Year: 2024

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Formula E Season 11 Driver Line Up Predictions: Staff and Community

As the 10th Season of Formula E draws to a close, I thought it would be fun to go through the grid and see what driver changes could happen based on my (Kieran) opinion and the Formula E Community!

Andretti Formula E: Jake Dennis and Zane Maloney

With the American team of Andretti, I believe a big change will be made in terms of the seat beside the world champion of Jake Dennis with Norman Nato not fullfilling up the expectations, in my opinion, that FIA Formula 2 current championship contender Zane Maloney will be unable to find a seat in F1 and move to Formula E. As Maloney has been with the Andretti for some time, taking part in rookie FPO sessions.

Jaguar TCS Racing: Mitch Evans and Nick Cassidy. 

With the strongest lineup in Season 10, there is no reason for Jaguar to change its New Zealand lineup. They are both doing as they want and even though Evans is significantly down in comparison to Cassidy, changing the line up with arguable the strongest lineup would be insane.

DS Penske: Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne

After a somewhat optimistic season with podiums for DS Penske, I suspect they will be maintaining consistency throughout the first season of Gen3Evo.

Maserati MSG Racing: Maximilian Guenther and Jehan Daruvala

Over at Maserati, I don’t anticipate a change for the Maserati team as Guenther is a proven team leader and Jehan Daruvala is picking up speed and pace with multiple points scoring finishes in his rookie season. 

Nissan Formula E Team: Oliver Rowland and Caio Collet

Over at the Japanese manufacturer team of Nissan, I am anticipating a BIG change with Rowland being a top team leader over there with Sacha Fenestraz being let go from the team after a…less than optiminal season sophmore season and then Caoi Collet joins the team after taking part in Indy NXT over in America. 

Abt Cupra Formula E Team: Antonio Felix Da Costa and Lucas Di Grassi

Over at AbtCupra / Lola, I am fully expecting Da Costa to replace Mueller who will leave the team but remain on the grid. I’m sure you can see where I am going with this…

Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team: Pascal Wehrlein and Nico Mueller

Yes, I am saying Mueller will join the Porsche manufacturer team. I think Porsche will want to prepare for the future if Wehrlein wants to leave the team due to his expectations not being met or various reasons.

NEOM McLaren Formula E Team: Sam Bird and Jake Hughes

McLaren is a really interesting one due to Taylor Barnard taking over from Sam Bird when Bird had that accident in Monaco. It is a very similar scenario to Visa CashApp RB where 3 into 2 will not go. However, I expect Barnard to take part in a second season in F2 in order to get more experience while also 

ERT Formula E Team: Dan Ticktum and Sergio Sette Camara

For ERT, it is difficult to see if they can get anyone apart from their current lineup of Ticktum and Sette Camara. I cannot see them moving or ERT getting anyone new or experiences in.

Mahindra Racing: Nyck De Vries and Edoardo Mortara

When Mahindra announced Nyck DeVries and Edoardo Mortara, they were signed on a multi year deal and there is no reason why they would replace them as they are performing as much as they can. 

Envision Racing: Paul Aron and Robin Frijns

Envision is a very tricky one as both of their drivers left during the double header in Berlin to race in the World Endurance Championship which, while Joel Erikkson scored during that weekend, the result wasn’t maximised. So I can see Paul Aron, a FIA Formula 2 championship contender like Maloney, move to Formula E with Envision with Robin Frijns next to the young Estonian. 

Paul Aron, Envision Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Fan Predictions

Here are a few fan predictions!

https://twitter.com/theniki94/status/1792642944026988594
This prediction doesn’t seem to be very different to season 10 with Dan I am presuming is Dan Ticktum.

This person DMed their prediction so I will respect their privary but it sounds like they are going down a similar route with rumours of Porsche dropping Da Costa. 

 

What are your predictions for Formula E Season 11? Let us know!

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A Resurgent Toprak… Ducati Under Attack

After successive championship titles with Ducati, reigning champion Alvaro Bautista seemed untouchable at one point. Everyone remembers the absolutely insane dual between Alvaro and Toprak at Portimao at the end of last season. For me, it was the best race I’ve ever seen and I’ve been watching motorcycle racing for the best part of two decades, through the glorious Valentino Rossi battles with everyone in sight. Toprak gave everything in that race and still came away second best, Bautista onboard the factory Ducati, ultimately prevailing for a second world championship title.

Toprak Razgatlioglu Picture courtesy of ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team

Fast forward to a new season and a highly motivated Toprak, with a point to prove. Toprak may not come across as a rider with a chip on his shoulder, or appear outwardly angry, at least his demeanour seems to be that of the complete professional. However, it wasn’t that long ago where a test with the MotoGP factory Yamaha team didn’t prove to be as impressive as many thought. Certainly Monster Energy Yamaha Team Manager, Massimo Meragalli was very diplomatic when asked about the lap times Toprak had set. Toprak himself, had been open about his desire to move into the MotoGP paddock and no doubt felt disappointed a move never transpired for the 2024 season.

Signing a contract with the Rokit BMW Motorrad Factory team for 2024, many thought the move would be a disaster given the form of the BMW team, with both then factory riders Scott Redding, and Michael Vd Mark struggling to reach consistent form. Toprak’s manager and close friend, Kenan Sofuoglu hinted at the nature of these dismissive comments when being interviewed by Eurosport commentator, James Toseland on the grid for the WorldSSP race on Sunday.

If extra motivation was required, Toprak certainly didn’t look like he needed it over the Misano round. With a first triple win for BMW and a first triple for Toprak since the Indonesian round in 2022, Ducati are now very well aware they’re in a dog fight.

Toprak Razgatlioglu Picture courtesy of ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team

Race 2 saw rookie Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), get an impressive launch off the line securing the hole shot into turn 1. Toprak however, ended up down in 5th. Never one to get ruffled, you always felt the outcome of the race was still well within the grasp of Toprak.

Hunting down Bulega lap by lap, Toprak was beginning to ramp up the pressure, up to 2nd, Toprak was putting in blisteringly fast laps, a fastest lap of 1:33.3 saw him slash the gap to the young Italian ahead. Towards the halfway point of the race Toprak had caught and passed Bulega and didn’t slow down. With 7 laps remaining, Toprak held a lead of 3.5s to Bulega.

The final lap saw Toprak with an unassailable lead of 5s, doing a stoppie across the finish line perfectly summing up what we all love about watching Toprak race. A flawless weekend for Toprak and a marker laid down. If there was any further doubt about his achievement you only had to look further down the field for the rest of the BMW’s. Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) 12th, Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 18th, and Michael Vd Mark (Rokit Motorrad BMW) with a DNF.

Toprak Razgatlioglu Picture courtesy of ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team

In his post race interview, Toprak said that he was “relaxed and enjoying the bike“, however, saying that chatter was affecting him in the final two corners and improvements could still be made. Toprak leads the championship with 179 points, 21 points clear of Bulega in 2nd, something not been done by a BMW rider for 12 years. Up next, Donington Park, and a favourite track for Toprak, no doubt a rather scary thought for the rest of the field given his recent dominance.

When pressed about the future of Toprak and whether or not he will stay in WorldSBK, Kenan Sofuoglu hinted at a potential move to MotoGP, telling James Toseland “it will happen sooner, rather than later.”

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An Action Packed Canadian GP

Verstappen came out on top in a race that saw changing weather conditions, lots of incidents, close racing and interesting strategies. 

With the track drenched just an hour before the race start, the spray looked bad as the drivers made their way to the grid, but it dried up enough for a normal standing start on intermediates, or full wets if you are driving a Haas.

Starting in the wet. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

Lights out and the slowest getaway we have seen this season as they made it down to turn one without colliding. Russell managed to pick up pace out of turn two and kept the lead from Verstappen. Hamilton made up places but the Ferrari’s struggled, with Sainz ending up down in P15 at the end of lap 2.

Haas looked to have played a great strategy game, with Magnussen and Hulkenberg making it to P4 and P8 by lap 5. However, it wasn’t to last as the sun came out and the track started to dry making the inters the best tyres to be on.

As Norris closed the gap on Russell and Verstappen, the conversation began to turn to the forecast. Rain was expected about lap 30 but the track was drying in sectors two and three. Turns one and two were still wet though, Verstappen experiencing a wide moment on lap 17 which allowed Norris to position his car ready for a move.

The McLarens looked quick in the wet so when DRS was enabled, Norris was able to enhance his pace. On lap 21 he made a move on Verstappen into P2, just one lap later he passed Russell for the lead. As he completed the same move Russell lost downforce and went straight on at the final chicane, letting Verstappen through and coming back to the track in P3. Piastri looked to be following his teammate as he closed the gap on the front three. However, the safety car stopped his progress.

The safety car. Image courtesy of RedBull content pool

Sargent dropped it on the inside of turn four and hit the wall on the exit, causing his car to become stranded. This brought out the safety car on lap 25. With rain due in just a couple of minutes, most of the top ten pitted for new inters, apart from Norris. He was too far past the pitlane entry as the safety car came out. This meant that when he did pit a lap later, he came out in P3 with Verstappen leading the race.

Just before the end of the safety car period, Ferrari pitted Leclerc for a change of tyres. However, they put him on the slicks—hard tyres to be more precise—despite rain due imminently. He also had a known engine issue, which caused further delay in the car leaving the pitbox. It was not a surprise when he pitted just 2 laps after the restart for inters.

The restart got away with no issues as they behaved themselves, knowing more rain was on the way. A shout out to Albon, who made an incredible double overtake on Ricciardo and Ocon at the final chicane.

The rain stopped, the sun came out, and the dry line started to form. But for Ferrari, when it rains, it pours. On lap 42, Sainz made contact with the back of Bottas, which caused front wing damage, while the team called in Leclerc to retire the car.

Norris taking on the drying track. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

On lap 43 it was time to switch to slicks, Gasly was the first car in, followed by Magnussen and Bottas. Hamilton was the first of the frontrunners to pit for medium tyres. It wasn’t long before the rest of the grid was in, apart from Norris again. This time, the team decided to see what the other teams would do.

Norris stayed out and took the lead, meaning he now had a pit stop in hand over second place Verstappen. Despite this, Norris pitted one lap later, but Verstappen and Russell now had warmer tyres and were on the dry line, while Norris had to tiptoe out of the still extremely wet pitlane, ending up in P2.

All seemed calm for a couple of laps when a yellow flag appeared and disappeared again. The camera switched to Perez, who now had a very broken rear wing. He dropped his rear right tyre out of the dry line at turn six and spun into the wall. He was able to get back to the pits but retired the car.

However, a safety car was called, but not for Perez. Sainz dropped it on the same corner but managed to avoid the wall. He spun in the middle of the track and collected Albon in the process, pushing him into the wall. A double DNF for Williams and a double DNF for Ferrari as Sainz drove to the pits and retired.

Both Mercedes with fresh tyres. Image courtesy of Mercedes Benz

On the restart, both Mercedes had fresh tyres in an aggressive strategy, but everyone got away in order. The race was now dry, with no more rain on the way. This enabled a five-way battle for the lead.

Russell closed in on Piastri in P3, and using DRS, he was alongside into the final chicane, but there was not enough room for both cars. It was very close, and Russell went wide, allowing his teammate through. Hamilton made a clean move on Piastri the following lap, giving Russell a second chance, but this time with no issues.

With only 3 laps to go, the Mercedes were allowed to race each other, with Russell making it up into P3 with a nice move using DRS. It remained close between the pair all the way to the line but Russell held on.

He wasn’t the only one holding on with Gasly, Ocon, Magnussen and Hulkenberg fighting all the way to the line for the final two points positions. The Alpines finished P9 and P10 with the Haas cars in P11 and P12, respectively.

Verstappen controlled the final few laps to take the win, with Norris in P2. It was a fantastic race with action at every point. Three teams finished in the top five, Aston Martin with a double top ten finish and battles on every lap.

The podium celebrations. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media

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Rally Italia Sardgena 2024 Tänak Narrowly Beats Ogier

The third and final day of Rally Italia Sardegna has come to a close. Ott Tänak took home the event win barely beating out Ogier.

SS13, Cala Flumini 1

Thierry Neuville kicked off the final day with a stage win. As the Belgian set a time 4.6 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to top the stage and take an early lead in the Sunday standings. Elfyn Evans was third fastest on the stage, 6.1 seconds slower than Neuville and 1.5 seconds slower than Tänak. Sebastien Ogier finished fourth fastest on the stage, 2.5 seconds slower than Evans. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 5.6 seconds slower than Ogier. No drivers reported any issues on the stage.

SS14, Sassari-Argentiera 1

Thierry Neuville also took home the stage win on the fourteenth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. With a time 0.8 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 2.6 seconds slower than Neuville and 1.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Katsuta. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Sordo.

SS14, Cala Flumini 2

Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the events penultimate stage. As the Estonian set a time 0.4 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to win the stage. Elfyn Evans finished third fastest on the stage, 2.3 seconds slower than Tänak, and 1.9 seconds slower than Ogier. Thierry Neuville was fourth fastest on the stage, 2.9 seconds slower than Evans. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five times on the stage, finishing 4.3 seconds slower than Neuville.

SS16, Sassari-Argentiera 2

Thierry Neuville took home the final stage win of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. With a time 2.3 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to top the Powerstage and Sunday standings. Elfyn Evans was third fastest on the stage, 6.4 seconds slower than Neuville and 4.1 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux tied for fourth fastest on the stage, with both finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Evans.

Championship Rundown

Thierry Neuville still holds onto the championship lead after a less-than-desirable Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 for the Belgian. Neuville managed to take home 12 points from the event. Ott Tänak and Elfyn Evans sit tied for second overall. With both sitting just 18 points behind Neuville. Sébastien Ogier moves up to fourth in the championship, 12 points behind Tänak and Evans. Adrien Fourmaux drops to fifth and rounds out the top five in the championship sitting 18 points behind Ogier.

Team Quotes

Hyundai Shell Mobis

Cyril Abiteboul – Team Principal

“It is obviously a very emotional finish here today. It looked like the win would once again escape from our grasp after Ott wisely decided to play it safe yesterday. However, today’s result showed that you can also combine a smart approach to a rally with strong skills and the right momentum at the perfect time, resulting in a great win. It is a fantastic moment for him in his return to the team. This is a strong step in the championship, and an excellent team result with Dani on the podium. He did exactly what we expected of him for the team this weekend and it’s great to see them both from on that podium, underscoring our competitiveness. Finally, Thierry has once again demonstrated his very commanding speed in any road position, including today when the motivation level was very high to make up for the loss and disappointment of yesterday. Obviously, we need to make sure that mistakes are as limited as possible as we expect this championship to continue to be incredibly competitive until the very end. There is even more to celebrate today, with our cars locking out the TCR class podium at the Nürburgring 24 Hours – we send our congratulations to our colleagues there for a phenomenal result.”

Ott Tänak – 1st Overall

“I’m feeling so many emotions right now. I’m very sorry for Seb to lose a win like this, it is cruel. I have been in the exactly the same position having a ‘safe’ victory taken away from me a couple of years ago. It’s been a tough weekend but it is great to finish with such a strong result. Let’s see what the next rallies will bring; we’re moving into the second half of the season and we’re definitely in the game. Now we have some fast rallies which I normally looking forward to, but I was supposed to enjoy yesterday afternoon as well but it was just not going to plan. Hopefully, we can find a good feeling in the car in our next events.”

Dani Sordo – 3rd Overall

“It wasn’t the easiest of days; Elfyn was having a good run and making good progress, so he was pushing us to the very end. In the final stage, I just tried to survive, it was completely destroyed and very hard on the car. We finish on the podium, which makes me very happy. It has been a joy to be back in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid for these two events, which I enjoy so much, and I am pleased to be able to bring home a great result for the team. It was important for us to have a good finish and help the team in such a close battle for the manufacturers’ championship.”

 

Thierry Neuville – 41st Overall [SR]

“We did the job we needed to do today, but we are obviously frustrated with what happened yesterday. We were clearly managing the conditions, the speed was good and we felt comfortable – and fast. I just lost focus for a fraction of a second, and there was no way to continue. I’m not very proud of the weekend as a whole but I take pride in our performance on Friday and today, as well as in the team for a great result today. Now we turn to Poland, where I have won before – we have shown great improvements last year in Estonia and Finland, so I am looking forward to it.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Akio Toyoda – TGR-WRT Chairman

“The surface in Sardinia is very demanding, and it always gives challenges to our team and cars. TGR has won Sardinia only once so far when Seb got the victory in 2021. Seb and Vincent were doing really well on this harsh and demanding event, but they missed out at the very last moment on the Power Stage. The gap of 0.2 seconds is so small and disappointing, but this is sport. Our team all hate to lose. We will turn this frustration into strength and aim for the next victory.

P.S. to Ott

I was on-site in Rally Sardinia 2019 and following your performance. You made up for the disappointment of that Power Stage this time. Congratulations!”

Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal

“We are of course very disappointed to miss out on the victory in this way. This final stage in Sardinia has been very dramatic in the past and unfortunately, it’s not the first time that we have experienced late drama here, because it reminds us of what happened back in 2019 when we were leading with Ott until the last stage. This event has not always been kind to us, but it was looking very good for Seb and we thought we could take another victory together here. The only positive is that it didn’t affect the points so much for us. A moment like this can be difficult to digest, and we hate to lose, but we also never lose our fighting spirit and we will come back to fight again on the next event in Poland.”

Sébastien Ogier – 2nd Overall

“We knew it could be tough today with some stages that are very rough and maybe not the most suited to us. Still, I think we were doing a good enough job to secure the win, but unfortunately, we started to lose tyre pressure three kilometres from the end. The conditions were very extreme in this Power Stage, even worse than we have seen there before, and I don’t think there was much that I could have done differently. It’s something that’s never easy to take, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really change anything in terms of the overall points for the team. I think I can still be happy with the weekend I’ve done, and sometimes motorsport just doesn’t go your way. We will come back and try to keep up this level of performance we’ve had.”

Elfyn Evans – 4th Overall

“It’s been a very difficult weekend for us but today was a bit better. I would say the feeling was definitely improved and I think the times and the points that we got from the day showed that. Still, it’s clear looking at the weekend overall that we still have a lot of work to do to improve in rallies with conditions like this one. The good news is that the characteristics now change to something quite different for the next three rallies. We know the car can be strong on fast rallies like those and it will be important to prepare as best we can and try to find confidence early.”

Takamoto Katsuta – 35th Overall

“Today my target was to get some points. We knew it would be difficult with our starting position, and the first stage was not good because we had a lot of dust from the car in front and could not see so much. We took some points but of course, I wanted more. Things were working well earlier in the rally, everything was under control and then unfortunately we had the technical issue. But it was a demanding rally for the cars and sometimes things like this can happen: I just need to accept it and move forward to the next rally.”

M-Sport Ford

Richard Millener – Team Principal

“We knew it was always going to be hard to continue our good run here in Sardinia, one of the toughest events of the European part of the WRC, but dispute not getting the result we wanted, we can still be happy with the speed Adrien and Alex showed on many of the event stages. I also want to congratulate Gregoire and Louis on their best result to date in the WRC – a really great achievement for them both and secures them eight championship points. We now look towards three fast rallies in a row where we are determined to get back to chasing the podium places.”

Grégoire Munster – 5th Overall

“I’m just happy we had a trouble free event, and at the end, we reached our best result in the WRC, so we’re very happy with this. There’s still plenty of work to do and pace to find but we’re always going in the right direction. Especially seeing us get our fourth fastest time in SS3, we now need to build on that and keep the momentum going into the next few events.”

Adrien Fourmuax – 15th Overall

“I think we can be quite positive with the pace we showed this weekend, on Friday and Saturday especially. It’s a shame what happened with the electronic issue on Friday, but we are working on these things for the future. On Sunday, it was good to get some extra points for the Power Stage, even if we wanted more from the daily standings on Super Sunday. We need to focus a bit on the slower corners, to get the car more agile, but this is very specific to Sardinia. Overall I have been happy with the car and now we need to focus on the upcoming smooth gravel rallies.”

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Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Ogier Retains Lead After Day Two

The second day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 has come to a close. Sebastien Ogier retained the event lead after the day.

SS5, Tempio Pausania 1

Ott Tänak kicked off the day with his second stage win of the weekend. As the Estonian set a time 3.3 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Sebastien Ogier finished third fastest on the stage, 4.6 seconds slower than Tänak and 1.3 seconds slower than Neuville. WRC2 driver Yohan Rossel was fourth fastest on the stage, 5.3 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.4 seconds slower than Rossel. Ott Tänak took over the event lead on the stage. Tänak took a 0.1-second lead over Ogier into SS6. Ogier suffered a puncture on the stage.

SS6, Tula-Erula 1

Sebastien Ogier took home the stage win on the sixth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. With a time 2.3 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Thierry Neuville finished third fastest on the stage, 3.2 seconds slower than Ogier and 0.9 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 18.1 seconds slower than Neuville. WRC2 driver Yohan Rossel rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.7 seconds slower than Katsuta. Sebastien Ogier was able to reacquire the event lead on SS6. With Ogier now holding a 2.2-second lead over Tänak. No drivers had any reported issues on the stage.

SS7, Tempio Pausania 2

Thierry Neuville took his first stage win on the day on SS7. Setting a time 0.1 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to win his second stage of the weekend. Sebastien Ogier was third fastest on the stage, 4.5 seconds slower than Neuville and 4.4 seconds slower than Tänak, making Tänak the new rally leader. Elfyn Evans finished fourth fastest on the stage, 4.5 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.3 seconds slower than Evans.

SS8, Tula-Erula 2

Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the final stage of the morning loop. As the Estonian posted a time 1.3 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to expand his event lead to 3.5 seconds over Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 8 seconds slower than Tänak and 6.7 seconds slower than Ogier. Dani Sordo had the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.8 seconds slower than Katsuta. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the eighth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024, finishing 4.8 seconds slower than Sordo. Reigning event winner Thierry Neuville crashed out on the stage. Forcing him to retire from the day.

SS9, Monte Lerno 1

Sebastien Ogier kicked off the afternoon loop with his second stage win of the day. Finishing with a time 6.8 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to take back the event lead. Ogier now leads by 3.3 seconds over Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux set the third fastest time on the stage, 11.5 seconds slower than Ogier and 4.7 seconds slower than Tänak. Dani Sordo was fourth fastest on the stage, 9.4 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 5.5 seconds slower than Sordo. Takamoto Katsuta was forced to retire early into the stage with what’s believed to be a transmission issue.

SS10, Coiluna-Loelle 1

Sebastien Ogier also took home the stage win on the tenth stage of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024. As Ogier set a time 6.4 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to extend the event lead to 9.7 seconds. Adrien Fourmaux was once again third fastest on the stage, finishing 7.4 seconds slower than Ogier and 1 second slower than Tänak. Elfyn Evans finished fourth fastest on the stage, 1.2 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Dani Sordo rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.9 seconds slower than Evans. No drivers reported any issues on the stage.

SS11, Monte Lerno 2

Sebastien Ogier also took home the stage win on the eleventh stage of Rally Italian Sardegna 2024. With a time 6.5 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to further extend the event lead to 16.2 seconds. Dani Sordo finished third fastest on the stage, 7.7 seconds slower than Ogier and 1.2 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 6.2 seconds slower than Sordo. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.7 seconds slower than Fourmaux. No drivers reported any issues on the stage.

SS12, Coiluna-Loelle 2

Elfyn Evans took his first stage win of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 on the final stage of day two. As the Welshmen set a time 0.4 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier. Ott Tänak was third fastest on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Evans and 0.9 seconds slower than Ogier. Dani Sordo finished fourth fastest on the stage, 0.7 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.3 seconds slower than Sordo.

What To Expect From Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Day Three

The third and final day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 will see drivers contest 39.30 km across four stages. Thierry Neuville will be first on the road, followed by Takamoto Katsuta and Adrien Fourmaux. Neuville will likely look to make a huge push on Super Sunday due to his retirement today. If he doesn’t he’s at risk of losing the championship lead for the first time this season.

Driver Quotes

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal

“To be leading at the end of another Saturday definitely gives us a great feeling. Seb has been driving superbly once again. Even with no spare tyres left, he was able to keep up his speed this morning and then attack in the afternoon. Taka was driving well and keeping Dani Sordo behind, so it was a pity that he had to stop with the transmission-related issue, but the last stage of the morning was very rough and it seems something had broken as a consequence. Elfyn hasn’t had the best feeling in this rally but he’s been driving consistently and, with Thierry making a mistake, he has moved into a better position and if everything goes well tomorrow, this can help him in the championship. It’s a relatively short final day tomorrow but I’m sure everybody will be pushing hard and we can expect more tense competition.”

Sebastien Ogier – 1st Overall

“It’s been an incredible day overall. Very rough and very tough. The morning stages were not so fun to drive with some of the roughest conditions we’ve ever seen. That was really about surviving and I’m glad we were able to do that, especially after we lost one tyre after the first stage of the day. The afternoon was completely different: it was much more enjoyable to drive. The pleasure was back so I really enjoyed it and I managed to create a gap, so tonight it’s very positive. Tomorrow we still expect some rough conditions, but we will still need to have some speed and just carry on with the same approach.”

Elfyn Evans – 4th Overall

“It’s been a long and tough day out there. I think our speed has been better in certain stages than in others. When there’s a bit more room and the surface is sandier, it suits us better. When it’s tight and twisty we’re still struggling a bit. The good thing is that we got the car to the end of the day when others weren’t able to do so and that’s helped us move up the leaderboard. Of course, we still have tomorrow to get through to secure those points, and hopefully, we can push to take a few more.”

Takamoto Katsuta – 40th Overall [SR]

“Everything was going quite well this morning. It was a very rough loop – the last stage especially was very extreme and tough for the cars. We managed to get up to third overall so we were in a good position. But I started to hear a noise in the last stage of the morning and we found that we had an issue with the transmission. With a normal service, we could have fixed it, but with just the tyre-fitting zone we could not do so much. We tried, but it got worse on the first stage of the afternoon and we had to stop. It’s tough, but this is rallying and we just need to look forward.”

Hyundai Shell Mobis

Cyril Abiteboul – Team Principal

“Definitely a day of mixed feelings.  We have had some great moments in very good position, including Ott in the lead, but also some disappointments when Thierry made a mistake and went off, meaning he could not complete the day. It is unfortunate as he was looking to build his advantage, but he will be back on Sunday with renewed focus. Ott kept the fight alive against Ogier but eventually elected to take a cautious approach, especially as he still occasionally lacks confidence in certain conditions with the car. Today was one of those days, but tomorrow he will be back on a massive attack. Dani did a great job keeping Evans behind, which is a crucial contribution to the team’s objective and our final result in a very contested championship season.”

Ott Tänak – 2nd Overall

“Generally, I was expecting a very tough first half of the day, which it was, and it was a big job to keep the pace on these roads – it took a lot of energy. I was hoping for a better afternoon on stages that I really enjoy, but I couldn’t make it work. I couldn’t find a good rhythm in the car and when you don’t have full confidence, it’s hard to keep pushing to the maximum. I also had to be safe and not take any risks. Every day has been very different and tomorrow we have two unique stages – the Power Stage on the beach cannot be compared to anything else. It is very cool if you have nothing to lose, but we can’t lose what we have achieved already.”

Dani Sordo – 3rd Overall

“I was performing better this afternoon when I had better grip on the surface of the roads, but it was a tough day and I did struggle. The problems of Katsuta and Thierry gave us a little bit of a boost, but in the end, I started to push and managed to build a gap of thirty seconds. Tomorrow is another really demanding day, with narrow and difficult stages, so we need to keep pushing forwards. Our goal is to keep Evans behind and finish on the podium at a minimum, and try to keep up with the guys in front.”

Thierry Neuville – 44th Overall [SR]

“We were in the middle of a very tricky twisty section when I momentarily lost my concentration on a corner and didn’t realise we would have a slow one right after. I was too late on the brakes and I knew immediately it was going to be tricky to get out of the situation. There were no spectators around to help push us back on, which meant that despite having no damage on the car, we were unable to continue.  Tomorrow we have a clear target: to push as hard as we can to take the full 12 points from the day. It’s the best we can do in this situation.”

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Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Ogier Leads After Day One

The first day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 has come to an end. Sebastien Ogier leads the event after the days four stages.

SS1, Osilo-Tergu 1

Sebastien Ogier picked up where he left off in Portugal. As the Frenchman took home the stage win on the weekend’s first stage. With a time 7.7 seconds faster than Ott Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux and Dani Sordo tied for third fastest on the stage. With both drivers finishing 14.5 seconds slower than Ogier and 6.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five times on the stage, finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Fourmaux and Sordo. Elfyn Evans suffered a slow puncture on the stage. The Welshman managed to finish eighth fastest on the opening stage.

SS2, Sedini-Castelsardo 1

Ott Tänak took home the stage win on the second stage of Rally Italia Sardegna. As the Estonian posted a time 1.2 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Adrien Fourmaux finished third fastest on the stage, 1.9 seconds slower than Tänak and 0.7 seconds slower than Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.7 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Sebastien Ogier rounded out the top five on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Katsuta. No drivers reported any issues on the stage. Sebastien Ogier remains in the event lead after the stage only 1.8 seconds ahead of Tänak.

SS3, Osilo-Tergu 2

Sebastien Ogier also took home the stage win on the second running of the Osilo-Tergu stage. With a time 2.9 seconds faster than Ott Tänak this time around. Dani Sordo had his first top-three time this weekend on the stage, finishing 8.8 seconds slower than Ogier and 5.9 seconds slower than Tänak. Grégoire Munster was fourth fastest on the stage, 4.9 seconds slower than Sordo. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Munster. Adrien Fourmaux suffered a puncture on the stage. Much like Evans, he was still able to have a decent finishing time on the stage, finishing 9th, 39.4 seconds slower than Ogier. Sebastien Ogier was able to expand his lead to 4.7 seconds ahead of Tänak heading into the fays final stage.

SS4, Sedini-Castelsardo 2

Thierry Neuville capped off the first day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 with his first stage win of the weekend. As the championship leader set a time 3.7 seconds faster than Ott Tänak on the stage. Sebastien Ogier finished third fastest on the stage, 3.9 seconds slower than Neuville and 0.2 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta was fourth fastest on the stage, 6.9 seconds slower than Ogier. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Katsuta. Fourmaux retired in the stage due to an electrical issue.

What To Expect From Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 Day Two

The second day of Rally Italia Sardegna 2024 will see drivers contest 149 km across eight stages. The day will feature no midday service. Adrien Fourmaux will be first on the road followed by Grégoire Munster and Elfyn Evans. Sebastien Ogier takes a 4.5-second lead over Ott Tänak into the day. Ogier will be looking to expand on that lead to take home his third consecutive win this season and 61st career win.

Driver And Team Quotes

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Jari-Matti Latvala – Team Principal

“Generally I’m very happy tonight with how our rally has started. I could see already in shakedown that Seb’s confidence levels were high and he started the rally very strongly. He showed a great performance and to be leading the rally after the first day is really nice. Taka started with a careful approach but he was improving his pace all the time so it’s been generally a good start for him as well. Unfortunately, Elfyn already got damage to one of his tyres very early on and then had to be more careful in order to get through the loop. But overall I’m pleased with our performance at the start of the rally, as this hasn’t been the easiest event for us in the past, and hopefully, we can continue this progress, but tomorrow will be a long and tough day for everybody.”

Sebastien Ogier – 1st Overall

“We’re in the lead tonight so it’s been a positive start. It’s been tough: we expected a difficult loop with some abrasive sections that would be tough for the tyres, especially this first stage, Osilu-Tergu. It was also my first time driving this stage in that direction. Still, we went with an aggressive choice of five tyres for the afternoon and I did have to take care a little bit in some sections to manage it, but it’s nice to be in the lead. We made a positive step today that now gives us the optimum start position for tomorrow, but the gap to second place is close so it’s going to be an intense fight.”

Elfyn Evans – 6th overall

“It’s been a tough start for us. Picking up a puncture near the end of the first stage was not ideal, and then both times through the second stage of the loop was difficult for us. We struggled with the feeling in there and we were having to be careful with no spare tyre left to use. It was just a pity that happened so early on because that made it hard to manage the wear across the rubber we had left. It’s a long and difficult rally to go still and we’ll keep going and see what comes. We need to keep learning on this type of surface, try to find improvements and keep working towards where we want to be.”

Takamoto Katsuta- 4th Overall

“We are not in a bad position tonight. I’m not fully happy with myself, I was struggling a bit through most of the stages and it was a bit of a pity that I could not finish one place higher to get the better road position for tomorrow. But still, there’s a long way to go. I just need to find what I can improve in my driving to be better tomorrow and to push with a bit more confidence. With no mid-day service, there’s not much we can change on the car during tomorrow so as drivers we will need to adapt, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

Hyundai Shell Mobis

Cyril Abiteboul – Team Principal

“It has been a good opening day here in Sardinia. It was our first experience of this new sprint format and it unfolded as we both expected and hoped it would. Ott had very strong pace, which has put him in a good position for a push tomorrow. He will be supported by Dani, who managed to keep Katsuta and Evans behind him today. Thierry had dealt with his road position very well, and we end the first day in pretty much the best situation possible. However, we have to stay focused on the job at hand, as tomorrow is going to be a long and unpredictable day.”

Ott Tänak – 2nd Overall

“We can be happy after our day, and we have a good road position for tomorrow. It would have been nice to have been one better but we can be content with what we have. It was a bit challenging in that last stage on both runs – the loss of the hybrid boost wasn’t as important on the first, as there was not much grip on the loose gravel, but the second was very grippy and it would have helped a lot. Thankfully, the strong Hyundai engine pulled us through and ensured we didn’t lose too much time. Tomorrow is going to be very demanding, particularly the first four stages; they are very slow, narrow and twisty – there’s no flow at all, but you have to push.”

Thierry Neuville – 5th Overall

“Today was worse than I expected if I am honest. We hoped that we could take some softs to try and minimise the disadvantage of our road position, but ultimately it was very warm and we had to go with full hard tyres on the abrasive stages. In hindsight, we should have taken one more with us to allow us to properly attack in every single corner, but I’m still happy with my day. I would love to have been third overnight rather than fifth, but we are constantly adapting and there is still an opportunity for a podium. Tomorrow we need to make sure we don’t lose too much time and score the maximum points as we push for the top three.”

Dani Sordo – 3rd Overall

“I’m happy to finish the day in third, especially as it wasn’t certain in those last two stages that we would have a good road position for tomorrow. We had to manage the tyres because we were really on the limit at the end, but it has been a nice day. I expected to be closer to the battle at the front, but Ogier and Ott were on a different level. Although I lost time on the first and last stage, it was important to finish today where we did, as tomorrow is going to be tough.”

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Rally Italia Sardegna Preview 2024

We’re really getting into the mid-part of this season’s championship and the top two crews will continue to fight for the points which they hope will take them to their first drivers and co-drivers’ championship’s.

The crews will face 266km’s over sixteen stages with the longest day being Saturday with 149km’s over eight stages. In another unusual move is that Friday’s action does not start till the afternoon with the first stage at UK time due to get underway at around half past two. Shakedown starts at just after 8am UK time on Friday as well, giving the event quite a different feel along with no service on any of the days.

Let’s hear from the crews.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Rally Italia Sardegna is a very technical rally, so we need to have a faultless drive across the weekend. We need really accurate pacenotes and a good setup; the difference in stages between the first and second pass can be huge, so we need to be able to adapt the car to those changes as well. The heat, tyre wear and length of the days are some of the biggest challenges we face throughout the event. This paired with the little amount of sleep we get due to long road sections makes it a unique challenge. Our approach to the weekend is the same as usual: we will be pushing for the best possible result considering the conditions, car and other important factors that can influence a rally. There’s no pre-event test and shakedown is not representative at all of the remainder of the rally, so that will be the biggest obstacle for us. However, we will work to overcome this and bring home the best result possible.”

Ott Tänak

“I would say we had a good and solid weekend in Portugal, so we want to build on that and it’s a bit easier now that we have more pace. Sardinia has some big challenges; it can be very slippery and hard to get the necessary amount of grip. That paired with the very hot temperatures makes everything much more of a challenge. Running the same tyres over the first and second loop makes it harder to put a strong package together, so we need a lot of traction from the setup, especially when we start early on the road. It’s an event where rallying is a lot more interesting, and I always prefer that. We were very close to the win in Portugal before the puncture ruined it, so our plan is to do better this time in Sardinia.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 5, Rally de Portugal, 9-12 Mayy 2024
Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 2 of WRC Rally de Portugal 2024
Photographer: Vincent Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Dani Sordo

“Sardinia is a very similar surface to Portugal, but a bit more slippery in places. Portugal gave me good preparation for the event; I completed some good gravel kilometres at the last round. This year’s event is a lot more condensed, so we need a really fast start to get us the best possible road position for Saturday onwards. It’s an event where road position is really important, so we will see what we can do to optimise that. We need a lot of precision in the car because some passes are really narrow, meaning even more grip is needed to get the car through each pass safely. The target is definitely to finish on the podium, but it would be really nice to go one step further and fight for the victory.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“For us, Portugal was a difficult weekend, but it’s still quite early in the season and we just have to aim for some stronger rallies ahead. Every rally is important, and we need to try and make the most of the opportunity in Sardinia. We definitely made some progress with the feeling in the car in Portugal and we’re working with the team to try and come up with some further improvements for Sardinia, even though it’s difficult with the limited testing we have. It’s quite a similar rally to Portugal in some ways and maybe trickier in others, but I’m sure we can turn things around and make it a better weekend.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We have been on a good run recently with our wins in Croatia and Portugal and we would of course like to try and carry on like this – so the target for Sardinia has to be to continue the sequence if we can. I think we are in a good position: we had a good test there recently, and in Portugal when the surface was sandier and more like Sardinia the car was working well, so hopefully that can be the case there as well. It’s always a difficult challenge with long stages and the need for tyre management, but it’s a rally that I learned to love and to master over my career and I hope we can have another successful trip there.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“My result in Portugal was not what I wanted but I had a good feeling with the car during the weekend and I hope we can take that feeling into the next rally in Sardinia. The gravel and the surface on this rally are a bit different, so there are some things that we need to adjust, but we had a good test in Sardinia recently and I know that the engineers and the whole team are working hard to be stronger there. Usually, I don’t feel as confident on this event with the more slippery surface, but our starting position should be good for Friday, and I will try to find confidence from the beginning.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Sardinia is one of the rallies I have the most experience; we know it’s a rough event, a bit smaller in mileage than previous years, but we know the competition will be very high. It’s going to be like a sprint rally, and we will do our best to get the best result as possible. We are now fourth in the championship, and we want to be back in the podium places.

“Sardinia is a small island, it’s really rough and normally a really warm event. There’s a lot of rocks when you’re going through the second pass of the stages, so it’s going to be quite tough on the car, the mechanics, and the crews so its going to be an interesting rally to follow. There are some beautiful landscapes to enjoy, so let’s have some fun!”

Grégoire Munster

“We’re really looking forward to Rally Sardegna. We know from previous years that the weather can be tricky; we went from extreme rainy conditions to sunny and hot weather last year, so we will have to see what it is like this time. For this year, the itinerary is similar to 2022 with the rally based in Alghero, so we’re lacking a bit of experience there but we’re hoping to carry some momentum and lessons from Portugal to Sardinia. We’re looking forward to continuing our learning curve!”

 

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“Sardinia is a tough rally,” said Oliver. “We were leading [WRC2] last year when we had our suspension problem. I have to say, it’s one I don’t have so much experience of, so it’s good to go there without quite the same stress of driving for the points.

“All around, this is a hard rally. The weather is usually hot which gives the car and Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] and I quite a big work out.

“It’s important for us to get back out and competing again. Like you can imagine, Portugal was disappointing. It’s always so frustrating to crash, but it’s even worse when your opposition hits trouble too. We know that could have been a good score for us, but OK. That’s done. We only look forward and we look to make a good, positive story from Italy.

“It’s always really nice to go to Italy. We did events like Monza, Sanremo, Alba before and it’s always the same – there’s so much passion for the sport in Italy. I love it!”

William Creighton

“Sardinia has got a lot of similarities to Rally Portugal, it’s more technical but it has got the same challenge of rough stages and trying to manage the tyres. There are things that I want to improve on after Portugal so it’s nice to be heading to a similar rally to continue building experience in WRC2 category and the Fiesta Rally2.”

Summary

We are set then for a really quick rally, but how much jeopardy will the lack of any service on any of the days throughout the weekend play into the round and ultimately decide the final standings.

Elfyn and Scott will want to outscore Thierry and Martijn after the Belgian paring increased their championship lead last time out.

Who could win this weekend then? Well, it’s hard to look past two parings with Ott and Martin and Seb and Vincent both benefitting from good road positions.

Enjoy the rally!

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Formula E Season 10 Rounds 11 and 12: Evans and Da Costa Turn P3 to P1 in Both Races in Shanghai

Rounds 11 and 12 of Formula E Season 10 saw a new venue added to an old classic and a return to Formula E’s original debut: China. This time, the electric series travelled to Shanghai, it is safe to say it brought us dramatic moments and high tension!

Round 11 Highlights

  • Jean-Eric Vergne leads the field away from pole position ahead of Oliver Rowland and Mitch Evans
  • Round 11 was a peleton style race again primarily due to the energy saving methods used by drivers
  • Championship leader Nick Cassidy went from P10 to P13 within the early stages of the race
  • There was MANY changes for the lead including Robin Frijns and Nyck De Vries
  • Porsche were playing the team game with Pascal Wehrlein and Antonio Felix Da Costa in P1 and P3, with P2 taken by Evans
  • Rowland and Vergne made contact half way through the race which was noted by the stewards
  • Nato fell down the grid down to P16.
  • Conntact between Mortara and a Maserati lead to Mortara having to retire from the race
  • There was a yellow flag on lap 19 due to the debris and it was swiftly removed
  • Replays toward the end of the race showed that Frijns had a spin which explains his fall down the grid
  • On lap 24, that was the “go” moment for the drivers. Cassidy had more energy than the others
  • With 2 laps remaining, Cassidy was asking his team if he could attack or defend.
  • Last lap battles saw Evans defending from Wehrlein and Cassidy attacking Wehrlein all of the way to the final corner

Round 11 Classification

Position Driver Team Points
1st Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 25
2nd Jake Hughes (Pole) NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 21
3rd Norman Nato (Fastest Lap) Andretti Formula E 16
4th Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 12
5th Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 10
6th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 8
7th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 6
8th Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 7
9th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 2
10th Oliver Rowland

Nissan Formula E Team

 1
11th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E  0
12th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 0
13th Edoardo Mortara  Mahindra Racing 0
14th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 0
15th Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
16th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
17th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
18th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
19th Lucas Di Grassi  Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
20th Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 0
21st Dan Ticktum ERT Racing 0
DNF Sam Bird NEOM McLaren Formula E Team 0
Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, leads Pascal Wehrlein, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, and the rest of the field Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Round 12 Highlights

  • Jake Hughes took pole ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne and got pole position by 0.001s! 
  • Once we went racing, it was 3 wide with Vandoorne making his way up to P1 with Nato up to P4 and the 2 Jaguars of Cassidy and Evans P6 and P7 respectfully
  • Similar to Round 11, no one wanted to lead and took a very conservative approach
  • Da Costa climbed the order early on
  • Cassidy was annoyed to find out that his car was different compared to Round 11 on lap 5
  • Lap 9 saw the energy of every driver at or below 70%
  • Cassidy attempted to overtake Vandoorne on lap 10 but it didn’t work out
  • Disaster struck for Pascal Wehrlein as he got a puncture for a collision with Sam Bird
  • Ticktum pitted on lap 16
  • Lap 17 saw an interesting development where Da Costa was told only the Jaguars had more energy than he did
  • Bird pitted just before lap 20 due to a collision with De Vries which resulted in the Dutchman falling out of the points and Bird ended up retiring
  • Towards the end, the DS Penskes began to battle
  • Da Costa won the Shanghai EPrix! Jake Hughes got his first Formula E podium and Norman Nato finished in P3! 

 

Round 12 Race Classification

Position Driver Team Points
1st Antonio Felix Da Costa  Tag Heur Porsche Formula E Team 25
2nd Pascal Wehrlein (Pole) Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 21
3rd Nick Cassidy (FL) Jaguar TCS Racing 16
4th Oliver Rowland

Nissan Formula E Team

 12
5th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E  10
6th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske 8
7th Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 6
8th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 7
9th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 2
10th Lucas Di Grassi  Abt Cupra Formula E Team 1
11th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 0
12th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 0
13th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
14th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 0
15th Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
16th Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
17th Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
18th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
19th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 0
20th Dan Ticktum ERT Racing 0
21st Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 0
DNF Edoardo Mortara  Mahindra Racing 0
Antonio Felix da Costa, TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3, leads Norman Nato, Andretti Global, Porsche 99X Electric Gen3 Image Credit: Formula E Media Bank

Championship Standings After the Shanghai EPrix

 

Position Driver Team Points
1st Nick Cassidy Jaguar TCS Racing 25
2nd Pascal Wehrlein Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 21
3rd Mitch Evans Jaguar TCS Racing 16
4th Oliver Rowland

Nissan Formula E Team

 12
5th Jake Dennis Andretti Formula E  10
6th Jean-Eric Vergne DS Penske  8
7th Antonio Felix Da Costa Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E Team 6
8th Maximilian Guenther Maserati MSG Racing 7
9th Stoffel Vandoorne DS Penske 2
10th Jake Hughes Neom McLaren Formula E Team 1
11th Norman Nato Andretti Formula E 0
12th Sam Bird Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
13th Sacha Fenestraz Nissan Formula E Team 0
14th Sebastian Buemi Envision Racing 0
15th Robin Frijns Envision Racing 0
16th Nico Mueller Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
17th Dan Ticktum ERT Racing 0
18th Sergio Sette Camara ERT Formula E Team 0
19th Jehan Daruvala Maserati MSG Racing 0
20th Edoardo Mortara  Mahindra Racing 0
21st Nyck De Vries Mahindra Racing 0
DNF Taylor Barnard Neom McLaren Formula E Team 0
23rd Joel Erikkson Envision Racing  
24th Lucas Di Grassi Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
25th Kelvin Van Der Linde Abt Cupra Formula E Team 0
26th Jordan King Mahindra Racing 0
27th Paul Aron Envision Racing 0

Driver of the Weekend

The driver of the weekend for me is Nyck De Vries. After taking the last 2 rounds off for WEC, scoring his maiden Gen3 points was critical for him. 

Driver with the most improvement needed

I think Sacha Fenestraz is the driver who needs the most improvement. Going into Portland, Fenestraz will need to do a lot to prove to Nissan that he should say at the team for Gen3 EVO.

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MotoGP: Pecco Takes the Win in Catalunya

Francesco Bagnaia wins the Catalan GP ahead of championship leader Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez. Yesterday’s birthday boy Pedro Acosta crashed out when fighting for the lead of the race.

All riders started the race on the medium tyres on the front and rear except for Acosta, M. Marquez and Jack Miller who made the decision to run a medium front tyre and a soft rear tyre. Rear tyre degradation was a large factor in races earlier in the day so the choice for a soft rear was an unexpected one.

Bagnaia had a great start from the front row, but Brad Binder also started well and was making moves around the outside of the track to gain some places. Alex Rins ran wide and accidentally took the long lap loop and fell to the rear of the field.

Acosta and Bagnaia started to break away from the rest of the field but further behind them, Martin made a huge lunge to get past Binder for third place to attempt to catch up with the leaders.

Miller ran deep at turn one on lap two and lost a spot to Raul Fernandez. Acosta kept close to the rear of Bagnaia and looked at making a move at turn ten but wasn’t able to make the move. Acosta continued to stay on the back of Bagnaia’s bike but struggled to find a way past on lap two.

On the third lap, Acosta made the move at turn ten but ran wide so that Bagnaia was able to cut back. At the same corner, Miller crashed.

Martin caught up the leading two riders and passed his countryman Acosta into turn 10 and on lap five, Binder also looked at making the same move on the rookie but was unable to do so. Martin made an impressive move to get past Bagnaia to lead the race.

On lap six, Augusto Fernandez crashed at turn ten.

Again, the front two started to break away from the rest of the field and Acosta set the fastest lap.

Aleix Espargaro, yesterday’s sprint winner, made his way past Binder on lap 11 across the start finish straight and R. Fernandez barged his way past the South African rider at turn one too.

After setting some fast laps, Acosta crashed out the race at turn 10. The champagne was on hold for the rookie rider as he looked to take his first win in MotoGP.

Marquez was able to pass Binder on lap twelve at turn seven as he continued his charge up the field after starting in fourteenth place.

Enea Bastianini received a long lap penalty for taking a short cut at turn two and then he received a double long lap penalty for not taking the initial penalty. He did not take the double long lap penalty and then received a 32 second penalty which was applied at the end of the race.

Martin continued to lead the race, but Bagnaia started to close the gap to the leader. The Italian rider made the move to take the lead on lap 19 at turn 5. Pecco slammed on the brakes to not allow Martin back through. The leading pair had over an eight second lead over the third-place rider Espargaro.

But Espargaro didn’t hold third position for much longer as M. Marquez made the move on him down the start finish straight on the following lap.

The final laps of the race were drama free which allowed Pecco to cross the line in first place ahead of fellow Ducati riders Martin and M. Marquez.  After yesterday’s heroics, Aleix Espargaro was only able to manage fourth place ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio. Raul Fernandez finished the race in sixth place ahead of Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Fabio Quartararo and Miguel Olivera.

Feature Image Credit : Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose

2024 MotoGP Catalunya, Barcelona – Race Results
Pos Rider Nat Team Time/Diff
1 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) 40m 11.726s
2 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP24) +1.740s
3 Marc Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +10.491s
4 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +10.543s
5 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +15.441s
6 Raul Fernandez SPA Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP23) +15.916s
7 Alex Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP23) +16.882s
8 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +18.578s
9 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +20.477s
10 Miguel Oliveira POR Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP24) +20.889s
11 Marco Bezzecchi ITA VR46 Ducati (GP23) +21.023s
12 Maverick Viñales SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP24) +22.137s
13 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) +31.967s
14 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +32.987s
15 Joan Mir SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +33.132s
16 Johann Zarco FRA LCR Honda (RC213V) +34.554s
17 Luca Marini ITA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +36.689s
18 Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP24) +50.615s
19 Stefan Bradl GER HRC Test Team (RC213V) +55.295s
20 Alex Rins SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +63.428s
  Franco Morbidelli ITA Pramac Ducati (GP24) DNF
  Augusto Fernandez SPA Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (RC16) DNF
  Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM (RC16) DNF

 

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Leclerc Breaks Home Duck in Monaco

Charles Leclerc took a maiden home win at the Monaco Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.

After two previous unsuccessful attempts at converting pole to the win at Monaco, the home hero saw off the threat of Oscar Piastri to take the victory in the Principality.

Carlos Sainz suffered a puncture on the opening lap, but was able to retain P3 following a red flag when Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg were all involved in a huge collision out of Turn One.

Lando Norris took fourth in the second McLaren ahead of George Russell, who was forced to back off early after the restart to conserve his Medium tyres having started on the Hards.

He fended off Max Verstappen after the Dutchman stopped late on having started behind Russell, while Sir Lewis Hamilton also pitted late and took the fastest lap in seventh – the seven-time champion too remaining where he started.

Yuki Tsunoda and Alex Albon enjoyed relatively quiet afternoons as they scored points, with Pierre Gasly scoring a point despite contact with Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon on the first lap. Ocon sustained terminal damage from the incident.

Fernando Alonso took eleventh ahead of RB’s Daniel Ricciardo, with Valtteri Bottas leading Lance Stroll following the Canadian’s ouncture when he made contact with the wall.

Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu finished bottom of the running order.

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