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Author: INDIAinF1 Desk
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China GP: With chasing pack closing in on the front-runners, frenetic action on the cards!
Circuit Map – Courtesy China Grand Prix By Harish Samtani
Shanghai, April 13: The land of mystique spoke with me on arrival at the airport in Shanghai. The customs department was scrutinizing incoming passengers and
I had to restrain myself from asking the stern looking officer as to what on earth was he looking for! Everything that I had with me, including my luggage and my undies, were made in China! Maybe, they had a bizarre reverse smuggling regulation in force!All that flippancy transformed quickly to respect once I reached the F1 circuit. China had exceeded itself in building a state-of-the-art circuit that has the approval of all the teams. From the perfect surface of the track itself to the facilities on offer were bang on.
Add to this a picturesque location – the team paddocks are located idyllically on the banks of a meandering river and the Media Centre that has the best view ever of the circuit’s many corners and looking out on to the start/finish line. Top class. Period!
One tends to overlook the shortcoming of lack of the English language and the overwhelming presence of the Special Forces on duty. There was a sign posted on the glass window stating that it was dangerous to take pictures from there and strictly not permitted! In short, you shoot pictures and we shoot you. Fair.
The 5.45 Km circuit allows for a maximum straight line speed of about 320 KPH and seems to be favored by most drivers. Tyre wear isn’t all that much and hence one can expect – I am guessing – that most teams will opt for the ultra super soft option of tyre and then stop just once for a change after about 15 laps. Looks like, it’s going to be fast and furious all the way to the checkered flag.
The other rhyming word is curious, as to the tremendous build up of tension in the midfield. The time difference is tantalizingly close from 6th downward to the 14th position. With fractions of a second separating them, finally boredom may have to take a back seat, thankfully. That is, if the cars get thru’ the first two laps without taking each other out, like they stupidly did in Bahrain.
Photo: McLaren F1 team Alonso’s team McLaren had brought grief upon themselves in Bahrain by opting to focus more on cornering speed via better downforce and which as a downside affected their straight line speed by about 7 Kph. Their Bahrain Sheikh sponsor didn’t quite enjoy that event from his royal box obviously! So, one can hopefully see this legend back and thrilling his legion of faithful followers.
Now, if one was to throw in Max Verstappen (good news that he and a forgiving and forgetting (?) Hammy have kissed and made up) and Ricciardo into the mix, it’s going to be frenetic action surely. This will hold good through the entire season, of this I am sure. Practice timings only flatter to deceive and hence I won’t dwell on that for now for the Chinese chapter.
Photo: Redbull Racing The leaderboard will have its independent numbers and stories since the big boys such as Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull are in a different league and only major mishaps can derail their charge to the top. But they are a bit confused and worried about the emergence of team Haas and Toro Rosso as challengers.
Gasly (Toro Rosso, 4th in Bahrain) and Magnussen (Haas, 5th in Bahrain) have been quite proficient behind their respective wheels. Vicious rumors are doing the rounds about probable reasons for their superlative performance, but I think that’s rather unfair and uncalled for. Time will tell and time can be a bitch when push comes to shove.
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McLaren boys put in the extra miles during FP sessions and hoping for good results
Photos: McLaren F1 team Shanghai, April 13: Expressing satisfaction over his team McLaren’s preparedness for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, who finished 12th and 10th respectively in the two Free Practice sessions, here today, felt that they needed to “improvise” over the next two days during the qualifying and race.
Alonso’s team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne, despite a wobble during the practice session, said he was confident that everything will come together over the next two days. According to a McLaren press release, about 15 minutes before the end of the session, Vandoorne was released from the box with a loose rear right wheel, the cause of which the team is still investigating.
The release said the morning session was a productive one for the team, where the run plan focussed primarily on set-up, correlation and tyre work. Minus a short trip across the gravel for Stoffel Vandoorne, the session ran smoothly and the team completed its planned run programme.
In the afternoon, the team focussed on the normal set-up correlation and longer runs in preparation for the weekend ahead. Again, both sessions were productive despite the impending threat of rain out on track.
The rain finally began to fall five minutes before the chequered flag, at which point the team opted to put Fernando on Intermediate tyres to gather data on the conditions in the event of similar conditions on Saturday or Sunday, the release added.
Fernando Alonso Alonso said: “The first session today was primarily spent testing some new parts we have on the car, while in the second session we focussed on the tyres. Since the degradation here is quite high, especially on the front tyres, it was important for Stoffel and me to test both compounds.
“We also managed to check the car in wet conditions, on Inter tyres, even though it was only for a few minutes at the end of the session. It’s always good to have an idea of engine mapping and everything else, which is different in the wet.
“We’re expecting good weather for the race – dry, sunny and wind blowing in a different direction – therefore not very similar conditions to today, so on Sunday we’ll need to improvise.
“We completed all the items on our programme and now we need to go through all the data and find performance for tomorrow.”
Vandoorne, who was 18th and 14th quickest in the two practice sessions, said: “It’s not been the smoothest Friday for us. We had a few problems in FP1, and FP2 wasn’t perfect either with the issue with the pit-stop, but I did feel a lot more confident in the car this afternoon.
Stoffel Vandoorne “In general, we’ve learned a lot again and FP2 was a much better session. The most positive thing from today, as we’ve learned over the last couple of weekends, is that our race pace looks promising and there’s a lot of effort going into our race preparation. Our qualifying performance we still need to work on a bit and understand a few things, but generally I feel okay.
“There’s plenty to play with here – the weather might look a bit tricky tomorrow and we’ll have a few different possibilities in terms of allocating tyres, but I think we have everything we need. There is quite a big difference between the Prime and the Option tyres as they behave quite differently so it will make things pretty interesting.
“We’re prepared and we know what we want for the race, so we should be in a strong position. It was also quite windy today and I think everyone was affected by it, but generally we had no major issues.”
Regarding his incident, Vandoorne said: “After the pit-stop I left the box and I didn’t feel that there was anything wrong straight away. It was only as I turned left into Turn Three that I felt something happen, and when I looked in the mirror I could see that the right rear wheel was wobbly, so I immediately parked the car as a safety precaution. At the moment, we’re still investigating, so it’s a bit too early to say what caused it.
“Pit-stops are part of Formula 1 and I think they always will be in some way. Of course, we don’t like to see incidents like we saw in Bahrain – we’ve seen a couple of cars having to park up and it’s definitely not what we want – but it happens every now and then.”
Eric Boullier, Racing Director, said: “Today was a useful day for us in terms of setting up the car for the weekend ahead. We managed to complete a solid amount of work and test a lot of different components, compounds and configurations, and now we’ll focus on analysing the data ahead of tomorrow.
“The threat of rain over the weekend puts a question mark over set-up for all the teams in the pit-lane, but we’re working hard to prepare ourselves for any eventuality using the data we have and read the situation as best we can. We managed to get one run in on the Inters at the end of the session so at least we have some information and feeling for the car’s behaviour in these kinds of conditions here in Shanghai.
“We don’t know yet what caused the issue in Stoffel’s practice pit-stop. It appears the right rear wheel didn’t attach properly, but we’re still investigating.”
Source: McLaren F1 team Press Release
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Need better qualifying results, says Fernando Alonso; McLaren hoping to sustain momentum
Photos: McLaren F1 team Shanghai, April 11: While happy to have finished in top-10 in both the rounds of the 2018 Formula 1 season so far, Spaniard Fernando Alonso, a former double World champion, asserted that his team, McLaren, needed to perform better during Saturday’s qualifying sessions.
Fernando Alonso Looking ahead to the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai this weekend, Alonso, who finished fifth and seventh in Australia and Bahrain as against ninth and eighth of his McLaren team-mate Soffel Vandoorne, the Spanish ace expressed happiness at the consistency of his team, but felt that it was important they improve their qualifying performances.
“After a couple of positive results, I’m excited to go to China. Turn One in Shanghai is one of the best corners of the calendar and it’s a great track to race on for a driver.
For us, consistency has to be the key. We’ve been able to pull everything together on a Sunday so far – a combination of both hard work and good fortune – but we haven’t given ourselves the best chances on Saturday, so it’s important we pull the whole package together.
“It won’t happen overnight, but we know where our issues lie and we know that we need to work hard to overcome them as soon as possible. In the meantime, we’ll be pushing hard in China, as always, and continue our fight to the front of the midfield pack,” said 36-year old Alonso.
Stoffel Vandoorne Vandoorne, the 26-year old Belgian, said: “Last year was my first experience of the Chinese Grand Prix, and, although the race was short-lived for both of us, I did enjoy racing there.
“As we saw last year, the weather in Shanghai can be unpredictable. If we can continue our good momentum in terms of putting together a good strategy and taking every opportunity where we can, rain could be a fun addition to our race weekend.
“But, we know it’s a tough circuit for our package and we need to maximise every session, every day, to give ourselves the best chance of a good result. We can’t be on the back foot on Sunday and it’s important we do as much learning as we can on Friday to enable us to fight for representative positions on the grid on Saturday afternoon.”
Eric Boullier, Racing Director, said: “We now head to Shanghai after a hard-fought couple of races for McLaren. Our results are solid but haven’t come easily, and we are by no means satisfied with our progress so far.
“We know there’s a lot of work to do and we’re working hard, day and night, to bring more performance to the car each time we hit the track. Our biggest deficit is our qualifying performance and addressing this is our priority.
“The Shanghai International Circuit is a very different challenge again to Melbourne and Bahrain. The long straight, high top speeds and the low and medium-speed corners mean it has a bit of everything, so our objective is to get on top of the circuit’s characteristics from Friday onwards.”
A few essentials according to McLaren team:
Toughest corner: Turn One, a 270-degree right-hander. The cars turn in at 300kmph/186mph and scrub off speed as the drivers increase the steering angle towards a late-apex. The drivers are also braking through here; as the aerodynamic load comes off the car they have to be careful not to lock the unloaded inside front wheel.
Unique difficulty: Balancing straight-line speed with braking stability and cornering grip. The 1.17km/0.727-mile back straight is the longest of the season and to be competitive in the race, a high top-speed is vital. But take off too much downforce and the car will slide in the corners and wear out its tyres.
Biggest challenge: Keeping the tyres in their correct temperature range will be particularly difficult this year. Pirelli is bringing an eclectic range of tyre compounds: the Ultrasoft will act as a qualifying tyre, but there will be no Supersoft rubber and the cars will be forced to jump to a much harder compound at the pit-stops.
Braking: There are eight braking events around the lap, which is relatively high, including one of the most severe braking zones of the season, into Turn 14, where longitudinal forces peak at 7g. But the long straights allow the brakes to cool, and that makes it a relatively easy race in terms of brake wear.
Power: The cars use 1.7kg of fuel per lap, which is average for the season. But such is the increase in full throttle this year, due to the increased aerodynamic downforce produced by the cars every race is marginal on fuel without a Safety Car period.
Aero: The long straights encourage the teams to take off downforce. That makes the two 270-degree corners very tough, because a precise front-end is crucial to a good lap-time.
Source: McLaren F1 team
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Kopecky races SKODA to victory in Corsica to retain WRC 2 championship lead
Jan Kopecky (right) and Pavel Dressler celebrate their WRC 2 win in Corsica. Photo: SKODA AUTO Bastia, April 9: ŠKODA factory team Jan Kopecký and co-driver Pavel Dresler (CZE/CZE) achieved a dominant start-to-finish win in WRC 2 category at Rally France / Tour de Corse on Sunday while their young Norwegian team-mates Ole Christian Veiby and Stig Rune Skjaermœn came in fourth, missing the podium by just 1.8 seconds.
Veiby, who scripted two more fastest stage times, finished behind Italian ŠKODA privateer Fabio Andolfi (co-driver Simone Scattolin) while the French pair of Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boullourd were placed second in a Citroen C3 R5.
The second from three legs of the fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship on Saturday brought mixed emotions for the team members of ŠKODA Motorsport. While Kopecký with four stage wins stretched his WRC 2 lead to nearly one and a half minutes, Veiby moved up to second place after the second run through the longest stage of the day. But in the last test of the day, a malfunctioning gear link shift made the gearbox of his ŠKODA FABIA R5 stuck in first gear. Veiby lost more than two and a half minutes and as a result also second place.
Veiby’s rival, Bonato, was delayed by a false alarm of the GPS safety device in his car which forced him to stop on stage eight. Hours later, the stewards gave him a time compensation and the Frenchman moved back into second in WRC 2 category.
After his ŠKODA FABIA R5 had been successfully revised at the service on Saturday evening, at the restart on Sunday morning Veiby found himself in fourth position, more than 55 seconds behind Andolfi. The first of Sunday’s two stages was the gruelling 55.17 Kms test which reached the highest geographical point of the rally with an altitude of more than 885 metres above sea level. Since 1986, this also was the longest stage of the Tour de Corse. Veiby drove a fantastic stage time, beating Andolfi by impressive 47.7 seconds and closing the gap to a mere 7.9 seconds before the final Power Stage.
Kopecký meanwhile took a cautious approach. “I had a huge gap to the guys behind me. I avoided every stone on the road to just bring the car to the finish in one piece. We are happy, our ŠKODAFABIA R5 was working perfectly.”
On the last stage, the Czech champion even managed to defend eighth position in the overall classification. Veiby set the last fastest time in the WRC 2 category, but in the end missed the podium by just 1.8 seconds.
ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek was delighted. “Our perfect season continues. Now we have a double lead in the WRC 2 category standings of the FIA World Rally Championship. Jan demonstrated that on asphalt he is the man to beat in WRC 2. And OC impressed me not only with his pure speed and fantastic stage times, but he also proved his great morale after his mishap during leg two and was very close to fight back into a podium position.”
Final Result Rally France / Tour de Corse (WRC 2):
- Kopecký / Dresler (CZE/CZE), ŠKODA FABIA R5, 03hrs, 37mins, 27.5secs; 2. Bonato / Boulloud, (FRA/FRA), Citroën C3 R5, +1:51.2 sec; 3. Andolfi / Scattolin (ITA/ITA), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +3:08.5 min; 4. Veiby / Skjaermœn (NOR/NOR), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +3:10.3 min; 5. Pieniazek / Mazur (POL/POL), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +13:05.6 min.
Current championship standings WRC 2 (after four of 13 rounds):
- Kopecký (CZE), ŠKODA, 50 points; 2. Tidemand (SWE), ŠKODA, 43 points; 3. Katsuta (JPN), Ford, 29 points; 4. Veiby (NOR), ŠKODA, 27 points.
SKODA AUTO Press Release
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EXCLUSIVE: Esteban Ocon, growing in stature and going for glory
Esteban Ocon. Photo: Sahara Force India F1 By Harish Samtani
Sakhir (Bahrain), April 8: In an informal chat with the 21-year old Frenchman Esteban Ocon confirmed something that I strongly believe in – It’s better to be the head of a fly than a tail of an elephant! Not that Sahara Force India is a fly by any standards, but compared to the might of the likes of the Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull etc, they probably are. And that’s what brings them admiration in the pit lane.
Ocon the prodigy and the product of the young drivers Mercedes program chose to work with SFI when he was given the options. I guess, this faith in the highly motivated team and Vijay Mallya’s uncanny ability to spot young talent made this partnership an exciting one.
Ocon’s 19 finishes out of 20 events last year speaks volumes of his maturity that certainly belies his age. His replies to my questions were concise and calm, conveying the confidence of a full-blooded F1 driver whose 320Kph speeds on four wheels are like a walk in the park to him.
While trying to probe into the mind of a talented youngster as to his take on the driving style of the 80’s-90’s where no grit-no glory was the style of racing, and where approximately 3600 gear shifts took place in one GP, I was politely and smilingly informed that the paddle shift was as difficult and required even more skill and perfection.
Incidentally, he raced just once in a manual car, an F3, in Macau in 2014. His best effort so far was his winning the highly competitive F3 Championship that he garnered in 2015.
He further stressed that fitness plays a major role in the current F1 racing machine and the G-forces endured due to much higher cornering speeds do take a toll particularly in the region of the neck.
While Mercedes will be his lifetime mentors, he will choose his own path as his racing career unfolds. But he is bound to remember his escalation in the ranks of F1 talents during his stint with SFI.
Lastly, when asked about the current performance of his team, he brushed it off stating that it reminded him about 2017 when they were precariously at 5th-6th before they recovered and finished a splendid 4th!
Esteban Ocon, may your tribe increase!
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Last tango on slicks: Miller takes pole in crazy qualifying in Argentina
The front row boys in Argentina. Photo: motogp.com Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina), April 7: Jack Miller’s (Alma Pramac Racing) huge gamble to switch to slicks on a drying track certainly paid off as he snatched his first ever Premier Class pole position off Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa at the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina on Saturday. Miller also becomes the first ever Ducati Independent Team rider to secure pole position.
Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was 0.212 seconds off the Australian’s time which put him third on the grid and impress once again with the Frenchman now having taken an incredible six front row starts in a row.
After impressing all weekend, Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) will launch from fourth – his best Premier Class qualifying by some margin. Team Suzuki Ecstar rider Alex Rins lines up fifth after a great session, while Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) couldn’t convert his superior Free Practice pace into pole – the reigning World Champion starts sixth.
Initially heading out on his second run to gamble on slicks, the number 93 gave it one lap before coming back in to switch back to wets. “Too much risk,” says a rider thinking of the Championship.
Q1 graduate Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), who was the early pace setter in Q2 after eclipsing the Ducatis, heads up the third row of the grid in seventh. Championship leader Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) starts eighth on the grid after progressing through from Q1, with Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) lining up alongside the Italian in ninth.
After looking strong all weekend, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) will aim to pick off some of the riders in front of him on Sunday when he shoots from tenth. Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) couldn’t give the Termas de Rio Hondo grandstands a dream Saturday as he qualified in P11 – 0.022 back from Crutchlow. Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will start P12.
A breath-taking MotoGP™ qualifying session left the Ducati’s of Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team), who qualified P14, and Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Racing) – who ended the day P18 – with plenty of work to do.
Source: motogp.com
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Kopecký and ŠKODA continue to dominate WRC 2 category in Rally Corsica
Jan Kopecky on a charge in Rally France. Photo: SKODA AUTO Bastia, April 7: ŠKODA factory team Jan Kopecký and co-driver Pavel Dresler (CZE/CZE) continue to dominate the WRC2 category at Rally France / Tour de Corse. Their young Norwegian team-mates Ole Christian Veiby and Stig Rune Skjaermœn after a tense fight were second in the provisional category standings going into the last stage of the Saturday leg. Albeit, when their gearbox got stuck in first gear they dropped to third place behind Italian ŠKODA privateer Fabio Andolfi.
The first special stage on early Saturday morning was a tough wake-up call for the crews. More than 35 Kms had to be driven in the north of Corsica. Veiby was fully awake and scored his first WRC2 fastest time on the fifth stage of the rally while Kopecký consolidated his category lead.
“This was a very good start for us, but the stage was very tricky. Maybe I was at the end too cautious. But going into the corners, you always have to keep an eye for surprising gravel on the road,” commented Kopecký.
Veiby was happy after his first WRC2 stage win on an asphalt event of the FIA World Rally Championship. “I found a really nice rhythm and I just kept pushing,” smiled Veiby at the end of the first morning stage. And his rhythm also led him to the next fastest time in special stage number six, while WRC2 category leader Kopecký fought back with the fastest time on the following one.
After the regrouping in Bastia, the ŠKODA crews had to face the repetition of the morning stages and proved again their speed on the Mediterranean Island. On the second pass of the longest stage of the day, the 35 Kms, Kopecký was quickest in front of Veiby who moved into second position after a tense fight in the WRC2 category.
On the next two stages, Czech champion Kopecký was fastest again, while on the last stage of the day the gearbox of Veiby’s ŠKODA FABIA R5 got stuck in first gear. The time loss cost him the possible second place in the WRC2 category.
ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek emphasized: “Again, a great drive of Jan, who had no issues with his ŠKODA FABIA R5 and drove fast and faultlessly. Sorry for OC, that bad luck put him out of the fight for second place. We will fix his car at the final service. The rally is not over yet. Still a long way to go on Sunday is still a long way to go.”
On the final day of the rally, the longest stage is waiting for the crews. More than 55Kms have to be driven on winding mountain roads before the rally-ending Power Stage, covering around 16Kms, will bring the final decision.
Standings Rally Corsica after Day 2 (WRC2):
1. Kopecký / Dresler (CZE/CZE), ŠKODA FABIA R5, 2hrs, 51mins, 30.6secs; 2. Andolfi / Scattolin (ITA/ITA), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +3:04.3 min; 3. Veiby / Skjaermœn (NOR/NOR), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +3:49.9 min; 4. Bonato / Boulloud (FRA/FRA), Citroën C3 R5, +7:05.9 sec; 5. Pieniazek / Mazur (POL/POL), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +12:08.9 min.
SKODA AUTO Press Release
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Marquez, Crutchlow, Pedrosa: the Honda armada in Argentina!
File photo of Marc Marquez. Photo: Srinivasa Krishnan Termas de Rio Hondo (Argentina), April 7: Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) led the way by some margin on Day 1 and the reigning World champion was chased by both Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) and FP1’s fastest Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) as Honda reigned supreme on Friday in the Argentina MotoGP.
All have been on the podium at the venue, and Marquez is a previous winner, making the form book another positive read. So, after the first two sessions, what do the three men think of their Friday?
“Today was a good day for us, I mean, we started in a good way,” begins Marquez. “We did, I think, a good plan for the practice. We even tried a few setups, we tried a few tyres, more or less I like it, but the tyres are still some gap because both tyres are working quite well. Anyway, we are working in a good way.
“Today it’s a slippery track and when it’s slippery it’s my place. I mean, when it’s slippery I feel so comfortable and maybe the others are struggling more…but tomorrow will improve the grip and even more on Sunday. So, everything will be closer and closer.”
Pedrosa agrees on the slippery and was another who was positive given the weather. “The track is always quite slippery here on the first day which makes the first practice a bit tougher,” says Pedrosa, despite going quickest in FP1.
“The parts that had been resurfaced seem better in terms of the bumps, but the asphalt was too dirty to really understand what the grip was like. This morning, we worked on the tyres, trying to make the best of the dry conditions as the weather forecasts for the weekend aren’t good. We’ll see how the weather is tomorrow, and we’ll keep working for Sunday.”
Crutchlow, meanwhile – and despite taking the top three in both sessions – says there are a few specifics to work on for him, mainly with the wind, which picked up in the afternoon.
“We still have some small issues that we want to look into because the wind was so strong this afternoon,” explains the LCR rider. “It didn’t feel strong when we were here or anything like that, but as soon as we got onto the track it was horrendous and we need to make the bike turn a little bit better in that kind of situation because it could be the same on Sunday, we don’t know. But overall, we are happy enough. I think we could have been faster, but we are happy with today. The main thing was to be in the top 10 in case it rains in the night.”
If the rain comes in for FP3 and Q2, graduation is already set, Honda are in the hot seat.
SETBACK FOR DOVI, LORENZO
After the highs of the Qatar GP, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) had a less memorable Friday Free Practice session. The Championship leader, along with team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, failed to make it into the top-10, meaning both factory Ducatis could have to go through Q1 in qualifying on Saturday if the weather moves in for FP3 and lap times don’t improve.
Dovizioso said: “Today, we found a few negative things and I didn’t have the feeling. In the afternoon there was a lot of wind and it was even harder. But I think we have to be calm, and study every detail, and I think if we put a few things together we can be in front.
“I don’t know which position, but for sure, Marquez is, like always, on a different level on this track, but the point is, a lot of riders are often fast in practice. So if your feeling is not 100%, it’s easy to be at the back.
“I hope to have minimum one practice in the dry tomorrow because we have to try other things and I have to work on the track so let’s see the weather tomorrow.”
With the factory riders finding it tougher going, it was instead Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) who put in a stellar ride to end the day fourth and top Ducati as he gains more and more confidence on his Desmosedici.
The 2014 Moto2™ World Champion was nearly four-tenths ahead of the next Borgo Panigale machine – Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Racing) – who squeezed into the top-10 having been fifth quickest after FP1.
“I feel very good because we make very good day, we work well and I feel very good on the bike with these conditions,” Rabat says. “The important thing today is I enjoy, we go fast and now we have some very important work for tomorrow to make a good qualifying and for Sunday it’s most important make good race. I like this bike, I like this bike and my team a lot.”
ROSSI, VINALES OFF PACE
Meanwhile, Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) and his team-mate Valentino Rossi finished the day in P6 and P7 respectively, and both riders are remaining positive despite being over a second off Marc Marquez’s (Repsol Honda Team) pace.
“My feelings today have been mixed,” said Viñales. “I felt quite confident on the bike this morning, but honestly, I didn‘t feel the same way in the afternoon. I was happy that, in the end, I provisionally qualified for Q2 in FP2, because it was difficult. Tomorrow, if it rains, it would have been tricky to get inside the top ten.”
The two were separated by just 0.067 seconds at the end of the day, with Rossi particularly upbeat about his pace on the harder compound tyre.
“The main target was to stay in the top 10 because the weather is very difficult to predict,” the ‘Doctor’ began. “I’m quite happy with my pace on the hard tyres because I feel confident with the bike. Unfortunately, I put the soft on at the end but I wasn’t able to improve like I expect because with the soft tyre I don’t feel very good.”
Source: MotoGP.com
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Kopecký and ŠKODA Motorsport lead WRC 2 in Rally France; team-mate Veiby third
Kopecky, WRC2 leader after Leg-1 in Rally France. Photo: SKODA AUTO Bastia (Corsica), April 7: ŠKODA factory team of Jan Kopecký and co-driver Pavel Dresler (CZE/CZE) took the lead in the WRC 2 category at Rally France / Tour de Corse after the first Special Stage and defended it up to the finish of Leg One, here on Friday in the fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Their young Norwegian teammates Ole Christian Veiby and Stig Rune Skjaermoen lost some time with two spins, but nevertheless defended third position.
On the opening stage of the Rally France on Friday, the crews had to face nearly 50 Kms with endless corners and virtually no straights between La Porta and Valle de Rostino in the northeast of Corsica. Heavy rainfall on Wednesday before the rally had put all kinds of dirt on the tarmac roads and in some corners water puddles made the road conditions unpredictable.
“The first stage was very good for us, but it was very tricky as well. There was some running water on the road, which was not there when we made our pace notes. As we are not allowed to have gravel crews who check the roads before we are driving, the roads are a bit unpredictable in some corners. So I took a cautious approach,” confessed Kopecký. The ŠKODA factory driver was nevertheless fastest on the opening special stage, which put him into the lead after the morning loop.
While their competitors had technical issues or went off the road, both ŠKODA works teams where happy with their ŠKODA FABIA R5, which were reliable as always. “I had a spin in a hairpin in the first stage. On some places, there was a lot of mud and water, the grip changed all the time. So I decided to be careful,” said young Veiby, who was in third position of the WRC 2 category.
After the service at midday, the afternoon saw the repetition of the two morning stages. Kopecký set another fastest time, increased his lead and after the four Friday stages, was quite happy with his performance: “It was much better this afternoon, the roads were drier and I could push a lot more.” Veiby had another spin, but could nevertheless defend his third position after the first leg on Friday.
ŠKODA Motorsport boss Michal Hrabánek was satisfied with the first day: “This is really a tough test for men and machine on winding asphalt roads. I am happy that our updated ŠKODA FABIA R5 was reliable and fast like our drivers. Jan proved again his pure speed on tarmac and OC is learning with every kilometre here in Corsica,” said Hrabánek.
Saturday will feature the longest leg of the rally. The crews have to face six Special Stages covering more than 136 Kms.
Standings Rally Corsica after Day 1 (WRC 2):
- Kopecký / Dresler (CZE/CZE), ŠKODA FABIA R5, 01hrs, 24mins, 07.0secs; 2. Bonato / Boulloud, (FRA/FRA), Citroën C3 R5, +20.8 sec; 3. Veiby / Skjaermoen (NOR/NOR), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +1:07.9 min; 4. Lefebvre / Moreau, (FRA/FRA), Citroën C3 R5, +1:10.4 min; 5. Loubet / Landais (FRA/FRA), Hyundai i20, +1:17.3 min; 6. Andolfi / Scattolin (ITA/ITA), ŠKODA FABIA R5, +1:25.7 min.
Skoda Auto Press Release
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Armaan Ebrahim’s MSPORT team for F3 Asian Championship certified by FIA
Photo: F3 Asian Championship Bengaluru, April 6: An Indian team, MSPORT, headed by one of country’s finest racing talents, Armaan Ebrahim and partnered by well-known race engineer Patrick Roberts, will be participating in the newly-launched F3 Asian Championship certified by FIA. The five-round, 15-race championship, the brain-child of Shanghai-based company, Top Speed, will be only the second ‘Regional F3’ in the World with the F3 Americas Championship which was launched last year.
Ten teams, including MSPORT, which is the arm of Meco Motorsport, have already registered for the championship which is set to commence in Malaysia during the July 13-15 weekend. In all, 24 cars are expected to be on the start grid.
Armaan, who had participated in Formula 2 and FIA GT series, said: “MSport will have a two-driver line-up which we will announce in due course. It is an exciting venture and we are hopeful of putting up a good show in the new championship.”
With countless victories both at home and across Asia, MSPORT is made up of a strong team of experienced professionals, and, as part of the Meco Group, it also provides a wide range of driver development services.
The team line-up for the Championship also includes China’s Absolute Racing, Black Arts Racing (BAR) and Zen Motorsport; Eurasia from Hong Kong, Super License from Japan and Pinnacle Motorsport from the Philippines.
Italy-based SVC Asia and UK’s Hitech GP are the two European teams to have confirmed for the championship, along with Los Angeles-based Chase Own Racing.
Davide De Gobbi, General Manager, Top Speed, said: “We are thrilled to announce such a strong line-up of 10 professional and experienced teams for the F3 Asian Championship certified by FIA. Never before has an Asia-based single-seater championship been given such a ringing endorsement by some of sport’s most respected teams.”
The provisional calendar:
July 9-10: Official test, Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia; July 13-15: Round 1, Sepang; Aug 31-Sept 2: Round 2, Ningbo International Speedway, China; Sept 21-23: Round 3, Shanghai International Circuit, China; Oct 12-14: Round 4, Ningbo International Speedway, China; Nov 23-25: Round 5, Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia.
I had to restrain myself from asking the stern looking officer as to what on earth was he looking for! Everything that I had with me, including my luggage and my undies, were made in China! Maybe, they had a bizarre reverse smuggling regulation in force!
