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Author: Darshan Chokhani
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MotoGP: Bagnaia secures Dutch GP pole after breaking lap record
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia breaks lap record to secure MotoGP pole in Dutch GP qualifying from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Pramac’s Jorge Martin.
Q1:
It was cloudy but the track was dry in first part of MotoGP qualifying in Dutch GP at Assen, as KTM pair of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder led the way after the first runs with Suzuki’s Joan Mir in third from RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso and Tech 3 KTM’s Remy Gardner.
It was a late start for Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, whose bike stopped at the pit exit. He had to rush back into the pits where the mechanics had to work quickly on the second bike. His run plan had to be changed with a late run for the Italian.
There was a small fall for Mir on his second run but managed to get going. Meanwhile, the second run saw KTM’s Binder go up on his teammate with a 1m32.485s lap to make it into Q2 as Oliveira also went through in second with a 1m32.550s lap.
VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini was third after a late lap to start Dutch GP from 13th as Mir ended up 14th despite a late dash. Gresini pair of Fabio di Giannantonio was 15th from Bastianini with Dovizioso slotting in 17th from Honda’s Stefan Bradl.
Tech 3’s Gardner dropped to 19th with Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli in 20th from LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez as Aprilia’s wildcard rider Lorenzo Savadori was 22nd from Tech 3’s Raul Fernandez and RNF’s Darryn Binder.
Q2:
Rain stayed away in the second part of MotoGP qualifying in Dutch GP as Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin led the way with a 1m31.708s lap where Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo was only 0.010s off, while Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was third.
It was a record lap already from Martin, as Quartararo had a small wide moment onto the gravel but was not harmed. The second run saw an early lap from Bagnaia of a 1m31.504s to secure MotoGP pole in German GP from Quartararo who had a wild moment.
On his way to his final lap, Quartararo almost had a crash but managed to save himself. Martin ended up third despite his fall at Turn 5 which brought out the yellow flag. VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi was fourth from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Ducati’s Jack Miller ended up sixth after his late fall at Turn 6 which irritated Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales. Post session, the Australian went to the Spaniard’s box to apologise, who ended up 11th after both his laps were disrupted by yellow flags.
Pramac’s Johann Zarco was seventh from KTM’s Oliveira with teammate Binder in 10th behind Suzuki’s Alex Rins, while LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami was 12th. He was one of the three Honda riders after Pol Espargaro pulled out due to wrist injury.
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Daruvala speaks positive about his first-ever F1 test with McLaren
Jehan Daruvala was pleased with his first-ever F1 test at Silverstone with McLaren as he is now eligible for superlicense points.
Red Bull junior Daruvala completed his first-ever F1 test at Silverstone circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday with McLaren where he drove the MCL35M – the team’s 2021 car. The Indian driver completed 130 laps across the two days of running.
It was a trouble-free run for the Indian. Physically it was hard but manageable from his end, as Daruvala completed a mix of high-fuel and low-fuel run on different compounds. “I really enjoyed my first time driving a Formula One car,” he said, with the car featuring a plain McLaren livery with the sticker of Mumbai Falcons.
“I felt immediately at home and while it was physically more demanding than anything I have driven in the past, I didn’t have any issues with my fitness. As a result, we were able to work through the run plan well and complete everything we had mapped out. We did a mixture of high-fuel long runs and as well as shorter, low-fuel runs on different tyre compounds.
“That gave me a good understanding of how teams operate on an F1 weekend. Overall, I’m very pleased with how the two days went, how I coped and the mileage we were able complete. I felt I was able to push closer to the limit with every lap and I can’t wait to drive one of these cars again,” summed up Daruvala.
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Canadian GP: Verstappen fends off late pressure from Sainz to win
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took a good win in F1 Canadian GP after late pressure from Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in third.
It was all dry for F1 Canadian GP as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way comfortably at the start from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, as Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen were wheel-to-wheel for few corners.
Hamilton stayed ahead of Magnussen as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Mercedes’ George Russell made up places to be sixth and seventh, with Haas’ Mick Schumacher dropping to eighth from McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu in Top 10.
After few laps behind, Sainz finally got ahead of Alonso for second as Guanyu got past Ricciardo for ninth. There was dismay for Haas when Magnussen was shown the black and orange flag after his front wing’s endplate started moving around.
He dropped to the back of the field as AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was advised to manage a technical issue. Both he and Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel went for an early stop. Amid this, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez slowed to retire due to a potential gearbox issue.
He lost drive as Virtual Safety Car was deployed when Verstappen pitted along with Hamilton. It gave Sainz the lead of F1 Canadian GP from Alonso, with the Dutchman slotting in third from Russell and Hamilton in the Top 5.
Hamilton had to pass Ocon to gain track position as Schumacher in seventh had Zhou to defend, while Ricciardo ran ninth from Williams’ Alexander Albon in the Top 10. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was up to 12th in his recovery drive post the VSC period.
As Sainz continued to lead, Verstappen was second after passing Alonso. At the fag end of the Top 10, Albon was defending hard from Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas and Leclerc but eventually lost to both of them when the VSC was deployed again.
It was for Schumacher who slowed to retired due to a mechanical issue as Sainz pitted along with Russell and Ocon, which put Verstappen into the F1 Canadian GP lead. The Spaniard was back up to second when Alonso did not pit again.
He was third but not for long as Hamilton passed him for third, with Alonso in fourth from Russell and Ocon in the Top 6. Leclerc was up to seventh after a brave move on Bottas, with his teammate Zhou stuck behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll in fight for ninth.
The Canadian was another one to stay out for long. Replays, meanwhile, showed a slow stop from McLaren for Ricciardo when they were double-stacking for Norris. The team were not ready with the tyres for the Brit, which eventually cost him chunk of time and places.
Alpine eventually pitted Alonso for one stop as he dropped behind Leclerc, who was in chase of Ocon without stopping. The Monegasque finally pitted on Lap 43 to drop to 12th as Verstappen pitted one lap later and dropped back to third behind Hamilton.
He didn’t wait long and passed him in the chase of Sainz. The F1 Canadian GP got interesting after AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda crashed into the barrier after coming out of the pit stop which resulted in the deployment of the safety car.
Verstappen took the F1 Canadian GP lead from Sainz, who decided to stop during the safety car period. Hamilton was third from Russell with Ocon in fifth from Alonso, Leclerc, Bottas, Vettel and Zhou in the Top 10 behind the safety car.
The re-start worked well for Verstappen but Sainz hung on his tail for lone as the two left off Hamilton a bit behind and Russell a bit far off from them. Leclerc got himself to fifth after passing both Ocon and Alonso with Bottas joining the fight.
Guanyu and Ricciardo was in the Top 10, but the Australian had a threat from late-stopper Stroll and the Canadian eventually passed him for the last point. At the front, meanwhile, Verstappen managed well to defend the pressure from Sainz in the closing stages.
Verstappen took a good F1 Canadian GP win from Sainz by just around a second as Hamilton registered his second podium of the 2022 season with Russell in fourth from Leclerc. The team orders saw Ocon in fifth from Alonso, who was quite frustrated with it.
Bottas was a close eighth with Guanyu in ninth and Stroll rounding the Top 10. Ricciardo was 11th from Vettel, Albon, Gasly, Norris, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi and Magnussen.
DNF: Tsunoda, Schumacher, Perez.
UPDATE: Alonso was handed a 5s penalty for changing direction for more than once against Bottas between Turns 10 and 12 on the penultimate lap. The Finn had to lift at one point which caused him lose momentum. The penalty drops the Spaniard to ninth whereby Bottas and Zhou end up gaining a place to seventh and eighth.
“The Stewards heard from the driver of car 14 (Fernando Alonso), the driver of car 77 (Valtteri Bottas) and team representatives and examined video evidence and telemetry from car 77. Between turns 10 and 12, on the penultimate lap of the race, car 14 made repeated changes of direction to defend against car 77 who had to lift at one point and briefly lost momentum.
“Whilst noting the driver’s point that at no stage was any point of car 77 alongside car 14, the Stewards consider this to be a clear breach of the above regulation. The Stewards therefore impose a 5 seconds time penalty in line with that imposed for a similar incident in Australia 2022,” stated the stewards.
On the other side, the stewards had no further action for Vettel for safety car infringement. “The Stewards heard from the driver of car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) and the team representative, and examined GPS evidence. After initially closing up to the car in front under the Safety Car procedure, for a period of time car 5 did not maintain the 10-car length rule.
“However, towards the end of the Safety Car period re-closed the gap and then maintained the required position until the race resumption. The Stewards also note that there were other drivers who also failed to keep to the 10-car lengths at different times during the procedure but that all were compliant at the end of the Safety Car period. Therefore the Stewards conclude that a penalty for car 5 is not appropriate in these circumstances,” stated the stewards.
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MotoGP: Quartararo eases to German GP win as Bagnaia crashes
Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo took the MotoGP German GP win from Pramac’s Johann Zarco and Ducati’s Jack Miller.
Fabio Quartararo assumed lead of MotoGP German GP in his Yamaha from pole-sitter Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia on Lap 1, as Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was third from Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco with Gresini Ducati’s Fabio di Giannantonio in fifth.
Ducati’s Jack Miller was sixth with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales up to seventh from VR46 Ducati’s Luca Marini, Pramac’s Jorge Martin and LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami in the Top 10. The fight for lead kicked-off between Quartararo and Bagnaia.
The Italian almost got into lead at Turn 1 but Quartararo held it. The second time when they came around in the first corner, Bagnaia lost control and crashed out which further troubled his world championship chances. Suzuki’s Joan Mir crashed at the same corner.
A lap later LCR’s Nakagami also crashed to make it three riders out from the grand prix. Quartararo, meanwhile, continued to lead with Zarco taking second from Espargaro who had his teammate Vinales on his tail in the fight for the final spot on the podium.
Di Giannantonio was fifth from Martin as Miller was sixth after taking a Long Gap Penalty, while KTM’s Brad Binder and teammate Miguel Oliveira stepped into the Top 10. While Quartararo continued to lead from Zarco, the fight for third was on.
Espargaro had Vinales on his tail for long but a problem for the latter forced him into retirement, as Miller then started to pressure on the Aprilia rider. He climbed back after serving his penalty, with Martin slotting in fifth from Marini and Binder.
Di Giannantonio dropped to eighth from Oliveira, with Gresini’s Enea Bastianini was up to 10th. Up front, Quartararo eased to win German GP to extend his MotoGP points lead as Zarco cruised to a second place ahead of a fighting Miller and Espargaro.
Both had moments at Turn 1 but the one from Espargaro allowed Miller to sneak through to take third. Marini passed Martin to fifth as Binder was seventh from di Giannantonio, Oliveira and Bastianini rounded the Top 10 with Bezzecchi was 11th.
Tech 3 KTM’s Raul Fernandez was 12th from Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli, RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso and Tech 3’s Remy Gardner in the Top 15 points position. Honda’s Stefan Bradl was the only other finisher in 16th.
DNF: Pol Espargaro, Vinales, Nakagami, Alex Marquez, Darryn Binder, Bagnaia, Mir.
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Canadian GP: Verstappen takes pole in damp conditions from Alonso
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took F1 pole in Canadian GP in damp condition from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
Q1:
Post the FP3 session, rain continued to lash down at Montreal to start the F1 Canadian GP qualifying with everyone using the full wet tyres. It was indeed a tricky situation as every lap counted for the drivers in the situation where the track remained damp.
AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (1m36.575s) seemingly took a back seat with the engine penalty he had. Having set a lap earlier, he decided to remain in the pits as he ended up last with a lap. Surprisingly, there was only one yellow flag moment in all of the session.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz went off at Turn 1 but managed to continue as he was put under investigation along with Charles Leclerc and Williams’ Alexander Albon for driving unnecessarily slowly despite the conditions they were in.
The replays also showed a moment between Sainz and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, when the Spaniard rejoined the track after his off. It was a disaster for AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m34.492s) after he failed to make it out of Q1 along with his teammate.
It was same for Aston Martin where Sebastian Vettel (1m34.512s) was 17th from Lance Stroll (1m35.532s), with both the German and the Frenchman frustrated on the radio. Williams’ Nicholas Latifi (1m35.660s) was 19th from Tsunoda.
At the front, it was Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on top with a 1m32.219s lap as Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m32.277s) slotted in second with Ferrari’s Sainz (1m32.781s) in third.
Q2:
Just as the second part in F1 Canadian GP started, the FIA noted that Sainz’s rejoin incident from Q1 resulted in no further action from the stewards. Already ahead of the running, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc decided to not take part in qualifying.
Once the session got going, Williams’ Alexander Albon had a small off to cause a yellow flag, but he managed to rejoin. Moments later, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez had a moment at Turn 1 which resulted in a red flag after he couldn’t reverse out of the situation.
This left both Leclerc and Perez out of the session whereas during the red flag, McLaren’s Lando Norris complained of power unit issues. This kept him in the pits on green flag as drivers had the intermediate tyres in use with dry line appearing at certain spots.
Despite Norris making it out for a lap, he eventually bailed out of it due to the power unit issue which left him 14th behind Perez and ahead of Leclerc. Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas (1m26.788s) was one of the two cars to be knocked out in 11th from Albon (1m26.858s).
At the front, it was Red Bull’s Verstappen (1m23.746s) again on top with Alpine’s Fernando Alonso slotting in second from Mercedes’ George Russell after the times started to tumble towards the end.
Q3:
It was getting dry in the third part of the F1 Canadian GP qualifying but the Top 10 drivers decided to use the intermediate tyres for their first run still. Naturally, Red Bull’s Verstappen led the way provisionally with a 1m22.701s lap.
He headed Ferrari’s Sainz and Alpine’s Alonso before they started their second run. The gamble of the slick tyres was taken by Mercedes’ George Russell with the Brit switching to the soft tyres but his first run ended in an off at Turn 1 after a small moment.
Verstappen went quicker still with a 1m21.299s lap to take pole in F1 Canadian GP as a late push lap from Alonso (1m21.944s) put him in second and on the front row, pushing Sainz (1m22.096s) to third after the Spaniard had a small moment in the final corner.
Hamilton (1m22.891s) was fourth in his best qualifying of 2022, with the Haas pair of Kevin Magnussen (1m22.960s) and Mick Schumacher (1m23.356s) slotting in fifth and sixth in a good show as Ocon (1m23.529s) was seventh from Russell (1m23.557s), whose soft tyre gamble didn’t work as well.
The Top 10 was rounded out by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m23.749s) and Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu (1m24.030s), with the Chinese driver securing his first Q3 result.
UPDATE: The post-session stewards results saw Gasly and Guanyu get a driving reprimand for failing to adhere to the Race Directors’ note at Turn 9. At the same time, the likes of Leclerc, Sainz and Albon were let go for driving unnecessarily slowly.
For Sainz, it stated: “At the start of Qualifying 1 car 55 slowed on the approach to turn 13 to create a gap to start a fast lap. The driver says that he had to slow significantly behind other cars, who were also doing the same, in order to create a safe gap due to the very poor visibility caused by the weather conditions.
“Further, he says that it would have been unsafe to try to overtake the other cars in front as they would not have been expecting such a manoeuvre at this point. The Stewards consider this to have created a potentially dangerous situation but, given that many drivers ended up queueing at this part of the circuit, they determine that too many drivers contributed to the situation and therefore the driver concerned is not fully to blame.”
For Albon, it stated: “At the start of Qualifying 1 car 23 slowed on the approach to turn 13 to create a gap to start a fast lap. The driver says that he had to slow significantly behind other cars, who were also doing the same, in order to create a safe gap due to the very poor visibility caused by the weather conditions.
“Further, he says that it would have been unsafe to try to overtake the other cars in front as they would not have been expecting such a manoeuvre at this point. The Stewards consider this to have created a potentially dangerous situation but, given that many drivers ended up queueing at this part of the circuit, they determine that too many drivers contributed to the situation and therefore the driver concerned is not fully to blame.”
And for Leclerc, it stated: “At the start of Qualifying 1 car 16 slowed on the approach to turn 13 to create a gap to start a fast lap. The driver says that he had to slow significantly behind other cars, who were also doing the same, in order to create a safe gap due to the very poor visibility caused by the weather conditions.
“Further, he says that it would have been unsafe to try to overtake the other cars in front as they would not have been expecting such a manoeuvre at this point. When the driver was informed by his team that car 77 (Bottas) was approaching very quickly on a fast lap, he slowed even further and stayed off-line to the right before the entry to turn 13 to ensure he did not impede car 77.
“The Stewards accept that Leclerc did everything possible at that point to avoid impeding Bottas. However, they consider the situation to have been potentially dangerous but, given that many drivers ended up queueing at this part of the circuit, they determine that too many drivers contributed to the situation and therefore the driver concerned is not fully to blame.”
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MotoGP: Bagnaia beats Quartararo to German GP pole by 0.076s
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia took MotoGP pole in German GP from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo by 0.076s with Pramac’s Johann Zarco in third.
Q1:
The first part in MotoGP German GP qualifying saw Gresini Ducati’s Fabio di Giannantonio in a good position to lead the way with a strong 1m20.307s lap as Honda’s Pol Espargaro then slotted in second for a spot in Q2 which had several riders in the tussle.
VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi, LCR Honda’s Alex Marquez and Gresini’s Enea Bastianini were in the chasing pack for a spot in Q2. The final run saw di Giannantonio hold his lap to make it into Q2 as Bezzecchi made it in after displacing Espargaro.
The Spaniard’s final attempt saw him finish third to start 13th, missing Q2 by just the 0.004s margin. KTM’s Miguel Oliveira did well to move up to 14th with teammate Brad Binder slotting in 15th from Marquez and Bastianini, who was hugely frustrated.
Honda’s Stefan Bradl was 18th from RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso, as Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli was 20th from Tech 3 KTM pair of Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez as RNF’s Darryn Binder rounded the 23 runners where Suzuki’s Alex Rins pulled out due to his wrist injury.
Q2:
The second part in MotoGP German GP at Sachsenring saw Ducati lead provisionally with Francesco Bagnaia ahead of Jack Miller after a 1m20.098s lap, as Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin was third from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.
Among them, Miller was still under investigation for a yellow flag infringement from FP4 session. The second run changed the order a bit, with Bagnaia upping his pace to a 1m19.931s lap to take MotoGP pole in German GP where he ended his session early.
After an early trouble, Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo fought back to second with Pramac’s Johann Zarco upping his pace to be third. Aprilia’s Espargaro was fourth as Gresini’s di Giannantonio slotted in fifth after coming through from Q1.
Miller dropped to sixth from VR46’s Luca Marini as Martin was only eighth after early Top 3 pace, with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales in ninth, LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami 10th, Bezzecchi 11th and Suzuki’s Joan Mir 12th. The Japanese rider caused a late yellow flag after crashing in Sector 1.
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Canadian GP: Verstappen stays on top in FP2 from Ferrari pair
Red Bulls’ Max Verstappen stayed on top in FP2 of F1 Canadian GP with Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz slotting behind him.
Rain pretty much stayed away from FP2 of F1 Canadian GP, as Red Bull’s Verstappen stayed on top with a 1m14.127s lap where he was only 0.081s faster than Ferrari’s Leclerc (1m14.208s) as his teammate Sainz (1m14.352s) slotted in third.
The midfield was tasty with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel (1m14.442s) slotting in fourth from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso (1m14.543s) and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly (1m14.879s), where Mercedes’ George Russell (1m14.971s) was seventh and McLaren’s Lando Norris (1m14.987s) eighth.
From third to eighth, it was six drivers from six different teams as McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m15.033s) and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon (1m15.119s) rounded out the Top 10. The Frenchman showing some pace in FP2 after brake issues he faced in FP1.
Among the Top 10, both Vettel and Gasly are to visit the stewards after failing to go to the left of the orange box at Turn 14 when they missed the corner. Also, Vettel and has been summoned for unsafe release against Haas’ Kevin Magnussen.
While Red Bull’s Verstappen headed the standings, a different set-up for Sergio Perez saw him only 11th with an obvious disappointment. In that list was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton as well in 13th behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
The Haas pair did goodish in 14th and 15th with Magnussen ahead of Mick Schumacher, while Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu was 16th from AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda. The Williams pair of Alexnader Albon and Nicholas Latifi were 18th and 19th.
That was it from the drivers with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas unable to set a time after facing anti-stall issues. The team tried to fix it and send him out, but he had troubled downshifting. The session saw one Virtual Safety Car moment when a trash can rolled over on the circuit as the likes of Leclerc, Ricciardo, Vettel and more had few moments.
UPDATE: Leclerc gets a 10-place grid penalty after he took a third CE for the weekend. As per Sky Sports F1, the Monegasque is likely to take a fourth ICE to put it into the pool. He has already taken a third ICE for FP1 and FP2 and is likely to take fourth one for FP3.
UPDATE 2: Stroll, Gasly and Vettel were handed a reprimand for driving for failing to adhere to the FIA Race Directors’ note.
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Canadian GP: Verstappen quickest in FP1 from Sainz, Alonso
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest in FP1 of F1 Canadian GP with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz in second and Alpine’s Fernando Alonso third.
It was relatively sedate FP1 session in F1 Canadian GP as Red Bull’s Verstappen headed the standings with a 1m15.158s lap despite having some issue with roll bar during the session. Ferrari’s Sainz was second with a 1m15.404s lap on the soft compound.
Alpine’s Alonso (1m15.531s) slotted in third on the medium tyres as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez (1m15.619s) was fourth from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (1m15.666s) who escaped any penalties in Canada at least. Mercedes’ George Russell (1m15.822s) put in a late lap to be sixth.
His teammate Lewis Hamilton (1m15.877s) was eighth behind Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll (1m15.877s) whereas his teammate Sebastian Vettel (1m16.041s) was ninth. The German had a moment at Turn 1 but both the Aston Martin cars looked to be in a better shape at Montreal.
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo (1m16.083s) rounded out the Top 10, with Lando Norris in 12th where his session ended early after the team spotted a problem in his car which couldn’t be fixed on time in FP1. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was ahead of him in 11th.
Williams’ Alexander Albon did well in 13th with AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in 14th. The Japanese driver was the sole to have a brush with the wall at Turn 4, as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in 15th where his session was affected by front-right brake issues.
The Alfa Romeo pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu ended up in 16th and 17th, with Haas’ Mick Schumacher in 18th, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi 19th and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen 20th.
Away from the session, the FIA shared the power unit elements list where Leclerc, Ocon and Magnussen took their third ICE with Tsunoda taking his fourth of the season. In terms of TC, Ocon and Magnussen took their third while Tsunoda took his fourth.
The MGU-H scene saw Leclerc, Ocon and Magnussen taking their third with Tsunoda taking his fourth. As for MGU-K, Leclerc and Ocon took their third and Tsunoda taking his fourth, with the Japanese driver also taking his second ES of the season.
And finally, the CE list saw Leclerc, Tsunoda, Stroll and Latifi take their second. While Leclerc escaped penalty, Tsunoda will have to start the F1 Canadian GP from the back after taking his fourth element for multiple parts.
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Gaurav Gill gets WRC2 outing for 2022 Safari Rally
India’s decorated rally driver and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill on Wednesday announced his return to the World Rally Championship (WRC) 2022 after a two-year hiatus.
The three-time APRC (Asia Pacific Rally Championship) champion and a seven-time INRC (Indian National Rally Championship) champion will take part in the WRC Safari Rally in Kenya scheduled from June 23 to 26.
The 40-year-old will be driving the Skoda Fabia R5 in WRC 2, a car he is familiar with, with Brazilian co-driver Gabriel Morales. Touted as one of the most challenging rallies on the WRC calendar, the Safari features 19 special stages covering almost 365km of competition crossing challenging closed dirt roads, rocky and rutted tracks and unpredictable weather which can transform dry and dusty trails into muddy bogs.
Gill’s last outing in WRC 2 was pre-pandemic in 2019 in Rally of Turkey where despite missing out on completing his tryst with victory, he won a lot of praise for his commendable drive by the fraternity. His outing in Rally of Australia came to a halt as the event was cancelled last minute due to the raging fire in the forest stages around the city of Coffs Coast, New South Wales.
“I am excited to return to WRC after a hiatus of over two years. I have utilized these two years of pandemic to reflect on my previous participations and have worked on improving my fitness and performance holistically while engaging in various top end activities besides National Rally championship. I am thankful to JK Tyre Motorsports for their support and I am optimistic of claiming good results for the country and the team,” Gill said.
JK Tyre also announced a scholarship program of 300,000 Euros which will be utilized to promote upcoming talent who have proved their mettle on the domestic circuit. “Up to five young talented athletes including a girl athlete from across verticals of motorsport will be identified to avail the scholarship,” said the company in a statement.
The first one to be part of it is India’s rising racing star, 17-year-old Amir Sayed from Kottyam, who proved his mettle and became the JK Tyre Novice Cup Champion in 2020 by winning all the 12 races of the season in his category. Amir is in the French F4 Championship this year.
Sanjay Sharma, Head of Motorsports, JK Tyre said: “With an aim to give the young talent the much-needed push, we have announced this scholarship program which will select kids from across categories and provide them a chance to bring in laurels by representing the nation at international platforms.
[Note: The above is from PTI]
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FMSCI honours 2021 champions as it hints on international events
Plans are afoot to bring a round of the MotoGP and Formula-E World championships to India, and discussions on this front are in progress, according to Akbar Ebrahim, President, Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI).
In his keynote address at the Fmsci Annual Awards function to honour all the 2021 National champions, here today, Ebrahim also announced that Chennai would be venue for a round of the FIA World Rally Star (17-26 age group) in September, and to be organised by the Madras Motor Sports Club.
“We are also working towards getting a round of MotoGP and the Formula-E to India. The Formula-E is likely to be held on a street circuit in Hyderabad.
As regards the FIA Rally Star, it is a gateway to youngsters targeting the World Rally Championship.
“Further, India has joined the FIM’s Road to MotoGP programme through the World MiniGP championship which is restricted to those in the 10-14 years age group. Dorna Sports, promoters of MotoGP, and Italian bike manufacturer Ohvale are actively involved in the programme. The first of the five rounds will be held in July this year. At the end of the Indian series, the top two riders will qualify for the World Finals in Spain,” Ebrahim said.
Ebrahim also pointed out that India was among the few nations in the World to conduct as many as nine National Championships across two and four-wheelers, despite the pandemic. “Fmsci thanks all the stakeholders, organisers, officials and especially the competitors, for their participation in the past two years,” he said.
“We survived two challenging years due to the pandemic. Yet, Fmsci is among few motorsports Federations globally to conduct nine National championships during those difficult times.
“Leading the federation in its 50th year is a proud and memorable achievement. We speak less but we are doing a lot of work and both the footfalls and eyeball hits for motorsports have increased tremendously,” he added.
