It was confirmed of Tuesday (30/1/18) Fernando Alonso will contest this seasons 24 Hours of Le Mans in June, with the Toyota Gazoo Racing team, which include racing in the first half of the season in the World Endurance Championship with the team.
The McLaren F1 driver had been linked to the Toyota drive for several months, Alonso tested Toyota's LMP1 car in Bahrain at the end of last year and made his sportscar debut in the Daytona 24 Hours last weekend.
A deal has now been reached for Alonso to race for Toyota in as many WEC rounds as possible. McLaren and Alonso have agreed that his priority remains F1, so he will miss Toyota's home WEC race at Fuji on October 21st because it clashes with the United States Grand Prix, although the Fuji (Toyota who own the track) organizers want to change the date to a week earlier to avoid the clash.
In my opinion, no surprises with this news has happened, although a bit surprise it will include half a season in the World Endurance Championship at least, which means a touch schedule for Fernando Alonso in 2018 with twenty-six race weekends being extremely busy.
Yesterday (29/1/18), Channel 4 has revealed its coverage plans for all F1 races in 2018. Ten races will be shown live on Channel 4, includes these races:
8 April: Bahrain
29 April: Azerbaijan
27 May: Monaco
1 July: Austria
8 July: Britain
26 August: Belgium
16 September: Singapore
7 October: Japan
21 October: USA
25 November: Abu Dhabi
While the other eleven races, there will be extended highlights programmes on Channel 4. This is the final year of Channel 4’s three-year F1 broadcast deal, with the championship to be shown exclusively on Sky from next season onwards.
No concerns this season, Monaco Grand Prix live on free TV, and the same with Singapore Grand Prix live on free TV. All and all, good choices from Channel 4 for this season. Same its the last for any Free Terrestrial channel for the next decade.
As the title says a Rolex 24 at Daytona Review of the race. Review of Round one of the 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at Daytona and the first round of the North American Endurance Cup.
Mustang Sampling Racing team won the race overall and Prototype class too of João Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque in their Cadillac DPi-V.R, Cadillac 5.5 L V8.
While, Whelen Engineering Racing finished in second place in their Cadillac DPi-V.R, Cadillac 5.5 L V8; the team of Mike Conway, Eric Curran, Stuart Middleton and Felipe Nasr; they were seventy seconds behind the leaders. Meanwhile, CORE Autosport team finished third in their Oreca 07, Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8; the team of Jon Bennett, States Colin Braun, Romain Dumas and Loïc Duval; they were ninety seconds behind the leaders.
In GT Le Mans Class, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing team won GT Le Mans Class and finished in eleventh place overall in their Ford GT; with the drivers of Ryan Briscoe, Scott Dixon and Richard Westbrook; they were twenty-five laps behind the leaders.
Meanwhile current Williams F1 driver Lance Stroll with team-mates Robin Frijns, Daniel Juncadella and Felix Rosenqvist finished in fifteen place for the Jackie Chan DCR JOTA team in their Oreca 07, Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8. They finished eleventh in Prototype class and they were thirty-one laps behind the leaders.
In GT Daytona Class, GRT Grasser Racing Team won GT Daytona Class and finished in twenty-first place overall in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3; with the drivers of Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers, Rolf Ineichen and Franck Perera; they were fifty-six laps behind the leaders.
Finally, current McLaren F1 driver Fernando Alonso with team-mates Philip Hanson and Lando Norris finished in thirty-eighth place for the United Autosports team in their Ligier JS P217, Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 despite having brake problems in the night of the race in which they were fighting for the lead of the race. They finished thirteen in Prototype class and they were ninety laps behind the leaders.
Next Stop Twelve Hours of Sebring in seven weeks time for round two of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
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 2018 World Rally Championship at the Rallye Monte Carlo (25th-28th January), that was won by Current WRC champion Sébastien Ogier in his works Ford Fiesta WRC.
While, Ott Tänak finished second in the works Toyota Yaris WRC. Tänak was over fifty-eight seconds behind Ogier at the end of the rally. Meanwhile, Jari-Matti Latvala finished third in his works Toyota Yaris WRC, Latvala was two 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 Jan Kopecký in his Škoda Fabia R5. Jan Kopecký finished in tenth place overall, he was seventeen minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
While in WRC-3 class (Group R1, R2 and R3 cars) that was won by Enrico Brazzoli in his own backed Peugeot 208 R2. Enrico Brazzoli finished in twentieth place overall, he was sixty-three minutes behind Ogier at the end of the rally.
Highlights of the rally below, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Two of the 2018 WRC season for Rally Sweden in three weeks time.
During last weeks Autosport International Show (11/1/18), Ginetta launch their own new LMP1 race car the G60-LT-P1 for this seasons World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Manor team running one of the new cars in the 2018/19 WEC super-season.
Ginetta will form part of a privateer LMP1 resurgence in 2018. The G60-LT-P1, will use a 3.4 litre V6 Mecachrome engine will produce around 650bhp and a top speed of 225mph meaning the Ginetta G60-LT-P1 will not a Hybrid LMP1 like the Toyota TS050 Hybrid meaning the car will not need any hybrid parts for it's engine part and making it affordable to privateer LMP1 teams.
Manor LMP2 team has already committed to running one of the new G60-LT-P1 cars in the 2018/19 WEC superseason, while Ginetta says it has had a further three orders from an as-yet undisclosed team.
A total of ten cars are to be built in the initial production run, although the firm is open to building more subject to demand.
It was confirmed on Thursday morning (16/1/18) that Williams F1 team will retain Lance Stroll for the 2018 Formula 1 season. While, Formula 2 driver and Renault test-driver Sergey Sirotkin will make his Formula 1 debut with the team this season, while former BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica signed as a test driver confirming the teams 2018 line-up and completing all the drives for the 2018 F1 season.
Robert Kubica was the early favourite to get the seat vacated by the recently retired Felipe Massa, but dropped out of the running following Siroktin's impressive showing at the end of season Pirelli test at Abu Dhabi.
He signed a multi-year deal with the team, Sirotkin will bring in sponsorship from Russian back company SMP Racing with a budget up to £15 million to the team for 2018.
Overall, not a surprise with the news, it has been rumoured for a month that Sergey Sirotkin has sign for the team, the romantic side of me wanted Robert Kubica have a fairy-tale return to Formula 1, as I said before in a previous post that his injures from 2011 from the rally crash possibly cost him the drive and in my opinion he is the fastest driver if the injures never happen.
The advantage went to Sergey Sirotkin who was as fast as Kubica in the Abu Dhabi test, the main reason (I don't think the team wanted to tell) he got the drive is the money that the team will be getting from Sirotkin sponsors as the Williams team do needed more as they are not the most funded team on the grid compared to the likes of Red Bull and McLaren.
Anyway, good luck for both Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin next season at Williams.
Last weekend was the thirteenth annual Dubai 24 hour race at the Dubai Autodrome in Dubai (12-13th January). Black Falcon team was victories at the Dubai 24 in their Mercedes-AMG GT3; with team of Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Hubert Haupt, Yelmer Buurman and Gabriele Piana came out on top to win this years Dubai 24 hour race in 606 laps in total.
While the Manthey Racing team came in second place in their Porsche 991 GT3 R; with team of Otto Klohs, Lars Kern, Mathieu Jaminet and Sven Müller as drivers. They were two laps behind the leaders at the end of the 24 hour race.
While the GRT Grasser Racing Team came in third place in their Lamborghini Huracán GT3; with Mark Ineichen, Rolf Ineichen, Christian Engelhart and Mirko Bortolotti as drivers, they were two laps behind the leaders at the end of the 24 hours race.
Review of Round Two of the 2017-18 Formula E season held on the Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan in Marrakech, Morocco.
The race was won by Mahindra Racing driver Felix Rosenqvist took the race win in his Spark-Mahindra. Second was Renault e.Dams driver Sebastien Buemi in his Spark-Renault, he was a second behind Rosenqvist in the end. Meanwhile, third was DS Virgin Racing driver Sam Bird in his Spark-Citroën, he was six seconds behind Rosenqvist in the end.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Three of the 2017-18 Formula E season in Santiago, Chile for the Santiago ePrix in three weeks time.
It was announce yesterday (10/1/18) that former Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat will be Ferrari's development driver during the 2018 season.
Kvyat will be the teams test driver and will focus on car development in the simulator, and will now move across to Ferrari, where he joins test and reserve driver Antonio Giovinazzi in providing support to Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen.
Kvyat made his Grand Prix debut in F1 in 2014 with Toro Rosso, and was promoted to the sister outfit Red Bull the following year as replacement for Sebastian Vettel.
But having struggled to deliver consistent form, and after getting involved in a number of incidents, he was switched back to Toro Rosso from the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen moving the other way.
Although Kvyat appeared to have regained his confidence at Toro Rosso, a run of disappointing races last year left Red Bull unconvinced about his potential.
After being replaced by Pierre Gasly for the Malaysian and Japanese Grands Prix, he returned in the United States and scored a point but it was not enough for him to keep his seat any longer.
Happy new year to all, with the first post of 2018. And just like last year, the year before, the year before that and the year before that again, this post instead of five predictions in previous years its seven predictions for 2018, if this happen or not this more of a fun post on what might happen.
Number 1, McLaren to finish Fourth or higher F1 Constructors' Standings in 2018.
McLaren only managed just 30 points last season and finishing ninth in the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2017 with Honda power. With McLaren signed a new engine partnership with Renault for the next three seasons with a much powerful and much reliable power-units going into 2018 and McLaren having a world class drivers in Fernando Alonso. I am predicting that McLaren will score finish Fourth or higher F1 Constructors' Standings in 2018 meaning the team needs to score at least 170 points to do this achievement for 2018.
Number 2, Toyota to win the Manufacturers' WRC title in 2018.
This might not sound stupid as it seems. Last year Toyota won two WRC wins in the Toyota Yaris WRC with Jari-Matti Latvala and Esapekka Lappi winning one each; to conclude with finishing third in the Manufacturers' Standings, 177 points behind champions M-Sport with the manufacture return to the WRC after 18 years away. This year, Toyota have signed Ott Tänak from M-Sport. With Toyota's second season back in the WRC, I am predicting that Toyota to win the Manufacturers' WRC title in 2018.
Number 3, Aston Martin to announce an Engine partnership with Red Bull for 2021 F1 season.
With Red Bull signed a big sponsorship deal with British car manufacture Aston Martin as their lead sponsor repacking the team as Aston Martin Red Bull Racing going into 2018. Don't be surprise sometime in 2018 that Aston Martin to announce an Engine partnership deal with Red Bull for the start of 2021 F1 season when the new engines rules will be in place for 2021 meaning maybe more manufactures coming in or returning to Formula 1 (Cosworth, Ilmor, Alfa Romeo and Lamborghini to name a few).
Number 4, KTM to score at least one podium in MotoGP this season.
Yet again this might not sound stupid as it seems. With KTM stepping up to MotoGP last season with their new bike called RC16 with best results of mutliple ninth place finishes. KTM have retain duo Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith as their riders for 2018. And if KTM develop their bike to the likes of Ducati, Honda and Yamaha and a bit of luck too, KTM can take a podium or two in MotoGP this season.
Number 5, Sauber to score at least 40 points in the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2018.
Sauber F1 Team only managed just 5 points last season with a limited budget and using year old Ferrari Power-Units. Going into 2018, the team announced an Alfa Romeo sponsorship deal, current spec Ferrari Power-units and signing Formula 2 Champion Charles Leclerc as their lead driver. I am predicting that Sauber will score at least 40 points in the F1 Constructors' Standings and that would be enough for at least top nine of the F1 Constructors' Standings in 2018.
Number 6, BMW to win LMGTE Pro Class at this years 24 Hours of Le Mans.
I must admit is prediction is very ambitious (although I did predict that Ford to win LMGTE Pro Class back in 2016). BMW will return to Le Mans for the first time since 2011 going head-to-head with factory likes of Ford, Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette and Aston Martin. With the team having a few races under their belt before Le Mans, so I am predicting that BMW will win LMGTE Pro Class at this years 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Number 7, Maserati to announce a return to Motorsport via Formula E for the 2020/21 Formula E season.
Really? Yes really, here's the thing BMW will enter the series later in 2018 via Andretti Formula E Team, while both Mercedes and Porsche will enter at the start of the 2019/20 season. Meanwhile Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (F.C.A.) who owns Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati; to name a few wants to enter the series. Logical choice would be Ferrari, with Ferrari associated with Formula 1 that may not happen. The next logical choice would be Alfa Romeo, although themselves are trying for a return to Formula 1 with the Sauber F1 Team. That means Maserati who have won a Formula 1 world championship with Juan Manuel Fangio in the mid 1950s and GT success in the mid 2000s who be the logical choice to enter Formula E. Don't be surprise sometime in 2018 that Maserati to announce a return to Motorsport via Formula E for the 2020/21 Formula E season.
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.
