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  • McLaren abandon IndyCar 2019 plans but leave door open for Indy 500

    McLaren abandon IndyCar 2019 plans but leave door open for Indy 500

    McLaren team principal Zak Brown has admitted that the team have been forced to put their plans for a full-time IndyCar entry on hold after engine negotiations stalled. The failure of the deal is a partial legacy from the explosive McLaren-Honda relationship in F1, with Honda reluctant to supply the team that criticised them so heavily during those turbulent years.

    Admittedly, it was all getting a bit late in the day for a new entry anyway, given that there are only a few months until the new season gets underway in March next year. If McLaren were serious about being in IndyCar full-time, a deal would have been sorted out months ago. They have, instead, made the decision to focus on their F1 project, which certainly needs some sorting out!

    Earlier in the year, it was said that the McLaren shareholders were less than keen on the team entering IndyCar for 2019, again based on the fact that they need to get their F1 performances back to a respectable level before they allow themselves to get distracted by IndyCar.

    Even with all of McLaren’s internal problems, the biggest issue for them was always going to be engine supply. IndyCar has just two engine suppliers: Honda and Chevrolet. The dawn of the universal aero kits has brought the two closer together than ever before, but Honda have rather stolen a march on their American counterparts, taking the drivers championship and nearly locking out the top ten with only Penske getting a nose in for Chevrolet.

    This means that, in an ideal world, McLaren would want to team up with Honda, especially given that they are the suppliers of Andretti, who McLaren were looking to do some sort of partnership with. However, all the aforementioned F1 shenanigans has made that nigh on impossible. A Chevrolet deal hasn’t proven any easier, because the only team that realistically has enough resources to accommodate McLaren is Penske, and they’ve said that they’re not interested in such a partnership.

    That has left McLaren in a tight spot and, despite some rumblings about a potential Harding link-up or even buyout, they’ve been forced to put their IndyCar aspirations on the shelf, at least for now.

    Zak Brown has, however, not ruled out the potential for an Indy 500-only entry for Fernando Alonso, presumably in association with Andretti again. This would be no mean feat for the Spaniard though. It will not be as easy for him as it was in 2017 because of the universal aero kits which have closed the field up and made it much more difficult to jump in and be fast straight away.

    Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montreal, Canada
    Sunday 10 June 2018.
    Fernando Alonso, McLaren.
    Photo: Steven Tee/McLaren
    ref: Digital Image _1ST0758

    To win the mystical ‘Triple Crown’ Alonso would realistically have to look at a full season of IndyCar, and even that holds no guarantees of Indy 500 success, something that any IndyCar driver would agree with.

    All of this really begs the question of just what Alonso will do in 2019. He’s yet to make any announcement or even drop a cryptic clue on Twitter about it, leaving everyone guessing. If he is to do IndyCar it won’t be with McLaren, but surely McLaren wouldn’t be talking about doing an Indy 500 entry if they knew Alonso was going to another team. Maybe he isn’t going to do a full IndyCar season after all?

    If it’s not IndyCar, then the sky’s the limit for Alonso. It really is anyone’s guess as to what he’ll do next season, but it’ll probably be more than one series, given that he’d race every weekend if he could!

    Anyway, while 2019 may be off the table for McLaren, they have reiterated the fact that they do want to do IndyCar at some point in the future. The time just isn’t right for them yet, but hopefully it will be soon.

  • 2018 US Grand Prix: The final word in the title race?

    As with most things he does in life, Lewis Hamilton would love to win the 2018 championship in style,  the United States Grand Prix would be a great place to wrap up a title that started as a close battle, but has ended up as a ruthless beating.

    Lewis Hamilton with the media and the crowds. Image courtesy of Steve Etherington / Mercedes AMG

    Hamilton enters this weekend with a 67-point lead in the championship over title rival Sebastian Vettel, meaning that should he outscore Vettel by 8 points on Sunday, he can wake up on Monday 22nd of October and call himself a five-time Formula One World Champion, equalling the much revered Juan Manuel Fangio. There are numerous permutations to achieve this, but if Hamilton leads a Mercedes one-two, which is exactly what has happened in the last 2 races in Russia and Japan – he is the World Champion.  If, however, Vettel manages to finish second or above, the title race will be kept barely alive going into the Mexican Grand Prix.

    The 18th round 2018 takes us to Austin, Texas, host to the 5.5 Kilometre Circuit of The Americas (COTA). The task was already difficult enough for Vettel, but COTA is predominantly a power circuit, which will suit Mercedes, and the first sector, realistically, is the only part of the track where Ferrari can hope to gain any time.

    Stats for the Circuit Of the Americas at Austin, Texas. Image courtesy of Pirelli

    COTA, of course, is not the first track to host the US Grand Prix. It is the latest in six tracks to host the event, following on from Sebring, Watkins Glen, Riverside, Phoenix, and Indianapolis; the scene of the Michelin tyre controversy which led to just six cars starting the race. It was an embarrassing day for Formula One, and Indianapolis was dropped from the calendar after 2008.

    The US Grand Prix then would not return until 2012, when COTA took control. The beautiful 20-turrn track features echoes of circuits around the world, such as turns 16, 17 and 18; a right-handed version of turn 8 at Istanbul Park, home to the old Turkish Grand Prix.

    Ultimately, this championship is all but sealed, but Toto Wolff, honest to his word, will not celebrate until both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles are won, and thus he will be galvanising another enigmatically brilliant performance out of Hamilton and Bottas to bring home the championship that make the Hamilton the most successful out of the current crop, moving ahead of Vettel.

    With so many of history’s sporting successes taking place in the States, Hamilton’s American dream of becoming truly the best in the world are potentially one victory away from being realised, as the F1 bandwagon takes a trip across the pond to the United States of America.

  • Formula E Testing: Day Two Report

    The second day of the Formula E testing got underway on Wednesday at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit. Having held the top spot in the first two sessions yesterday, BMW Andretti continued to dominate once again during the morning by snatching the top spot and breaking the unofficial track record in the process, courtesy of António Félix da Costa.

    Alexander Albon grabbed many of the headlines on Tuesday as he seemed to disappear midway through testing, leaving Buemi to test both cars in the afternoon session. He too was absent from the media duties later that evening. The plot thickened further, as it was declared that car number 22 would not run in this particular session, leaving the prospect of Albon staying with Nissan looking slimmer and slimmer.

    Antonio Felix da Costa (BMW i Andretti Motorsport), Valencia pre-season testing – Credit: LAT/Formula E

    Battery issues blighted many of the drivers Tuesday and Wednesday morning, was no exception. Both Virgin’s Robin Frijns and Mahindra’s Pascal Wehrlein both seemed to suffer with battery issues but these were quickly resolved and had little impact on their session. Stoffel Vandoorne of HWA seemed to recover from the previous battery problems and scooped P2 in the early stages.

    Felipe Massa was the first man on the track to turn the sectors purple with a time of 1.18.511 but Da Costa wasn’t far behind, edging the ex-F1 man out with a time of 1.18.496 as the temperature began to rise and conditions became more favourable. Quite a few of the drivers had problems with the chicane, including BMW’s Alexander Sims who bumped one of the edges with his front wing and André Lotterer and Lucas di Grassi avoided it altogether.

    However, the morning session again went to BMW Andretti for the third consecutive P1 position in the testing session so far, Da Costa’s time four tenths away from the nearest competitor, Techeetah’s Jean-Éric Vergne. Such success so far in testing is a surely welcoming prospect for a team that struggled so much last season.


    Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler) and Andre Lotterer (DS TEC …
    Lucas di Grassi (Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler) and Andre Lotterer (DS TECHEETAH), Valencia pre-season testing – Credit: LAT/Formula E

    The afternoon session in comparison, was filled with drama. The paddock was treated to a 45 minute racing simulation, which did not fail to disappoint. Daniel Abt slammed into the problematic chicane early in the race and Stoffel Vandoorne suffered some more bad luck, stopping on track which brought out the red flag. Racing soon resumed, only for Piquet, Wehrlein, Dillmann and Massa to collide at the chicane.

    As the green flag waved once more, da Costa began to close in on race leader Vergne and managed to get through with five minutes of the session to go. Sims, however, began to close on da Costa and passed him as the dying moments drew nearer. However, despite BMW’s dominance throughout the season, they were beat in the last few corners as di Grassi managed to push past da Costa and finally, Sims to take P1 in the simulation race.

  • HWA ‘convinced me straight away’ – Stoffel Vandoorne

    Last week, it was announced that McLaren man Stoffel Vandoorne would be joining Formula E next season with the HWA outfit, Mercedes’ precursory entry into the electric series. Today, he said that he was ‘convinced straight away’ to join up the developing sport after losing his Formula One drive.

    “I had my initial contact with Toto, which was before McLaren decided what they were going to do. Toto explained the project and as soon as I thought about it, there was no real hesitation”

    Vandoorne was plagued by battery issues in the first day of testing which significantly reduced his running time in the car but on the second day of testing, he was able to utilise more time on track. ”We had a better day than yesterday.” The Belgian stated. “We had more laps this morning which was quite productive for me. The focus for us is to push through all the difficulties we’ve been having and learn from those.”

    He admitted that the issues did not reveal themselves during the private testing that Venturi had been afforded to both himself and new teammate Gary Paffett.

    “For us, it’s a new challenge, there’s a lot of processes we have to go through and from my side, I’ve also been combining this with Formula One. It’s like jumping from one ship to another for the past few months but the team is now focused on Formula E.”

    Stoffel Vandoorne (HWA RACELAB), Valencia pre-season testing – Credit: LAT/Formula E

    In reference to the additional Venturi testing that he had received, he said that it put him in a much better position. 

    “You always want to do more testing and I would have liked for [this test] to have gone a lot smoother. But the two days I had before definitely helped to come here and have an idea of what everything feels like.”

    When asked how Formula E compares to Formula One, the Belgian was very open that there was a difference and also spoke of his inexperience within the series.

    “It’s very different to what I am used to, and compared to any other series, it’s quite different the way you drive the car and how the car handles. It’s all different challenges. I have no reference of the Gen 1 car but the car seems a big step forward in terms of the previous generation. You can set up the car in a number of ways and make a big difference with those. I had no expectations. I went into it very open minded and tried to maximise what we have.”

    Stoffel Vandoorne (HWA RACELAB), Valencia pre-season testing – Credit: LAT/Formula E


    Vandoorne did not think that despite having a new Gen 2 to contend with and new regulations in the fifth season that he would have an advantage against those much more acquainted with the previous generation car.

    “I don’t think there is a big difference. A lot of the drivers have been here a while working with their teams so they’ll have a bit of a head start. It’s not easy as a new driver to step in and perform straight away. From our team perspective, we need to manage our expectations and be competitive as I want to be successful.”

    Speaking of his opinions of the sport before he joined, Vandoorne always had a open outlook on the series. 

    “It’s an up and coming series and I think if you look, they have only existed for four seasons. In that timespan, many manufacturers have joined and I think it shows that they see a future in this sport. It has huge potential and the electric development is still in such an early stage so I think that cars will keep progressing. There’s already been a huge step between the two generations of cars and I am sure they’ll be another step forward.”

  • Expanding to the US: How it can be properly done

    Expanding to the US: How it can be properly done

    Formula One’s unfulfilled dream is and has always been to expand to the USA and gain popularity in a market of 300 million people—but how can this be properly done?

    Thirteen years have passed since that bizarre 2005 US Grand Prix, when Michelin’s teams decided not to race, scared of what could be the outcome of a tire exploding on the mighty Indy oval. F1 remained in the States for the next two years, but its pride had been hurt irretrievably.

    F1’s journey in America has been an adventurous one, with many ups and downs along the way. It’s not so common for a country to host a Grand Prix on 13 different circuits, and it’s not a coincidence that this happened with the US.

    The popularity of IndyCar and NASCAR meant F1 struggled to gain the American support it wanted. Constantly changing the venues was a way for F1 to become relevant, and earn the respect of the crowd. Some prestigious tracks have welcomed F1: Sebring, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, Indianapolis. Nothing was enough, though, to convince the fans.

    But when it was announced in 2010 that F1 would have its own track in the States, the Circuit of the Americas, it marked the first step in the long journey to establishing itself on the other side of the Atlantic.

    Since 2012, F1 has proved that everything is bigger in Texas. It’s not just Americans who have embraced the US Grand Prix in Austin—huge numbers of Mexican fans make the small trip into Texas to watch their heroes. Even when Formula 1 returned to Mexico City, their support at COTA didn’t deteriorate.

    Nevertheless, Liberty Media wants to expand its activities in the US by adding another Grand Prix to its calendar. The proposed Miami street circuit was the chosen one, but negotiations broke down and the plan for a 2019 race was abandoned.

    And that’s because while a street circuit may seem the easiest solution, it’s much more complex than it looks to get right. Building a track from scratch is a financial and commercial challenge, and that leaves the street circuit looking a more viable choice.

    But designing a street layout has its own complications, given the many concerns that need to be settled with the city council and local population.

    It can be done, but the biggest mistake with the Miami case was the hurry in which every party acted—besides the fact that the layout itself is a mess, if we want to be honest.

    But this does not mean that F1 should abandon its expansion plan to the United States. Street circuits seem to be the perfect choice, and big cities have offered to host a second GP there, but the selection of this city is really important. Miami is one of the best candidates, plus New York, Los Angeles, even Boston or Seattle. Big cities that can draw a big crowd make headlines and have people interested in F1 genuinely, not artificially.

    Apart from races, events like this weekend’s F1 Festival in Miami can act like bait to F1 fans who want to see some action. In that way, F1 can engage with its fans on another level—a level that Europeans take for granted.

    The sport’s leadership should understand that the USA has nothing in common with Europe, or even Asia, in terms of marketing and promoting. Having a proper second Grand Prix, plus special festival events, are good solutions, but it will take some time for those to make a difference.

    By Dimitris Bizas

  • The Moto2 Championship Battle Prepares for the Triple Header

    A win in the inaugural Thai Moto2 Grand Prix allowed Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) to increase his World Championship advantage to 28 points, with four rounds left in the season.

    However, considering the form of his main championship rival, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo), in the final three races of 2017 – of which he won all three – and that there are still 100 points up for grabs in 2018, there is still a lot to play for this year, as the championship heads into the far-eastern triple-header, with Motegi and the Japanese Grand Prix first up this weekend.

    But it was Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) who won last year in Japan. In fact, his 2017 Japanese Grand Prix triumph remains his most recent victory in the Moto2 World Championship. The Spaniard’s hopes of a top three finish pretty much vanished at Thailand when he crashed out of a good position, and one from which he could fight perhaps for the podium. He now lies thirty-one points behind Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who is currently third in the standings, so perhaps his sights are now set on the fourth place of Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40).

    Marquez’s form of late would also make it a surprise to see him take the top step this weekend, despite his success at the Twin Ring in the past, starting in 2013 when he took his first GP win at the Japanese track.

    Miguel Oliveira the winner of the Thailand Moto2 race 2018. Image courtesy of Gold and Goose /KTM

    With that in mind, perhaps we should look at the two Red Bull KTMs of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder, as well as the two Sky VR46 bikes of Pecco Bagnaia and Luca Marini to be fighting for the win this weekend.

    Bagnaia’s Thai win was stunning. The general thought pre-race was that the two factory KTMs would escape in the second half of the race when the tyre wear arrived. But instead, it was the opposite, and Bagnaia – once he settled into a rhythm – checked out and contented himself whilst out front with the five points that he would be gaining on Oliveira. Hence, he was rather excited to learn that his teammate, Marini, had taken second behind him, to steal another four points from Oliveira.

    Francesco Bagnaia and Luca Marini of the Sky VR46 team. Image courtesy of Hondaproracing

    It was a welcome return to form for Marini, whose previous podium appearance back in Austria was starting to seem something of a while ago with some more difficult weekends in Misano and Aragon. However, the memories for Marini of Motegi are not fantastic, as he was the first retirement of the 2017 race.

    Miguel Oliveira’s most recent memories of Japan are also not so fantastic, as he finished 7.5 seconds off the win last season in 7th place, and two seconds behind Bagnaia in 4th. However, Oliveira’s 2015 podium at the Japanese Grand Prix means he has one more rostrum finish in Motegi than his Italian rival, Bagnaia, whose best result in Japan was that fourth place twelve months ago.

    Brad Binder looked at times as though he was faster than his championship-challenging teammate, Oliveira, in Thailand. However, he never broke rank, and allowed his Portuguese colleague to take the third place which could prove crucial in the championship in a few weeks’ time, and a similar ‘rear-gunner’ job by Binder could prove valuable for Oliveira in the remaining races of the season.

    Other riders to watch out for this weekend include Lorenzo Baldassarri, who will be eager to bounce back after his disappointing crash off pole position in Buriram and Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP) who took his first Grand Prix podium in Motegi last year.

    Also, Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) is still after his first Moto2 win, and only has four rounds left to achieve that before he heads off to MotoGP next season with the Ecstar Suzuki squad. The Spaniard is also just two points behind his teammate, Marquez, in the standings, in the battle for the championship top five.

  • World Rally Championship Calendar 2019 and Driver Line up’s.

    On the 12th of October the calendar for next year’s championship was announced, and it contained some surprises. First up, there are fourteen rounds, one extra compared to the last few years. This coming season will be the forty-seventh season of the championship.

     

    Here’s the full schedule.

     

    Monte Carlo Rally January 24-27

    Rally Sweden February 14-17

    Rally Mexico March 7-10

    Tour de Corse March 28-31

    Rally Argentina April 25-28

    Rally Chile May 9-12

    Rally Portugal May 30-June 2

    Rally Italy June 13-16

    Rally Finland August 1-4

    Rally Germany August 22-25

    Rally Turkey September 12-15

    Rally GB October 3-6

    Rally Spain October 24-27

    Rally Australia November 14-17

     

    The first surprise is the addition of Rally Chile two weeks after Rally Argentina, clearly as a double-header. It does make me wonder why they didn’t include Rally Mexico in that, rather than coming back to Europe, and then heading back to Southern America…. Anyway, the other big surprise is that there’s no returning Rally Japan. The rumours suggested it would return, but that looks more likely to be in 2020 along with a return of the championship to Africa with a round in Kenya with the Safari Rally.

     

    The schedule looks pretty similar to this year though, apart from the addition of Chile. Adding a new round will bring an interesting dimension to the championship, with all new stages. Recently, the Dakar has run through part of Chile, so it’ll be interesting what the organiser decides in terms of the stages.

     

    The summer break is in the usual place with a seven week between Italy in June and Finland at the start of August. Wales Rally GB remains at the start of October, which for the first time this year featured stages on closed roads. Once again, the season starts in Monte Carlo and ends down-under in Australia.

     

    Also, we’ve had a number of driver changes and announcements. First of all, Seb Ogier is returning to Citroen Racing and young Finn Esapekka Lappi is switching from Toyota to drive the other C3 WRC.

     

    Confirmed at Toyota today as their team for 2019 are Ott Tanak, Jari-Matti and the return of Kris Meeke to the sport. When Citroen terminated his contract back in May, it was a big shock. Now we will have one of the best drivers back in the sport. Let’s not forget, he is the only driver from the UK to win in Finland. At Hyundai we know that Thierry has signed for three years with the team.

    Now the teams and drivers that we know are as follows.

    Hyundai Motorsport- Thierry Neuville (new three-year deal) and Andreas Mikkelsen (starting the second year of a two-year deal).

    Thierry Neuville

    “I am really happy to sign a new three-year contract with Hyundai Motorsport. We have improved a lot in recent seasons, and it has always been my target to build continuity for my career by remaining with this team. Since 2014, we have shared many special moments together, as well as working through some more difficult times. Our debut victory together in 2014 remains a highlight, and we have since taken more wins together. There is a fantastic family atmosphere and I get on very well with my team-mates. This is very important to me. Alongside Nicolas, who has played a key role in our successes, our focus is on completing this current season in the strongest way possible, aiming to secure the titles. From there, we will continue to build, hopefully, to an even brighter future with Hyundai Motorsport.”

    Citroen Racing- Seb Ogier and Esapekka Lappi.

    Sébastien Ogier

    “I’m really enthusiastic about the prospect of taking on this new challenge with Citroën. In fact, I can’t wait, especially as I haven’t forgotten that this is the team that first gave me the opportunity to compete in the world championship. There were various factors that influenced my decision. I really like the idea of working again with people with whom things went pretty well a few years back and I’m also excited by the chance to try and pull off the challenge of becoming world champion with a third different manufacturer. And although I’m not taking anything for granted, I am convinced that the car has definite potential and I have great faith in the people at Satory.”

     

    Esapekka Lappi

    “Obviously, I’m delighted to be joining the team and to be the future team-mate of Sébastien. It’s a good opportunity for me to keep developing. After having learned many things from Jari-Matti Latvala last year, and from Ott Tänak this year, I’ll have everything it takes to be even better if I also manage to draw inspiration from Seb! I’m convinced that the car has a lot of potential, as does the team, which has a long history and lot of experience in the WRC. The fact that Pierre clearly wanted to recruit me also counted a lot when it came to making my decision. It’s also going to be a great challenge, trying to win together.”

    Citroen Racing confirmed Esapekka Lappi today, joining Seb Ogier.

     

    Toyota Gazoo Racing- Ott Tanak, Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke.

    Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)

    “We are all very excited to have Kris joining us here at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. We know that he is very fast, but he also brings a lot of experience. His technical understanding is at a really high level and I believe he can provide new knowledge and ideas to help us in our aim to keep making the Yaris WRC better.

    I am also very pleased that Jari-Matti will continue to be part of our team. He has done some brilliant work for us and has recently been regularly on the podium again, which has been very important. Together with Ott, who has proven that he is absolutely one of the fastest drivers right now, I think we have a very strong line-up for next year, with three drivers who are all quick, experienced and can win rallies. I believe we will again have a strong team to fight for both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles.

    Lastly, I am very sorry to see that Esapekka has decided to leave us for a new challenge, but we all wish him the best of luck for the future.”

    Kris Meeke

    “It’s a huge pleasure and honour for me to become a Toyota driver. I’d like to thank Akio Toyoda, Tommi Mäkinen and the entire Toyota team for their faith in me. Three years ago, we first discussed the possibility of me joining the team, and I’m so happy that it’s finally happened now.

    Kris Meeke – Photo credit Toyota Gazoo Racing.

    The performance of the Yaris WRC speaks for itself, but the team spirit here is incredible at every level, also with the Japanese culture of honour and respect. I can’t wait to get started. I’ve got no particular objectives other than to enjoy my driving again and help Toyota to win a championship.

    Kris Meeke testing the Yaris WRC. Photo credit Toyota Gazoo Racing

    The very first championship that I won was actually when I was aged 16 and co-driving for my brother on our local road rally championship. We clinched that title in a Toyota Corolla, so for very many reasons, it feels incredibly good to be here. I can’t think of a better place to be.”

     

    We are still waiting for M-Sport to confirm what their plans are, but potential drivers could be Elfyn Evans, Teemu Suninen, Hayden Paddon and Craig Breen.

    We’ve still got a few surprises left this year.

  • BSB 2018 Ends With Cooper on Top

    The final race of the 2018 Bennetts British Superbike Championship got underway in horrendously wet conditions on Sunday afternoon, and it was Richard Cooper for the Buildbase Suzuki team who came out victorious, as Leon Haslam (JG Speedfit Kawasaki) capped off his championship-winning BSB campaign with a sixth place.

    Cooper started from the front row, and used that position – and his Suzuki’s strength off the line – to make the holeshot, from which position he disappeared at the front, making just one mistake which kept him awake, and allowed Tommy Bridewell (Moto Rapido Ducati) behind to close up. Cooper responded, though, and within a couple of laps he had re-established a healthy margin at the front.

    Behind the diminutive Derbyshireman, there was a battle for second place between the aforementioned Bridewell, newly-crowned British Champion Leon Haslam, Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing), Christian Iddon (Tyco BMW) and Jake Dixon (RAF Regular and Reserves Kawasaki).

    The group stayed together for a number of laps, before a mistake by Haslam let Bridewell escape the group, and cost the WSBK-bound rider a couple of positions.

    Eventually, the group spread out, and the 2018 BSB season finally went out with something of an anti-climax.

    Cooper came away with what was an impressive victory in awful conditions, in what may turn out to be his final BSB race, whilst Tommy Bridewell was able to hang on behind to second place, and another podium for the Moto Rapido Ducati squad.

    They were joined on the podium by Grand Prix-bound Jake Dixon, who made amends for his race two crash with a podium in his final race for Lee Hardy and the RAF Regular and Reserves outfit after he pulled away from Christian Iddon and his split collarbone who came home in an impressive, heroic fourth.

    Josh Brookes ended his time with the McAMS Yamaha team with a top five (5th), with a late charge allowing him to climb up the order in the final stages, although he fell just over half a second short of Iddon’s fourth spot. It’s not been a stellar year for the 2015 champion, and he will be hoping his move to PBM for 2019 will prove more fruitful.

    Conserving both his team’s 100% finishing record, and his special, one-off gold fairing was behind the sixth place of Leon Haslam, as the 2018 champion cruised to sixth place after a series of rear-end slides, including a pretty spectacular one through Clark Curve. Haslam now has three weeks off, before he jumps on the new Kawasaki for 2019 preseason testing for the factory Kawasaki WorldSBK team.

    A personal best finish of the season came in the shape of seventh place for Gino Rea, which was a good way to end a tricky year for the class rookie.
    After fighting for the podium positions in the early laps, Jason O’Halloran somewhat mysteriously slumped to a finishing position of eighth ahead of the Smith’s BMW pairing of Peter Hickman and Sylvain Barrier, who were 9th and 10th respectively.

    Bradley Ray (Buildbase Suzuki) came home in eleventh, ahead of newcomer Danny Kent (Movuno.com Halsall Racing Suzuki) in 12th, Mason Law (Team WD40 Kawasaki) in 13th, Shaun Winfield (Anvil Hire TAG Racing Yamaha) in 14th and Aaron Zanotti (Team 64 Kawasaki) who took the final point of the season in fifteenth, in his final career race.

    Michael Laverty (Tyco BMW) was the first crasher, as he high sided on the exit of Surtees, which was an unfortunate way to potentially end his BSB career. He was joined on the side lines by Joe Francis (Lloyd and Jones Bowker Motorrad BMW), Luke Mossey (JG Speedfit Kawasaki), James Ellison (Anvil Hire TAG Racing Yamaha) in what could be his final BSB race, Dean Harrison (Silicone Engineering Racing Kawasaki), Glenn Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team), Josh Elliott (OMG Racing UK LTD Suzuki) and Andrew Irwin (Be Wiser Ducati Racing Team).

  • War of Attrition as Weather Brings Havoc in Race 2

    Leon Haslam marked his first race as British champion with his 15th win of the season, in treacherous conditions at Brands Hatch.

    It’s almost become an expected part of British racing that the sun will not be shining but unfortunately with the rain brought many crashes. Only 14 riders finished Race 2 with 12 crashing out, including Danny Kent (Halsall Racing Suzuki), Jake Dixon (Kawasaki) and Andrew Irwin (BeWiser Ducati).

    Not the end to the season that most riders would be hoping for but, it was a very good weekend for Haslam (JG-Speedfit Kawasaki) who won the Championship and secured his 15th race win in a contained manner. Only romping away with first position when the end was in sight – almost like he learned from Dixon’s mistake who’s race ended with only a quarter of the race left when he finally obtained the lead.

    It was an unfortunate race for Dixon on a whole who started on pole but he fell down to third after Irwin took his chance and clinched first position. Then chaos ensued as riders started falling left, right and centre due to the wet weather conditions and the camber of the track.

    It wasn’t long before Irwin wasn’t leading and neither was Dixon as the race ultimately became a race between Haslam and Jason O’Halloran (Honda Racing) who fought long and hard for first position. When riding in the wet, being out front gives riders an advantage due to better visibility – no spray from the bike in front of them and a better view of the track means that they can judge their next move better. As the pair fought back and forth for this advantage, it was fishtailing that bothered O’Halloran.

    It wasn’t to be for future Moto2 rider Dixon who would have hoped for a better finish to the season, but he would ultimately finish 70 points behind Haslam in the Championship in second place. His progression to Moto2 will be interesting to watch as he copes without having experience on the Moto3 machine before jumping aboard the Angel Nieto Team bike with a Triumph engine.

    But after a stellar season, it was Haslam who clinched the Championship before he too departs from BSB to rejoin the Superbike World Championship with the Kawasaki Racing Team in 2019. And for 12 riders at Brands Hatch, it was not a race to remember, but with the weather conditions being what they were it’s not totally surprising that almost half the grid didn’t finish the race.

  • Formula E Pre-Season Testing: Day One Report

    The Ricardo Tormo circuit, situated on the outskirts of Valencia, hosted the Formula E collective test this week for the second year running in preparation for the new season. For some of the drivers such as Stoffel Vandoorne and Gary Paffett, it was the first opportunity for them to get to grips with the car and with race performance.

    André Lotterer going out in his DS TECHEETAH durring the 2018 Formula E testing. Image courtesy of Sarah Jarvis

    Audi set the initial pace as to be expected, coming off the back of a strong season in winning the constructor’s championship with Daniel Abt setting the sectors purple in the first phase. Virgin also looked strong despite their lack of pre-season testing as a customer team, occupying P2 and P3 in the early stages of the session.

    However, as the track began to heat up, the track times tumbled and with it, BMW Andretti’s Antonio Felix Da Costa and Venturi’s Felipe Massa battled for top spot as the clock ticked over the first hour. Mahindra also looked competitive after a torrid season last year with experienced stalwart Jerome D’Ambrosio at the helm, putting in a respectable time of a 1.19.535.

    Gary Paffett of HWA was the first unlucky driver to bring out the red flag, having misjudged the tricky chicane installed on the pit straight to imitate the tight street corners the drivers will fight on next year. After racing resumed, Virgin again took the top spot and dominated proceedings. However, as the time ticked away, it was BMW Andretti that were the surprising victors, heading a one two finish in the first session. Several of the drivers reported battery issues, including Stoffel Vandoorne who did not run in the afternoon.

    In the second session, it was Venturi who again impressed in the beginning of the session with Felipe Massa taking top spot with a time of 1.20.273. However, the gaps between drivers were much closer in the afternoon. After the first hour, D’Ambrosio was in the coveted P1 spot with less than one second separating the top four cars.

    Felipe Massa heading out in Formula E testing. Image courtesy of Sarah Jarvis

    Audi continued to look impressive this afternoon with di Grassi being held off the top spot by only three tenths of a second and Abt  occupying P1 for a time during the session. D’Ambrosio and Abt continued to exchange blows throughout the afternoon with the former being the first man into the 1.17 minute mark.

    However, it was BMW Andretti that continued their success first day with Da Costa setting the pace towards the latter end of the season. The performance of both drivers is certainly showcasing the development that BMW have made after taking over the team in a full capacity. Da Costa was soon joined at the top of the table by new recruit Alexander Sims, who impressed this morning by finishing in P1 and finished the second session in the same position.