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Author: David Bodapati
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Ott Tanak wins in Estonia to open up title race
Estonia, 6 Sept 2020: Ott Tänak claimed his first World Rally Championship victory on the series’ return in Estonia. The Hyundai driver survived a late fright to deliver a popular home win on Sunday afternoon and climbed from fifth to third in the overall classification.
Tänak led most of the way to win the three-day gravel road Rally Estonia by 22.2 seconds in a Hyundai i20. Team-mate Craig Breen completed a 1-2 for Hyundai and matched his career-best result.
Estonia was the 600th WRC round since the championship began in 1973 and marked the championship’s return after a six-month pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tänak was the pre-event favourite and after taking the lead early in Saturday’s opening leg, the Estonian was never headed. But his bid for a maiden victory with the Korean manufacturer almost came unstuck in the penultimate speed test.
He swiped a bank with the rear of his i20, but the damage proved cosmetic only and he eased through the final special stage to secure his first victory for the team.
Tänak is now 13 points behind championship leader Sébastien Ogier. Second for an emotional Breen enabled the squad to close the gap to manufacturers’ series leaders Toyota Gazoo Racing to five points.
Breen finished only 4.7s clear of Ogier, admitting his attempt to measure his pace in the final stage allowed the Frenchman to come closer than intended. It was, however, a hugely impressive performance from the Irishman who is not a regular WRC starter.
Ogier headed a trio of Yaris finishers, satisfied that a podium keeps his hopes of a seventh world title on track, but disappointed he did not have the grip to match Tänak’s pace on Saturday afternoon.
Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä were fourth and fifth, both losing time with tyre troubles. Rovanperä incurred a 60s penalty last night for working on his car in a prohibited zone, but the 19-year-old earlier became the youngest driver to lead a WRC rally at just 19.
Takamoto Katsuta rolled out of what would have been a career-best fifth place. His error promoted the Ford Fiestas of Teemu Suninen and Esapekka Lappi to sixth and seventh, the Finns swapping places after Lappi lost time with a big spin.
Gus Greensmith was eighth after World Rally Car debutant Pierre-Louis Loubet retired with broken steering after hitting a tree stump. FIA WRC3 support category winner Oliver Solberg was ninth with FIA WRC2 victor Mads Østberg completing the leaderboard.Østberg recovered from a puncture on his PH Sport prepared Citroën C3 on Saturday morning before blasting away from rivals and claiming a resounding victory in the FIA WRC2 category. Behind him, Adrien Fourmaux finished second – a better result than he had anticipated – when a painful last-minute puncture for Hyundai’s Nikolay Gryazin gifted him the position. Pontus Tidemand drove a consistent rally in his Škoda Fabia Rally2 and was rewarded third as Gryazin hit trouble, 1min 21.7sec behind.
Winner of the FIA European Rally Championship’s Rally Liepaja last month in Latvia, Oliver Solberg was unstoppable in neighbouring Estonia, clinching his first ever FIA WRC3 win and first WRC points finish with ninth place overall. His closest rivals this weekend, local hero Egon Kaur and triple FIA ERC champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz, both encountered problems on Sunday. Kaur slipped from second to fourth behind Rally Sweden WRC3 category winner Jari Huttunen, but those positions became third and second when Kajetanowicz rolled his Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo on the final stage.
In FIA Junior WRC, Latvia’s Martins Sesks scored his first victory following late misfortune for long-time leader Robert Virves. The Estonian had seen his overnight lead cut to just 5.3s by Sesks, but worse was to follow when a puncture four stages from the finish cost 45sec and demoted him to third. Sesks however never put a foot wrong throughout the three-day event. Sami Pajari from Finland finished second, 14.7s behind him.
2020 Rally Estonia – Final Official Results
1. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 1hr 59min 53.6sec 2. Craig Breen (IRL) / Paul Nagle (IRL) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2h 00min 15.8sec 3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 00min 20.5sec 4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 00min 35.5sec 5. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) / Jonne Halttunen (FIN) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 01min 12.3sec 6. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN) Ford Fiesta WRC 2hr 02min 33.2sec 7. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN) Ford Fiesta WRC 2hr 02min 45.6sec 8. Gus Greensmith (GBR) / Elliott Edmondson (GBR) Ford Fiesta WRC 2hr 04min 47.4sec 9. Oliver Solberg (NOR) / A. Johnston (IRL) – FIA WRC3 Volkswagen Polo Gti 2h 07min 32.2sec 10. Mads Østberg / T. Eriksen (NOR) – FIA WRC 2 Citroën C3 2h 08min 10.9sec -
Dan Ticktum disqualified; Callum Ilott promoted to F2 Sprint victory
Monza, 6 Sept 2020: Briton Dan Ticktum has been disqualified from today’s FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race at Monza after it was not possible to take a fuel sample of 0.08%kg from his DAMS’ car after the chequered flag.
The Technical Delegate’s report stated that the sample extracted was 0.05kg, which is a breach of the technical regulation. All competitors must ensure that a 0.8kg sample of fuel can be taken from the car at any time during the event.
As a consequence, Car 2 has been disqualified from the results, which means that Ticktum loses the Sprint Race win. As such, Championship leader Callum Ilott inherits the victory, whilst Christian Lundgaard is promoted to P2.
Mick Schumacher moves up to third, ahead of Louis Delétraz, Robert Shwartzman, Jehan Daruvala and Jack Aitken. Nikita Mazepin jumps to P8 and takes the final point available.
Ilott now leads the Championship with 149 points, six ahead of Schumacher, and nine ahead of Shwarztman. Ticktum falls from eight to ninth, behind Deletraz.
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Dan Ticktum put on a Monza masterclass to clinch a comfortable second win of the season in the FIA Formula 2 Sprint Race, finishing nearly 4s ahead of Callum Ilott, who retrieved the Championship lead from Robert Shwartzman.
The Russian not only lost first, but also second in the standings, as PREMA teammate Mick Schumacher followed up his Feature Race win on Saturday with a fourth-place finish in the Sprint. Shwartzman did manage to wrestle his way to sixth from P9 in the race, but it wasn’t enough, and he falls to third place in the standings behind his fellow Ferrari Academy drivers.
ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard continued his strong turnaround of form, completing the podium in third place for the second race in succession, having scored just one points finish from the five races prior to Monza.
Having started on reverse grid pole, Louis Delétraz slumped to a fifth-place finish, as his search for a first F2 win continues.
AS IT HAPPENED
Deletraz got a good getaway from pole, but Ticktum got a better one from second, dragging his DAMS into the lead ahead of the first corner. There was little movement behind them, as Ilott, Yuki Tsunoda and Lundgaard all stood firm and held on to third, fourth and fifth.
Feature Race winner Schumacher had gotten a move on, launching off the line from eighth and up to sixth place. The PREMA racer was unrelenting and gained another position from Lundgaard on the second lap.
The PREMA ace was up to fourth by Lap 3, as Tsunoda’s Carlin suffered from technical issues and slowed to a near stop. The Red Bull junior did manage to get going again, but dived into the pits for a check-up, and was eventually forced to retire.
There was a similar issue for Zhou. The UNI-Virtuosi racer had just managed to get ahead of Schumacher, out-breaking him at Turn 1, but slowed significantly just half a lap later. The Renault junior crawled back to the pits, but retired as well.
Shwarztman was making moves. Having started the day in ninth, the Russian was up to sixth, directly behind his teammate Schumacher, who had also lost a place to Lundgaard, during his battle with Zhou.
Ticktum was sitting pretty out in front, with Deletraz too busy defending from Ilott. Eventually, the Briton was able to fling his UNI-Virtuosi down the side of the Charouz on the first straight to leap up to second.
Deletraz got a good getaway from pole, but Ticktum got a better one from second, dragging his DAMS into the lead ahead of the first corner. There was little movement behind them, as Ilott, Yuki Tsunoda and Lundgaard all stood firm and held on to third, fourth and fifth.
Feature Race winner Schumacher had gotten a move on, launching off the line from eighth and up to sixth place. The PREMA racer was unrelenting and gained another position from Lundgaard on the second lap.
The PREMA ace was up to fourth by Lap 3, as Tsunoda’s Carlin suffered from technical issues and slowed to a near stop. The Red Bull junior did manage to get going again, but dived into the pits for a check-up, and was eventually forced to retire.
There was a similar issue for Zhou. The UNI-Virtuosi racer had just managed to get ahead of Schumacher, out-breaking him at Turn 1, but slowed significantly just half a lap later. The Renault junior crawled back to the pits, but retired as well.
Shwarztman was making moves. Having started the day in ninth, the Russian was up to sixth, directly behind his teammate Schumacher, who had also lost a place to Lundgaard, during his battle with Zhou.
Ticktum was sitting pretty out in front, with Deletraz too busy defending from Ilott. Eventually, the Briton was able to fling his UNI-Virtuosi down the side of the Charouz on the first straight to leap up to second.
KEY QUOTE – DAN TICKTUM (DAMS)
“A pretty positive day for me today, with a second win in F2. It has been a very up and down season so far, but I think we have consistently been moving in the right direction and I think we are nearly there. You can always be better, but I feel like the car is a lot closer to the window now – or perhaps even in it.
“I am really happy with the result today: I was able to control the race once I had gotten a good start. I would like to win a Feature Race, I said that in Silverstone, but a win is a win. The big positive is the pace that we have in the car. We will see what Qualifying is like next week and hopefully I’ll be on top in the other race.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Having retaken the Championship lead, Ilott will not want to surrender it again, but Schumacher is the man on form and will have his eyes locked firmly on the prize. Shwartzman has some making up to do from third after a disappointing Round 8, but will be able to do so in less than a weeks’ time, when F2 heads to Mugello for the ninth round of racing.
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Hughes clinches victory ahead of Lawson in dramatic F3 Race 2
Monza, 6 Sept 2020: Sunday’s action in Monza was the type of race which comes around once, maybe twice in a decade. A race so manic, so chaotic, that it’s difficult to make sense of it. Round 8’s FIA Formula 3 Race 2 was that race. Jake Hughes won from sixth, Lawson sealed second from P5 and Pourchaire completed the podium from ninth, but that barely even scratches the surface of the story.
None of top three from the grid finished in the points, all three of the PREMAs retired, Alex Smolyar took fourth from 20th, Alex Peroni nabbed sixth from 16th, Pierre-Louis Chovet clinched seventh from 18th for his first F3 points, while Olli Caldwell snuck into the points from P29.
At one point, Oscar Piastri was on course to stretch his Championship lead, but a four-car collision forced him to retire and robbed him of points.
Logan Sargeant was handed first place in the Drivers’ standings as a result, with the PREMA racer somehow finding himself in fifth having started from 26th. But it proved to be temporary, as the American was also forced to retire after a coming together with teammate Frederik Vesti, which dramatically took them both out of the race.
All the while, Hughes calmly stretched his lead out in front, letting the drama play out behind him, keeping his nose clean ahead of Liam Lawson. The duo would close out first and second, with Pourchaire making a late assault on the podium to finish in third place.
AS IT HAPPENED
Starting from reverse grid pole on just his fourth F3 outing, Michael Belov stuttered off the line and fell behind his more experienced rivals at the first corner. Round 7 race winner Lirim Zendeli fired his Trident up from fourth when the lights went out, taking a tow into Turn 1 and sending it down inside of the Charouz driver.
Enzo Fittipaldi’s getaway was decent as well, just not quite as strong. The Brazilian dove down the opposite side of Belov and powered his way ahead, but Zendeli’s Trident had the racing line and claimed first place.
Hughes and Lawson were well away themselves, launching past Belov from fifth and sixth to steal third and fourth. Piastri took a couple more laps but made his way past the Charouz driver too.
Zendeli was furiously trying to break the tow down the back straight, but Fittipaldi was hot on his heels and giving him no respite – his engineer telling him on the radio to chase the lead and forget about his tyres for now. The duo went back and forth in their fight for the win, as Fittipaldi initially mugged the German of P1 at the second chicane, before Zendeli recovered it on the main straight.
Lawson had tussled his way ahead of Hughes and was sitting patiently behind the battling front two, who continued to dice back and forth between first and second.
The Hitech racer was right to remain patient. The front two went side-by-side through the final corner as Fittipaldi edged ahead, but Zendeli fought back on the main straight and clipped the HWA’s rear left tyre.
Fittipaldi wobbled and tumbled back, quickly realising he had a puncture, while Lawson skipped ahead of them both for the lead. Zendeli escaped any damage himself but slumped to sixth.
Behind them, Piastri had wrestled his way up to fourth and was eying a third race win but his hopes were dashed by Clément Novalak, who had a weekend to forget having taken out Piastri’s teammate, and Championship rival, Sargeant in Race 1.
The Carlin Buzz racer locked up into Turn 1 and tagged the back of Piastri’s PREMA. The Australian was spun 180 degrees and collected Belov, leaving David Schumacher with nowhere to go. All bar Belov were dumped out of the race and forced to retire.
The main beneficiary of all this? Piastri’s title rival, Sargeant. The PREMA racer had begun the day in P26, seemingly with little of a points finish, but found himself up in sixth place with the Championship leader out of the race – an exact reversal of Race 1. “Let’s go I can win this,” screeched the American on team radio.
The marshals were quick to clear up the debris during a Virtual Safety Car period, and Hughes darted off into the distance at the restart having quietly taken the lead from Lawson during all of the chaos.
Sargeant instantly fired ahead of Zendeli, but was held up by teammate Vesti. The American was getting frustrated and attempted a lunge down through the inside of Parabolica, but the Dane refused to surrender the position and forced Sargeant to back off, with the two nearly coming to blows.
Having very nearly collided, Sargeant opted to ease off, knowing how disastrous a pointless finish would be to his title hopes. With DRS, Zendeli and Pourchaire both worked their way past him.
The pair got past Vesti too, which revived the PREMA duo’s battle, but this time it would end in disaster. The American clambered past, but Vesti clipped his right rear tyre and dumped his teammate into the gravel with an instant puncture. Vesti had suffered damage to his front wing and both drivers were out of the race.
Throughout all of this, Hughes was blissfully skipping towards the finish line, building up a 1.8s buffer to keep Lawson at bay. Pourchaire made a late dash past Zendeli for the final podium spot, with the Trident then losing a place to Alex Smolyar as well.
Alex Peroni sealed sixth. Chovet was seventh, ahead of Roman Stanek, Caldwell and Richard Verschoor.
In the Drivers’ Championship, Piastri remains in first place on 160 points, eight ahead of Sargeant. Lawson is up to third with 135 and Pourchaire fourth on 134. David Beckmann is fifth with 124.5. In the Teams’ title fight, champions PREMA are first with 429.5 points, ahead of Trident on 225.5. ART Grand Prix are third, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix and MP Motorsport
KEY QUOTE – JAKE HUGHES (HWA RACELAB)
“It has always been a dream to stand on the top step of this famous podium, I have come close before, but now we have finally done it. Credit to the team, the car was flying and it made the second half of the race quite comfortable.
“The first half was pretty messy, with quite a lot going on, but I am really, really happy. Especially, after Spa interrupted our good run of form. Now, I am looking forward to Mugello.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Just eight points separate the top two in the Drivers’ Championship heading into the season finale at Mugello, where we will crown the second F3 champion. After the chaos of Round 8, who takes the title is still anyone’s guess.
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Ott Tanak unstoppable on home soil, drama for Neuville: Saturday
Estonia, 5 Sept 2020: Ott Tänak dominated the field on Rally Estonia’s first full day of action to end Saturday at the top of the leaderboard. The fight for the final podium is intense with Breen in second and Ogier converging over third as Neuville retired for the day.
Driving on home roads, Tänak shrugged aside the series’ six-month COVID-19 lay-off to head Estonia’s first World Rally by 11.7 seconds. On a superb day for his Hyundai squad, team-mate Craig Breen held second in an identical i20 World Rally Car.
Estonia became the 33rd country to stage a championship round as the competition reached a landmark 600th event since it began in 1973. Tänak celebrated by taking an iron grip on the blisteringly fast sandy roads on which he developed his career.
19 year-old youngster Kalle Rovanperä grabbed the lead in this morning’s opening speed test. Tänak was only fourth after being hampered by a soft tyre, but charged to the front on the next stage and built a 6.8s mid-leg margin over Breen.
The repeated roads were rougher this afternoon, but Tänak doubled his lead before throttling back, content to have won three of today’s 10 stages.
Breen’s part-time programme brings less chance to impress, but the Irishman laid claim to being driver of the day. He won two stages and was second on three more.
Hyundai was on course for a clean sweep of the top three as Thierry Neuville was on Breen’s heels. But his i20 bounced out of a rut, swiped a bank and smashed the rear right suspension, leaving the Belgian stranded.
Championship leader Sébastien Ogier replaced Neuville in third. The Frenchman, driving a Toyota Yaris, won two stages but was hindered by two tyres delaminating and a final test stall.
Ogier trailed Breen by 17.0s and headed team-mate Rovanperä by 6.2s. The young Finn’s early lead vanished with a puncture, which relegated him to eighth but he recovered to snatch fourth from fellow Yaris driver Elfyn Evans in the final stage. Sadly, the crew received a one-minute penalty for removing their radiator blanking plate in the control area before the start of SS10, which made them drop to 6th place.
Evans was third initially but struggled to retain his rhythm and tyre troubles saw him slide back to fifth. The Welshman had 25.1s in hand over team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, the Japanese youngster belying his lack of experience to stay on course for a career-best sixth. With Rovanperä’s misfortune, they respectively climb up to fourth and fifth.
Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen struggled for grip in their Ford Fiestas in seventh and eighth, with World Rally Car debutant Pierre-Louis Loubet and Gus Greensmith completing the leaderboard.
In FIA WRC2, PH Sport’s Mads Østberg recovered from early drama to open a comfortable lead in category thanks to eight impressive stage wins with his Citroën C3 Rally2. He eventually rounded out a long day of action with a 37.8sec advantage over Hyundai’s Nikolay Gryazin with his NG i20 car. M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, is third in a Ford Fiesta MkII.
In FIA WRC3, Norway’s Olivier Solberg and local hero Egon Kaur traded stage times throughout the afternoon, but Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 pilot Solberg did enough to extend his lead to 17.8s at the close of play. Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz is third, 14.6s ahead of Jari Huttunen, with Marco Bulacia in fifth.
Local driver Robert Virves continues to lead FIA Junior WRC on his category debut, holding a 11.2s advantage over Mārtiņš Sesks.
Ken Torn had been in the thick of the battle but was eliminated from the contest on SS9 when his Ford Fiesta Rally4 picked up a double puncture. With an insufficient number of spares, Torn called it quits and retired for the day. As a result, it’s Sami Pajari who holds third, 37.1s adrift of Virves.
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Mick Schumacher takes maiden F2 win; Jehan Daruvala in points
Monza, 5 Sept 2020: It was a case of seven times lucky for Mick Schumacher, who has blown the drivers’ title fight wide open with his first victory of 2020, and his first-ever in a Feature Race. The Ferrari junior took his fourth consecutive podium finish, and his seventh overall this season, to move within three points of first place in the standings.
Indain racer Jehan Daruvala finished P10 taking the last point.
Italian Luca Ghiotto overcame a difficult start to take his third F2 podium on home soil in Monza, ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard.
Schumacher owes much of his victory to a sublime start off the line, as he fired up from seventh to second before the opening corner.
The German was then aided by a disastrous pitstop for pole-sitter Callum Ilott, who had looked so assured out in front, but stalled in the pits and plummeted down the field from P1. Ilott managed a sterling recovery drive, but was forced to settle for sixth place.
His P6 finish ties him in first place for the Championship lead with Robert Shwartzman, who finished P9 having started from 16th.
AS IT HAPPENED
Ilott kept his cool at the start, gliding off the line and neatly into the first corner, but all eyes were on Schumacher when the lights went out as the German got a dream getaway. He flung his PREMA around Nikita Mazepin and Roy Nissany off the line from seventh, and then weaved to the left and around the outside of three more to rob second place.
Yuki Tsunoda and Ghiotto endured dire getaways from second and third in comparison, and were swallowed up by those around them to drop them down to fifth and sixth, respectively.
Ilott had been unable to pull away from the pack in the opening laps and had Schumacher right behind him. The Ferrari juniors went side-by-side into Turn 1, but the UNI-Virtuosi driver clung on before Schumacher was told on the team radio to ease off his tyres.
Ilott pulled away ahead of his pitstop and dived in for a change on Lap 12, with the lead then almost 2s. But his race began to unravel as his stop was a disaster. The change was clean, but he stalled on the release and the team were forced to jumpstart his car. This handed Schumacher the lead, and dropped the Briton all the way down to the back of the pack.
Ilott’s stop wasn’t the only drama going on, as Nissany and Mazepin went wheel-to-wheel into the first chicane, resulting in the Hitech racer taking a trip into the gravel and falling to P9. From here, things got worse for the Russian driver as his car appeared to enter safety mode and he dropped down to 17th.
Those on the alternate strategy began to pit on Lap 19, and Dan Ticktum swung in from first place and returned in P10, just ahead of Ilott who was working his way back through the field. Schumacher retook the race lead and began to work on building a gap between himself and second-placed Lundgaard.
Ilott had firmly regrouped and regathered following the slow pitstop, refusing to let it define his race. He looked like a man possessed, setting purple sector after purple sector in his attempts to recover, first dispatching of Ticktum, and then Marcus Armstrong, within a matter of laps.
This put him in the wheel tracks of his title rival, Shwartzman, who could do nothing to defend from the unrelenting Briton. Ilott angled his Virtuosi towards the Championship leader heading into Turn 1, and then fired past for P6 – despite them both having the aid of DRS.
Ilott was far from finished. The Charouz machine of Louis Delétraz was next, as the Briton edged into fifth and lined up behind Tsunoda. Ilott’s teammate Guanyu Zhou was making moves as well, relegating Shwartzman to eighth, before shooting ahead of Delétraz too.
Ghiotto was enjoying a recovery of sorts himself, getting over his slow start to return to his starting position of third with three laps to go. The Italian reeled in Lundgaard and dived ahead of the Dane for second.
Schumacher retained first at the chequered flag with a gap of just over 3s to Ghiotto, with Lundgaard taking the final podium place. Tsunoda hung on to fourth, after Ilott’s tyres waned and he dropped behind Zhou. Ticktum was to seventh, followed by Delétraz, Shwartzman and Jehan Daruvala.
Shwartzman and Ilott are now tied in first place in the Championship on 134 points, just three ahead of Schumacher in third. Tsunoda drops to fourth on 123 points, ahead of Lundgaard who leaps to fifth with 104 points. In the Teams’ Championship, PREMA Racing now lead by nearly 30 points, with 265 to UNI-
KEY QUOTE – MICK SCHUMACHER (PREMA RACING)
“I am very happy with the result today. I think that the team did a mega job to get the car out again after yesterday’s incident in Qualifying. When you are pushing, you are obviously trying to improve yourself and I went a bit over the limit and therefore ended up in the wall.
“It was a long night for the boys, so I really wanted to get good points for them. I didn’t think that I was going to win, but I wanted good points and a good race for the guys. They stayed up until 2am yesterday and worked on the car to get it ready. They did that and they did it in style, so I am very, very proud of them.
“This race is for them. We as a team really deserve this one. It was a really good race, everything just worked, and I am really, really happy.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Delétraz will start from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race tomorrow at 11.10am (local time), but all eyes will be on the trio of title contenders, with just three points separating them.
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Michael Rinaldi claims maiden WorldSBK win
Aragon, 5 Sept 2020: A new face stepped on top of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship podium as Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN) claimed a sensational maiden victory in Race 1 for the Pirelli Teruel Round at MotorLand Aragon. Rinaldi had started from second on the grid and had topped all three Free Practice sessions as he continued his impressive pace.
Despite appearing to get a bad start, Rinaldi held second place on the opening lap but used the straight-line speed advantage of his Ducati machine to pass Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on the run to Turn 16 on the opening lap and from there, he did not look back; lapping consistently faster than the reigning Champion.
Rea finished the race in second place, almost six seconds behind Rinaldi but the 20 points gained on Championship rival Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati), with Redding crashing out on Lap 7 while under pressure from Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), means the five-time Champion is now 30 points clear of Redding.
Redding’s ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati teammate, Chaz Davies, claimed a podium as two Ducati machines finished in the top three. Davies was in a battle for third with Bautista before the Spanish rider crashed at Lap 14 on Turn 14 and retired from the race. Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) finished in fourth place for the 18-lap race as the lead Yamaha rider, one place ahead of teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) battled both the field and illness to take a sixth place finished after a titanic battle with numerous riders. Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed his best result of the season with eighth place with Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) claimed a top ten finished ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) finished in 11th place ahead of Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in 12th. Just four seconds separated Lowes in sixth and Baz in 12th to show how competitive the WorldSBK field is in 2020. Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) secured a 13th place finish while Matteo Ferrari (Motocorsa Racing) secured a points finish on his WorldSBK debut, finishing ahead of Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing Honda Team) to complete the points.
Maximilian Scheib (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) was the last classified rider in 16th place after an incident in the early stages of the race, with Bautista and Redding not completing the race alongside Roman Ramos (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR), Marco Melandri (Barni Racing Team) and Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) also not retiring from the race.P1 Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN)
“It’s unbelievable! I’m very happy but I don’t know how to explain this emotion right now. It was a difficult year last year but this year I’ve found a family. Always I’ve had some people behind me who support me in difficult times. Now we are here! I couldn’t hope for a better race and I will enjoy this.”
P2 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“I did my best. Yesterday, I tried a long run with the soft tyre and we made it work to the end but something in my head was telling me it was too much of a gamble. When I saw Michael and his pace, with the SCX tyre, the rhythm he could do was incredible. Maybe tomorrow we could do a more aggressive strategy but super happy to pick up 20 points. I feel like we got the best out of the bike today.”
P3 Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
“I was so undecided; I don’t think I’ve ever been so undecided on the grid over a tyre choice. It was just at that cut off temperature where the SCX tyre starts to work. In any case, it was a risk. I knew Alvaro was going to run it and I knew Michael was going to run it. With their size and weight being a lot less, I think it’s an easy decision for them whereas for me it was a bit of a roll of the dice. In some ways it worked, in other ways it didn’t. We have to evaluate how to improve our package to make better use of that tyre tomorrow if we’re going to run it. Overall, I’m satisfied. It was a tough race, conditions were really different compared to last week. Really hot, really greasy. Happy to be on the podium! Congratulations to Michael Ruben Rinaldi, he rode awesomely and absolutely disappeared. No one had an answer for him. He’s been somewhat of a little brother in the Aruba Ducati fold in the last few years, so the annoying little brother has come into his own!” -
Lewis Hamilton takes pole ahead of Bottas and Sainz
Monza, 5 Sept 2020: Lewis Hamilton claimed his 94th career pole position with a blistering final flying lap that set a new lap record lap at Monza to edge second-placed team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 0.069s and third-placed Carlos Sainz of McLaren by eight-tenths of a second.
Fourth place in the session went to Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez as Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen slipped to P5 ahead of the second McLaren of Lando Norris.
It was another difficult day for Ferrari, however, as on home soil neither ofg its cars made Q3, with Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel ending up P13 and P17.
In Q1 the Mercedes drivers led the way, with Hamilton taking top spot with a lap of 1:19.514. Bottas slotted into second place, two tenths behind the champion.
Verstappen, meanwhile comfortably made his way though to Q2 with a time of 1:20.193. That was only good enough for fifth place, however, as third place was taken by Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and fourth by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.
However, it was a much more nervous end to the session for Alex Albon in the other Red Bull. The Thai driver had his second flyer of the session deleted from exceeding track limits and he dropped to 15th on the timesheet ahead of the final runs. Albon was forced to go again and he would need to make it count.
That was easier said than done, however, as on the out lap a numbere of cars became embroiled in a tussle for position. In the end it meant that most were forced to abandon their lap and Albon fortunately scraped through in P15 ahead of eliminated drivers Romain Grosjean, Sebastian Vettel, Antonio Giovinazzi, George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.
Hamilton again led the way after the first runs of Q2. The champion set a run-one benchmark of 1:19.092 to sit almost four tenths of a second clear of Bottas. Pérez was again third ahead of Sainz and Verstappen found himself in P5, 0.057s behind the McLaren. Albon, meanwhile, was in P10 with a time of 1:20.064.
Once again the final runs saw drivers battling for space and a clear tow at the end of the session. This time, though, the only complication was caused by Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo going wide at the second chicane and that also ruined team-mate Ocon’s lap as the Frenchman was seeking a tow from his team-mate. There were few improvements elsewhere, however, and as drivers fell back on their opening times Albon went through to Q3 in tenth place as Verstappen progressed comfortably in P5 behind Perez and Sainz who snuck into P3 thanks to his final flyer.
Eliminated at this stage were AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat in P11, Ocon, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
Track limits were again Albon’s nemesis in the opening run of Q3. The Thai driver was seventh at the end of his lap, with the McLarens of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris separating him from Verstappen, who was fourth behind Pérez.
Albon’s lap was swiftly deleted, however, as he once again put all four wheels past the white lines at Parabolica. He dropped to 10th.
Verstappen, meanwhile, was again engaged in a battle with Perez and Sainz for hundredths of a second. And as Hamilton stormed to pole position ahead of Bottas with a time of 1:18.887, Sainz took P3 with lap of 1:19.695, good enough to put him three hundredths of a second ahead of Pérez and a tenth ahead of Verstappen who had to settle for fifth place.
The Dutchman will therefore start at the front of row three ahead of the seconds McLaren of Lando Norris, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll. Albon will start ninth, on row five alongside tenth-placed Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:18.887 6 264.362
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:18.956 0.069 6 264.131
3 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 1:19.695 0.808 6 261.682
4 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:19.720 0.833 6 261.600
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:19.795 0.908 6 261.354
6 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:19.820 0.933 6 261.272
7 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:19.864 0.977 6 261.128
8 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:20.049 1.162 6 260.525
9 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:20.090 1.203 6 260.392
10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:20.177 1.290 6 260.109
11 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:20.169 1.217 6 260.135
12 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:20.234 1.282 6 259.924
13 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:20.273 1.321 6 259.798
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:20.926 1.974 6 257.702
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:21.573 2.621 5 255.658
16 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:21.139 1.625 8 257.025
17 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:21.151 1.637 5 256.987
18 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:21.206 1.692 9 256.813
19 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:21.587 2.073 7 255.614
20 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:21.717 2.203 8 255.207 -
Ott Tanak takes lead on home soil: Rally Estonia
Estonia, 5 Sept 2020: Ott Tänak leads on home soil a Hyundai 1-2-3 as the FIA World Rally Championship roared back into action on Rally Estonia with five stages on Saturday morning.
Tänak came into the event as the favourite for victory but it was Toyota’s 19-year Kalle Rovanperä who was quickest in SS2 to take the lead of a WRC round for the first time. But the Finn then lost around half a minute to Tänak in SS3 when he finished the stage with a damaged tyre, which also caused him to lose some of the aerodynamic bodywork on his car.
Tänak was quickest in stages three and four to open up a lead over his team-mate Craig Breen, while Thierry Neuville also moved up into the top three. Neuville won SS6 and finished the morning 4.3 seconds behind Breen and 11.1 seconds away from Tänak.
Jointly leading the rally after SS1 on Friday following a colourful opening ceremony at Raadi airfield in Tartu, Sébastien Ogier dropped to fifth opening the road on the morning’s first stage, but improved his pace as the loop wore on and claimed a fastest time on SS6 to jump ahead of Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans for fourth overall. The recovering Rovanperä was second fastest in the final two stages of the loop and sits sixth just ahead of fellow Toyota youngster Takamoto Katsuta.
M-Sport Ford drivers Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen sit eighth and ninth, with Lappi losing time when he overshot a junction in SS6. Pierre-Louis Loubet made a similar error in the very same place but sits 10th on his top-class debut in a Hyundai, ahead of M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith.
Mads Østberg leads FIA WRC2 in his Citroën following an eventful morning in the category, which included a puncture for the Norwegian driver. He is 16.5 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Nikolay Gryazin, who escaped a high-speed spin in SS2 in his Hyundai. Ahead of Østberg overall are the top three drivers in FIA WRC3, where Oliver Solberg is on top in front of local ace Egon Kaur and Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
It is an Estonian one-two in FIA Junior WRC, with category debutant Robert Virves leading Ken Torn by 1.3s. Championship leader Tom Kristensson was on top after SS2, only to retire following a heavy landing on the following stage.
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Frederik Vesti wins from ninth; Prema clinches team title: F3
Monza, 5 Sept 2020: Frederik Vesti drove a phenomenal race from ninth on the grid to seal his second FIA Formula 3 win of the season and emphatically clinch the Teams’ Championship for PREMA Racing on home soil with a round to spare.
The Dane left it late at Monza, having carefully picked off those starting in-front of him, to dispatch of Théo Pourchaire with two laps to go and cap off arguably his best performance in F3.
Pourchaire settled for second at the chequered flag, but drove a sublime race of his own, putting a difficult Friday behind him to rise from sixth.
Vesti’s PREMA teammate Oscar Piastri made up the most places of the top three, stealing a podium place late on having started all the way back in P15. In doing so, the Australian regained the Championship lead from teammate Logan Sargeant. The American suffered a disastrous race, finishing 26th after contact from Clément Novalak spun him off track.
Despite an initially strong getaway, pole-sitter Liam Lawson fell down the order, before contact with fellow front row starter Matteo Nannini rid him of any momentum he had left, eventually finishing in P6.
AS IT HAPPENED
A manic Qualifying session, which saw no fewer than nine drivers handed post-session penalties, was followed up by a manic start to the race. Lawson surged off the line in controlled fashion, but there was all sorts of action behind him.
Jake Hughes flung off the line and was initially looking down the left of the Hitech Grand Prix driver, but locked up and fell back to fourth. From second, Nannini looked right, and then left, but couldn’t see any way past Lawson. The Italian tried his luck again around the second turn, but again just couldn’t find the room.
Pourchaire – who had initially taken pole on Friday before being handed a five-place grid drop – enjoyed a sterling start, firing his ART machine off the line and into third at the end of the first chicane.
It didn’t take the Frenchman long to nip ahead of Nannini either, who had lost momentum in his attempts to overtake Lawson. In amongst all of this, Sebastián Fernández spun at the first turn and fell to the back of the grid.
Three laps in and Pourchaire was challenging Lawson for the lead. The Frenchman was on the warpath and had already set the fastest lap in his bid to bridge the gap. He lined up behind the Hitech on the main straight, using DRS to pass the Kiwi for the lead at Turn 1.
Just behind them, Hughes had managed to tussle ahead of Nannini into third, and then dispatched of Lawson a lap later for P2.
Sargeant misjudged the first corner and was forced to funnel through the run-off area, coming out directly in-front of PREMA teammate, and main title rival, Piastri, in 12th. The two managed to fight intothe top ten, and thrice swapped places – with Piastri coming out on top.
Nannini’s chances of a podium disappeared as a battle for third place with Lawson ended in collision. The Italian attempted to take the inside line going into Turn 1, but the space wasn’t there and the two touched front-wings. Nannini suffered damage and was forced to pull over and retire.
The Kiwi had lost precious time and now had Vesti following in his wheel tracks. The PREMA made a move around the second chicane and both men were briefly forced off track – Vesti at the turn and the Kiwi down the straight – with Lawson just about clinging on to the final podium spot.
The action was brought to a halt by a Safety Car as Fernández dumped his ART in the gravel trap. Pourchaire kept an eye on Hughes at the restart, but the Briton was too busy defending an attack from Vesti to bother the race leader. The Dane had already fired ahead of Lawson and successfully slipped ahead of Hughes as well.
The Championship battle was blown wide open as Sargeant was tagged by Novalak and spun off track. The American managed to get going again, but had plummeted to last, with his main rival Piastri up to sixth.
PREMA enjoyed a sterling Lap 20, as Vesti finally made a move on Pourchaire for the lead. The Dane held his nerve at the first chicane and braked later than the Frenchman, gathering it together at the exit to steal first place.
Behind them, Piastri had already nicked fifth from Beckmann and then fourth from Lawson, and now had Hughes in his sights as well. It took the Australian another lap, but he managed to edge ahead of the Briton.
Vesti coolly held on at the chequered flag ahead of Pourchaire and Piastri. Beckmann fought up to fourth at the end to push Hughes down to P5, while Lawson fell to sixth. Lirim Zendeli, Bent Viscaal, Enzo Fittipaldi and Michael Belov completed the top ten.
Piastri now leads the fight for the Drivers title by eight points, on 160, ahead of Sargeant who has 152. Pourchaire is up to third on 124 points, ahead of Beckmann and Lawson. PREMA have clinched the Teams’ Championship with a mega tally of 429.5 points, ahead of Trident on 217.5 and ART Grand Prix. Hitech are fourth, ahead of MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – FREDERIK VESTI (PREMA RACING)
“We won from P9 today and it feels mega. I am very happy to be back on the top step of the podium. Last week in Spa, we finished second in Race 2 and now I am happy to be back on the top step.
“I would like to thank PREMA for a great car and for the great progress we have made.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
On just his fourth F3 start, Belov will line up at the front of the grid for Charouz Racing System on reverse grid pole in Race 2 tomorrow, at 9.45am (local time).
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Claire Williams steps down, thanks dad, says will miss the team
Monza, 3 Sept 2020: Williams Racing’s Deputy Team Principal, Claire Williams is to step down from her role with the team following the conclusion of the Italian Grand Prix this weekend.
This weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza will mark the final race for the Williams family in Formula One. After 43 years and 739 Grands Prix, the family is set to leave the sport following the recent change in ownership to Dorilton Capital.
Sir Frank and Claire have ensured the family have remained at the helm of the team since the first race on 8th May 1977 at the Circuito de Jarama in Spain. The team has been through many periods of triumph and adversity but has always navigated them as a family. Williams has won 114 Grands Prix, taken 128 pole positions and secured 133 fastest laps, culminating in nine Constructors’ and seven Drivers’ World Championships. It is the third longest standing team in the history of the sport and one of the most successful.
The recent conclusion of the Strategic Review process and consequent sale of Williams Grand Prix Engineering to US-based investment firm, Dorilton Capital ensures the long-term future of the Williams Formula One team and provides a timely point at which the Williams family have chosen to exit the sport.
Claire Williams OBE, Deputy Team Principal: “With the future of the team now secured, this feels like the appropriate time for us to step away from the sport. As a family, we have always prioritised Williams. We have demonstrated that by our recent actions with the Strategic Review process and we believe now is the right time to hand over the reins and give the new owners the opportunity to take the team into the future.
“We have been in this sport for more than four decades. We are incredibly proud of our track record and the legacy we leave behind. We have always been in it for the love of it, for the pure pleasure of going motor racing, so this is not a decision that we have taken lightly but after much reflection and as a family.
“We are greatly appreciative of Dorilton’s encouragement to continue, but in them we know the team will be in good hands and the Williams name will live on. This may be the end of an era for Williams as a family-run team, but it is the beginning of a new era for Williams Racing and we wish them much success in the future.
“On behalf of Frank and the Williams family, I would like to say how incredibly grateful and humbled we are for the support we have enjoyed over the years, from our friends in the paddock to the many fans around the world. But mostly, we would like to thank our team. People who have worked at Williams in the past and present. They are the true warriors of this team and have made it what it is and we wish them well. Formula One has been our life for so long and now it’s time for a new chapter in our lives to begin.”
Matthew Savage, Chairman of Dorilton Capital and Williams Grand Prix Engineering, said: “We fully respect the very tough decision of Claire and the Williams family to step away from the team and the business after securing new resources for its future. Claire’s achievement in sustaining Williams Racing’s heritage, relevance and commitment to innovation in a difficult environment since taking charge in 2013 has been nothing short of monumental. She has also been hugely instrumental in shaping a more level technical and financial playing field for F1, which will help to ensure the team’s return to the front of the grid in seasons to come. We are proud to carry the Williams name into the next exciting phase for the sport and we thank Sir Frank, Claire and the Williams family for the opportunity to be part of this great British brand.”
Claire WilliamsClaire joined Williams in an official capacity in 2002 working in the Communications Office. In 2012, Claire was appointed to the Board in her position as Commercial and Marketing Director before taking over the day-to-day running of the team in 2013 as Deputy Team Principal. Claire has led the team to two third and two fifth-place finishes in the Constructors’ Championship over the last seven years.
In addition to her efforts on the racing side of the business, Claire has worked to drive greater gender diversity across the sport while also promoting engineering to the next generation. While at the helm of the team, Claire was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Queen’s 2016 Birthday Honours List in recognition of her services to Formula One.
Claire’s final act as Deputy Team Principal, and probably one of the most crucial, was the part she played in the successful campaigning for a more sustainable Formula One. The new Concorde Agreement, now signed by all teams, maps out a more level playing field for the sport with more equitable financial and technical regulations moving forwards that the team will be able to capitalise upon from 2021 and beyond.
Claire Williams OBE, Deputy Team Principal: “It is with a heavy heart that I am stepping away from my role with the team. I had hoped to continue my tenure long into the future and to preserve the Williams family’s legacy into the next generation. However, our need to find inward investment earlier this year due to a number of factors, many of which were outside of our control, resulting in the sale of the team to Dorilton Capital. My family has always put our racing team and our people first and this was absolutely the right decision. I know in them we have found the right people to take Williams back to the front of the grid while also preserving the Williams legacy.
“I have taken the decision to step away from the team in order to allow Dorilton a fresh start as the new owners. It has not been an easy decision but it’s one I believe to be right for all involved. I have been enormously privileged to have grown up in this team and in the wonderful world that is Formula One. I have loved every minute and will be forever grateful for the opportunities it has given me. But it’s also an incredibly challenging sport and I now want to see what else the world holds for me. Most importantly, I want to spend time with my family.
“I would like to thank Dorilton for their support and for understanding my decision. I would also like to thank our fans who have stuck by us through thick and thin. Our people at Williams have always been family, they have kept me motivated during the difficult times and it is them who I will miss the most. It is my genuine hope that the process we’ve gone through brings them the success they deserve. And finally, I would like to thank my Dad for everything he has given to the team, the sport and our family.”
