INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • FMSCI’s Sujith Kumar elected Vice-President of FIM Asia

    FMSCI’s Sujith Kumar elected Vice-President of FIM Asia

    Bengaluru, 5 Feb 2018: Seven-time Indian National Rally Champion, Sujith Kumar, was elected Vice- President of FIM Asia on behalf of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) at Thailand on Saturday. Sujith was also the head of the Indian Motorcycle (2W) Racing Commission.

    Hailing the historic win for India as an important step for Indian motorsport, Akbar Ebrahim, FMSCI president said: “This is a significant development for Indian motorsport.”

    Ebrahim who has been bring a string of upgrades and important enhancements in the Indian motorsports set-up at the top added: “We will continue to work towards promoting every discipline of motorsport in the country.” Sujit was nominated as the Indian candidate by the Federation.

    With an unprecedented 11 candidates contesting for four posts of Vice-President position at Saturday’s General Assembly in Bangkok, the outcome was difficult to predict. However, when the results were announced, Sujith Kumar won with a comfortable majority of votes to become the first Indian representative to join the Board of FIM Asia, which is the governing body for motorcycle racing for 28 countries in the region. He will hold the position for a four-year term that began immediately.

    As Chairman of the FMSCI’s Two Wheeler Racing Commission, the Bangalore-based Sujith has already had a positive impact in Indian motorcycle racing, advancing rider training, safety and licensing standards for competitors and race officials. Beyond national competitions, he has been responsible for bringing international events to India, including a round of the Asia Road Racing Championship to Madras Motor Race Track and the Asia Cup of Road Racing to Buddh Circuit. He has also given support and encouragement to the increasing number of Indian racers competing in the international circuit and off-road events.

    Speaking after the election results were announced, Sujith said, “My interest is purely about the development of two-wheeler motorsports and the good of the riders. I believe this is the right time to ensure that India is represented on motorcycle racing’s governing body and can influence the development of the sport in the best possible way.”

    “During 2018 we will have more international events coming to India and more Indian riders competing in other countries and championships. It is an exciting time and we are extremely fortunate to be working together with strong sponsors who recognise the commercial importance of motorcycle racing and are committed to making things bigger and better.”

    Sujith is joined on the FIM Asia Board by Vice Presidents from Bahrain, China and Guam and new President, Stephan Macky Carapiet of Philippines.

    eom/David Bodapati

     

     

  • Grid kids to replace grid girls; Unique op for young racers, karters to watch F1 at close quarters

    The joint initiative will involve the local Grand Prix promoter working alongside ASNs – the FIA-recognised national sporting authorities – who will provide a unique opportunity to youngsters and their families to be part of one of the most exclusive and exciting moments of the whole race weekend.

    The youngsters will be chosen by their motorsport clubs on merit, or by lottery, and will already be competing in karting or junior formulae. The lucky few will then be able to accompany and stand alongside the 20 best drivers in the world on the grid as they prepare for the race.

    FIA President Jean Todt said: “Formula 1 is the pinnacle of motor sport and the dream of every young racer competing the junior series that make up the FIA’s single-seater pyramid, from karting all the way to F1. We are therefore delighted to bring that dream a little closer by giving the future champions of our sport the opportunity to stand alongside their heroes on the grid in the build-up to the race start. For the wider FIA, this is an excellent initiative that provides additional support to our member ASNs in their efforts to grow motorsport worldwide through a unique reward they can make available to youngsters participating in their national series.”

    Sean Bratches, F1 Managing Director of Commercial Operations said: “This will be an extraordinary moment for these youngsters: imagine, standing beside their heroes, watch as they prepare to race, the elite of the elite in motorsport, to be there, alongside them in those precious few minutes just before the start. What an unforgettable experience, for them, and their families. An inspiration to keep driving, training and learning so that they can dream of one day being there themselves. What better way to inspire the next generation of Formula 1 heroes.”

    The Grid Kids will be chosen at every Formula 1 race, and where possible, also for the major feeder series like F2 and GP3. They will be accompanied by their immediate family who will have paddock access for race Sunday.

    ends/F1 /FOM release

  • Second win for Jean-Eric Vergne in a nail-biting finish: Formula E

    Jean-Eric Vergne fended off his team-mate Andre Lotterer in a tense fight around the streets of Santiago to claim his second victory in Formula E and the first one-two in the history of the electric street racing series.

    The pair exchanged blows in the closing stages of the race with a gaggle of cars waiting behind to pounce, ensuring a nail-biting finish to the inaugural E-Prix in the Chilean capital.

    Vergne led away from Julius Baer pole position with a number of cars making moves behind. Lotterer jumped Sebastien Buemi off the line to move into second place, but Panasonic Jaguar Racing driver Nelson Piquet Jr. caught them both unaware with a bold late-braking move around the outside of the first corner.

    As the field streamed through the opening section, the squeeze came in the mid-field with Jose Maria Lopez running out of road in close proximity with Sam Bird and hitting the wall on the outside of Turn 2.

    The safety car was deployed to clear both Lopez and the stricken Venturi of Maro Engel who went into the barriers at Turn 7.  Piquet looked to have lost out on the restart, but piled the pressure on Vergne with a move for the lead only a few corners later.

    Vergne placed his car well and held off a fast-charging Piquet despite a bump from behind, which wouldn’t be the only close-call in his wing mirrors for the remainder of the race.

    Approaching the pit-stop phase, Vergne started to extend his lead to over three seconds as Piquet fell into the grasps of Lotterer. The German scythed his way into second place past Piquet and set his sights on his team-mate.

    Lotterer slowly reeled in Vergne moving into his slipstream and drew alongside into the main overtaking point at Turn 1. Both drivers came perilously close to exchanging paintwork, but Vergne held his nerve and forced Lotterer to retreat.

    However, Lotterer hadn’t thrown in the towel yet and tried to mirror the move again but misjudged his braking and hit the back of Vergne. Smoke poured from Vergne’s wheels as his team-mate was pushing him from behind.

    Despite the helping hand from Lotterer, both cars managed to avoid the wall and the threat of other cars behind to deliver maximum points for TECHEETAH and vault the team to the top of the standings. It marks the first victory for Vergne since the season-finale in Montreal last year, which was also his first in Formula E.

    Joining the two TECHEETAH drivers on the podium was Sebastien Buemi, showing once again that the form of Renault e.dams in Hong Kong was merely a blip. Buemi slipped backwards on the long run down into the first corner and struggled to match the pace of his rivals in the early phase of the race.

    Buemi and Bird re-enacted their close duel in Marrakesh in the battle for fourth place, with the DS Virgin Racing driver hounding the back of his gearbox. The group held station until the mid-race car swaps, which saw Rosenqvist leap up the order ahead of Bird – allowing Buemi to focus on Piquet and surpass his fellow champion to secure a spot on the podium.

    Rosenqvist – who entered Santiago as the points leader and the winner of the past two races – started way back in 14th after a dismal qualifying session, but salvaged points in fourth place.

    Bird picked-up the additional point for fastest lap and took the chequered flag in fifth after a slow pit-stop and benefitting from Piquet’s late lunge on Buemi into Turn 1. Piquet looked to re-take the position he lost earlier but locked his brakes and ended up losing time reversing out of the run-off area.

    Piquet’s team-mate Mitch Evans followed close behind in seventh, with Jerome D’Ambrosio, Antonio Felix da Costa and Nico Prost rounding out the top 10 points-paying positions.

    The next stop on the Formula E calendar sees the series return to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the third edition of the Mexico City E-Prix for round five of the FIA Formula E Championship on March 3.

    Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, said: “The race has been great for me today, I qualified first and won the race, it cannot get any better. I think the first stint was really good and then after a few laps in the second car my lap trigger activated one extra lap. I have no idea how it happened but, basically I was doing the race one lap longer – that’s why I had a huge amount of pushing from my team-mate Andre who was then on a different strategy. It was fair racing – at one point we did collide but there was nothing really we could do, I decided to go on the inside and he went differently so we just collided. I think we had eight wheels locked actually, so I’m extremely lucky. It’s the first one-two in the history of Formula E!”

    Andre Lotterer, TECHEETAH, said: “I’m extremely happy about this – the first two races probably looked worse than they were but it was promising on pace in the race, and I only tested three days in Valencia, so it takes time. These guys have a lot of experience, and there are no bad drivers. I’ve been working hard, the team has helped me a lot to do some work in the simulator, I’m really happy to be JEV’s team-mate as he’s helped me a lot as well. I’ve had pace all weekend, in qualifying it went well, I may have hit the wall a bit but I went for it, so that’s what matters! I’m still finding my way in the car, the race and to overtake – it’s a different world. At one stage we lost radio, so I didn’t know what the game was so I tried overtaking him and got so close and nearly didn’t make the corner, but that’s what I’m still learning – how to calculate everything.”

    Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, said: “First of all, I have to say congratulations to TECHEETAH as they are the customer team and they were faster than us today – well done to them, they’ve done a great job. For us, I think we could’ve done a bit better, but I lost two places at the start, and then I had massive wheel-spin. At the pit stops I thought I could’ve overtaken the Jaguar, but we were scared of an unsafe release, so we stayed in the garage to avoid that. Towards the end it was difficult because I was very quick, but Rosenqvist tried to overtake me – but not today, which was important!”

    2018 Santiago E-Prix (Rd 4)

    1 – Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, 1:01:24.514s (28)
    2 – Andre Lotterer, TECHEETAH, +1.154s (18)
    3 – Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, +1.959s (15)
    4 – Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, +2.793s (12)
    5 – Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +4.490s (11)
    6 – Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +6.364s (8)
    7 – Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +7.099s (6)
    8 – Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON, +13.308s (4)
    9 – Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti Formula E, +14.811s (2)
    10 – Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, +21.092s (1)
    11 – Tom Blomqvist, Andretti Formula E, +32.924s
    12 – Luca Filippi, NIO Formula E Team, +44.127s
    13 – Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E Team, +49.398s
    14 – Oliver Turvey, NIO Formula E Team, +1:12.282s

    DNF – Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing, 26 Laps
    DNF – Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, 23 Laps
    DNF – Lucas di Grassi, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, 21 Laps
    DNF – Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, 11 Laps
    DNF – Jose Maria Lopez, DRAGON
    DNF – Maro Engel, Venturi Formula E Team

    Driver standings

    Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH – 71
    Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing – 66
    Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing – 61
    Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams – 37
    Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 33

    Team standings

    TECHEETAH – 89
    Mahindra Racing – 87
    DS Virgin Racing – 69
    Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 54
    Renault e.dams – 44
    Venturi Formula E Team – 30
    Andretti Formula E – 14
    Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler – 12
    DRAGON – 12
    NIO Formula E Team – 9

    eom/FIA release

  • Champ Drugovich unstoppable in MRF Challenge; Maiden career win for Nikanth Ram

    Champ Drugovich unstoppable in MRF Challenge; Maiden career win for Nikanth Ram

    Chennai, 4 Feb 2018: Young Nikanth Ram from Coimbatore and in Arka Motorsports livery chalked up maiden win of

    MRF Challenge 2017 champion Felipe Drugovich (centre) flanked by second-placed Presley Martono (right) and third-placed Rinus van Kalmthout at MMRT, Chennai on Sunday, 4 Feb 2018. Image by Anand Philar.

    his saloon car racing career as the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Racing Championship 2018 concluded at the MMRT circuit, here on Sunday.

    While Ram, a 21-year old commerce graduate from Coimbatore, bagged full points, team-mate Ashish Ramaswamy from Bengaluru achieved a double by winning the second race earlier, but retired with an expired engine in the weekend’s third outing.

    Meanwhile, 17-year old Brazilian Felipe Drugovich stamped his authority in the MRF Challenge 2017 as he swept to victory in both the races run today to finish the season with 10 wins from 16 outings over four rounds.

    Drugovich, who had sealed the championship on Saturday itself, had few problems in Race 3 after easing his way to the front of the field. He set such a hot pace that midway through the 20-lap race that he finished some 11 seconds in front of second-placed Indonesian Presley Martono who was followed home by Rinus van Kalmthout from the Netherlands.

    In the final race of the 2017 MRF Challenge later in the day, Drugovich, starting second on the grid, got a jump on pole-sitter Rinus van Kalmthout of the Netherlands in the very first lap and then gradually increased the lead to notch another fluent win.

    While Drugovich finished the season with 333 points, Martono (254) and Kalmthout (247) completed the top three positions in the championship.

    In the day’s first saloon car race, Ashish Ramaswamy was again the dominant force despite starting fourth on the reverse grid. He jumped two places by the end of the first lap, tailed leader Vidya Prakash for a couple of more laps before moving into the lead. Thereafter, he kept increasing the lead to emerge a comfortable winner while veterans Vijaya Kumar and Vidya Prakash finished behind him in that order while pole-sitter Nikanth Ram was a non-finisher following a spin.

    Nikanth, however, was handed a victory on the platter in the next outing when Ashish, enjoying a massive lead after starting from pole, retired with the engine problem in a fourth of the eight-lapper. Nikanth who was running second, made the best of the situation to score a maiden win in his saloon car racing career and finished ahead of Prime Racing’s Raja Ram and Biren Pithawalla of Team N1.

    The results (Provisional): MRF Challenge – Race 3 (20 laps): 1. Felipe Drugovich (Brazil) (33mins, 09.353secs); 2. Presley Martono (Indonesia) (33:20.422); 3. Rinus van Kalmthout (Netherlands) (33:21.398). Race 4 (20 laps): 1. Drugovich (30:08.812); 2. Kalmthout (30:13.094); 3. Martono (30:16.118).

    National Championship – Saloon cars: Indian Touring Cars (Race 2, 12 laps): 1. Ashish Ramaswamy (Arka Motorsports) (23:25.024); 2. B Vijaya Kumar (Prime Racing) (23:51.922); 3. D Vidya Prakash (Prime Racing) (23:58.350). Race 3 (8 laps): 1. V Nikanth Ram (Arka Motorsports) (15:55.693); 2. C Raja Ram (Prime Racing) (15:59.000); 3. Biren Pithawalla (Team N1) (16:11.372).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race 2, 11 laps): 1. Kamlesh Parmar (Team N1) (23:55.103); 2. Chrys D’Souza (Unimek Racing) (24:24.572); 3. Prabhu AS (Arka Motorsports) (24:24.812). Race 3 (8 laps): 1. D’Souza (17:48.207); 2. Prabhu (17:48.434); 3. Nikunj D Vagh (Team N1) (17:49.100).

    Esteem Cup (12 laps): 1. Raghul Rangasamy (Performance Racing) (24:20.853); 2. Vinod S (Team N1) (24:33.727); 3. Archit Mylanda (Performance Racing) (25:06.829).  Race 3 (8 laps): 1. Rangasamy (16:21.542); 2. Vinod S (16:30.865); 3. Mylanda  (16:43.432).

    Super Stock (12 laps): 1. RP Rajarajan (Performance Racing) (24:55.565); 2. Srinivas Teja K (Performance Racing) (25:18.133); 3. Swajit Acharaker (Team N1) (23:38.158 + 1 lap). Race 3 (8 laps): 1. Srinivas Teja K (16:52.869); 2. Acharaker (17:02.854); 3. Rajashekar R (Infinite Piston) (17:09.812).

    Vidiem Superbikes Cup (Support race) – Race 2 (8 laps): 600cc – 1.Siddhanth Koundinya (Bengaluru) (15:30.765); 2. Vishwadev Muraleedharan (Coimbatore) (15:39.311); 3. Ritesh Sapre (Mumbai) (15:45.182).

    eom/MMSC release

  • FORMULA ONE TO STOP USING GRID GIRLS: F1 management’s stunning announcement

    The outdated practice of using a female-body to attract fans and attention, in the form of Grid Girls, is under review for the last few months by the new Formula One Management and despite many drivers, officials and other stakeholders realising the importance of such decision, many also felt that it has been part of the game and harmless to have such display of female beauty to use as a photo-op and to attract sponsors or fans. But once for all the new Liberty management, who have taken over from old commercial rights holders headed by Bernie Ecclestone have put a full stop to such show `fast cars, fast girls’. But no one expected this decision to come so soon. This website believes it is a right decision and will advocate for stopping the Grid Girls in the Indian domestic races too to respect and provide dignity to the voices of gender equality and promote the idea of a different meaning to `Women in Motorsport’.

    Formula 1 will end the long-standing practice of using walk-on grid girls, commencing with the start of the 2018 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season. These changes also apply to our other motorsports series that take place during the Grands Prix weekends.

    Formula 1 considers the time spent by teams and drivers on the grid before a race as one of celebration, where guests and various performers can add to the glamour and spectacle of the Grand Prix, enabling promoters and partners to showcase their countries and products.

    Sean Bratches, Managing Director, Commercial Operations at Formula 1 said: “Over the last year we have looked at a number of areas which we felt needed updating so as to be more in tune with our vision for this great sport. While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula 1 Grands Prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern-day societal norms. We don’t believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world.”

    eom/A Formula One Management press release

     

  • Jorge Lorenzo sets fastest two-wheeled circuit lap at Sepang: MotoGP first test ends

    Jorge Lorenzo sets fastest two-wheeled circuit lap at Sepang: MotoGP first test ends

    Jorge Lorenzo of Ducati tops on the third day of the first MotoGP Test at Sepang on Tuesday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

    MotoGP riders complete first preseason session feeling optimistic about the year ahead
    The Ducati GP18 has made a sensational start to the MotoGP preseason with Jorge Lorenzo guiding it to the fastest ever two-wheeled lap of Sepang today in a time of 1’58.830. The Spaniard moved ahead of early pacesetter Dani Pedrosa, who was fastest on the opening day but second fastest today, with Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso and Jack Miller completing the top five as four manufacturers featured within the top ten. Testing for the premier class continues from 16-18 February at the Buriram circuit in Thailand, which will host a round of the MotoGP World Championship for the first time in October this year, according to a Angel Nieto Team MotoGP release.
    The Repsol Honda Team adds that it concluded a positive first test of 2018 in Malaysia, with Dani Pedrosa second-fastest with a best lap time of 1’59.009” and reigning World Champion Marc Marquez just over 3 tenths of a second behind him in seventh place, with a best lap of 1’59.382”.
    Third Day’s Report:

    Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team) decimated the competition on the third and final day of the #SepangTest, setting the fastest ever lap around the Malaysian venue with a 1:58.830. His closest challenger was Repsol Honda Team’s Dani Pedrosa – the fastest man on Day 1 of the test – who was just over a tenth and a half behind his compatriot. The number 26 is also the holder of the pole lap record. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) took P3, only half a tenth behind the RC213V of Pedrosa ahead of him.

    It was a day without the rain that had affected Sunday and Monday’s action, and Lorenzo put in 48 laps overall, topping the timesheets on Lap 21. The Spaniard had also crashed earlier, but then went out and set his best effort. The 1:58.830 lap will not count as the official record due it having been set outside a race weekend, but it is the quickest recorded lap on two wheels. The previous best belonged to Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and was set during testing in 2015. Lorenzo said there were marked improvements in the GP18 when compared to last year’s machine.

    Pedrosa did 58 laps and similarly set his quickest lap early, on Lap 9. Only 0.009 away from breaking into the 1:58 bracket, the ‘Little Samurai’ was the quickest Honda of the test. He was working with one bike in the garage sporting Honda’s new aero fairing and one without, whereas teammate Marc Marquez opted to go aero-fairing free on Day 3, saying the innovation needs bigger setup changes to be evaluated. The reigning Champion ended the third day in seventh and got through a long workload of 75 laps; his best a 1:59.382 after opting to forego a timeattack lap.

    Behind Crutchlow in third – the Brit another who did a lot of laps, completing 65 – was the second Ducati Team rider of Andrea Dovizioso. ‘DesmoDovi’, like teammate Lorenzo, took a tumble but escaped unscathed. The Italian ended the day just over a tenth off the top three, and completed 51 laps. Just behind him was another impressive performance for another Borgo Panigale machine; that of Alma Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller. Switching from Honda, the Australian proved his adaptation once again with a 1:59.346 as his best after 36 laps – completing the top five despite proving the first crasher of the day.

    Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was the rider who broke the Ducati and Honda stranglehold on the timesheets first, going sixth quickest but only 0.002 off Miller and the top five. Rins, who struggled with injury in 2017, has had a rapid start to his sophomore season and put in another half century of laps at Sepang. Teammate Andrea Iannone, after suffering a number of technical issues in testing so far, was twelfth fastest but managed an increased 62 laps for the Hamamatsu factory as they aim to reset after a more difficult 2017.

    The top Yamaha was nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, with the ‘Doctor’ slotting into eighth and one of the late improvers. A 1:59.449 on Lap 52 of 54 saw him just pip Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Johann Zarco in the last few minutes of track action, after the number 46 had been second fastest on Day 2. Teammate Maverick Viñales – fastest on Monday – was P18 on the third and final day, but is within the top six overall with his previous best. Both Yamaha riders had their new aero-packages on track, and Independent Team rider Zarco also tried the fairing on Tuesday.

    Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) made it both Pramac machines in the top ten on Day 3 as he ended Tuesday 0.017 seconds off Zarco. ‘Petrux’ was also the fourth Independent Team rider within that quickest ten, and just pipped fellow Independent Ducati rider Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) to the honour. Rabat was a crasher on Day 3, but was unhurt. He did 35 laps and was just 0.019 off Petrucci in an incredibly tight midfield on the timesheets. The next quickest Independent Team Ducati was Angel Nieto Team’s Alvaro Bautista, who was P15.

    Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) led the charge for the Noale factory in P13, and put in his quickest lap on his final exit – the last rider in the 1:59s on Day 3. One of Aprilia’s key focuses has been increasing their horsepower and reconfirming their work over the winter with Espargaro and Scott Redding. Redding continued his adaptation with another 56 laps in the bank.

    Meanwhile, at Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, it was test rider Mika Kallio leading the way on the timesheets for the Austrian factory. They debuted a new aero package, and Kallio did a best of 2:00.464. Bradley Smith did a 2:00.969, with Pol Espargaro sitting Tuesday out following his big crash on Monday. The Spaniard has no fractures but the crash, at Turn 4, was a fast one.

    Of the four rookies, it was Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) who was the quickest once again on Day 3. The Japanese rider was fourteenth quickest overall with a 2:00.71, tantalisingly close to the 1:59 bracket. Reigning Moto2™ Champion Franco Morbidelli was around half a second off that and second fastest of the new riders in the field – but the number 21 was 0.021 ahead of Viñales for an impressive scalp. Xavier Simeon (Reale Avintia Racing) was a further three tenths back, with Tom Lüthi (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) the final rookie on the timesheets. It is, however, the Swiss rider’s first test on his new machine, having been sidelined for Valencia due to injury. He crashed at Turn 4 in a slow incident, but picked the bike up and continued.

    That’s a wrap on the first action of the year, but MotoGP™ will be back before you know it – getting a first taste of Buriram in Thailand ahead of the 2018 debut of the Thailand GP. The test there begins on the 16th February.

    Sepang Day 3

    Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
    1 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Ducati Team 1:58.830
    2 PEDROSA Dani 26 SPA Repsol Honda Team 0.179
    3 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda 0.222
    4 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team 0.339
    5 MILLER Jack 43 AUS Alma Pramac Racing 0.516
    6 RINS Alex 42 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 0.518
    7 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team 0.552
    8 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 0.619
    9 ZARCO Johann 5 FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 0.681
    10 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Alma Pramac Racing 0.698
    11 RABAT Tito 53 SPA Reale Avintia Racing 0.717
    12 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar 0.785
    13 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1.132
    14 NAKAGAMI Takaaki 30 JPN LCR Honda 1.241
    15 BAUTISTA Alvaro 19 SPA Angel Nieto Team 1.375
    16 KALLIO Mika 36 FIN KTM Test Team 1.634
    17 MORBIDELLI Franco 21 ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS 1.696
    18 VINALES Maverick 25 SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1.717
    19 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE Angel Nieto Team 1.744
    20 SIMEON Xavier 10 BEL Reale Avintia Racing 1.954
    21 REDDING Scott 45 GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

     
  • Toyota Gazoo Racing confirms Alonso for Le Mans 24 Hours and Endurance Worlds

    Toyota Gazoo Racing confirms Alonso for Le Mans 24 Hours and Endurance Worlds

    Alonso image courtesy Toyota Gazoo Racing team

    TOYOTA GAZOO Racing confirmed the name of Formula One double champion Fernando Alonso in the line-up as it announced its drivers for the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season on Tuesday.

    The team has officially submitted its entry to the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and will participate in all eight rounds of the 2018-19 season with two hybrid-powered race cars as it targets victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the WEC World Championships.

    TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will again utilise its 1,000hp TS050 HYBRID car, which won five of nine races in 2017. Development of hybrid technology remains an integral element of TOYOTA’s participation in endurance racing as part of the company’s commitment to making ever-better road cars.

    The driver line-ups for the two TS050 HYBRIDs are now confirmed, with the #7 car competing with an unchanged line-up of Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and José María López.

    The #8 TS050 HYBRID features a revised driver line-up, with Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima joined by two-time Formula 1 World Champion Fernando Alonso.

    Fernando, 36, will make his LMP1 race debut at Spa-Francorchamps in May and will compete in all rounds of the 2018-19 season which do not conflict with his existing Formula 1 obligations.

    Anthony Davidson, who won five races in 2017 alongside Sébastien and Kazuki, will remain an important member of the team, bringing his World Championship-winning experience to a new role as Reserve and Development Driver.

    Two-time Le Mans winner Alex Wurz will continue as Team Advisor and Ambassador having made a significant contribution since taking the position in 2016.

    Akio Toyoda（President, TOYOTA Motor Corporation） 
    “I am looking forward to seeing how much TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will grow when our drivers and all team members take what they have learned thus far in endurance racing and add to it what they will gain from Fernando’s experience. The entire team is excited about this opportunity for growth. Through the challenge of WEC endurance races and, among those, on the grueling roads of the Le Mans 24 Hours, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will do its best, together with Fernando, to outdrive the competition.”

    Hisatake Murata（Team President） 
    “This WEC season is unique because it features two editions of the Le Mans 24 Hours so we are all looking forward to it. I believe we have an extremely strong driver line-up with real strength in depth. Fernando is a rookie in WEC but he brings speed and experience gained from many years at the top of his sport. We are all excited to work with him but endurance racing is a team effort and we know all of our drivers are performing to a very high level. I would like to thank Anthony for his professional approach in difficult circumstances; he remains a strong part of our driving line-up and he will be busy this season.”

    Fernando Alonso 
    “I am very excited to participate in the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time. It is a race which I have followed closely for a long time and it has always been an ambition of mine to participate. Endurance racing is a different discipline compared to single-seaters and I enjoyed my first taste of it at Daytona. I am looking forward to working together with, and learning from, Sébastien and Kazuki, who are both very experienced endurance drivers. It will be a steep learning curve for me but I am ready for this challenge and I can’t wait to get started.”


    Fernando Alonso in TS050 HYBRID

    Full text of Akio Toyoda statement: 
    “I want to drive an LMP1 car…”
    “I want to race in Le Mans…”
    “I want to win…”

    To Fernando Alonso, I say thank you so much for choosing Toyota as a partner for making your Le Mans dream come true.

    I am extremely thrilled that Fernando, who has battled it out in numerous races and seen things that nobody on our team has ever experienced, will be driving for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing.

    I believe that having Fernando get behind the wheel for our team will only make our cars better.

    I am looking forward to seeing how much TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will grow when our drivers and all team members take what they have learned thus far in endurance racing and add to it what they will gain from Fernando’s experience. The entire team is excited about this opportunity for growth.

    Through the challenge of WEC endurance races and, among those, on the grueling roads of the Le Mans 24 Hours, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will do its best, together with Fernando, to outdrive the competition.

    And, toward our ultimate aim of providing our customers with ever-better cars, I hope we will be able to race with shared aspirations at heart.

    We welcome Fernando and, together with Sebastien, Kazuki, Mike, Kamui and José for a total of six drivers, TOYOTA GAZOO Racing will go all out toward achieving all of our goals.

    I look forward to everyone’s support of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing this season as well.

    Thank you.

    Driver Profiles: 

    Sébastien Buemi 
    Born 31 October 1988, Aigle, Switzerland
    Le Mans debut 2012
    Le Mans starts 6
    Le Mans best result 2nd (2013)
    WEC starts 43
    WEC wins 10
    WEC best season 1st (2014)

    Kazuki Nakajima
    Born 11 January 1985, Okazaki, Japan
    Le Mans debut 2012
    Le Mans starts 6
    Le Mans best result 4th (2013)
    WEC starts 37
    WEC wins 7
    WEC best season 2nd (2017)

    Fernando Alonso
    Born 29 July 1981, Oviedo, Spain
    Le Mans debut 2018
    Le Mans starts 0
    Le Mans best result n/a
    WEC starts 0
    WEC wins 0
    WEC best season n/a

    Mike Conway
    Born 19 August 1983, Sevenoaks, Great Britain
    Le Mans debut 2013
    Le Mans starts 4
    Le Mans best result 2nd (2016)
    WEC starts 37
    WEC wins 2
    WEC best season 3rd (2016)

    Kamui Kobayashi
    Born 13 September 1986, Hyogo, Japan
    Le Mans debut 2013
    Le Mans starts 3
    Le Mans best result 2nd (2016)
    WEC starts 26
    WEC wins 1
    WEC best season 3rd (2016)

    José María López
    Born 26 April 1983, Río Tercero, Argentina
    Le Mans debut 2017
    Le Mans starts 1
    Le Mans best result n/a
    WEC starts 8
    WEC wins 0
    WEC best season 6th (2017)

    About TOYOTA GAZOO Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship: Toyota first competed in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 1983, marking the start of a long period of participation in endurance racing. Since 1985, Toyota cars have raced in 19 Le Mans 24 Hours races, achieving a best result of second place on five occasions. Toyota entered the revived WEC in 2012, combining the expertise from Toyota Higashi-Fuji Technical Centre, where the hybrid powertrain is developed, with Toyota Motorsport GmbH’s support and facilities for chassis development. The multi-national team includes engineers from Toyota’s motorsport and hybrid department, who deliver technology and know-how back into road car development. Since 2012, Toyota, the 2014 manufacturers’ and drivers’ World Champion, has participated in 48 WEC races since its debut in 2012, earning 14 pole positions, winning 16 times and finishing on the podium a total of 41 times.

    eom/Toyota Motor Corporation release

  • Pre-season progress continues for Red Bull Honda WSBK Team

    Pre-season progress continues for Red Bull Honda WSBK Team

    A Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team in action at the pre-season test in Portimao on Monday, 29 Jan 2018. A Red Bull World SBK team image

    The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team continued its preparation for the 2018 WorldSBK season with two days of productive testing at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal.

    Following on from a successful test at Jerez a few days earlier, Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team with riders Leon Camier and Jake Gagne were again in fine form, completing 189 laps between them, as they continued evaluating chassis and engine components for the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 ahead of the 2018 WorldSBK season.

    After setting a scorching pace at Jerez, Camier once more showed a very fast turn of speed, setting a best lap time of 1’41.623 on the newly laid Portimão asphalt. For American rider Gagne, it was his first taste of the undulating Portuguese circuit and his continued improvement over the two days was unfortunately cut short with a crash. Medical checks revealed that he had suffered no serious injury, but he was forced to miss the rest of the day’s running.

    With a successful pre-season testing stint in Europe now complete, the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team heads down under for the official WorldSBK pre-season test at Phillip Island, Australia from February 19-20.

     

    Leon Camier

    Leon Camier 2: It was a good test all in all, we made a lot of progress and smoothing things out as we go. We did some slightly longer runs as well to understand how the bike’s going to work towards the middle and end of the race, I was pretty comfortable with that. We still have some areas we’d like to work on to improve our race pace and lap time on the race tyre but it’s all progressing. We had a good feeling on the qualifying tyre as well so, as I said, all in all pretty happy and looking forward to getting to the first race and getting started.

    – Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
    Jake Gagne

    Jake Gagne 45  First time here at Portimão and I like the circuit a lot, it was a lot of fun. I knew straightaway when I was walking it that I’d really enjoy it and that it would suit my style a lot more. We had a good day going yesterday, the first day on the track, I really enjoyed it; we made some progress with the bike and I made some progress with my riding. I felt a lot more comfortable than when we left Jerez, unfortunately we didn’t get the last couple of hours in yesterday which I think we could have made some good progress in. Today started off good, really happy with how we left yesterday, but unfortunately I had a little off and missed the rest of the day. It’s a shame because I think we had a lot of potential here at this track, but I’m actually really happy and I have a really good feeling with the bike. I’m riding it better and learning a lot so I’m ready to go to the Island, I’m ready for Australia.

    – Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team
    Kervin Bos

    Kervin Bos, Team Manager: I’m more than happy with the combination of the tests from Jerez and Portimão because we finished both tests in good positions, even today we had the second best time. This was on soft tyres but from Leon’s side we can see that we have a good pace. In my point of view we are really in the pack to fight for the top positions, of course it looks like the current champion Jonathan Rea and his teammate Tom Sykes are the ones to beat but behind them there are big possibilities. I’m more than happy with the total situation of the team as we have a really fast rider with Leon Camier and of course Jake Gagne who has a lot of potential and could be a dark horse in Australia. He has a good guy next to him in the box so he can learn from his data and from his adjustments. The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has had a really good, proper winter testing programme and I think we can say that we are more than ready for Australia.

    – Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team

    eom/posted by db

     

  • Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales fastest on Day 2: MotoGP first official test of 2018

    Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales fastest on Day 2: MotoGP first official test of 2018

    Movistar Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales who was fastest on the second day in action at the first MotoGP test at Sepang on Monday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan

    Sepang, 29 Jan 2018: The Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Team were back on track today to continue work at the first official IRTA test of the 2018 season, held at the Sepang International Circuit. Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi again worked diligently to improve their 2018 YZR-M1s, and the results echoed the positive rider feedback. They finished the second day in first and second place respectively.

    Similar to yesterday morning, the MotoGP riders waited for the track to dry before they ventured out just before 12 o‘clock local track time.

    Viñales had a busy schedule again. His strategy remained the same as for Day 1: put in a lot of laps to work on tyre wear. He initially headed out on the same bike as yesterday to get a feel for the conditions, before he gave the new fairing a try. Throughout the second day of testing the Spaniard noticed an improvement in the consistency of his lap times. He put his YZR-M1 to the test during the final stages of the eight-hour session and posted a 1‘59.355s on lap 66/68 for top billing, with a 0.035s margin.

    Trying to make up for lost time due to the overnight rain, Rossi also made strides in the afternoon. He only needed about half an hours‘ time to drop a 1‘59.766s, set on lap 12, to take over at the top of the timesheets. Back into the rhythm, he proceeded work on his bike‘s setting as well as the tyre wear. He spent a long time in second place on the provisional timesheets, until the pace quickened at the end of the day. The Doctor joined in on the action and briefly went top with a 1‘59.390s attempt on lap 38/39, before his teammate pushed him to second place.

    Today‘s efforts see Viñales and Rossi also hold first and second place respectively in the combined day 1-2 standings, leaving them in a positive mindset to complete the testing schedule on Tuesday.

    As many as twelve riders broke the two-minute barrier, with Cal Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo and Jack Miller completing the top five of the day.

    After more than two months of waiting, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi and Viñales began the first of three 2018 pre-season Official IRTA tests on Sunday. The riders got the first feel for their 2018 bikes in both wet and dry conditions at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. They finished in 6th and 13th place respectively on the first day’s session time sheets.

    Sunday’s report

    After a long winter wait, the Team were back on track on Sunday for the first Official Test. The first of the three-day pre-season days in Malaysia gave riders Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales a chance to get to know their new YZR-M1s and to start working on a number of test items.

    The rain on Sunday morning had Rossi venture out on track, keen on working on the wet setting of his bike and confirming the findings the team made in the Valencia and Sepang tests they held back in November. Heading out with a new 2018 pre-season helmet, he ended the morning stint in 12th place.

    As his afternoon session got underway, a dry track was waiting for the Italian, who took this opportunity with both hands. With three hours remaining, he put his 2018 bike to the test and set a provisional fastest time of 2’00.799s. As his teammate and various competitors started to pick up their pace towards the end of the session, the pack got reshuffled. Rossi responded by reclaiming first place on lap 44/50, and retired to the pit early. A flurry of activity in the last 15 minutes saw him end up in sixth position with a 2‘00.233s, 0.806s from first.

    Viñales was also eager to get going aboard his YZR-M1 this morning, to do a race simulation and start working on the electronics and engine specifications together with his teammate. The Spaniard came prepared with a special Sepang Test helmet too, with a design inspired by the famous artist Salvador Dali, and held fourth place at the end of his morning runs.

    The 23-year-old looked comfortable out on track in the afternoon and he continued to put in lap after lap. As the pace of the field started to pick up in the drier conditions, he temporarily took over top billing from Rossi, clocking an impressive 2‘00.758s. The competition got more and more heated towards the end of the day, but Viñales stuck to his testing schedule. He dropped a 2‘00.714s on lap 55/72, which ultimately earned him 13th place, 1.287s from the

  • Rally Monte-Carlo was about surviving; It was tricky till the end: Seb Ogier

    Present:
    1st – Sébastien Ogier, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
    1st – Julien Ingrassia M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
    2nd – Ott Tänak, Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT
    2nd – Martin Järveoja, Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT
    3rd – Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT
    3rd – Miikka Anttila, Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT
    Malcolm Wilson, Team Principal, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team

    Q:
    Seb, another win on what’s been a tough Rallye Monte-Carlo. How’s it been for you?
    SO:
    Once again it was a huge challenge. We always come here knowing it’s going be a difficult week and a tough event to make the good tyre choice. Ott was a difficult contender, but it’s also always very good to be here on the podium. Of course, I’m very pleased, this is the best way to start the season. It’s good to come back and start the season this way, it’s special, but I never struggled so much to be right with the tyres. It was never super-clear with the conditions changing all the time. It’s good that we managed to do fewer mistakes than the others, it was almost impossible to do the perfect weekend and we did mistakes as well. Ours were small mistakes with small consequences and that’s how we did this for the fifth time in the row. It feels good.

    Q:
    How tough was Saturday morning?
    SO:
    It was definitely one of the hardest stages of my career to drive in this moment. It was hard to explain how tough, I wasn’t complaining but it was not enjoyable to drive. It was about surviving. You come to the finish with a big relief and you’re super-happy crossing the line, but you have no idea if you are one minute slower or faster. It was a good surprise to see we took the minute compared to Ott. From then on we had the chance to try and manage the gap, but it was not easy. All the day it was tricky with the tyre to control in those conditions. It would have been super-easy to fall out of position. I’m happy to manage to keep the gap yesterday night. I expected today to be easier, but when we wake up we have news of frost and black ice to deal with on Turini. It was tricky until the end.

    Q:
    What was the plan for the Power Stage?
    SO:
    I couldn’t be completely relaxed and not really go for it. I knew with Thierry and Ott that we were fighting for two points. Thierry, Andreas and Craig had the four soft tyres for the Power Stage. I had worn super softs and not the right things to be fast, so I tried to drive clean. The road was clean at the beginning, but then we had some dirty corners at the finish and I couldn’t go for it. Every point is important at the moment, so I’m happy with this single point.

    Q:
    What did you think of Malcolm Wilson’s performance as Team Principal, was it good?
    SO:
    I had better say yes, I guess! It’s always difficult to start the season in Monte-Carlo on the hardest event in terms of organisation, logistics, meteo and co-ordination – all of that is tricky. We had some changes in the team, some new engineers, a new meteo forecaster who is unfortunately from Estonia – that’s why we got it wrong sometimes! No, I mean when we know how hard it is, we have to congratulate all of them, they have all tried as hard as they can.

    Q:
    How difficult was your job this week?
    JI:
    Each time we’re here on the podium – and my rivals say the same – we’re here without any breath for one full week. Congratulations to all the co-drivers on doing a very good job, all the guys do the same as me. It’s a very difficult position to get the notes and read new notes which are completely different from what you have on the recce. You memorise some of these notes and then they are completely different, I realise sometimes I was just reading and not analysing what I was saying. There were a lot of changes of rhythm, so it’s really good when the driver is still trusting you in the car.

    Q:
    It’s a great start to the season…
    JI:
    Yes. We know the championship will be hard and Monte-Carlo is special, this is the city of Seb and my region and it reminds me of one year ago. We have to thank those guys, it’s one year on and now we have to start again for everything – it’s a big motivation.

    Q:
    This is the first event with a new team and you’re on the podium – you must be delighted?
    OT:
    Yes. I am very relieved as well. It was a bit of an unknown before the rally, I had no idea where we would be. We’d done quite a bit of testing, but testing doesn’t show anything. The rally started quite OK, we lost a bit of time, but then it was improving step-by-step and we were enjoying more and more. When the conditions got tricky I had a good feeling in the car and felt big support from the team, they gave their maximum. It was quite an enjoyable weekend, the conditions were very, very hard, but it’s nice to feel the support and the will to fight.

    Q:
    The gap grew in the snow, did you back off?
    OT:
    Unfortunately, we had a bit of an issue with the dampers, something broke; that’s how it is sometimes. We survived the first loop. After this, we were back on the pace and then I’m quite happy. We were playing in Sébastien’s backyard here and we were competitive. Let’s see what the future brings, but in Sweden, it’s more like our backyard…

    Q:
    How was your route note crew?
    OT:
    They called me before the Power Stage and he said he wants to talk about this responsibility after the rally, and I can understand that. It was a tough weekend, I’m sure I would not be doing this job myself. We have to say they do a difficult job to predict the weather when it’s raining and snowing. And, knowing what kind of drivers we are, if there’s a bit missing we are still kicking them for this. They did a great job. I kind of love them, even if I’m giving them a hard time sometimes.

    Q:
    Martin, 12 months ago you were on the podium on your first event. What have you learned in the last year?
    MJ:
    Last year I didn’t know what to expect, but this year I knew it’s going to be a tough one. Ott mentioned he was enjoying this rally sometimes and I was also enjoying sometimes. Sometimes I was a passenger and sometimes Ott was also a passenger in the car and then we both didn’t enjoy it so much!

    Q:
    What’s the goal for this year? The Championship?
    MJ:
    Championship for sure.
    SO:
    It’s nice to have some dreams.
    MJ:
    Let’s see.

    Q:
    Jari-Matti, you talked about getting the monkey off your back with this result, what did you mean?
    J-ML:
    The reason is that last time I was on the podium with Miikka was over six months ago in Sardinia. In Australia I was aiming for the podium and you always want a good finish and we finished the season with a sh** feeling and then we have to wait two months for the next rally. It’s not a nice feeling. Doing a mistake in the fight, that we can accept, but when you are not in the fight then you can’t accept the mistake.

    Q:
    Is that now out of your mind?
    J-ML:
    Yes, now. It was a long time ago. At the end of the Power Stage I didn’t even remember how you have to go off to the podium!

    Q:
    Has your new team-mate Ott fired you up this year?
    J-ML:
    It’s been a boost for all the team when Ott and Martin joined. They have brought some very good knowledge from M-Sport. I’m very happy with that and we’ve been able to improve our car, it’s a really good feeling in the car. Let’s see what we can achieve.

    Q:
    You won Sweden, what’s the plan this time?
    J-ML:
    The men next to me want to win, I’m 100 percent sure about that – in Sweden, my mind is only about driving fast. Here my mind was on the clean run and a good start to the season. But Sweden I really love.

    Q:
    Miikka, how does it feel for you?
    MA:
    It’s good to be back. When we were on the podium I said the Michelin cap has a new design since last summer, but we don’t really know because we didn’t see it since last summer. It’s been good. Like Martin and Julien already explained, it’s hard work and one thing that doesn’t help is the mobile network and road timing – it would be nice if this could be improved.

    Q:
    Yesterday morning, what was it like in the snow?
    MA:
    Before Christmas, we had a really good test on full snow and that helped a lot. Before the stage Esapekka and Jari-Matti were nervous, so I said: “Hey, come on we’re from Scandinavia! We’re supposed to be comfortable here!”

    Q:
    Malcolm how special is this win?
    MW:
    You can’t imagine… it’s not going to beat last year for sure, but to come here and win the most difficult Monte I’ve been involved in is special. Normally I make decisions inside my head on what tyres I would use and on a couple of occasions I couldn’t have made those decisions. Seb spoke to his gravel crew and I said, what did he say, Seb said: “He didn’t know either!” That tells you how difficult it was.

    Q:
    A great start from the team, Elfyn showed consistent pace…
    MW:
    Yeah, it’s been a really strong performance. Unfortunately on Thursday night Elfyn clipped a rock and got a puncture, but the good times followed – including a couple of quickest times. It’s a shame to lose out today, he found Turini tough and didn’t have the confidence and if you don’t have the confidence then you pay the price. He’s done a very solid job.

    Q:
    Do you think the Championships will be tougher this year?
    MW:
    I don’t think, I know. At the moment the competition with the cars and drivers, it’s so evenly matched, it’s going to be an unbelievable challenge.
    FIA WRC 2 CHAMPIONSHIP

    Present:
    1st – Jan Kopecky
    1st – Pavel Dresler

    Q:
    Jan, congratulations. How was it from your side?
    JK:
    We tried many times to win this and now finally we did. It was tricky conditions, especially in Sisteron. This was the first time for me, even though we have done Monte-Carlo several times before. We started slower, the others gave me some pressure but it was a shame when they left – the fight was good. We had to stay concentrated.

    Q:
    Was Sisteron the most difficult stage?
    JK:
    On Saturday morning the snow came overnight and it was quite heavy. It was not freezing, but it was slush, it was impossible to do anything and in one moment we were very lucky – we almost hit a tree, but luckily we didn’t.

    Q:
    It’s a legendary rally, how much does this win mean?
    JK:
    You see what happened this weekend, easily this is the most difficult rally in the world.

    Q:
    What about your schedule, when will we see you again?
    JK:
    Hopefully, this will open us some more chances – the next event could be Corsica possibly, we will see.

    Q:
    Pavel, how was it for you?
    PD:
    Very nice, it was like a four-season race, we had spring, summer, winter, and fall. It was nice, but hard to take good tyres and the rhythm was changing a lot. In the stage, we have the winter then the rain. It was hard.

    Q:
    It’s a complex event for a co-driver, it went well for you?
    PD:
    I am happy. We made much work before with the gravel crew and during the week, it was incredible.

    Q:
    Did you get good information from the route note crew?
    PD:
    They did a very good job, yes. It’s easier for us, they are up so early in the morning.
    FIA WRC 3 CHAMPIONSHIP

    Present:
    1st – Enrico Brazzoli
    1st – Luca Beltrame

    Q:
    Enrico, this is a special result for you. Proud?
    EB:
    For me it’s very emotional, this is the first time in Monte-Carlo and it is a very difficult rally: very slippery and various conditions with rain, snow, and ice, very, very difficult. I am very happy to win this year.

    Q:
    This is the first time with your new co-driver too.
    EB:
    Yes, congratulations for him – this is very big for him.

    Q:
    Any moments?
    EB:
    On Sisteron we chose not the right tyres and it was very difficult. I lose four minutes there, it was very difficult, but now we are here I’m very happy.

    Q:
    What’s your season like?
    EB:
    Next rally is Sweden and perhaps Argentina, but it’s very difficult – I hope to do the year.

    Q:
    Luca, what a first outing for you…
    LB:
    Monte-Carlo is very strong, it’s the second time I did this one – I did one as a gravel crew.

    Q:
    You know how hard they work then?
    LB:
    Our ice-note crew works very well, they give good information and a good time for the tyre choice.

    Q:
    How stressful is this event?
    LB:
    The driver only works on the stage, but the co-driver works at all the time!

    Q:
    But you enjoyed it?
    LB:
    Yes, a lot. Really a lot.

    eom/FIA press release