The 2016 Moto2 World Championship resumes this weekend at Motorland Aragon, in Spain, with Sam Lowes and the Team Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 called to get a good result after the two setbacks suffered at Silverstone and Misano.
Despite the lack of results, in England and on the Adriatic Coast Lowes showed the potential to fight for a podium finish, therefore at Aragon the target is to fight once again for the top position, in order to collect important points for the standings, which now sees the 26-year-old British rider in fourth place with 137 points.
Lowes: The test at Valencia was productive
“We head to Aragon determined to get a good result: I like the track a lot and I can’t wait to be back on track and start working together with the team. After the race at Misano we moved to Valencia for two days of testing that proved very productive: we worked hard, trying many solutions together with Kalex and Ohlins, getting a good feedback and maintaining a good pace. Therefore we look with confidence to this weekend’s Grand Prix!”.
The Generalitat of the Comunitat Valenciana and Dorna Sports are pleased to announce the season finale of the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship is set to remain at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia for another five years. The agreement to renew the circuit’s place on the MotoGP™ calendar was recently reached between the President of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, the Councillor for Education, Research, Culture and Sport, Vicent Marzà, and CEO of Dorna Sports, Carmelo Ezpeleta and has been announced this morning in Valencia with all the parts involved.
The unique and arena-like Circuit Ricardo Tormo has become a favourite on the calendar with its record of season-ending showdowns, with the visibility and atmosphere provided by the venue proving something unique since it first hosted the final event in 2002. The history made so far at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo will now continue for another five exciting seasons of MotoGP™ action; confirmed until the end of 2021, with the new contract finalized two months ahead of the end of the current agreement.
President of the Generalitat Ximo Puig praised the stability of the new agreement for the Gran Premio de la Comunidad Valenciana, and the triple impact of the event in terms of sport, economy and tourism: “We are going to do everything possible to make the most of the Valencia GP and to assure the efficiency of how any public resources are used.”
“We are thrilled that MotoGP will be returning to Valencia for another five years,” said Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports. “The new agreement to return to the track is fantastic for the Championship, for the Comunitat Valenciana and for fans both in the region and worldwide, with the Circuit Ricardo Tormo always providing a unique and memorable event to end the season.”
The track has been host to many thrilling races across all classes, including both the 2006 and 2015 MotoGP seasons, the 2009 250cc title decider and also the last French premier class win with Regis Laconi, back in 1999.
MotorLand Aragon hosts this weekend round 14 of the 2016 Moto3 World Championship: after having narrowly missed out on victory with Enea Bastianini and collecting another positive Top Ten finish with Fabio Di Giannantonio at Misano, the Gresini Racing Team Moto3 arrives in Spain confident to get another good result.
Bastianini, in particular, is going through a period of great form and he’s keen to attack Championship leader Brad Binder and try to get a win, which he missed out at Misano for just a few tenths under the checkered flag. The 18-year-old rider from Rimini, now second in the overall standings, enjoyed a great race at Aragon in 2015, setting the pole position with the new track record and fighting in the leading group until the final corners, when a contact with Binder led him to crash.
Aragon promises to be a favorable track also for Fabio Di Giannantonio: the 17-year-old rookie from Rome got the last of his three victories last year in the MotoGP Rookies Cup on the Spanish track. Always in the Top Ten in the last eight races, “Diggia” will try to bring home other important points in the fight for the “Rookie of the Year” trophy, in which he is opposed to Nicolò Bulega and Joan Mir.
Bastianini: I’ve always liked Aragon
“Aragon is a track I’ve always liked a lot and last year we have been very competitive: after starting from pole position, I was fighting for the win on the final lap, when unfortunately I made a mistake touching Binder and crashing. This year we will try to be fast right from the start of the weekend, as it’s happening lately, in order to work well and get prepared for the race. Binder has a great advantage in the standings, but we still try to attack and we won’t give up until the math keeps us in the game!”.
Di Giannantonio: I expected better in Misano
“Honestly I was expecting to get a better result at Misano, although all in all we again hit the target to enter the top ten. Aragon is a track that I quite like and I know very well, having raced there for two seasons in the MotoGP Rookies Cup. Therefore we head to Spain ready to have fun and to do our best to get a good result!”.
Seeing as I was stationed in the ePayMe Yamaha Racing camp over the Friday and Saturday, I decided I was going to do a Q&A with the former MotoGP podium finisher, so that’s exactly what I did. John Hopkins speaks to me about the BSB world in comparison to MotoGP, his 2017 plans and also how his former rivalry with Tommy Hill still drives him on today.
How does the Yamaha compare to a GP bike and other Superbikes?
Well to be honest, it’s hard to compare any Superbike with a MotoGP bike because the contrasts are so big, even though they were even bigger before! They are getting closer nowadays and I have to say, this Yamaha is definitely the closest Superbike I have ridden in comparison to a GP bike. GP bikes are extremely rigid and tend to have really stiff chassis, meaning you feel everything from the circuit. The Yamaha has a very rigid chassis but yeah, it’s definitely not a million miles off the characteristics of a GP bike.
On a whole, what’s the difference between MotoGP and BSB?
British Superbikes is definitely more family friendly and less commercial. It is way more corporate in MotoGP. The fan base over here in BSB is absolutely amazing and I would say it is by far the best and most competitive domestic Superbike championship anywhere in the world. The BSB crowd attendances embarrass the WSBK series; the World championship has a lot of catching up to do because a lot of the tracks they go to, they really struggle with pulling people into the stands. Rain or shine, BSB is thriving and we always seem to get a really good turn out and as a rider, I’m really grateful for that.
How do you keep fit, seeing as the bikes get more powerful and harder to handle?
I like to stay fit by riding and keeping active on two wheels. Motocross has always been my passion and it was my first love before I even got into racing so yeah, I am always motocrossing at every chance I get as well as mountain biking. When I was in MotoGP, the teams and factories always wanted me to be cautious in case I did myself an injury but I would never sign a contract if it meant I had to stay away from a motocross bike.
Do you see yourself returning to the world stage?
Right now, I still feel like a have a point to prove in British Superbikes and you know, where ever it goes from there we will see. I do kind of miss the world stage in terms of seeing the countries and going on the big, Grand Prix circuits but now I have a wife and two kids, it is nice being at my home away from home and being able to have a base in the UK. I mean, most of the WSBK circuits are in Europe anyway so yeah, we will see how it goes but right now, I’m still enjoying BSB and like I’ve said, I have a point to prove.
Where do you think you could have been without the injuries?
Well, I’d like to say we would be well within the top six and in the showdown at this stage of this season if I hadn’t injured myself at Knockhill. I think the following circuits after my injuries are by far my favourite circuits in BSB. Thruxton, Snetterton are all my favourite circuits and I am gutted not to have more of a say in the title. My plan now is to be in an imaginary showdown and try and sign off this year on a high!
What are your 2017 plans?
I would like to stay in BSB on a competitive package, I haven’t signed anything yet but we have had a couple of offers but my main focus at the moment is to finish off this season and try and do the best I can. I have the pace and I know I can be competitive on a good bike.
How does your previous rivalry with Tommy impact on your working relationship?
It’s just banter really. At the time it was obviously serious, and he could have been my worst enemy. We both had our race faces on and it wasn’t anything personal, it was just the fact that we both wanted the same thing. There are absolutely no regrets, it happened the way it was supposed to, as it was all clean and to just be a part in that championship season was absolutely amazing! That is one of the races that is still driving me today to try and succeed and win the BSB championship. If it came down to a last lap scrap this year and the rider I was battling with needed a win then I wouldn’t do something stupid but I am also riding for myself. I haven’t signed a deal just yet. I have respect for other riders but I am here for myself right now.
Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko
Photo Credit to Gareth Davies, for yet another fabulous image.
Stephane Sarrazin (FRA) Mike Conway (GBR) and Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Toyota Racing TS050 World Endurance Championship. 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas, USA. 14th-17th September 2016
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing earned another podium finish after a strong performance in a closely-fought 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, the sixth round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).
The #6 TS050 HYBRID of Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway and Kamui Kobayashi finished third for their fourth podium of 2016, finishing just 26.096secs behind the winner after an exciting victory battle between all three LMP1 hybrid manufacturers.
Toyota Racing TS050 World Endurance Championship. 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas, USA. 14th-17th September 2016
Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima in the #5 suffered another unfortunate race, with several minor issues combining to keep it out of the podium fight, finishing in fifth.
The race had started promisingly for the #5, when Sébastien moved from sixth on the grid to fourth place during a charging first stint under blazing sunshine and with air temperatures over 35°C.
Mike took the start in the #6 and ran sixth during the opening stint before handing over to Kamui at the first pit stops. At the same time, great pit work on the #5 allowed Anthony to emerge in third, an issue on the wastegate of the turbo began to compromise performance and the #5 slipped to sixth by the 90-minute mark.
Toyota Racing TS050 World Endurance Championship. 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas, USA. 14th-17th September 2016
As darkness fell and the race reached half distance, the #5 lost more time when a damaged front end was changed after Kazuki’s stint, then suffered again soon after when a rear left puncture forced an unplanned pit stop for Sébastien.
But the #6 was lapping very quickly and continuing to push the Porsches. Mike took fourth place before dramas for the #8 Audi helped Kamui, now at the wheel, to run third as the race entered its final two hours.
That became second, with the #5 also moving up a place when the #7 crashed as the close fight at the front began to take its toll. A three-way fight between three different manufacturers for victory developed in the final hour.
Stéphane took over from Kamui for the final stint in third place, with the Audi #8 not changing tyres during its last stop. Stéphane had fresh tyres and pushed to close the gap, with the race leader also not far away.
A fighting performance in the final laps saw the gap close, but second place was just out of reach, with Stéphane taking the chequered flag only 2.455secs behind the second-placed Audi #8 and 26.096secs behind the winning Porsche #1. Sébastien brought the #5 home two laps down in fifth.
Stephane Sarrazin (FRA) Mike Conway (GBR) and Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) Toyota Racing TS050 World Endurance Championship. 6 Hours of Circuit of The Americas Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas, USA. 14th-17th September 2016
TOYOTA will now travel with optimism to its home race, the 6 Hours of Fuji on 16 October, which takes place just a few kilometres from the Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre where the 1,000hp TOYOTA HYBRID System – Racing is developed and built.
Toshio Sato, Team President: “I am pleased with our performance here in Austin. We have focused all week on race pace and it paid off today because we showed strong performance. It was a great fight with Porsche and Audi all the way to the end of an exciting race. I am particularly proud of the job done by everyone in the team, especially considering how difficult it has been in this heat. Our quick pit stops and effective strategy helped to achieve a strong result. This has been a good step towards our home race at Fuji Speedway, where we want to give our Japanese fans and colleagues a result to enjoy.”
Anthony Davidson: “That was another disappointing day for car #5. It feels like we just keep getting bad luck. We had a technical issue which hindered our performance and seemed to get worse as the race progressed. We just had to keep fighting and do the best we could, which was fifth.”
Sébastien Buemi: “Congratulations to car #6; they had a strong race and another podium which is good. For us it was another tough race. We were up to third after the first stop and it looked good, but then we had some technical issues and we had no chance after that. Nothing is going our way at the moment but we will try to change this in the next race.”
Kazuki Nakajima: “It was a difficult race for us. We had many small issues and it just wasn’t possible to overcome that. So it was more bad luck for us in a tough season but that’s life; we just need to get on and keep pushing. It’s our home race next so we will pick ourselves up and fight for a good result.”
TS050 HYBRID #6 (Stéphane Sarrazin, Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi)
Stéphane Sarrazin: “It was an incredible race. Kamui, Mike and me did a strong job and the team gave us a good car. Our pace just got better through the race and the last hour was incredible. We were really competitive today. Audi have been so fast this weekend so to be so close is a positive sign. Now we keep pushing for our home race.”
Mike Conway: “I’m very happy to be on the podium again, for the fourth time this season. Our car came alive halfway through the race when we had strong pace. It was nice to see the pace we could get out of the car today. Stéphane and Kamui did a great job and the mechanics as well were really good in such tough conditions.”
Kamui Kobayashi: “I am pleased with our performance. We closed the gap to Audi and Porsche at the end and were part of an exciting race. I appreciate the job from the mechanics who did great pit stops and thanks to the whole team for helping us to be on the podium for the second race in a row; we had absolutely no mistakes.”
6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas results:
1st #1 Porsche (Bernhard/Webber/Hartley) 186 laps
2nd #8 Audi (di Grassi/Duval/Jarvis) +23.641secs
3rd #6 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +26.096secs
4th #2 Porsche (Dumas/Jani/Lieb) +1 lap
5th #5 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +2 laps
6th #7 Audi (Fässler/Lotterer/Tréluyer +6 laps
TOYOTA GAZOO Racing 2016 Results:
Silverstone: #5: Qualifying 6th; Race 16th / #6 Qualifying 5th; Race 2nd.
Spa: #5: Qualifying 5th; Race 26th / #6 Qualifying 3rd; Race DNF.
Le Mans: #5: Qualifying 4th; Race NC / #6 Qualifying 3rd; Race 2nd.
Nürburgring: #5: Qualifying 6th; Race 5th/ #6 Qualifying 5th; Race 6th.
Mexico: #5: Qualifying 5th; Race DNF/ #6 Qualifying 6th; Race 3rd.
COTA: #5: Qualifying 6th; Race 5th/ #6 Qualifying 4th; Race 3rd.
Red Bull have performed well in Singapore in previous visits to the Marina Bay circuit and this weekend was no different.
Daniel Ricciardo began the race on the front row in second behind Niko Rosberg and despite starting the race on softer tyres the Australian was incapable of passing the German in the Mercedes who subsequently went on to win the race and leapfrog Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ Championship.
“I pushed so much at the end on the supersoft and really tried to do something but it wasn’t close enough. I don’t really leave here with any regrets. Obviously we came here to win and we didn’t but I felt we left it all on the track, “said the 26-year-old Red Bull driver.
Despite completing the race in second, Ricciardo’s podium finish means it was the third year in a row that the Australian has exceeded expectations in Singapore:
“We did everything we could and I thought it was pretty much a perfect race. The only thing that would have been better was to get Nico at the start.”
Verstappen had yet another meagre start and the Dutchman had an intriguing battle with Daniil Kyvat but he ended the race in sixth to extend Red Bull’s lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship:
“I had a bad start, it wasn’t as bad as Monza but it wasn’t good, which is disappointing. I had a lot of wheel spin and then with Hulkenberg spinning in front of me,
“I had to brake even more which compromised my whole start. I got stuck behind slower cars in front of me and after three or four laps you lose the advantage and it completely destroys the tyres,“ said the 18-year-old.
Team Principal Christian Horner was happy with his team’s performance over the exciting circuit in Singapore:
“A really exciting finish to a long and hard grand prix but tyres and strategy were always going to be key.
“Overall a positive weekend, we’ve extended our lead over Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship, we’ve scored another second place finish and produced an enthralling end to the grand prix.”
I was honoured and humbled when I was invited into the garage of the ePayMe Yamaha Team, which is run by Tommy Hill, the 2011 BSB champion. I was even more honoured to interview this incredible man about his past in BSB, his views on BSB and his future plans, including next season. Find out what Hill is thinking in terms of 2017 and also, what he wants from the remaining rounds of this years campaign.
What made you retire early in your career?
There wasn’t a definitive reason to be fair, there was a lot of factors contributing to it. I’d been riding a bike since I was six years old so the decision was massively difficult. There was a positive in finishing at the top of my game and also a negative; the negative being that you have to live with that and still feel like you could do a good job if you jumped straight back on a bike.
I’m involved with a new race team now, doing something completely different. I had a boy, got married and had a normal life really. It was a really difficult decision but I thought ‘I’m just going to have a normal life for a bit now’. Every day of my life was spent racing bikes or doing something around bikes. If I had a bad weekend and finished 4th, then I would be straight out the next day training and dieting and all in all, putting myself under a lot of unnecessary pressure. I wanted to know, myself as a racer, that I left that race meeting knowing I couldn’t have done anything more. It was lot to do with stress and I just fancied a break as it was taking its toll.
How has BSB changed from a riders point of view?
Every year something changes, whether that be a compound change in the tyre, a different spec of ECU, rule changes to make things simpler, but a lot of the rules were introduced for teams like ours so that it was more affordable. Some teams agree on the rule changes, others don’t. Generally, the people who disagree tend to be part of big teams with big budgets as it limits their spending and development to a certain extent. It makes it easier for teams like THM Yamaha to come into the championship and then challenge at the sharp end. To give you an idea on budget, in 2006 a top team was running on £1.5m a year and now the top teams are running on £600k. The introduction of the one bike rule has had a big part to play.
Did you find the one bike per rider rule pressurising?
100%! You over think it a lot more with just one bike and obviously it puts more pressure on the crew but that’s when you rely on the crew to work quickly and use all the spare parts. However, budget determines how many spare parts you have and how many pre-assembled parts you have too. It doesn’t take the risk element away so much, as when you go out there on track, you still have a job to do and you will push to the limit and do whatever it takes. If you go down then you go down, it is what it is.
Why is BSB so close?
Well there used to be more competition between tyres, ECU etc but now that is all controlled, it has made the series closer. Everyone is on the same tyres, ECU, most teams use the same suspension and all that together makes the times better and that hopefully creates a better spectacle at home.
What is the difference between management last year to ownership this year?
Last year, I was supposed to have ownership of the team as well and that’s mainly the reason why I wanted to do it. I wanted to make sure that we have something at the end of it all, as there isn’t a lot of money in this sport anymore. You’ve got to try and make a business out of what you have outside of the racing. I had a lot of the stresses last season, as I was loyal to the team, the budget and our sponsors. I helped secure pretty much all of the sponsors last season, so I was loyal to them too and a lot of my sponsors are my friends and part of my history. For me, it is very similar to last year; I’m honest to myself, to my team and to our partners and at least at the end of the year I can say, ‘well, I made the right decisions for the right reasons’. There is no major difference as long as you are loyal and honest.
Strengths and weaknesses of the Yamaha?
The Yamaha has a fantastic chassis; it turns well and finishes the corners really well but sometimes the only downside is that Yamaha will never produce the most horsepower but the overall package is very, very good. With the championship so close this year with the rules, it makes it harder for our riders to get to where they need to be, which is when you rely on the rider to do a bit more and the crew also. It’s all about making the most of what you got.
How do you think your riders have been this season?
John is really pumped up now, he’s been great in the last couple of races but it’s getting to the point now where we need to start seeing results. Whether we put pressure on the riders or not, we need better results. We know we have the package, the team and the rider and it really is a matter of ‘when’. It’s been majorly frustrating as nothing has come to fruition. Everything looks good, feels good and now we just need that final product. One positive is that when John crashed out of the last round, he was up the field and battling for the podium, so the pace is there. It has been annoying because we have had different riders, who have different styles so therefore it’s hard to gather reliable data, but it is what it is.
Does your team enjoy having a control tyre supplier?
There is another front compound of tyre, however that is only available in the WSBK paddock. We have two specifications of front and rear but in WSBK they have four. We are working with what we have but it could be a lot better if we could get access to the other spec of front tyre. When you are trying to find 0.2/0.3s, then a different tyre could be better because it can give you half a second! We would rather see more variation in the control tyre supplier than more tyre suppliers and less variation within that brand. We are working with the best we have but we believe that there are better compounds out there.
What are the plans for 2017?
I signed a two-year deal with ePayMe at the start of this season and also a two-year deal with Yamaha, so that will stay the same. We hope that Yamaha could step up a bit more and give us more technical support and hopefully more financial support to move us a bit further up the grid. For me, we may be doing a good job as a new team but I think we could be doing better. We aren’t in talks with John yet but there have been riders calling me, which is great! One of them is an ex-British champion and for me that is quite reassuring to know that riders want to ride for us. I have also asked a few questions about Brad Ray but that is the most I’m saying on that!
How does your previous rivalry with John impact on your working relationship?
No not really. I respect John for losing the championship really. 0.006s later and it could have been me. I respect him and all the other riders but deep down we want John further up. Whatever it takes, I want him to win. As a rider, what you have to do is go to the bar, have a pint and think, ‘well this year wasn’t the year but next year will be’. It would be a dream for John to have won the championship with me this year; at the start of the year we genuinely thought that we would be in for a good season, but for whatever reasons, things just haven’t worked out. As a rider you need confidence, and as a team we are working well and the rider is working well with the team, so now all we need is a decent run of results.
Mercedes has taken its first double podium in Singapore with Nico Rosberg winning from pole and Lewis Hamilton holding onto third, despite questions over reliability and late pressure from Ferrari and Red Bull.
Rosberg and Hamilton were both warned about brake wear early in the race and given precautionary lift and coast orders to ensure they got both cars to the end, in what seemed to be further evidence that Mercedes has yet to master Singapore’s unique demands.
But even as the tone of the Mercedes pitwall grew ever more anxious, their instructions seemed for the most part to be more caution than cause for concern, as Rosberg continued to build on a three second gap over Daniel Ricciardo and Hamilton ran a steady third.
However as the race went on this brake management phase started to hurt Hamilton, whose grip was already compromised running in the dirty air behind Ricciardo, and after changing to the slower, more durable soft tyre in his first pit stop the Briton fell back into the clutches of Kimi Räikkönen.
When the ultrasoft-shod Räikkönen swept past Hamilton on lap 33, Mercedes was forced to press Ferrari’s weakness on the pitwall: switching Hamilton to a three-stop strategy freed the Briton up to burn through as much of his second set of softs as he need to keep touch with Räikkönen, before bringing him in late on lap 46 to perform the undercut.
As Hamilton left the pits on scrubbed supersofts Ferrari urged Räikkönen to push ahead of his own stop a lap later, but despite the Finn’s best efforts he could not make up the necessary time and emerged from the pits in fourth and back behind Hamilton.
“A difficult day and a difficult weekend,” Hamilton reflected. “The brakes were near critical temperature for the most of the race, so I kept having to back off to cool them down. I then made a mistake and ran wide which let Kimi past.
“Fortunately, with the car a bit lighter I was able to bring the temperatures down, push a bit more on fresh tyres and get back past him. Pace and strategy weren’t the issue – it was all down to the brakes.”
But although Hamilton’s late stop was successful in restoring him to the podium, it almost ended up costing Rosberg the race win.
Reacting to Hamilton’s strategy, Red Bull pulled in Ricciardo on lap 48 to ensure the Australian had the tyre life to defend his second place, only to then target the lead as Ricciardo’s pace carried him away from one Mercedes and towards the other.
As Ricciardo slashed the gap to the front on his new supersofts, Rosberg was forced to sit tight and watch him come as there was not enough time for the German to pit without relinquishing track position. His lead, which had been over twenty seconds after Ricciardo’s stop, was dwindling at such a rate that Red Bull predicted their driver would catch the Mercedes with four laps to go.
But this ultimately proved too optimistic, and by a combination of keeping calm in front and getting the better hand when passing traffic, Rosberg managed to hold on by four tenths of a second to take his 22nd career victory and his first in Singapore.
“In the past the Singapore track has not treated me so well, so this win is a very special one,” said Rosberg. “The weekend started perfectly with a good qualifying session. Then, I had a good start and was able to keep the Red Bulls and Ferraris behind me.
“It was a bit tight at the end after Daniel did a clever pit stop timing wise. If I would have also pitted I would have come out behind him because I was stuck in traffic on my in-lap, so we chose the best strategy to stay out and a big thanks to the team for that.”
Rosberg’s victory – his eighth of the season – sees him retake the lead of the championship by eight points, and along with Hamilton’s third place moves Mercedes 222 points clear of Red Bull, meaning the Silver Arrows could mathematically clinch a third consecutive Constructors’ Championship at the next round in Malaysia.
The blue, ocean like, Texan sky welcomed us to the magnificent Circuit of The Americas. As the crowds sauntered around this wonderful place the excited hum began to build in the stands as much as it did in the garages. Some drivers were commenting that the opening laps were going to be difficult due to the heat and the tyres.
That was going to be the issue, in and out of the car. The heat. A baking day and one can only imagine how it felt flying round the circuit.
From qualifying, the talk was of the Audi’s and how they were going to dominate the race. Duval pushing Webber, but Toyota were not going to let the two leading P1 teams have it all their own way. Buemi and Conway giving everything they had, leaving nothing on the track. This was just the start!
Back in the GT ranks, the home crowd were hoping for Ford to perform at home but it wasn’t to be with the #66 having early issues so it was left to Aston Martin and Ferrari to battle it out. Manor were charging early in P2 but it would end in tears for the British team.
All over the track, throughout the six hours there were mini battles going on all over the place. It was very reminiscent of Mexico, a continuation of the hard working determination that has existed all season.
The 6 Hours of CoTA has always been a fantastic arena for these monster machines and their gladiators. A spectacle of wonder and an atmosphere to match.
It would also be a repeat of Mexico for Audi, a sad duplication of disappointment for the team who genuinely believed they could have locked out the top two positions. Reigning champions Timo Bernhard, Mark Webber and Brendon Hartley would be the drivers standing victorious on the top step of the podium, taking their third consecutive victory of the season. The #8 Audi and #6 Toyota would stand on the podium, Toyota taking advantage of the woes that befell the #7 Audi over the six hours.
The #13 Rebellion would celebrate their privateer victory with Tuscher, Kraihamer and Imperatori leading that class. Signatech Alpine grabbed their fourth win of the season as Lapierre, Menezes and Richelmi reaped the spoils. Manor, who had forced the pace early on would retire from the race with twenty two minutes racing to go.
In the GT classes it was all about Aston Martin. The #95 of Sorensen and Thiim took the Pro class with the #98 of Dalla Lana and Lauda taking victory in the Am. Abu-Dhabi-Proton Racing would see their race finish with one hour and six minutes remaining as the car was retired and pushed back into the garage.
The Circuit of The Americas blows a kiss as the WEC adventure moves on to Japan and the 6 Hours of Fuji. We, as fans, love it here in Texas. The warm welcome, the hospitality and the exciting racing. We embrace The Lone Star Le Mans as it has quickly become one of the favourite venues on the racing calendar.
It was as the Texan sun dipped down and moved on to another part of the world that darkness came and the circuit took on a whole new, albeit as beautiful, lease of life. The glowing Texan moon now stared down at the mechanical monsters competing far below on the winding path to glory, or not in some cases.
Thank you for having us CoTA and we’ll see you soon.
Singapore is one of the few races that has come along in the last few years that has become something of a classic.
The first night race in F1 history always looks incredible, the light reflects off the cars to create some stunning shots, sparks fly off the undertray’s and the race organizers always put on a spectacular show. Despite running in Asia during the rainy season, there has never been a wet Singapore GP. This could change this year, the weather forecasts have been very unpredictable and rain could mix up proceedings.
The track is a tight and twisty street circuit, the heat is more of a challenge here, rather than G forces. The race is a longer one, 55 laps takes around 2 hours and the safety car could well make an appearance, should anyone get it even slightly wrong here.
Success for Williams here has been limited, but Rosberg could have won the inaugural race in 2008, had he not had to refuel under the safety car, when the pit lane was closed. He finished second, 2 seconds off race winner Alonso, who himself benefited from the infamous “crashgate” scandal. Rosberg was again at the sharp end in 2009 but oversteered on pit exit, crossed the white line and got a time penalty. He had to take the penalty under the safety car, dropping him to the back of the field. He finished eleventh. Massa took fifth place in the 2014 race and Bottas also finished fifth at last year’s race.
This track shouldn’t suit the FW38 theoretically, the car struggles in slower speed corners, of which Singapore has a lot. The potentially high rate of attrition could help the team here; the two drivers could well take advantage of this but it will still be a tough race. Williams jumped back ahead of Force India at the Italian GP last time out, to stay ahead of Force India after this event will be a good result for Williams.
The Generalitat of the Comunitat Valenciana and Dorna Sports are pleased to announce the season finale of the FIM MotoGP™ World Championship is set to remain at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia for another five years. The agreement to renew the circuit’s place on the MotoGP™ calendar was recently reached between the President of the Generalitat, Ximo Puig, the Councillor for Education, Research, Culture and Sport, Vicent Marzà, and CEO of Dorna Sports, Carmelo Ezpeleta and has been announced this morning in Valencia with all the parts involved.
MotorLand Aragon hosts this weekend round 14 of the 2016 Moto3 World Championship: after having narrowly missed out on victory with Enea Bastianini and collecting another positive Top Ten finish with Fabio Di Giannantonio at Misano, the Gresini Racing Team Moto3 arrives in Spain confident to get another good result.
