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Author: David Bodapati
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Marquez sets quickest ever lap at Sepang to top first official Moto GP test
Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft & Hard. Rear: Soft(Symmetric), Medium (Asymmetric) and Hard (Symmetric)Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: HardWeather: Dry. Ambient 29-32°C; Track 34-53°C (Bridgestone measurement)Sepang, 6 Feb 2015: Current World Champion Marc Marquez emphatically underlined his title credentials for the upcoming season by setting a scorching time of 1’58.867 at the first MotoGP™ group test of 2015 at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.According to a Bridgestone Press Release here on Friday, in cool conditions on the morning of the final day, Repsol Honda’s Marquez was the first ever rider to lap the Sepang circuit in the 1’58 bracket to ultimately set a time 0.139 seconds quicker than his teammate Dani Pedrosa, who was second quickest in Malaysia. Third quickest overall was Ducati Team’s Andrea Iannone, with the Italian rider relishing his graduation to the factory Ducati team with lap time of 1’59.388, over 1.3 seconds quicker than his best time in last year’s opening group test.Thirty riders – including a total of five test riders from Aprilia, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha – took part in the first group test of 2015, completing a total of 4429 laps (24,550 kilometres) on Bridgestone tyres. The gap in lap time from the quickest to slowest rider at the first Sepang test was 7.323 seconds.Fine and dry conditions presented themselves during the three days of the test, with a peak track temperature of 53°C recorded on the afternoon of the second day. Track conditions were usual for Sepang, with only moderate grip levels and certain sections of the circuit being quite bumpy, but the combination of fine weather, the latest MotoGP machinery and Bridgestone’s 2015 specification tyres resulted in the test being run at record pace. The slightly cooler conditions on the morning of the final day allowed the riders to extract maximum performance from their tyres, with the top seven riders on the timesheets able to set times in the 1’59 bracket.All front and rear slick compound choices were utilised by riders over the three days and Bridgestone will now analyse the data acquired to incorporate into their tyre development programme for the 2015 season. Bridgestone will be back in Sepang for the second MotoGP™ official test which will take place from February 23-25.Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department“This was a successful first group test and I am happy with the feedback we received from the riders on our 2015 specification tyres. Our technical objectives for this test were to give the riders some newly developed tyres based on our learnings from last year, while also ensuring that we provided a softer rear tyre allocation to cope with the increased performance of the current Open-class machines. I am happy to say that we achieved all our objectives, and despite track conditions not being ideal, the pace set over the three days was very impressive. We now look forward to continuing our good work at Sepang in a few weeks’ time.”Sepang I MotoGP™ Group Test – combined lap timesPos Rider Team Fastest lap Gap Total laps 1Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team 1’58.867 1812Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team 1’59.006 0.139 1383Andrea IANNONE Ducati Team 1’59.388 0.521 1604Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’59.401 0.534 1695Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 1’59.624 0.757 1666Pol ESPARGARO Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1’59.851 0.984 1627Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team 1’59.874 1.007 1288Stefan BRADL Forward Racing Team 2’00.294 1.427 1569Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2’00.384 1.517 15310Aleix ESPARGARO Team Suzuki MotoGP 2’00.486 1.619 13711Cal CRUTCHLOW CWM LCR Honda 2’00.536 1.669 19012Maverick VIÑALES Team Suzuki MotoGP 2’00.964 2.097 17613Danilo PETRUCCI Pramac Racing 2’00.970 2.103 15314Hiroshi AOYAMA HRC 2’01.029 2.162 17615Hector BARBERA Avintia Racing 2’01.183 2.316 15416Michele PIRRO Pramac Racing 2’01.232 2.365 15017Scott REDDING Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS 2’01.263 2.396 18218Nicky HAYDEN Drive M7 Aspar 2’01.508 2.641 14419Loris BAZ Forward Racing Team 2’01.624 2.757 15620Jack MILLER CWM LCR Honda 2’01.895 3.028 16621Alvaro BAUTISTA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2’01.924 3.057 15722Mike DI MEGLIO Avintia Racing 2’02.128 3.261 14923Karel ABRAHAM AB Motoracing 2’02.297 3.43 14024Eugene LAVERTY Drive M7 Aspar 2’02.334 3.467 14925Katsuyuki NAKASUGA Yamaha Factory Test Team 2’02.363 3.496 10926Takumi TAKAHASHI HRC 2’03.113 4.246 20127Alex DE ANGELIS Octo Ioda Racing Team 2’03.399 4.532 12528Marco MELANDRI Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 2’03.641 4.774 15629Takuya TSUDA Team Suzuki MotoGP 2’05.478 6.611 1830Michael LAVERTY Aprilia Test Team 2’06.190 7.323 28eom/david/Bridgestone release
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Raikkonen puts Ferrari back on top as Jerez test ends
Jerez, 4 Feb 2015: Kimi Raikkonen put Ferrari back on top of the timsheets as Formula One’s first pre-season test of 2015 came to a close at the Circuito de Jerez in Spain.
The Finn’s best time of 1:20.841 came late in the day, on a soft tyre run, after he had spent most of the day heading the field on medium and hard tyres. His late flourish was also the fastest time of the test, a tenth of a second quicker than that set by team-mate Sebastian Vettel on day two of the four-day outing.
Yesterday, Sauber’s Felip
e Nasr broke Ferrari’s grip on the top of the timesheets yesterday and today team-mate Marcus Ericsson kept the Swiss team at the top end of the order with a best time of 1:22.019, again set on soft tyres.Lewis Hamilton set the day’s third fastest time with a lap of 1:22.172, 1.3s down on Raikkonen’s best. Perhaps more importantly his 117 laps took Mercedes test total to an enormous 516. The defending champion’s total for the day was set despite a morning spin that left his W06 stranded at the chicane.
An earlier stoppage was caused by Red Bull Racing Daniil Kvyat. Forty-five minutes into the session he stopped on track with the team later diagnosing an ERS problem that restricted the Russian to the garage for the rest of the morning.
He eventually returned to the fray just before 1pm and ran faultlessly thereafter, racking up 64 laps for the team’s biggest single-day total of the test.
“Once we’d sorted the issue the car ran perfectly all afternoon and we were able to get through the key elements of the programme we had mapped out,” said Head of race Engineering Guillaume Rocquelin. “This week has all been about establishing reliability and while we’ve had a few niggles the car is pretty much where we want it to be. We focused on medium and long runs all week and Dany was able to do more of that work this afternoon. We did lose track time over the four days and that’s always frustrating, as you inevitably have to scratch some things off the ‘to do’ list, but the major items were covered so I would say we’re leaving Jerez in pretty decent shape.”
Despite the positive spin, it’s been a tricky week for the Milton Keynes outfit, with their day two running being disrupted by a broken front wing and day three being compromised by the need to change a power unit.
McLaren also had a difficult final day. The team made early progress with the MP4-30, with Jenson Button posting 35 laps, but its running was cut short by a fuel pump issue. Button’s morning running had also been disrupted by an oil system problem.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had a few issues this week – all of which have been pretty small – but cumulatively they meant we were stuck in the garage for quite some time,” said the team’s Engineering Director Matt Morris. “Still, our prime objective coming away from this test was to ascertain that the main car architecture worked, and we’ve done that.
“Today, we had a couple of stoppages, but we were still able to get on with our aero progamme – obtaining correlation data for the guys back at the factory, just so we can check that everything’s working as we expected.”
Honda’s Yasuhisa Arai added: “Of course, we’d anticipated there would be issues – this is a test, after all – but the difficulties we faced here were more than we’d expected, so we weren’t able to get the running time we’d ideally wanted. Nonetheless, Fernando and Jenson’s feedback has been positive and comprehensive – they’ve given us some very good information.”
Elsewhere, Max Verstappen had a busy final outing of the week, putting 97 laps on Toro Rosso’s STR10.
“It was good to run STR10 in anger and after overcoming some niggling problems on the first two days, we managed to do some really high mileage on the final two,” said Toro Rosso Technical Director James Key. “That was useful, because it meant both our drivers managed to complete a full and comprehensive programme. Our focus has been entirely on reliability, while allowing the drivers to experience every aspect of the job. We haven’t done any work on performance so far and we will not do that until the end of the month, therefore we are not looking at our lap times for now. The important topics are reliability, consistency and driver work, to tune the car to their requirements and give them as much preparation time as possible.”
Romain Grosjean got a first taste of Lotus E23 but his running was cut short after 53 laps with a power unit problem.
Jerez Test – Day Four
1 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1: 20.841s 106
2 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:22.019s 1.178s 112
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:22.172s 1.331s 117
4 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1:22.553s 1.712s 97
5 Felipe Massa Williams 1:23.116s 2.275s 73
6 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:23.802s 2.961s 53
7 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:23.975s 3.134s 64
8 Jenson Button McLaren 1:27.660s 6.819s 35\eom/FIA press release/david
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Honda, Yamaha Stars Dominate First Official Test for 2015 in Sepang
Sepang (KL), 4 Feb 2015: The first MotoGP official testing for 2015 got underway at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) today with the star riders from the Repsol Honda and Movistar Yamaha dominating the fastest times.
Commencing at 10am this morning under clear bright skies, two-time defending champion Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa of Repsol Honda and Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi took turns leading the timesheet which featured 30 riders. The field included three test riders – Katsuyuki Nakasuga for Yamaha, Michael Laverty of Aprilia and Takuya Tsuda for Suzuki.
Britain’s Scott Redding, who rides a Honda machine for Team Estrella Galicia 0.0 Marc VDS, was first on the track when the lights turned green at the pit lane exit. It was not long before the others followed him.
As at 2pm and some four hours into the first day of testing, it was the nine-time world champion, Rossi who led the way with his best lap time 2 minutes 0.380 seconds. He completed more than 20 laps around the 5,548-meter track.
Rossi’s teammate and former MotoGP world champion, Jorge Lorenzo, stepped up the pace and clocked the second fastest time in the afternoon with his best of 2 minutes 0.521 seconds.
Marquez clocked 2 minutes 0.930 seconds in the afternoon but as the day progressed, the Spaniard began to improve and eventually clocked the fastest time of the day with his best lap time of 2:00.262, pushing Rossi and Lorenzo down a rung. Marquez went on to complete a grueling 63 laps today.
Not surprisingly, after two months off their racing bikes, the riders’ lap times were significantly below Sepang’s best of 1 minute 59.533 seconds that was recorded by Marquez at last year’s pre-season testing.
That unofficial fastest lap time by Marquez, could be under threat on the second and third day of testing, provided the weather conditions remain good.
The official test session today saw the return of Aprilia and Suzuki into the MotoGP World Championship, which will open at Losail International Circuit in Qatar on March 29. Sepang will host the penultimate round from October 23 to 25.
Aprilia have signed up Italian Marco Melandri and Mike di Meglio of France while Team Suzuki MotoGP will be counting on Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales, both from Spain, to lead their challenge.
Sepang will host a second three-day official test session for the MotoGP from February 23 to 25 with a third session scheduled from March 14 to 17 at Losail in Qatar.
In conjunction with the test sessions in Sepang, fans are welcomed to see their idols in action from the Main Grandstand and use the opportunity to purchase time-limited, earlybird discount tickets for both the 2015 MotoGP race as well as that for the eni FIM Superbike World Championship Malaysian Round, the latter which is scheduled from July 31 to August 2.
For the MotoGP race in October, limited Premier Roving tickets, which allow access to all spectator seating areas, are being offered at only RM250 under the current earlybird promotion whilst earlybird Main Grandstand, K1 and F tickets are only RM150, RM70 and RM50 respectively.
For the Superbike race, the Main Grandstand earlybird tickets are priced at RM100 while that for K1 Grandstand is offered at only RM60.
TODAY’S TOP FIVE FASTEST RIDERS
- 1. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) 2:00.262
- 2. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) 2:00.380
- 3. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) 2:00.521
- 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) 2:00.617
- 5. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) 2:00745.
Ends /SIC press release/david
A Sepang International Circuit image of Winter testing 2015. Marc Marquez is seen. -
Sauber’s Brazilian driver, Felipe Nasr, sets the pace: Day 3 of Jerez testing
Brazilian quickest on soft tyres as Rosberg posts 151 laps. McLaren enjoy productive morning before hitting more trouble.
Felipe Nasr tops timesheets on 3rd day of testing at Jerez. A Sauber Motorsport image Jerez (Spain), 3 Feb 2015: Sauber’s Felipe Nasr went quickest on day three of Formula One’s first pre-season test, the Brazilian finishing two tenths clear of Kimi Raikkonen, who was making his first appearance of 2015 for Ferrari.
Brazilian Nasr set a best lap of 1:21.545 on soft tyres to eclipse the previous best of Raikkonen, who had recorded his best time on medium tyres.
On a day when early morning rain left the track greasy and of little real value for the first two hours of the session, Nasr racked up an impressive 108 laps in the process but it was Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg who once again put in the biggest total. On day one of the test the German posted a huge total of 157 laps and he almost matched the tally today with 151 laps of the 4.4km circuit. The Rosberg’s morning outing also included a race sim. By just after midday he had already posted a total of 76 laps.
The 2014 title runner-up’s day was not without problems however. Just before 1pm his Mercedes W06 suffered an engine shutdown and the red flag appeared. The problem didn’t halt Rosberg for long and by 2pm he was circulating again, eventually ending the day with the third fastest laps, a 1:21.982 to finish just under half a second adrift of Nasr.
Rosberg’s wasn’t the only technical issue of the day. Following a difficult day yesterday in which it was forced to run without a front wing following an off from Daniil Kvyat early in the session, there was more frustration for Red Bull Racing today, as after just five lap in the morning a power unit issue forced Daniel Ricciardo back to the garage where the team had to change the Renault powerplant.
Ricciardo finally got back out in the afternoon and put together a number of longer runs, which he said had given him a better feeling for the car.
“Although we were limited with running today the last hour was good, we got some long runs together and that was encouraging,” he said. “I was happy to do some 10-15 lap runs as that’s always where you get a better understanding of the car. Every lap we do we understand something more about the car or the driveablility of the Renault power unit. So it was a decent afternoon.”
In the morning Honda-powered McLaren enjoyed its best period of the test so far, with Fernando Alonso putting in 32 laps, more than two and a half times the total number of laps achieved over the first two days.
However, at lunchtime the team confirmed that a water pressure problem had been discovered and that the MP4-30 would not be running in the afternoon.
At Williams, Felipe Massa made his first appearance behind the wheel of the FW37 and the Brazilian made it through 71 largely untroubled laps to eventually finish fourth on the timesheet.
Behind him Pastor Maldonado was back behind the wheel of the Lotus E23. A telemetry problem kept the Venezuelan in the garage for some time in the morning but he eventually put 96 laps on the board only for a mechanical failure to halt him in the final minutes of the session.
Carlos Sainz Jr put in the second highest lap total of the day with 136 tours in the STR10, the Spaniard enjoying a much more profitable outing than his first day in which a series of mechanical niggles interrupted his running.
Jerez Test – Day Three
1 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:21.545s 108
2 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:21.750s 0.205s 92
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m21.982s 0.437s 151
4 Felipe Massa Williams 1:22.276s 0.731s 71
5 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:22.713s 1.168s 96
6 Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso 1:23.187s 1.642s 136
7 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing 1:23.901s 2.356s 48
8 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:35.553s 14.008s 32 -
Vettel keeps Ferrari on top on day two in Jerez
German sets the pace ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr as McLaren and Red Bull Racing struggle.
Hamilton on Day 2 of Jerez test on Feb 2, Vettel (not in pic) set the fastest time on the day. 2015. A Mercedes AMG Petronas image Jerez (Spain), 2 Feb 2015: Sebastian Vettel kept Ferrari at the top of the timesheets in Jerez today, lowering his day one benchmark by almost two seconds and logging more than 80 laps as Ferrari continued to look strong on day of pre-season testing ahead of the 2015 Formula One campaign.
Vettel was fast out of the blocks, setting a test best time of 1:21.926 an hour into the session to climb to the top of the top of the timesheet. And there he stayed. The German continued to improve and soon after posted a lap of 1:20.984, which would remain the day’s fastest time.
Second place on the timesheet went to another Ferrari-powered maching, with new Sauber signing Felipe Nasr getting to within nine tenths of Vettel’s benchmark. The Brazilian driver also competed 88 laps for the Swiss outfit.
After a slow start to the first morning of testing yesterday Williams were on track early on day two and after posting 73 laps on Sunday afternoon Valtteri Bottas added another 61 to his tally on day two, ending the day with the third fastest time, a lap of 1:22.319.
On day one of the test Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg reminded rivals of just why Mercedes are still the team to beat by delivering 157 trouble free laps of the Curcuit de Jerez. Lewis Hamilton didn’t get near that total as an afternoon water leak on his car cut short his running, but his 91 laps still represented the day’s largest total. He finished the session in fourth spot with a time of 1:22.490, 1.5s adrift of Vettel’s best time.
At Toro Rosso, 17-year-old Max Verstappen took from Carlos Sainz Jr at the wheel of the STR10 and Formula One’s youngest driver logged a decent total of 73 laps to finish fifth on the timesheet.
After missing the first day due to the late arrival of its new car, Lotus completed the build of the E23 overnight and after a cautious start Pastor Maldonado was able to complete 41 laps, the Venezuelan running progressively faster throughout the day. A drive-train issue in the afternoon ending his outing, however.
He was followed on the timesheet by McLaren’s Jenson Button who matched team-mate Fernando Alonso’s day one total of six laps. With the team still exploring the functionality of its Honda power unit, Button only managed one tikmed lap, some 33 seconds off the pace.
After a solid start yesterday, Red Bull Racing hit problems early on day two. New recruit Daniil Kvyat suffered a minor off right at the start of the team’s running and damaged the front wing of his RB11. With no replacement wing at the circuit the team was restricted to single-lap untimed runs as they worked through systems checks. Kvyat put in 18 slow laps all day and failed to set a time.
A late rain shower disrupted the final half an hour of the session and only Verstappen, Vettel, Nasr and Button tested the wet conditions before the session ended.
Formula One Testing, Jerez – Day Two
1 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m20.984s 88
2 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1m21.867s 0.883s 89
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1m22.319s 1.335s 61
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m22.490s 1.506s 91
5 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso 1m24.167s 3.183s 73
6 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1m25.802s 4.818s 41
7 Jenson Button McLaren 1m54.655s 33.671s 6
8 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull No Time 18 -
Bridgestone prepares for the first Moto GP group test of 2015
Sepang, 3 Feb 2015: Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Medium & Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium (Asymmetric) & Medium (Symmetric)Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: HardThe riders contesting this year’s MotoGP™ World Championship will get their first taste of Bridgestone’s 2015 specification tyres at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit from February 4-6, as the world’s largest tyre maker embarks on its seventh season as the official tyre supplier to the series.Like last year, the MotoGP regulations for 2015 provide concessions on rear tyre choice for manufacturers, depending on their class of entry, Factory or Open, and their recent record in dry races. Open class entrants, and Factory class manufacturers that did not win a race in dry conditions in the previous season, will have access to rear slick compounds that are one step softer than Factory class entrants that did record a win in dry conditions last year.The table below details the rear slick tyre allocation available to each team for pre-season testing and races during the 2015 season.Harder rear slick allocationSofter rear slick allocationCWM LCR Honda (Cal Crutchlow)Estrella Galicia Marc VDSMonster Yamaha Tech 3Movistar Yamaha MotoGPRepsol Honda TeamAvintia RacingCardion AB MotoracingCWM LCR Honda (Jack Miller)Drive M7 AsparDucati TeamFactory Aprilia GresiniForward RacingOcto IodaRacing TeamPramac RacingTeam Suzuki MotoGPFor the first Sepang test, the softer rear slick allocation comprises the soft symmetric and medium asymmetric rear slick, while the harder rear slick allocation is the asymmetric medium and symmetric medium compound rears. The front options for all riders at Sepang will be the medium compound in addition to the new hard compound front slick which was first introduced at last October’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Bridgestone will use the data acquired in pre-season testing to modify its tyre allocation for the 2015 season to increase safety, usability and performance.Twenty-five riders from eleven countries will contest the 2015 MotoGP™ World Championship; the highest number of riders since Bridgestone entered the premier class as a tyre supplier in 2002. In addition to supporting the group tests, Bridgestone Motorsport engineers will support all teams in their pre-season testing programmes before the championship gets underway at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit from March 26.Hiroshi Yamada – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department“Just like the MotoGP manufacturers and teams, Bridgestone has been busy over the winter break as we’ve been developing new tyres for the riders to evaluate during the pre-season tests. In recent seasons we’ve focused on delivering tyres which are safer, more ‘user friendly’ and with superior levels of performance. In 2015 we will further build on these qualities to deliver our greatest ever racing tyres to the MotoGP World Championship. The Sepang tests are the first chance each season for MotoGP fans to see the riders out on track and, with the return of Aprilia and Suzuki to the series, as well as a host of talented riders entering the championship, I expect that the 2015 pre-season testing will be closely followed by racing fans around the world.”Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Department“Sepang is the traditional venue for the first two MotoGP pre-season tests, and given that weather is warm and mostly dry and the layout features a wide variety of corners, it really is an ideal place to evaluate tyres. It is evident from the Valencia test last year that the performance of the Open class machines in 2015 will be considerably greater than last year, and the tyre allocation we’ve brought to Sepang reflects this. Testing at a demanding circuit like Sepang will provide an even better indication of the respective performance levels of the 2015 Factory and Open class bikes, and the data we acquire here will help steer our development for the upcoming season. As always, our main priority for tyre development is enhancing the safety of the riders, however, I expect that the riders will find that our 2015 specification tyres also give better performance. I believe that this year’s MotoGP season will be the fastest yet.”eom/david/A Bridgestone Motorsport NewsFile photo of 2014 Moto GP World Champion Marc Marquez aboard the Repsol Honda Team RC213V at the Japanese Grand Prix. A Bridgestone Motorsport image. Release
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Vettel fastest on Day 1 at Jerez test; Sauber’s Felipe Nasr 2nd with Bottas 3rd
Jerez (Spain) 2 Feb 2014: Sebastian Vettel: “ Sebastian Vettel It’s too soon to give a verdict on the true level of this car, especially as we can’t make a comparison with the other teams, who can be running different programmes. However, I’d say we have a good basis to work from. We did a lot of running, even in the rain, when we tried the new intermediate tyres, which worked well, getting up to temperature despite the cold: that’s a definite step forward. The applause in the garage at the end of the session? Well, everyone was happy we’d even managed to run in the wet with nothing bad happening. The boys have got enough to do in the garage
as it is…”.
James Allison: “ James Allison A bit like yesterday, in that even if we did a good number of laps, you can never claim to have done enough kilometres. However, I agree with Sebastian on the fact that, for the moment, we have a good basis”.
Other driver quotes:
Lewis Hamilton
That was a satisfying day. We did a lot of laps and I got a feel for the car quite quickly. We’re in the first days of testing so it never feels that great as the car is at the worst it will be all season. But it feels the same as it did last year which is a good thing. A little more downforce maybe but otherwise it handles exactly the same. The balance obviously wasn’t perfect as we’re not working on setup yet, so it could be a lot better. But the priority right now is to put in the laps, not set fast times, and there were lots of positives today. We got good mileage and hopefully we’ll get even more in the next two days. Testing isn’t the exciting part as a driver – I live to go racing. But this is where you build your foundations for the year and we’re all working hard to understand the car. Everything from drivability to tyres you have to learn now to stand you in good stead for the season. You can’t get excited at this point as there’s a long way to go before Melbourne but there’s a really good energy in the team. Everybody is feeling positive and working hard but we’re basing nothing on last year. We start again with the same aim as everyone else – to win. I can’t wait to get to that first race.Pastor Maldonado:
“It was fantastic to get behind the wheel for the first ever lap of this exciting new car. Even though it’s early days we achieved a lot today. It was already exciting to feel the potential of the car and I can’t wait to get back in the car tomorrow. We did stop running early, but then it started to rain so everyone else came in too so it was not a big drama. The car certainly looks fantastic and I know we have a lot of potential for the season ahead.”Valtteri Bottas: We have had another good day. We managed to get through all of our programme and it was only the final run that we were compromised due to the rain. The morning was dedicated to obtaining aero data, then this afternoon we focused on the longer runs, making set-up changes and analysing the results. We are learning all the time and at the moment I am really pleased with what I have felt when in the car.
Felpe Nasr:
“It was a great day. I was able to complete a lot of laps, and I was happy with everything I saw. I was getting used to the systems, the procedures and the characteristics of the car. It was definitely a good start to understand where we are now. It was important for me to get used to this new environment, but after such a long day, with both dry and wet conditions, I was able to adapt to all the situations. Now we can start working on the details.”Max Vertstappen (Car 33)
“In the morning we had some difficulties in warming up the brakes, but we fixed that very quickly. After that, we managed to do some long runs that helped me to learn about the new car straight away. In the afternoon it rained a bit, but it was useful for me to experience the intermediate tyres. It feels good to finally start working for the upcoming season and I’m happy with my first test day here in Jerez.”eom
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Mahindra Racing opens Italy Development Centre; Ties up with Aspar Team; 9 bikes in Moto3
Mumbai, 2 Feb 2015: Mahindra Racing, India’s only constructor in World Championship motorcycle racing, reaffirmed on Monday, its commitment to the MotoGP series and predicted that it is set for a best-ever season in the Moto3 title race.
The announcements were made at a special event at Gateway House, the Mahindra Group’s historic former headquarters in Mumbai, where Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group, welcomed Carmelo Ezpeleta (CEO of MotoGP rights-holder Dorna Sports) and Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez (CEO of the Aspar Team).
Asper is the new racing partner of Mahindra team.
Mahindra explained that Mahindra Racing, serves an important role within the Mahindra Group.
“We are still at a relatively early phase of our journey in motorsport, but the technological challenge and learning that we achieve through our racing programmes are of major importance to the whole Group. The international footprint and high-profile of MotoGP helps us build the Mahindra brand globally. We are also strengthening our technical skills with the opening of a new development centre in Italy. This becomes part of our neural network of innovation along with other R&D facilities in India, Korea and the US.”
SP Shukla, Chairman of Mahindra Racing and Mahindra Group President, Group Strategy, Defense Sector, and Chief Brand Officer, outlined a number of changes made by Mahindra Racing as it matures as a constructor in the ultra-competitive Moto3 class.
“The 2015 Moto3 grid will feature four teams and nine Mahindra MGP3O machines, one more than last season,” he explained. “However, the main change is that we shall not run our own team, instead we have bolstered our line-up of partner teams with the important addition of the Aspar Team. Jorge Martinez – known as Aspar – is a legend of the sport having achieved multiple World Championships as a rider first and then as a team owner. Working closely with Jorge’s team should help us to develop and deliver even better results in 2015,” said Shukla.
Under the new structure, the Aspar Team will concentrate on running the team and developing the riders, while Mahindra Racing will focus on developing a winning bike and better supporting its customer teams. To help with that process Mahindra Racing has recently opened a new European technical base at Besozzo near Varese in Northern Italy.
VIP visitor Mr. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sport, was delighted to be in India and explained the importance of Mahindra’s MotoGP involvement to a growing Indian audience. “We have definitely seen a surge of interest in MotoGP from India since Mahindra joined the series in 2011. I have been very impressed by what I have seen so far from Mahindra. The Mahindra bike challenges at the front of Moto3 and many teams and riders have been interested in working with Mahindra. I think the changes put in place for 2015 should make Mahindra even more successful and that can only be good for MotoGP in India.
India is an economic powerhouse in the world economy and a very important growth market for the sport of MotoGP. I know that I am not alone among international sports rights holders looking for growth in India. However, I do feel the ingredients are all right for us: India has a huge two-wheeler market; in Mahindra we have an Indian constructor competing successfully in the sport; and we have a fantastic product – anyone who watches MotoGP with its mix of drama, excitement, speed and characters can very easily become hooked. We won’t just rely on those ingredients, however, and are working very hard on improving our TV distribution.
“We are also continuing to work on bringing a MotoGP race to India. And judging by what I have seen of the motorcycle riders on Mumbai’s roads today, I am sure there is also a future Indian World Champion out there somewhere!”
Joining the VIPs on stage was MotoGP Hall of Fame inductee Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez, whose successful Aspar Team becomes Mahindra Racing’s partner team in the World Championship during the 2015 season. Martinez won four World Championships as a rider in the 1980s before founding his own team in 1992 and securing a further four World Championships as a team owner.
The highly-experienced Spaniard was full of praise for his new technical partner. “Straight after the end of last season we started testing with Mahindra and the whole team was immediately very pleased,” he explained. “The riders found a good feeling with the bike and were able to record some very good lap times almost immediately. The bike is quick, agile and reliable and we have quickly established a very good technical and personal relationship with the Mahindra engineering team.
“I have been involved in the MotoGP series for a long time, but I am feeling very enthused and excited by this new partnership and the season ahead. We have three talented young riders in the World Championship and some exciting new prospects in the Spanish Championship, and I am confident that, together with Mahindra, we’ll enjoy a lot of success on-track.”
It was left to Mahindra Racing CEO Mufaddal Choonia to sum up the prospects for Mahindra Racing in 2015: “We had one podium in 2013 and three last year, including a second place. Clearly we are looking to go one better this year. I believe that we have put together a package capable of winning races and regularly finishing on the podium. We have a great deal of young riding talent aboard Mahindra machinery in Moto3 and an extremely experienced addition to our line-up of teams in Team Aspar. It’s an exciting year and I am confident that our new structure and on-going hard work will pay dividends.”
eom/A Mahindra Racing press release
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New Williams Mercedes FW37 unveiled ahead of Jerez test
2015 Williams FW37. A Williams Martini Racing image Jerez (Spain), 1 Feb 2015: The new Williams Mercedes FW37 was unveiled today ahead of the first pre-season test in Jerez, Spain. The F1 grid will once again be adorned with the red and blue stripes that have grown to be so iconic in motorsport as WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING will be looking to build on their successful 2014 campaign where the team achieved nine podium finishes and finished third in the Constructors’ Championship.
The team showed strong development throughout last season and aim to continue this as the regulations show minimal changes for the new season ahead. There are however a few differences between the FW37 and its predecessor.The new rules will see changes to the front nose box and bulkhead of the car, a move away from the rule that saw so many different variations of nose throughout the 2014 season.Commenting on the new FW37, Team Principal and Founder, Sir Frank Williams, said: “After such a strong season in 2014 we are looking to continue the move back towards the front of the grid. The move from ninth to third was a tough challenge, but ultimately every step up from now on will be even harder. I am confident that we have the appropriate personnel and talent in this team to make those steps.‘We have an experienced driver line-up, with both drivers finishing on the podium throughout last year and hungry for more success in 2015, new commercial partners to add to the continued support from our already impressive roster, and have a technical team that is amongst the best on the grid.“I am looking forward to seeing the car in testing and assessing how other teams have fared over the winter in comparison to us. We should, once again, have a very exciting season ahead of us which will hopefully bring more success to Williams.”Felipe Massa added: “The momentum we carry from last year has been very encouraging, the team has changed so much from 12 months ago and it is clear to see everyone is heading in a good direction. The development rate of the FW36 was one of the most exciting elements to the car, the team worked exceptionally hard throughout the year to make sure that we had a faster car at each race, and I look forward to a similarly impressive car this year. I am excited to be continuing to work with Valtteri, a driver with so much talent who has so much to offer both the team and me as his teammate.”Valtteri Bottas: “Coming into a season after third position in the Constructors’ Championship carries the weight of a lot of expectation. Other teams and our fans are expecting a performance like last year, and all the personnel at Williams have been working tirelessly to make sure this is not only achievable but the benchmark for improvement. For much of last year we had the second fastest car, and this year we plan to take every opportunity to challenge at the front. After my first podium in 2014 I hope to continue developing as a driver as I aim for my first win. I look forward to working closely with Felipe again this year as we strengthen our relationship to extract the most from the car.”Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal, concluded: “The team learnt and developed a lot in 2014 and this has made us a better team and well prepared for the challenges that face us as we head into a new season. We are all eager to see where we are in comparison to our rivals. We have worked hard over the past six months to get this car ready, but it is in no way the final product, we have a lot of work to do throughout the season as we push for constant improvements in performance. I am incredibly confident in the team around me and the line-up we have that 2015 can make it another successful and exciting year for Williams Martini Racing, and now can’t wait to get back on track.”The launch marks the start of the 2015 season for Williams Martini Racing as a four-day test in Jerez gets underway before moving to Barcelona for a further eight days of testing. The season officially gets under way at the first race in Melbourne, Australia, on 15 March.-ends- -
Dehradun to Vienna, Monisha Kaltenborn brings a welcome change to male-dominated F1 world
In the series of articles on Indians and India’s contribution, we begin with Dehradun-born Monisha Narang, who migrated to Austria and married Mr Kaltenborn. She became the Sauber F1 team principal in Jan 2010 and her many witty exchanges with Force India team principal Vijay Mallya apart, the teams headed by these two principals fought closely and are in the midfield.
Here are Excerpts from Sauber Motorsport AG interview from Hinwil:
As a child her ambition was to be an astronaut. When she made her first acquaintance with the world of motorsport, she was determined one day to compete in the Paris-Dakar Rally. Monisha Kaltenborn had no time for minor aspirations. She plotted her career path early on: law was what interested her, and she also had an executive position firmly in mind. Now aged 43, Kaltenborn’s career trajectory led her from the Fritz Kaiser Group straight into Formula One. In 2010 she was appointed CEO of the Sauber F1 Team – the first woman to head up the business operations of an F1 outfit. On 11th October 2012 she also took on the role of Team Principal.
She was still a child when her family decided to emigrate from their homeland of India and settle in a different part of the planet. “Back then it happened not out of necessity but more out of curiosity,” she recalled, “and in the end my parents opted for Vienna.” It was there that Kaltenborn completed her law degree and took on Austrian citizenship. She was to continue her law studies at various internationally renowned universities, worked for the United Nations as well as for German and Austrian law firms. When she joined the Fritz Kaiser Group in 1998, Kaiser was a shareholder in the Red Bull Sauber F1 Team. The group’s legal and corporate affairs became Kaltenborn’s responsibility. When Kaiser sold off his shares in the team at the turn of the millennium, she moved to Hinwil to run the Sauber Group’s legal department. She has been on the Board of Management since 2001, which she now heads after her appointment as CEO in 2010.
Negotiating contracts with drivers, sponsors and suppliers was her daily fare over all those years. She also dealt with relations with the FIA, the commercial rights holder FOM, and FOTA. Prior to 2010 she rarely appeared on the public radar, though she was well known to company directors and key figures such as Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt. Unlike a former team boss: “For a whole year he assumed I was Peter Sauber’s interpreter,” Kaltenborn recalled with a laugh. She has no problem in graciously allowing a man in a man’s world to believe what he wants and will occasionally conceal her razor-sharp mind behind a smile. “Being underestimated can sometimes be an advantage to be exploited,” she said.
Kaltenborn is involved in the FIA’s Women in Motorsport Commission, founded in April 2010 and headed by Michèle Mouton. At Hockenheim in 2010, she was the first woman to attend an FIA press conference, where she was representing the team’s top management. It attracted a good deal of attention at the time, but since then much has become routine.“However, the truly exciting part of my job,” she pointed out, “takes place behind the scenes.”
Strict management structures are also de rigueur in her private life. Kaltenborn, with her family, lives in Küsnacht, just a 20-minute drive from the factory. When a rare window of leisure time opens up, she will usually make the most of it on a yoga mat, on the tennis court or on a rare visit to the opera.
As the new 2015
File photo of Monisha Kaltenborn by Sauber F1 team season begins, we wish all the best to Monisha Kaltenborn and the Sauber team.
eom/David
