Year: 2021

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F3 Sochi preview: title beckons for Hauger in Sochi finale

Formula 3 returns to action this weekend for the final time this season, as Russia’s Sochi Autodrom plays host to the championship showdown between Prema’s Dennis Hauger and Trident’s Jack Doohan.

That title fight is now Hauger’s to lose. With four wins, eight podiums and two pole positions to his name so far, Hauger comes to Sochi with a 43-point advantage over Doohan, with 65 points still left to play for this weekend.

That advantage means that Hauger can clinch the title after Saturday’s second sprint race, provided he doesn’t concede any more than 13 points to Doohan across the two sprint races. And even if Doohan still has a chance going into Sunday’s feature race, he’ll be aiming for almost every point available for victory, pole and the fastest lap unless Hauger’s Saturday really falls apart.

Jack Doohan, Trident (Red Bull Content Pool)

Doohan needs a lot of things to go his way if he’s going to snatch the title from Hauger. But pressure can play a big part in title showdowns, even for drivers who have otherwise been as composed all year as Hauger.

If Doohan can start applying that pressure early, such as by taking pole or closing the gap in the first sprint race, then he can start using that to try and force a mistake from Hauger when it really matters.

Neither driver has raced at the Sochi Autodrom so far in their careers, so both will be learning the circuit fresh this weekend. With only one practice session, whoever can hit the ground running fastest will have a big advantage over the weekend’s three races.

Fight for third as tight as ever

Victor Martins, MP Motorsport (Joe Portlock, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F3)

It may just be Hauger and Doohan battling for the F3 title this weekend, but there is still an equally intense fight for third place in the championship yet to be resolved — and a four-way fight at that.

Clement Novalak is currently leading that quartet on 122 points after his double podium result at Zandvoort. The Trident driver has shown impressive consistency all year long to reach this position in the championship, with points finishes in all but one of the last nine races — although what’s arguably more impressive is that he is the only driver of these four still yet to win this season.

Just behind Novalak are Victor Martins and Frederik Vesti, both level on 117 points and each with a win to their name. Martins’ victory came in the second Zandvoort sprint race and was the peak of a brilliant bounce back after a disappointing run leading into the summer break. He seems to be riding on a second wind right now, which is the perfect momentum to have running into the season finale.

But Vesti is almost in the opposite situation. He showed great pace early in the season and is still the only driver outside of Hauger and Doohan to take a feature race win this year, but as Novalak and Martins hit their stride Vesti dropped back from the front of the championship.

Frederik Vesti, ART (Dan Istitene , Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F3)

Vesti was back on the podium at Zandvoort — his first since his feature race win at the Red Bull Ring — so hopefully that will give him the boost he needs to end his season on the form it started.

And lastly there’s Alex Smolyar, who is 15 points behind Novalak in sixth despite having more wins than both Martins and Vesti and more podiums than Novalak. But he’s also missed the points on six occasions and consistency has been his main weakness this year.

However, Smolyar is the only one of this pack of drivers with any racing experience of the Sochi Autodrom, and his last visit during his 2017 SMP F4 days resulted in a double podium. That will surely give Smolyar confidence as he comes into the weekend needing a great result to overhaul the drivers ahead of him.

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ELMS Round 5 – The Spa 4 Hours

It was a beautiful day whether wise at the Spa-Francorchamp circuit in the Ardennes unusual for this time of year.

The race got under way with its usual rolling start but as the cars went for the first corner at La Source chaos erupted with 4 or 5 cars coming together most cars would recover with only 2 with severe damage, Nielsen Racing #Car6 was one of the them after limping around part of the circuit it finished up in the gravel this brought out the first safety car of the day G Drives #Car26 had rear end damage and needed a new rear wing it entered the pits for repairs but on leaving the pits it still had a problem with Rusinov onboard #Car26 pulled over on the Kemmel straight and out of the race, with all the cars recovered it was back to green racing but this wasn’t to last long and the 2nd safety car of the day was out on track #Car 24 of Algarve Pro Racing runs into the back of the RLRM Sport #Car15 this then caused the Ferrari of AF Corse #Car55 to make contact both cars 24 & 55 had to much damage and are out of the race.

Just before the first hour we are back to green and the leaders after one hour of racing are WRT Racing #Car 41 in LMP2, in LMP3 #Car18 of 1 Aim Villorba Corse leads while in LMGTE it’s the Porsche #Car 93 of Proton Racing after the dramatic but exciting first hour the race settles into some kind of rhythm and battles carry on right through the field as we approach the 2nd hour its the WRT Racing #Car41 leading in LMP2 with a new leader in LMP3 #Car19 of Cool Racing is in front while in LMGTE the Iron Lynx #Car83 as taken up the lead, the fight still rages on in the LMP3 class with another lead change DKR Engineering are now in the top spot after a brilliant bit of driving on the Kemmel straight the drama keeps on unfolding as #Car13 of Inter Europol Competition as a big impact with the tyre barriers thankfully the driver Aidan Read is out straight away and ok this brings out our first Full Course Yellow and a flurry of pit stops all the top 6 in LMP2 are in for fuel and tyres , with an hour and 30 minutes remaining its back to green racing.

As we arrive at the final hour WRT Racing #Car14 still leads in LMP2 while in LMP3 DKR Engineering #Car4 leads with the AF Corse #Car88 now leading in LMGTE, all through the field exciting battles are taking place as we move into the final part of the race with only 4 minutes of the 4 hours remaining more drama as #Car5 of MV2S racing in LMP3 class hits the barriers at Eau Rouge its another Full Course Yellow the 2nd of the race but its not for long as the marshal’s do a fantastic job of clearing the car and debris from the track and with only 1 minute and 15 seconds to go we are back green its going to be a minute sprint to the flag, as the chequered flag falls it’s a win for WRT Racing #Car41 and not only that they are crowned LMP2 Champions for 2021 with a race to spare.

In LMP3 DKR Engineering #Car4 win again their 3rd straight victory in the LMP3 class and in LMGTE AF Corse #Car88 return to winning ways and their 2nd victory of the season.

Images courtesy of ELMS

Classification LMP2 (Top 4)

1 Car 41 – Team WRT – R. KUBICA, L. DELETRAZ, Y. YE

2 Car 30 – Duqueine Team – T. GOMMENDY, R. BINDER, M. ROJAS

3 Car 65 – Panis Racing – J. CANAL, W. STEVENS, J. ALLEN

4 37 COOL – Racing – A. COIGNY, N. LAPIERRE, C. MILESI

LMP3 (Top 4)

1 Car 4 – DKR Engineering – L. HORR, M. DE BARBUAT

2 Car 19 – COOL Racing – N. MAULINI, M. BELL, N. KRUETTEN

3 Car 2 – United Autosport – W. BOYD, R. WHELDON, E. CAUHAUPE

4 Car 8 – Graff Motorsport – E. TROUILLET, S. PAGE, D. DROUX

LMGTE (Top 4)

1 Car 88 – AF Corse – F. PERRODO, E. COLLARD, A. ROVERA

2 Car 80 – Iron Lynx – M. CRESSONI, R. MASTRONARDI, M. MOLINA LMGTE

3 Car 83 – Iron Lynx – R. FREY, S. BOVY, M. GATTING

4 Car 93 – Proton Competition – M. FASSBENDER, F. LASER, R. LIETZ

 

Next stop Portimao for Round 6 and the final race of the 2021 ELMS season on the weekend of 24th October 2021.

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2021 Russian Grand Prix Preview

It has perhaps been massively overblown, but the fact of the matter is that in each of the last two races that Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have gone side-by-side, they have not only made contact – but produced two frightful crashes.

Thankfully, both Hamilton and Verstappen were okay after their clumsy crash in Monza – Courtesy of Mercedes F1 Media

It has, unfortunately, begged the question as to whether these two elite racing drivers are actually able to go side-by-side cleanly, and it has frankly been a frustrating plot to an otherwise sublime title story. The events of Monza two weeks ago gave us a first McLaren one-two finish in over 11 years, with Daniel Ricciardo leading Lando Norris to the finish and putting a tremendously positive spin on a difficult opening campaign with the Woking-based team for the Australian.

It is no less than McLaren deserve following years of development having fallen behind since their switch to Honda engines in 2015. Even before that in 2013, Jenson Button and Sergio Perez experienced an almost insufferable car, but nobody imagined it would take this long to climb back into a winning position.

What it certainly has done is display that, when the chips are down for the front-runners, they are the midfield team that will step up and take advantage. Ferrari and Charles Leclerc had a similar opportunity in Silverstone, albeit Lewis Hamilton was still in the race following his crash with Verstappen. Hamilton of course went on to win on that occasion.

Almost mercifully, this weekend veers back away from the sprint format, which has seen the two collisions between our protagonists, but the format is not so important as the technical prowess of the cars and drivers.

The 5.8 kilometre Sochi Autodrom is a notoriously tough track to race at, so qualifying will be vital, and strategy will be crucial. This does not mean to say there can be no racing in Krasnodar – Lando Norris, George Russell and Alex Albon can testify to that.

Alex Albon, George Russell and Lando Norris gave us a wonderful battle last year – Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

Further to their entertaining wheel-to-wheel racing last season, is the story emerging through Mercedes’ Finnish departure Valtteri Bottas. He made an excellent recovery to third in Monza after his grid penalty, and there is still the odd chuckle at his defiance of team orders – setting the fastest lap again Mercedes’ wishes. This is a track that Bottas has always done ever so well at, and the seemingly new-found shackles off attitude to the nine-time race winner would lead one believe we will not be seeing the same passivity as 2018 if he ends up in a similar position this weekend. he did of course win this race last year.

Bottas took victory here last year – Courtesy of Mercedes F1 Media

His compatriot Kimi Raikkonen will also return, having missed the last two races by virtue of contracting COVID-19.

But the focus will sadly be on Verstappen and Hamilton, whose close shaves have now come to a head twice, and let’s hope they can keep it clean if they end up side by side in Russia this weekend. Either way, this is now set to be a thrilling final run-in to what has been an enticing 2021 for Formula One so far.

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Colton Herta dominates, Palou closes in on title, and Grosjean steals the headlines at Leguna Seca

Colton Herta did what Colton Herta usually does, dominating from pole position to take his sixth career victory at Leguna Seca.

Herta led the field cleanly ahead of Alexander Rossi, Will Power, and Alex Palou. However, on Lap Two, it was Rossi who tried to capitalise on a brief mistake by Herta, diving down the inside of Turn Two. The Andretti drivrt understeered into Herta and spun out into the gravel bringing out the first caution of the day. Meanwhile, Arrow McLaren SP driver Felix Rosenqvist spun but was able to return to the track and get racing again.

After the first lap, the championship leaders were in fourth (Palou), fifth (Dixon), sixth (O’Ward), and 17th (Newgarden).

Patricio O’Ward was one of the only front runners to start on the primary tyres and would finish fourth. Photo credit James Black.

The restart got underway on Lap Four as O’Ward, who started in sixth and had already lost out to Dixon, started to fall down the order. He was soon swallowed up by Marcus Ericsson and Simon Pagenaud as he continued his season-long struggle on the primary sticker blacks. 

Will Power pitted on Lap Ten with an engine issue which kicked started the first stops for other drivers like O’Ward, who desperately needed track position. However, Josef Newgarden had pitted earlier and was able to jump O’Ward out of the pits.

Colton Herta would wait until Lap 19 before pitting, emerging out of the pits comfortably ahead of Alex Palou who had benefited from the misfortune of Rossi and Power. O’Ward would eventually pit again on Lap 40 while Herta would hold a 30 second lead over Palou. However, after both drivers pitted Palou was able to close up to within a second of the leader.

The two drivers eventually were caught in lapped traffic including Felix Rosenqvist , allowing third-place O’Ward to begin carving down the 20-second gap between himself and O’Ward. He would close the gap down to 16 seconds before pitting on Lap 67 alongside Alex Palou, the former losing out to Graham Rahal in the pitlane. Herta would come in on Lap 68 coming out ahead of both but behind Romain Grosjean who was still yet to pit.

With 15 laps remaining, Grosjean pitted for fresh reds and set about carving through the field on an electric final stint passing O’Ward for fourth place. Soon after he passed Rahal for the podium and set about reducing the gap to second-place Palou who was ten seconds ahead but came about on lapped traffic.

With seven laps remaining Grosjean had to overtake Chip Ganassi driver Jimmie Johnson who had been told to make the Dayle Coyne racer work for it. Romain went for an audacious lunge down the inside of the Corkscrew, a move he had pulled of succesfully mutiple times throughout the race. The two made contact as Johnson left little room on the inside but ultimately Romain would come out on top.

Herta would eventually go on to take victory with ease, having led for the most of the race. Palou would take second, with Grosjean third. Graham Rahal finished fourth while O’Ward would round out the top five..

Grosjean takes his third podium of the season while Chip Ganassi teammates Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon finished sixth and 13th respectively, officially ruling them out of the championship title race.

As we head into the final race of the season at Long Beach, we only have three drivers who are mathematically in with a chance of the title. Alex Palou holds a magnificent points lead with Patricio O’Ward trailing by 35 points and Josef Newgarden by 49.  It will be a tough ask for the American Penske racer who requires a win, providing his competitors fail to finish the race.

Alex Palou is firmly in the driving seat and will win his first IndyCar championship providing he finishes 11th or better.

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Round 9 WorldSBK Catalunya, Spain, Race 2

Thankfully we had blue skies and the sun was out for dry racing conditions on Sunday. For the Superpole race, Rea (Kawasaki KRT) decided on the harder Sc0 tyre, while most of the other riders went for the softer ScX rear tyre. After a restarted race due to a crash and subsequent red flag, Rea went on to take his first win of the weekend followed by Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) in 2nd and Bautista (Honda HRC) in 3rd, who takes his first podium of the season.

WorldSBK Race 2 Catalunya 19.09.2021 Picture courtesy of Kawasaki Racing Team Provec Racing

For race 2, the riders were barely off before a big incident at turn 1 involving Sykes (BMW Motorrad) and Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) saw the race red flagged for the second time today. It was decided the restarted race would be brought down to 19 laps.

Lights out for the shortened race and its Razgatlioglu with the hole shot down into turn 1, followed by Rea in 2nd, Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati) 3rd, Bautista 4th and Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) in 5th. Redding, as in race 1, was down in 10th.

Track temperature was around 40 degrees Celcius and the riders knew the second half of the race would be crucial in terms of managing tyre wear. Only the Ducati team mates of Rinaldi and Redding had gone with the harder Sc0 rear tyre, while everyone else went with a softer option.

With 17 laps to go, it was Rinaldi who set a new fastest lap of 1:42.566 and he was breathing down the neck of the Turkish rider in front after powering past Rea down the straight.

Next lap and Redding was now up to 6th and, as he had in race 1, he was now finding his groove and looking ready for a fight. Bautista was in front of Redding and feeling more confident on his Honda after his podium in the Superpole race. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was in 7th and trying to hang onto the group in front of him.

Lap 6 of 19 now, and Rinaldi finds a way past Razgatlioglu and holds a lead of 0.4. Rea was in 3rd and Locatelli was in 4th, followed by the group of Bautista, Redding and Gerloff who was starting to slip backwards.

WorldSBK Race 2 Catalunya 19.09.2021 Picture courtesy of Kawasaki Racing Team Provec Racing

Redding was desperate to get past Bautista and tried several times to dive up the inside of the Honda rider although every time he tried, he was way too hot into the corner going wide which allowed Alvaro to respond and retake the position back.

With 11 laps to go Rea was dropping back to Locatelli, no doubt suffering tyre wear issues. Both Bautista and Redding were doing faster lap times and would soon catch him. Meanwhile further back it was Bassani (motocorsa racing Ducati) in 8th, Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 9th and vd Mark (BMW Motorrad) in 10th.

With 9 laps to go, Redding takes both Bautista and Rea, the latter who had himself been passed by Locatelli and was dropping back like a stone now really struggling with grip.

With 8 laps to go, Razgatlioglu fights back and dives up the inside of Rinaldi into turn 6 to retake the lead. If he was also suffering with tyre wear, the Yamaha rider was definitely handling it better. However the harder tyre choice seemed to be working very well for both of the Ducati riders.

With 5 laps to go, Rinaldi out brakes Razgatlioglu down the long straight and into turn 1 to retake the lead. The two holding a gap of 3 seconds to Locatelli in 3rd.

Three laps to go and Rinaldi was pulling away from Razgatlioglu and now held a  gap of 1.5 to the Turkish rider. Meanwhile Redding moves up the inside of Locatelli down into turn 1 and was now hunting down the Yamaha rider in 2nd.

Onto the last lap now and Redding was within a second of Razgatlioglu. Further back Rea was still holding onto 6th, with Gerloff in 7th. Toprak was definitely falling back but would there be enough time for Redding to catch him?

Rinaldi crosses the line to take the win followed by Razgatlioglu who holds on for 2nd, Redding 3rd, Bautista 4th, Locatelli 5th, Rea 6th, Gerloff 7th and Bassani 8th.

WorldSBK Race 2 Catalunya 19.09.2021 Picture courtesy of Yamaha Racing

And the result means Razgatlioglu retakes the top spot of the championship yet again, this time by a single point. This season is going down to the wire and is still too hard to call.

Result top 5:

  1. Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
  3. Redding (aruba.it Ducati)
  4. Bautista (Honda HRC)
  5. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha)

Rider out: Sykes (BMW Motorrad), Lowes (Kawasaki KRT), Epis (Pedercini Kawasaki), Cresson (Pedercini Kawasaki), Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)

Championship top 3:

  1. Razgatlioglu –  399 pts
  2. Rea 398
  3. Redding 339

 

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Perfect Pecco at Misano!

Qualifying:

A few unexpected crashes from Marc Marquez (Honda), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) during the qualifying session meant yellow flags had to be waved and some riders were caught out by this, by not putting in a good qualifying lap.

One rider not to be caught out was Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) who bagged a second pole in a row. Also claiming a second, second place was team-mate Jack Miller (Ducati) from Quartararo in third, taking the last spot on the front row.

Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) had yet another team-mate, this time with former Moto GP rider Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha). He also had another helmet design, following on from last years design (Viagra pills) being substituted for a pink bow in honour of the announcement of his soon-to-be baby girl. Would this helmet bring him any luck for the race on home ground?

Rossi with new helmet for Misano. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Race:

With the riders getting prepped on the grid, grey clouds started to loom above them and the temperature at the track dropped but it was declared a dry race by the start.

Grey clouds over the grid. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

When the lights went out it appeared that Bagnaia may have had a jump-start but stewards quickly assessed the situation and he just started as he meant to go on – perfectly.

Marc Marquez was quick off the line and was soon in fourth place with Jorge Martin (Ducati) close behind, who had passed A. Espargaro.

Starting from 12th place – Bastianini had quickly made up places and was soon in 9th. Would he be one to keep-an-eye on?

Bastianini starting to make ground. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

Pecco created a gap straight away from Jack and Fabio, already 1.231 seconds ahead and secured fastest lap in the process. While Fabio and Jorge Martin scrapped for third position behind. But it was not to be for Martin, who crashed out on lap 3, turn 14.

The man to watch (Bastianini) flew through the field and soon passed A. Espargaro for 5th place. While Miller took fastest lap behind his team-mate, in the lead.

Next up on Bastianini’s list was M. Marquez, they had a fight for 4th position but the Ducati man came out the victor. Could he make it to a podium place? The gap between himself and Quartararo was 3.486 seconds – it seemed it could be done with 11 laps to go.

Both front Ducati’s had chosen to race with hard front Michelin tyres and soft rears, compared to Yamaha which had front hard and medium rear. Would the soft tyre choices prove to be effective for the Dukes? Or would the Yamaha conserve tyres more effectively?

While it was elation for the factory Ducati’s in 1st and 2nd, it was deflation for the Pramac Ducati’s. In quick succession both Pramac Ducati riders soon had long-lap penalties. But for Martin, who had managed to get back on his bike, found himself in last place and took his penalty but soon after retired out of the race.

Pecco continued to extend his lead from Miller while Quartararo continued to stalk him for 2nd place. With 14 laps till the end Quartararo took a stop to the Ducati dominance and passed the Australian for 2nd, trying to claw back the lead that Bagnaia had created, which was 2.818 seconds ahead.

It appeared that Miller’s rear tyre may have degraded as Bastianini had him in his sights by lap 16.

The young Italian was on a mission – he claimed fastest lap on lap 17 and again on lap 18. Closing the space between himself and Miller to under a second. Whilst Alex Rins (Suzuki) crashed out in sector one, Bastianini claimed a third fastest lap in a row. He was just 0.180 seconds behind Miller. But the number 43 couldn’t hold off the number 23 any longer and on lap 19 Enea passed Jack to take a podium place.

Third for Enea. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.

The gap between Bagnaia and Quartararo was closed down to 1.254 seconds. Did Bagnaia have the same tyre concerns as Miller? With just 5 laps until the end the gap was down to 1.089 seconds.

But then the gap was suddenly increased again to 2.628 seconds – maybe Bagnaia had been conserving his tyres all along? Or had Quartararo made a small mistake?

The pressure was building between the Italian and the Frenchman as Quartararo seemed to find something last minute as well and was soon back behind Bagnaia. But as Bagnaia had proven last weekend, he was ready for a fight, with the taste of one victory, he wanted more.

Bagnaia defends first. Courtesy of Moto GP website.

With two laps to go Fabio appeared to be setting himself up to pass Pecco. The gap had decreased to just 0.271 seconds. But Bagnaia managed to hold off his advances and took back-to-back wins from Quartararo and Bastianini – who rode an incredible race and took his first podium in Moto GP on a 2019 Ducati.

Marquez and Joan Mir (Suzuki) managed to pass Miller, who couldn’t quite defend 4th place, on the last lap. But Miller was soon promoted to 5th place as Mir had exceeded track limits on the last lap.

It was the perfect weekend for Pecco – taking back-to-back poles and back-to-back wins!

Misano Podium 2021. Courtesy of: Misano World Circuit, Twitter Page.

Top ten race finishers:

1

F. Bagnaia

2

F. Quartararo

3

E. Bastianini

4

M.Marquez

5

J. Miller

6

J. Mir

7

P. Espargaro

8

A. Espargaro

9

B. Binder

10

T. Nakagami

Championship results:

First

F. Quartararo

234 points

Second

F. Bagnaia

186 points

Third

J. Mir

168 points

Fourth

J. Zarco

141 points

What can we expect for the next round in two weeks time at Austin, Texas? Will Quartararo be in a comfortable position to claim the World Title? Will there be a 9th new winner? Or will the Ducati’s reign supreme once more?

 

(Featured image – Courtesy of Moto GP website).

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BTCC Croft – King of Croft Turkington prevails with Shedden and Sutton in race-long fight

Colin Turkington secured a lights to flag win in the third and final race at Croft. The ‘King of Croft’ kept up his impressive record at the Yorkshire circuit with a win in the final race.

The story of the race was a handful of collisions, spins, and a titanic battle between two titans in Gordon Shedden and Ash Sutton.

The safety car came out on lap one as there was chaos further down the grid. Dan Lloyd ended up in the gravel trap, with Jack Mitchell spinning off after damaging his car in the melee. Jack Goff and Jade Edwards also involved picking up damage and seeing them retire from the race.

Racing returned on lap three with the restart, and the chaos continued as Jason Plato had an off at one of the fastest corners on the circuit. Miraculously he didn’t hit anything but he finished the race a lap down.

Adam Morgan and Stephen Jelley both had spins at the final complex on lap six. Other cars managed to avoid the pair as they were able to rejoin and continue.

Nick Halstead, deputising for Rick Parfitt Jr, had a moment going into the final corner as he ran wide and spun off. Again he kept it out of the tyre wall to keep his car going.

The main battle of the race was between Gordon Shedden and Ash Sutton. The pair, with five BTCC titles between them, it was a titanic battle between them with Sutton trying his hardest to make a move coming out of the final hairpin.

Colin Turkington cruised to the win, with Shedden managing to hang on with Sutton settling for third and extending his championship lead in the process.

Tom Ingram’s recovery from a poor qualifying was rewarded with another fourth place finish. Josh Cook and Aiden Moffat rounded off impressive weekends with fifth and sixth.

Jake Hill and Senna Proctor finished seventh and eighth with Dan Rowbottom and Tom Chilton rounding off the top ten in a frenetic but exciting race.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR 23:19:784
2 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +3.500
3 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +3.716
4 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +7.282
5 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +7.896
6 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +16.730
7 Jake Hill Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +18.360
8 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +18.979
9 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +20.363
10 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +20.810
11 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +21.279
12 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +22.409
13 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +22.600
14 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +23.383
15 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +26.709
16 Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +34.310
17 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +34.872
18 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST Motorbase +36.467
19 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +36.939
20 Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD +45.435
21 Nick Halstead Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +1 Lap
22 Sam Osborne Ford Focus ST Motorbase +1 Lap
23 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +1 Lap
Retirements
DNF Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 Mechanical
DNF Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport Suspension
DNF Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing Damage
DNF Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD Damage
DNF Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD Crash
DNF Dan  Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed Crash

 

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BTCC Croft – Jake Hill boosts title credentials with dominant win

Jake Hill cruised to a dominant win in race two at Croft to take his second British Touring Car Championship win. The win also boosts his title credentials.

While Hill pulled away there was chaos behind him with around 20 cars all running close behind each other. Aiden Moffat defended incredibly well to take second with Josh Cook in third.

Cook was in the action from the off as he and Colin Turkington made contact into the high speed section, thankfully both drivers came out unscathed. The end of lap one saw Rory Butcher’s wretched luck continue as he was out after a collision.

Tom Oliphant also had another race to forget as he retired with suspension damage and the safety car was deployed to recover the two stricken cars.

Just before the safety car was deployed Hill managed to squeeze past Moffat to take the lead.

On lap six came the restart, Hill managed to get away well with Josh Cook all over the back of team mate Senna Proctor, looking to find a way past the local driver.

By la eight Hill was two seconds clear, with Moffat fighting to hold off the BTC Honda duo of Cook and Proctor with the maximum 75kg ballast in his Infiniti.

Cook finally managed to pass Proctor with a gutsy move down the inside into the Sunny corner.

While Hill was strolling to the win, the action was behind him as Moffat was still defending, but with a gaggle of cars behind him all exchanging places. Turkington the biggest loser as he dropped a handful of places after contact with Gordon Shedden into turn one.

Tom Ingram came out of nowhere to be fourth by the end of lap 15 from 12th on the grid.

Hill took the win, the second of his career, with Moffat showing some incredible racecraft and defensive driving to take second, with Cook third.

Ingram finished fourth with championship leader Ash Sutton fifth, Shedden was sixth with Turkington seventh. Proctor finished eighth with Chris Smiley ninth and Adam Morgan tenth.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Jake Hill Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport 27:31:374
2 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +5.508
3 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +6.849
4 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +7.512
5 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +7.749
6 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +7.999
7 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +10.087
8 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +11.254
9 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +11.916
10 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +12.262
11 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +12.438
12 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +12.771
13 Sam Osborne Ford Focus ST Motorbase +13.152
14 Ollie Jaclson Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +13.370
15 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +13.810
16 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +14.927
17 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +15.131
18 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +15.330
19 Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +16.011
20 Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD +16.472
21 Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +17.225
22 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +18.419
23 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +19.013
24 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST Motorbase +31.145
25 Nick Halstead Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +33.461
26 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +1 Lap
Retirements
DNF Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD Crash
DNF Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR Mechanical
DNF Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo Crash

 

Posted on

BTCC Croft – Aiden Moffat fends off Jake Hill for brilliant win in race one

Aiden Moffat converted pole to victory in race one at Croft in the British Touring Car Championship. He fended off Jake Hill to take his fourth BTCC win of his career.

Having taken the first pole position of his career on Saturday, he led off the line with second placed qualifier Colin Turkington losing places to Hill and Senna Proctor to sit fourth. His BMW team mate Tom Oliphant had an off on lap one and finished 20th.

On lap three Ollie Jackson came off worst as Chris Smiley dove down the inside of Dan Rowbottom, the pair collided, and with Jackson on the outside of both, he was spun and retired with suspension damage.

The safety car was introduced on lap five as Dan Rowbottom was in the tyre wall as Aron Taylor-Smith clipped the Honda driver and it sent Rowbottom off into the wall.

The race restarted on lap nine and Hill was doing all he can to put the pressure on Moffat.  But the Infiniti driver was defending well and did all he could to hold off the Ford driver.

There weren’t many overtakes at the front with the drivers thinking of the bigger picture and the vital championship points on display. After the first lap the top five didn’t change order once.

Moffat took the chequered flag, with Hill and Proctor rounding off the podium with impressive drives. Turkington took fourth with Josh Cook fifth. He pulled off an incredible double overtake on lap one into the tight right hand hairpin.

Championship leader Ash Sutton was sixth with Smiley seventh, Adam Morgan, Dan Lloyd and Gordon Shedden rounded off the top ten.

Tom Ingram could only manage 12th place in his Hyundai as his title fight takes a hit.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools 23:26:297
2 Jake Hill Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +0.520
3 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +1.888
4 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +2.269
5 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +2.877
6 Ash Sutton Infinti Q50 Laser Tools +4.502
7 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +5.447
8 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +6.728
9 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +7.337
10 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +8.043
11 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +8.808
12 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +9.776
13 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +10.064
14 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +11.359
15 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +11.970
16 Sam Osborne Ford Focus ST Motorbase +12.649
17 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +13.576
18 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +14.276
19 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +14.941
20 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +15.167
21 Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +16.101
22 Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD +17.614
23 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +23.884
24 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST Motorbase +29.719
25 Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD +30.118
26 Nick Halstead Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +34.270
27 Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +1 Lap
Retirements
DNF Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics Crash
DNF Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport Suspension
Posted on

Round 9 WorldSBK Catalunya, Spain, Race 1

It was Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad) who ended Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki KRT) dominance of superpoles by claiming his very own with a fastest lap of 1:40.408. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) getting 2nd with Rea in 3rd.

Catalunya Race 1 WorldSBK Picture courtesy of Kawasaki Racing Team – Provec Racing

The start of race one was declared wet with rain pelting down onto the track. No surprise then that the whole grid went with wet tyres. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) retired before the start, unfortunately crashing out on the sighting lap.

Lights out and it was Razgatlioglu with a great start in the tricky conditions, getting the hole shot into turn 1. Locatelli on the other Pata Yamaha was briefly in 2nd before Rea came through to claim the position. It was Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) in 3rd, Locatelli 4th and Bassani (Motocorsa Racing Ducati) in 5th from a grid position of 11th. However both Sykes and Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) had terrible starts and found themselves way down in 9th and 10th respectively.

By the start of lap 2, Rea had found a way past Razgatlioglu and was looking to get away, although the Turkish rider was having none of it and they swapped the lead several times. Bassani was now up to 3rd, looking confident in the difficult conditions and looking to join the battle up front.

Rea had put the hammer down on lap 3, posting a fastest lap of 1:57.362 and this pace was now putting a significant gap into Toprak behind who had to deal with Bassani who had closed right behind him. Further back the Honda team mates of Haslam and Bautista were in 9th and 14th respectively with Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in 10th and Redding who had slipped further back to 11th.

Rinaldi and vd Mark (BMW Motorrad) were having a battle for 4th place. Both bikes came together with Rinaldi coming off the better and scraping through to take 4th. Meanwhile up front Razgatlioglu had his hands full keeping Bassani at bay with both riders giving the spectators a real treat, swapping positions several times. This was all playing into the Northern Irishman’s hands and he had now increased his gap at the front to 2.5 on lap 4.

Further back Lowes (Kawasaki KRT) had now moved into 5th, taking the position from vd Mark. Redding was 7.5 behind the leader in 10th and looking very unsure of his Ducati in the brutal conditions.

Razgatlioglu responded to the pace of Rea putting in a new fastest lap of 1:56.777. Meanwhile further back there was a three way battle for 8th, 9th and 10th between Sykes, Locatelli and Redding respectively, with the latter eventually moving through to take 8th.

With 15 laps to go, Bassani takes 2nd from Razgatlioglu, the Italian looking for his first ever WorldSBK win. No doubt Toprak was getting more frustrated as he saw his championship lead being cut.

Meanwhile Haslam had now caught the group of Rinaldi 4th, vd Mark 5th and Lowes 6th to make it a four way battle. At the front Razgatlioglu responds with another fastest lap of 1:56.544, desperate not to let Bassani get away.

With 12 laps to go, Redding had now made it onto the back of the Haslam group into 8th and was looking more confident into the tricky corners, but would there be enough laps for him to get any further?

Halfway stage of the race and Rea now appeared to be losing his advantage with both Bassani and Razgatlioglu less than a second behind. The Turkish rider setting a previous lap nearly a whole second quicker than Rea.

Catalunya Race 1 WorldSBK Picture courtesy of Kawasaki Racing Team – Provec Racing

With 9 laps left, Razgatlioglu had come through on Bassani and then drives his Yamaha around the outside of Rea to take over the lead. Bassani then uses all the grunt of the Ducati to power past Rea down the straight, Rea falling back like a stone now and would soon have vd Mark on him. Redding meanwhile, was in 6th and looking for a way past Rinaldi in 5th.

Then drama with 6 laps to go, disaster strikes for Razgatlioglu, his Yamaha losing all power and that spells the end of his race. Bassani could not believe his fortune and takes over the race lead.

With 5 laps to go, there was now a group of 5 riders all vying for the win. Rea continued to slip back and both Ducati team mates came through, Rinaldi in 2nd with Redding in 3rd, Rea now 4th and vd Mark in 5th.

Lap 18 and Redding was really in the groove and after getting by on his team mate, he had Bassani firmly in his crosshairs in the process setting a fastest lap of 1:56.166.

Into turn 5 and Redding makes a block pass on Bassani, taking over the lead. With only 3 laps to go could Bassani respond? Meanwhile Rea was desperately trying to hold off vd Mark in 4th.

Redding does not allow Bassani back into contention and takes an amazing win after only being in 10th on lap 1. Bassani comes over the line in 2nd, Rinaldi 3rd, Rea 4th and vd Mark 5th. Other notable places were Lowes in 6th, Haslam 7th, Sykes 8th and Bautista 9th.

The result meant Rea would again take over at the top of this quite breathtaking championship from Razgatlioglu.

Result top 5:

  1. Redding (aruba.it Ducati)
  2. Bassani (motocorsa racing Ducati)
  3. Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati)
  4. Rea (Kawasaki KRT)
  5. vd Mark (BMW Motorrad)

Out: Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha), Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team)

Championship top 3:

  1. Rea 376 pts
  2. Razgatlioglu 370
  3. Redding 323

 

 

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