Rally Turkey was a rally like no other I’ve competed on. An incredible test of endurance and determination.
The recce was a challenge in itself, we picked up two punctures on our recce car. The rough nature of the stages made writing difficult, and the dust made navigating tricky. However, we were rewarded with some of the most beautiful stages I have seen, this rally was held amongst truly stunning scenery.
The route of the rally was nicely compact, with short liaison sections and easy access to the stages.
The rally itself was a war of attrition, we had to go slowly in places to preserve the car and then speed up to maximum attack on the smoother sections. The trick was knowing where to go fast, and where to go slow; and that meant making really good pace notes.
The soaring heat and choking dust made life inside the rally car a challenge, it’s where our focus on fitness and preparation really helped. We had to change three punctures in the stages, another area we’ve practised hard to save precious seconds. The Fiesta R2T held up really well against the ruts and boulders on the stages, some of the rocks on the line were size of a beach ball! We damaged the rear suspension and had to complete one loop of stages with not much in the way of damping on the rear right, which led to some interesting handling characteristics. However, the M-Sport team were fantastic, and worked incredibly hard to keep each car running perfectly in the tough conditions.
The rally start was a great experience on the sea front in Marmaris, a huge amount of fans lined the streets and there was a huge party atmosphere (in fact there was a huge fan presence across the whole rally). The city centre stage that night was one of the best ones I have done, featuring open sections as well as tight hairpins.
Friday was probably the toughest and roughest leg, with stages to the north, Saturday saw (relatively) smoother stages to the east, and Sunday saw four shorted stages finishing right outside the service park. Friday and Saturday had a mixture of long, endurance-sapping stages of nearly 40km, and short high intensity tests, so strategy was key.
FIA World Rally Championship 2018 / Round 10 / Rally Turkey 2018 / September 13-16, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Well, what an amazing and epic event we were treated to! Here’s my full stage by stage report. After Thursday’s evening stage, Andreas held a small lead over the field, with Ott, Thierry and Seb in third, fourth and twelfth respectively. Seb was down there because of a small spin.
Friday
With six stages to run, including the double run of Çetibeli at 38km, which was the first stage of the day, there would be drama from the off. The start list looked like this – Neuville, Ogier, Tänak, Lappi, Mikkelsen, Latvala, Evans, Ostberg, Breen, Suninen, Paddon, Al Qassimi. Could Craig, who’d suffered badly on Friday’s in recent events have a better first day?
Well, what we saw was Craig take the stage victory from Hayden and Andreas in third. The best placed championship challenger was Thierry who was in sixth, with Seb and Ott eighth and ninth. Craig said, it was all he could do, just to keep the car in the middle of the road and just survive to the end. Elfyn Evans had some intercom problems, which held him back from pushing.
Craig Breen and Scott Martin took the early lead on Friday, before their usual curse came along. Photo credit, Citroen Racing
Now, into SS3 and this was the first surprise, as Thierry won the stage, despite being first on the road. Quite amazing, and this was enough to move the Belgian into fourth overall, with Hayden falling behind, down to sixth. Seb also moved up one place after setting the third fastest time impressively, only 2.6 seconds slower than Thierry in the stage. Craig remained in the overall lead though, from Andreas who was finding some good form.
This form continued into SS4 for the Norwegian, and he won the stage. Craig was cautious in this one, after he had a big impact near the start of the stage, meaning he thought there was a puncture, and this meant that we had a new leader, with Andreas moving to the top of the leaderboard. In fact, it was a good one for the Hyundai team, as Hayden also moved up to fifth, now ahead of Jari-Matti. Through all of this, Mads had held a very positive third overall throughout the morning.
The afternoon stages would really shake things up though. Craig’s Friday curse would return in SS5, getting a puncture 13km into the 38km stage. It got worse for the Citroen team, with Mads suffering a tyre delamination and Al Qassimi getting a mechanical failure as well! Through all of this came Seb, who won the stage from teammate Teemu and Latvala third. Andreas now held the lead from the Frenchman, who’d taken ten seconds out of Andreas’ lead.
Into SS6 then, and a few drivers would end up with broken cars. First up was Elfyn, who broke his differential after hitting a rock he couldn’t avoid. Then, Mads broke his suspension as well. Craig passed them both in the stage. Meantime Thierry won the stage, and with Seb almost nine seconds slower, the championship leader was now up to second overall, less than two seconds off the lead.
The final stage of the day, SS7 was won by Ott, from Esapekka and Seb, but the big news was that Andreas who’d held the lead throughout the afternoon lost eleven seconds and fell to third. Our overnight leader was Thierry who was just three tenths of a second ahead of Seb.
STANDINGS AFTER DAY 1
Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) 1:52:28.2
Ogier / Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) + 0.3
Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) + 2.6
Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) + 16.3
Tänak / Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) + 31.9
Paddon / Marshall (Hyundai i20 WRC) +35.1
Lappi / Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) + 36.8
Breen / Martin (Citroën C3 WRC) + 50.1
Suninen / Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) + 1:02.9
Here’s the thoughts of the drivers – Top three first.
Thierry Neuville
“We are involved in a fantastic fight for the leading positions, which is a great way to start this new event. The conditions we have faced today have been really tough. We had a good clean run this morning, and didn’t expect to be so involved. The dusty conditions lessened our disadvantage from being first on the road so we could keep in touch. These roads have been a completely different challenge to any other we’ve faced this season, which keeps things fresh. We had to take things a bit more carefully this afternoon. We lost a lot of time in SS5 and had to take some risks in the subsequent stage as a result. We then lost several seconds in the final stage, needing to reverse after making a mistake. It was a reminder that this rally could be won or lost on the smallest of things. It is exciting, just how we like it!”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Rally Turkey 13-16 september 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Sébastien Ogier
“Today has been a bit of a surprise as the conditions were often better for us in the front which is pretty rare on gravel. I gave it everything I had and I’m pretty happy with my drive. We lost a lot of time in the dust this morning, which is the only frustrating part of the day, but there was not much more we could have done.
“I stayed in my rhythm for the long stage this afternoon and wasn’t pushing very hard – just trying to stay clean and not be too aggressive on the rocks. I had a lot of tyre wear after that and I finished the day without a lot of tread left!
“It’s still going to be a long rally, but we will try everything we can. Our best chance is to keep the consistency, so let’s see what we can do.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“I am pleased to end the opening day inside the top-three, and to be involved in a close fight for the lead with Thierry and Séb. We’ve had a strong start, though not perfect, in very demanding conditions. After starting the weekend with a stage win on Thursday night, we made a clever tyre choice for the Friday morning loop, which really paid dividends. We had a clean drive, avoiding the big rocks, pushing where we could but playing it safe at the same time. I knew the afternoon would be harder. We ended the day with a lot of caution, first because of a right-rear puncture and then tackling the final stage on very used tyres. Overall, two stage wins so far, we led the rally for three stages today, and we have more to come on Saturday. Plenty of cause for optimism!”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (4th)
“This morning started with a good time in the first stage even though there was a lot of dust in the air from the cars in front. I lost some time in the next stages but this afternoon was much better: The stages were very rough but I tried to be clever and focus on being consistent and not making mistakes. We end the day in fourth and only 16 seconds from the lead. Tomorrow the stages are in a slightly better condition than today and I feel good about our chances.”
FIA World Rally Championship 2018 / Round 10 / Rally Turkey 2018 / September 13-16, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Ott Tänak (5th)
“The conditions in the morning were maybe not as bad as expected. It was just quite a lot of loose gravel and very low grip, and that’s one area we still need to work on. The afternoon was very tough but we could improve our position by avoiding any incidents. Then the last stage was quite smooth and there we had a good run. We are working really hard with the engineers to improve for tomorrow. We are still very eager to fight for the top positions and we are not far away.”
Esapekka Lappi (7th)
“This morning was quite a struggle but we got through it without any issues. We knew that the stages would be rougher on the second pass, so we made the car stiffer in service to protect it more against the rocks. However, this meant that we had less grip and we lost a lot of time on the long stage as a result. Then I made a lot of changes on the road section and we got the grip back. I’m looking forward to tomorrow: Hopefully we can continue like we ended today. Everything can still happen, there are many kilometres to go.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon (6th)
“It has been a hard day’s work for pretty much everyone out there today. Some of the roughest conditions I have ever seen! We had a plan from the start, aiming to be sensible, look after the car and keep the driving nice and clean. We didn’t really get an advantage from our road position so we just stuck to our pace notes. The afternoon was even harder, and it is testament to the strength of the cars that they withstood the stages as much as they did. We had a broken damper on the final stage, which didn’t help matters but we’re P6 in an incredibly close fight. Considering the conditions, that’s not a bad start.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Craig Breen (8th)
“It’s very frustrating to have picked up two punctures when I was really taking care to drive in the middle of the road. But the race isn’t over yet. Neuville and Ogier showed today that it’s possible to be quick even if you’re one of the first on the road, so tomorrow I’m going to try and produce the same kind of pace we had today.”
Mads Østberg (Rally2)
“It’s a shame to finish the day like this, a day that had started so well. We were right in the mix for the podium, whilst attempting to look after the car. Unfortunately, these really rough roads got the better of a suspension arm on our C3 WRC.”
Khalid Al Qassimi (Rally2)
“I was getting my bearings with these stages and with the car, hoping to gradually up my pace, when our day was brought to a premature end with a technical issue. With times posted and the pace shown by the other guys this morning, the team certainly deserved a better outcome.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen (9th)
“It’s been really rough out there today but I think I’ve learnt a lot. I have never experienced conditions like this and I still don’t know where the limit is. But when I drive flat-out and don’t think too much about managing the car and the tyres – like on the first stage this afternoon – the times are really good. There’s still a lot to learn to be more consistent, but the car has been really nice to drive and really strong so I hope we can continue to improve tomorrow.”
Elfyn Evans (Rally 2)
“It was a tough day. We had intercom issues on the first stage [SS2] and then transmission issues on the two after that [SS3 and SS4]. The afternoon loop was going pretty well and we had really good speed before picking up a slow puncture towards the end of SS5. Then in the next one there was a massive rock on the inside of the line. We missed it with the wheel, but it hit the wishbone and unfortunately that was it – just one of those things.”
Elfyn Evans and Dan Barritt had a frustrating Friday. Photo credit, M-Sport WRT
Saturday
With six stages to run on Saturday, the running order looked like this – Suninen, Breen, Lappi, Paddon, Tänak, Latvala, Mikkelsen, Ogier, Neuville, Ostberg, Evans, Al Qassimi.
The first stage of the day was SS8 and it was a long one again at 34km. Thierry would hit trouble, after an impact meant his suspension on the left front of the car smashed through his bonnet. He’d lose three and a half minutes, falling to ninth overall. Seb now took the lead after setting the fastest time through the stage. Sadly, Mads retired from the rally, after suffering a technical failure with his car. His teammate, Craig spun in the stage, leading to a stall and then also having to turn the car around as well, losing a few seconds. Overall top three now was Seb, Andreas and Jari-Matti.
Andreas won SS9, and closed the gap to Seb after the M-Sport driver suffered a broken wishbone on the front right of his car. The Frenchman did well to minimise the time loss to just eighteen seconds, his lead now seven and a half over Andreas.
It would change again in SS10, with Seb winning the stage. Unfortunately, he’d arrived at the stage six minutes late, and this meant he’d been given a one-minute penalty. He fell to fourth overall, 46 seconds from first place. Andreas was now the new leader, with Ott and Jari-Matti now up to second and third. Esapekka Lappi slid off the road as well, and was hanging off the road, nose first, like the coach in the original Italian Job! The car would later fall down, completely off the road.
It would all change again in SS11 after the service break. First up, Craig was driving through with smoke coming from the car. He and Scott stopped a couple of times to try and see where it was coming from. They would continue to the end of the stage, albeit at a slower pace. Then came news that Seb had stopped, nineteen km’s into the stage! The M-Sport crew had slid wide on a left-hander and become stuck! There was drama also for leader, Andreas. He had a puncture on the right-rear, but he was still pushing on! He’d finish the stage, but after a couple of spins and stalling his engine, he’d lose one minute 40 seconds! Ott Tanak would win the stage from Elfyn Evans, this putting the Estonian into the lead! Very significant given the championship situation with Thierry and Seb now looking like their best chances for points now lay with the power stage on Sunday. Sadly, Craig was also out, after his car caught fire, completely burning out. He was gutted. Andreas was another to be working on his car after the stage. Turns out the front diff had failed and left his car with just rear wheel drive. No wonder he’d spun so many times!
Into SS12 then and Jari-Matti set a great time, winning the stage from Elfyn Evans! Ott’s lead was just eight seconds over his Toyota teammate. Meantime, we had confirmation that Andreas i20 definitely only had rear wheel drive! For the Norwegian this was frustrating, but just a case of getting to the end of the day now. Now, with all these problems for the top drivers and cars, Henning Solberg was now in sixth overall in a Skoda Fabia R5, with Chris Ingram and Kopecky also just behind him in identical cars, seventh and eighth overall.
The final test of the day, SS13, saw Ott fastest again from Elfyn, with Jari-Matti third quickest. Top three overall was now Ott, Jari-Matti and Hayden. Andreas lost more time with his car still without it’s four-wheel drive working. Further back, Elfyn’s pace had lifted him up to seventh overall now.
FIA World Rally Championship 2018 / Round 10 / Rally Turkey 2018 / September 13-16, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Summing up the second day, it’s worth noting that the top four had not had any problems with punctures or suspension damage. On an event with such rough roads, it had been those driving at a good pace, but not as fast as the others, had paid dividends. Now there just remained a few stages on Sunday to get through.
End of Saturday Standings
1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 3h34m22.5s
2 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +13.1s
3 Hayden Paddon/Seb Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m10.5s
4 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3m22.2s
5 Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +6m25.4s
6 Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor (Skoda Fabia R5) +11m55.5s
7 Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) +16m49.0s
8 Jan Kopecky/Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia R5) +17m05.9s
9 Simone Tempestini/Sergiu Itu (Citroen C3 R5) +17m50.4s
10 Chris Ingram/Ross Whittock (Skoda Fabia R5) +18m38.2s
Let’s hear then from the drivers after this remarkable day! Top three first.
Ott Tanak
“Overall it has definitely been a positive day for us. I said from the beginning that winning this rally would not be about speed but about reliability and avoiding any issues. So far, I think we have done a good job: both myself and Jari-Matti have come through without any real problems and it is nice to be in this position. There are still four stages to go and we have seen today that it is very tricky and a lot can happen. We just need to keep focused and hopefully we can bring it home.”
Jari-Matti Latvala
“It has been a good day for us, particularly in the afternoon when I had a much better feeling and the car was generally working really well. Here you have to try to find a sensible limit with the driving. The grip is pretty high in some areas and that gives you the opportunity to push, but you have so many bad rocks and bumps, so it’s very easy to damage the car. Tomorrow it will be important to be consistent and stay cool.”
Hayden Paddon
“It has been complete mayhem out there today. We have stuck to our plan, and it seems to have paid off. It didn’t quite work out yesterday but this has, at times, felt like a different rally compared to Friday. It’s been much more loose and particularly tough on the tyres. In the afternoon loop, we had to take it a bit steady towards the end because our tyres were practically bald. I have learned my lessons from previous rallies, where we’ve gone out too fast too early and ended up by the side of the road. It can be frustrating when you look at the stage times, but it seems to be a good tactic. I’m happy to be in P3, although sad for my team-mates who were forced to relinquish their respective leads of this rally.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Rally Turkey 13-16 september 2018 Hayden Paddon, Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (5th)
“It goes without saying that we are incredibly disappointed. We had built up a comfortable lead heading into lunchtime service and really felt in full control. At the start of SS11, we knew almost immediately that we had a driveshaft issue on the front-right. Going into rear-wheel drive, we knew that it would be impossible to fight for the lead anymore. We got to the end of the stage and did all we could to fix the issue. It was important to just keep going, which we managed. Making it to service means we retain fifth place overall and can fight tomorrow for important points for the team. That said, I really think we could have won this one.”
Thierry Neuville (Rally2)
“I am devastated that we had to retire from the rally today. We started the day in the lead and in positive spirits, but just 8 kilometres before the end of the opening stage I felt like I had a puncture. The car became slow to turn. Suddenly the bonnet started to move and the damper popped out, which is when we knew we were in big trouble. We finished the stage and tried to fix the car but there was no chance to continue. I am really disappointed but it’s part of the game, and part of rallying, especially in rough conditions like we’ve faced this weekend. All we can do is fight back on Sunday with the target of maximum points in the Power Stage.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen (4th)
“It’s been another really rough and difficult day but I think we managed everything quite well. I tried to stay on quite a safe pace with the driving and that was the way to stay out of trouble. Of course, I would have liked to have had a bit more pace, but we were opening the road and still have a lot to learn.”
Teemu Suninen drove a great Saturday’s stages. Photo credit M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans (7th)
“It’s been a pretty good day for us. We were taking it quite carefully and not taking any unnecessary risks, but the times were pretty encouraging and we’ve managed to climb back into a reasonably good position.”
Sébastien Ogier (12th)
“Today has been a really tough day for us and I probably made one of the silliest mistakes of my career. It happened at the exit of a tight right-hand corner with another very tight left-hander straight after – so I was going very slowly.
“But I wasn’t listening to Julien very well and braked too late. We slid wide and came to a halt at a tree. The car had no damage and I could get it to move again. I reversed, but when I wanted to move forwards the ground was so soft that the car just sunk and got stuck.
“We fought very hard this morning to get back on the road. It was a hard time but we made it back to service and were still in the fight for some really good points. If this didn’t happen we would probably be in the lead, but we’re not.
“It seems like things don’t really want to go our way at the moment, but that’s motorsport. There are some bad days, but I’m sure some good ones will follow again soon.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Khalid Al Qassimi (14th)
“After a tough first loop, we adjusted the set-up with the team and I was a lot more comfortable in the afternoon. I was able to up my pace, despite a few issues with the intercom.”
Sunday
The final day then. What dramas would it hold? Just four stages and a total of 34km in length. The start list looked like this – Mikkelsen, Suninen, Paddon, Latvala, Tänak, Evans, Ogier, Al Qassimi, Neuville, Ostberg, H. Solberg, Kopecky.
The first stage of the day, SS14, would double up later as the power stage, which meant Seb and Thierry would be looking to get through well, and making sure that their stage notes were on point, ready for later. Thierry would go fastest from Mads, with Seb third quickest. Overall, Ott increased his lead to 15 seconds over Jari-Matti with Hayden looking good to take his first podium of the year.
Seb won SS15 and moved a little closer to Elfyn. This would become significant later. Mads was just four tenths slower, whilst the rally leader was third in the stage, taking his lead over Latvala to 17 seconds. We had four WRC2 cars in the top ten as well, with Solberg sixth ahead of Elfyn and Kopecky, Tempestini and Ingram eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.
Into SS16 then, the penultimate stage and once more the top three fastest were Seb, followed by Mads and Ott. Elfyn clocked into the stage early, meaning that he’d picked up some time penalties. Seb was the driver to benefit from this having now moved into tenth position. The Welshman confirmed his team had asked him to do it.
The final stage then. Who would take the stage victory and the points? Thierry blasted through the stage, setting a benchmark 4 mins 59.58 seconds. What could Seb and for that matter Ott do? Well, the Frenchman went through 1.6 second slower, giving him second fastest at that point. Finally, Ott completed the rally, and had taken his third victory in a row, plus was third fastest in the stage, 3.8 seconds behind Thierry.
FIA World Rally Championship 2018 / Round 10 / Rally Turkey 2018 / September 13-16, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
What a result for the young Estonian! He’d scored 28 points, with his win and third place in the power stage, and with that moved ahead of Seb in the championship! Just amazing! What a crazy rally. Proper endurance stuff, just getting around and knowing where to push and when to be sensible.
FINAL CLASSIFICATION, RALLY TURKEY
1 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 3h59m24.5s
2 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +22.3s
3 Hayden Paddon/Seb Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m46.3s
4 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) +4m10.9s
5 Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +7m11.7s
6 Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor (Skoda Fabia R5) +13m40.6s
7 Jan Kopecky/Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia R5) +18m25.2s
8 Simone Tempestini/Sergiu Itu (Citroen C3 R5) +19m37.1s
9 Chris Ingram/Ross Whittock (Skoda Fabia R5) +20m21.3s
10 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +20m51.2s
FIA World Rally Championship 2018 / Round 10 / Rally Turkey 2018 / September 13-16, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Here’s the thought’s then of the drivers!
Ott Tanak
“This rally was so difficult. From the beginning, we knew that it will not be the fastest driver that will win this rally but that it would be the smartest. We were the most consistent and we managed to do the whole rally without any issues or having to stop on any of the stages. Obviously, it has been a great team effort and they have been able to build a very strong car. The championship is now wide open so let’s keep pushing.”
Jari-Matti Latvala
“This is a great result for the team. The main thing today was to get the one-two finish and we did it. Everything went according to plan. I tried to be clever and not do anything stupid and I had a consistent run. We are trying hard to win the manufacturers’ championship so these points were very valuable, and the remainder of the season now looks very exciting. For me, it is very nice to be on the podium again. Things have started to look better since Finland. Now let’s keep it going this way.”
Hayden Paddon
“I am really happy to take our first podium of the season. It has been a very tough rally. We have adopted a particular strategy this weekend that has required us to hold back and be patient. Thankfully that approach has paid off and we have been rewarded with third place – it’s been a while since we’ve been on the podium! It hasn’t been the rally that the team wanted or deserved. I am fully behind them coming back in the final rounds of the season and I am personally looking forward to Wales Rally GB.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Rally Turkey 13-16 september 2018 Hayden Paddon, Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen (4th)
“This was definitely the roughest rally I have ever done so to finish fourth is a great result for me. It’s the second-best result of my career, and I can be happy with that. It was also nice to reward the team with some good points because they all really deserved that this weekend.
“On Friday we set a really good time on the long stage [SS5] and it was positive to see that we were only two seconds away from the fastest time. Saturday was really difficult with all the loose gravel and honestly I couldn’t do much more with all the wheelspin – but I hope that will be good practice for the future!”
Sébastien Ogier (10th)
“It’s been a frustrating weekend, but that’s part of the game and we have to accept it. I gave it everything I had this weekend and did everything I possibly could without reward. At least we secured some points at the end of the rally and hopefully we will get some rewards soon! It’s definitely a three-way fight for the title now, and it’s still all to play for.”
Elfyn Evans (12th)
“It was a frustrating Friday with a lot of different issues which eventually resulted in retirement when striking a rock on the line which couldn’t be avoided. We had a pretty solid day on Saturday and were able to show good pace whilst keeping out of trouble. But today we had to drop time and assist Sébastien with his championship defence.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (5th)
“It was very important for us to finish the rally with a safe, clever drive today. We took it easy on all four remaining stages, including the Power Stage, because we needed to secure the points for the manufacturers’ championship. Finishing fifth is not what we wanted, nor what we were capable of. Despite our speed, which we showed by leading the rally on three separate occasions, unfortunately the issues we encountered yesterday prevented us from capitalising on our potential. We have lost a lot to Toyota this weekend, so we now look forward to a strong return at the next event in Wales GB.”
Thierry Neuville (16th)
“I was absolutely flat-out in the Power Stage, and could not have done any more. We really needed those five points. We are fighting for the championship against some very hard guys to beat, so we had to give it everything. In all honesty, I feel we should have taken the win this weekend. We were clearly the fastest, especially on Friday when we were first on the road and leading at the end of the day. Were it not for a small issue on our car, we could have achieved so much more here. I am disappointed, but as a team we win and lose together. We will dust ourselves down and come back strong in the final three rallies.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing
Mads Østberg (23rd)
“Today we had the same kind of pace we had on Friday, with several very good times. It’s a good way to finish what has been a very tough weekend for the team. I think we certainly deserved a better outcome.”
Mads and Torstein had a very interesting event. Photo credit, Citroen Racing.
Khalid Al Qassimi (15th)
“Today, I adopted a thoughtful approach to my driving, carefully avoiding the stones, to make it to the end. This has been one of the hardest rallies I have ever done. The team finished on a positive note and that’s the main thing.”
Well, what an incredible rally! We are in for an amazing final few rallies this year. First up is an autumnal Wales in two weeks, followed by the only tarmac/gravel rally that is Rally Spain at the last weekend of October, and finally down-under to the Gold Coast in Australia for the season finale in the middle of November! Who will win? I’ve got no idea, but it’s going to be fun to watch!
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 10
1
T. Neuville
177
2
O. Tanak
164
3
S. Ogier
154
4
E. Lappi
88
5
A. Mikkelsen
75
6
J.M Latvala
75
7
D. Sordo
60
8
T. Suninen
54
9
E. Evans
53
10
H. Paddon
49
11
M. Østberg
48
12
C. Breen
47
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 9
During the weekend was the final event of GT4 European Series in 2018. It was the debut year in this series for the Polish ambassador of #GirlsOnTrack Gosia Rdest. After the second race, which took place on Sunday, Pole answered a few questions asked by Julia Paradowska.
Julia Paradowska: The 2018 season has ended, what are your plans during the off season?
Gosia Rdest: I’ve begun working on the next season; mostly discussing plans with current sponsors and acquiring new ones. We are organizing a large media day in October; to recap on the 2018 season, and discus the 2019 season. There is also the Auto World GO program. The recordings will probably start at the end of September. Plus there will new videos on my Youtube channel. I do plan to have some time off from the simulator and physical training but only for a couple of weeks, as we have plans to race in Bahrain, probably during the last week of November.
As part of mentoring the winners from #GirlsOnTrack Tychy and Rzeszów heats. This year I still have 3 sessions with the pupils looking at various aspects of racing – one is actually a video link session. The #GirlsOnTrack project will head to Le Mans in March of next year with the 3 finalists and to start to prepare them as racers. I hope this program will bring good results. I also hope that a Polish Woman will be first winner from the competition.
JP: Are you going to drive for Phoenix Racing for next season?
GR: I’m definitely in the team for the next season and I am satisfied with the format of the racing weekend and the level represented by GT4 European Racing, because there is really a lot of driving and the rules are simple and clear. The question will be which GT4 European series. When it comes to the balance and performance of cars; the cars presented at an even level. If at the beginning of the weekend they did not present this level, then the track was adapted later.
I adjusted to the car’s performance by the second event of the series. Brands Hatch was a mix of emotions, where we finished the race in the sixth place in the general classification, and the first in the PRO-AM class, but the next day the cup was taken away because the pit stop that my alternate was doing was too short – it was about 0.2 seconds too fast.
There is also a chance of starting in the US. This is something incredible for me, one thing is for sure – it will also be GT4. I’m 100% in the car.
Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline
JP: Looking back, during race one on Saturday you received penalty points, what happened?
GR: we had two penalites, which I and Cedric (Gosia’s teammate) caused through different events. My punishment was that during the yellow flag I went faster in my sector. It resulted from the fact that on the previous lap I was driving behind other cars. It was only when the space between us got out and I had a free track in front of me, involuntarily I started to drive faster. It was not my personal sector record in comparison to the times achieved in Friday’s trainings or the next sector times, but unfortunately it was my first quick lap and it was faster than the previous. It was a bit of a surprise to everyone, because I was not the only car, but probably 10 more cars received the same penalty.
And Cedric’s penalty – it was for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane. Until the end we are not sure what it resulted from – when I went down and handed over the car, I had a pit limiter turned on. Probably some irregularities occurred when drivers changed. Maybe I or Cedric caught a knee, foot, armchair or whatever pit limiter you could turn off. It never had happened to us before, and Cedric did not check if the pit limiter was on. when he accelerated from the pit stop on the pit lane, he had no resistance and drove more than 50 km/h. If it is a qualification or training, for such an offense you get penalty points depending on the offense – one or two. At the moment of season, penalty points are not awarded, especially considering that it was the last race weekend in the series, so no point would have worked, which is why Cedric got a penalty through the pit lane.
JP: Sunday hosted the second race, unfortunately your car didn’t finish the race. Can you explain the events leading up to the retirement of the car?
GR: Cedric, got hit during the start of the race. This resulted in problems with the temperature, because the right cooler was damaged and thus the temperature of oil and water had to be controlled all the time. As the race continued, the car gently began to go crazy in traction control, which we turned off anyway, but all the time there was a problem. There was Safety Car period which shortly after, we got hit again; when somebody drove into the left rear. This caused the car to have steering problems and we had to retire the car.
I have did not race one lap today; It was terribly sad because I was ready to change – I had my little racing seat in my hand and helmet on, waiting for the car to come in during the pit window – and it turned out that I will not go any further in today’s race.
Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline
JP: But there is a big positive for the team this weekend.
GR: The huge positive of this day is the fact that the second car from our team with the number 5 (drivers: Milan Dontje and Nicolaj Møller-Madsen) won the championship title. It was also a huge combination of events; because the BMW which was competing with our car was involved in the incident during the first lap right after the start. The BMW did not manage to avoid the collision and they hit a back-facing Mercedes. The #55 Ginetta was also involved in the collision, which became engulfed in flames later on because of the impact received during that incident.
JP: You have a lot of memories when it comes to the Nürburgring- you have achieved a lot here. Is this one of your favorite tracks?
GR: Definitely yes. In fact, the first time I was here (about 7 years ago at the Polish event) – it was the premiere of the new Mercedes A45. It was an event for Polish Mercedes customers, so I received an invitation and it was my first contact with the circuit.
The next time I appeared here in the Audi Sport TT Cup, where I managed to beat in third place. It was a cherry on the cake and a terrible joy because it was supported by the plant. It was the penultimate race of the season and the bet consisted of this: if I finished on the podium during this race, then my supervisor at Audi Sport TT Cup, declared he would present to me an Audi TT at The Warsaw Motor Show. Luckily I finished 3rd.
This year the track was in a different configuration (sprint). With Oscar Tunjo, we managed to win second place in the first race, and in the second race the first place. Memories from the track are very good – in fact, apart from this weekend, which is the worst, but it is a combination of unfortunate events. Two penalties, I still had a gentle contact after the start, but it was a gentle push and the fact that today I did not participate in the race. I was disappointed at Spa, where my team-mate completely broke the car during qualifying, but it was not so bad, because the Hungaroring and Nürburgring were next on the calendar, so there was almost still half of the season left.
W miniony weekend zakończył się sezon GT4 European Series. Był to debiutancki rok w tej serii dla polskiej ambasadorki #GirlsOnTrack Gosi Rdest. Po drugim wyścigu, który odbył się w niedzielę, Polka odpowiedziała na kilka pytań zadanych przez Julię Paradowską.
Julia Paradowska: Sezon 2018 właśnie dobiegł końca. Czy masz jakieś plany na ostatnie miesiące 2018?
Gosia Rdest: Przygotowuję się już do kolejnego sezonu. Prace tak naprawdę już się zaczęły nad utrzymaniem sponsorów, którzy są oraz pozyskaniem też nowych. (Prace już ruszyły. Póki co chodzi o utrzymanie obecnych sponsorów, a także pozyskanie nowych). To co mamy też teraz w planach, to zorganizowanie większego media day, który będzie już w październiku. Podczas niego trzeba będzie zaprezentować się, pokazać formę oraz podsumować także sezon. Poza tym jest jeszcze program Auto Świat GO. Ramówka będzie już we wtorek. Nagrania pewnie zaczną się pod koniec września. Oprócz tego jest jeszcze też mój kanał na youtube – także dzieje się. Teraz będzie kilka tygodni zwolnionych od symulatora, przygotowania fizycznego i pewnie będzie to taka delikatna posezonowa rekonwalescencja, która nie będzie trwała długo, ponieważ są już głosy, że polecimy wystartować w Bahrajnie. Ten wyścig bodajże jest w ostatnim tygodniu listopada – także to będzie takie drugie zakończenie sezonu.
W tym roku będzie kontynuowany program #GirlsOnTrack, w ramach którego będziemy realizować cztery bloki tematyczne z laureatkami zawodów w Tychach oraz w Rzeszowie. W tym roku odbędą się trzy spotkania – jedno będzie zdalne. Projekt będzie kontynuowany w następnym roku – wyjazd na zawody z trzema finalistkami w Le Mans oraz pomoc w przygotowaniu do startów, którą planujemy na marzec. Mam nadzieję, że praca, którą już podjęliśmy przyniesie efekty i to właśnie Polka będzie pierwszą zwyciężczynią.
JP: Czy zostajesz w zespole Phoenix Racing na następny sezon?
GR: Na pewno zostaję w zespole na następny sezon – jest to pewne na 100%. Nie ma co do końca decyzji jeżeli chodzi o serię wyścigową. Jestem zadowolona z formatu weekendu wyścigowego oraz poziomu reprezentowanego przez GT4 European Racing, ponieważ jest naprawdę dużo jeżdżenia i zasady są proste, jasne oraz klarowne. Jeżeli chodzi o balans i performance samochodów to nie było zbyt dużych gaf ze strony organizatorów. Auta prezentowały wyrównany poziom. Jeżeli z początkiem weekendu nie prezentowały wyrównanego poziomu, to później następowała adaptacja do toru. Z samochodem już w zasadzie od drugiego w tym sezonie wyścigu zaczęłam się dogadywać. Był to Brands Hatch, gdzie skończyliśmy wyścig na szóstym miejscu w klasyfikacji generalnej, a na pierwszym w klasie PRO-AM. Niestety, następnego dnia zostaliśmy zdyskwalifikowanie z powodu za szybkiego pit stopu mojego zmiennika (trwał za krótko o 0,2 sekundy).
Na ten moment pewne jest to, że samochód będzie to GT4 i jest również pewne, jaki będzie to zespół. Do końca jednak nie jest wiadomo, w jakiej serii będę startować, ponieważ na rynek wyścigowy wchodzą mistrzostwa Niemiec w serii GT4 organizowane przez ADAC i tutaj zobaczymy, jak zespół zadecyduje o kierunku, w którym pójdziemy. Dla mnie jest ważne, żeby zostać z tym samym samochodem.
Ostatnio pojawiła się jeszcze ewentualna szansa startów w USA. Jest to coś niewiarygodnego dla mnie, ale z tym myślę, że trzeba z miesiąc poczekać, żeby cokolwiek było ubrane w ramy. Jedno jest pewne – też będzie to GT4. Na 100% zostaję w przy tym samochodzie
Photo credit: Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline
JP: Porozmawiajmy o weekendzie. W sobotę odbył się pierwszy wyścig, w którym na wasz samochód zostały nałożone kary. Z czego one wynikały?
GR: Tutaj karami podzieliliśmy się z Cedricem (partner zespołowy Gosi) po równo – jedną przywiozłam ja, a drugą on. Moja kara była za to, że podczas żółtej flagi pojechałam szybszy czas swojego sektora. Wynikało to z tego, że na poprzednim okrążeniu jechałam za innymi samochodami. Dopiero jak zrobiła się przestrzeń miedzy nami i miałam wolne pole przed sobą, mimowolnie zaczęłam jeździć szybciej. Nie był to mój rekord osobisty sektora w porównaniu do czasów osiągniętych w piątkowych treningach czy następnych czasów sektorów, ale niefortunnie złożyło się, że było to moje pierwsze szybkie kółko i niefart chciał, że było one szybsze od poprzedniego i stąd ta kara. Okazało się to zaskoczeniem dla wszystkich, ponieważ nie byłam jedynym samochodem, ale bodajże jeszcze 10 samochodów otrzymało tą samą karę.
A kara Cedrica nałożona została za przekroczenie dozwolonej prędkości w alei serwisowej. Do końca nie jesteśmy pewni z czego to wynikało – jak ja zjeżdżałam i oddawałam samochód, to miałam włączony pit limiter. Prawdopodobnie w momencie zmiany kierowców zaszły jakieś nieprawidłowości. Może ja albo Cedric zahaczyliśmy kolanem, stopą, fotelem czy czymkolwiek czym można pit limiter wyłączyć. Nigdy wcześniej nam to się nie zdarzyło, także Cedric nie sprawdził, czy pit limiter był włączony. W momencie gdy przyśpieszył w alei serwisowej, nie miał oporowania i pojechał więcej niż 50 km/h. Jeżeli są to kwalifikacje lub treningi, to za takie wykroczenie otrzymuje się punkty karne w zależności od wykroczenia – jeden lub dwa. W momencie wyścigów nie są przyznawane punkty karne, zwłaszcza biorąc pod uwagę fakt, że był to ostatni weekend wyścigowy w serii, więc żaden punkt na nic by się zdał, dlatego Cedric dostał karę przejazdu przez aleję serwisową.
JP: Wróćmy do wydarzeń z dzisiaj – niestety wasz samochód wziął udział w wypadku i nie ukończyliście wyścigu.
GR: Kontakt był z nie naszej winy i to nie jednokrotnie. Cedric dostał dwa uderzenia zaraz po starcie i też po zjeździe samochodu bezpieczeństwa ktoś wjechał w jego lewy tył, przez co go obróciło i nie był w stanie kontynuować jazdy. Już po pierwszych dwóch kontaktach pojawiły się problemy z temperaturą, ponieważ została uszkodzona prawa chłodnica i przez to cały czas temperatura oleju oraz wody musiała być kontrolowana. Przez poślizg delikatnie zaczęła wariować kontrola trakcji, którą i tak wyłączamy, ale mimo tego cały czas pojawiał się błąd. Także całkowicie poszła geometria i zbieżność w samochodzie. Finalnie nie przejechałam dzisiaj ani jednego okrążenia. To było strasznie przykre, ponieważ byłam przygotowana do zmiany – miałam w ręku mój fotelik oraz założony kask, bo za 2 minuty miało być otwarte pit window, ale okazało się, że nic z tego i dzisiaj nie pojadę.
Photo credit: Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline
JP: Ale jest duży pozytyw dla zespołu podczas tego weekendu.
GR: Ogromnym pozytywem tego dnia jest fakt, iż drugi samochód z naszego zespołu z numerem 5 (w składzie: Milan Dontje i Nicolaj Møller-Madsen) wygrał tytuł mistrzowski. To był też ogromny splot zdarzeń, ponieważ konkurujący z naszym samochodem BMW zostało zamieszane w incydent podczas pierwszego okrążenia zaraz po starcie. BMW nie zdołało uniknąć kolizji i uderzyło stojącego tyłem do kierunku Mercedesa, a z kolei Ginetta z numerem 55 spłonęła w wyniku uszkodzenia, które było spowodowane było kontaktem podczas tego samego incydentu.
JP: Masz dużo wspomnień jeżeli chodzi o Nürburgring – dużo tutaj osiągnęłaś. Czy jest to jeden z twoich ulubionych torów?
GR: Zdecydowanie tak. W zasadzie pierwszy raz byłam tutaj około 7 lat temu na polskim evencie – była to premiera nowego Mercedesa A45. Było to wydarzenie dla polskich klientów Mercedesa, więc dostałam zaproszenie i to była moja pierwsza styczność z torem.
Następnym razem pojawiłam się tutaj w pucharze Audi Sport TT Cup, gdzie udało mi się zdobyć na trzecie miejsce. To przysłowiowa wisienka na torcie oraz straszna radość, ponieważ była ona poparta zakładem. Był to przedostatni wyścig sezonu i zakład polegał na tym – jeżeli wbiję się na podium podczas tego wyścigu, to wtedy nasz opiekun Audi Sport TT Cup zadeklarował, że przywiezie mi samochód na Warsaw Motor Show. Byłam na najniższym stopniu podium, więc nic mu nie zostało i musiał przywieźć auto do Warszawy.
W tym roku też już byłam na tym torze, lecz jeździłam w innej konfiguracji (sprint). Z Oscarem Tunjo udało nam się wywalczyć w pierwszym wyścigu drugie miejsce, a w drugim wyścigu pierwsze miejsce. Wspomnienia z toru są bardzo dobre – w zasadzie oprócz tego weekendu, który jest najgorszy, ale z powodu spotu niefortunnych zdarzeń . Dwie kary, ja miałam jeszcze delikatny kontakt po starcie, ale było to delikatne przepchnięcie i jeszcze fakt, że dzisiaj nie wzięłam udziału w wyścigu. Równie byłam rozczarowana na Spa, gdzie podczas kwalifikacji mój kolega zespołowy kompletnie rozbił auto, ale nie byłam tak rozgoryczona, bo w perspektywie miałam wyścigi na Hungaroringu i Nürburgringu, więc przede mną była jeszcze prawie połowa sezonu.
The 2018 season finale promised much but delivered even more, bringing a thrilling race that rounded off an altogether amazing season. Scott Dixon proved why he’s regarded as the best all-rounder on the grid, taking his fifth championship to go equal in the record books with the great AJ Foyt. However, Alexander Rossi’s day was largely defined by lap one. But amongst all that was going on, it was easy to lose sight of the fact that Ryan Hunter-Reay took only his second win of the season.
Ryan Hunter-Reay at the Sonoma GP, California. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
Really, it was a perfect weekend for Hunter-Reay. The #28 Andretti driver took pole and led 80 of the 85 laps (only not leading for short periods during the pit stop sequences) to beat Josef Newgarden to fourth in the championship. Realistically, Dixon had the pace to put up more of a challenge than he did to Hunter-Reay but there was no need as Rossi was behind him and that was all that mattered. He was quite happy to leave Hunter-Reay to take the glory of the race in return for a safe championship. The Andretti driver dedicated the win to Robert Wickens, who continues his recovery. He released this video message shortly before the race started.
Just a few words from Rehab, also good-luck to everyone in Sonoma this weekend! pic.twitter.com/7TD7pHnp4N
Dixon’s nickname around the paddock is ‘The Iceman’; always cool, calm and collected, even in the most frantic of situations. Dixon’s always the one to keep his head while those around him lose theirs, but he ran a very clever race at Sonoma. Always making sure he wouldn’t get caught out by a caution and bringing the car home in one piece. After the madness of Portland, Dixon was probably relieved to have a calm race and, having finished in the top two, he left Rossi no opportunity to even think of taking the championship.
Scott Dixon, takes 2nd place at Sonoma Gp, but wins the 2018 IndyCar Championship. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
Rossi was clearly kicking himself over the first lap in the post-race interviews – it was the last thing he needed, especially at Sonoma. The #27 Andretti driver started sixth and was eager to make up positions from the moment the flag dropped. Rossi tried to pass teammate Marco Andretti but ended up running into the back of the #98, gaining a puncture, broken front wing and a long drive back to pit road.
The American got back out into the race and, after briefly being a lap down, was clearly on a charge, overtaking five cars after the one and only caution, brought out by Graham Rahal stopping on track, played into his hands. However, it wasn’t enough and Rossi was unable to withstand late race pressure from Sebastien Bourdais, eventually conceding the position after running out of fuel and finishing the race in seventh. Rossi was clearly downbeat after the race but he’ll be determined to take his first championship next season, having missed out this time.
The Team Penske duo of Will Power and Josef Newgarden mathematically could have a shot at the title. However, neither were in a position to win the race and when Spencer Pigot’s car was pulled behind the pit wall, they both slipped out of contention. Power still managed to finish third while Newgarden’s race was less fruitful, finishing eighth after stalling on his first pit stop. In the other Team Penske, Simon Pagenaud finished fourth after trying, but failing, to make his 2017 race-winning three-stop strategy work again.
Things didn’t get any easier out on track for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (SPM) with their three cars finishing fifteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth respectively. This rounded off what has been a dreadful end to a promising season. SPM will be happy to see the back of this season, ready to start afresh in 2019, albeit without Wickens.
On a much lighter note, Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward had a brilliant weekend; stunning in qualifying and he followed it up in the race, having initially struggled with tyre wear. After qualifying fifth, the race was a baptism of fire for the Mexican who had quite a lot of cars behind him at one point. He had dropped as low as fifteenth but soon found the confidence to overtake and make his way back into the top ten in his very first IndyCar race. Fellow debutant Colton Herta was rather overshadowed by O’Ward all weekend, eventually finishing as the last runner on the lead lap in twentieth.
Ryan Hunter-Reay wins the Sonoma GP. Image courtesy of Hondanews.eu
That concludes what’s been a stellar first season for the new universal aero kits but, while some things change, others don’t… Dixon is still the man to beat. We’ll have reviews and features for you over the off-season but, for now, it’s over and out.
Full Race Results:
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Scott Dixon
Will Power
Simon Pagenaud
Marco Andretti
Sebastien Bourdais
Alexander Rossi
Josef Newgarden
Patricio O’Ward (R)
Ed Jones
Santino Ferrucci (R)
Tony Kanaan
Jordan King (R)
Zach Veach (R)
James Hinchcliffe
Pietro Fittipaldi (R)
Jack Harvey
Carlos Munoz
Matheus Leist (R)
Colton Herta (R)
Max Chilton
Charlie Kimball
Graham Rahal
DNF – Spencer Pigot, Takuma Sato
Championship Results:
Scott Dixon
Alexander Rossi
Will Power
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Josef Newgarden
Simon Pagenaud
Sebastien Bourdais
Graham Rahal
Marco Andretti
James Hinchcliffe
—
Rookie of the Year – Robert Wickens (11th)
Manufacturers Champion – Honda
Coming into round fourteen of the 2018 Moto2 World Championship, Francesco Bagnaia sits atop the standings, with a points advantage he extended last time out at his home Grand Prix in Misano; as the intermediate class approaches Motorland Aragon this weekend, the Italian’s championship lead stands at eight points over main title rival Miguel Oliveira. In fact, Oliveira is the only rider threatening Bagnaia, as the pair have completely dominated this season so far; Brad Binder sits third in the championship, 87 points behind Oliveira.
Motorland has proved bipolar for the pair, looking at their past results at the circuit. Oliveira has scored two podiums in Aragon, with a win in the 2015 Moto3 race, and a podium last year in the Moto2 race. Meanwhile, Bagnaia’s best result has been tenth, which also came in last year’s Moto2 race, and he has only one other points-scoring finish here, which came in 2015 when he rode the Aspar Mahindra to eleventh. The relative void between the pair’s records at this circuit could make this race pivotal for the World Championship, especially as it is the final European race before the four fly-away races.
That said, Bagnaia is in a supreme vein of form at the moment, having won the last two races, and it would be a considerable surprise to see him not in contention this weekend, and no doubt he will be aiming for his seventh win of 2018 come Sunday.
But, for Oliveira, this race represents a good opportunity to take some points out of Bagnaia, and perhaps reclaim the championship lead, partly thanks to his good form in Aragon compared to Bagnaia, but also because of how the KTM performed in Motorland last year. Oliveira’s late race fightback towards the front two riders of Mattia Pasini and eventual winner Franco Morbidelli was typical of KTM, as he made the most of the Austrian chassis’ impressive tyre management, although he finally ran out of pace to catch the Italian pair with a few laps remaining.
With this being the second year of the KTM Moto2 chassis, and the improvements that we have seen with it in 2018, the Red Bull KTM Ajo team will be highly anticipating an assault on the victory from the Portuguese rider. Furthermore, with Jeffrey Herlings wrapping up the MXGP world title last weekend in Assen, and Jorge Prado edging closer to the MX2 championship with one Motocross World Championship meeting to go, you would expect that a lot more attention would start to come the way of the championship-contending orange-framed road racers, Oliveira being of course one of those.
Outside of the two runaway championship combatants, there are riders in the frame for not only the podium, but also the victory this weekend.
Firstly, Mattia Pasini who – as previously mentioned – fought with Franco Mobidelli until the very end of last year’s Moto2 race in Aragon, will be looking to step back onto the podium for the first time since he won in Argentina. Coming off the back of two consecutive fourth places – which marked something of a return to form for the Italian – the #54 is certainly in a good position to be able to end his rostrum drought.
As well as Pasini, Luca Marini will be hoping to return to the podium this weekend, after a tough race in Misano where he had to retire because of a problem with the bike early on in the race. Previous to that home GP disaster for Marini, he had scored three podiums in a row in the previous three races, and he will be hoping that he can bounce back from his San Marinese disappointment.
As Marini did earlier in the year, Marcel Schrotter picked up his first ever Grand Prix podium in Misano last time out, ending a long period of waiting stretching back for most of the season. It took Schrotter 105 GPs to take his first podium, and now the aim for the German will be to make it 106 GPs before his first win.
It will also be worth keeping an eye out for the two Marc VDS riders this weekend. Alex Marquez took his first Moto2 podium in Aragon back in 2016 when he finished third behind Sam Lowes and his then-teammate Franco Morbidelli. Similarly, Joan Mir won in Aragon last year in the Moto3 class, so will hoping to be fighting at the front again this weekend, especially after something of a dip in form over the last few races.
That win for Sam Lowes back in 2016 was the last time he stood on the podium of a Grand Prix, and of course also his last victory. On the approach to this weekend, the British rider has pinpointed Motorland as a good opportunity for him to take a good result and you feel that the #22 will not be contented by anything less than a rostrum finish this weekend. Additionally, Sam Lowes has become a father since Misano, and we saw the positive impact that had on Cal Crutchlow back in 2016 as he took two wins in the second half of that season. However, the first of Crutchlow’s races as a father began with a ride-through penalty for a jump start and a fifteenth place. Similarly, Aleix Espargaro was out of the Catalan GP earlier this season after six laps, the Barcelona race being the first Grand Prix after the birth of Max and Mia Espargaro. It’s fair to say that in recent history, new fathers have not done especially well in Grands Prix, but it is entirely possible that Lowes could be the anomaly this weekend.
World Superbikes roared back into life over the weekend with Round 10 taking place in Portugal. Another brace of victories for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) means he just needs to score 9 points at Magny-Cours to secure his fourth consecutive world title.
However, there were other stories to emerge this weekend other than Rea’s dominance.
Schedule Success
Before the weekend had started, it was announced that WorldSBK would be trialing a new ‘race day’ schedule for the remaining rounds of the season. The objective of which was to boost attendances on the Sunday, which have been alarmingly sparse for the last few seasons.
The general consensus behind this was that spectators are ‘put off’ by the feature race opening proceedings, with the support classes following. In short, the day is effectively over by 1pm with most paying punters tending not to stay for the ‘junior’ categories.
By reversing the schedule, Sunday felt more like a traditional race day, with the Superbike race being the grand finale to the weekend. The success of this change was in clear evidence at Portimao as the attendance was visibly higher than last year. Certainly a step in the right direction to bringing back the crowds.
Word in the paddock is that – following a ‘fan survey’ conducted in partnership with the Motorsport Leadership Group – Dorna will be implementing further changes to the race weekend schedule next season. Details of which will be announced during the winter.
Kept Waiting For History
The phrase “History waits for no man” may well be true – however, it is certainly having to wait for Ana Carrasco. The young Spanish rider is on the verge of becoming the first woman to win a solo motorcycle world championship series.
Carrasco (DS Kawasaki Junior Team) has had a tremendous year in the World Supersport 300 class, featuring two devastating race wins at Imola and Donington Park earlier in the season. The former was secured by a colossal margin of 13 seconds. To put that into perspective for an ‘average’ winning time gap, it is normally around 0.5 seconds as competitors slip-stream each other from lights to flag on their small 40bhp machines.
Although she was unable to secure the championship in Portimao, she heads into the French round (the final round for the ‘300 class) with a ten-point lead at the top of the standings. Provided she can finish on the podium, Carrasco will become the world champion – regardless of where her rivals finish.
Ana Carrasco (DS Kawasaki Junior Team) Is on the verge of creating history
Tom Sykes – Where To Next?
Whilst Rea was busy taking the 65th and 66th victories of his superbike career, it was another difficult weekend for his teammate Tom Sykes. The 2013 world champion secured a brace of 5th place finishes. Were it in any other team, this would go down as a very solid weekend. The Yorkshireman cut a gloomy figure this weekend. Despite best pretenses from rider and team, all is not well at his side of the garage.
If ‘silly season’ rumours have any substance to them then it appears likely that Red Bull Honda are making advances for him in 2019. He would almost certainly be partnered alongside Leon Camier, and would no doubt increase Honda’s chances of returning to winning ways next season.
Alternatively, speaking in an interview to Eurosport UK prior to Sunday’s race, Milwaukee Aprilia team principal Shaun Muir openly admitted to be interested in signing Sykes for next year.
Two things are certain: Sykes is still a quality rider, and does have options to remain in WorldSBK for 2019. A change of team could be just what he needs to bring the best out of him again.
All Change For Milwaukee
Finally, as alluded to above, Shaun Muir is openly looking at bringing at least one new rider into his team for next season. However, being the shrewd competitor and businessman that he is, the Milwaukee outfit seem set to change manufacturers for 2019.
Currently running factory supported Aprilia machinery, it the team are discussing options with them, BMW and Suzuki.
From a British fan’s perspective, a potential deal with Suzuki could open the door for Bradley Ray to make his move into world level racing. The 21-year old (currently wowing spectators and TV viewers in British Superbikes) has made no secret of his desire to move up and compete in world championships. With all his BSB experience on Suzuki machinery, it would be a straight forward move for both Mailwaukee and Ray to make.
However, it seems that BMW are in fact the most likely option which Muir will take up. With the S1000RR model being significantly upgraded by the German manufacturer for 2019, the promise of being the most competitive machinery of the three is likely to be the deal maker.
The Singapore Grand Prix was seen to be one of the most important races of the 2018 season so far. With seven races to go, including Marina Bay, a win for Hamilton would put him at least 37 points clear of Sebastian Vettel. A win for Vettel, on the other hand, would bring the gap down to 23 points.
Excitement flowed up and down the paddock as everyone anticipated a crucial and exciting Singapore Grand Prix which, in the past, has been a massive race in terms of the championship outcome, not least last year when Vettel crashed out on the first lap and left Lewis Hamilton to claim a brilliant victory.
This year’s race, however, was exactly as Hamilton would have wanted it to be – uneventful. He won from pole, and Vettel could only manage a third place finish, leaving the German’s title challenge seemingly in tatters.
Is there a way back for the Ferrari man?
2018 Singapore Grand Prix – Sebastian Vettel
Mathematically, of course, yes. There are still 150 points up for grabs this season, so a 40-point gap means the title race is still open. However, with 25 points given for a race win, Vettel is running out of both time and numbers.
Should Vettel win the next six races with Hamilton finishing second, the German would win the championship by two points. If Hamilton wins another race, Vettel will essentially need to win the other five, hoping for a fourth place finish for Hamilton somewhere in there. Two wins for Hamilton in these last six, and Vettel can forget about the championship.
Realistically, it is very difficult to see any of this happening. We are going to six tracks which will not all suit Ferrari and, given that Hamilton has been strong at almost every circuit so far this season, it is turning into Mount Everest with an extra 100 feet for Sebastian Vettel to climb.
What Vettel can hope for is, of course, some help from his team mate Kimi Raikkonen in the fight against the two Mercedes. The more cynical in the Formula One world might suggest we will see some Ayrton Senna-esque tactics from the Finn, but that is not how we want to see this championship decided.
2018 Singapore Grand Prix – Sebastian Vettel
How has Vettel ended up in this situation? The simple fact is that he has made too many mistakes this season. The most notable ones are his spin in Italy when he needlessly hit Hamilton on the first lap, and his crashing out of his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim from the lead of the race.
Red Bull have also taken away two possible wins from Ferrari this season – Ricciardo won in China after Max Verstappen took out Vettel, and Verstappen then won in Spielberg at his team’s home circuit. These two races were massive points lost for Ferrari, and the Scuderia could be left to rue them at the end of the year.
Ferrari made an error of their own in Singapore. They brought Vettel into the pits to change him onto the ultrasoft tyre with three-quarters of the race still to go. Hamilton and Verstappen both changed onto the soft tyre which could not only make it to the end of the race, but also run at a consistent pace. This is something Vettel could not do, condemning him to a frustrating and costly P3.
It summed up what has been talked about a lot over the last two seasons – Ferrari have simply been too error-prone, and this has most likely left Hamilton with the championship in the bag.
But, as Hamilton himself will no doubt know from 2007, it’s never over until it’s over and, as Murray Walker once famously said, anything can happen in Formula One and it usually does.
Going into the weekend, many thought that the Singapore Grand Prix would be prime Ferrari territory with its high temperatures and tight, twisting layout. However, as the season so far has proven, many expectations can and probably should be thrown out the window, with Lewis Hamilton claiming victory for Mercedes around the streets of Marina Bay.
The most damage was arguably dealt to Ferrari in qualifying, with Hamilton setting an extremely impressive lap, probably one of the best of his career, to take pole position by three tenths ahead of Max Verstappen. Title rival Sebastian Vettel was six tenths back in third.
“I came here knowing that Singapore is a hard one for us,” said Hamilton. “But I’m always optimistic, thinking that if we’re really diligent and do our work, we can create some chances. Then Friday was already a good day for us. Saturday didn’t start off well, but then all of [a] sudden that special lap came in. Knowing that we would start on pole, I knew that it was a great opportunity for us to capitalise on.”
2018 Großer Preis von Singapur, Samstag – Steve Etherington
Hamilton made a good getaway at the start and maintained a healthy gap to the cars behind for much of the race. The only real hiccup came at just over half distance when he tried to lap the squabbling duo of Sergey Sirotkin and Romain Grosjean, who failed to see Hamilton and allowed Max Verstappen to close to within a second of the Mercedes.
“When I hit traffic, I was just mindful not to take any risks,” said Hamilton. “When you start to get closer to another car, you start losing grip and start sliding around more, so there’s a higher chance of mistakes. If you’re lucky you catch the cars at the right point and they let you by so you don’t lose any time, but today I always caught them at an unfortunate point. So when Max was right behind, I had to go on the defensive, and I thought to myself, ‘Bro, you’re not getting by – not today!’”
Both he and Verstappen eventually cleared Sirotkin and Grosjean – with the Haas being given a penalty for ignoring blue flags – and Hamilton immediately opened up the gap again to just over three seconds.
2018 Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday- Wolfgang Wilhelm
He went on to claim victory – his 69th in F1 – by almost nine seconds, bringing to a close one of the most challenging races of the year.
“It was physically such a demanding race,” Hamilton added, “so I’m relieved that it’s over now – it felt like such a long night, but I’m super grateful for the result.”
As a result, Hamilton now leads Sebastian Vettel – who finished third after a strategic blunder from Ferrari lost the German a potential second-place finish – by 40 points in the championship.
Yes, the next Grand Prix – at the Sochi Autodrom in Russia – has always been a happy hunting ground for Mercedes, but if Singapore and the rest of this year have shown us anything, it’s that you really can’t rely on past showings to predict how things will unfold in the remainder of 2018.
2018 Großer Preis von Singapur, Samstag – Paul Ripke
With their spirits high on the back of their impressive form in the last few races, Racing Point Force India looked as though they would continue their success this weekend in Singapore. When Perez and Ocon ran well in practice, and clocked impressive times in Saturday’s qualifying session, who could have known that the weekend would end as it did?
As the lights went out, it appeared – briefly – as though we might have an opening lap unusually free of incident. Unfortunately, a battle between the two Force India drivers soon put paid to that idea. You’ve no doubt seen the replays from every which angle by now but whether, as the stewards determined, you feel the collision that unfolded was a racing incident, or whether you feel there is blame to be placed (presumably on Perez), it was an incident that I think we can all agree should not have happened.
My own opinion is that while Ocon might have been a little plucky, there was no excuse for Perez not to have left him a bit more room. However, I also think there’s little point in dissecting the incident. It happened, it shouldn’t have happened, and that’s all that really matters.
Sergio Perez (MEX) Racing Point Force India F1 VJM11. Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday 15th September 2018. Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore.
The incident left a despondent Ocon in the wall and out of the race, although what appeared to be one of his wheel rims continued on without its owner, finding a temporary new home on the front wing of Sergey Sirotkin’s Williams. Perez, meanwhile, escaped unscathed, running in seventh position until his pit stop.
The second moment of the race that Perez will surely rue came when he had been following Sirotkin (now sans extra wheel rim) for over ten laps. Clearly growing frustrated, Perez had taken to bizarre radio shout-outs to Charlie Whiting asking him to do something about the Russian driver who, for anyone watching, seemed to be defending hard but driving fairly. While Sirotkin was later involved in a questionable move with Brendon Hartley, which rightly earned him a penalty, there was little evidence that he’d acted unreasonably towards Perez.
Just as it seemed that Perez had finally managed to clear the Williams, he inexplicably turned left, spearing straight into his rival. In this second disastrous incident for Perez, it was near impossible to view it as anything other than wholly his fault. He finally finished the race in 16th, after serving a drive-through penalty for the collision, and will surely leave Singapore with a great deal to think about before the next race.
Sergio Perez (MEX) Racing Point Force India F1 VJM11. Singapore Grand Prix, Sunday 15th September 2018. Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore.
Unfortunately, the events of this weekend’s race mean that Force India will have more to think about than their position in the standings. Instead, managing their drivers and minimising tensions between them will likely be a focus within the team. Despite not being unfamiliar with these sorts of problems between their drivers last season, until now it had seemed that such issues had been left behind in 2017.
But now, with their drivers once again not trusted to race each other, how will this impact their chances against not just each other, but the other teams? Only time will tell whether this new, undesirable twist in the tale of Racing Point Force India will continue to boil over, or whether they will be able to put it behind them for the good of the team.
