Your basket is currently empty!
Blog
-
Ibrahim continues domination in IeRC; Agarwal wins Junior Class
Mumbai, 16 August 2020: Pune’s Muhammad Ibrahim continued his winning streak in the Mumbai Falcons Indian eRacing Championship, in association with Volkswagen Motorsport. The accomplished karter had a near-perfect run, to once again demolish the competition and win both races of the Pro Class here.
Ibrahim started the event on the right note, qualifying on pole with a laptime of 1:22.010. Amith Kutti (Chennai) bagged second on the grid, qualifying 0.48 seconds behind. Sai Prithvi, also from Chennai, was third.
Race 1 saw championship leader Kutti, make a rare mistake to crash out of contention while Ibrahim took advantage of a good start to pull away and win the race. Prithvi had an intense battle with Sohil Shah for many laps before managing to overtake, to finish second. Shah, a former National Formula 1300 Champion, finished third, ahead of Niranjan Kumar and Raiden Samervel.
The starting order for Race 2 is based on the top 12 finishers of Race 1 being reversed. Coimbatore’s Kaushick Mohanraja started on pole and drove a sensible race, but could not keep Ibrahim behind him. Ibrahim won, ahead of Mohanraja, while Bhanu Teja from Hyderabad was third.
The Junior Class saw Sayee Saran (Chennai) lead after starting from pole. A back marker swerved into him, and Saran fell down the order. Debjit Adak from second, got involved in multiple crashes but still managed to finish fourth. Gurgaon boys – Garvit Agarwal picked up his maiden victory, while Amitesh Rao took his maiden podium, with second. Mumbai’s Veer Sheth also earned his maiden podium with a fine third place, ahead of Adak and Ritesh Rai.
“It’s good to see the Championship quite close in both classes. We are coming up with numerous opportunities for youngsters in motorsport & the Mumbai Falcons Indian eRacing Championship, is the ideal avenue for youngsters to start with motorsport.” said Moid Tungekar, CEO of Mumbai Falcons
Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India said, “It is exciting to witness the competition for every position in the championship – this shows the dedication and effort that these young drivers are putting in to battle each other. With five more races to go, the racing is going to be intense as the drivers fight for the top spot.”
“Next round will see the addition of the Amateur Class followed by the Women’s Class. We are confident that this will expand the entry level opportunities and youngsters can register by visiting any social media platform of IReSportsIN.” said 8 Time National Racing and Karting Champion and founder of IR eSports.
The Championship standings in the Pro Class saw a major reshuffle thanks to poor results from Amith Kutti. Sai Prthivi grabbed the lead while, Ibrahim moves into second. After a significant lead, Kutti falls to third. Bangalore’s Ujjwal Belwariar stays in the lead of the Junior Class.
Pro Race 1 Position Car No Name City Start Pos. 1 33 Muhammad Ibrahim Pune 1 2 12 Sai Prithvi Chennai 3 3 24 Sohail Shah Bangalore 5 4 98 Niranjan Kumar Ooty 4 5 64 Raiden Samervel Mumbai 6 Pro Race 2 Position Car No Name City Start Pos. 1 33 Muhammad Ibrahim Pune 12 2 6 Kaushick Mohanraja Coimbatore 1 3 99 Bhanu Teja Hyderabad 5 4 12 Sai Prithvi Chennai 11 5 98 Niranjan Kumar Ooty 9 Junior Race Position Car No Name City Start Pos. 1 13 Garvit Agarwal Gurgaon 4 2 17 Amitesh Rao Gurgaon 6 3 44 Veer Sheth Mumbai 8 4 8 Debjit Adak Bangalore 2 5 12 Ritesh Rai Chennai 7 Pro Championship Position Car No Name City Points 1 57/12 Sai Prithvi Chennai 215 2 33 Muhammad Ibrahim Pune 212 3 9/12/11/16 Amith Kutti Chennai 204 4 16 / 11 / 19 Bhanu Teja Hyderabad 155 5 20 Chevlyn Fernandes Mumbai 151 Junior Championship Position Car No Name City Points 1 43647 Ujjwal Belwariar Bangalore 123 2 16/13 Garvit Agarwal Gurgaon 107 3 10 Aditya Iyer Pune 103 4 11079 Avinash Gupta Kalimpong 99 5 68/44 Veer Sheth Mumbai 83 -
Hamilton beats Schumy record for highest number of F1 podiums
Lewis Hamilton romped to a dominant victory in the Spanish GP as he broke Michael Schumacher’s record for the highest number of podium finishes achieved by a driver in Formula 1. With his 88th win, he was on the podium for the 156th time in his career. Max Verstappen split the Mercedes cars and Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in P3.
New Delhi, 17 August 2020: In qualifying, it was the usual suspects who occupied the front row. Hamilton on the pole, while sister Mercedes of Bottas in P2. Verstappen qualified P3 and his teammate showed better form to qualify P6 on the grid. Sandwiched between them were the two Racing Points of Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll in P4 & P5 respectively. Carlos Sainz out-qualified his younger teammate Lando Norris, who has reached Q3 at every race this season. Ferrari only started as high as P9 with Leclerc, as Vettel was knocked out in Q2, starting P11. Gasly completed the top 10 and Kvyat was one place behind Vettel. Renault had a dismal qualifying as Ricciardo started P13 and Ocon in P15. Brilliant effort in qualifying by Raikkonen saw him start P14 while his teammate Giovinazzi started last for the first time in his career. Then it was a two by two grid as Haas occupied out P16 & P17, Williams locked out P18 & P19.
All cars in the top-10 were starting with soft tyres. The track temperature was around 50C. But Friday Practice showed that the hard tyre offered a low level of grip, thus, to be avoided for the race. The predicted strategy was a two-stop, starting on the softs and then two sets of mediums.
Hamilton had a clean race start and maintained P1. Contrary to him, Bottas bogged down at the start and fell to P4 behind Verstappen and Stroll. Norris too lost out by two positions and fell to P10. As the DRS was enabled, Bottas got past Stroll on lap 5 to run P3 and started his hunt for Verstappen. Hamilton was maintaining a constant gap of 1.5-2s to Verstappen in P2.
The big question mark was that would Mercedes have tyre blistering issues again, similar to last week, as track temperatures were hovering around 50 C. This was answered on lap 10. Hamilton opened his taps and started extending his lead on Verstappen. Verstappen tried to keep up, but as soon as he pushed, the Red Bull overheated its tyres. He was struggling to match Hamilton’s pace, meanwhile Bottas was catching him from behind. A frustrated Verstappen signalled to his team that his rear tyres were finished.
Pirelli Graphic – Pit Stops Verstappen’s teammate Albon was first to pit on lap 17 and surprisingly put on hard tyres-only driver in the race to do so- which everyone wanted to avoid. Maybe this was a way by Red Bull to check the pace on hard tyre and if Verstappen could be fitted onto them to make a one-stop work. Ultimately this move compromised Albon’s strategy as he was stuck behind slower cars and was overcut by Sainz who finished ahead of him in the race. Both the McLaren’s were on a two stop as they looked to use the fresh rubber to get past their rivals.
Red Bull finally pitted Verstappen at the end of lap 21 on a new set of mediums, Hamilton and Bottas followed suit two laps later for the same tyre. Behind them both Racing Point cars pitted for medium tyres as well and made way to their original positions of P4 & P5 by lap 35. Renault were trying a one-stop strategy with both their cars, as at one stage Ricciardo was running in P4 and Ocon in P9.Leclerc and Vettel pitted on lap 29 for medium and soft tyres respectively.
Meanwhile, dark clouds appeared north of the circuit, with Vettel’s race engineer indicating rain to hit the track around lap 50. Alas, rain failed to materialise just like it had in the middle of the Hungarian GP. Hamilton now was around 8s clear of Verstappen and Bottas just behind the Dutchman. The one-stop strategy looked like a miss hit from Renault as both cars dropped out of points once pitted. Gremlins struck Leclerc on lap37, as his engine was cut off and he spun in turn 15. He managed to start the car but ultimately retired, later diagnosed as an electrical issue.
Verstappen pit for a second time on lap 41, taking another set of medium tyres to get to the end. Hamilton was not in the undercut range and therefore, carried on. Bottas went long till lap 48 and then pitted onto soft tyres, to create a tyre offset to Verstappen. The soft tyre didn’t work well for Bottas as he was unable to close the gap for Verstappen, let alone overtake him. Hamilton pitted on lap 50 for a second set of medium tyres, as he cruised home to a dominant victory, 24.177 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Bottas pitted for a third time to bolt on a set of medium tyres, to score a fastest lap point and in the process broke the lap record of the circuit. He finished P3.
Racing Point cars finished in lofty P4 & P5, Stroll finishing ahead of Perez as the Mexican got a 5-second time penalty for ignoring blue flags. Sainz finished P6, a confidence boost after couple of bad races in Silverstone. Vettel held off Albon to finish P7 thanks to an audacious one stop strategy and good tyre management. Vettel did 36 laps on the soft tyres. The top 10 was completed by Gasly and Norris. Interesting to note, only the podium finishers finished the race on the lead lap, everyone else was lapped in the race. Renault cars finished out of the points, so did the cars of Alfa Romeo, Haas and Williams.
Mercedes were expected to struggle once again in hot conditions, but they did not. They had a big advantage over Red Bull regarding race pace and also looked after their tyres better. Tyre management from Mercedes drivers was on point as they did not face any issues similar to last week. Mercedes had reverted to their Hungary specification high downforce rear wing with double swan neck pillars and a t-wing on the engine cover. Red Bull are inherently slower than Mercedes and they were slightly worse on their tyres as Verstappen complained of the rear tyres being finished. Albon also struggled to preserve his tyres, especially in the first two stints.Red Bull too reverted to Hungary specification rear wing with louvred endplates and a deeper main plane.
Like Mercedes and Red Bull, Racing Point, Renault, Ferrari and AlphaTauri used high downforce rear wings with a deeper main plane. The reason being, rear stability is essential in high speed corners and sector 3 is made up of slow speed corners.
Racing Point showed expected pace, just behind the top 2. McLaren had a resurgence in race pace as Sainz was able to finish in P6 and Norris in P10. Arguably Norris could have finished higher, had he had a better start. Ferrari and AlphaTauri were similar on pace. Ferrari’s move to put both drivers on one stop worked as Vettel finished ahead of the two stopping Gasly and Leclerc would have finished in points had he not retired. Renault slumped after two encouraging races as they could score no points on the basis of pace-which they lacked compared to their rivals- or the strategy.
Alfa Romeo showed improvement in pace as Raikkonen briefly ran in the top-10. Meanwhile, Haas have to find answers as they looked competitive on Friday but were unable to explain their loss of pace on Saturday and Sunday. Williams will be encouraged by the race pace and the ability to fight other cars. Saying that Russell was unable to make it to Q2, for the first time since round 1, prompting Williams to find answers for their lack of one-lap pace.
*Malhaar Khaladkar is an intern with INDIAinF1. You can read his articles here. We invite your comments below.
-
Andrea Dovizioso wins Spielberg thriller; Miraculous escape for Rossi, Vinales
A Red Flag for a dramatic incident at Turn 3 saw the MotoGP™ race re-started, with the Italian then able to pull clear for Ducati’s 50th premier class win – ahead of Mir and Miller
Spielberg, 16 August 2020: Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) played his cards and his race to perfection in the myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, overhauling an early lead for Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) to take over at the front and then pull the pin for Ducati’s 50th premier class win – keeping the marque’s 100% record at the Red Bull Ring intact. Miller looked set to take second until the last two corners, with the Australian then heading ever-so-slightly wide and having his pocket picked by Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Joan Mir. The Spaniard therefore took second and was on the premier class podium for the first time.
The headlines were dominated, however, by an earlier incident that brought out the Red Flag. On the initial start, Miller got a great launch from P2 and it was the Ducati rider who grabbed the holeshot, with Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) also getting away well to slot into P2 from pole. Dovizioso was a fast starter from P4, with Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) dropping back. Then Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) chipped away and got himself to the front, before Quartararo then ran off track at Turn 4 to drop to the back of the pack on Lap 6. Espargaro, Dovizioso, Mir, Miller and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) were leaving the rest behind, but the incident for which the race will also likely be remembered then unfolded at the Turn 3 braking zone, bringing out the red flags.
Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) were almost side by side on the straight, and as they got on the anchors into Turn 3, the duo came into contact and both went down. What unfolded next was terrible luck followed by incredible luck. Zarco and Morbidelli’s bikes careered towards Turn 4 and both bikes hit the air-fence, thankfully slowing them down, but the speed of the crash was such that the machines headed into the path of the riders that were coming into and out of Turn 3. Viñales and Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) were the two in the firing line and somehow, the two errant bikes missed the two factory Yamaha riders. Morbidelli’s bike shot through the gap between Viñales and Rossi, missing the nine-time World Champion by a matter of inches, with Zarco’s bike narrowly avoiding Viñales.
The debris and aftermath brought out the Red Flag, with Zarco on his feet immediately and going to check on the stricken Morbidelli. The Italian was up initially but then taken away on a stretcher to be checked over. Ultimately, both headed for the Medical Centre and incredibly, both were declared fit and were not injured. A crash the scale of which will ensure it’s remembered forever, and thankfully everyone walking away unscathed.
As the dust settled, the track was cleared and race restart prepared. This time it would be Pol Espargaro on pole, leading as he had been just before the Red Flag incident happened. As the lights went out, the KTM rider got a very good getaway but Miller came flying up the inside from P3, the Aussie running wide but was able to use the drive down the long straight to hold his advantage. Pol Espargaro was back through at T3 but Miller was trying to pull the pin from the off, and the Australian took the lead at Turn 6 and immediately got the hammer down.
Meanwhile, the opening lap on the restart was a nightmare for Viñales, who slipped to last place, with pitlane reporter Simon Crafar confirming after the race that the number 12 did have some sort of issue on his YZR-M1. And what about Quartararo? Starting from the back of the grid but at least on the pack after his earlier run off in the abandoned race, the Frenchman had started making up places but for the top two in the Championship, this was now all about damaged limitation – P16 and P20 was the situation for Quartararo and Viñales on Lap 1.
By Lap 3, Miller was nearly a second up the road from Pol Espargaro, Dovizioso, the two Suzukis and Oliveira. Mir and Alex Rins were looking very strong after making great starts on their GSX-RRs, and the duo – along with Dovizioso – were swarming Pol Espargaro. Lap 4 saw then Miller’s lead creep up to over a second but on the next lap, Dovizioso set the fastest lap and it appeared a pin was about to be pulled. Just behind the Italian, Espargaro had his hands full with the two Suzukis too, the trio exchanging positions like there was no tomorrow and losing time on Dovizioso. Rins eventually made a move stick though, and the 42 bolted off to chase the Ducati Team machine.
Further back, Quartararo had made it into P13 and Viñales was still out the points, but back at the front, Miller’s lead was down to just 0.4 as Dovizioso and Rins reeled in the Pramac. That left Pol Espargaro, Mir and Oliveira over a second off the podium scrap, and Espargaro looked like he was getting impatient as a potential race win was slowly slipping from his grasp. Then, on Lap 9, catastrophe struck for KTM at their home race. At Turn 4, Espargaro and Oliveira were both down, Oliveira heading up the inside and Espargaro cutting back across, contact ensuing.
Ahead of that, Miller’s advantage was no more. Dovizioso and Rins were right on the tail of the GP20, with Mir clawing back the gap after the two KTMs crashed as well. At Turn 6, Rins was almost down as the front of his machine tucked, but the Spaniard saved it. Then we had a change for the lead. Dovizioso carved past Miller into Turn 1 and then, at Turn 9, Rins followed the Bologna bullet through. It wouldn’t last long though, as the Suzuki rider’s race then prematurely ended at Turn 6. A repeat slip of the front tyre couldn’t be saved this time as Rins swept up the inside of Dovizioso, but then slid out. A four-way battle for the race win became three: Dovizioso vs Miller vs Mir, with Brno winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) over two seconds back in fourth but the South African producing another fine Sunday ride.
With seven laps to go in Spielberg, there was nothing between the leading three, and Rossi and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) were chasing Binder, as Championship leaders Quartararo and Viñales remained down in 8th and 13th, although Viñales was the fastest man on track. With five to go, Dovi then really started edging clear of Miller, and with four to go, the Italian had pulled almost a second out. The Australian held firm in second, but Mir was climbing all over the back of the Desmosedici…
Coming onto the last lap, barring a mistake, the race was Dovi’s. But who would take second? Miller was defending as hard as he could to make it a Ducati 1-2 and it looked like he was going to be able to do it. Heading into the penultimate Turn 9 though, Miller’s defensive line took him wide on the exit and Mir swept through to steal that second place, denying the Australian as he took his first MotoGP™ podium on the second step. Dovi took the chequered flag just ahead of them to claim his third Red Bull Ring victory, and Ducati’s 50th MotoGP™ win.
Binder, after qualifying 17th, finishes P4 at KTM’s home race on his first visit to the Red Bull Ring on a MotoGP™ machine, the South African putting in a performance of pure class once again. Fifth went the way of Rossi, who came out after the scare of his life like nothing had happened – true testament to just how superhuman the riders are – and ‘The Doctor’ finished as the lead Yamaha rider. Nakagami picked up a solid P6 just behind as the leading Honda.
Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) crossed the line seventh to finish just 0.036 ahead of Championship leader Quartararo, but it was a great damage limitation job done by the 21-year-old who salvages eighth. 1.5 seconds behind Quartararo was Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who secures his best premier class result in P9; a top job by the rookie who will have a significant boost of confidence heading into the Styrian GP next weekend.
Viñales also did well to recover to P10 after his issues in the restarted race, and it’s not what either Viñales or Quartararo would have been looking for from the front row but considering what unfolded, it was the best they could do. Quartararo’s gap has been closed down to 11 points in the title fight though, with Dovizioso now overtaking Viñales in the Championship. The Frenchman and the Spaniard will both be hoping for better fortunes in seven days’ time.
Completing the points were Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Michele Pirro (Pramac Racing), Bradley Smith (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini), Repsol Honda Team’s Alex Marquez and Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol).
After a little history is made, the title fight gets another shake and some serious drama in Spielberg, it’s now time to reset and reload to attack the Red Bull Ring once again next weekend in the Styrian GP. Thankfully and most importantly, with everyone ok after that huge crash, and thoughts all with those who were involved in the scary incident.
MotoGP Podium: 1 Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati – 41:38.764
2 Joan Mir – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki – +1.377
3 Jack Miller – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +1.549.Andrea Dovizioso: “I’m more surprised by the comeback after Brno, the feeling was so bad and in my mind I didn’t have any clear idea of what to change. But from the experience in the last few years, it was the work we did on small details and on my riding style more than changing the bike like everyone normally does.
“And we started again. In the way I was approaching the braking, the rear tyre changed a lot of things and from the first practice I was able to brake a bit further and that gave us the possibility to be near, working in a normal rhythm and then win the race.” -
Easy victory for Hamilton; Verstappen start gets him 2nd
Barcelona, 16 August 2020: Lewis Hamilton took a dominant lights-to-flag victory in sweltering conditions at Spanish Grand Prix, eventually crossing the line 25 seconds clear of Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third ahead of the Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez.
In an ambien temperatures of aeround 30˚C and on a track nudging above 50˚C, Verstappen made a good getaway at the start and he was able to outpace the slower-starting Bottas on the long run to Turn 1 and steal P2 behind Hamilton.
Stroll also made a good getaway from fifth place on the grid to pass team-mate Pérez and Bottas. Behind them Alex Albon in the second Red Bull also made a solid start and he might have claimed fourth but in Turn 1 he was boxed in by the battle between Bottas and Stroll and was forced to hold his starting position.
Hamilton began to eke out a small gap to Verstappen, but the Red Bull driver clung to the race leader and after 10 laps he was just 1.6s behind the champion. Behind them, Bottas made his way past Stroll on lap five to close to retake third place.
Verstappen made his first stop of the race on lap 22. The Dutchman switched to medium tyres in just 1.9s, and when Hamilton made a slow change of 4.3s the Red Bull driver found himself back in second place, four seconds behind the Briton. Bottas was still in third, two seconds adrift of Verstappen. Fourth place was occupied by Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, though the Australian had yet to make his first pit stop.
Verstappen made his second stop for a set of mediums, on lap 41 and after a two-second stop he was released back into third place, 18.2s behind Bottas.
Bottas pitted eight laps later but though he was on fresher soft tyres he failed to make serious inroads on the gap to the Red Bull driver.
Hamilton followed his team-mate to the pit lane on lap 51 but after insisting to his team that he did not want softs, he was given a set of mediums before rejoining 9.6s ahead of Verstappen.
From there the result was set. Hamilton again began to build a lead and with little chance of an assault on the lead and with Bottas well behind, Verstappen managed his pace to the flag. The task was made more straightforward when Bottas made a late stop for medium tyres and a final-lap blast to the fastest lap of the race.
Behind the top three Lance Stroll took fourth place ahead of Racing Point team-mate Sergio Pérez, who dropped behind the Canadian due to the five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Sixth place went to Carlos Sainz, while Sebastian Vettel made a one-stop strategy last to take seventh place, just one second ahead of Alex. Ninth place went to AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and the final point on offer was taken by McLaren’s Lando Norris.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Race
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 1:31’45.279
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 66 1:32’09.456 24.177
3 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 66 1:32’30.031 44.752
4 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 65 1:32’06.724 1 Lap
5 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 65 1:32’09.464 1 Lap
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 65 1:32’11.045 1 Lap
7 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 65 1:32’23.813 1 Lap
8 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 65 1:32’25.008 1 Lap
9 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 65 1:32’25.597 1 Lap
10 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 65 1:32’26.154 1 Lap
11 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 65 1:32’27.145 1 Lap
12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 65 1:32’32.998 1 Lap
13 Esteban Ocon Renault 65 1:32’41.207 1 Lap
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 65 1:32’46.682 1 Lap
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 65 1:32’54.370 1 Lap
16 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 65 1:32’55.069 1 Lap
17 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 65 1:33’04.656 1 Lap
18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 64 1:31’47.297 2 Laps
19 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 64 1:32’14.948 2 Lap
Charles Leclerc Ferrari 38 55’31.636 Electrical -
Team MRF Tyres finish strongly in ERC Round 2
Liepaja (Latvia), 16 August 2020: Team MRF Tyres have taken provisional fifth and sixth positions in Rally Liepaja, the second round of the FIA European Rally Championship.
In the first ERC event for the Team MRF Tyres, Craig Breen & Paul Nagle in the Hyundai i20 R5 showed great pace to take fifth position.
The duo had battled dust problems on Saturday’s stages and made changes to the car in the overnight service to find additional pace for the six Sunday stages.
The Sunday stages saw six stages in two loops, for a total distance of 87.66 km. The weather was sunny and warm and the dusty gravel roads meant that the road sweeping effect was in full force. Meaning the more cars that ran on the road, the more grip there was.
Breen/Nagle started the day by taking fifth on SS5 – the longest of the day at 18.11 km. This was followed by sixth on SS6. Unfortunately, an issue on SS7 meant the crew lost 56 seconds and fell down the leader board.
They bounced back on the other side of service taking the second-best time on SS8. The time of 7:55.4 was just 1.5seconds off the stage winner, Mads Ostberg & Torstein Eriksen.
After the short stage nine, they had consolidated their fifth place in their first gravel rally in the ERC with MRF Tyres.
For Emil Lindholm & Mikael Korhonen, it was a tough start to the day. The duo started sixth but an awkward landing after a jump saw them take to a field. They were able to get back on stage and continue in sixth but the battle to move up the leader board had ended.
Their rally became one of consolidation and, importantly data gathering.
They came home in sixth just 1.8 seconds behind their Team MRF Tyres stablemates.
Lindholm & Korhonen are also competing in the ERC1 Junior Championship. It is a very positive result for the Finnish duo in that category, taking a second behind Solberg/Johnston.
The final positions of fifth and sixth represent a positive finish for Team MRF Tyres. By pushing the boundaries and gaining important data against some of the best competition, the products will continue to improve.
The next round of the 2020 European Rally Championship takes place on the Portuguese Islands with the Azores Rallye. Craig Breen & Paul Nagle will compete on the gravel stage from 17-19 September.
Craig Breen (Driver, Hyundai i20 R5) 5th
“It was a tough rally but we showed some good pace. It was important that we got to the end of the rally to pick up good points and get more data for the development of the tyres.”
“We are pushing the tyres to the limits and we are aggressive on the development of the tyre. The MRF Tyres are durable and it is important to learn develop the tyres. We are happy with the direction of the development of the tyres.”
“Being able to take a second on one stage was good and shows our pace. What happened to us on SS7 could have happened to anyone. I am looking forward to continuing on gravel at the next round in the Azores Rallye.”
Emil Lindholm (Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) 6th
“We wanted to make sure we got to the end of this rally. After our moment in the morning, our focus certainly turned to consolidating our sixth place and gaining data. Saying that, we did have some good pace through the weekend.”
“Taking a second on a stage is encouraging and like Craig, the development of the MRF Tyres is going in the right direction.”
“It was also important to get the points in ERC1 Junior. We finished second in that class, which is quite a positive result for us and Team MRF Tyres!”
-
Oscar Piastri wins Race 2 from fifth, ahead of Per
Barcelona, 16 August 2020: Oscar Piastri got his title bid back on track in Race 2 at Barcelona with his second FIA Formula 3 win, and his first since the opening race of the season. The PREMA driver put in the hard yards at the start, launching all the way from fifth to first inside of the first lap, to finish ahead of Alex Peroni, who scored his third podium of 2020.
The Campos driver briefly took the lead from pole-sitter Matteo Nannini at the first corner, but couldn’t match Piastri’s pace and settled for second place. Nannini held onto third for his maiden podium.
Championship leader Logan Sargeant ensured he scored good points, making up four places to fifth inside of the opening lap.
AS IT HAPPENED
Starting from reverse grid pole for the first time, Nannini didn’t enjoy the getaway he’d have hoped for when the lights went out. The Jenzer Motorsport racer suffered from wheelspin and was pulled into a pack of five drivers all gunning to steal first.
Richard Verschoor nosed in front off the line, but Nannini squeezed him when they went wheel-to-wheel down the straight and he was forced to ease off the throttle.
This allowed Peroni down the outside and edge into first, but Piastri had launched from fifth and clawed his way ahead of them all by the exit of Turn 4 to take the lead for himself.
Nannini managed to fight back ahead of Peroni to reclaim second, as the front five cars settled into a train with Sargeant enjoying a sterling start himself, leaping four places from ninth to fifth.
They were all given a breather when the safety car was brought out for an incident further back. Dennis Hauger came to blows with Leonardo Pulcini and spun the Carlin Buzz Racing driver around on track. Both were able to get going again, but they’d given Max Fewtrell and Olli Caldwell nowhere to go and they were both forced into the gravel trap in an attempt to dodge the collision.
Piastri peeled away when racing resumed, and quickly built up a DRS robbing 1s lead, with the front five unchanged. In second, Nannini had Peroni all over the back of him. The Jenzer man managed to fight on for another five laps, but he eventually surrendered the position as the Campos driver flung down the side of him on the main straight and made it stick into Turn 1.
Piastri had built up a strong 3s gap out in front, but this was cut to zero by a second safety car outing, after Federico Malvestiti ditched his car in the gravel. The PREMA racer kept Peroni at bay when racing restarted and went back to work rebuilding the gap.
The Australian calmly closed out the win, with a 1.1s gap on Peroni, as Nannini held on to third. Verschoor sealed fourth, ahead of Sargeant. Théo Pourchaire, Liam Lawson, Enzo Fittipaldi, David Beckmann, and Jake Hughes took the final points positions.
Sargeant retains the lead of the Drivers’ Championship by a single point. The American has 131, with Piastri in second on 130. Lawson is third on 99, ahead of Beckmann and Pourchaire. PREMA lead the Teams’ Championship with 331.5 points, ahead of Trident on 144.5. ART Grand Prix are third, ahead of Hitech Grand Prix and MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – OSCAR PIASTRI (PREMA RACING)
“I am very happy with that. It had been a pretty average weekend so far, but we made up for it in that one. A massive thank you to the team for a great car, not just today, but all year.
“We are definitely back with some strong points in that one and I am looking forward to the next three – let’s try and win this one.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Sargeant and Piastri will pick up their Championship battle in the final set of triple headers, in Spa-Francorchamps in just under two weeks’ time, With just three rounds to go, and only one point separating the top two, it should prove to be a thrilling climax.
-
Facile win for Felipe Drugovich; Daruvala hopes to turn the tide
Barcelona, 16 August 2020: Felipe Drugovich dominated the Barcelona Sprint Race for his second FIA Formula 2 win of the season, finishing 9s ahead of Luca Ghiotto. The Hitech Grand Prix driver couldn’t touch the MP Motorsport man for pace but comfortably held on to P2 for his second podium of the season, ahead of Mick Schumacher.
It was a forgettable week-end for Indian racer Jehan Daruvala who ended up last in the Feature Race on Saturday after starting P12 and could only finish P17 in the Sprint race on Sunday. With the season at the half-way stage, Daruvala, however, is not letting the guard down and is looking forward to make amends and work with he team turn the tables. “Half the season is done… It really has been tough… I have been through times like these before… I believe In myself and will work hard with my team to get back to where I want to be. Thank you for all the support!,” the Mumbai-born racer tweeted.
In a race where most of the grid struggled to manage their Pirelli tyres, Drugovich bombed ahead of pole-sitter Ghiotto off the line and kept it calm and controlled out in front, showing no sign of any detrimental wear.
Schumacher had a mixed start to the race, which had initially seen him challenge for the lead before falling to P4. The German forced his way ahead of Callum Ilott for his fourth podium of the season.
Despite heavy degradation, Championship leader Ilott was able to cling on to eighth and the final points position. Robert Shwartzman wasn’t so lucky, finishing out of the points in 13th.
AS IT HAPPENED
Sean Gelael was unable to take part in the race following an incident on the last lap on Saturday, which led to a back injury. The Indonesian is expected to make a full recovery.
Ghiotto was sluggish off the line, Drugovich wasn’t. The Brazilian flung down the right and into the lead ahead of the first corner. Schumacher initially enjoyed a solid getaway himself from third, and attempted to fire down the middle for first but couldn’t find a way through, ending up losing a place to Ilott.
Drugovich was in a league of his own out in front, building up an impressive early advantage of 3s inside of the opening four laps. Having gotten comfortable, the MP Motorsport driver eased off on the throttle to preserve his rubber.
Louis Delétraz had been stalking the rear wing of Shwartzman in a fight for eighth, but their brawl was brought to an abrupt halt thanks to a mammoth overtake from Nikita Mazepin. The Russian swung to the right and hurtled down the side of him on the main straight and into the first corner. The Charouz Racing System driver was clearly struggling with degradation, which allowed Christian Lundgaard to follow Mazepin through four laps later.
If Shwartzman thought this had given him some breathing space, he was wrong. Mazepin managed what Delétraz could not, braving a late brake at the first turn and edging ahead of the Russian.
Drugovich had extended the gap to eight seconds, as Ilott reeled in Ghiotto. The door was open and Ilott dived down the inside on the main straight to spark a wheel-to-wheel brawl with the Italian. Ghiotto managed to close the door and narrowly retained the lead, with Schumacher following the pair, ready to pounce on any mistakes.
In the end, the PREMA racer wouldn’t need one. Ghiotto got a move on and escaped the clutches of Ilott, which robbed the UNI-Virtuosi racer of DRS and allowed Schumacher to ease past at the first corner.
Yuki Tsunoda had snuck up on Guanyu Zhou and nabbed fifth from the UNI-Virtuosi driver in a move that appeared all too easy down the main straight. He followed this up with an overtake of Ilott for fourth, who was struggling with degradation.
Ilott wasn’t the only one, as his teammate Zhou was forced into the pits for fresh Pirellis, which cost the Renault junior a points finish. Jack Aitken and Dan Ticktum also had to go in for a change of boots.
Drugovich coolly took the chequered flag for MP Motorsport’s second win of the weekend – the first time any team has won twice on the same weekend in 2020. Ghiotto kept hold of second ahead of Schumacher and Tsunoda.
Matsushita stole fifth, ahead of Mazepin in sixth. Pedro Piquet made a late charge to seventh for his first points in F2. Ilott dropped back to ninth on the final lap, although a late time penalty for Lundgaard promoted him to eighth.
Ilott extends his lead over Robert Shwartzman in the Drivers’ Championship by one point to 121, ahead of the Russian on 103. Lundgaard remains third on 87, followed by Tsunoda and Schumacher. In the Teams’ Championship, UNI-Virtuosi remain first with 197 points, ahead of PREMA on 182. ART Grand Prix are third with 121, followed by Hitech and MP Motorsport.
KEY QUOTE – FELIPE DRUGOVICH (MP MOTORSPORT)
“Amazing race for me. I started P2 and got the jump past Luca into Turn 1. After that, the car was just amazing, basically the same as yesterday. It is a shame we couldn’t capitalise on that yesterday, because of the Safety Car, otherwise, we were pretty much in the same spot or second.
“Shame about that, but this pretty much makes up for yesterday and I am really happy, and really happy for the team, because for sure, we have made a big step forward this weekend.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Championship battle is heating up ahead of the third triple-header of the season in just under two weeks’ time. Ilott and Shwartzman will reconvene at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, for Round 7.
-
Viñales defies the odds to take pole in enemy territory
Spielberg, 15 August 2020: For most people, a tenth of a second isn’t even the blink of an eye, but in MotoGP™ it can decide a lot. And in the myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, even less than that covers the three riders on the front row of the grid, with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales set to start from pole. Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) kept him honest in second, with Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completing the front row – just 0.087 off Viñales. The entire top 12 were covered by half a second, which is the closest we’ve witnessed since 2007.
In Q1 it was Brno podium finisher Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) who came out on top and moved through, ahead of and alongside a jubilant Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) after the Italian had missed the cut in the morning. Somehow though, there was a maybe even bigger talking point in the session – with Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) getting into some serious beef. They both just missed the cut too and will start P13 and P14 respectively, next to each other on the grid…
Once Q2 kicked off though, it was all eyes on Viñales as he came flying out the blocks first, before Quartararo then took over at the summit by a tenth. Soon enough, however, there were red sectors flashing up all over the timing screens, with the field all bang on the money from the off. Miller went P3 before Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) then all exchanged the provisional third, but the Australian took it back as Viñales also truck back against Quartararo at the top.
That lap for the factory Yamaha rider got cancelled, however, and it was suddenly Quartararo back in the driving seat. Viñales wasn’t done there though, and the Spaniard went even quicker to set a 1:23.694 to take over at the top again, this time hanging onto it. Pol Espargaro then shot up to P5, just two tenths adrift, with Mir going third again. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) slotted into P6 at the end of the first runs, and Quartararo managed to closed the gap to Viñales as the dust settled – briefly – and some fresh rubber went in.
The lull in activity didn’t last long, and the hills were soon alive with the sound of MotoGP™ machines once again. The times were about to get even quicker, too. ‘Top Gun’ Viñales improved his time to move the goalposts, with Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) then going P3 to make it a provisional Yamaha 1-2-3 in Austria. Dovizioso was about to remind everyone of his stellar pace at the Red Bull Ring though, the Italian taking P1 away from Viñales for provisional pole… but it still wasn’t done.
2017 and 2019 race winner Dovizioso didn’t stay at the top for long. Viñales, following Mir, went back to the top of the timesheets to go over a tenth clear of the field as he bounces back in style from a tough race in Brno, and despite some red sectors for the likes of Dovizioso and Pol Espargaro, no one could quite manage to overhaul that lap. That makes Viñales the first premier class polesitter for Yamaha in Austria since Christian Sarron at the Salzburgring in 1988… not bad going at a traditionally tougher track for the Iwata marque!
Pol Espargaro’s initial threat to Viñales became a provisional third, but Dovi – after getting shuffled down by the KTM rider and Quartararo – hit back to push ‘Polyccio’ back off the front row himself. Was anyone going to be able to get amongst it in the final few seconds? You bet.
It was a Pol Espargaro and Jack Miller last chance dash at the end, and the Spaniard couldn’t improve but the Australian certainly did. It wasn’t quite enough for pole but the number 43’s final push split the Yamahas and sees Miller start second behind Viñales, with the ‘holeshot device’ primed, just ahead of Quartararo…
Dovizioso will head up Row 2 just after he announced he will be leaving Ducati at the end of the season, with the Italian veteran and two-time Austrian GP winner not losing a grain of focus as he prepares to push for a third victory. Pol Espargaro lines up fifth and is another, like Dovizioso, who seems to have some serious race pace… they will certainly be hoping they can bypass the likes of Viñales, Miller and Quartararo in the early stages. Joan Mir starts sixth after an impressive Q2 for the Spaniard, edging out Brno podium finisher Morbidelli.
The number 21 Yamaha heads up the third row ahead of Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), with Czech GP poleman Zarco with more work to do on Sunday in Austria if he’s to grab a repeat podium finish. It’s ninth for the Frenchman, who finishes 0.044 ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). Oliveira briefly owned a provisional front row place but will start 11th, just 0.489 from pole, with Q1 graduate Valentino Rossi ending Q2 in 12th… despite finishing only 0.545 off his teammate’s time. It is, after all, the closest top 12 in over a decade.
That’s it from Saturday, with only half a second covering the Q2 field and even more stories down the order. Czech GP winner Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) will start 17th as the last KTM rider, with fellow rookie Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech3) starting just ahead of him. Ahead of that, meanwhile, Row 5 is jam-packed with experience, speed and that small slice of beef with Petrucci and Aleix Espargaro joined by Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol).
Got your breath back yet? Viñales grabbed the bull by the horns on Saturday at the Red Bull Ring, but who will come out the fight on top on Sunday? And what will the skies look like as race day dawns? Find out if the Ducati dominance in Spielberg will come to an end at 17:30 IST!
Maverick Viñales: “I’m really happy because the objective was the front row but suddenly I felt an incredible feeling with the bike, also in FP4 from this morning we’ve made a really big improvement, the team has done a really good job. We need to try to understand for tomorrow’s race what will be the best tyre but the bike is working fantastic, very different to Brno. So I’m very happy and enthusiastic and we know on one lap we’re very fast.”
1 Maverick Viñales – Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha – 1:23.450
2 Jack Miller* – Pramac Racing – Ducati – +0.068
3 Fabio Quartararo* – Petronas Yamaha SRT – Yamaha – +0.087
*Independent Team riders -
Hamilton takes pole ahead of Bottas, Verstappen
Barcelona, 15 August 2020: Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by just under six-hundredths of a second to claim pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took third place ahead of the Racing Point cars of Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll.
Hamilton led the way in Q1 thanks to an early lap of 1:17.037. That put him less than a tenth of a second ahead of Pérez, with the Mexican’s team-mate Lance Stroll third ahead of Bottas. The final runs saw Hamilton improve to a segment-best time of 1:16.872, while Verstappen rose to P3 behind Pérez thanks to a lap of 1:17.213.
At the lower end of the timesheet, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen made a late jump out of the danger zone to P15, though team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi dropped to the bottom of the order and he was eliminated along with 16th-placed Kevin Magnussen, his Haas team-mate Romain Grosjean and the Williams cars of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi.
Hamilton was again quickest in the opening runs of Q2, with the championship leader posting a lap of 1:16.013 in the first run of the session. That left Bottas in second place ahead of Verstappen whose opening lap left him half a second adrift of the champion.
Ahead of the final runs, 11th-placed Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari was joined in the drop zone by Renault’s Esteban Ocon, AlphaTauri drivers Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly, and by 15th-placed Räikkönen.
And at the end of the session, Gasly was the only one to make it to safety. The Frenchman put in a good performance to jump to fifth place at the flag. His rise, along with other improvements in the top 10 meant that Daniel Ricciardo fell to 13thplace behind Kvyat but ahead of Räikkönen and Ocon.
Hamilton, Bottas and Verstappen elected to remain in their garages during the final runs and they made up the top three ahead of Stroll, Gasly, Sainz, Perez and Leclerc. Alex Albon, meanwhile, went through in P9 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris.
Hamilton continued to set the pace in the opening runs of Q3. The defending champion posted an opening lap of 1:15.584 to go 0.176 quicker than Bottas. Verstappen took a provisional P3 with his opening lap of 1:16.292 – almost three tenths clear of fourth-placed Pérez.
And Hamilton’s opener ended up being good to secure his 92nd career pole just five hundredths of a second ahead of Bottas. Verstappen held third place just under two tenths ahead of Pérez and Stroll. Albon jumped from P8 to seal P6 with a time of 1:17.029 to finish ahead of Sainz, Norris, Leclerc and Gasly.
2020 FIA Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:15.584 6 221.713
2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:15.643 0.059 6 221.540
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 1:16.292 0.708 6 219.656
4 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 1:16.482 0.898 6 219.110
5 Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 1:16.589 1.005 6 218.804
6 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 1:17.029 1.445 6 217.554
7 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 1:17.044 1.460 6 217.512
8 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 1:17.084 1.500 6 217.399
9 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:17.087 1.503 6 217.390
10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.136 1.552 6 217.252
11 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:17.168 1.155 6 217.162
12 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 1:17.192 1.179 6 217.095
13 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:17.198 1.185 6 217.078
14 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:17.386 1.373 6 216.550
15 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:17.567 1.554 6 216.045
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:17.908 1.036 6 215.099
17 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 1:18.089 1.217 6 214.601
18 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 1:18.099 1.227 9 214.573
19 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 1:18.532 1.660 9 213.390
20 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1:18.697 1.825 6 212.943 -
Team MRF Tyres drivers in a tight battle at Rally Liepaja
It was a successful day of action for Team MRF Tyres on Rally Liepaja, the second round of the European Rally Championship with Craig Breen and Paul Nagle just ahead of their stablemates Emil Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen sitting in fifth and sixth.
The day saw four stages and over 88 km of competitive action near the town of Talsi in the north west of Latvia. Adding to the challenge was the fact at the crews did not return to service throughout the day, rather having a flexi-service in Talsi.
Crews faced warm conditions on faster roads. A crucial factor to the day’s running was the road cleaning. The more cars went through, the faster the roads became.
Breen and Nagle started eighth on the road while Lindholm and Korhonen were ninth.
The first stage of the day saw a 25 km test with the crews battling to take the advantage so early on.
Lindholm took fifth on the first stage, while Breen was eighth.
Stage 2 saw a further 17.45 km and Lindholm repeated his fifth position from the first stage while Breen took seventh to move into seventh the first service.
It became clear through the day that while the road would be clearing, hanging dust would be an issue.
Breen in the MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 had to slow slightly in the third stage because of the dust, but he still ended up sixth.
Lindholm, however found his groove in his Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, finishing second on stage, just 5.6 seconds off stage winner, Oliver Solberg.
Lindholm had a small spin on the final stage of the day, dropping more than 10 seconds. Despite this, he ends the day in sixth.
Breen consolidated his position in the final stage, taking advantage of Lindholm’s issue to leap from his Team MRF Tyres stablemate to end the day in fifth. Breen sits just 0.2 seconds off Eerik Pietarinen in fourth.
The two MRF Tyres drivers are separated by just 6.2 seconds at the end of day.
The final day of Rally Liepaja sees the crews stay closer to Liepaja, with six stages over a further 88 km. There will be just the one service throughout the day, meaning that any mistakes will be punished.
The first stage of the day gets underway at 10am local time or 12:30pm in India.
Quotes:
Craig Breen (Driver, Hyundai i20 R5) 5th
“Today was a tough day. We lost some time in the dust which was hanging in the air. We were doing as much as we could throughout the day.“The direction of development for the tyres is positive and this is the first time I have run on these tyres in the European Championship.
“Tomorrow we will push again. The road position will be important again and we will be looking to find more pace on these roads while getting the data we need.”
Emil Lindholm (Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) 6th
“The roads are challenging. There are a lot of fast sections but then some narrow roads and it is quite difficult to find the entry to those parts. We had a spin on SS4 which cost us a bit of time.”
I pushed throughout the day and I am happy with my pace and the wear of the tyres. The loops and the stages were long and the wear and the grip were good. We are continuing to get data for development of these tyres so that is good.”
“Tomorrow will be interesting. The stages are a bit shorter but the legs are just as long. We will push and see!”
