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F3 Monza: Vesti wins as Piastri claws back title lead

Frederik Vesti took his second feature race win of the season at Monza, as his teammate Oscar Piastri recovered to the podium from 15th on the grid to take back the championship lead.

The race started with a mixed-up grid as nine drivers including pole winner Theo Pourchaire were penalised for driving unnecessarily slowly to set up their final flying laps. Hitech’s Liam Lawson inherited pole ahead of Matteo Nannini and Jake Hughes, while Pourchaire dropped to sixth behind Logan Sargeant.

But despite losing pole, Pourchaire leapt back into contention for the win at the start. After passing Sargeant and Calan Williams for fourth off the line, the Frenchman then took third from Hughes in the opening corners. Second place followed on lap two with a pass on Nannini, as Pourchaire set the fastest lap to keep close to the leading Lawson.

Pourchaire caught Lawson on lap 4 and took the lead from the Red Bull junior. Setting another fastest lap in the process, Pourchaire began pulling away from the field with what looked set to be a dominant early lead.

Theo Pourchaire, ART (Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

While Pourchaire was lighting up the timing screen in front, Vesti was taking advantage of mistakes from the drivers around him to make steady progress through the field.

Starting from ninth on the grid, Vesti passed his teammate Sargeant for eighth on lap 4 after the American ran wide battling with Alex Peroni. He gained seventh place shortly after when Igor Fraga went off at the Rettifilo, then moved up to fifth when Peroni spun round Williams on lap 7.

On lap 9, Nannini collided with Lawson trying to take away third and retired with front suspension damage. The incident allowed Vesti to close up on Lawson, and on lap 12 he forced his way into third into the second Lesmo.

Vesti’s progress was briefly halted when Sebastian Fernandez spun off and brought out the safety car. But at the restart Vesti immediately pounced on Hughes to take second place, with just a second splitting him from Pourchaire.

After cutting the gap down to five tenths, Vesti took the lead from Pourchaire at Rettifilo with three laps to go, and led the ART home until the chequered flag.

Oscar Piastri, Prema (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images)

Vesti’s teammate Piastri took third place in a race of contrasting fortunes for him and title rival Sargeant.

After the qualifying penalties played out, Sargeant emerged as the luckier of the two as he was elevated to fifth while Piastri remained in 15th place. But when the race began Sargeant seemed to lack pace compared to the cars around him. After losing out to Pourchaire and running wide battling with Fraga in the opening laps, Sargeant then went off at Rettifilo on lap 5 and dropped to 11th, just in front of Piastri.

The two Premas jostled each other for position as they both inched their way up into the lower top ten. After Sargeant fought back to keep ahead of Piastri just after his mistake, Piastri got definitively ahead of the American on lap 10 while they fought over eighth place. Piastri then managed to put a car between him and Sargeant as he passed Lirim Zendelli for seventh.

At the safety car restart on lap 14 Piastri gained sixth place from David Beckmann. But more importantly for the championship battle, behind him Sargeant was tapped into a spin by Clement Novalak at the Della Roggia chicane and dropped right to the back of the field.

With Sargeant’s chances of scoring points effectively gone, Piastri’s sixth was already enough to return him to the top of the standings. But instead of holding steady, Piastri continued pushing forward. After taking fifth from Peroni on lap 18, Piastri then breezed past Lawson for fourth at the same time as Vesti took the lead from Pourchaire. Finally, Piastri caught and passed Hughes on the penultimate lap to move himself up onto the podium.

MONZA, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 05: Race winner Frederik Vesti of Denmark and Prema Racing, second placed Theo Pourchaire of France and ART Grand Prix and third placed Oscar Piastri of Australia and Prema Racing celebrate on the podium during race one of the Formula 3 Championship at Autodromo di Monza on September 05, 2020 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Hughes lost a further place on the final lap, with Beckmann beating him to the line in fourth. Lawson finished sixth ahead of Zendelli, Bent Viscaal and Enzo Fittipaldi. Michael Belov finished tenth for Charouz for his first point in F3.

With Sargeant eventually finishing the race in 26th, Piastri now has an eight-point lead in the standings, which is likely to increase tomorrow as Sargeant will be starting the sprint race well outside the points.

But despite Sargeant’s non-score, Vesti’s win and Piastri’s podium was enough for Prema to wrap up the teams’ championship with three races still to go.

Full race result:

Pos. Driver Team Points
1 Frederik Vesti (FL) Prema Racing 27
2 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 18
3 Oscar Piastri Prema Racing 15
4 David Beckmann Trident 12
5 Jake Hughes HWA Racelab 10
6 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 8
7 Lirim Zendelli Trident 6
8 Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport 4
9 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA Racelab 2
10 Michael Belov Charouz Racing System 1
11 Roman Stanek Charouz Racing System
12 Jack Doohan HWA Racelab
13 Dennis Hauger Hitech Grand Prix
14 Clement Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing
15 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport
16 Cameron Das Carlin Buzz Racing
17 Alex Peroni Campos Racing
18 Pierre-Louis Chovet Hitech Grand Prix
19 David Schumacher Carlin Buzz Racing
20 Aleksandr Smolyar ART Grand Prix
21 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing
22 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport
23 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing
24 Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System
25 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport
26 Logan Sargeant Prema Racing
27 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport
Ret. Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix
Ret. Olli Caldwell Trident
Ret. Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport
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Why I love Formula 1, Williams Racing

Last week Williams Formula 1 Racing team announced it was to be sold to US investment firm Dorilton Capital, this brings to an end not only the Williams family’s 43 years as a wholley family owned team but they end of an era of independent teams in Formula 1.

Frank Williams founder of Williams Racing. Image courtesy of © XPB Images / Williams Racing

It was sad but not unexpected news, it made me reflect on my love of Formula 1 racing and the huge part Williams took in that.

As a young boy I was obsessed with cars, watching them on tv and listening to a certain Murray Walker commentate had a calming affect on my admittedly hyper active childhood.

I had watched many F1 races on the BBC, coverage wasn’t as full as we see today, less races and they didn’t cover them all. Remember this was a time of only terrestrial tv!

Williams had a British driver Nigel Mansell he was a unique individual with a wonderful fighting spirit (and Mustache) racing against what as a young lad I saw aa the enemy! The likes of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and of course Nelson Piquet – Nigel’s team mate.

1986 hadn’t started well, Sir Frank had an accident whilst returning to the airport after a pre season test at Paul Ricard circuit left him confined to a wheelchair.

Despite this tragic events it would be a vintage year for the Grove based outfit. Nine wins seventeen podiums and two, first and second place finishes at Brands Hatch and Monza, but none of these races stands out as much as the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.

26th October 1986 Adelaide the final race of the 16 event season, both Piquet and Mansell could become Champion!

If your old enough you may remember having to fiddle with the tv aerial to get that perfect picture! Obviously this was on at a stupid time of day for us in Europe none the less I was determined to stay up and watch our man Nigel in what I considered my team win the drivers title! he had pole position, surly this would be his day.

I had to be quiet it was past my bedtime luckily mum was asleep and dad worked nights.

Murray Screams Go, Go, Go and Nigel was slow of the line! Piquet, Senna and Keke Rosburg all past him; keke in his final race suffered a puncture elevating Mansell to third, all he needed to take his first World Drivers Championship! Sadly it wasn’t to be as his left rear tyre let go in spectacular fashion along the main straight.

Piquet needed to finish ahead of Prost but with the obvious tyre concerns Williams brought him in and in doing so left him to much to do in his chase of Prost who went onto take his second World Championship.

Williams did however secure the coveted constructors title with nine wins and seventeen podiums.

The following year the FW11B was even more successful delivering both drivers title for Piquet and constructors championships with nine wins and nineteen podiums.

We had to wait until 1992 for Nigel to finally bring the Championship home in the all conquering FW14B ten wins twenty podiums, and fifteen poles in a sixteen race season.

They would continue their dominance through the 90’s with titles for Prost, Damon Hill and Jaques Villeneuve, sadly its a decade that we all remember for all the wrong reasons, the tragic events at Imola in 1994 where we lost Ayrton Senna whilst driving his Williams and Roland Ratzanburger in his Simtek.

Its been a tough few years with just the odd glimpse of past glorys the 2000 season with BMW power seemed to be a turning point finishing third but with no wins, they bettered that in 2001 with another third place but with four wins and again in 2002 a second place in the constructors championship but just the one win. They repeated the feat in 2003 adding four wins to their tally.

The team moved onto Toyota engines in 2007 with the FW29 but failed to live up to expectations.

In 2012 and back once again with Renault power they secure an unlikely win with Pastor Maldonado the teams first win since 2004!

Pastor Maldonado the last winner for Williams in 2012. Image courtesy of Williams Racing

Its been a roller coaster ride for the Williams team, From their first win with Clay Regazzoni at Silverstone in 1979 to today’s FW43 and the sad news that Claire Williams is to step down after this weekends Italian Grand Prix.

Claire Williams. Image courtesy of Williams Racing.

We know the name and legacy will live on despite the family’s absence.

This article is dedicated to Sir Frank Williams and to my son Frankie who was named after him, and to all the contributors to ThePitCrewOnline past and present who fuel my love for racing with so much fun and passion.

Featured image courtesy of Williams Racing

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Toto Wolff reflects on his future at Mercedes

Image courtesy of Mercedes AMG F1 Team Steve Etherington.

There has been, and continues to be much speculation over the future of Mercedes-AMG F1 team principle Toto Wolff, who is perhaps infamously out of contract at the end of the 2020 season.

Toto has confirmed that he is in talks with Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler, however it doesn’t appear that any formal decision has been made as yet.

Unfortunately, the fact that the decision hasn’t been made so quickly, given Mercedes’ sheer domination with Wolff at the helm has, inevitably, set tongues waggling through the paddock and the wider F1 community.

But is this speculation valid?

There’s absolutely no denying that, under Wolff’s management, Mercedes have gone from being a team filling up the middle/back positions on the grid (circa 2011/2012, while Schumacher still had a drive), to hoovering up championship after championship for 6 years running. Other teams’ inability to match Mercedes’ pace has inspired regulation changes, and has even endangered viewing figures as fans protest the sport has become too ‘predictable’ as a result.

For Toto, it seems the team’s success is one of the reasons behind him carefully considering his future at Mercedes. Speaking before the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, he admitted he was ‘in a moment of reflection where F1 is heading to’. Wolff continued, ‘I really enjoy the role and my plan is to continue but I never want to be in a situation where you are becoming from very good to good.’

It’s an interesting approach from Toto who, you would imagine given the vast success, would be quite happy to sign up for another few years. It is also interesting that Wolff’s decision to take time and reflect comes as we turn our attention to the Renault garage, who have famously signed Fernando Alonso for two more championship seasons.

You’re probably wondering how Alonso could have anything to do with Wolff’s decision to stay at Mercedes. The truth is it doesn’t, however, as there has been speculation about Toto’s future, there has been far more (for far longer) about whether Alonso should return to F1 or concentrate on other projects.

One could argue that it shows considerable level-headedness (essential for the role of team-principle, you’d imagine), and an absence of narcissism, to be aware that your track record doesn’t necessarily guarantee the same success going forward, and that it might even be a hindrance to those waiting in the wings to be given their opportunity to progress.

Depending on which side of the argument you’re on, it seems like Wolff is removing pride from the equation, something that doesn’t seem to have happened when Alonso signed with Renault. (Poor Hülkenberg!)

This is, of course, the first opportunity for Wolff to really consider his future in the team after the sad loss of his fellow team boss, Niki Lauda, whose absence is felt not just in the Mercedes garage, but in F1 as a whole.

Like Niki, Toto is quite the entrepreneur, with a keen eye for driver talent (he famously manages Esteban Ocon, who some of us expected would be filling Bottas’s seat last year), as well as having small stakes in Aston Martin and as of June this year, Williams F1. Perhaps he could give Dr Helmut Marko a run for his money, and turn his attention to making further investments, and manage new drivers coming up through the formulas.

Personally, I find this unlikely, however I would like to see Wolff move to another team, or even another formula that needs a little bit of development. An advisor for Williams F1 maybe? Or, working with the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E team, and boosting its profile even further.

Whatever he decides, I’m certain the Wolff name will remain an enormous part of F1, and if all else fails, I’m sure Sky Sports F1 will be waiting in the wings with a decent contract for him, just in case.

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F2 Monza preview: momentum back with Shwartzman and Prema

This weekend Formula 2 takes to Italy’s legendary Monza for round eighth of the 2020 championship.

Robert Shwartzman heads to the Temple of Speed back in control of the title fight, courtesy of his sprint race win at Spa last week. After a nightmare triple header at Silverstone and Barcelona which yielded only two points finishes, his third win of the season will have been a great relief as the championship heads into its home stretch.

Shwartzman will also be very happy to carry that momentum into Monza, as he took a commanding win here last year in the F3 feature race to eliminate all but one of his rivals from the title hunt. Returning with the same Prema team that took him to the top step last year, Shwartzman has plenty of reasons for confidence this weekend.

Mick Schumacher, Prema (Scuderia Ferrari Press Office)

And it’s not just because of Shwartzman that Prema are one of the favourites this weekend. Off the back of a superb double podium at Spa, Mick Schumacher has the enviable honour of the most podium finishes of anyone so far this season.

The German may still be chasing his first win of the season, but he looks to be on a roll at least with consistent points and top three finishes. In fact, Schumacher has outscored everybody but Yuki Tsunoda over the last six races, and could now be considered an outside bet for the championship if he can build on these results over the final five rounds.

It’s worth noting that Schumacher’s season is starting to resemble his run to the 2018 European F3 title. After a patchy start to the campaign with only two podiums in the opening 12 races, he switched things on at the halfway point and went on to dominate the rest of the year.

While it won’t be easy to do the same in F2, keep an eye on him nonetheless as a potential dark horse in this second half of the season.

Callum Ilott, UNI-Virtuosi (Scuderia Ferrari Press Office)

Callum Ilott will be hoping to disrupt Prema’s momentum at Monza. Since winning the second Silverstone feature race from pole, Ilott’s results have dipped to a best finish of fifth in Spain, while a costly retirement at Spa last weekend handed the title lead back to Shwartzman.

Ilott has a good history with Monza. He’s been on the podium and won there in European F3 and GP3, and last year it was where he took his first F2 pole while driving for the Charouz-run Sauber Junior Team.

Another pole this weekend would be a great first step towards taking back the title lead from Shwartzman. And as the driver with the most pole positions so far this season, Ilott’s got more than enough form to do so.

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F3 Monza preview: no room for error in penultimate round

Formula 3 is back in action this weekend at Monza for the penultimate round of the 2020 championship.

What stands out most of all as the F3 field heads to Italy’s Temple of Speed is how tight several of the key championship battles are this late in the season.

Obviously the first of those battles to look at is the one between Prema’s Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri for the F3 title itself. After Piastri retook the title lead with a sprint race win in Barcelona, Sargeant returned the favour at Spa with his second win of the season, and the American now has the lead over his teammate again.

Logan Sargeant, Prema (Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

It is mathematically possible for Sargeant to win the championship this weekend. However, with only seven points currently separating them, he’d need everything to align perfectly and to outscore Piastri by 42 points across the two races.

It’s not impossible, but given Piastri has only failed to score in one race this season (and aside from that, hasn’t finished lower than eighth), it’s much more likely that Monza will set up a title showdown next week in Mugello instead.

Of the two, Sargeant has had the better track record at Monza so far in his career. He won there in his 2018 Formula Renault NEC campaign, and last year in F3 he finished in the top ten in both races for the uncompetitive Carlin team.

But although Piastri has yet to reach the podium at Monza, Prema will surely give him a car as capable of winning as Robert Shwartzman’s was in last year’s feature race, meaning he’ll be more than ready to take the fight to Sargeant on Saturday.

Oscar Piastri, Prema (Dan Istitene / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Just behind the top two is the tightest battle in the field, between David Beckmann and Liam Lawson for third in the standings. Beckmann currently holds the place but only by half a point, with Lawson on a much better run of form with podiums in every round since Silverstone.

Lawson ran well in Monza last year as well, taking second in the sprint race. However, Beckmann has experience of winning at the Temple of Speed as recently as 2018, having taken the GP3 feature race for Trident.

For Lawson, taking third place in the championship is all about recovering from the disastrous run of retirements that derailed his title campaign early in the year, and also convincing Red Bull to move him up the F1 feeder series ladder next year.

For Beckmann, he’ll be thinking of helping Trident to beat ART in their battle for second in the teams’ standings.

David Beckmann, Trident (Bryn Lennon / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Further back again, just 5.5 points cover Jake Hughes, Richard Verschoor and Alex Peroni in the lower positions of the championship top ten.

The three drivers have had wildly different seasons so far. Peroni has the most podiums of the trio with three, but Hughes’ feature race win in Barcelona means he’s currently the one on top, while Verschoor has only had the one podium but scored more consistently across the year.

Monza is sure to be a significant race for Peroni, as it was in last year’s feature race that a frightening crash at the Parabolica left the Australian with a fractured vertebrae.

Since then he’s come back much stronger to lead Campos this year, and it would be a great result for him to move on from last year with another good result this weekend.

Alex Peroni, Campos (Joe Portlock / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

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Mercedes to dominate at Monza? 2020 Italian Grand Prix Preview

As Formula One heads to the temple of speed at the 5.7 kilometre Monza circuit, the question on everyone’s lips is not really whether Mercedes will be the dominant force over the course of the weekend.

Instead, we are left wondering just how massive the advantage will be for the Silver Arrows as they seek to continue their astonishingly impressive start to the 2020 season.

2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Friday – Steve Etherington

Despite the extended 2020 lay-off due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Mercedes have very much picked up where they left off at the end of 2019, winning six of the first seven races. And the power-dominated track – the quickest in the calendar – will very much play into the hands of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas.

Unlike last weekend at Spa, there does not appear to be any threat of rain. However, despite the forecast, hopes of a damp race in Belgium were dampened by a lack of dampness, as Mercedes took a one two for the first time in six races in Belgium, extending their lead at the top of the tree.

2020 Belgian Grand Prix, Sunday – Steve Etherington

A potential surprise in Italy though would very much include Renault. Their top speed at Belgium aided Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon to a fourth and fifth placed finish respectively, giving them an assured feeling going into this weekend at Monza, where a podium could beckon. It would be the Frenchman’s first ever podium in Formula One, while Daniel Ricciardo would be looking for his first podium since the Monaco Grand Prix in 2018, where he won.

Daniel Ricciardo could claim his first podium in 44 races this weekend

Conspicuous in their absence thus far in this preview have been Ferrari. Spa was nothing short of a disaster for the Scuderia. The powerful nature of the track in Francorchamps was always going to affect the struggling Ferrari power unit adversely, but no one really expected them to be so far from the points pace-wise. Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc were both knocked out in Q2 last Saturday, and Vettel beat his team mate to a lowly thirteenth position in the race. If the affect of the straight line speed in the Ardennes Forest worked against them, Monza will be a travesty. Haas and Alfa Romeo – both Ferrari powered teams – competed with the works team, and Kimi Raikkonen’s pass on former team mate Vettel was the epitome of just how far Ferrari have fallen. It is easy to forget that Charles Leclerc won this race last season.

GP ITALIA F1/2019 – DOMENICA 08/09/2019
credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

Racing Point, meanwhile, seemed to struggle more than expected at Spa, meaning it will be intriguing to see how their car performs at a track that, in theory, should really suit their car and the Mercedes engine that goes with it. Pierre Gasly’s pass in the Alpha Tauri on Racing Point’s Sergio Perez through Eau Rouge was the pick of the bunch last time out. Another strong performance from the Frenchman at his team’s home race could push him further into contention to take the Red Bull seat back away from the struggling Alex Albon.

Alex Albon hopes to improve on a tough start to the 2020 season

It looks as though Mercedes will be raiding the home of Ferrari once more, as the temple of speed welcomes F1 for round eight of the 2020 season.

 

Feature Image courtesy of Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images

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Rally Estonia! The WRC restarts after a long break!

After the early end of Rally Mexico, and the cancellation of a number of events throughout May, June, July and August, the WRC returns to action with it’s first event in Estonia. It is a rally that has only taken place ten times, with the first event taking place in 2010.

Now, what can we say about this new event to the championship? There will be seventeen stages held over the three days, covering 232 km’s.

Shakedown and stage one take place on Friday the 4th of September. Shakedown is at 9:01am on a stage called Abissaare, and then there is a short 1.28 km stage in Tartu in the evening. Saturday sees ten stages, covering 73 km’s starting just before 8am local time and finishing after 6pm. Then on Sunday there are six stages, covering the remaining 84 km’s. This is quite different to the normal final day, which normally sees a couple of stages in the morning. There are six stages on the final day, starting at 7:35 am, and the power stage at 13:18. It’s a much earlier start for a final day.

 

Here’s the full stage list.

Time      No.         Stage name                        Distance

4th September

09:01     —           Abissaare [Shakedown] 5.51 km

Leg 1 — 1.28 km

4th September

19:08     SS1         Tartu                                     1.28 km

Leg 2 — 146.40 km

5th September

07:40     SS2         Prangli 1                               20.23 km

08:21     SS3         Kanepi 1                               16.89 km

09:08     SS4         Otepää 1                              9.60 km

10:00     SS5         Mäeküla 1                           14.76 km

11:19       SS6         Elva 1                                     11.72 km

14:37     SS7         Prangli 2                               20.23 km

15:18     SS8         Kanepi 2                               16.89 km

16:08     SS9         Otepää 2                              9.60 km

17:00     SS10       Mäeküla 2                           14.76 km

18:19     SS11       Elva 2                                     11.72 km

Leg 3 — 84.96 km

6th September

07:35     SS12       Arula 1                                  6.97 km

08:09     SS13       Kaagvere 1                          15.46 km

09:08     SS14       Kambja 1                              20.05 km

10:49      SS15       Arula 2                                  6.97 km

11:28      SS16       Kaagvere 2                          15.46 km

13:18      SS17       Kambja 2 [Power Stage] 20.05 km

 

Okay, let’s hear from the drivers! It’s been a while!

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia – Car 17

“I’m happy that we are able to compete again after so long. Rally Estonia will be new for many of us, but I’m always excited to take on a different challenge. It’s certainly going to be a demanding rally with very fast roads. The Yaris WRC gives you good confidence at these speeds and after the testing we have done in Finland and in Estonia, I have a good feeling in the car. It was also important to have this event last week to help us prepare, because after such a long break it is not easy to find the limit straight away. We will be starting first on the road so we hope that the weather in September could maybe help us to not have too much of a disadvantage, and the target will be to try to fight as best as we can.”

Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin – Car 33

“It has been a long time since we have driven competitively. It’s been eased by the fact that we could at least do some testing and get back behind the wheel but there’s nothing like competition. Rally Estonia is new to the WRC and I was lucky enough to be there for last year’s event. Although the rally didn’t end so well for me, I did enjoy it and I know a little bit about what to expect. The roads are very, very fast: Similar to Finland in some ways but with a few less jumps, and even faster in some places. As I’ve seen from the testing we’ve done, the car feels strong on these high-speed gravel roads. We’re definitely hoping that we have a good package and hopefully we can get the most out of it.”

Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen – Car 69

“The roads in Estonia are really fast and flowing but there are also some narrow and technical sections, so it’s going to be a really tricky rally. You have to be flat out most of the time but then you also have places where you need to be really precise. After the long break, it won’t be so easy to be up to speed in the beginning, but we have had some good testing to help us to be ready. We have been driving in some different weather conditions which has been useful experience for me. I have still only done three WRC rallies in this car and I still need to continue learning over the rest of the season, but this is a rally that should be good for me and I’m hoping for a good result.”

Ott and Martin won the event for Toyota in 2018 and 2019.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul – Car 11

“With the restart of the season, I think we all have hopes for a good result. After such a long break we want to come back and immediately deliver a strong performance. Rally Estonia is a new event and I did compete there back in 2012 but obviously the roads have changed a lot. It will be a challenging rally but with Ott and Martin as our teammates, I’m hoping we’re going to get a little advantage over the other teams.”

2019 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 09, Rally Finland
1 – 4 August 2019
Thierry Neuville
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja – Car 8

“Of course, it’s nice to be back in the championship again. Having the first event back in Estonia is special for us. It’s a big thing for Estonia to run a WRC event. I really hope we have a home advantage and it’s most important we really use it. The target is very easy; we don’t know how long the season will be but for sure we have to take the maximum from every event now. It will be a short sprint so there is no way to hold back anymore.”

Craig Breen / Paul Nagle – Car 42

“I’m really looking forward to Rally Estonia. It’s an event where I have quite a bit of experience in comparison to other crews. This year will be my fifth time going there and I am definitely looking forward to being back in a WRC car again after this strange and long period without anything. I was fortunate enough to be back in competition soon after lockdown was lifted and already in June we were testing. This restart period has been quite busy; it’s great to get back to competing and some form of normality. I think we can perform well in Estonia, as fast rallies generally seem to suit us, so we’ll be aiming for some good results there.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Esapekka Lappi / Janne Ferm – Car 4 

“It’s been a long time away from the action, so I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel. I was at Estonia’s WRC Promotional event last year and the stages are really nice. They’re quite similar to Finland in some ways, and even faster in some places so the pace is going to be pretty much flat out!

“We know that we’re not in the same position as the other teams and we’ve not had the opportunity to do the same level of testing, but I did manage to drive Lõuna-Eesti Ralli which was really good fun. It was important to get that seat time, and our main objective next week will be to get back out there, get back up to speed, and enjoy rallying again.”

Elfyn and Scott competed last year for M-Sport.

Teemu Suninen / Jarmo Lehtinen – Car 3

“I did some simulator racing during lockdown, but I’m definitely ready to get back behind the wheel of the rally car now! It’s been a long time, and I’m really looking forward to Rally Estonia which will be a bit like a home rally for me now!

“We’ve not had a lot of seat time, but I drove Lõuna-Eesti Ralli with a Fiesta R5. That was quite a special rally for me as I organised everything myself – and it made me appreciate how much the team do for us on WRC events as there really is so much you have to think about.

“We also had a day testing the Fiesta WRC in Greystoke. The stages in Estonia are really fast so it was important to have that day getting back up to speed. And we stayed in Cumbria a few days afterwards too – exploring the Lake District with Rich and catching up with some of the guys before we head out to the rally.”

Gus Greensmith / Elliott Edmondson – Car 44

“I cannot wait to get back behind the wheel of the Fiesta WRC! We had a couple of days testing in Greystoke last week and I’d forgotten just how much I enjoy pushing the loud pedal in this car!

“We know that we’ve not had the same amount of seat time as some of the other guys, but this is still a learning year for me and the most important thing is to go out there and enjoy it.

“This will be my first time in Estonia and I’ve heard that the stages are incredible. I’m looking forward to experiencing them for myself, and will just aim to focus on my own event – and on learning and improving my times as the weekend goes on.”

Summary

Well, here we go! We are set for the resumption of the championship. In the last two years Ott Tanak has taken victory for Toyota in this event. We have to consider him for the win this weekend. He’ll have good competition from his former teammates Seb Ogier and Elfyn Evans, plus there is the intra team battle with Thierry Neuville. Then there is the M-Sport team, with two very fast Finns. It would be great to see them both in the mix for stage victories, and if they can, then they will be challenging for a podium finish.

Here’s a reminder of the championship standings.

2020 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round three

1 S. Ogier 62
2 E. Evans 54
3 T. Neuville 42
4 K. Rovanperä 40
5 O. Tänak 38
6 T. Suninen 26
7 E. Lappi 24
8 S. Loeb 8
9 T. Katsuta 8

 

2020 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round three

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 110
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 89
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 65

 

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Rea rides to victory in Aragon despite pressure from Davies

Day 2 of Round 4 of the WorldSBK Superpole and Race 2 took place on Sunday from MotorLand Aragon with the reigning Champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) continuing his streak of victories in the Superpole races for this 2020 season followed by Championship leader Scott Redding on the (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) and Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) making up the rest of the front row.

The starting grid for Race 2 looked like this:

Row 1 : Rea : Redding : van der Mark Row 2: Bautista : Davies : Lowes

Row 3 : Raz : Rinaldi : Baz Row 4 : Haslam : Gerloff : Scheib

Row 5 : Fores : Sykes : Caricasulo Row 6 : Ponsson : Laverty : Melandri

Row 7 : Barrier : Ramos : Takahashi Row 8 : Gabellini

With 18 laps of racing, Race 2 gets underway with Redding getting a great start off the line but by Turn 1, Rea sweeps back round the outside to take 1st position with van der Mark keeping the third position he started with on the grid.

It’s all change further down the pack by the second lap with Davies, who started in 5th down to 6th, Razgatlioglu up to 5th and Haslam up to 8th having started in 10th place. Lowes has had a terrible start and is down in 12th having started 6th on the grid. Van der Mark is having a peek round the side of Redding but didn’t quite have the pace to get past but then Redding runs wide and van der Mark gets through, with Bautista is right on the tail of Redding. Redding runs wide again allowing Bautista to sweep past. Redding is running a different compound tyre to many of the other riders, perhaps this is having an effect when he is cornering and causing him to run wide.

Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding at Aragon Round 4 WSBK 2020. Image courtesy of Honda Racing

By Lap 3 Rea has put in the fastest lap and pulled out a lead. Davies is right on the tail of his teammate and goes down the inside of Redding and although Redding is looking to get the place back, Davies makes the overtake stick and is now hot on the heels of his former teammate, Bautista and at Turn 13, Davies sweeps cleanly past and then swiftly past van der Mark and is now up in 2nd place.

At Turn 15 on the following lap, Baz hits trouble and crashes out into the gravel ending his race early. Davies is now bearing down on Rea looking to close the gap and by lap 7 the gap is down to 1.3 seconds but by the end of the lap it’s back up to 1.6 seconds. Fores and Lowes have passed Haslam and they in turn now have their sights set on Razgatlioglu.

Redding, on lap 8, finds himself in a Rinaldi and van der Mark sandwich with Rinaldi looking to get past the championship leader which he does with a clean overtake. Bautista is all over Davies desperately looking for a way to get past and by Lap 10 Lowes has lost 3 places and is down in 11th.

The following lap Rinaldi goes down the inside of van der Mark into Turn 1 and cleanly takes the place, van der Mark is immediately trying to get the place back but Rinaldi makes the overtake stick. Melandri is off the bike, he tries to rejoin the race but is unable to.

The gap is now down to 1.2 seconds between Rea and Davies on Lap 12 and although Rea runs wide he manages to gather himself and the bike but the gap has just got shorter. Fores passes Baz up into 7th place and Lowes runs really wide and is now down in 12th.

Turn 16 on the following lap, Rea runs wide again allowing Davies to go down on the inside and sweep past but by Turn 4 Rea passes Davies to take the lead but Davies is all over Rea, he is not giving up and Bautista has both Davies and Rea in his sights and is waiting for one or both of them to make a mistake so he can sweep past.

The gap between Rea and Davies is now half a second. Lowes has managed to fight his way up the grid again and passes Haslam and Razgatlioglu is up into 7th.

Although Davies is doing all he can to get past Rea on the last lap, Rea is managing to hold him off and takes the chequered flag closely followed by Davies and Bautista.

A fantastic end to another great weekend of WorldSBK racing with Rea now the championship leader again.

Looking forward to Round 5 next weekend when we are back at Aragon.

BK

The Driver’s / Team Standings so far at the end of Round 4 at Aragon on the 29th/30th August looked like this:

 

Pos

 Rider

Points

Pos

 Team

Points

1

 Jonathan Rea

189

1

 Kawasaki

215

2

 Scott Redding

179

2

 Ducati

188

3

 Toprak Razgatlioglu

124

3

 Yamaha

159

4

 Chaz Davies

120

4

 Honda

88

5

 Michael van der Mark

110

5

 BMW

52

6

 Alex Lowes

102

6

 Aprilia

4

7

 Michael Ruben Rinaldi

79

8

 Alvaro Bautista

77

9

 Loris Baz

64

10

 Leon Haslam

51

11

 Tom Sykes

51

12

 Garrett Gerloff

28

13

 Xavi Fores

27

14

 Federico Caricasulo

22

15

 Marco Melandri

19

16

 Eugene Laverty

18

17

 Sandro Cortese

14

18

 Leandro Mercado

12

19

 Maximillan Scheib

11

20

 Sylvain Barrier

5

21

 Christophe Ponsson

4

22

 Roman Ramos

3

23

 Takumi Takahashi

1

Featured image courtesy of Ducati

 

 

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Josef Newgarden wins at Gateway race 2 to keep championship hopes alive.

image courtesy of IndyCar

Defending series champion Josef Newgarden closed the points gap to Scott Dixon in the championship with a victory at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway. His second at the famous ‘egg-shaped’ circuit

The Penske driver had been firmly in the hunt behind both pole sitter Takuma Sato and Arrow McLaren SP driver Patricio O’Ward. However, the American seized first position after the final pit stop window with 43 laps remaining after teammate Will Power was caught in traffic while entering the pits.

Josef and Pato both came into the pits on lap 151, the Mexican narrowly ahead. However, a slick pit stop by the Penske crew allowed the two time series champion to beat the Mexican to the pit lane exit. It was smooth sailing from there, leading rhe rest of the way to the chequered flag.

O’Ward eventually settled for second after finishing third yesterday in race one. Missing out on race victories is becoming something of a trademark for the young driver in his sophomore year. It seems like a matter of not if, but when O’Ward will experience the top step of the podium this season as he consolidates third in the championship.

This win will be Josef Newgarden’s 16th in his career and second this season. His first since at the Iowa Speedway and his first at Gateway since 2017.

Pole sitter Takuma Sato was running well until a failed overcut pit stop denied him a top five position. Sato was caught in traffic while trying to overtake backmarkers which inevitable slowed him down on his in lap, allowing the likes of Power, O’Ward and Newgarden through. Unfortunately, it didn’t end there for the two-time Indy 500 winner, bringing out the caution with less than five laps to go by running into the wall. An unfortunate end for what looked set to be magnificent weekend for the Japanese driver.

Dutch rookie Rinus VeeKay had an incredible race from 18th to fourth. He pitted earlier than the rest of the top ten and was able to slice his way through the field. Scott Dixon would round up the top five.

Some honourable mentions include Colton Herta who finished in a solid sixth position and Conor Daly in eight. Herta, who finished in an incredible fourth in yesterdays race starting in tenth for today’s running. It was a masterful drive and even saved a massive ‘tank slapper’ at half distance which could have easily ended the young American’s day.  Daly likewise put on an overtaking masterclass from his starting position of fifteenth. Both drivers have enjoyed a lot of success at this circuit in recent years and it was no exception this weekend.

However, more poignantly, as the racing drew to a close, so too did a certain Brazilians time in the sport. Sadly, today was Tony Kanaan’s last scheduled race in the IndyCar series. Though he finished in 19th position, it will be his 2004 series championship, his 2013 Indy 500 win, his 16 other career wins and 15 pole positions that he will be remembered for. Liked by the entire paddock it is a sad day to see a great close a chapter in a remarkable career that has spanned over twenty years.

We look forward to seeing Tony Kanaan again in a potential future Indy 500 guest appearance. But until then, we at the PitCrew Online wish ‘TK’ a happy retirement.

Alongside Kanaan the IndyCar circuits will take a five week break before we return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for another double header weekend.

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BTCC Knockhill Roundup – Sutton double boosts title credentials

Race One

Ash Sutton pulled off the line from pole and never surrendered the lead. Turkington was close behind and was fighting the 2017 champion all the way to the line.

Josh Cook had a big off on the run into the uphill chicane, spinning and going backwards into the tyre wall.

The fight for the podium was a great one as Jake Hill and Tom Ingram fought for third with Hill prevailing from the Toyota driver.

Sutton took his third win of the season and only strengthened his title credentials, with Turkington and Hill following close behind.

Race Two

After a great effort from the BTC Racing team to fix Josh Cook’s car. He was put into a spin on the first corner and was out of the race. The torrid season for Cook continued.

It was more of the same for Sutton and Turkington, as they took first and second with the BMW driver only seven tenths behind the winner. Ingram this time took third.

After race two Senna Proctor was drawn to start race three on pole position, with Rory Butcher alongside

Race Three

Rory Butcher got the best start off the line to take the lead from Proctor. He pulled out a one second lead before his team mate Ollie Jackson was involved in a crash on lap two.

Jackson was spinning through the uphill chicane and ended up on the apex. Mike Bushell had nowhere to go and hit Jackson, with Sam Osborne picking up damage too, prompting a red flag.

On the restart Butcher got away fastest again, so quick in fact that the stewards investigated it. Tom Chilton rocketed off the line into third. Tom Oliphant pulled off a fine move into turn one, passing the Hyundai of Chris Smiley on two wheels.

Butcher pulled out a commanding lead and took his second win of the season, with Proctor finishing a fine second and Chilton rounded off the podium.

Driver Car R1 R2 R3
Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport 2 2 9
Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport 8 6 4
Matt Neal Honda Civic Type R FK8 7 15 12
Dan Cammish Honda Civic Type R FK8 6 4 6
Tom Ingram Toyota Corolla 4 3 10
Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 1 1 11
Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 9 5 8
Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R FK8 DNF DNF 15
Tom Chilton Honda Civic Type R FK8 11 7 3
Michael Crees Honda Civic Type R FK8 17 17 16
Senna Proctor Hyundai i30N 13 11 2
Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N 14 9 7
Jake Hill Honda Civic Type R FK2 3 8 5
Sam Osborne Honda Civic Type R FK2 19 18 DNF
Rory Butcher Ford Focus ST 5 10 1
Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST 16 13 DNF
Andy Neate Ford Focus ST DNF DNF 20
Adam Morgan Mercedes Benz A Class 12 14 14
Jack Butel Mercedes Benz A Class 20 21 22
Bobby Thompson Audi S3 Saloon 18 DSQ 19
James Gornall Audi S3 Saloon DNF 20 18
Carl Boardley BMW 125i M Sport 15 12 17
Jack Goff VW CC DNS 19 21
Stephen Jelley BMW 125i M Sport 10 DNF 13
Mike Bushell Vauxhall Astra 21 16 DNF

Image Credit: BTCC Media

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