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WRC – Evans takes lead; Rovanpera rolls out: Rally Finland
Elfyn Evans was catapulted into the lead of Secto Rally Finland when team-mate Kalle Rovanperä’s golden streak came to an abrupt halt during Friday’s opening leg.
Home hero Rovanperä, who carried a commanding 55-point lead into this ninth FIA World Rally Championship round, reeled off five consecutive benchmark times in a Toyota GR Yaris and headed chasing colleague Evans by 5.7sec approaching the day’s seventh stage in Myhinpää.
But a rare mistake 11.1km after the start brought a disastrous end to the defending world champion’s day when he lost control of his GR Yaris and rolled end-over-end. Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen emerged from the wreckage unscathed despite the force of the impact being strong enough to tear a rear wheel from the car.
Evans, currently second in the points, inherited the top spot from his stranded team-mate and negotiated the remaining two stages error-free to head Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville by a mere 6.9sec overnight.
“Overall it’s been an okay day,” said Evans, who was frustrated to give away 2.8sec to Neuville in the Harju finale. “We’re pretty happy overall and obviously we’ve still got a lot of driving to do tomorrow.”
Mistakes were punished brutally on central Finland’s superfast gravel roads and Rovanperä wasn’t the only victory contender to come unstuck. His Hyundai-driving compatriot Esapekka Lappi crashed into a tree in SS4 whilst running fourth overall.
Ott Tänak, leader after Thursday’s evening’s super special stage in Jyväskylä city centre, retired his Puma in SS3 with terminal engine failure and his M-Sport Ford partner Pierre-Louis Loubet crashed in the same test.
Neuville’s day wasn’t without drama, either. The Belgian reported a lack of rear traction early in the day and struggled for visibility under scattered rain showers on multiple occasions. He headed Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta, who won the opening stage, by 9.5sec at close of play.
In fourth overall and within reaching distance of the podium was Teemu Suninen. The Finn is contesting his second rally aboard an i20 N Rally1 and trailed Katsuta by 12.4sec after building his speed throughout the day.
Toyota team principal Jari-Matti Latvala rounded out the top five on his first WRC start since 2020. Behind him was Jari Huttunen, who led WRC2 in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 after leapfrogging Sami Pajari when the youngster suffered tyre damage in the penultimate stage.
Toksport WRT2’s Nikolay Gryazin, Oliver Solberg, both in a Škoda Fabia RS, and Adrien Fourmaux in an M-Sport Ford-entered Fiesta MkII, complete the top 10 going into Saturday, host to the rally’s longest leg with eight special stages totalling 160.68km.
Benjamin Korhola heads the WRC3 class, ahead of fellow countryman Jesse Kallio (+32.0) and Turkey’s Ali Türkkan, almost two minutes behind, all in Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars.
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Pole position for Rajiv Sethu, Vignesh Goud: National 2w Racing Round 3
Chennai, 4 August 2023: Chennai ace Rajiv Sethu and Hyderabad’s Vignesh Goud, both looking to extend their unbeaten run, qualified for pole position in their respective categories as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023 commenced at the Madras International Circuit, here on Friday.
The 24-year-old Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate), winner of all four races so far this season, showed impressive pace in the latter half of the 15-minute qualifying session for pole position in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc category, clocking a best lap of 01 minute, 50.457secs, to finish ahead of Petronas TVS Racing team’s threesome of Jagan Kumar (01:50.787), Deepak Ravikumar (01:50.845) and Pune youngster Sarthak Chavan (01:50.849).
Later, 19-year old Vignesh Goud (Race’ists Motorcycle Club) from Hyderabad, who is unbeaten in the Novice (Stock 165cc) category after four races over two rounds, put in a best lap of 02:08.750 for pole position, ahead of Bengaluru’s Savion Sabu (Axor Sparks Racing, 02:09.170) and Chennai rider Sangeeth S (ACCSYS India Rookie Racing, 02:09.753).
Earlier, in the free practice session for Pro-Stock 165cc Open category, Petronas TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed (01:55.455) and multiple National champion Jagan Kumar (01:55.471) set the early marker, ahead of championship leader Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate, 01:56.344) and defending champion Mathana Kumar (Pacer Yamaha, 01:56.480).
In the Girls’ category (Stock 165cc), Ann Jennifer (Alpha Racing) was the quickest with a hot lap of 02:10.645, while Lani Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) from Puducherry was second fastest in 02:10.925, ahead of Nadine Faith Balaji (Alpha Racing) whose best was 02:13.791.
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250): Unsurprisingly, Kavin Samaar Quintal, the teenager from Chennai, topped the practice session time sheets with a best lap of 01:50.859, well clear of another local rider Rakshith Dave (01:51.993) and Bengaluru’s AS James (01:52.818).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Coimbatore’s Senthilkumar S took the pole position in the Open (RR 310) category with a best lap of 01:54.221 while Alwin Sundar from Chennai (01:54.871) and Chiranth Vishwanath from Bengaluru (01:54.961) completed the front row.
Chennai’s Nadine Faith Balaji outpaced the Girls (Apache RTR 200) field for pole position, clocking a top lap of 02:14.670, ahead Bengaluru’s 13-year-old Nithila Das (02:15.534) and Sarah Khan (02:15.751) from Mumbai.
Bengaluru riders, Copparam Shreyas Hareesh, 13, winner of four consecutive races this season, and Savion Sabu, 16, were the quickest in the free practice session for Rookie (RTR 200) category. Shreyas clocked a best of 02:06.150 as against Savion’s 02:07.914 while local rider, Nandanan, 13, was third quickest in 02:09.185.
The results (Qualifying – Top 3 Best laps):
National Championship – Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open: 1. Rajiv Sethu (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (01 min, 50.457secs); 2. Jagan Kumar (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (01:50.787); 3. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Petronas TVS Racing) (01:50.845).
Novice (Stock 165cc): 1. Vignesh Goud (Hyderabad, Race’ists Motorcycle Club (02:08.750); 2. Savion Sabu (Bengaluru, Axor Sparks Racing) (02:09.170); 3. Sangeeth S (Chennai, ACCSYS India Rookie Racing) (02:09.753).
Support Event – Stock 301-400cc (Novice): 1. S Rohit Lad (Bengaluru, Pvt) (02:04.718); 2. Aldrin Babu (Thrissur, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (02:04.786); 3. Anand N (Chennai, RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) (02:05.181).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Open (RR 310): 1. Senthilkumar C (Coimbatore) (01:54.221); 2. Alwin Sundar A (Chennai) (01:54.871); 3. Chiranth Vishwanath (Bengaluru) (01:54.961).
Girls (Apache RTR 200): 1. Nadine Faith Balaji (Chennai) (02:14.670); 2. Nithila Das (Bengaluru) (02:15.534); 3. Sarah Khan (Mumbai) (02:15.751).
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MIC set to host Round 3 of National 2W Racing Championship
Chennai, 3 August 2023: The MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2023, boasting of over 150 entries, moves into its crucial phase this weekend as the third round gets underway at the Madras International Circuit here on August 4-6 with front-runners looking to consolidate their positions on the leaderboard with a clutch of challengers snapping at their heels.
The two premier Pro-Stock categories – 301-400cc Open and 165cc Open – will undoubtedly headline the card that includes Stock 165cc, Girls classes and a support race for Novice (301-400cc) riders, besides the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship and the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup, both organised by promoter Madras Motor Sports Club which is celebrating its 70th anniversary. A total of 16 races, besides practice and qualifying sessions, are scheduled for the weekend.
The ongoing season has seen the emergence of a new generation of teenaged riders who have come through the ranks and some of whom have benefitted from exposure at the Asian level. As such, the established stars are feeling the heat as these young guns are unafraid to race wheel-to-wheel with their seniors, thus scripting some thrilling and knife-edge contests.
MMSC President Ajit Thomas said: “Presently, it is an extremely exciting scenario where the old guard is being pushed by a new crop of talented youngsters who are fast making a mark in the championship. Further, the entries are not any more metro-centric as the championship is attracting riders from smaller towns across India, and their numbers are growing. While MMSC has striven hard to promote and popularise the sport, kudos to the manufacturers TVS and Honda, besides our title sponsors MRF Tyres, for providing a platform for the talent to be nurtured and groomed.”
As for the championship standings in various categories, not much separates the title contenders. Rajiv Sethu (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate) leads both premier Pro-Stock Open fields. He enjoys a 46-point cushion against Petronas TVS Racing’s new recruit Sarthak Chavan, a 16-year-old from Pune, in the 301-400cc Open class, having won all four races in his debut season in this category.
Sethu also heads the 165cc Open category with a 10-point lead over Pacer Yamaha’s 2022 champion Mathana Kumar, who scored a double in the first round in Coimbatore but failed to secure any points in the next outing last month following a disqualification (technical infringement) and a non-start. Behind this pair are Sarthak Chavan, winner of one race, and three other Petronas TVS Racing riders – Chiranth Vishwanath, the 16-year-old from Bengaluru, KY Ahamed and multiple National champion Jagan Kumar. Just 19 points separate the top six.
In the Novice class, Hyderabad’s 19-year-old Vignesh Goud (Race’ists Motorcycle Club), winner of all four races over two rounds, has a healthy 40-point advantage over Bengaluru teenager Savion Sabu (Axor Sparks Racing) while Alpha Racing’s Ann Jennifer, a former National champion, tops the Girls category, albeit by just three points over Puducherry’s Lani Fernandez (RACR Castrol Power1 Ultimate), both having won a race apiece.
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (NSF 250): Chennai teenager Kavin Samaar Quintal, with three wins in four starts this season, is firmly entrenched at the top of the points table, some 19 points clear of Steel City’s Prakash Kamath with another local rider, Rakshith Dave, only 14, a further two points adrift.
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship: Two Chennai riders, Alwin Sundar (78 points) and Manoj Yesuadiyan (70) are locked in a close battle in the Open (RR 310) category. Shreyas Hareesh, a 13-year-old from Bengaluru), with four wins from as many starts, heads the Rookie (RTR 200) class, 37 points ahead of Chennai’s Nandanan. Another Bengaluru rider, Nithila Das, 13, leads Nadine Faith Balaji from Chennai, by 14 points in the Girls (RTR 200) category.
The races will be streamed live on various social platforms.
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Bharat Ke Anmol award for Vamcy Merla Sports Foundation
New Delhi, 2 Aug 2023: Hyderabad-based Vamcy Merla Sports Foundation became the first sports body to receive the prestigious Bharat Ke Anmol award during a glittering ceremony at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on Tuesday evening.
The Foundation’s chairman Mr Vamcy Merla accepted the coveted award, bestowed on him for promoting talented but financially challenged boys and girls across several sports, ranging from soccer, roller-skating, kabaddi, badminton to motorsports.
Bharat Ke Anmol, is one of its kind National Award, acknowledges and celebrates eminent personalities in India who have not only risen above the rest in their field of speciality but have also done yeoman service to the society and to the disadvantaged.
Padmasree Dr Vijay Kumar Shah (a prominent Social Activist), Dr. T.S. Rao (Father of Vaccines), Dr SM Khan (Doordarshan Director-General, News), Air Commodore Rashid Zafar Qureshi (Kargil veteran), Mir Mothesham (former Mr World silver medallist) and Smt Chandrakala Padia (eminent scholar) were among the elite personalities who were feted.
“My father Late Shri Merla Chandrashekara Rao used to run several charitable trusts and provide every kind of assistance to the poor and downtrodden. I’ve been inspired by him,” Mr Merla said while receiving the award. “As for me, I have been passionate about motorsports all my life. That’s why I am supporting events, racers, rallyists and drivers at several levels. I am grateful for being chosen for this prestigious award. I now feel motivated to do more,” he added.
“Mr Merla has changed the face of Indian motorsports with his foundation. We hope this award encourages him to help other sports and sportspersons,” Dr. Mohammad Nizamuddin and Dr Venkata Ganjam, the brains behind the Bharat Ke Anmol initiative, said.
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Max Verstappen double at Spa; Sergio Perez 2nd
Spa Francorchamps, 30 July 2023: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen rose from sixth on the grid to take a comfortable Belgian Grand Prix win, beating team-mate Sergio Pérez by more than 22 seconds, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held off Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton to claim the final podium place at Spa-Francorchamps.
At the start, Leclerc made a good start from pole position to take the lead into La Source ahead of Pérez who defended aggressively to keep Hamilton at bay. Behind them, though, there was contact when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, starting fourth, locked up into Turn 1 and squeezed McLaren’s Oscar Piastri into the wall on the inside. Both cars were damaged in the incident, with Piastri forced into retirement later in the lap, while Sainz was able to limp on.
Verstappen , meanwhile, made a good start from P6, and taking a wide line into Turn 1 to stay out of trouble he was able to tuck into P5 on the run through Eau Rouge.
As the cars swept up the hill to Raidillon, Pérez closed on Leclerc and the Mexican powered
past Leclerc to take the lead, while behind them Verstappen breezed past the wounded Ferrari of Sainz to take P4 behind Hamilton.
His stay behind the Briton would be brief, however. On lap six, the Dutchman closed in on the Kemmel straight under DRS and he eased past the Mercedes driver under braking on the inside into Les Combes. The champion was now just a second behind Leclerc, while ahead, Pérez led the Ferrari driver by 2.4 seconds. And three laps later Vertsappen moved to took to P2, passing Leclerc on the outside on the approach to Les Combes.
Hamilton was the first of the soft tyre front runners to pit and the Mercedes driver switched to Medium tyres at the end of lap 12. Pérez made his first stop on lap 12, and he moved to medium tyres. The stop was slightly slow, however, at 3.2 seconds with sparks flying from the left rear but he managed to rejoin in second place ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen then pitted at the end of lap 14 and he took on new Medium tyres in a 2.5s second stop that put him back on track just over two seconds behind Pérez.
Verstappen quickly erased that gap and on lap 17, aided by DRS on the long Kemmel straight, he shot past his team-mate to take the lead. And immediately afterwards the Dutchman posted a new fastest lap of 1:50.108 to power out of DRS range.
On lap 18, Sainz, struggling with damage in P19 and soon to retire, reported that rain was falling at Turn 15 and over the following three laps it began to get more steady and on lap 22 there was a nervous moment for Verstappen when the Dutchman suffered snap midway through Eau Rouge and had to quickly correct. “I almost lost it,” he told his pit wall before backing off his lap times in the tricky conditions to manage the gap to Pérez
The race leader was told the rain wouldn’t last, however, and despite the slippery track he and the rest of the field hung on to slick tyres. That forecast proved to be correct and soon after half distance the times began to drop once again, leaving the Red Bulls drivers to settle in at the front of the pack. On lap 25 Verstappen led Pérez by six seconds and with the Mexican seven seconds clear of Leclerc. Hamilton was fourth with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso in P5.
Hamilton made his second stop, for Soft tyres, on lap 28 and Ferrari reacted by pitting Leclerc on the following lap, with the Monegasque driver moving to the same compound as their tight battle for P3 continued.
Pérez made his second stop at the end of lap 29 and in a smooth 2.2 second halt he also moved to Soft tyres. Verstappen then made his second stop at the end of the following lap, switching to Soft tyres just a tenth of a second slower than his team-mate. And he immediately used the greater grip of the softest compound on offer to blast to the fastest lap of the race with a lap of 1:48.922 on lap 32.
With the bulk of pit stops complete, the order at the top settled, with Verstappen a comfortable 17 seconds ahead of Pérez who was 4.2s clear of Leclerc. And by the end of lap 44 Verstappen had stretched the advantage to take his eight consecutive victory 22.3 seconds clear of Pérez, who scored his seventh podium of the season.
Behind the top two, Leclerc held on to second place ahead of Hamilton, who pitted on the penultimate lap for a new set of Medium tyres to take the fastest lap of the race on the final tour with a lap of 1:47.305.
Alonso finished in fifth place ahead of George Russell who worked a one-stop race well to take sixth after starting in eighth, while Lando Norris took the flag in P7. Esteban Ocon finished in eight place ahead of Lance Stroll and the final point on offer was taken by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Race
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 44 1:22’30.450
2 Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 44 1:22’52.755 22.305
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 44 1:23’02.709 32.259
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 44 1:23’20.121 49.671
5 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 44 1:23’26.634 56.184
6 George Russell Mercedes 44 1:23’33.551 1’03.101
7 Lando Norris McLaren 44 1:23’44.169 1’13.719
8 Esteban Ocon Alpine 44 1:23’45.169 1’14.719
9 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 44 1:23’49.790 1’19.340
10 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 44 1:23’50.671 1’20.221
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine 44 1:23’53.534 1’23.084
12 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 44 1:23’55.641 1’25.191
13 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 44 1:24’05.891 1’35.441
14 Alexander Albon Williams 44 1:24’06.634 1’36.184
15 Kevin Magnussen Haas 44 1:24’12.204 1’41.754
16 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 44 1:24’13.521 1’43.071
17 Logan Sargeant Williams 44 1:24’14.926 1’44.476
18 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 44 1:24’20.900 1’50.450
Carlos Sainz Ferrari 23 44’53.845 Accident damage
Oscar Piastri McLaren 0 – Accident damage -
Philippos Matthai wins INRC2, claims stunning overall 2nd; Third win for Aroor Arjun Rao
Coimbatore, 30 July 2023: Philippos Matthai, the Delhi Daredevil from Team Speedsport, claimed a stunning victory in the INRC2 class and finished ahead of many higher-spec cars with an Overall second, even as Aroor Arjun Rao continued his winning spree in the top Overall class annexing the Rally of Coimbatore, the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) 2023 for four-wheelers which concluded here at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday.
Hat-trick of INRC wins: Aroor Arjun Rao and Sathish Rajagopal en route to a big win in the Rally of Coimbatore at the Kethanur Windmill farms on Sunday. Photo by Rahul Reghu Team Mandovi Racing’s Aroor Arjun Rao with co-driver Satish Rajagopal put in a consistent performance to notch up his third Overall victory in as many rounds and retained his Championship lead while Philippos Matthai and co-driver PV Srinivasa Murthy in a Volkswagen Polo prepared by Leelakrishnan of Arka Motorsports powered to the top of the podium winning INRC2 and beat all the other top-spec INRC cars except that of Arjun Rao in the Overall standings. In the last round in Arunachal Pradesh, Philippos finished second in INRC2 and came Overall 5th after a forgettable first round in the South India Rally where he was forced to pullout within 2-km of the finish due to mechanical problems while leading second Overall.
Pre-event favourites Arjun Awardee Gaurav Gill (Aniruddha Rangnekar) and defending champion Karna Kadur (Nikhil Pai) failed to finish the rally.
“With a calculated strategy we garnered as many points as possible in the previous two rallies and our consistent and steady performance helped as we are back on the top in our class. I am very happy and with three more rallies to go, our target is to win the championship,” said the 39-year four-time National champion in different motorsports disciplines. The lawyer by education and car-builder and rally driver by passion, Philippos is remembered for driving the medical chase car at the F1 Grands Prix races held at Buddh International Circuit in 2012 and 2013.
Philippos Matthai and PVS Murthy in the windmill section… Photo by Rahul Reghu Talented Chandigarh driver Jahaan Singh Gill along with Suraj Keshav Prasad won the INRC3 class ahead of Jason Saldanha of Mangaluru with co-driver Thimmu Uddapanda, who last week got on to the podium of RAAT the Rally of Thailand in their class.
Aroor Arjun Rao, left, and Sathish Rajagopal, after sweeping all the three rounds, celebrate in Coimbatore on Sunday. Supplied photo Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi claimed INRC4 category beating Shirole Prakhyat and Bharath SM by a huge distance. Behind them the Chikkamagaluru paid of Prajwal HM and Vinay SM finished in third place.
Dehradun’s Anushriya Gulati with a new co-driver in Sherwin Dalmeida of Managaluru won the Ladies class. Representing Dark Don Rallying, the duo had a huge lead over second-placed Nikeetaa Takkale (Venu Ramesh Kumar). Mumbai’s Shivani Parmar and Bengaluru”s Arjun Dheerendra of Chettinad Sporting finished third.
Provisional Results: Final Unaudited Classification:
Overall: 1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;
2. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;
3. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1;
INRC:
1. Aroor Arjun Rao, Mangaluru / Satish Rajagopal, Bengaluru (Mandovi Racing) 1:53:48.4;
2. Amittrajit Ghosh, Kolkata/ Ashwin Naik, Mangaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54: 31.1.
3. Rahul Kanthraj Vivek Y Bhatt (Both Bengaluru) (Arka Motorsports) 1: 55: 39.1;
INRC2:
1. Philippos Matthai, Delhi/ PVS Murthy, Bengaluru (Arka Motorsports) 1: 54:20.0;
2. Fabid Ahmer/ Sanath G, both Palakkad (Chettinad Sporting) 1:54:37.7;
3. Dr Bikku Babu / Milen George, Both Ernakulam, (Chettinad Sporting) 1:55.00.3;
INRC3:
1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) 1:55:37.6;
2. Jason Saldanha, Bengaluru/ Thimmu Uddapanda, Coorg(Dark Don Rallying) 1: 55:45.3;
3. Daraious Shroff, Mumbai/ Shahid Salman, Bengaluru(Chettinad Sporting) 1:57:04.5.
INRC4:
1. Ruthuparna Vivek/ Athreya Kousgi, Privateers, both Chikkamagaluru 2: 03:10.5;
2. Shirole H Prakhyat/ Bharath SM, Both Bengaluru, 2:06:32.6;
3. Prajwal HM/ Vinay SM, pvt, both Chikkamagaluru, 2:12:40.6;
Gypsy:
1. Darshan Nachappa/ Abhinav Ganapathy (Both Coorg) Ammyfied Rallying, 2:06:10.7;
2. Abhishek Gowda, Chikkamagaluru/ Dheeraj Manae, Pvt, Bengaluru 2:07:29.6;
3.Jayanth Somanathan/ R Rajashekar, Pvt, 2:12:16.0.
Ladies class:
1. Anushriya Gulati, Dehradun/ Sherwin Dalmeida, Mangaluru, (Dark Don Rallying) (1:49:14.2);
2. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied Rallying) (2:02:18.4);
3. Shivani Parmar, Mumbai/ Arjun Dheerendra, Bengaluru (Chettinad Sporting) (2:22:47.0).
Junior INRC:
1. Jahan Singh Gill, Chandigarh/ Suraj Keshav Prasad, Bengaluru (Snap Racing) (1:55:37.6);
2. Ajay Sankar, Kollam/ Nitharshan, Kollakurichi, pvt, (1:59:21.7);
3. Nikeetaa Takkale, Pune/ Venu Ramesh Kumar, Coimbatore (Ammyfied) 2:02:18.4);
(Note: Results corrected after release of Official results)
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Cassidy win clinches World team title for Envision Racing: Formula E
LONDON, UK. Sun. 30 July 2023 – Nick Cassidy led all the way in a rain-soaked final race of the Formula E season in London to claim the Teams’ World Championship title for Envision Racing, edging out Mitch Evans and Jaguar TCS Racing who finished second in the race and the Teams’ title fight.
Torrential rain in the hours leading up to Round 16, the second race in the Hankook London E-Prix, created treacherous conditions on the outdoor sections of the unique outdoor and indoor 2.09km track at the ExCeL London events arena.
While the outcome of cricket’s Ashes was impacted by the classic downpours of a British summer, the 22 drivers were eventually able to get underway and complete the full 38-lap race which would decide the outcome of the Teams’ championship.
Both Jaguar TCS Racing and their Jaguar-powered customer team Envision Racing were on 268 points going into the final round, creating a compelling final chapter for fans despite Jake Dennis winning the Drivers’ World Championship title in Round 15 the day before.
Cassidy composed himself after multiple red flags and returned to the garage to claim a comfortable race win, leading home fellow New Zealander Mitch Evans and rookie champion Jake Dennis in third to win a maiden title for Envision Racing.
Ultimately, it was an emphatic win for the Kiwi. He started in Julius Bär Pole Position, led from lights-to-flag and set the TAG Heuer Fastest Lap of the race. He kept Evans at arm’s length throughout while the lead pair also extended a 10 second advantage over next-best Dennis with track conditions and visibility as tough as they can be in motorsport.
Cassidy’s conclusive victory in the Jaguar I-TYPE 6 earned him runner-up in the Drivers’ World Championship.
The final round of Season 9 ended with Envision Racing extending beyond their previous best of third place to top the table ahead of their factory Jaguar TCS Racing team by 12 points. The Porsche-powered Avalanche Andretti Formula E Team was also able to edge their factory supplier TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team to third by 10 points. Dennis finished 30 points clear of Cassidy with Evans third and Wehrlein fourth.
Two-time Academy Awards-winning actor Christoph Waltz and rapper, producer and activist Jaden Smith presented trophies on the podium while Orlando Bloom also attended the Formula E London finale weekend.
Nick Cassidy, No 37, Envision Racing, said:
“It’s mixed emotions but ultimately I’m very happy because today was a difficult day for me mostly because I didn’t sleep well last night, I arrived late – but I did the business so I’m proud. The team have been absolutely incredible. They’re an incredible bunch of people and they work so hard. Of course every team does but these guys have been close on so many occasions and I think that just shows how strong they have been in this championship, and to finally get it done for them I am super super happy.”
Mitch Evans, No. 9, Jaguar TCS Racing, said:
“Big disappointment. Obviously, we didn’t finish as World Champions in the Teams. Look, Nick did a great job and the other guys did a great job. He responded to me when I was catching him and I didn’t have enough – full credit to him. I did my best but just came a little short.
“Massive thanks to everyone in Jaguar TCS Racing. Obviously we can take a lot of pride with the Envision World Championship too. Thanks to everyone – we’ll keep pushing on in the office season and come back better next year.”
Jake Dennis, No. 27, Avalanche Andretti Formula E Team, said:
“We’re beating our own records right now. To get the podium at the end of the day was special in such difficult conditions with the wet and dry sections – but we managed to do it, keep it out of the wall and we were pretty quick, but we needed to be. I think we needed a clean race, try and get that podium, celebrate now with everyone and really try and let it all sink in.
“I have to thank these guys, all of them [the team]. They’ve done so much hard work not just this year but also last year. It’s been such a team effort and we scored so many wins, so many pole positions and so many podiums. I get to celebrate with them together so I’m looking forward to that, call it a season and come back next year. I’ll be hungover tomorrow! I don’t know what my drink of choice will be but there will be one.”
Sylvain Filippi , Managing Director & Chief Technical Officer, Envision Racing, said:
“Thank you. It took us nine years and it’s an incredible feeling. It’s been an incredible season, it’s all been so close. An incredible job from the team and as you know we were in very close competition with Jaguar TCS Racing but we’ve had the most amazing car. It’s fast and it’s got us where we are today.
“We issued a team pep talk and chat late last night to regroup everyone. But ultimately our team is very strong and that is why I am so proud of them.”
The ABB FIA Formula E World Championship returns in Season 10 with the 2024 Mexico City E-Prix on Saturday, 13 January 2024 and includes a debut Formula E race on the streets of Tokyo on Saturday, 30 March.
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Max Verstappen storms to sprint victory at Spa
Spa, 29 July 2023: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen won the Sprint at the 2023 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, beating McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly in a tricky 11-lap race shortened to heavy rain that required a rolling start behind the Safety Car.
After a 35-minute delay caused by thunderstorms, Race Control informed teams that the Sprint would get underway with a formation lap followed by four laps behind the SC. That meant starting on full Wet tyres and during the period behind the Safety Car, a number of drivers radioed through to their teams to report that the conditions were good enough for Intermediate tyres.
However, when the Safety Car left the track, Verstappen, wary of any potential mishaps in what was likely to be a crowded pit lane, stayed on track to take the race lead. Behind him, Piastri dived into the pits for Inters, followed by a host of drivers including Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez.
The early move benefited all, as ahead the cars on full Wets laboured through the opening lap on slower tyres. Verstappen and the rest of the full Wet runners then filed into the pit lane at the end of the first lap to take on the green-banded tyres but when the rejoined the order had changed massively with Piastri now ahead of Verstappen and with Pérez and Gasly owever, the time lost on that lap of full Wets meant that when Max rejoined he was behind Piastri who streamed through to take the lead.
Behind the top two, Checo had perfectly worked his pit stop and as the field crossed the line to start the second lap, the Mexican was in P4 behind Gasly with Hamilton in fifth place. On lap four, however, the race was neutralised. Fernando Alonso went off track at the exit of Pouhon and with his car beached in the gravel track, the Safety Car was released.
At the end of lap 5 the SC left the track and Verstappen closed in on Piastri as they exited La Source. Aided by a slipstream he powered past the Australian and into the lead as they made their way down the Kemmel straight.
Behind them, Pérez was coming under pressure from Hamilton and after a wheel-banging battle at the end of lap 6, during which the Red Bull driver sustained major damage to his sidepod, he could do nothing at the start of the next lap when the Mercedes driver got past at La Source.
Complaining that he had “no rear grip” Pérez was then passed by Sainz and Leclerc on the Kemmel straight, and when he slid off and clattered through the gravel at Stavelot and let Norris past, the Mexican’s race was done and he limped back to the pits to retire.
At the front, Verstappen was in total control and after 11 laps he took his second Sprint win of the season 6.6s ahead of Piastri. Gasly finished third ahead of Sainz and Leclerc, with Norris in sixth place. Hamilton, after taking his time penalty at the flag finished in seventh place and the final point on offer went to George Russell.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Sprint
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 11 24’58.433
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 11 25’05.110 6.677
3 Pierre Gasly Alpine 11 25’09.166 10.733
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 11 25’11.081 12.648
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 11 25’13.449 15.016
6 Lando Norris McLaren 11 25’14.485 16.052
7 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 11 25’15.190 16.757
8 George Russell Mercedes 11 25’15.255 16.822
9 Esteban Ocon Alpine 11 25’20.843 22.410
10 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 11 25’21.239 22.806
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 11 25’23.440 25.007
12 Alexander Albon Williams 11 25’24.736 26.303
13 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 11 25’25.439 27.006
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 11 25’31.419 32.986
15 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 11 25’34.775 36.342
16 Logan Sargeant Williams 11 25’36.004 37.571
17 Nico Hülkenberg Haas 11 25’36.260 37.827
18 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 11 25’37.700 39.267
Sergio Pérez Red Bull Racing 8 – Retirement
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 2 – Retirement -
Gaurav Gill raring to go; Arjun Rao keen to keep the lead; 23 Ammyfied cars
Coimbatore, 28 July 2023: Arjuna Awardee Gaurav Gill and co-driver Aniruddha Rangnekar are eager to bounce back while championship leader Aroor Arjun Rao and Satish Rajagopal are looking to looking for a decent finish to garner as many points as possible to keep their title fight alive as the third round of the Blueband fmsci Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) for four wheelers begins at the Kethanur Windmill farms here on Saturday.
A total of 76 cars are in fray for the rally organised by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club, one of the oldest and founder clubs of fmsci, the Indian federatioin. Though this high number is not a National record, it is one of the events with highest number of competitors in fray. Of these, 23 cars are fielded by Ammyfied Rallying which is sponsored by businessman Vamcy Merla through his sports foundation.
After the ceremonial start at the traditional Jenneys club on Friday evening, the drivers looked confident with the recce under their belt and Philippos Matthai who just managed to log in some important points in the slippery mountains of Itanagar is raring to go all out in the fast stages of Coimbatore in INRC2 class. The Arka Motorsports driver from Delhi in a rally-tuned Polo will have a fight in hand with Kerala drivers and former champions Dr ‘Speed’ Bikku Babu (Milen George) and advocate Fabid Ahmer (Sanath G).
Jehan Singh Gill and co-driver Suraj Keshav Prasad, dominated with their raw speed last year but became victims to some errors by the tuners. This year Jehan Singh Gill is expected to showcase his talent to be in the frontrunners not only in INRC3, his class, but is capable of beating the higher-spec machines. Arnav Pratap Singh (Arjun SSB), Darious Shroff (Shahid Salman) and Vishak Balachandran (Anil Abbas) will be vying with each other to be on the top in INRC3 which has a huge number of 28 cars.
The cars to watch out for in the INRC4 class are Abhin Rai and co-driver Uday Kumar, Ruthuparna Vivek and co-driver Athreya Kousgi, and Jagpreeth Singh Nirwan and Karanpreet Singh Mattu, who are leading the championship in that order.
The Gypsy class, which is a non-championship Cup event, has attracted more numbers thanks to the generosity of Vamcy Merla.
Both the Junior INRC and Ladies class will also have stiff competition with the season getting into the midway mark.
The windmill stages are fast and have two physical stages namely the 8.4km SM Agro and 10.4km BBS which will be run thrice each on Saturday. On Sunday, the longer special stages of Black Thunder (18.2km) and Thunder World (14.99km) will be run twice in the same direction.
The next round of the six-round calendar, K1000, is expected to be near Bengaluru in August.
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Verstappen tops qualies, but grid penalty promotes Leclerc to Spa pole
Spa Francorchamps (Belgium) 28 July 2023: Max Verstappen topped Qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix, delivering an impressive final flying lap in Q3 to beat Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and third-placed Red Bull team-mate Sergio Pérez by more than eight tenths of a second. But the champion will start the race at Spa-Francorchamps from sixth place on the grid after he takes a gearbox penalty.
At the start of Q1, on a damp track, it was McLaren’s Lando Norris who set the early benchmark with a lap of 2:01.874 set on Intermediate tyres. Mercedes’ George Russell then bettered that by almost three tenths of a second before Verstappen Max jumped to second place with an opening flyer of 2:01.597. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri then took top spot and he was then eclipsed by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who led the way on 2:00.536.
With five minutes left in the opening segment Verstappen rose to P1 with a lap of 1:58.932 that put him ahead of Sainz and Pérez who had moved to P3 with a lap of 1:59.911. Hamilton then moved to the top with a lap of 1:58.841 but it was Charles Leclerc who took the Q1 bragging rights at the end of the segment. The Ferrari man was one of the last drivers on track at the end and his final tour of 1:58.300 saw him jump from P16 and the drop zone to the top of the timesheet.
Verstappen eased through in second place, two tenths behind Leclerc, while Hamilton progressed in third place.
At the other end of the timesheet, Alex Albon was the first man eliminated in P16. The Williams driver was followed to the exit by Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu, Williams’ team-mate Logan Sargeant, Alpha Tauri’s Daniel Ricciardo, who had his final lap deleted for a track limits violation at Raidillon, and Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg.
At the start of Q2 Hamilton was first on track on Intermediate tyres. The Mercedes driver stopped the clock at 1:58.024 to take P1 but it was clear that the surface was improving rapidly and when Verstappen vaulted to P1 with a time of 1:55.535, more than two seconds ahead of Hamilton, the change was clear and drivers began to switch to slicks for the final runs.
And in the end it was McLaren’s Piastri who made the most of the conditions. The Australian took top spot with a lap of 1:51.534, almost two tenths ahead of Sainz, with Leclerc third ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Verstappen, though, was almost caught out by the changing conditions. The Dutchman had a lap deleted for track limits and had to put in a last-ditch flyer. That was also imperfect and his final time of 1:52.784 saw him scrape through in P10.
The unpredictable nature of the session continued in the first runs of the top-10 shootout. Verstappen’s first flying lap of 1:48.059 took him to P1. But Leclerc was able to find more time and the Ferrari driver took provisional pole 0.128 ahead of the world champion with Sainz in third.
But in the end, Verstappen unlocked the pace of his RB19 and with a new set of Soft tyres on board and with more confidence in the car and the conditions, he string together an impressive lap that left closest rival Leclerc eight tenths of a second adrift.
The champion’s grid penalty means Leclerc will start from pole and Pérez will move from P3 in qualifying, just five hundredths of a second off the Ferrari driver, to a front row start. Behind the Mexican Hamilton took fourth place in Qualifying ahead of Sainz, with Piastri sixth. All will move up a place for the race start. Norris finished in P7 ahead of Russell, while Alonso will line up in P9 alongside team-mate Lance Stroll.
2023 FIA Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1:58.515 1:52.784 1:46.168 22
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:58.300 1:52.017 1:46.988 23
3 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing 1:58.899 1:52.353 1:47.045 22
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:58.563 1:52.345 1:47.087 24
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:58.688 1:51.711 1:47.152 23
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:58.872 1:51.534 1:47.365 23
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1:59.981 1:52.252 1:47.669 21
8 George Russell Mercedes 1:59.035 1:52.605 1:47.805 24
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:58.834 1:52.751 1:47.843 22
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:59.663 1:52.193 1:48.841 22
11 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri 1:59.044 1:53.148 15
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:59.511 1:53.671 17
13 Kevin Magnussen Haas 2:00.020 1:54.160 17
14 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo 1:59.484 1:54.694 17
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:59.634 1:56.372 13
16 Alexander Albon Willians 2:00.314 8
17 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo 2:00.832 9
18 Logan Sargeant Williams 2:01.535 6
19 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri 2:02.159 8
20 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 2:03.166 5
