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  • Hamilton takes victory after Russell was disqualified: F1

    Hamilton takes victory after Russell was disqualified: F1

    Spa, 28 July 2024: George Russell has been disqualified from the Belgian Grand Prix after his Mercedes W15 was below the 798kg minimum weight, handing victory to team-mate Lewis Hamilton.

    Russell took a sensational win at Spa with a well-worked one-stop strategy, but following the race the FIA Technical Delegate reported that while Russell’s car was initially weighted it met the minimum weight of 798.0 kg. However, when “fuel was drained out of the car and 2.8 litres of fuel were removed” to get the required sample, the car was weighed again and “the weight was 796.5 kg… 1.5 kg below the minimum weight requested in TR Article 4.1”. 

    The matter was referred to the Race Stewards and after hearing from a Mercedes team representative that there were no mitigating circumstances and that it was a genuine error by the team, the Stewards determined that Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations had been breached and Russell was disqualified from the race result. 

    The ruling means that Lewis Hamilton inherits his 105th win in Formula 1, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri moving up to second place. Charles Leclerc claims a 36th career podium finish with P3. With the rest of the field also moving up a place, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo claims his third points finish of the season with 10th place. 

    Surprise by Russell

    Earlier, George Russell springs a strategic surprise at Spa, making a one-stop strategy work to snatch a third career grand prix victory from under the nose of long time race leader Lewis Hamilton who finished a little over half a second ahead behind his Mercedes team-mate and 0.6s clear of third-placed McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. 

    At the start of the race, Ferrari polesitter Charles Leclerc got away well to take the lead. Behind him fellow front-row starter Sergio Pérez was slower off the line and into La Source he was passed by Hamilton. Behind them McLaren’s Lando Norris took a wide line and on the exit of Turn 1 dipped a wheel onto the gravel. That allowed Piastri, Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to power past as the quartet went into Eau Rouge. 

    Further back, from P11 on the grid, Max Verstappen got away well and on lap one the Dutchman kicked off what was expected to be a rapid charge through the field by passing Alpine’s Esteban Ocon and Williams’ Alex Albon and then on lap 2 he picked off Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso to close in on Norris who was now seventh. 

    On the next lap, with DRS in play, Hamilton closed up to Leclerc through Eau Rouge and on the long Kemmel straight the Mercedes driver powered past the Ferrari to take the lead. Behind them Pérez held on to third under pressure from Piastri with Russell in fifth ahead of Sainz. 

    Behind them, Verstappen was bottled up behind Norris and Red Bull opted to pit the Dutchman on lap 10 hoping for an undercut. That sparked a flood of stops among the frontrunners and after the pit visits had played out, Hard tyre starter Sainz rose to P1 ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc. Pérez, though, emerged from his stop behind the slower Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and that allowed Piastri to close in. Stroll exited the picture when Aston called him to the pits, but Piastri was now right behind Pérez and on the run to Les Combes, aided by DRS, the Australian flew past to take P4. 

    Norris was the last of the frontrunners to pit, five laps after Max, and when the McLaren driver rejoined on Hard tyres, Verstappen was well ahead and beginning to close on Russell and Pérez who was now fifth.  

    The Mexican was struggling for pace on the straights, however, and he was soon passed by Russell. That put the Pérez directly in the path of Verstappen and with the Dutch driver bottled up, Norris on fresher tyres began to close on both. That prompted Red Bull to put Pérez early and the Mexican faced a long, hard slog on Hard tyres to the end of the race.

    Leclerc sparked the final round of stop at the end of lap 25 and when the tyre changes had played out, Russell, who had eschewed new rubber and had suddenly decided that a one-stop was viable, led the race ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc, with Piastri in fourth. Verstappen was now in P5, under a second clear of Norris and behind them Pérez lay seventh. 

    On lap 36 Piastri, after one failed attempt at passing Leclerc, closed up to the Ferrari on the exit of La Source. Leclerc defended hard as the pair entered the braking zone for Les Combes but Piastri hung on around the outside and then firmly shut the door on Leclerc as they exited the chicane to take third place, 5.6s behind Hamilton. 

    On lap 39, Pérez came under pressure from Sainz and though the Mexican defended as best he could on ageing tyres, Sainz muscled his way past on the Kemmel straight to demote the Red Bull driver to P8. 

    Over the final five laps, all of the frontrunners closed in on Russell but remarkably the Mercedes driver was able to keep his fading Hard tyres alive to keep Hamilton and Piastri at bay and at the end of the 44 laps Russell took his third career win just half a second ahead of Hamilton with Piastri a tenth further back in third. 

    Leclerc clung on behind them, just six tenths ahead of Verstappen who took fifth place, another half second ahead of Norris. Sainz finished in seventh and Pérez ended the race in eighth. However, with more than half a minute in hand over Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, the Mexican made a late stop for Soft tyres and banked an extra point with a fastest lap of 1:44.701 in the final laps. Tenth place went to Ocon who edged RB’s Daniel Ricciardo out of the points-paying positions in the closing stages. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 George Russell Mercedes 44 1:19’57.040 
    2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 1:19’57.566 0.526
    3 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 44 1:19’58.213 1.173
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 44 1:20’05.589 8.549
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 44 1:20’06.266 9.226
    6 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 44 1:20’06.890 9.850
    7 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 44 1:20’16.835 19.795
    8 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 44 1:20’40.235 43.195
    9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 44 1:20’47.003 49.963
    10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 44 1:20’49.592 52.552
    11 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 44 1:20’51.966 54.926
    12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 44 1:21’00.051 1’03.011
    13 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 44 1:21’00.691 1’03.651
    14 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 44 1:21’01.405 1’04.365
    15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 44 1:21’03.671 1’06.631
    16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 44 1:21’07.678 1’10.638
    17 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 44 1:21’13.777 1’16.737
    18 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 44 1:21’23.097 1’26.057
    19 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 44 1:21’25.873 1’28.833
         Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 5 11’00.351 Hydraulics

  • Max Verstappen takes pole in wet conditions at Spa: F1

    Max Verstappen takes pole in wet conditions at Spa: F1

    27 July 2024: Max Verstappen dominated a wet qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by almost six tenths of a second, with under pressure Sergio Pérez putting in a good performance to take third. However, with Verstappen set for a 10-place grid penalty for the race, Leclerc grabs pole for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix. 

    “It was a nice qualifying. It was raining a little bit but we could do a decent qualifying,” said Verstappen, who will start the race from P11 after taking a fifth ICE of the season this weekend. “I know that I have to start 10 places back so this was the best I could do today. We’ll go from there. I don’t know how quick we are going to be but I hope that we can be in the mix to try to move forward.”

    The opening session of qualifying began on a damp track, on Intermediate tyres but with no rain falling and Verstappen was quickly to the fore. The Red Bull driver posted a lap of 1:56.003 on his opening lap to take top spot from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with Pérez in third. 

    With a little less than seven minutes remaining, Piastri jumped back to top spot with a lap of 1:55.549, 0.454 ahead of Verstappen who was starting another flyer. And when the Dutchman crossed the line, he returned to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1:54.938, six tenths ahead of Piastri. 

    In the final minutes, Piastri once again stole top spot with a lap of 1:54.835. Verstappen went for a last attempt but the Dutchman came across a slow Guanyu Zhou on his flyer and as Alpine’s Pierre Gasly took P2, Verstappen eased through in third place having used just one set of Inters during the session, with Pérez in fourth. 

    At the other end of the table, Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were ruled out in 16th and 17threspectively, with RB’s Yuki Tsunoda exiting in P18 ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant and the Sauber of Zhou. 

    Alex Albon kicked things off in 1:54.724, but he was swiftly demoted by Lando Norris who went almost three tenths of a second quicker than the Williams driver. Verstappen, though, was going even quicker and he jumped to top spot with a lap of 1:53.857, six tenths ahead of Norris and eight clear of Albon. 

    Verstappen then shaved two hundredths of a second off his first flyer to cement himself into P1 but further back, Pérez, was flirting with trouble.

    The Mexican bolted on more fresh Inters and jumped to fourth but as the track improved further and better times flooded in elsewhere, he began to slide down the timesheet. And when the order settled after the final shake-up, the Mexican scraped through to Q3 in tenth place, just 0.003s ahead of Williams’ Alex Albon who was eliminated ahead of Gasly, RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Stroll. 

    At the start of the top-10 shootout, the Red Bull pair were last out on track and on new Inters Verstappen powered to the top of the order with a lap of 1:53.159, six tenths of a second ahead of Pérez who put in a strong lap on used tyres to post a lap of 1:53.765. That put the Mexican over two tenths clear of Hamilton who was on fresh tyres. 

    And with only the Ferrari cars with fresh inters for the final runs, Verstappen’s opening time proved untouchable as claimed top spot in qualifying, meaning that after his penalty for taking a fifth ICE of the season, the champion will start from 11th place on the grid. 

    Behind him, Leclerc, one of the few to have a fresh set of Inters for his final run, edged ahead of Pérez by 0.011s in the final moments to claim P2 and a front-of-the-grid start for the race. Pérez, third in the session, will line up on the front row for the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix in April.

    Behind Checo, Hamilton qualified fourth ahead of Norris, with Piastri in sixth place. Russell took seventh in the second Mercedes ahead of Sainz, while Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso ended the session in ninth place ahead of Ocon. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying
    1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’53.159 
    2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1’53.754 0.595
    2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1’53.765 0.011  
    4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’53.835 0.081 
    5 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1’53.981 0.227 
    6 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1’54.027 0.273  
    7 George Russell Mercedes 1’54.184 0.430 
    8 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1’54.477 0.723 
    9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’54.765 1.011 
    10 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1’54.810 1.056 
    11 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1’54.473 0.719 
    12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1’54.635 0.881 
    13 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 1’54.682 0.928 
    14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1’54.764 1.010 
    15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1’55.716 1.962 
    16 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1’56.308 2.554 
    17 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1’56.500 2.746 
    18 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1’56.593 2.839 
    19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1’57.775 4.021 
    20 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1’57.230 3.476 

  • Sarthak Chavan gets podium: TVS one-make event at ARRC

    Sarthak Chavan gets podium: TVS one-make event at ARRC

    Lombok Island (Indonesia), 27 July 2024: India’s Sarthak Chavan, the 17-year-old from Pune, delivered a podium finish, his second this season, in the fourth round of the TVS Asia One Make Championship which is part of the Asian Road Racing Championship at the Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, Indonesia, on Saturday.

    In a tight race, Sarthak, who started from P3, came in third behind championship leader Hiroki Ono (Japan) and Malaysian Mohd Ramdan Rosli (Malaysia). Another Indian, Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru, was fourth in the race. Less than one second separated the top four finishers.

  • Aditya Thakur-Virender Kashyap take lead on Day 1; Gaurav, Fabid face issues

    Aditya Thakur-Virender Kashyap take lead on Day 1; Gaurav, Fabid face issues

    Coimbatore, 27 July 2024: Former National champions from Himachal Pradesh Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap of Chettinad Sporting managed to take the lead on the first day of the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the of the Blueband Sports fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for four-wheelers, organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club and Promoted by Blueband Sports here on Saturday.

    In an unfortunate incident, unrelated to the rally, rally driver Premlal died after completing two stages due to cardiac arrest on Saturday.

    Of the 68 cars that took the start flag, only 49 survived the day. However, many of them will be taking a restart on Sunday, the final day. Prominent among those who suffered causality, was seven-time National champion and Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill, who began with a blistering pace topping the first Special Stage but fell in the next stage. The Speedster from Delhi has been having an awful time for want of a reliable care for the last few rallies.

    Two-time National champion Amittrajit Ghosh of Kolkota and co-driver Ashwin Naik from Mangaluru were in second place behind the Himachal pradesh after Leg 1. Another former National champion and one of the favourites, Karna Kadur along with experienced Musa Sherif are trailing in third, by a narrow margin.

    Aditya and Kunal are also leading their class, INRC2 while teammates Daraius Shroff  and Arjun Dheerendra, also from Chettinad Sporting, are leading INRC3 class. Abhin Rai and co-driver Moideen Jasher of A & A Motorsports are leading the Junior INRC class while Pragati Gowda, with experienced former National champion Sujith Kumar BS as co-driver, is leading the Ladies class. She put in a good show taking a creditable overall 9th place after Day 1.

    The pair of Shaik Aneeshnath S and Amitha Aneesh, also from A&A Motorsports are leading the Classic class while the Mandovi Racing duo of Kavan Kariapa KG and co-driver Gaurav Aiyappa are ahead in the Gypsy Challenge.

    Earlier on Friday evening,  Chief Guest  V Balakrishnan, IPS, Coimbatore City Police Commissioner, flagged off the rally R Sundar, Joint Managing Trustee, SNR Sons Charitable Trust, as guest of honour. Blueband Sports Director Premnath was also present.

    The Rally of Coimbatore 2024 will feature eight stages. The total distance of the rally is 269.38 kms. Six stages will be run on Saturday with two physical stages being SM Agro and BT2 near L&T bypass road. On Sunday, the rally will return to the traditional stages at Kethanur windmill farms, near Kethanur 4-Corner Junction.

    The Round 4 will be held in Hyderabad from October 18 to 20 while Round 5 in Kodagu will be from November 22 to 24. The final Round 6 in Bengaluru is scheduled to be held in December.

    Provisional Unaudited classification (After Day1)

    Overall:

    1. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) 01hours, 25 minutes; 11.2 seconds;

    2. Amittrajit Ghosh/ Ashwin Naik (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:28.2;

    3. Karna Kadur/ Musa Sherif (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:36.7;

    INRC 2:

    1. Aditya Thakur/ Virender Kashyap (Chettinad Sporting) 01:25:11.2;

    2. Philippos Matthai /PVS Murthy (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:56.1;

    3. Harkrishan Wadia / Kunal Kashyap (Arka Motorsports) 01:26:56.1;

    INRC3:

    1. Daraius Shroff /Arjun Dheerendra (Chettinad Sporting) 01:26:47.0;

    2. Jeet Jabhakh/ V Sekar (Chettinad Sporting) 01:27:06.4;

    3. Sheshank Jamal/ Aseem Sharma (Arka Motorsports) 01:27:15.9;   

    Junior INRC:

    1. Abhin Rai/ Moideen Jasher (A & A Motorsports)  01:29:11.9;

    2. Ajay Sankar/  Vybhav Mukund Rao (Mandovi Racing) 01:30:58.2;

    3. Nikeeta Takkale/ Shivani Parmar (Pvt.) 01:33.34.8;

    Ladies Class:

    1. Pragathi Gowda /Sujith Kumar BS (Chettinad Sporting) 01:27:13.0;

    2. Nikeeta Takkale/ Shivani Parmar (Pvt.) 01:33.34.8;

    3. Harshitha Gowda/ M Srivatsa (A & A Motorsports) 01:36:08.9;

    Gypsy Challenge:

    1. Kavan Kariapa KG/ Ms Gaurav Aiyappa (Mandovi Racing) 01:3618.6;

    2. Baljinder Singh Dhillon/ Goutham CP (Pvt.) 01:36:34.3;

    3. Sanjay Agarwal/ Dheeraj Manae (Pvt.) 01:36:45.3);

    Classic:

    1. Shaik Aneeshnath S/ Amitha Aneesh (A&A Motorsports) 01:38:32.2;

    2. Brian Michael/ Prakash M (Pvt.) 01: 43:41.9; (Note: only two cars finished in Classic class);

    .

    Championship Leaders after Round 2

    Overall:

    1. HarkrishanWadia 40 points;

    2. Daraius N Shroff 38

    3. Karna Kadur 35;

    4. Aditya Thakur 32.

    INRC2

    1. Fabid Ahmer 56 points;

    2. Harkrishan Wadia 42;

    3. Aditya Thakur 31;

    4. Pragathi Gowda 27.

    INRC3

    1. Daraius N Shroff 56 points;

    2. Arnav Pratap Singh 39;

    3. Vishak Balachandran 38;

    4. Jeet Jhabakh 31.

    Junior INRC

    1. Arjun Rajiv 44 points;

    2. Abhin Rai 32;

    3. Ajay Sankar 32;

    4. Arnav Pratap Singh 31.

    Ladies Class

    1. Phoebe Nongrum 70 points;

    2. Harshitha Raj Gowda 56;

    3. Nikeetaa Takkale 40.

    Gypsy Challenge

    1. Baljinder Singh Dhillon 78 points;

    2. Akarsh Sundar 63;

    3. Jayanth Somanathan 27;

    4. Sachin Singh 27.

    Classic Class

    1. Shaik Hussain Pasha 44 points;

    2. Praveen Dwarkanath 40;

    3. Aneeshnath 28.

  • Dr KV Premlal suffers cardiac arrest, passes away during INRC at Coimbatore

    Dr KV Premlal suffers cardiac arrest, passes away during INRC at Coimbatore

    Coimbatore, 27 July 2024: KV Premlal, a doctor from Kannur, passed away due to a heart attack during the transport section after Special Stage in the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship for four wheelers here on Saturday.

    Dr Premlal, the rally driver who passed away during INRC round at Coimbatore.

    He was 47 and survived by his wife, Dr Smija Aravind, a neurosurgeon and two children, Vishnu Premlal and Anika Premlal. He was the son a famous doctor, late Dr A V Govindan and late K V Prema.

    After completing SS2, the duo stopped and Premlal had a gulp of water and suddenly collapsed, according to an eye witness. His co-driver Thrissur’s KR Rishikesh, also a doctor, tried to revive him through resuscitation but in vain. He was driving an INRC3 spec Volkswagen Polo as part of Team Chettinad Sporting.

    Thyagarajan, Team Principal and all the team members of Chettinad Sporting conveyed their deep condolences to the bereaved family. Blueband Sports, the promoters of INRC, condoled the unfortunate death and conveyed their condolences to all the family, friends and teammates.

    The funeral will be held at Kannur on Monday, after his sister, who is in UK, arrives.

  • Oscar Piastri claims maiden F1 win in a McLaren 1-2 finish ahead of Hamilton:F1

    Oscar Piastri claims maiden F1 win in a McLaren 1-2 finish ahead of Hamilton:F1

    Oscar Piastri claimed his first Formula 1 victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with team-mate Lando Norris finishing second to hand McLaren its first 1-2 finish for three years, as Lewis Hamilton took the final podium spot for Mercedes. 

    Piastri’s win was set up at the start when he overtook Norris in Turn 1, but the Australian’s first victory was thrown into doubt late on when a strategic decision to pit Norris ahead of his team-mate in the final stops handed the British driver an undercut that put him in the lead. A lengthy team orders discussion followed, but eventually Norris ceded first place back to Piastri who led McLaren to its first one-two finish since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix. 

    At the start of the race, polesitter Norris got away well but on the run to the first corner Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen drew level with the Briton and they went three abreast into Turn 1. Verstappen went off track and with Norris also battling to stay on track, Piastri snuck through on the inside to take the lead.

    Verstappen rejoined in second but with the incident being investigated, he was told to give back the place back to Norris and did so soon after. and soon after the start the championship leader handed the place back into Turn 1. 

    At the end of a tight first stint, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to pit, from fourth place, followed by Norris and Piastri. Verstappen stayed on track, however, waiting until lap 21 to make his first stop and as the first round of tyre changes played out, Piastri returned to P1, three seconds ahead of Norris, but Hamilton had made the undercut work and he was now third ahead of Verstappen. 

    Verstappen, with fresher tyres, closed up to Hamilton over the following laps and at the start of lap 35 he attacked into Turn 1. The Mercedes driver locked up and went wide, giving Verstappen the chance to pass on the outside into Turn 3, but on his second attempt it was the Dutchman who went off track and Hamilton held on. 

    With Verstappen continuing to press, Mercedes eventually pitted Hamilton and the Red Bull driver began to eat into the gap to Norris ahead. 

    Meanwhile, at the front, Piastri suffered a brief off on lap 33 and that allowed Norris to close the gap at the front to just 1.5s. On lap 45, with both Verstappen and Hamilton threatening, McLaren pitted Norris ahead of leader Piastri to cover the charge. And with Piastri staying out for two more laps, Norris’ undercut promoted him to the race lead. 

    The strategy decision set up an increasingly techy finish for McLaren as Norris questioned the need to cede the position to Piastri and his race engineer talked the Briton into letting Piastri past. 

    Verstappen pitted at the end of lap 49, but even though the Dutchman’s stop of 2.3s good, he emerged in fifth place behind Hamilton and Leclerc with the task of passing both in the final 20 laps. 

    Leclerc’s defence was solid, but with Verstappen carrying more pace on fresh tyres, it was also brief. But after dismissing the Ferrari driver at the start of lap 56, Verstappen’s attempts to pass Hamilton proved frustrating and eventually debilitating. 

    The Dutchman attacked on lap 62 but Hamilton defended well. Max went for it again on the following lap but his lunge down the inside was too late. As Hamilton turned in, Verstappen locked up and there was contact. 

    The Red Bull driver was pitched into the air and then off track. Hamilton powered off into third and as Verstappen rejoined, Leclerc swept past to demote the Red Bull driver to fifth. 

    At the front, Norris eventually gave way to Piastri on lap 69 and two laps later the Australian took the flag to score his maiden F1 victory. Norris completed the 1-2 for McLaren and Hamilton took the remaining podium place ahead of Leclerc. 

    That left fifth place for a frustrated Max, who was also summoned to the stewards to review the Hamilton incident. Sainz took sixth place while another trademark Checo charge brought the team six hugely valuable points at the end of a difficult afternoon. Russell was left with eighth ahead of Tsunoda and the final point went to Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. 

    2024 FIA Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix – Race 
    1 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:38’01.989 
    2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 70 1:38’04.130 2.141
    3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 70 1:38’16.869 14.880
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 70 1:38’21.675 19.686
    5 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 70 1:38’23.338 21.349
    6 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 70 1:38’25.062 23.073
    7 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 70 1:38’41.781 39.792
    8 George Russell Mercedes 70 1:38’44.357 42.368
    9 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 70 1:39’19.248 1’17.259
    10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:39’19.965 1’17.976
    11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 70 1:39’24.449 1’22.460
    12 Daniel Ricciardo RB/Honda RBPT 69 1:38’19.913 1 lap /17.924
    13 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 69 1:38’35.173 1 lap /33.184
    14 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 69 1:38’38.758 1 lap /36.769
    15 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 69 1:38’47.291 1 lap /45.302
    16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:38’47.398 1 lap /45.409
    17 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 69 1:38’54.580 1 lap /52.591
    18 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 69 1:39’02.918 1 lap /1’00.929
    19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 69 1:39’05.587 1 lap /1’03.598
         Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 33 47’39.255 Retirement

  • Jaden Pariat delights on the bounce; Tarushi takes maiden podium: MMSC car Nationals

    Jaden Pariat delights on the bounce; Tarushi takes maiden podium: MMSC car Nationals

    Chennai, 21 July 2024: Two teenagers, Jaden Rahman Pariat (MRF Formula 2000) and Abhay Mohan (MRF Formula 1600) continued their assault on the titles with splendid victories on Sunday at the Madras International Circuit here as the curtains came down on the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM-X.

    While 17-year-old Jaden from Shillong came up with two super-aggressive drives for a double on Sunday to add to his five wins in the previous two rounds in February, while Bengaluru’s 16-year Abhay Mohan, in only his first season in single-seater racing, completed a sweep of nine consecutive victories, including a triple crown this weekend. Both are in good space to clinch the championship titles in their respective categories with one more round remaining.

    Jaden also won the Indian Oil special award for clocking the fastest lap (01min, 33.155secs) of the weekend across all categories.

    Elsewhere, Mumbai’s Biren Pithawalla (N1 Racing) also achieved a triple without facing much of a challenge to remain unbeaten in the Indian Touring Cars category. Hatim Shabbir from Chennai (Performance Racing) also won all the three races in the highly- competitive Indian Junior Touring Cars class to come within three points of leader and team-mate Srinivas Teja.

    Redline Racing’s Justin Singh from Gurugram drove well enough to win two of the three races this weekend in the Super Stock category which provisionally placed him six points behind championship leader Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) from Coimbatore who won the other race in the triple-header.

    Meanwhile, DTS Racing’s Viswas Vijayaraj from Nellore extended his championship lead to 63 points by completing a treble in the Formula LGB 1300 category, showcasing his skills and maturity in no uncertain terms. His best outing came in Race-2 today that he won after starting from P5 on the reverse grid.

    Pune’s Diana Pundole, a mother of two, picked up sufficient points in the three MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) races over the weekend to lead the points table though she failed to win any of the outings. Chikkamagaluru’s 20-year, final year student of St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru, Tarushi Vikram also enjoyed a good weekend, with a P3 finish in one race and top-five in the other two that has provisionally placed her third in the championship. Fighting with boys on equal footing, Tarushi won a podium place with admirable skill. The Chikkamagaluru driver, earlier took part in the Rally Star Cup.

    In the Polo Cup that witnessed fierce competition up and down the grid, Lonavla’s Dhruv Chavan and Aditya Patnaik from Mumbai shared the honours by winning two races apiece.

    Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, centre), winner of MRF Saloons Race-2, flanked by second-placed Anirudha Aravind (Chennai, left) and third-placed Arushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) on Sunday. Photo by Anand Philar

    Provisional results (all 10 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F2000 (Race-2): 1. Jaden Rahman Pariat (Shillong) (15min, 48.421sec); 2.  Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (16:13.812); 3. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (16:23.584).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Jaden Rahman Pariat (Shillong) (12:45.676); 2.  Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (13:00.405); 3. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (13:07.807).

    MRF F1600 (Race-2): 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru) (17:26.053); 2. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai) (17:29.637); 3. Monith Kumaran (Chennai) (17:31.157).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Abhay Mohan (13:55.948); 2. Monith Kumaran (14:05.481); 3. Saishiva Sankaran (Pune) (14:07.197).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai, Team N1) (19mins, 07.820secs); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (19:13.510). Note: Only 2 finishers.

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Biren Pithawalla (15:29.920); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (15:31.302); 3. Anant Pithawalla (Mumbai, N1 Racing) (15:38.100).

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Hatim Shabbir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (19:36.631); 2. Yug Italiya (Mumbai, N1 Racing) (19:48.982); 3. Dean Mascarenhas (Mangaluru, DB Motorsports) (20:01528).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Hatim Shabbir (15:41.300); 2. Srinivas Teja (15:44.905); 3. Yug Italiya (15:56.309).

    Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (20:58.260); 2. Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing India) (20:58.386); 3. Angad Matharoo (Chandigarh, pvt) (21:04.759).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Justin Singh (16:49.050); 2. Angad Matharoo (17:04.842); 3. Bala Prasath (17:05.324).

    MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) Race-2: 1. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Redline Racing India) (20:53.702); 2. Anirudha Aravind (Chennai, Redline Racing India) (21:00.207); 3. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru, Redline Racing) (21:03.048).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Kesara Godage (16:39.241); 2. Anirudha Aravind (16:40.086); 3. Diana Pundole (Pune, Redline Racing India) (16:41.460)

    Polo Cup (Race-2): 1. Dhruv Chavan (Lonavla) (19:27.389); 2. Ojas Surve (Mumbai) (19:29.874); 3. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (19:30.348).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (15:36.664). 2. Dhruv Chavan (Lonavla) (15:38.699); 3. Ojas Surve (Mumbai) (15:39.687). Race-4: 1. Dhruv Chavan (19:29.079); 2. Aditya Patnaik (19:30.259); 3. Ojas Surve (19:30.834).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (18:53.663); 2. Diljit TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (19:01.197); 3. Neev Datta (New Delhi, MSport) (19:02.725).

    Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (15:09.240); 2. Diljith TS (15:09.684); 3. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (15:10.103).

  • Toprak Razgatlioglu takes 8th win in a row: WorldSBK

    Toprak Razgatlioglu takes 8th win in a row: WorldSBK

    Race 1 Highlights

    • Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made it eight wins in a row after dominating the 22 lap race. With a winning margin of over five seconds it was a comfortable success for the Turkish star who now leads the championship by 56 points from Bulega
       
    • From the second row of the grid Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) came through to finish second. The Italian matched his career best performance in the Superbike class and claimed his second podium of the season
       
    • Having opted for the harder front tyre, Iannone rounded out the podium positions. The Italian dropped from second position to fourth position at one third distance but made his way back to the podium
       
    • Having started from the second row of the grid Bulega also opted for the harder front tyre. He had a difficult race and ended in sixth position but held on to second position in the championship standings
       
    • Having suffered a grid penalty, Bautista spent the majority of the race in sixth position before making progress in the final seven laps. He first picked off his teammate Bulega on Lap 14 and then Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) with four laps remaining.

    Tissot Superpole Highlights

    • Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) smashed the lap record during the 15 minute Superpole session. His time, 1’30.064, left him comfortably on pole position for the fourth time this season
       
    • A third front row of the season was Andrea Iannone’s reward for a superb effort in Superpole. The Team GoEleven rider matched his best qualifying performance of the season in second position
       
    • A three place grid penalty dropped Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) to tenth position for Race 1. The double World Champion ended Superpole 0.953s slower than Razgatlioglu. His teammate, Nicolo Bulega, qualified off the front row of the grid for the first time in 2024.

    Key Points:

    Pole position: Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
    Race 1 winner: Toprak Razgatlioglu
    Race fastest lap: Toprak Razgatlioglu 1’31.540s.

    P1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
    “I’m happy. We have won again and we had an amazing lap time in the Superpole session. I pushed a lot on the first lap and then I just found my rhythm. I had a very good pace in the race but during the the last five laps the front was closing, especially on the left corner. After last year, when I crashed at corner two, it’s an incredible win. I want to say thanks to my team because we did an incredible job today! We have two more races tomorrow, and that’s my focus now.”

    P2 | Danilo Petrucci | Barni Spark Racing Team
    “I’m really happy. I said that we could fight for the podium but when you are in the race you have to fight really hard to get that podium. At the beginning, I had a bit of trouble but then I saw that Nicolo and Andrea were a bit slower going into the corners and I tried to go ahead of them. Andrea gave me a hard time until the end. I know him very well and on the last lap it is always special with him! I tried to close the doors on that lap. I can’t believe I’m here after my motocross accident and now I’m again on the podium! I want to say thanks to everyone who helped me and we’ll try again tomorrow!”

    P3 | Andrea Iannone | Team GoEleven
    “I’m really happy about today because we recovered a lot from yesterday. After FP1, we were 15th in the classification. My team believed in me and I want to thank them for believing we can achieve a great result today. It was a really difficult race because the temperature was really high. With Danilo in front it made it difficult for my tyre temperature and it wasn’t easy in the braking points for corners. Danilo rode faster than me today, Toprak was unbelievable but I didn’t give up and I tried my best. We’ll try a little more tomorrow!”

  • Viswas Vijayaraj wins; Jaden Pariat denied a chance to pay penalty, keep points

    Viswas Vijayaraj wins; Jaden Pariat denied a chance to pay penalty, keep points

    Chennai, July 20: Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj continued his domination in the LGB 1300 class while Akhil Agarwal, a 29-year-old first timer from Mumbai, was handed a victory in the marquee MRF Formula 2000 race following a “questionable” disqualification of Jaden Pariat in the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2024 – Powered by STORM-X at the Madras International Circuit, here on Saturday.

    It should be noted that, Jaden did get a jump start, and he said that he did not see or notice the warning by the marshals for a ‘dirve-through’ but the provisions in the rules had a 20-sec penalty, with a Rs.20,000 fine, which Jaden’s team was ready to pay a request for. But, the provision available in the rules was denied for the driver, who is the championship leader.

    The report

    Jaden, the 17-year-old from Shillong, “won” the race by the proverbial country mile. The penalty moved Agarwal to P1 while the Bengaluru pair of Chetan Surineni and Tarun Muthaiah were placed second and third, respectively.

    Further behind, another Bengalurean, 16-year-old Abhay Mohan raced to his seventh consecutive win in the MRF Formula 1600 class that was run on a combined grid with the MRF F2000, with Chennai’s Monith Kumaran coming in second, ahead of Mumbai racer Raaj Bakhru.

    Other winners of the day were Biren Pithawalla (Indian Touring Cars), Hatim Shabbir (Indian Junior Touring Cars), Justin Singh (Super Stock), Viswas Vijayaraj (Formula LGB 1300), Aditya Patnaik (Polo Cup) and Sri Lankan Kesara Godage (MRF Saloons).

    Mumbai teenager and former National Karting champion Aditya Patnaik notched a handsome win in the Polo Cup without breaking sweat, leaving Bangladesh’s HM Tauhid Anwar Avik and Romir Arya (Mumbai) to scrap for P2 and P3. “I had a good start and opened up a big lead. Thereafter, I eased off completely. I am very happy with the win as it was just my second outing in this category,” said Aditya.

    Kesara Godage, the youngster from Sri Lanka, took the honours in the MRF Saloons category that was run concurrently with the Polo Cup. Championship leader in this class, Diana Pundole finished second followed by Sri Lankan Kalim Iqbal.

    Meanwhile, starting from pole position, Biren Pithawala (Team N1 Racing) from Mumbai, enjoyed a trouble-free run and was the lone finisher in the Indian Touring Cars race with his rivals, cousin brother Ananth Pithawalla and Chennai ace Deepak Ravikumar encountering mechanical issues. Neither driver was classified.

    Chennai’s Hatim Shabbir led a 1-2 finish for Performance Racing in the Indian Junior Touring Cars class with Srinivas Teja following him home while Mumbai’s Yug Italiya (Team N1 Racing) completed the podium at the end of an entertaining race marked by wheel-to-wheel racing through the eight laps.

    Justin Singh from Gurugram (Redline Racing) easily topped the Super Stock category displaying impressive pace, well clear of Chandigarh’s Angad Matharoo and Bala Prasath (DTS Racing) from Coimbatore.

    DTS Racing team achieved a podium sweep in the Formula LGB 1300 category where Nellore’s Viswas Vijayaraj scored his fifth win of the season. Behind him Diljith TS (Thrissur) and Bala Prasath finished in that order after a fierce battle.

    Provisional results (all 8 laps unless mentioned):

    MRF F2000 (Race-1): 1. Akhil Agarwal (Mumbai) (13mins, 04.066secs); 2. Chetan Surineni (Bengaluru) (13:04.646); 3. Tarun Muthaiah (Bengaluru) (13:09.482).

    MRF F1600 (Race-1): 1. Abhay Mohan (Bengaluru) (13:52.487); 2. Monith Kumaran (Chennai) (13:59.414); 3. Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (14:03.763).

    Indian Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Biren Pithawala (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:30.329). Note: Only one finisher.

    Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-1): 1. Hatim Shabbir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:32.392); 2. Teja Srinivas (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:39.514); 3. Yug Italiya (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:50.132).

    Super Stock (Race-1): 1. Justin Singh (Gurugram, Redline Racing India) (16:41.923); 2. Angad Matharoo (Chandigarh, Pvt.) (16:55.327); 3. Bala Prasath (Combatore, DTS Racing) (16:55.568).

    MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) Race-1: 1. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Redline Racing India) (16:34.736); 2. Diana Pundole (Pune, Redline Racing India) (16:35.522); 3. Kalim Iqbal (Sri Lanka, Red Line Racing India) (16:54.554).

    Polo Cup (Race-1): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Mumbai) (15:30.830); 2. HM Tauhid Anwar Avik (Bangladesh) (15:38.195); 3. Romir Arya (Mumbai) (15:39.509).

    Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, DTS Racing) (15:04.786); 2. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (15:09.655); 3. Bala Prasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (15:10877).

  • Kush Maini takes a creditable second at Budapest: F2

    Kush Maini takes a creditable second at Budapest: F2

    Budapest, 20 July 2024: Top Indian star Kush Maini of Bengaluru notched up a creditable podium, taking the second place behind Trident’s Richard Verschoor, who claimed a victory at the Budapest Sprint Race the in Formula 2 world Championship here on Saturday.

    The Dutchman was able to pull away from Kush Maini at the end on his way to the top step, with the Invicta Racing driver crossing the line in second ahead of ART Grands Prix’s Victor Martins in third.

    AS IT HAPPENED

    Temperatures were much cooler for the Sprint compared to Friday’s Qualifying and there was a mix of tyres on the grid, with 12 cars fitted with the Softs, while the rest chose the Hards.

    Two of those drivers on the Hards were pole-sitter Verschoor and his fellow front row starter Maini, and while they made good starts, Andrea Kimi Antonelli had fired up his Soft tyres from P4 and went round the outside of the Invicta car at Turn 2, to take second.

    His fellow drivers on the red-walled compounds were also flying as Gabriel Bortoleto and Enzo Fittipaldi moved up to P6 and P7 respectively by overtaking Hard tyre runner Isack Hadjar.

    The PREMA Racing rookie would not have to wait long to take the lead as he overcame Verschoor’s staunch defence to dive down his inside at Turn 1 at the start of Lap 4.

    By the end of Lap 5, Antonelli was over two seconds clear out front, while Maini was beginning to close in on Verschoor for P2, with Martins just behind on his Softs.

    On to Lap 7, and Fittipaldi was showing strong pace in his Van Amersfoort Racing car and overtook his fellow Option tyre runner Bortoleto for P6, going round his compatriot’s outside at Turn 1.

    But as the drivers set of on Lap 11, what had been a lead of over two seconds for Antonelli had now been closed to 1.6s, as the Hard tyre runners began to come into their own.

    Further back, Maini had also created a gap of over two seconds to Martins, who was now defending from Dennis Hauger in the battle for P4.

    On Lap 13 of 28, Hadjar used DRS to get ahead of Bortoleto for P7, while Hauger had dropped back from Martins and had fallen to P6 behind Fittipaldi.

    Verschoor was now right on the back of Antonelli as they started Lap 16, but the PREMA driver was resisting each attack. However, he could not hold on much longer, running wide at the final corner before locking up into Turn 1, allowing both Verschoor and Maini through.

    Unfortunately for Antonelli, his lock up had proven costly as he was falling through the field with Martins, Fittipaldi, Hauger and Hadjar all making their way past before PREMA made the call to pit him for a set of Hards.

    Bortoleto was also struggling on his Softs with Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman overtaking him and dropping him to P9 before Invicta also decided to pit him for the Hard tyres.

    Back in the midfield, Paul Aron was looking to make up the positions he lost at the start as one of the Prime tyre runners and went round the outside of Jak Crawford at Turn 2 for P12, despite the American’s attempts to take back the position at T4.

    But as the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was battling to get back into the points, his Championship rival Hadjar was up to fourth after overtaking Fittipaldi and Hauger on Lap 21.

    Fittipaldi was also struggling on his Softs and after losing out to Hauger and Colapinto, he suffered a puncture on the left front tyre forcing him to pit.

    Bearman then lost places to Aron and Taylor Barnard to drop out of the points. He then went three-wide with the DAMS Lucas Oil cars of Crawford and Juan Manuel Correa at Turn 3, with the former emerging ahead in P9.

    By the final lap, Verschoor had built a two-second gap out front and crossed the line to take his fourth Formula 2 victory ahead of Maini, with Martins taking the final spot on the podium.

    Hadjar ended up in P4 ahead of Hauger and Colapinto, with Aron making his way through to P7 as Barnard rounded out the points in P8.

    KEY QUOTE – Richard Verschoor, Trident

    “Super happy with today, we made the right choice going on the Prime tyres. I’m very happy with the win but I have the feeling it should have been my third and not my first, so let’s enjoy the moment, the team did a good job and let’s move on to tomorrow.”

    THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

    After finishing fourth, Championship leader Isack Hadjar moves to 138 points and extends his lead to second place Paul Aron to 119. Third and fourth-placed Zane Maloney and Gabriel Bortoleto failed to score in the Sprint Race but maintain their positions in the Standings although Franco Colapinto has moved to 95 points with his deficit to the Invicta Racing driver now just three.

    In the Teams’ Standings, Campos Racing maintain their lead and move to 176 points, however, MP Motorsport scored two more points than them in the Sprint Race and the gap with between the two stands at 11. Invicta Racing are just one point behind in third on 164, while Hitech Pulse-Eight sits fourth on 144 ahead of Rodin Motorsport on 120.

    UP NEXT

    Next on the schedule is the Budapest Feature Race which is set to take place on Sunday morning at 10:05 local time.