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  • Extreme E: Qualifying Report

    image courtesy of ExtremeE

    X44 topped an incredible day’s qualifying yet again as the Arctic XPrix weekend gets into full swing.

    It was the new girl, Emma Gilmour, who kicked off qualifying in Q1 for the Veloce team. Coming in for the occupied Jamie Chadwick, Emma set a strong pace for teammate Stephane Sarrazin to build upon. Stephane had an uneventful run and, after a 10 second penalty was awarded for Emma knocking over a flag, Veloce Racing set a benchmark time of 14:19.436.

    JBXE’s Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky was next out on track and was going strong until the suspension broke as she went over the rocks. Their Q1 session ended without Kevin Hansen getting in the car.

    Xite Energy Racing and ABT Cupra followed as both teams had incident free runs to go 3rd and 1st respectively, with ABT Cupra posting a superb time of 13:48.947, some 30.48 seconds quicker than Veloce’s initial time.

    With ABT Cupra the new benchmark it was the turn of championship leaders Rosberg X Racing to take to the track. Johan Kristoffersson was the first of their two drivers to tackle the track and was several seconds up as he got to the halfway point of the lap. At that point disaster struck. As Johan went over a bump, the motor suddenly cut out. It took a few crucial seconds to reboot the car, and, as the car cut out twice more, they were left over a minute down when Molly Taylor took over. Yet more bad news for the RXR team as, just a short way into the lap, Molly rolled the car, sustaining huge bodywork damage in the process. Somehow, she was able to continue and brought the car home 1:40.69 seconds down on ABT Cupra’s time.

    Sara Price got Chip Ganassi’s qualifying off to a flyer, handling the track superbly to give the team a lead coming in to the changeover. Last event’s super sector dominator, Kyle Leduc, came into the car and stormed the track to give the team a lead in this weekend’s super sector and provisionally fastest qualifier. However, at some point in the lap, Leduc hit a flagpole and was given a 10 second time penalty. This put them just behind ABT Cupra in the standings.

    X44 were fastest qualifiers in both the previous rounds coming in to this weekend and they made a strong case to do so again. Both drivers had clean yet fast runs and they went quickest by about 3 seconds, with a time of 13:45.235.

    Andretti United and Acciona Sainz finished off the first qualifying session in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland as both teams looked to set themselves up nicely for the races tomorrow. Acciona Sainz had a careful run and went 6th quickest, some 55.64 seconds off the pace. Unfortunately for Andretti United, the car shut off as Timmy Hansen came into the braking zone for the change over, losing him a minute of time. Catie Munnings was only able to claw back a bit of the deficit as the American outfit finished Q1 in 7th position.

    Classification standings and points following Q1:

    1. X44 13:45.235 9 points
    2. ABT Cupra +3.71 8 points
    3. Chip Ganassi +6.39 7 points
    4. Veloce +34.20 6 points
    5. Xite Energy +51.74 5 points
    6. Acciona Sainz +55.64 4 points
    7. Andretti United +1:29.95 3 points
    8. RXR +1:44.40 2 points
    9. JBXE DNF 1 point

    Stephane Sarrazin kicked off Q2 for Veloce but problems started almost immediately for the Frenchman. By the time he had reached the first turn, the power steering had broken. He tried to reset the system but was unable to fix it and the team were only able to set a benchmark time of 16:51.810

    Kevin Hansen then did his first and only lap of the whole of qualifying for the JBXE team. He was initially very quick but more issues struck as the car shut down coming in to the braking zone for the switch over, just as it did for his brother Timmy. Once they’d got the car going again, Mikaela jumped in and had a solid lap that saw the team go fastest so far with a 14:42.102.

    Problems seemed to be the theme of the day as the next three teams all failed to complete their Q2 runs. Xite Energy’s Oliver Bennet suffered techincal issues, meaning he was unable to complete a lap. ABT Cupra’s Ekstrom made it a little further but came in to the switch zone with both rear tires punctured. The team were unable to change them and Jutta Kleinschmidt did not finish the run. Chip Ganassi’s Kyle Leduc didn’t even make the halfway stage as the rear left suspension broke going over a jump.

    Next it was the turn of the Q1 quickest, X44. Loeb set the pace early, handing over to teammate Gutierrez with a 10 second advantage over JBXE. Christina had a steady run and brought the car home to provisionally top the session with a time of 14:37.598.

    The rest of the qualifying session was uneventful as Andretti United, Acciona Sainz, and RXR all had solid runs to round off qualifying 3rd, 5th and 1st respectively.

    Classification standings and points for Q2:

    1. RXR 14:26.647 9 points
    2. X44 +10.951 8 points
    3. Andretti United +14.917 7 points
    4. JBXE +15.455 6 points
    5. Acciona Sainz +30.377 5 points
    6. Veloce +1:56.163 4 points
    7. ABT Cupra DNF 3 points
    8. Xite Energy DNF 2 points
    9. Chip Ganassi DNF 1 point

    For the final qualifying classification the points from both qualifying sessions were added up, with ties  being settled by who had the fastest super sector times. X44 topped the classification, going on to compete against Veloce and Acciona Sainz  in Semi Final 1. ABT Cupra, RXR, and Andretti United will compete in Semi Final 2. The first 2 finishers in each semi final will progress to the final. The last spot in the final will be contested between Chip Ganassi, JBXE, and Xite Energy.

    Final Qualifying Classification:

    1. X44 17 points
    2. ABT Cupra 11 points
    3. RXR 11 points
    4. Andretti United 10 points
    5. Veloce 10 points
    6. Acciona Sainz 9 points
    7. Chip Ganassi 8 points
    8. JBXE 7 points
    9. Xite Energy 7 points

    RXR’s lead at the top of the championship has weakened slightly following qualifying as X44 close to just 12 points away. Points that count in the championship are awarded by the position in qualifying, with the fastest, X44, receiving 12 points, and the slowest, Xite Energy, receiving just 4.

    Here’s how the championship looks heading in to the races tomorrow:

    1. RXR 81 points
    2. X44 69 points
    3. JBXE 49 points
    4. Andretti United 46 points
    5. ABT Cupra 46 points
    6. Acciona Sainz 43 points
    7. Xite Energy 41 points
    8. Veloce 39 points
    9. Chip Ganassi 36 points

    With qualifying completed, we’re finely poised for an exciting day of racing tomorrow!

  • Belgian GP: Verstappen takes pole ahead of Russell as Norris crashes at Eau Rouge

    Belgian GP: Verstappen takes pole ahead of Russell as Norris crashes at Eau Rouge

    Max Verstappen has taken pole for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix ahead of Williams’s George Russell, who put in a great performance in challenging conditions. Lando Norris crashed at Eau Rouge in the early stages of Q3, raising even more questions about the barriers at that corner.

    The beginning of Q1 was initially delayed for 12 minutes because of heavy rain, but when it began both Russell and Nicholas Latifi headed out on track as the sole cars on intermediates. It was a decision that every other driver soon followed when the rain eased, as the times began to tumble.

    Intermediates were the tyres of choice for Q2 as well. Both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas left it late to get a good lap in, being brought in for new sets and only moving out of the drop-zone in the closing moments.

    The rain came down heavier for the start of Q3.

    Sebastian Vettel was one of the first drivers to head out, and he almost immediately radioed his engineer saying he thought the session should be red-flagged because of how bad the conditions were.

    It was indeed red-flagged a couple of minutes later, but only after Lando Norris crashed heavily at the Eau Rouge/Radillion complex. Vettel pulled up alongside the McLaren to check that Norris was okay, voicing some very angry comments over the radio. “What did I say?” he demanded.

    At the time of writing, Norris has been taken for a precautionary x-ray on his elbow, but he managed to get out of the car on his own at least.

    Following as his crash does from the six-car pile-up during W Series qualifying yesterday at the same corner, there is certainly a debate to be had over the barriers at Eau Rouge. Norris was sent spinning back across the track, and it was only good fortune that meant no-body was following close behind and put in danger of collecting him.

    After a half an hour-long delay Q3 restarted.

    Hamilton took provisional pole after the first runs, only to be bested by George Russell. It looked for a moment as if the Williams would actually take pole, only for Verstappen to cross the line and go fastest of all by three tenths.

    More of the same can be expected for the race tomorrow in terms of weather, and we are certainly in for an interesting 44 laps!

  • F3 Spa: Colombo powers to rain-interrupted sprint win

    F3 Spa: Colombo powers to rain-interrupted sprint win

    Lorenzo Colombo took his first Formula 3 win at Spa, making up for the win he was disqualified from in Hungary, by dominating the field in the rain-drenched first sprint race.

    Owing to the torrential rain throughout the morning, the race started almost an hour late and ran three laps behind the safety car before lights out.

    When the race did get underway on lap 4, Colombo’s Campos led away from Hitech’s Jak Crawford and Roman Stanek. Jonathan Hoggard in fourth put a challenge to the inside of Stanek at La Source, but Stanek held on around the outside to keep third place.

    On the first racing lap, the only change in positions came from MP Motorsport’s Caio Collet and Victor Martins, who moved up past Logan Sargeant for eighth and ninth respectively. On lap 5, Collet then made up another place by passing Clement Novalak for seventh at Les Combes.

    Victor Martins, MP Motorsport (Joe Portlock, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F3)

    At the front of the field, Colombo made use of the clear visibility ahead of him to open up a four-second lead over Crawford by the end of lap five. Crawford himself had several seconds in hand over teammate Stanek, but Stanek was unable to drop the challenge of Hoggard who was staying consistently half a second behind the Hitech.

    Hoggard’s pursuit of Stanek had opened up a gap between him and the Trident of David Schumacher in fifth behind. By the halfway stage, Schumacher was leading a train of cars including Frederik Vesti, Collet, Novalak and Martins.

    On lap 9 Collet tried an audacious move around the outside of Vesti into La Source, but couldn’t get the traction on the wetter part of the circuit and Vesti retook sixth on the exit of the hairpin. At the same time, Collet’s teammate Martins managed to complete a move past Novalak for eighth coming into La Source.

    Once past Novalak, Martins put in a new fastest lap time and started putting pressure on Collet ahead of him. Meanwhile, the train caught up with Hoggard who made a pair of costly mistakes on lap 10 and dropped away from the back of Stanek.

    On lap 13 Schumacher took advantage of Hoggard running wide out of La Source to pull alongside the Jenzer. But as the two fought down the Kemmel Straight, Vesti and Collet entered the battle as well and Collet emerged from the spray in front of Vesti and Hoggard, albeit after taking to the runoff to avoid collecting the cars ahead of him.

    Collet was then handed a five-second time penalty for completing the move off the track, but not before he’d been passed by Vesti on track for fourth place. Hoggard meanwhile fell back to seventh after being passed by Martins, while Schumacher came out of the fight worst as he tumbled back down the order to ninth behind Novalak.

    Clement Novalak, Trident (Dan Mullan, Getty Images / FIA F3)

    Entering into the final laps, Colombo out front retook the fastest lap title from Martins and continued to sprint away from the field. By the time he took the chequered flag, Colombo was more than 12 seconds clear of Crawford, who took second place by two seconds from Stanek.

    Vesti finished fourth, while Collet’s penalty promoted Martins to fifth ahead of Hoggard, Novalak and Sargeant. Collet slotted into ninth position ahead of Alex Smolyar, who dropped Schumacher to P11 and outside of the points on the penultimate lap. Jack Doohan finished in P12 and will start this afternoon’s race from reverse grid pole.

  • Rookies dominate Austrian Grand Prix

    Into Round 11 of the 2021 Moto2 season and it was still all to play for. In Round 10, also held here at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, championship leader Remy Gardner finished a disappointing 4th, with rookie Ai Ogura looking set for his first podium until a late penalty for exceeding track limits, and Marco Bezzecchi crossing the line first. Would Gardner return to form, and would Ogura shake off his demons to finally gain that elusive podium spot?

    Moto2
    2021 MVDS Team during the 2021 Season of World Motorcycle Championship 2021 race 11 GP of Austria in Red Bull Ring Circuit in Spielberg Austria © 2021 mirco lazzari mircolazzari@yahoo.it

    After a crash in qualifying – his first of the season – Gardner started from 5th. Bezzecchi, who also suffered a crash during qualifying, was back in 16th on the grid. The Austrian Grand Prix was shaping up to shake things up yet again.

    Sam Lowes started from pole – his first since Portugal back in April – with the remainder of the front row completed by rookies: Raul Fernandez 2nd, and Ai Ogura 3rd. Flanking Gardner on the second row were Augusto Fernandez in 4th and Aron Canet in 6th. Behind them were Somkiat Chantra, Celestino Vietti, and Lorenzo Dalla Porta.

    Off the line, Lowes held on to first place and looked set to stretch out the lead. Meanwhile further down the field a crash at Turn 1 took out Stefano Manzi and Jorge Navarro. The top 3 kept their positions, but Gardner was held up by the incident and dropped back to 11th. A few laps later it was announced that USA rider Cameron Beaubier was to receive a double long lap penalty for irresponsible riding.

    Back at the front, Raul Fernandez passed Lowes on Lap 2 to take the lead. On lap 4 Gardner moves up to 10th, with Ogura then passing Lowes for second three laps later.

    Somkiat Chantra passed Canet to take 6th position, bearing down on Marcel Schrotter in 5th, setting the fastest lap of the race so far.

    Moto2
    2021 MVDS Team during the 2021 Season of World Motorcycle Championship 2021 race 11 GP of Austria in Red Bull Ring Circuit in Spielberg Austria © 2021 mirco lazzari mircolazzari@yahoo.it

    On Lap 5, Augusto Fernandez passed his teammate Lowes at Turn 3 to move up into 3rd. before Dalla Porta crashed out at Turn 6 on lap six. Bezzecchi ran wide, giving Gardner the opportunity to move up to ninth – which he gladly took.

    On Lap 8 Chantra got past Marcel Schrotter, who slid into the gravel at Turn 1, but was able to rejoin.

    By Lap 11 Gardner had moved up into 8th, and on Lap 15 he overtook Canet for 7th – after a bit of back and forth Gardner made it stick, his sights set on Chantra and Vietti who were battling it out for 5th.

    With five laps to go, Ogura found himself gradually closing the gap on Raul, reducing his lead to under 3 tenths of a second, the gap coming down to 1.5 seconds on Lap 24.

    Raul held onto the lead to take his fourth victory of the season, while Ogura claimed his first podium of Moto2 ahead of Augusto Fernandez, who took his third consecutive podium finish.

    Further back, Lowes finished in 4th place, rookie Celestino Vietti claimed 5th ahead of Somkiat Chantra. Championship leader Remy Gardner crossed the line 7th, in front of Aron Canet, Thomas Luthi, and last week’s winner Marco Bezzecchi rounding out the top 10.

    Moto2
    Ogura @ Red Bull Ring, Austrian Grand Prix Picture courtesy of honda-racing.com

    With 7 more rounds to go, we go next to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 29th August. Can Gardner hang onto his diminishing lead, or will he be overtaken by his rookie teammate Raul Fernandez? Can rookies Ogura and Vietti maximise on their success? Or will Lowes pull it out of the hat in front of his home crowd?

    First fifteen riders

    1              Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 25 points

    2              Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 20

    3              Augusto Fernandez SPA – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 16

    4              Sam Lowes GBR – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 13

    5              Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 11

    6              Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 10

    7              Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 9

    8              Aron Canet SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 8

    9              Thomas Luthi SWI – Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team – 7

    10           Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 6

    11           Jake Dixon GBR – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 5

    12           Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 4

    13           Tony Arbolino ITA Liqui Moly Intact GP – 3

    14           Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 2

    15           Hector Garzo SPA – Flexbox HP40 – 1

     

  • W Series Spa preview: Summer is over and the fight is on!

    W Series Spa preview: Summer is over and the fight is on!

    The summer break is over, and W Series is back for Round 5 at the famous Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. The longest circuit on the calendar, the 18 drivers are ready to compete at a track well known for its blind, high speed corners and changeable weather conditions. This will test the talent on display in the all-female series.

    Eight drivers on the grid have previously raced at the circuit including Jamie Chadwick, Alice Powell, Abbie Eaton, Sarah Moore, Vicky Piria, Beitske Visser, Fabienne Wohlwend and Caitlin Wood. Caitlin will be stepping up for a second time as reserve driver this season with the PUMA W Series team after a solid performance in Hungry.

    Who’s going to be on top?

    Coming into the second half of the season there is a really close battle for the championship with only one point separating Chadwick and Powell, and Nerea Marti 35 points back in third.

    Chadwick and Powell have been exchanging wins all season, and with 2 wins each the difference is due to Chadwick’s third-place finish at Silverstone. Consistency in a championship like this is always key to success, but that seems to be common practice for these two so a fight to the end looks on the cards to see who will come out victorious. Just one mistake or no points finish could be pivotal in the championship battle.

    The fight for third

    Just three points cover the drivers in third to seventh, and with good performances from each driver in these positions, the fight to third is looking very interesting.

    Marti put in a great performance as a rookie to stick to the top two of Chadwick and Powell last time out in Hungry, finishing in third and putting herself ahead of Sarah Moore by one point.

    Moore herself has had a strong start to the season with a podium in the first two rounds, but only managed P7 at Silverstone and didn’t score points in Hungry. She will be looking for a fight back and to hang on to her one-point lead over Emma Kimilainen.

    Kimilainen has had a solid start with a podium and points finishes in three of the four rounds so far and therefore is currently fifth in the standings, only one point ahead of Fabienne Wohlwend and Irina Sidorkova who are tied on points.

    Wohlwend has had a very up and down first half of the season, getting two podium finishes but then finishing P10 in Round 2 and suffering a DNF in Round 4. In comparison Sidorkova has only been on the podium once but has had higher points finishes with P8 in Round 1 and P4 in Round 4, missing out on points in Round 3.

    This battle for third in the championship looks to go right to the end of the season and could be anyone of the five already in contention. However, Beitske Visser and Belen Garcia, in eighth and ninth respectively, are not too far behind and could really come into play if they can put in some great performances over the last four races.

  • F3 Spa preview: can anyone stop Hauger’s runaway title challenge?

    F3 Spa preview: can anyone stop Hauger’s runaway title challenge?

    After taking several weeks off over the summer break, the 2021 Formula 3 season is back this weekend, with another trio of races around the Circuit Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

    There are only three rounds left to go this season — at Spa, Zandvoort and the Circuit of the Americas — and at this point it’s hard to imagine anyone toppling Prema’s Dennis Hauger from the position of title favourite.

    Hauger took his third win of the season in the Hungaroring feature race before the summer break and earned himself a 63-point lead over Trident’s Jack Doohan in the standings. That means that Hauger will leave Spa still at the top of the table, unless he fails to score a single point and Doohan performs a clean sweep of wins, fastest laps and pole position in all three races this weekend.

    But although Hauger has become something of a runaway train, the positions behind him in the standings are still in flux. Doohan is second for now on 89 points, but Prema’s Olli Caldwell and ART’s Frederik Vesti are within just nine points of the Trident, with all three drivers having shown great pace throughout the season so far.

    Doohan will be one to watch at Spa, as it was there that he recorded one of the best results of his debut season last year. But Vesti also has fond memories of the circuit, having finished on the podium in last year’s sprint race while driving for Prema.

    The midpack is as tight as ever

    Alex Smolyar (Dan Istitene, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F3)

    Behind the top four in the championship, there are two incredibly fierce battles brewing in the final positions of the top ten. The first is between Aleksandr Smolyar (P5), Clement Novalak (P6) and Victor Martins (P7), who are only separated by seven points.

    Smolyar arguably should be in the mix with those ahead of him in the standings, given that he’s won two races this year compared to one each for Doohan, Caldwell and Vesti. But despite scoring points in most races — including two fourth places — Smolyar hasn’t stood on the podium since his second win at Paul Ricard in Round 2. That’s something he’ll need to change if he’s going to break away and join what’s realistically the fight to be this year’s vice-champion.

    With Novalak and Martins, their goal for the latter half of the season is straightforward: win races. They’re currently the highest-placed drivers in the championship yet to record a victory. In Novalak’s case, he also hasn’t been on the podium since his second-place finish in the opening round in Barcelona — something not helped by being eliminated from strong positions in two of the Red Bull Ring rounds through no fault of his own.

    As for Martins, what felt like an inevitable run to a maiden win after three podiums in the opening two rounds has soured recently. Between the second Red Bull Ring race and the summer break, Martins recorded a run of five races well outside the points. Bouncing back from that in a rookie season is hard, but it’s what he’ll need to do to keep up with the drivers around him.

    Clement Novalak, Trident (Eric Alonso, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F3)

    The second of the two midfield fights involves Arthur Leclerc, Matteo Nannini and Caio Collet, who are on 44, 42 and 41 points respectively. Nannini catapulted himself into that group by taking his first F3 win in the second race at the Hungaroring. Leclerc, who has a win and a second place but only one other points finish so far this year, will surely be looking over his shoulder in case Nannini’s maiden win turns out to be a breakthrough moment.

    And while Collet hasn’t quite been the match of his MP Motorsport and Alpine academy teammate Martins, he’s still been able to get great results — including two podiums — out of his car, and should be just as much a threat to Leclerc and Nannini in the remaining races.

    New Charouz lineup, and Frederick to miss Spa

    Lastly, the grid will look a little different this weekend for a few reasons. The first is that Charouz Racing System has refreshed its lineup. In place of Enzo Fittipaldi and Reshad de Gerus, the team will run 2020 US F4 champion Hunter Yeany and Euroformula Open driver Zdenek Chovanec in the #30 and #31 cars respectively. They’ll join Logan Sargeant for the remainder of the season.

    The second change is that Carlin will only field two cars this weekend, as Kaylen Frederick has tested positive for Covid-19 and will therefore not take part in the event. Given the late timing, Carlin will not replace Frederick for the weekend.

  • Extreme E: Arctic XPrix Preview

    image courtesy of ExtremeE

    Taking place in the picturesque landscape of Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, Extreme E returns this weekend with its first ever Arctic XPrix.

    Greenland is set to host its first ever motorsport event in just a few days time as the teams and drivers prepare to take on the ice and snow. Kangerlussuaq, where the race is being held, is home to the now greatly diminished Russell Glacier, the remnants of which will provide a good site to host the eight kilometre circuit. Drivers will have to negotiate tricky technical sections around rocks, as well as more open sections, all whilst coping with an icy surface. The Arctic XPrix circuit will host a challenge never seen before in Extreme E

    Something else that’s never been seen before in Extreme E is the five car final, which is one of a number of changes to the weekend format. Learning from the last two events, qualifying has had a shakeup, with each of the two sessions awarding classification points, rather than providing a combined time. Now, the fastest team in each session will be awarded nine points, with other teams being awarded eight to one each session respectively.  The overall qualifying positions will be set by the highest to lowest number of points, giving teams who DNF in one of their runs more of a chance. Should any teams be on equal points, they will be ordered by their fastest super sector times.  It is important to note that these classification points do not count towards the championship.

    Once the qualifying classification has been established, the teams will take part in one of three races. The teams that qualify in first, fifth, or sixth will race in Semi Final One, with the top two progressing to the final. The second, third, and fourth qualifiers will race in Semi Final Two. The top two finishers in this race will also progress to the final. The bottom three qualifiers will all face off in the Crazy Race, where only the winner will complete the grid for the final.

    The championship points system remains unchanged for this weekend, as points are awarded for both qualifying and the race. Twelve points will still be awarded to the top qualifier and the rest of the points will be evenly distributed down to four points for the ninth qualifier. Points will also be awarded for the final race classification, with the winner receiving twenty five points, down to the bottom finisher receiving four. Five points will still be awarded to the team with the fastest super sector time of the weekend.

    Coming in to the weekend, Rosberg X Racing hold a fourteen point lead over X44 with a total of seventy one points. JBXE are a further thirteen points back, with just seven points separating the remaining six teams.

    The Arctic XPrix will also see a couple of changes to the driver line ups. Jutta Kleinschmidt, who raced for ABT Cupra in Senegal in place of an ill Claudia Hurtgen, will make her debut as a full time driver for the team, replacing Claudia, who wanted to put more focus on her other driving roles. Senegal also saw Kevin Hansen replace Jenson Button at JBXE as the Formula One champion looked to prioritise his role as team principle. Kevin will continue to partner Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky at the Arctic XPrix. Veloce reserve driver Emma Gilmour will come in to the team in place of Jamie Chadwick, who is racing in W Series at Spa this weekend.

    Every Extreme E event aims to both highlight an environmental issue, and leave a positive impact on the communities they visit. This weekend, the series will discuss melting ice sheets and rising sea levels. The legacy program consists of several seminars and teaching resources, which hopes to transform climate education in Greenland. It is believed around three thousand six hundred Greenlandic children will take part in Climate Week in September, as they learn about the issues surrounding climate change and how they can address them. Extreme E have partnered with UNICEF to make this happen.

    The one of world’s cleanest racing series, racing in one of the world’s most beautiful locations. You’d be a fool to miss it!

  • Round 7 WorldSBK Navarra, Spain, Race 2

    The earlier Superpole race finished an exact copy of race 1 with Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) taking the win, followed by 2nd Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)., and 3rd Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha).

    wsbk
    WSBK Navarra 22.08.2021
    Picture courtesy of Ducati Racing

    Race 2 saw track temperatures rising to nearly 50 degrees celsius., with riders deciding on a wide range of tyre options. Redding choosing a softer front tyre, while Rea and Razgatlioglu opted for a harder tyre. Could Redding make it a clean sweep of wins at Navarra?

    After a delayed start, it was lights out and Redding with another quick fire blast off the line, again got the hole shot, great start. The same couldn’t be said for Rea who slipped back to 5th from his 2nd on grid.

    The gloves were definitely off with Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) slicing his way from nowhere briefly taking the lead from a stunned Redding before then going wide into a corner to concede the lead back to Redding.

    Starting lap 2 and it stood: 1st Redding, 2nd Locatelli, 3rd Razgatlioglu, 4th Rea, 5th Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 6th Sykes (BMW Motorrad).

    Then more drama for Davies (GoEleven Ducati) who was having a miserable weekend. He lost the front end of his bike into turn 9, subsequently sending it ploughing into the back of Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who found himself helplessly sliding into the gravel. Both riders were out of the race.

    wsbk
    WSBK Navarra 22.08.2021
    Picture courtesy of Ducati Racing

    Onto lap 3 and Razgatlioglu, showing impressive speed, gets through on Redding to take the lead. Then it’s the turn of Rea, who cuts under Redding into the hairpin corner to take 2nd. As in race 1 this trio was again pulling clear of the rest.

    The northern Irishman had his sights on the Turk, and wasn’t letting him escape, setting a new fastest lap of 1:37.609. Meanwhile Redding was looking like he was struggling to match the pace and was slipping further back.

    Further down the field it was the BMW team mates of Sykes and Vd Mark in 5th and 6th respectively, with Lowes in 7th and Bautista (Honda HRC) further back in 10th.

    With 15 laps to go, Lowes comes through on Vd Mark into turn 15 to take 6th.

    Rea was closing in on Razgatlioglu, but looked like he was really struggling with front end chatter, the bike visibly bouncing into some corners. Rea held a gap of 0.5 to Redding in 3rd.

    With 11 laps to go, Razgatlioglu had a gap of 0.5 to Rea in 2nd. Meanwhile Redding had found something, and was now right within striking distance of Rea.

    Nine laps to go and Razgatlioglu found a second wind and was pulling clear of Rea, pushing the gap out to 1.0. Meanwhile Honda continued their poor weekend, with Haslam (Honda HRC) sending his bike sliding in a shower of sparks into the gravel. He cut a dejected figure trudging back.

    Rea was really under pressure from Redding now and only had a gap 0.3 to the Ducati. The pressure was telling with Rea losing the front end, but as he had in race 1, he somehow managed to save it. Rea was fighting the Kawasaki into the corners and subsequently went wide, letting Redding through.

    Redding now had his sights firmly on the Yamaha but with only 3 laps left could he catch Razgatlioglu who was looking comfortable, and held a 1.0 advantage.

    Last lap and Razgatlioglu was holding his nerve keeping Redding at bay. He crosses the line to deny Redding a hat trick of wins, Redding getting 2nd while Rea crossed further down in 3rd.

    wsbk
    WSBK Navarra 22.08.2021
    Picture courtesy of Ducati Racing

    Amazingly enough, the result means there is a two way tie for the lead of the championship between Rea and Razgatlioglu. Surely this season will come down to the wire. Expect more fireworks!

    Result top 5:

    1. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
    2. Redding (Aruba.it Ducati)
    3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)
    4. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha)
    5. Sykes (BMW Motorrad)

    Riders out: Davies (GoEleven Ducati), Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Uramoto (Suzuki), Haslam (Honda HRC).

    Championship top 3:

    1. Rea 311 pts
    2. Razgatlioglu 311
    3. Redding 273

     

     

  • F1 Returns from its summer break: Belgian Grand Prix Preview

    F1 Returns from its summer break: Belgian Grand Prix Preview

    After a summer break that never ceases to feel like an eternity, Formula One finally returns this weekend, as we head a 12-hour flight west of our last destination of Budapest to the beautiful town of Francorchamps for the 53rd championship Belgian Grand Prix.

    The formerly eclectic list of winning constructors of this race has recently been taken over by Ferrari and Mercedes, who have between them taken all of the last six victories at Spa, but will there be a new conqueror here on Sunday?

    Charles Leclerc took his first Formula One win in Spa two years ago – Courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari Media

    Red Bull have continuously proven a thorn in champions Mercedes’ side throughout the first half of 2021, and Max Verstappen would desperately like to win in Spa for the first time.

    Though the young Dutchman will finally be able to enjoy a home Grand Prix next week, he always gets a massive following when the F1 circus heads to Belgium, and he will be grateful for that support this weekend.

    Red Bull suffered catastrophic races in Silverstone and Budapest, scoring just two points over both races, following contact with Mercedes cars on both occasions. The Silver Arrows and Lewis Hamilton have thus taken advantage to lead both championships entering round 12 of the season.

    A chain reaction crash started by Valtteri Bottas ended the race for both Red Bull cars, along with Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris – Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

    And so it seems that a win has rarely been so predominant on the Austrian team’s list of priorities, so get set for a superbly competitive weekend of action.

    This is amplified by what is quite simply one of the most remarkable and stunning racetracks in the history of the F1 championship, with a powerful first and third sector, sandwiching a tight, twisty middle sector that has always extracted immense skill and bravery from our drivers.

    It thus gives us an exciting prospect in what has become in incrementally more competitive midfield as the year has progressed, with McLaren and Ferrari dead even on points following Carlos Sainz’s post-race podium in Hungary; a further 85 points separates them from fifth-placed Alpine.

    Sebastian Vettel was stripped of said podium following a disqualification for a fuel infringement four weeks ago, as the three-time winner in Belgium seeks to claim his second podium with his new team.

    Sebastian Vettel had his Budapest podium cruelly  snatched from him after a fuel infringement – Courtesy of Aston Martin Media

    As the second triple-header of the year begins, F1 is finally back, as we get ready for one of the great tracks on the Formula One calendar.

  • Josef Newgarden wins the IndyCar Bommarito 500 as title hunt tightens

    Josef Newgarden wins the IndyCar Bommarito 500 as title hunt tightens

    The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway did not fail to disappoint in a race filled with plenty of drama with massive permutations for the championship standings.

    Josef Newgarden took a magnificent victory at Gateway, his third at the circuit, and his second of the 2021 season to bring him firmly into title contention. Meanwhile, Patricio O’Ward took advantage of misfortune from those behind to take second place and now leaves with the lead of the IndyCar championship.

    Newgarden takes his second win of 2021 to bring himself firmly into the championship fight. Photo Courtesy of Joe Skibinski.

    Newgarden initially started in third but assumed the lead after long-time leader Colton Herta suffered a mechanical issue after having led the majority of the race.

    The Penske driver was able to fight his way to the front after leapfrogging teammate Will Power and Herta out of the pits during the third safety car period, caused by Ed Carpenter.

    However, Herta with incredible pace in the middle stint was able to take the lead from Newgarden until a driveshaft failure ended the Andretti driver’s hopes. This is the second race in three that Herta has retired from a race-winning position after crashing out at Nashville two weeks ago.

    Newgarden came under a late challenge from Alexander Rossi for the lead, but it was misfortune for the Andretti driver who made contact with the wall with 60 laps remaining.

    On the restart, Newgarden spent the final 50 laps fending off Patricio O’Ward who qualified in fifth place. The gap was reduced to less than half a second on the final few laps, but it was the Penske driver who came out victorious.

    O’Ward drove a calm and measured race to take the lead of the drivers championship with a magnificent second place. Photo Courtesy of Joe Skibinski.

    Second place for O’Ward now puts him on 435 points with Alex Palou 10 points behind. The win for Newgarden puts him third, a further 12 points behind after Chip Ganassi Scott Dixon’s incident with Palou and Rinus VeeKay.

    Immediately after the restart following the fourth caution period, VeeKay charged into the back of the Spaniard, collecting Dixon in the process.

    Will Power started on pole position and was in search of his second consecutive win but would eventually settle for the final podium position, with Scott McLaughlin close behind in a fantastic fourth place.

    Sebastien Bourdais’s brave strategy call allowed the A.J.Foyt driver to finish in fifth position ahead of Takuma Sato who ran a similar race to the Frenchman. With fresh-tyres they were able to push aggressively on the final restart to take a few extra positions.

    Ryan Hunter-Reay was finished in seventh just 5.8s off the Japanese driver while Simon Pagenaud managed to claim eighth after coming back from contact with Newgarden on Lap 16 where he lost a portion of his front wing and was relegated to the back after coming into the pits.

    Marcus Ericsson and Jack Harvey rounded out the Top Ten in a remarkable race where only 13 cars crossed the finish line on the lead lap, something we haven’t seen outside of the Indy 500 in years.

    Romain Grosjean made his oval debut in impressive fashion, making some aggressive overtakes to find his way into the Top Ten. Unfortunately, after missing a wave-around he would finish a lap down from the leader in 14th.

    It was a promising start for Graham Rahal who had qualified within the Top Ten, that was until a collision with Ed Jones on Lap 3 promptly retired both from the race.