Check out the latest Mobil 1 The Grid video with Red Bull Racing’s Pierre Gasly who’s reflecting on his early career in racing.
Make sure that you follow Mobil 1 The Grid:
Website: mobil1thegrid.com
Twitter: twitter.com/mobil1thegrid
Instagram: instagram.com/mobil1thegrid
Google+: google.com/+Mobil1TheGrid
This event marks the start of five straight events on gravel before a return to tarmac in Germany in August. Road position will be very important for those challenging for the championship as we head through these events. Thierry Neuville leads the championship giving him the situation where he is opening the road. Last year when he was in that position, he was not troubling the top positions, meaning that it’ll be interesting how he deals with this. Can the Hyundai teammates get themselves into good positions to take points away from his rivals in the championship?
Seb Ogier and Citroen have to be considered as potential winners, but incredibly the Champion has never won this rally, but has stood on the podium four times. Perhaps this will be the year that sees him and Julien take their first win.
Two years ago, Elfyn Evans almost won this event, finishing just seven tenths from Thierry Neuville. This year, he comes to this event, having driven incredibly fast and consistently in Tour de Corse, with terrible heartbreak in the end for the Welshman, missing out on his second victory.
Now twelve months ago, Ott Tanak took his first victory for Toyota and will be hoping for a repeat, but perhaps we’ll see Kris Meeke win instead. After all, he did take his first victory in this event in 2015, and what of Jari-Matti, who has also done very well, winning in 2014 for Volkswagen during their first season. One driver missing from the event is 2016 winner Hayden Paddon, and what a shame he is not competing.
Well, let’s have a look at the stages that make this year’s event. There is a total of 347,50km’s competitive tests making up this year’s event, with minor changes to the event and the penultimate stage, SS17 being run in the same direction as 2017. The start times for the stages are three hours behind GMT.
|
Let’s hear from the drivers then.
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“Rally Argentina is a fantastic event with some tough stages and a great atmosphere. As one of the roughest rallies of the season, it requires a careful approach. On the one hand, we need to look after the car but on the other there are some sections where you can really attack. It’s a balancing act; we have to find a good rhythm but also be ready to push more or less when necessary. We’d like to add more victories after the success in Corsica but we know it will be a demanding event, especially starting first on the road.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“Argentina is without doubt one of my favourite gravel rallies. There are a huge number of spectators and passionate fans, which creates an incredible atmosphere. The stages are in really nice condition, a little bit sandy compared to other gravel events that increases the grip level. As a result, we can set the car sideways into the corners and then push to the maximum. There are also the classic Argentina stages El Condor and Mina Clavero, which offer the ultimate test of man and machine.”
Dani Sordo
“I always look forward to Rally Argentina, a special event with some truly amazing supporters. Despite being one of the roughest events on the calendar, there are some very nice stages – including El Condor and Mina Clavero – that are a real privilege to drive. We showed our pace on gravel in Mexico, fighting at the front on the opening day. We want to repeat that level of performance in Argentina and do all we can to get a good result for ourselves and the team.”
Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“Although I have never won in Argentina, it’s a rally that I like and I have often been quick here in the past. So, I come into this round with the same high hopes as usual. I would even go as far as to say I feel slightly more motivated by the prospect of winning this rally for the first time and with Citroën. It’s also true that being second in the running order gives me a bit more of a chance than in previous years. The
type of roads used varies a lot, but I would say that what really stands out is how rough the gravel can be in places. You really do have to think about looking after your car sometimes, whilst continuing to drive quickly.”
Esapekka Lappi
“With only one previous appearance at this rally, which doesn’t change much from one year to the next, in principle, I start with a bit of a disadvantage compared to many of my rivals. Having said that, I’ll have a good place in the running order and I’m very determined to build on my promising outing on gravel in the C3 WRC in Mexico and bring home the best possible result from Argentina. I remember that the stages here are fairly nice, but you have to watch out for the countless embedded rocks, because they pose a real risk in terms of punctures.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak
“I’m feeling good about Rally Argentina. It’s the event where we managed to take our first win for Toyota last year, and we are expecting nothing less this year. I believe that we should be able to perform well again there. The fast roads and the kind of surface that we have in Argentina should really suit our car quite well. It’s a really tough event, as the stages can turn very rough in places, so there are points where you need to take some extra care. As for Chile, I don’t really know what to expect, as I haven’t been there before. There are a few things that we’ve been able to find out in advance, but we’ll only really discover how the stages are when we get there and see them for ourselves in the recce.”
Jari-Matti Latvala
“Rally Argentina is one of the greatest events we have in the WRC. There is a lot of passion and a lot of spectators: some of them camping in the mountains, waiting to see the rally cars come by. The rally itself has some very nice, beautiful stages. The main challenge is that they can get quite rough for the second pass. On the other hand, I have been looking at how the roads are in Chile, and that won’t be a rough event: there are no rocks and the sides of the road are very clean. Some places actually remind me of how the forest stages in Britain are when they’re dry. My motivation is now very high, and I’m looking forward to getting started on these two events and being in the fight.”
Kris Meeke
“Argentina has always been a rally that I’ve enjoyed and I have some good memories from there, particularly my first ever WRC win in 2015. I’ll be hoping to try and have a clean rally. Mexico and Corsica could have been a lot better for me, so I’m definitely looking to have a top result. I had three days of testing on gravel in Portugal last week and I think we’re in good shape for Rally Argentina. We’ve got five gravel events in a row coming up and they’re all rallies I go well on, aside from Chile which is new for everyone. As drivers we won’t know exactly what we’re facing until we get to Chile and do the recce, but events in South America are always really well-supported with a great atmosphere, and I’m sure this one will be no different.”
M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans
“I’ve always enjoyed Rally Argentina and I’m looking forward to heading back there again this year. The Argentine fans are amazing and make it a really special place for rallying – and for me. It’s where I got my first podium back in 2015, and where I came pretty close to victory in 2017.
“We’ve had a pretty good start to the season and we want to see that continue that next week. We’ve had the speed; we’ve made some good steps forward with the car and we’ve secured two back-to-back podiums.
“The goal will be to continue that with another podium in Argentina. The competition is exceptionally strong at the moment and it’s fair to say that we struggled here last year. But I’m confident in the work we’ve been doing and if everything goes to plan, I see no reason why we can’t challenge for another top result.”
Teemu Suninen
“I’m really looking forward to next week and it will be interesting to see where we are. The start of the season has shown that the team have clearly taken another step forward with the car. There are still some question marks, but based on the previous events I feel that we can be competitive in Argentina.
“I competed here for the first-time last year and really enjoyed it. It’s not a particularly rough rally, but it is fast and requires a lot of strength. On a long straight you can feel the holes in the road as they bounce the car in the air! You also need a lot of traction and the car needs to handle well in the ruts – which is one of the things we focused on at our test last week.
“Personally, I don’t feel the same pressure that I had before Corsica but I still need to finish this rally with a good result. The good thing is that we can rely on our old pace notes from last year as there aren’t many changes to the route.”
I held a Twitter poll from my account (@Warren_S_Nel) asking to predict the winner and got 118 votes.
Sébastien Ogier got the highest percentage score of the votes, with Thierry deemed least likely to take victory.
| Sebastien Ogier | 33% |
|---|---|
| Elfyn Evans | 29% |
| Ott Tanak | 26% |
| Thierry Neuville | 12% |
Well, we are set for a fascinating battle, and you’ll be able to follow all the action on WRC+ in the app, plus highlights on 5Spike Monday evening the 29th of April at 7pm for an hour.
After a decidedly disappointing 1000th race at the Chinese Grand Prix, the F1 bandwagon brings us to the six kilometre-long Baku Street Circuit for the fourth ever race in Azerbaijan.
Last time out saw Lewis Hamilton take the 75th win of his career, and his second of the season. He goes into this weekend at the top of the WDC ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas, while Ferrari are yet to deliver on the massive potential that they promised after testing in February.
In fact, they have seen their rivals not only inflict significant damage to their title hopes, but make the best team start to a season since Williams in 1992 with three one-two finishes to start the season.
If there is to be any hope for Ferrari getting back to winning ways for the first time in 2019, it is that they looked impressive in Baku last year. Sebastian Vettel had been on for victory had it not been for a safety car late on that allowed Bottas to pit and rejoin ahead of him.
A penultimate lap puncture for Bottas then handed the win to Hamilton in a race that didn’t quite equal 2017, but certainly gave us a lot of excitement and entertainment, while Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were given a lot of resentment by their Red Bull team after their crash.
Speaking of the Austrian team, the tight and twisty corners of a street circuit plus a Honda engine which is giving them significantly more power than Renault did could put them into contention for a podium or perhaps even more if things do their way.
However, this weekend will be a telling one for Pierre Gasly. Having been heavily out-qualified and out-raced thus far by team mate Verstappen this season, a circuit like Baku is an opportunity for him to prove that he deserves the seat awarded to him by Red Bull. Knowing Red Bull’s tendency to be impatient with young drivers, he’d better find some pace quickly.
Their sister team Toro Rosso continue to enjoy a solid start to 2019, and Alex Albon is Red Bull’s next optimistic topic of conversation. He finished 10th in China, having started the race from the pit-lane following a crash in FP3 that put him out of qualifying.
The battle between Toro Rosso, Racing Point, Haas, and Renault continues to be a fun one to watch, as Haas still look for answers to their baffling lack of race pace, and Renault try to have their first clean weekend of the season after a reliability issue-strewn start to the year. There is extra incentive for Nico Hulkenberg, as he looks to prove that Baku is not a bogey track for him, having crashed out of both of the last two races.
As a street track looms, opportunity beckons for some to prove their worth to their teams, and for Ferrari to finally try and throw down the gauntlet to Mercedes in 2019.
[Featured image – Wolfgang Wilhelm]
Johnathan Hoggard says his Race Three victory was all about taking his chances after profiting from other’s mistakes at Oulton Park.
The Fortec driver took advantage of Ayrton Simmons and Clement Novolak’s troubles at Hislop’s to move from third to first in an exciting final race in Cheshire.
Hoggard says he saw it coming.
“Ayrton got a poor exit out the chicane and Clement got alongside him on the outside. I just saw what was going to happen as you can’t get two cars through there so it was a case of just letting them sort themselves out and getting around the outside of the pair of them.
“I wasn’t expecting it to happen as it did as they’re both experienced drivers so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but when you see the two of them make a mistake like that, you have to be opportunistic.”
Having started second, the British F4 graduate slipped behind Novolak on the opening lap and admits he needs to improve his starts.
“I made a mistake at the start with my clutch control, we need to come back to Snetterton stronger with that so we’re going to do lots of preparation for that. It was a case of just making no mistakes, putting people under pressure and taking opportunities that came my way, and I managed to do that.”
Hoggard is targeting more consistency this season after a run of poor form hampered his F4 championship hopes.
“I need to be more consistent with results this year, last year it was my mid season that let me down in terms of the Championship. It’s just a case of getting those good results as we have done this weekend and seeing where we are at the end of this season.”
Ayrton Simmons believes that he and his Chris Dittman Racing Team can challenge for top honours at the 2019 British F3 Championship this season.
Simmons took two podiums and a top in Race Two away from a strong weekend at Oulton Park, and was aiming higher for the rest of the season.
“We should be challenging for the top step, we had the speed in pre-season testing so I don’t see why we shouldn’t be pushing for that podium for the rest of the year and challenging for the title.
“The races last season helped me, we didn’t much testing last year,just the races but it does help to have a little bit of experience from last year to help us prepare as much as we can for this year.”
An incident midway through Race Three saw Simmons drop from the lead down to second, with the stewards demoting him to third after it was ruled that he unfairly, if unintentionally, blocked Clement Novolak after locking his brakes at Hislop’s.
Simmons held his hands up after the race and admitted an error on his part.
“I was trying to push too hard as I could tell the guys were closing in little by little each lap and I just made a small error at that first chicane. I was side by side with Novolak, we were both trying to push for the lead, we ended up going off and that’s how Hoggard passed us both.
“On the same lap I had another go around the outside at the last corner but after that it’s really hard to follow here so I didn’t have another chance.”
Multimatic Racing’s Seb Priaulx and Scott Maxwell took top honours in GT4 at an eventful Oulton Park.
After suffering in Race One, the Ford Mustang had no such problems in Race Two to lead well throughout the second 60 minutes, with an array of cars vying for second during the early part of the race.
Graham Johnson and Michael O’Brien in the Balfe McLaren were second overall to win a tightly contested GT4 Pro/Am category ahead of Steve McCulley and Matt George in the Invictus Jaguar Racing entry and Scott Malvern and Nick Jones’ Team Parker Racing Mercedes.
Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman in the Beechdean Aston Martin Pro/Am GT4 entry were in contention for a podium until they spun during a frenetic end to the race caused in no small part by a lapped Ben Hurst electing to race the leaders.
Hurst would hold Maxwell, Jones, McCulley, Johnson and Fletcher up for two laps as the former British F3 man who would go on to finish 14th almost had a deciding role in the destiny of the winner’s trophies late on.
Michael Broadhurst and Will Moore would both go on to have shunts at Cascades, both playing a part in bringing about Safety Cars, with TF Sport’s Tom Canning receiving a 30s stop/go penalty for causing Broadhurst’s off and Moore’s off completing a bad afternoon for Matt Nicoll-Jones’ Academy Motorsport team.
Sam De Haan took his first British GT victory in his second season with Barwell Motorsport in a dramatic Race Two at Oulton Park.
De Haan passed Abba Racing’s Richard Neary late on after applying enormous pressure on the Mercedes, who gamely hung on for long periods.
Neary, partnered with Adam Christodoulou held off Andrew Howard and Marco Sorensen’s improving Beechdean Aston Martin for second, with early pacesetters Adam Balon and Phil Keen eventually settling for fourth.
Dominic Paul was a solid fifth alongside Jack Mitchell in the Century run BMW with Bradley Ellis and Ollie Wilkinson’s Optimum Aston Martin V8 Vantage sixth.
The quick Iain Loggie and Callum Macleod RAM Racing Mercedes entry was seventh after an eventful race, the former having adventures and running wide at Cascades when running third. Race One winners Seb Morris and Rick Parfitt Junior in the #31 JRM Bentley were tenth in GT3 after late contact dropped the 2017 Champions down the order, while a frustrated Nicki Thiim and Mark Farmer retired to bring about the Safety Car just after GT3 pit stops.
Keen made much of the early running for Barwell Motorsport in a first stint punctuated by an early Safety Car as a result of a GT4 Mercedes beaching itself in the gravel at Cascades.
The Reading-based driver again made hay by pulling out a four-second lead before being held up in the now customary British GT pitlane chaos, with Neary the winner of the pitlane battles.
Thiim had climbed to fifth for Aston Martin before Farmer, who spun in Race One, repeated the trick while battling with Iain Loggie at Island Bend.
De Haan then set about Neary in relentless fashion, hustling and harrying the Mercedes before finally prising the door open at Hislop’s, the bottleneck ensuring that Howard passed Balon for fourth before Loggie’s off.
Johnathan Hoggard made it three different winners from three races at the opening weekend of the British F3 series at Oulton Park.
The Fortec driver recovered from slipping to third on the opening lap to capitalise on others mistakes and keep his head to take the spoils from Ayrton Simmons and a frustrated Clement Novolak.
Simmons had led well from the start for the first eight laps before pressure from Novolak told for the Chris Dittman Racing driver.
Simmons went off at Hislop’s before rejoining the circuit in front of Novolak’s Carlin entry, with the latter being forced to take to the grass and allow Hoggard past the pair of them with five laps remaining.
Kiern Jewiss had the best seat in the house of the top three’s squabbles but the reigning British F4 champion couldn’t land a blow on the top three despite on occasion looking the fastest of the top four contenders.
Neil Verhagen completed a solid day’s racing on Monday with fifth position ahead of Belgian drive Ulysse De Pauw.
A thrilling battle between Manuel Maldonado and Sassakorn Chaimongkol for seventh went the way of the latter, the Thai driver on more than one occasion needing to work hard to get the better of the Venezuelan cousin of former F1 driver Pastor.
Kaylen Frederick had another eventful race to drop to 14th from fourth on the grid at the first corner after a coming together with Douglas driver Jewiss. The American nursed a wounded car to 12th after suspected floor damage to complete an action-packed debut weekend for the 16-year-old Floridian.
HHC Motorsport made a dream start to life with McLaren by winning their first race as a partnership courtesy of Dean MacDonald and Callum Pointon.
The duo were a feature at the front for the entire race having managed to split the leading Multimatic Racing Ford Mustangs of Jade Buford and Scott Maxwell, the Mustangs having been dominant on Saturday during qualifying.
Maxwell and teammate Seb Priaulx would go on to have dramas that would drop the fast Ford back through the order during the second stint as Maxwell went through the gravel after contact and Priaulx spun into the wall while on a comeback trail.
Buford and Chad McCumbee also dropped back as Mustang dominance on Saturday gave way to all-conquering McLarens in Race One on Monday morning.
The Tolman McLaren of James Dorlin and Lewis Smith took second place after an eventful run that included contact with the sister car of Jordan Collard. Collard and Lewis Proctor would retire from second on the penultimate lap after catching fire while challenging for the lead.
The second HHC McLaren of Luke Williams and Tom Jackson was third ahead of McCumbee and Butford, while Josh Price and Patrick Kibble of TF Sport were the highest placed Aston Martin in fifth position.
Matt George and Steve McCulley were the Pro/Am category winners in the Invictus Racing Jaguar ahead of Martin Plowman and Kelvin Fletcher, the former passing Plowman’s Beechdean Aston Martin late on to steal victory in class.
Rick Parfitt Junior and Seb Morris took a popular victory in the opening round of the season after an eventful start to the race on JRM’s British GT debut.
Phil Keen and Adam Balon were second as the lead two cars were in a class of their own, before Bradley Ellis and Ollie Wilkinson held off Jonny Cocker and Sam De Haan.
The two Century Motorsport BMWs driven Ben Green/Dominic Paul and Jack Mitchell/Adrian Willmott were next ahead of Jonny Adam/Graham Davidson and Adam Christodoulou/Richard Neary.
Rounding out the GT3 finishers were Marco Sorensen/Andrew Howard and Nicki Thiim/Mark Farmer, the latter spinning early on and unable to make inroads thereafter.
Drama found the British GT series as early as the second lap when Ryan Ratcliffe’s optimistic move on polesitter Iain Loggie had predictable consequences, the Scotsman spun around and both drivers left out of the race after just two minutes.
A lengthy clean up operation saw the Safety Car out for over ten minutes, and Parfitt was able to capitalise on his inherited lead having passed Sam De Haan at the start.
Parfitt was able to pull out a lead of over four seconds over De Haan, who had the attentions of both Century Motorsport BMWs of Paul and Willmott to contend with for much of the opening stint.
While almost all of the GT3 competitors pitted as soon as possible, Parfitt allowed an extra lap to avoid traffic in a tight Oulton Park pit lane. De Haan found out to his cost how tight the pit lane can be, as he lost several positions when handing over to teammate Cocker.
Cocker would pressurise the Aston Martin of Bradley Ellis for the duration of their second stint for third place to little avail at a narrow and twisty Oulton Park, with third place through to ninth covered by five seconds.
