ThePitcrewOnline

Category: Uncategorised

  • Rookies dominate Austrian Grand Prix

    Into Round 11 of the 2021 Moto2 season and it was still all to play for. In Round 10, also held here at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, championship leader Remy Gardner finished a disappointing 4th, with rookie Ai Ogura looking set for his first podium until a late penalty for exceeding track limits, and Marco Bezzecchi crossing the line first. Would Gardner return to form, and would Ogura shake off his demons to finally gain that elusive podium spot?

    Moto2
    2021 MVDS Team during the 2021 Season of World Motorcycle Championship 2021 race 11 GP of Austria in Red Bull Ring Circuit in Spielberg Austria © 2021 mirco lazzari mircolazzari@yahoo.it

    After a crash in qualifying – his first of the season – Gardner started from 5th. Bezzecchi, who also suffered a crash during qualifying, was back in 16th on the grid. The Austrian Grand Prix was shaping up to shake things up yet again.

    Sam Lowes started from pole – his first since Portugal back in April – with the remainder of the front row completed by rookies: Raul Fernandez 2nd, and Ai Ogura 3rd. Flanking Gardner on the second row were Augusto Fernandez in 4th and Aron Canet in 6th. Behind them were Somkiat Chantra, Celestino Vietti, and Lorenzo Dalla Porta.

    Off the line, Lowes held on to first place and looked set to stretch out the lead. Meanwhile further down the field a crash at Turn 1 took out Stefano Manzi and Jorge Navarro. The top 3 kept their positions, but Gardner was held up by the incident and dropped back to 11th. A few laps later it was announced that USA rider Cameron Beaubier was to receive a double long lap penalty for irresponsible riding.

    Back at the front, Raul Fernandez passed Lowes on Lap 2 to take the lead. On lap 4 Gardner moves up to 10th, with Ogura then passing Lowes for second three laps later.

    Somkiat Chantra passed Canet to take 6th position, bearing down on Marcel Schrotter in 5th, setting the fastest lap of the race so far.

    Moto2
    2021 MVDS Team during the 2021 Season of World Motorcycle Championship 2021 race 11 GP of Austria in Red Bull Ring Circuit in Spielberg Austria © 2021 mirco lazzari mircolazzari@yahoo.it

    On Lap 5, Augusto Fernandez passed his teammate Lowes at Turn 3 to move up into 3rd. before Dalla Porta crashed out at Turn 6 on lap six. Bezzecchi ran wide, giving Gardner the opportunity to move up to ninth – which he gladly took.

    On Lap 8 Chantra got past Marcel Schrotter, who slid into the gravel at Turn 1, but was able to rejoin.

    By Lap 11 Gardner had moved up into 8th, and on Lap 15 he overtook Canet for 7th – after a bit of back and forth Gardner made it stick, his sights set on Chantra and Vietti who were battling it out for 5th.

    With five laps to go, Ogura found himself gradually closing the gap on Raul, reducing his lead to under 3 tenths of a second, the gap coming down to 1.5 seconds on Lap 24.

    Raul held onto the lead to take his fourth victory of the season, while Ogura claimed his first podium of Moto2 ahead of Augusto Fernandez, who took his third consecutive podium finish.

    Further back, Lowes finished in 4th place, rookie Celestino Vietti claimed 5th ahead of Somkiat Chantra. Championship leader Remy Gardner crossed the line 7th, in front of Aron Canet, Thomas Luthi, and last week’s winner Marco Bezzecchi rounding out the top 10.

    Moto2
    Ogura @ Red Bull Ring, Austrian Grand Prix Picture courtesy of honda-racing.com

    With 7 more rounds to go, we go next to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on 29th August. Can Gardner hang onto his diminishing lead, or will he be overtaken by his rookie teammate Raul Fernandez? Can rookies Ogura and Vietti maximise on their success? Or will Lowes pull it out of the hat in front of his home crowd?

    First fifteen riders

    1              Raul Fernandez SPA – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 25 points

    2              Ai Ogura JPN – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 20

    3              Augusto Fernandez SPA – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 16

    4              Sam Lowes GBR – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 13

    5              Somkiat Chantra THA – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 11

    6              Celestino Vietti ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 10

    7              Remy Gardner AUS – Red Bull KTM Ajo – 9

    8              Aron Canet SPA – Aspar Team Moto2 – 8

    9              Thomas Luthi SWI – Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team – 7

    10           Marco Bezzecchi ITA – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 6

    11           Jake Dixon GBR – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 5

    12           Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 4

    13           Tony Arbolino ITA Liqui Moly Intact GP – 3

    14           Xavi Vierge SPA – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 2

    15           Hector Garzo SPA – Flexbox HP40 – 1

     

  • Round 7 WorldSBK Navarra, Spain, Race 2

    The earlier Superpole race finished an exact copy of race 1 with Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) taking the win, followed by 2nd Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)., and 3rd Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha).

    wsbk
    WSBK Navarra 22.08.2021
    Picture courtesy of Ducati Racing

    Race 2 saw track temperatures rising to nearly 50 degrees celsius., with riders deciding on a wide range of tyre options. Redding choosing a softer front tyre, while Rea and Razgatlioglu opted for a harder tyre. Could Redding make it a clean sweep of wins at Navarra?

    After a delayed start, it was lights out and Redding with another quick fire blast off the line, again got the hole shot, great start. The same couldn’t be said for Rea who slipped back to 5th from his 2nd on grid.

    The gloves were definitely off with Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) slicing his way from nowhere briefly taking the lead from a stunned Redding before then going wide into a corner to concede the lead back to Redding.

    Starting lap 2 and it stood: 1st Redding, 2nd Locatelli, 3rd Razgatlioglu, 4th Rea, 5th Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 6th Sykes (BMW Motorrad).

    Then more drama for Davies (GoEleven Ducati) who was having a miserable weekend. He lost the front end of his bike into turn 9, subsequently sending it ploughing into the back of Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who found himself helplessly sliding into the gravel. Both riders were out of the race.

    wsbk
    WSBK Navarra 22.08.2021
    Picture courtesy of Ducati Racing

    Onto lap 3 and Razgatlioglu, showing impressive speed, gets through on Redding to take the lead. Then it’s the turn of Rea, who cuts under Redding into the hairpin corner to take 2nd. As in race 1 this trio was again pulling clear of the rest.

    The northern Irishman had his sights on the Turk, and wasn’t letting him escape, setting a new fastest lap of 1:37.609. Meanwhile Redding was looking like he was struggling to match the pace and was slipping further back.

    Further down the field it was the BMW team mates of Sykes and Vd Mark in 5th and 6th respectively, with Lowes in 7th and Bautista (Honda HRC) further back in 10th.

    With 15 laps to go, Lowes comes through on Vd Mark into turn 15 to take 6th.

    Rea was closing in on Razgatlioglu, but looked like he was really struggling with front end chatter, the bike visibly bouncing into some corners. Rea held a gap of 0.5 to Redding in 3rd.

    With 11 laps to go, Razgatlioglu had a gap of 0.5 to Rea in 2nd. Meanwhile Redding had found something, and was now right within striking distance of Rea.

    Nine laps to go and Razgatlioglu found a second wind and was pulling clear of Rea, pushing the gap out to 1.0. Meanwhile Honda continued their poor weekend, with Haslam (Honda HRC) sending his bike sliding in a shower of sparks into the gravel. He cut a dejected figure trudging back.

    Rea was really under pressure from Redding now and only had a gap 0.3 to the Ducati. The pressure was telling with Rea losing the front end, but as he had in race 1, he somehow managed to save it. Rea was fighting the Kawasaki into the corners and subsequently went wide, letting Redding through.

    Redding now had his sights firmly on the Yamaha but with only 3 laps left could he catch Razgatlioglu who was looking comfortable, and held a 1.0 advantage.

    Last lap and Razgatlioglu was holding his nerve keeping Redding at bay. He crosses the line to deny Redding a hat trick of wins, Redding getting 2nd while Rea crossed further down in 3rd.

    wsbk
    WSBK Navarra 22.08.2021
    Picture courtesy of Ducati Racing

    Amazingly enough, the result means there is a two way tie for the lead of the championship between Rea and Razgatlioglu. Surely this season will come down to the wire. Expect more fireworks!

    Result top 5:

    1. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
    2. Redding (Aruba.it Ducati)
    3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)
    4. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha)
    5. Sykes (BMW Motorrad)

    Riders out: Davies (GoEleven Ducati), Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Uramoto (Suzuki), Haslam (Honda HRC).

    Championship top 3:

    1. Rea 311 pts
    2. Razgatlioglu 311
    3. Redding 273

     

     

  • Round 7 WorldSBK Navarra, Spain, Race 1

    Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) made it 7 consecutive pole positions, in a first visit to Navarra. Track conditions were dry and hot for the start of the race, with a lot of the grid choosing different tyre options.

    WSBK
    Picture courtesy of https://wsbk.hondaracingcorporation.com/

    Lights out and it was Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) who got the hole shot. Rea in pursuit, followed by 3rd Locatelli (Pata Yamaha), 4th Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), and 5th Sykes (BMW Motorrad).

    Rea cuts across Redding and takes the lead. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) was making great progress from a grid position of 8th, and now worked his way up to 4th getting past Lowes. Rea held a gap of 0.6 to Redding, and the two of them were beginning to pull a gap out to Locatelli in 3rd.

    The Honda team mates of Bautista and Haslam were struggling again and found themselves in 10th and 14th places respectively. Other notable names included 7th Davies (GoEleven Ducati), 9th V d Mark (BMW Motorrad), and 15th Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).

    On lap 3 and Rea was putting the hammer down, setting a fastest lap of 1:37:351, the gap to Redding now at 0.4 although the Ducati rider seemed to have it all in hand and was keeping up with the pace of Rea.

    There was a coming together of two riders on lap 4 in turn 3, Ponsson (Yamaha, and Mercado (Honda), the latter retiring from the race.

    Lap 5 and the gap from 2nd to 3rd was now at 1.7 and growing fast. Razgatlioglu in 4th knew he’d have to get past his team mate in 3rd soon to have any chance to try catch the two riders up front.

    Lap 6 and Redding uses the top end grunt of the Ducati to get through on Rea down the straight. Rea hangs onto the rear of the Ducati, and keeps himself within striking distance. Further back the Pata Yamahas were struggling with the relentless pace being set by Redding and couldn’t close the gap.

    Locatelli then goes wide into a corner, Razgatlioglu doesn’t need a second invitation and makes the pass up the inside of his team mate. The Turk now had work to do in order to catch Rea in 2nd.

    Meanwhile further back there was a three way battle for 4th between Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), 5th Sykes (BMW Motorrad) and 6th Davies (GoEleven Ducati), with the other BMW of V d Mark in 8th and making progress.

    Drama for Davies as he crashes his Ducati into turn 9 and subsequently Bautista loses control of his Honda a few corners further on in turn 12. This bumpy track was catching out a number of riders.

    Razgatlioglu was pushing his Yamaha to the limit, and found himself going wide into one of the corners. The gap to Rea in 2nd was now 2.3, while Redding still had a gap of 1.1 to Rea, and looked comfortable leading.

    Meanwhile Lowes, and Sykes were having there own battle for 5th and 6th with V d Mark a fair distance behind in 7th.

    With 12 laps to go Razgatlioglu was losing time to Rea, the gap now stood at 3.3. Further back there was a three way battle for 9th involving GRT Yamaha team mates, Nozane, Gerloff, and Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) in 11th. Gerloff made a poor start ending up in 14th on lap 1, but was now past his team mate down the straight to take 9th.

    Another rider crashes, this time its the American rider Uribe (Kawasaki). Massive moment for Rea, and one of many this season, as he loses the front end into turn 9, but manages to correct the slide and save himself losing time to Redding in the process.

    WSBK
    Picture courtesy of https://wsbk.hondaracingcorporation.com/

    With 7 laps to go the gap to Redding was still around 1.1, while the gap behind to 3rd was 2.4.  Further back it was Locatelli 4th, Lowes 5th and the BMW team mates of Sykes and V d Mark in 6th and 7th, respectively.

    Last lap now and Redding had pushed the gap out to Rea to 2.7 and was looking comfortable for the win. Both Rea and Razgatlioglu looked resigned to 2nd and 3rd places respectively.

    Redding crosses the line to claim the win, he never looked troubled throughout the race. Rea takes 2nd, with Razgatlioglu coming 3rd, a decent result from 8th place on the grid. Locatelli 4th, and Lowes 5th.

    Top 5:

    1. Redding (Aruba.it Ducati)
    2. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team)
    3. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
    4. Locatelli ( Pata Yamaha)
    5. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team)

    Riders out: Bautista (Honda HRC), Davies (GoEleven Ducati), Mathias (Kawasaki), Mercado (Honda)

    Top 3 Championship:

    1. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) 286 pts
    2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) 279
    3. Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) 241

     

     

  • Terms & conditions of the giveaway

    1. The promoter of this giveaway is The Pit Crew Online in conjunction Inter Europol S.A.

    2. The giveaway is open for EU and UK residents.

    3. Members of the promoter and sponsor and their immediate families are excluded.

    4. There is no entry fee and no purchase necessary to enter this giveaway however the following terms apply:
    • Twitter: @pitcrew_online and @IE_competition accounts
    • like and retweet giveaway tweet

    or

    • Facebook: The Pit Crew Online and Inter Europol Competition pages,
    • like the giveaway post.

    5. By entering this giveaway, an entrant is indicating his/her agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions.

    6. Closing date for entry will be 22nd of August 2021 23:59 CET. After this date the no further entries to the giveaway will be permitted.

    7. No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

    8. The promoter reserves the right to cancel or amend the giveaway and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of the promoter’s control. Any changes to the giveaway will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by the promoter.

    9. The promoter is not responsible for inaccurate prize details supplied to any entrant by any third party connected with this giveaway.

    10. The prize is as stated and no cash or other alternatives will be offered.

    11. The winner will be notified by Twitter/Facebook. If winner cannot be contacted or do not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, we reserve the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.

    12. The promoter will notify the winner when and where the prize can be collected / is delivered. The promoter’s decision in respect of all matters to do with the giveaway will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

    13. Entry into the giveaway will be deemed as acceptance of these terms and conditions. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter or any other Social Network.

    14. The winner will be picked at random from all complete entries.

    15. The promoter also reserves the right to cancel the giveaway if circumstances arise outside of its control.

  • Round 6 WorldSBK Most Autodrom, Czech Republic, Race 2

    Race 2 of the WorldSBK action took place on Sunday 8th August at Most Autodrom, Czech Republic – the earlier Superpole race saw Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) claim the his 2nd win of the weekend, while Redding (Aruba.it Ducati), and Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) were 2nd and 3rd.

    wsbk
    Redding & Rea, Race 2 @ Most Autodrom 08.08.2021
    Pic courtesy of Aruba.it Ducati

    The Turk was on pole position for race 2, and was looking to make it a clean sweep of wins across the weekend, could he do it? The whole grid, except Rea, and Uribe had gone with the super soft SCX rear tyre, the former two deciding on the harder SC0 compound rear.

    Lights out and both the Pata Yamaha riders made excellent starts, Razgatlioglu and Locatelli leading the pack into turn 1 in 1st and 2nd. Further behind was a massive crash involving 4 riders: Bassani (Ducati), Delbianco (Honda), Hanika (Yamaha) and Bautista (HRC Honda). Both Bassani and Delbianco retiring from the race.

    A leading group of 5 riders had formed and was already beginning to pull away from the others. In 1st was Razgatlioglu, 2nd Locatelli, 3rd Redding, 4th Rea and 5th Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team).

    wsbk
    Michael Rinaldi, Race 2 @ Most Autodrom 08.08.2021
    Pic courtesy of Aruba.it Ducati

    Meanwhile further down the field other notable names included the BMW teammates of 6th Sykes (BMW Motorrad) and 12th Vd Mark. Eighth place is Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) and in 9th Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).

    With 20 laps to go Razgatlioglu was trying to distance the group putting in a fastest lap of 1:32.827. Redding sensing the Turkish rider is pulling away, passes Locatelli into 2nd place, in the same corner Toprak passed him in race 1. The group of 5, now slowing becoming a group of 3 as the Kawasaki team mates of Rea and Lowes, were struggling with the pace being set at the front.

    Next lap and now Redding puts in a new fastest lap of 1:32.674. The lead group of 3 riders now steadily pulling away from the Kawasaki team mates.

    With 18 laps to go, Redding outbrakes Razgatlioglu down the straight, into turn 1 to take over the lead. Redding putting in a new fastest lap of 1:32.439. He was looking like he had a point to prove after getting pipped to the line in race 1.

    Meanwhile further back, Vd Mark had moved up to 10th, 7 places better than his grid position. Gerloff was in 9th, while Rinaldi was in 8th.

    Redding was increasing his gap to Raztaglioglu, it was now 0.5. The Kawasaki of Rea was again looking twitchy and unstable with changes of direction and through corners, his previous crash in race 1 still looming large in his mind no doubt.

    wsbk
    Pecco Bagnaia, Race 2 @ Most Autodrom 08.08.2021
    Pic courtesy of Aruba.it Ducati

    With 13 laps to go Rea gets through around the outside of Locatelli trying to close the gap to 2nd. Redding was pushing the gap to nearly 1.0 to Razgatlioglu in 2nd, the gap now at 0.8.

    Meanwhile further back Sykes in 6th had now been caught by a group including: 7th Haslam ( HRC Honda ), 8th Rinaldi, 9th Vd Mark and 10th Gerloff.

    With 8 laps to go Haslam loses 3 places to go back to 10th, possibly having tyre issues. The Honda Team mates now sitting in disappointing 10th, and 11th places.

    Six laps remaining and Redding had increased his lead to 2nd to 1.5, while the gap from 2nd to Rea in 3rd was now 6.6. Meanwhile further down the field the battle for 6th was still ongoing, with Vd Mark in 7th doing a great job from a grid position of 17th, getting past Gerloff again.

    With 4 laps remaining it was all Redding’s to lose, the gap to 2nd now at 2.6, Razgatlioglu looking to have resigned himself to a 2nd place. Lowes ( Kawasaki Racing Team ) in 5th had now been caught by the group of 6th Rinaldi, 7th Vd Mark and 8th Gerloff.

    wsbk
    Arubia.it Ducati, Race 2 @ Most Autodrom 08.08.2021
    Pic courtesy of Aruba.it Ducati

    Final lap now, and Redding doesn’t let up his pace, crossing the finish line to take his first win in Most. Razgatlioglu crosses in 2nd with Rea in 3rd, Locatelli in 4th, 5th Rinaldi who gets past Lowes.

    Top 5:

    1. Scott Redding ( Aruba.it Ducati )
    2. Toprak Razgatlioglu ( Pata Yamaha )
    3. Jonathan Rea ( Kawasaki Racing Team )
    4. Andrea Locatelli ( Pata Yamaha )
    5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi ( Aruba.it Ducati )

    Top 3 championship:

    1. Rea ( Kawasaki Racing Team ) 266 pts
    2. Razgatlioglu ( Pata Yamaha ) 263
    3. Redding ( Aruba.it Ducati ) 216
  • IndyCar Nashville Grand Prix Preview: The Title Race Takes Shape

    IndyCar Nashville Grand Prix Preview: The Title Race Takes Shape

    IndyCar returns this weekend for the tenth round of the season at the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, which aims to add to an already enthralling IndyCar season at the newly designed Nashville City course.

    The Grand Prix will take place along a 2.17-mile temporary circuit, the first of its kind for over a decade. The circuit will take place around the Nissan Stadium campus and the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge eventually finishing back at the stadium that is home to the Tennesse Titans NFL team.

    For fans, a three-day weekend of food, entertainment, and support races await them, including the GT America, Trans AM, and Stadium Super Trucks series. But importantly, after a hefty four-week break IndyCar picks up where it left off with an unbelievably tight championship battle with plenty of contenders looking to steal a march on the second half of the season.

    Championship Battle Becomes Clearer

    Championship battle rages ever on between Alex Palou and Patricio O’Ward. Photo courtesy of Joe Skibinski

    The ninth round of the season left us with a fascinating picture of the next generation of drivers vying for championship glory.

    Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou came away with the upper hand and taking a well-earned podium and extending his lead in the championship while his closest competitor Patricio O’Ward settled for an eighth-place finish.

    Both have claimed wins at both Detroit and Road America and are likely to be in contention again this weekend.

    Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Penske’s Josef Newgarden aren’t far behind, with the Kiwi only 17 points away from O’Ward with a win and a podium to his name already this season. Newgarden, who was born and raised in the suburbs of Nashville, has overcome his early-season struggles and sits 13 points off Dixon after a second and first place in the last three races.

    Unless something dramatic occurs, it seems incredibly likely that the championship will ultimately be between these four drivers, presenting an incredibly intriguing contest between the established veterans of the sport, and the next-generation superstars. Dixon and Newgarden are seeking to add to their illustrious list of championships, while O’Ward and Palou both are pushing for their first in their sophomore seasons.

    Nashville presents a great chance for one of these drivers to change the championship picture, depending on who can adapt to the new circuit. It will also be important to make no mistakes, qualify well, and keep track-position. Although, we may well see a significant amount of cautionary periods which will provide opportunities to move up through the field as we saw with O’Ward at Detroit, who pulled of some incredibly impressive moves to ultimately steal the win from Newgarden in the closing laps.

    Helio Castroneves Returns After Signing Full-Time for 2022

    Helio Castroneves will race the final rounds of the IndyCar season with Meyer Shank Racing. Photo courtesy of Chris Owens

    Helio Castroneves returns to the IndyCar paddock as part of his six-race deal with Meyer Shank Racing, the team which saw him claim victory at this year’s Indianapolis 500. It is understood that he will run in all five of the season’s remaining road and street course races this year.

    The Brazilian recently announced that he will race with the team full-time in 2022, in place of Britain’s Jack Harvey whose destination is unknown. It is unclear as to the reason’s behind the separation, but it is likely that they were coming to the end of a contract together. Rahal Letterman Lanigan is being touted as a potential destination for Harvey.

    In the recent mid-season IndyCar test at Portland International Raceway, both Harvey and Castroneves were second and third respectively behind Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward.

    As the most experienced driver on the grid alongside Scott Dixon, Castroneves will be an exciting driver to watch on this newly-designed track.

    Power on Energy Save?

    Will Power is still winless in 2021. Photo courtesy of Joe Skibinski

    Will Power is one of a range of drivers seeking their first win of the 2021 season at Nashville. However, the Australian is extremely unfortunate to not have taken victory at Detroit. He has one of the longest winning streaks in the series, having taken the top spot of the podium in every season since 2006, then known as Champ Car.

    Rossi and Pagenaud are also seeking their first win of the year, while the likes of Colton Herta and Rinus VeeKay are also in desperate need of a strong weekend to restart their title charges. However, Power will be a man on a mission this weekend and may have returned well-rested from the summer break with the mental reset he needed.

    With Penske securing their first win of the season last time out at Mid-Ohio, and getting something of a ‘monkey off their back’. The momentum could be with them heading into the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

     

  • BTCC Oulton Park – Proctor secures second BTCC win with dominant race

    BTCC Oulton Park – Proctor secures second BTCC win with dominant race

    Senna Proctor secured his second BTCC race win and his first since 2018 in the third and final race at Oulton Park.

    He led from the start despite making contact with Ash Sutton on lap one, and secured the win as a red flag on lap ten ended the race early.

    Before the race, the WSR team pulled off a miracle by getting Tom Oliphant’s BMW out for the third race following his huge shunt in race one.

    Pole sitter Proctor made a good start and held off Ash Sutton into turn one, however the reigning champion had the inside line for turn two and took the lead.

    Further back Sam Osborne was tipped into a spin by Chris Smiley and he caused chaos, collecting Jack Butel and Jade Edwards, as well as sending a few other cars off who were attempting to avoid incident. This brought out a red flag.

    On the restart Proctor again made a good start and held off Sutton, before Sutton made a move around the outside at Cascades, and contact was unavoidable. Sutton spun, and was collected by his team mate Carl Boardley and he spun out.

    Thankfully for Sutton, championship rival Tom Ingram had more woes, pitting on lap one and ending the race pointless.

    In a somewhat less action packed race than the previous two, Proctor pulled out an impressive lead before the race was ended early due to a collision on lap nine between Boardley and race two winner Rory Butcher.

    Stephen Jelley finished 2nd with Shedden 3rd, Moffat, Morgan, Rowbottom, Hill, Turkington, Chilton and Smiley rounded off the top ten.

    Pos Driver Car Team +/-
    1 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing 11:40:464
    2 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +2.183
    3 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +4.313
    4 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +7.478
    5 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +7.999
    6 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +9.136
    7 Jake Hill Ford Focus MB Motorsport +9.475
    8 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +10.215
    9 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +12.280
    10 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +13.471
    11 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +13.769
    12 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +14.415
    13 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +14.871
    14 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +15.298
    15 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +16.156
    16 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +16.491
    17 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus MB Motorsport +18.774
    18 Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +19.342
    19 Rick Parfitt Jr Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +21.356
    20 Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +22.744
    21 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +49.238
    22 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo Crash
    23 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools Crash
    DNF Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools Crash
    DNF Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD Crash
    DNF Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD Crash
    DNF Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 Crash
    DNF Sam Osborne Ford Focus Motorbase Crash

     

  • British GP Friday qualifying: Hamilton fastest at home

    Image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports

    Lewis Hamilton was the fastest on Friday qualifying after a blistering first lap in Q3 made sure that he would be starting from P1 for the sprint race on Saturday. An all new trial format for Formula 1 this weekend means that the drivers will go again on Saturday with a 17 lap race at Silverstone and the winner from that race will be awarded pole position for the actual race on Sunday. Hamilton’s teammate Bottas in the other Mercedes is set to start from P3 after his lap was two tenths shy of Hamilton’s lap time.

    Hamilton’s closest title rival Max Verstappen was complaining of understeer through out qualifying and fell short of P1 by just about 0.075 seconds while his teammate Sergio Perez could only qualify 5th after his time from the second run during Q3 was deleted due to him exceeding track limits. Redbull who have been fastest during the course of the season will not be happy with this result and will have their work cut out before the sprint race.

    Ferrari will take heart from Friday qualifying after Charles Leclerc managed to be the 4th fastest on Friday courtesy of a Perez deleted lap time. Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari could only manage a P9 but crucially for Ferrari, they have atleast one car ahead of McLaren at P4.

    In what was a tough few days for McLaren off track with Lando Norris incident at Wemblely and team boss Zak Brown coming down with the coronavirus, it was not a bad outing for the British team after Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo have both put in lap times which are good enough for a P6 and P7 on the grid for sprint race tomorrow.

    ‘Mr. Saturday’ Geroge Russell has also proved that he would be an excellent ‘Mr.Friday’ should this new race weekend format stick, after a brilliant Q2 lap meant that he was into Q3 yet again. He then set another excellent lap time in Q3 which means 8th position on the starting grid is his for the sprint race. Things were not that great for his Canadian teammate Latifi in the other Williams after he could not get out of Q1 and will be starting from P18.

    Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel makes up the last of top 10 fastest drivers on the grid after having his first lap time in Q3 deleted for exceeding track limits and will be starting P10 for the sprint race. His teammate Lance Stroll couldn’t quite find a similar pace and will be starting from P15.

    It was a bad Friday outing for Alpha Tauri in comparison with the last few weekends, after Pierre Gasly only managed a lap good enough to put him on P12 for tomorrow while his teammate Tsunoda had things go worse for him after his lap was not good enough for the rookie driver to go to Q2 and he is set to start from P16.

    Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finally managed to get out Q1 this time around and is set to start P13 for tomorrow while his teammate Fernando Alonso narrowly missed out on Q3 and will be starting P11. Alfa Romeo’s Giovinazzi managed to get out of Q1 but could only go as high as P14 while his teammate Kimi Raikkonen could not manage that and will only be starting P17. Both the Haas cars will be starting with Schumacher at P19 and Mazepin at P20, which has become rather predictable based on how their season is going.

    A new format in on trial at a packed Silverstone but it is the old and familiar top 3 of Hamilton, Verstappena and Bottas is set to start the sprint race.  With points up for grabs and of course the pole position for the main race on Sunday, it is set to be an interesting 17-lap race on Saturday. Redbull seem to be running away with the title but a resurgence from Hamilton and Mercedes is definitely on the cards as the race for pole is on.

  • WorldSBK UK Round: Race 2

    Weather was again a factor in the Superpole race earlier in the day, giving the riders a lot of doubt when it came to tyre choice, some going for an intermediate option, and others preferring slicks. Jonathan Rea ( Kawasaki Racing Team KRT) finished the 10 lap shoot out fastest, with the BMW teammates of Tom Sykes, and Michael van der Mark finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.

    WSBK
    Picture courtesy of https://wsbk.hondaracingcorporation.com/

    By the time race 2 started the weather had cleared up, with the sun back out. As in race 1, Rea was again with the hole shot into turn 1 followed by Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) who had moved up from 6th place on grid, and Sykes (BMW) in 3rd. Garrat Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) again was having an impressive weekend, in a solid 4th place.

    Rea was trying to put the hammer down early on, but Razgatlioglu was responding with a series of fastest laps 1:28.452 and 1:28.418. With 20 laps to go Toprak Razgatlioglu made the same move, and in the same place on Rea as he had done in race 1. Rea now using the soft X tyre choice was finding better traction, and was able to stay with the Pata Yamaha rider, not letting him clear away as was the case in race 1, and keeping the gap to 0.2.

    Further down the field, Lowes (KRT), and Van der Mark (BMW) were resuming the tussle they had in race 1, coming into contact again with each other, in the battle for 6th and 7th places. Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) was making steady progress from a grid position of 11th and now found himself in 8th.

    Nearing the halfway point in the race, and Razgatlioglu goes wide into a corner, Rea accepting the open invitation, goes through to retake the lead. Jonas Folgers’ weekend goes from bad to worse, as he adds another DNF to it.

    Gerloff now within striking distance of Sykes, gets by on him. Then with 13 laps remaining, absolute disaster for Rea who ran into turn 8 too hot, lost the front end and unceremoniously dumped his KRT machine into the gravel. He had looked comfortable in front, but the pressure from the Turkish rider behind was telling. Incredibly he picked up his bike, and rejoined the track in last place, with a mountain of work to do if he was to take any points away.

    It was now Razgatlioglu clearing away out front, followed by Gerloff 2nd, Sykes 3rd, Redding 4th, and Lowes in 5th. Redding was making good time, and had closed right down on Sykes in 3rd. Further back, Lowes and Van der Mark were still battling it out for 5th place.

    Inside the final 3 laps now and the gap between Sykes 3rd, and Redding 4th, was now down to 0.563. Would there be enough laps left for Redding to make the pass? Rea had not been able to make up any time, and was still languishing at the back of the field, no doubt frustrated at how his final race of the weekend was turning out.

    WSBK
    Picture courtesy of https://wsbk.hondaracingcorporation.com/

    Final lap now, and with a gap of 2.9 back to the Texan in 2nd place, Razgatlioglu would not be caught, unless something major happened. Redding now right on Sykes, and looking for a way past, runs out wide into the Melbourne Loop and with it his chance for a podium place.

    With enough fuel left in the tank this time, Razgatlioglu crosses the finish line to become the new championship leader, with it becoming the first ever Turkish rider to lead a WorldSBK championship. Gerloff gets his best ever finish in 2nd, and Sykes takes 3rd. Rea completes his miserable race in 20th.

    Top 10 result:

    1. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
    2. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team)
    3. Sykes (BMW)
    4. Redding (Aruba.it Ducati)
    5. van der Mark (BMW)
    6. Lowes (Kawasaki)
    7. Davies (Ducati)
    8. Rinaldi (Ducati)
    9. Haslam (Honda)
    10. Bautista (Honda)

    Top 5 Championship

    1. Razgatlioglu  183 points
    2. Rea 181
    3. Redding 117
    4. Lowes 114
    5. Rinaldi 94

    See you for round 5 of the WorldSBK championship in two weeks from Assen.

  • Austrian GP qualifying: Verstappen takes pole as Norris splits the Red Bulls

    Image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports

    Max Verstappen took his 3rd consecutive pole position of the 2021 season as Redbull continued their dominance in Austria. The Dutch driver continued his excellent form and the pole position never looked in doubt due to the sheer pace of the Redbull.

    For once, the other English driver on the front in Austria tomorrow will not be Lewis Hamilton as Lando Norris managed to put together a brilliant lap which was good enough to beat both the Mercedes and Sergio Perez in the other Redbull onto the front row. He was closely following Verstappen in the second run of Q3 which meant that he got a great tow and  agonizingly fell short by only four hundredths of a second to the pole position. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the other McLaren could not find the similar pace and will only be starting P13.

    Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes could only manage P4 and P5 after they failed to make any improvements in their second run in Q3 and will be quickly searching for answers and hoping that their upgrades scheduled for Silverstone will bring about the pace that they have been lacking compared to Redbull.

    Another headline worthy story from today’s qualifying is yet another one about the Saturdays of George Russell, where this time the English driver managed to put his car into not just Q2 but Q3 and a grid position of P9 on raw pace alone. The Williams team would be overjoyed with the result and Russell himself might be putting pressure on the Mercedes team to give him a shot with a display like today’s.

    Aston Martin managed to get both their cars into Q3 with Sebastian Vettel set to start at P8 and Lance Stroll set to start at P10. The former however is under the scrutiny after he impeded Fernando Alonso’s flying lap at turn 10 causing the Spaniard to lose all the momentum and manage only a P14 starting place for the grid. It is yet to be seen what kind of a punishment would be handed to the German driver.

    Alpha Tauri put up a very strong display on a hot track today as Pierre Gasly will be starting P6 and his teammate Yuki Tsunoda will be starting P7 as they will be fancying themselves for a double points finish tomorrow.

    It was a day of questionable decisions at Ferrari as Carlos Sainz and Leclerc will be starting P11 and P12 respectively. A second run on medium tyres in Q2 meant that both the Ferrari drivers could not improve their times and could have done so if they went out on the softs. This decision was probably taken based on the race pace data from the last weekend where Ferrari looked fast on the medium and hard compound tyres and the Italian team will now be hoping for a repeat of the same.

    Alpine had a qualifying to forget after both the cars could not make it into Q3 with Alonso being unlucky and Ocon not finding any pace in the car in the very first qualifying session itself. A visibly distraught Alonso and Alpine will be hoping for the race to turn around their way tomorrow if they are to score any points from the weekend.

    Alfa Romeo’s Giovinazzi and Raikkonen will be starting the race from P15 and P16 respectively after only one of them managed to get out of Q3. Nicholas Latifi in the Williams will be starting P18 after he could not get anywhere close to his teammate and both the Haas cars will be starting with Schumacher at P19 and Nikita Mazepin at P20 respectively, which makes up the grid.

    An 18 point gap is set to become wider between championship leaders Verstappen and Hamilton unless the Mercedes make a strong comeback in terms of race pace and strategy on Sunday. Sergio Perez starting at P3 means that we have a race on our hands with the battle for the constructors championship heating up as well, which sets up beautifully for a brilliant race in the Styrian mountains.