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Author: David Bodapati
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MMSC set to host India’s biggest bike racing weekend
Chennai, 9 Dec 2020: Big grids, a massive card of 29 races and over 200 entries mark the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2020 which gets underway at the MMRT, here on Friday, behind closed doors, and in what is the biggest domestic racing weekend in India.
Due to the pandemic and consequent restrictions, the 2020 two-wheeler racing championship has been packed into two back-to-back weekends (Dec 11-13 and Dec 18-20) with competitions in 10 categories.
The National Championship comprises two Pro-Stock classes – the premier 301-400cc and 165cc – besides two Stock 165cc categories – Novice, which will have a grid of 40 riders, and Girls.
Also in the mix are two One-Make Championships organised by the MMSC – the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (CBR 150cc and NSF 250R) and TVS One-Make Championship (RTR 310 Open, Novice, Girls and Media).
MMSC have left no stone unturned in ensuring that not only all Covid-19 safety protocols are followed, but also to deal with the challenges posed by the unpredictable weather by providing grooved tyres also for the Pro-Stock categories.
Having endured a 15-month break since the 2019 season, the racers are chafing at the bit with all of country’s top riders lining up as also India’s leading bike manufacturers, Honda, TVS, Yamaha and KTM.
MMSC president Ajit Thomas said: “We are just bowled over by the response from the riders, especially the first-timers. Two-wheeler championship has always produced exciting and close races, and we expect much the same in the two rounds that we are organising this month. Due to the pandemic, lockdown and restrictions, the racing season was put on hold until last month when we squeezed in two rounds of races to complete the four-wheeler championship. Over the next two weekends, the safety protocols would be very much in place despite easing of restrictions and the events will be held behind closed doors.”
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved from Sholavaram to its present location in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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JK Tyre Racing Nationals at Kari Speedweay
Coimbatore, 9 Dec 2020: The Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam in Coimbatore will hear the familiar roar of Formula cars as the much-awaited 23rd JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship (JKNRC) gets under way here on Friday.
The organisers have put in place stringent protocols, matching international standards, to ensure that the back to back rounds are held with the safety, comfort and convenience of all the teams, drivers, their support staff, officials and media in mind. “We have studied and followed every precaution prescribed by the world as well as national governing bodies to make sure that the championship is conducted smoothly,” Sanjay Sharma, Head-Motorsport, JK Tyre said. “In these unprecedented times we are delighted that we could host such an important event in the FMSCI calendar,” he added.JKNRC this season will witness two categories – The National championship class on JK Formula LGB 4, an Indian manufactured single seater racing car weighing 450 kg with 1.3 litre engine and JK Tyre Novice Cup for rookie drivers on a similar looking formula 1300s but with different chassis design and suspension geometry. The former has attracted 26 of the country’s best drivers while the latter has more than 20.
There will be 12 races over three days, with each day witnessing four races (including two qualifying rounds on Day 1) that will test not only the speed but also the fitness and endurance of the drivers coupled with technical package put together by the teams.
As in the past, an all-women’s team from Ahura racing will also be in fray adding to flowing of adrenaline on the track.
The top racers of the country, including Vishnu Prasad, Raghul Rangasamy and Mira Erda (MSport), Ashwin Datta and T.S. Diljith (Dark Don Racing), and Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport) to name a few will be in fray, battling for the honours.
The pomp and gaiety that comes as a package with every JK Tyre Racing Championship will however be missing this time around in adherence of safety regulations.
Among the key steps taken to battle COVID-19, the organisers will have clear dos and don’ts s right from the main entry gate to all the way up to the track. The pits too have been extended considerably to ensure social distancing.
Local officials will be helping with bulk of the work to avoid too many visitors from other cities and states.
The documentation and scrutiny will be on Thursday, followed by a compulsory drivers’ briefing towards the end of the day.
Friday will witness official practice sessions, qualifying rounds and two races in each category followed by four races on Saturday and Sunday.
For the sake of race lovers, who have always thronged the circuit in large numbers, the event will be streamed live on Sunday so that they don’t miss the action. Viewers can watch the races on:
www.jktyremotorsport.com/live
Facebook.com/jktyremotorsport
Youtube.com/jktyremotorsportAbout JK Tyre Motorsport:
JK Tyre has been closely associated with the world of motorsports for almost three decades back. The company laid down a long term plan to popularise and promote the sport in the country. Its first target was to change the notion that this was a sport for the elite. So it packaged and redesigned it in a spectator-friendly way, drawing the
masses to the sport.The company then endeavored to spot, nurture and sharpen the drivers to turn them into world champions. With this goal in mind, we conceptualized the JK Tyre National Racing Champion in 1997. Our efforts started paying dividends in just a few years’ time, with the likes of Narain Karthikeyan and Karun Chandok going all the way to the F1 rung, the highest level of single-seat racing in the world. Since then, a number of stars emerged, including Armaan Ebrahim, the Maini brothers (Kush and Arjun), Anindith Reddy Konda, amongst many others.
Before all this, JK Tyre had a successful stint in rallying too, conquering the scene in the early 90s. At the same time, gradually, we moved on to various disciplines, including cross-country rallying and off-roading, leaving a mark in each of them with their unique and innovative ways. JK Tyre Motorsports is also very proud of the role it has played in bringing women into motorsports in a big way. Apart from encouraging them to get into the sport through karting as kids, we also gave them opportunities in various national championships. Last year was particularly rewarding for us as an All-Women Racing team was introduced for the first time in the LGB 4 category. In addition, the company also undertook various other initiatives to encourage them to try motorsports, even if for fun to begin with.
To supplement JK Tyre’s entry into the two-wheeler market, the JKNRC hosted the Suzuki Gixxer Cup and the Red Bull Road to Rookies Cup categories and saw enthusiastic participation from across the country. Today, the company is synonymous with motorsports, and even more so with racing, creating a lot of goodwill for
the brand. Right from budding racers to accomplished drivers in the country, everybody owes their rise and
success to JK Tyre. -
Will his first victory in last season, change the fortunes for Sergio Perez, ex-Force India star?
Sergio Perez recorded a career first victory- in what could be his last ever season in Formula 1- amidst a nightmare race for Mercedes as Renault’s Esteban Ocon achieved his first podium of the career in P2 and Lance Stroll took P3 for the second time in 2020.
London, 7 Dec 2020: Sergio Perez took advantage of Mercedes’ mishaps to win the Sakhir Grand Prix, after being last on lap 1, ahead of Esteban Ocon and teammate Lance Stroll.
For once all the three on the podium, are those who have done service to the Indian outfit, Sahara Force India, before the team went into `Administration’ and later, became BWT Racing Point midway through 2018 season in late July. Till then Mercedes were in contract to supply engines and were in the 10-year relationship that has grown to allow Mercedes’ junior driver Esteban Ocon to take a driver seat as an understudy to Perez, who has been with Force India for five years till then.
The double podium helping Racing Point, formerly Force India, leap to P3 in the Constructor’s Championship. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz finished in P4 and teammate Lando Norris in P10, as they lost out P3 to their pink rivals in the constructor’s championship. Daniel Ricciardo finished P5 in the other Renault, ahead of the sole Red Bull of Alex Albon. Daniil Kvyat finished a respectable P7 in his AlphaTauri ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in P8 as he had a forgettable race after a shambolic 27s pitstop. Lewis Hamilton tested positive for Covid-19, thus, he was replaced by Williams’ George Russell for the weekend- who is also part of the Mercedes driver program. Russell impressed in qualifying as he secured P2 and led 2/3rd of the race before a pitstop in which he was fitted with wrong tyres and a puncture cost him a certain debut win. Ultimately, he finished in P9.
Three former Force India drivers celebrating on podium, representing other teams, two still with the same pink colours of BWT of Racing Point. Photo by BWT Racing Point Pierre Gasly just missed out on points, finishing in P11 ahead of the outgoing Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel. Alfa Romeo duo of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen finished in P13 and P14 respectively. Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished in P15 as his new teammate, Pietro Fittipaldi finished in P17- subbing in for the injured Romain Grosjean. Williams’ new driver Jack Aitken finished in P16 as his teammate Nicholas Latifi DNF’d. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc DNF’d on lap 1 after a kerfuffle in turn 4.
At the start, new boy Russell leapt ahead of Bottas and took the lead. Meanwhile, behind Leclerc dive bombed Verstappen but misjudged, locked up and made contact with Perez. The Ferrari was damaged and retired immediately while Perez spun, pitted and fell to the back of the grid. Meanwhile, Verstappen tried to avoid the spinning Perez but to no avail ran out of space as his car went into the barrier. Safety car was deployed.
At the safety car restart on lap 8, Russell bolted away putting distance between himself and Bottas. Perez was at the back of the grid but by lap 15 he had made his way up to P11. Russell ahead had the race in control as he maintained a 2sec gap over Bottas.
Kvyat was the first one to pull the trigger and pitted for hard tyres on lap 27 in an attempt to undercut Ricciardo, which was successful. McLaren’s Sainz pitted on lap 28 to protect from the Russian’s undercut while Ricciardo pitted on lap 29, losing a place to Kvyat. By halfway point, lap 44, Perez was once again running in P3 while the two Mercedes out front were yet to pit.
As Russell was leading, he pitted first for hard tyres on lap 45. 4 laps later Bottas pit, slotting into P2 now the gap between him and Russell hovering around 5 sec. On lap 62, a second safety car was called out as Aitken went off in the final corner and swiped his front wing, which had to be cleared off the track.
Mercedes with their advantage, pitted and double stacked the two cars. As Russell went off and Bottas came in, there was confusion in the Mercedes pit box and seemingly after 27s Bottas was sent out on the same set of tyres. Meanwhile, Russell had to pit again as he was fitted with one of Bottas’ tyre. This meant that Bottas dropped to P5 and Russell to P6, promoting Perez in the lead.
As the safety car pulled in, Russell used his pace and tyre advantage to get past Bottas, Stroll and Ocon. It looked like the victory was still on the cards for him. But it was not to be as he was informed, he had a slow puncture and therefore, had to pit and fell to P15.
Ultimately, Perez cruised to victory as the only consolation for Russell was that he got his first Formula 1 career points. It was an impressive display by the young Englishman who has been touted as the successor to statistically greatest driver Hamilton at Mercedes in the future. Perez has time and again shown why he deserves a seat in F1, with one such display again on Sunday. Only time will tell if he can make it to the grid for 2021.
Mercedes maintained their dominance on such a short track- only 2.2miles- by locking out the front row and having the pace to win. Their pit stop mistake and an unfortunate puncture cost them the win. Russell more than stepped to the challenge and undoubtedly beat Bottas when it mattered, showing why he deserves to be in the Mercedes seat. Hamilton is on the path to recovery from Covid, but if he is not available for the Abu Dhabi GP, Russell will step in and have another opportunity to fight at the front.
Red Bull had a bad weekend as Verstappen crashed out of the race and Albon could not capitalise on the misfortunes of the Mercedes. They have another headache of deciding the fate of the second Red Bull seat. Albon did achieve a podium in last week’s Bahrain GP, but Perez pulled a win and capitalised on other people’s mistake when it mattered. Surely a headache for Christian Horner and Helmut Marko eh?
Racing Point showed great pace over the weekend and crucially they were the fastest in the speed traps. The straight-line speed enabling the drivers to overtake and achieve a double podium finish, and potentially P3 in the constructor’s championship. Renault and Ocon capitalised on the mistakes of front runners too. Their car worked well in low drag set up. Even though they struggled in qualifying, their straight-line speed helped them to stay ahead of their orange rivals McLaren and Ocon to achieve a podium. McLaren performed poorly compared to Racing Point and Renault. With a P4 and P10 they slipped back to 4th in the constructor’s championship, 10-points behind Racing Point and 12-points ahead of Renault.
Full BWT Racing Point team cheers as Sergio Perez takes his maiden win with the team and his own on Sunday in Shakir in the penultimate F1 round. A BWT RP photo AlphaTauri did not have the race pace to challenge for higher points at the Sakhir GP as Gasly finished out of points and Kvyat managed a P7. Ferrari had a pointless race weekend as Leclerc crashed out and Vettel finished out of the points. This track layout yet again exposing their power disadvantage. It was the same with Ferrari-customer cars of Alfa Romeo and Haas as they too finished outside the points. Haas also announced that 2020 F2 Champion Mick Schumacher and F2 driver Nikita Mazepin will drive for them in 2021. Williams had the pace to challenge the likes of Haas especially in the hands of Nicholas Latifi. But to no avail he DNF’d and Aitken’s incident meant that he finished second to last.
Saturday Qualifying results were:
P1: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P2: George Russell- 63 (Mercedes) P3 Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P4: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P5: Sergio Perez- 11 (Racing Point) P6: Daniil Kvyat- 26 (AlphaTauri) P7: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (Renault) P8: Carlos Sainz- 55 (McLaren) P9: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P10: Lance Stroll- 18 (Racing Point) P11: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Renault) P12: Alex Albon- 23 (Red Bull) P13: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Ferrari) P14: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P15: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P16: Kevin Magnussen- 20 (Haas) P17: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P18: Jack Aitken- 89 (Williams) P19: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P20: Pietro Fittipaldi- 51 (Haas) -
Suhail Ahmed hogs limelight; DNF for Rajendra again: 2w K1000
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 6 Dec 2020: Privateer with no sponsor, Suhail Ahmed, astride a KTM 450EXC, stunned the top guns with another good performance to take the overall lead in the championship while defending champion Rajendra RE logged another DNF in the second round of the MRF Mogrip fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for bikes where TVS Racing continued its domination in the other Group B classes in the K-1000 rally here on Sunday.
Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), one of the oldest active members of Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), its flagship K1000 rally is promoted by God Speed Racing of Pune, the COVID19 guidelines were followed and medical partner MEDISPRO sanitised the bikes and provided safety guidance including masks and sanitisers.
“Overall experience was great and I enjoyed this round especially with my riding and the bike on these fast and tricky stages. The Tribal Special Stage was a bit technical with a jump after a huge elevation dip and bend and some tight corners while the first physical stage, Kaadu suited me as it was fast with flowing corners. I am buoyed now and looking forward to the Coimbatore round to increase my lead,” said the Bengaluru rider, astride a KTM 450 EXC.
Rajendra, who lost the opening round in Puttur, suffered an engine failure in SS3 after taking the initial lead in the first two Special Stages and his teammate Nataraj, who could only finish overall 8th won the Group A Superbike Pro-Expert class, which has only two bikes. “It was a bad day again. My engine gave up after I was 2km into SS 3 but I am looking forward to bouncing back as we still have 100 points to fight for in four rounds,” said the defending champion who is on a hat-trick of titles if he claims the championship this year too. The Shimoga rider who spearheads the TVS Racing campaign on an Apache RTR 200 clocked the second-fastest stage time for both Tribal SS (8: 58.722) and Kaadu SS (7:47.160). Through the six stages in the day no one beat his times except Suhail who clocked 8:55.906 in SS1 and went on to perform better and better. He rode the same stage in 8:46.078 (SS3) and 8:42.714 (SS5) as they were run alternately. For the Kaadu Stage, he clocked 7min 46.341sec in the first run (SS2) and dipped it to 7:41.902 in SS4, the second run and eased off in the final SS6 timing 7:51.851 for a comfortable victory as he becomes K1000 Overall Champion, a credit many riders crave for and joins the Hall of Fame with the likes of multiple-champion and legends like Jagat Nanjappa and CK Chinnappa. Suhail Ahmed is the defending champion in Class 6 for SuperSport 55cc.
Arun T, who won the Class 3, in action, on Sunday – K1000 2w INRC Suhail, the fastest rider of the day apart from Overall honours, also bagged his class Group A Superbike Expert class. TVS Racing redeemed their pride bagging three of the eight classes in Group B with Baja World Cupper Aishwarya Pissay and Syed Asif Ali continuing their domination in the Ladies class and Scooter class respectively. Sachin D, another professional rider with TVS Racing, delivered another well-deserved win in SuperSport 260cc class.
Varun Kumar A who won Class 2 in K1000, the Round 2 of INRC for 2w at Tribal Adventure Cafef on Sunday. Photo by David Bodapati But it was Star of Karnataka rider Stephen Roy, the unsung hero on Sunday, as he beat many a stalwart taking 10th overall. Varun Kumar, Arun T, Sajeesh Reghunathan and Naresh VS were the winners in other Group B classes.
Naresh VS, known as Bruce Lee, among the fraternity, astride the solid-looking Himalayan also clocked cautious times in the first two stages on the first run and then switched up gears to deliver knock-out speeds before relaxing for a facile win with almost a two-minute lead, which may translate into more than 2km lead. “I am on a high and the feeling is definitely great for two reasons: I am participating after a gap of a year in any event, rally or race. Secondly, in my 10-year riding career, I am riding the Bullet Himalayan for the first time. And finishing first in both the rounds makes me very happy and leading the INRC championship in this class with an overall 11th position is a bonus. I am working hard to continue the same pace and look forward to clocking better times in the rounds to come,” quipped Naresh, the Lee, who is on a Himalyan high, after two wins.
Of the 70 entries received, 68 bikes started the rally and 3 were disqualified while 13 failed to finish the 48.48 km Special Stage distance which included two Stages that were run thrice each.
Naresh VS aka Bruce Lee winning Class 6 in the INRC Round 2, K1000 on Sunday. A David photo Provisional Final Results (Round 2 – 6 Special Stages)
(Privateer if team is not mentioned; Karnataka if State not mentioned)
Overall: 1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (KTM 450EXC) (49 minutes, 44.598 seconds); 2. Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v(49:51.536); 3. Samuel Shajan Jacob (Mangalore) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (51:12.785).
Group A:
Class 1: Superbike Pro-Expert: 1. Nataraj R (Kanakapura, Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR200) (52:50.844); 2. Rajendra RE (Shimoga)(TVS Racing) (Apache RTR200) (DNF in SS3);
Class 1A: Superbike Expert: 1. Suhail Ahmed (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (KTM 450EXC) (49:44.598); 2. Sharath Mohan (Malappuram, Kerala) (Suzuki RMX 450Z) (52:01.686); 3. Asad Khan (Chikkamagalur) (Suzuki RMX 450Z) (52:21.017).
Group B:
Class 2: Super Sport upto 130cc: 1. Varun Kumar A (Bengaluru) (Yamaha YBX) (58:50.342); 2. Nithesh G Poojary (Mangalore) (Honda CBF Stunner) (1:00:21.715); 3. Rakesh Kumar V (Bengaluru) (Yamaha YBX) (01:01:06.161).
Class 3: Super Sport 165cc: 1. Arun T (Hassan) (Hero Impulse) (54:48.775); 2. Francis PV (Chikkamagaluru) (Hero Impulse) (55:29.837); 3. Ahmed Abrar (Mysuru) (Hero) (56:01.513).
Class 4: Super Sport 260cc: 1.Sachin D (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (49:51.536); 2. Samuel Shajan Jacob (Mangaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (51:12.785); 3. Yuva Kumar (Bengaluru) (Hero MotoSports) (Hero Xpulse) (52:22.727)
Class 5: Super Sport 400cc: 1. Sajeesh Reghunathan (Bengaluru) (KTM Duke) (56:52.044); 2. Harish S (Bengaluru) (KTM Duke 390) (58:08.696); 3. Karthikeyan D (Coimbatore, TN) (KTM Duke 390) (1:02:16.020).
Class 6: Super Sport 550cc: 1. Naresh VS (Bengaluru) (Himalayan) (54:30.919); 2. Sharath Kumar (Bengaluru) (Bullet) (56:29.533); 3. Arun Joy M (Ernakulam, Kerala) (Himalayan) (57:26.009).
Class 7: S0 to S3 Scooter 210cc: 1. Syed Asif Ali (Bhopal, MP) (TVS Racing) (NTorq125) (57:43.255); 2. Karthik N (Bengaluru) (Privateer) (Bike: TVS) (57:57.044); 3. Shamin Islam Khan (Nashik, Maharashtra) (TVS Racing) (NTorq125) (58:21.325).
Class 8: Ladies Class: 1. Aishwarya Pissay M (Bengaluru) (TVS Racing) (Apache RTR 200 4v) (59:20.729); 2. Tanika Shanbag (Satara, Maharashtra) (Hero Impulse) (1:00:12.227); 3. A Ryhana Bee (Chennai) (Hero Impulse) (1:09:23.693).
Star of Kanataka: 1. Stephen Roy (??) (Hero Xpulse 200) (54:21.090); 2. Dhanush P (Kodagu, Karnataka) (Hero Xpulse) (59:23.719); 3. Syed Thowhid (??) (Hero Xpulse) (1:03:53.947).
(Editor’s note: Revised results and report edited on 8Dec2020. Riders who want to the contact INDIAinF1 can reach us through WhatsApp on 98455 69496 for editing factual errors. Thanks)
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Rare pit-stop error gifts Sergio Perez a deserving maiden F1 win for BWT RP
Sakhir, 6 Dec 2020: Sergio Perez took a stunning maiden victory for Racing Point in Formula 1’s Sakhir Grand Prix after Mercedes’ hopes of a one-two finish collapsed in a disastrous double pit stop and then a late race puncture for long-time race leader George Russell.
All three on the pdoium are the products of Sahara Force India, which now transformed into BWT Racing Point, after the former went into administration and Lance Stroll’s father helped revive the F1 team before it went into oblivion.
Esteban Ocon finished second ahead of Lance Stroll, while Mercedes saw Valtteri Bottas finish eighth after he was massively delayed in the team’s bungled stop and George Russell took night place after he sustained a late race slow puncture that sent him back to the pit lane.
At the start, Russell, starting from P2 on the grid behind pole sitter Bottas, made a good getaway and passed his team-mate. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also made a good start from P3 on the grid to draw level with Bottas in the early corners.
However, as the field went into Turn 4, Verstappen was squeezed by Pérez on the outside and Bottas on the inside. The Red Bull driver backed out of the fight but on the inside of the corner Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc tried to edge through.
The result was contact between Pérez and Leclerc. Verstappen tried to avoid the collision but went off track and lost control in the gravel. He hit the barriers and his race was immediately over. Leclerc also exited the race but Pérez managed to get back to the pit lane for repairs and a set of medium tyres during the following Safety Car period.
When the race resumed, Russell controlled the re-start well and held the lead. Bottas was passed by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz but the Spaniard went off track in doing so and was forced to give the place back.
As Russell started to eke out a gap at the front, Pérez was the man on the move and by lap 15 the Mexican had muscled his way back to P11.
Red Bull’s Alex Albon was running just ahead of Pérez and on lap 20 both closed in on McLaren’s Lando Norris who was struggling on his opening softs. Albon attacked and made a good move around the outside of the McLaren driver in Turn. Perez also slipped past Norris through Turn 4 and after Norris pitted at the end of the lap, Pérez then mounted an attack on Albon, passing the Red Bull in Turn 4.
Russell pitted from the lead on lap 44, while Bottas made his stop for hard tyres at the end of lap 49 and rejoined eight seconds behind his young team-mate.
Behind the Mercedes pair and third-placed Esteban Ocon, Pérez was flying and a stunning recovery drive looked to have been completed when he powered past the Frenchman to claim the last podium position.
However, the race then took a hugely dramatic turn when Williams stand-in Jack Aitken lost control in the final corner and clipped the wall on the outside. The collision dislodged Aitken’s front wing and with debris on the track a Virtual Safety Car then became a physical one.
Mercedes reacted to the caution, bringing both drivers in for a stacked stop. But amid massive confusion, the championship-winners mixed their tyre sets. Realising the error they sent Bottas out on the hard tyres he had nursed since his pit stop and Russell was sent out on a set of mediums that may have featured incorrect tyres.
The Briton was pitted again and both dropped down the order. Russell immediately began to fight his way back and by the closing laps he had risen back to P2 and was threatening new race leader Perez. But just eight laps from the flag the first-time Mercedes driver was back in the pits with a slow puncture. The stop dropped him to P15 and though he hauled himself back to P9 for his first points finish in F1, he was placed under investigation for possibly running incorrect tyres.
Bottas too was in trouble, trying to nurse his hard tyres to the flag and he was passed by a slew of rivals on his way to an eventual eighth-place finish.
At the front, though, it was Pérez’s day and after 87 chaotic laps the Mexican crossed the line to take his maiden F1 win ahead of Ocon and the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll.
Sainz finished fourth for McLaren ahead of the second Renault of Ricciardo and with Albon sixth, seventh place went to AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat. Bottas held on to eighth ahead of Russell and the final point on offer went to Lando Norris in the second McLaren.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Sakhir Grand Prix – Race
1 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 87 1:31’15.114
2 Esteban Ocon Renault 87 1:31’25.632 10.518
3 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 87 1:31’26.983 11.869
4 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 87 1:31’27.694 12.580
5 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 87 1:31’28.444 13.330
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 87 1:31’28.956 13.842
7 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 87 1:31’29.648 14.534
8 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 87 1:31’30.503 15.389
9 George Russell Mercedes 87 1:31’33.670 18.556
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 87 1:31’34.655 19.541
11 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 87 1:31’35.641 20.527
12 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 87 1:31’37.725 22.611
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 87 1:31’39.225 24.111
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 87 1:31’41.267 26.153
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 87 1:31’47.484 32.370
16 Jack Aitken Williams/Mercedes 87 1:31’48.788 33.674
17 Pietro Fittipaldi Haas/Ferrari 87 1:31’51.972 36.858 -
Mich Schumcher wins F2 title
Sakhir, 6 December 2020 – Mick Schumacher has won the 2020 Formula 2 title in his second year in the series. In today’s final race of the season, the 21-year-old Ferrari Driver Academy student failed to score points, finishing 18th, but as his only rival and Academy colleague Callum Ilott also finished outside the points in tenth, the Prema team driver won by the existing margin of 14 points. The race took place on the Outer Track at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Academy success. It was a memorable season for the FDA with three of its students finishing in the top four of the championship. Reigning Formula 3 champion Robert Shwartzman also had a great season, managing to win four races in his debut season, more than any other driver, soon establishing himself as a front runner in the Formula 1 feeder series. The other two FDA drivers, Marcus Armstrong and Giuliano Alesi had a very good start to the season, but it tailed off towards the end. FDA drivers took 9 wins in Formula 2, 24 podiums (an average of one a race), five pole positions and four fastest race laps, with 61 points finishes.Mick Schmacher with Ferrari Academy family on Dec 6 at Sakhir Photo @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office The race. Mick started from third and got alongside Dan Ticktum (DAMS) and Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) ahead of Callum in the UNI-Virtuosi Racing number 4 car. On the first lap, Schumacher locked up his wheels braking for turn 4, but kept going and then overtook Daruvala a few laps later. But the Indian driver fought back and retook the place and Mick wisely did not respond. On lap 19, the German began to struggle with his tyres and Ilott got ahead, as did Prema team-mate Robert Shwartzman and Guan-Yu Zhou (UNI-Virtuosi Racing). The team called Mick in to change tyres and give him a shot at setting the fastest race lap. That’s just what he did, getting a step closer to the title because at that point, Ilott would have had to win the race to take the title. In the closing stages, the Englishman also struggled with his tyres and could only finish tenth. The win went to Daruvala, followed by Ticktum and Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda (Carlin). Shwartzman was fifth, one ahead of Giuliano Alesi (MP Motorsport). Marcus Armstrong (ART Grand Prix) finished outside the points.
For the record. Mick Schumacher who will race in Formula 1 next season with the Haas F1 Team, is the second FDA driver to win the Formula 2 championship after Charles Leclerc in 2017. He is the first German to do so, since the series went by the name of F2 in 2017. Six Germans have won the series in previous guises: when it was Formula 3000, Christian Danner (1985), Jörg Müller (1996) and Nick Heidfeld (1999); as GP2 Nico Rosberg (2005), Timo Glock (2007) and Nico Hülkenberg (2009).
Laurent Mekies, Sporting Director, Scuderia Ferrari: “It’s been a great season for the FDA drivers in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, with three drivers in the top four of the classification and a total of nine wins. Mick Schumacher is the second FDA driver to win the F1 feeder series, following on from Charles Leclerc in 2017. Mick progressed throughout the year, showing great consistency and demonstrating the ability to make the most of any situation. Callum Ilott was a more than worthy adversary right to the end. He was fantastic in qualifying, taking five poles, more than any other driver and he was also very quick in the races. It was great to see him and Mick fight it out wheel to wheel today in the early stages. There were no holds barred but it was entirely correct.
Robert Shwartzman finished fourth and in his rookie season, he won four races, more than any other driver. The other rookie, Marcus Armstrong had a more difficult time of it but he will be able to make the most of what he has learned. Less fortunate was Giuliano Alesi, but at least today he could take satisfaction from his second points finish of the year.
The FDA development programme continues to produce results for the Prancing Horse youngsters. Proof of that is the fact that Schumacher, Ilott and Shwartzman will all take part in the Young Driver Test in Abu Dhabi on 15 December. Mick has already secured a Formula 1 drive and we can’t wait to see him in the Haas F1 team next year. As for the other two, we believe it is only a matter of time.Mick Schumacher: I am very happy to have won this title. I really wanted to come to Formula 1 as a champion and I’m very happy to have done so. Today’s race was pretty dramatic, because I flat-spotted my tyres on the opening lap and after that, I had to try and live with the situation. But on lap 19 I lost a few places and the team rightly chose to pit me to go onto the Softs. Unfortunately, that compound was not particularly quick today and so I couldn’t make up many places. I was kept informed on the radio about what was going on at the front and I knew other drivers were also struggling with their tyres. I want to thank the Prema team and the Ferrari Driver Academy for what has been an unforgettable season. We did not get the most race wins, but none of the others performed as consistently as us in bringing home points. I think that was the key factor that brought me the championship title.
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Historic Maiden F2 win for Jehan Daruvala
By David Bodapati
Bahrain, 6 Dec 2020: In an immensely proud moment for Indian sport, India’s F1 hope – Jehan Daruvala won the Formula 2 race at the Sakhir Grand Prix. A thrilling battle against F2 Champion, Mick Schumacher and Daniel Tictum saw the 22-year-old star emerge on top in the support race of the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Jehan had a good launch from 2nd on the grid and was up alongside pole sitter – Daniel Ticktum. Tictum squeezed Jehan on the inside which allowed Championship Leader Mick Schumacher to go around the outside of both of them. Eventually, Ticktum emerged in the lead, followed by Schumacher and Jehan in third. A few corners later Jehan made a good move to pass Schumacher and get into second.
A few laps later Schumacher passed Jehan, to relegate him to third. Jehan however did not give up. A thrilling battled ensued and eventually, Jehan got past Schumacher once again, to get back into second. Jehan then reeled off a series of quick laps to catch the race leader. However, Jehan was unable to overtake. The battle for the lead intensified as Ticktum seemed desperate to win the last race of the season. Jehan, however, kept his cool and kept up the pressure. His excellent racecraft forced the race leader to start making mistakes, but Jehan found it tough to get past.
Eventually with less than ten laps to go, Jehan made another fantastic move to get past Ticktum and grab the race lead. Thereafter Jehan drove well to slowly start opening up a gap to the cars behind. Jehan finally took the chequered flag to win his maiden FIA Formula 2 race. His Japanese teammate Yuki Tsunoda was second, over 3.5 seconds behind Jehan, while Ticktum was third.
Jehan Daruvala on his way to maiden F2 win on Sunday. Photo by James Gasperotti “Motorsport is pretty big in India. We obviously have a lot of people, so I have a big fanbase back home, and my goal at the end of the day is to do myself proud but also do my country proud and to prove to people from back home that even though we don’t have the same facilities and stuff that guys have in Europe, as long as you can work hard you can fight right at the sharp end of the grid.”, said an elated Jehan.
The Indian National Anthem being heard across the Bahrain International Circuit was the best possible way for Jehan to end his season first Formula 2 season. Mick Schumacher won the F2 championship.
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Russell misses pole to Bottas for another Mercedes front-row lockout
Sakhir, 5 Dec 2020: Valtteri Bottas took his fourth pole position of the year by edging new Mercedes team-mate George Russell by just 0.026s in qualifying for the Sakhir Grand Prix as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took third just three hundredths of a second further back.
In Q1 Verstappen was one of the last to take to the track but when he did the Dutchman quickly jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 0:54.037. That remained the benchmark for the bulk of the session, but late in the session Bottas bolted on a set of soft tyres and on the4 red-banded rubber he was able to claim top spot a little over a tenth ahead of the Red Bull driver.
Behind Russell was third ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris who had to make a late charge after having an early run deleted for infringing track limits. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly took fifth place ahead of Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
There was a slightly nervous end to the segment for second Red Bull driver Alex Albon, however. Banking on the safety of his early time of 54.620 his team kept him the garage on the final run and as rivals’ final times came in the Thai driver fell down the order. Fortunately his fall halted at P15 and he went through to Q2 eight hundredths of a second ahead of the first driver eliminated, Kevin Magnussen.
Alongside the Haas driver, Williams pair Nicholas Latifi and Jack Aitken, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Haas’ Pietro Fittipaldi.
In the second segment the Mercedes drivers, both Red Bulls and the Ferrari drievrs went out on medium tyres but while their initial times looked good, the gaps were too tight and in the closing stages every car went out on track again to try to ensure progress.
After moving to soft tyres, Verstappen jumped to the top of table with a lap of 53.647, a time that would hold good until the chequered flag. Behind him Pérez took second place ahead of Bottas, Sainz and Russell. Leclerc went through in sixth place ahead of Kvyat, Ricciardo and Gasly.
Out, though, went Renault’s Esteban Ocon and two hundredths of a second behind him, Alex Albon. The Thai driver had a poor second sector on his final flying lap and as the lap ebbed away he could find no improvement in the final stretch and so was eliminated in P12 ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi and the McLaren of Lando Norris.
In Q3 Verstappen initially claimed provisional pole with a lap of 53.591 with Leclerc putting in a superb lap to take a provisional front row spot. Both Mercedes drivers had run worn softs tyres on their opening run however and a second run on new rubber pushed both Bottas and Russell ahead of Verstappen. In the end Bottas’ second run time of 53.377 was good enough to take pole but while the Finn couldn’t improve on his third run it briefly looked like Verstappen might challenge it. The Dutchman set the fastest third sector but it wasn’t enough as Russell also improved and in the end Max took third place 0.026s behind Russell and just 0.056s off pole.
Behind the top three Leclerc’s time ended up being good enough for fourth and the Ferrari driver will start ahead of Pérez, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Sainz, Gasly and Stroll.
Valtteri Bottas
It’s great to be on pole, I’m happy with that, but this wasn’t my best qualifying. My second run in Q3 was decent, but I think there was still a bit of time missing in Turn 7 and 8. I was the first car out on track on the final run, so I didn’t have a tow and ultimately couldn’t improve. It was fairly close in the end, so I’m pleased it was enough for pole position. It’s great to see George in P2 and that we managed to lock out the front row for the team. I’m not really surprised to see him up there, he kept improving throughout the weekend and particularly through qualifying. We’re starting on the Medium tyre tomorrow, which should put us in a good position in terms of strategy. Max is going to have an advantage for the race start itself with the softer tyre, but we think for the race overall we’re on the better tyre. The track is quite bumpy and it’s actually fairly easy to follow other cars thanks to the tow, but we’re in the best possible position for tomorrow and are looking forward to a fun race.
George Russell
Valtteri has pushed Lewis a huge amount in qualifying over the years, so I’m really pleased to have finished Q3 just behind him and to be on the front row for tomorrow. It’s been incredibly intense with so much to learn and such a different way of driving in this car. I tried a lot of things in FP3, which didn’t go well at all. After final practice, I’d have been happy to just get through to Q3, so I was a bit nervous heading into qualifying. But I managed to get in the groove and was getting better and better every lap. Obviously, I’m a bit gutted to miss out on pole by 20 milliseconds, but if you’d told me last week that I’d be qualifying P2 on the grid, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’ve got nobody in front of me tomorrow, which I’ve not experienced for a long time. It’s going to be a really tricky race on such a short track layout, but we’re in a good position starting on the Mediums. I’ll give it my all and see what I can do.
Toto Wolff
Scoring a front row lockout in such a close qualifying session is a fantastic result for the team. This circuit is so short and with lap times below one minute, it was always going to produce very tight gaps and we saw that with less than a tenth between P1 and P3. I’m really happy with the result, Valtteri put in a good lap in Q3, which was enough for him to take pole position. George has settled in really well, particularly when you consider the circumstances, so I’m really pleased with his performance and it’s great to see him up there on the front row. This obviously puts us in a good position for tomorrow and we’re starting on the Medium tyre, which we feel is the best compound for the race. It’s going to be challenging and a bit of a step into the unknown on this track and with so many laps. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens and it’s sure to be very exciting.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Sakhir Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53.377 9 238.956
2 George Russell Mercedes 53.403 0.026 9 238.840
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 53.433 0.056 6 238.706
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53.613 0.236 3 237.904
5 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 53.790 0.413 6 237.122
6 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 53.906 0.529 5 236.611
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 53.957 0.580 6 236.388
8 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 54.010 0.633 6 236.156
9 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 54.154 0.777 9 235.528
10 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 54.200 0.823 6 235.328
11 Esteban Ocon Renault 53.995 0.348 6 236.221
12 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 54.026 0.379 6 236.086
13 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 54.175 0.528 8 235.437
14 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 54.377 0.730 6 234.562
15 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 54.693 1.046 6 233.207
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 54.705 0.801 9 233.156
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 54.796 0.892 11 232.768
18 Jack Aitken Williams/Mercedes 54.892 0.988 9 232.361
19 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 54.963 1.059 11 232.061
20 Pietro Fittipaldi Haas/Ferrari 55.426 1.522 11 230.123 -
Tsunoda takes 3rd win; Jehan Daruvala ends up 8th
Sakhir, 5 Dec 2020: Yuki Tsunoda took a brilliant third victory of the season from pole, but it wasn’t as simple as lights-to-flag, with the Carlin racer locked in a race-long dogfight with the entirety of the top five. Guanyu Zhou came out of that brawl in second, after a magnificent charge through the field from 11th, while Nikita Mazepin was forced to settle for third, despite leading for large parts of the afternoon.
Zhou’s efforts weren’t enough to prevent PREMA from sealing the Teams’ Title, as Robert Shwartzman finished fifth, behind Felipe Drugovich, confirming the Italian outfit as Champions with one race to go.
Tsunoda’s win may not have been enough to keep him in the Drivers’ Title fight, but the battle between Callum Ilott and Mick Schumacher for the crown will go down to the wire. The pair had started the day in ninth and 18th after a tough Qualifying session but recovered strongly to finish in sixth and seventh.
AS IT HAPPENED
Tsunoda initially got away without a hitch, but could then be seen adjusting his helmet heading into the first turn, allowing Mazepin the chance to steal the inside line. By the time they exited the first corner the Russian was in-front, while Tsunoda had fallen to P3 behind Shwarztman.
The second Carlin of Jehan Daruvala was sucked up by the pack and fell behind Artem Markelov who’d bombed off the line from P7. Title rivals Ilott and Schumacher only managed to make up a couple places, sitting seventh and 16th.
Starting on the prime tyre, Schumacher made up another few places in the opening 15 laps, getting up to P11 behind Marcus Armstrong, while Ilott dropped back to ninth ahead of his pitstop, appearing to struggle on the soft Pirellis.
Mazepin and Shwartzman pitted from the lead, handing first to Tsunoda, who remained out at the front. Ilott done the same as Schumacher launched ahead of Armstrong to put himself directly behind his title rival. The two wouldn’t get the chance to fight as Ilott finally opted to swap the softs for the hards and returned in 15th.
Mazepin and Shwartzman were on the charge, but couldn’t solely focus on getting through the pack as they had Tsunoda to contend with, the Carlin racer had pitted two laps later and possessed slightly fresher tyres.
Schumacher pitted from the lead on Lap 20, but his stop wasn’t the quickest and he returned in 13th behind Dan Ticktum. Mazepin, Shwartzman and Tsunoda were handed back the race lead, with Ilott up to fifth, in-front of Drugovich.
Tsunoda was given a shock as he attempted to pass Shwarztman ahead of the first turn. He’d flung his Carlin down the side of the PREMA, but Christian Lundgaard – a lap behind – appeared from the pits and Tsunoda needed lightning-fast reactions to evade the ART, diving back behind Shwarztman. Tsunoda had another attempt at Turn 4, easing past the Russian, who then lost a place to Drugovich as well.
There was movement in the race for the title as Schumacher bravely forced his way past both Dan Ticktum and Pedro Piquet for P8, while Ilott fell behind Guanyu Zhou.
Mazepin and Tsunoda were locked in battle for the lead. The two went back and forth, and it was the Carlin driver who eventually made the position stick, thanks to a brilliant late braking move. Having lost momentum, Mazepin was then at the mercy of Drugovich, before Zhou stunned the both of them and came out of nowhere to steal second in one fell swoop.
In the end, Tsunoda crossed the line with a 5.6s advantage over Zhou, with Mazepin retaining the final podium position. Drugovich settled for fourth ahead of Shwartzman. Ilott clinched sixth, directly in-front of his title rival, Schumacher, who’d made a late move on Daruvala. Ticktum and Piquet completed the top ten.
Schumacher retains a 14-point advantage heading into the final race of the season, sitting first on 213 points, ahead of Ilott on 199. Tsunoda is up to third on 186, with Mazepin fourth on 177 and Shwartzman fifth with 169.
PREMA are the new Teams’ Champions, finishing first with 382 points, ahead of UNI-Virtuosi on 342.5 and Hitech Grand Prix on 281. Carlin are fourth with 241 and ART Grand Prix fifth on 201.
KEY QUOTE – YUKI TSUNODA (CARLIN RACING)
“I am really, really happy with my result and I want to thank Carlin again. We’ve had really good pace this weekend, especially in the race, and I done my job.
“The start was really bad, but I trusted my driving and my tyre management. Both went well and I got P1 back, so I am really happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”
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K-1000 for bikes, the 2nd round of INRC, flagged off after Recce
By David Bodapati
Bengaluru, 5 Dec 2020: Defending champion Rajendra RE of TVS Racing will be looking to bounce back at the popular K-1000 rally, the second round of the God Speed Racing MRF fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for bikes which was flagged off here at the Tribal Adventure Cafe on Saturday.
Organised by Karnataka Motor Sports Club (KMSC), one of the oldest active founder members of the Federation of Motors Sports Clubs of India (fmsci), has been running the K1000 for over four decades and with 2W rally being revived in recent years, KMSC, is once again in the thick of action with God Speed Racing as promoters of the 2w Rally Nationals.
Raghavendra, Senior District Manager of MRF, flagged off the rally. “KMSC has taken all the precautions and the rally is being organised with all safety precautions under strict guidelines as prescribed by the Sports Ministry and the Federation,” said Sanjeev Shah, General Secretary of KMSC.
Rajendra, who lost the premium class race in Group A to teammate Samuel Shajan Jacob at Puttur in the first round recently, is raring to go. The talented multi-national champion suffered a rare setback and will be astride a Apache RTR 200cc but his teammate Jacob will be eager to do an encore to increase his points tally. TVS Racing once again looks strong in other classes too, and has a World Cup champion in Aishwarya Pissay, who will be defending her title in the Ladies class and has already bagged the first round with a huge lead. Ryhana Bee the runner up and who recently won the Sprint Nationals round will be putting up a fight with three other girls in the fray.
With reigning champion Syed Asif Ali and Pinkesh Thakkar suffering mechanical issues, another TVS Racing rider Shamim Khan won the first round in the Scooter Class which is usually dominated by TVS Racing as they sweep the podium in every round. One has to watch if the likes of Karthik, who took a podium in Round 1, can get up to speed here.
Asad Khan, the winner in Class 1A in Puttur will also look to consolidate his position. KMSC received 70 entries. The two physical stages, Tribal (8.01km) and Kaadu (8.15km), will be run thrice, to make it 48.48km of Special Stage distance. Along with transport (liaison) distance of a bit less than 120km, the total distance of the rally is 168.33km. Both the stages and the parc ferme, are at the Tribal Adventure Cafe, near Devanahalli.
