Tarran Mackenzie capitalised on the shenanigans between the Gearlink riders and broke clear by over a second to secure victory on the last lap, ahead of Seeley and Irwin, although Seeley didn’t score any points. Currie held off Allingham and Kennedy whilst the aggressiveness and flamboyancy of Keith Farmer only managed to get him 7th on the road. Ross Twyman, Joe Francis and newcomer Keenan Armstrong rounded out the top 10.

A scintillating race in the Supersport class made up for the disappointment and sadness of Saturday, following the cancellation of their sprint race due to the untimely death of Ducati Tri Options cup rider, Mick Whalley. The sun-soaked crowd got a treat as Supersport provided some seriously entertaining racing.

The action and drama continues in a fortnights time at Brands Hatch Indy where you can expect a fast and furious pace as the riders tackle what is one of the most physically demanding tracks on the calendar. Will Tarran Mackenzie repeat his efforts of round one and take victory or will the opposition fight back to restrict him an early lead in his bid to retain his Supersport crown? Only time will tell.

 

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

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Hickman Hopeful of ‘Strong’ Year Ahead

Photo courtesy of Gareth Davies, of Full Factory Media.

Road Racing specialist and BSB race winner Peter Hickman is hoping for strong season ahead after a good start to the year at Donington Park. I caught up with him briefly in the paddock as he joins his third team in as many seasons, with Smith’s BMW.

How have you fitted in so far with your new team?

I’ve moved to the Smith’s BMW Racing Team and everything’s going alright so far. Testing went really well, although testing is one thing and racing is another. The first day on track in England with everyone else and hopefully we can have a strong year.

Does riding the BMW in 2015 give you an advantage?

Actually, it’s completely different to be fair. The bike is meant to be the same but everyone has a different idea of how they want to build it. Each bike you ride, although the manufacturer might be the same, it’s actually very different. We’re running Ohlins suspension which no one has run on a BMW in the UK. It is very different but I am happy with it all so far and we will just have to wait and see.

What is the plan with you regarding road racing in 2017?

I will be doing the roads with this team, all of them too. We will be riding the Triumph in the Supersport category and the Smith’s BMW in the Superbikes class, which I’m really looking forward to.

Can we expect to see you in the Showdown?

Haha! Well that is definitely the plan and that’s what we are gunning for. The championship gets stronger every year; we say that year on year but it just seems to be the case with the new additions. I think we will be in for good year this year.

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

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Halsall: I wasn’t enjoying BSB

Martin Halsall left the BSB class last season but is more than up for success on the roads and in British Supersport, with William Dunlop and Joe Farncis respectively. Again, a thoroughly entertaining interview with an owner who is without doubt one of the friendlies and most accessible in the paddock.

 

Well it was a bit of a long way around really, to come back to where we started. Obviously, we decided not to do BSB, which was fine in 2016. We built an R6 anyway, for William (Dunlop) doing the roads. So, we ended up with the bike being surplus to requirements. We’d made the decision to come away from Superbikes, enter Supersport with a bike, which was, like I say, surplus to requirements. Joe (Francis) used to work with one of our mechanics last year with TTC Yamaha. I’ve had my eye on Joe for 2 or 3 years as I know Roger Marshall. We chatted about Joe moving forwards and the conversation came up of running him in Supersport. The fact that we had a bike ready to go made perfect sense to do it here. We’re back in the paddock and the main reason I got into bike racing was to help young riders in Supersport and to enjoy it. We’ve chosen to go back to where we started; it’s a good move and this year I expect to be getting podiums and maybe a challenge at the championship. Joe is an extremely talented rider.

Did you offer Tommy Bridewell a ride in the Supersport class?

No. Obviously, from finishing in BSB, we had to let Tommy go. We had numerous conversations out of season about us doing something and we made the decision not to. The communication as far as Tommy riding our bike finished there really. We’re still in contact with him which is good, as it wasn’t a fall out.

Do you regret not holding out a bit longer for the new Suzuki having seen how competitive it is?

No. No, definitely not. The reason I came into BSB was to enjoy it and I was getting to a point in BSB where I wasn’t enjoying it. Last year, we were promised the bike on three occasions and we knew when the bike came, that it would be a good one. We’re not saying that potentially in the future, we wouldn’t run a Suzuki because if they’re a competitive bike then I’m keen to put riders on competitive bikes. As a privateer team, that’s what that gives you – the opportunity to be competitive against the factories. With the Suzuki last year, we put a lot of work and a lot of effort into 2015 and 2016 but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. We had good seasons and Tommy did well to get two podiums last year but I don’t regret waiting. I’m happy with where we are and let someone else have a stab with it.

Are you already planning on heading back into the BSB class, when you say, “in the future”?

The thing that I needed to do was get out of it, regroup and start fresh again. Fortunately, now we are in a good position in Supersport with Joe and I can see us doing something Superbike wise in the future, we’re just not sure when.

Yamaha are one of a few manufacturers producing new Supersport bikes but you’ve opted to stay with the old Yamaha 600cc machine. Why is that?

The reason for that is because Joe was consistent last year on the R6. He rode it very well last season. We know there’s a new R6 but we aren’t going to change, we are going to stick to what we’ve got. We know it’s strong enough. Whilst other teams may opt for a new bike and try and find their feet there, they’re taking a big risk. You could hit the ground running and be lucky or you could have a bike that’s difficult and be unlucky.

Who are your sponsors?

Movuno.com are an online estate agents. The way I see it is that estate agents are predominantly online anyway with Right Move and Zoopla. They offer the same package as a high-street estate agent but with a fixed price of £599 instead of paying a percentage fee on the price of your house when selling it. They’re fabulous to work with.

How is Joe to work with?

A complete idiot (Joe just came into the truck). No, he’s brilliant! Even over the weekend, he’s acknowledged that whilst being faster in sectors one and two, he has been a bit slack in sector four. This morning, he went fastest in sector four and that shows me something within a rider that he has the ability to adapt. He has the brains to focus on where he’s not so strong. He thinks ‘I won’t focus on one or two because I’ve done that, but I’ll focus on the sectors I’m not perhaps as good at’. So, if you look at that moving forward, then you’re there or there abouts. So yes, it’s all good.

At what point did you know that BSB wasn’t happening in 2017.

There’s obviously a high level of investment needed for a Superbike team. Bennetts had pretty much chosen that they were going to go and talk with Hawk Racing to follow the Suzuki brand. So, it left us without sponsors. I’m quite happy to fund some of the gap but I’m not prepared to fund all of the gap. We did have conversations with Josh Brookes and Tommy Bridewell but to put a structure together and be competitive at that level, I wasn’t prepared to fund it all myself.

Do you therefore feel let down by Bennetts?

No, not really – business is business at the end of the day. They’ll go with whatever brand they want to. The way I run a team I would hope is very professional, well presented and we do things properly. We’ve always built good bikes. There’s not a lot more we can do on our side.

Can you win the Supersport championship and be successful on the roads this season?

Yes, we can. I think that there’s a main combination to win championships. The rider has to be right, the bike has to be right and the team have to be right with the right structure and I do think we have that. Joe is an extremely talented rider who will go a long, long way. From what I’ve already seen, he has an amazing attitude towards racing and an amazing attitude to growing within racing. The rider is the right rider. The bike is competitive and proven. The team is a great team and we all work very hard. Within all that as well, you put all that effort in and hopefully get a little bit of luck too. I think the roads will be a little bit different. It’s the same combination as on the short circuits. William is an extremely talented rider, whether he will be there winning at the TT, I’m not so sure. That’s not me not having belief in my rider – I do have belief in my rider but I’m also realistic. I know who else is out there in the competition. My choice with William was ‘potentially he isn’t going to win it but he’s a great brand to have on board’ and that’s the choice we made.

Do you miss Tommy Bridewell?

We miss Tommy massively. He’s a very close personal friend and he’s been up to the house and spent the day with us, with his wife Stacey. We are extremely close to Tommy and Movuno are still sponsoring him personally. He is an extremely talented rider. Last season, we were on an old bike and he proved what he could do. Back to the three combinations, the thing that was missing was the bike because it was an old bike. No problems with the team or the rider, the problem primarily was the bike. If Tommy has the full package then I think he could really show what Tommy Bridewell is made of.

Did you have an idea about coming down to Supersport with two riders?

Originally, it was only going to be the Road Racing with William but through circumstances with the R6, we had a conversation with Joe. I didn’t think to do Supersport, it was just we had a bike that was surplus to requirements and that we may as well give Joe a chance. There was a chance to look at putting William on the short circuits but we haven’t followed that up and he will be remaining on the roads.

Photo credit to Gareth Davies of Full Factory Media.

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

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Gladwin: Everyday is a School Day

On Friday afternoon, I caught up with Sheffield’s finest Brent Gladwin, the owner of GR Motorsport Team WD40 in the British Superbike paddock. We discuss the team, their choice of rider in 2017 and also their future.

Regarding the Superbike class, you’ve been quite unlucky. Why is that and can it change in 2017?

With the Superbike, it’s just a big learning curve. Every day is a school day. We’ve tried hard in the past to develop young riders and that hasn’t worked. We’ve taken riders from other classes and that hasn’t worked. So, we decided for 2017 we would add Moto3 and Superstock 1000 to Superbike trying to bring riders on that way. In Moto3 we have started a new project with Reynolds Engineering of Milton Keynes to manufacture a chassis for that class which is quite exciting and have 16-year-old Liam Delves riding that. In the National Superstock 1000, we have Mason Law on the all new Kawasaki ZX10RR. In Superbike, as everyone knows, we’ve gone for Tommy Bridewell because for the last five years, he has been in the top 10 in the championship and three times in the showdown. We know we have a great crew and we know we have a great bike we needed to add the right rider and then sometimes, you just need a little bit of luck on your side.

How have you found the adaptation to the new Kawasaki easy or more difficult?

I think that any new motorcycle is a learning curve but the ZX10-RR is just an evolution of the one before. It’s got some fantastic new systems to it that we must learn, like the flyby wire. People have been playing with this system everywhere on all the new bikes and it’s not easy with the MOTEC we all have to use in BSB. The guys we have on electronics help, but it is still learning and it’s also about rider feel. Tommy hasn’t used flyby wire before so he’s having to understand the difference between cable and electronics. Leon (Haslam) had the same issue last year, and Rea and Sykes had the same problems. It’s our first round and we can only do what we can do on a day-by-day basis.

How has as reducing the team down to one rider affected you?

Everything is about sponsorship. As a team, we deliver fantastic advertising value and reach out across social media. However, things affect you – such as Brexit. What we’ve decided to do is focus, and with Tommy, we’ve found something that is a good way of focussing. We decided to go for three classes. I think that focussing on one is not a bad thing, as we focussed on Tarran last season and won the British Supersport championship; we focussed on Joe Francis and won the title in the past and on Karl Harris in the European Stock 1000 series where we also won the championship. So, with Tommy, we like what we have and we like the team and hopefully, by the end of a long season, we will be in the showdown and see what we can do.

How come you have pulled out of the British Supersport category after Tarran won it for the team last season?

It’s a purely commercial decision really for us and the rest of the world. The 600cc is finishing, they don’t sell road bikes anymore, for example if you want a brand new ZX6R then there are non-available. We won the title for Kawasaki for the first time in 26 years so our decision was to come out of that class early and go back to the 1000s. Also, with the manufacturers in the 1000s bringing out new models, the class becomes a win on Sunday, sell on Monday class again, making it more important for the manufacturers.

Do you think Tommy’s experience will see you nearer the top of the time sheets?

I think that Tommy is absolutely not a one trick pony. Some riders are, because for example, if it’s not a Yamaha, then they can’t win. With Tommy, he’s rode five bikes in five seasons, with the Honda, BMW, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha and now he’s back to Kawasaki and each time he’s been successful. For me, if you have a rider with an open-minded approach like his, then you can try something different. I believe that last year, having spoken to his team, Tommy doesn’t give up. He didn’t give up on the Suzuki when other riders wouldn’t ride it. Far too many other riders want to cry in the caravan about all sorts of things. That’s not Tommy he wants to do his best always.

Do you see yourself going into Road Racing?

I personally have a great history of road racing. For me, going racing on the roads is a personal challenge for the rider. It’s your choice. I like the organisers of the Isle of Man TT and the NW200 but right now it isn’t for us. We want to concentrate on this side of things. Adding the Roads to BSB makes for an incredibly busy season and there’s enough of a work load on for us right now. After three rounds, we will evaluate where we are and whether we can go and watch the boys at the TT – which is a great holiday – or if we need to work through that period in preparation for round four. It has benefitted us in the past.

Does Assen cost you more and is it an inconvenience financially?

Not really, but the issue is the cost of travel and the time needed with a couple of days extra each side of the meeting. For a lot of the guys in the paddock, who take time off work, it’s the added time off-work that puts the pressure on the teams. The ferry is good and a lot of fun goes on but it’s a round trip of 1000 miles so it is longer than Knockhill, I sometimes question these things but after a think about it, with races at Knockhill, Thruxton which have rubbish facilities etc., we may as well go to Assen. Having said that, there are some great positives: – The British sports fans and BSB aficionados are some of the best in the world and those guys will get on their bikes or in their cars or take a plane and come and watch us at Assen! MSV have bought a circuit in France. Are we going to be going to Europe more often in the BSB series, difficult to call – we’ve had Brexit. Do we need to add costs to go to these tracks? No, we don’t however, a bit of spice never hurts anyone.

Would you like to see a return to BSB of some of the older circuits, e.g. Croft or Mallory Park?

I like those circuits. The trouble is they don’t have the infrastructure or safety any more. They can’t cope with the size of BSB Paddock and most importantly, if a rider falls and is seriously hurt, are you going to be happy? The thrills of motorcycle sport are very important – When a rider crashes we all want to see them get back up and not with an ambulance parked next to him. I know Mallory are doing a good job, trying to bring it into the 21st century but it still won’t be able to cater for the whole BSB paddock. It is a huge paddock. I don’t know how it would work at all. You can’t just take one or two classes. If you get rid of the support classes for a round, who is going to turn up and just watch a couple of races?

Will you be in the showdown with Tommy this year?

I really hope so! Getting in the showdown would be great for our sponsors, however big or small; they will all get fantastic value from his successes. Nobody is shy of success and I am expecting to pay Tommy quite a lot in bonusses and one of them is for him to get in the showdown.

Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko

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Chinese Grand Prix: Long straights in a long season

Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai, China.
Friday 07 April 2017.
World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _ONZ3441

So Lewis Hamilton wasn’t wrong! Ferrari didn’t bluff in testing days. In fact, in the opening round of 2017 F1 season, Sebastian Vettel and his Italian team won the race, showing the great level they reached, not only in terms of speed and reliability but in team strategy too. Yes, because their victory was helped by a well-timed pit call—and maybe also by Mercedes making the strategy mistake this time..

Anyway, we are now sure that we can have a two-team battle this year. With that, we are heading to Shanghai, China—a circuit where the engine will make the difference on the very long straights, but where aerodynamics too will play a key role in the many different corners.

For all teams China is a very challenging race, with the different demands of the straights and corners making it difficult to find the right setup balance. It’s as if they really need two cars, one developed for the long main straight, the other for the tight turns of sector one.

Mercedes will face the weekend with a big hunger for revenge and I think they have every advantage to overturn the first race result. The best engine, the

best chassis (maybe…) and a very good couple of drivers. Besides Lewis Hamilton, we saw Bottas already a perfect fit within the team, including into the number two role.

The same can be said for Ferrari, but I think it will be harder this time to beat Silver (and Green) Arrows. For this circuit I think we will see the little gap they still have…but it’s very, very little, believe me.

And what about behind them? Pay attention to the Mercedes-powered teams, Williams and Force India. With the right set up I really think they can reach interesting positions, battling for fourth place.

But all could still be strongly mixed up by the weather. Rain is expected for Friday, but not for Saturday so we should have an unsurprising qualifying. But the rain will return on race day, so we could see all the car(d)s mixed on the table and the drivers could really make the difference. So, how much will we miss Jenson Button in our first wet race of the season? It really will be a different F1 without him.

But my greatest fear is another one, and its name is: McLaren-Honda. I really hope for them, and for their glorious name, that they found some more speed for that long China straight—otherwise their Chinese Grand Prix, and the rest of their season, will seem even longer…

 

Massimo Trapanese, F1 correspondent

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Red Bull hoping to bounce back in China

Image via Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull will be looking for a better performance in Shanghai after a disappointing result at the Australian Grand Prix.

Home favourite Daniel Ricciardo struggled in qualifying as he started in tenth position on the grid due to crashing his car in third practice.

Things didn’t get much better for the 27-year-old as his car stopped on the way to the grid, and although Ricciardo was able to eventually start the race, after just thirty laps his RB13 stopped on track and brought his day to a close.

Ricciardo started on the front row in China last year, and hoping for a good showing this time around he said: “When I first went [to Shanghai] it wasn’t one of my favourites and I wasn’t normally that competitive but since I’ve been with Red Bull Racing the circuit has been a real strength of mine and I’ve had some good results. Now I enjoy the circuit and going back there.”

Max Verstappen in 2016 finished the race in eighth position for Toro Rosso prior to his move to Red Bull: “I always enjoy to go back to China as it’s a special place and it’s a very nice track.

“I’m just looking forward to going there at this early stage of the season as everything is still very new and nothing has really been decided yet.”

Dominic Rust, F1 correspondent

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Haas F1 focused on balance in Shanghai

Photo courtesy of Haas F1 Team

Haas F1 will head to Shanghai International Circuit for Round 2 of the 2017 F1 Season. Built in 2004 the 5.451 kilometer circuit is shaped like the Chinese character Shang, meaning “above” or “ascend”, and is recognizable by its two massive media towers overlooking the pit straight with connecting bridges from the giant grandstands to the pit side. Pirelli will offer P Zero White mediums, Yellow softs and Red supersofts for the unique Shanghai circuit, two of which must be used. Turns 1-4 and 11-13 are extremely slow spiral sections with the cars going down as low as 2nd gear, while the back straight of the circuit is the longest in Formula 1 at 1.4-kilometers (0.869 of a mile) with cars reaching speeds over 320kph (200 mph) before a turn 14 hairpin.

With such contrasting elements, the team will need to focus on a balanced downforce setup for the very low and high downforce situations the car will encounter. The long back straight will present the first opportunity of the season for a true battle between the new Ferrari power of the Haas VF17 against the Mercedes powered Force India and Williams which are known straight-line speed in previous years.

Guenther Steiner made news earlier last week with his comments on the new Ferrari power unit:

“With the engine, there is not just one area that is better, it’s the whole package that has improved from last year. It’s now as competitive as a Mercedes engine, if not better. Ferrari won in Australia, but everybody is developing and trying to get better. It’s always going to be a development race. They’ve made a good step, and without that help from Ferrari, we wouldn’t be where we are.”

If Haas are able to not lose time from this straight it’s an indication the VF17 has made a significant step forward from its predecessor, something the team feels it was unable to prove it has done after a team best sixth in qualifying and seventh-place running in Australia that ended in DNFs for both cars.

Romain Grosjean has five career F1 starts in Shanghai, finishing three times in the points with a best sixth-place result in 2012, while Kevin Magnussen has two starts with a top finish of 13th in 2014. Going into China, both drivers feel confident:

“I felt comfortable all weekend long in the car,” Grosjean said. “Qualifying was, of course, a good moment with the new tires and the new cars running on full power with an empty tank, everyone just going for it. It was pretty exciting in that aspect. I was very pleased with how the car was. Even on high fuel in the race the car felt good.

“It’s a shame we did not finish the race, but things are good and we keep our fingers crossed that she’ll be as good in China as she was in Australia.”

Despite his admittedly poor weekend Magnussen also felt positive about the car:

“The car was there, it was performing, it was just on my side I had a bit of a tough weekend. I didn’t get enough track time and there were too many issues with reliability that meant I didn’t have a good weekend. It’s positive, though, that the car is competitive.”

Balance and precise setup will be the key this weekend for Haas in Shanghai as they look to challenge the top of the midfield.

Jeremiah Doctson

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