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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. -
Max beats Hami with superior Red Bull strategy: Race Analysis
Max Verstappen extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton as he took his 3rd victory of the season with Hamilton finishing 2nd and the other Red Bull driver Sergio Perez completing the podium.
London, 21 June 2021: Red Bull claimed their third consecutive win in 2021 after Max Verstappen used a superior strategy to pass Lewis Hamilton one lap from the end of the race. Sergio Perez completed the podium as Valtteri Bottas finished P4. McLaren finished best of the rest with Lando Norris in P5 and Daniel Ricciardo in P6. Pierre Gasly finished in P7 in his home race ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso in P8. Aston Martin got double points finish as Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll finished in P9 and P10 respectively.
Carlos Sainz finished in P11 and Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in P16, both cars unable to score points. George Russell gave Williams another solid finish in P12 ahead of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda in P13. Esteban Ocon finished a lowly P14. Alfa Romeo pairing of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen finished P15 and P17 respectively, ahead of Williams’ Nicholas Latifi. Haas cars of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin rounded up the grid with all 20 cars finishing the race.
Hamilton got ahead in the lead after polesitter Verstappen lost control and went off track in turn 1. He slotted into P2 ahead of Bottas in P3 and Perez in P4. Meanwhile, Ricciardo made up two places as Alonso passed Norris as well. Norris ultimately losing two places at the start.
Hamilton maintained a gap of 2s over Verstappen with both matched on pace with Bottas not far behind. Perez was in P4 and behind him were Sainz, Gasly, Leclerc, Alonso, Ricciardo and Norris. Ricciardo hunted down Alonso and was finally able to pass him on lap 11, with Norris getting past Alonso two corners later.
Leclerc triggered the pitstops in the midfield by pitting on lap 14 for hard tyres to undercut his rivals. Ricciardo following in the next lap with Sainz and Gasly, Alonso pitting another lap later.Leclerc emerged ahead of everyone as he undercut his rivals including Ricciardo.
Meanwhile, at the front Mercedes triggered the pitstops as they called in Bottas on lap 17 for hard tyres, to make gains on Verstappen. Verstappen pitted on lap 18 to cover Bottas. Hamilton pitted a lap later and to no avail emerged behind Verstappen as Mercedes had underestimated the undercut. Hamilton hunting Verstappen but unable to get past him. Perez pitted on lap 24 to emerge back in P4.
Both Verstappen and Mercedes drivers were vocal about their tyre degradation as they were increasingly favoring a two stopin the cockpit. With the wounds of Barcelona still fresh in the minds of Red Bull, they pitted Verstappen on lap 32 for medium tyres to not fall prey to Mercedes’ undercut. Both Mercedes cars decided to stay out favoring track position.
In the midfield, both Ferrari’s were struggling due to tyre wear and Leclerc pitted for a second time emerging out of the points. Norris had pitted on lap 24 and Ricciardo let him by so he could utilise the superior pace of his McLaren.
On lap 44 Verstappen had closed up to Bottas and made the pass before turn 10. Bottas making his frustration known to Mercedes pit box about not changing to a two stop. With 9 laps to go Hamilton was 5s ahead.Verstappen closed up by lap 52, passing the Briton using DRS and re-taking the lead.
Verstappen extends his championship lead on a track where Mercedes was expected to be dominant. It is a good momentum for Red Bull heading into the next two races of the triple header which will held in Austria.
Red Bull had a clear advantage in qualifying over Mercedes. Race pace wise they were closely matched, but a superior strategy by Red Bull enabled them to win. Red Bull had the upper hand this weekend where Mercedes previously dominated. This shows that their car has clearly improved compared to Barcelona, which was the last conventional circuit visited by Formula 1. Red Bull did not suffer with high tyre degradation and ran lower downforce to achieve higher straight-line speed. Mercedes were running with higher downforce levels than Red Bull, thus, having inferior straight line speed. This was to keep the tyre temperatures under control by preventing them from sliding. Their race pace was on par with the Austrian squad but with an inferior strategy were forced to stay out and concede the win. It has been three races since Mercedes has not won a race and they have lost ground in both drivers and constructors’ championship.
McLaren were best of the rest. Their qualifying pace is not the benchmark of midfield, but they were miles faster than their immediate rivals Ferrari in race. They did not suffer tyre degradation unlike their Italian rivals and maximised points with both their cars. McLaren brought a small upgrade to their rear wing endplate. They retake 3rd in the constructor’s championship from Ferrari. Ferrari had the worst weekend of their 2021 season, with no cars scoring points and losing 3rd in the championship. They showed encouraging qualifying pace, with Sainz qualifying best of the rest in P5. However, in the race they struggled with tyre degradation and inferior straight-line speed meant they were sitting ducks down the two straights.
AlphaTauri in the hands of Gasly showed its points potential with good qualifying performance as well. Gasly has been able to extract the full potential of the AT02. On the other side of the garage Tsunoda has struggled with consistency as he got knocked out of Q1 due to his mistake. Alpine too has shown improvement in pace after introduction of new upgrades in the previous races. Like the AlphaTauri, Alpine showed encouraging qualifying and race pace with Alonso achieving points and Ocon not far off. Aston Martin have scored points for the third consecutive race in what has been a turnaround compared to the start of the season. The 4-time champion is more comfortable with car and with Aston Martin executing good strategies they seem to maximise their races.
Russell in the Williams had a commendable race as he finished P12 on merit with the FW43B showing signs of improvement in race pace and being less affected by the winds which was a problem at the start of the season. Alfa Romeo had a mediocre race as they could not challenge for points. Both drivers lamenting that the car was too slow to be in the top 10. Haas reached Q2 for the first time this season with the help of Schumacher, admittedly due to a red flag caused by him. Nevertheless, it is a silver lining for them and another positive step for the young driver.
Saturday Qualifying Results were:
P1: Max Verstappen- 33 (Red Bull) P2: Lewis Hamilton- 44 (Mercedes) P3: Valtteri Bottas- 77 (Mercedes) P4: Sergio Perez- 11 (Red Bull) P5: Carlos Sainz- 55 (Ferrari) P6: Pierre Gasly- 10 (AlphaTauri) P7: Charles Leclerc- 16 (Ferrari) P8: Lando Norris- 4 (McLaren) P9: Fernando Alonso- 14 (Alpine) P10: Daniel Ricciardo- 3 (McLaren) P11: Esteban Ocon- 31 (Alpine) P12: Sebastian Vettel- 5 (Aston Martin) P13: Antonio Giovinazzi- 99 (Alfa Romeo) P14: George Russell- 63 (Williams) P15: Mick Schumacher- 47 (Haas) P16: Nicholas Latifi- 6 (Williams) P17: Kimi Raikkonen- 7 (Alfa Romeo) P18: Nikita Mazepin- 9 (Haas) P19: Lance Stroll- 18 (Aston Martin) P20: Yuki Tsunoda- 22 (AlphaTauri) Note – Stroll and Tsunoda failed to set a time within the Q1 107% requirement and race at the stewards’ discretion.
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Akhil finishes P15 as incidents play spoilsport at Circuit Zandvoort
Bengaluru, 21 June, 2021: Akhil Rabindra, the only Indian on the European GT4 Championship grid, racing for AGS Events Racing Team, finished P15 in the Silver category along with his team mate Hugo Conde in an incident laden Round 3 of the championship in Netherlands late last evening. The race was being hosted at the iconic Circuit Zandvoort which also would play the host to the much-awaited Dutch Formula1 Grand Prix later this year.
Akhil is also the only Asian to get selected for the prestigious Aston Martin Racing Driver Academy’s class of 2021 for the third time in a row inching closer towards a chance to earn the coveted Academy driver contract. An incident laden Race1 for the team of Akhil Rabindra and Hugo Conde, with the latter on the steering wheel, saw them finishing at P13 in the Silver category and an overall P27. Race 1 saw Akhil’s team completing 24 laps in 1:22:04.392. Race 1 was quite an eventful race facing temporary suspension following an incident involving the #32 United Autosports McLaren.
Akhil who took to the steering wheel in Race 2 of the third round of the European GT4 Championship made an impressive run to finish P15 in the Silver category and an overall P21 from a grid of 36 cars. Akhil while being on the driver’s seat completed 32 laps in 1:01:55.560 minutes. Akhil while driving his Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in Race 2 again had to face an interruption, after starting on a good note, had to slow down in the final few minutes of the race due to a full course yellow and safety car situation, following two separate incidents where the race control neutralized proceedings after the #77 Team Fullmotorsport Audi went into the gravel while at the same time the #11 Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport BMW hit the barriers.
Akhil Rabindra commented, “We could have done much better and are definitely not happy with our performance. There were unforeseen hurdles in both Race 1 & 2 which had a direct impact on our speed and finishing positions. We will have to keep working on our performance and keep improving to ensure that in future such indirect and unforeseen hurdles do not impact our positions drastically.”
Round 3 of the European GT4 Series saw AKKA ASP (Mercedes –AMG) in Pro-am and Silver, and CMR (Toyota) in the AM Cup claim the top honors. The European GT4 Series now moves to Circuit Spa-Francorchamos, Belgium for Round 4 of the Championship from July 28 – 31, 2021. The race can be watched LIVE on the YouTube Page of European GT4 Series.
About European GT4 Championship:
The GT4 European Series is a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship which followed a formula similar to the FIA GT3 European Championship, which was itself derived from the FIA GT Championship which utilized the GT1 and GT2 classes.
GT4 class cars are mostly what can be referred to as track day cars, which are factory-built race cars available to the public. However, custom-built cars based on production models can also be built by teams. All cars are test driven by the FIA and then modified so that they all have near identical performance levels. Once a car has been approved by the FIA, it cannot be modified by the teams, eliminating continual development costs for constructors. All cars run on regulated Pirelli tires to further equalize performance.
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Max Verstappen wins thrilling battle with Hamilton, extends Championship lead
Le Castellet (France), 20 June 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen extended his F1 championship lead over arch-rival Lewis Hamilton with a thrilling French Grand Prix victory that saw the Dutch give up the lead midway through the race and switch to a potentially risky two-stop strategy. But after erasing a 16-second gap to Hamilton the Dutchman closed in and powered past the Mercedes driver on the penultimate lap of the race to secure the lead and take his 13th career win.
When the lights went out at the start of the race, Verstappen made a good getaway to lead Hamilton as the field headed for the first corner. But in Turn 2 the Dutchman made a mistake and went wide. The error allowed Hamilton to steal the lead as Verstappen rejoined ahead of Bottas and Pérez.
Over the opening laps Hamilton tried to build a gap and by lap nine he was almost two clear ahead of Max, though he was already complaining that his front tyres were beginning to suffer. Bottas, meanwhile, was just a second behind the Dutchman. Pérez was finding it hard to stay with the top three, however, and by lap 10 he was 4.4s off the back of Botttas’ Mercedes.
Bottas was the first of the pacesetters to pit at the end of lap 17, taking on Hard tyres. The Red Bull Racing made its move on the next lap and Verstappen pitted for hards in a stop of 2.3s.
Hamilton was then told to push on his in-lap in a bit to negate Max’s attempted undercut. His pit stop was clean and he took on hard tyres in a 2.2 stop as Pérez, who had yet to pit, swept past to take the race lead.
Hamilton should have rejoined in P2, but Verstappen’s out lap was superlative and as the Briton emerged from the pit lane Verstappen drew alongside the Mercedes and got past into Turn 1. Pérez meanwhile, went long on his first stint and stayed on track until the end of lap 24. And after taking on Hard tyres he dropped to fourth place, 16 seconds behind Bottas.
The pace at the front now ramped up spectacularly as Hamilton tried to pressure race leader Verstappen. The Dutchman resisted well but both drivers and Bottas were soon on the radio saying that their tyres would not last the pace.
Red Bull Racing then opted to switch Verstappen to a two-stop race and on lap 32 the Dutchman pitted for a new set of medium tyres. He emerged in P4 behind Pérez but quickly began close on those ahead and he was soon past his team-mate and hunting down Bottas
By lap 44 he was within DRS range of the Finn and as they went into the chicane on the Mistral straight, Bottas went slightly wide. The mistake allowed Verstappen to pounce and he raced past the Finn at full speed as they swept through Signes.
A few laps later Pérez too closed up to the struggling Finn and armed with fresher tyres the Mexican got a better exit out of the chicane and aided by DRS he powered past the Mercedes driver to claim third place.
Then it was Verstappen’s turn. He closed hard and with two laps remaining he got to within DRS range of Hamilton. And on lap 52 he too chose the chicane to make his move. Verstappen got the perfect exit and with the aid of DRS he roared past the Mercedes driver to claim the race lead and a little over a lap later a stunning victory. Thanks to his pace on medium tyres in his final stint Verstappen was also able to collect the point on offer for fastest lap thanks to his time of 1:36.4040 set just after he took on the new set.
Behind the top three finishers, Bottas was left with fourth place ahead of hard-charging Lando Norris who collected 10 points for P5 after starting from P8. Norris’ McLaren team-mate Daniel Ricciardo was sixth ahead of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly while Alpine’s Fernando Alonso finished in P8. The final points on offer were taken by Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll who finished ninth and tenth respectively.
Verstappen’s win and fastest lap mean he is now on 131 points, 12 ahead of Hamilton, while in the Constructors’ Championship Red Bull Racing now has 215 points, 37 ahead of Mercedes.
2021 FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 53 1:27’25.770
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:27’28.674 2.904
3 Pérez Pérez Red Bull/Honda 53 1:27’34.581 8.811
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 1:27’40.388 14.618
5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:28’29.802 1’04.032
6 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 53 1:28’41.627 1’15.857
7 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 53 1:28’42.366 1’16.596
8 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 53 1:28’43.465 1’17.695
9 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 53 1:28’45.436 1’19.666
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 53 1:28’57.716 1’31.946
11 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 53 1:29’05.107 1’39.337
12 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 52 1:27’33.819 1 lap /8.049
13 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 52 1:27’38.141 1 lap /12.371
14 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 52 1:27’38.887 1 lap /13.117
15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 52 1:27’43.366 1 lap /17.596
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 52 1:27’46.644 1 lap /20.874
17 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 52 1:27’48.454 1 lap /22.684
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 52 1:27’49.221 1 lap /23.451
19 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 52 1:28’19.907 1 lap /54.137
20 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 52 1:28’34.002 1 lap /1’08.232 -
Marc Marquez returns to claim his throne
11 in a row, eight in MotoGP™, 30 laps, 25 points and 581 days: an emotional return to the top step sees the eight-time World Champion remain unbeaten in Germany
Sachsenring, 20 June 2021: 581 days ago, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) stood atop the MotoGP podium in Valencia. It was a normal Sunday for the eight-time World Champion, another notch in an ever-increasing roll call of history made and victories earned. There was no Covid-19, the grandstands were full and always had been, and the number 93 was on top of the world. Three surgeries, nearly a season on the sidelines and a whole different world later, Marquez is back on top of that rostrum – and he did it in style. Taking over at the front early on and then putting the hammer down even as rain threatened, the number 93 withstood ever-increasing pressure from Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) to take his 11th win in a row at the Sachsenring, which is also his eighth in a row at the venue in the premier class. 30 laps leading to 25 points, prefaced by 581 days.
Marc Marquez: “It’s one of the most important and hardest moments of my career, today I knew it was a great opportunity, the mentality wasn’t easy because I’m coming from a hard situation with three 0s in a row but I said today is the day. Before this weekend I thought I’d fight for the podium and try and be close with the top guys. The victory was a low possibility but I said if it’s perfect conditions, I’ll try. When I saw a few raindrops on Lap 4 or 5, I said ‘it’s my race’. At that point I pushed and kept the same pace as before, when the second stop started I pushed even more, and I said, ‘ok it’s time to take a risk’. I took it in those laps, then the second race started with Miguel. He pushed a lot, but it was really hard to keep concentrating, all the memories from the last year were there in my mind. But we did it, and we’ll do it again.”
Coming back to the race, Oliveira pushed as much as he could but makes it three podiums in a row as he comes closer than most ever have – or will – to taking the throne from the King of the Ring, with Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) increasing his Championship lead in third place.
It was Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) who took the holeshot from the off though, with Marquez blasting through into second and standing Quartararo up as the number 93 made it immediately clear he’d be racing to win in Germany. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) then struck against Quartararo too as El Diablo initially lost out a little, with one man doing the opposite: Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). The South African stormed up from P13 to seventh on Lap 1.
By the end of said Lap 1, there was another move further ahead as Marquez struck for the lead at the final corner. Past the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro there and staying ahead into Turn 1, it was a statement of intent but the number 93 couldn’t shake him off just yet. Next time around the two went toe-to-toe again, but Marquez retained that lead… and then began to grow it as the white flag came out.
The Sachsenring is no stranger to spots of rain, and as a few began to fall the flag showed that riders could, if they so chose, come in to change bikes. Marquez’ reaction to that, as Aleix Espargaro dropped back, was to push even more – and sure enough, the bravery paid off with a nice cushion leaving him with some breathing space at the front.
Meanwhile, Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Oliveira had made their way past Quartararo and then Zarco before also slicing through on Aleix Espargaro. By a third of the race run, Oliveira struck against Miller too, the Portuguese rider taking over in second and inheriting the task of trying to chase down Marc Marquez at the Sachsenring. But boy, did he try.
Two seconds became 1.9 became 1.8, with the KTM rider in the groove as he tried to haul in every meter possible on a charge for the front. Chipping away a tenth here and a tenth there, it seemed to be a matter of time, surely, before the Portuguese rider caught up? The gap was steadfastly going one way: down.
With only a handful of laps to go, it looked like game on. From hovering at 1.2 to suddenly only nine tenths, Oliveira showcased more great racecraft to back up his stunner in Barcelona. But Marquez wouldn’t be fazed. It went back up over a second as the eight-time World Champion responded and then, suddenly, that seemed it was it: one more tenth, then a few more, and suddenly the Honda had a second and a half in hand once again. Now, all that was left was to bring it home.
That Marquez did, with a nod of his head to the Repsol Honda Team waiting on pit wall as he secured that incredible eighth premier class win in a row at the Sachsenring. An achievement that would have made headlines alone, if not for 581 days and career-endangering injury in between his trips to the top step of the MotoGP™ podium. Tears, cheers and some serious emotion poured out as one of the truly great comebacks saw the eight-time World Champion wrap up another premier class victory.
Oliveira, after calling time on his charge, came home in second for yet another podium – his third in a row – ahead of Quartararo as the Frenchman made up some previously lost ground to round out the rostrum. Just behind him, Brad Binder came home fourth to make it an even better day for KTM.
Fifth place went to a Ducati, but not the early scene stealers. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was near the end of the points on Lap 1, the Italian seemingly out of the fight for the front. But he made steady and impressive progress to eventually pip teammate Jack Miller to the final place in the top five, the Aussie forced to settled for sixth. Also seemingly somewhat forced to settle were Aleix Espargaro in P7 and, in the end, Zarco down in eighth, losing some ground to Quartararo in the standings.
Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) likewise made an early charge into the top ten, but the reigning Champion’s challenge bottomed out before he could attack any further forward, the number 36 taking home ninth although just two tenths behind Zarco. A little further off that duel, Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) completed the top ten.
Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), despite his injury struggles, came home in P11 and just fought off the attention of the likewise-returning Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing). The number 89 was top rookie at the Ring and took some solid points after earlier fighting further forward. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemutsu) was 13th ahead of Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT), the Doctor taking two points. Completing those points was Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Avintia) as he beat fellow rookie and teammate Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) to P15 by a tenth.
There are a few usual frontrunners missing from that list. After a difficult qualifying, Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) had their day go from bad to worse at the start as they were running last. It didn’t get better from there either, with both staying on but coming home as the final two finishers split by a few tenths. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) and Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) also failed to score after they crashed out together, and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) slid out.
That’s it from the Sachsenring and a history-making Sunday. Only Marc Marquez will likely ever know how it feels, what it cost or the true work behind being able to return to the top step of a Grand Prix podium. 30 laps likely felt like a long time this afternoon, but 581 days will have seemed like a lifetime.
Join us again next weekend for another showdown as the TT Circuit Assen welcomes MotoGP™ back to the Netherlands.
1 Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda – 41:07.243
2 Miguel Oliveira – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing – KTM – +1.610
3 Fabio Quartararo – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – +6.722
Top Independent Team rider
7 Aleix Espargaro – Aprilia Racing Team Gresini – Aprilia – +9.371 -
Max Verstappen powers to pole ahead of Hamilton, Bottas
19 June 2021 Sat: F1 Drivers’ Championship leader Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton by almost three tenths of a second to claim pole position for tomorrow’s 2021 FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard. Valtteri Bottas took will line up in third place on the grid ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez for the Round 7 FIA Formula One World Championship on Saturday.
Defending champion Lewis Hamilton (in the pic) said: It’s great to see the fans here and it warms my heart to see people coming together finally after this difficult period for us all. It’s been a really hard weekend trying to get the car into a happy place and you wouldn’t believe all of the changes I’ve made since FP1. Congratulations to Max, he did a great job today.
On long run pace I think the Red Bulls were a tenth or two quicker than us in FP2 but my car is in a much different place now so I’m just going to stay hopeful and do everything that I can tomorrow. Obviously in second you’ve got a fighting chance down to Turn 1 and there’s going to be some interesting strategy calls tomorrow. Maybe it’ll rain so we’ll potentially get to see the rain masters do their thing! We’re loving the battle so we’re just going to keep pushing, keep fighting, and giving it everything.
The opening Q1 segment got off to a stuttering start and the hour-long session was barely three minutes old when the action had to halted. AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda tried too too much kerb in Turn 1 and spun. He slide backwards off track in Turn 2 and hit the barriers. Apart from severe vibrations at the rear of his car as hew slid across the run-off the impact to the back of his car did not seem bad but after reporting that he had no gears race control red-flagged the session.
After a 10-minute delay the action resumed and Verstappen vaulted to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 1:31.001, eclipsing Bottas by more than six tenths of a second. Pérez then shuffled the Finn down to third place ahead of Hamilton. The Briton made a second attempt, however, and his improved lap time of 1:31.237 earned him P3 ahead of Pérez.
In the final moments of the session Haas’ Mick Schumacher crashed at Turn 6 and the red flags were shown for the second time and race control announced that with less than a minute on the clock the session would not be restarted. The stoppage meant that a number of drivers were not able to complete final flying laps and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, Haas’ Nikita Mazepin and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll were eliminated without getting an opportunity to escape the drop zone.
In Q2 the majority of the remaining field headed out on medium tyres and in the first runs Pérez took an early lead with a lap of 1:30.971, a tenth ahead of Verstappen. Hamilton, who sat sixth after his first flying lap extended his run for a second attempt and he duly took top spot with a lap of 1:30.959.
Both Red Bulls and both Mercedes drivers went out for the final runs but while Bottas and Hamilton completed another medium-tyre flyer, with Bottas taking top spot on 1:30.735 and Hamilton improving, both Pérez, and Verstappen backed out of their laps leaving the top two placings to the Mercedes pair.
Eliminated at the end of Q2 were Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel exiting in P12 ahead of Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Williams’ George Russell.
In the first runs of Q3 Verstappen seized an early advantage, claiming provisional pole with a lap of 1:30.325, almost four tenths of a second ahead of Hamilton who slotted into P2. Pérez grabbed P3 a little under two tenths clear of Bottas.
But if there were any thoughts that the final runs would be a comfortable march to pole for the Dutchman they were dismissed as Verstappen and his chief title rival raised the level again in the final runs.
The pair traded purple sectors across through but when Verstappen crossed the line it was in a time of 1:29.990, 0.258 seconds ahead of Hamilton, and a fifth career pole position belonged to the Red Bull driver.
Bottas jumped ahead of Pérez in the final run and the Mexican will start fourth ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, AlphjaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Lando Norris will start in P8 for McLaren ahead of Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and the second McLaren of Daniel Ricciardo.
2021 FIA Formula 1 French Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:29.990 6 233.705
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.248 0.258 0.287 6 233.037
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:30.376 0.386 0.429 6 232.707
4 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda 1:30.445 0.455 0.506 6 232.530
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:30.840 0.850 0.945 6 231.519
6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:30.868 0.878 0.976 6 231.447
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:30.987 0.997 1.108 6 231.145
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.252 1.262 1.402 6 230.473
9 Fernando Alonso Alpine/Renault 1:31.340 1.350 1.500 6 230.251
10 Daniel Ricciardo McLaren/Mercedes 1:31.382 1.392 1.547 6 230.145
11 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1:31.736 1.001 1.103 6 229.257
12 Sebastian Vettel Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:31.767 1.032 1.137 6 229.180
13 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:31.813 1.078 1.188 6 229.065
14 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:32.065 1.330 1.466 6 228.438
15 Mick Schumacher Haas/Ferrari 1:32.942 1.941 2.133 7 226.283
16 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:33.062 2.061 2.265 7 225.991
17 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:33.354 2.353 2.586 7 225.284
18 Nikita Mazepin Haas/Ferrari 1:33.554 2.553 2.805 7 224.802
Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 2’12.584 41.583 45.695 7 158.625
Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda 2
