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  • F3 Great Britain: Lawson holds off Premas for feature race win

    F3 Great Britain: Lawson holds off Premas for feature race win

    Liam Lawson took his second win of the Formula 3 season at the Silverstone feature race, seeing off the Premas of Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant in a race fraught with incidents.

    Lawson started from second behind polesitter Sargeant. Although Sargeant held first off the line, Lawson was close enough to harry him throughout the opening lap and make a lunge around the outside of Stowe to steal the lead.

    After a brief interruption on lap 4, when Matteo Nannini slowed on track and brought out a Virtual Safety Car, Lawson began pulling away from Sargeant. The American driver then dropped back into the clutches of teammate Piastri, who demoted Sargeant to third on lap 7.

    Piastri was better able to keep pace with Lawson than Sargeant, closing to within half a second by lap 9. On lap 11 Piastri drew alongside Lawson under DRS and looked set to take first place, but the Australian ran wide over the kerbs and couldn’t complete the move.

    Oscar Piastri, Prema (Bryn Lennon / Getty Images)

    With Piastri right on his tail, Lawson was handed a saving grace shortly after when the safety car was deployed for Bent Viscaal, who spun after contact with Ben Barnicoat through Luffield and collected Jack Doohan’s HWA.

    The safety car remained out for four laps, but was then redeployed almost immediately when Olli Caldwell spun in the middle of the pack and was hit heavily by Lukas Dunner and Max Fewtrell.

    With Caldwell’s rear wing and suspension across the track, the race went on to end under the safety car, preserving Lawson’s first place over Piastri and Sargeant.

    Jake Hughes finished fourth ahead of the third Prema of Frederik Vesti, with Alex Peroni climbing up from 18th on the grid to take sixth. Sebastian Fernandez finished seventh, Clement Novalak took eighth and the fastest lap, David Beckmann was ninth, and Aleksandr Smolyar took the reverse grid pole for the tomorrow in tenth.

    Logan Sargeant, Prema (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

    Full race result:

    Pos. Driver Team Points
    1 Liam Lawson Hitech 25
    2 Oscar Piastri Prema 18
    3 Logan Sargeant Prema 15
    4 Jake Hughes HWA 12
    5 Frederik Vesti Prema 10
    6 Alex Peroni Campos 8
    7 Sebastian Fernandez ART 6
    8 Clement Novalak (FL) Carlin 6
    9 David Beckmann Trident 2
    10 Aleksandr Smolyar ART 1
    11 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport
    12 Theo Pourchaire ART
    13 Lirim Zendelli Trident
    14 Calan Williams Jenzer
    15 Igor Fraga Charouz
    16 Dennis Hauger Hitech
    17 Roman Stanek Charouz
    18 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA
    19 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer
    20 Ben Barnicoat Carlin
    21 Cameron Das Carlin
    22 Sophia Floersch Campos
    23 Matteo Nannini Jenzer
    24 Alessio Deledda Campos
    25 David Schumacher Charouz
    Ret. Olli Caldwell Trident
    Ret. Max Fewtrell Hitech
    Ret. Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport
    Ret. Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport
    Ret. Jack Doohan HWA
  • Hulk is back – The German driver impresses on his F1 return with Racing Point

    Hulk is back – The German driver impresses on his F1 return with Racing Point

    With news that Sergio Perez had tested positive for COVID-19 breaking on Thursday evening, Racing Point had a decision to make as to who would come in and effectively replace him for at least this weekend’s British Grand Prix and even possibly for the 70th anniversary race weekend the next week. Well, it was all to perfect for a certain German driver who’s last race came some 243 days ago.

    After losing his seat at Renault at the end of last season, Nico Hulkenberg was most likely wondering how he could get himself back in a seat. However, what he probably wasn’t expecting was how it would come about and how much earlier an opportunity for him to return to the grid would arise. With that said, news broke hours before the start of Free Practice 1 that Racing Point had opted to replace Checo with Nico, who had already spent three-quarters of an hour of Friday morning in the Racing Point simulator ahead of his scheduled return.

    With 177 Grand Prix’s to his name, it absolutely makes sense for both Nico and the Pink Panthers for him to take the drive, replacing his former Force India teammate and he did not disappoint!

    Glen Dunbarr / Racing Point F1 Team

    Free Practice 1:

    Nico’s initial lap of the historic Silverstone track was slightly delayed due to the fact we were still awaiting the result of his own COVID test, however, it wasn’t too long of a wait and before you knew it, Nico was taking to the track in the RP20 and was actually the first out.

    After a couple of bedding in laps and a could of stops into the pits, Nico went on to complete an impressive 24 laps and subsequently posted a best lap time of 1:28.592 which was good enough to see him end FP1 in 9th just +1.170 behind the fastest man of the session – Max Verstappen (1:27.422).

    What was more impressive was the fact that while he was just over one second off Verstappen, Nico was only +0.591 off his teammate Lance Stroll, who ended up finishing the first session third fastest posting a 1:28.004 (+0.582 behind Verstappen).

    Post FP1 thoughts had you thinking that given Nico hasn’t taken to the track whatsoever this season let alone jumping into a car which has a serious chance of challenging this weekend, he could only get fast. Excitement building for FP2? Absolutely.

    Final Session Times:

    Free Practice 2:

    FP2 got underway and Nico took his time in the garage before heading out to put an initial lap time of 1:29.906 for 13th with almost 20 minutes of the session gone. The following lap, Nico got himself into the top 10 with a much more improved 1:29.041 (9th), pace was starting to gather for the 32-year-old German.

    With just under an hour of practice left, Nico saw teammate Stroll set a session fastest 1:27.274 during a qualifying simulation run. Nico’s answer? Well, it was 1:27.910 to go 5th fastest and move to within +0.636 of Stroll.

    With just three quarters of an hour left in the session though, Red Bull’s Alex Albon went off the track at Stow in a big way after losing the rear end and spinning in barriers. The session was red flagged and all car’s returned to the pits for around 15 minutes.

    With restart of the session and around 30 minutes to go, Nico went on to complete a further 25 laps and ultimately ended up in P7 at the checkered flag. As for his teammate Stroll, well.. he ended up being the fastest man of the session with his before mentioned lap of 1:27.274 which was +0.090 fastest than second quickest Alex Albon, who after his crash at Stow, didn’t return for the rest of the session.

    Final Session Times:

     

    What Nico Had To Say:

    “The 24 hours has been a bit special. Crazy and wild. 16:30pm yesterday afternoon I got the call took a plane here and then seat fitted until 2am last night. Then into the simulator at 8am for an hour with a bit of prep work. It was a short night, but all worthwhile.”

    Mark Sutton / Racing Point F1 Team

    Overall Assessment:

    Nico’s return to the track after 243 days was a very impressive one giving the circumstances. With as much notice as he had, I don’t think you could have asked much more from him. Yes, we all know that the car he was in control of could and should have been up with Stroll’s timing but let’s be honest, 24 hours on from being told he was coming in, Nico did an excellent job in staying within six hundred tenths of his teammate.

    The rest of the weekend will now be an opportunity for Nico to repay Racing Point’s trust in giving him to replace Checo. You can well imagine that with the data collected from his laps today and the debriefing to follow, Nico’s confidence will have grown massively and could show not only in tomorrow’s FP3 but also in what is expected to be a much cooler Qualifying.

    It’s fair to say that despite the circumstances that surround his return, it’s great to see the man that they call Hulk back in a Formula One car. Welcome back, Nico!

  • F3 Great Britain preview: can ART or Trident halt Prema’s dominance?

    F3 Great Britain preview: can ART or Trident halt Prema’s dominance?

    Formula 3 returns this weekend at historic Silverstone, for the fourth round of the 2020 season.

    As things stand coming into Great Britain, championship leader Oscar Piastri has begun to break into a dominant position in the title fight. On 76 points so far, he is more than a feature race victory ahead of his nearest rival, teammate Logan Sargeant.

    Apart from one eighth place in the first Austria sprint race, Piastri has consistently finished in the top five in every race so far this season, including a double podium last time out in Hungary. Meanwhile, Sargeant has yet to take victory this year, while third-placed driver Theo Pourchaire didn’t score points at all in the first round of the season.

    David Beckmann, Trident (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Piastri’s rivals might take some heart from the fact that Silverstone was one of the few rounds Prema didn’t dominate last year, with Juri Vips and Leonardo Pulcini taking both victories for Hitech Grand Prix.

    Hitech don’t look to be the same contenders they were last year, despite Liam Lawson winning the first sprint race of the year in Austria and Dennis Hauger finishing third in Hungary. However, Trident and ART have both been close challengers to Prema in 2020 and will be pushing to deal any blow they can to the Italian team this weekend.

    One driver in particular who could be a real headache for Prema and Piastri is David Beckmann, who comes to Silverstone off the back of his first F3 win in the Hungary sprint race. With two further podiums already to his name, Beckmann is also one of only three drivers—alongside Piastri and Richard Verschoor—to score in every race so far this season.

    Aleksandr Smolyar, ART (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    As for ART, Pourchaire underlined his own championship credentials in Hungary by becoming the only repeat race winner of the season so far. The young Frenchman has a bit of ground to make up after his slow start to the campaign, but clearly has the speed to challenge for the podium this weekend.

    But it’s not just Pourchaire carrying ART’s hopes. The French team has plenty more talent in its lineup in Sebastian Fernandez and Aleksandr Smolyar, both of whom have taken a feature race pole this year.

    So far luck hasn’t been on their side, with Fernandez and Smolyar both retiring early from their respective pole position starts. But if either of them can marry up another strong qualifying performance with a clean race on Saturday, there’s no reason they can’t join the fight at the front with their teammate.

  • F2 Great Britain preview: can Shwartzman break free at Silverstone?

    F2 Great Britain preview: can Shwartzman break free at Silverstone?

    Formula 2 returns this weekend at Silverstone for the fourth round of the 2020 campaign.

    Prema driver and Ferrari protege Robert Shwartzman will come into the weekend full of confidence, after becoming the championship’s only repeat winner so far last time out in Hungary.

    With 18 points in hand over the next-best driver Callum Ilott, Shwartzman’s goal at Silverstone will be to build that gap even further and break free of the chasing pack. If he can keep up the momentum now, there will be little his rivals can do to stop Shwartzman asserting his dominance over the title as he did in Formula 3 last year.

    Ilott will of course be the first of many drivers hoping to disrupt Shwartzman’s title challenge this weekend. Since winning the first race of the season, Ilott’s own campaign has been patchy by comparison, with only one further podium to his name so far.

    A win on home soil this weekend will easily put Ilott back in the mix, and he should be well-placed to do so as his UNI-Virtuosi team won last year’s Silverstone feature race with Luca Ghiotto.

    Callum Ilott, UNI-Virtuosi (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

    Behind Shwartzman and Ilott, there’s a fierce battle developing over third place in the standings. Christian Lundgaard currently holds the position with 43 points, but Mick Schumacher, Dan Ticktum and Marcus Armstrong are all within nine points of the Dane.

    Although Lundgaard is quite a way adrift of Shwartzman, he is still likely to be a threat this weekend. Prior to Hungary, where he failed to score in either race, Lundgaard had been on a run of top-six finishes culminating in his sprint race win in Austria.

    If Lundgaard can put his Hungaroring disappointment behind him, he’s shown he has the pace to be a serious title threat this year.

    Schumacher comes to Silverstone on a good run of form, having taken a double podium at the last round in Hungary. However, he’ll need to make a much bigger step forward this weekend if he wants to stay in contention for the title and an F1 shot next year, as he is so far yet to outscore Shwartzman in any race this season.

    Meanwhile, Ticktum has also displayed plenty of ability in his F2 debut, although has yet to claim his first win in the series. A challenger in sprint races in particular, the DAMS driver will be one to watch this weekend for sure.

    Dan Ticktum, DAMS (Carl Bingham, LAT Images / FIA F2 Championship)
  • 2021 – Return of the 4 Red Bulls?

    2021 – Return of the 4 Red Bulls?

    One of the main talking points of the current 2020 season is Racing Point – nicknamed the Pink Mercedes. Subsequently, Renault have raised concerns about the legality of their car to the stewards. We are awaiting a decision upon the review of the brake ducts as Racing Point have handed over their current car’s ducts and Mercedes are due to sample a pair from the 2019 car – the Mercedes W10. The stewards are investigating all of this, but unfortunately there is no timescale presently so every race Renault can continue to protest a result or any team if they are unhappy with the result. It is much easier to copy external aerodynamics from images and videos such as wings and floor designs but internal details are much harder which is why brake ducts were the focal point. If their brake ducts are passed clear and are very similar, what stops Red Bull giving their junior team Alpha Tauri their old designs to base next year’s car, similar to what they did prior to 2010? Will 2021 be the return of four Red Bulls to the grid?

    Sergio Perez, Racing Point RP20

    Scuderia Toro Rosso, now Alpa Tauri, entered the Formula One grid when Red Bull bought the beloved backmarkers Minardi. Their first car, the STR1, was near enough a carbon copy of the 2005 RB1 whilst Red Bull moved onto the RB2. This preceded the arrival of one of the greatest designers in the history of the sport – Adrian Newey. He moved over from McLaren for 2007 to embark on a new challenge. Controversy ensued that season when the RB3 and STR2 were both designed on the same chassis by Newey. Williams and Spyker felt this was against the concorde agreement, very much on the terms to what Renault are going to the stewards for this season. The FIA classed this is as legal for a customer chassis but the Toro Rosso team then managed the car throughout the season.

    GEPA pictures/Red Bull Content Pool // 1329476893572-1682678767 // Usage for editorial use only //

    The cars remained identical until 2009. Ironically Toro Rosso was the first Red Bull branded car to win an F1 race in Monza in 2008. Sebastian Vettel, as a result, earned a drive for the Red Bull team alongside Mark Webber. In 2010 Toro Rosso built its first car, the STR5, from scratch as duel-designs had been banned. Adrian Newey and Red Bull Technology had no say on this car due to differing engine suppliers. Since transmission assistance and suspension assistance were introduced in 2013 and 2018 respectively, Red Bull have once again been able to aid their second team. This arrangement is very similar to Haas’ relationship with Ferrari.

    GEPA pictures/Red Bull Content Pool // 1329477258696-281002003 // Usage for editorial use only //

    An interesting scenario now arises if Racing Point have managed to near enough copy the Mercedes car from last year. Can Alpha Tauri, within regulation, just get the base designs to build their AT02 car on their own chassis? They would not need to take hundreds of photos; owner Helmut Marko probably would get the prints to a certain extent within the rulings. The Red Bull for many seasons has been dubbed the best car on the grid aerodynamically and has cut the deficit to Mercedes around the less power sensitive tracks on the calendar such as Monaco and Hungary. Such circuits have more sectors with low to medium speed flowing corners. Red Bull took a gamble with Honda power and the Japanese manufacturer is beginning to find its footing in the hybrid era. Hopefully now at power tracks like Monza, we will start to see Red Bull competing once again.

    Upon all of this would we see the return of four Red Bulls like the mid to late noughties when Toro Rosso entered the grid? A cost-cap has also been agreed for the future so this would assist both teams greatly. Red Bull could make a return in possibly passing on old designs if permitted and as a result Alpha Tauri would spend less on research and design. 

    Feature Image Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

  • Jackson Fastest In BSB Testing Despite Impressive Showing From Honda

    Jackson Fastest In BSB Testing Despite Impressive Showing From Honda

    The 2020 Bennett’s British Superbike Championship season is now tantalisingly close and the excitement kicked up a gear on Tuesday 28th July as the teams descended on Donington Park for an official test session.

    Andrew Irwin, aboard the new Honda FireBlade for the factory team, set the pace in the first two sessions posting a fastest lap time of 1.07.079 in session one, followed up by a 1.06.663 in the second run-out. Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki’s Danny Buchan was second fastest in the first two sessions recording times of 1.07.216 and 1.06.813 respectively.

    The elder of the Honda Racing Irwin brothers, Glenn, was quickest in the third and final session, posting a time of 1.06.640 with Buchan again recording the second fastest time with a 1.06.776.

    In session four, it was Buchan’s team-mate Lee Jackson who finished top of the pile, recording an impressive 1.06.583 aboard his Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki with McAms Yamaha’s Jason O’Halloran finishing the final session second fastest with a 1.06.597.

    It was indeed Jackson who ended the day fastest overall, with O’Halloran again in second. Hector Barbera (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) was third, Glenn and Andrew Irwin rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

    Many people’s tip for the championship, Josh Brookes (PBM VisionTrack Ducati), best time came in session four with a 1:06.719. Brookes’ team-mate Christian Iddon’s best time was recorded in session three with a 1:06.719.

    In the support classes, Rory Skinner of Tyser Yamaha was quickest of the Supersport riders across the four sessions, finishing top of the pile in all four with his quickest coming in session three with a 1.08.450. Bradley Perie aboard the Diamond H Racing Yamaha was second in all four sessions.

    Chrissy Rouse dominated the test sessions for the Superstock riders, finishing fastest in three of the four sessions, piloting his Crowe Performance BMW to a 1.08.236 in session four, his fastest time of the day. Danny Kent, aboard the Morello Racing Kawasaki, finished fastest in session three, posting a 1.08.304.

    With testing out of the way and some of the lockdown-enforced dust shaken off, focus shifts to the weekend of 7-9 August when BSB returns to Donington for the opening round of the 2020 season.

    Featured Image courtesy of Honda Racing

  • 2020 British Grand Prix Preview

    2020 British Grand Prix Preview

    After a two-week break since the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Formula One circus rolls into the lush fields of Silverstone for the 75th British Grand Prix, and the first of two back-to-back races to be held there in as many weeks.

    The 5.8 kilometre circuit has seen 30 different winners in the 53 Grands Prix that it has hosted, one of them being the six-time winner Lewis Hamilton, who looks to make it a seventh on his way to, potentially, his seventh world championship this campaign.

    2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images

    And it is he and his relentless Mercedes team that look to take their sixth win here since the new track layout was introduced in 2010, after an utterly dominant display by Hamilton won him the Hungarian Grand Prix last time out.

    Ferrari’s 13 wins overall in Silverstone are nothing to gawp over regarding recent years – their last two victories in Northamptonshire came in 2018 with Sebastian Vettel, and back in 2011 with Fernando Alonso.

    Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

    And speaking of Ferrari, their terrible beginning to the 2020 season is not going to be improved at a track where the teams will need power – something that the Prancing Horses have been lacking in their power unit over the first three races. This has also translated to their customer teams Haas and Alfa Romeo. They have both struggled to make it out of Q1 in Austria and Hungary, but Kevin Magnussen’s point in Budapest was a step in the right direction for the American outfit. The Dane and team mate Romain Grosjean will be trying not to make contact for the third year in a row in Britain – something that landed them in a fiery rollocking from team boss Guenther Steiner last year.

    Red Bull’s erratic car performance has negatively impacted on Max Verstappen and Alex Albon this year. Albon ended up out in Q2 in Budapest last time out, while Max Verstappen’s assessment of the RB16 has generally been that it is “too slow” to challenge the dominant Mercedes. He did very well though to hold off Valtteri Bottas for second two weeks ago. The Finn, who took victory in the first round in Spielberg, knows he needs a win over the next couple of races to close the gap back up to team mate Hamilton and stem the colossal tide from the brilliant Briton.

    McLaren enter their home race having made a positive start to the year in Austria, but struggled in Hungary; Carlos Sainz claimed a ninth-placed finish, while Lando Norris failed to score points in thirteenth. However, seldom do poor weekends tend to happen for McLaren since the start of 2019 and the entertaining driver-partnership know that, with a bit of misfortune for Red Bull and Ferrari, they could go in search of a podium.

    Racing Point will have the same perspective. Their exceptional qualifying in Budapest was followed by a fourth-placed finish for Lance Stroll, who may well yet be partnering Sebastian Vettel next year. The German is tipped to be signed by the team as it becomes Aston Martin in 2021.

    As with last year, Williams find themselves entering this race having thus far been the only team yet to score points, but will have designs on lifting themselves off the bottom of the Constructors’ standings if changeable conditions play a factor.

    After his eighth win in Hungary, Lewis Hamilton has his sights well and truly set on number seven in Silverstone – one of the best weekends of the year, and we get to see it twice!

    Feature Image courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

  • The Return of World Superbikes 2020

    The Return of World Superbikes 2020

    World Superbikes returns this weekend (31 Jul-02 Aug) for Round 2 in Spain at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, Andalusia after a five month break when the 2020 battle for the title WorldSBK championship recommences.

    At the moment there are 8 more rounds of this season but of course in this current situation this could change at anytime. The remaining rounds are:

    Round 3 : Algarve International Circuit, Portimão, Portugal : 07-09 August

    Round 4 : MotorLand Aragon, Teruel, Spain : 28-30 August

    Round 5 : MotorLand Aragon, Teruel, Spain : 04-06 September

    Round 6 : Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona : 18-20 September

    Round 7 : Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France : 02-04 October

    Round 8 : Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Magny-Cours, France : TBC

    Round 9 : Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, Riviera Di Rimini, Italy : TBC

    It has just been announced that after extensive discussions between the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Dorna WSBK Organization (DWO), that three rounds have been cancelled and these were to be held at Donington Park (the first time in WorldSBK history that there will not be a round in the UK); the Dutch Round at the TT Circuit Assen (which has been a permanent fixture on the calendar since 1992) and the Qatar Round at the Losail International Circuit.

    The Driver’s / Team Standings so far at the end of Round 1 at Philip Island on the 29 Feb-01 Mar looked like this:

    Pos Rider Points Pos Team Points
    1 Alex Lowes 51 1 Kawasaki 57
    2 Scott Redding 39 2 Yamaha 47
    3 Toprak Razgatlioglu 34 3 Ducati 39
    4 Jonathan Rea 32 4 Honda 23
    5 Michael van der Mark 31 5 BMW 17
    6 Alvaro Bautista 20
    7 Loris Baz 20
    8 Chaz Davies 19
    9 Leon Haslam 17
    10 Tom Sykes 17
    11 Maximillan Scheib 10
    12 Sandro Cortese 10
    13 Michael Ruben Rinaldi 7
    14 Xavi Fores 5
    15 Eugene Laverty 5
    16 Federico Caricasulo 4
    17 Garrett Gerloff 2
    18 Takumi Takahashi 0

    During the five months hiatus, teams were busy developing their bikes, engines and race strategies and the riders were continuing with their fitness regimes to ensure they are race fit.

    Leon Haslam at MotorLand Aragon WSBK test on 16-17th of July 2020. Image courtesy of Honda racing corporation

    Two days of testing took place at MotorLand Aragon on the 16th/17th July where track temperatures were pushing 50 degrees celsius during the afternoon session. Topping the board at the end of day one was Team HRC’s Leon Haslam who beat his teammate Alvaro Bautista followed by Christophe Ponsson riding for Nuova M2 Racing who are putting in five wildcard appearances this season on the Aprilia RSV4 1000. Ponsson was incredibly only about a second off Haslam’s pace.

    Day two of testing still saw the scorching heat meaning the track temperature was high again leading to a few crashes and red flags with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) riding the ZX-10RR being the man to beat after setting a blistering time in the morning session with his teammate Alex Lowes in 4th.

    Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) was 2nd a mere 0.156s behind Rea and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 3rd with his teammate Eugene Laverty in 6th place.

    Toprak Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) finished 5th and whilst Leon Haslam in the Honda HRC team was inside the top five after lunch, he finished the day in 9th with his teammate Alvaro Bautista down in 15th.

    So after five months of waiting this is shaping up to be an exciting restart to the 2020 WorldSBK season.

    Featured image courtesy of Ducati

  • IndyCar cancels Portland and Laguna Seca, adds three doubleheaders

    IndyCar cancels Portland and Laguna Seca, adds three doubleheaders

    IndyCar has cancelled the 2020 running of the Grand Prix of Portland, due to Oregon state laws on public gatherings that will remain active throughout September. The race, originally scheduled for Sept. 11-13 is the seventh race to be cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

    In a statement on the official website of The Grand Prix of Portland they said: “We are extremely disappointed and will miss the incredible fans who have supported us […] The safety of our fans, participants, volunteers, staff, partners and media will always remain our top priority.”

    In 2019, Portland returned to the IndyCar series after a ten year absence , won by Penske driver Will Power. Unfortunately he will not get a chance to defend his win a year on.

    In addition, IndyCar has also cancelled the doubleheader at Laguna Seca in California, making it the eight cancellation on the calendar. IndyCar called the cancellations: “a mutual decision between the series and promoters following close consultation and monitoring of the local situation. The series looks forward to returning to both venues in 2021.”

    The 2019 running was won by Colton Herta who dominated from pole position. It was the first year IndyCar had held a race at Laguna Seca for 15 years.

    In their place, IndyCar have added doubleheaders to three events already scheduled:

    Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, 8th-9th August,

    World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, 29th-30th August,

    Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 2nd-3rd October,

    It will be the third time that IndyCar will have travelled to Indianapolis this season having raced at the IMS earlier in July and later next month for the Indianapolis 500 on August 23rd.

    “Our race fans have loved the exciting doubleheader action of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this year at Road America and Iowa Speedway,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President & CEO Mark Miles said. “We look forward to giving them even more world-class entertainment this season at three of the most exciting racetracks on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES calendar.”

    IndyCar is still scheduled to run 14 races this season.

     

    [Featured image – Chris Jones / IndyCar Media]

  • A triple Yamaha Podium at the AndalucÍaGP at Jerez

    A triple Yamaha Podium at the AndalucÍaGP at Jerez

    In the build up to the race everyone is talking about Marc Marquez, and how gutted they are that he’s not racing.  This is the first,  yes first race he’s missed in his MotoGP career.

    Fabio Quartararo did an interview before the race saying that in last weeks’ free practice the bike didn’t seem that good, but the progress through qualifying was outstanding. Fabio said last week that if Marc Marquez stays on track he would win the race and without Marquez in the race, it’s not going to be as good.

    On the grid Jack Miller says he is looking forward to the race but it’s really hot at the track, probably as hot as Malaysia. Track temperature is 60 degrees and 40 degrees ambient temperature. The Ducati is looking good on the grid though.

    Tyres are being talked about and the majority of the grid are going with hard front, soft rear with only Alex Rins going soft front and rear.

    Into the first corner. Image courtesy of Yamaha Racing

    The excitement builds during the warm up lap and the grid forms ready for lights out, and we are off! 

    Rossi had a good start but we had a skittle effect on the first corner, the riders involved were Oliviera, Smith and Binder. As a result of the crash, Oliviera is out of the race.

    At the end of the first lap top 3 is as follows:

    Fabio Quartararo : Yamaha
    Valentino Rossi : Yamaha
    Maverick Vinales : Yamaha

    The riders are pushing the limits of these bikes, Rossi has been 0.6 secs behind the leader and you know Rossi , he’s always getting ready to make a move.

    Miller left his seat for a second as the bike twitches. Rossi was being pushed by Maverick, who’s getting close to the Doctor.

    Cal Crutchlow and Alex Rins are running last places which isn’t hard to understand because of the injuries they are carrying.

    Fabio Quartararo hasn’t really been challenged for first place. The only thing that could stop him is his own bike, with the Yamaha’s having issues in the heat.

    Iker Lecuona came off with 19 laps to go, he was hoping to have kept the bike going but sadly, he couldn’t.

    Alex Rins is making this ride count as he’s slowly coming up the grid,  he’s now in 15th and in the points with 18 laps to go.

    Alex Marquez is riding in 14th with 17 laps to go, Jack Miller has been under attack from a bunch of riders and sadly lost a couple of places. Unfortunately, he came off on turn 9 of lap 11 which was gutting as he’s a great rider and looked promising in this race.

    Rossi is now 6 seconds behind leader, Fabio Quartararo, and other then the tyres falling off, I don’t think he will be caught.

    Bagnaia has overtaken Rossi for second place,  let’s see if he can catch the leader.

    With 13 laps to go, the bikes look to be struggling with grip on the front end but pushing these bikes is what these riders do.

    Brad Binder has just taken a spill as the bike kicked back going round a corner, the bike said I am not having any of this, and flipped the rider. It looked like a painful exit to the race.

    Alex Marquez is building momentum on his bike but he’s in the shadows of his brother’s reputation.

    The Yamaha’s have been having problems all weekend and indeed Morbidelli’s has just given up sounding like a bag of nails and has now retired from the race.

    Crutchlow has entered the pit lane and has an issue but decided that with the amount of riders on the track to go back out as he can score points.

    Seven laps remain and only 14 riders out on the track so everyone can get a point.

    Rossi is still keeping Vinales at bay in 3rd place and the last 3 laps seem to be as good as the previous laps as everyone on track is battling for places. Maverick is now up Rossi’s exhaust, they are that close!

    Rossi is teasing Maverick but the Spaniard makes it stick and now the Doctor is chasing Vinales but he is pulling away.

    LAST LAP

    Everyone on track is pushing so hard, Maverick just had a little wobble but was okay; Fabio Quartararo wins for the second time this season followed by Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi.

    It’s an all Yamaha podium which seemed unlikely at the start of this race.

    Featured Image courtesy of Yamaha racing