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  • OD Racing Enter Blancpain GT Series Asia

    Malaysian squad OD Racing will enter an Audi R8 LMS GT3 in this season’s inaugural Blancpain GT Series Asia campaign, with Mitch Gilbert confirmed as its first driver.

    Founded in 2014, the team has previously contested the Asian Le Mans Series and GT Asia categories with McLaren and Lamborghini machinery. However, that all changes this year thanks to Blancpain GT Series Asia’s partnership with the Audi R8 LMS Cup, which allows teams to run the same car in both championships at the same venue a matter of weeks apart.

    Indeed, such favourable logistics and opportunities to gather additional data using the same car and Pirelli tyres played a major role in OD Racing’s decision to join the championship with Audi.

    Gilbert, meanwhile, previously competed in European F3 and the Formula 1-supporting GP3 Series before successfully switching to GT racing at the start of 2016. The Malaysian-born Australian finished third in last season’s Porsche Carrera Cup Asia standings and also claimed a class podium at December’s Motul Sepang 12 Hours.

    The 22-year-old will contest both the 2017 Audi R8 LMS Cup and Blancpain GT Series Asia campaigns with OD Racing, who will announce Gilbert’s co-driver for the latter championship in due course.

    OD Racing director Cornelius Ee views this season as a fresh start for the team after a tough 2016.

    “We hoped to finish 2016 with a better result than what we ultimately achieved, but that is racing and it was a steep learning curve for us,” he said. “For 2017, however, we have secured what we hope to be a race-winning car with the Audi R8 LMS GT3, and we have a talented line-up of drivers who I’m sure can deliver results for our team. The whole team is feeling re-energised and we are all committed to bring home great results this year for ourselves and our partners.”

    OD Racing becomes the second Audi team confirmed for this season’s inaugural Blancpain GT Series Asia campaign after Phoenix Racing Asia announced its two-car programme in January. They’re joined on the GT3 grid by the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, McLaren, Aston Martin and Lamborghini.

    The team will test its new Audi at Sepang International Circuit on March 13/14 ahead of Blancpain GT Series Asia’s opening round of the season there on April 8/9.

    2017 Blancpain GT Series Asia Schedule

    April 8/9 Sepang, Malaysia
    May 20/21 Chang International Circuit, Thailand
    June 24/25 Suzuka, Japan
    August 19/20 Fuji Speedway, Japan
    September 23/24 Shanghai, China
    October 21/22 Zhejiang, China

    See you at the chequered flag.

    Neil Simmons

    Twitter: @world_racing

    Images courtesy of SRO Motorsports (c)

  • Guerrieri Back In WTCC

    GUERRIERI Esteban (arg) Chevrolet Cruze RML team Campos racing ambiance portrait during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Race of Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina on August 6 to 7 – Photo Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI

    *Top South American talent back with Campos Racing for 2017 campaign
    *Rookie of the year’s schedule includes home event at Termas de Río Hondo
    *Guerrieri: “We can achieve big things”

    Esteban Guerrieri’s dream of returning to the FIA World Touring Car Championship has come true with confirmation of a minimum five-event programme with Campos Racing.

    86 GUERRIERI Esteban (arg) Chevrolet Cruze team Campos racing action during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Race of Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina on August 6 to 7 – Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI.

    The Barcelona-based squad, a mainstay of the WTCC since 2005, has entered its Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 on a full-season basis and signed Guerrieri for the races in Morocco, Italy, Hungary, Germany and Argentina with efforts ongoing for the 32-year-old to complete the entire 10-weekend schedule.

    Guerrieri, who excelled in single-seater racing against current F1 stars Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, was the fastest driver of all during the WTCC Race of Argentina weekend last August on what at the time was a one-off appearance with Campos. Since then, the Buenos Aires resident has been working behind the scenes to make his mark on a more regular basis, while also being voted by a selection of WTCC journalists as their rookie of the year.

    “After my debut last year I always hoped to come back racing in the WTCC so this means a lot,” said Guerrieri. “I really like the high competition level, the cars are awesome to drive and we’re running on the best circuits around the world so it will definitely be good fun. I already know the guys at Campos Racing, I know what they are made of and this is a great opportunity for all of us as a team. The potential is there I have no doubt and if we get it right we can achieve big things.”

    86 GUERRIERI Esteban (arg) Chevrolet Cruze team Campos racing action during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Race of Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina on August 6 to 7 – Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI.

    Guerrieri, who will go up against fellow Argentine Néstor Girolami during this season’s world championship, will combine his WTCC campaign with an assault on the Argentine Súper TC2000 series with Citroën, a challenge he’s relishing. “There are no clashes on the calendar but many consecutive racing weekends so an organised agenda and to rest properly will be crucial to face the long flights. But my body is still young enough to cope! The lack of pre-season testing will be the biggest problem. But of course we will try to face that with the right preparation and attention to detail in order to absorb quickly as much information as possible.”

    François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the WTCC promoter, said: “Esteban did great at Termas last year and it could have been so much better for him without the clutch problem affecting his races. He adapted super quickly to the WTCC, the Chevrolet TC1 World Touring Car and Yokohama tyres. He deserves this chance to race in the WTCC and I am happy he can show his talent on other tracks, just like Néstor Girolami will do.”

    Ruben Espin, Campos Racing General Manager, said: “We are excited to have Esteban with us in the team. Our role in the last few years has been developing young drivers. Since 2010/2011 when Gabriele [Tarquini], Tiago [Monteiro] and Jordi [Gené] raced for us we were not able to fight for the title. But we are back to show Esteban’s skills and convince sponsors to support us in the second half of the season.”

    86 GUERRIERI Esteban (arg) Chevrolet Cruze RML team Campos racing action during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Race of Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina on August 6 to 7 – Photo Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI

    FOX Sports will follow Guerrieri and Girolami with extensive live television coverage in 50 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay.

    The 2017 WTCC season begins at Marrakech, Morocco, from 7-9 April. WTCC Race of Argentina takes place at Circuito Termas de Río Hondo in the Santiago del Estero region from 14-16 July.

    See you at the chequered flag.

    Neil Simmons

    Twitter: @world_racing

    Images courtesy of FIA WTCC (c)

  • A Penny for the Thoughts of Fernando Alonso After McLaren-Honda’s Latest Woes?

    (Image credit McLaren-Honda F1 Team)

     

    One can only wonder at the thoughts running through the head of Fernando Alonso as he prepares for yet another handicapped season with the McLaren-Honda package.

    The two-time World Champion, who took the last of his 32 Grand Prix victories in Spain almost four years ago, has spent the last two seasons trundling around in an underpowered McLaren, scrapping away for minor points at best. Meanwhile, despite much-publicised errors last year, Ferrari – the team Alonso left as he had lost faith in their ability to win him a third title – have improved immeasurably from their woefully uncompetitive 2014. They even look like they could be hot on the heels of the all-conquering Mercedes team if testing is anything to go by.

    Honda had promised to be level with Mercedes after three years but, despite redesigning their engine over the winter, they have nowhere near the amount of power Merc have at their disposal. Even if they did, the reliability has been so poor that Alonso and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne brought out the red flag four times (twice each) in the last two days of testing alone. They didn’t once complete a Grand Prix distance inside a day, with their best effort being 55. Mercedes completed 1,096 laps in testing, Ferrari, whose last World Drivers’ Championship came in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen, completed almost 1,000 themselves.

    McLaren?

    Well, they completed 475 laps across eight days. That is well over 600 laps down on Mercedes. Their ultimate pace has only been faster than the struggling Sauber team, although McLaren’s 1:21.3 was set on the faster ultrasoft tyre whereas Sauber’s best effort, three tenths slower, was on supersofts.

    Honda expect to introduce a newer-spec engine for the Australian Grand Prix but before testing it was hoped they’d introduce that in the second test. Instead of being at least a certainty for points, as Alonso hoped he would be doing after all the noises made by team and engine supplier in the autumn of last year, he’ll spend the Australian Grand Prix sorting out more issues.

    Even if they sort out those issues over that weekend, they have a lot of power to make up regardless of what mapping they use at Albert Park. McLaren were between 25-30kph (15-18mph) slower than Mercedes down the straights in Barcelona. The most frustrating thing about that detail for driver, team and fans are that until that deficit is significantly reduced, we will not know how good McLaren’s chassis is.

    Alonso seems to rate it, and was frank in his assessment of McLaren’s problem. When speaking to Spanish media during the second test, he accused Honda of “not being ready to win,”, having previously taken to team radio during his second stint at McLaren to lambast the lack of grunt underneath his right foot. No-one will forget the “GP2 engine” or the “amateurs” outbursts anytime soon.

    Those words will be ringing in the ears of McLaren, who are acutely aware of the damage to their reputation that Honda’s stagnation is continuing to inflict. However, they cannot just simply make a change, even if Team Principle Eric Boullier says that the engine problems are “putting maximum strain” on their relationship.

    Honda contribute a net $100m to the team and with few title sponsors, McLaren simply cannot afford to lose that and buy another customer engine. There are also still seven years left on the ten-year contract agreed in late 2013, when Ron Dennis was adamant that it was the only way McLaren to return to the winners’ circle following a poor 2013.

    Three years into the reunion of the glory partnership that swept all before them in the late 1980s, it looks as if his crystal ball was murky at best. While Honda gave themselves little over a year to prepare the most complex engine ever seen in Formula One, the benchmark supplier Mercedes were working on this technology back in 2010.

    Honda are proof in that the harsh world of F1 has no sympathy for those who overpromise and underdeliver. By underestimating the mammoth task ahead when they re-entered the sport, they’ve chased their tails in the past two years and in the third are now back where they started. Three years behind, and little sign of bridging a gap the size of the Grand Canyon.

    It is barely possible to imagine Alonso’s anger should Ferrari, the team he felt couldn’t give him a title, live up to their winter promise and bring an end to the Mercedes supremacy.

    Jack Prentice @JPrentice8

  • NEW TEAM PICKS RACE-WINNING VESTA FOR WTCC BID

    *Big chance for young promise Yann Ehrlacher, Yvan Muller’s nephew
    *Second Vesta registered for full season with pro-driver to be revealed at later stage
    *Excitement grows with new WTCC season less than a month away

    RC Motorsport will rely on Vesta power when it makes its debut in the FIA World Touring Car Championship this season.

    Based at Magny-Cours in France, RC Motorsport utilises WTCC race-winning technology and personnel and has signed young French promise Yann Ehrlacher – the nephew of four-time WTCC champion Yvan Muller – on the back of several impressive testing performances.

    Ehrlacher, 20, was testing at Magny-Cours earlier today (Friday) and is highly rated after claiming two national championships in France and a class win in the European Le Mans Series last season driving for his uncle’s team, Yvan Muller Racing.

    “This is such an amazing opportunity for me and I really can’t believe it’s happening,” said Ehrlacher, whose mother Cathy was a successful single-seater racer in the 1980s. “I’ve been really impressed with the car in testing and the team is working really hard too. Obviously there is a lot for me to learn and understand, but I know the team has valuable WTCC experience.”

    François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the WTCC promoter, said: “While we’re pleased a solution has been found for the race-winning Vestas to continue competing in the WTCC, we’re also very excited at the prospect of welcoming another talented rookie in Yann Ehrlacher, who has been trained by Yvan Muller, no less, and has been really fast in testing. Along with Aurélien Panis, the WTCC has two more young drivers with big potential and it will be interesting to watch their progress and performances in 2017 when I am sure they will both make their mark on the championship.”

    Ehrlacher will carry the number 68 on his car, the same number used by Yvan Muller in the WTCC in 2015 and 2016. Meanwhile, RC Motorsport will reveal the identity of its second driver in the coming weeks.

    See you at the chequered flag.

    Neil Simmons

    Twitter: @world_racing

    Images courtesy of FIA WTCC (c)

  • Josh Files Crowned TCR Middle East Champion

    Jost Files took no prisoners at Bahrain International Circuit: with an authoritative double win at the wheel of the Lap57 Honda Civic, he secured the first edition of the TCR Middle East Series’s title. The Brit also becomes the first driver to have two different TCR titles under this belt, adding this one to that of TCR Germany won last year.

    Liqui Moly Team Enstler took the Teams’ honours, but there was some disappointment among the German team’s members, as Brandon Gdovic missed the title by only 5 points. The American collected two nice second positions, but it was not enough. Luca Engstler, who also was in contention to win the tile, was third in Race 1, but had to retire in Race 2 with a broken driveshaft.

    Italy’s 16-year-old Giacomo Altoè continued his steady learning process and took good results (one fourth and one third) at the wheel of Team Engstler’s third Volkswagen Golf. The Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Davit Kajaia also proved fast, but lacked reliability and could not finish in any of the races.

    The Bahrain event was a successful ending to the first edition of the TCR Middle Series, which has attracted great interest in the region.

    Race 1 – Files’ win paves the way to exciting finale

    The first edition of the TCR Middle East Series will live this afternoon a breath-taking Race 2, as three drivers will go into it fighting for the title and being split by only 5 points.

    By clinching an authoritative win in Race 1, Josh Files, at the wheel of the Lap57 Honda Civic, has reduced to 2 points his gap from the series leader Brandon Gdovic, who took a last-lap second place from his Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s teammate Luca Engstler, now third in the standings, but only 5 points behind Gdovic.

    Race 1: in an unusually cloudy morning at Bahrain International Circuit, delivered a first big surprise even before the start, as the Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta of Davit Kajaia, had to pull out from the first row of the grid with a broken driveshaft.

    Files took the lead from the start and built progressively a sufficient gap, although his race was far from easy: “It was a very hard race on the tyres”, explained the Brit,“there is nothing left of them and in the final laps, I had no grip, no traction, no nothing.”

    Luca Engstler led the charge of the Golf cars for the entire race, but his efforts took a toll on his tyres; in the last lap, Brandon Gdovic, who had adopted a more conservative approach with regard to tyre consumption, was able to pass the young German for second. Both drivers admitted there was nothing to do against the Honda in this first race of the day.

    Giacomo Altoè, on the third car of Liqui Moly Team Engstler, had to stop in the penultimate lap after a sudden drop of power, which ruined an otherwise consistent race.

    Race 2 – Files secures title with another win

    Josh Files was crowned the first TCR Middle East Series champion. The British driver of the Lap 57 Honda Civic left no chances to his opponents by winning also an eventful Race 2.

    Both Luca Engstler (Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf) and Davit Kajaia (Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta) tried hard to challenge Josh, but both had to retire, leaving the podium to the other pair of Liqui Moly Team Engstler drivers, Brandon Gdovic and Giacomo Altoè, who ran together the entire race, and secured the Teams’ title for the German squad.

    Altoè, pole sitter on the reversed grid, almost stalled at the start, which saw some drops of rain, and Files overtook everybody before first corner to take the lead, with Kajaia keeping second only for a few corners, as he got passed by Engstler before the end of first lap. The group remained quite compact until Engstler suddenly slowed down (lap 4) and had to stop on the straight, prompting the safety car to be deployed.

    The race resumed on lap 8, becoming a double battle between Files and Kajaia on one hand and Gdovic and Altoè on the other, but progressively, Files managed to pull away up to the chequered flag, while Kajaia stopped in the pits on lap 19, with severe understeer. Gdovic and Altoè finished their duel in the same order to complete the podium.

    Quotes from the podium finishers in both races:

    Josh Files (1st in both races): “It’s great to take the championship with a double win. Things may look easy from the outside, but they were not. The entire weekend was about tyres, and I am very happy that we took the decision to save new tyres for the races. In both, the tyres were completely dead at the end. Otherwise, the car performed very well, although we could never solve the misfiring problem we had throughout the weekend.”

    Brandon Gdovic (2nd in both races): “It has been a frustrating weekend for me. We were able to improve the behaviour of the car and I am happy of the way I managed the tyres, but the Honda was absolutely unreachable.”

    Lucas Engstler (3rd in Race 1): “I am quite disappointed. Not only there was nothing we could do against the Honda, but I also had twice a broken driveshaft, in Qualifying and in Race 2 and this also penalized me a lot.”

    Giacomo Altoè (3rd in Race 2): “It was a positive weekend and I learnt a lot. I am relatively satisfied with my performance and of having being able to keep the pace of my team mate Gdovic in both races. It’s just a pity I made such a silly mistake at the start of Race 2, when I released to quickly the clutch and almost stalled.”

    See you at the chequered flag.

    Neil Simmons

    Twitter: @world_racing

    Images courtesy of TCR Media (c)

  • Who has the upper hand after the pre-season tests?

    Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
    Thursday 09 March 2017.
    World Copyright: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images
    ref: Digital Image _31I6887

     

    The battle for the first pole-position of the season is closing down, after eight days of testing in Barcelona, the teams and the drivers are getting ready to fly to Melbourne for the season premiere on 26th of March.

    The two testing sessions allowed the teams to test their new cars and discover their strengths and weaknesses. The drivers had the opportunity to take a taste of the new designs and the new tyres as the regulations have changed since last season.

    Mercedes were the team which covered the most kilometres in Barcelona, 5102 km was clocked during the two testing sessions. Ferrari, tried to stay close to the silver arrows as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen completed 956 laps, 140 less than Mercedes. Despite some issues which the Italians faced the SF70H looks very reliable and fast. Raikkonen set the fastest lap in Circuit de Catalunya, 1:18.634s, while he was running on the super-soft compounds, whilst, his team-mate Sebastian Vettel was by 0.390s slower on the ultra-soft tyres.

    Lance Stroll’s crash in the first days of testing cost time to Williams, the Canadian rookie driver had some difficulties with the FW40, but despite that, he completed 386 laps and clocked 1796 kilometres. From the other hand, the ex-retired Brazilian driver, Felipe Massa didn’t face any difficulties and he managed to familiarize himself with the new car very quickly. Felipe set the fifth fastest lap in testing, 1:19.420s, 0.786s slower than Kimi Raikkonen. Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa completed 800 laps combined two laps more than Sauber.

    The Swiss team was not as fast as its competitors, but they look more reliable than Toro Rosso and McLaren. Sauber covered 3668 kilometres, similar distance in kilometres was covered by Force India. Marcus Ericsson, Pascal Wehrlein and Ferrari’s third and reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi had the chance to drive the C36. Ericsson was the fastest driver among those three drivers with 1:21.670s and he also completed the most laps, 445, as Wehrlein drove for 192 and Giovinazzi clocked 151 laps.

    Mercedes split all the testing days between Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, hence both drivers had the chance to drive the W08 every day. The Finn, completed 628 laps in Spain whilst his team-mate clocked 468 laps. Mercedes’ drivers didn’t face any serious mechanical or electrical problems with the new car and that gave the chance to cover more than 5000 kilometres.

    Red Bull had some technical problems and they forced to change their engine during the testing days and that did not allow them to cover much distance. Max Verstappen set the sixth fastest lap, 1:19.438s, and he placed behind Felipe Massa. Daniel Ricciardo clocked 337 laps and covered 1568 kilometres.

    McLaren-Honda disappointed their fans as they had several serious issues during the eight days of testing. McLaren had to change many times Honda’s engine, and that didn’t let Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne complete as many laps as they wanted. The Spaniard clocked only 190 laps, 45 less than Stoffel.

    c Pirelli F1 Media

    Next stop for teams and drivers is Melbourne, where the real abilities of the cars will be revealed. Ferrari set faster laps from Mercedes, but the pre-season test is not the ideal for safe conclusions as teams are usually trying to hide their strengths from their rivals.

    Victor Archakis – @FP_Passion

  • Son Of The Wind & The Maverick

     

     

    Two men. Two British motor racing legends who both died on this day, yet fourteen years apart.

    John Surtees and Barry Sheene.

    The former was born in 1934 and went on to become a world champion on both two and four wheels, the only racer to have ever done so. The latter was a double 500cc world champion and was the first British 125cc champion.

    Their lives were completely separate, both different characters in their own right but held in high regard by racing fans for their achievements.

    In 1951, a year after Barry Sheene was born, John Surtees was hitting the headlines after challenging Geoff Duke at Thruxton. It would be four years last that he would get his first factory ride on a Norton where he again challenged Duke and beat him on two occasions at Silverstone and Brands. Surtees was quickly becoming a name and attracting the attention of other factory teams. He joined MV Augusta.

    Barry Sheene was still six years old and far away from the world of motorcycle racing.

    Surtees earned the nickname figlio del vento, or son of the wind.

    The following year he won the 500cc World Championship and gave MV Augusta their first title win in the senior class.

    It was in 1960 that the motor racing world was taken by surprise at the switch from two wheels to four wheels as John Surtees entered the world of Formula One. He was 26 years of age and made his F1 debut for Lotus at Monaco. Barry Sheene was still only 10 years old and was eight years away from competitive racing.

    (c) Alchetron

     

    After spending a few years driving for Reg Parnell, Surtees joined Ferrari in 1963 and would take the Formula One world title the following year. He walked away from Ferrari in 1966 after being left out of the team to drive at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The reason given was that the Ferrari team boss felt that Surtees was not fully fit after his horrific crash testing a Lola T70 sports car at the Mosport Circuit the previous year. He finished second that year to Jack Brabham, driving a Cooper-Maserati.

    In 1966, with Barry Sheene just 16 years of age, Surtees signed for Honda and after some technical issues he went on to win the Italian Grand Prix.

    In 1968 Barry Sheene was racing 125’s and 250’s, winning his first races at Brands Hatch before becoming the first British 125cc champion in 1970, the same year in which John Surtees set up his own racing team.

    (c) Dunlop

     

    John Surtees retired from driving in 1972, the same year in which Barry Sheene was signed by Yamaha to ride in the 250cc World Championship. Although it was a works Yamaha, there was no factory team in the championship and Sheene, being the outspoken person that he was, would voice his opinion on this case.

    Sheene suffered a broken collarbone and would not see action on the track again until the summer, at which time he did receive factory backing for his Yamaha. At John Surtees’ team, Mike Hailwood won the European Formula 2 Championship.

    Sheene signed for Suzuki and won the Formula 750 championship for them in 1973.

    As the 1970s rolled on and John Surtees set up a motorcycle shop and Honda dealership, bringing an end to his racing career, Barry Sheene was just getting started. However, a massive crash at Daytona in 1975 nearly finished Sheene’s racing adventure.

    It was in 1976, twenty years after Surtees, in which Barry Sheene brought home the 500cc World Championship and then retained it the following season, partnered by Steve Parrish.

    In what a lot of motorcycle racing fans call one of the greatest Grand Prix’s of all time, Sheene battled with Kenny Roberts at the 1979 British Grand Prix. The following season he would leave Suzuki and race on a privateer Yamaha. There would be no more titles for the fun loving Londoner. He would retire from the sport in 1984 taking up residence in Australia.

    In contrast, John Surtees would still be involved in motorsport, becoming chairman for the A1 Grand Prix series.

    In 1996 John Surtees was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall Of Fame. Barry Sheene died of cancer in 2002, a year after the FIM named him a Grand Prix Legend. He was awareded an MBE. In 2003 John Surtees would receive the same honour of being named a Grand Prix Legend by the FIM. He attained the honours of MBE, OBE and CBE.

    To this day John Surtees is the only person to have ever won world championships on two and four wheels and Barry Sheene is the only British double world champion in the premier motorcycle racing class. Surtees also won 6 Isle Of Man TT races.

    You could say that both men were worlds apart. The gentleman, soft persona of John Surtees against the cheeky, hard drinking and hard smoking Barry Sheene.

    The two men share some things in common. They both have parts of Brands Hatch named after them, they were both 500c World Champions and sadly they both died on 10th March.

    They were legends in their sports and loved by the fans for the way they raced and the emotion they put into their passion of racing.

    I grew up learning about John Surtees and was completely captured by his story and what he had achieved long before I had been born. I grew up watching Barry Sheene hurtle his way fearlessly around the track, regardless of the many injuries he suffered.

    In my eyes they were just two heroes who I admired. I never met Barry Sheene. I wish I had, he seemed like a fun person to be around. I did meet John Surtees on two occasions, he was such a lovely man with so much time for racing fans.

    Both dearly missed by friends and family, the news of John Surtees death today and the anniversary of Barry Sheene’s passing tinged this day with sadness, but somewhere on a race circuit in the sky I’m sure Barry Sheene was sitting on the starting grid waiting for John Surtees to arrive so they could have that race they were never destined to have.

    Two men with racing in their blood. One the son of the wind and the other a maverick, but both total legends in the eyes of any racing fan.

    As a racing fan I’ll savour the past and thank both men for the enjoyment they gave me.

    See you at the chequered flag.

    Neil Simmons

    Twitter: @world_racing

  • John Surtees’ Death Will be Felt Across Motorsport

    The death of John Surtees will unite the two biggest motorsport communities in a way that no other could. Only the death of Mike Hailwood over 40 years ago comes close.

    To say that Surtees, who died at the age of 83, packed a lot into his life is a masterpiece of understatement. “Big John” was already a seven-time motorcycle World Champion before Formula One came calling in 1960, when he was 26.

    It didn’t take him long to conquer that either, as he won the 1964 Formula One world championship for Ferrari to emulate fellow countryman Mike Hawthorn six years before him. He was one of the bright lights in a decade of British greats that included Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Jacki Stewart to name just three.

    Surtees was a big name in his own right before he joined the F1 circus. He took his first title aged just 22 on a factory Augusta to become one of the feared names on the motorcycle scene. John would go on to completely dominate between 1958-60, the year he began his F1 career. During that period, he only failed to win five races, finishing on the podium in three of those and winning the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1959.

    In just his second Grand Prix he took second place at Silverstone driving for Lotus at the 1960 British Grand Prix. That woke the F1 world up, but it wasn’t until 1963 that he was snapped up by one of F1’s biggest names – Ferrari.

    He won during his debut season with the Scuderia around the fearsome Nurburgring, making the podium on another two occasions. Despite Clark winning his maiden World Championship, the foundations were set for Surtees to make history.

    He had to do it the hard way in 1964. Surtees only finished once in the first four races – a second place at the Dutch Grand Prix – and seemed well out of contention on just six points back in seventh place.

    But, assisted by the resurgence of Ferrari in the middle of the season he put together an excellent run of four podiums in the next five race races, including wins in Germany and at Monza in the Italian Grand Prix to leave himself five points behind Hill going into the deciding Mexican Grand Prix.

    Clark, the outsider nine points back, dominated the early exchanges as Hill was slowed down dramatically after an incident with Surtees’ teammate Lorenzo Bandini. Clark looked all set to win the title until he retired on the last lap with an oil leak, which left Surtees in third behind Bandini when he needed to finish second.

    Ferrari saw this and ordered Bandini to allow Surtees through in an early show of their now regular team orders. Surtees ended up taking the championship by one point to achieve a feat that will never be achieved again and become World Champion of the premier class of car and motorcycle racing.

    While Clark ran away with the title in 1965 to regain the championship, Ferrari were more competitive in 1966. However, Surtees left the team following a falling out with team manager Eugenio Dragoni over being dropped for the Le Mans 24 hours when he had every chance of a second world title.

    Ironically it was to be Jack Brabham, another man with a unique F1 achievement to his name, who took the title. No other man has won a World Championship in a car bearing their own name since the Australian achieved that feat 51 years ago.

    For 1967 Surtees joined Honda and over a two-year stint took one victory, although the Japanese marque left the sport at the end of 1968 after Jo Schlesser’s death at the French Grand Prix. After two years at BRM, he formed his own team in 1970.

    Team Surtees was to never hit the heights that their owner managed to and John retired, barring one race in 1972, from F1 in 1971 to focus on running the team. After a lack of sponsorship, it folded after the 1978 season.

    Tragedy was to strike for Surtees after nurturing the career of his young son, Henry. The 18-year-old was killed in a tragic accident in a Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch in July 2009, when he was struck on the head by a wheel from an incident ahead. After that, he was to set up a charity in his son’s name to help people recovering from injuries.

    Surtees possessed records enviable to most of those who only compete in either Formula One or MotoGP. His feat of winning World Championships on two wheels and four is unlikely ever to be matched. But it is important to remember his warm and endearing character, as well as the history-maker he was.

    Jack Prentice @JPrentice8

    (IMAGE CREDIT: ESPN)

  • TCR Series – Bahrain Qualifying

    Rounds 5 & 6 – Bahrain International Circuit – 10 / 11 March 2017

    QUALIFYING REPORT

    Josh Files takes hard-fought pole position

    Josh Files conquered the pole at Bahrain International Circuit after an intense and hard-fought battle for pole. The British driver of the Lap 57 Honda Civic beat Davit Kajaia, with the Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta, by only 68 thousandths of a second, with third-fastest Luca Engstler (Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf) conceding only 101 thousandths to the poleman, in a result that saw three different car brands represented in the top three and promises a fierce battle in tomorrow’s races.

    In a warm afternoon, the session saw an early domination by Engstler (1.09.660) before Files took P1 with a lap time of 1.09.689. Shortly after mid-session; then the qualifying turned into a very tactical session, as all drivers stopped to preserve their tyres.

    In the closing minutes, a raging battle delivered the final result, with Files holding narrowly the pole ahead of Kajaia and Engstler. They were followed by the other Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf cars of Brandon Gdovic and Giacomo Altoè. The US driver was happier with the behavior of his car but regretted not having been able to get his best sector times in a sequence, while the young Italian deliberately kept a set of front tyres for the races tomorrow.

    In the title fight, gaps have been closed, with Gdovic leading by 5 and 9 points ahead of Engstler and Files respectively.

    Race 1 will kick-off at 12:02 local time (10:02 in Central Europe), while Race 2 is scheduled at 15:45 (13:45 CET). They will be streamed live on the internet atwww.middleeast.tcr-series.com and www.tcr-series.tv .

    Driver quotes after Bahrain Qualifying

    Josh Files (pole position): “It has been a very close and exciting session, and it’s nice to win a pole like this! The car felt much better, we changed a lot of things in the set-up and it worked well. Even in excess, as from a lot of understeer we went to some oversteer. The only thing we haven’t been able to solve is this tedious misfiring on the main straight, which costs me a hundredth of a second every time it occurs.”

    Davit Kajaia (2nd fastest): “It was a good qualifying, but I am obviously a little bit disappointed about missing the pole for so little. Still, we were able to improve much the set-up of the car an tomorrow, I’ll push hard and I’ll go for the win.”

    Luca Engstler (3rd fastest): “It was a nice battle and Josh won it on his own merits. I did some little mistakes on my fast laps and in the best of those my driveshaft suddenly broke, with a big bang. Despite all that, the result is very close and I think it will be a nice battle tomorrow.”

    For more news on the Middle East TCR Series visit the website here:

    Neil Simmons

    Twitter: @world_racing

  • Coronel Stays With ROAL Motorsport

    CORONEL Tom (ned) Chevrolet Cruze RML team Roal motorsport portrait ambiance during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Race of Argentina at Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina on August 6 to 7 – Photo Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI

    *Dutchman to race privateer Chevrolet in world championship
    *Continuity factor key as several components go unaltered for 2017
    *More outright wins the target for highly-motivated privateer

    Tom Coronel will race on in the FIA World Touring Car Championship, embarking on WTCC season number 13 in the same ROAL Motorsport Chevrolet he used to win two races outright in 2016.

    Coronel, the ever-charismatic, ever-popular and ever-enterprising Dutchman, has been part of the WTCC since 2005, notching up six wins from 268 starts as well as claiming the prestigious independent title on two occasions. He joined ROAL Motorsport, the team co-owned by inaugural WTCC champion Roberto Ravaglia, in 2011 and has driven for the Italian squad ever since.

    09 CORONEL Tom (ned) Chevrolet Cruze team Roal motorsport action during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Race of Morocco at Marrakech, from May 6 to 8 2016 – Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI

    “I am really proud that I have managed to be on the grid for the upcoming WTCC season,” said Coronel, 44. “This is a nice basis for my 2017 racing campaign. Many things remain the same. The car, ROAL Motorsport with Roberto Ravaglia and Aldo Preo for the seventh year in a row, my regular crew of mechanics led by Pietro, the many loyal sponsors and the characteristic yellow, red and black livery on my car that comes with it, even my starting number remains the same. Technically, there won’t be too many changes on the car, but we all know that the world champions from the previous years will no longer be on the grid as a works team. That will certainly make the championship different. More exciting? I think so, and therefore I hope to do even better than the results I scored in 2016. The sign ‘Eat my dust’ on the rear bumper of my car remains in place and let’s hope that many opponents will get to see this in 2017.”

    CORONEL Tom (ned) Chevrolet Cruze team Roal motorsport portrait ambiance during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Race of Morocco at Marrakech, from May 6 to 8 2016 – Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI

    ROAL Team Principal Roberto Ravaglia, whose WTCC title triumph came 30 years ago this year, said: “I haven’t had such a long relationship with any other driver. As to Tom, it almost seems as if he is part of the ROAL inventory. It is a question of mutual trust and confidence. Last year, we managed to win two races, so for this year, three wins is our goal. Every year, we think that we can’t do any better, yet we manage to do so every time, hence this ambitious goal.”

    François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the WTCC promoter, said: “Tom is a big character both on-track and off it and very active on social media and sponsorship. Although he has been part of WTCC from day one, he’s never one to sit still, always trying to improve himself and his car or coming up with the latest marketing trick or online video. It’s great to have him in the WTCC and we’d like to think there are more wins to come from him and his ROAL Motorsport team.”

    09 CORONEL Tom (ned) Chevrolet Cruze team Roal motorsport action during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Championship race of Portugal, Vila Real from July 24 to 26 – Photo Jorge Cunha / DPPI

    The 2017 WTCC season gets underway at FIA WTCC AFRIQUIA Race of Morocco in Marrakech from 7-9 April. Coronel claimed the Opening Race laurels on the semi-permanent street track last season, never cracking under pressure from world champion José María López to win at the wheel of his Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1.

    Neil Simmons

    Twitter: @world_racing