Doha, 21 Feb 2014: The first regional Women in Motorsport seminar, organised by the Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) in partnership with the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission, took place in Doha this week.
Almost 50 people from across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region attended the seminar along with invited guests and speakers, providing the opportunity to discuss issues that affect women in motorsport, share knowledge and ideas, as well as identify new opportunities.
Hosted by Nasser Khalifa Al Atya, QMMF President and FIA Vice President for Sport in the Middle East, and in the presence of FIA Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker, and Women in Motorsport Commission President Michèle Mouton, the seminar was aimed at encouraging women to get involved in the sport both regionally and internationally.
Conclusions from the seminar identified the need to focus on four primary areas; research, training, education for all, communication and promotion. This includes assessing the true position of women in the sport today, encouraging their involvement from an early age, and improving the perception of women’s participation in motorsport.
Since its creation in 2009, the Women in Motorsport Commission has enlisted the support of national representatives from 52 countries around the world, all of whom have been designated by their National Sporting Authority (ASN) to liaise with the Commission and help implement actions and programmes at a national level.
“To activate a taskforce in the MENA region, in all aspects and including women specifically, is my first challenge as Vice President for Sport in the region,” commented Nasser Khalifa Al Atya. “From this week’s seminar it is clear that the women present have a strong motivation to build a clear vision and they are passionate about achieving their goals. This is a big achievement for us and the Middle East and it’s important we move this forward in a proper way.”
“For over 100 years the FIA is proud that women have been a central part of motorsport,” commented Graham Stoker. “This heritage was recognised in 2009 with the establishment of the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission. Now as a member of the IOC, the FIA continues to be determined to encourage and support the promotion of women in the sport in all areas in accordance with the IOC Charter.”
Summing up the success of the first regional Women in Motorsport seminar in Qatar, Michèle Mouton said: “We can see that wherever we come from, we all have the same will and desire to progress. This has been a hugely satisfying forum for the exchange of ideas, solutions and contacts to enable us all to work closely together in the future.”
The FIA Women in Motorsport Commission also conducted its first meeting of 2014 in Doha yesterday (20 February 2014).
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Nico Hulkenberg covered 59 laps today as Sahara Force India completed its second day of testing in Bahrain.
Day Two Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 59 laps
Mileage: 319 km
Fastest lap: 1:36.445
Classification: P2
Nico Hulkenberg: “My two days in the car have been very positive. We’ve made some improvements to the car, collected lots of data, and continued to learn with each lap. At the moment it’s still early days, but I’m pleased with the progress we have made in terms of understanding the car. I think we are getting closer to seeing the potential of these cars, certainly compared with the performance in Jerez, but it’s such a steep learning curve and I expect the times to become quicker and quicker.”
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer:
“It’s been another productive day with aero data collection, performance work and tyre evaluation. We had some aero devices on the car this morning and then continued with the set-up programme that we started yesterday. Nico was able to try the various tyre compounds available to us. There was a small amount of downtime in the middle of the day, but on the whole it’s been another solid performance with good reliability.”
Test Schedule
Sergio Perez will drive the VJM07 tomorrow and Saturday.
endsNico Hulkenberg in a Sahara Force India on Day 2 of Testing at Bahrain SIC on Thursday. A Sahara Force India photo
Sakhir, 19 Feb 2014: The second of Formula 1’s three pre-season tests kicked off Wednesday morning at the Sakhir circuit here in Bahrain.
Sahara Force India and Nico Hulkenberg finished at the top of the timesheets after the first day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Day One Statistics:
Chassis: VJM07-01
Laps: 79 laps
Mileage: 428 km
Fastest lap: 1:36.880
Classification: P1
After the busy programme, Nico Hulkenberg said: “A very positive and satisfying day. We had a busy programme and we learned a lot. Time in the car is very valuable at the moment and so it feels good to cover so many laps and even complete two long runs at the end of the day. That gave me a chance to see how the car behaves and to start getting a feel for it, which was not something I was able to do in Jerez. It’s great that we’ve already done some set-up work and started to improve the drivability of the car. But it’s still very early stages; we are learning with every lap and we face a very steep learning curve in the coming days. ”
Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Operating Officer said: “Our Bahrain test has got off to a positive start. 79 laps is a good effort and it’s just what we need at this early stage of the VJM07’s development. The aero work this morning ran smoothly with the constant speed runs giving us some aero data we required. In the afternoon we started evaluating the soft and medium tyres, and running through different set-up options – changing ride heights and rebalancing the car. We ended the day with a couple of longer runs on the soft tyres.”
Test driving schedule
Nico Hulkenberg will be back in the VJM07 tomorrow. Sergio Perez will drive on Friday and Saturday.
Meanwhile, Kevin Magnussen drives the opening two days of the test for McLaren Mercedes, with Jenson Button concluding the test by running on Friday and Saturday.
Kevin kicked off proceedings for McLaren by conducting a series of short aerodynamic evaluation runs, complete with monitoring equipment fitted to the car.
In the afternoon, he completed a number of longer runs, aimed at putting mileage on the power unit and components, and also to proof theories and improvements introduced after the first test in Jerez earlier this month.
Kevin completed the second-highest mileage of the day, and, despite a slow start to the morning, was pleased with his progress.
1 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1m 36.880s 78 laps
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m 37.879s 64 laps
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 1m 37.908s 74 laps
4 Kevin Magnussen McLaren Mercedes 1m 38.295s 81 laps
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1m 40.224s 14 laps
6 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1m 40.443s 82 laps
7 Robin Frijns Caterham 1m 42.534s 68 laps
8 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso 1m 44.346s 5 laps
9 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1m 44.832s 8 laps
10 Felipe Massa Williams – 5 laps
11 Jules Bianchi Marussia – 3 lapsNico Hulkenberg sets top times on Wednesday on Day 1 of Bahrain testing. A Sahara Force India photo
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Milan, 18 Feb 2014: The second four-day official test of the year takes place in Bahrain from Wednesday to Saturday this week: the same venue that will host the third and final pre-season test lateA screen shot from Pirelli website as Pirelli all set to test tyres without warming jackets.r this month. The warm ambient conditions of around 20 degrees centigrade or higher are set to provide a marked contrast to the first test of the year in Jerez, which featured low temperatures and rain, a Pirelli Press Release said.
All the teams are expected to be present at the Bahrain test, as they continue to optimise the interaction between their radical new cars – with 1.6-litre turbocharged engines and advanced energy recuperation systems – and the latest generation of Pirelli tyres, which feature new compounds and constructions this year.
The track contains a wide variety of speeds and corners with high longitudinal demands that address most aspects of a tyre’s behaviour, making it an ideal test venue.
Pirelli’s motorsport director Paul Hembery: ”The first test of the year in Jerez was all about the teams getting their first taste of a very different set of technical regulations, so as expected running was limited and evaluating tyres was not a priority. On top of that, winter conditions in Europe – even in southern Spain – are not representative of the race conditions we will generally encounter throughout the rest of the season. In Bahrain, we’re expecting better weather and more running, which will allow ourselves and the teams to assimilate more data and knowledge of the tyres.”
Testing Facts:
Teams are allowed an overall maximum total of 135 sets of tyres for testing this year, including the in-season tests. The maximum total for the three pre-season tests is 85 sets of tyres: 25 sets for Jerez and 30 each for the two Bahrain tests.
The teams will be able to test three slick compounds in Bahrain: hard, medium and soft. On top of this, they will also be able to test the ‘winter’ hard compound, which Pirelli has created to ensure a rapid warm-up even at low temperatures. The teams have asked to try this tyre, designed for Jerez, in Bahrain as well in order to assess how it performs in higher ambient temperatures. The ‘winter” version is recognisable by the fact that it has no markings, whereas the ‘standard’ 2014 hard compound carries orange markings.
Pirelli is also bringing an extra set of medium tyres per team to Bahrain, with 2014 construction and compound. However, these are actually considered to be ‘prototypes’ as their purpose is to test tyre behaviour without warming blankets, which will be banned from 2015 onwards.
Of the 30 sets at each team’s disposal, 22 sets of the four slick tyres (hard, ‘winter’ hard, medium, and soft) are selected by Pirelli in accordance with the teams. The remaining eight sets are chosen by the teams in advance, to suit their individual run plans.
More Testing Facts and Figures:
Compound Amount provided per team * Fastest time in 2013 **
Supersoft N/A N/A
Soft 2 N/A
Medium 10 1:32,330
Prototype ‘medium’ *** 1 N/A
Hard 8 1:36,961
‘Winter’ hard 2 N/A
Intermediate N/A N/A
Wet N/A N/A
* Above choice made by Pirelli in agreement with the teams. Each team could choose further 8 sets for this test.
** Based on the results of the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix.
*** Not included in the overall test allocation of 135 sets per team.
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Williams (Ticker: WGF1) is pleased to announce that it has signed a new multi-year partnership agreement with Brazilian multi-national energy company Petrobras.
Williams and Petrobras have had a history of technology collaboration dating back to 1998 when the team started using Petrobras’ fuel for the first time in a partnership which lasted for 11 years. This new agreement will see the Williams and Petrobras technical collaboration continue once more as the two parties work together to develop a new specialist motorsport fuel for use by the team starting in the 2015 season. With new engine regulations coming into effect from 2014 that require teams to use more efficient fuels, Petrobras’ expertise will ensure that the team is well placed to meet the demands of greater energy efficiency within the sport.
Petrobras will use the global platform of Formula One to further brand awareness through the placement of its logo on the side of the Williams Mercedes FW36 chassis and across the team environment and apparel.
Petrobras is a Brazilian company and global leader in energy production through deepwater oil and gas exploration and production. Today they are the pioneers in one of the world’s most promising oil and gas reserves: the pre-salt formation, which will aid the company in doubling its production by 2020. This increase will significantly impact global energy supply and further the development of society.
Petrobras President Maria das Graças Silva Foster celebrated the return of the company to a Formula One team by saying: “We are very happy to be going back to the biggest motorsport competition in the world. During the 11 years that Williams was by our side we made significant advances in product development, such as Podium gasoline. Participating in this competition is a huge challenge, since it requires us to always be ready to meet the highest standards for quality and efficiency demanded by the category. We are very excited to start this new challenge.”
Speaking about the new partnership Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal of Williams, said: “Petrobras and Williams have had a successful partnership before and we are both looking forward to reuniting for 2014. Technologically they are very strong and that will be important for the team as the new regulations have made fuel efficiency increasingly important. They are also a very ambitious global company and we are looking forward to working together to further their marketing goals.”
Chennai, 15 Feb 2014: British driver Ruper Svendsen-Cook became the favourite for the MRF Challenge 2013 after two convincing wins at the MMRT in Chennai. His title rival Tio Ellinas had a tough day after only one podium finish, one 4th position and a DNF which saw a 22 point advantage turn into a 9 point deficit as we head into the last two races of the championship. Indian F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan thrilled the home crowd with a great effort to finish 3rd on his return to the MMRT. In the MRF 1600 National Racing Championship category Tarun Reddy fought back from 8th place on lap 1 to win on the last lap ahead of Advait Deodhar and Vikash Anand. In the first round of the Indian Motorcycle National Racing Championship, Sarath Kumar won ahead of Jagan K and Mathana Kumar.
In Race 1 Svendsen-Cook had a great start from 2nd on the grid to move into 1st place ahead of Ellinas, Dejonghe and Karthikeyan. Karthikeyan pulled off a great move to get past Dejonghe on Lap 5 to move into 3rd place and started chasing down Ellinas. Ellinas and Karthikeyan had a great battle with the Indian all over the rear of the Cypriot driver. Svendsen-Cook crossed the line to win comfortably. Karthikeyan finished just behind Ellinas to finish on the podium in his first ever MRF Challenge 2013 race.
In Race 2 Svendsen-Cook once again got the jump on Ellinas and moved ahead in the 10 lap race. Dejonghe slotted in third and it was soon a three way battle between Svendsen-Cook, Ellinas and Dejonghe with Harry Tincknell closing in on the trio. Behind them young Indian driver Raj Bharath enjoyed his best race of the season in 5th place ahead of APRC Champion Gaurav Gill. As they entered the last lap the order was the same with Ellinas trying everything possible to get past Svendsen-Cook. Ellinas made a move into C3 on the final lap and hit the Brit driver sending him into a spin. Ellinas had to retire with damage on his right front tyre while Svendsen-Cook managed to recover and get back on track. This gave Sam Dejonghe his first win of the season ahead of Harry Tincknell and a recovering Svendsen-Cook. Raj Bharath was forced to retire on the last lap with mechanical problems from a brilliant 5th position. Gill finished in 4th place but was later penalised for a jump start.
The MRF 1600 NRC category was up next with Tarun Reddy dominating qualifying earlier in the day. Tarun started on pole but got bogged down with a clutch problem which dropped him to 8th position. Advait Deodhar had a great start and led ahead of Kartik Tharani, Mihir Dharkar and Vikash Anand. Advait pulled away at the front with Tharani behind him. Tarun started picking off drivers and passed Vikash and Mihir before setting his sights on the front duo. Tarun got past Tharani with 2 laps to go and started to close in on Advait. Tarun went down the inside of Advait at Anands corner taking the lead and going on to win one of the best races of his career. Tharani finished in second place with Vikash Anand passing Dharkar to finish in 3rd place. Race 2 will take place tomorrow.
Tarun Reddy won his best race of his career so far. He commented, “I still can’t believe I won today. This is easily the best race I have ever participated in. I had a problem with the clutch on the formation lap so knew the start would be a problem. I did not expect to drop to 8th but after that I tried to push as much as possible. I knew podium was possible but Advait was too far ahead. I caught him on the last lap and managed to surprise and pass him. It feels great and now I am looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
The final race of the day was Race 3 of the MRF Challenge 2013. Svendsen-Cook got his trademark fast starts and moved into second place at the start behind Dylan Young. Ellinas starting at the back had a good start and was up to 6th place at the end of lap 2. Svendsen-Cook passed Young on lap 3 to take the lead pull away from the pack. Harry Tincknell was in 3rd place before passing Young for 2nd. The battle was for 4th place with Dejonghe, Ellinas, Ryan Cullen and Oscar King all close together. Tincknell closed the gap to Svendsen-Cook from 7 seconds to 1 second but was not enough and the latter took his second win of the day. Tincknell took his second podium of the day with Young taking his first podium of the season. Indian drivers Vikash Anand and Raj Bharath put on a good show to finish in 9th and 10th positions respectively. With Ellinas only finishing in 5th place the championship swung again and this time towards Svendsen-Cook’s favour. Svendsen-Cook has 185 points with Ellinas in second with 176 points. There are two races remaining tomorrow that will decide the MRF Challenge 2013 winner.
Race winner Rupert Svendsen-Cook was surprised to be leading the championship. He commented, “It was a fantastic day for me and I am thrilled to be in the lead of the championship. There are still two races to go tomorrow so still lot of work to do. Winning 2 out of the 3 races was great so am excited about tomorrow.”
Championship contender Tio Ellinas was disappointed after a tough day of racing. He said, “In Race 1 I had a slow start and Rupert got ahead of me and was just too fast. Narain was right behind me and we had a great battle for 7-8 laps. In Race 2 I tried to pass Rupert in the final lap but he closed the door and we ended up colliding. I had to retire which was unfortunate and it also meant I had to start from the back in Race 3. In Race 3 5th was the best I could do after fighting my way from the back. I have lost the championship lead but tomorrow is a new day so I will push for the win.”
Sam Dejonghe was happy to win his first race of the season. He said “We have been competitive all weekend so it feels great to take my first win today. There was almost nothing to choose from between Tio, Rupert and me in Race 2 so when they collided I was in the right place to take advantage. The MRF Challenge is a great championship so would like to thank my engineers and team for all their help.”
Earlier in the day Sarath Kumar won the first race of the opening Round of the Group C 165CC Open of the FMSCI-MMSC INMRC. K Jagan put pressure on Sarath throughout the race and finally finished a second behind him. Mathana Kumar finished in a lonely third place ahead of Harry Sylvester. In the Group D 165CC Ankit Gupta took his first ever win ahead of Deva U and Harikiran P.
MRF Challenge 2013 Calendar:
Round 1: October 25-27, 2013, New Delhi, Buddh International Circuit (Formula One Support Race)
Round 2: November 28-30, 2013, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit (World Endurance Championship Support Race)
Round 3: December 19-21, 2013, Bahrain, Bahrain International Circuit (Gulf Racing Festival)
Round 4: February 14-16, 2014, Chennai, Madras Motor Race Trust
Simona file photo simonadesilvestro.comHinwil, 14 Feb 2014: The Sauber F1 Team is pleased to announce that Simona De Silvestro will become an affiliated driver.
The 25-year-old Swiss left for the US when she was just 18 to drive in the Formula BMW USA series in 2006 and the Atlantic Championship from 2007 to 2009. Over the past four years De Silvestro has been driving in the IndyCar Series. She won the prestigious Indy 500 “Rookie of the Year” Award in 2010 and became the first woman to earn a podium finish on a street circuit in IndyCar, a press release from Sauber F1 team said.
This year she is taking the next step in her career by joining a preparation programme with the Sauber F1 Team, with the goal to gain her super licence and prepare for a race seat in Formula One for 2015. The programme will include on track testing, simulator training, as well as mental and physical preparation.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal:
“After four years in IndyCar, Simona’s ambition is to enter Formula one in 2015. We regard her as a very talented race driver, and we, therefore, decided to take her on board as an “affiliated driver” and support her on her way to the pinnacle of motorsport.”
Simona De Silvestro:
“This is a major step towards me achieving a life-long dream and I’m so happy to have the opportunity to take this step with such a great team. The Sauber F1 Team is a team with a legacy and the only Swiss team in Formula One, which I think makes this even more exciting. I can’t thank Monisha Kaltenborn and Peter Sauber enough for their support and belief in my abilities and for giving me this chance. I’m thrilled to have this extremely unique platform on which to prepare myself to take on the challenge.”
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Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila claimed their third Rally Sweden victory today, taking the win by 53.6 seconds over Volkswagen team-mates Andreas Mikkelsen and Mikko Markkula. Third position was taken by the Citroën DS3 crew of Mads Østberg and Jonas Andersson.
In the FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers, Latvala’s victory and additional points in the Power Stage see the Finn head the leaderboard, five points ahead of team-mate and reigning World Champion Sébastien Ogier. Mads Østberg rounds off the top three, another five points adrift. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, wins in Monte-Carlo and Sweden put Volkswagen Motorsport in the lead, the German marque 16 points ahead of the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team.
Today’s final day of competition took in two identical loops of four stages covering 142.16 competitive kilometres. The rally was rounded off with the televised Power Stage, in which all-important points are awarded to the fastest three drivers through this single stage. Here, Østberg, Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen collected the extra points. Latvala started the day in control of the field and a clean sweep of fastest times in the opening loop helped the Finn extend his advantage. This afternoon he was able to control the field to notch up his first WRC victory since Greece last year. Mikkelsen has driven a fine event, the Norwegian always in the frame for his first-ever WRC victory. Today he went off in the second stage and damaged the suspension, but otherwise escaped unscathed to secure his maiden WRC podium. Mads Østberg won two of this afternoon’s stage and finished a deserved third overall.
Mikko Hirvonen finished a more distant fourth, just over 30 seconds ahead of Ott Tanak in a similar Fiesta RS WRC. After going off the road yesterday, Sébastien Ogier managed to climb up to sixth, overhauling reigning Junior WRC Champion Pontus Tidemand and Henning Solberg. Craig Breen finished ninth and Kris Meeke 10th after losing time stuck in a snow bank this morning. Robert Kubica endured a difficult rally and went off again today; he nevertheless gained valuable experience of all the stages and finished 24th overall.
The FIA World Rally Championship contenders now head across the Atlantic for the first full gravel event of the season, Rally Guanajuato Mexico (6-9 March).
Rally Sweden – Final Unofficial Results (subject to scrutineering)
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila
2. Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson
4. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
5. Ott Tanak/Raigo Molder
6. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia
7. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor
8. Pontus Tidemand/Ola Fløene
9. Craig Breen/Scott Martin
10. Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Volkswagen Polo R WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Ford Fiesta RS WRC
Citroën DS3 WRC
3hr 00min 31.1sec
3hr 01min 24.7sec
3hr 01min 30.6sec
3hr 02min 58.0sec
3hr 03min 31.6sec
3hr 05min 01.0sec
3hr 05min 18.6sec
3hr 06min 09.3sec
3hr 09min 26.5sec
3hr 11min 49.1sec
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers (after 2 of 13 rounds)
FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers (after 2 of 13 rounds)
Volkswagen Motorsport
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Volkswagen Motorsport II
M-Sport World Rally Team
Hyundai Motorsport
RK M-Sport World Rally Team
72 points
56 points
26 points
22 points
8 points
4 pointsA WRC participant flying through the snow in Rally Sweden. An FIA photo
