ThePitcrewOnline

16th July 2017

British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton the British King

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes-Benz F1 W08 Hybrid celebrates at Formula One World Championship, Rd10, British Grand Prix, Qualifying, Silverstone, England, Saturday 15 July 2017.

British Grand Prix, it was a disaster for Ferrari and one of the best races for Mercedes. The silver arrows secured another 1-2 for this season and Lewis Hamilton won his fourth consecutive British Grand Prix, with this victory the British driver matched Jim Clark’s record (five wins).

Lewis Hamilton showed from the beginning that he will not allow anyone to challenge him, from the pole till the chequered flag, Hamilton was calm and comfortable while he was driving his Mercedes. His team-mate, Valtteri Bottas started the race from the ninth place, after a five-place grid penalty which he got due to new gearbox, but after an amazing drive he moved up to the second position.

Kimi Raikkonen, who was the third person on the podium, had mixed feelings at the end of the Grand Prix. With two laps to go, Kimi had a problem with his front left tyre which cost him time and dropped him out of the podium, because he had to pit for new tyres. A few corners later, Sebastian Vettel suffered a puncture on the front left tyre, the German managed to find his way to the pits and after a quick stop he finished the race seventh.

That incident gave the chance to Raikkonen to finish third and score a podium.

Lewis Hamilton had a quick and clean start, followed by Kimi Raikkonen, whilst Sebastian Vettel lost his position from Max Verstappen and dropped down to fourth. A collision between the Toro Rosso drivers forced the safety car to make its appearance on the track.

At the restart, on lap 5, Hamilton increased his lead from Raikkonen to 3.1 seconds. Sebastian Vettel pressured Verstappen for the third place. Sebastian, took the inside on Stowe but Verstappen managed to hold his position. The German attacked once again on Verstappen on Vale, he took the inside, passed Verstappen, but the Dutch didn’t want to give his position without a fight, Verstappen pushed Vettel to go wide into the chicane and re-gained his position. A few laps later, Ferrari called Vettel into the pits and switched to soft compounds. A lap later, Verstappen pitted, but a delay which caused by an issue with a wheelnut cost him the third place.

Bottas started the race on softs, he was the only driver in the top ten who was on softs, pitted on lap 33 and switched to a fresher set of super-softs. After the pit-stop, the Finn was flying and he was closing to Sebastian Vettel for the third place. His first approach on Vettel was not successful, but one lap later the Finn took the outside after the Hangar Straight and he easily passed Vettel.

A smart strategy and a good drive from Ricciardo moved the Australian up to the fifth place. Daniel, after a series of penalties, started the race from the 19^th place, whilst Max Verstappen finished fourth behind Kimi Raikkonen. Great race for Nico Hulkenberg and Renault, the French lost the fifth place from Ricciardo during the final laps of the race, but he finished ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

Eight double points finish in 10 races for the pink panthers. The two Force India drivers finished eighth and ninth, both ahead of Felipe Massa who scored one point for Williams.

For me Daniel Ricciardo was the driver of the day, even when he pitted for the first time and re-joined tenth, managed to pass the two Force India and moved up to fifth position.

Lewis Hamilton closed the gap on Vettel, in drivers’ standings, to just one point, with one race to go to the summer break. The next race will take place in Hungary on 28-30 July.

Twitter – @FP_Passion

16th July 201716th July 2017

Quick F1 poll

With about an hour to go, heres a quick poll. Who do you think will win the 2017 british GP. Vote below !

14th July 2017

Gasly’s chance to send out Reminder

Formula E heads towards New York, for the inaugural event but it is missing something. Formula E is missing championship leader Swiss born Sebastian Buemi who drives for DAMS Renault. Buemi is also a vital part of the World Endurance team for Toyota, taking part in the 6 hours of Nurburgring. Step forward Frenchman Pierre Gasly.

Pierre Gasly is a logical choice, a heavily experienced Red Bull Junior and current GP2 Champion. He is following the path current of Mclaren Honda driver Stoffel Vandoorne who entered into Formula 1 by driving in the Japenese based Super Formula Series. The situation being that in the rules of GP2/F2 the champion cannot race in the series the following year. This opportunity is one not to be missed, he is already creating buzz in the paddock, it seems to be a certainty he will receive the all important fan boost in the races. This could be a great chance to lay down his credentials to Toro Rosso for the F1 2018 season.

There is a feeling of uncertainty at Toro Rosso currently with its drivers. Danil Kvyat looking once more under pressure and his recent collision at the Austrian GP has done him no favours, especially taking out Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Carlos Sainz is also rumoured to be unhappy in the current situation, feeling he is was held back as when Verstappen moved up to Red Bull switching with Kvyat, he was also doing a fantastic job. Sainz has a contract until 2018, whilst Kvyat has one until the end of this season. With his poor form, would they offer the Russian a new contract, and could the Spaniard decide to walk? This would open a space for a Red Bull Junior. Antonio Felix Da Costa of Formula E & Nico Kari of GP3 are some names to come to mind but Gasly is the one to come to mind first. A good performance would only remind Dietrich Mateschitz who is control of Red Bull F1 that he is more than ready to enter Formula 1 and might result him reconsidering any new deals with current contracted drivers.

The field of Formula E consists of a mixture of veteran and youthful talent from the likes of Nick Heidfield to Felix Da Costa. Former F1 drivers take part in the series such as Heidfield and fellow county compatriot Jean-Eric Vergne. Laying down a marker and being competitive would only increase chances of a move.

Gasly is a smooth driver and did great keeping the life of the Pirelli tyres in the GP2 series. This would only benefit him with the scenario that the Formula E series have regarding energy. To keep and reserve energy the drivers have to avoid slides and wheel spins in corners so gives flexibility when it comes to strategy.

With Formula 1 returning to France in 2018 at Paul Ricard, it would be great to see the French having an increased interest in the sport, with a third French driver joining the F1 contingent of Romain Grosjean and Esteban Ocon. Gaslys name is one continuing to be rumoured to having a seat on the F1 grid in 2018. Performing well this weekend could seal his place.

Chris Lord
12/07/2017

Image courtesy of Renault Sport

12th July 2017

Silverstone must remain in Formula One

2014 Formula One British Grand Prix, Silverstone International Race Circuit, Towcester, Northampton, Great Britain, 3rd – 5th July 2014.
Flags, Atmosphere,
World Copyright: © Andrew Hone Photographer 2014.
Ref: _ONY9209

Save Silverstone, this must be Liberty’s first target. The British Grand Prix is one of the most historic races in Formula One. Silverstone was an aerodrome during the Second World War, when the war ended in 1945, the Royal Automobile Club decided to make Silverstone the base for the British Grand Prix in 1948.

Two years later, Silverstone hosted the first official Formula 1 race, in history, Guiseppe Farina was the winner with his Alfa Romeo.

The British Grand Prix is now in danger, the reason is simple: money. In our days it is very expensive to host a Formula 1 race. A 17 year contract, between FIA and Silverstone, was signed almost eight years ago, but the extremely high cost does not allow the owners to keep their deal.

In 2010 the cost for hosting a Grand Prix was £12m, this year the price increased to £16m and by 2026 the cost will be more than £25m.

“We have reached the tipping point where we can no longer let our passion for the sport rule our heads, put simply, it is no longer financially viable for us to deliver the British Grand Prix under the terms of our current contract.” said BRDC chairman John Grant.

According to British Racing Drivers’ Club chairman, in 2015 they suffered losses equal to £2.8m, almost £5m the following year, and they are expecting the same losses for this year.

“We have reached the tipping point where we can no longer let our passion for the sport rule our heads. It would not only risk the very future of Silverstone and the BRDC, but also the British motorsport community that depends on us.” said John Grant.

The owners gave a two years termination notice, which means that the final race will be held in 2019, there is only one away to avoid Silverstone’s departure, Liberty Media has to offer an affordable contract to the owners and the two sides must agree and extend the British Grand Prix under new rules and less costs.

“I want to be clear that although we have now activated the break clause, we are fully supportive of the changes the Liberty team are making to improve the F1 experience. Our hope is that an agreement can still be reached, so that we can ensure a sustainable and financially viable future for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone for many years to come.” said Grant.

Liberty Media is in talks with Silverstone in order to find a solution and solve the problem between them, F1’s commercial boss, Sean Bratches said on Sky that the “break clause would not represent a black mark for the Northamptonshire circuit.”

Hopefully, the two sides will manage to find a solution and save Silverstone. It is one of the most fantastic circuits on the calendar and Silverstone is the track which must keep hosting the British Grand Prix.

Twitter – @FP_Passion

11th July 201711th July 2017

Eventful GP3 series returns

After such a long break since Bahrain, the GP3 series returns to the the Red Bull Ring in Austria, to support the Formula 1 and Formula 2 series’. The conditions were dry, but high humidity in the mountains, which could of seen rain fall at anytime. Just like Formula 2 we have two races on the Saturday and the Sunday.

Qualifying

A very hectic session took place on the Friday in Austria, the French run ART Grand Prix managed to secure the front row for the feature race on the Saturday. George Russell piped his team mate Jack Aitken by 7 hundredths of a second. He carries on his impressive form from being fastest in the test at Budapest. The field was very tight, the whole field was covered by 8 tenths of a second which laid the marker down for a fantastic weekend of racing ahead. All the cars using identical chassis, aerodynamics and engine, it is all down to driver skill in this series. Race one winner in Bahrain Fukuzimi struggled unlike his ART team mates, who will be starting down in 10th place, just like his counter part Maini who won Race 2 at Bahrain qualifying in 12th. The Britain’s in first and second in qualifying look promising for a home winner at Silverstone next weekend.

Race One

Jack Aitken got off the line very well from P2 on the grid, he had a slightly better reaction but George Russell managed to get the power down, and had the better line into turn 1. He cheekily squeezed his team mate, to prevent any attack from him. Boccolacci had a very bad start and fell back, opening a gap for the inside of turn 2, going 3 wide. Hubert very optimistic but the gap disappeared. Leonardo Pulcini was in the middle of the sandwich, he hit Arden teammate Schothorst, who got some air as a result. Pulcini pulled over with terminal damage, and a virtual safety car was deployed to clear his car.

It was almost instantaneous, but by the end of lap 2 the race was back live thanks to great work by the marshalls at turn 2. Virtual safety car can end anytime, and Russell controlled the restart, he left team mates Aitken and Hubert. Fukuzumi was caught napping and just managed to keep hold of his 5th place, albeit up from 10th, so fantastic start. Schothorst had to stop by the side of the track due to a damaged car, retiring after being hit in the turn 2 incident. Fukuzumi in the period was now up to 4th.

Aitken was piling the pressure on Russell on lap 4, whilst Fukuzumi set the fastest lap, it was a ART Grand Prix 1,2,3,4 at the current time. Hubert was then under investigation for the turn 2 incident, he was blatantly at fault for the situation. He was handed a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision. ART Grand Prix cars were pulling away from the rest of the field from the front but the fastest laps were being spread across the field. Red Bull supported driver Nico Kari spun and as a result struggling down in 14th.

Unlike Formula 2 in GP3 there are no pit stops in the race on Saturday, so tires were something to be control of, the nature of the Red Bull Ring with long sweeping corners made tyre temperatures rocket up. Aitken was still within a second of Russell albeit on lap 9 and lap 10 setting the fastest laps, very fine margins, no quicker than a tenth within the first half of the race from his team mate Russell. Fukuzimi was pulling away from 5th placed Trident driver Tveter, showing the control ART have in this series. Nico Kari had a race to forget on lap 15 he pulled aside at Turn 1, resulting in 3 Arden cars being out of the race just over half of the race to go.

The action settled down, and the limited use of DRS prevented much action, but when it was used it was great racing. Places 5th to 12th were all in the same shot going down the main straight. Lorandi held on to 7th place ahead of Hyman, continously seeing the gearbox of the Italian. Hyman had used all 6 uses of his DRS to overtake on lap 19, so would be behind Lorandi but didn’t have DRS at his disposal for the last 5 laps. DAMS drivers were both awarded 5 second penalties for overtaking under yellow flags earlier on in the race. Boccolacci tried to go for broke on Alesi, he managed to pass on him on lap 22, but on the penultimate lap, but he ran wide, dropping multiple places to 10th from 6th.

Russell eventually dropped Aitken, and finished 2 seconds in front of his team mate Aitken. Lights to flag for the Britain. Hubert finished 3rd, but as a result of his penalty and ART dominance, he only fell to 4th behind Fukuzumi. Tveter beat his team mate Alesi, Alesi just like Aitken was behind his team mate Tveter for the whole race. Lorandi secured 7th, with South African Hyman finishing 8th securing pole for the race on Sunday. Penalties for DAMS drivers Calderon and Baptista dropped them out the points, allowing Maini moved up to the points position. Maini having a very quiet race after winning the sprint race in Bahrain.

Race Two

Clean start for Hyman, a great get away for him, Lorandi who started 2nd had an awful start, dropping to 7th as a result, the ART cars started well moving up the field except for Hubert who ran wide at turn 1. Hyman lead Alesi, Tveter ahead of the ART drivers Fukuzumi, Aitken and Russell. Lorandi, Hubert and Maini being the biggest losers from start whilst Nico Kari being the biggest gainer, moving up 4 places. Hyman was the fastest driver on the track, setting fastest laps back to back, giving Hyman a considerable gap making the DRS less effective if Alesi managed to get in the 1 second zone.

Lorandi and Boccolacci were having a great fight, trying to dive down in to turn 3, but Lorandi got the switch back over the straight keeping his position. Hyman and Alesi were in a league of their own in this race, the pair pulling away from the rest of the field. Alesi managed to catch back up to Hyman, which allowed him to use his DRS, in the Sunday race, they had 4 attempts to use it successfully, albeit down to no avail as Hyman still managed to hold the lead.

Fukuzumi in 4th as now putting the pressure on American Tveter, Aitken began to put the pressure on his team mate so Tveter had two ART’s in his mirrors. It seems from the races thus far Fukuzumi has the knack of keeping his tyres in the sweet spot for longer allowing him to push for a longer. Nico Kari having horrible luck, another race for the Finnish driver without points with another mechanical issue. He is sponsored by Red Bull and not scoring points, at their home wasn’t great. Kari managed to get back going, as Arden fixed the issue.

Hyman’s rear right began to have serious wear, blisters down the middle of the rubber, Alesi had 1 use of DRS remaining, managing to gain on him, had 3 laps to go. Alesi used his last DRS and once more it was to no avail. Tveter was still holding on to 3rd place, it looked like he was on for his maiden podium position. Aitken was trying to keep up with the pair at ran wide, losing time on them. Fukuzumi on the same lap used DRS well, passing Tveter. Tveter dropped from Fukuzumi so he was under no threat for his next podium.

Boccolacci looked to attack Lorandi after following him all race long at the end of the second DRS Zone, the pair came together and the Frenchman Boccolacci went airborne before landing in the gravel, resulting in multiple rolls. He landed on his wheels the right way up, and he walked away. Lorandi managed finish in 8th with the damage, Hubert took full advantage going from 9th to 7th as a result. South African Hyman held on for victory, with Alesi in 2nd place, Hyman much like Russell converted his pole position into victory. Fukuzumi pipped Tveter and his team mates for the podium as a result he gained the championship lead.

If Hyman continues this good form and moves up the open wheeled ladder to Formula 1 could we see a return to South Africa for the first time since 1993? Too early to tell, but a very confident and controlled drive from him.

Standings

Fukuzumi who now leads the Drivers’ Championship on 54 points, 1 ahead of teammate Russell with the third ART driver Hubert on 38. Lorandi was the first non-ART driver in his Jenzer car with 32, Aitken on 28. Hyman with his victory moved up to 25 points. In the Teams’ Championship ART Grand Prix have built a big lead showing their dominance. Currently on a score of 159 points. Trident and Jenzer were very close, with Trident on 60, Jenzer on 54. Not a lot of time to prepare for Silverstone next weekend for the British Grand Prix, as practice will be taking place next Thursday, very competitive, and with two Brit’s in the thick of it, could we see a British winner at the British event?

Chris Lord

10th July 2017

Preview: 2017 New York ePrix

July is now upon us, and with it the penultimate and most hotly-anticipated stop on the 2017–18 Formula E calendar—New York City.

It’s a shame, really, that given New York’s billing as this season’s headline event (sorry, Montréal), the championship leader Sébastien Buemi will not be present at either race this weekend. His Toyota WEC priorities have hardly come as a surprise, and in his place Formula E will get to welcome another exciting young talent in the form of Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly, but for one of the sport’s box office stars to miss an event like New York is still regrettable.

But on a more positive note, the impact of Formula E’s clash with the WEC’s 6 Hours of the Nürburgring has proven to be much less than first expected. Of the half-dozen drivers previously at risk of skipping the New York round, only Buemi and his Toyota LMP1 teammate José María López will in fact leave vacant seats—meaning Gasly and DS Virgin reserve Alex Lynn will be the only new faces on the grid this weekend. Sam Bird, Nelson Piquet, Nico Prost and Jean-Éric Vergne have all opted to forego the fourth round of the WEC and contest New York instead.

The other upside to Buemi’s absence is that it naturally opens the way for a fresh change to the podium predictions. Lucas di Grassi will obviously be among the favourites to capitalise on his title rival’s double booking, and a pair of strong top three results would even see him assume the lead of the championship before the final round in Canada.

But if the previous round in Berlin is anything to go by, di Grassi will more than have his hands full keeping back the rapid Mahindra pair of Felix Rosenqvist and Nick Heidfeld, the former of whom scored his and the team’s first victory last time out and will surely be eager for more of the same. Vergne also ought to pose a major threat at the front in New York with his Renault-powered Techeetah, as will his former DS Virgin teammate Bird, and nor can Prost be discounted; although the Renault driver has yet to finish on the podium this season, Prost is the only man to have scored in every round so far and is a proven ePrix winner.

The presence of two rookies at Renault and DS Virgin may also present an opportunity for some of the midfield teams to take a larger bite at the top ten than usual this weekend.

Such an opening will be especially attractive to Dragon Racing, currently languishing at the bottom of the standings and looking for a first points finish since Buenos Aires. But with only a handful of points splitting Dragon from Jaguar, Venturi and Andretti ahead of them, it will be a close fight between their respective drivers to see who comes out on top.

Jaguar and Venturi would seem to have the current edge in that regard, with Mitch Evans and Maro Engel contributing heavily to their teams’ rising points totals of late. But Andretti’s pairing of da Costa and Frijns is capable of brilliance on the right day, such as their fifth- and sixth-placed finishes in Hong Kong, and Dragon’s two-time ePrix winner Jérôme d’Ambrosio is no slouch either.

10th July 2017

Analysis: is Bottas now a title contender?

When Valtteri Bottas crossed the finish line in Austria to take his second career Grand Prix win, the calls from F1’s pundits were all but unanimous—the unassuming Finn, not so long ago dismissed as Mercedes’ number two driver, was now firmly in contention for the 2017 Drivers’ Championship.

Steve Etherington / Mercedes-AMG Petronas

Statistically speaking, it’s a solid claim to make. At 35 points adrift in third, it would take a couple of perfect storms in Britain and Hungary for Bottas to assume the lead of the championship before the summer break; but the odds of him overcoming the fifteen-point gap to Lewis Hamilton in second between now and August are certainly far from negligible.

It’s worth remembering too that if Bottas were to rack up another victory at Silverstone next week, as well as making him the first back-to-back winner of 2017, that would also bring the Finn level with Hamilton’s and Sebastian Vettel’s respective win tallies this year. Looking over his other results, Bottas has also taken only one less podium than Vettel and one more than Hamilton this season, whilst his lowest finish of sixth in China is still one better than Hamilton’s seventh place in Monaco.

Furthermore, all that is in spite of Bottas being the only driver of this title trio to suffer a DNF so far this year, when his engine blew at the Spanish Grand Prix—and if we were to assume that that had not happened, and Bottas joined Hamilton and Vettel on the podium in third that day, then the Finn would now be level on points with his teammate.

Wolfgang Wilhelm / Mercedes-AMG Petronas

Of course, ifs and should-haves aren’t enough to win a championship, and if Bottas is to take the crown at the end of 2017 he will need to continue pushing beyond the base expectations of himself and his car. His triumphs in Sochi and Spielberg have displayed beyond doubt Bottas’ serene control at the front of the field, but he is only just beginning to show the kind of aggression necessary to assert himself as more than just the third-fastest man on track—something he will certainly need more of if he is to keep touch with Vettel and Hamilton across the season.

That is something that will only become more pronounced now that Bottas has been thrust into the title race spotlight. Up until Austria, the Finn has been able to profit from all the media attention being focused on Hamilton and Vettel, allowing Bottas to quietly rack up points in the background without being subjected to the pressures of a declared championship tilt. But now that his rivals are aware of the threat he poses, Bottas can no longer rely on the element of surprise and must come out of the shadows fighting.

Fortunately for Bottas, though, that should just be a case of doing what he’s always done, and doing it more. His two pole positions and near-level qualifying head-to-head with Hamilton are proof that he has more than enough speed to run his teammate hard on Saturday; and even if qualifying doesn’t go his way, the lightning starts he’s made all year (not to mention his stellar recovery from last to second in Baku) will ensure Bottas remains a looming presence in any polesitter’s mirrors.

What’s more, Bottas has proven time and again that he has the focus and mental strength needed to take on a full title challenge—even against opponents as intimidating as a three- and a four-time world champion. His level head has been one of the Finn’s defining attributes ever since winning the 2011 GP3 title at the first attempt; it was particularly evident in 2014 when, partnering a reborn Felipe Massa in a podium-worthy Williams, Bottas dove his way to an outstanding fourth in the final standings. So far, the only visible dent to his determination came under the frenzy of Ferrari speculation in 2015, but from the way Bottas has settled into his new Mercedes seat despite the rumours surrounding it would suggest that he has learnt from that episode.

His grounded nature should stand the Finn in good stead as he wades into the Hamilton–Vettel battle. He will have seen first-hand how unsettled his opponents can be by the championship’s many twists and turns, and know that when that happens (as it undoubtably did in Austria) he has only to drive a solid weekend to take full advantage. If they didn’t already, Hamilton and Vettel will now have their hands full making sure their own turbulent duel doesn’t leave Bottas with an open goal.

Make no mistake, Bottas faces a considerably tall order if he is to wrest this 2017 Championship away from Vettel and Hamilton. No amount of comparisons to Kimi Räikkönen in 2007 will guarantee Bottas comes out on top after Abu Dhabi—as ever, all that counts is what happens on track this year.

But if the Finn can drive home his current momentum with another victory or two before the flyaways in Asia and the Americas, there’s no reason why he can’t push his rivals all the way to the final round. Whether he quite has what it takes to beat two of modern F1’s biggest stars across the ultimate finish line is another matter—but when it comes to his talent, composure and performances so far this season, there’s no denying that Valtteri Bottas is well and truly in this title fight.

9th July 20179th July 2017

Exclusive: Jason O’Halloran Q&A

Sum up your year so far.

It’s been a lot of hard work. We have all had our heads down and have been trying to figure out the new bike ever since we got it. The previous model had been worked on by the whole team – not just me – making it very easy to figure out. When you get a new bike, it isn’t just new for me, it is new for the team. You have to figure out how things work. The flyby wire was knew for myself and also for the team. We didn’t get a great deal of testing prior to the season starting. We had 4 days in Spain, the Donington Park test was wet and then, we had the first race.

We knew immediately what it was we needed to work on. The throttle feeling and throttle connection were main things. How the bike delivered its power: it has more power than last year, and we just needed to control that. As you’ve seen, every round we are getting closer.

Is the bike as good as you expected it to be?

As a road bike, I’ve done six days on it. From the previous model road bike to the new model road bike, it is such a step forward and it is a beautiful bike to ride. In BSB, we are restricted to some of the stuff that we can use, due to the rules. In a way, we lose some of the good stuff that Honda have done, and then we need to work in other areas. As a road bike – it is fantastic. As a BSB bike – we are restricted – so we are still finding a feeling with it.

Have you experienced any gearbox issues?

I haven’t had any gearbox issues on the new Honda all year. I’ve got no idea what happened with Guy Martin at the TT but from my personal experience, from my first ride on it up to now, I haven’t had any problems with it at all.

If you had the dry test, do you think you could have been there from the start?

We were, and still are, on the back foot. I don’t think any of us anticipated just how much work that needed to go into the bike to get it feeling how we wanted it to feel. I think we thought ‘OK, some parts are the same, others are different, so we will just have 4/5 days working on the bike and we will find a setting fairly quickly’. That clearly didn’t happen. I think that if the bike came earlier or if we had another five days testing, we would be five days further forward. We have made massive steps in a very short space of time.

Are you or your team co-operating with Red Bull Ten Kate Honda in WSBK?

I don’t have a massive amount of communication with them, the guys at Honda Racing UK might and the team itself might but I don’t have any personal communication with them guys. We use similar components, such as brakes, suspension, swinging arms and the chassis is pretty much the same. One difference is that they use Cosworth engines and we use our own engine people. I don’t know exactly what their issues are compared to what we have but as you’ve seen, we have Shane Byrne – a world class rider – on a very, very fast Ducati and we are able to be competitive with that. What we are doing here must be working.

Following the death of Nicky Hayden, have you been contacted regarding a ride?

I haven’t had any communication with Honda yet. Unfortunately, pretty much every WSBK race clashes with BSB. I don’t think it will happen. It may happen if we have a good year but at the minute it isn’t in my plans.

Do you have ANY plans beyond 2017?

I don’t have any plans at the moment. It’s very easy to start talking about next season when you start winning races straight away but as you’ve seen, it’s taken us a little bit of time to get going. I’m enjoying BSB. As much as I want to go to World Superbike, the route there seems more difficult than it has ever been, especially to try and find a competitive seat there. You’ve got guys from MotoGP coming back to WSBK making it more difficult for new riders to get there. Like I’ve said, I’m happy here in Britain. I think over the last couple of years, we’ve improved quite a lot. I think I’m getting close to being able to challenge for the championship. I really want to be BSB championship.

Talk about your comeback from injury.

I broke my femur and my hand pretty badly in 2915 at Thruxton. It was a very long road to recovery. I came back last year and got on the pace pretty much straight away – I qualified 2nd at Silverstone. The races obviously took a little bit longer, because I wasn’t as bike fit as I thought or hoped. I had a great year last year and I feel as good as I’ve ever felt with the bike. I feel at home with the bike.

Where can the Australian Superbike championship improve, so it produces more successful riders like in previous years?

It’s a real shame for Australian Superbike riders because the Australian Superbike championship, when I came through, was at a very high level. Some of the guys who are there now are winning and are actually of a very high level. They just don’t get the recognition that they deserve, for a number of reasons. The championship is quite small being one, and Australia’s physical location being another, as it is so far from Europe.

I don’t really know what they can do to improve it – I know the organisers are trying really hard to improve it but in he last few years, there has been two separate championships which has really, really hurt them (FX Championship and ASBK). Now all the main teams are in ASBK, I think it will improve. The teams that are in Australia, such as the Factory Honda and Factory Yamaha teams, are as good as what we have in the UK. The personnel, the equipment and the workshops are all as good as top BSB teams.

It needs a bit more coverage and a bit more money behind it, which will bring in more support. It is very difficult for them though, as the country is so big. You can’t follow it like BSB. You get to recognise some of the fans over here and you see the same faces. In Australia, they can’t do that because it’s so vast.

Do you think you can make the showdown again this season?

Yes. I think the showdown for us is a number one target and we are in that position at the moment. However, it only takes one dropped result or a crash and you’re out of it, because the points are so close. It is really important to keep bagging the results and hopefully, we can make it!

Thank you to Jason for his time and to Gareth Davies of Full Factory Photography for the images.

9th July 2017

Austrian Grand Prix Review, Valtteri Bottas wins like a Bull

Bull Sculpture at Formula One World Championship, Rd9, Austrian Grand Prix, Preparations, Spielberg, Austria, Thursday 6 July 2017.

Valtteri Bottas secured his second victory in his Formula 1 career and he achieved it with the same way as he won his first Grand Prix, by starting from the pole and defending his position from Sebastian Vettel, who finished second.

A perfect start allowed to the Finn to remain first and despite Ferrari’s and Vettel’s acquisitions for a jump start, the stewards didn’t take any further action. After lights out, Kimi Raikkonen had a poor start which cost him two positions, the Finn dropped down to fifth and both Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean moved up one place. Ricciardo had a great pace during the race and scored another podium which gave points for his team.

Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso retired after the start of the race after a collision with the Toro Rosso. Kvyat lost his breaks and collided on Alonso which cost the race to the Spaniard and Daniil had to pit for a new nose.

Lewis Hamilton started eighth, after the five-place grid penalty who received because his mechanics had to change his gearbox on Saturday. The Britt, had a good start and moved up to the fifth position behind Kimi Raikkonen. Lewis was struggling to pass Kimi and remained behind him until the 45^th lap, Kimi pitted and re-joined behind Hamilton.

The three-time world champion lost time behind Raikkonen, Ferrari decided to waste Raikkonen’s chances for a place on the podium as they were seeing that it was very difficult to close to Red Bull for the third place. Raikkonen’s excellent drive didn’t allow to Hamilton to take advantage of his super-softs tyres and forced the Brit to pit on lap 33.

When Hamilton re-joined with the ultra-softs he was struggling with his tyres and could not follow the leaders. Mainly he was unable to close the gap with Ricciardo.

Everything changed during the final laps, Lewis Hamilton closed with Daniel Ricciardo and was looking for a space to make his move. At the same time, Sebastian Vettel with the super-softs was less than a second behind Bottas.

Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Austria.
Friday 07 July 2017.
World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images
ref: Digital Image _ONY0445

Hamilton made his move, took the outside, but Ricciardo defended his place and remained third, it was Ricciardo’s fifth consecutive podium. Sebastian Vettel was on Botta’s tail, but didn’t have the chance to attack.

After 71 laps Valtteri Bottas took the second chequered flag of his F1 career, and scored 25 points. Whilst, Vettel scored six more points than Hamilton and increased his leading on the drivers’ championship to 20 points from Lewis Hamilton.

Very good race for Romain Grosjean, the French passed Raikkonen in the beginning but lost the fifth place a few laps later, at the end he finished sixth and scored crucial points for Haas.

Williams, despite their poor qualification, managed to finish in the top 10, Felipe Massa finished ninth, while his team-mate finished tenth and scored one point.

The next race will take place at Silverstone in one week.

Twitter: @FP_Passion

(Image Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)

9th July 201711th July 2017

Micro Machines Review

Codemasters had one aim with this video game, and that was ‘Nostalgia’. Micro Machines was a major hit in the 90’s which focused on miniature cars battling across unique tracks, based around the likes of your breakfast and workbench.

THE GOOD

The game concentrates heavily on the multiplayer aspect of the game, and playing with 12 people at anytime it is a case of forgetting to blink. If a person cannot be found, they are automatically replaced with an AI, so its never an easier event due to a reduced amount of players.

The game has three game modes, Race, Elimination and Battle.

– Race is the traditional mode like in any racing game. You have the 12 racers and have to do so many laps and first to cross the line wins.

– Elimination is the mode where a reduced amount of cars race. You have to get away from the field, and if you win you get closer to winning the game, but if you get eliminated you move further away from the goal.

– Battle is much like a capture the flag game, split up in two teams you battle with the goal of using the bomb that spawns in the middle of the map to blow up the other teams base. A first to 3 event.

The use of Brian Blessed as the voice of the game, quite ironic that they use one of the biggest and loudest people in the planet. The adventurer, come comedian, come actor has a unique voice that will repetitively make you laugh so much so you might make a mistake! The car engines and background music are what you expect from a casual racing game.

Handling is what you expect from this kind of game, inconsistent! It certain areas of tracks it can be horribly understeery and in others you couldn’t have any more grip. The uncertainty which this creates is brilliant, which allows leaders to make mistakes and others to catch up. Never feel safe in front, with the weapons it is better to be the hunter than the hunted.

THE BAD

The game has per mentioned heavily focuses on multiplayer, but the disappointing factor is that there is no single player game modes. Generically all racing games have some kind of single player. It is used to get to grips with the game before going into the multiplayer and unlocking items to help competing online. It does have the tutorial, but that hardly is sufficient. The likes of championship & time trial mode are absent on the game currently. Some people are competitive in different ways, some like beating others in a race, whilst some like to be on top of the leader board.

Unfortunately another lacklustre topic of the game is the variety tracks and games. The game has 12 cars and 10 tracks to choose from. The cars have various skins you can unlock through levelling up to make your garage different but it does seem a bit stingy as tracks can be repetitive after a while. The 12 cars vary from a police car to a hovercraft, and you can use all the cars on all tracks. You’d think having a water level in the sink that only the hovercraft could do would make sense, just a thought.

OVERALL

The game is great, it is a good game to play with friends online and puts a smile on your face. It is just a shame that you can’t play on your own offline and win things that you can use online. Hope to see future content released in terms of game modes, cars and tracks. A respectable score of 7.5/10 is what Micro Machines World Series has been awarded at this current stage. If it were to beef up its variety would easily increase.