Blog

Round two at Austria – Sensational!

Qualifying:

Jorge Martin (Ducati) and Miguel Oliveira (KTM) made the top ten and went through to FP2.

It looked like Quartararo had secured pole but Martin put in an all-time lap record (1:22.643) and stole pole in the last few seconds. Pushing Fabio to 2^nd, Franceso Bagnaia (Ducati) went to 3^rd and Johann Zarco (Ducati) 4^th.

The big news that was announced was: Maverick Vinales (Yamaha) had been suspended from racing, due to last weekends antics on track. It was discovered that he had tried to blow up his Yamaha M1 engine, possibly causing serious danger to both himself and others. It is believed that he will not compete in any further races this year.

Race:

The weather was hot and humid in Austria, with massive black rain clouds looming above the track. The race was declared dry and would be a flag-to-flag affair. But, if hopes for a repeat of last weekend’s Austria race were anywhere near, they were soon to be dashed.

Martin sat in pole and got a fantastic launch, quickly leading Bagnaia, Zarco and Quartararo. Immediately, as all four riders went into turn one, the white flags started to wave signifying that bikes could then be swapped.

Bagnaia soon took the lead and Martin and Quartararo tussled for 2^nd. Marc Marquez (Honda) was also battling at the front, gaining 4^th and then 3^rd place by lap 3. By lap 4, he had made it into 2nd. He was the only rider to have a soft (rear) tyre.

By lap 6 all top five riders kept swapping positions, none of them wanting to give an inch.

With the black clouds heavy with rain above them, a few rain drops suddenly started to appear and thunder rumbled in the distance. It was then the time for white and red flags to be waved on turn 2, meaning there was rain in that sector.

Rain clouds above. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Lap 8 of 28, saw Quartararo take the lead, but it was quickly taken back by Bagnaia on the start-finish line. Bagnaia took his chance and soon started to gap from the pack. By the half-way point in the race, there were more gaps appearing between the riders.

Meanwhile the black clouds continued to gather and then drama ensued:

The start of the second part of the incredible entertainment came from Enea Bastianini’s Ducati. The fairing suddenly broke free and flew off onto the side of the track, causing him to have to retire.

Bastianini’s side exposed. Courtesy of: BT Sport Moto GP replay.

Zarco then crashed out of the race on turn 9. Marquez and Quartararo continued to fight with each-other for 2^nd place, behind Bagnaia and in-front of last weekends winner in 4^th. But an unusual mistake from Fabio meant Marquez was suddenly on the back of Pecco. On lap 22 he took the lead with a sensational maneuver, but Bagnaia was quick to respond and re-took first within seconds. That of course brought Quartararo back into play.

7 laps to go, the rain became heavier, causing Oliveira to crash on turn one. Everyone was becoming more and more tentative into the corners. Jack Miller (Ducati) and Alex Rins (Suzuki) decided that was their moment to enter the pits and swap their bikes. Would this prove to be effective, with very little race left?

Racing like they were on ice, all front five riders continued to circulate on slick tyres and not only that, they continued to fight for positions!

Marquez led Quartararo, Bagnaia, Martin and Binder. Incredible passes upon passes continued. Hands were being thrown in the air, regarding the poor weather conditions but the race was not going to be stopped as it was a flag-to-flag event.

Bagnaia leading Martin. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Then with no hesitation all 5 front leading riders went straight into the pits to change to their wet weather bikes, leaving the KTM rider, Brad Binder alone to lead the race from Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) and Valentino Rossi (Yamaha). Only nine riders remained on slick tyres, on a very wet track.

It was hard to believe that then there was only three laps remaining until the end. Binder was riding an incredibly brave race, skidding and sliding in ever-increasing hazardous conditions.

Marc Marquez crashed out on lap 26, turn 1. He had been riding all-in and unfortunately couldn’t quite pull it off. He managed to get back on the bike and later said “this is my best Sunday of the year”… “it’s only one championship point but I really enjoyed getting it”. Meanwhile, Binder was doing the unthinkable and started to break away from the rest of the riders, with only 2.6miles of track to the line. Could he hold on? Could he bring KTM’s first win at their home track in Moto GP?

The riders behind Binder were racing incredibly slowly – most of them having stayed out on slick tyres. A. Espagaro and Iker Lecuona (KTM) battled for 2^nd. Luca Marini (Ducati) passed his brother (46) and Espargaro. But it was the ‘Bagnaia Bullet’ that came from no-where and passed everyone to gain 2^nd place! Following close behind were Martin and Mir. Leaving Binder to get his second victory in the premier class. He was given a 3-second penalty for exceeding track limits on the last lap, but he had hardly any control over his bike in the treacherous conditions. The penalty didn’t effect the result though, in the end he managed to gain 12 seconds from his nearest rival, even with Bagania racing through to gain 2^nd. Brad’s gamble had indeed paid off!

Podium finishers. Courtesy of: Moto GP (Twitter Account).

The number 33 became the 7^th different winner in 2021 and the rookie Martin secured not only his 2^nd pole in a row but his 2^nd race podium as well.

Top Ten Race Results:

1

Binder

2

Bagnaia

3

Martin

4

Mir

5

Marini

6

Lecuona

7

Quartararo

8

Rossi

9

A. Marquez

10

A. Espargaro

Updated Championship Reults:

1st

Quartararo

181 points

2nd

Bagnaia

134 points

3rd

Mir

134 points

4th

Zarco

132 points

What a race?! The championship hunt is hotting up once again, with Quartararo’s lead now less and Zarco unfortunately dropping to fourth. Bagnaia and Mir are now on equal points. Could we see Mr. Consistency rise in the ranks once again and fight to remain World Number One?

What will we witness next round at Silverstone in two weeks time?

(Featured image: Courtesy of Moto GP website).

15th August 2021

BTCC Knockhill – Ingram wins as title hunt gains momentum

Tom Ingram maintained his title aspirations as he took the final race win at Knockhill.

The 19th BTCC win of his career, the Hyundai driver fought hard and passed polesitter Stephen Jelley and held on for the win to close the gap to championship leader Ash Sutton.

At the start Jelley led, Ingram managed to pass Senna Proctor in on lap one to take third. Proctor’s team mate Josh Cook lost power coming out of turn one and parked up his Honda. The safety car was brought out while the marshals retrieved his car.

Lap four saw the restart with Jelley, Plato, Ingram and Proctor all close together. Ingram had the quicker car and was chasing Plato for 2nd place.

It wasn’t until lap ten when Plato ran wide at the final hairpin and Ingram and Proctor snuck down the inside to take 2nd and 3rd respectively. The next target for Ingram was Jelley in the BMW out in front.

Plato then lost out to Ash Sutton in his Infiniti as he dove down the inside into turn one.

The move for the lead came on lap 17 as Ingram replicated his move on Plato as he dove down the inside of Jelley and Proctor again was the beneficiary as he followed Ingram through for 2nd place.

Proctor had had a fantastic weekend, holding on to the tail of Ingram and followed him home to finish 2nd in his BTC Honda Civic.

Ingram took the win to close Sutton’s championship lead. Proctor was 2nd with Jelley a distant third.

Shedden, Sutton, Chris Smiley, Moffat, Turkington, Plato and Rowbottom rounded off the top ten to cap off a brilliant round of racing at Knockhill.

Pos	Driver	Car	Team	+/-
1	Tom Ingram	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	22:23:760
2	Senna Proctor	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+1.383
3	Stephen Jelley	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	+4.658
4	Gordon Shedden	Honda Civic Type R	Team Dynamics	+5.211
5	Ash Sutton	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+5.273
6	Chris Smiley	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+6.033
7	Aiden Moffat	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+6.432
8	Colin Turkington	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	+10.298
9	Jason Plato	Vauxhall Astra	Power Maxed	+11.932
10	Dan Rowbottom	Honda Civic Type R	Team Dynamics	+12.546
11	Carl Boardley	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+16.436
12	Aron Taylor-Smith	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+16.883
13	Adam Morgan	BMW 330i M Sport	Ciceley	+17.076
14	Tom Oliphant	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	+17.507
15	Ollie Jackson	Ford Focus ST	MB Motorsport	+18.575
16	Jack Butel	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+19.350
17	Sam Osborne	Ford Focus ST	Motorbase	+19.796
18	Dan Lloyd	Vauxhall Astra	Power Maxed	+20.405
19	Jade Edwards	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+23.312
20	Rory Butcher	Toyota Corolla	Toyota Gazoo	+23.466
21	Paul Rivett	Ford Focus ST	Motorbase	+24.111
22	Jack Mitchell	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+24.420
23	Tom Chilton	BMW 330i M Sport	Ciceley	+24.482
24	Sam Smelt	Toyota Corolla	Toyota Gazoo	+25.027
25	Rick Parfitt Jr	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+25.120
26	Jack Goff	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+38.599
27	Jake Hill	Ford Focus ST	MB Motorsport	+3 Laps
28	Nicholas Hamilton	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+4 Laps
Retirements
DNF	Josh Cook	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	Mechanical (1)

15th August 2021

BTCC Knockhill – Sutton capitalizes on rare Turkington error to extend title lead

Ash Sutton capitalized on a rare Colin Turkington error to take the win in race two at Knockhill and extend his championship lead.

After a titanic race-long battle, Sutton prevailed when Turkington ran wide on the final lap.

At the start, Chris Smiley stalled on the start and didn’t get away, but further back Nicholas Hamilton moved across on Tom Oliphant, and caught the BMW, spinning into the wall and bringing out the safety car.

Lap seven saw the restart, with Josh Cook having to fend off Ash Sutton. On lap nine Sutton managed to pass Cook at the hairpin and began his hunt on Turkington.

On lap 12 Turkington had a 1.1 second lead, by lap 15 they were bumper to bumper. In a fascinating battle Sutton was well in the ascendancy. On lap 17 the pair were side by side heading into the hairpin, but Turkington prevailed this time.

Rory Butcher was fighting up the order and passed Tom Ingram with a nice switchback into the hairpin. By lap 22 he was past Moffat heading down the start-finish straight. However he came across too much on Moffat and the pair collided. Butcher’s race ended in the tyre barrier and brought out a second safety car.

On the restart Turkington was defending hard, heading into the final lap Turkington made an uncharacteristic mistake, running wide and opening the door for Sutton to pass and take the win to extend his title lead.

Turkington came second, with Jake Hill a fine third. Cook, Gordon Shedden, Ingram, Proctor, Jason Plato, Stephen Jelley and Carl Boardley rounded off the top ten.

Pos	Driver	Car	Team	+/-
1	Ash Sutton	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	27:06:766
2	Colin Turkington	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	+1.043
3	Jake Hill	Ford Focus ST	MB Motorsport	+1.770
4	Josh Cook	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+2.258
5	Gordon Shedden	Honda Civic Type R	Team Dynamics	+2.672
6	Tom Ingram	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+3.202
7	Senna Proctor	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+4.427
8	Jason Plato	Vauxhall Astra	Power Maxed	+4.829
9	Stephen Jelley	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	+5.068
10	Carl Boardley	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+5.656
11	Aiden Moffat	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+8.393
12	Jack Goff	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+8.714
13	Chris Smiley	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+9.246
14	Jack Butel	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+10.003
15	Aron Taylor-Smith	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+13.090
16	Adam Morgan	BMW 330i M Sport	Ciceley	+13.197
17	Tom Oliphant	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	+13.503
18	Dan Rowbottom	Honda Civic Type R	Team Dynamics	+14.535
19	Paul Rivett	Ford Focus ST	Motorbase	+14.825
20	Sam Osborne	Ford Focus ST	Motorbase	+14.862
21	Jack Mitchell	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+15.386
22	Ollie Jackson	Ford Focus ST	MB Motorsport	+16.649
23	Jade Edwards	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+18.008
24	Sam Smelt	Toyota Corolla	Toyota Gazoo	+18.188
25	Tom Chilton	BMW 330i M Sport	Ciceley	+18.401
26	Dan Lloyd	Vauxhall Astra	Power Maxed	+19.010
27	Rick Parfitt Jr	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+1 Lap
Retirements
DNF	Rory Butcher	Toyota Corolla	Toyota Gazoo	Crash (22)
DNF	Nicholas Hamilton	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	Crash (1)

15th August 2021

BTCC Knockhill – Turkington takes 100th WSR win and reignites title challenge

Colin Turkington cruised to victory to reignite his title challenge, and also took Team WSR’s 100th BTCC win.

The BMW driver led from lights to flag with BTC Racing duo Senna Proctor and Josh Cook both on the podium.

Turkington led off the grid after a good start. By the end of lap three he was 2.5 seconds ahead of Proctor, who had to hold off a train of cars led by Chris Smiley.

On lap four Dan Lloyd went off at the exit of the chicane and hit the wall. This brought out the safety car while his stricken Vauxhall Astra was recovered and the wall fixed.

Lap 11 saw the race resume and Turkington again pulled away, opening up a three second lead easily. Proctor managed to pull away from Smiley too as he cruised to a second placed finish.

His team mate Cook was on the rear bumper of Smiley, looking for an opportunity to overtake. He finally managed it with a bold move down the inside of Clark corner. Reigning champion Ash Sutton then dove down the inside of Smiley at the hairpin to take fourth.

Coming out of the hairpin Tom Oliphant was spun off and retired from the race, with Ollie Jackson also having his own issues, going wide at the hairpin and coming into the pits, never returning to the race.

Turkington took the flag and got his title challenge back underway after a few poor weekends. Proctor and Cook took the other podium places for a strong BTC Racing showing.

Sutton, Smiley, Jake Hill, Aiden Moffat, Gordon Shedden, Rory Butcher and Tom Ingram rounded off the top ten.

Pos	Driver	Car	Team	+/-
1	Colin Turkington	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	26:03:813
2	Senna Proctor	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+4.254
3	Josh Cook	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+8.076
4	Ash Sutton	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+8.643
5	Chris Smiley	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+12.071
6	Jake Hill	Ford Focus ST	MB Motorsport	+13.061
7	Aiden Moffat	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+13.111
8	Gordon Shedden	Honda Civic Type R	Team Dynamics	+16.273
9	Rory Butcher	Toyota Corolla	Toyota Gazoo	+25.848
10	Tom Ingram	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+27.688
11	Stephen Jelley	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	+27.899
12	Tom Chilton	BMW 330i M Sport	Ciceley	+28.167
13	Adam Morgan	BMW 330i M Sport	Ciceley	+28.487
14	Jason Plato	Vauxhall Astra	Power Maxed	+29.759
15	Dan Rowbottom	Honda Civic Type R	Team Dynamics	+30.167
16	Jack Goff	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+30.727
17	Sam Smelt	Toyota Corolla	Toyota Gazoo	+32.558
18	Carl Boardley	Infiniti Q50	Laser Tools	+33.619
19	Sam Osborne	Ford Focus ST	Motorbase	+34.705
20	Jack Butel	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+35.693
21	Rick Parfitt Jr	Hyundai i30N	Excelr8	+38.341
22	Jack Mitchell	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+38.665
23	Paul Rivett	Ford Focus ST	Motorbase	+39.317
24	Nicholas Hamilton	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+39.869
25	Aron Taylor-Smith	Cupra Leon	Team HARD	+41.021
26	Jade Edwards	Honda Civic Type R	BTC Racing	+1 Lap
Retirements
DNF	Ollie Jackson	Ford Focus ST	MB Motorsport	Mechanical (22)
DNF	Tom Oliphant	BMW 330i M Sport	Team WSR	Damage (21)
DNF	Dan Lloyd	Vauxhall Astra	Power Maxed	Crash (4)

15th August 2021

Will Power ends winless IndyCar drought with fifth victory on IMS road course. Points leader Palou retires.

Will Power withstood late pressure to take victory at the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, his first of the season. The win is his fifth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and extends his winning streak across 14 seasons, having taken his first in 2007.

Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta rounded out the podium, with Alexander Rossi fourth, and Patricio O’Ward fifth after late drama with Championship leader Alex Palou.

Pole-sitter O’Ward led Power off the line. Photo Courtesy of Karl Zemlin

O’Ward started on pole position having edged out Power by an incredible margin of 0.06s. He led the field away strongly able to pull out a two-second advantage over the Australian, having started on sticker red ‘alternative’ tyres. He tried to use them to an early benefit, pulling a gap on the rest of the field knowing that he would be on slower rubber in the middle stint.

However, it was Will Power, who also started on sticker ‘reds’, who pitted before O’Ward. The undercut worked wonders as the Arrow McLaren SP driver emerged less than one second ahead of Power. Unfortunately, on cold tyres there was little O’Ward could do. He fought bravely but it was Power who triumphed, diving down the inside at the penultimate corner on Lap 18 to take the race lead.

The day went from bad to worse for O’Ward, now on primary ‘blacks’, was now vulnerable to those on fresh ‘reds’. Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean made light work of the Mexican who found himself in fourth by Lap 30.

Conversely, it was ‘easy-street’ for Power who was able to pull out an eight-second gap on the rest of the field. He would eventually pit on Lap 38 for his second stop and emerge comfortably in the lead.

Meanwhile, Championship leader Alex Palou had emerged from the pits behind both Alexander Rossi and Jack Harvey in seventh. After his first pit-stop, he would make light work of them find himself immediately behind points rival O’Ward.

Danish Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Christian Lundgaard did extremely well to qualify fourth on his IndyCar debut. However, it was a difficult day as he lost a position to Herta off the start and then lost out to those who had perfected the undercut on their first stop. He found himself down in tenth after the first cycle but would eventually slip further down the order.

Will Power had an eight-second advantage over Colton Herta on Lap 40. That was, he did until he encountered traffic in the form of James Hinchcliffe who was fighting to stay on the lead lap. What played out was an intriguing position where Herta’s teammate could help slow down the race leader, as there are no blue flags in IndyCar. An eight-second advantage fell to four within a few laps.

The final pit stops took place around Lap 60 with Power emerging ahead of Herta, now under immediate pressure from Romain Grosjean. This would prove to be Herta’s undoing as he proceeded to use up his remaining ‘Push-to-Pass’ to defend. Yet, the gap to Power continued to fall down to two seconds.

Alex Palou retired as Championship rival O’Ward finished in fifth. Photo Courtesy of Karl Zemlin

That was until Championship leader Alex Palou stopped on Lap 68 with a mechanical issue bringing out the first caution of the day. Luckily for Power, the safety car would bring Hinchcliffe out of his way and would have clean air with a significant ‘Push-to-Pass’ advantage over his rivals.

On the restart, Power got away cleanly while Grosjean courageously overtook Herta into Turn One for second place. The French-Swiss racer found himself fending off the American for the final laps having used up his ‘Push-to-Pass’ while attacking Herta.

Rinus VeeKay brought out the final caution following contact with Penske’s Scott McLaughlin which sent the Dutchman into a spin. On the restart, it was a good getaway again for Power who used up his remaining 70s of ‘Push-to Pass’ to cruise home to the chequered flag.

The victory is a huge relief for the Australian who came so agonizingly close to a win at Detroit before he was forced to retire following a late red flag where his ECU overheated.

Romain Grosjean would take his second podium of the season. Photo Courtesy of James Black

It would be a second podium of the season for Grosjean who still continues to impress in his rookie IndyCar season while Jack Harvey, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden, and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the Top 10.

Christian Lundgaard impressed on his debut with a late-recovery to finish 12th, pulling off a sensational overtake on Dixon into Turn One.

Palou had entered the race with a 42-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon and by 48 points over O’Ward. Going off sequence with an early pit stop, Dixon finished 13th and at least salvaged some points from starting 26th.

Palou’s advantage at the top of the championship has now been slashed to 21 points over O’Ward who moves into second place in the standings. The Spaniard will likely take a penalty for the next race at Gateway due to his need to change his engine due to his retirement.

14th August 2021
Formula E Berlin Eprix Weekend Preview: Championship Wide Open

image courtesy of Formula E

The sun is beginning to set on another enthralling season of Formula E as the championship heads to Berlin with 18 drivers still in championship contention.

Formula E returns to the Berlin Tempelhof Airport for its season finale this weekend as both teams and constructors titles are still wide open. It will be the 6th time the all electric racing series has visited the airport, with the circuit making its debut in 2015, albeit with a different layout. With just 10 turns and only 2.4km long, the current layout was first used in 2017 and has since become a staple of the Formula E calendar.

This year, however, there is a slight change to the weekend. Following last year’s successful running of 3 different layouts, the second race will be run in reverse, with work needing to be done overnight to ensure that the barriers are all correctly positioned for the new design. The reverse loop was trialed in 2020 as part of the series’ unprecedented 6 races in 9 days season finale.

A staggering 18 drivers and 10 teams come in to the weekend able to win the championships, as Mercedes EQ driver Nyck De Vries edges out Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns by just 6 points. A whopping 29 points is available for each of the two races so it really is all to play for.

In the teams championship, Envision Virgin lead Mercedes EQ by just 7 points. Jaguar are a mere 2 points further back.

Audi in particular will look to end the season strong as they say goodbye to the series. Created by Hans Jurgen Abt, the German team were among the first to enter the series back in Season 1. Despite some name changes along the way they have become one of the most successful and iconic teams the sport has ever had, finally winning the constructors championship in Season 4 (the 2017/18 season) with their drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Daniel Abt.

With the departure of Audi, we may also see the departure of their star driver Lucas Di Grassi. Di Grassi has driven every race for the German team since Formula E’s inception, and he has become one of the sports best ever drivers. From the very first race Di Grassi had etched his name into the history books, capitalizing on a collision between Nico Prost and Nick Hiedfeld to win the inaugural race. He then followed this win up a few years later with a Season 3 title win. Lucas himself is confident of remaining in the series next year, with rumors circling that he may take Norman Nato’s Venturi seat. However, if Formula E has taught us anything, it’s that this series is never predictable, so a Di Grassi exit cannot be ruled out.

Prior to this weekend it was also announced that several drivers will remain with their teams for next season, whilst BMW will also (sort of) leave the sport. Both Porsche drivers, Pascal Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer will continue with the German outfit, and Robin Frijns will still race for Envision Virgin. BMWi Andretti’s Jake Dennis will also remain at the team as it changes its name to Andretti Autosport. BMW will continue to supply the powertrains however.

It’s set to be a weekend of both firsts and lasts in Berlin and with both championships still wide open, you’d be a fool to miss it.

13th August 2021
IndyCar Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix Preview

We didn’t have to wait long for IndyCar as we prepare for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

This 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course will play host to the eleventh round of the championship. Since its inception, the road course has always been seen as the ‘warm-up’ act on the lead-up to Indianapolis 500, traditionally on a Saturday two weeks prior. However, the 2021 calendar included a *second* Indy GP to replace the cancellations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inaugural Nashville Music City Grand Prix gave us an IndyCar spectacular like no other. Nine cautions and two red flags were enough to make any keen viewer dumbfounded as the chequered flag dropped.

Ericsson and Chip Ganassi Resurgence?

Chip Ganassi teammates Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon share the podium in Nashville. Photo Courtesy of James Black.

Nevertheless, Marcus Ericsson left Nashville a two-time IndyCar race winner and added a fascinating twist to the title fight. Who would have thought that before the start of the season?

In fact, he was unfortunate not to win at Mid-Ohio as he chased down Josef Newgarden to the line. Since his first win in Detroit Ericsson has been a revelation, justifying Chip Ganassi’s decision to sign him and perhaps unleashing a level of performance that has always been there.

Importantly, he has finished ahead of his six-time champion teammate Scott Dixon 4 out of the last 6 times of asking and in doing so has thrown himself into championship contention.

Alex Palou sits comfortably in the lead on 410 points with his next closest competitor Scott Dixon trailing by 42 points. Patricio O’Ward is a further 6 behind. However, Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson are only a couple of wins away from leapfrogging many of their aforementioned rivals, both on 335 and 331 respectively.

Three out of the top five in the championship are Chip Ganassi Racing, which underlines the impressive level of performance and consistency they have reached. However, it remains to be seen how the team will be able to manage the driver battles as we draw closer to the business end of the season.

Christian Lundgaard Makes His Debut With Rahal Letterman

Christian Ludgaard will make his IndyCar debut with RLL at the IMS. Photo Courtesy of Alpine F1.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan announced on Monday that the team will enter FIA Formula 2 driver Christian Lundgaard into the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Danish driver recently tested with the team at Barber Motorsports Park and is a member of the Alpine Driver Academy, a program originally known as the Renault F1 Academy set up in 2002 to nurture and develop young drivers through their careers.

The news comes as RLL prepares to evaluate drivers in anticipation of expanding to a third entry.

Son of European Rally champion Henrik Lundgaard, Christian is no short of success, having claimed the SMP F4 Championship and F4 Spanish Championship. The following year he was the runner-up in the Formula Renault Eurocup.

Lundgaard is currently in his second full season of Formula 2 with two race wins and a pole position to his name.

McLaren Acquires Majority Stake in IndyCar Team

McLaren Group set to acquire a majority stake in Arrow McLaren SP. Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens.

In a surprise announcement earlier this week, the McLaren Racing Group announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in the Arrow McLaren SP team.

The partnership, which saw McLaren partner with the former Arrow Schmidt Peterson team has seen remarkable success in their short time together. They were able to build on their five podiums in only their first season to achieve two wins in 2021 while sitting third in the drivers’ championship.

It is believed that they will acquire a 75% majority stake in the team which would give them complete control over drivers and whether to expand to a third car entry, something they are widely expected to do.

As part of the agreement, the Arrow McLaren team will be headed by a new management structure which will be comprised of, team founder Sam Schmidt, co-owner Ric Peterson, McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown and Taylor Kiel, the president of Arrow McLaren.

Who To Watch Out For?

Colton Herta was unfortunate not to win at Nashville, having dominated the whole weekend and being within touching distance of victory.

Having found himself in fourth after the penultimate caution, he made light work of James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon before hunting down Marcus Ericsson. However, his race ended with five laps to go as he locked up and went straight into the wall at Turn 9.

A victory at Nashville would have propelled Herta into the championship fight and will be looking to bounce back in spectacular fashion. He is no stranger to success at the IMS, finishing twice in the Top Five at the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix.

Rinus VeeKay won last time out at the IMS after usurping pole-sitter Romain Grosjean in the closing stages. Could they be a factor again this weekend?

11th August 2021
Sebastian Vettel’s justified DSQ doesn’t mean it’s not a harsh penalty

Main image courtesy of Aston Martin F1 Media

It is a story of despair, one of highs and lows. In just 2 hours, Sebastian Vettel and the Aston Martin F1 Team found themselves with a podium at hand in Hungary, and then left with nothing.

It is without a doubt a great shame – a great drive after a dismal start for a lot of drivers, meant that Vettel could climb up the podium places, and then fight for the win with Esteban Ocon, losing out in the final laps.

However, it should be mentioned that the offence he and his team had done was punished not severely, but according to the rules.

Being unable to provide 1 litre of fuel after the qualifying session and the race is almost always a violation of the rules worthy of a Disqualification from the results. This litre must be retrievable by the FIA and the technical officers in order for them to take a sample and test it on the laboratory for potential illegality regarding the fuel.

And it’s one of those rules that are not to be interpreted by the stewards. The punishment is set, and the stewards are there to award it.

This fact sits especially hard with the Silverstone team, which is in a close fight in the constructors’ standing with AlphaTauri and Alpine, and with Vettel’s 2nd place points (which he may not get after all) they could close the gap from their rivals.

Since the team lost its right of appeal after yesterday’s hearing, the FIA and the stewards justified their decision, with the following exempt from their statement being particularly telling:

“For the assessment of whether or not the one-litre requirement was broken, it does not make a difference why there was less than one litre.

“There may be a couple of explanations why at the end of a race the remaining amount is insufficient. In any case, it remains the sole responsibility of the Competitor to ensure that the car is in conformity with the regulations all times (Art. 3.2 FIA International Sporting Code) and it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained (Art 1.3.3 FIA International Sporting Code).”

All of the above suggests that the FIA does not take into account the reason that the team did not have the 1 litre in its car’s tank (this time, it was a fuel pump malfunction, a rare but possible failure).

Which, as a fact, makes the DSQ punishment even harsher. This is not to say that not having the required fuel in the car after the end of the race is not a reason not to be punished for, but it’s another thing to hand out the same penalties for every type of illegality.

It was clearly not intended by the team to not have the required quantity of fuel to present to the technical officers, and still they got disqualified. And from that failure, they lost a miraculous podium finish.

FIA knows this system of hard, not flexible penalties in some aspects of the technical rulebook has to be somewhat amended in the next years.

From the dawn of F1, all rules are there to deter the teams from making dangerous decisions, and that is the reason that sometimes they are so severe in their impact. That means that sometimes, they are unfair as well.

Not all offences are equally severe, and not all of them are the same. It is one thing to not have 1L of fuel because you decided to burn it all to gain some advantage, and another to have a fuel pump failure and lose some fuel that you did not want to.

Although, it should be mentioned that the stewards are consistent in those types of punishments. Their life gets easier in that regard, because they go by the book, quite literally.

And they should not get more severe in their decisions in other occurrences just to make up for the harsh punishments in other incidents.

Dr. Helmut Marko compared Vettel’s DSQ with Hamilton’s 10 second penalty in the Silverstone accident:

“It is clear why Vettel almost ran out of petrol, because a normal race had been calculated and then he simply used more in the fight with Ocon – no driver saves petrol in this situation. Where is the relation there compared to Hamilton’s offence?

“Then there is Hamilton’s statement about Fernando Alonso’s dangerous driving. [Alonso] drove sensationally, defended optimally, and then this statement from someone who shoots out a competitor a race before.”

This seems an unfair comparison. Race control has ”wiggle-room” in those type of incidents, with Hamilton & Verstappen or the Hamilton & Alonso battle – that’s why they are completely inconsistent.

But, we should first change the severity for some type of offences, if those offences have been a result of a malfunction, or an accident.

Let’s be more flexible. Especially in the budget cap era, no penalty should be given without taking into account all the factors.

10th August 2021
Moto2: Dark clouds loom over the Austrian Alps

And so Moto2 returns after the five week summer break with Round 10, the Styrian Grand Prix, high in the Austrian Alps, and Sunday’s race certainly brought plenty of ups and downs.

Pic courtesy of marcvds Racing Team

All eyes were on the weather over the weekend, with dark clouds looming over practice and qualifying. The rain stayed away and the race was declared dry, but away from the racing line the track remained damp and greasy.

Before Sunday’s race Australia’s Remy Gardner led the championship on 184 points, his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Raul Fernandez 2nd with 153, Bezzecchi 3rd on 128, Britain’s Sam Lowes 4th on 99, and Fabio Di Giannantonio 5th with 73.

During free practice news broke that Raul Fernandez will be moving up to MotoGP next season, to join his current teammate Remy Gardner at KTM, but did the unfortunate timing of the announcement impact on Fernandez’s performance?

For only the second time this season, neither of Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates made an appearance on the podium. Remy Gardner started from pole, and his teammate Raul Fernandez on the 2nd row in 4th after a frustrating qualifying.

It looked as though Sunday would be Japanese rookie Ai Ogura’s time to shine, as he briefly held pole position during qualifying. He was pipped at the post by Gardner, but claimed his first front row start of the season in second, with Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi making up the front row in 3^rd. Alongside Raul Fernandez on the second row were Aron Canet in 5^th and Augusto Fernandez 6^th. On the third row, Britain’s Sam Lowes started 7^th, Lorenzo dalla Porta 8^th, and Somkiat Chandra 9^th.

Gardner briefly led the opening lap before being passed by Bezzecchi, and his attempt to reclaim the lead was foiled by running wide, also allowing teammate Raul Fernandez through. Ogura dropped back to 5^th, and the next few laps saw Gardner retaking the lead, Aron Canet up into second, the pair of them pulling ahead of Bezzecchi and Raul Fernandez who were battling for 3^rd. On lap 6 Fernandez ran very wide into turn 9, dropping down to 7^th place, Ai Ogura moving back up into 4^th, and Gardner and Canet stretching out to almost a second ahead of 3^rd place Bezzecchi.

On lap 11 Ogura posted the fastest lap of the race and looked set for the first podium finish of his rookie Moto2 season, but after incurring a late penalty for exceeding track limits ended up by crossing the line in 5th. After completing the race it was announced that Ogura had been penalised a further 3 seconds for exceeding track limits during the long lap penalty. Despite this he finished far enough ahead of 6th place Celestino Vietti to hold on to the position.

Lap 20 saw an uncharacteristic error from Gardner, late on the brakes into turn 1 and running into the gravel to avoid the back wheel of Bezzecchi. He managed to keep the bike upright and rejoined in 5th.

Marco Bezzecchi of SKY Racing Team VR46 held onto the lead to claim his first win of the season, despite pressure from Spain’s Aron Canet who finished second, and the 3^rd podium spot was claimed by Augusto Fernandez, celebrating his second podium in as many races. Remy Gardner crossed the line in 4^th, and Raul Fernandez finished 7^th, the worst finish of his rookie Moto2 season. Despite moving up to 5^th on lap 4, Britain’s Sam Lowes had a difficult race, but still managed to finish within the points in 14^th.

Pic courtesy of marcvds Racing Team

The top five positions in the championship remain the same – Gardner increases his lead from 31 to 35 points ahead of second place Raul Fernandez. Bezzecchi, in third, closes the gap on Fernandez from 25 to 9 points, with fourth place Lowes trailing by 52 points, and Italy’s Fabio Di Giannantonio in 5^th, 25 points behind Lowes.

Sunday 15^th August sees the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring. Can Ai Ogura make up for his disappointment and claim a podium spot? Will the Ajo Red Bull team return to form? And can Bezzecchi leapfrog Raul Fernandez on the championship table?

First fifteen riders:

1              Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 25 points

2              Aron Canet SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 20

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

4              Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 13

5              Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 11

6              Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 10

7              Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 9 points

8              Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 8

9              Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 7

10           Marcel Schrotter GER – Liqui Moly Intact GP – 6

11           Jake Dixon GBR – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 5

12           Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA – Italtrans Racing Team – 4

13           Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 3

14           Sam Lowes GBR                – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 2

15           Albert Arenas SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 1

10th August 2021

Rookie reigns in Austria

Qualifying:

With the five week break finally at an end, the qualifying saw Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) snatch pole from Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), in the closing minutes. Only seconds later to find that he transgressed track limits on turn nine, which resulted in him ending in third.

Marc Marquez (Honda), was on a hot-lap but crashed out and finished in eighth.

But it was the rookie Jorge Martin (Ducati) who claimed pole, for the second time this season. Riding a sensational lap of 1:22.994, bagging pole and a new all-time lap record along with it.

The front row was now: J. Martin, F. Bagnaia and F. Quartararo. The Ducati’s looked dominant in Austria, with all four bikes on the front two rows. Jack Miller (Ducati), Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Johann Zarco (Ducati) rounded off the front.

Grey clouds over-head. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

If fans were getting withdrawal symptoms from bike racing then this race was sure looking like it was going to quench that.

Race One:

All eyes may have been on Jorge Martin, in pole but all hearts were with Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) who, on just Thursday, had announced this was going to be his final season racing.

With rain clouds looming large overhead, the Styrian Grand Prix was about to be on its way, after being declared a dry race.

Bagnaia got a great start from Martin, but Martin was quickly leading the race. Marc Marquez (Honda) chose a more aggressive tactic, after having a poor start and trying to gather positions quickly, he made a move past Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), nudging him in the process, causing him to go wide and also pushed past Quartararo to go into fourth place. This caused an on-track argument between the two Spanish riders later, on track.

Mir reacted well and quickly went from fourth to second as Bagnaia re-claimed first. Marquez seemed to be in all-out attack-mode but fell back to sixth place after his fiery start.

The championship leader, Quartararo picked up the pace and soon had fastest lap moments before red flags began to wave.

Flash back to 2020, Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco collided, causing their bikes to hurtle through the air, across the track and land cartwheeling in-front of the path of then team-mates Rossi and Vinales, understandably shaking both riders up before they re-started the race, after a red flag.

Since then, the track has been slightly modified. That should have been the only an odd occurrence however, this track seems to entice odd occurrences, only this time, lap 3 of 28 saw the wildcard and ex-Moto GP race winner Dani Pedrosa (KTM) fall leaving his bike stranded in the way of on-coming riders. Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) rode straight into the KTM, causing both bikes to immediately erupt into flames. The race was red-flagged, signaling an end to proceedings. The marshals were quick to respond and fortunately neither rider nor marshal were hurt.

Just another freak accident in Austria, has made some question the suitability of this track for racing.

All bikes returned to the pits as fire extinguishers, brushes and man-power set about cleaning up the mess caused on track.

Race officials check the track is okay for the re-start. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

As the race was only on lap 3, it was re-started with just one lap being removed. The stewards allowed Pedrosa to start again but unfortunately for Aprilia, Savadori could not re-join.

A quick-start procedure took place during the second attempt, which meant pit lane re-opened for 60 seconds ahead of a sighting lap where all riders took their original grid positions and one mechanic met them at their lines. They then went out for their warm-up lap and the race continued thereafter.

Although, it was a disaster for Maverick Vinales (Yamaha), who stalled prior to the sighting lap on the grid and had to start his race from the pit lane, going from ninth to last.

Race Two:

The dark grey clouds still overhead had refrained from raining and continued to watch alongside the few spectators at trackside for take-two of the Styrian Grand Prix.

It was the Ducati power both times, this time Martin got another great start but Miller soon took the lead.

Quartararo nudged past M. Marquez, who in-turn nudged into none-other than Aleix Espargaro again and again he went wide.

Mir looked like he was on a mission, wanting to break up the Ducati rule. He was soon on the back of Martin and took second place on lap 2.

Mir hunts Martin. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Lap 3 saw Martin re-take second and Bagnaia went backwards into eighth place. The re-start did not go the same way for him.

With 24 laps to go, Martin re-took the lead from Miller, Mir and Quartararo.

Things went from bad to worse for A. Espargaro, on lap 6 he pulled to the side of the track and had to retire due to a mechanical failure.

Miller and Quartararo had a mini battle between themselves. And soon all five front riders took fastest lap within quick succession of each other.

Martin and Mir broke away from the pack as did Quartararo, Miller and Zarco, creating their own group. The gap between the two groups quickly extended to over 3 seconds.

Vinales also couldn’t turn his luck around and ended up getting a long-lap penalty, putting him back to last place again, in 21^st, due to exceeding track limits. Track limit warnings were thrown about to all sorts of riders, including the race leader Martin, who was still leading with 11 laps to go.

With 10 laps to go, Miller looked set to strike on Quartararo, closing him down on every corner. But then, he crashed out on turn 7. He returned to the track but had to end his race sooner than expected and pulled into the pits, leaving Fabio in third position, to race alone.

Another long-lap penalty was handed out to the other Espargaro brother – Pol, for also exceeding track limits.

Having led for most of the race, Jorge Martin, the rookie reigned supreme and took victory for the first time for himself and Pramac Ducati in the Moto GP class. Having come from a hospital bed earlier on in the season, due to an accident which left him with numerous broken bones he was now on the top step of the podium. Securing both the pole and the win! He is now the 6^th different winner in 2021.

Take a bow – Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Brad Binder (KTM) rode a sensational last lap and finished an incredible fourth place, passing Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami (Honda) on the way to the line.

Bagnaia however was given a 3 second penalty on the last lap, for also exceeding track limits and was demoted out of the top ten, promoting Dani Pedrosa into tenth.

Top ten finishers:

1st	J. Martin
2nd	J. Mir
3rd	F. Quartararo
4th	B. Binder
5th	T. Nakagami
6th	J. Zarco
7th	A. Rins
8th	M. Marquez
9th	A. Marquez
10th	D. Pedrosa

Current Championship Standings:

1st	Quartararo	172 points
2nd	Zarco	132 points
3rd	Mir	121 points
4th	Bagnaia	116 points

Moto GP will be returning to Austria again next weekend, as will British rider Cal Crutchlow (Petronas), who even though didn’t produce a spectacular race result this weekend after stepping in for injured rider Franco Morbidelli, he will do so again for the next two races. Will we see a top ten or podium finish for fan favourite Cal?

(Featured image: courtesy of Moto GP website).

9th August 2021