INDIA in F1

Author: David Bodapati

  • Presley Martono fastest in FP2 even as top-7 are tightly bunched: MRF Challenge 2017

    Presley Martono fastest in FP2 even as top-7 are tightly bunched: MRF Challenge 2017

    Presley Martono tops FP2 in Dubai MRF Challenge on Thursday. An MRF image

    Dubai, 7 Dec 2017: Indonesian driver Presley Martono continued his impressive start to the Round 2 of the MRF Challenge 2017 by going fastest in practice at the Dubai Autodrome here on Thursday.

    This weekend’s FIA inscribed MRF Challenge race promises to be a thriller with the top severn drivers all closely bunched together. Martono’s time of 1:56.996 was just enough to beat Rinus van Kalmthout’s morning practice time of 1:57.046.

    The drivers wasted no time going out in the opening practice session as most of them were experiencing the circuit for the first time as they pushed the MRF F2000 to the limit. Last year’s race winner, Felipe Drugovich, set the tone with a 2-min lap time as the times began to tumble quickly thereafter.

    Van Kalmthout set a 1:59.453 to set off a chain of fastest laps from Martono, Drugovich and newcomer Louis Gachot. After several changes at the top it was van Kalmthout who set the fastest time with a 1:57.046. Martono, Drugovich, Julien Falchero and Alex Karkosik completed the top 5, with less than a second covering them.

    Free practice 2 saw Drugovich once again setting the early pace as he immediately went fast with a 1:58.451. The session was as competitive as the first one with drivers taking turns to set the fastest lap. With two minutes remaining, Martono became the first driver to dip under the 1:57 mark and went fastest with a time of 1:56.996. Van Kalmthout finished in 2nd place ahead of Karkosik, Falchero and Danial Prost. Championship leader focused on longer race runs and finished in 7th place.

    Friday’s qualifying will be important with more than seven drivers in with a chance of pole position. Presley Martono said: “It sure feels good to top the practice session here in Dubai but being on top tomorrow is more important for me. We have made great progress since Bahrain and I will have to be on top of my game to beat these guys tomorrow.”

    Rinus van Kalmthout, who took his first race win in the MRF Challenge in Round 1, felt the car was good. “The car feels really good and I am confident for tomorrow. The track was a little cooler in the evening, so have had a good understanding of what we have to do for tomorrow,” he quipped, ready to mount the challenge.

    Qualifying will take place tomorrow along with Race 1 and 2.

    Free Practice 1 (FP1): 1. Rinus van Kalmthout 1 min 57.046 secs; 2. Presley Martono 1:57.101; 3. Felipe Drugovich 1:57.290; 4. Julien Falchero 1:57.406; 5. Alex Karkosik 1:57.481.

    Free Practice 2 (FP2): 1. Presley Martono 1:56.996; 2. Rinus van Kalmthout 1:57.202; 3. Alex Karkosik 1:57.245; 4. Julien Falchero 1:57.257; 5. Danial Frost 1:57.464.

    Live Timing: http:// http://liveresults.mylaps.com/dubaiautodrome/

    For more information please visit: www.mrfracing.in

    eom/MRF press relese

  • FIA MRF Challenge Round 2 heads to Dubai

    Dubai, 5 Dec 2017: The sixth edition of the MRF Challenge 2017 will head to Dubai for Round 2 of the MRF Challenge 2017. The FIA sanctioned MRF Challenge 2017 championship is the leading winter series for young motorsport drivers from across the globe and will return to the Dubai Autodrome for the third time. Round 2 will feature 4 action packed races around the twisty and demanding circuit.

    Arun Mammen, Managing Director, MRF Tyres, commented, “It gives us immense pleasure to return to Dubai with the MRF Challenge. We have some of the best young drivers from across the world who are keen to drive at this exciting circuit. We have had three different winners from the first 4 races so the championship is definitely shaping up well. The Dubai Autodrome is challenging so it is a circuit where all our drivers look forward to racing at.”

    Brazilian driver Felipe Drugovich currently leads the Championship on 80 points after two race wins and a second place in Bahrain. The battle behind is close with three drivers split by 4 points. GP3 driver Julien Falchero had one win and two podiums and is in second place in the championship on 65 points. Indonesian driver Presley Martono is in third place with 63 points ahead title contender Rinus van Kalmthout, who is on 61 points. Van Kalmthout was quickest in qualifying and race until he was forced to retire with a technical problem.

    The Dubai Autodrome circuit is 5.39km long and one of the most challenging circuits in the region. It has a good combination of high-speed straights and technical corners. This creates a bigger headache for the engineers who have to find the right set up to favour both these areas. The venue is part of the Union Properties Motorcity development in the greater Dubailand area.

    The Indian based series, which features Formula 3 style cars, is developed and promoted by tyre giant MRF Tyres. It continues to be the only Indian based series racing not only internationally, but also at F1 venues. Both Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are on the Formula One calendar with the latter playing host to the F1 finale in in November.

    Please find below details for the MRF Challenge races:

    Thursday, December 7

    10:35 – 11:05: MRF Challenge Practice Session 1

    15:00 – 15:30: MRF Challenge Practice Session 2

    Friday, December 8

    09:50 – 10:20: MRF Challenge Qualifying

    13:20 – 13:50: MRF Challenge Race 1

    16:25 – 16:55: MRF Challenge Race 2

    Saturday, December 9

    09:30 – 10:00: MRF Challenge Race 3

    12:30 – 13:00: MRF Challenge Race 4

    Driver Line-up

    1. Nazim Azman (Malaysia)
    2. Harri Jones (Australia)
    3. Richard Wagner (Germany)
    4. Robert Megennis (USA)
    5. Henning Enqvist (Sweden)
    6. Julien Falchero (France)
    7. Daniel Nielsen Frost (Singapore)
    8. Rinus Van Kalmthout (Netherlands)
    9. Perdana Putra Minang (Indonesia)
    10. Kurt Hill (Australia)
    11. Dylan Young (Australia)
    12. Pavan Ravishankar (Singapore)
    13. Alex Karkosik (Poland)
    14. MichelangeloAmendola (Belgium)
    15. Felipe Drugovich (Brazil)
    16. PresleyMartono (Indonesia)
    17. Louis Gachot (France)
    18. Manuel Maldonado (Venezuela)

    MRF Challenge 2017 Calendar:

    Round 1: Nov16-18, 2017, Bahrain, BIC (WEC Support Race)

    Round 2: December 7-9, 2017, Dubai, Dubai Autodrome

    Round 3: December 13-15, 2017, Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi

    Round 4: February 2-4, 2018, Chennai, Madras Motor Race Track

    eom/MRF press release

  • TVS Racing’s Harith Noah wins National Supercross title beating Jinnan

    TVS Racing’s Harith Noah wins National Supercross title beating Jinnan

    Pune, 4 Dec 2017: Harith Noah made a fairytale ending to his comeback year by winning both Motos hands down to claim SX1 national title at the season-finale race of the MRF MoGrip FMSCI National Supercross Championship at Mundhwa ground here on Saturday night.

    TVS Racing rider Noah had an enviable task of finishing at No. 5 position in both Motos to confirm his championship and prevent privateer CD Jinan from overhauling his points, but Noah raced impeccably to win on the 700-metre-long unique track that saw participants taking elevated start for the first time in India.

    Noah had made a comeback to supercross racing early this season after having taken sabbatical for a few years and from the first round in Goa to the following rounds in Coimbatore, Jaipur, Nashik, Indore and now in Pune, the TVS Racing rider always stayed ahead of the competition with clean racing all through.

    eom/God Speed Racing, the organisers’ release

    Harith Noah in action for a superb win that got him the National Supercross title in his come-back year at Pune on 4 Dec, 2017. Image by God Speed Racing
  • Felix Rosenqvist brings Mahindra’s win after Abt was disqualified: Formula E in Hong Kong

    Felix Rosenqvist brings Mahindra’s win after Abt was disqualified: Formula E in Hong Kong

    Felix Rosenqvist has provisionally won the second round of the 2017 FIA Formula E Championship in Hong Kong after on-track winner Daniel Abt was disqualified after the race for a technical infringement.

    It was found that the FIA security stickers (barcodes) on the inverter and MGU units did not correspond with those declared on the Technical Passport provided by the competitor Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler for the event. The race results remain provisional subject to an appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler against the Stewards´ Decision.

    It was a thrilling climax to the E-Prix as race-long leader and rookie driver Edoardo Mortara spun out with just three laps to go as he was trying to set the fastest lap in the Venturi Formula E Team machine.

    Mortara took the lead after pole-sitter Rosenqvist spun in his Mahindra Formula E Team car at the first corner on the opening lap. The race had started under safety car conditions because of fault with the start lights, but the mistake meant that Rosenqvist had to spend the 45 laps fighting his way through the pack.

    Mortara, famed for his prowess on the fierce street circuit in Macau where two weeks ago he won the FIA GT World Cup, looked at home in his first ever Formula E weekend, and steadily opened out a gap to the chasing Abt.

    Behind the Audi driver, Mitch Evans and Alex Lynn were pushing each in fourth and fifth in the opening laps, but while Evans maintained fourth place to the flag, Lynn dropped down to ultimately finish ninth.

    Evan’s post-race promotion hands Panasonic Jaguar Racing its first podium in the FIA Formula E Championship.

    Yesterday’s runner-up Jean-Eric Vergne fought his way from eighth on the grid to finish fourth ahead of yesterday’s winner Sam Bird. It was a hard charge for the DS Virgin Racing driver to come through from 14th on the grid to finish fifth.

    Oliver Turvey, Maro Engel and Nico Prost finished in close quarters in sixth, seventh and eighth for NIO Formula E Team, Venturi and Renault e.dams respectively, with Prost’s team-mate Sebastien Buemi rounding out the top ten behind Lynn.

    From facing backwards in the first corner, Rosenqvist ended up taking maximum points from the round having taken pole position, the win and the fastest lap.

    Round three of the 2017/18 FIA Formula E Championship takes place in Marrakesh on 13 January.

    Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, said: “There’s been a lot of ups-and-downs all weekend, but I’m happy with taking away 29 points – for pole, winning the race and fastest lap – it’s a lot of points! But I feel sorry for Daniel as well, he won the race on track, but I don’t know the reason. It’s not the way you want to win and I don’t feel like I’ve won the race. But I’m happy with the points. Sometimes you’re happy and then you’re sad, like yesterday we were in P15 and turned it around – getting fastest lap but it got taken away, so there’s been a lot like that but I’ll take maximum points and third in the championship.”

    Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E, said: “It’s difficult to find the words actually after a race like that. It’s tough to swallow. We had the pace and managed the race from the beginning to the end. I was checking my energy consumption and the gap to Daniel the entire race and I guess at some point I wanted too much. Sometimes you need to admit it – you were too confident and I should have focussed on bringing home the win. We showed the others today we had the pace, and I’ll improve myself at the next races.”

    Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, said: “I’m proud to secure Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s first podium in Formula E. It’s bittersweet as Daniel is a good guy and a mate of mine. After a tough year in our first season, this is a great reward for the hard work of everyone in the team. Tonight we will celebrate this achievement together and then work hard to repeat it.”

    2017 HKT Hong Kong E-Prix (Rd 2) – Provisional Race Results

    1 – Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, 50:05.084s (29)
    2 – Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E Team, +7.031s (18)
    3 – Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +10.619s (15)
    4 – Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, +12.593s (12)
    5 – Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, +12.879s (10)
    6 – Oliver Turvey, NIO Formula E Team, +14.199s (8)
    7 – Maro Engel, Venturi Formula E Team, 15.676s (6)
    8 – Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, +18.905s (4)
    9 – Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing, +19.025s (2)
    10 – Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, +22.139s (1)
    11 – Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti Formula E, +23.359s
    12 – Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +27.904s
    13 – Andre Lotterer, TECHEETAH, +28.591s
    14 – Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, +39.137s15 – Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON, +55.189s
    16 – Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +1 Lap
    17 – Kamui Kobayashi, Andretti Formula E, +1 Lap
    18 – Neel Jani, DRAGON, +1 Lap

    DNF – Luca Filippi, NIO Formula E Team, 36 Laps
    DSQ – Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, 45 Laps

    Driver standings

    Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing – 35
    Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH – 33
    Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing – 29
    Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E – 24
    Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing – 15

    Team standings
    Mahindra Racing – 44
    DS Virgin Racing – 41
    TECHEETAH – 33
    Venturi Formula E Team – 30
    Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 27
    Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler – 11
    NIO Formula E Team – 9
    Andretti Formula E – 8
    Renault e.dams – 7
    DRAGON – 0

    *Subject to an appeal to the FIA International Court of Appeal by Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler against the Stewards´ Decision to disqualify Car no. 66

    eom/

    Mahindra’s Felix Rosenqvist takes a provisional win pending appeal in the second race of Formula E in Hong Kong on Sunday. An FIA image.

    FIA press release

  • Bird clinches Formula E season opener in Hongkong

    Bird clinches Formula E season opener in Hongkong

    Bird wins season opener in Hongkong on Sunday. Image by FIA

    The FIA Formula E Championship sparked into life for the start of the new season with a gripping opening contest in Hong Kong, where Sam Bird sealed a surprise victory despite picking up a penalty for not stopping in his allocated space during the mid-race car swap.

    Bird entered the pitlane eager to retain the advantage he’d built over TECHEETAH’s Jean-Eric Vergne, but attacked his marks too aggressively on the dusty surface and skated to a halt outside the front of his garage.

    He managed to jump out and into his second car without losing too much time. However, Bird didn’t make his mandatory car change in the box allocated to the driver – picking up a drive-through penalty in the process. But it wasn’t enough to stop him.

    There were several contenders in a hotly-contested battle as Bird faced his former team-mate Vergne for the majority of the opening stint. Vergne led the way from pole position, fending off the fast-starting Mahindra of Nick Heidfeld.

    As the cars filtered through the tight chicane of Turns 3 & 4, Formula E debutant Andre Lotterer collided with the wall – blocking a gaggle of cars behind. Lotterer was avoiding the bottleneck and pitched into the barriers on the outside, holding back Mitch Evans, Nico Prost, Edoardo Mortara and Neel Jani behind.

    The E-Prix came to an abrupt halt as the incident brought out the red flags and after a delay the race got back underway behind the Safety Car. Vergne looked immediately under pressure from Bird in his mirrors and couldn’t hold him back after a lunge up the inside of the Turn 6 hairpin.

    Despite serving his penalty, Bird emerged narrowly in front of the chasing pack. The British driver must have breathed a huge sigh of relief after a botched pitstop cost him a chance of fighting for the win in Hong Kong last year.

    Speaking about the shock result, Bird added: “That was a really crazy race, I’m still trying to process what happened really. It’s unreal for me winning after a driving-through penalty in Formula E. I’d like to thank the team, we knew it would be tough this year with lots of close competition. When I came out the pits there was a TECHEETAH in front of me and thought it was JEV, so I was pushing hard to catch him! It turned out I was in the lead and I never in a million years expected that.”

    Although, it’s a bittersweet result for Bird after being handed a 10-place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race for dangerous driving in the pitlane.

    Vergne defended his position stoutly throughout the race and admitted to struggling without regen and no communication to the team over radio – making it feel like a victory for the TECHEETAH team.

    He said: “This race was by far my most difficult race – I had no radio communication, I spoke to my engineer only twice in the race and I had no regen. So, if this morning somebody told me I’d have these issues, I wouldn’t even take the start of the race. To finish second off the back of this is almost like a victory to us. We’re hoping to fix things overnight and come back stronger tomorrow.”

    Heidfeld saw a lot of Vergne’s rear wing throughout the E-Prix – trying to pass the Frenchman in every direction, but second place still eludes him as the Mahindra driver settled for another third-place finish.

    “It’s probably one of the third places I’m least happy about,” said Heidfeld. “Hopefully this changes in the next couple of days. The team has done a good job and to finish on the podium is always a good result, and you have to focus on collecting the points for the season. JEV said he had a lot of problems – I tried hard to overtake him, but I’m not that happy as I thought it was too much.”

    Reigning Formula E champion Lucas di Grassi and main rival Sebastien Buemi both failed to score. Di Grassi was forced to pit early and switched to his second car after sustaining damage to his right-rear suspension, while Buemi stopped on track with a technical glitch.

    The teams and drivers don’t have long to rest, as the action gets underway again for the second helping of the Hong Kong E-Prix double-header tomorrow.

    2017 HKT Hong Kong E-Prix (Rd 1) – Race results

    1 – Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing, 1:17.10.486s (25)
    2 – Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH, +11.575s (21)
    3 – Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing, +12.465s (15)
    4 – Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +15.324s (12)
    5 – Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, +17.205s (11)
    6 – Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti Formula E, +18.083s (8)
    7 – Edoardo Mortara, Venturi Formula E Team, +19.797s (6)
    8 – Alex Lynn, DS Virgin Racing, +20.904s (4)
    9 – Nico Prost, Renault e.dams, +24.785s (2)
    10 – Luca Filippi, NIO Formula E Team, +25.500s (1)
    11 – Sebastien Buemi, Renault e.dams, +26.202s
    12 – Mitch Evans, Panasonic Jaguar Racing, +34.871s
    13 – Maro Engel, Venturi Formula E Team, +35.752s
    14 – Felix Rosenqvist, Mahindra Racing, +41.174s
    15 – Kamui Kobayashi, Andretti Formula E, +48.422s
    16 – Oliver Turvey, NIO Formula E Team, +1 Lap
    17 – Lucas di Grassi, ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport, +1 Lap
    18 – Neel Jani, DRAGON, +1 Lap

    DNF – Jerome D’Ambrosio, DRAGON, 34 Laps
    DSQ – Andre Lotterer, TECHEETAH, 43 Laps

    Driver standings

    Sam Bird, DS Virgin Racing – 25
    Jean-Eric Vergne, TECHEETAH – 21
    Nick Heidfeld, Mahindra Racing – 15
    Nelson Piquet Jr, Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 12
    Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler – 11

    Team standings

    DS Virgin Racing – 29
    TECHEETAH – 21
    Mahindra Racing – 15
    Panasonic Jaguar Racing – 12
    Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler – 11
    Andretti Formula E – 8
    Venturi Formula E Team – 6
    Renault e.dams – 2
    NIO Formula E Team – 1
    DRAGON – 0

    eom/FIA press release

  • Nikita Mazepin completes 90 laps for Force India: Testing

    2017 ABU DHABI TEST
    DAY ONE

    Sahara Force India completed a busy day of testing in Abu Dhabi with development driver, Nikita Mazepin, working through an extensive tyre programme.

    NIKITA MAZEPIN – VJM10-04

    Laps: 90 laps
    Best time: 1:39.959
    Position: P8 of 12

    Nikita Mazepin: “I am quite satisfied with the work we have done today. Testing the new Pirelli tyres for 2018 was interesting and it gave us the first idea of how the various compounds will work next year. I would have liked to improve my times a bit towards the end of the day, but I was blocked on my last new tyre run. At the end of the day, however, it’s a test and we can be happy with what we achieved. I built up my speed during the morning because it was my first time driving here, but in the afternoon I was pushing more and more. Compared to the last time I was in the car, in Budapest, the balance felt much more consistent in the medium to high-speed corners, so I could feel how much the car has improved over the last few months.”

    TOM McCULLOUGH, CHIEF RACE ENGINEER

    “Nikita was back in the car today for the first time since the Budapest test last August. He did a very mature job and didn’t put a wheel out of place all day, which helped us complete an ambitious run plan. This was the first opportunity to try the 2018 Pirelli compounds and it’s very important that we maximise our understanding of them to help steer our direction during the winter. The red flags in the afternoon curtailed some of our long runs, but 90 laps represent a good day’s work. We will aim for more of the same tomorrow when Esteban and Sergio share driving duties with half a day each.”

    eom/release

  • Force India scores ten points

    Sahara Force India scored ten points in today’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Sergio Perez ending the season in seventh place ahead of Esteban Ocon in eighth – both in today’s race and their drivers’ championship positions.

    P7 – SERGIO PEREZ – VJM10-02

    Strategy: Used UltraSoft (16 laps) – New SuperSoft (39 laps)

    Sergio: “It wasn’t the most exciting race for me, but I had a very busy first lap battling with Nico [Hulkenberg]. I think his penalty was very strange because I was ahead of him and he just cut the corner, gaining a big advantage and a position. He had more pace and in clean air he could just go and make up enough time to make the penalty useless. He should have just given up the position, as is required and as he did later in the race with Grosjean, and he would have had to overtake me on track.

    “I am happy with the result today and it was important to finish this year strongly. It’s my first year at Force India without a podium, but I think we made a big step forward. I scored one point less than last year with just 20 races on the calendar instead of 21. The overall result is great: seventh in the drivers’ championship and fourth in the teams’ standings. I don’t think we could do anything better than that this year and I hope we can continue this way into 2018.”

    P8 – ESTEBAN OCON – VJM10-04

    Strategy: Used UltraSoft (31 laps) – New SuperSoft (24 laps)

    Esteban: “It was a really quiet race with not a huge amount of things happening. The start was the busy moment when I almost got ahead of Hulkenberg, but he was on the racing line and he was able to brake later. From there I was running a different strategy compared to Checo and although I was getting closer to him at the end, I just didn’t have enough laps to catch him. It’s nice to end the year with another strong result and I’m really proud of what we have achieved as a team this year. The winter months ahead will involve a lot of training so that I can come back even stronger in 2018.”

    ROBERT FERNLEY, DEPUTY TEAM PRINCIPAL

    “We’ve ended the year as we started it with both cars firmly inside the points. Seventh and eighth places bring our points tally to 187 to sign-off our most successful season ever. As we’ve said before, the credit needs to go to each and every one of the 400 team members who have contributed to this achievement, as well as the support of our commercial partners. Today’s race was fairly straightforward and there wasn’t much to choose between the different strategies run by each car. It’s nice to end the season on a positive note ahead of a busy winter finalising the new car for 2018.”

    eom/press release

  • Bottas wins Abu Dhabi GP ahead of Hamilton

    Valtteri Bottas claimed his third victory of the year, beating Mercedes team-mate and four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton by just under four seconds at the final race of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari.

    At the start Bottas got away cleanly from pole position and took the lead ahead of Hamilton, Vettel and Ricciardo who all retained their starting positions. Behind them Max Verstappen in the second Red Bull closed on Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen and made two aggressive attempts to pass the Finn. The second almost succeeded but in the end the Dutchman backed out of the attack and Räikkönen held fifth as they crossed the line at the end of lap one.

    Further back Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg went off track and rejoined in seventh place ahead of Force India’s Sergio Perez who had got ahead at the start. The German was promptly handed a five-second time penalty for gaining an advantage.

    The order then settled and by lap 10 Bottas had eked out a two-second advantage over Hamilton, with the British driver 2.7s clear of Vettel. Ricciardo was also managing to pull away from Räikkönen who was now 3.9s in arrears to the Australian.

    That order remained the same through the first pit stops, though not for long afterwards. Following regulations stops for Verstappen, Räikkönen, Vettel and Bottas, Ricciardo dived towards the pit entry earlier than expected saying he suspected he had a puncture.

    He took on supersofts tyres and rejoined in P4 but the real problem soon became clear. “I think I’m losing power steering,” he reported and then almost immediately drove off track and stopped at Turn 5, his race over.

    At the front Hamilton was the last of the front runners to pit and his stop once again boosted Bottas into the lead. The Finn now led his team-mate by just over a second, but Vettel was now a sizeable 11.4s behind in third. Following Ricciardo’s retirement Räikkönen was promoted to third, 1.5s ahead of Verstappen in the sole remaining Red Bull.

    Force India’s Esteban Ocon was sixth ahead of the Renaults of Carlos Sainz and Hulkenberg. Sainz needed to make a first pit stop, and he did that on lap 31, in tandem with the sixth-placed Force India of Esteban Ocon.

    While Ocon rejoined in P8, there was a problem for Sainz. His crew failed to attach his front left wheel correctly and the Spaniard barely it made out of the pit tunnel and back on track. He quickly pulled over and retired.

    The stops, though, boosted Hulkenberg to P6, a position that if held would earn Renault eight points and elevate them to in the Constructors’ standings, above Toro Rosso, whose drivers, Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly, were lingering in P15 and P16 respectively.

    And there the order stagnated. At the front Bottas had a solid 1.7s advantage over Hamilton on lap 43, with Vettel a further 20 seconds back. He was followed by Raikkonen and Verstappen, while Hulkenberg was now secure in sixth place some seven seconds ahead of Perez.

    And that was how it ended, with Bottas eventually taking his third victory of the season almost four seconds clear of Hamilton and almost 20 seconds ahead of Vettel, whose third place means he finishes as runner-up to Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings, 12 points ahead of Bottas. Raikkonen’s fourth place, coupled with Ricciardo’s retirement boosts the Finn ahead of the Australian, to fourth in the Drivers’ table.

    Further back Hulkenberg held sixth place to hand Renault the same place in the teams’ standings. Perez was seventh for Force India ahead of team-mate Ocon, while Fernando Alonso handed two points to McLaren and Honda in the final race for the team and engine manufacturer as partners. Finally, Felipe Massa scored a point on his final race in Formula 1, with the Brazilian retiring after 269 F1 starts.

    2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Race
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 3.899
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 19.330
    4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 45.386
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 46.269
    6 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1’25.713
    7 Sergio Perez Force India 1’32.062
    8 Esteban Ocon Force India 1’38.911
    9 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1 lap
    10 Felipe Massa Williams 1 lap
    11 Romain Grosjean Haas 1 lap
    12 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1 lap
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1 lap
    14 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1 lap
    15 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1 lap
    16 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1 lap
    17 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1 lap
    18 Lance Stroll Williams 1 lap
    19 Carlos Sainz Renault 24 laps
    20 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 35 laps

    eom/press release

  • Gaurav Gill brings home third APRC title, says Indians too can do it on the World stage

    Gaurav Gill brings home third APRC title, says Indians too can do it on the World stage

    Gaurav Gill obliges many of his little fans after defending his APRC title in Chikmagalur on Sunday. Photo by Srinivasa Krishnan
    India’s Gaurav Gill (right) and co-driver Stephane Prevot from Belgium with the FIA APRC trophy on 26 Nov 2017. Image by Anand Philar

    Chikkamagaluru, 26 Nov 2017: India’s Gaurav Gill came up with another mature drive to retain the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship title, his third since 2013, as he led another 1-2 Team MRF sweep in the Coffee Day India Rally 2017 ahead of team-mate Ole Christian Veiby from Norway, here on Sunday, by 17 minutes, 38.4 seconds.

    Going into the Coffee Day India Rally, organized by Motor Sports Club of Chikmagalur, and which doubled up as the fifth and concluding round of the 2017 APRC, 35-year old Gill and co-driver Stephane Prevot of Belgium led Veiby (Stig Rune Skjarmoen) by six points with both requiring a win to clinch the title. With the 21-year old Norwegian suffering mechanical problems yesterday and losing time, Gill cruised to another fine win.

    The victory was worth 38 points which took Gill’s tally to 174 while Veiby finished on 160. While the Indian ace won three of the five rounds, Veiby triumphed in the other two as MRF Tyres bag team championship while Skoda yet again took the manufacturer’s trophy. It was also Gill’s 17th win in APRC since his debut in 2008.

    Enjoying a commanding 15-minute lead overnight, Gill did not feel the need to push hard and yet he won one of the day’s four Special Stages while Veiby continued his charge to move from third to the second spot.

    Meanwhile, Abhilash PG, having completed all the Stages in third place today, retired during the transport run due to mechanical problems to the finish fourth, thus promoting Sri Lankan Shafraz Junaid (Akhry Ameer) to third.

    Reflecting on his victory and the third APRC title, Gill said: “Obviously, I am extremely pleased to win such a hard-fought championship. My satisfaction lies in the fact that I beat my team-mate OC (Veiby) who is a World Championship driver and even won the round in Poland. More importantly, this victory is for Indian motorsport and it showed that India is capable of competing with the best talent in the World.

    “For me personally, it satisfying to win three APRC titles despite the fact that I get to drive just five or six rounds in a year and not as much seat time in the rally car as my team-mate. OC, for instance, is a factory test driver for Skoda and also participates in the World Championship besides other rallies. So, for me to beat him despite the odds I face, is especially satisfying.

    “Looking ahead, I think I have done enough to show that I have the pace and ability to compete at the World-level as my first APRC title in 2013 was against my then team-mate Esapekka Lappi from Finland who today is a regular in the World championship with several wins. At the moment, I accept what is on offer without thinking too much about what is in store for me in my rallying career.”

    For APRC debutant Veiby, it was disappointing outing here and felt that he could have done much better than finishing second in the championship, but said he benefitted by competing against Gill.

    “Yeah, for sure, I could have had better results on my debut in APRC this year. I had mechanical issues with my car in three of the five rounds. However, it was fun competing with Gaurav and I think I learnt a lot. Overall, it was a great experience, driving in different conditions, terrain and countries,” said Veiby.

    Provisional results: APRC: 1. Gaurav Gill / Stephane Prevot (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (03hrs, 20mins, 19.8secs); 2. Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjarmoen (Team MRF, Skoda Fabia R5) (03:37:58.2); 3. Shafraz Junaid / Akhry (Volkswagen Polo) (04:10:17.4).

    eom/press release

  • Bottas beats Hamilton for fourth career pole

    Bottas beats Hamilton for fourth career pole

    Bottas after taking Abu Dhabi pole. An FIA image

    Abu Dhabi: Valtteri Bottas will start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the FIA Formula One (F1) World Championship from the front of the grid after the Finn beat Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton by just under two tenths of a second to claim his fourth career pole position. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel will start third ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who delivered a superb final flying lap to climb from sixth place after the first runs of Q3.

    In Q1, four-time champion Hamilton was one of the first on track and he quickly grabbed top spot with a lap of 1:37.473. He was eclipsed, however by Mercedes team-mate Bottas who edged ahead with a lap of 1:37.356 as Hamilton improved marginally in P2. Kimi Räikkönen took third for Ferrari ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel with Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo fifth ahead of team-mate Max Verstappen.

    Sergio Perez took seventh for Force India ahead of McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. Behind them Renault’s Carlos Sainz was 10th ahead of the second Force India of Esteban Ocon. As the final runs began the top 11 stayed garage bound.

    At the other end of the spectrum, the men in the drop zone ahead of the final runs were Williams’ Lance Stroll in P16 followed by the Saubers of Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson and the Toro Rossos of Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley.

    And following the chequered flag only Stroll managed to escape the cut. The Williams driver’s lap of 1:39.503 elevated him to 15th place with Haas’ Romain Grosjean eliminated by just over a hundredth of a second in P16 ahead of Gasly, Wehrlein, Ericsson and Hartley.

    In Q2 it was Hamilton who set the pace. Bottas was the first to cross the line but traffic in Q3 saw the Finn set a time of 1:36.977. Hamilton was following and when he crossed the line he took P1 with a time of 1:36.742. Vettel slotted into P3 ahead of Räikkönen and Ricciardo with Hulkenberg seventh ahead of Verstappen.

    In the final runs the top five positions remained the same but Verstappen found an improvement to edge ahead of Hulkenberg, while behind the Dutchman, Perez, Ocon and Williams’ Felipe Massa, contesting his final F1 qualifying session before retirement made it through in 10th place.

    The Brazilian’s time of 1:38.565 meant that he slipped through just seven hundredths of a second ahead of former Ferrari team-mate Fernando Alonso who was eliminated in 11th place ahead of Sainz, Vandoorne, Magnussen and Stroll.

    While Mercedes clearly had the upper hand, it was not Hamilton who set the pace in the first runs of Q3 but Bottas. The Finn extracted the maximum from himself and his car to post a time of 1:36.231. It was a benchmark Hamilton failed to match in either his first or final run and thus Bottas took his fourth career pole position ahead of the 2017 champion. Vettel took third place, over half a second down on Bottas.

    It was Ricciardo, though, who made the biggest improvement in the session. The Australian’s first run left him in sixth place, two hundredths of a second behind team-mate Verstappen and complaining about the tyres he had run on his first flyer.

    Ricciardo was the last man out of the garage in the final runs but he made the lap count improving by more than seven tenths of a second to jump to fourth place with a lap of 1:36.959.

    Räikkönen was left with fifth place ahead of Verstappen, while Hulkenberg took seventh place for Renault. Perez qualified eighth ahead of team-mate Ocon and Felipe Massa qualified for his final grand prix in 10th place.

    2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:36.231
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.403 0.172
    3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.777 0.546
    4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:36.959 0.728
    5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.985 0.754
    6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:37.328 1.097
    7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:38.282 2.051
    8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.374 2.143
    9 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:38.397 2.166
    10 Felipe Massa Williams 1:38.550 2.319
    11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:38.636 2.405
    12 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:38.725 2.494
    13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:38.808 2.577
    14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:39.298 3.067
    15 Lance Stroll Williams 1:39.646 3.415
    16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:39.516 3.285
    17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:39.724 3.493
    18 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1:39.930 3.699
    19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:39.994 3.763
    20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:40.471 4.240
    eom/FIA press release