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Author: David Bodapati
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Karna Kadur keeps overnight lead; Gill suffers another let-down
Chennai, 23 April 2022: Bengaluru pair of Karna Kadur and co-driver Nikhil Pai (Arka Motorsports) overcame teething issues to head the Overall standings on conclusion of Leg-1 in the MRF 45th South India Rally, the first round of the Blue Band Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2022, here today which also saw the early exit of seven times National champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) due to a mechanical problem.
Going into the overnight parc ferme, Kadur, winner of the Asia Cup round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship at the same venue last month, led Mangaluru’s Dean Mascarenhas (co-driver Gangan Karumbaiah, Kodagu) by a mere 2.9 seconds.
The two leaders were followed by Chettinad Sporting’s 2021 National champion Aditya Thakur (Virender Kashyap) from Himachal and Pallakkad’s Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) in the provisional Overall classification. With five more Stages to be run tomorrow, just 17.6 seconds separated the top four contenders, pointing to a thrilling finish on Sunday.
After Gill’s retirement in the day’s second Stage, it was essentially a four-way battle for top honours, involving Kadur, Mascarenhas, Thakur and Ahmer. As the day progressed, Kadur and Mascarenhas stepped up the pace to pull away from the others. Kadur won three of the five Stages while Mascarenhas topped the other two.
“It was not the best of the runs as we had issues in the morning in SS-2 and we lost some time. We lost the boost about 10kms into the Stage and we had to drive conservatively. After the service break, we had to play catch up. We made some time on the front-runners and we are happy to take the lead at the end of the first leg,” said Kadur.
For Gill, his run of bad luck continued. “The drive shaft got twisted in SS-2, just a km before the finish, may be due to metal fatigue. But the car was handling good till then. We also tested a new set of tyres on all the cars and we were doing 3/10ths faster and the performance of JK Tyres was really good. We will try and get the car back into action tomorrow to collect maximum leg points for the championship,” said Gill who had to deal with similar issues last season too.
Provisional classification (Leg-1):
Overall / INRC: 1. Karna Kadur / Nikhil Pai (both Bengaluru, Arka Motorsports) (54mins, 40.700secs); 2. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru) / Gagan Karumbaiah (Kodagu) (54:43.600); 3. Aditya Thakur / Virender Kashyap (both Himachal, Chettinad Sporting) (54:53.400).
INRC-2: 1. Mascarenhas / Karumbaiah (54:43.600); 2. Thakur / Kashyap (54:53.400); 3. Fabid Ahmer / Sanath G (both Pallakkad) (54:58.300).
INRC-3: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill (Chandigarh) / Suraj Keshava Prasad (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (56:07.800); 2. Kuber Sharma / Kunal Kashyap (both Himachal) (56:57.800); 3. Daraius Neville Shroff (Delhi) / Arjun Dheerendra (Bengaluru, Slideways Industries) (57:05.300).
INRC-4: 1. Prakhyat Shirole / Supreet S (both Bengaluru) (59:32.700); 2. Yeshwanth Padala (Hyderabad) / Bharath SM (Bengaluru) (01Hr, 01:08.900); 3. Deepak Chandra / GM Manjunath (both Bengaluru) (01:02:11.000).
Junior INRC: 1. Jahaan Singh Gill / Suraj Keshava Prasad (56:07.800); 2. Shroff / Arjun Dheerendra (57:05.300); 3. Arnav Pratap Singh (Delhi) / Arjun SSB (Bengaluru, SNAP Racing) (57:29.500).
Fmsci Gypsy Cup: 1. Himamshu Arora (Delhi) / Vikram Thakur (Chandigarh) (01:01:49.300); 2. Sanjay Razdan (Srinagar) / Karan Aukta (Shimla) (01:02:42.900); 3. Darshan Nachappa (Bengaluru) / S Dinesh (Shivamogga
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Stage set for MRF 45th South India Rally
Chennai, 22 April 2022: The 45 competitors who will take the start here tomorrow in the the MRF 45th South India Rally, the first round of the Blue Band Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2022, are all primed for action as the new season gets underway with focus yet again on the big guns.
After a reconnaissance of the Stages today, reigning National champion from Himachal, Aditya Thakur (co-driver Virender Kashyap) of Chettinad Sporting said having moved up to INRC-2 category for the 2022 season, he is determined even more than before to perform better.
At the pre-event press conference here today, Thakur, who won the maiden Overall title besides topping the INRC-3 category last month, said: “I was gunning for my INRC-3 class title last season, but I tasted Overall success. It makes you yearn for more. However, my focus this season will be on winning the INRC-2 category title and I will leave no stone unturned when an opportunity presents. The car is reliable and well-tuned by Chettinad Sporting, and we will be pushing right from Day 1.”
Seven times National champion and Arjuna Awardee, Delhi-based Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif, Kasargod) is keen to make amends for his up-and-down 2021 season. “I am happy to be back as rallying is what I love to do. My aim is to get a proper result as we had a bad year (2021 season) due to mechanical failures. We are a manufacturer’s team and I am a professional driver, so that kind of a result is not accepted. We will be pushing to go for the title again. We have made some changes to the car (Mahindra XUV 300) and we have the tyres to go all out and I am looking forward to a good run tomorrow.”
Another top contender, Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) of Arka Motorsports, who won his maiden international title by winning the Asia Cup round of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship at the same venue last month, too fancied his chances.
“The car is good and we are looking to continue the winning run. We did not have much time to test the car, but my MRF tyres proved reliable and the terrain is more or less the same with slight changes in the route as compared to last month. We are all set for a perfect start to the season,” said Kadur.
Meanwhile, Kerala’s Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G), who missed the National crown last season by a whisker, has set his sights again on the top prize. “It was painful to lose the championship again by a narrow margin, but I took home a lot of learnings from the last season. Looking at the bright side, I have won the INRC-2 National championship and the target is to defend it. I have been consistent, but faced some technical issues. New season, new targets, so we are confident and looking forward to 2022 season,” said Ahmer.
Another Bengalurean, Pragathi Gowda (Trisha Alonkar), who recently represented India in the Formula Woman McLaren GT selections struck a confident pose saying she hoped to start the new season well in the INRC-3 category. “It was a huge experience and the atmosphere was amazing. I have learnt a lot and I want to come back stronger next year. As for INRC, we are prepared well and confident to begin the season on a fast note,” said the 2020 Junior INRC champ, who displayed amazing speed ahead of many other men, but was bogged down by issues with the machine in two rounds.
Deepak Chandra, the defending champion in the INRC4 class, said that the bar has been raised by winning the National championship last year. “We are making all efforts to defend our title and we are confident going into the first round. We did not have much time and as a private team much more effort is needed but we are game for it.”
The total distance of the Rally, which is being held in Sripreumbudur, is about 300kms, including 123 kms of Special Stage distance, which is competitive. the Special Stages will be run on Saturday and Sunday.
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South India Rally to usher 2022 INRC season
Chennai, 21 April 2022: The MRF 45th South India Rally, organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club and scheduled to be held here from April 22 to 24, will usher in a new season as the event doubles up as the first round of the Blue Band Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2022 with a new promoter in place.
The three-day event has attracted 48 entries headlined by newly-crowned 2021 Overall National champion, Himachal’s Aditya Thakur (co-driver Virender Singh) who also topped the INRC-3 category. For the 2022 season, Thakur has moved up to INRC-2 category.
The very competitive field also includes a clutch of other top-notch competitors such as Delhi-based seven times National champion Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif, Kasargod), Bengaluru’s Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai), winner of the Asia Cup round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship at the same venue last month, and defending INRC-2 champion Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G) from Kerala.
Aditya Thakur file photo from 44th South India Rally, where he clinched his maiden INRC overall title on 27th March at MMRT. Photo by Vihaan Bhatt The MMRT circuit in Sriperumbudur, about 35 Kms from Chennai, will be the hub of action, hosting the Super Special Stage and one of the two Special Stages, besides the Rally Headquarters and the Service Park.
The total distance of the Rally is about 300 Kms which includes about 123 Kms of competitive section. The competitors will do a reconnaissance of the route on Friday (April 22), while the Stages would be run over the next two days.
The 2021 season, delayed due to Covid-19 restrictions, was completed last month. It meant a very short turnaround period of about three weeks before the commencement of the 2022 season, but yet, the MRF 45th South India Rally has attracted a sizeable number of entries.
The notable absentees are England-based Amittrajit Ghosh and his co-driver Ashwin Naik from Mangaluru in the premier INRC Overall category, who have been among the top title contenders, but opted to skip this weekend’s Rally.
MMSC President Ajit Thomas said: “After the challenges that we faced during the past two years, it augurs well for the sport that the INRC has a new promoter and we welcome Blue Band Sports on board. We also thank MRF Tyres for associating themselves with the event. We are hoping to see a full season of rallying as during the pre-pandemic years.”
Clerk-of-the-Course, Manoj Dalal said: “As usual, we have left no stone unturned to provide a safe and secure environment for the competitors whom we thank for responding positively and in large numbers despite a short interval of about three weeks between events. With new promoters, Blue Band Sports in place and MRF Tyres pitching in, we hope to have an action-packed weekend of rallying.”
About Madras Motor Sports Club
Since its humble beginnings in 1953, the Madras Motor Sports Club has grown in stature as the hub of motorsport activity in India. Having moved its racing activities from Sholavaram to its present location, the MMRT circuit in Sriperumbudur in 1979, MMSC has kept pace with changing times by upgrading facilities. At a cost of about Rs 20 Crore, the MMSC built a pit complex comprising 20 garages, VIP hospitality suites and a viewing gallery, on the eastern side, apart from a second Paddock on the western side with its own short circuit. Parallelly, MMSC imported timing equipment specifically for Drag racing. The Control Room too was upgraded with state-of-the-art hardware while the track itself was improved to meet the exacting FIA standards for Grade-2 certification. MMSC also constructed a 500-capacity grand stand with provision for garages / storage below. In another upgrade, the MMSC installed Digi flags from TAG Heuer Chronolec that will be positioned strategically around the track. The facilities are also extensively used by various vehicle manufacturers for testing their products, displays and corporate days.
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TVS Asia one-make championship trials at Sepang on April 27
Bangi, 20 April 2022: The two-wheeler giant in Indian motorsports, TVS Racing is all set to make it international presence with a one-make championship that that will run alongside FIM Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) beginning in Malaysia from May 29. The trials at Sepang are scheduled for April 27.
Two Wheels Motor Racing (TWMR) announced its partnership with TVS Racing, the factory racing team of TVS Motor Company and the news one-make championship will be name the TVS Asia One-Make Championship.
The championship will see a total of 16 riders from all over Asia who will be finalised on April 27 for the first year. The selection will be held at the Sepang International Circuit where Round 2 of the ARRC will take place in May.
Commenting on the development, Mr. Vimal Sumbly, Head – Premium Business, TVS Motor Company, said, “The engineering and performance prowess in our race machines has been derived from TVS Racing’s race-bred pedigree on the track, proving its mettle across a host of racing formats and has put us on the global map. We are excited about carving our success story internationally. The TVS Asia One Make Championship will play a pivotal role as a milestone in our global journey for TVS Racing.”
“We take this as an opportunity to take our learnings from the Indian tracks and demonstrate our capabilities internationally. We also look forward to having international racers atop our TVS Asia One Make Apache RR 310 motorcycles competing in the future championships.”
Ron Hogg, Promotions Director of Two Wheels Motor Racing Sdn. Bhd. said, “The participation of TVS Racing in the One-Make Championship is a bold gesture that would certainly open avenues in discovering new talents. More importantly, bringing in a new partner and manufacturer will ignite the interest for FIM Asia Road Racing Championship in general.”
On the impact towards the motorsport industry, Ron continued, “Motorsport industry is ever-changing. From a technological perspective, we move very quickly from two-strokes to four-strokes and having said that, we foresee further development of machines to suit the needs of the industry. Being rider-centric, we constantly look for ways that would pave opportunities for riders to pursue professional riding at a higher level. Our collaboration with TVS Racing in this One-Make Championship is part of our strategic plan that would serve the needs of our Asian riders at the regional front consequently contributing to a comprehensive development within the motorsport industry.”
FIM Asia President, Stephan P Carapiet said, “The One-Make Championship collaboration is an important mark in the motorsport championships as it forms yet another platform for the development of future motorsport stars and an opportunity to race the TVS One-Make machines. TVS will now be able to showcase the capacities, qualities and reliabilities of the machine in the racing field and through the technical specifications and data obtained from the races, they will also be able to make forward approaches in developing enhanced features that would better serve the needs of their domestic use.”
“India is a base for motorcycle manufacturers with a sales projection that supersedes the rest of the Asian markets. The involvement of TVS in racing however goes the extra mile to exhibit their advancement in technology and potentially spark interest in motorsport among the 1 billion population. FIM Asia fully supports this initiative and with the financial subsidies and opportunities provided by TVS Racing, we look forward to the participation of over 10 countries for the coming round in Malaysia.”
TVS Asia One-Make Championship will participate in four rounds of the ARRC:
1. 27th – 29th May 2022 Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
2. 1st – 3rd July 2022 (TBC)
3. 12th – 14th August 2022 Sugo International Circuit, Japan
4. 18th – 20th November 2022 Chang International Circuit, Thailand
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Max Verstappen suffers second retirement in three races: F1 race analysis
By Malhaar Khaladkar
Charles Leclerc took his and Ferrari’s second victory of the season as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez finished P2 after his teammate Max Verstappen retired midway through the race, second such retirement in three races. Mercedes new boy George Russell achieved his first podium for the German team by finishing P3.
New Delhi, 12th April 2022: Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen shared the front row again after the Bahrain grand prix with Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez as the rear gunner for the Dutchman. After an absence of two seasons, the Australian grand prix got underway with everyone getting away fairly cleanly.
Both Mercedes gained positions as Lewis Hamilton dove down inside of Perez to run in P3. Meanwhile, teammate George Russell went past Lando Norris’ McLaren. Sainz who had had a lowly qualifying on Saturday, starting the race in P9, chose the hard tyres whereas the majority of the grid went with medium tyres. The Spaniard suffered a slow start, dropping to P14 by lap 2. On lap 2, he tried to get past Zhou Guanyu at the fast turn 9 chicane. As a result he went off track, spun and beached his car into the gravel, marking his first retirement of the season. A safety car was called out.
As the safety car was called in on lap 7, Perez was right on the gearbox of Hamilton. By Lap 10, using the Red Bull’s superior pace he the Mexican was able to get past the 7-time world champion to run in P3. Behind, Russell was running in P5 followed by Norris and teammate Daniel Ricciardo in P6 and P7 respectively.
Both Red Bull cars struggled on the mediums with tyre graining as Verstappen fell away from Leclerc and Hamilton closed up, almost within a second of Perez. Verstappen was called into the pits for hard tyres on lap 18 with Perez doing the same on lap 20. Leclerc and Hamilton pitted on lap 22, for hard tyres as well. While Leclerc emerged in a comfortable lead, Hamilton emerged just under a second ahead of Perez on colder tyres. Perez made full use of the situation in getting past Hamilton for the second time.
The situation could not have been worse for Hamilton as a safety car was called out just after Perez went past, this time due to Sebastian Vettel spinning his Aston Martin into a barrier. This allowed Russell to pit under the safety car and emerge in P3, ahead of Perez and Hamilton.
The racing resumed on lap 27 with everyone on hard tyres, drivers like Fernando Alonso, Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon were yet to pit, running in the top 10. Leclerc had a shaky start as Verstappen drew alongside but the Ferrari driver managed to hold on in the lead. Meanwhile, Perez attempted to get past Russell for P3 which he succeeded on lap 36. Russell tried to defend but had no answer for the Red Bull’s pace. Ahead Leclerc was leading by 5s over Verstappen with both of them trading fastest laps in the process.
Gremlins struck Verstappen as he pulled over on lap 39 with smoke billowing from his RB18. This was his second DNF in three races and his championship hopes took a deeper dent. This allowed Leclerc to cruise to victory and take home an additional point for the fastest lap.
Leclerc won his second race of the season as Perez gave achieved another podium for Red Bull while Russell bagged his first podium for Mercedes in P3. Hamilton was unfortunate with the timing of the safety car so had to settle for P4. McLaren duo of Norris and Ricciardo finished in P5 and P6 respectively. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished in P7 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas in P8 and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly in P9. Alex Albon put in a mammoth 57 lap (out of 58 laps) stint on the hard tyresto get first point of the season for Williams.
Rookie Zhou Guanyu just missed out on points ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in P12, who finished in points position but lost it due to a 5-second time penalty given to him for weaving on the straights. Both Haas cars finished out of the points, Mick Schumacher in P13 and Magnussen in P14. Yuki Tsunoda could only manage P15 for AlphaTauri, with Williams’ Nicholas Latifi finishing in P16. Alonso was the last of the finishers in P17. Verstappen, Vettel and Sainz were the three cars unable to finish the race.
Ferrari looked dominant in Australia, especially when it came to race pace. Even though they suffered more porpoising compared to the first two rounds, Red Bull could not match their pace. Had Sainz not had the problems suffered in qualifying he might have been second behind Leclerc in the world championship. Red Bull lacked pace, even to the Mercedes at certain points in the race. Majority of the blame lies with the set-up direction they chose. They opted to protect rear tyres compared to the front. As a result the front tyres suffered graining and the car lacked overall pace. Compounded with Verstappen’s DNF they have a steep mountain to climb if they want to be back in the championship battle. Mercedes struggled in qualifying but made a positive improvement in race pace. They were outqualified by McLaren and should have been by Alpine as well had Alonso not crashed in Q3. Race pace wise it was positive as once tyres phased in they had similar pace to the Red Bull cars.
McLaren had their best race weekend of the season so far, finishing best of the rest and entering Q3 with both cars. For the first time it looked McLaren had made progress with their car. Though, both drivers admitted that their car is “very track dependent” so repeat of such performances will be difficult. Alpine had a weekend of ‘what ifs’. Alonso had a great Q3 lap, almost challenging pole position before hydraulics failure resulted in a crash. According to the Spaniard Alpine were faster than Mercedes on race pace too, but safety cars ruined the strategy. They had a silver lining as Ocon managed to finish P7. Alfa Romeo showed impressive race pace once again as Bottas managed P8 while teammate Zhou just finished on the cusp of points. AlphaTauri managed to score points with Gasly but lacked the pace to match the Alpine and McLaren cars, with both cars unable to make it to Q3.
Williams did not have the qualifying or the race pace to challenge for points, but Albon managed to pull off a crazy strategy which resulted in P10. Haas struggled to covert their early season form into pace in Australia. They struggled for both qualifying and race pace. The team blamed it more on their setup issue rather than a natural pace deficit. It remains to be seen if they will recover back to form in Imola. Aston Martin had a dismal weekend with their cars crashing four times and achieving no points. Their car has balance issues which is making it difficult for them to extract the pace.
Saturday Qualifying results were:
P1: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P2: Max Verstappen- 1 (Red Bull) P3: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P4: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P5: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P6: George Russell- 63 (Mercedes) P7: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P8: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P9: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P10: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P11: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P12: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Alfa Romeo) P13: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P14: Zhou Guanyu- 24 (Alfa Romeo) P15: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P16: Alex Albon- 23 (Williams) P17: Kevin Magnussen- 20 (Haas) P18: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P19: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P20: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) Note – Albon penalised three grid places for causing a collision at the previous round; disqualified from qualifying for a fuel infringement – races at stewards’ discretion. Stroll penalised three grid places for causing a collision during qualifying; failed to set a time within the Q1 107% requirement – races at stewards’ discretion.
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FIM MiniGP India Series to begin with trials in Bengaluru on July 9
Bengaluru, 14 April 2022: India will host the inaugral FIM MiniGP World Series with the Garden City Bengaluru hosting three of the five rounds and the grand initiative will kick-start with selection trials on July 9 at Meco Kartopia, th 1.2km track at Bagaluru in North Bengaluru.
Road to MotoGP is a series to promote racers to get a chance to the ultimate Road Racing event, the MotoGP World Championship. The MiniGP India Series too, will have the winner take a shot at the Road to GP series. The Indian riders will be compete on Ohvale GP-0 160 mini-race bikes shod with Pirelli Tyres, who will be the only tyre supplier. All the five rounds will be held on Karting circuits approved by fmsci, the Indian Federation – Meco Kartopia in Bengaluru and Chicane in Hyderabad.
Chicane circuit in Hyderabad will host two rounds. “Our efforts to bring in international events to India are starting to bear fruits, thanks to fmsci. It is an excellent opportunity for Indians to get into international racing. Our goal to catch them young and train for international exposure is fulfilled and the MiniGP India series will create a right platform for riders in the age group of 9 to 14 years to showcase their skills and gain the much-needed experience,” said Sujith Kumar BS, the FIM ASIA vice-president and the 2-wheeler Racing Commission chairman of fmsci. This is the only series in the world which is providing everything for free to the riders to encourage youngsters in India. Ohvale will be the single-make machine for the series and the transportation and excise duty charges are being waived for the riders.
S.# DATES 2022 CIRCUITS CITY LENGTH Remarks 1 9 July Meco Kartopia Bengaluru 1.2km Selections 2 16 & 17 July Meco Kartopia Bengaluru 1.2km Round 1 3 20 & 21 August Chicane Hyderabad 1.2km Round 2 4 27 & 28 August Chicane Hyderabad 1.2km Round 3 5 3 & 4 Sept Meco Kartopia Bengaluru 1.2km Round 4 6 10 & 11 Sept Meco Kartopia Bengaluru 1.2km Round 5 The inaugural 2022 FIM MiniGP India Series calendar as per Dorna, the Promoters. The World Series began in 2021, culminating in an incredible first FIM MiniGP World Series Final at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, just ahead of the MotoGP season finale. In 2022, the series is expanded to include more National Series, with a number of new countries including INDIA joining up.
The 2021 Series was held in Alpe Adria, France, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, the Netherlands, North America, Portugal, Spain and the UK. This year apart from India, Australia, Austria, Indonesia and Qatar join the MiniGP. The top two riders from each of these competitions will be invited to join the 2022 FIM MiniGP World Series Final. In the inaugural year of the FIM MiniGP World Series, the winner of the World Final will, subject to minimum age and location/nationality, secure a spot in one of the Road To MotoGP programs on the next rung of their career ladder.
The calendars for each of the Series comprising the 2022 FIM MiniGP World Series can now be announced, with competition underway in many already.
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Arbolino takes maiden Moto2 victory in Austin; Vietti and Canet crash out
Austin, 10 April 2022: Amidst a series of crashes, drama hits the early season title contenders, and a thrilling race saw the emergence of Tony Arbolino as the triumphant leader as he won the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, the Round 4 of the Moto2 World Championship here on Sunday. Ogura won back-to, Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas-back podiums and Dixon finally got that rostrum finish which is his first in Grand Prix racing.
Tony Arbolino of Elf Marc VDS Racing Team, kept his calm under severe pressure but the Italian pulled clear to take his first Moto2 win in style. Ai Ogura of Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, charged through to second for his first back-to-back Moto2 podiums, with another first in third too. Jake Dixon of Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team got his first rostrum finish in Grand Prix racing, battling Ogura and eventually taking P3.
Tony Arbolino: “I want to show my eyes to prove the words are real. I worked a lot man, I worked a lot. Since Moto3 I was already feeling I could do the first year the Championship in the Moto2 class. Honestly, I worked so hard. I didn’t sleep during the night because I was thinking of this moment, this is what brought me here. I swear on my life, this is an incredible feeling. I want to keep going, keep having fun. I have an amazing team, amazing crew, amazing people that work during the night for me so it’s incredible. This is a win man!”
Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), who retains that moniker, crashed out early, and then his closest rival at the time, Aron Canet (Flexbox HP 40) also crashed out in a dramatic Americas GP.
Polemen Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) got off the line well but was denied the holeshot by a Vietti divebomb, and Canet and Arbolino then pushed the hometown hero back to P4 as the podium battle began to take shape. There was drama elsewhere early on too, first with a multi-rider crash involving, amongst others, Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) as he made contact with Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), before Fermin Aldeguer (MB Conveyors Speed Up) also headed into Turn 12 too hot. Gabriel Rodrigo (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Zonta van den Goorbergh (RW Racing GP) were both caught up, riders all ok. Chantra was given a Long Lap for Portugal for the incident.
The drama continued through to Lap 2, with Canet losing and then taking P2 back from Arbolino, before the Spaniard began to set his sights on the lead. The deficit between first and second had narrowed to just a couple tenths and the lead soon changed hands at Turn 9, with Canet taking charge of the race and Vietti slipping to second. Then, just a couple of corners later at 11, a Beaubier error allowed a host of riders through as he dropped to eighth.
The American wasn’t the only rider struggling to keep himself upright at COTA, with Simone Corsi (MV Augusta Forward Racing) the next rider to crash out at Turn 14, before Pedro Acosta’s (Red Bull KTM Ajo excellent race start, P10 to P5, was in vain, as he slid out of the race and the top five at Turn 6 – riders OK.
Turn 6 then claimed another victim, this time in the form of Championship leader and race contender Vietti. It meant Arbolino and Dixon moved into the top three, and handed a comfortable advantage to new race leader Canet, but it didn’t last long. The Flexbox HP40 rider seemed to be cruising to a win before disaster struck on the eighth lap, losing the front end of his Kalex at Turn 7 to throw another twist in the tale of a fascinating Moto2™ race in Texas. As a result, three riders were thrust into victory contention, Arbolino leading Dixon and Ogura, but a classy performance from a cool and composed Tiger Tony ensured he opened up an unassailable lead over the next few laps.
Lap 12 then saw the order of the podium decided, with Ogura taking over from Dixon at Turn 12. Luckily for the Briton, he had built up enough of an advantage over Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) and Beaubier that he just had to keep it steady to claim his first-ever Grand Prix podium.
Arblolino crossed the line in some clear air for an impressive first Moto2™ win, extending the advantage lap by lap to taste Prosecco in the intermediate class for the first time. Ogura kept second despite a late nibble from Dixon on the penultimate lap, with the number 96 choosing calm and that first ever Grand Prix finish.
For poleman Beaubier, what started out as a dream home race then sadly turned into a nightmare, as he cost himself a P4 finish and 13 valuable Championship points on the final lap, sliding out and handing Schrötter a first top four finish since the Valencia GP in 2020.
Jorge Navarro recovered from a Long Lap Penalty to take a top five finish while Jeremy Alcoba made it two Liqui Moly intact riders inside the top six for his best rookie results so far. Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) were next up, Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) going from P18 to P9.
A fine ride from Barry Baltus (RW Racing GP) saw him round out the top 10 ahead of Albert Arenas (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) and Marcos Ramirez (MV Augusta Forward Racing). Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team), Filip Salač (Gresini Racing Moto2™) and Romano Fenati (MB Conveyors Speed Up) complete the points finishers.
The Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas certainly delivered Moto2 drama by the bucketload in Austin, and next up for the intermediate class is a date at the Autodromo do Algarve in two weeks’ time. Join us then for more.
Moto2 Podium:
1 Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) – Kalex – 39’06.552
2 Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) – Kalex – +3.439
3 Jake Dixon (Shimoko GASGAS Aspar Team) – Kalex – +4.787 -
Charles Leclerc in F1 Championship lead with emphatic victory
Melbourne, 10 April 2022: Charles Leclerc did not sweat a bit as he took an easy and commanding victory to lead the Formula 1 (F1) World championship in the 2022 FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix amidst greenish celebration as podium winners celebrated with champagne at Albert Park on Sunday. Russel got the first podium for Mercedes taking third behind Sergio Perez, who salvaged a second place for Red Bull.
F1 returns to Melbourne for the first time since 2019, and is proving a brilliantly fun location, with the fans out in force and it was nice to see packed stands and the crowds flocking to the podium ceremony reminding the good old pre-Covid days. The crowd favourite and son of the soil Daniel Ricciardo finished his McLaren in sixth but the sportive crowd cheered every good move and soaked in the atmosphere.
Charles Marc Perceval Leclerc is a Monégasque racing driver, and is the current hero making the Prancing horse dance once again in Formula One as he brought his Scuderia Ferrari to the chequeuered flag over 20 seconds clear of Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Pérez and the third-placed Mercedes of George Russell who finished ahead of his teammate, the 7-time champion, Lewis Hamilton.
Meanwhile, the defending World Champion Max Verstappen, exited the race soon after the half way point with a mechanical problem, as he slowly steered his way out of the track and parked the car. Soon a small fire broke out and he guided the Marshals to put it out and the care was taken out later.
When the lights went out at the start, polesitter Leclerc got away well, with Verstappen just behind, but it was Pérez who got the best getaway and as they powered towards Turn 1 the Mexican moved to the left to put pressure on his team-mate. Verstappen held his line and as he moved left for the first corner Pérez was forced to back off. That allowed fast-starting Lewis Hamilton to slip through to third place.
Behind the top four, George Russell had also made a good start in the second Mercedes and he passed McLaren’s Lando Norris to claim fifth place, with Ricciardo seventh ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.
Worst affected by the start was Carlos Sainz. On hard tyres, the second Ferrari driver struggled for grip when the lights went out and he was swamped by rivals and dropped to 14th. His struggles ended on lap two. Sainz passed Haas’ Mick Schumacher on the run to Turn 9, but he went too deep, and as he tried to turn he lost the rear of the Ferrari and spun into the gravel trap. Beached in the run off area, he had no option but to retire from the race.
The Safety Car was released and when racing got underway again on lap seven Leclerc managed the restart well and the order at the front remained unchanged. The Ferrari driver began to carve out a gap to Verstappen and by lap nine he was 1.4 seconds ahead of the lead Red Bull. Pérez, meanwhile, was beginning to put pressure on Hamilton and on lap 10 he went around the outside of the Mercedes in Turns 3 and 4 to reclaim third place.
As the first stint evolved Leclerc’s pace increased and by lap 16 the race leader was just over eight seconds clear of Verstappen, with Pérez four seconds further back in third. Verstappen was suffering with front-left graining and at the end of lap 18 he dived for the pits. In a 2.9 stop he moved to the hard tyre and emerged behind the McLarens in P7. Pérez pitted at the end of lap 20 and after a 2.5s switch to hard tyres he rejoined in P9.
Leclerc made his first stop at the end of lap 21 and after taking on hard tyres he resumed in the lead, though Verstappen’s undercut had halved the gap between the front pair. Hamilton also pitted at the end of lap 21 and after fitting hard tyres he was able to rejoin ahead of Pérez in fifth place. However, the Mexican quickly closed in and on lap 23 he powered past the Mercedes.
On lap 24 though the Safety Car was again deployed when Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel crashed on the exit of Turn 4. Mercedes reacted quickly and pitted Russell. He took on hard tyres and rejoined in third place, ahead of Fernando Alonso, who was still on his starting hard tyres. Pérez was now fifth ahead of Hamilton, while Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, also on his starting hard tyres, was now seventh ahead of Norris and Ricciardo.
The Safety Car left the track at the end of lap 26 and once again Leclerc managed the restart well to keep Verstappen at bay. Behind them, Pérez was losing ground behind Alonso as the wily Alpine driver was proving hard to clear. However, when DRS was enabled, the Red Bull driver was able to close up to the Spaniard at the start of lap 30 and on the run to Turn 3 he powered past the Alpine to take fourth place. He was now just over a second behind Russell.
The Mexican continued to harry the Mercedes driver and Russell’s engineer was soon on the radio telling his driver to prioritise tyre management over position. The Briton relented and on lap 27 Pérez swept past to take third.
At the front, though, the pattern from the first stint was repeating and by lap 38 Leclerc was over five seconds clear of the lead Red Bull. And then, at the start of the following tour, disaster struck for Verstappen. He crossed the line to start the lap but almost immediately he lost drive and was forced to pull over at the side of the track at the exit of Turn 1 to retire from the race.
After a brief Virtual Safety Car period, racing resumed and Leclerc now led Pérez by 11 seconds. The lone Red Bull was now four seconds ahead of Russell and Hamilton was fourth ahead of Norris and Ricciardo. In seventh place, having profited from the earlier Safety Car was Alex Albon, though the Williams driver was still on starting hard tyres. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon held eighth place ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly.
Stroll was under heavy pressure from Gasly and was warned (and handed a five-second penalty), for weaving on the track in defence of ninth place. However, despite the pressure building behind him the Canadian continued to resist. Ahead the obstacle of the slow Aston Martin benefited Albon and Ocon and on lap 49 the pair were nine seconds clear of the Stroll train. Gasly was growing increasingly frustrated, but on lap 50 he eventually saw an opportunity and he muscled his way past Stroll into Turn 1 to take P9.
At the front, and with five laps remaining, Leclerc was a whopping 20 seconds clear of Pérez as the Mexican throttle back to ensure P2. Russell was now three seconds behind the Red Bull, with Hamilton fourth ahead of Norris and Ricciardo. Albon at last pitted at the end of the penultimate lap and after bolting on soft tyres he emerged in 10thplace.
And at the end of 58 laps, having led from start to finish, Leclerc crossed the line to take his second victory of the season and the point for fastest lap. Twenty seconds later Pérez took the flag for his first podium finish of the season and Russell took his first podium of the campaign in third.
Behind the top three, Hamilton finished fourth ahead of Norris and Ricciardo and Ocon took seventh ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas. Gasly was ninth and after starting from the back of the grid having been disqualified from qualifying due to a fuel irregularity, Albon took the final point on offer with a well-worked 10th place.
2022 FIA Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix – Race
1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 58 1:27’46.5482 Sergio Pérez Red Bull 58 1:28’07.072 20.524
3 George Russell Mercedes 58 1:28’12.141 25.593
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 58 1:28’15.091 28.543
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 58 1:28’39.851 53.303
6 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 58 1:28’40.285 53.737
7 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 58 1:28’48.231 1’01.683
8 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 58 1:28’54.987 1’08.439
9 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Red Bull 58 1:29’02.769 1’16.221
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 58 1:29’05.930 1’19.382
11 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 58 1:29’08.243 1’21.695
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 58 1:29’15.146 1’28.598
13 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 57 – 1 lap
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 57 – 1 lap
15 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Red Bull 57 – 1 lap
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 57 – 1 lap
17 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 57 – 1 lap
Max Verstappen Red Bull 38 – Retirement
Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 22 – Spun off
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1 – Spun off -
Ducati domination: Martin grabs last gasp pole from Miller
A 1-2-3-4-5 in qualifying makes some history for the Bologna factory, with Marquez ninth on Saturday
Austin (USA), 9 April 2022 (IST10th morn): Jorge Martin’s (Pramac Racing) stunning Saturday afternoon form continued at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, with the Spaniard coming through Q1 to claim a sensational second pole position of the season. It’s four front row starts in a row for Martin too, with the Spaniard beating Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) by just 0.003s this time around. The 2:02.039 the Pramac rider set is also a new all-time lap record.
Indian fans can tune in to EUROSPORT and EUROSPORT HD to catch all the live action from the 2022 MotoGP championship, with the MotoGP 2022 – Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas Main Race scheduled from 21:30 Hrs (09:30 pm IST) onwards on Sunday, April 10, 2022.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) claimed P3 to make it a Ducati triple threat on the front row and, just behind, two more Ducatis line up P4 and P5… making it the first ever front five lockout for the factory, and the first for a single manufacturer since Honda in 2003 at Motegi.
Q1
Q1 was – as we’re used to seeing given the sheer competitiveness of the class – a star-studded affair. World Championship leader Aleix Espargaro and Aprilia Racing teammate Maverick Viñales fancied their chances of progressing, but so did Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Martin and Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™).Rins was the early pacesetter, the Suzuki rider putting in a 2:02.723 as the benchmark. Martin soon took over at the summit with eight minutes to go though, which saw Aleix Espargaro kicked out of the all-important top two. Then, chasing a time on his second run, the number 41 was down. Hopes of a Q2 place were gone for the Spaniard and the best he could hope for was a P13 grid slot. Luckily, P3 in the session and P13 on the grid was where he stayed, as Martin and Rins progressed and no one else could leapfrog.
Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team), chasing big brother Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), crashed at Turn 3 unhurt in the early stages.
Q2
Q2 then got underway and it was Miller who was the early pacesetter, with fellow Ducati rider Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) off to a tougher start as he crashed at Turn 15. The Italian was able to pick his GP21 straight back up though, and immediately set off chasing a pole position lap time – no damage done.Then, another crash. This time it was Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) at the penultimate corner. Rider ok and 100m Olympic sprint mode activated, but it was now a race against time for the Frenchman who was provisional P7.
After that and at the end of the first set of runs, Miller was leading Bagnaia by 0.008s, with Martin and Bastianini making it a Ducati 1-2-3-4. Quartararo managed to make his way back to the garage with just over four minutes to go though and straight away, the number 20 was back on track on his second YZR-M1.
Pecco came out of the blocks flying on his second fresh soft rear tyre. 0.140s was his advantage through the third split and by the line, the number 63 went top by 0.160s over teammate Miller. The latter, though, was also setting red sector times. Through the third split, Miller was 0.236s up on Pecco’s effort and sure enough, the Australian returned to P1.
Then, there was another Ducati rider lighting up the timing screens – Martin. The qualifying specialist lost time in the third split but a wonderful fourth sector saw Martin pip Miller by the slimmest of margins: just 0.003s. Was there anyone else challenging? Not by the looks of it. Quartararo was struggling to respond, seven-time Texas winner Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) had a quiet session pushed down to P9 and Rins and 2020 Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) jumped up to P7 and P8.
In the end, Martin’s 0.003s advantage was enough to take it, with Miler and Pecco joining him on the front row. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Bastianini, in P4 and P5, made it a historic Ducati demolition on Saturday in Texas.
The Grid
Behind the five Ducatis is Quartararo lining up in P6. How much did that crash affect the reigning World Champion’s pole position hunt? He’ll want more on Sunday.Rins and Mir head up the third row ahead of Marc Marquez, the eight-time World Champion under the radar so far. Fellow Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) rounded out the top 10 to equal his best of the season so far, with Argentina front row hero Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and an under the weather Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) just behind, set to launch from P11 and P12 respectively.
It was a frantic and ferocious pair of qualifying sessions in Austin, and we now turn our attention to race day. Can anyone stop Ducati from claiming victory in Texas? And what can the World Championship leader muster up from P13? Time will tell. So tune in at 13:00 local time (GMT-5) to find out!
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Double podium for Akhil Rabindra: GT 4 Euro Series
By Darshan Chokhani
Imola, 5 April, 2022: Akhil Rabindra, the Bengaluru born 25-year-old Aston Martin Driver Academy product and the only Asian to be racing at the European GT4 Championship this year, has started his 2022 calendar on a positive note by securing a double podium finish in the season opener round of the European GT4 Series with his new team, Racing Spirit of Leman. Akhil and his team mate Tom Canning finished both the races of Round 1 at the Imola Circuit grabbing a P3 position in the Silver Cup category.
Akhil’s Journey at the Imola circuit started on a positive note after he finished 4th overall in the qualifying race 2. Thereafter, Akhil along with his teammate T.Canning made an impressive start to Race1, as the #19 pair earned a P3finish in the Silver Cup Race 1 after gaining a place due to the disqualification of #13 pair of P Chovet& J Scheier for technical infringement.
In Race 2 Rabindra and Canning again grabbed a P3 finish in the Silver Cup with their Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4.
A happy Akhil Rabindra commented post the podium celebrations, “It has been a good start to the 2022 season. I am in a new team this year and have a new teammate who is doing agreat job and I look forward to carry forward this momentum to the next race in France.”
Akhil will now move on to France, for Round 2 of GT 4 European Series at Paul Richard circuit from 3-5 June.
About European GT4 Championship:
The GT4 European Series is a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship which followed a formula similar to the FIA GT3 European Championship, which was itself derived from the FIA GT Championship which utilized the GT1 and GT2 classes.
GT4 class cars are mostly what can be referred to as track day cars, which are factory-built race cars available to the public. However, custom-built cars based on production models can also be built by teams. All cars are test driven by the FIA and then modified so that they all have near identical performance levels. Once a car has been approved by the FIA, it cannot be modified by the teams, eliminating continual development costs for constructors. All cars run on regulated Pirelli tires to further equalize performance.
