Review of Round Six of the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the third round of the North American Endurance Championship at Watkins Glen International Raceway on the outskirts of New York.
Action Express Racing team won the race overall and Prototype class too of João Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Filipe Albuquerque in their Coyote Corvette, Chevrolet 5.5L V8. While, the other Action Express Racing team finished second place in their Coyote Corvette, Chevrolet 5.5L V8, the team of Dane Cameron, Eric Curran and Filipe Albuquerque; they were seven tenths of a second behind the leaders. Meanwhile, Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian team finished third place in their Ligier JS P2, Honda HR35TT 3.5 L V6 Turbo, the team of Oswaldo Negri, Jr., John Pew and Olivier Pla; they were a second behind the leaders.
In Prototype Challenge Class (all teams using Oreca FLM09 race car), Starworks Motorsport team won Prototype Challenge Class and finished in seventh place overall; with the drivers of Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande; they were two laps 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 and Richard Westbrook; they were seven laps behind the leaders.
In GT Daytona Class, Scuderia Corsa team won GT Daytona Class and finished in twenty-second place overall in their Ferrari 488 GT3; with the drivers of Marco Seefried, Christina Nielsen and Jeff Segal; they were tweleve laps behind the leaders.
Next Stop Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in a weeks time for Round Seven of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
2016 TCR Round 7 Recap
Review of Round Seven of the 2016 TCR International Series season was at Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Russia.
In the first race, Leopard Racing driver and current TCR International Series Champion Stefano Comini took the race win in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. Second was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Pepe Oriola in his SEAT León TCR, he was two seconds behind Comini in the end. While, third place was WestCoast Racing driver Gianni Morbidelli in his Honda Civic TCR, he was eight seconds behind Comini in the end.
While in the second race, WestCoast Racing driver Mikhail Grachev took the race win in his Honda Civic TCR. Second was Leopard Racing driver Jean-Karl Vernay in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR he was a second behind Grachev in the end. While, third place was B3 Racing Team Hungary driver Attila Tassi in his SEAT León TCR, he was a second and a half behind Grachev in the end.
Next stop Chang International Circuit, Buriram in Thailand for Round Eight of the 2016 TCR International Series season in eight weeks time.
In the first race, Leopard Racing driver and current TCR International Series Champion Stefano Comini took the race win in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR. Second was Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil driver Pepe Oriola in his SEAT León TCR, he was two seconds behind Comini in the end. While, third place was WestCoast Racing driver Gianni Morbidelli in his Honda Civic TCR, he was eight seconds behind Comini in the end.
While in the second race, WestCoast Racing driver Mikhail Grachev took the race win in his Honda Civic TCR. Second was Leopard Racing driver Jean-Karl Vernay in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR he was a second behind Grachev in the end. While, third place was B3 Racing Team Hungary driver Attila Tassi in his SEAT León TCR, he was a second and a half behind Grachev in the end.
Next stop Chang International Circuit, Buriram in Thailand for Round Eight of the 2016 TCR International Series season in eight weeks time.
2016 WRC Round 7 recap - Rally Poland
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 (1st-3rd July), and was won by Andreas Mikkelsen in the works Volkswagen Polo R WRC. While, DMACK World Rally Team driver Ott Tänak finished second in the Fiesta RS WRC, Tänak was twenty-six seconds behind Mikkelsen at the end. Meanwhile, Hayden Paddon, finished in third place in this works Hyundai i20 WRC, Paddon was twenty-eight seasons behind Mikkelsen at the end.
Meanwhile in WRC-2 class (Group R5, R4, Super 2000 and Group N4 spec cars), that was won by Team Oreca driver Teemu Suninen in his Škoda Fabia R5. Teemu Suninen finished in eleventh place overall, he was six minutes behind Mikkelsen 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-fourth place overall, he was over twenty-six minutes behind Mikkelsen at the end of the rally.
Highlights of the rally bellow, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Eight of the 2016 WRC season for Rally Finland in four weeks time.
Last weekends was the seventh round of the World Rally Championship at the Rally Poland (1st-3rd July), and was won by Andreas Mikkelsen in the works Volkswagen Polo R WRC. While, DMACK World Rally Team driver Ott Tänak finished second in the Fiesta RS WRC, Tänak was twenty-six seconds behind Mikkelsen at the end. Meanwhile, Hayden Paddon, finished in third place in this works Hyundai i20 WRC, Paddon was twenty-eight seasons behind Mikkelsen at the end.
Meanwhile in WRC-2 class (Group R5, R4, Super 2000 and Group N4 spec cars), that was won by Team Oreca driver Teemu Suninen in his Škoda Fabia R5. Teemu Suninen finished in eleventh place overall, he was six minutes behind Mikkelsen 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-fourth place overall, he was over twenty-six minutes behind Mikkelsen at the end of the rally.
Highlights of the rally bellow, enjoy.
Next stop, Round Eight of the 2016 WRC season for Rally Finland in four weeks time.
Monday, 4 July 2016
2015/16 Formula E - London ePrix - Round 9 Recap - Sébastien Buemi 2015/16 Formula E Champion
Review of Round Nine of the 2015-16 Formula E season held at the Battersea Park Street Circuit in London, U.K. for two races that weekend.
On Saturday's race, that race was won by Renault e.Dams driver Nicolas Prost in his Spark-Renault for his first race win of the year. Second was Mahindra Racing Formula E Team driver Bruno Senna in his Spark-Mahindra, he was five seconds behind Prost in the end. Meanwhile, third was DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team driver Jean-Éric Vergne in his Spark-Citroën, he was eight seconds behind Prost in the end.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
While in Sunday's race, that was won by Renault e.Dams driver Nicolas Prost in his Spark-Renault for his second race win of the year. Which was enough for Renault e.Dams team to win this seasons Teams' Championship to give the team their second Team's Championship in a row. Second was ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport driver Daniel Abt in his Spark-Abt Sportsline, he was eight seconds behind Prost in the end. Meanwhile, third was Dragon Racing driver Jerome d'Ambrosio in his Spark-Venturi, he was twenty-two seconds behind Prost in the end.
But, the race will be remembered with first lap race crash between title rivals Sébastien Buemi in his Spark-Renault and Lucas di Grassi in his Spark-Abt Sportsline. But, Buemi in his Spark-Renault did enough with the fastest lap of the race which gives him two points to win this seasons Drivers' Championship by only two points ahead of Lucas di Grassi.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Constructions to both Sébastien Buemi and Renault e.Dams for winning each championships in Formula E this season.
On Saturday's race, that race was won by Renault e.Dams driver Nicolas Prost in his Spark-Renault for his first race win of the year. Second was Mahindra Racing Formula E Team driver Bruno Senna in his Spark-Mahindra, he was five seconds behind Prost in the end. Meanwhile, third was DS Virgin Racing Formula E Team driver Jean-Éric Vergne in his Spark-Citroën, he was eight seconds behind Prost in the end.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
While in Sunday's race, that was won by Renault e.Dams driver Nicolas Prost in his Spark-Renault for his second race win of the year. Which was enough for Renault e.Dams team to win this seasons Teams' Championship to give the team their second Team's Championship in a row. Second was ABT Schaeffler Audi Sport driver Daniel Abt in his Spark-Abt Sportsline, he was eight seconds behind Prost in the end. Meanwhile, third was Dragon Racing driver Jerome d'Ambrosio in his Spark-Venturi, he was twenty-two seconds behind Prost in the end.
But, the race will be remembered with first lap race crash between title rivals Sébastien Buemi in his Spark-Renault and Lucas di Grassi in his Spark-Abt Sportsline. But, Buemi in his Spark-Renault did enough with the fastest lap of the race which gives him two points to win this seasons Drivers' Championship by only two points ahead of Lucas di Grassi.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Constructions to both Sébastien Buemi and Renault e.Dams for winning each championships in Formula E this season.
F1 2016 British Grand Prix Predictions
Predictions for this weekends Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone the home of the British Grand Prix, were eight Formula one teams (Mercedes AMG, Red Bull, Williams, McLaren, Force India, Renault, Haas and Manor) and three Formula 1 drivers (Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Jolyon Palmer) is their home Grand Prix.
So Predictions for the race, for the win, I predict that, Lewis Hamilton for the win in his Mercedes, Nico Rosberg second in the other Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari. Don't forget the Williams drivers, Force India drivers, Red Bull drivers and Kimi Raikkonen either for a podium place as-well.
So Predictions for the race, for the win, I predict that, Lewis Hamilton for the win in his Mercedes, Nico Rosberg second in the other Mercedes, and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari. Don't forget the Williams drivers, Force India drivers, Red Bull drivers and Kimi Raikkonen either for a podium place as-well.
2016 Austrian Grand Prix Review, the civil war at Mercedes continues
Review of the ninth round of the 2016 F1 season at the Red Bull Ring, on the outskirts of Spielberg, Styria, for the Austrian Grand Prix. Which includes thoughts on Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton
Overall, I thought it was the best race of the season so far. A race of two halves, the first part was current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton controlling the lead with Nico Rosberg catching up to his team-mate. Until lap 27, when Sebastian Vettel stayed out and took the lead, until his right-rear tire exploded down the main straight bringing out the safety car and giving Nico Rosberg the lead. With the last few laps to go Rosberg leading and Hamilton in second catching up to Rosberg.
Then drama on the final lap, when both Mercedes drivers battling for the lead, Hamilton closed in on Rosberg around the outside of Turn two, only to be forced off the track as they again ran into one another. Rosberg sustained severe damage to his front wing, and was eventually passed by not only Hamilton but also Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari giving Lewis Hamilton the win for this seasons Austrian Grand Prix for his third race win of the season for the Formula 1 World Champion.
And so the civil war at Mercedes continues with Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton from Spain with the last lap shenanigans in Austria as it did cost Mercedes their third one two finish of the season and cost Nico Rosberg points for his championship. In my opinion it was not racing incident, possibly a clumsy attempt from Rosberg to defend his lead and to block on Hamilton's move for the lead in which the stewards agree give Rosberg a ten second timed penalty to his result.
As this incident may give Mercedes a good reason to reinstate team orders if another race incident happens again with these two drivers, and even may cost Nico Rosberg his job at Mercedes going into 2017, as Rosberg isn't yet contracted to the team next season while Hamilton is till 2018. It may give Mercedes an opportunity to change the driver line-up for 2017 as both can't play along with each other.
While, Max Verstappen finished in second place in the Red Bull, Verstappen was under six seconds behind Hamilton at the end.
Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Räikkönen was six seconds behind Hamilton at the end of the seventy-one lap race.
Finally, a quick mention to Pascal Wehrlein in the Manor finishing tenth place giving Manor their first point of the season and their first points since Monaco 2014 when their were named Marussia with the late Jules Bianchi finishing in ninth place. Wehrlein was a lap behind Hamilton at the end.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 7
Lewis Hamilton - 8 (pole, race win and fastest lap)
Nico Rosberg - 7 (finished fourth)
Ferrari - 7
Sebastian Vettel - 7 (DNF, Accident)
Kimi Räikkönen - 8 (finished third)
Williams - 6
Valtteri Bottas - 6 (finished ninth, lap down)
Felipe Massa - 6 (DNF, Brakes)
Red Bull Racing - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 8 (finished fifth)
Max Verstappen - 10 (finished second)
Force India - 6
Nico Hülkenberg - 7 (DNF, Brakes)
Sergio Pérez - 6 (finished seventeenth/DNF, two laps down/Brakes)
Renault - 5
Kevin Magnussen - 5 (finished fourteenth, lap down)
Jolyon Palmer - 6 (finished twelfth, lap down)
Toro Rosso - 6
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8 (finished eighth)
Daniil Kvyat - 4 (DNF, Mechanical)
Sauber - 6
Marcus Ericsson - 5 (finished fifteenth, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 7 (finished thirteenth, lap down)
McLaren - 8
Fernando Alonso - 7 (DNF, Battery)
Jenson Button - 10 (finished sixth)
Manor - 8
Rio Haryanto - 6 (finished sixteenth, lap down)
Pascal Wehrlein - 10 (finished tenth, lap down)
Haas - 8
Romain Grosjean - 9 (finished seventh)
Esteban Gutiérrez - 7 (finished eleventh, lap down)
Next stop Silverstone for the British Grand Prix in a weeks time.
Overall, I thought it was the best race of the season so far. A race of two halves, the first part was current F1 Champion Lewis Hamilton controlling the lead with Nico Rosberg catching up to his team-mate. Until lap 27, when Sebastian Vettel stayed out and took the lead, until his right-rear tire exploded down the main straight bringing out the safety car and giving Nico Rosberg the lead. With the last few laps to go Rosberg leading and Hamilton in second catching up to Rosberg.
Then drama on the final lap, when both Mercedes drivers battling for the lead, Hamilton closed in on Rosberg around the outside of Turn two, only to be forced off the track as they again ran into one another. Rosberg sustained severe damage to his front wing, and was eventually passed by not only Hamilton but also Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari giving Lewis Hamilton the win for this seasons Austrian Grand Prix for his third race win of the season for the Formula 1 World Champion.
And so the civil war at Mercedes continues with Mercedes duo Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton from Spain with the last lap shenanigans in Austria as it did cost Mercedes their third one two finish of the season and cost Nico Rosberg points for his championship. In my opinion it was not racing incident, possibly a clumsy attempt from Rosberg to defend his lead and to block on Hamilton's move for the lead in which the stewards agree give Rosberg a ten second timed penalty to his result.
As this incident may give Mercedes a good reason to reinstate team orders if another race incident happens again with these two drivers, and even may cost Nico Rosberg his job at Mercedes going into 2017, as Rosberg isn't yet contracted to the team next season while Hamilton is till 2018. It may give Mercedes an opportunity to change the driver line-up for 2017 as both can't play along with each other.
While, Max Verstappen finished in second place in the Red Bull, Verstappen was under six seconds behind Hamilton at the end.
Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Räikkönen was six seconds behind Hamilton at the end of the seventy-one lap race.
Finally, a quick mention to Pascal Wehrlein in the Manor finishing tenth place giving Manor their first point of the season and their first points since Monaco 2014 when their were named Marussia with the late Jules Bianchi finishing in ninth place. Wehrlein was a lap behind Hamilton at the end.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 7
Lewis Hamilton - 8 (pole, race win and fastest lap)
Nico Rosberg - 7 (finished fourth)
Ferrari - 7
Sebastian Vettel - 7 (DNF, Accident)
Kimi Räikkönen - 8 (finished third)
Williams - 6
Valtteri Bottas - 6 (finished ninth, lap down)
Felipe Massa - 6 (DNF, Brakes)
Red Bull Racing - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 8 (finished fifth)
Max Verstappen - 10 (finished second)
Force India - 6
Nico Hülkenberg - 7 (DNF, Brakes)
Sergio Pérez - 6 (finished seventeenth/DNF, two laps down/Brakes)
Renault - 5
Kevin Magnussen - 5 (finished fourteenth, lap down)
Jolyon Palmer - 6 (finished twelfth, lap down)
Toro Rosso - 6
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 8 (finished eighth)
Daniil Kvyat - 4 (DNF, Mechanical)
Sauber - 6
Marcus Ericsson - 5 (finished fifteenth, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 7 (finished thirteenth, lap down)
McLaren - 8
Fernando Alonso - 7 (DNF, Battery)
Jenson Button - 10 (finished sixth)
Manor - 8
Rio Haryanto - 6 (finished sixteenth, lap down)
Pascal Wehrlein - 10 (finished tenth, lap down)
Haas - 8
Romain Grosjean - 9 (finished seventh)
Esteban Gutiérrez - 7 (finished eleventh, lap down)
Next stop Silverstone for the British Grand Prix in a weeks time.
Friday, 1 July 2016
Confirmed: Red Bull Racing retains Daniel Ricciardo till 2018
It was confirmed yesterday (30/6/16) that Red Bull Racing will retain Daniel Ricciardo for the next two seasons.
Ricciardo made the switch to the team in 2014 after two seasons at Toro Rosso, currently sits fifth place in the championship, with a best finish of second place at the Monaco Grand Prix this season. While Max Verstappen will remain as his team-mate for the next two seasons as-well.
Overall, a very good decision from Red Bull to keep Daniel Ricciardo for next two season. Although, there were some rumours he could have gone to Ferrari next season. But, for Daniel Ricciardo is maybe better the devil you know and remain at Red Bull Racing, which possibly make Red Bull Racing line-up a very strong one going into 2017.
Ricciardo made the switch to the team in 2014 after two seasons at Toro Rosso, currently sits fifth place in the championship, with a best finish of second place at the Monaco Grand Prix this season. While Max Verstappen will remain as his team-mate for the next two seasons as-well.
Overall, a very good decision from Red Bull to keep Daniel Ricciardo for next two season. Although, there were some rumours he could have gone to Ferrari next season. But, for Daniel Ricciardo is maybe better the devil you know and remain at Red Bull Racing, which possibly make Red Bull Racing line-up a very strong one going into 2017.
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