ThePitcrewOnline

Blog

  • International Women’s Day 2020: Women In Motorsport by Emily Linscott

    International Women’s Day 2020: Women In Motorsport by Emily Linscott

      I’ve been in motorsport for just four years now and if it weren’t for my mum and dad, I doubt I would have even thought about getting involved in it to be honest.

      Since starting I’ve raced very few girls in karts or cars, and I’ve often talked about why there aren’t many of us in it to my parents. My feeling is that parents of boys and girls have historically chosen to keep with stereotypical roles, so the boys might get taken karting and girls to dancing or stuff like that. I think it’s changing but it needs to change rapidly and at an earlier age, and that way teams, organisers and the like will understand that girls are every bit as worthy as boys, they can be as fast as boys, faster even, and that the physicality side of driving any race car is not beyond a girl. We are equally good.

      I’ve been lucky enough to have great support from another female driver, Indy 500 driver Pippa Mann. Initially that came from a chance she gave to six deserving young drivers through her scholarship with the Lucas Oil School of Racing, but since I proved I had serious pace, she’s gone way beyond to help me reach my potential.

      Shift Up Now, run by Lynn Kehoe and Karen Salvaggio, is a collective of women helping women in motorsport for whom I became an ambassador from 2019 onwards. They too have been supportive of me and a number of other girls through their tireless work to get more girls into better cars, more often. Without people like Lynn, Karen and Pippa, there are a lot of girls who wouldn’t be driving anything at all by now, so imagine what number of girls would be getting behind the wheel of a car or kart if more of us did the same. If just a few more drivers have their time to helping other young drivers develop, or even start something that helps you g girls get into Karting then the chances of a girl reaching F1 and IndyCar would be massively increased.

      But motorsport isn’t just about drivers, it’s about so many other roles too, such as engineers, data analysts, mechanics, team owners, bosses, crew chiefs – the list is endless, and all can be filled by women. It’s very cool that diversity is coming through into these jobs and more and more girls are seeing their dream jobs in motorsport materialise more and more frequently.

      I very much hope to push my career as a driver further and further up the ladder to F1 or IndyCar for myself, but in doing what I’m doing, and every other female racing driver out there doing the same, we’re showing young girls that they can get involved in racing and be great at it and hopefully, we are also changing the way people perceive the motorsport world too.

     

    If you want to learn more about Emily, visit her website www.emilylinscott.com or her social media channels
    Insta emi_racing
    Twitter: @emily_linscott
    FB: @emilylinscottracing

  • Ten things you didn’t know you needed to know about Michael Rutter

    I met Michael at this year’s Bike Show @ the Excel and he very kindly answered some questions for me.

    Michael is known as “The Blade” and currently races in the National Superstock 1000 Championship aboard a BMW S1000RR. He has a reputation for being at his best in wet conditions and his favourite circuit is Oulton Park. Michael has won 29 British Superbike Championship races with the most recent being at Silverstone in 2010, and finished as series runner-up twice. He has also contested MotoGP and World Superbike Championship.

    1. What is the best feeling about being on a motorbike?
    The freedom and the speed.

    2. What is the one thing people would never know about you just by looking at you?
    Oh blimey, I don’t know!

    3. What was your most embarrassing moment on a motorbike?
    When I was going to take some newcomers out on the Classic TT and I forgot my gloves.

    4. What is the worst thing your mum caught you doing as a kid?
    Nothing. (Editor’s note: yeah, right!!!!!!!!!!)

    5. Do you have a lucky thing/ritual before the start of a race?
    No, not really although if it was a number I didn’t like, I wouldn’t have it.

    6. What was the first motorbike you owned?
    A TS50X Suzuki.

    7. What is your favourite stretch of road to ride on (not including a race track)?
    The road from Bridgnorth to Stour Bridge, I run all my bikes in on that road.

    8. If you hadn’t been a racer, what would you have been?
    A mechanic.

    9. Would you ride pillion? If so, who with?
    No, never.

    10. If you got arrested, what would your friends and family assume you had done?
    Definitely for speeding!

    BK

  • F1 2020 Season Preview

    F1 2020 Season Preview

    After a winter of anticipation and expectation heading into a new season, will the new decade bring in a new era for Formula One?

    2021 will certainly deliver on that premise, but the big question heading into the 2020 season is just how competitive Red Bull and Ferrari will be as they try to finally knock the dominant Mercedes off their steep perch.

    Testing gave us the sensation that 2020 will be largely the same as 2019, with Mercedes dominating the time-sheets and giving their rivals little to shout about. But truthfully, the focus has been almost exclusively on the battle further down.

    At the Circuit de Catalunya for testing, Williams beat their, last year’s qualifying time by a second, while the midfield, asides from Haas, all solidly made it to the 1:16s. Haas, seldom aimed for qualifying runs, instead opting for runs largely on the C4 tyre but, inauspiciously for the American outfit, they only managed 649 laps over the six days in Barcelona.

    Racing Point have essentially copied the Mercedes chassis, and they looked rapid as they attempt to recover back towards the top, accumulating experience and financial resources following the team’s takeover in 2018. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz even referred to the car as a “pink Mercedes.”

    But the silver Mercedes, as they so often do, have made sure the headlines do not drift far away from Brackley heading into the new year.

    Their controversial DAS system –  a steering device which pulls in the front wheels and reduces toe-out, making them quicker on the straights – has been known by the FIA since the end of last year, but has only been banned from 2021 onward. Mercedes were not as quick as Ferrari in the speed traps last year, but with the exquisite downforce possessed by their wonderful chassis, this is expected to be another imperious season for the six-time champions.

    Ferrari’s chassis changes do not look as though they will be throwing the gauntlet down to Mercedes, while Red Bull’s change to the front nose, the sidepods, and the rear wing mean that they will be vying to topple the Scuderia in second in the Constructors’ championship.

    In order to achieve that feat, however, Red Bull needs a second driver who is able to back up Max Verstappen. These were shoes which proved too big for Pierre Gasly to fill last year, while current driver Alex Albon, after half a season of learning and experience alongside the flying Dutchman, now needs to step up and display his capabilities of being a prominent part of Red Bull’s project towards returning to the top.

    And, indeed, Albon simply could not be judged based on his first season in F1, at one of the biggest teams, and moving teams midway through the year. This is now the season of truth in a fledgling career.

    We have already seen Verstappen’s innate and delightful ability to maximise car performance and take a slower car to the top of the timesheets, and a few more tenths in the Austrian team’s car, despite their deficit to Mercedes, could yet see the brilliant young star competing for the world championship.

    But chassis and drivers have not been the only talk of the winter – even DAS has been dethroned as the talk of the town in the F1 paddock. The endemic that appeared last year over Ferrari’s 2019 PU has resurfaced, and this time it has been discovered that the FIA actually came to their settlement with the Scuderia last year, despite acknowledging the illegalities that lay within. This revelation has sparked numerous complaints and scathing press releases from rival teams, and it is a debate, and an arduous investigation, that will very probably rage on for much of the forthcoming season.

    But looking at the aforementioned midfield tussle, just how close will it be?

    Well, traditionally, testing has been very little to go by in terms of performance, but Racing Point, AlphaTauri – the rebranded Toro Rosso team – Renault, Williams and Alfa Romeo all made it past the 700-lap mark, while McLaren managed 804.

    There were eight tenths between Renault, who had the fastest midfield lap, and Haas, who has the slowest. However, with the alternation between the C2, C3, C4 and C5 tyre, as well as vastly different set-ups and engine settings, it is so tough to judge just how close it is.

    However, from the outset, it looks as though Haas’ struggles from last year are set to continue, while Renault and Williams may stage a resurgence back up the field. Those two have Esteban Ocon and Nicholas Latifi joining them respectively, and this could be a turnaround season for two historic teams who suffered a dreadful 2019.

    At the start of a new decade and of a new season, is this the start of the changing of the guard in the pinnacle of motorsport? We will find out in just over two weeks when F1 heads to Australia for the opening round of the Formula One season.

    (Pictures courtesy of Pirelli)

  • British F3 – De Pauw fastest in first test session

    British F3 – De Pauw fastest in first test session

    Belgium’s Ulysse De Pauw was fastest in the first official BRDC British F3 test session at Snetterton.

    De Pauw, whose relationship with Douglas Motorsport continues for a second year in the series, led home Jordan Dempsey of Chris Dittmann Racing and Guilherme Peixoto of Carlin Motorsport, both of whom looking to make their British F3 debuts in 2020.

    The returning Benjamin Pedersen was fourth at a damp Snetterton ahead of British F3 debutants Ollie Clarke and Josh Skelton.

    American Kaylen Frederick is back at Carlin for a second season and was seventh ahead of the improving Josh Mason in eighth for Lanan, while a glut of potential debutants in Manaf Hajjawi, Louis Foster and Bart Horsten filled out positions nine to 11.

    Kiern Jewis, one of the favourites for this years championship, was 12th for Douglas Motorsport ahead of more debutants in Christian Olsen and Piers Prior, with Nazim Azman 15th having joined Carlin from Chris Dittmann Racing and Mexican Sebastian Alvarez in 16th.

     

    IMAGE: Jakob Ebery (JEP)

  • World Superbike Round 1 at Philip Island 29.02.2020 / 01.03.2020

    Race One : What a fantastic start to the season, the top 3 riding past the chequered in a photo finish end to the race were Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) through in first place; Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in second and Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) in third.

    Toprak Razgatlioglu winner of Race One at Phillip Island WSBK 2020. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    The starting grid looked like this:
    Row 1 : Sykes : Redding : Rea
    Row 2: Razgatlioglu : Haslam : van der Mark
    Row 3 : Baz : Lowes : Cortese
    Row 4 : Fores : Scheib : Caricasulo
    Row 5 : Laverty : Rinaldi : Bautista
    Row 6 : Davies : Gerloff : Takahashi

    Rea got off to a good start but whilst still on lap 1 he soon made contact with Sykes and went off into the gravel but managed to keep the bike upright and re-joined the track in last place with Sykes now in the lead followed by Redding and van der Mark.

    On lap 3 Baz ran wide and went down to 11th place and the following lap saw Rea and Caricasulo make contact at turn 4, both riders managing to keep the bikes upright but then turn 8, we saw Rea going round the outside of Rinaldi where he lost it and ended up in the gravel and ending his race. Rea got caught under the bike briefly and ended up with a burnt leg but otherwise he was okay.

    Lap 10 saw Fores come off at turn 2, the second Kawasaki out of the race and Lap 11 saw Redding move ahead of van der Mark followed by Sykes but Sykes then drops back to 4th as he is overtaken by Razgatlioglu taking him up to 3rd.

    On lap 12 we saw Haslam pass Sykes pushing him down into 6th now – Sykes was on a different back tyre to the rest of those around him so maybe that was the reason for him dropping back.

    Redding ran wide on lap 14 leading to him being passed by Razgatlioglu, van der Mark and then Razgatlioglu went down the inside of his teammate to take him to the front of the grid. Lap 15 sees Haslam go up into 4th position but by lap 17 he was back down into 5th again.

    It’s edge of the seat stuff now as lap 17 saw Razgatliolu and by van der Mark swapping 1st and 2nd places a couple of times with Lowes now up into 3rd place. Laps 18 and 19 became a 3 way battle with Razgatliolu, van der Mark and Lowes all swapping  places numerous times.

    The final lap sees van der Mark get pushed down into 4th with Redding passing him and then out of the last corner there is a final dash to the finish with Razgatlioglu, Lowes and Redding pretty much neck and neck going towards the chequered flag with Razgatlioglu pipping the other two to the post making it the closest podium of the century!

    The last time Yamaha won the first race of the season was in 1989 so a fabulous victory for the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team and of course Razgatlioglu.

    An absolutely brilliant nail biting start to the season. Race 2 tomorrow is going to be exciting ….

    The top six following WorldSBK Race 1:
    1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team)
    2. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
    3. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
    4. Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WORLDSBK OFFICIAL TEAM)
    5. Leon Haslam (Team HRC)
    6. Alvaro Bautosta (Team HRC)

    Race Two

    The starting grid looked like this:

    Row 1 : Rea : Razgatlioglu : Redding
    Row 2: Lowes : van der Mark : Sykes
    Row 3 : Baz : Haslam : Rinaldi
    Row 4 : Cortese : Fores : Scheib
    Row 5 : Caricasulo : Bautista : Davies
    Row 6 : Takahashi

    Non Starters due to injuries in the 10 lap sprint race earlier this morning are Gerloff, Laverty and Camier.

    A clean start is had by all to the start of the Race 2, van der Mark has a great start and manages to overtake round the outside and come from 5th to 1st but lap two sees Rea take the lead back. Contact is made between Haslam and Rinaldi in turn 10 sending both riders into the gravel, Haslam manages to rejoin in last place but Rinaldi is not so lucky.

    Start of Race 2 at Phillip Island WSBK 2020. Image courtesy of Ducati

    Lap 3 sees 1.6 seconds covering the top 10 riders. Redding goes up the inside of Lowes to take 3rd place and Fores made contact with Sykes on lap 4 but kept the bike going. Lap 5 we see Redding passing Razgatlioglu quickly followed by Lowes pushing the Turkish rider down to 5th.

    By lap 8 Baz takes second position from taken van der Mark only to lose it again on the next lap but then makes a bold move and passes van der Mark and Rea to take the lead Rea. Further back Lowes makes contact with Razgatlioglu causing him to go wide and rejoin the pack in 8th. Takahashi’s bike broke down on lap 11 together with the GRT Yamaha bike of Caricasulo.

    The next few laps we see Rea and Baz swapping positions, all very clean riding and great overtaking.

    Lap 14 Lowes comes from 4th and takes van der Mark and Baz to go into 2nd position, further round the track Baz had a wobble but managed to collect it and amazingly keep his position!

    Laps 15, 16 and 17 sees some fantastic racing with Lowes and Rea swapping places with van der Mark joining in too ending with Lowes ahead, Rea second followed by van der Mark. On lap 18 Baz loses it again and goes off into the dirt but manages to keep it going but mechanical problems with the bike of Razgatlioglu means the rider retires on this lap.

    The last few laps and the racing is getting even more exciting (if that were possible) where we have Lowes taking the lead from Rea, Rea going wide and van der Mark coming past. Rea nearly loses the bike at this point but manages to hang on to it and re-takes 2nd place quickly followed by Redding pushing van der Mark down into 4th!

    WSBK 2020 Phillip Island Race Two podium winners, Lowes, Rea and Redding third. Image courtesy of Ducati

    The last lap and I’m on the edge of my seat as Rea is having a look to try and get past Lowes and as they come out of the last corner on the run up to the chequered flag, Rea gives it everything but Lowes just managed to stay ahead and take the win.

    Wow! What a fantastic race. Great riding all weekend from all the riders. Qatar in a couple of weeks time is going to be fantastic.

    The top six following WorldSBK Race 2:
    1. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
    2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
    3. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
    4. Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WORLDSBK OFFICIAL TEAM)
    5. Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
    6. Alvaro Bautista (HRC Team)

    Driver’s / Team Standings so far:

    WSBK Standings
    Pos Rider Points Pos Team Points
    1 Lowes 51 1 Kawasaki 57
    2 Redding 39 2 Yamaha 47
    3 Razgatlioglu 34 3 Ducat 39
    4 Rea 32 4 Honda 23
    5 van der Mark 31 5 BMW 17
    6 Bautista 20
    7 Baz 20
    8 Davies 19
    9 Haslam 17
    10 Sykes 17
    11 Scheib 10
    12 Cortese 10
    13 Rinaldi 7
    14 Fores 5
    15 Laverty 5
    16 Caricasulo 4
    17 Gerloff 2
    Takahashi

     

  • Bottas quickest on final day of pre-season testing

    Bottas quickest on final day of pre-season testing

    Valtteri Bottas finished top of the timesheets on the final day of pre-season testing, setting the second fastest lap time of the entire winter.

    His best time of a 1m 16.196, set on the C5 tyre, put him only +0.073 ahead of Max Verstappen. Verstappen also set his fastest time on the C5 tyres, but his previous best lap – which was set on the medium C3 tyres – still put him a very respectable +0.188 behind Bottas.

    Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was only +0.007 behind Verstappen, with Charles Leclerc, who completed the most laps of anyone with 177, in fourth.

    Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top five with 90 laps to his name, aiming to bounce back after his engine failure yesterday confined him to the garage for a significant chunk of time.

    Esteban Ocon finished in sixth ahead of four drivers who each completed over 140 laps each: Sergio Perez (153 laps), Carlos Sainz (159 laps), George Russell (143 laps) and Daniil Kvyat (157 laps).

    Romain Grosjean in eleventh was the last driver whose fastest lap fell within a second of Bottas’ time, with Kimi Raikkonen behind in twelfth.

    Kevin Magnussen suffered a clutch-related issue that saw him stuck in his garage for a few hours. The problem was eventually rectified and he emerged on track for the final thirty minutes of running. He completed just 25 laps.

    Alex Albon rounded out the timesheets, +1.607 away from Bottas and with 59 laps to his name.

    The Australian Grand Prix is next on the agenda for the teams with the problem of the coronavirus hanging over everybody’s heads. It is scheduled to take place between the 13th and 15th of March.

     

    [Featured image – LAT Images]

  • Vettel fastest on penultimate day of testing, Hamilton breaks down

    Vettel fastest on penultimate day of testing, Hamilton breaks down

    Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari finished fastest for the first time in pre-season testing this year, as Lewis Hamilton stopped on track due to engine problems.

    Vettel set a 1m 16.841 on the soft tyre in the morning session, a time that would not be bested all day. It is the second quickest overall lap set so far during the five days of testing that have already taken place, and the first time that Ferrari have noticeably moved away from the long runs they had been conducting for much of the previous days.

    Vettel did, however, also bring out a red flag when he ran though the gravel and span.

    Pierre Gasly charged up the standings late on to finish two tenths behind Vettel and just +0.052 ahead of Lance Stroll in P3.

    Fourth-placed Nicholas Latifi completed the most laps of anybody with 158, and also posted Williams’ fastest lap of testing so far.

    McLaren’s Lando Norris finished in fifth with 112 laps to his name, ahead of Max Verstappen, who caused a red flag in the morning when he beached his car in the gravel at Turn 5.

    Bottas nearly suffered a similar fate to Verstappen but managed to continue on his way and finish seventh in front of Ocon, Magnussen, Albon and Ricciardo.

    Antonio Giovinazzi in P12 brought out the day’s first red flag when he crashed at Turn 4, but nonetheless completed 91 laps.

    Lewis Hamilton completed just 14 laps in the afternoon, having taken over from Bottas, before he lost power and ground to a halt at Turn 6. He had suffered a reported oil pressure anomaly and would not return to the track for the rest of the session.

    [Featured image – Scuderia Ferrari Press Office]

  • Kubica fastest on first day of second F1 test

    Kubica fastest on first day of second F1 test

    Robert Kubica has finished fastest on the first day of the second pre-season test, as a late spin from Max Verstappen brought out the red flag and ended the day’s running prematurely.

    Kubica set his time of a 1m 16.942 was set in the morning session on the C5 tyres, the softest available, and was not bested by anyone running in the afternoon.

    Max Verstappen leapfrogged up the timing screens late in the day but closed only to within +0.4 of Kubica’s time and finished in P2. He also suffered a couple of spins , the second of which coincided with Daniil Kvyat coming to a halt at Turn 9 and brought out the red flag, ending the session for the day.

    Sergio Perez continued to highlight Racing Point’s promising pre-season showing and finished third ahead of the AlphaTauri duo of Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, with Gasly having spent a significant chunk of the morning session confined to the garage for unknown technical reasons. He completed just 25 laps, the least amount of laps of any driver today.

    Alex Albon in P6 also had trouble getting out on track and completed only four more laps than Gasly.

    Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished in P7 and P9, sandwiching Lance Stroll and completing 179 laps between them.

    Sebastian Vettel span early on in the morning at Turn 8 and caused the first red flag of the day, but nevertheless put in Ferrari’s best lap of pre-season testing so far – a 1m 18.113 – and came in P10.

    Daniel Ricciardo and Carlos Sainz in P10 and P11 were separated by just 0.007, ahead of Charles Leclerc, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi. Latifi caused the day’s second red flag when he stopped at Turn 9 with an engine problem, but the Williams team rectified the problem, allowing Russell to take over in the afternoon.

    Romain Grosjean was the only driver to participate in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and completed 107 laps on his way to P16.

    Rounding out the timesheets were Lando Norris, Kimi Raikkonen and Esteban Ocon.

     

    [Featured image – Mark Thompson/Getty Images]

  • WorldSBK Testing at Philip Island

    The final round of testing before the start of the 2020 Superbike World Championship took place at the Philip Island circuit this week with Toprak Razgatlioglu topping the charts at the end of Day one for PATA YAMAHA.

    The first session ended half an hour early due there being oil on the track caused by Takumi Takahashi’s Honda (MIE Racing Althea Honda Team) between turns 3 and 4 and after second practice the Honda rider finished in 19th place. Rain interrupted the second session later in the day.

    Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu the 2020 Wsbk testing at Phillip Island. Image courtesy of Yamaha racing

    Toprak and his teammate Michael van der Mark had been trying to find the balance between performace and the durability of the tyres by focusing on small upgrades and Michael finished 7th at the end of day one.

    Tom Sykes riding for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team finished in 2nd by just 0.022 seconds behind Toprak with Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha Racing) finishing just 0.015 seconds behind him in third place – all very close at the top! Baz’s teammate, Eugene Laverty finished in 8th, less than a second off the top time.

    Despite a crash (he was okay) at Turn 4, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) finished in ninth place with his reigning Champion teammate Jonathan Rea continuing to show his pace in 4th place. Rea last won at this circuit in 2017 so is looking to change that to a win this year.

    This year marks the return of Team HRC as a full-factory outfit so Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista have been focusing on various aspects of the bikes in this season’s testing at Portimao and here in Philip Island ending the day in 5th and 15th place respectively.

    Finishing the top six was the Ducati ridden by Scott Redding (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) with his teammate, Chaz Davies, down in 10th some 1.373 seconds behind the top runner, Toprak. The ZX-10RR ridden by Sandro Cortese (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR) finished 11th followed by Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) in 12th.

    Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished ahead of Maximilian Scheib (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) followed by Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) finishing in 16th place ahead of teammate Garrett Gerloff. Finishing off the board was Leon Camier in 18th place for the (Barni Racing Team).

    The unofficial top six lap times from day one:
    1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) 1.’30.740
    2. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.022
    3. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.037
    4. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.256
    5. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) +0.456
    6. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) +0.496

    Day two of testing resulted in the top 17 riders covered by just 1.5 seconds!
    Rain came during the stages with numerous crashes and red flags including Alvaro Bautista, Scott Redding and Jonathan Rea but despite crashing, Rea still finished at the top just ahead of Loris Baz who impressively is still using his 2019 engine! Can’t wait to see what the 2020 engine brings for the Frenchman and the independent Ten Kate Racing Yamaha team.

    ‘Pocket Rocket’ Leon Haslam finished 3rd on the new CBR1000RR-R whilst his teammate Alvaro Bautista crashed at Turn 4 (he was okay) but finished down in 17th.

    Scott Redding – Phillip Island Test 2020. Image courtesy of Matteo Cavadini/Ducati Media

    WorldSBK rookie Scott Redding improved in his standings from yesterday’s testing and got up to 4th for the ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati team whilst his teammate Chaz Davies couldn’t quite keep up with him and finished in 13th
    Finishing in 5th for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team was 2013 WorldSBK Champion Tom Sykes with his teammate Eugene Laverty finishing in 11th.

    Finishing the top 6 was Michael van der Mark despite crashing in the morning at Turn 10 (he was okay) and down in in 7th was Toprak Razgatlioglu despite finishing top of the board in yesterday’s practice.

    Impressively the independent Team GOELEVEN finished in 8th with Michael Ruben Rinaldi at the helm.

    Sandro Cortese had his first day of testing on the ZX-10RR for the OUTDO Kawasaki – TPR team and finished 13th followed by Xavi Fores riding for (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). In 15th was Maximilian Scheib for (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) team just ahead of Garrett Gerloff for the (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) closely followed by his teammate Federico Caricasulo

    Unofficial top six lap times from day two:
    1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’30.523
    2. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.235
    3. Leon Haslam (HRC Team) +0.359
    4. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) +0.362
    5. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.472
    6. Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WORLDSBK OFFICIAL TEAM) +0.564

    The start of the WorldSBK season starts this coming weekend and is looking like it’s going to be a really exciting season with all to play for.

     

  • Interview with Reece Lycett at Autosport International Show 2020

    Interview with Reece Lycett at Autosport International Show 2020

    Warren Nel

    When did you get interested in racing?

    Reece Lycett

    I was about seven or eight, and we were at the park and my dad said to me do you want to go a do some go-karting at Stourbridge Raceway and I remember thinking what’s that? He took me over there, and it was only little electric karts at the time, but I found it great fun. Now I always wanted to go for the quicker karts that were racing down below, that was my dream just to race one of them one day.

    Warren

    Now you spent eight years karting starting in 2013 with the F6 Championship victory which was really impressive. Was that your first season of racing?

    Reece

    My first season of actually MSA racing started with F6, which was Honda cadet racing and we won the clubman championship award in the first year and that was as a novice and I was pretty proud of myself, and that was quite an achievement at that age, especially in my first year of racing.

    Warren

    How old would you have been at point?

    Reece

    About eleven or twelve, around about that age.

    Warren

    Then you progressed and did some development with a kart in 2015?

    Reece

    Yes, we joined a race team called One Motorsport. We started developing the One Kart, I became a factory driver. That went on to win a championship in America in Senior X30. It was quite a well-developed kart, and many hours were put into it. It was frustrating at times because we were trying out new things, different axles and we wanted to be at the front, but to get to the front we needed the right setup and make sure that we nailed the kart and all the different tubes and axles. That in itself took a long time, but we got there in the end and it ended up being quite a good kart. We were finishing top ten pretty much every race, which was pretty incredible considering it was only just under a year old, with twenty entrants most races. That was my first season in mini-max as well.

    Warren

    That must have been pretty interesting, developing a kart?

    Reece

    I’d already previously been given a kart to test called a Cobra kart and that via cadet chassis. I had a test in that and that was quick, but I had to feed back information as to what they need to do to improve and what was good about it and this was pretty much the same thing. I had to come back after every session say what was wrong, what needed to be fixed and what I thought was good about it. Other things, aesthetic things, sounds crazy, but what colour would like it painted, what appeals to the people racing around you, and spent the season doing that which was quite good.

    Warren

    Now you took a step up to the HKRC championship in 2016. What kind of kart were you racing that year and also in 2017?

    Reece

    In 2016 we joined the Junior X30 championship at Hunts Kart Racing Club, which was predominantly the best place to go for track karting. The grids were up to 50 to 60 people, potentially more on weekends and we went out there. The team I was racing with also raced Radicals and they did track days as well. I had a good experience behind me, they taught me everything I needed to know, it was good experience racing with some of the top people in the world, managing to catch them and overtake them was a lot of fun, and then at the end of the season we were nominated for Junior Sportsman of the Year, which was over every class in the club.

    Warren

    I see that you had an invitation to an F4 simulation with JHR Developments. They’re quite big in the F4 championship. How did that invitation come about?

    Reece

    I went away and was looking at some options, and one of my mates was also looking as well. JHR came back and they said they were really interested in me, and asked me to come down for a simulation to find out what I could do. I went down, and they told me what I needed to do, taught me how to be a faster driver, got some coaching by Carter Williams, their driver. At the end of the day, they said that they were really impressed with my driving, and that not a lot of people could jump in the car and drive like you have just done there.

    Warren

    You then stepped up to these F1000 Formula Jedi type cars which I gather have a motorcycle engine in them.

    Reece

    Yes, they have Yamaha or Suzuki and they top line at 14,000 revs per minute.

    Warren

    Right, so going from karting into something that has wings, and with the technical aspect increasing, just tell us how you made that step. How did you find that?

    Reece

    The step for me was quite difficult. I had to commit to lots of training and testing. Tests meant that I had to travel to Bruntingthorpe, but I didn’t have my licence yet. It was only available one week before the first race, when I was turning sixteen. When I learnt that I was going to F1000, I saw a championship advertised, and I thought that looks like a good championship, looks cheap I can get into it. Looked like a good step up. I spent loads and loads of hours practising on Project Cars, on the simulator everyday making sure that I nailed every lap, learning the car. We tested the car at Bruntingthorpe a couple of times, just getting a feel for the car and got to know the team a bit. Now the F1000 is very different to the go-kart, you turn it in and it’s got no grip, but if you oversteer this car, the back end kicks out and it just goes into the gravel pit, which I unfortunately learnt at Donnington Park.

    Warren

    Okay, you did a few rounds at the end of 2018, didn’t you, including a podium on your debut, which must have been quite special. Tell us about that race.

    Reece

    Yes, that was a very nerve-racking race obviously. Came from a test session, which was a weird test day, we’d had a bit of rain and a bit of dry, and we were switching between the two and they were horrible conditions to learn the track in, bearing in mind that I’d never raced at Croft, only gone round in the simulator, and I remember thinking, look don’t put it in the wall. Now, when the race started, I just remember feeling really nervous on the grid. I spun up a little bit, went around the track, and ended up making some brilliant moves. Then had a bit of a fight with Elliot Mitchell on the track, and managed to do him after a couple of sequences of about four corners, that was a very exhilarating time, and then just we were coming round to the final lap, I didn’t realise where I was as there was a safety car and the front two had scampered off. I came around and crossed the line and I remember thinking what’s going on here? I pulled in and saw my dad going third, and I went, what!? It was brilliant! It was an exciting time.

    Warren

    Let’s take a look at the results from your races. Looks like the same weekend with three races per weekend you took fourth place and then the following year at Croft and Brands Hatch took a couple more fourth places. Then then it looks like you didn’t complete the season, and that must have been frustrating, but just go back to those races where you scored those fourth positions and take us through the build up of those events.

    Reece

    Well, I’d never raced at Brands Hatch before, only really had the test, and had the mix of the wet and dry again which isn’t ideal for learning a track. On the first day, we had the qualifying in the morning, it was wet and we managed to put it in second, I think only a tenth off first place and that was respectable. First race, unfortunately we couldn’t really go and keep the up with the leaders, as we had old tyres, but we managed to keep a respectable fourth place and we were catching third place.

    Warren

    Now, how many laps are there in these races?

    Reece

    The races are fifteen minutes, but obviously it depends which track you go to. If you go to say, Brands Hatch, about twenty laps, whereas if you go to somewhere like Donnington Park, it’s more likely to be fifteen laps.

    Warren

    Finally, could you tell us why you didn’t complete the season?

    Reece

    It had been a productive weekend at Cadwell Park once again learning the track as I’d never raced there, and been quick all weekend. I’d qualified second on the grid, we were really proud of ourselves, considering we’ve never been there and the race came. We got done by someone in third place at the start, he was the championship leader, but did keep with them throughout the lap, right on their tail and then just as we came down the straight, I heard a bit of a noise, then lost power and then my engine blew up.

     

    Warren

    Ah, what a shame, after so much promise as well. Now can you tell us what’s happening this year?

    Reece

    We’re not entirely sure this year, we have a couple of ideas, but nothing is really set in stone. Don’t think we’re going back to F1000, but we have a couple of drives. We’re looking at either Formula Ford, but we don’t know a team yet, or one that’s way up in the clouds, maybe Formula Four.

    Well, since I spoke to Reece at the show on the final day, there has been an announcement.

    Thanks to Reece coming and having a chat. The young man certainly has been grabbed with the bug with racing. Take a look at his website and give him a follow – @ReeceLycett on Twitter.

    https://www.reecelycettracing.com/