After an extraordinary start to 2019 that was described as “embarrassing” by team principal Claire Williams, the Williams team now faces uncertainty as F1 heads closer to the 2019 season and out of the crucial first test in Barcelona.
Williams missed the first two of the four days of testing due to a problem which they were extremely reluctant to specify, which put them a long way behind in terms of mileage and understanding the car’s reliability and handling. This, ultimately, will put them behind on pace come the first race in Australia in March.
This latest embarrassment comes after the backlash faced at the unveiling of the new blue and white livery with their new title sponsor Rokit, after which the team, who were once at the pinnacle of F1, were ridiculed. Of course, an opinion-splitting livery isn’t so bad; people won’t really pay much attention to the looks as long as the car is able to perform well, but it tends to become a fairly substantial issue when the team doesn’t only have problems making the car perform, but can barely get the car on track in the first place.
Robert Kubica (POL) Williams Racing FW42 leaves the pits. Formula One Testing, Day 4, Thursday 21st February 2019. Barcelona, Spain.
However, Williams is a 31-year-old team founded by two men in Frank Williams and Patrick Head who are simply too tenacious and ambitious to begin to understand the value of the term ‘giving up’, let alone merely disregard it. The team is based on overcoming hardship and fighting tooth and nail for any and every opportunity, and with the steadfast gene no doubt inherited by Frank’s daughter Claire, this fighting spirit is never far away.
Let’s not forget the last Williams lull. Having been one of the backmarker teams for several years prior to 2014, Williams would bounce back with the arrival of the V6 turbo era, with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa securing podiums, two consecutive third-placed finishes in the constructors’ standings, and even a front row lock-out in qualifying in Austria back in 2014. No matter what comes at this team, they just never seem to go away.
Bottas finds himself in Mercedes and Massa is in Formula E these days, and Williams have turned to an old favourite of the sport, Robert Kubica, returning after a horrific injury in 2011 that kept him out of the sport for eight years, and young British star George Russell who won the F2 championship last year. Kubica, if not for his injury, would have found himself in Ferrari colours in 2012, after winning a race and performing with consistent proficiency and excellence for BMW Sauber (now Alfa Romeo Racing).
Robert Kubica (POL) Williams Racing. Formula One Testing, Day 4, Thursday 21st February 2019. Barcelona, Spain.
Of course, there is also some similar history to suggest that Williams may still be okay. Ferrari endured a torrid testing period of testing in 2012, but would come back to mount a title challenge with Fernando Alonso. The Brawn team of 2009 also deserve a mention. Heading into the season ten years ago, the redundant Honda team were miraculously transformed by Ross Brawn, and having struggled to even get the car to the track, Brawn would go on to win the drivers’ championship with Jenson Button as well as the constructors’ championship. Brawn would then transform in the Mercedes team we are all very familiar with today. These were different circumstances, but they were testing and extremely difficult times nonetheless. It takes a special kind of heart and courage to recover from situations like these, and that heart and courage is certainly embedded in Williams.
With two excellent stars – one old and one new – and the sheer tenacity that runs in the blood and the proud name of Williams, history has shown us that this remarkable spirit to keep going against the odds has seen Williams come back from many a setback. So, despite a seemingly disastrous start to 2019, why should this time be any different? No matter how hard you try, you just can’t keep Williams down.
[Featured image: Robert Kubica (POL) Williams Racing FW42. Formula One Testing, Day 4, Thursday 21st February 2019. Barcelona, Spain]
BWT Arden has announced that Tatiana Calderon will complete their lineup for the 2019 Formula 2 Championship.
Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team
Calderon, who has raced for Arden previously in the 2016 GP3 Championship, graduates to F2 on the back of a breakthrough year in 2018.
After joining Sauber as a development driver in 2017, Calderon developed into a regular points-scorer during last year’s GP3 campaign with Jenzer. Later in the year she drove Sauber’s C37 Formula 1 car during a filming day in Mexico, before completing a two-day test at Fiorano in the team’s 2013 C32.
She has also since taken part in two tests with the DS-Techeetah Formula E team, in Ad Diriyah and Marrakesh, as well as the post-season F2 test in Abu Dhabi at the end of last year.
Speaking about her maiden F2 season, Calderon said: “I’m very excited to compete in the FIA F2 Championship with BWT Arden. It’s a new challenge in my career and a step closer to my ultimate goal to reach Formula 1.”
Arden team principal Garry Horner said he is “delighted to welcome Tatiana back into the Arden fold” after her “very impressive” results in her F2 and Formula E test outings.
Calderon will partner 2018 GP3 champion Anthoine Hubert, as BWT Arden enters a new technical partnership with HWA Racelab for 2019.
New bikes, new pilots and a rider roster which arguably sees one of the most competitive fields in WorldSBK history are what awaits in 2019, and it all starts this weekend in Australia, at the magnificent Phillip Island circuit.
Not many series’ are able to claim that the first track on their calendar is best in the world, but the Superbike World Championship has that luxury, and has enjoyed it since 2009.
Phillip Island’s high-speed front straight sets the tone for the whole circuit, which sees riders dip below third gear on only three or four occasions, depending on gearing.
Not only is Phillip Island a favourite with the riders for the enjoyment found in lapping it alone, but also for the racing it provides. The high-speed nature of the layout means the rider can make more difference here than anywhere else. Additionally, the front straight is long, and the exit from the final corner onto that front straight is fast, meaning the slipstream can be very powerful.
Group races, then, are to be expected. Or, they are if you are optimistic.
From the final preseason test, it is possible to assume that Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) may just disappear this weekend, in all three races. The 2006 125cc World Champion and WorldSBK rookie dominated this week’s test in Phillip Island, topping each of the four sessions across Monday and Tuesday, and setting three times as many laps in the 1’30s as any of his rivals. It is not a coincidence. Bautista’s ‘grand prix’ riding style, which utilises the side of the tyre and uses high corner speed, is one which works well in Phillip Island thanks to the long, sweeping corners. At the same time, however, it uses the rear tyre less efficiently than the more ‘stop-start’ style of the riders with more experience with Pirelli rubber and Superbike machinery. Bautista might have Sunday’s sprint race in the bag, but the two longer races on Saturday and Sunday afternoon should see the Spaniard in more trouble – unless he can solve his issues on Friday.
The Panigale V4 R. Image courtesy of Ducati
Bautista’s steed for this year is the Ducati Panigale V4 R, the latest edition of Ducati’s superbike, and the first one in their history to have four cylinders. The V4 R is one of four new bikes on the grid this year, essentially, with BMW returning the WSBK with a full factory effort. The Kawasaki bringing an updated model of the ZX-10RR. Whilst Honda have – in theory – the same bike as last year in the new Moriwaki Althea setup, but in reality the CBR1000RR for 2019 is completely different to the one of last season, as this year’s package is derived from the Suzuka 8 Hour and Japanese championship bike of last year.
But it is the new Panigale, nonetheless, that has – with its MotoGP-derived engine pumping out a reported 234 horsepower and the front wheel being planted by the grand prix-style winglets – attracted the most attention, and Bautista’s speed on the bike has only heightened that. However, in comparison to the Spaniard, the other Ducati riders have been struggling, especially with rear grip. Neither Bautista’s Aruba.it Racing teammate Chaz Davies, nor GoEleven’s Eugene Laverty or Barni Racing’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi could get within one second of Bautista’s times in the test this week, and Bautista has been consistently the fastest Ducati rider throughout the winter. Clearly the V4 R is not an easy bike to master, but once its pace has been unlocked, as Bautista has shown, it has the potential to be a formidable challenger to Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Kawasaki.
And, ultimately, that is the biggest question coming into this season: can anyone stop Jonathan Rea? The Northern Irishman has won over half the races he has competed for Kawasaki since he joined them in 2015, and won all four world titles in that time. Phillip Island is not one of his strongest circuits, statistically at least – indeed he did not win a race in Australia last year. He has, however, won five races at the Island, and did the double-double in 2016-17. It seems, though, that Rea is perhaps not yet completely comfortable with the new Kawasaki, and that makes this first round increasingly important for his rivals.
In comparison, Rea’s teammate, Leon Haslam, is something of a Phillip Island specialist – when he has a competitive package, he will be fighting for the win in Australia. Haslam’s history of podiums at Phillip Island stretches back to 2009, when he finished third in the second race, and since then he has scored five further podiums at the Australian track, including two wins: 2010 race one; 2015 race 2.
Marco Melandri – GRT Yamaha Supported WorldSBK – 2019 WorldSBK – Phillip Island – Preseason Test. Image courtesy of Yamaha corporation.
Marco Melandri has a similar affinity with Phillip Island to Haslam, and won both races last year on his head-shaking twin-cylinder Ducati. Melandri has now moved to the GRT Yamaha squad, who have moved up from World Supersport and brought 2018 Supersport World Champion Sandro Cortese with them. Both riders have been impressive in preseason, but especially Melandri was very quick this week at Phillip Island. With the Yamaha’s well-known ability to save a tyre, Melandri could be well in the mix in the two full-length races.
As for the full factory Yamaha riders, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK), they have had differing winter campaigns. Lowes’ speed in the winter was matched with consistency, especially in Jerez and Portimao earlier in 2019. Van der Mark’s preseason, on the other hand, was initially marred by an injury picked up at the final round of the 2018 season in Qatar. The pair of them, though, have been quick in Phillip Island over the last couple of years, and Yamaha have definitely made a step over the winter, so expect to see them in the front this weekend.
BMW’s new S1000RR is giving up a lot of speed on the front straight. This is to be expected, since the bike is brand new, and the motor isn’t from MotoGP. The time, however, that the bike is giving up on the straight, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) is making up in the rest of the lap. Sykes demonstrated fantastic pace throughout preseason, and this year it is going to be interesting to see what he can do with a fresh start and without Jonathan Rea on the other side of the garage.
Instead of Rea, Sykes has Markus Reiterberger, the last ever Superstock 1000 champion, as his teammate in the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK squad this year. After one-and-a-half seasons out of WorldSBK, Reiterberger will be anxious to show his full potential on this, his second chance in the premier class of production-based motorcycle racing.
It’s that time of the year – no, we’re not talking about the climate: no, this is about that special time when the garages are open, the engines are growling and racing tracks are once again put to good use.
But even earlier than this week, we had a few shakedown tests. The prequel to the pre-season, if you will. And two teams decided to treat us to some special liveries to mark the occasion – Red Bull and Alfa Romeo both ran unique testing liveries, masking their cars’ intricacies while offering the fans a welcome shot of variety.
But with them both joining the long line of testing liveries, can they be considered to be up there with the best of them? We’ll be ranking our top ten favourite test liveries, from eras far gone to the present day.
10 – Renault, 2002 pre-season testing
When we think back to Renault’s F1 beginnings, the original turbo era comes to mind. Alain Prost, unreliability, and yellow, white and black liveries were the main elements of Renault’s roots.
To celebrate their finally outright owning an F1 team for the first time since then the French manufacturer paid homage to their old-style liveries (no black though). Basic yet sleek, it would eventually be spruced up with dashes of blue.
9 – BAR, 2006 Friday running
Alright, so this one isn’t actually pre-season testing. But this unique 555 livery (part of British American Tobacco, team owners) replacing the usual Lucky Strike branding was a splendid sight to see.
It was used for Friday practice running, when third cars were permitted to be used by certain teams – Anthony Davidson was running the car in these colours at the inaugural Chinese Grand Prix.
8 – Red Bull, 2015 pre-season testing
Mark Thompson/Getty Images
Red Bull are no strangers to this ‘unique livery’ thing – they’ve done it four times now, and that’s excluding the one-off liveries they’ve tried out for size in races (the stunning Wings For Life designs in particular).
This black-and-white camo livery for 2015 was never going to be used full-time, as it was intended to hide important aspects of the car away from prying eyes. Not that it was all that useful, at least in this case; Red Bull came fourth in the 2015 standings.
7 – Spyker, 2007 pre-season testing
Spyker’s one-season stint in F1 may not have been bright, but their originally intended test livery certainly was. The strongest of orange tones, the Spyker in anything nearing sunny weather ended up looking red – not the result Spyker wanted.
The faux-Ferrari paint job was thrown to the scrapheap, in favour of a lighter shade of orange that would perfectly showcase the team’s Dutch flair. Fun Fact: they once led a race, Markus Winkelhock in the 2007 European Grand Prix.
6 – Williams, 2014 pre-season testing
Williams, for the last five years, have adorned a striking white Martini livery. It’s easy to forget that the Grove outfit’s adopted colour is actually blue – last seen on 2014’s barnstorming FW36.
The Martini deal was still to be negotiated when 2014 testing commenced, and so Williams ran this simple yet fetching dark blue design, signalling a back to basics approach that propelled the team back to the top of the grid. If they’ll ever get there again, we’ll have to see…
One of the two unique new designs we saw break this week, Alfa Romeo Racing’s hearts and clovers paint scheme was a reference to both Valentine’s Day and the team’s historic emblem.
The Hinwil-based team, finally ditching the iconic Sauber name for 2019, are hoping to make progress on their promising 2018 campaign. With a radical new design, maybe those hearts adorning it in the shakedown with foreshadow a lovely season ahead.
4 – McLaren, 2005 pre-season testing
McLaren brought back the iconic papaya colour schemes back full-time in 2017, but for many years the paint job was only used for test outings, like their 2005 title contender, MP4-20.
The striking presence the bright papaya gave was a stark contrast to the usual chrome and black McLaren were so synonymous for running in the Mercedes era, and it was always a refreshing sight.
3 – Red Bull, 2019 shakedown
The Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15. Image courtesy of Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull, as stated earlier, are no newbies to trying out a unique testing livery. This year’s such example centered around a striking red and dark blue combo, with everything made up of camo-esque lines designed to throw off prying eyes.
It marked the dawn of the Honda era, with Red Bull breaking away from previous suppliers Renault after a 12-year partnership. Can the Japanese manufacturer bounce back from their pain with McLaren, and create a winning combo with Red Bull?
2 – Renault, 2016 pre-season testing
The 2016 pre-season marked the third time Renaut would outright own its own F1 team (funnily enough, they re-purchased the team they sold to Genii Capital in 2010). And as such, they went back to basics with their livery.
2002’s homage missed out the black; 2016’s test livery was almost nothing but. There were yellow accents, but otherwise it was a smooth black paint job. When it came to actually racing the thing, Renault simply inverted the black and yellow colours.
1 – Red Bull, 2018 shakedown
Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool
Finding a top pick for this list was a hard one – the simplicity of the 2016 Renault, and the novelty of this year’s Red Bull were tempting, but it’s their design from last year that wins out.
The digital camo, designed in blue and grey, looks both menacing and stylish. It also compliments the car, helping to hide the halo while accentuating the main features of the body. It’s just a shame it was only used for one day…
Featured image courtesy of Getty images / RedBull Content Pool
World Superbike’s 2019 preseason ended today in Phillip Island with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) posting the fastest time to confirm his position from Monday, and just two days before the season gets underway.
Bautista was faster, once again, in the morning compared to the afternoon, as he set a 1’30.303 on the Panigale V4 R in the first session. His speed was similar in the afternoon, with a 30.326, and the Spaniard ended the test with three-times as many laps in the 1’30s than anyone else. The question mark surrounding the factory Ducati rider is his ability to manage the Pirelli WorldSBK tyres, which work in a different way to the Michelin MotoGP rubber. If Bautista can get on top of this issue with his riding style, he could be untouchable this weekend.
Alvaro Bautista at Phillip Island WSBK 2019 testing – Day two. Image courtesy of Ducati Media
Difficulties remained, though, for the other Ducati riders, with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) failing once again to make the top ten, Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven) only taking part in the morning session in which he finished sixteenth and 1.683 seconds away from Bautista; and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team) not managing to get within 1.5 seconds of Bautista.
Second-fastest of the day was Tom Sykes on the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK S1000RR, with a 1’30.539 set in the afternoon. The new S1000RR is suffering on top speed which, regardless of pace, could hurt both Sykes and his factory BMW teammate, Markus Reiterberger, in a last lap scrap with Phillip Island’s long, high speed run to the finish line. But regardless of this (and any new bike can be expected to suffer on straight line speed, especially if the motor is not derived from a grand prix bike), the signs from BMW are positive, and they could surprise a few people this season.
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was third-fastest on World Superbike’s final day of preseason, the 2018 BSB champion setting his fastest time – a 1’30.668 – also in the afternoon, like Sykes. Haslam has proven over the years to be something of a Phillip Island specialist, and it is showing again this year, having beaten his teammate, reigning WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea, on both days of the test. Haslam will be hoping to continue that into the race weekend itself in a couple of days.
World Champion Jonathan Rea ended the day fourth, but tellingly did not make any long runs, suggesting he is not yet completely happy with the new ZX-10RR. It certainly doesn’t seem to be anything the Northern Irishman needs to worry about too much, but there could be an opportunity for his rivals to capitalise in the early stages of this season, and their ability to take this chance could be pivotal for the outcome of the season.
The Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team riders were slightly further down the timesheets today, especially Alex Lowes who has been consistently in the top two or three times in preseason before today. Lowes was eighth in the morning, and sixth in the afternoon, but completed fifty-four laps over the course of the day and was still only half a second shy of the dominant Bautista at the close of proceedings.
Lowes’ teammate, Michael van der Mark, had almost the inverse of Lowes’ day, finishing the first session in fifth and the second in eighth. Van der Mark, though, completed sixty-three laps over the course of the day, and it would be a surprise if he were not in the mix come Saturday.
The semi-factory GRT Yamaha WorldSBK riders both were stronger in the morning than the afternoon, with Marco Melandri slipping from second to twelfth between the morning and the afternoon, and Sandro Cortese going from seventh to eleventh. Melandri, though, should be strong at the weekend, having been competitive in three of the four Phillip Island test sessions. The one session where he did not figure at the very sharp end being the final session of the week, where he was running what would be expected race lap times, in the 1’31s.
There were good signs from the independent Kawasaki riders in the afternoon, as Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) finished fifth-fastest, Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) was seventh and Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) ninth. These performances confirm that whilst there is a lack of quantity in this year’s WorldSBK field, there is plenty of quality to counter-act that.
Leon Camier riding for the Moriwaki Althea Honda Team at Phillip Island WSBK 2019 testing – Day two. Image courtesy of Honda Racing Corporation via Hondanews.eu
Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) impressed in the Tuesday morning session, in which he finished tenth, 1.140 seconds shy of Bautista on the factory CBR1000RR. The Englishman backed that up with an eleventh place in the afternoon, 1.151 seconds outside Bautista. Camier’s teammate, Ryuichi Kiyonari, finished fourteenth in the morning and fifteenth in the afternoon.
The third full-time Honda (that is, to ignore the wildcard entry of Troy Herfoss) of Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) joined Eugene Laverty in only partaking in the morning session, which he closed in eighteenth place, 2.676 seconds off the pace.
The next time WorldSBK will be on track will be Friday morning, back in Phillip Island, for round one of the 2019 Superbike World Championship.
IndyCar has released renders of their solution to cockpit safety, with the first on-track test of the device scheduled for April 24th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All being well, the Advanced Frontal Protection system (AFP) will make it’s racing debut at this year’s running of the Indianapolis 500.
The AFP comes in the form of a three-inch titanium piece that will be fixed to the front of the cockpit, in a seemingly similar way to that of F1’s halo. IndyCar report that the addition has passed the same strength tests as the roll hoop, built by Dallara.
This comes after IndyCar ran a windscreen-type solution at multiple tests during last season, but, despite the running, it is not yet ready to be used in races with issues relating to visibility, practicality and reflection all still to be ironed out, as well as questions over its potential effectiveness. There is still a lot of work to do on the windscreen, but IndyCar has made it clear that this solution has not, by any means, been abandoned.
As such, the AFP seems to be coming in as an interim solution before something more substantial can be implemented.
A halo-type solution was considered during last season; however, this presents a number of challenges that are unique to IndyCar. First of all, a halo would pose serious visibility issues on ovals as the top structure would block parts of the track from the driver’s view – potentially causing far more problems than it would solve. Even on the road courses, a halo would be an issue as it can’t be fitted on the current IndyCar chassis, and, given the latest update only came in last season, they probably won’t be updated again for another few seasons.
The biggest problem IndyCar has to try and steer around is the cost-factor, especially for the smaller teams who are already struggling as it is. For likes of Juncos and Harding, a chassis change so soon after a major change wouldn’t be financially viable, and the series would risk losing a fair few entrants.
This also realistically rules out the potential of having two different solutions – one for road courses and one for ovals – as could again push out the smaller teams, which are vital to the success of IndyCar.
IndyCar President Jay Frye stated: “Safety is a never-ending pursuit, and this is IndyCar’s latest step in the evolution. There are more details to come about the phases to follow.”
One thing is for sure, IndyCar had to do something ahead of the 2019 season. There were too many near misses in 2018 for them to wait until the windscreen is ready to use, and the AFP, small though it is, is the first step towards a much safer IndyCar with a determination to not have repeats of recent accidents, such as that of Justin Wilson in 2015.
The young Estonian took his seventh victory of his career and has moved into the championship lead for the first time ever. Here’s the story of how it came together.
The first stage on Thursday evening saw Thierry take an early lead from Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen, whilst Ott was fourth, just 1.9 seconds after the short 1,9km opener.
Friday
It was a very early start on Friday morning, with service at six am! The start order looked like this- Ogier, Neuville, Tänak, Meeke, Loeb, Latvala, Suninen, Tidemand, Mikkelsen, Lappi, Evans, Gronhölm, Bertelli, Tuohino, Greensmith, Rovanperä, Ostberg.
First stage, SS 2 – Hof-Finnskog 1 (21,26 km) saw some changes to the leaderboard. The conditions were surprisingly warm, with temperatures hovering around seven to eight degrees. Conditions in the stage were not what you’d expect for the only snow rally on the calendar, with slush and not much of a disadvantage for Seb Ogier who opened the road, but still managed to set the fourth fastest time, just 4.1 seconds behind Ott who won the stage from Teemu and Jari-Matti.
The next stage, SS 3 – Svullrya 1 (24,88 km) saw very different conditions, with fresh snow and a little longer stage giving those further back an advantage. Teemu used this, to take the stage and move up into second overall. Seb Ogier and Andreas both fell down the leaderboard. Elfyn had a better stage as well, moving into the top ten.
There was more light snow in SS 4 – Röjden 1 (18,10 km) and Ott took another stage victory with his lead increased over Teemu, whilst Latvala’s second fastest time moved him ahead of Thierry. Elfyn showed improved pace and confidence, setting the third fastest time and moving closer to Loeb who was holding ninth place.
SS 5 – Hof-Finnskog 2 saw Elfyn take his first ever stage victory in Sweden, moving into eighth place as well, with Jari-Matti and Teemu second and third fastest, whilst Ott could only manage sixth fastest and he fell from the lead to third with Jari-Matti and Teemu now in first and second overall.
SS 6 – Svullrya 2 (24,88 km) saw the exit of Seb Ogier for the day, as he spun after hitting snowbank, and with no spectators nearby, there was no chance to get back on road. The C3 was stuck fast. Teemu won the stage, deposing Jari-Matti from the lead and Seb Loeb and Andreas were second and third, whilst Elfyn climbed another two places, after setting the fourth fastest time.
We didn’t have to wait long for another stage victory for Elfyn, as he took SS 7 – Röjden 1 (18,10 km) with Latvala and Loeb setting the same time, 4.4 seconds behind the Welshman who was now in fifth overall. Teemu was still in the lead with Jari-Matti and Ott his closest challengers.
Elfyn and Scott powered their Fiesta to two stage victories on Saturday, their first in Sweden. Photo credit, M-Sport
The final stage of the day was won by WRC2 Hyundai driver Jari Huttunen, beating Lappi and Tanak incredibly! Brilliant giant-killing performance, in a stage that rewards driver skill more than just having a faster car. Teemu was still leading, with Ott and Andreas having made it into second and third, with Elfyn having climbed now into fourth position.
STANDINGS AFTER DAY 1
Suninen / Salminen (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1:11:05.3
Tänak / Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +2.0
Mikkelsen / Jaeger-Amland (Hyundai i20 WRC) +17.8
Evans / Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +28.6
Lappi / Ferm (Citroën C3 WRC) +42.0
Loeb / Elena (Hyundai i20 WRC) +48.8
Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +52.7
Meeke / Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +53.1
Tidemand / Floene (Ford Fiesta WRC) +1:24.4
Let’s hear from the drivers.
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (1st)
“To be leading my first rally is an amazing feeling. We didn’t make any big mistakes and had really good pace all day so we can be happy with that. It was just a shame that we made a small mistake with the lights on the last stage [SS8] – otherwise our lead could have been 10 seconds more than it is now!
“The car feels really good and I have really enjoyed the driving. We had a really good test in the lead-up to this event and the whole team was pushing the car to be better.
“Of course, everyone’s target is to be the fastest, but we need to remember that there are still two days to go with some very difficult conditions. We need to keep going and concentrate on the driving. For sure Ott will be fast tomorrow, but we are in front of him and we will try our best.”
Elfyn Evans (4th)
“We didn’t have the best of starts and it was a shame about the spin on the first stage of the morning [SS2]. By the third stage [of the day, SS4] we had started to get into it and it went pretty well from there with two stage wins. The afternoon was really good and we moved up to fourth, so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Pontus Tidemand (9th)
“We had some problems this morning but the car was working well this afternoon and I am quite happy with my driving. The speed of the guys at the front is really quick and I know that I still have a lot to learn. This evening we will try to look at what we have been doing well and what we can do better. We’ll keep going tomorrow and try to find some more.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak (2nd)
“I really enjoyed it this morning: we had great conditions and it was a pure joy to drive. This afternoon was then completely opposite, but it is often like this on Rally Sweden. It was just about surviving and getting through, and then on the last stage we gave it a push to get closer to the leader. It wasn’t an easy stage with deep snow and with not many studs left on the tyres: I had a couple of moments myself. I think we did all we could today, and tomorrow we should have similar conditions to the drivers we are competing with.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Rally2)
“For the most part, today was a great day. The car has been really good to drive and I was enjoying a big fight with Teemu Suninen. I was using my tyres a lot which was OK when we had the gravel ruts, but then the last stage was icy with more snow on the top of the surface. I was pushing too hard for the conditions on my used tyres and it caught me out. Now it will be important to get back out there tomorrow and to try and get a good feeling with the driving.”
Kris Meeke (8th)
“We struggled for pace this morning but it got better during the afternoon loop. The conditions were really tough. At one moment it looked like Rally GB with all the mud, and the next you’re in deep slush. Unfortunately, a stall at the start of one stage has cost us three positions, and three positions in the road order for tomorrow. There’s still a long way to go though, and tomorrow will be complicated again with the conditions, so let’s see what happens.”
FIA World Rally Championship 2019 / Round 02 / Rally Sweden / February 14-17th, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier (Rally2)
“We had had a good first loop this morning. But we knew that the second loops here are always very tricky, especially when you are first on the road. I only had a slight impact with a snow bank, but we ended up stuck. With no fans nearby, we had no chance of getting going again.”
Esapekka Lappi (5th)
“It was a difficult day, with quite a few errors among the crews and unfortunately, I was of the ones to make a mistake. I am nonetheless pleased with the way in which I ended the leg and with the progress I made in the handling of my C3 WRC on these stages. In recce, there was less ice on tomorrow’s stages than those we contested today, so I expect there will be quite a bit of gravel and mud on the roads. I’ll need to look after the studs more, but I’m going to keep pushing like we have done so far.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (3rd)
“We have finished a tough opening day in third overall, which is a pretty satisfactory position to find ourselves all things considered. It has been hard to feel comfortable to push in these conditions. We were managing our tyres so we could go for a good final stage of the day, but we still lost a lot of studs. This morning we were making changes between every stage to find a better rhythm and make the most of our road position. As always, it was great to drive in Norway and to experience the fantastic home support. Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll focus on chasing down a podium finish.”
Seb Loeb (6th)
“It has been a day focused on finding improvements. I couldn’t get into a good rhythm this morning. These cars are very fast on these stages and you have to be completely confident. You need to trust the grip from the car to get the ideal entry speed for each corner, and to commit fully. We improved with each stage as our confidence was building inside the car. We have tried to regain some of the lost time, while also driving sensibly to make sure we don’t make any mistakes. Tomorrow, we will try to pick up our pace even more.”
Thierry Neuville (7th)
“We felt we were a bit too cautious this morning as one of the first cars on the road, and some of the guys behind us were able to go really fast. We made some good adjustments at lunchtime service but the afternoon did not get off to the start we had hoped. The conditions were more like a gravel rally than a snow one. Unfortunately, we hit a snowbank and spun the car, causing damage that then affected the rest of our day. Missing aero at the front of the car, we had to just drive gently and fluidly. We will aim for a more representative performance tomorrow and see what we can do to make up ground.”
2019 FIA World Rally Championship Round 02, Sweden Rally 14-17 February 2019 Thierry Neuville Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Saturday
It was another early start, with service once again at six am! The start order was thus- Gronhölm Ogier, Latvala, Bertelli, Tuohino, Tidemand, Meeke, Neuville, Loeb, Lappi, Evans, Mikkelsen, Tänak, Suninen.
Stage SS9 – Rämmen 1 (23,13 km) was won by Jari-Matti from Tanak and Seb. Teemu slipped from the lead, with Ott now back at the top of the leaderboard. It was a good stage for Kris as well, as he moved up into sixth place, now ahead of Thierry and Seb Loeb.
Ogier won the following stage, SS 10 – Hagfors 1 (23,40 km), from Ott and Thierry. There was the dramatic exit of Teemu from second though, who slid off the road. The gap between third place, held by Elfyn and sixth place was now just eleven seconds.
Ogier also won SS 11 – Vargasen 1 (14,21 km) from Thierry and Teemu. Thierry’s pace lifted him up into fourth place and was now just a second behind Elfyn. The gap from sixth closed a little more to third as well.
Ott Tanak continued his strong pace in SS 12 – Rämmen 2 (23,13 km), winning once more and taking his lead up to 40 seconds over Andreas. Esapekka was also on the move up, deposing Elfyn from third place and Thierry as well, who was now fifth.
SS 13 – Hagfors 2 (23,40 km) followed after service and it was another stage win for the ever-dominant Estonian in his Yaris, his lead now a little over fifty seconds. Lappi was also closing on second placed Andreas, whilst Thierry had passed Elfyn, moving into fourth place.
Top three in SS 14 – Vargasen 2 (14,21 km) was, Ogier, Neuville and Evans. Andreas lost more time to an ever closing Esapekka, with only two seconds between them on the leaderboard. Elfyn was keeping the pressure on Thierry as best he could, and had also increased the gap to Kris. Unfortunately, Teemu retired, after clipping a tree, which resulted in damage to the rollcage in his car.
Ott also won SS 15 – Super Special Stage Karlstad 2 (1,90 km), whilst Esapekka closed to within four tenths of a second of Andreas.
SS 16 – Torsby Sprint (2,80 km) was won by Thierry, thus increasing the gap to Elfyn and Lappi was second in the stage, bringing him level with Andreas on the leaderboard, now sharing second overall. Ott’s lead was standing at fifty-four and a half seconds, after a very strong day.
“I’m really happy with how today went. The conditions in the morning were really nice again, and it was just pure fun to drive. I wasn’t pushing to the maximum, I was just in a good rhythm. This afternoon was completely different to yesterday for me: the conditions were very smooth. It shows how important the job we did yesterday was, because today we have been able to take advantage of our good road position. Now we have quite a big margin behind and we just need to manage it through the first two stages tomorrow, and then hopefully it might be possible to get some points from the Power Stage.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (25th)
“It was good to restart this morning with the fastest time in Rämmen. It’s a stage I have very good memories of as it was where I celebrated my first win here in 2008. The conditions were really nice this morning but this afternoon it was very demanding, so we just tried to experiment with the setup in preparation for tomorrow. When the roads have been fast and flowing, the car has felt really good but we’ve been struggling in some of the more technical parts, so we’ve been trying to work on this with our sights set on the Power Stage.”
Kris Meeke (6th)
“It has been another mixed day for us. This morning when the roads were nice and frozen, we had good speed and we were moving into podium contention. The car felt good, I was getting more confidence and attacking a bit more. I expected that this afternoon would be difficult with our road position with the temperature going up and it proved to be. Now we just have to try and hold on to our position tomorrow.”
Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier (33rd)
“It’s always a different race when you rejoin after a retirement, but we tried to find a good rhythm and try out a few things with the set-up, especially as we had a wide variety of conditions again today. It also gave me the chance to gradually improve my knowledge of the C3 WRC and the times we set today confirm its potential. As one of the first on the road, I’m not sure I have a real chance on the Power Stage tomorrow, but we’ll at least give it a good go. “
Esapekka Lappi (equal 2nd)
“I think we can be pleased with our performance today! After a good morning, our afternoon was even more solid. I was comfortable in my C3 WRC in the ruts which had formed between the two loops. There are four of us that can realistically finish on the podium, so we’ll need to be wide awake tomorrow, especially as the Likenas stage, in particular, is so fast that you need to be fully committed. But as far as that is concerned, you can definitely count on us!”
Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm at speed! Photo credit, Citroen Total WRT
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (equal 2nd)
“It is developing into a very intense battle in some very complicated driving conditions, but I am really enjoying myself. We had a good morning loop, and moved up into second place, but we were still lacking some top speed. Changes we made at lunchtime service worked well but we had a moment midway through the loop. We lost grip and went into a snowbank that lost us a bit of time. The times are incredibly close so we will keep pushing on Sunday morning and do everything we can to finish this rally on the podium.”
Thierry Neuville (4th)
“We have made good progress today and second place is now firmly in our sights. It’s going to be a close battle between many crews, which sets up another exciting final day – perfect entertainment for the fans! I have tried to focus on finding grip and traction in the difficult conditions. I was missing a bit of confidence in the faster sections but overall, we have had a positive day. The afternoon loop was about managing tyres. We were pushing hard in SS14 (Vargåsen) when I got caught out off the line and had a spin. We lost four or five seconds there but we got straight back on it to minimise the time loss. It’s definitely game on for second tomorrow, and we’re right in the hunt.”
Seb Loeb (7th)
“It has been another day of two halves. It has been quite some time since I last competed in Rally Sweden, and we only had one day of testing, so considering those limitations it has been OK. The car has felt good; the question is just about finding the right rhythm. The afternoon loop was an improvement, even if we had to manage the tyres, and we now need to focus on our fight with Kris Meeke for sixth place.”
M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans (5th)
“There was more time to be found out there today and although we had some good stages it was disappointing to lose so much time on some of the others. Tomorrow is a new day and we’ll keep fighting and looking forward.”
Pontus Tidemand (8th)
“I started to feel very comfortable in the car this afternoon so I am happy for that. But with this road position it was not so easy to get close to the top times. Hopefully if we have some freezing temperatures tonight, tomorrow will be a bit better for us.”
Teemu Suninen (DNF)
“We made some mistakes today but I think this weekend has still been a positive one. Last year we were struggling quite a lot with the pace, but this year we were able to increase the speed and fight for the top positions.
“The pace has been really good all weekend. Of course, we shouldn’t have made these mistakes, but there were a lot of mistakes from a lot of drivers in these difficult conditions – and it is better to have the pace and improve the consistency.
“The performance has given me a lot of confidence and I need to push more and prepare even harder for the next rallies. I want to thank the team – not only for repairing the car today – but also because everyone is pushing in the right direction and the car feels really good.”
Sunday
Just three stages remained then to run on Sunday, and the start list looked like this – Gronhölm, Ogier, Latvala, Bertelli, Tuohino, Tidemand, Suninen, Loeb, Meeke, Evans, Neuville, Lappi, Mikkelsen, Tänak, Ostberg.
Jari-Matti won SS 17 – Likenäs 1 (21,19 km) from Seb Ogier and Esapekka, with the result that the young Finn was now in a clear second place, as Andreas fell to fourth place, now also behind Thierry. The gap had also closed between the Norwegian and Elfyn. The Welshman was not giving up on getting fourth place.
The re-run of – Likenäs 2 (21,19 km) as SS18 saw Elfyn take his third stage win in Sweden, taking 2.4 seconds out of Andreas in their continuing battle for fourth. Esapekka was widening the gap to Thierry, but up front, Ott Tanak was confirming his position at the top, whilst looking after his tyres for one final push in the powerstage.
The last stage then, SS 19 – Torsby 2 Power Stage (8,93 km) and the top five were, Tanak, Neuville, Evans, Ogier and Lappi and they picked up the points for their championship challenge. Ott Tanak moved into the lead of the championship for the first time ever.
“We have had a very good weekend. Friday was a key moment where we had to get through to minimise the time loss in the conditions, but after this we just drove with a good rhythm and as little risk as possible. Today it was about saving the tyres for the Power Stage and to give it a big push. We had a very good run and everything was working really well, so I was really comfortable in the car. We have a very strong team and it’s great for us to have this kind of result at the beginning of the season.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (21st)
“The first stage this morning was the best stage of the rally: nice, clean ice conditions with big snowbanks, and a fast, flowing road over the crests. It was really enjoyable to drive and nice to be back in a good rhythm. I hoped to get some points on the Power Stage and finish the rally on a high note, but the conditions there for me were very difficult, especially the last part where there was lots of snow and slush. Now we look forward to Mexico.”
Kris Meeke (6th)
“The conditions this morning were very nice with full ice: just what we really like to drive on. My objective today was to try and finish in front of Sebastien Loeb and we managed to increase the gap, so I’m happy with that. On the Power Stage I had a big impact on the front-left and I struggled after that. The mild temperatures this weekend have been so different to my pre-event test and I’ve lacked some speed as a result. But it’s good to get to the end and score some points for the team.”
FIA World Rally Championship 2019 / Round 02 / Rally Sweden / February 14-17th, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Citroën Total WRT
Esapekka Lappi (2nd)
“I knew after testing that we had worked well and that was confirmed during this rally, which I really enjoy. The conditions this weekend were nonetheless quite a bit different so we gradually worked on improving the set-up of our C3 WRC, which helped us to feel increasingly confident in the car and to up our pace as we completed more of the stages. I’m delighted with this result. It kick starts our season and augurs really well for the rest of the year!”
Sébastien Ogier (29th)
“Obviously, I had hoped for a better result, but it’s always difficult to do well when you open the road here. A lot of the crews hit the snow banks, including us. We were also a bit unlucky in that we got stuck in one of the rare spots where there were no spectators. We did our very best on the Power Stage, even though once again the conditions were far from ideal for us. I’m already focused on Mexico. “
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville (3rd)
“We are pleased to be on the podium again; we couldn’t have done any more here at Rally Sweden. It was a big battle in these tricky conditions and we were on the edge for a lot of it. When you are pushing so hard, it is easy to make mistakes, so we have to be content with our third place – as well as taking four extra points for second in the Power Stage. We are still at the start of a long season with lots more to come, so it is important to get as many points in the bag in these opening rounds. As a team, we are all focused on pushing for more performance, and we will continue to work in this direction as we prepare for Mexico.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“We gave it all we could this weekend, and it was an exciting right to the end. Of course, we would have preferred to finish on the podium but congratulations to Thierry for his result. It is a pretty good team result for here; third and fourth gives us important points, but we know it could have been better. In conditions like we have faced, it is a high-risk strategy to push too hard. Today, we wanted to maintain a good pace but not do anything crazy to jeopardise our position. As a team, we have all three cars at the end of the rally and we can take a lot of lessons forward into future events. Thanks to all the fans for showing us such great support this weekend.”
Seb Loeb (7th)
“It has been a complicated weekend, with a lot of ups and downs. I am happy to have made it to the end of the rally. We have set some good times during the event and we have been able to learn a lot more about the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, which is very useful for the future. In the end, looking at these positives, it has been a satisfactory weekend but with room for further improvement.”
M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans (5th)
“We’ve had very good speed for the most part of this weekend. I would say that we can be happy with 75 percent of the stages we did, but I’m just kicking myself about the other 25 percent which didn’t go quite as well as they should have.
“We had the potential to be on the podium so we are left with a little bit of frustration, but there are still a lot of positives. We’ve made a massive step with the car compared to last year and we already know that we’re competitive on gravel so I’m really looking forward to the upcoming events.”
Pontus Tidemand (8th)
“It’s a dream to compete here on my home event with a world rally car. It has been amazing and I want to thank all of the fans and supporters and of course my sponsors as well as the whole M-Sport team and Ola who have done a fantastic job all weekend.
“It was a shame to have had the issues on Friday but these things happen and I have been improving a lot. I’m starting to feel quite comfortable with the aerodynamics and everything and I only wish this event could have been longer!
“I still need some time with this incredible car, and I really hope that we have an opportunity to do some more later in the year.”
Teemu Suninen (23rd)
“We had really good pace this weekend, and that gives me a lot of confidence. But there were a couple of mistakes and that means that we come away from this rally with no points.
“I have to work hard for the next event, but I still think there have been a lot of positives this weekend. I led a rally for the first time, and the car felt really good. A big thanks to the team who have been working really hard, and hopefully we can do better in Mexico.”
DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Ott Tänak – 47 points
Thierry Neuville – 40 points
Sébastien Ogier – 31 points
Kris Meeke – 21 points
Esapekka Lappi – 19 points
Sébastien Loeb – 18 points
Elfyn Evans – 13 points
Andreas Mikkelsen – 12 points
Jari-Matti Latvala – 10 points
MANUFACTURERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Toyota Gazoo Racing – 58 points
Hyundai WRT – 57 points
Citroën Total WRT – 47 points
M-Sport Ford WRT – 30 points
Well, what we saw this weekend, confirmed what we believed after Monte-Carlo. Toyota really have the fastest car and the strongest team I believe.
FIA World Rally Championship 2019 / Round 02 / Rally Sweden / February 14-17th, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
The other teams expected to fight for the championships have a big battle ahead of them. What we won’t know is what would Seb Ogier have done if he’d not beached his C3. In the other Citroen, Esapekka Lappi scored a good podium finish.
Who else stood out? Well, the M-Sport team had its moments with Teemu leading at the end of day one, but what about Elfyn Evans? He certainly bounced back after Monte-Carlo with a very good drive, including three stage wins, his first in Sweden. A very good performance in other stages, included a number of top three times as well, including the all important powerstage where he went faster than Seb Ogier.
At Hyundai, the team started slowly, but they picked up time, and Thierry drove well, despite the 360 spin to a good podium finish. Not sure what to think of the others. Has Andreas turned a corner? Fourth for the Norwegian is a start, but still not amazing, and it’s a year since he last stood on a podium. Seb Loeb is a great driver, and he is still getting used to his Hyundai.
The next event is Rally Mexico, where we will see very different conditions. There’s a number of drivers who could win there and road position will be important. Put it in your diaries, March the 7th to 10th!
Barcelona enjoyed the dulcet tones of multiple V6 engines today, as the first session of winter testing finally got under way.
Alfa Romeo were awake bright and early to reveal their car and livery – becoming the final team to do so – before Kimi Raikkonen took it out for a quick spin (literally), getting stuck in the gravel in the first 15 minutes of the session.
Red Bull’s social media team were also up early do a second ‘reveal’, showing off the traditional matte livery they have used over the past four years and disappointing fans that had grown fond of the shakedown livery they had initially debuted.
Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari began taking the challenge to Mercedes early doors, putting in an impressive number of laps and topping the timing sheet with an eyebrow-raising 1m18. The same success could not be said of Ferrari’s sub-team Haas; Romain Grosjean was forced to pull over on track, causing a red flag after a couple of successful installation laps due to fuel pressure loss. At least Haas’s mechanics weren’t short of work to do!
At the lunchtime break, Vettel remained at the top of the timesheets with a 1m18 and an impressive 72 laps. Just behind him was Perez in the Racing Point car with a 1m19, and Bottas with a 1m20. While Ferrari seemed keen to display their might early on, Mercedes clearly felt no pressure to respond so early in the session.
Ferrari Media
The session recommenced at 2pm and although some teams chose to test with the same driver, others decided to make the swap and we saw five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton take the wheel for the first time since the shakedown at Silverstone last Friday.
Hamilton put in a healthy number of laps, most of them running in the 1m20 range, once again feeling absolutely no pressure to be topping the timing sheets just yet.
There was a slightly hair-raising moment for McLaren when Carlos Sainz’s car stopped at the end of the pit lane causing the third red flag of the day. McLaren were quick to redeem themselves though, managing to run an impressive 119 laps, staying comfortably in the 1m20s, and even managing to come second to Vettel’s Ferrari with a respectable 1:18.5. It’s an optimistic start for a team that has suffered a great deal of disappointment in previous seasons.
On the theme of disappointment, more sad news came from the Williams garage. After being unable to complete a planned shake-down on Saturday, and announcing they would not be taking part in today’s testing, a further announcement came after lunch confirming they would not be able to take part in testing until Wednesday ‘at the earliest’.
Deputy team boss Claire Williams described the delay as ‘extremely disappointing’, and indeed with Robert Kubica taking a seat this season after an eight-year hiatus from F1, it is disappointing to delay his anticipated return even further.
Daniel Ricciardo made his debut for Renault this afternoon after his teammate Nico Hulkenberg had a positive morning, describing the car as “the best I’ve seen at Renault”, which is a promising hint for what is to come. Both commentators and fans are slowly getting used to seeing Danny in a black and yellow race suit, this didn’t faze Danny who put in a respectable 44 laps, making Renault one of five teams that have surpassed the 100-lap milestone today.
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS) Renault Sport F1 Team RS19. Formula One Testing, Day 1, Monday 18th February 2019. Barcelona, Spain.
There was an interesting moment in the last hour of the session between Hamilton and Kvyat in the Toro Rosso, as Kvyat pushed Hamilton to work to overtake him. After a couple of laps and pointing out the nose of the Mercedes car, Hamilton was forced to back off as he was unable to complete the manoeuvre, which begs the question: do the front-wing changes help or hinder Mercedes performance?
Kimi Raikkonen was his usual charismatic self before completing 114 laps in the freshly unveiled Alfa Romeo car, going into the test with the aim of getting a ‘more real picture of the car’, but with the unintentional aim of causing the final red-flag of the day, one minute before the end of the session.
Today was unquestionably Ferrari’s day with Vettel putting in a whopping 169 laps and remaining quickest throughout the whole session with a 1:18.1. Second came Carlos Sainz in the McLaren with a 1:18.5 and Grosjean with a 1:19.1 in spite of only completing 65 laps before stopping on track earlier in the session.
Overall though, the theme for today was getting a feel for the car and putting the laps in; no exciting racing just yet, but it’s a promising start for the 2019 season.
The first day of the final 2019 preseason test for World Superbike took place in Phillip Island today, just a handful of days before the championship heads out on track for the first round of the season at the Australian circuit next weekend.
The times were topped by Alvaro Bautista in both sessions, the Aruba.it Ducati rider claiming he had never had a better bike at Phillip Island than the Panigale V4R he piloted today. Bautista was not only impressive in the one lap speed, but also in the longer “race” pace, setting nearly three times as many laps in the 1’30s as four-time champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Of course, it is important to view these statistics with a degree of scepticism, since we don’t know which tyres were used to set the times, but either way the early signs for the 2006 125cc World Champion are positive for next weekend.
Bautista was making a lot of his lap time in the final sector of the lap, where the Ducati’s RPM advantage is most noticeable (the V4R currently has 1750 revs more than the new Kawasaki ZX-10RR), and where the Panigale’s wings can make the most difference, helping keep the front end down on the exit of the fourth-gear final corner. The advantage the Spaniard has in this part of the lap could prove crucial come the end of the races on Saturday and Sunday.
Another reason for hesitation when it comes to Bautista’s Monday performance is Jonathan Rea’s crash in the morning. Combined with the increased wind in the afternoon, and the curtailment of the reigning champion’s morning running meant we did not get to see the full potential of the Northern Irishman today.
Alex Lowes rider for the the Pata Yamaha WSBK team. Image courtesy of Yamaha.
In between Bautista and Rea in the morning, was Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who continued his positive 2019 preseason. At the Portimao test a few weeks ago, Lowes was the only rider who looked capable of challenging Rea and the Kawasaki, and whilst Bautista seems to have joined the fray, Lowes is still in the mix. He dropped to fifth in the afternoon, 0.649 seconds shy of Bautista’s table-topping time in the second session, but nonetheless the Englishman looks strong at the moment.
Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) was the second-fastest Yamaha in the morning, fourth overall, as he continues to make his adaptation to the R1. Behind Melandri was another duo of YZF-R1s, with Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) in fifth and sixth respectively.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was seventh in the morning, the last rider within a second of Bautista, but it was in the afternoon that the Brit impressed the most aboard the S1000RR, finishing the second session as the second-fastest rider and just 0.151s away from Bautista. It is still early days with this new BMW project, but already the package is looking competitive in the hands of the 2013 WorldSBK Champion.
Sykes improved his time by four tenths in the afternoon, compared to the morning, and it was a similar case for Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who dropped his time by 0.487 seconds to finish third in the second session, in front of his teammate, Rea.
The second BMW of Markus Reiterberger was ninth in the morning as the final Superstock 1000 FIM Cup champion continues to adapt himself back to the Superbike-spec machinery. The German improved his time by three tenths in the afternoon, despite dropping to tenth.
Toprak Razgatlioglu saw a four-tenth improvement from morning to afternoon on the Turkish Puccetti Racing Kawasaki rider, as he moved from tenth to eighth.
Whilst one Ducati was dominating, four tenths clear of the field at the top of the standings in the morning, and a tenth clear in the afternoon, the other Panigale V4Rs struggled to match the pace set by Bautista.
The second-fastest Ducati in the morning was Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), in fifteenth, 2.461 seconds off his teammate, whilst Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven) was sixteenth, 2.610 seconds off and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team) was seventeenth, 3.100 off. Things improved for Davies and Laverty in the afternoon, as they wound up twelfth and thirteenth, respectively, but they were still over a second shy of Bautista.
We finally got to see the new, full factory Moriwaki Althea Hondas out on track today, too, after they conducted their winter testing privately in Japan. Neither Leon Camier nor Ryuichi Kiyonari could manage to break into the top ten, or within one second of Bautista in either session, but the project is still in its early days.
Alvaro Bautista at Phillip Island WSBK 2019 testing. Image courtesy of Ducati Media
The second and final day of the Phillip Island WorldSBK test will get underway at 22:00 GMT, tonight (18/02/2019).
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin took his second Daytona 500 win in what proved to be a crash-strewn and highly attritional race. Hamlin was one of only three drivers to not be involved in any incidents at all, with the other two drivers being second-place finisher Kyle Busch and Ross Chastain, who finished in tenth. There were signs of trouble throughout the race, but ‘The Big One’ only came with nine laps left in the race, and, from there all hell broke loose!
Of the 22 cars running at the chequered flag, 14 were still on the lead lap, which is rather surprising given the sheer number of cars involved in one wreck or another. Before the Lap 191 monster wreck, there had already been a number of crashes, including one on pit road, in which the eternally unlucky Jimmie Johnson got caught up in, amongst others.
All in all, 21 cars were damaged in the biggest wreck, which was caused by Matt Di Benedetto, who had, up until then, been having a very good race, and Paul Menard, who was part of the cause in The Clash’s wreck last weekend. However, even after a crash that involved more than half the field, there was still more trouble to come…
In the last nine scheduled laps, there were two more cautions for two further wrecks – the latter of which pushed the race into overtime, just to get a result. But, after all that, it was Hamlin who kept it together and fended off teammate Kyle Busch for the win, despite a very close final lap and a late challenge from Joey Logano.
Hamlin didn’t, by any means, lead the most laps and he didn’t finish that high in either of the stages; he was down in 21st by the end of Stage 2, but that didn’t really matter by the end of the race. He played his cards better than teammate Busch in the final laps, correctly choosing the outside lane to take his first win in 47 races.
The race started very well for Kyle Busch who took the first stage win of the season, despite starting the race down in 31st position. By the end of Stage 2, the younger Busch brother had dropped to twelfth, but he made his comeback in the final stage and looked set to take his first ever Daytona 500 win before what proved to be the final restart. He was, however, outmanoeuvred by Hamlin, meaning Busch will have to wait another year to try and fill the Harley J. Earl Trophy sided gap in his trophy cabinet. 2020 will be Busch’s 15th attempt at the Daytona victory… who knows if he’ll finally be successful then!
Ryan Blaney was the man to take the Stage 2 victory, and he looked to be the class of the field for a long time, but, like so many others, it all came crashing down for him when he got caught up in The Big One and his #12 received terminal damage, forcing the Penske driver out of what could’ve been a very promising race.
Another driver who’s race turned into a story of what could’ve been was Johnson, suggesting that his luck has not turned for this season and taking his winning-less streak in points races up to 60 races. As was the case so many times last season, Johnson got caught up in a crash through no fault of his own, which subsequently compromised the rest of his race. The #48 Hendrick driver sustained a fair amount of damage in the pit road wreck, which was caused by Cody Ware spinning and hitting a line of slower moving cars who were coming into the pits. He also got tangled up in the Lap 191 wreck, eventually finishing the race in ninth place.
Last year’s Cup Champion, Joey Logano, looked to be in contention for the victory in the closing stages of the race but, after working so well with teammate Blaney throughout the race, he was hurt badly when he was left isolated after the wreck – meaning he couldn’t quite take it to the Joe Gibbs drivers, who were themselves working very well together. Erik Jones managed to sneak past Logano on the last lap, meaning the Penske driver finished the race in fourth – behind all three Joe Gibbs cars.
The 61st Daytona 500 was certainly a tale of two races, with the first 190 or so laps being fairly calm, by NASCAR’s standards at least, and the last ten (plus the six overtime laps) being absolute carnage; an hour passed between the yellow flag flying for The Big One and the chequered flag emerging, showing just how chaotic those last ten laps were!
But, after all that, it was Hamlin who came out victorious and he’s the only one who will have his name engraved onto the Harley J. Earl Trophy. NASCAR returns next weekend at Atlanta where Hamlin will be looking to make it two from two, and everyone else will be trying to stop him…
DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 17: Denny celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 61st Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 17, 2019 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Top Ten Finishers:
Denny Hamlin
Kyle Busch
Erik Jones
Joey Logano
Michael McDowell
Ty Dillon
Kyle Larson
Ryan Preece
Jimmie Johnson
Ross Chastain
Championship Standings:
Denny Hamlin
Joey Logano
Kyle Busch
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Erik Jones
(Featured image credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
