This Tuesday coming up (30/4/13) and Wednesday (1/5/13) it will be 19 years that Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna has past away from us, from the accidents at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994 were Ratzenberger crashed his Simtek at Villenunve in Qualifying and Senna crashed his Williams at Tumbrello in the race itself. Both would have been 52, if there still around today. So for this post remembering both Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger.
First for Roland some YouTube footage from the 1998 BTCC round at Donnington 1988, a great battle between the Ford Sierra of Andy Rouse and the Nissan Skyline GTS of Win Percy for the win. Also, a cameo from Roland Ratzenberger in his BMW M3, with commentary from Murray Walker.
As for Senna, there is a good YouTube video below of the late three times Formula 1 World Champion back in 1988 driving round Suzuka, testing the Honda NSX that he developed with Honda for all those years back. Enjoy.
The sport has change since their deaths, with the safety of both cars and tracks to improve safety year after year. So never forget Ayrton and Roland, both are still missed throughout the world of motor-racing in general.
A few months back, Peugeot launched the all new Peugeot 208 R5 rally car, which will be rallying under Group R rules in national and worldwide rally events in few months time. But last week though, Peugeot has unveiled the first images of the 208 T16 which the current World Rally champion Sébastien Loeb will drive in the unlimited class of this year's Pikes Peak International Hillclimb event on June 30. This will be Peugeot first time at Pikes Peak since 1989, which Peugeot won the event with the sensational 405 T16 in 1988 with Ari Vatanen and in 1989 with Robby Unser.
This will be the third Peugeot ever that will race under the T16 name, and the first since 1990. The specification of the new Peugeot 208 T16 will have 3.2 litre V6 twin turbo engine, that will produces around 875 bhp. Will weigh only 875 Kg! Six speed gearbox, carbon fibre breaks, air intake and finally, Peugeot 208 T16 will borrow the rear wing from the now-expired Le Mans 24 Hours-winning 908 to produce possibly the most powerful Peugeot ever. A modern day version of a Group B rally car in my opinion.
And it's possibly the best change for Sébastien Loeb to win the unlimited class at this year's Pikes Peak, as all the 156 corners at the event has been resurfaced completely in asphalt for the first time this year. So Sébastien Loeb for the win and the course record? maybe just maybe?
Review of the second round of the 2013 MotoGP season at Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas in USA.
In the MotoGP race (V-twin, V4, or Inline-four 1000cc four stroke class), that was won by Repsol Honda Team rider and MotoGP rookie and 2012 Moto2 Champion Marc Márquez, in a pole to lights win in his works works Honda RC213V. Also, Marc Márquez is the youngest rider ever to win a top motorcycling grand prix race event by taking that win.
Second place was the other Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedorsa in his works Honda RC213V to give Honda an one-two race finish, he was one and a half seconds behind Márquez at the end. While, third was Yamaha Factory Racing rider and current MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo in his works Yamaha YZR-M1, he was over 3 seconds behind Márquez at the end.
In CRT class (Claiming Rule Teams, street bike engines rather than non prototype engines), the Power Electronics Aspar rider Aleix Espargaró won CRT class and finished 11th overall in his ART (Aprilia), he was under 49 seconds behind Márquez at the end.
In the Moto2 race (Inline-four 600 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 rider Nicolás Terol on the Suter. Second was Tuenti HP 40 rider of Esteve Rabat on the Kalex, he was over 3 second behind Terol at the end. While, third was Marc VDS Racing rider Mika Kallio on the Kalex, he was over 3 seconds behind Terol at the end of the race and just missed second by five hundredths of a second.
While in the Moto3 race (single-cylinder 250 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Estrella Galicia rider Álex Rins on the KTM. Second was Team Calvo rider Maverick Viñales on the KTM, he was over 2 tenths of a second behind Rins at the end of the race. While, third was Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Luis Salom on the KTM, he was only half a second behind Rins at the end of the race.
Forth post of the F1 season. A quick review of the Bahrain Grand Prix, thoughts on the race itself.
Good points
Sebastian Vettel (race win and fastest lap of the race)
Lotus F1 Team (Kimi Räikkönen finished 2nd on a two-stop strategy, Romain Grosjean finished 3rd)
Paul di Resta (finished 4th on a two-stop strategy)
Lewis Hamilton (finished 5th)
Sergio Pérez (finished 6th)
Charles Pic (finished 17th, ahead of Sauber driver Esteban Gutiérrez, his team-mate Giedo van der Garde in the other Caterham, and Marussia drivers as-well)
Bad points
Ferrari (Fernando Alonso finished 8th, despite having DRS problems throughout the race; Filipe Massa finished 15th, double puncture problems throughout the race)
Adrian Sutil (finished 13th, collision with Massa on the first lap to conclude with a puncture on the first lap)
Jean-Éric Vergne (DNF, Puncture Damage)
Despite the political problems in Bahrain we should or should not race in Bahrain once again. The race itself was a good enough race to watch. An easy race win for the current F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel, to take his second race win of the season, after passing pole sitter Nico Rosberg on the forth lap of the race to take the win. Also, a bit of Déjà Vu from 2012 with Kimi Räikkönen finishing in second place on a two-stop strategy, while once again from 2012 race, Romain Grosjean finished in third place. talk about Déjà Vu from 2012.
Also, quick mention to Paul di Resta in the Force India who finish in forth place. Almost finishing on the podium from a two-stop strategy, which almost work despite his tyres faded from the end of the race to give Romain Grosjean third place with six laps to go.
Review of Round one of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship at Silverstone. Audi Sport Team Joest team won the race overall and WEC LMP1 class too of Allan McNish, Loïc Duval and Tom Kristensen in their Audi R18 e-tron quattro. While, the second Audi of André Lotterer, Marcel Fässler and Benoît Tréluyerto took second place in their Audi Audi R18 e-tron quattro. To give Audi an one-two. Meanwhile, third place was the Toyota Racing team of the returning Anthony Davidson, Sébastien Buemi and Stéphane Sarrazin in their Toyota TS030 Hybrid.
In LMP2 class, the ADR-Delta team of Tor Graves, Antônio Pizzonia and James Walker in their Oreca 03 with a Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 engine won in LMP2 class and 7th overall. While in GTE Pro class, was won by Aston Martin Racing team of Darren Turner, Stefan Mücke and Bruno Senna won in their Aston Martin Vantage GTE, finished 14th overall as-well. While in GTE Am class, was won by Aston Martin Racing team of Allan Simonsen, Christoffer Nygaard and Kristian Poulsen in their Aston Martin Vantage GTE and finished 19th overall.
Highlights of the 6 Hours of Silverstone below, enjoy.
Next Stop 6 Hours of Spa in three weeks time for round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship. End of post/blog for now, new post soon. That is all. Bye.
Last weekends was the forth round of the World Rally Championship at the Rally de Portugal (12th-14th April) was won by Sébastien Ogier in the works Volkswagen Polo R WRC, to win the rally overall. While, Mikko Hirvonen finished in second place iin the works Citroën DS3 WRC. Hirvonen was under a minute behind Ogier at the end. Meanwhile, Jari-Matti Latvala, finished in third place in the other works Volkswagen Polo R WRC. Latvala was just over four 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 Esapekka Lappi in his Škoda Motorsport backed works Škoda Fabia S2000. Esapekka Lappi finished in tenth place overall, he was only 16 and half minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Also, mention to Robert Kubica in his Citroën backed Citroën DS3 RCC finished in 20th place on his debut in the WRC and sixth in WRC-2 class. Despite, retiring twice with mechanical and tyre issues, which he return to the rally via Rally 2 rules. The former Renault and BMW Sauber F1 driver would have finished in the top twelve. Neverless, a good rally from the former F1 driver. Kubica was nearly 40 minutes Ogier at the end of the rally.
While in WRC-3 class (Group R1, R2 and R3 cars) that was won by former Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Bryan Bouffier in his own backed Citroën DS3 R3T. Bryan Bouffier finished in thirteenth place overall, he was over 31 minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
A quick review of yesterdays Chinese Grand Prix, a few thoughts on the race itself and predictions for this weekends Bahrain Grand Prix.
Good points
Fernando Alonso (race win)
Kimi Räikkönen (finished 2nd)
Lewis Hamilton (finished 3rd)
Sebastian Vettel (finished 4th)
Jenson Button (finished 5th)
Daniel Ricciardo (finished 7th)
Paul di Resta (finished 8th)
Nico Hülkenberg (finished 10th)
Jules Bianchi (finished 15th, ahead of his team-mate and Caterham drivers)
Bad points
Nico Rosberg (DNF, Suspension)
Mark Webber (DNF, Wheel fallen off, originally qualified 14th but moved to the back of the grid for failing to provide a one-litre fuel sample after qualifying. A bad weekend for Mark Webber overall. Also, three grid penalty for Bahrain for colliding with Jean-Éric Vergne in the race)
Adrian Sutil (DNF, Collision Damage from Esteban Gutiérrez)
Esteban Gutiérrez (DNF, Collision with Adrian Sutil, five grid penalty for Bahrain)
Overall, I thought it was a good race to watch. But, Fernando Alonso had a great race, lead the race since forth lap taking over from Lewis Hamilton to control the race throughout to take the race win. His and Ferrari's first Formula 1 win since Hockenheim from last July.
So this weekends Bahrain Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir. Predictions for the race, Fernando Alonso for the win in the Ferrari, Filipe Massa second in the other Ferrari and third place for Kimi Räikkönen in the Lotus. Don't forget Red Bull drivers, McLaren drivers, Mercedes drivers or Romain Grosjean as well for a podium place either.
Early in the week, the Rush trailer has appeared on the internet. The Film won't come out until mid-September, that will be based on the 1976 Formula One season and the rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Directed by Ron Howard. Actor, Chris Hemsworth will play 1976 F1 World Champion James Hunt. Actor, Daniel Brühl will play former Ferrari driver and three times F1 World Champion Niki Lauda. And actress, Olivia Wilde will play as Suzy Miller, James Hunt's former wife at that period.
Already, there is a new Rush trailer appeared on the internet with more added dialogue from the main characters.
Just like Peugeot with the Peugeot 208 R5 and just like M-Sport/Ford with the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5. Citroen recently announced that they will build a new rally car for Group R rules for the new WRC-2 class for 2014. They will be building a new rally car for Group R called Citroen DS3 R5.
Based on the Citroen DS3 road car. The 2014 Citroen DS3 R5 Rally Car was launch just before this weekends Rally de Portugal for the forth round of the WRC. The DS3 R5 has a 1.6 litre 4-cylinders turbo engine that produces around 260 bhp and top speed around the 155 mph mark.
During watching the WTCC last weekend round in Morocco on Eurosport, Lotus driver and 2007 F1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen was advertising the new Renault Megane for Renault. And the typical Kimi Raikkonen comedy.
Also, Kimi advertise a few months back for a Finnish Clothing company called Makia Clothing with another funny advert from the iceman. And a good way on getting a Formula 1 world champion to do an ad for you.
It's been 20 years today since Ayrton Senna's first lap at a damp/wet/dry Donnington Park. Started from forth place on the grid behind Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Michael Schumacher. Then on the first lap, blocked by Michael Schumacher, which Karl Wendlinger overtake for forth place. After that Magic!, passing Karl Wendlinger, Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill and Alain Prost on the first lap right before the Melbourne loop, on a wet Donnington track to give Senna one of the best opening laps in history! As this Youtube video below shows.
Despite he was in an underpowered McLaren MP4/8 (had a non-works Ford V8, which had 100 bhp less than the Williams FW15C Renault V10 engine at that period) won the European Grand Prix, at Donnington Park, in wet/damp/dry conditions. And Senna was over a minute ahead of Damon Hill and lapping the rest of the field as-well. That was a great of a driver Senna is.
Finally, the Rush trailer has appeared on the internet. The Film won't come out until mid-September, based on the 1976 Formula One season and the rivalry between drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Directed by Ron Howard. Actor, Chris Hemsworth will play 1976 F1 World Champion James Hunt. Actor, Daniel Brühl will play former Ferrari driver and three times F1 World Champion Niki Lauda. And actress, Olivia Wilde will play as Suzy Miller, James Hunt's former wife at that period.
Enjoy the trailer below. I am looking forward when the film comes out in mid-September.
Predictions for this weekends Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit, on the outskirts of Shanghai.
And so predictions for the race itself, and surprise surprise Sebastian Vettel for the win once again in his Red Bull, Fernando Alonso second in his Ferrari and third for Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes. Don't forget Mark Webber, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg, the two McLaren drivers or the two Lotus drivers either for a podium place as-well.
Review of the first round of the 2013 MotoGP season at Losail, Doha in Qatar for MotoGP's only night race of the season. And for this season, all MotoGP classes are reviewed (MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3).
In the MotoGP race (V-twin, V4, or Inline-four 1000cc four stroke class), that was won by Yamaha Factory Racing rider and current MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo in a pole to lights win in his works Yamaha YZR-M1. Second place was the returning Yamaha Factory Racing rider Valentino Rossi in his works Yamaha YZR-M1 to give Yamaha an one-two race finish, he was only under 6 seconds behind Lorenzo at the end. While, third was Repsol Honda Team rider and MotoGP rookie and 2012 Moto2 Champion Marc Márquez in his works Honda RC213V, he was over 6 seconds behind Lorenzo at the end.
In CRT class (Claiming Rule Teams,street bike engines rather than non prototype engines), the Power Electronics Aspar rider Aleix Espargaró won CRT class and finished 11th overall in his ART (Aprilia), he was under 50 seconds behind Lorenzo at the end.
In the Moto2 race (Inline-four 600 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Tuenti HP 40 rider Pol Espargaró on the Kalex. Second was Marc VDS Racing Team rider of Scott Redding on the Kalex, he was only under a second behind Espargaró at the end. While, third was Italtrans Racing Team rider Takaaki Nakagami on the Kalex, he was 12 seconds behind Espargaró at the end of the race.
While in the Moto3 race (single-cylinder 250 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Luis Salom on the KTM. Second was Team Calvo rider Maverick Viñales on the KTM, he was only 41 hundredths of a second behind Salom at the end of the race. While, third was Estrella Galicia rider Álex Rins on the KTM, he was only 42 hundredths of a second behind Salom at the end of the race.
It is more than likely then ever now that Honda will return to Formula 1 for the 2015 season, as an engine supplier with McLaren in 2015 with an all new Honda 1.6 litre Turbo V6s'(very strong possibility that deal is already been signed). This post will be Top six Honda F1 race cars that have been in Formula 1.
Starting with Number 6:
Number 6: 2004 BAR 006
Story: BAR 006 was designed by Geoff Willis, The BAR 006 used the Honda 3 litre V10 producing around 900 bhp. Wasn't a race winner on this list. But, Jenson Button took three second place finishes (Imola, Monaco and Shanghai). Also, the BAR 006 took the team to second place in the Constructor standings in 2004.
Number 5: 1967 Honda RA300 (Lola T130)
Story: Based on a previous Lola T90 that won the 1966 Indianapolis 500. The chassis was designed by Lola, Lola called it T130. But, really it raced as the Honda RA300 because Honda was the constructor. This collaboration resulted in the machine being quickly dubbed the "Hondola" by the motorsports press in 1967. Also, the Honda RA300 underneath had a Honda 3 litre V12 producing over 400 bhp. Only raced for four Grand Prixs, won on its debut race with 1964 F1 world champion John Surtees driving the car at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix. Honda's first Grand Prix win and Lola's only Formula 1 win and took Honda to forth in the Constructors standings in 1967.
Number 4: 1987 Lotus 99T
Story: Lotus 99T was designed by Gérard Ducarouge and the first Formula 1 and Lotus chassis to be fitted with electronic active suspension. Also, the Lotus 99T had the Honda 1.5 litre V6 turbo engine underneath, which produce over 1000 bhp in qualifying and around 790 bhp in race pace. The Lotus 99T took to Lotus to third in the Constructors standings in 1987 and took two wins for Ayrton Senna at Monaco, Detroit and the final Grand prix win for Team Lotus.
Number 3: 1989-90 McLaren MP4/5
Story: The McLaren MP4/5 was designed by Gordon Murray, Steve Nichols and Neil Oatley. And it's the first of the non turbo Honda F1 cars, the MP4/5 had the Honda 3.5 litre V10 producing around 680 bhp. The McLaren MP4/5 took two constructor titles' in 1989 and 1990 and two drivers titles' with Alain Prost in 1989, and with Ayrton Senna in 1990. Sixteen Grand Prix wins in those two seasons, four for Alain Prost and twelve for Ayrton Senna and controversy in-between those two drivers.
Number 2: 1986-87 Williams FW11
Story: The Williams FW11 was designed by Patrick Head and Frank Dernie for the 1986 and 87 F1 seasons. The FW11 had the Honda 1.5 litre V6 turbo engine underneath, which produce over 1000 bhp in qualifying and around 790 bhp in race pace. The Williams FW11 took two F1 Constructor titles' in 1986 and 1987 and a F1 drivers' title for Nelson Piquet as-well. The Williams FW11 took eighteen Grand Prix wins' in those two season. Seven wins' for Nelson Piquet and eleven wins' for Nigel Mansell.
Number 1: 1988 McLaren MP4/4
Story: The McLaren MP4/4 will be possibly the best McLaren car that have been created from the team and possibly the most dominant racing car in Formula 1 history. The McLaren MP4/4 was design by both Steve Nichols and Gordon Murray. The McLaren MP4/4 has the famous Honda 1.5 litre V6 turbo engine underneath the McLaren MP4/4, the last of the turbos in Formula 1 (until next season that is) which produce over 1000 bhp in qualifying and around 790 bhp in race pace. Which, McLaren took fifteen victories from sixteen races in 1988, eight for Ayrton Senna and seven for Alain Prost, including ten 1-2 finishes, fifteen Poles which Senna took thirteen poles that season. Finally gives McLaren the Constructors Championship in 1998 and Ayrton Senna to the Drivers Championship in 1988 as-well.
