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Author: David Bodapati
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Max Verstappen takes pole ahead of Norris and Perez
Spielberg, 3 July 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took his second Red Bull Ring pole position in a week with a dominant performance in qualifying for Formula 1’s Austrian Grand Prix. However, despite topping every segment of the hour–long session he was push closer in the final top 10 shootout by Lando Norris who claimed the first front-row start of his F1 career just four hundredths of a second behind the championship leader. Sergio Pérez took third place for Red Bull as Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth.
In Q1 Verstappen went out earlier than usual and with his first flying lap he jumped to the top of the order with an opening flying lap of 1:04.249. Hamilton wasn’t far behind the Dutchman on track and when he crossed the line he slotted into second place with a lap of 1:04.506, six hundredths of a second ahead of team-mate Bottas. Pérez, meanwhile, found his way to sixth place with his opening lap of 1:04.833. However, as rivals crossed the line he dropped to eighth place and while Verstappen would stay in the garage for the final runs, Pérez had to go again.
In the end of though, the Mexican didn’t need to the boost of an extra flyer and as McLaren’s Lando Norris finished second behind Verstappen and ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Pérez backed out of his final flyer as other failed to make significant gains he settled for his opening lap time and P8.
Eliminated at the end of the first segment were Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in P16 ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
In the second segment Pérez was first out on track, on medium tyres, and the Mexican gave the remaining drivers in the field a target of 1:04.554 to aim at. Verstappen then headed out on mediums and immediately jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:04.208.
Hamilton then took second but was soon eclipsed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Pérez who went for a second attempt of 1:04.483.
In the final runs, Verstappen went quicker again hold top spot with a lap of 1:03.927, while Hamilton rose again to take P2 over three tenths down on the Red Bull. Bottas took third place ahead of Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris and Pérez settled for P6 thanks to his second run time.
Fernando Alonso though appeared to be blocked by seventh placed Sebastian Vettel and the stewards quickly announced that they would investigate the incident after the session. George Russell did make it through, however, taking Williams into Q3 for the first time this season.
It meant that both Ferraris failed to make it through, with Carlos Sainz being eliminated in P11 ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Alonso and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
In the first runs of the top-10 shootout Verstappen once again set blistering pace to open his Q3 account with a lap of 1:03.720. McLaren’s Lando Norris also showed good pace to take P2 just over two tenths of a second behind the Dutchman, with Hamilton in third place almost three tenths off Verstappen. Pérez, though, found himself in P5 after the first runs, a little under two tenths of a second behind Bottas.
The Mexican would need to find good gains in the final runs and when the final runs began he was third in the queue out of the pit lane, behind Norris.
Verstappen was at the head of the pack and though the Red Bull driver tried to find more time on his final run he couldn’t make an improvement. Aided by a tow from the championship leader Norris found more time but the Briton couldn’t quite match Verstappen’s opening time and the Red Bull driver’s opening lap was good enough to claim the team’s 67th pole position.
Pérez also benefited from a tow, this time from Norris, and the Mexican found the pace he needed to leapfrog both Mercedes drivers, taking P3 ahead of Hamilton and Bottas.
Behind the Mercedes drivers Pierre Gasly took sixth for AlphaTauri ahead of team-mate Yuki Tsunoda. Vettel finished eighth but will face investigation, while Russell qualified in P9 ahead of Stroll.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:03.720 7 243.954
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:03.768 0.048 7 243.771
3 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:03.990 0.270 7 242.925
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.014 0.294 6 242.834
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:04.049 0.329 6 242.701
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.107 0.387 6 242.482
7 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 1:04.273 0.553 6 241.855
8 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.570 0.850 6 240.743
9 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:04.591 0.871 3 240.665
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:04.618 0.898 6 240.564
11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:04.559 0.632 6 240.784
12 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.600 0.673 6 240.631
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:04.719 0.792 6 240.189
14 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:04.856 0.929 6 239.681
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.083 1.156 6 238.845
16 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:05.009 0.760 9 239.117
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:05.051 0.802 6 238.963
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:05.195 0.946 6 238.435
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:05.427 1.178 9 237.589
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:05.951 1.702 9 235.702 -
Breen-Nagle take first podium for MRF in ERC
Talsi/Liepaja, 3 July 2021: With a second place finish at the Rally Liepaja, Team MRF Tyres today registered their first ever podium since entering the European Rally Championship in 2020.
It was a hard fought podium with Craig Breen and Paul Nagle battling against Europe’s best throughout the day.
The day’s action saw six stages and 90.92km of action in warm and sunny conditions on roads around the Latvian coastal town of Liepaja.
The Team MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 started the day in second place, involved in a great fight with Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov (VW), Efrén Llarena/ Sara Fernández (Skoda) and Alexey Lukyanuk/Dmitriy Eremeev (Citroën). Just 13.4 seconds separated the four cars.
The day started with the 18.42km Neste stage. The roads on Saturday differed from the previous day with a harder surface being presented to the drivers.
Breen and Nagle came in third in the stage with a time of 9:18.2, just 3.4 seconds off the lead.
The pace was repeated on the second stage of the day, with Breen/Nagle taking second just 3.1 seconds off the stage win on the Invest in Liepaja! stage.
Third on stage nine, solidified Team MRF Tyres second place going into the final service. With just three stages remaining, Breen and Nagle sat in second 15.2 seconds off Gryzain/Konstantin in the lead and 16.0 seconds ahead of Lukanuk/Eremeev in third.
After final service, the need to push still existed. All of the drivers were at 100 percent, and there would be no room for mistakes.
SS10 saw a repeat of the Neste stage with Breen/Nagle coming home in fifth, 3.9 seconds off the stage win.
The eleventh stage would be a new one for the rally with the 9.93km blast setting up a setting up a grandstand finish.
Breen and Nagle were able to bring the car home third on the final stage to finish second in the overall standings as they stood at the final stopline.
The result demonstrates the advancements that Team MRF Tyres have made in the development of their tyres.
In Rally Poland, just the second gravel rally for Team MRF Tyres, Breen and Nagle took the first stage wins on gravel for MRF Tyres.
In Latvia, the first repeat rally for MRF Tyres, the team takes the first podium.
MRF Tyres customer cars Michal Pryczek/ Jacek Pryczek (Subaru Impreza N15) and Igor Widłak/Daniel Dymurski (Ford Fiesta Rally 3) ran strongly over the day.
Pryczek/Pryczek finished third in the ERC2 category and Widlak/Dymurski also finished third in the RC3 category.
Team MRF Tyres will be out in the next round of the European Rally Championship with the Rally di Roma Capitale on 23-26 July.
Quotes
Craig Breen, Driver, Hyundai i20 R5
“We had to push all rally long. There was no room to relax this weekend. This series is so strong and you have to fight for the podium.”“Team MRF Tyres has achieved so much in this campaign and a podium was a big part that was missing. To achieve a podium for Team MRF Tyres is very satisfying.”
“The Hyundai i20 R5 felt so good through the rally but we had to push the entire way. The entire team at MRF Tyres should be proud of what we have achieved in a short amount of time.”
“We entered the European Rally Championship a year ago and Rally Liepaja is only our third gravel rally. It is a great result.”
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Red Bull turns the tide with Verstappen’s dominant win: Race Analysis
Max Verstappen took a second consecutive victory over Lewis Hamilton as Valtteri Bottas just managed to hold on to the final podium position in the Styrian Grand Prix, the first of two races held at the Red Bull ring.
London, 28 June 2021: Max Verstappen took a dominant fourth victory of the season as Lewis Hamilton finished a distant 2nd ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas. Sergio Perez tried to chase Bottas for the podium with an alternate strategy, but to no avail had to settle for P4 ahead of McLaren’s in form driver Lando Norris in P5. Ferrari redeemed themselves with Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finishing P6 and P7 respectively. Lance Stroll added to Aston Martin’s points tally in P8, ahead of veteran Fernando Alonso in P9 and the points positions completed by Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda in P10.
Kimi Raikkonen finished just outside the points in P11, meanwhile his Alfa Romeo teammate Antonio Giovinazzi finished down in p15. Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel crossed the line in P12 ahead of reliability hampered Daniel Ricciardo who could only manage P13 in his McLaren. Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished P14. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi finished in P17, sandwiched by both Haas cars of Mick Schumacher in P16 and Nikita Mazepin in P18. George Russell retired due to pneumatic pressure loss while Pierre Gasly suffered a rear suspension failure on lap 1.
All race weekend rain beckoned but eventually it stayed away from the track and Verstappen went off the line smoothly maintaining his lead on lap 1, Hamilton following suit. Perez moved past Norris but conceded the place back to the McLaren man as Norris made a move outside of turn 4. Bottas was running in P5, meanwhile, Ricciardo had made up five positions running in P8 from P13.
Leclerc had to pit as he damaged his front wing by nicking Gasly’s rear left tyre. The AlphaTauri driver retiring as he got suspension failure due to tyre puncture and, in the process, spun Giovinazzi and Latifi. A few laps later, Ricciardo suffered momentary engine power loss due to which he plummeted back to P13, promoting Williams’ Russell in P8.
On lap 10 Perez moved past Norris, Bottas doing the same a lap later as the McLaren did not put up much of a defense due to faster nature of the Red Bull and Mercedes cars. At the front Verstappen was leading Hamilton by 3s. The duo led Perez and Bottas by over 12s. Behind the top four it was Norris, Stroll, Alonso, Russell, Tsunoda and Sainz.
Perez was the first one to pit for hard tyres on lap 26 and suffered a slow pit stop. This gave Mercedes the opportunity to pit Bottas and with a smooth pitstop emerged ahead of Perez and running into the podium positions. Hamilton pitted on lap 28, already behind Verstappen by 5s. Verstappen copying his title rival and emerging in the lead once again. There was another bout of bad luck for Russell as he was comfortably running in points before reliability problems struck and eventually retiring the car on lap 36 after falling to P18.
Pit Stops – A Pirelli graphic In the midfield both Sainz and Ricciardo pulled off a mammoth 41 lap stint on medium tyres before pitting for hard tyres. Everyone else in the midfield had pitted between lap 26 and 31. The outlier being Leclerc who pitted a second time on lap 37 after pitting on lap 1 to change his front wing.
Ahead, Perez was unable to get past Bottas and pitted again on lap 51 to try and pull of another “Hungary 2019” on Bottas to get the podium. It was to no avail as Perez just finished 0.5s behind Bottas who continued and finished on his ageing hard tyres.
In the lead, Hamilton was unable to make a dent in Verstappen’s lead as the lead extended over 10s. The Briton pitting on lap 69 for a set of soft tyres to get an extra point for setting the fastest lap, a consolation for what had been a dominant victory by the Red Bull team.
Red Bull clearly dominated this race weekend and the same can be expected next weekend as the Austrian grand prix takes place at the same venue. Only weather and rain have a chance to stop their momentum. Red Bull brought an upgrade to their diffusers leading edge, making it serrated to enhance the rear downforce creation. By doing this they can run a lower downforce rear wing compared to Mercedes which gave them an advantage of about 0.2s on the straights without compromising cornering speed. Mercedes have lost out to Red Bull especially in race pace as Hamilton kept losing time in relation to Verstappen. Mercedes have not brought any upgrades instead aiming to optimise their current package. They have a lot of work to do if they want to consistently challenge Red Bull. It has been four races since the German squad won a race.
McLaren once again proved to be the clear best of the rest with them being the leading team in midfield in qualifying and race. Ricciardo is still unable to maximise the potential of the MCL35M and therefore, McLaren are unable to operate at their potential. Also, reliability hampered them in Styria as Ricciardo too would have finished in points. Ferrari have seemed to recover their race pace after a dismal French grand prix where the car chewed through its tyres. In Styria the car looked more balanced and tyre wear was not an issue for the Italian squad. It remains to be seen if they have fixed the problem or is it a track specific issue. AlphaTauri failed to capitalise on their potential pace, like many other races this season. Both drivers showed impressive qualifying pace with Gasly even beating both Ferrari’s. His race was over on lap 1 due to the Leclerc incident and Tsunoda was able to finish in the points. AlphaTauri can challenge for higher points if they have incident free and clean race.
Aston Martin struggled in qualifying but showed competitive race pace. Due to one lap pace being their issue and midfield teams being closely matched in race pace, Aston Martin were unable to break through the midfield to challenge the likes of McLaren and Ferrari with only Stroll adding to team’s tally. Alpine are on similar level as Aston Martin, operating on the fringes of top 10. Alonso maximised while Ocon struggled in qualifying and race, like the French grand prix. With race pace to rivals being similar it is all about maximizing qualifying and maintaining track position.
Williams genuinely for the first time this season showed points potential and having the pace to match teams like Aston martin and Alpine in the hands of Russell. Russell was comfortably running in the top 10 and even putting pressure on Alpine’s Alonso before reliability gremlins struck and robbed him his points finish. Williams needs a reliable race car if they want to challenge the top 10 because clearly, they have made steps forward with the FW43B.
Alfa Romeo were in no man’sland this weekend as they did not have the pace for top 10 but were faster than fellow Ferrari customer Haas. They fell back behind Williams, but Raikkonen maximised the cars potential by finishing P11, one position outside points. Their race pace is better than qualifying but both need improvement to consistently challenge the lower top 10. Haas have had the same story for much of the season as they struggled once again at the back of the field but both rookie drivers gaining experience in Formula 1.
Saturday Qualifying Results were:
P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P2: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P3: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P4: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P5: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P6: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P7: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P8: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) P9: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P10: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P11: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P12: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P13: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P14: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P15: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P16: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P17: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P18: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P19: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P20: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) Note – Bottas penalised three grid places for dangerous driving in the pit lane during practice. Tsunoda penalised three grid places for impeding Bottas during Q3.
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Dominant victory for Max Verstappen ahead of Hamilton
Spielberg (Austria), 27 June 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took a flawless lights-to-flag Styrian Grand Prix victory, beating Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton by 35 seconds as Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes car kept hard-charging Sergio Pérez in the second Red Bull at bay in the closing stages to take third place.
At the start of the race, Verstappen made the perfect getaway and he took the lead ahead of Hamilton, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Pérez as the field streamed through Turn 1.
Behind them AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly tangled with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in Turn 1 and as the pair rejoined Leclerc’s front wing tagged the left rear of Gasly’s car. The Frenchman sustained a puncture. Then in Turn 3 he collided with the Alfa Romeo of Antonio Giovinazzi. The collisions left Gasly with heavy damage at the left rear corner of his car and he limped back to the pits to retire as Leclerc also pitted for repairs.
By lap 10 of the short and fast Red Bull Ring Verstappen had managed to eke out a three-second gap to Hamilton, while behind him Pérez was closing on Norris. The Mexican got the job done in Turn 3 of the same lap, diving down the inside of the McLaren driver to steal the podium place. Bottas pulled off a similar move on the McLaren but Pérez’s pace was strong and by lap 15 he had already extended the gap to the Finn to 3.5 seconds.
Pérez was the first of the leaders to make a pit stop. The Mexican headed for the pits on lap 27 but when he stopped on his marks there was a problem with the rear left wheel and he spent a costly 4.8 seconds stationary before being released with a set of new hard tyres.
The delay prompted Mercedes to pit Bottas at the end of the next lap and after a clean switch to hard tyres the Finn rejoined in third place ahead of Pérez.
Hamilton was the next of the leaders in and he too made a good stop of 2.2s as he sought to undercut Max. The Team responded, however, and after a brilliant stop of two seconds dead, the Dutchman rejoined in the lead, over four seconds clear of his championship rival.
Pérez then began to chip away at the gap to Bottas and by lap 42 he was just 2.8s behind the Finn. At the front Verstappen was managing the pace well and the gap to Hamilton remained stable at 4.4s.
At the front, Verstappen slowly but surely began to pull away from Hamilton and on lap 48 the gap had stretched to 6.5 seconds. Pérez, meanwhile, was still trying to find a way past Bottas. He steadily chipped away at the Finn’s advantage and on lap 49 was just 1.6s behind the Mercedes man.
He could find no way past, however, and at the end of lap 55 the Team brought the Mexican into the pits for a new set of medium tyres.
He quickly began to set purple laps and with 10 laps to go had turned a 20s deficit to the Finn to a gap of just 11 seconds. Five laps later and the gap was under six seconds.
With just a few laps remaining, the race to overhaul Bottas was always going to be close and despite a heroic effort in the end Pérez missed out by a tiny margin, crossing the line in fourth place, just 0.5s behind the Finn.
Verstappen was in cruise control at the front of the pack. With 15 seconds in hand over Hamilton in the final stages, Mercedes went into damage limitation mode.
On the penultimate lap Hamilton headed for the pits and took on a set of soft tyres. He claimed the race fastest lap on the final lap and reduced the damage caused by Verstappen to seven points.
After crossing the line 35s ahead of Hamilton to claim Red Bull’s third victory at its home track after Austrian Grand Prix wins in 2018 and 2019, Verstappen now leads the Drivers’ championship on 156 points, 18 ahead of Hamilton. Pérez, in third place, now has 96 points, 10 ahead of Norris.
In the battle for the Constructors’ championship crown Red Bull Racing now have 156 points, 40 ahead of Mercedes.
Behind the top four, Lando Norris took 10 valuable points for McLaren with fifth place. The result keeps McLaren in third in the Constructors’ Championship, on 120 points, 12 clear of Ferrari.
After a difficult build up to the race the Scuderia enjoyed a profitable afternoon with Carlos Sainz working a long stint well to rise up the order and eventually claim sixth place after starting from P12. Team-mate Charle Leclerc pitted at the end of the first lap following his clash with Gasly and dropped to the rear of the field. The Monegasque driver made an excellent comeback, however, to finish seventh ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. The final point on offer was taken by AlphaTaauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 71 1:22’18.925
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 1:22’54.668 35.743
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 71 1:23’05.832 46.907
4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 71 1:23’06.359 47.434
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:22’24.281 1 lap /5.356
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 70 1:22’31.243 1 lap /12.318
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 1:22’43.757 1 lap /24.832
8 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:22’59.121 1 lap /40.196
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 70 1:23’00.099 1 lap /41.174
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 70 1:23’00.774 1 lap /41.849
11 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:23’03.208 1 lap /44.283
12 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:23’08.210 1 lap /49.285
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:23’09.506 1 lap /50.581
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 70 1:23’10.959 1 lap /52.034
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 70 1:23’17.947 1 lap /59.022
16 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 69 1:23’01.861 2 laps /42.936
17 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 68 1:22’22.430 3 laps /3.505
18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 68 1:22’30.819 3 laps /11.894
George Russell Williams/Mercedes 36 44’25.454 Power Unit
Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1 2’03.661 Collision -
Fabio Quartararo wins at Cathedral of Speed
The Frenchman pulls the pin to reverse the Yamaha 1-2 on Sunday, with Mir slicing through to third
Assen (Netherlands), 27 June, 2021: Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) pitched the tactics to perfection in the Motul TT Assen to come out on top, heading a Yamaha 1-2 ahead of teammate Maverick Viñales as the two Iwata marque machines pulled the pin once again on Sunday. The duo also push the factory past the milestone of 750 podiums, with Yamaha now counting on 751 with two riders on the rostrum at Assen, known as Cathedral of Speed. Reigning Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completed the podium, slicing through from 10th on the grid.
Fabio Quartararo: “I trained with the ball a little bit higher all the days but this one was tough. Was really tough race, I was struggling so much to overtake Pecco. I struggled a little bit all weekend with my right arm, and in the race, I could have gone three or four tenths faster every lap, but I was feeling really bad and, at the half race I was a bit scared, but I kept the pace and I can be happy because with the battle with Maverick on Saturday, he won, but the points arrive on Sunday so I am so happy.”
Quartararo took the holeshot from second, but the Frenchman wasn’t allowed to escape early as fellow front row starter as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) went for a Lap 1 leap at Turn 8. It was close between Quartararo and Pecco, their exits compromised, with that allowing Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) up alongside the pair as Quartararo ran hot into Turn 9. Bagnaia said thank you very much, the Italian through to lead and holding station – for now.
Fabuleux! Fabio was fast as ever on Sunday. Quartararo went for a move at the final chicane to answer back but was wide, and Bagnaia got his GP21 stood up and blasted back past. That happened again on Lap 6, before Lap 7 saw Quartararo grab P1 through Turns 12 and 13. How crucial was that going to prove? Meanwhile, Nakagami was still holding Viñales at bay, with Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing), Mir and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) line astern right behind.
Two 1:32.8s saw Quartararo stretch a 1.2 lead to Bagnaia on Lap 9, hammer down. On Lap 11, that gap was up to 2.5 as Bagnaia had to switch focus to keeping Nakagami behind him. The Japanese rider passed the Ducati rider on Lap 11 through the rapid kinks, but Bagnaia grabbed P2 back down the front straight. Viñales, Zarco, Mir and Oliveira were all waiting in the wings and there was a copy paste of Nakagami vs Bagnaia a couple of laps later. Drama hit then though as the number 63 was handed a long-lap penalty for exceeding track limits.
On Lap 15, there was plenty of action. Bagnaia dived into the long-lap penalty loop, and then teammate Jack Miller crashed unhurt at Turn 5. Nakagami was sat up by Mir at the same corner and it was now Viñales in second place, four seconds behind runaway leader Quartararo. Mir was then up past Zarco at Turn 5 with eight laps to go into third, with Oliveira around half a second away back on the Pramac rider, in fifth.
At the front, the gap came down to 2.5 with two laps to go between Quartararo and Viñales as the latter seemed quicker, but after too much lost ground no one had an answer to El Diablo at Assen. A fourth 25-point haul of the season extends his Championship advantage to 34 points heading into the summer break. Viñales delivered impressive late-race pace on the front soft tyre, but it wasn’t enough to reel in Quartararo. Nevertheless, after finishing last at the Sachsenring, P2 for the Spaniard is a splendid effort as the number 12 returns to the podium for the first time since his Qatar GP win. Mir kept his powder dry ahead of Zarco to secure third, the podium also his third of the season.
Zarco was forced to settle for fourth ahead of Oliveira in fifth, with a real battle deciding sixth just behind. Marc Marquez made a stunning start from 20th on the grid to gain ten places in what seemed like the blink of an eye, and he hustled on to the back of Bagnaia after the Italian’s Long Lap penalty. The eight-time World Champion couldn’t quite find a way past, although he was within 0.075 over the line as Bagnaia held on for sixth. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) took eighth, with Nakagami disappointed with ninth after an early podium challenge and Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) completing the top ten.
11th went to Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) despite a run off for the number 42 following contact early in the race with Johann Zarco, with the Suzuki holding off Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) as the South African got his first taste of Assen on a MotoGP™ bike. Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) took 13th, ahead of Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) – another debuting at the track in the premier class – as was rookie Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama), who completed the points.
Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) crashed out fast at Turn 7 but rider ok, Miller went down at Turn 5. He rejoined but then had to stop with a mechanical problem. Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) also crashed, and Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) was forced back into pitlane with an issue.
Now it’s time for summer break and a reset, with a double-header at the Red Bull Ring up next at the start of August. Quartararo heads in with another win and a sizeable advantage at the top, but can anyone hit back in the second half? Join us for the Styrian Grand Prix from the 6th to the 8th of August.
Top 10:1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)
2. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 2.757
3. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 5.760
4. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 6.130
5. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 8.402
6. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 10.035
7. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 10.110
8. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 10.346
9. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 12.225
10. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 18.565
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Ogier santches Safari win after Neuville heartbreak: WRC
Nairobi (Kenya), 27 June 2021: The French crew of Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia emerged unscathed from a gripping final morning’s action to secure victory in Safari Rally Kenya and increase their leads in the FIA World Rally Championship.
Third overall at the start of the day, the Toyota Yaris WRC driver moved up to second when Thierry Neuville damaged his Hyundai’s rear suspension on the opening stage. Ogier then displaced Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta on the penultimate special and went on to record victory by the margin of 21.8 seconds.
“One out of one (Safari) is not so bad,” said Ogier, who now leads the Drivers’ Championship by 34 points after his fourth win of the season. “We had amazing support from the people. It has been incredible. The people have been cheering for us on the road sections. It is a beautiful country. It is a great win for us. After the trouble on Friday we had a good weekend. Well done also to Taka. It was not easy to catch him.”
The victory was Toyota’s first on the Safari since Japanese driver Yoshio Fujimoto and Swedish co-driver Arne Hertz won the 43rd Safari in 1995 in a Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD. It was the Japanese manufacturer’s ninth in total after winning for the first time in Kenya with the late Björn Waldegård and fellow Swede Hans Thorszelius in 1984.
Safari success marked Ogier’s 53rd WRC win as he continues to close in on fellow Frenchman Sébastien Loeb’s record 79 successes.
Partnered by Daniel Barritt, Katsuta’s second place marked a career best finish and first ever WRC podium for the young Japanese talent. “It’s feeling very good,” said Katsuta. “It has been a very long weekend. Everybody had some problems but we survived.”
The Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team suffered agony and disappointment for the third consecutive rally. After Ott Tänak’s woes in Portugal and Sardinia, it was Thierry Neuville’s turn to suffer the same cruel twist of fate in Kenya.
The Belgian had dominated the Safari for two days and looked set to cruise to the finish and take the win until a rear-right damper exploded on the first stage of the morning and he was not able to continue. It was a bitter blow to the Belgian’s title challenge and a major setback for the team in the battle with Toyota for the Manufacturers’ title. They now trail their rivals by 59 points.
“Basically we came to a very slow left-right corner and something broke on the car,” said Neuville. “We saw that the damper exploded and we had to retire there. It is a big disappointment, not only for me but for the whole team. It’s a tough time after three rallies in a row retiring from the lead.”
Ott Tänak’s third place was scant consolation for the effort that the team had put in over the weekend. But the Estonian claimed five maximum bonus points for winning the Power Stage and closed to within eight points of third-placed Neuville in the title race.
The Safari was a success for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team in the absence of senior management because of the UK’s Covid quarantine rules for arrivals from Kenya.
Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith were closely matched throughout the event, but a career-first fastest stage time and a pacey morning enabled Fourmaux to overhaul his English team-mate to secure a personal best fourth position. The ever-improving Greensmith finished fifth.
Kalle Rovanperä won two stages and led the rally outright after the fifth one, but the Finn suffered his very own disappointment on Friday afternoon and spent the rest of the weekend avoiding trouble to give himself a chance to gain Power Stage points. He finished sixth overall and second in the Power Stage with his Toyota.
Throughout WRC history, rallies with a high rate of attrition – like the Safari and the Ivory Coast – enabled amateur drivers to score WRC points for impressive performances.
This year’s returning African classic was no exception and Kenyan driver Onkar Rai finished a superb seventh overall. The Volkswagen Polo GTi driver won the WRC3 category and devoted the victory to his brother Tejveer, who crashed heavily and sustained a spinal injury on Friday.
“It’s amazing,” said an overwhelmed Rai at the finish. “I hope he’s watching (brother). It was a really hard drive and I am so happy that Kenya has got it back (WRC).”
Fellow countryman Karen Patel and five-time Safari winner Carl Tundo were Rai’s closest challengers and crossed the finish line in eighth and ninth places.
After losing any chance of taking a win on Friday, title contender Elfyn Evans fought back from the lower reaches of the top 20 to finish in 10th place and collect a solitary WRC point to add to the three he scored on the final Power Stage. He now trails team-mate Ogier by 34 points in the Drivers’ Championship.
Sunday – as it happened
Evans was handed road-sweeping duties on the first pass through the 11.33km of the narrow and twisty Loldia stage and completed in 7min 49.4sec.
Dani Sordo had been 20 minutes late leaving service because of a reported fuel pressure issue and then clocked in 10 minutes early to the stage start and lined up in third place behind Lorenzo Bertelli with 13min 20sec of additional time penalties to his name.
Fourmaux and Greensmith were separated by just 12 seconds at the start of the day and locked in a tussle for fifth place. The Frenchman threw caution to the wind to post a time of 7min 41.2sec and reduced his M-Sport team-mate’s advantage to just six seconds.
Ogier opted for four soft tyres in his quest to hunt down Katsuta and snatch second place and the Japanese saw his 18.1-second cushion whittled down to 4.6 seconds when the seven-time World Champion carded the fastest time of 7min 37.1sec.
Neuville struggled through the stage with right-rear suspension damage and haemorrhaged 59.2 seconds to the Frenchman. But the Belgian somehow managed to hold on to a lead of 11.7 seconds after a stunning development at the start of the final morning.
The first pass through Hell’s Gate was shortened to 5.63km by rally officials after regrading and repair work. Crews were then permitted to recce the repaired section for the subsequent Wolf Power Stage after the stage finish.
Hyundai confirmed that Neuville would not be able to continue after breaking a rear damper. The Belgian’s demise lifted Katsuta into the outright lead, but he was running on a far from ideal tyre option and was coming under severe pressure from Ogier.
Evans was closing in on 10th overall and he carded the fastest time of 3min 14.3sec to move within seven seconds of Lorenzo Bertelli.
Fourmaux pinched another tenth of a second from Greensmith, who summed up his thoughts: “It’s hard to put into words this rally. One minute it’s fine and then it’s going end-over-end – metaphorically!”
Ogier continued to reel in Katsuta and his team-mate’s lead was reduced to 0.8 seconds heading to a single pass through the abrasive Malewa (9.71km) stage. But Katsuta led a WRC rally for the first time with three stages to go.
Malewa may have been a short stage but it was rough and demanding. Evans managed to pass Bertelli and claim 10th place and a potential WRC point with a time of 7min 21.9sec.
An inspired Fourmaux delivered a scintillating time of 7min 01.1sec to go 15.8 seconds quicker than Sordo and his efforts were rewarded when he displaced Greensmith to take fifth place by 2.3 seconds. He also confirmed a first personal stage win in the WRC.
Ogier erred on the side of caution to preserve his soft compound tyres and moved into a tie for the outright lead after beating Katsuta by 0.8 seconds. The pair headed to the re-run of Loldia tied to the fraction of a second to set up a grandstand finale in Kenya.
Evans beat his opening run by two seconds to consolidate 10th place and Fourmaux continued to push hard and extended his advantage over Greensmith to 4.7 seconds in the fight for fourth overall. The Frenchman was 8.5 seconds faster than Evans and second quickest on the stage.
Ogier was quickest and managed to snatch the outright lead for the first time since the super special on Thursday afternoon. He headed to the final special with an 8.3-second cushion over Katsuta, with Tänak a distant third.
Attention turned to the Wolf Power Stage and the second run through the regraded Hell’s Gate (10.56km) with crucial bonus points at stake for the fastest five drivers.
After the Kenyan trio of Rai, Patel and Tundo had confirmed the top three places in WRC3, Sordo laid down the Power Stage gauntlet with a run of 6min 17.517sec but a flying Evans was 9.135 seconds faster than the Spaniard.
Rovanperä pushed hard and managed to sneak inside Evans’s target by 1.183 seconds with a new fastest time of 6min 07.199sec. Fourmaux and Greensmith were unable to match the Finn’s time but confirmed two solid finishes for the M-Sport team.
Tänak was desperate for Power Stage points and the Estonian managed to beat the benchmark by 0.734 seconds to snatch the fastest time with Ogier and Katsuta still to run. The Japanese confirmed a career-best WRC finish but was not able to match the target time.
That left the stage free for Ogier but the Frenchman was more concerned with securing a first Safari win and he finished the Power Stage in fourth place to seal outright victory by the margin of 21.8 seconds.
2021 Safari Rally Kenya – positions after SS18 (@14.35hrs):
1. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julien Ingrassia (FRA) Toyota Yaris WRC 3hr 18min 11.3sec
2. Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)/Daniel Barritt (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 3hr 18min 33.1sec
3. Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC 3hr 19min 20.8sec
4. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA)/Renaud Jamoul (BEL) Ford Fiesta WRC 3hr 19min 56.0sec
5. Gus Greensmith (GBR)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Ford Fiesta WRC 3hr 20min 05.9sec
6. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) Toyota Yaris WRC 3hr 29min 04.7sec
7. Onkar Rai (KEN)/Drew Sturrock (GBR) Volkswagen Polo GTi (WRC3) 3hr 47min 37.7sec
8. Karen Patel (KEN)/Tauseef Khan (KEN) Ford Fiesta (WRC3) 3hr 51min 41.7sec
9. Carl Tundo (KEN)/Timothy Jessop (KEN) Volkswagen Polo GTi (WRC3) 3hr 54min 52.0sec
10. Elfyn Evans (GBR)/Scott Martin (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 4hr 07min 34.0sec
11. Lorenzo Bertelli (ITA)/Simone Scattolin (ITA) Ford Fiesta WRC 4hr 08min 28.8sec
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Max Verstappen takes pole for home GP; Hamilton to start P2
Spielberg (Austria), 26 June 2021: Max Verstappen took his third pole position of the season and his first at the Red Bull Ring, grabbing top spot on the grid for tomorrow’s Styrian Grand Prix by tenths of a second from Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.
And with Bottas set to take a three-place grid drop for a spin in the pit lane on Friday the front row will once again feature the top two in the battle in the battle for the Formula 1 Driver’s title with Hamilton set to line up on the front row alongside standings leader Verstappen.
In Q1 Verstappen was quickly out of the blocks and the Dutchman jumped to top spot with his first flying lap of 1:04.489. Bottas slotted into second place just half a tenth behind, while McLaren’s Lando Norris was third ahead of Hamilton.
After a cool down lap, Verastappen made a second attempt but he failed to find an improvement. By contrast the Dutchman’s team-mate Sergio Pérez set an opening time of 1:05.359 but then only managed to improve by two tenths on his second attempt, so while the top four remained in the garage for the final runs, Pérez was sent out again on a fresh set of soft tyres.
As the final lap times came in, the Mexican slid to 15th, one place above the elimination zone. However, his final effort was a good one and his 1:04.608 vaulted him to fifth and safety just behind AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and ahead of Hamilton.
There was no escape for Esteban Ocon, however. The Frenchman’s final flying lap jumped him to P11 but as other times came in he dropped down the order and he was a surprise elimination in P17. Also ruled out after the first segment were Williams’ Nicholas Latifi in P16 with Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen in P18 followed by the Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.
Verstappen was again to the fore in the second segment, using medium tyres to work his way to 1:04.433 across a single run featuring two flying laps. That put him in P1 ahead of Pérez.
AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly then put in a good lap on softs to dislodge Max from top spot as Norris bumped Pérez to fourth place, which became fifth as Bottas vaulted from ninth place to P3 behind Versatppen.
Everyone bar Gasly opted to make a final run and Pérez found a good improvement to take top spot with a lap of 1:04.197 ahead of Norris and Gasly. Verstappen progressed in fourth after backing out of his final lap, with Bottas in fifth ahead of Hamilton.
Eliminated after the second segment were Williams’ George Russel in P11 ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.
Hamilton was first across the line in Q3 as he ran to a plan for three final-session flying laps and he established an early target of 1:04.205.
Verstappen powered past that with opening lap, however, setting a time of 1:04.841. Hamilton then made a second attempt and found time but he only managed to reach 1:04.067 and when Hamilton failed to improve on his final run and Bottas could only find enough time to nudge his team-mate out to third place, Verstappen’s third pole of the season was sealed.
Pérez put in a good final flying lap to improve to 1:04.168. But Norris also found time in the final moments of the session and he managed to beat the Mexican to fourth place by 0.048s. However, with Bottas dropping to fifth Pérez is set to start from the rear of row two.
Behind the top five Pierry Gasly took an excellent sixth place for AlphaTauri ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, AlphaTauri team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. Tsunoda was later handed a three-place grid penalty for blocking Bottas during Q3 and will start 11th.
2021 FIA Formula 1 Styrian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:03.841
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:04.067 0.226
3 Lando Norris McLaren 1:04.120 0.279
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:04.168 0.327
5 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:04.035 0.194
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri 1:04.236 0.395
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:04.472 0.631
8 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:04.514 0.673
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine 1:04.574 0.733
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:04.708 0.867
11 George Russell Williams 1:04.671 0.830
12 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:04.800 0.959
13 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren 1:04.808 0.967
14 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin 1:04.875 1.034
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1:04.913 1.072
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams 1:05.175 1.334
17 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:05.217 1.376
18 Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo 1:05.429 1.588
19 Mick Schumacher Haas 1:06.041 2.200
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas 1:06.192 2.351 -
Yamaha’s Saturday showdown: Viñales beats Quartararo to pole
The two factory YZR-M1 riders went head-to-head as we witness the fastest-ever two-wheel Assen lap set by the Spaniard
Assen (The Netherlands), 26 June, 2021: For the first time since the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) will start from pole position after setting a new all-time TT Circuit Assen lap record in Q2, a 1:31.814. The Spaniard and teammate Fabio Quartararo went head-to-head in an exhilarating qualifying, with the World Championship leader settling for P2 ahead of Q1 graduate Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). Two Yamahas lead a Ducati on the front row as eight-time World Champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) is forced to start from P20 at the Motul TT Assen.
Maverick Viñales: “I think actually, we worked since FP1. I can be competitive, I can be fast, the biggest problem is when I don’t have grip I don’t have the ability to make a good set-up. Right now, I think overall, it was good. I’m very happy, the bike is working fantastic for sure, you know, coming with good races. I think today I could have been a little bit faster, because still you need to recover the feeling, but it is fantastic. I’m very happy about the work we did this weekend. Most of the practices I was first, I think tomorrow we have a good opportunity to fight for the podium and see where we are.”
A big result for Ducati in Q1, late disappointment for Tech3
It was a huge opening qualifying session for two title contenders at Assen: Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) and Bagnaia. Ducati have been struggling a bit this weekend, but Pecco was able to slot in a very quick early banker to sit top of Q1 for almost the entire session. Zarco, meanwhile, encountered an issue with his GP21 and didn’t head out on track until there was time for just two flying laps.
“The Frenchman, second in the title race, was a long way off getting into the top two on his first lap, and then ran wide at Turn 1. Was that his qualifying effort done? It seemed that way, however, Zarco was able to sneak one more lap in – and what a lap it was. The Pramac Racing star landed a time good enough for P1, seeing Bagnaia demoted to P2 and Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) into P3, late heartbreak for the Spaniard who misses out on a first Q2 appearance of the season by less than a tenth.
The pole position scrap
Free Practice 1, 2, and 3 pacesetter Viñales set the initial time to beat, a 1:32.413, but it was beaten on Quartararo’s first flying lap by 0.077s. However, Quartararo’s next flying lap was nothing short of stunning. Through Sector 3, El Diablo was over three tenths faster than his own time and was on course to set the first-ever sub-1:32 lap time at the Cathedral of Speed. Sure enough, Quartararo crossed the line to lay down Assen’s fastest-ever two-wheel lap – a bonkers 1:31.922.
At the end of the first runs, Quartararo was 0.491s clear of second place Viñales, with three tenths separating third place Zarco and ninth fastest Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar). It would take an almighty effort to beat Quartararo’s time, but that’s exactly what Viñales was doing. His first lap went astray after a moment at Turn 9, but his sixth lap of the session saw Viñales set a blockbuster 1:31.814 to beat his teammate by 0.071s, a scorcher from Top Gun.
Bagnaia shot up to P3 with a great lap, Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) then went P3 before Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) decided it was his turn to sit on the provisional front row, as all eyes turned to Quartararo. Up by nearly two tenths in Sector 1, Quartararo was 0.135s under at the end of Sector 2. However, a small mistake at Turn 10 cost the number 20 time and crossing the line, Quartararo couldn’t improve, meaning Viñales took pole for the first time in 2021. A sensational battle between the factory Yamaha teammates.
How the front four rows take shape
On his final flying lap, Bagnaia picked up a magnificent front row start having come through Q1. Nakagami leads Row 2 in P4 after his best qualifying of the season, excellent from the Japanese rider, who is joined on the second row by Zarco and Oliveira. Rins suffered a late crash at Turn 8 but is unhurt and will start from P8 as the leading Suzuki, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) are on the third row in 8th and 9th respectively – just over three tenths cover Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro.
Reigning World Champion Joan Mir’s (Team Suzuki Ecstar) qualifying struggles continue as the Spaniard starts P10, but the number 36 has very good race pace. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) is the second fastest Honda rider in P11, the Spaniard sits 0.089s ahead of 12th place Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT).
An intriguing Sunday awaits
After a crash in Q1, Marc Marquez will start from his worst premier class qualifying position in P20, as the Sachsenring winner and fourth place finisher Brad Binder (Red Bull Factory Racing) endure a tough afternoon at Assen – P21 for the South African.
Can anyone take the fight to the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP riders on Sunday afternoon? Find out at 14:00 local time (GMT+2).Q2 results:1. Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – 1:31.8142. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) + 0.0713. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.3024. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 0.5005. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.5806. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.6367. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.7838. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.7959. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 0.85210. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.93411. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 1.01612. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 1.105
Action from MotoGP Motul TT Assen Main Race will be LIVE on EUROSPORT and EUROSPORT HD from 14:15 Hrs (02:15 pm IST) onwards on Sunday, 27th June 2021. The same will be live streamed on discovery + app.
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Neuville-Wydaeghe survive storm to stay ahead on Saturday
Nairobi (KENYA), 26 June 2021: The Belgian crew of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe survived heavy rain on the last stage to extend their overall advantage to 57.4 seconds at Safari Rally Kenya on Saturday.
The Hyundai driver had managed to keep Toyota rival Takamoto Katsuta at bay over the leg’s other five stages on what had developed into a processional day for the leading crews. But the leading group were badly affected by the onset of a sudden downpour and Neuville was fortunate to escape relatively unscathed to take a good lead into the night halt.
Katsuta dropped over half a minute to seven-time World Rally Champion and team-mate Sébastien Ogier on the last special, but the Japanese retained second position by just 18.1 seconds. “It was very scary,” said Katsuta. “I never feel that kind of feeling. In the beginning it was okay and then the storm came and I could not see anything.”
Ogier won three stages and managed to pass Estonia’s Ott Tänak and snatch third place when the Hyundai driver was forced to stop in the last special and clear a misting windscreen. The delay proved costly for the 2019 World Champion and he trails Ogier by 65.7 seconds heading into the final day.
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team colleagues Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux were locked in their own little tussle for much of the day. The Briton maintained his advantage to consolidate fifth place, with his French team-mate heading to the night halt 12 seconds behind in sixth.
Seventh-placed Kalle Rovanperä was too far behind the Fords to attack and comfortably ahead of the WRC3 runners. The Finn achieved his goal of finishing the day’s stages as he prepares for a push for bonus points on Sunday’s Power Stage.
Toyota’s Elfyn Evans and Hyundai’s Dani Sordo continued to climb back towards the top 10 after their retirements on Friday. Sordo benefited from missing the final stage storm to claim the fastest time.
Local driver Onkar Rai led WRC3 in a fine eighth with his Volkswagen Polo GTi. Fellow Kenyan Karen Patel and five-time Safari winner Carl Tundo rounded off the top 10.
Poland’s Daniel Chwist stopped a short distance into the ninth stage and lost his place amongst the leading WRC3 group.
Saturday – as it happened
Young Oliver Solberg and WRC2 runner Martin Prokop were unable to restart after accident damage sidelined their cars on Friday.
Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans, Lorenzo Bertelli and Kalle Rovanperä all returned to action and were given road opening duties at the start of day two and the first pass through the 14.67km of the Elementieta stage.
Rovanperä managed to rejoin in seventh overall after his seventh stage issues in the fesh-fesh, but Bertelli (17th), Evans (19th) and Sordo (20th) were realistically too far behind to challenge for serious WRC points other than the final Power Stage.
Bertelli stalled briefly and Evans and Rovanperä set the early target of 9min 18.6sec. Greensmith increased his advantage over Fourmaux to 33.6 seconds with an impressive run of 9min 12.0sec but Neuville recorded the fastest time of 9min 01.4sec and extended his overall advantage over Katsuta to 26.3 seconds.
The Soysambu (20.33km) stage incorporated a pair of tricky water crossings and followed a very short road section. A lack of rain in the area nullified the risks associated with the water hazards, however, and a hard-charging Fourmaux clocked the early target time of 14min 16.1sec on only his third WRC event in a World Rally Car.
The Frenchman managed to claw 10.3 seconds back from team-mate Greensmith, as Ogier carded the quickest time of 14min 11.9sec and closed to within 43.5 seconds of Tänak in the battle for third place.
Katsuta was forced to slow for zebra on the track, as Neuville was third quickest and extended his overall advantage over the Japanese to 28.9 seconds. Onkar Rai continued to lead the way in WRC3 in eighth overall, but Polish rival Daniel Chwist stopped after 3.4km.
The Sleeping Warrior (31.04km) stage completed the morning loop before the return to service at Navaisha. Sordo pushed harder on the faster opening kilometres and eased off over the rock-strewn final tracks to post an impressive target time of 17min 44.0sec.
Most of his rivals erred on the side of caution on the deteriorating surface and Ogier was the first to beat the Spaniard’s opening run. The Frenchman was quickest with a time of 17min 26.6sec and shaved another 5.9 seconds off Tänak in the battle for third.
Fourmaux’s roof vent came off and let in vast quantities of dust. The issue cost the Frenchman valuable seconds and he ceded another 16.1 seconds to Greensmith in the battle for fifth. Katsuta beat Neuville by 0.8 seconds and reduced the deficit to 28.1 seconds.
Elementeita had been the easiest stage in the morning loop, but no-one was taking anything for granted on the second pass over the twisty gravel trails by the lake.
The four cars that failed to finish on Friday safely negotiated the special without issues and Fourmaux then set the target of 8min 59.5sec. He trimmed another 1.8 seconds off Greensmith’s hold on fifth place.
Ogier still had his sights set on a podium finish and a stunning run of 8min 47.5sec enabled the Frenchman to set the fastest time and nibble another 2.1 seconds out of Tänak to trail the Estonian by 35.5.
Katsuta was safe in second place but dropped time to Tänak and another 4.4 to leader Neuville, who was forced to brake on a long straight to avoid a dazzle of zebra.
One mistake from any of the top four drivers would prove costly on the second pass through Soysambu. Stage openers, Sordo and Evans, were locked in their own little tussle as they climbed back towards the top 10 and were closely matched in 15th and 14th overall at the start of the stage. Evans beat the Spaniard by 15.3 seconds to move clear in his quest for a points-scoring finish.
A flying Fourmaux clipped a low banking and survived a two-wheel moment before a water crossing to post the target time of 14min 01.9sec for his five closest rivals.
Greensmith beat his team-mate by 4.1 seconds and Tänak stemmed the flow of time to beat Ogier by a mere second and claim his first stage win of the weekend.
The Estonian’s pace was such that he reduced Katsuta’s hold on second overall to 14.5 seconds heading to the last test of the day. Neuville was fourth quickest and headed to SS13 with a 35-second advantage.
With dark storm cloud gathering ominously overhead, would the re-run of the Sleeping Warrior stage be the sting in the tail after a relatively processional day at the Safari?
Sordo was 19 seconds quicker on his second pass in dry conditions and that pace gave the Spaniard the fastest time after a heavy shower caused chaos amongst the other front-runners.
Greensmith had to stop and clear his screen after spinning the Fiesta on the saturated surface (known locally as ‘black cotton’) but he maintained a 12-second advantage over Fourmaux.
Ogier survived what he described as like ‘driving on ice’, but Tänak suffered more than anyone and was forced to stop and clear a misting windscreen. A time loss of two minutes pushed the Estonian down to fourth place – 1min 05.7sec behind Ogier.
Neuville and Katsuta were also caught out in the changing weather conditions but were able to stay in first and second places with the Belgian extending his lead to 57.4 seconds after a hard charge in treacherous conditions.
Sunday
Crews tackle five special stages on the final morning, starting with the first of two passes through the 11.33km of the Loldia special – located close to the tracks used on Wednesday’s shakedown.
A first run in the high-speed Hell’s Gate (10.56km) follows and starts close to a geo-thermal plant. Kenya is second in the world for producing geo-thermal energy after Iceland.
A single pass through the abrasive Malewa (9.71km) special precedes a repeat of Loldia and the televised Hell’s Gate Wolf Power Stage finale.
2021 Safari Rally Kenya – positions after SS13 (@17.30hrs):
1. Thierry Neuville (BEL)/Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL) Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC 2hr 45min 04.6sec
2. Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)/Daniel Barritt (GBR) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 46min 02.0sec
3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA)/Julien Ingrassia (FRA) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 46min 20.1sec
4. Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC 2hr 47min 25.8sec
5. Gus Greensmith (GBR)/Chris Patterson (GBR) Ford Fiesta WRC 2hr 47min 44.0sec
6. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA)/Renaud Jamoul (BEL) Ford Fiesta WRC 2hr 47min 56.0sec
7. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) Toyota Yaris WRC 2hr 56min 08.9sec
8. Onkar Rai (KEN)/Drew Sturrock (GBR) Volkswagen Polo GTi (WRC3) 3hr 11min 03.7sec
9. Karen Patel (KEN)/Tauseef Khan (KEN) Ford Fiesta (WRC3) 3hr 16min 36.4sec
10. Carl Tundo (KEN)/Timothy Jessop (KEN) Volkswagen Polo GTi (WRC3) 3hr 18min 30.6sec
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Arjun Maini becomes first Indian to race in DTM GT3
Monza, 20 June 2021: Mercedes-AMG driver Arjun Maini had a baptism of fire during the first round of the DTM championship held at the Monza race track in Italy this weekend. Maini became the first Indian to race in the DTM championship.
Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM) and J.K.Tyre Motorsport backed racing driver Arjun Maini had a difficult start to his DTM campaign as the rookie faced a stern challenge against the championship’s more experienced campaigners.
The Indian had to deal with the added burden of having to adjust his driving style to suit the requirements of a GT3 racecar with very limited testing, after spending the last few seasons in Endurance Racing competing in the LMP2 class. Further Maini only had two practice sessions of 45 minutes each to acclimatize to both the circuit and racecar.
Racing for the GetSpeed team, Maini made steady progress over the course of the weekend with the Indian feeling more comfortable in his Mercedes AMG GT3 car as the sessions progressed.
The highpoint of Maini’s weekend came in Race 2 when he was locked in a battle with Mercedes stablemate Vincent Abril (who finished second in Race 1) before a mechanical failure ended his weekend prematurely.
“Today [Sunday] we were fighting for points before we had to retire with an ABS issue,” Maini explained.
“We had a Good start and we were Three Cars Side by side between Turn 1 and 2 . I held on to my Position but a small contact at that point caused the final failure later on in the race.”
“We had good pace in the second race and there was definitely significant progress made over the course of the weekend.”
“Becoming the first Indian to race in the DTM for me personally was a very special moment. While the final result may not have been what we wanted, I am proud of the progress we made as a team and we will regroup and come back stronger for the next round.”
Considering Maini has essentially missed an entire year’s worth of racing in Europe due to the ongoing pandemic, and the fact that there is a learning curve for even the most experienced of drivers given the shift to GT3 specification, Maini’s weekend could be classified as a success.
The second round of the DTM Championship will take place at the Lausitzring in Germany on 23rd and 24th of July. The Mercedes-AMG driver has previously tested on this circuit meaning he should be in contention to score his first points in the series.
