Teen British driving sensation Emily Linscott has been making waves in the motorsport world since she began karting less than 4 years ago. Fresh from wins in the Britcar GT4 as well as podium finishes in the US Lucas Oil series, she has made bold moves both on and off the track.Â
 Speaking to the PitCrew Online earlier this month, Emily described how a trip to a karting session with her father, ignited her passion for motorsport saying, âthe adrenaline rush you ger from driving round on the limit is amazingâŠthe feeling I get from the sport is like no otherâ.Â
 Despite this, every day off track considerations come calling forcing Emily to make difficult decisions to âsacrifice time with family and friends and work harder than anyone elseâ. The one thing she could not sacrifice however, were her exams which she put ahead of the opportunity she had to race aboard. We asked Emily how tough a decision it was, âobviously turning down racing anywhere is hard as itâs a passion, but Iâve been taught and understand that if you want to play hard you must work hardâ. She acknowledged that it is tough for every participant to establish a full-time motorsport career that would be lucrative enough to that they can rely on without a backup qualification and that it was âthe right thing to doâ to write her exams, which she passed.Â
 One of the proudest moments of her flourishing career is the back-to-back wins she took at the hallowed Brands Hatch finale in 2019. Describing it as an âincredible weekendâ, Emily said the wins, which were her first in cars, were even more special due to the âtoughest conditionsâ that weekend. They were wins that she credits to her teammate. However much of Emilyâs success can be attributed to her off-track training and preparation which allows things a more ânaturalâ feel on the track.Â
Credit âPaul Cherry Photographyâ
 While Emily says that her father is one person that she admires most in motorsport for the advice and support she has been given over her career, she has recently been given the opportunity to work with Indy 500 driver Pippa Mann. Emily describes working with Mann as ââŠone of the most inspirational times of my career, sheâs so forward thinking and positive that some of her personality is rubbing off on meâ.
 She credits Mann with changing how she approaches motorsport and life. Their collaboration has extended to their #GetInvolved campaign which has been helping support Emilyâs racing in the USA in 2020, âItâs a great way to get my supporters more involved in my racingâ. The campaign aims to get Emily on track by supporting her career and in turn, supporters can own her limited-edition merchandise such as her Bell Helmet, Torq race suit and Walero base layers. The campaign launches 1 February 2020.Â
 Emily has much in store in 2020 with an exciting special announcement soon involving her new sponsors FASTR, which we are looking out for on their social media channels.Â
 Emily ultimately aims to take her racing as far as she can, winning championships and inspiring more females to take up motorsport by overcoming their fear of not being able to achieve success in what has been a traditionally male sport.Â
 Emily is currently inspiring her community in Essex who have backed her from day one and whom she hopes will keep backing her as she attempts to fly the Essex flag at F1 or Indy Car someday.Â
Toprak Razgatlioglu. Image courtesy of Yamaha racing
Testing for the 2020 Superbike World Championship continued in Portimao with Toprak Razgatlioglu topping the charts for PATA YAMAHA.
The rain stayed away for the first day of testing with the sun even making a welcome appearance. This was only Scott Reddingâs second time at Portimao and he was setting quick lap times on this tight hairpins and long corners circuit. By the end of the day Scott Redding was top of the charts with teammate, Chaz Davies, managing 7th.
At lunchtime Yamaha were placed one, two and three. Loris Baz, with the independent team, Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, was at the top with Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark with the PATA YAMAHA, in second and third respectively. By the end of the day they were all pushed down one place.
Irishman, Eugene Laverty, finished 5th for the (BMW Motorrad) despite suffering an engine failure at Turn 3 at lunchtime resulting in a red flag with his teammate, Tom Sykes finishing a respectable 6th place.
The HRC Team with their CBR1000RR-R slotted into fifth at lunchtime with Leon Haslam but at the end of the day he finished in eight place with his teammate, Alvaro Bautista, down in 15th.
The independent teams of Barni Racing Team finished in ninth with Sandro Cortese, Garrett Gerloff with the GRT Yamaha World SBK Junior Team finished in tenth. Eleventh place went to Michael Ruben Rinaldi with Team Goeleven, followed by Leandro Mercado with Motocorsa Racing despite bringing out the second red flag of the day when he crashed at Turn 14 late in the day.
Riding the ZX-10RR for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing was Xavi Fores who finished ahead of Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) and Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) .
Unofficial top six lap times from day one:
1. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing â Ducati) 1â41.179
2. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.573
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WORLDSBK OFFICIAL TEAM) +0.702
4. Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WORLDSBK OFFICIAL TEAM) +0.878
5. Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +1.482
6. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +1.561
Day two brought with it numerous incidents and red flags. Despite being top of the board yesterday, Scott Redding seemed to be saving his pace until the last ten minutes when he was just pipped to the top post by Toprak Razgatlioglu closely followed by Loris Baz.
Chaz Davis, at Portimao WSBK testing 2020. Image courtesy of Matteo Cavadini/Ducati Media
Michael van der Mark finished fourth, Chaz Davies was not in the top ten during the afternoon but found his pace at the end and finished fifth. Finishing the top six was Leon Haslam setting his fastest lap time during testing at Portimao. Haslamâs team mate, Alvaro Bautista, finished down in 15th.
Both the independent GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team riders, Federico Caricasulo and his teammate Garrett Gerloff finished a very respectable ninth and tenth respectively.
Although both the BMW Motorrad riders, Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty finished in the top six on Day One, they were knocked down to seventh and eighth on Day Two despite having a good day of testing.
Unofficial top six lap times from day two:
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WORLDSBK OFFICIAL TEAM) 1â40.804
2. Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing â Ducati) +0.079
3. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.190
4. Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WORLDSBK OFFICIAL TEAM) +0.622
5. Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing â Ducati) +0.795
6. Leon Haslam (HRC Team) +0.851
The WSB teams will be jetting off to Phillip Island in Australia next for the final round of testing just before the start of the season. This is shaping up to be really exciting.
With thirteen rounds having been confirmed by the FIM and Dorna WSBK Organization for the 2020 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar, taking place across 11 different countries and four different continents, the season will begin in Australia at the Philip Island Grand Prix circuit from 28th February to 1st March with the final pre-season Official test for WorldSBK and WorldSSP on the 24th and 25th February, the week before the first round of the year.
Leon Haslam has joined the new-look HRC WorldSBK team, Michael Ruben Rinaldi has gone to Team Go Eleven Ducati, Toprak Razgatlioglu has replaced Alex Lowes at the Pata Yamaha team with the British rider heading to Kawasaki alongside Jonathan Rea.
BSB champion Scott Redding is set for his rookie World Superbike campaign with Aruba.it Racing Ducati replacing Alvaro Bautista at the factory Ducati team with the Spanish rider heading to Honda.
GRT Yamaha has revealed an all-new line-up of Federico Caricasulo and Garrett Gerloff.
The 2020 World Superbike Championship entry looks like this:
Kawasaki Racing Team : Jonathan Rea & Alex Lowes
Aruba.it Racing Ducati : Chaz Davies & Scott Redding
Pata Yamaha : Michael van der Mark & Toprak Razgatlioglu
Honda : Alvaro Bautista & Leon Haslam
BMW Motorrad : Tom Sykes & Eugene Laverty
Pedercini Kawasaki : Jordi Torres & Lorenzo Savadori
GRT Yamaha : Federico Caricasulo & Garrett Gerloff
Ten Kate Yamaha : Loris Baz
Barni Ducati : Leon Camier
Orelac Kawasaki : Maxmilian Scheib
Team Go Eleven Ducati : Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Puccetti Kawasaki : Xavi Fores
Honda Mie Racing Team : Takumi Takahashi
Team Motocorsa Ducati : Leandro Mercado (From Jerez round onwards)
Winter testing for the 2020 season at Jerez began in late November, five weeks after the 2019 season finale in Qatar at the Losail International Circuit on October 24-26.
At the end of Day One of testing on the 22nd January the top six looked like this:
1) Leon Haslam (HRC Team) 1â52.149
2) Michael van der Mark (PATA Yamaha World SBK Official Team) +0.031
3) Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) +0.064
4) Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing â Ducati) +0.359
5) Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.511
6) Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.948
At the end of final day of testing on the 23rd January the top six looked like this:
1) Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1â40.983 (19 laps)
2) Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA Yamaha World SBK Official Team) +0.231 (42 laps)
3) Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing â Ducati) +0.424 (43 laps)
4) Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.659 (44 laps)
5) Michael van der Mark (PATA Yamaha World SBK Official Team) +1.724 (43 laps)
6) Leon Haslam (HRC Team) +1.814 (32 laps)
Although as always you cannot read too much into times in testing due to different conditions etc., it looks like we could be in for a really exciting season.
The WSB are now in Portimao for the next round of testing.
Featured Image courtesy of Matteo Cavadini/ Ducati
Santiago soon turned into the battle of the teammates as Felipe Massa joined his teammate at the front battle, and soon sparks were flying as the pair jostled for the top spot. Massa was forced to yield at turn 7 after being forced wide, opening the door for Techeetah pair Da Costa and reigning champion Jean-Ăric Vergne to slip through. With just over twenty minutes left on the clock, GĂŒnther used his last few remaining seconds of attack mode to snatch the lead away from Evans. Vergne disposed of Wehrlein to secure P3 before disaster struck as the Techeetahâs front left tyre began to rub against the bodywork. Vergne tried to hold off his advancing teammate, but was forced to give up the position and pull into the pits, another unfortunate end to a poor opening campaign.
Credit: Formula E
Da Costa on the other hand, began to chase down the leaders. He managed to pass Evans with just over five minutes remaining, before he hunted down GĂŒnther. As the two cars approached turn 10, Da Costa forced the German wide, passing the BMW on the inside with more force than was necessary. As the time ticked down, with both drivers struggling with battery temperature, GĂŒnther sensed an opportunity and in the dying moments of the race, retook the lead into turn 9 and ultimately, the victory – his first career win and BMWâs second win of the campaign. He was joined by Da Costa in his first podium appearance for reigning champions Techeetah and poleman Evans, who was forced to settle for P3.
Formula E will return in Mexico City on 15th February.
The 2020 season begins as ever in the ever iconic event that is Rallye Monte Carlo. Ott Tanak begins his title defence having made the switch from Toyota to Hyundai over the winter. He will, I am sure you know, will not however be running with the number one on his car, deciding instead to stick with number eight.
Rallye Monte Carlo has a reputation of being a super tricky event, and this yearâs 88th edition is unlikely to be any different. Here are the stages that await the crews:
Shakedown will take place on Wednesday afternoon from 4pm. There will be keen interest in the drivers that have switched teams over the winter to see what kind of times they set on the Route de la Garde 3.35 km stage. Weâll have to wait and see how many runs the crews decide to do, as they attempt to get a feel for their new cars in a competitive environment.
Look back to last year:
Last year Seb and Julien took a win with their return to Citroen, which was their sixth victory in this event. Ott Tanak took third. He was the early leader, but suffered a puncture early on day one, dropping him out of the fight for the lead. Between them, in second, was Thierry Neuville.
There are two drivers who are making their debut in full blooded WRC machinery this weekend. Kalle RovanperĂ€ and Gus Greensmith will step into their respective cars from Toyota and Ford. Yes, I know that Gus drove in three events last year, but he and Edmund havenât driven one of these cars in Monte before. Last year he drove to a very good win in the WRC Pro class.
Letâs hear from the drivers:
Hyundai Motorsport
Photo credit, Hyundai Motorsport
Ott Tanak
âThe start of a new year begins with probably the most demanding event of the season. To make it even more challenging, we have a new team and a new car to learn while tackling the tricky conditions. It will never be an easy job, but it is important to get a good start and to score some points. With the event held at the end of January, the conditions are normally inconsistent, and a lot depends on the altitude. In the lower conditions you can have dry tarmac, then the higher you go it starts to freeze. With the extreme conditions, its normal to find some unpredictability in this rally.â
Thierry Neuville
âRally Monte-Carlo kicks off the season and we are straight into the dark stages. Itâs a very tough event, and tyre choice is crucial. Itâs a difficult event in which to compete; thereâs a lot of hesitation and you need good pace notes, as well as accurate information from your weather crew. With different altitudes in the stages, high concentration is key. Conditions are constantly changing and the most dangerous thing for us is black ice. We have been competing in Gap for a few years now and we know which sections are in the shade all day and will be slippery, but there will always be some surprises waiting for us in Monte.â
Seb Loeb
âYou never know what to expect at Rallye Monte-Carlo. It could be fully dry, wet or feature a lot of snow, which changes the driving conditions. It can even change between the stages and the road sections, which means tyre choice is even more important. You need to find the right rhythm to be fast without taking major risks. This rally you need to approach with your head; itâs not just flat out, itâs a question of reflection. My previous experience feels like a long time ago, so the rallies feel newer to me than other drivers. We only had one day in the car before Monte-Carlo last year, so hopefully with our current knowledge of the car we will be able to get an even better result than last year.â
âIâm excited to start my first rally in the Toyota Yaris WRC. Every car has different characteristics and it takes some kilometres to learn about them, but so far it has been good in the tests. We want to fight for a seventh title this year, and I believe we can have a good chance with this car. Rallye Monte-Carlo is an event with special emotions for me. I remember at the end of the 1990s, coming to spectate and Tommi was winning a lot â he was the first idol I had in rallying. Myself and Julien obviously have a very strong record too, and every year there is more and more pressure to try and continue that. Itâs always a big challenge and one that I definitely enjoy.â
Elfyn Evans
âIâm looking forward to Rallye Monte-Carlo and my first event with Toyota. This is the first time in my WRC career that Iâve changed teams, but everybodyâs been very welcoming and Iâve got a good feeling in the car, so Iâm excited about the season ahead. My first time driving the Yaris WRC was in our test for the Monte in December, and quite quickly I was able to get a nice feeling and some good confidence. On this event the challenge is always the range of conditions you can possibly face. When youâre setting up the car, you need something that gives you confidence and I think weâve got some good options with that in mind.â
Kalle RovanperÀ
âRallye Monte-Carlo will be a special event for me. Itâs a big step up from an R5 car, with a lot more power and downforce, but so far, Iâve found the Yaris WRC to be quite easy to drive in the tests. Still, I have a lot to learn and I think it will take a few rallies to really adapt to the car and how everything works. I will need to think differently at the beginning of the season, and I hope that I will have the patience for this. I think Monte-Carlo is not the easiest place to start with a new car and a new team. The weather is changing all the time and you cannot always have the right tyre choice for the conditions. It will be a big challenge for us, but hopefully we can make it through.â
M-Sport WRT
2020 FIA World Rally Championship Ford Fiesta WRC 2020 Livery January 2020 Photo: Drew Gibson
Esapekka Lappi
âMonte-Carlo is always a tricky start to the season, but Iâm looking forward to getting started. Straight away the Fiesta felt very logical and easy to drive, and that always gives a driver a lot of confidence. I hope Iâll be able to use that confidence next week, but Monte is always a challenge and you never know what to expect.
âWe had wet roads on the test and the car felt good in those changing conditions. But in Monte you can have wet roads, dry roads, icy roads, full snow, and sometimes all of that in the same stage! You have to give this rally a lot of respect, but thatâs what we plan to do and we want to get this new partnership off to a strong start next week.â
Teemu Suninen
âIâm really looking forward to this season and straight away I could see that Esapekka and I would work well together. We had a very similar set-up on the test, and it looks like we want to take the car in the same direction.
âI tested on dry asphalt and had a really good feeling, but for the more tricky sections where there is a lot of ice and snow I will have to rely on my experience. This is my fourth time in Monte so Iâm starting to know the stages a bit better. The rally is always a lottery, but I have a very experienced gravel crew who I trust 100 percent â so anything is possible!â
Gus Greensmith
âMonte is a special one for me. Itâs where I claimed my first victory (winning WRC Pro 2 last year), and thereâs no other rally than gives me more satisfaction behind the wheel. Knowing that I will drive these amazing stages with the Ford Fiesta WRC this year is beyond my wildest dreams!
âEveryone wants to win here, and the changing conditions make it one of the biggest challenges on the calendar. The smallest mistakes pay a heavy price, but I do think this is a strong event for me. Iâve always relished tricky conditions, but experience is something you need here too. Iâll have to make up for that, and hope to produce a strong performance to kick off this 2020 season.â
Summary
Here we go then! Who will win the first round of this new season? Will we see another win going to Seb Ogier, or perhaps weâll see a new winner this year? Thierry challenged in 2017, and was close last year, or perhaps weâll see Ott Tanak take a first victory?
Podium challengers could be Elfyn Evans, Teemu Suninen and Seb Loeb. Finally, how will Kalle RovanperÀ get on? The son of Harri RovanperÀ has made his own name on his way up the ladder. There will be mistakes, that is expected. Still, expect to see him win some stages as well.
W Series CEO Catherine Bond-Muir has said the championshipâs goal in 2020 is to move past countering criticism and focus more on promoting its driversâ stories.
At last weekâs Autosport International, Bond-Muir praised the media coverage W Series had generated throughout 2019, which she said reached an audience of 340 million people on TV and 5 billion through online and print media.
However, she also said that because much of that coverage was dominated by the scepticism and controversy surrounding the W Series concept, she wants to move beyond that conversation to focus more on the stories and personalities of the championshipâs protagonists:
âI think this year weâll do a much better job of making them all a little bit more famous because this year we donât have to talk about why W Series exists,â Bond-Muir said.
âUltimately I think we spent last year justifying our position and justifying what we were doing. I think a lot of that has been put to bed now, and in the second year we want to talk about our drivers. We want to talk about their stories and make stars of our drivers this year.â
W Series Media
2020 will take W Series to a more global audience than last year, as it joins the Formula 1 support bill for the US and Mexican Grands Prix.
Speaking to ThePitCrewOnline, Bond-Muir added that because of motorsportâs commercial nature, providing an opportunity to boost its drivers’ media profiles was just as key a part of W Seriesâ mission as giving them a chance to hone and showcase their driving skills:
âIn order to succeed in motorsport, we all know youâve got to have money and therefore youâve got to be successful commercially.
âSo [promotion] is crucially important because they need followers, they need to engage the public, in order that sponsors [and] teams will support them, and that will enable them to be successful as well as great driving skills.â
Hitech Grand Prix has been awarded a late entry to the 2020 Formula 2 season, adding the series to its growing junior formula portfolio.
Their entry, which comes with less than six weeks to go until pre-season testing in Bahrain in March, takes the 2020 F2 grid up to 11 teams. Hitech has not yet announced either of its drivers, although it is reportedly set to sign Nikita Mazepin alongside either Luca Ghiotto or Sergio Sette Camara.
Last year Hitech finished second in the FIA F3 teamsâ championship with Juri Vips, Leo Pulcini and Ye Yifei. The team will return to the series this year, alongside the 2019â20 F3 Asian Championship.
2020 will be Hitechâs first appearance in F1âs feeder series since they partnered with Piquet Sports to enter the 2004 and 2005 GP2 seasons.
Carl Bingham, LAT Images / FIA F3 Championship
Hitech owner Oliver Oakes said: âStepping up to F2 was always something we were aspiring towards, once we had established ourselves in the new era of Formula 3.
âWith the new 18-inch rims coming to F2 in 2020 it made entering now much more necessary than at the end of 2020 where we would be a year behind the learning process.
âOf course, joining the grid this late means we are slightly up against it, but at Hitech we like a challenge! I believe in our group and I am really excited for the first event in March at Bahrain.â
F2 CEO Bruno Michel said that he is pleased to add a team of Hitechâs âprowessâ to the grid, and added: âHitech Grand Prix enjoyed a strong Formula 3 season in 2019 and I know that although they are joining late, they will be able to adapt quickly to Formula 2.â
Welcome to Part Two of my Interview with Rich Millener.
Warren
Letâs talk about Esapekka. Have you just signed him up on a one-year contract?
Rich
Yes, just one year at the moment, with the potential for further if we both agree, but it was a bit of a tough decision for him and tough decision to come with us, but a tough time for him. He found himself in Australia, finding he could be out of a job and it came to fruition. Youâve got to have four, five years of WRC at the top level to get your experience, and heâd just done that, had a tough season at Citroen and then it looked like it was all over, so luckily he found a way to come with us which is great and we really wanted him to have him on board and as I said we can prove a point and we can help him show his best and thatâs the goal, we only chose him because we think heâs capable. If we didnât think he was capable, weâd have stuck with Teemu and Gus, but he was there and we both agreed that we wanted to get him in the car and thatâs happened, so yeah, weâre looking forward to it.
Warren
Teemu as well, a second consecutive year for him.
Rich
Yes, he did some really good performances last year, especially on tarmac, some really quite promising stage times, when you keep reminding yourself of his experience level, a couple of silly mistakes which he would be the first to admit to, which we want to try to get rid of. That really made his season, you know the history books say one thing, but we know the pace was good for the rest of it, and then a couple of problems from our side, and it was a bit of a mixed year. We want to try and take that away and go from there really.
Warren
Gus is doing a lot more rounds. He did Portugal, and then did a couple more because of Elfyn Evansâ situation.
Rich
Yes, going from three to nine is a big step, no R5 this year, so concentrating fully on WRC which is great, but itâs the biggest step heâll make and itâs the top level and youâre in the limelight, and got all the pressure on you. Heâll want to prove himself, doesnât want to be seen as someone whoâs not capable of results. At the same time, itâs tough competing with those guys and heâll have some good times and bad times. Our goal is to help him through it, heâs taking it incredibly seriously, to be fair to him. We mentioned to him in the middle of last year we thought he ought to get a bit more serious on a couple of issues, we said his personal fitness needs a bit of a look at and heâs dropped 21 kilos since Germany last year, which is incredible and that is dedication and for us to mention something like that and to go away and do what weâve asked is great and shows his commitment to the project. Itâs not just that, heâs upped all sorts in the background as well, and heâs really doing everything he can and itâs our responsibility and our job to do everything we can, and so weâre excited to see what he can achieve.
Warren
Finally, sum up Elfynâs year. Came close to that win, had the problem in Estonia, missed three rounds.
Rich
He had a strong year, considering how many events he did, and he finished equal fourth in the championship and missed five rallies effectively. Two through retirement and three because of the injury, so if you think he hasnât scored on five rallies and still fourth heâs done right in between and we knew that kind of performance would eventually get him a drive somewhere else. As much as weâre all disappointed, that heâs gone, weâre also happy that he got the opportunity to go show that heâs got the speed with another manufacturer, because you run the risk that people think heâs only ever going to stay at M-Sport and now heâs got his opportunity to show what he can do. Itâs going to be hard for him, heâs got to prove it now over the next two years, but heâs capable, so we wish him the best of luck.
F1 pundit Karun Chandhok believes F2-style reverse-grind sprint races on Saturday afternoons would be a beneficial change to the current Grand Prix weekend format.
Sprint races, either as standalone races or in place of qualifying to set the Grand Prix grid, were mooted as potential ideas for F1âs 2021 overhaul, but were ultimately rejected by teams last year.
Despite this pushback Chandhok still believes sprint races could improve F1, although only if they are introduced as an F2-style secondary race and not as an alternative qualifying format.
McLaren Racing
Speaking to ThePitCrewOnline about his ideal Grand Prix weekend, Chandhok said: âYouâd have a Saturday morning qualifying with the same format that we have now. I think qualifying is one of the most exciting things we have in the [current] format, it really works with three segments. So Iâd have that on Saturday morning, and that would be the grid for the Grand Prix.
âBut on Saturday afternoon Iâd have a 45-minute sprint race with the top 10 [from qualifying] reversed, with half points because itâs half the distance.
âAnd you donât do it at every race. For example, you wouldnât do it at Monaco where overtakingâs impossible. I would take eight races in the year, or half the races in the year, and do that on a Saturday afternoon.â
Chandhok said that awarding points for the sprint race was essential, as that would incentivise drivers to race their way through the pack and teams to set up the cars for overtaking rather than peak qualifying pace. He also said he believes his version of a sprint race would help bring in new and younger fans, while not upsetting F1 traditionalists as the races arenât being used to set the grid for Sundayâs Grand Prix.
In addition to a Saturday afternoon sprint race, Chandhok said that his idea of the F1 weekend would see FP3 dropped to make way for the sprint race, and include a requirement for all teams to run at least one young driver in every FP1 session throughout the season.
Rich Millener had a lot to say about the new season at Autosport International.
Here is part one of my interview with M-Sport’s Team Principle.
Warren
Your feelings after the win that got away?
Rich
It was a bit of a baptism of fire for me in some ways. Doing the job in the background for the last three or four years. I approached Malcolm at the end of 2018 when Seb Ogier left and asked if I could do the team principle role, to which he agreed- this was surprising- if you donât ask, you donât get. It was a nice opportunity to be given. I think last year was a bit of a learning curve in some ways. It wasnât hugely different from what Iâve done before- there were elements we knew â More involved in areas that Iâve not been involved with before, and then we had the Corsica issue. It was a very easy job at the start. Three rallies in and three good results. Fourth rally in and on for a win. I think people thought M-Sport were going to be in the way and pretty competitive, but unfortunately it unravelled. Then we had a tough mid-season and then we came back stronger at the end of the season.
I think overall not bad but there are a few things Iâd like to change this year. There was nothing I wanted to change this past year, because youâre still learning. You donât come in and try to change everything as you donât have the experience to do it. Overall, I think we were very happy â the whole team is aware of the structure and how itâs working. Weâve tried to improve communication with mechanics and engineers, every part of the team really, just to work together as best we can, and just try to continue to improve. The drivers are all capable of winning, so we just want to perform as best we can, to give them everything we can to do well.
Warren
What do you think Lappi has brought to the team so far in terms of his experience with the previous cars he has driven?
Rich
Ah, difficult to say at the moment, as heâs done so little. Heâs done two and a half days in the car so far, but the experience he has as heâs been with two manufacturer teams already, and weâre the third, all the current generation cars, which is great. Heâs got experience and knowledge of the two rivals. He has been through the highs and lows himself and has won a rally and then had a tough season last year, so the kind of pressure of being in the top level of WRC, heâs been there which is great.
To promote a younger person into leading a team, you run the risk of that being difficult for them to get their head around and be prepared, but heâs kind of ready and nothing seems to stress him out which is great and like Malcolm said, the team and environment is very good, weâre a younger team with all the same goals, weâre all hungry to improve and win and so is he. If we can make him feel comfortable, then we know he can perform well. Thatâs our main goal at the minute. He seems to understand British humour, which is helpful so he can see a joke and be serious at the same time, and I think if he feels comfortable, then he should be on the pace right away.
Warren
Are you looking at any events for victories?
Rich
I think Monte Carlo will be difficult. Iâm not sure tarmac would be EPâs favourite subject, but on the other side, Teemuâs tarmac pace has been really good the last few rallies. We didnât do any testing before Christmas, we didnât have the budget to do that, so we did that this year instead, a really good test, but unfortunately no snow but, we know how much that rally can change, so Monte will be hard. Sweden, we expect to be strong, like last year with Teemu, again it will depend on the road conditions and how much snow there is. Now really the rest after that, we should be strong in all of them and thereâs no reason we canât challenge in all of them. So, weâre not focusing on anything in particular, just be the best for all the events.
Warren
Now, three new rounds and this is a question that I asked Esapekka and Teemu. How do you go about preparing for Rally Safari?
Rich
I think Safari realistically is going to be quite different from what people expect. I think a lot more of the European style event is likely. It wonât be horrendously rough, it wonât be huge great deep-water splashes, cars will look pretty much look as they are. If people are expecting snorkels and everything that goes with it, which is great but we have the reality of the costs of designing a one-off car and itâs not feasible for anybody. However, having said that all new stages, very different from what weâve seen, itâs quite sandy in places which is a different skill, fast and actually narrow in some places and if you go offline, thereâs big rocks and everything.
The temptation to cut will be there, but the reality of cutting might not be so ideal and there is the wildlife, you know that you canât get away from wildlife, thereâs still going to be that gone are the days of the star helicopters and everything that went along with that because going to that level again would be like doing two rallies for the price of one. We canât really afford. It will be very interesting, we sent some people out to the candidate rally to try and understand what itâs about, the same with Japan, New Zealand we know a little bit more, but all these new rallies are good for the drivers, because everyoneâs in the same boat, new stages and new pace notes. I donât think any of the drivers this year have been to any of these places, so that will be interesting. Weâll just prepare in the normal way, testing is most difficult because we donât know the exact conditions youâre going to get in Safari, so you donât know where youâre going to test. Weâve got a few options in mind, and I think that will be a key part of doing well.
Warren
Do you know if Rally Chile is going ahead?
Rich
It looks like it will be cancelled, and I donât think there will be a replacement to be honest, I think itâs too late in the day to be able to find a solution to the logistics, to change everything around. Weâre all planned around the thirteen rallies. Fourteen was always a push to be honest. Itâs hard on the guys, yes less rallies than say Formula One, but youâre away for a longer time, over a week and last year with Argentina and Chile we were away for over three weeks and it was hard to keep morale up in the team because a lot of people have families and kids and itâs a long time for fifty people that you work with day in and day out. Thirteen is not a big drama for me. I appreciate that we need to go to new places, and itâs a shame that weâve lost them, but we can still have a good championship.
Warren
Iâm of the opinion that Formula One has too many races.
Rich
Yes, you become a casual fan, because you switch it on and itâs always there, which is great because itâs in your mind at the time, you donât build up to the weekend, ah F1âs on at the weekend, Iâll watch that, but then itâs on every other weekend and WRC isnât strong enough to warrant that many events, so got to be careful. I think thirteen or fourteen is acceptable.
