ThePitcrewOnline

Blog

  • Renault rumoured for Formula E exit; Nissan to take over

    FIA Formula E Hong Kong e-Prix.
    First Practice Session.
    Sebastien Buemi (SUI), Renault e.Dams, Spark-Renault, Renault Z.E 16.
    Hong Kong Harbour, Hong Kong, Asia.
    Sunday 9 October 2016.
    Photo: Adam Warner / FE / LAT
    ref: Digital Image _L5R7464

     

    Defending teams’ champions Renault could be set to exit Formula E at the end of the current season, leaving the e.Dams team to be rebranded as a works Nissan outfit for season four.

    This is according to information from German news site Motorsport-Total.com, which reported earlier this week that Nissan has been preparing itself to enter the series since the winter of 2016.

    Talk of Nissan competing in Formula E is nothing new. During season two, the Japanese company was one of many automotive giants alongside BMW and Mercedes said to be investigating an entry in the all-electric series—it was even reported by Autosport that Nissan was in talks to join in the current 2016–17 season as a powertrain supplier, most likely with Techeetah.

    But such a move would have required the approval of Renault, with whom Nissan has been in a commercial alliance since 1999. It is understood the two companies were concerned about the negative impact of competing against their own sister brand on the same stage, in a scenario similar to Audi and Porsche in the WEC, and so Nissan’s participation in Formula E was put on hold.

    2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship.
    Buenos Aires ePrix, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
    Saturday 18 February 2017.
    Photo: Zak Mauger/LAT/Formula E
    ref: Digital Image _X0W5504

    But since then, the Renault-Nissan Alliance has reportedly been planning a restructure of its respective motorsport involvements. On the one hand, Renault Sport has redoubled its involvement in Formula One, and as it targets its first Grand Prix win as a marque since 2008 is said to be eyeing any resources that could freed up from its other commitments.

    Nissan, meanwhile, currently competes in numerous touring car championships including Super GT and VASC, but has been without a global “top tier” programme since the collapse of its LMP1 outfit in 2015. As the company expands its range into electric vehicles with models such as the Leaf and the e-NV200, and especially as the Asian market grows increasingly lucrative for EV manufacturers, it is believed Nissan views Formula E as the ideal way to return its NISMO division to the world stage.

    2016/2017 FIA Formula E Championship.
    Monte-Carlo, Monaco
    Saturday 13 May 2017.
    Nicolas Prost (FRA), Renault e.Dams, Spark-Renault, Renault Z.E 16.
    Photo: Malcolm Griffiths/LAT/Formula E
    ref: Digital Image MALC0321

    If Renault e.Dams were to become a factory Nissan team for next season, it is unclear how far-reaching those changes may be. It’s likely that, given the timing of the change, Nissan would simply rebadge Renault’s developed season four powertrain and concentrate through the year on producing its own bespoke unit for 2018–19; likewise, the e.Dams race operation team will also probably remain largely in place, albeit with new NISMO branding.

    As for the team’s drivers, if Renault brand ambassador Alain Prost departs along with the French marque, that could put his son Nico Prost into a difficult position. The Frenchman has driven well for e.Dams, taking three ePrix victories and supporting the team’s title success, but Nissan may prefer to instal a driver of its own choosing in his place.

    It also remains to be see how Renault’s exit as a works team would affect the supply of customer team Techeetah, although its possible the Nissan rebranding may involve that deal too.

    James Matthews, Deputy Editor

  • Sergio Perez, the Mexican Podium Master

    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 celebrates his third position with the team.
    Monaco Grand Prix, Sunday 29th May 2016. Monte Carlo, Monaco. courtesy of Force India F1 Team

     

    This week is dedicated to Sahara Force India, PitCrew’s members wrote several articles related to Force India’s history and success and now it’s the time for me to share my article with you. Enjoy!

    Sahara Force India’s first entry in Formula One, with this name, was in 2008 at the Australian Grand Prix, it was not the best weekend for the team. Giancarlo Fisichella started the race from the 16th place, while Adrian started from the pit lane because he had to change his chassis. Both drivers retired, Sutil had issues with his hydraulics and Fisichella retired after a collision. A bad start doesn’t mean anything. From 2008 since today, Force India has scored more than 850 points they have secured one pole position, five fastest laps and five podiums. The first fastest lap was set by Adrian Sutil at the Italian Grand Prix in 2009, the German finished fourth in that race and scored points for the second consecutive time.

    One of the best moments in team’s history was in 2009, when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in the Belgian Grand Prix and Force India celebrated their first podium finish in their history. The Italian was the first driver who finished on the podium for the team, but another driver holds the record of the most podium finishes for Sahara Force India. He is known as Checo, comes from Mexico and has finished four times on the podium, all of them in the third place.

    Bahrain 2014, Sergio Perez qualified fifth, but moved one place higher because Daniel Ricciardo dropped from third to 13th as he received a ten-place grid penalty for an unsafe pit release in Malaysia. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had their own battle for the first place, whilst Felipe Massa was trying to defend the third place from Sergio Perez. The Mexican failed to pass Massa on his first attempt, but on the next lap he overtook the Brazilian driver and took the third position. Checo, finished third behind the two Mercedes and followed by Daniel Ricciardo. Nico Hulkenberg, Perez’s team-mate, finished fifth at that race, behind Daniel Ricciardo.

    CANADIAN GRAND PRIX F1/2012 – MONTREAL 10/06/2012 – ROMAIN GROSJEAN – MARTIN WHITMARSH – LEWIS HAMILTON – SERGIO PEREZ. Courtesy of Pirelli

     

    One year later, in Russia, Perez repeated his success and scored another podium for Force India. This time he has finished behind Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Despite that he qualified seventh behind his team-mate he took advantage of a collision between Hulkenberg, Verstappen and Ericsson on the first laps of the race and also the fact that the safety car was deployed two times, helped him to move up to the third place after an early pit-stop. After a thrilling race, the Mexican celebrated Force India’s third podium in their Formula 1 history. Last year, Perez decided to go one step further with the podiums and finished two times on the podium in the same season.

    In Monaco he set the eighth fastest lap during the qualification session, but moved up to seventh because Kimi Raikkonen received a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change and dropped from sixth to eleventh. The race started behind the safety car, because the track was wet, that was beneficial for Force India, which after a good strategy managed to secure the third place for Perez. Perez benefited during the second round of stops, whilst many teams were confused and didn’t know when to switch from intermediates to slicks, Force India took the right decision and scored another podium. Hamilton was the winner of the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix, followed by Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez.

    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 celebrates his third position in parc ferme.
    European Grand Prix, Sunday 19th June 2016. Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan. Courtesy of Force India F1 Team

    The second podium, in 2016, was celebrated in Baku, also known as the European Grand Prix. The odds were not with Perez, as he was demoted to seventh, because his mechanics had to replace his gearbox after a small crash into the barriers in turn 15 during the final practise session. The Mexican qualified second, but started the race from the seventh place. At the start of the race, Sergio gained two positions and moved up to fifth, on the seventeenth lap Force India called Perez into the pits, a move which helped him to pass Hamilton. During the final laps of the race, Raikkonen got a five-second time penalty for crossing the pit exit line, so Perez, who was behind him, didn’t have to pass him for the third place, but the Mexican made his move on the final lap and passed Raikkonen. This was Force India’s last podium and Perez’s fourth podium with the same team.

    Last season was Force India’s best season in Formula One, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez collected 173 points combined and the team finished fourth in the constructors’ championship behind Ferrari and ahead of Williams. So far in 2017, Force India has not managed to finish on the podium, but they have scored 53 points they are fourth and just 44 points behind Red Bull Racing. It is a very promising season for the ‘pink panthers’ and I am sure that they will finish on soon as they are very competitive so far.

    Victor Archakis F1 Editor

  • Monaco F2: Rowland and de Vries shine in home heartbreak for Leclerc

    True to form, Formula 2’s weekend in Monaco contradicted almost every expectation we had prior to the first practice.

    Thursday’s qualifying dismissed any notions that experience would be a deciding factor in determining the running order when rookie Charles Leclerc made it three poles in three rounds despite running in the first group when track conditions were not at their optimum.

    He was closely followed by fellow GP3 graduate, ART’s Alexander Albon, and the more experienced Oliver Rowland rounded off the top three. In the press conference after qualifying, Rowland lamented the speed at which the rookies had grown accustomed to F2, a testament to how unexpected Leclerc’s and Albon’s performances were.

    2017 FIA Formula 2 Round 3.
    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Thursday 25 May 2017.
    Charles Leclerc (MCO, PREMA Racing)
    Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2.
    ref: Digital Image _54I5057

    As it is with any race at Monte Carlo, track position and strategy were going to be key. As long as Prema could nail their strategy in the feature race, Leclerc, whose home sits just above turn one, looked all set for a home victory.

    At the race start the order was largely maintained. Though Leclerc did come under initial pressure from Albon, he held his lead and in the opening laps managed to pull away from his former GP3 teammate. Drama struck when Nicholas Latifi broke down at the entrance of the tunnel, in a difficult place for the marshals to recover his car, and brought out at the first safety car. The sudden change of circumstances seemed to play straight into the hands of Albon, who had already pitted, was now able to close the gap to the front runners, which included Leclerc, Rowland and Nobuharu Matsushita. His attempt at an alternate strategy by pitting early suddenly became a serious opportunity for victory.

    At the restart on lap 11, Leclerc pulled away at a blistering speed, sprinting away in an attempt to build a gap over Albon. Rowland, who was sitting in second place, kept a far steadier pace, DAMS clearly opting to delay their pit stop as long as possible rather than trying to match Leclerc’s speed.

    Lap 21 saw a tidy move by Nyck de Vries on Louis Deletraz to put him into tenth place and into the points. This was swiftly followed by Deletraz coming together with Robert Visoiu, putting them both out of the race, and earning the Campos driver a DNF on debut. The second safety car of the race was deployed.

    2017 FIA Formula 2 Round 3.
    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Friday 26 May 2017.
    Stefano Coletti (MON, Campos Racing)
    Photo: Joe Portlock/FIA Formula 2.
    ref: Digital Image _L5R9226

    This triggered a wave of stops from the front runners who had yet to pit, with Leclerc being the first to dive into the pit lane. The unforeseen turn of events undid ART’s gamble with Albon’s early pit, and Prema’s impatience to get Leclerc in meant he ended up losing track position to both Rowland and Artem Markelov. But things were about to get a lot worse for the local boy and championship leader.

    As the cars paraded around after the safety car it became apparent that Leclerc’s front left tyre was loose, and initially the assumption was that it had not been fastened properly during the hasty pit stop. After a second stop however, the problem persisted, indicating that it was a more serious suspension breakage, and the Monegasque had no choice but to retire. It was a heart-breaking way to end the race for the driver who was so desperate to win at his home track.

    Lap 26 saw the race get back underway, and it was a great restart for Rowland who looked certain to score his first win. In the end it was the man from Sheffield who stood on the top step of the podium, followed by Markelov in second, and Matsushita in third, who managed to secure two back-to-back podiums.

    It was an impressive fourth place for Albon, who displayed some impressive tyre management after a long stint of the super soft tyres. Luca Ghiotto took fifth ahead of Gustav Malja, and the Rapax duo of de Vries and Cecotto crossed the line in formation in seventh and eighth, with Jordan King finishing ninth behind them. Trident also managed to finally score their first points of the season when Sergio Canamasas finished in tenth place.

    2017 FIA Formula 2 Round 3.
    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Saturday 27 May 2017.
    Oliver Rowland (GBR, DAMS)
    Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2.
    ref: Digital Image _X4I9581

    The sprint race saw seasoned veteran Johnny Cecotto Jr of Rapax starting on reverse grid pole, followed by his teammate Nyck de Vries and Racing Engineering’s Gustav Malja.

    The start hammered home the point that had been made abundantly clear all weekend: that experience was playing only a minimal role around the streets of Monte Carlo. Rookie de Vries got a fantastic start, pulling ahead of Cecotto almost immediately, and built a commanding lead. Malja almost lost third place to Russian Time’s Luca Ghiotto, but just managed to stay ahead, while this weekend’s feature race winner Rowland was swiftly overtaken by his countrymen Jordan King who demoted him from the points.

    As de Vries extended his lead, proving that his tyre management troubles of the early races were long gone, most of the action was occurring towards the back end of the field. A lap 4 incident between an overly optimistic Leclerc and Norman Nato at La Rascasse saw the Frenchmen retiring from the race and the Prema driver handed a ten second time penalty. The horrible weekend for the two of them just continued.

    2017 FIA Formula 2 Round 3.
    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Friday 26 May 2017.
    Norman Nato (FRA, Pertamina Arden)
    Photo: Joe Portlock/FIA Formula 2.
    ref: Digital Image _L5R9657

    The middle stint of the race saw most of the drivers in the top eight attempting to earn themselves the extra two points for the fastest lap—that honour ultimately went to Artem Markelov. As the race reached around two thirds distance the soft tyres everyone was running began to degrade far more than was expected, particularly for the second placed Cecotto, which bunched up the field all the way back to sixth place.

    Despite enormous pressure being heaped on those involved in these battles, only Albon lost out to Markelov, who executed a magnificent piece of late braking to complete the move for fifth. Towards the back of the field it became clear that Leclerc was struggling with the damage he sustained from his early contact with Nato, and for the second time that weekend he was forced to retire.

    De Vries led a commanding race, and the McLaren junior driver handled the pressure immensely well, hardly putting a foot wrong as he drove his way to his first victory in Formula 2. Despite the close proximity of the rest of the front runners, Cecotto and Malja managed to hold onto their podium places. The points earned for King, Albon and Ghiotto meant that the three of them continued their streak of scoring points in all races of the 2017 season so far. The sprint race also saw the tally for different drivers on the podium reach ten for this season, highlighting the ultra competitive nature of the series.

    2017 FIA Formula 2 Round 3.
    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Saturday 27 May 2017.
    Nyck De Vries (NED, Rapax) celebrates in Parc Ferme after winning the race.
    World Copyright: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2.
    ref: Digital Image _56I7579

    Oliver Rowland’s championship campaign certainly benefitted from his first race win on Friday, and despite not scoring any points on Saturday, he is now only three points shy of Charles Leclerc, who still leads the drivers’ standings. The ordinarily relaxed driver kept an exceptionally cool head to avoid making any mistakes on this tricky track. He clearly has the long game in mind, being mindful to not take any risks in the sprint race that could turn into a grid penalty for Baku, and knowing that Leclerc was unlikely to score points, this was obviously the most sensible course of action.

    It was also a positive weekend for GP3 graduates Alexander Albon and Nyck de Vries. The former pulled off a blistering qualifying performance, and held his own against more experienced drivers in the race. Although he ultimately lost out in the sprint race to Markelov—who recovered well from his underwhelming weekend in Barcelona—he was able to defend well for a considerable time. De Vries seems to be progressing beyond the troubles he faced in earlier rounds, and is clearly becoming more comfortable with his machinery and Formula 2 as a whole. If he can find the qualifying pace he had in Bahrain, then it is too soon to discount him from making his mark on the championship this year.

    2017 FIA Formula 2 Round 3.
    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Thursday 25 May 2017.
    Alexander Albon (THA, ART Grand Prix)
    Photo: Zak Mauger/FIA Formula 2.
    ref: Digital Image _54I5473

    Zak Mauger / FIA Formula 2

    The weekend was very much one of two halves for Charles Leclerc. His performance in free practice and qualifying put him way ahead of the rest of the field. But his races were struck by some terrible luck, and no doubt left him wishing that it had happened at any other circuit. Discounting his clumsy shunt with Nato in the sprint race, he is hardly at fault, but a weekend with only four points (for his pole position) has damaged his championship challenge considerably.

    Norman Nato comes a close second to Leclerc regarding this weekend’s fortunes. His retirement on Saturday marked his third race in a row without scoring any points, and what is perhaps most frustrating of all is that the whole paddock knows these results do not reflect his potential. The Frenchmen needs to find some consistency to resurrect his own chances of winning the championship this year.

    Formula 2 travels to the street circuit at Baku in around a month’s time. The circuit was the site of the most dramatic and chaotic race of last season, and with the order shaken up this weekend, it is hard to say who will leave Azerbaijan as leader in the standings.

    Georgia Beith, F2 Correspondent

  • Sahara Force India Week: Ten Years and Counting

    Throughout its decade in Formula One, the Force India story has been played out by a cast of rookie drivers, rising stars and seasoned race winners, in cars ranging from back row starters to polesitters to podium finishers. As part of our Sahara Force India Week, we’ve taken a quick look back through the yearbooks at the Silverstone team to see how they’ve grown since their debut in 2008.

    Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India F1 VJM01
    Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Japanese Grand Prix, Practice Day, Fuji Speedway, Japan, Friday 10 October 2008. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    VJM01: Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella

    With little more than an updated version of the 2007 Spyker F8-VIIB at their disposal, the chances for Adrian Sutil and ex-Renault signee Giancarlo Fisichella to put Force India’s maiden challenger into the points were slim at best.

    Nevertheless, they did come close on several occasions—most notably Sutil running fourth in Monaco—as the team under Vijay Mallya put in place its philosophy of developing strategically and effectively throughout the year. A best finish of tenth for Fisichella in Spain and some promising displays elsewhere made 2008 a good foundation for Force India’s later success.

    Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India F1 VJM02.
    Formula One World Championship, Rd 12, Belgian Grand Prix, Race, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Sunday 30 August 2009. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

     

    VJM02: Adrian Sutil, Giancarlo Fisichella and Vitantonio Liuzzi

    Encouraged by its opening campaign, Force India now looked ahead to 2009, like many teams eyeing that season’s aerodynamics overhaul as an opportunity to shuffle up the grid. The team also signalled its intent this season by moving from Ferrari to Mercedes power—and not to mention, changing its 2008 Kingfisher livery to a striking new Indian flag-inspired design.

    Of course, Force India’s ’09 season will always be remembered for Fisichella’s surprise pole and podium at Spa. But with points also and a fastest lap for Sutil at Monza and reliability greatly improved, this was also the year Force India started to establish itself as a true midfield contender.

    Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India F1 VJM03.
    Formula One World Championship, Rd 18, Brazilian Grand Prix, Race, Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday 7 November 2010. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

     

    VJM03: Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi

    For 2010 Force India retained Sutil and resigned Vitantonio Liuzzi, who drove for them at the end of 2009 following Fisichella’s mid-season call-up to Ferrari. The season started well with points for Liuzzi in the opening two rounds and a string of six top ten finishes for Sutil in the European season; the team also recorded its first double points finish in Monaco.

    Results tailed off towards the end of the season with Liuzzi taking the team’s final points of the year in Korea with sixth, but 68 points on the board and a best-ever constructors’ finish of seventh was still a huge step forward for a team still in its infancy.

    Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India F1 VJM04.
    Formula One World Championship, Rd 13, Italian Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Monza, Italy, Saturday 10 September 2011. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

     

    VJM04: Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta

    2011 saw a number of changes at Force India. Following the departure of James Key the previous year, the VJM04 was the first of the team’s cars to be designed by current technical director Andrew Green—it was also the first to be driven by Britain’s Paul di Resta, who was promoted from his reserve role to replace Vitantonio Liuzzi.

    Initially, the new-look team yielded mixed results: there were points for Sutil and di Resta in the opening race in Melbourne, but further top ten appearances were sparse throughout the long European stretch. However, performances improved when F1 took to its Asian leg, and a string of points finishes in the final rounds—including in the team’s inaugural home race in India—meant that the Silverstone squad finished 2011 in sixth place overall, just five points shy of fifth-best Lotus-Renault.

    Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Sahara Force India F1 VJM05.
    Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Saturday 3rd November 2012. Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    VJM05: Paul di Resta and Nico Hülkenberg

    The build-up to Force India’s 2012 season was dominated by Adrian Sutil’s Shanghai assault trial, and by the team’s decision to replace him with their reserve driver Nico Hülkenberg—this was also the year that Jules Bianchi acted as the team’s test and reserve driver.

    Unfortunately Force India never managed to match the podium success of midfield rivals Sauber, Lotus and Mercedes in 2012, and ultimately slipped to seventh in the constructors’ standings. But that’s not to say it wasn’t still a successful year for the team: particular highlights included Hülkenberg, in only his second season racing, finishing in fourth place in Belgium and leading the race in Brazil for almost thirty laps before coming home in fifth.

    Paul di Resta (GBR) Sahara Force India VJM06.
    Korean Grand Prix, Friday 4th October 2013. Yeongam, South Korea. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    VJM06: Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil

    For 2013, Hülkenberg moved across to Sauber, freeing up a seat for Adrian Sutil’s return to the team. His and di Resta’s car for the season was the VJM06, which had ditched the “platypus” nose of the previous year as part of a complete chassis redesign, aimed at overcoming Force India’s slight drop in form in 2012.

    Suffice to say, it worked—finishing seventh and eighth respectively, Sutil and di Resta gave the team its best start to a season yet in Melbourne, and the VJM06 went on to score points in every round bar one between Australia and Great Britain. More points later in the season, including two double hauls in India and Abu Dhabi, allowed Force India to retake sixth in the constructors’ with a comfortable twenty-point gap over Sauber.

    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 VJM07.
    Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sunday 23rd November 2014. Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    VJM07: Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez

    2014 saw Force India embrace F1’s new turbo era with some changes of its own: having replaced Sutil and di Resta with the returning Hülkenberg and new signing Sergio Pérez, the team also exchanged its longstanding white livery for a darker, more aggressive look.

    As with many of its long-nosed rivals the VJM07 was not the most visually-pleasing interpretation of the 2014 chassis regulations—but it was competitive nonetheless. Getting off the ground with a double points haul in Melbourne, the team went on to record a total of 27 top ten finishes across the season, including a podium for Pérez in Bahrain and a run of ten races in the points for Hülkenberg, that culminated in Force India’s best campaign to date.

    Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Sahara Force India F1 VJM08.
    Brazilian Grand Prix, Sunday 15th November 2015. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    VJM08/ VJM08B: Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez

    Having scored a team-best 155 championship points in 2014, expectations were high for the following year. But with numerous R&D delays throughout the winter holding back the development of the VJM08, Hülkenberg and Pérez began the season lacking the downforce needed to fight for more than the few points they scored in the opening rounds.

    But at the British Grand Prix, Force India introduced a B-spec VJM08, complete with distinctive “cobra” nose, and was immediately rewarded with a double points finish in the race. More points came in all but one of the remaining rounds as Pérez especially took to the new car, dicing with Lewis Hamilton for the lead in Belgium and taking his second podium for the team with third in Russia—the end result being Force India improving yet again to end 2015 as the fifth-best team overall.

    Sergio Perez (MEX) Sahara Force India F1 VJM09.
    European Grand Prix, Sunday 19th June 2016. Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    VJM09: Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez

    Like most of the 2016 grid, Force India’s VJM09 was little more than an evolution of the previous year’s car, as the team turned its focus ahead to the major rules changes coming in 2017.

    But given how competitive the VJM08B was at the end of 2015, the team was not hurt by sticking with the design. The car was especially strong during the European leg, where Pérez hustled his way to a brace of third places in Monaco and Baku, and its combined speed and reliability led to double points finishes in every race bar two between Germany and the end of the season. After the final round in Abu Dhabi, Hülkenberg and Pérez had gathered a monumental 173 points for Force India, more than enough to beat Williams to an outstanding fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.

    Esteban Ocon (FRA) Sahara Force India F1 VJM10.
    Monaco Grand Prix, Sunday 28th May 2017. Monte Carlo, Monaco. Courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team

    VJM10: Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon

    With the remarkable success of its most recent campaigns, Force India certainly has a lot to live up to in 2017. But while many expected the team to struggle for resources in the winter development race, they have instead had their strongest start to a season since 2014.

    Outfitted with a bold new pink livery, the VJM10-Mercedes has been turning heads with its performance just as much as with its looks. Taking points finishes in five of the six races so far, and missing out on a perfect run only through bad luck in Monaco, Sergio Pérez is currently leading the team’s charge with seventh in the Drivers’ Championship, whilst new signing Esteban Ocon has been delivering solid results for the team right off the bat—his current best being a fifth place in Spain—despite having made only nine F1 starts prior to the season.

    With the team currently holding fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship, on almost double the points of next-best Toro Rosso, 2017 already looks set to be another fitting chapter to the extraordinary Force India story.

    James Matthews, Deputy Editor

  • Indy500

    Japan Win With Honda & Sato but Alonso’s Curse Continues

    One of the most intense, exciting and memorable Indy 500 races has happened this year, we enter a new century of races in the 101st run of the event and what a way to start them. Takuma Sato, the Japanese driver who was born in Tokyo became first the Asian-born driver to ever win the historic race. Interest was heightened with one of the best drivers of the world, who can be described as that due to his performance in the race, Fernando Alonso taking part for the first time. An estimated 300,000 people were at the speedway which would of officially made it 65th largest American city in terms of population. Just how did Sato win and how did Alonso do in his debut?

    Qualifying Recap

    Qualifying happens a week in advance very similar to Formula 1/MotoGP style with Q1/Q2 format, the top nine, which make the top three rows took part in their own session on the following day following the first run times. The top five drivers on the grid were quadruple Indycar champion Scott Dixon took pole, and Ed Carpenter who returns only for ovals in his own racing team second, and 2016 champion Alexander Rossi started third. Eventual winner Takuma Sato started fourth and the one everyone was interested in, Fernando Alonso in 5th.

    The other side of the grid was truly mixed up with some heavy hitters languishing in the midfield and towards the back of the field. Ryan Hunter-Reay started 10th, if he got in to the qualifying shoot out, he would have placed himself in 7th. Two-time Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya was 18th, three time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves was 19th and championship leader Simon Pagenaud qualified in a lowly 23rd. Another one to note is for James Davison started last, filling in for Sebastian Bourdais, who had that major crash on qualifying weekend, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Bourdais was trackside for the 500.

    The Race

    It was a clean start with front row keeping their places,.Fernando Alonso though, he fell back down the order, maybe needing a bit of time to adjust to the settings. Championship leader Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves were the early movers, creeping up the field. Tony Kanaan, who started 7th, had great speed, managing to get up with Carpenter and Dixon.

    The race settled, and with that Alonso and Rossi began to make their presence felt, former Indycar champion Will Power tipped heavily for the win struggled, and was falling down the order. Kanaan and Dixon were trading the lead early on, drafting each other to save fuel, whilst behind Carpenter and Rossi stayed in touch. Kanaan was the first to stop on lap 29, showing that leading the race with no draft takes up much more fuel than anywhere else on the grid. Alonso during this phase got past Dixon who seemed to be hanging on at the end of the first stint and Ed Carpenter took the lead. Juan Pablo Montoya showed skill by going 3 laps longer, pitting on lap 32, but coming out of the box he stalled his car and his work was undone. The top five after the first stint was Carpenter, Rossi, Alonso, Kanaan and Sato.

    On to the second stint, Alonso began to spread his wings and took the lead on lap 37. It seemed in the first stint he observed others, while in the second he started by passing Rossi and both passed Carpenter, the amendment he made on pit road didn’t seem to do him any favours. Rossi and Alonso – both teammates – were trading the lead, drafting each other saving fuel. Team Owner Michael Andretti over the radio to Alonso ‘You and Alex can play here’ which pretty much confirmed the fuel saving strategy. This continued and were easily the two fastest cars on track.

    Hunter-Reay, trying to catch team mates Rossi & Alonso made a last minute move on lapping Jay Howard. This resulted on Howard getting onto the the marbles, and pretty much a passenger, hitting the wall and breaking his front right suspension. He then under no control veered back onto the track and polesitter Scott Dixon had nowhere to go, hurtling straight into his Dallara chassis, flying and hitting the inside catch fence and landing sideways on the barrier. Both men walked away from a frightening accident. Castroneves to avoid contact actually went underneath Dixon on the grass, causing minor damage to his rear. The catch fence was broken and it was red flagged to fix and clear sheer amount of debris on the track. The top five at the show of the flag were Alonso, Rossi, Sato, Carpenter and Hunter-Reay.

    20 minutes after the incident were back on track again, Alonso leading them off pit road. They then opened the pit once more, and the whole field rushed into the pit, all 31 cars still running down taking fuel and tyres. They went round for two laps behind the safety car and off they went. Alonso with a mega restart kept the lead although the two-time F1 World Champion Alonso began to fall back on lap 63. Andretti team mates Hunter-Reay and Rossi nearly hit each other trading the lead at Turn 1.

    Montoya, trying to make up for his awful pit stop managed to overtake Pagenaud, Daly and Kimball on the back straight. Daly tried to follow him on the outside around Kimball but the gap closed, and the third caution was out. English driver Jack Harvey collected debris, albeit few laps down had to retire due to damage too. This brought about a change in fuel strategies and some such as Hinchcliffe, Chilton, Power and Pippa Mann pitted mid-stint. Pippa was doing well in her rookie Indy 500, keeping it clean and competitive. Helio pitted a lap later under the safety car, and during the period found out he received a drive through due to jumping Daly at the previous restart.

    The race went green on lap 65, and Rossi took the lead. On the restart they went four wide in the midfield, championship leader Pagenaud still continued to struggle and was swamped by those three men. Kanaan began to get closer in his hunt for a second victory, battling with Alonso. Alonso broke the toe, and went after Hunter-Reay.

    Caution 4 came because of debris on the front straight, part of Marco Andretti’s wing came off, flying up high and landing on track. All drivers under this safety period hit the pits, this left the people who decided to pit earlier on in the lead. Sato’s team made an error in the pits – a dropped wheelnut dropping him to 17th. Max Chilton led the restart, followed by Power & Castroneves – Hunter-Reay and co. now running from 4th onwards.

    Chilton started well getting away from Power in P2. Hunter-Reay and Andretti teammates began to use their fresh tyres to their advantage and were much quicker around the corners. Chilton was keeping his own, using the knowledge he has gained from Indycar legend Dario Franchitti to good effect, whilst Power began to fall back, passed by veteran Castroneves and the Andretti drivers. Rossi took the opportunity to get past everyone to take the lead once more. Rossi and Castroneves seem to be trading the lead, a common trend for leaders across the whole race, Castroneves led on lap 100, after starting in 18th.

    On lap 104 Castroneves took to the pit lane, quite remarkable considering he had to take that drive through he was still leading. He pitted much earlier than the rest of the leading back, but they all came back out fighting to stay on the lead lap, amongst the battle for the lead. On lap 113 Rossi pitted with Alonso and Hunter-Reay a lap later, with very slow stops for Rossi and Alonso compared to Hunter-Reay, after it all settled down on lap 116 he had a 3.5 second lead. The top 10 after the stops were Hunter-Reay, Alonso, Rossi, Castroneves and Power. Sato had got back up to P7, alongside with Montoya in P10, whilst Chilton had dropped to P13.

    A spree of yellow cautions began with Buddy Lazier, the 49 year old coming back for a one-off race was racing well but he lost it and collided with the wall, bringing out the full course yellow once again. He was uninjured. Chilton decided to pit under caution once more, dropping to the back of the field. It looked like they were about to bring the yellows in, but Chilton had one less to deal with as Sage Karam stopped with mechanical difficulty and had to retire. They went green for two laps but more debris was found on the track, Pagenaud was the only one noticeable to pit once more, everyone else stayed out under this caution.

    It was green again lap 135 and Alonso began to once more strategically share the lead with Hunter-Reay, until down the back straight on lap 137 the American’s Honda engine failed, familiar scenes for Alonso. Honda have tried to get a few extra horsepower over Chevrolet rivals, but reliability just like Formua 1 is something they have begin to struggle with. Don’t forget Alonso had to change his engine prior to qualifying. The 2014 Indy 500 champion was out, and yellows were out once again, the majority of the field decided to pit leaving the likes of Chilton and Davison. There were poor stops for Alonso and Rossi dropping to 12th and 21st respectively.

    After a short green flag period as Carpenter lost his rear end, hitting the side of Russian Aleshin, severely damaged the Russian. Alonso managed to get to 9th place before the flag was shown. Kimball managed to jump Chilton during that brief period too into 1st. The green flag followed shortly once more, an amazing 5 wide on restart, Pagenaud once more being swallowed up by the field. Kimball and Chilton had a massive fight as the race entered its last quarter. On lap 163 Chilton pitted, and with 36 to go in similar circumstances to Rossi last year. Luck was in for the Englishman as he just managed to get the stop in, and more alarm bells began to ring again for Honda drivers, as Kimball’s engine also gives up.

    Several drivers decided to pit under the caution, but as a result Chilton still leads, Sato managed to get himself back up into the mix, whilst Castroneves after a face full oil from Kimball was in the mix. Alonso, albeit with a clean stop once more dropped to 9th and time was running out for the Spanish driver as the race went green again with 29 laps to go. Chilton now had his mirrors full of Castroneves, chasing his fourth Indy 500 victory.

    In cruel but not unfamiliar circumstances, Fernando Alonso’s engine gave up, bringing out another caution. All Michael Andretti could do on the radio is apologise. He got out of his Dallara, and all 300,000 people gave around of applause, more so than Dixon when he walked out of his crash. If this was a way to keep Alonso’s faith in Honda, they have only dug themselves a deeper hole.

    In the battle for the lead, former F1 drivers Max Chilton and Takuma Sato were hard at it. Noth would be winning their first Indy 500, Chilton would be winning his first ever Indy race, whilst Sato would be winning his second, a 4 year wait since his win at Long Beach. Alonso bringing out the caution was short lived, and back under way, but once more not for long, a 5 car pile up at Turn 1. Oriol Servia tried to pass Davison, ended up collecting him and both hit the wall, Power and Hinchcliffe innocent victims. Hinchcliffe’s poor run at Indianapolis continued, whilst Josef Newgarden lost it on his own on the infield.

    In the dying laps Castroneves saw Sato lose his momentum after failed overtakes on Chilton, and relegated the Japanese driver into third place. Castroneves, now set his sights on Chilton. Castroneves passed Chilton and looked for all the world to be the favourite while Sato quickly followed him. On lap 197 Sato, ignoring the ghosts from 2012, knocked Castroneves back to second – far from the move he made on Franchitti on lap 200 5 years ago which resulted in him ending up in the wall.

    Sato was able to hold off the Castroneves assault in the final three laps and won his first ever Indianpolis 500 and his second Indycar race at the scene of his only Formula One podium back in 2004.

    Race Result, Top 5

    P1 Takuma Sato
    P2 Helio Castroneves
    P3 Ed Jones (R)
    P4 Max Chilton
    P5 Tony Kanaan

    Selected others

    P6 Juan Pablo Montoya
    P7 Alex Rossi
    P14 Simon Pagenaud
    P17 Pippa Mann
    DNF Fernando Alonso
    DNF Ryan Hunter-Reay
    DNF Scott Dixon

    Drivers comments

    Sato – ‘Unbelievable, the best feeling’ – He just couldn’t thank the team enough, he still with 3 laps had doubt that he could do it.
    Castroneves – ‘We fight together but today wasn’t my day’ – He felt god was looking after him after his avoidance, and was just a little too hard for him.
    Alonso – ‘One of the best experiences in my career’ – He pushed hard and clearly loved being competitive.

    Dixon ‘It sure was a wild ride’ – He could not thank enough for the safety of Indycar, just held on and hoped for the best, looked so calm, you couldn’t tell he was in such a scary crash.

    By Chris Lord

    Image courtesy of Eric Barnes

  • Halsall Slams Suzuki GB ‘Unprofessional’ over Bike Supply Feud

    Images by Gareth Davies of Full Factory Photography.

    Martin Halsall has branded Suzuki GB as “unprofessional” and “difficult to work with” following an ongoing issue, stemming from last year when the BSB Team Owner decided to drop the Japanese manufacturer after “poor communication”. Halsall once again mentioned communication as an issue, with Suzuki GB seemingly ignoring anything Martin mentions.

    “I’m pretty disappointed really, with Suzuki. I had approached Suzuki to see if I could buy some bikes to do the Isle of Man TT with William Dunlop and then with a view to return to BSB. However, due to difficulty with Suzuki, I have not been able to get my hands on the bikes”.

    “I have now written a letter to Japan to see if that can do anything but what Suzuki have got to realise is that they are a PLC, so they’re answerable to shareholders. So, the people not selling me the bikes are answerable to the people willing to invest in their business”.

    Halsall left the manufacturer last September, having done so well with the bike, considering it is seven years old.

    “There’s no logical sense to why I can’t buy bikes off Suzuki, it makes absolutely no sense. OK, I ran Suzuki and then decided not to run Suzuki for 2017. However, as a bike, the 2017 model is a very, very good piece of equipment and that was never in question before; I always knew it was going to be a good bike, I just didn’t want to work with Suzuki GB anymore.

    “I like to do things my way and if I’m the one spending the bulk of the money, then I should be having the say. I think they forgot who’s team it was from time to time. If they want to fund the whole of the team’s budget, then that’s fine and people can be answerable to them but if they’re not, they have to succumb to the person who is paying the bill – which was me. It has already been good out of the box as a stock bike with Richard Cooper in the National Superstock 1000 Championship, so there’s no reason why it can’t be a really good and competitive Superbike”.

    Have Suzuki messed this up? The Halsall Racing outfit is one of the most striking and well branded teams in the paddock, with a huge presence still existent from last year, ranging from merchandise to fans of Halsall’s operation of his team.

    “People can see how I brand things. The thing about my businesses are that they are exceptionally branded. We’ve invested a lot of money into having proper marketing done and proper branding done to be professional with the business. I would do a good job with any branding. We’ve done it already with movuno.com, the online estate agents”. There’s no reason why we can’t follow that through to Superbikes and create an exceptionally well branded team with it”.

    Have Suzuki no loyalty? Halsall dropped a proven race winner in the Kawasaki at the end of 2014 to pursue success with Suzuki – which he achieved. Now, despite persevering with a seven year old bike, the effervescent charismatic Lancastrian now finds himself banging his head against a brick wall.

    “There is no reason why we as a team with the right rider can’t make the 2017 Suzuki work. We proved what we could do last year with two podiums on a bike that effectively, nobody else was interested in running. Primarily, I ran the bike with the bigger picture of picking up the new bike. So for me to walk away from Suzuki – after making massive investments for two years – hurts a bit”.

    “Primarily, why can I not buy bikes? I can go and buy bikes tomorrow morning from any Suzuki dealer, without the Halsall Team name. We will be wanting some race parts from Yoshimura, from Suzuki and therefore, it makes sense to have a proper link with Suzuki – which I have tried to do on numerous occasions. I can’t see any logical sense at all in why I can’t buy bikes”.

    “It’s good for Suzuki’s anyway if another team runs their brand. It is also healthy for a championship and the fans. ‘Why not bet on two horses’ comes to mind. I wouldn’t mind, it isn’t at Suzuki’s expense! It’s an absolute no-brainer. I think it is really unprofessional how a well-known brand is turning down such a well-known, successful and popular team with great presence in the paddock”.

    Suzuki haven’t helped their image in this sorry saga. No WSBK effort and a difficult start to their 2017 MotoGP campaign, they’re relying mainly on BSB for their results – and that, as it stands, is risky business. Although risky business to them succeeds ‘no business’ with Martin.

    “It’s had an effect on William Dunlop too. He wanted to ride the Suzuki at the TT but that isn’t possible. It is just crazy that they won’t give a top class road racer a bike that he demands. It has actually stopped the road racing side of Halsall Racing Team progressing on the roads because primarily, we’ve run out of time. Within the communication I’ve had with Suzuki, I made it clear that William Dunlop would ride the bike and that is what he wanted.

    “At the end of the day, I own Halsall Racing. I am in charge. The people who I am trying to deal with aren’t representative of what Suzuki stand for. If i had the bikes in time for the TT, we could have got them prepared, potentially leading to a come back in BSB. If we got the right rider, there’s no reason we couldn’t run in BSB from 2017 and be successful”.

    This is a developing story and you can find out exactly what the outcome of it will be when we hear news of it.

     

    Story by @MotoGPKiko

  • Do team orders make a significant difference?

    Monte Carlo, Monaco.
    Sunday 28 May 2017.
    World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images (Image Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media)
    ref: Digital Image _ONZ0414

    Kimi’s face on the podium told a thousand stories, to say he was slightly unhappy with coming second, would be like saying the Pope is slightly religious. He’d gone from leading the Monaco Grand Prix by a good handful of seconds, to finishing second and well off the pace.

    The pole sitter had done everything right in the first half of the race and it was only a pitstop disaster which could cost him the race. Coming in before his team-mate to cover off the undercut, would normally have been the right call. Unfortunately, this is Monaco and there is nothing normal about racing a Formula 1 car around these streets.

    A few blisteringly quick laps from Vettel and Kimi’s lead had disappeared along with his hopes of the win.

    Did Ferrari know this was how it would play out or was it just great driving from a World Champion how was able to put the laps together when he really needed them? Seeing Daniel Ricciardo’s lap times, would give the impression that it might even have been Kimi holding the pack up slightly.

    But none of this matters. Ferrari have used team orders before and will use them again. There is no team in the pitlane who would not use team orders to ensure they got the race win. Look at Mercedes telling Rosberg to move over last year in Monaco. They made Nico let his title rival passed and to run away to a lucky victory, whilst Rosberg limped home in seventh.

    It’s actually interesting to see how team orders have affected the Driver’s World Championships after they were used.

    A quick look at some of the biggest experiences tells us its own story. You cannot mention team orders and not think of Multi 21, Schumacher and Barrichello in Austria, “Fernando is faster than you”, Crashgate or even Coulthard and Hakkinen in Australia.

    Multi 21

    Mark Webber is ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix. Red Bull use the code ‘Multi 21’ to tell the drivers that car two will finish in front of car 1. They have previously used Multi 12 and Webber has submitted to the order. Unfortunately for Webber, Vettel decided to ignore the order and attacked for the lead. He ended up winning the race and taking the extra seven points.

    At the end of the season Vettel beat Alonso by 155 points, making the whole unsavoury episode completely unnecessary.

    Schumacher and Barrichello in Austria

    In 2002, Ferrari were dominant, winning all but two of the races that season. By the time Austria came around, Schumacher had already won four of the first five races and was easily in the lead of the Driver’s Championship, yet Ferrari still felt completed to issue team orders during the sixth race of the season. With Barrichello in the lead, he was told to move over and let his team-mate win, needless to say that this didn’t go down too well with the Brazilian and he waited until the last

    corner of the last lap, to slow down and let Schumacher pass. The crowd immediately reacted and told Ferrari exactly what they thought of it.

    The move was condemned by nearly all of the F1 community and when you see that Schumacher won the Driver’s Championship with 144 points; double second-placed Barrichello’s 77. It was completely unnecessary.

    Fernando is faster than you

    Another Ferrari masterclass in team orders, is the non-team order which was so clearly a team order. During a period of F1 where team orders were banned; imagine telling one of your drivers that the other driver, who happens to be right behind you, is faster than you. Take the hint pal, move over. Alonso was on a charge and went on to win the German Grand Prix.

    Interestingly, this team order cost Ferrari $100,000, but kept Alonso in the Championship hunt. At the end of the season, the extra points did make a difference, but not enough. Alonso finished four points behind Vettel and came second once more. If Ferrari had introduced their team orders before Germany, they could have engineered an Alonso championship. In both Australia and Turkey, Massa finished immediately in front of Alonso. Swapping positions in there two races, would have given Alonso and extra 3 points and 2 points respectively.

    It makes you wonder if Ferrari were just too late introducing their strategy.

    Crashgate

    In one of the lowest points of the sports recent history. Nelson Piquet Jr was asked/told to crash in Singapore in a position which would require a safety car. Handily, Alonso his team-mate, had just made a pit stop and inherited the lead when the rest of the field made their stops behind the safety car. It was a lead he didn’t relinquish and went on to win the 2008 race.

    This wasn’t about a Championship victory, this was all about Renault needing a result and someone, reportedly Flavio Briatore, feeling enough pressure to ask one of his drivers to risk their lives just to get a win.

    It took a year for the true story to leak out and only really came to light when Renault didn’t renew Nelson Piquet Jr’s contract. A bitter Nelson, let some things leak out which made people look back at the accident in a fresh light. The cost was extreme, people were banned from racing and the ramifications for Renault were enough to see them pull out of the sport within three years.

    Coulthard and Hakkinen in Australia

    When pre-season testing shows that you are in a class of your own, what else would you do? At the start of 1998, the McLaren looked very dominant. Coulthard and Hakkinen were under orders not to take each other out in the season opening Australian Grand Prix. Between themselves and the team, they decided that whoever was in the lead after the first corner, that driver would get the win. Hakkinen got to the first corner in the lead and the plan was put into place. It was all going well until Mika had an unscheduled pitstop and dropped back into second. Appearing to stick to the pre-race agreement, David let his team mate through for the win.

    The extra two points made little difference to Mika at the end of the season, where he won the Driver’s Championship by fourteen points. Unfortunately, right at the start of the season, the tone was set with DC as the number two driver and all of McLaren’s upgrades and new components being directed to Mika’s car first.

    In all five of these cases, the issued team orders did not make an impact on the Driver’s Championship. They did however make a larger impact on the fans and the perception of F1 to the wider audience. Even when team orders were banned by the FIA, they still leaked through in code and again had no effect on the Driver’s Championship.

    Indeed, there is only one case where team orders would have affected the Championship, but Ferrari didn’t start to lay with them until it was too late.

    Ban them or hate them, team orders have always been a part of F1 and will always be with us. It’s the ultimate team sport and individual drivers are constantly reminded that they are racing for a team of hundreds of people back in the factories and not just themselves.

    Andy Robinson

     

  • WRX – Farewell Lydden – Part Two

    Of course, being the Sunday of World Rallycross the crowds flocked and the queue on the A2 backed up. We managed to slot into the queue and from the dual carriageway I could see that the cars were being directed into the top field above the circuit, adjacent to a field which the previous day had been clear. We negotiated our way into Lydden Hill and made our way down the dusty track to hopefully where we parked the before, in the VIP and media car park behind the grandstand, but our hopes faded as the security guard on the point directed us to…yes you guessed it, the top field adjacent to the field which I had seen on the way in. It was going to be a longer trek down to the circuit, but the sun was out and the cars were revving. It was a perfect day.

    Our first stop-off point was the garage of Oliver Bennett. He was guesting in the WRX for this round. His Ford Fiesta was parked under an Xite Energy drinks marquee, his major sponsor and there were plastic shot containers on a desk with a variety of different flavours to try, of course it would be rude not to take full advantage of the complimentary offers so I did. He was being spoken to by Liam Doran who was in Bennett’s garage this weekend and they were discussing tactics and how the next two qualifying heats should be approached. Bennett took on board what Doran had to say and then donned his racing helmet to jump into the car whilst Liam Doran picked up the radio headset and headed off towards his spotting position.

    Time was ticking down and I could hear the cars making their way through the paddock into the pre-grid area situated in front of the Monster Energy tower. We wandered in that general direction and I sauntered by the Team Peugeot garage and spotted the Frenchman who I spoke to the previous day who sponsored the team. He walked over to me and we started chatting and he asked if I was still interested in speaking with the drivers, which of course I said yes. He grabbed the team PR lady and we arranged that I would visit the hospitality area at around 4.30pm. First job of the day complete.

    It was time for Q3

    Petter Solberg would go top again in a weekend he was beginning to thoroughly dominate. He was over one and a half seconds in front of his team mate, Kristoffersson and over three seconds ahead of Ekstrom. All three drivers maintained their position from Q2

    Solberg led the race and took his joker on lap three, re-taking the lead when Kristoffersson took his joker on lap four.

    Behind the top three, Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud and Sweden’s Timmy Hansen battled over fourth place in the race and were fifth and seventh in Q3, Hansen’s Team Peugeot-Hansen team mate Sebastien Loeb was fourth and America’s Ken Block sixth, the two drivers continuing their battle from Saturday at Lydden Hill.

    Like he was in Q1, Finland’s Topi Heikkinen was eighth fastest in Q3 to return to the top twelve after he was slowed with an engine problem in Q2. Sweden’s Kevin Eriksson also won his race in Q3 and was ninth fastest, with Heikkinen’s EKS team mate Reinis Nitiss 10th. Finland’s Niclas Gronholm was also inside the top 12 along with Sweden’s Kevin Hansen. Great Britain’s Andrew Jordan wass currently in the semi-final places for the MJP Racing Team Austria team, in 11th, despite being slowed with technical problems at the end of his race in Q3.

    The postitions looked like this, with qualifying points:

    1st – Petter Solberg – 150pts

    2nd – Johan Kristoffersson – 135pts

    3rd – Mattias Ekstrom – 126pts

    4th – Andreas Bakkerud – 119pts

    5th – Sebastien Loeb – 115pts

    6th – Timmy Hansen – 115pts

    7th – Ken Block – 113pts

    8th – Kevin Eriksson – 101pts

    9th – Timur Timerzyanov – 98pts

    10th – Janis Baumanis – 97pts

    11th – Andrew Jordan – 95pts

    12th – Toomas Heikkinen – 94pts

    ——————————————

    13th – Guy Wilks – 89pts

    14th – Jean-Baptiste Dubourg – 86pts

    15th – Niclas Gronholm – 85pts

    16th – Rene Muennich – 84pts

    17th – Kevin Hansen – 83pts

    18th – Oliver O’Donovan – 80pts

    19th – Gregoire Demoutier – 76pts

    20th – Reinis Nitiss – 74pts

    21st – CSUCSU – 73pts

    22nd – Martin Kaczmarski – 73pts

    23rd – Oliver Bennett – 68pts

    24th – M.D.K. – 67pts

    Q4 was going to be so important and with some very talented drivers outside the top twelve it would take some big efforts for a place in the semi-final heats. From Timerzyanov to Heikkinen, those drivers would be looking over their shoulders for those contenders chasing a place. All drivers down to 16th place would gain championship points during the qualifying heats so there were further battles down the order to be completed.

    Sweden’s Timmy Hansen set the fastest time in Q4 at the World RX of Great Britain to end Norway’s Petter Solberg’s runs of fastest times.

    Hansen took the joker lap early in his race and won on track to be fastest, as in the last race of the Q3 session Johan Kristoffersson beat his team mate Solberg for the first time of the weekend, Kristoffersson second behind Hansen in Q4 with Solberg in third. Solberg was top qualifier at the Intermediate Classification and as a result would start on pole position for semi-final one, while Kristoffersson would start on pole position in semi-final two.

    Hansen’s Q4 time means he moved to third in the Intermediate Classification and would join Solberg on the front row for semi-final one, Kristoffersson joined by his countryman Mattias Ekstrom on the first row for semi-final two. Ekstrom who was eighth fastest in Q4 after a battle with Sebastien Loeb, the nine-time World Rally Champion would start on the second row of the same semi-final race, next to MJP Racing Team Austria’s Kevin Eriksson and in front of Latvia’s Janis Baumanis and Finland’s Topi Heikkinen.

    Hoonigan Racing Division team mates Andreas Bakkerud and Ken Block were fourth and fifth in Q4 and would start together on row two of semi-final one, with Andrew Jordan and Timur Timerzyanov also making it into the top 12 to join the semi-final one grid on the third row. Reigning FIA European Rallycross Champion Kevin Hansen, who was celebrating his 19th birthday at Lydden Hill, was ninth fastest in Q4 but just missed out on a place in the semi-finals due to technical problems he encountered the previous day.

    The semi-final line-ups would look like this:

    SEMI-FINAL 1

    ROW 1

    Petter Solberg – VW Polo GTI

    Timmy Hansen – Peugeot 208

    ROW 2

    Andreas Bakkerud – Ford Focus RS

    Ken Block – Ford Focus RS

    ROW 3

    Janis Baumanis – Ford Fiesta

    Timur Timerzyanov – Ford Fiesta

    SEMI-FINAL 2

    ROW 1

    Johan Kristoffersson – VW Polo GTI

    Mattias Ekstrom – Audi S1

    ROW 2

    Sebastien Loeb – Peugeot 208

    Andrew Jordan – Ford Fiesta

    ROW 3

    Kevin Eriksson – Ford Fiesta

    Toomas Heikkinen – Audi S1

    We had watched Q3 at the back end of the circuit opposite Chessons Drift. We looked down at the entrance to the joker with the packed car park in our view on the opposite side of the circuit. The bank rises up and to the right the trees block the view of the start/finish line, but my can you hear the engines as they rev up. It’s a weird mix of acoustics as the sound of the revving cuts out and there is this low grumble which grows louder and louder until eventually the cars pop into view. Remember, these beasts can accelerate off the start line quicker than a Formula One car, so by the time they reach the entrance into the drift or the joker, whichever a driver decides, those cars are going at a rate of knots. They burst into view with the sound of screeching tyres, the smell of burning rubber being pushed up your nostrils and the dust from the drift billows up into the air and as the wind catches it the cloud switches direction and hits you in the face. It is a most incredible experience.

    Q4 we watched from the banking directly in front of the Monster Energy tower, the view is good. You can see all of the circuit from this vantage point if you are standing high enough up the banking. It was from here that we decided to walk back through the paddock after the Q4 excitement to grab some lunch back at the car and to see what faces I could bump into.

    I had a Pit Crew Staff t-shirt which was tucked in my waistband and I had decided I was going to get some drivers to sign it, for prosperities sake. The first person I managed to grab on the way back to lunch was Janis Baumanis. There was a little translation problem at first as he took my marker pen, I thought he was saying “write”, which I thought was odd as I wanted him to write it, but turns out he meant “tight”, so Viv pointed out to me that he wanted me to pull the t-shirt tighter. That little obstacle conquered and signature number one out the way.

    Sebastien Loeb walked out the Peugeot garage, he was in jovial mood and was smiling for photographs. I asked him how preparations were going for the semi-final and he winked, giving me a thumbs up. I took that as things were going pretty well.

    Managed to get Andrew Jordan to sign the Pit Crew t-shirt and we decided to head back to the car for lunch.

    The cars were lining up in the pre-grid for the semi-final heats, there was a World War Two fly-by and the national anthem. I had arranged to meet Neil Cole, the WRX television reporter, and I could see him interviewing Petter Solberg and feverishly walking around the paddock so I walked round, leaving Viv on the public side and entered the pre-grid area. I wandered over to the race office and leant over the wooden fencing and called Neil’s name, he was leaning against the wall. He smiled and shook my hand and I could tell he was busy so I let him get on.

    I walked down into the pre-grid area where the cars were assembled, mechanics performing their final checks, media personnel buzzing around and VIP guests standing to one side and watching. I had the crew from Hoonigan Racing Division standing next to me, a mixture of nationalities but I managed to make out a few Americans and British accents. They were discussing the upcoming semi-final and judging by the conversation there was a lot of confidence about Bakkerud making it through.

    The Frenchman I met yesterday was standing above me on the gantry and he smiled. “Four-thirty!” he shouted down, giving me the thumbs up. I returned the greeting and said that I would be there.

    The cars for semi-final one were being moved out onto the grid, I was standing just inches away and it wasn’t just the noise but the heat coming from the cars was unbelievable. Neil Cole ran back through, he intimated to me by touching his ear-piece that the live show was on so now wasn’t a good time to talk. I understood.

    The Hoonigan mechanics were right with their feelings as Andreas Bakkerud qualified in 2nd place just under a second behind Petter Solberg, with Timmy Hansen bringing his Peugeot through in 4th. The second semi-final would see Solberg’s team mate Kristoffersson win convincingly over Loeb and Ekstrom, who was having by his standards a particularly quiet weekend, in 3rd. The final was set. I also managed to get a photograph with Kevin Eriksson.

    ROW 1

    Petter Solberg

    Johan Kristoffersson

    ROW 2

    Andreas Bakkerud

    Sebastien Loeb

    ROW 3

    Timmy Hansen

    Mattias Ekstrom

    During the final I stood underneath the Cooper Tire inflatable with Kevin Eriksson next to me. We greeted each other and as the final got under way he commented how Petter got an electric start.

    The final was underway.

    Petter Solberg took an emphatic win with Johan Kristoffersson making it a one-two for PSRX Volkswagen Sweden, while Hoonigan Racing Division’s Andreas Bakkerud took the third podium spot in his Ford Focus RS RX Supercar.

    Kristoffersson’s runner-up position this weekend catapulted the Swede to the top of the drivers’ standings – four points ahead of Mattias Ekstrom who finished fourth in his Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro. Ekstrom, who suffered a puncture in today’s final, had the fastest reaction off the start awarding the reigning World RX Champion with the coveted Monster Energy Super Charge Award. In the overall teams’ standings, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden continue to dominate – 69 points ahead of Team Peugeot-Hansen who remain second.

    “This is the victory I needed,” beamed Solberg, who took his first win since Portugal 2016. “The team have been flat out over the last couple of months – the car is good but it’s the little details that the team have been working on that has given us the consistency we need. It’s been good team-work with Johan too – we give and take a little bit from each other and it’s been working very well. Now I’m looking forward to my home event in Norway – we have done some testing there and know the track well so this will help. It’s a very special place for us – we are a small country but with over 25,000 fans attending Hell RX the atmosphere is always fantastic. I have competed in motorsport for many years and things can happen very quickly – we must remain consistent and stay smart. Regarding Lydden Hill, I have to say thank you – the atmosphere is always amazing and the volunteers have been great.”

    New Championship leader Kristoffersson commended Solberg on his Lydden Hill victory. “Congratulations to Petter, he has been brilliant all weekend,” explained the 28-year-old Swede. “He has had the upper hand since the draw and managed his tyres very well. It’s all about the points now, I am now leading the Championship and the Teams’ Championship is looking very good too. My launches are now feeling better and the reaction times are getting faster every time – it’s been a good team effort. I’m really pleased with the weekend and this is the fourth Volkswagen podium in a row. Now I’m leading the Championship for the first time on my own and it’s a great feeling – I will definitely be fighting hard to keep it that way!”

    Third-placed Andreas Bakkerud added: “Huge congratulations to Petter and Johan – both have been quick from practice onwards and for me, this weekend was about being the best of the rest. The whole team did a fantastic job – we tried our hardest but it was not quite fast enough. It’s just a small window of time before Hell, we have some developments to try so I must push that weekend and I hope that we can get back to the top.”

    Rounding out the top five this weekend was Frenchman Sebastien Loeb – the Team Peugeot-Hansen driver fighting hard with Ekstrom for the majority of today’s final. Timmy Hansen was sixth overall, the Swede slowed after spinning his Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar on North Bend and later losing time with a left-rear puncture.

    I headed to the media centre where I caught up with Petter Solberg for a one-on-one interview. He remembered me from our interview on top of the Monster Energy stage last year and smiled whilst shaking my hand, which I thought was a really nice gesture.

    “I know you like it at Lydden. Last race here, what did that mean to you?” I asked.

    “For sure it means a lot, it’s sad that we are going.” Petter replied.

    “I was looking at the times of the session across the weekend and at times you were one to two seconds above everyone else. What made that difference?” I asked.

    “The driver.”

    We both laughed, what a great response. Petter shook my hand and thanked me for the questions, he wished me well and said “See you again,” before wandering off to the stage to be interviewed for the television with Kristoffersson and Bakkerud.

    I listened in to the press conference surrounded by all the other media outlets, journalists jostling for places to get the best audio recordings.

    I headed away from the media centre after the drivers had spoken to meet up with Viv who was taking in the sights of the circuit being cleared up and we headed off to the Team Peugeot garage. The PR lady took myself and Viv through to the hospitality suite and she informed us the drivers were having their debrief and she wasn’t sure how long they were going to be.

    I sat down and readied my questions and we waited as the Peugeot staff cleared away the equipment and other media representatives waited patiently. Time moved by and it appeared the drivers were busier than had been expected. The PR lady walked in and said she wasn’t sure how long they were going to be as there had been a lot to discuss. Not knowing how long it was going to take, we had been waiting for about half an hour and also not wanting to look like a pest I said that I understood they were very busy and that maybe we could arrange an interview with all three drivers another time. She agreed to this and seemed a bit relieved I wasn’t being pushy about the interview which had been arranged.

    I have this outlook on interviews that if I came across as a pushy and impatient writer then any future articles would be lost because people remember. I use Petter Solberg as an example, he remembered how I spoke to him the previous year at Lydden and although he was due to get to the stage for TV, he took the time to come and talk to me, because he remembered. I hope the same applies to the Team Peugeot representatives.

    If you have read my Adventures From Lydden article last year and this two part live special, you won’t need to be told how much of a fantastic time I have at World Rallycross events. This weekend in particular was just an amazing adventure. I got to meet some great people, spoke informally with drivers in a relaxed atmosphere and had an extreme amount of fun. This was Viv’s first visit to a World Rallycross event and she also enjoyed the whole race weekend experience. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, if you have never been to a WRX event, then I highly recommend you put this on your to-do list.

    Thank you World Rallycross. Thank you Lydden Hill.

    Here are your championship standings:

    See you at the chequered flag.

    Neil Simmons and Viv Gillings

    Twitter: @world_racing

    Photographs © – Viv Gillings

    Twitter: @viv_simmons

  • 2009 Belgian GP – The big surprise

    Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India F1 VJM02 crosses the line to finish 2nd.
    Formula One World Championship, Rd 12, Belgian Grand Prix, Race, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Sunday 30 August 2009. Photo courtesy of Force India F1 Team

    The 2009 Belgian Grand Prix was one of those rare races in Formula One where the form book was ripped up and everything was just a little off-beat. Force India had failed to score a point under the current name, and few expected them to change that when the F1 circus rolled into the Ardennes Forest. Spa though had often been the scene against the odds results. Just ask Eddie Jordan, whose Jordan team ran from the very same factory as Force India’s, about 1998.

    Championship leader Jenson Button had hit some poor form after sheer dominance from Brawn early in the season and qualified 14th for the race, while his teammate Barrichello was a stronger fourth. The resurgent Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were a disappointing eighth and ninth, as Toyota and BMW found form. Not as much, however, as Giancarlo Fisichella and Force India. The popular Italian had driven to 12th in the previous European Grand Prix, so the strong pace shown throughout qualifying to eventually take pole was remarkable to say the least, although Adrian Sutil only managed 11th.

    Fisichella led at the start of the race although the KERS powered Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari was now behind him, having started from sixth. A Safety Car after a first lap incident involving Romain Grosjean, Jaime Alguersuari, Lewis Hamilton and Button lasted five laps, but Giancarlo was under threat.

    On the restart, Raikkonen used his extra boost to glide past Fisichella into the Les Combes chicane, but he far from drove away. Fisichella was able to stick with him, and as they pitted for fuel and tyres on the same lap Raikkonen was just able to stay ahead. Alas, it would be the KERS that Raikkonen used to pass Giancarlo that would ultimately deny the former Renault man the chance to re-pass. Fisichella was clearly the quicker driver and remained under a second behind the Iceman, but Force India were to be denied their first ever win. They did pick up their first ever points, testament to the achievement that second place was for the team.

    Fisichella would go on to join Ferrari for the very next Grand Prix to replace Luca Badoer, the Ferrari test driver standing in for the injured Felipe Massa. Force India would replace him with Vitantonio Liuzzi, while Sutil would set the fastest lap and take fourth place at the next Grand Prix in Italy.

    The team have never been as close to winning a Grand Prix, although since 2014 have been more regular visitors to the podium in the new turbo era of Formula One.

    Jack Prentice

     

  • #SFIWeek – The Quiz

    Formula 1
    Sahara Force India Week
    #SFIWeek – The Quiz

    May 29, 2017

    |

     

    Would you like to win Sahara Force India and Hype Energy goodies? Just enter our quiz. Email us (TPCOquizes@gmail.com) In the topic write ‘#SFIweek quiz’. The competition ends on Saturday (3rd of June) at 10 PM CET time.

    1. In which season did the teams full name become Sahara Force India?
    2. How many pole positions have Sahara Force India taken?
    3. Where is the team based?
    4. For the celebration of which race did Hype prepare a special drink?
    5. In what race did Sahara Force India win their first points?
    6. How many drivers have taken a part in a race in Sahara Force India colours?
    7. Name the last race for the Jordan Team.
    8. In September 2009 Fisichella left Sahara Force India. What team tempted him away?
    9. In which races in 2016 did Sahara Force India score a podium finish?
    10. What other names has the team raced under?

    Julia Paradowska