As the title says a Rolex 24 at Daytona Review of the race. Review of Round one of the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Daytona and the first round of the North American Endurance Cup.
Wayne Taylor Racing team won the race overall and Prototype class too of Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli and Jeff Gordon in their Cadillac DPi-V.R, Cadillac 6.2 L V8.
While, Mustang Sampling Racing finished in second place in their Cadillac DPi-V.R, Cadillac 6.2 L V8; the team of João Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque; they were seven tenths of a second behind the leaders. Meanwhile, VisitFlorida Racing team finished in third place in their Riley Mk. 30, Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8; the team of Renger van der Zande, Marc Goossens and René Rast; they were a lap behind the leaders.
In GT Le Mans Class, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team won GT Le Mans Class and finished in fifth place overall in their Ford GT; with the drivers of Sébastien Bourdais, Joey Hand and Dirk Müller; they were seven laps behind the leaders.
In Prototype Challenge Class (all teams using Oreca FLM09 race car), Performance Tech Motorsports team won Prototype Challenge Class and finished in fifteenth place overall; with the drivers of Nicholas Boulle, James French, Kyle Masson and Patricio O'Ward; they were twenty-one laps behind the leaders.
In GT Daytona Class, Alegra Motorsports team won GT Daytona Class and finished in eighteenth place overall in their Porsche 911 GT3 R; with the drivers of Michael Christensen, Jesse Lazare, Daniel Morad, Carlos de Quesada and Michael de Quesada; they were twenty-five laps behind the leaders.
Next Stop Twelve Hours of Sebring in seven weeks time for round two of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Normally, you don't really see a MotoGP bike at all driving in the snow. For this post you do, just like last year with Max Verstappen driving a F1 car on the snow; this time, Repsol Honda Team rider and current MotoGP Champion Marc Márquez is riding his 2016 spec Honda RC213V with studded Michelin tyres on the slopes of Kitzbuhel, Austria causing havoc. Enjoy.
Manor Racing's administrator, FRP Advisory, confirmed on Friday (27/1/17) that the Formula 1 team has ceased trading and all employees will be made redundant, following unsuccessful discussions with potential investors.
However, the deadline to find a new backer has passed, leading to the Banbury-based team being wound up and the loss of 200 jobs.
First of all, I very feel sorry for the staff and their family at the team at this moment of time. Secondly, It's a very sad day that a team like Manor who could have been a potential midfield team this season have folded it really saddens me today to here the news.
However, it is not necessarily the end of Manor Racing, a buyer could potentially still purchase the remnants of the team.
But even if that were to happen, the move makes it much harder for the team to make it to the start of the season in Australia in late March.
It was confirmed on Monday evening (23/1/17), Bernie Ecclestone has departed his role as Formula 1's CEO, following a meeting with Formula 1 Chairman Chase Carey, ending his lengthy spell in charge of the sport.
Ecclestone, 86, has led Formula 1 for the last forty years. But, his position was threatened by the arrival of Liberty Media, which began acquiring the sport last September, ahead of a full takeover.
Liberty last week confirmed that it has received the required approval of the FIA and on Monday Ecclestone revealed to German publication Auto Motor und Sport that he is no longer in charge.
"I was deposed today," said Ecclestone, having recently hinted at a change.
"This is official. I do not run the company anymore. My position has been taken over by Chase Carey."
Ecclestone added that he has been offered the position of Honorary President by the American media company, he will more than likely to turn it down.
Chase Carey has now have Ecclestone's former role of chief executive officer added to his existing position of chairman.
Liberty Media has also brought in ex-Brawn and Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn back to F1.
Former Ferrari technical director, who had been acting as a consultant to Liberty Media, has been appointed to lead the sporting and technical side of the sport.
It has been rumoured some time he will step down. In my opinion the right time with the new owners coming in. I feel he should have stepped down a few years back maybe when Max Mosley stepped down as FIA president in 2009 when it was the right time for Bernie to step away and retire from Formula 1.
What ever you like him or don't like him Bernie Ecclestone made Formula 1 what it is today, from now on there is a new chapter ahead for Formula 1 without one Bernie Ecclestone.
The 2017 Race of Champions took place over last weekend (21st–22nd January) at the Marlins Park baseball stadium in Miami, U.S.A.
The 2017 Champion of Champions was won by former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who beat Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, 2–0 in the final.
While in the Nations' Cup, Germany team (or Team Vettel) of only former F1 Champion and Ferrari F1 driver Sebastian Vettel, after his team-mate Sauber F1 driver Pascal Wehrlein flip his car during Saturday's RoC which he withdrawn for Sunday's CoC race; took victory ahead of Team USA NASCAR of NASCAR driver's Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch, in a closely fought 2-0 final.
Recap of the last round of WRC from this weekends round 1 of Rallye Monte Carlo in Monte Carlo of course.
This weekend was round one of the 2017 World Rally Championship at the Rallye Monte Carlo (18th-22nd January), that was won by M-Sport World Rally Team driver and current WRC champion Sébastien Ogier in his Ford Fiesta WRC. Giving M-Sport their first WRC win since 2012.
While, Jari-Matti Latvala finished second in the works Toyota Yaris WRC, giving Toyota their first podium in their first rally back in the WRC since 1999. Latvala was over two minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Meanwhile, M-Sport World Rally Team driver Ott Tänak finished third in his Ford Fiesta WRC, Tänak was three minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
While in the WRC Trophy (crews entering World Rally Cars used between 2011 and 2016), that was won by J-Motorsport driver Jourdan Serderidis in his Citroën DS3 WRC. Jourdan Serderidis finished in twenty-ninth place overall, he was under fifty-sixth minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Meanwhile in WRC-2 class (Group R5, R4, Super 2000 and Group N4 spec cars), that was won by Škoda Motorsport driver Andreas Mikkelsen in his Škoda Fabia R5. Andreas Mikkelsen finished in seventh place overall, he was nine and half minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
While in WRC-3 class (Group R1, R2 and R3 cars) that was won by CHL Sport Auto driver Raphaël Astier in his Peugeot 208 R2. Raphaël Astier finished in nineteenth place overall, he was forty minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Highlights of the rally bellow, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Two of the 2017 WRC season for Rally Sweden in three weeks time.
It's been confirmed yesterday afternoon (16/1/17), Felipe Massa re-joins Williams on a one-year deal for the 2017 season, to race alongside rookie driver Lance Stroll, with Valtteri Bottas released to Mercedes.
Meaning Massa returning to Williams for what will be his fourth successive season with the team, alongside European Formula 3 champion Lance Stroll.
No surprises that Felipe Massa re-joins Williams, this has been rumoured since Rosberg's Retirement announcement that he will replace Bottas at Williams. With Bottas signed up to Mercedes, Pascal Wehrlein joining Sauber this season means we get at least one more season for Felipe Massa in Formula 1.
Bottas, was set to remain at Williams in 2017, alongside European Formula 3 champion Lance Stroll, but Rosberg's shock retirement as World Champion, freed up a space at Mercedes.
Mercedes quickly settled on Bottas for the teams replacement for Rosberg, following weeks of discussions.
No surprises that Valtteri Bottas has joined Mercedes, this has been rumoured since Rosberg's Retirement announcement that he will replace the Current Formula 1 Champion. With Bottas signed up to Mercedes this season, Pascal Wehrlein joining Sauber this season meaning...
It's been confirmed yesterday (16/1/17) Pascal Wehrlein will join Sauber for the 2017 Formula 1 season on a one year deal. The German makes the switch after a season with Manor Racing, will race alongside current Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson.
Having spent a season at Manor Racing scoring one point in 2016, Wehrlein will join Sauber for the 2017 Formula 1 season alongside current Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson.
No surprise that Pascal Wehrlein has joined Sauber, this has been rumoured since the end of the 2016 season, this deal will happen. Meaning Wehrlein will not drive at Mercedes this season meaning...
Last weekend was the twelfth annual Dubai 24 hour race at the Dubai Autodrome in Dubai (15-16th January). Herberth Motorsport team was victories at the Dubai 24 in their Porsche 991 GT3 R; with team of Daniel Allemann, Ralf Bohn, Brendon Hartley, Alfred Renauer and Robert Renauer came out on top to win this years Dubai 24 hour race in 578 laps in total.
While the Manthey Racing team came in second place in their Porsche 991 GT3 R; with team of Matteo Cairoli, Otto Klohs, Jochen Krumbach and Sven Müller as drivers. They were two laps behind the leaders at the end of the 24 hour race.
While the Black Falcon team came in third place in their Mercedes-AMG GT3; with Michał Broniszewski, Yelmer Buurman, Maro Engel, Abdulaziz Al Faisal and Hubert Haupt as drivers, they were three laps behind the leaders at the end of the 24 hours race.
Manor WEC Team (not the F1 Team) is set to jump into LMP1 class in 2018 with Ginetta chassis's.
The former F3 team, which joined the World Endurance Championship in 2016 in the LMP2 class with a pair of Oreca 05 chassis's; will step up to the LMP1 class with a pair of LMP1 Ginetta chassis's for 2018.
Also, confirmed by Manor, they will remain with Oreca for this year's World Endurance Championship LMP2 class, upgrading from their Oreca 05 chassis's to brand new Oreca 07 chassis's.
It was confirmed on Wednesday (11/1/17), Frederic Vasseur has left his position as Team Principal at Renault.
After just one season in the role following Renault's return as a team, the former Team Principal and Renault have agreed to part company by mutual consent.
No word who will replace Vasseur at Renault. However, Cryil Abiteboul remains Renault Sport's managing director with Jerome Stoll as president.
Some big question marks ahead for Renault this season, are they going to be competitive enough to fight in the top half of the constructors standings this season? are we going to see improvements form the Power Units and the race cars under the Renault name this season? Who knows. All we know its interesting times ahead for Renault.
It was confirmed on Tuesday (10/1/17), Paddy Lowe has left his position as technical boss of Mercedes.
The former Mercedes technical boss, who led the team to three drivers' and constructors' championship doubles in a row from 2014 to 2016, is expected to join Williams. He will be replaced by former Ferrari technical director James Allison, whose deal was signed some months ago, sources say, but is not yet confirmed.
Lowe has previous experience with Williams. In 1987 Lowe was employed by Williams as Joint Head of Electronics. He spent six years at Williams, during which time he oversaw the development of active suspension, used to help Nigel Mansell win the 1992 World Championship.
In my opinion, this is not a big surprise this news happen. It has been strongly rumoured since the end of the season that Lowe will move to Williams. But, the decision for Williams to re-hire Paddy Lowe could be the right decision for Williams back to winning ways in the years to come. As for Mercedes it make no difference for now.
It was confirmed yesterday (6/1/17), that the operating company of the Manor Formula 1 team has gone into administration, casting doubt over its future on the eve of the new season.
Administrators FRP said there was "a very limited window of opportunity" to save the team before the start of the 2017 season in Australia on 26 March.
FRP said it was "assessing options" and that the process affected Manor's operating company Just Racing Services.
Manor Grand Prix Racing, which owns the rights to the team's participation in F1, is not in administration.
Manor Racing, who finished eleventh and last in the championship last season, have been in talks with new investors but so far no deal has been concluded.
Administrator Geoff Rowley said: "The team has made significant progress since the start of 2015, but the position remains that operating a F1 team requires significant ongoing investment.
A source said several buyers had been lined up over the past few weeks and two had gone as far as conducting a due diligence process.
But none of them provided the funds necessary to buy the team, nor was there any proof they had the money to run it.
Steven Fitzpatrick, the boss of the energy company Ovo, decided to put the team into administration on Thursday night.
Not the first time the team has been in administration, the team has been administration back in late 2014 when the team was called Marussia collapsed with debts over £35million, when Fitzpatrick bought them at the eleventh hour just before the 2015 season.
I very feel sorry for the staff at the team at this moment of time, with a strong possibility that they may lose their jobs.
The main problems with Formula 1 the reason the Manor team are placed in administration for a few reasons, one reason the payout to the Concorde Agreement that makes payout to small teams less money to those teams, with Manor finishing eleventh in the 2016 standings they lost £10 million compared to 2015 when they finished in tenth place.
Another is that the cost of the power-units this season, in 2013, the V8 engines cost between £8-10 million per season to the teams; compare to 2016 V6 turbo hybrid engines have doubled now costing between £15-20 million per season.
And final reason we are in this situation is budget for the team, in an article from last month, Manor Racing was spending £85 million for the 2016 F1 season and the least spending team in F1 compare to 2004 when Minardi was least spending team in F1 with a budget of £24 million, that is almost four times the budget from 2004.
Will we see this team at Melbourne in two months time? who knows. But, let's hope Manor Racing find new owners, who do have the money to compete in Formula 1 because it will be a shame we lost an underdog team in F1. Because, the fans do love underdog teams; teams like Jordan and Minardi to name a few we loved in the past.
Yesterday (5/1/17), Channel 4 has revealed its coverage plans for all F1 races in 2017. Ten races will be shown live on Channel 4, includes these races:
16 April: Bahrain
30 April: Russia
28 May: Monaco
19 June: Azerbaijan
16 July: Britain
27 August: Belgium
17 September: Singapore
1 October: Malaysia
22 October: USA
26 November: Abu Dhabi
While the other ten races, there will be extended highlights programmes on Channel 4.
No concerns this season, Monaco Grand Prix live on free TV for the first time since 2012, and the same with Singapore Grand Prix since 2012 its been on free TV. All and all, good choices from Channel 4 for this season.
Happy new year to all, with the first post of 2017. And just like last year, the year before, and the year before that, this post is five predictions for 2017, if this happen or not this more of a fun post on what might happen.
Number 1, 2017 VW Polo to race in the WRC this season.
This might not sound stupid as it seems. Last year Volkswagen announced that they have pull out of the World Rally Championship at the end of the 2016 season to end its four year involvement in the series. With all-new Polo R WRC built for this season new WRC rules will not be used.
However, with rumours a Qatari back team from double WRC-2 champion Nasser Al-Attiyah with drivers of Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Østberg completing a three car line-up may use the all new 380 bhp Volkswagen Polo R WRC in time for Rally Sweden in February. Predicting that the VW Polo will race in the WRC this season after all.
Number 2, Renault to score at least 64 points in the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2017.
Renault only managed just 8 points last season with Renault buying back the Lotus team (before that Renault) in late 2015, meaning not a lot time developing the car at the start of the season and through 2016 itself while developing their power unit to catch up the likes of Mercedes own power unit. With improve car and power units and bringing in former Force India driver Nico Hülkenberg as their lead driver. I am predicting that Renault will score at least 64 points in the F1 Constructors' Standings and that would be enough for at least top seven of the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2017.
Number 3, An LMP2 team to finish in the top three positions in this seasons 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Really? Yes really, here's the thing with Audi withdrawing from the World Endurance Championship and 24 hours of Le Mans race. Meaning at least five cars in LMP1 class this season. Meaning there will be more of a change that an LMP2 team will finish on the main podium in the World Endurance Championship this season and even better change for one of them to finish on the main podium at Le Mans this season in mid-June.
Number 4, Jorge Lorenzo to win at least four times this season on the Ducati.
This might not sound stupid as it seems. With Ducati signing former MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo for 2017 as their lead rider for the MotoGP team. And with Ducati winning two wins last season in MotoGP. So don't be at all surprise if Jorge Lorenzo wins at least four MotoGP wins this season on the Ducati.
Number 5, Toro Rosso to finish fourth or higher in the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2017.
With Toro Rosso returning to Renault power units this season, along with gearbox and rear suspension from Red Bull; making the rear of the car will be the same as the 2017 Red Bull car. And retaining both Daniil Kvyat and in particular Carlos Sainz Jr. With all those things in place this prediction will be the most ambitious one for this year; I am predicting that Toro Rosso will finish fourth or higher in the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2017 beating the likes of Williams, Force India, Renault and McLaren for 2017.
As I said at the start of the post, this is a fun post on what might happen, would any prediction might happen? maybe one or two, I have to wait till late November to find out.
