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Author: David Bodapati
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Force India looks forward to upgrades; Mallya expected to attend Spanish GP
Bangalore, 11 May 2016: Vijay Mallya, the beleaguered liquor baron of India and the team Principal of Sahara Force India is expected to attend the Spanish GP this week-end.
He is currently battling against the Enforcement Directorate, a specialised financial investigation Agency under the Governmnet of India’s Ministry of Finance, which has succeeded in getting his diplomatic passport revoked by the External Affairs Ministry but the latter failed miserably to get him deported as England refused to toe the line. Mallya has a resident permit in UK from 1992 and is a non-resident Indian.
Mallya is reported to be continuing negotiations with bankers and offered Rs.6,800 crore but the bankers did not respond. They claim that he owes them Rs.9000 crore. Many in sporting circles are divided in their loyalty; while some strongly believe that he should be booked a per the law of the land, other feel that he is being victimised by a media trial and quote that Air India, the state-run Airlines, owes more than Rs.30,000 crore to Indian banks.
Undaunted, Mallya continues to give quotes to his Press team which puts out releases to the Sports Media around the world. Mallya, who has not attended an F1 race for many months now, is expected to grace the paddock at the Spanish GP next Sunday.
The release put out by Sahara Force India team:
Barcelone:2016 Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – PreviewSahara Force India looks forward to the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.Q & A with Nico Hulkenberg on BarcelonaNico Hülkenberg looks forward to this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.Nico: “When you get to Barcelona to start the European season, you start to realise just how quickly the year is passing. It’s a chance to get back into a normal routine because you don’t have so many long flights or time zone changes, so it’s a bit easier from that regard.“I love the city of Barcelona and the Spanish lifestyle in the sunshine. We’ve already spent a couple of weeks there for winter testing, but when you come back for the race everything is different: the cars have evolved, the temperatures are warmer, and you have to work hard to find the right set-up. That’s why it’s a tricky circuit because confidence counts for a lot and, if you’re not totally comfortable, your lap times really suffer.“I felt pretty disappointed about what happened in Sochi. In fact, things have gone against us for the last few races. We know we should have scored more points, but it’s impossible to plan for the bad luck we’ve experienced. I’m looking forward to a weekend where everything goes to plan so that we can show our true potential.”Sergio on BarcelonaSergio Perez gets ready for Barcelona and hopes to add to the points he scored in Sochi.Sergio: “The atmosphere in Barcelona is always special and for me it’s one of the best tracks of the year. I enjoy the layout because it’s a true test of your car with a bit of everything, especially long, quick corners, which all the drivers enjoy. It’s a track where you feel the physical demands, especially on your neck, but overall it’s just a great place to experience a Formula One car. The only downside is that it’s difficult to overtake, but it’s still possible with DRS on the approach to turn one, especially if the car ahead is suffering with high tyre degradation.“It was important to get back into the points in Russia. The car performed very well all weekend and I can feel the progress we’ve made since the start of the year. It was not a smooth race, but we didn’t give up and scoring two points was a good recovery. It’s been a difficult start to the year, but it feels like the momentum is changing now and the performance in Sochi was a big boost for all of us.“Barcelona will be the first chance to run our updated car. It’s going to be a huge task to understand everything on Friday, but it’s always exciting to try new parts on the car.”Q&A with Vijay MallyaTeam Principal, Vijay Mallya, hopes to see the VJM09 realise its true potential this weekendVijay, Sergio scored points in Russia, but it was another eventful race for the team…VJM: “In Sochi we were the innocent victims of the first lap chaos – as was the case in Bahrain too. It’s frustrating because, even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s hard to see what we could have done differently. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time with both cars, which caused a puncture for Sergio and ended Nico’s race. To see Sergio recover from the back of the pack and score points was a tremendous effort.”Surely the team’s fortunes will start to change soon…VJM: “I hope we’ve used up all of our bad luck already! We’ve yet to see how we perform in a clean, trouble-free race without safety cars, red flags or accidents. Despite not realising our potential in Sochi, we took encouragement from our qualifying and race pace: the car is improving and we’ve got a good base on which to build. There are 17 races to go and I’m confident the best is yet to come. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”You’ve spoken before about the Barcelona update package – what’s the latest news?VJM: “It’s on schedule to be fitted to both cars ahead of Friday practice. It’s pretty comprehensive and the car will look quite different.”eom/Sahara Force India Press Release -
Lorenzo produces perfection in crash filled French GP; Rossi 2nd
Le Mans (France), 8th May 2016 
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi repeated their 1-2 performances from Jerez at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, this time finishing in reversed order. Lorenzo started the 28-lap sprint exactly as he had planned. As the lights went out he had a lightning start from pole position and took the holeshot to create 0.4s lead after the first lap. Followed by Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso, he put his head down and dropped quick laps to keep a consistent gap of little more than half a second until, with 23 laps left, it was time to break away.
With clear track in front of him and behind him, the triple premier class World Champion rode consistently fast lap times in the 1’33s to manage the gap to his pursuers that had rapidly grown to more than two seconds.
Lorenzo was in a league of his own and remained unchallenged for the rest of the race. Leading the race from start to finish, the freshly turned 29 year old marked his birthday by securing a perfect victory, with a more than ten second margin, and to top off the celebrations he also took over the top spot in the championship standings.
Teammate Rossi brought the heat to the racing action today, fighting his way up the order from his seventh place grid position. The Doctor had a challenging start from third row but quickly moved into sixth position before getting involved in a scrap with Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith in the opening laps.
After muscling his way past his fellow Yamaha riders with strong but fair passes, he quickly went on to take fifth place from Aleix Espergarò after the third lap. The nine-time World Champion then set his sights on Marc Marquez and increased his pace as he closed down the 1.3s gap, posting a 1’33.293s, the fastest lap of the race.
With 20 laps to go Rossi moved up to fourth place as Iannone crashed out, which spurred him on to fight for a place on the podium. Having saved his tyres, he lined up his Spanish rival and under loud cheering from the fans he made his move in the Garage Vert corner on the next lap.
Now in his element he overtook his next target, Andrea Dovizioso, up the inside in Musée corner. Though he was unable to stretch his lead when in second place, he kept pushing his YZR-M1 to the limit until Marquez and Dovizioso got caught out in turn seven while trying to keep up with his pace. With twelve and a half laps left to go, Rossi was no longer under pressure. Unable to close in on his teammate, who had a gap of more than 5.2s, he focused on managing his advantage over Maverick Viñales in third place and landed a second consecutive podium finish, taking the chequered flag 10.654s behind his teammate.
Lorenzo‘s first place earns him 25 points, while Rossi adds 20 points to his score. These results put the Mallorcan in the lead in the championship standings on 90 points, five points ahead of his closest rival. Rossi stays third in the rankings with a 78-point total, seven points from second place.
eom/A Movistar Yamaha release
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Lorenzo seals pole position while Marquez settles for P1
Le Mans (France), 7 May 2016: After keeping up the pace in Saturday‘s two free practice sessions on the second day in France, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi went straight through to the Q2 session to qualify on the first and third row for tomorrow’s fifth race of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship.
Marquez of Repsol Honda qualified second while teammate Dani Pedrosa had to settle for 11th place.
Lorenzo had his signature start to the qualifying session, waiting for all other riders to leave the pit lane before rushing out on hisYZR-M1. Having set a 1‘32s lap this weekend, the Mallorcan continued the trend dropping a 1‘32.437s, a best lap of the weekend at that time, for first place. He further extended his lead with a 1‘32.236s before heading back to the pits with more than seven minutes remaining.
There were mixed feelings for Repsol Honda today at Le Mans, with Marc Marquez emerging second-best from a demanding qualifying session and Dani Pedrosa forced to settle for 11th place after slipping off at turn 4 halfway through the session.
Marquez had found quite a good pace in the morning FP3 session, and he struggled to match that speed in his first run in qualifying. However, the Spaniard put in a couple of very fast laps during his second exit and finished in a strong second position behind pole-man Jorge Lorenzo.
Pedrosa was unfortunate to suffer a small crash after completing his first flying lap and so losing precious time and the chance to improve his lap time enough to do better than 11th.
Lorenzo was back on track with five minutes to go and had just enough time left for two more hot laps. Despite a slight error on his third hot lap, he made a stunning recovery. He waited until the last moment to show his blistering pace and became the fastest man everaround the Le Mans Bugatti circuit, posting a new circuit best lap record of 1’31.975s, extending his lead to 0.441s.
Valentino Rossi had a similar strategy to his teammate and was one of the last riders to exit pit lane as the lights went green. His first flying lap put him in third place until Lorenzo completed his first flying lap, pushing the Italian back to fourth. Eager to stay on the first row, he improved his time on his second try and moved back into the provisional top three with a 1‘32.829s.
eom/Press Releases from teams
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Knee injury scuttles Sarath Kumar’s debut
Buriram (Thailand), 7 May 2016: With the knee injury that he suffered recently during training acting up, India’s Sarath Kumar was forced to sit out the second of the Asian Road Racing Championship here this weekend after participating in the three Free Practice sessions of the SuperSports 600cc class on Friday.
“It was most unfortunate that my debut in the 600cc class was a non-starter. I was in severe pain after participating in the three Free Practice sessions on Friday following which we decided to skip the rest of the weekend rather than risk aggravating the injury.
“Hopefully, I will be fit and ready for the third round at Suzuka in Japan next month (June 4-5),” said the 23-year old Sarath Kumar who is supported by WOW Digit-Hong Kong, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters, India, Honda Motors, Japan and Ten10 Racing.
Ramji Govindarajan, Managing Director, Ten10 Racing, said: “As we all know, Sarath is still recovering from his knee injury and FP3 (Free Practice-3) took a toll on his knee and he was in pain. So the team decided to run him only for five laps.
“The grid a tough one, but we as a team and manager are not putting any pressure on him to perform. We want him to recover and learn the nuances of riding a 600cc motorcycle step by step.
“Sarath has been working hard on it despite being in pain and is not able to ride through left corner or right to left quick transition turns. We are hoping that he would have fully recovered from the injury for the next round in Japan.”
eom/AP Media Comm release
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Sarath Kumar to debut in Asian Road Racing – Super Sports 600cc
Chennai, 5 May 2016: With active support from WOW Digit HK, India’s Sarath Kumar will make his debut in the Super Sports 600cc class of the 2016 FIM Asia Road Racing Championship this weekend.
The 24-year old Chennai-based rider, who has competed in the Asia Dream Cup in the past, will join the ARRC in the second round to be held at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, on May 8-9 after missing the first round in Johor, Malaysia, in April due to a knee injury.
Thanks to Mr John Sudheer, Director, True Pursuit Global Management, who introduced WOW Digit HK to support Sarath Kumar in the ARRC, the Indian’s move to the 600cc class comes after riding smaller motorcycles for four years.
Sarath’s team-mates at Team T.Pro Yuzy Honda NTS Racing are Japanese riders Tomoyoshi Koyama and Taiga Hada, both with plenty of skill and experience.
On facilitating support for Sarath’s ARRC campaign, Sudheer said: “India as a country has always been very cricket-centric and I believe we have much more talent in India in other sports also. So when I heard about Sarath, his talent and performance in the international series, I decided to support him. It will be great pride to see India in the Asian level championship.
“I know WOW Digit personally and it is an upcoming brand across Asia. So I brought them on board as a main sponsor for the team. They saw an immediate synergy with ARRC as it travels to different parts of Asia that are our key markets. Although WOW Digit does not have a direct connect with moto racing, the excitement of racing and the viewership across Asia will give the brand a good reach. So, it’s a win-win situation.”
On his expectations from Sarath, Sudheer said: “We now know that the class is competitive from what we saw during the first round in Johor, Malaysia, and as long as he participates in the right spirit and learns the techniques this season, we will be proud of an Indian participation,” Sudheer said.
Sarath Kumar said: “This is a big opportunity. I have been riding 250cc for long now, but my bodyweight and height were becoming a disadvantage. Hence, this was the only move I could make and thanks to my team Honda, Mr John Sudheer, Ten10 Racing and WOW Digit, this opportunity has come at the right time.
“It is one the toughest grid in the World today, maybe even tougher than World Super Sport, but ARRC will provide a great platform for me to work hard, ride and learn from the best in Asia. Having missed the first round due to knee injury that I am still recovering from, it is going to be a tough task to catch up and learn the bike and get up to pace.
“Since 2011 in World Championship, I have always been involved in international racing, thanks to Ramji Govindarajan of Ten10 Racing who has been working hard to keep my international career going for so many years. However, this switch is critical to my racing career as this will define my future in international racing.
“I want to thank Mr John Sudheer whose support helped put an Indian in the Asia Championship. WOW Digit is a new era brand and will be great to work with them and promoting and carrying their brand with us across Asia.
“Also Ten10 Racing has been the backbone in my racing career, being beside me even during tough times and injuries. Vinoth Kannan of Ten10 Racing has been constantly working with me on my fitness and Ramji Govindarajan has been mentoring me for so many years to make me a professional racer that I am today. I will always be indebted to Ten10 Racing.”
The 2016 ARRC Calendar is:
Round 1 – Johor Circuit, Malaysia, April 1-2 (completed); Round 2 – Chang International Circuit, Thailand, May 7-8; Round 3 – Suzuka Circuit, Japan, June 4-5; Round 4 – Sentul Circuit, Indonesia, August 6-7; Round 5 – Buddh International Circuit, India, October 1-2; Round 6 – Chang International Circuit, Thailand, December 3-4
eom/AP Media Comm release
Sarath Kumar file photo by Anand Philar -
Armaan set for Lamborghini Super Trofeo and GT Asia series
Chennai, 4 May 2016: India’s ace racer Armaan Ebrahim will begin a packed international season next week as he will make his debut in the GT Asia Championship besides participating in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series for a second successive year.
Armaan, the 26-year old from Chennai, will kick-start his campaign with the first round of the GT Asia series in Korea on the May 13-15 weekend driving the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, followed by the season opener of the Super Trofeo in Shanghai, China, on May 20-22.
Supported by JK Tyre, Armaan will again team-up with Sri Lankan Dilantha Malagamuwa who runs the Dilango Racing team. The duo finished second Overall in the Super Trofeo Asia series last year, but hopes to do better this season.
Looking ahead to the season, Armaan said: “For sure, it is going to be busy and exciting season for me and I am looking forward to racing on a variety of circuits.
“I will be doing five of the six rounds of the GT Asia in the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 and all the six of the Super Trofeo which will conclude with the World finals in Valencia, Spain.
“Having said that, I thank for the support I have received from JK Tyre who have backed me over the years from my karting days. Hopefully, I will be able to deliver strong results this season and live up to expectations.
“Last year, Dilantha and I finished second Overall in the Super Trofeo series, and we are determined to go one better this time around.”
Armaan’s calendar is:
GT Asia Series: Korea International Circuit, South Korea (May 13-15), Okayama, Japan (July 1-3), Fuji, Japan (July 15-17), Shanghai, China (September 2-4) and Zhejiang, China (October 21-23).
Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series: Shanghai, China (May 20-22), Suzuka, Japan (June 10-12), Buriram, Thailand (July 22-24), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (August 12-14), Fuji, Japan (September 16-18) and Valencia, Spain (December 1-2).
eom/AP Media Comm release
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Brayan Perera seals FJRS championship
Coimbatore, 3 May 2016: Sri Lankan Brayan Perera clinched the championship in the Formula Junior Racing Series promoted by Meco Motor Sports which concluded at the Kari Motor Speedway here on Sunday. Brayan scored a total of five wins in 10 races spread over two rounds.Brayan, who had won three of the five races in the first round during the April 16-17 weekend at the same venue, finished the series with a tally of 72 points, just four clear of second-placed Ashwin Datta (Chennai) who had three wins while Assam’s Alex Bora ended up third with a tally of 53 (two wins).
In the Support races (two-wheelers), Faraz Shariff (600cc), Anthony Peter (300cc) and Aishwarya M (ladies) achieved a double apiece in the second round.
FJRS is a new entry-level Formula Racing Series for Rookie drivers who have attended the Meco Racing Academy and an affordable step up from karting to racing. More importantly, this Series becomes the grooming ground for a seat with the Meco Racing Team taking part in the JK Tyre FMSCI National Racing Championship.
The Series comprised of 10 races held over two rounds with support events in the form of two-wheeler races. The competitors in the FJRS drove the Formula LGB 1300 cars which belonged to Meco Racing and run by Meco Racing as a Single Make Class.
The results:
Formula LGB 1300 (Race 1, 10 laps): 1. Brayan Perera (Sri Lanka) (12mins, 46.417secs); Alex Bora (Assam) (12:48.582); 3. Ashwin Datta (Chennai) (12:51.820). Race 2 (7 laps): 1. Datta (13:02.959); 2. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (13:04.025); 3. Kevin Perera (Sri Lanka) (13:05.096). Race 3 (12 laps): 1. Bora (16:48.928); 2. Datta (16:49.692); 3. Sneha Sharma (Mumbai) (16:52.834). Race 4 (12 laps): 1. Datta (17:18.692); 2. Brayan Perera (17:23.392); 3. Bora (17:23.547). Race 5 (12 laps): 1. Brayan Perera (16:43.458); 2. Datta (16:45.247); 3. Rupesh Sivakumar (16:54.843).
Support Races (2-wheelers) – 400cc Open (Stock) Race 1 (8 laps): 1. Faraz Shariff (10:18.573); 2. Aditya Rao (10:22.217); 3. Yashal RL (10:22.495). Race 2 (10 laps): 1. Faraz Shariff (12:49.239); 2. Aditya Rao (12:52.867); 3. Rameez Ebrahim (13:28.878).
300cc (Stock) Race 1 (8 laps): 1. Anthony Peter (11:03.852); 2. Mohammed Arif (11:30.662); 3. Jai Kiran SV (11:55.322). Race 2 (10 laps): 1. Anthony Peter (14:11.137); 2. Guru Prasath (+1 lap); 3. Jai Kiran SV (+1 lap).
165cc (Stock, Novice) Race 1 (8 laps): 1. Anish D Shetty (11:09.944); 2. Yashas RL (11:10.575); 3. Anthony Peter (11:11.133). Race 2 (10 laps): 1. Anthony Peter (13:56.204); 2. Anish D Shetty (13:55.752); 3. Yashas RL (14:05.626).
Ladies (165cc, Stock) Race 1 (6 laps): 1. Aishwarya M (09:22.003); 2. Gopika Dharamshi (10:43.121); 3. Poorani Giridharan (+1 lap). Race 2 (6 laps): 1. Aishwarya (09:20.191); 2. Gopika (10:06.744); 3. Poorani (10:52.061).
eom/AP Media Communications release
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Rosberg makes it 4 wins out of 4 in 2016 season; Hamilton powers to 2nd from P10
Rosberg on way to fourth straight win of the season at Sochi on Sunday. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image Sochi, 1 May 2016: Nico Rosberg scored a controlled fourth victory from four races at the Russian Grand Prix in front of a crowd of 60,000 at the Sochi Autodrom, as Sebastian Vettel was dumped out of the race at the start following a collision with local hero Daniil Kvyat.
Starting from pole the championship leader led into Turn 2 but behind him there was drama as Vettel, who had started seventh, was hit from behind by Kvyat who had been eighth on the grid. The collision bounced Vettel sideways where he collided with the second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, who had started from P5.
All three managed to continue but within moments Kvyat again ran into the back of Vettel as the pair went into Turn 3. This time Vettel was pitched into the barrier and Kvyat lost his front wing.
The Safety Car was deployed and while a furious Vettel was left to make his way back to the paddock at the controls of scooter, Red Bull pitted both its drivers, with Kvyat taking a new nose cone and with both being put on medium tyres.
The strategic gambit was in vain, however. Kvyat was handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for causing a collision and failed to recover. Ricciardo, meanwhile, struggled for pace and battled a damaged. He would eventually shed his medium tyres on lap 29, though the improved pace would only take him to P11 at the flag.
Afterwards Vettel was critical of the young Russian’s start.
“Today it’s fairly obvious, he did a mistake again. It doesn’t help me now because I’m not in the car,” Vettel said. “In the end we’re here to race. Massively pumped up. Had a super start, made progress into the second corner and got hit, then a second hit, which destroyed our race.”
The early chaos did benefit some, however. Lewis Hamilton, 10th on the grid after power unit trouble in qualifying, made a good start and avoided the incident to climb to fifth place behind by the time the Safety Car was deployed.
When racing resumed Hamilton went on a charge and passed Williams’ Felipe Massa and third-placed Kimi Raikkonen to take P3 behind Valtteri Bottas in the other Williams.
The Finn defended bravely, however, and as Hamilton and Raikkonen remained bottled up behind the Williams, Rosberg established a solid gap at the front and by lap 15 the German was 9.2 seconds ahead of Bottas.
Bittas pitted on the next lap, freeing up Hamilton and Raikkonen. Hamilton made his own stop for soft tyres on the next lap and though Bottas was able to keep the champion at bay when the Mercedes man emerged from pit lane alongside him, he could do nothing on lap 19 when Hamilton used his greater pace and DRS to muscle past down the inside of Turn 2.
Controlling matters at the front, Rosberg eked out a long stint of 21 laps on his starting supersofts before pitting for softs on lap 21.
He emerged with a healthy gap of 12 seconds back to second-placed Hamilton, but midway through the final stint Hamilton began to push, eventually narrowing the gap to 7.7s.
Any hopes Hamilton had of a late assault were undone, however, when his pit wall informed him that his car had a water pressure issue. The champion back off and from running up to six tenths of a second quicker than Rosberg, Hamilton suddenly dropped to a second off the German’s pace.
The race was over as a contest. Rosberg controlled matters as Hamilton nursed his Mercedes to the flag and Raikkonen cruised to a lonely third.
“I knew the gap to Lewis and it was just through the traffic,” said Rosberg afterwards. “I was feeling really comfortable today, especially at the end of the race, in the last 15 [laps] I opened the gas and pushed a little bit more because I knew it was safe to push and definitely get to the end of the race with that set of tyres. It was working really well. The whole weekend. Even in qualifying. Seldom had such an awesome car. So, special weekend.”
Behind the podium positions, Bottas finished fourth for Williams ahead of team-mate Massa, while Fernando Alonso took an excellent sixth place and eight points for McLaren.
Kevin Magnussen took Renault’s first points of the season with seventh place, ahead of Haas’ Romain Grosjena and Force India’s Sergio Perez. McLaren’s positive day was enhanced by Jenson Button taking the final point in tenth place.
2016 Russian Grand Prix – Race
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 53 laps – 1h32m41.997s 1
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +25.022 1
3 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +31.998 1
4 Valtteri Bottas Williams +50.217 1
5 Felipe Massa Williams +74.427 2
6 Fernando Alonso McLaren +1 lap 1
7 Kevin Magnussen Renault +1 lap 1
8 Romain Grosjean Haas +1 lap 1
9 Sergio Perez Force India +1 lap 2
10 Jenson Button McLaren +1 lap 1
11 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing +1 lap 2
12 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso +1 lap 1
13 Jolyon Palmer Renault +1 lap 1
14 Marcus Ericsson Sauber +1 lap 2
15 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing +1 lap 2
16 Felipe Nasr Sauber +1 lap 1
17 Esteban Gutierrez Haas +1 lap 2
18 Pascal Wehrlein Manor +2 laps 2
19 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso DNF 1
20 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari DNF 0
21 Nico Hulkenberg Force India DNF 0
22 Rio Haryanto Manor DNF 0eom/FIA press release
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Gaurav Gill wins Whangarei round of the APRC to begin season with style
Whangarei (New Zealand), May 1: Gaurav Gill put in a mature performance to win the International Rally of Whangarei ahead of Germany’s Fabian Kreim to lead a 1-2 finish for Team MRF-SKODA, here on Sunday, and start the 2016 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship season in great style.
It was 34-year old, Delhi-based Gill’s ninth victory in the APRC series and second in New Zealand following his triumph here in 2014.
Driving the Race Torque-prepared Skoda Fabia R5 with controlled aggression, Gill, with Australian Glenn Macneall as his co-driver, shrugged off the overnight 4.6-second deficit to Kreim and eventually won by 30.4 seconds despite problems with the turbo following a leak in the actuator during the first of the two loops of the three Special Stages.
After replacing the part during the service break, Gill pushed just enough to maintain his lead over Kreim (co-driver Frank Christian) for a deserving victory.
Gill began the day that saw spells of rain and intermittent drizzle, by making 23.3 seconds over Kreim in the very first Special Stage won by Kiwi hope Mike Young who eventually finished a distant third behind the two MRF-SKODA duo.
Hereabouts, Gill’s Fabia R5 suffered from loss of power that saw him finish third in SS-12 and 13 before returning for service. At this point, the Indian’s lead was cut to 9.3 seconds, but after repairs to the turbo during service, Gill returned for the second loop of the three Stages and stepped up the pace, making 20 seconds on Kreim in SS-14 FOR A 29.3-second lead before easing off in the final two Stages to complete a fluent win.
Gill, who won two of the six Special Stages on Sunday, was pleased as punch with his overall performance, but pointed that he was still learning the finer points of the Fabia R5 that he was driving for the first time.
“Obviously, I am extremely happy that I won today. Every win is special and today, after overcoming the overnight deficit, I opened a sizeable lead over Fabian and thereafter, my intention was to nurse it to the finish. The weather also changed overnight and we had to cope with it.
“We had problems with the turbo with a leaking actuator that we replaced during service after the first loop, but with hardly a minute to spare. Thus, we were very much down on power during the first loop. However, I made 20 seconds on Fabian after repairs before deciding to ease off and drive to his pace rather than push as I had enough lead to win. My aim was to finish the event straining the car or the engine.
“Overall, I drove about 80-85 per cent to my potential since I am learning the new car and get the set-up right as it was prepared for Rally of Finland. From now on, I have to be consistent and keep scoring points,” said Gill.
On his part, Kreim was happy to bag some points on his APRC debut and said he met his target of finish the Rally safely while keeping the championship in mind.
“I drove just like I did yesterday while the conditions, due to rains, were far better today. Like I said earlier, our intention was to bring the car to the finish line and score some championship points which we did though we too had some problem with the turbo,” said Kreim.
A delighted Lane Heenan of Race Torque said: “Since this was the first round, it was important that both our cars finished. Considering that Gaurav was driving the R5 for the first time, it was a pretty good result for him. The rains also helped as it afforded more grip.
“As for Fabian, he is still young and finding his way. He has had a good start for the championship by taking some points. I am happy that we had a 1-2 finish, but there is still a long way to go and we have to take one round at a time.”
APRC Classification (Provisional): 1. Gaurav Gill / Glenn Macneall (Team MRF-SKODA, Skoda Fabia R5) (02hrs, 55mins, 50.3secs); 2. Fabian Kreim / Frank Christian (Team MRF-SKODA, Skoda Fabia R5) (02:56:20.7); 3. Mike Young / Malcolm Read (EZY Racing, Subaru Impreza WRX STi) (03:10:00.3).
Gill’s previous APRC victories: 2008 – Malaysia; 2010 – Australia; 2012 – New Caledonia; 2013 – New Caledonia and Japan (wins APRC championship); 2014 – Malaysia and New Zealand; 2015 – New Caledonia. 2016 – New Zealand.
eom/AP Media Communications Release
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Rosberg takes pole in Sochi; Hamilton suffers power-unit issues, starts P10
Nico Rosberg took his second pole position of the 2016 Formula One season as Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton suffered power unit problems for the second consecutive weekend.
Two weeks ago in China Hamilton was hit with an Energy Recovery System issue and exited qualifying without setting a time. This time out the champion was at least able to make it though the opening two sessions of the qualifying hour, but as the rest of the Q3 qualifier prepared to begin the top 10 shootout, Hamilton was out of his car and the final session. Mercedes soon revealed that the Briton had been struck by the same issue that hamstrung him in China. He is set to start 10th depending on whether additional penalties are accrued if his car requires components to be changed.
Having opened a significant 1.3s gap to Sebastian Vettel in Q2, with the Ferrari driver third behind Hamilton in the segment, the Q3 field was left open to Rosberg and the German seized the opportunity with both hands.
Vettel managed to close the gap to seven tenths of a second but Rosberg’s Q3 lap of 1:35.417 was good enough to secure a second consecutive pole position and to leave him perfectly positioned to tomorrow claim a fourth successive win this season.
“I was quite confident that the lap was good enough out there, because in quali two Ferrari was quite far away and I knew that Lewis was not able to participate in the last part of qualifying, so I was very sure that it was going to be enough,” said Rosberg afterwards. “But you never know, your know, so there’s always still a remaining uncertainty and so I was glad eventually when Sebastian finally crossed the line that it was good enough.
Starting from pole position will be great,” he added. “It’s never easy but the way the grid is it does help me out a lot for sure to try and get that win tomorrow.”
Although Vettel qualified in second position the Ferrari driver will start from P7 on the grid, having incurred a five-place penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change on Friday.
The four-time champion remains optimistic of a good result, however, especially in the light of Hamilton’s difficulties.
“Obviously we benefit from what happened to Lewis, which I’m not sure exactly what it was, but it allowed us to go P2, which helps for tomorrow with the penalty,” he said. “We are a bit closer, starting on the clean side of the track. I think we can have a good race from there. It should be quite exciting. The car feels good and I think all weekend it has been quite strong.
“Obviously we know that on Saturdays we are probably a little bit still further back than we want and a bit further back than on Sundays, so high hopes for tomorrow.”
Third place in the session went to Williams Valtteri Bottas, with the Finn repeating his qualifying efforts of last year and at the inaugural event in Russia. Due to Vettel’s penalty he will, however, start from the front row.
“I’m really pleased with how it all went. This weekend has been very positive,” he said. “We have some new bits on the car and the car has been feeling better. It’s also a good track for us. I’m glad we could maximise the qualifying today. Pleased with that but it’s tomorrow that counts. So far my Sundays haven’t been so great but I’m sure tomorrow we have a good chance to have a good one.”
Behind them Kimi Raikkonen qualified in fourth for Ferrari ahead of Felipe Massa in the second Williams. Daniel Ricciardo was sixth for Red Bull Racing ahead of Sergio Perez of Force India. Daniil Kvyat was eighth in the second Red Bull Racing and the final top 10 spots were taken by Toro Rosso’s and the unfortunate Hamilton, who was also summoned to the stewards office for “failing to follow the race director’s Turn 2 instructions”.
Kvyat’s eighth place was notable as the local hero narrowly escaped elimination after Q2.
The Russian was in P11 as the chequered flag was waved at the end of Q2 but he had just begun a final flying lap. To the delight of his home crowd the Red Bull driver was able to find enough pace to climb to P10, at the expense of Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz.
Behind the Spaniard, Jenson Button came close to taking McLaren into Q3 for the first time this season but ended up just under 0.1s shy in P12. Nico Hulkenberg was 12th to split the two McLarens, with Fernando Alonso in P14. Romain Grosjean was 15th for Haas ahead of team-mate Esteban Gutierrez.
Q1 saw the elimination of Renault’s Kevin Magnussen in P17, followed by team-mate Jolyon Palmer, Sauber’s Felipe Nasr, Manor’s Pascal Wehrlein, team-mate Rio Haryanto and the second Sauber of Marcus Ericsson.
2016 Russian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.119 1:35.337 1:35.417
2 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.555 1:36.623 1:36.123
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:37.746 1:37.140 1:36.536
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.976 1:36.741 1:36.663
5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:37.753 1:37.230 1:37.016
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:38.091 1:37.569 1:37.125
7 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.006 1:37.282 1:37.212
8 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Racing 1:38.265 1:37.606 1:37.459
9 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:38.123 1:37.510 1:37.583
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.006 1:35.820
11 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:37.784 1:37.652
12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.332 1:37.701
13 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:38.562 1:37.771
14 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:37.971 1:37.807
15 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:38.383 1:38.055
16 Esteban Gutierrez Haas 1:38.678 1:38.115
17 Kevin Magnussen Renault 1:38.914
18 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:39.009
19 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:39.018
20 Pascal Wehrlein Manor 1:39.399
21 Rio Haryanto Manor 1:39.463 |
22 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:39.519eom/FIA press release
