It was announced on Monday (27/7/15) that Forward Racing has taken the "painful decision" to pull out next weeks MotoGP round at Indianapolis, following the arrest of team owner Giovanni Cuzari.
Swiss police are investigating Cuzari, who was arrested on his return from the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, over alleged bribery and money laundering.
With sponsors cancelling contracts, with rumours that title sponsor Athina to be among the brands that have left Forward. Forward ultimately made the decision in conjunction with the IRTA (the International Racing Teams Association), to skip Indianapolis.
Forward will return at Brno with new funding in place.
"It was a very difficult week for the Forward Racing team," said Managing Director Marco Curioni.
There is also rumours that Forward Racing rider Stefan Bradl is being linked with the second seat at Aprilia Racing Team Gresini.
Review of Round Eight of the 2015 United SportsCar Championship at Lime Rock Park, on the outskirts of Salisbury, Connecticut.
PR1/Mathiesen Motorsports team won the race overall and Prototype Challenge Class (all teams using Oreca FLM09 race car) too with the team of
Mike Guasch and Tom Kimber-Smith. While, RSR Racing team finished second place with the team of Chris Cumming and Bruno Junqueira; they were eight seconds behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Starworks Motorsport team finished third place with the team of Renger van der Zande and Mirco Schultis; they were a lap behind the leaders.
In GT Daytona Class, Turner Motorsport team won GT Daytona Class and finished in seventh place overall in their BMW Z4 GT3; with the drivers of Dane Cameron and Michael Marsal; they were eleven laps behind the leaders.
While both Prototype Class and GT Le Mans Class did not participate for this race.
Last weekend was the annual 24 hours of Spa race (25-26th July). The BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS in their BMW Z4 GT3; with team of Lucas Luhr, Dirk Werner, and Markus Paltalla came out on top to win this years 24 hours of Spa race in 527 laps in total.
While the Audi Sport Team WRT team came in second place in their Audi R8 LMS; with team of Frank Stippler, Nico Müller, and Stephane Ortelli as drivers. They were a lap behind the leaders at the end of the 24 hour race.
While the Audi Sport Team Phoenix came in third place in their Audi R8 LMS; with Nicki Thiim, Christopher Mies and Christian Mamerow as drivers, they were two laps behind the leaders at the end of the 24 hours race.
Review of the tenth round of the 2015 F1 season at the Hungaroring outside of Budapest, for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Last time out I said it was the best race of the race of the season so far, for this seasons Hungarian Grand Prix I am predicting this race was the best race of the season! With Lewis Hamilton on pole and Nico Rosberg on the front row for Sunday's race, you would have thought it will be a predicted win for Lewis Hamilton with Nico Rosberg second. And at the start it was third on the grid Sebastian Vettel had a brilliant start and took the lead and stayed there throughout a dominating race win for Sebastian Vettel, to win this seasons Hungarian Grand Prix for his second race win of the season.
Now, Vettel has match Ayrton Senna's Forty-One Grand Prix wins. Vettel dedicated his win to Jules Bianchi and his family following Bianchi's death last week.
While, second place was unpredictable after half way through the race, when Kimi Räikkönen who was second from the start, then his hybrid system failed on him to retired lead Nico Rosberg to second place. That was until seven laps remaining, when Daniel Ricciardo attempted to pass Rosberg at turn one, resulting in a collision and damage, forcing both drivers in the pits. Ricciardo only needed a new front wing and only dropped to third, while Rosberg got a puncture and limped back to the pits, dropping to eighth. Then Daniil Kvyat in his Red Bull took second place and finished in second place to give Daniil Kvyat his first podium in Formula 1 and becoming the highest place Russian finish in Formula 1 eclipsing Vitaly Petrov third place finish from Australia 2011. Kvyat was five second behind, then Kvyat was handed a ten-second penalty for taking advantage of the track boundaries, which means Kvyat was fifteen seconds behind Vettel in the end.
Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo finished in third place in the Red Bull to complete the podium despite colliding with both Mercedes drivers in the race, Ricciardo was twenty-five seconds behind Vettel at the end of the sixty-nine lap race.
And for was the first time since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix that any of the factory Mercedes cars failed to finish on the podium. With the highest Mercedes driver was current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton finished in sixth place after a poor first lap and colliding with Daniel Ricciardo, resulting in Hamilton needing a new front wing and also given a drive-through penalty. Hamilton was fifty two seconds behind Vettel in the end. While Nico Rosberg finished in eighth after colliding with Daniel Ricciardo with seven laps to go, which resulted with a puncture in the end. Rosberg was fifty-nine seconds behind Vettel in the end of the race.
Now with nine races to go, Lewis Hamilton leads from team-mate Nico Rosberg with 21 points behind Hamilton. While, Hungarian Grand Prix race winner Sebastian Vettel is third in the standings with 42 points behind Hamilton.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 6
Lewis Hamilton - 7 (pole, finished sixth)
Nico Rosberg - 5 (finished eighth)
Red Bull Racing - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 8 (finished third, and fastest lap)
Daniil Kvyat - 10 (finished second)
Williams - 5
Valtteri Bottas - 6 (finished thirteen)
Felipe Massa - 5 (finished twelfth)
Ferrari - 8
Sebastian Vettel - 9 (race win)
Kimi Räikkönen - 7 (DNF, Hybrid failure)
McLaren - 9
Jenson Button - 8 (finished ninth)
Fernando Alonso - 10 (finished fifth)
Force India - 6
Nico Hülkenberg - 6 (DNF, Front wing)
Sergio Pérez - 6 (DNF, Brakes)
Toro Rosso - 8
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 7 (DNF, Fuel pressure)
Max Verstappen - 10 (finished fourth)
It was confirmed yesterday (23/7/15) that Sauber F1 Team will retain Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr for the 2016 Formula 1 season.
Overall, its a good decision from Sauber to keep Felipe Nasr for another season as his scored most for the points for Sauber in his rookie season. And maybe a quick decision from Sauber to keep the talented driver before another team have the opportunity to sign him up for their team.
As for Marcus Ericsson, despite scoring less points then team-mate Nasr, he has not impress me much this season with his pace and points scoring. But, overall Sauber have kept both drivers due to the money they can bring into the team (around £15 million from each driver). And that does help Sauber to secure their future for next season.
Predictions for this weekends Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring outside of Budapest.
And so predictions for the race itself, Lewis Hamilton for the win in his Mercedes, Nico Rosberg second in the other Mercedes, and Valtteri Bottas third in his Williams. Don't forget Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean, the Force India drivers, the Ferrari drivers either for a podium place as-well.
Before I start, motorsport is dangerous sport. No matter if its Go-Karting, motorbikes, Formula 1, Indy Car, any kind of Motorsport is dangerous, but motorsport can be safer between tracks, fans, spectators, tracks marshals, people in pits, cars and drivers too.
This morning (18/7/15) it was announced by Jules Bianchi's family that the 25-year-old died on Friday night, nine months after his crash in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
Bianchi had been in a coma since the accident, in which he suffered a diffuse axonal injury after colliding with a recovery vehicle while driving for Marussia.
He was initially treated at the Mie Prefecture medical centre in Japan before being transferred to a facility in Nice a month after the crash.
Although rehabilitation therapy began late last year, in May Bianchi's father Philippe admitted that the family's hopes were fading and his death was announced in the early hours of Saturday morning.
As this is the first time that a Grand Prix driver to die from injuries sustained in a Formula 1 Grand Prix race since Ayrton Senna and Roland Roland Ratzenberger at Imola from the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994.
Bianchi career included European Formula 3 Champion in 2009. A Formula Renault 3.5, and GP2 Race winner while contracted to Ferrari as a development driver.
Bianchi stepped up to Formula 1 with Force India as their third driver in 2012, before getting a race seat with Marussia the following season. He famously scored the team's first points with ninth place in last seasons Monaco Grand Prix, which was his best result in his 34 Grand Prixs' in Formula 1.
Thoughts goes out to Jules Bianchi's family and friends at this period of time. Its a sad day for Motorsport in general. A driver that had the talent to go to the top and would have been a Ferrari driver next season alongside Sebastian Vettel and maybe a F1 World Champion to challenge the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton to championships if he was still alive.
His crash that lead to his death has helped to make Formula 1 which includes starting the race few hours earlier in Pacific rounds to avoid the bad light and introducing VSC (Virtual Safety Cars) which may help to void this horrible accident again.
Rest in Peace Jules Bianchi, you will be much sadly missed.
Review of Round Seven of the 2015 United SportsCar Championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, north of Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.
Taylor Racing team won the race overall and Prototype class too of Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor in their Corvette DP, Chevrolet 5.5L V8. While, Action Express Racing team finished second place in their Corvette DP, Chevrolet 5.5L V8, the team of Dane Cameron and Eric Curran; they were half a second behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian team finished third place in their Ligier JS P2, Honda HR28TT 2.8 L V6 Turbo, the team of Oswaldo Negri, Jr. and John Pew; they were five seconds behind the leaders.
In Prototype Challenge Class (all teams using Oreca FLM09 race car), CORE Autosport team won Prototype Challenge Class and finished in eighth place overall; with the drivers of Jon Bennett and Colin Braun; they were three laps behind the leaders.
In GT Le Mans Class, Porsche North America team won GT Le Mans Class and finished in twelfth place overall in their Porsche 911 RSR; with the drivers of Patrick Pilet and Nick Tandy; they were six laps behind the leaders.
While GT Daytona Class did not participate for this race.
Review of Round Eight of the 2015 TCR International Series season was at the Red Bull Ring, on the outskirts of Spielberg, Styria, Austria.
In the first race, WestCoast Racing driver Gianni Morbidelli originally took the race win in his Honda Civic TCR. But he later received a post-race drive through penalty, which means 30 seconds are added to his race time and relegated Morbidelli to eleventh place. Meaning that Target Competition driver Stefano Comini took the race win in his SEAT León Cup Racer.
Second was Target Competition driver Andrea Belicchi in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was half a second behind Comini in the end. While, third place was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Pepe Oriola in his SEAT León Cup Racer to complete a SEAT podium whitewash, he was six tenths of a second behind Comini in the end.
While in the second race, Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver Pol Rosell took the race win in his Volkswagen Golf TCR. Second was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Pepe Oriola in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was four tenths of a second behind Rosell in the end. While, third place was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Jordi Gené in his SEAT León Cup Racer, he was one and half a second behind Rosell in the end.
Next stop Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore for Round Nine of the 2015 TCR International Series season in ten weeks time.
Review of Round Eight of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship season was the was the Race of Portugal, on the Circuito Internacional de Vila Real, Vila Real, Portugal.
In the first race, Citroën Total WTCC driver and current WTCC Champion José María López took the race win in his C-Elysée WTCC. Second was Citroën Total WTCC driver Sébastien Loeb in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC to complete a Citroën one-two finish, he was one and half a second behind López in the end. While third place was Zengő Motorsport driver Norbert Michelisz in his Honda Civic WTCC and also took Independents class win, he was five seconds behind López in the end.
While in the second race, Citroën Total WTCC driver Ma Qing Hua took the race win in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC. Second Citroën Total WTCC driver Yvan Muller in his Citroën C-Elysée WTCC to complete another Citroën one-two finish, he was five seconds behind Ma in the end. While third was Honda Racing Team JAS driver Gabriele Tarquini in his Honda Civic WTCC, he was eleven seconds behind Ma in the end.
Meanwhile in the Independent Class, was won by Zengő Motorsport driver Norbert Michelisz in his Honda Civic WTCC. He finished in fourth place overall and twelve seconds behind Ma in the end.
Next stop Race of Japan at Twin Ring Motegi for Round Nine of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship season in nine weeks time.
The father of Jules Bianchi says he is now "less optimistic" over the chances of his son Jules recovering from the injuries sustained at last year's Japanese Grand Prix, and has described the situation as "daily torture".
Bianchi, who drove for Manor Marussia last year, remains in a coma in a Nice hospital nine months after suffering a severe head injury when he collided with a recovery vehicle during the Suzuka race.
Bianchi's family remain at his bedside, but Philippe Bianchi, Jules's father says there has been little progress.
"It's unbearable, it's a daily torture," Philippe Bianchi told radio station France Info.
"We sometimes feel like we're going crazy, because for me, it's certainly more terrible than if he had died, as we're not able to help him more than we can.
"In general, progress must be made in the first six months; it's been nine months and Jules is still not awake and there is no significant progress.
"Time goes by and I'm now less optimistic than I may have been two or three months after the crash, when we could hope for a better evolution.
"At some point, you need to be well-grounded and realise how serious the situation is."
Philippe added that should Jules wake up from his coma, new complications could arise, as he remembers a conversation the pair had following Michael Schumacher's skiing accident at the end of 2013.
"If he finds himself with huge disabilities, we're sure it's not at all what he would want," he said.
"We had talked about it. He told us that if he were to have an accident similar to Michael Schumacher's, if he were even just not able to drive anymore, it would be very hard for him to accept, as it was his life."
Philippe also reiterated his appreciation to fans around the world for their continued messages.
"We apologise because we cannot respond to everyone, but we receive the support," he went on to explain. "It gives us enormous energy and it certainly gives tremendous energy to Jules."
Review of the round nine of the 2015 MotoGP season at Sachsenring, in Eastern Germany.
In the MotoGP race (V-twin, V4, or Inline-four 1000cc four stroke class), that was won by Repsol Honda Team rider and current MotoGP champion Marc Márquez on his works Honda RC213V. Second place was the other Repsol Honda Team rider Dani Pedrosa on his works Honda RC213V to complete a Honda one-two finish, he was two seconds behind Márquez at the end. While, third place was the Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi on his works Yamaha YZR-M1, he was five and half a seconds behind Márquez at the end.
In Open class (Full control ECU system, hardware and software), Avintia Racing rider Héctor Barberá won Open class and finished thirteenth place overall on his open spec Ducati Desmosedici GP14, he was forty-eight seconds behind Márquez at the end of the race.
In the Moto2 race (Inline-four 600 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Team rider Xavier Siméon on the Kalex. Second was Ajo Motorsport rider Johann Zarco on the Kalex, he was eight tenths of a second behind Siméon at the end. While, third was Paginas Amarillas HP 40 rider Álex Rins on the Kalex, he was one and half a second behind Siméon at the end of the race.
While in the Moto3 race (single-cylinder 250 cc four-stroke class), that race was won by Leopard Racing rider Danny Kent on the Honda. Second was Leopard Racing rider Efrén Vázquez on the Honda, he was seven seconds behind Kent at the end. While, third was Gresini Racing Team Moto3 rider Enea Bastianini on the Honda, he was nine seconds behind Kent at the end.
It was confirmed yesterday (8/7/15) that Aprilia Racing Team Gresini and Marco Melandri have parted ways by mutual consent with immediate effect.
Melandri returned to MotoGP with Aprilia for 2015 after a few years in the World Superbikes Championship. But, Melandri has struggled to make an impact on his return to MotoGP, without a point so far this season. And not even close matching the pace of former team-mate Álvaro Bautista who has so far scored 11 points this season with the Aprilia RS-GP, which made the decision easier for Aprilia to release the former 250cc Champion.
While, former Paul Bird Motorsport rider and current Aprilia test-rider Michael Laverty has been confirmed as Marco Melandri's replacement at the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini squad for the remainder of the MotoGP season. And will start riding at this weekends MotoGP German round at the Sachsenring.
Recap of the last round of WRC from last weekends Round seven of Rally Poland.
Last weekends was the seventh round of the World Rally Championship at the Rally Poland (3rd-5th July), and was won by current WRC champion Sébastien Ogier in the works Volkswagen Polo R WRC. While, team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen finished second in the other works Volkswagen Polo R WRC, Mikkelsen was 12 seconds behind Ogier at the end. Meanwhile, Ott Tänak, finished in third place in the M-Sport World Rally Team, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Tänak was 23 seasons behind Ogier at the end.
Meanwhile in WRC-2 class (Group R5, R4, Super 2000 and Group N4 spec cars), that was won by Esapekka Lappi in the Škoda Motorsport Team, Škoda Fabia R5. Esapekka Lappi finished in twelfth place overall, he was 6 minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
While in WRC-3 class (Group R1, R2 and R3 cars) that was won by Simone Tempestini in his own backed Citroën DS3 R3T. Simone Tempestini finished in twenty-sixth place overall, he was over 21 minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Review of the ninth round of the 2015 F1 season at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, for the British Grand Prix.
Overall, I thought it was an entertaining race to watch, possibly the best race of the race of the season so far. And overall, a dominating race weekend for Mercedes, dominating in practice, dominating in qualifying, and most importantly dominating in the race for Mercedes driver and current Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton was on pole for Sunday's race. And despite losing to both Williams drivers' at the start, Hamilton thought back and retook the lead at the first pits-stops. Hamilton could have lost the race to team-mate Nico Rosberg when the rain started. But, he pitted for intermediate tyres at the right time to conclude with a race win in this seasons British Grand Prix for his fifth race win of the season.
While, Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg finished second place in the Mercedes to give the team its sixth one-two finish of the season, Rosberg was eleven seconds behind Hamilton at the end.
Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Vettel was twenty-five seconds behind Hamilton at the end of the fifty-two lap race.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 9
Lewis Hamilton - 10 (pole, race win, and fastest lap)
Nico Rosberg - 8 (finished second)
Red Bull Racing - 6
Daniel Ricciardo - 5 (DNF, Power unit)
Daniil Kvyat - 8 (finished sixth, lap down)
Williams - 7
Valtteri Bottas - 7 (finished fifth)
Felipe Massa - 8 (finished fourth)
Ferrari - 6
Sebastian Vettel - 7 (finished third)
Kimi Räikkönen - 6 (finished eighth, lap down)
McLaren - 6
Jenson Button - 5 (DNF, Collision with Fernando Alonso)
Fernando Alonso - 7 (finished tenth, lap down)
Force India - 7
Nico Hülkenberg - 8 (finished seventh)
Sergio Pérez - 6 (finished ninth, lap down)
Toro Rosso - 5
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6 (DNF, Power unit)
Max Verstappen - 5 (DNF, Spun off)
Lotus - 5
Romain Grosjean - 5 (DNF, Collision with Pastor Maldonado)
Pastor Maldonado - 6 (DNF, Collision with Daniil Kvyat)
Manor - 6
Will Stevens - 6 (finished thirteenth, three laps down)
Roberto Merhi - 7 (finished twelfth, three laps down)
Sauber - 5
Marcus Ericsson - 6 (finished eleventh, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 5 (DNS, Gearbox)
Next stop Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix in three weeks time.
Something I did for last time out at the Austrian Grand Prix from my Twitter feed. I am trying it for the British Grand Prix with more detail. Here it is:
Saturday's Qualifying
Qualifying time #F1 #BritishGP
Out of Q1: p16 Nasr, p17 Alonso, p18 Button, p19 Stevens, p20 Merhi #F1 #BritishGP
Out of Q2: p11 Perez, p12 Grosjean, p13 Verstappen, p14 Maldonado, p15 Ericsson #F1 #BritishGP Q3 is next
Last year Renault launched their new car called Renault Sport RS 01 that will be racing in the new Renault Sport Trophy (that has ready done two rounds so far this season) is a one-make racing series will serve as a springboard for professional GT and endurance series, will be part of the World Series by Renault series.
The Renault Sport RS 01 looks very slimier to an Audi R8. But underneath, the Renault Sport RS 01 will have the same 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 from the Nissan GT-R, making ‘in excess' of 500bhp and 443lb ft, the engine is mid-mounted, pumped to the rear wheels through a seven-speed sequential box. With the car only weighing only 1,100Kg from a carbon-fibre-monocoqued. While Michelin will supply 18-inch racing tyres to the Renault Sport RS 01.
Overall, the performance of the Renault Sport RS 01 is said to be somewhere between a GT3 and DTM car.
