ThePitcrewOnline

21st August 2020

Vips replaces injured Gelael at DAMS

Red Bull junior Juri Vips will join DAMS for the next three rounds of the Formula 2 championship, stepping in for Sean Gelael after the Indonesian injured his back in Spain.

Gelael suffered a D4 mid-spine fracture in a 45g kerb impact in the Barcelona feature race. He was released from hospital shortly after and is expected to make a full recovery, although he has been ruled out of action for the next six weeks at least, covering the next F2 triple header at Spa, Monza and Mugello.

Vips had been due to race in Super Formula with Team Mugen this year, but thanks to the 2020 season’s postponement until 30^th August he has been contesting the Formula Regional European Championship instead.

DAMS owners Gregory and Oliver Driot said: “We have the pleasure to bring on board Juri Vips, who’s a very talented driver and has showed his pace in junior categories.

“It will be difficult to get started because he’s never driven in F2, so Spa is going to be more of a test than a proper race weekend. He will have good support from the team, so we hope for a strong start to the second half of the season.”

Juri Vips, Hitech Grand Prix (Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull Content Pool)

20th August 202021st August 2020

Swecon World Rallycross of Sweden Rounds 1 and 2: Preview

By Amy-Ann Stokes

image courtesy of FIA WRX

Based in the Finnskogen of Värmland in Sweden, the Swecon World Rallycross of Sweden takes place at Höljes Motorstadion. Traditionally, it is held on the first weekend of July and plays host to the ‘Magic Weekend’, however, due to COVID-19, it is taking place on the 22^nd and 23^rd of August as the opening round of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross season.

There will be two rounds of World Rallycross taking place over the two days with each consisting of three qualifying rounds, semi-finals and a final. The European Rallycross Supercars and the new series Projekt E will have two qualifying sessions per day, then the semi-finals and final on Sunday.

World Rallycross

Defending champion Timmy Hansen and third place finisher Kevin Hansen will be contesting the series again, under the watchful eye of their parents, Kenneth and Susann Hansen. Team Hansen are the only team in the championship that will be running the Peugeot 208 RX.

Sebastian Eriksson, who won this event in 2019, returns to try and make it a double in Sweden. He will be racing with Olsbergs MSE in a Honda Civic.

Double world champion Johan Kristoffersson returns to the series after a one-year hiatus in the Volkswagen Polo GTI RX, which is a proven race and championship winning car. He is aiming to add a third win at Höljes.

The former champions returning does not stop there as Mattias Ekstrom is taking the place of Janis Baumanis in the KYB Team JC Audi S1 RX. Baumanis has had funding issues due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ekstrom will be partnered with the 2019 European Rallycross for Supercars champion Robin Larsson, who won the title after finishing first four times and second once and did not contest the final round in Latvia.

Guerlain Chicherit has been able to expand his sphere of influence by adding an additional team to run under the GCK banner, the Monster Energy GCK RX Cartel with drivers Andreas Bakkerud and Liam Doran. They will be driving the Renault Mégane R.S. RX. Anton Marklund will also be driving the Mégane but for GCK Bilstein. GCK UNKORRUPTED will feature the team boss Chicherit and Rokas Baciuška driving the Renault Clio R.S. RX.

GRX Taneco return with Niclas Gronholm and Timur Timerzyanov and add an additional Hyundai i20 WRC for Krisztián Szabó for the first two rounds. They are hoping to improve on their three round wins in 2019.

Ferratum Team are a new entry to the sport with their sole entry of a Ford Fiesta Supercar RX for Jani Paasonen.

Alongside Timo Scheider, René Münnich will be racing for ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport in the Seat Ibiza RX. This is the first time since the race in South Africa 2018 that the team owner has taken part in a World Rallycross event.

European Supercars

Höljes forms the opening weekend of a three-round championship, the other rounds being Latvia and Belgium. There are 16 expected starters for this round, and this includes the second and third place finishers in the championship in 2019, JB Dubourg and Thomas Bryntesson.

Stepping up from RX2, champion Oliver Eriksson will be driving a Ford Fiesta and RX2 race winner Ben-Phillip Gundersen will be racing in an Audi S1. The field also included former WRC champion Pontus Tidemand in a Volkswagen Polo and the motorsport legend Per Eklund in a VW Beetle.

Projekt E

This is a new international series for electric rallycross racing, and it is hoped that it will become just as large as its sister series. The Austrian company STARD provide a powertrain and battery which provides 1000Nm of torque and almost all of this is instantaneous. It also delivers 450kW of power. This means that almost any car that has a rally or rallycross variant can take advantage of this.

At the inaugural weekend in Höljes, there will be three Ford Fiestas featured driven by Ken Block, Natalie Barratt, and Herrmann Neubauer. Mads Østberg was meant to feature in the Citroën C3 however this has been postponed until the second round in Riga.

This weekend is set up to be incredibly exciting and should not be missed by any fan of motorsport.

20th August 202020th August 2020

Rinus VeeKay: “We are ready for the 500”

Rinus VeeKay image courtesy of IndyCar

The first time I took notice of this young Dutchman, he was leading the F3 Asian Winter Series competing with the likes of Williams test driver Dan Ticktum and F3 heavy-hitters David Schumacher and Ye Yifea. I didn’t know much about him at the time, but I was mightily impressed with his performances ultimately dominating the championship twenty nine points ahead of his nearest rival.

Now, he is starting fourth in the Indianapolis 500, the highest placed rookie.

It has been a whirlwind twelve months for Rinus VeeKay to say the least, a name he adopted after coming to compete in the US, his real name: Rinus Van Kalmthout. Since his incredible performance in the Indy Lights series he has been catapulted into motorsport stardom with the Ed Carpenter Racing team for the NTT IndyCar series for the 2020 season.

For the Netherlands, it is a seismic moment. The first Dutch driver in top tier American Open wheel racing since Robert Doornbos in 2009. Doornbos and only four other Dutchman have ever raced in IndyCar including two time Indy 500 winner Arie Luyundyk Sr, his son Arie Luyundyk Jr, Cornelius Euser and Jan Lammers.

Having waited so long for another star in the IndyCar series, they were treated to a miraculous sight last Sunday, seeing Rinus blasting through turn one of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway clocking in at just over 240mph. One of the fastest unofficial speeds ever recorded at the Indy 500.

The previous day he knocked many big names out of the ‘Fast Nine’ shootout, including the likes of Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Helio Castroneves and Fernando Alonso to name but a few. This is no mean feat. However, rather than let the pressure get to him, he put in a fantastic four-lap average (230.704mph) during the ‘Fast Nine’ to start on the fourth row alongside Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchliffe.

I was fortunate to sit down with Rinus on Wednesday 19^th August, four days before he is due to take the starting grid in ‘The Greatest Spectacle in the World’. The aim: to get an insight into the nineteen-year-old Dutchman, to reflect on his fantastic performance so far.

Adam (Q):

Hi Rinus! How are you feeling? Are you OK?

Rinus VeeKay (R):

Yeah, I’m feeling great. It’s been a crazy few days, but I’m very happy with the result and it’s been a crazy weekend, but it’s also been the best weekend.

So Rinus, first of all, congratulations on such a magnificent performance at your first Indy 500. Through to the ‘Fast Nine’, starting fourth, the highest placed rookie. That is the highest starting position for a Dutchman in 21 years since the 1999 Indy 500, which was your mentor, Arie Luyendyk, who started on pole that day.

That must be something you are immensely proud of. How do you reflect on such a fantastic debut performance?

Yeah, I’m really proud of it. Of course, I did not really expect it. Of course, I knew we had a good car, but the Hondas were looking strong and I was really happy to make the ‘Fast Nine’. But then, yeah, having such a good qualifying run; that almost front row was possible was amazing.

Absolutely and you’re the only Chevrolet powered car through to the ‘Fast Nine’, which is incredible as well. Many have commented on the lack of speed by Chevy and that you guys were running a low downforce set up in order to negate the power of the Hondas. However, you hit 240 miles an hour going through into turn one.

My question has two parts here. One, what was it like running at such an incredible speed? Have you experienced anything like that ever in your career?

And secondly, would you be running a similar low downforce set up during the race? And what can you expect to get out of the race with that?

Well, it was amazing touching 240 miles per hour, that’s kind of a dream come true. It’s amazing speed, of course, I had a bit of a tailwind. It was cool, turning in to turn one staying flat to 240 miles an hour. Never experienced that before, but this definitely is my land speed record.

For the race, you need more downforce to run in traffic in the race, and the tyres will not last if we keep it on that low downforce. So yeah, we will go for more downforce on a kind of race trim that everyone will be on. And yeah, we have a really strong race car. I know that. And we are ready for the 500.

Fantastic. You seem to have had quite a lot of success at the Motor Speedway. You came third here at the Freedom 100 in Indy Lights and you seem to done well at the road course in both Indy lights and IndyCar. What is there about the Motor Speedway you find so special?

It’s super special, it’s like the racing mecca. The feeling driving here, if you just drive through the gates, it’s just like heaven.

It’s amazing and I really enjoy driving here. Of course, you need a bit of luck to be successful, but I love the speedway and of course, also the IMS road course has been amazing this year with my highest IndyCar finish so far.

Some of our readers may be hearing about you for the first time, but they will be eager to learn a little bit about your amazing journey into IndyCar. So, you know, I’ve got a list here of some of your accolades.

Second in US F2000 National Championship (2017),
Second in the BOSS GP series (2017),
Third in the MRF Challenge Formula (2017),
First in the Pro Mazda Championship (2018),
First in the F3 Asian Winter Series (2019),
Second in the Indy Lights Series (2019).

Some may be wanting to know why you chose to go round the US motorsport route rather than the European circuit and follow people such as Max Verstappen going to Formula One.

What was it that drew you to America? And I have heard that there are some perceptions that it’s more down to talent in the US. Is that a fair assumption?

Yes, that’s quite fair to say. The Road to Indy is known for their scholarship program and I won the 2018 Pro Mazda Championship and because of that I had the funding to go to Indy Lights. Then it just all happened from there on. So actually that win in 2018, made possible, by The Road to Indy, just made it possible for me to drive in my car eventually.

it’s been tough to go this way. It’s not always been easy but it’s been a great few years and to make it to IndyCar in this rapid way is great.

One question I had from one of our contributors was about your time in the BOSS GP Open series. He wanted to ask. It’s one of the more lesser known categories, one could say, but it hosts so many historical sports cars. It sounds like such an amazing series to be a part of. Did you learn anything in particular in your time in that series? And what benefits did you find in doing it?

Yeah, my goal to do that was, I was 16 years old, when I did that. I did a few races there I didn’t do the full season. But to get experience at that young age with, well, I had 680 horsepower. Wow. That’s something very educational. And it’s something important to master when you’re younger. And I think that’s really helped me getting used to high power, high breaks, high downforce when I was only 16 years old.

Fantastic. Do the likes of people like Max Verstappen, Robin Frinjs in Formula E, Nick de Vries who is F2 Champion, and of course yourself. Does that give you hope that motorsport in the Netherlands is on the rise? It seems like Dutch motorsport is in a really good place right now.

Yeah, it really is. We have some great drivers. Robin Frinjs who is a great driver in DTM and Formula E. Nyck De Vries who is a great driver in Formula E. Max Verstappen of course and then on the other side of the ocean, it’s me in IndyCar. It’s great to have so many drivers in the top categories of open wheel racing, and it’s just great to be part of it.

It’s like you said, you don’t get many Dutchmen in IndyCar. What is it like trying to get the attention of motorsport fans from the Netherlands to watch you in IndyCar? Do you think that you have a lot of attention right now from the Netherlands?

Yeah, the attention is really getting better and better. Of course, it’s been a little tough because everyone was super ‘Formula One minded’. Now they’ve seen my qualifying performance and of course now with the internet, Twitter, everything, it rolls like a snowball. Everyone starts to get really excited. I think most of the country is going to watch the 500 next weekend, so it’s going to be really cool. I think especially the attention towards IndyCar is really on the rise now.

It certainly has been with my family we’ve been sat around the whole sofa watching it for the past few weeks. So you’ve provided some fantastic entertainment, especially during lockdown.

In the lower categories, you had a competitive rivalry with the likes of fellow rookie Oliver Askew. You two alongside Alex Palou and Dalton and Pato will be going for the Rookie of the Year title on Sunday. Do those sorts of things motivate you as a driver? And will competing well against the likes of Oliver be an extra bit of motivation for you come the race on Sunday?

I’ve had a long rivalry with Oliver. He’s a great driver and he’s always been a benchmark whenever you go to the track. We have a lot of quick drivers in IndyCar now so Oliver is a quick rookie but also Alex, Patricio, Dalton Kellet, they are super quick here. We’ve got some really strong rookies this year and it feels good to be kind of the best rookie and so that gives me a huge amount of confidence.

How would you rate your IndyCar season so far? You’ve had a few unfortunate accidents here and there but on the whole your performances have been really positive and certainly the qualifying here at Indy 500 surely should give you confidence for the rest of the full IndyCar season. So how would you reflect on the season so far and your hopes for the future?

Yeah it’s been a weird season. Of course with COVID to start off with and then my first race at Texas was very immature, very rookie, but I really learned from that. It was one of my biggest lessons in my career. And then from then on, as a driver I made huge steps.

Of course after that we had Indy IMS Road Course where I had my first top five finish. That was great with a great strategy. And then at Road America we struggled a little, I also had some engine issues in the race so that was unfortunate. And in Iowa we were on our way possibly to a victory in race 1 until, well you know what happened with Colton. That was very unfortunate. In race 2 we had some pit lane issues so it’s not been the luckiest year. But, well let’s hope we can make a turnaround from here.

For all your prospective fans out there as I am sure after this weekend you will have many. What can we expect from you come this Sunday?

I’m gonna just give it my all. I know we have a great race car. Of course a lot of the race is about strategy, so that will be important, a lot of thinking. But I think we can make the people at home, make then sit at the top of their seats and enjoy the race. I really want to make sure that this year, when there are no fans, they still really enjoy it.

And that’s another good point that there will be no fans this year at the 500. Does that feel a little bit strange do you think that’s going to be weird come Sunday?

It feels a little strange yeah. You are so used to having so many fans here at Indy. The fans make the event what it is and you miss that. You can feel that the atmosphere is not like that. Of course, it’s still the 500, you still have the speed and the sensation but yeah the fans are a gift when they are here.

I mean I’m sure that even though they are not going to be there there’s going to be thousands more at home tuning in watching at home live so don’t worry there’s going to be lots of people supporting you back at home.

I think that’s pretty much all we have time for that’s the fifteen minutes. So thank you so much Rinus it’s been a real pleasure talking to you. Thank you for giving up some of your time to speak to us. We wish you so much luck for the race on Sunday and we really hope you have a good turnout and a good result come this Sunday?.

Thank you very much. I’ll make sure everyone will enjoy the race, and me too and hopefully drink the bottle of milk at the end!

18th August 2020

Opinion: Is Verstappen costing Red Bull the Constructors Title?

Taking over from Stewart Grand Prix in 2005, Red Bull Racing have been one of F1’s front running teams for over a decade. However, despite having a winning car since 2009, their last constructors’ (and drivers’) title was in 2013 – seven years ago.

Vettel-Webber 2009 Abu-Dhabi 02 // Paul-Henri Cahier/Red Bull Content Pool // SI201412034496 // Usage for editorial use only //

In part, that is due to the Turbo Hybrid Era and the rise of Mercedes’ subsequent rise. The change of engine regulations after 2013 saw Mercedes dominate the sport, with Red Bull’s Renault engine unable to consistently match the German outfit. Yet, in recent years, separate issues have arisen within Red Bull Racing that makes them look less and less likely to win another constructors’ championship.

2014 Canadian Grand Prix, Sunday – Wolfgang Wilhelm

As soon as Max Verstappen joined F1 in 2015, it was clear that he was Red Bull’s golden boy and, in the eyes of many, he had the talent to deserve it. It wasn’t long before he was promoted to the team in place of Daniil Kvyat, partnering Daniel Ricciardo. With Verstappen and Ricciardo at the wheel, they appeared to have one of the strongest line-ups on the grid and if they could just have a competitive engine, they’d be able to grab the title.

But their relationship with Renault was quickly diminishing and it was announced they would run the Honda engine from 2019 onwards. Paired with Red Bull’s increasing focus on Verstappen, Honda’s unsuccessful recent record in F1 did little to persuade Ricciardo to stay. He left for Renault. Red Bull were now in a predicament, who should they sign as a replacement? The promising, but inexperienced Frenchman, Pierre Gasly, was who they went with.

However, this was where those big issues started to rise to the surface. With only one “star driver” in the team, Red Bull decided to mould the team around Verstappen. They designed the car to suit him, told his teammate to use his setups, and allegedly gave him the new upgrades first. If Fernando Alonso taught us anything, it’s that this model is rarely successful, and somewhat unsurprisingly, Gasly wasn’t on the pace. He was dropped after just 12 races in 2019.

MONTMELO, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 28: Pierre Gasly of France and Red Bull Racing talks with race engineer Mike Lugg in the garage during day three of F1 Winter Testing at Circuit de Catalunya on February 28, 2019 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI201902280252 // Usage for editorial use only //

Alex Albon, Gasly’s replacement, started off his Red Bull career closer to Verstappen, but since the start of the 2020 season he has also been too far away from his teammate. He was even allegedly used as a test dummy for the Hard tyres in the recent Spanish Grand Prix. Gasly was GP2 (now F2) Champion in 2016, and Albon finished third in F2 in 2018, just marginally behind the highly rated Lando Norris and George Russell, so how can it be that these two drivers seemingly forgot how to drive overnight? Answer: They didn’t.

With Red Bull giving sole focus on superstar Verstappen, they will struggle to find someone who can be quick enough to support him. In order to be competitive, drivers need attention from their team. and currently Red Bull are stuck in a cycle whereby: the more they focus on Verstappen, the worse their other driver does, thus the more they focus on Verstappen etc. One of the biggest factors of Red Bull’s failure to win the constructors title is the toxic nature of how they treat their drivers. Max Verstappen is undoubtedly exceptional, but the team focusing just on him is costing them a chance at fighting for the championship. Unless they can find a driver who happens to suit a car that is built around Verstappen, Red Bull will not win the team’s title for the foreseeable future.

MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – MAY 27: Daniel Ricciardo of Australia driving the (3) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB14 TAG Heuer on track during the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix at Circuit de Monaco on May 27, 2018 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI201805290325 // Usage for editorial use only //

At the moment, Mercedes have a dominant car, and in order to win, Red Bull need to improve theirs, but it is next to impossible to succeed as a team with just one car. They are the only team looking anywhere near likely to challenge Mercedes, but whilst they only pay attention to Verstappen, I fear Mercedes’ dominance will continue for some time.

Feature Image Courtesy of Peter Fox/ Getty Images/ Red Bull Content Pool

18th August 2020

Things we want to see in the new BTCC game

After 22 years, a new British Touring Car Championship game is finally coming. The game was recently announced by Motorsport Games, the team behind the NASCAR Heat series.

There are still so many questions to answer as the game is not due out until 2022. There are a few things BTCC fans are sure to want to see in this new release, the first BTCC-centric game since 1998’s ToCA 2 Touring Cars.

With the technology available nowadays, the scope for this game is huge. In 1998 the original PlayStation could only do so much, but with the PlayStation 5 now on the horizon, the potential is huge, it’s whether Motorsport Games can unlock that potential.

Career Mode?

In the 90’s games, there was no fleshed out career mode. It’s been done before in games such as 2001’s ToCA Race Driver and Project CARS 2, the former even had the ToCA licence, but both were merely small cogs in a larger machine. This time with the support of Alan Gow and ToCA, Motorsport Games can really tailor this game to the BTCC diehards.

The options include starting in a test day and teams can scout you and sign you depending on your performance, or perhaps there is another option available.

Utilising The Support Series’

A BTCC weekend is so much more than just the touring cars. There’s also the Ginetta Juniors and Supercup, the new for 2020 Mini Challenge, British F4’s and the Porsche Supercup. Perhaps the career mode can have you starting off in a feeder series such as the Ginetta Juniors, and allowing you to progress up to the end goal of the BTCC. Again teams may scout and sign you dependant on your performances.

Alternatively you could just stick in the support series if they float your boat. The Ginetta series’ were in Project CARS 2 but as standalone championships, never have they been placed into a ToCA style package like we see in real life. Hopefully Motorsport Games have the access and ability to recreate the whole package, not just the BTCC.

Arcade vs Sim

Sim racing is growing, even more so after the Virtual F1 events we saw during Lockdown. But the balance between arcade controls and sim controls is a difficult one. Some games such as DiRT Rally and Assetto Corsa are built to be simulations, as close to the real thing as they physically can. Or we can see arcade style games, which cater to the more casual racers.

Motorsport Games have some tough choices to make, do they try and please everyone with an arcade style game, like the old ToCA games? Or, do they try and appease the diehard sim racers with a detailed, some would say tricky, game which mimics all the challenges of racing a touring car? There’s a chance they could try and merge the two, much like DiRT does, but it’s a lot more work for the developers.

Classic Content?

As brilliant as the current crop of touring cars is, it’s important to remember the past and some of the amazing cars the BTCC has seen over the years. It’s a chance we could see classic cars such as the Ford Sierra RS500’s and Vauxhall Cavaliers of the 80’s, the Renault Laguna or the Volvo 850 Estate of the Super Touring era, or the dominant Vauxhall’s of the 2000’s. It could work like the Formula One games where the classic cars are integrated into the career mode in the form of invitational events. Where you can enhance your reputation with a team with a good showing in these one off events.

Capturing the Essence

The BTCC is a special place, the paddocks are all intertwined, the access to drivers from fans is much easier than the likes of Formula One. There’s a sense of bravado and camaraderie that is seldom seen elsewhere. It is vital for Motorsport Games to try and translate that into this new game, some would argue this is the most important aspect of the new game.

Driver Personalities

There’s nothing worse in a racing game than poor AI. Computer controlled racers who are soulless and stick to one line, regardless of where you position your car. Will the developers be able to accurately install the personalities of drivers into the game? The phrase ‘rubbing is racing’ is more prevalent in touring cars than most other format. Will the AI drivers give as much as they get in terms of close physical racing?

Esports

The world of esports is growing, it is a huge aspect of gaming nowadays. Can the BTCC game have an esports aspect? With Motorsport Games having the full backing of ToCA, they can work closely together to create an esports event, perhaps at the final weekend of the BTCC season, with a huge tournament and prizes on offer.

One of those prizes could be a test in a BTCC car. The BTCC have often offered incentives to people, such as Matt Neal’s famous 1999 win at Donington Park. Famous as Alan Gow had offered a prize of £250,000 to the first independent driver to win a race outright. If a team or ToCA themselves can front the prize of a test in a real touring car, the chances for anyone to enter the series is possible. Much like James Baldwin who is now a full time professional racer, despite his background being in virtual racing.

There’s so many questions to answer, and Motorsport Games will most likely give updates to answer any questions we may have. But the potential and hype for this game will only grow more as we reach the 2022 release date.

Image Credit: BTCC Media

17th August 202018th August 2020

Three hopefuls of a female in Formula 1

There has always been a desire to see a woman join the ranks of Formula 1 and be competitive, at least from people who aren’t sexist. The push to see it happen has only exemplified with the introduction of the all-women F3-level championship W Series, so I decided I would compile a list of who I believe to be potentially realistic candidates of who could make it into F1 in the next few years.

Noteworthy mentions: Jamie Chadwick and Sophia Flörsch

image courtesy of W series. Inaugural W Series champion Jamie Chadwick and current FIA F3 driver Sophia Flörsch are probably the most prominent women in formulae racing right now, and both are undoubtedly talented. Chadwick, as well as being the W Series champion, is a champion in British GT, has won races in British F3 and Asian F3, and is part of Williams F1 as a development driver.

However, with the cancellation of the W Series this year, Chadwick found an opportunity in the Formula Regional European Championship with the dominant Prema team. The team have just had their first round at Misano but Chadwick wasn’t on the pace of her less experienced teammates, hopefully she will bounce back but if not, then I do not think F1 will be where Jamie ends up, no matter how much I want her to get there.

As for Flörsch, she hasn’t been hugely successful in her junior racing career and hasn’t won a race since she competed in the BTCC-supporting Ginetta Juniors back in 2014. She looks set to be making her home in sportscars and is part of an all-women effort to tackle the 24 hours of Le Mans.

Irina Sidorkova

image courtesy of SMP Racing

When the 2020 W Series was cancelled, the drivers who were due to compete instead took on an Esports League series that ran every Thursday between June 11th and August 13th. It was 2019 runner-up Beitske Visser who ended up dominating the championship, but it was Russian teenager, Irina ‘Ira’ Sidorkova, who had entered into 2020 evaluations and qualified, that really drew a lot of attention.

Irina ‘Ira’ Sidorkova’s track record includes 6th in the 2019 Russian F4 championship and was doubling up her efforts in the W Series Esports League with racing in a Russian-based touring car series. Early on, Sidorkova was the one to start making inroads on the dominant Visser before her real-world racing efforts limited the practice time and ultimately limited her chances of overhauling the 2019 runner-up.

It could all be a red herring perhaps, but since the second W Series has been postponed and Sidorkova will be competing in 2021, I believe that she is worth watching to see if she can transfer her pace to the real thing. When you consider she had the pace to run with known quantities like Visser and 2019 fourth place finisher Marta García, it could bode well for the 17-year old.

Abbi Pulling

image courtesy of Abi Pulling website.

For those British Touring Car enthusiasts who are watching the ITV4 coverage for over six hours, you’ll have been watching the British F4 of which the likes of Lando Norris won his first car racing championship. This season has a driver who I have been aware of for some time now, Abbi Pulling.

Pulling is a two-time Super 1 British Junior TKM Karting Champion, the first of which she won in 2017 in an incredibly exciting race that you can find on YouTube. She came very close to winning the year before but lost out on the smallest of margins.

Initially, Pulling spoke of having no intentions to make it to F1 and was aiming to compete at Le Mans, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she had joined JHR Developments to compete in British F4 this year, and in initial testing she was very much on the pace of the front-runners. There has only been two rounds of British F4 so far but Pulling has been fighting for consistent top five finishes and even scored a podium in the second race at Brands Hatch!

I thoroughly believe that Pulling could set herself up for a championship charge in 2021 and hey, who knows, maybe she could hopefully find the backing to continue a climb up the junior formulae ladder. We can only hope on that last bit as there are no guarantees.

Juju Noda

image courtesy of Juju Noda website

This is a driver who you may or may not be aware of, but she has got to be the most hyped up driver since Max Verstappen. Juju Noda is the daughter of former F1 driver Hideki Noda, and was making headlines in her native Japan for setting lap records at the Okayama circuit in both F4 and F3 machinery. She even drove an F4 car for the first time aged only nine!

Well this year she turned 14, which is the minimum age to compete in FIA-certified F4 championships in Denmark and France, and she opted to compete in the Danish championship. Its first round was held in mid-June and Noda immediately made an impression, she qualified second but inherited pole when the person who clocked the fastest time had that lap removed as they had done so under yellow flag conditions.

Noda went on to take full advantage and win her first race. She then got a third place in the second race of that meeting but would be excluded due to a tyre issue, but charged from the back of the field in race three to finish third in her class and fourth overall. The second round of the championship takes place next month and I, for one, strongly believe she can win the championship!

Ultimately, there’s still not enough women out there who could be that one shining light that will be the equivalent of Lewis Hamilton for girls. It all starts at grassroots, and I have no doubt that one of these three, or maybe someone we haven’t yet discovered, will be just that.

17th August 2020

Austria GP

This weekend’s MotoGP action came to us from the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

The track temperature were set to be HOT and indeed they were which resulted in an absolute cracker of a race. Ever since Marc Marquez suffered an injury and is currently recuperating, anyone can win this.

The riders have lined up on the grid ready to go and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) had a good start leading at the first corner.

Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) is going back down the field on the first lap and Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) is moving up the field.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) has lost 5 places on the first lap and Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) has gone down to 3rd place. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) had a cracking start to the race .

Andrea Dovizioso at the 2020 Austrian MotoGP race. Image courtesy of Ducati

Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) has been racing well in the first couple of laps and staying up there with everyone.

This circuit has 7 right and 3 left hand corners and although it is a shorter track than most circuits, by the end of the race they will have covered 75 miles.

You can see that the Ducati’s are finding the windy part of the track hard to keep the bikes under control.

Rins is in 12th place now and it is like the Suzuki on rails going around this track , it is an absolute pleasure to watch.

Rossi’s front end went down then but he managed to keep it upright, the Championship leader is dead last right now after making a mistake on Turn 4 so it’s going to be a slow race for him now.

A chaos strewn incident causes a Red Flag

Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) and Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) were side by on the straight coming down into Turn 3 and as they braked they made contact with each other and both bikes and riders went down.

In what can only be described as an absolutely terrifying few moments, both bikes hurtled towards Turn 4 at a tremendous rate of knots, both hitting the air-fence which slowed them down but then headed straight into the path of Vinales and Rossi with Morbidelli’s bike going through the gap between Vinales and Rossi and Zarco’s bike narrowly missing Vinales.

Thankfully Morbidelli and Zarco both got to their feet and after going to the medical centre for a check-up, both were declared fit.

This is the second red flagged race of the day, the first being in the Moto2 race.

The riders have been in the pits after the red flag whilst the marshals did a great job clearing up the debris and fixing the air-fence. After looking at a replay you can see Rossi’s bike was clipped in the incident.

Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) is getting instructions in the pit and Zarco is now out the race.

Rossi still looks in shock, we thought Rossi had seen everything except a bike coming though the air inches from his face. Now he has to get back on the bike and ride (there’s a song there somewhere).

Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales during the Austrian 2020 Race in which both riders avoided bikes re-entering the track. Image courtesy of Yamaha Motor Racing

All bikes that are in race condition are back out on track ready for a restart. The starting grid was decided on countback to the previous completed lap which meant that Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was on pole.

The Race Restart

Crutchlow starts near the back and it’s been a steady restart, Miller has a good start although he does go wide on the second corner but managed to keep the lead.

Rossi does not look on it right now since the red flag incident but Miller is pulling out a good lead of a second and everyone is behind him picking up the laps.

Dovizioso and Mir are closing in on Miller then Dovizioso carved past Miller into Turn 1 and at Turn 9 later in the lap, Rins followed Dovizioso through. Rins really was on a charge but then his race prematurely ended at Turn 6 when he went down and out. Barring a mistake on the part of Dovizioso, the win was his now.

The top three at at the chequered flag were as follows:

1st Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team)
2nd Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar)
3rd Jack Miller (Pramac Racing)

Great race today, and luckily we don’t have to wait long until the next race which is on the 21^st to 24^th of August, back at the Red Bull Ring.

Featured Image courtesy of Ducati

16th August 202016th August 2020

Marco Andretti seals incredible first Indy 500 pole

image courtesy of IndyCar

Marco Andretti will start on pole position for the 2020 Indianapolis 500.

Marco, the grandson of Mario Andretti beat five-time world champion Scott Dixon by less than two hundredths miles per hour. Miraculously it will be the first time since the 1987 Indianapolis 500, thirty-three years ago that an Andretti has sealed pole position at ‘The Greatest Spectacle in the World’.

He was also able to set the fastest time in Saturday’s qualifying session, an utterly dominant weekend for the American. His father, Michael had famously never started on pole position or won the Indy 500.

“Actually, I thought of him because today when I walked out of the motorhome it was pretty windy,” Marco iterated of his grandfather. Sunday’s qualifying session was held in a crosswind. “He has a famous quote ‘within us. He doesn’t say it to many people, but he says, ‘the wind will scare you but it will never crash you.’ So today, he was right.”

Marco’s highest finish at the 500 was back in 2006 where he came second.

Starting alongside him will be championship leader Scott Dixon in the Chip Ganassi and Takuma Sato in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. All three will complete the first row on the grid.

Ed Carpenter Racing rookie Rinus Veekay qualified in fourth; he was the only Chevrolet powered car in the Fast Nine. His first season in IndyCar has been mired with bad luck with flashes of brilliance for the young Dutchman. He has often been overshadowed by the likes of Palou and Askew. But if you look back at young Rinus’s record in European single seater racing, this may not come as a surprise to many.

Completing the second row on the grid in fifth and sixth place are Andretti Autosport teammates Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe. This will be Hinchcliffe’s highest Indy 500 start since his famous pole position in 2016.

Another standout performance was the Dale Coyne Racing rookie Alex Palou who qualified in seventh place. The young Spaniard has enjoyed a magnificent rookie season so far and will be looking to compete for the Rookie of the Year title.

Completing the third row are Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal in eight and Alexander Rossi in ninth who will be disappointed to be outqualified by his Andretti Autosport teammates.

Indy 500 Provisional Starting Grid:

Row 1: Marco Andretti (231.068 mph); Scott Dixon (231.051 mph); Takuma Sato (230.725 mph)

Row 2: Rinus Veekay (230.704 mph); Ryan Hunter-Reay (230.648 mph); James Hinchcliffe (229.870 mph)

Row 3: Alex Palou (229.676 mph); Graham Rahal (229.380 mph); Alexander Rossi (229.234 mph)

Row 4: Colton Herta (230.775 mph); Marcus Ericsson (230.566 mph); Spencer Pigot (230.539 mph)

Row 5: Josef Newgarden (230.296 mph); Felix Rosenqvist (230.254 mph); Pato O’Ward (230.213 mph)

Row 6: Ed Carpenter (230.211 mph); Zach Veach (229.961 mph); Conor Daly (229.955 mph)

Row 7: Santino Ferrucci (229.924 mph); Jack Harvey (229.861 mph); Oliver Askew (229.76 mph)

Row 8: Will Power (229.701 mph); Tony Kanaan (229.154 mph); Dalton Kellett (228.88 mph)

Row 9: Simon Pagenaud (228.836 mph); Alonso Fernando (228.768 mph); James Davison (228.747 mph)

Row 10: Helio Castroneves (228.373 mph); Charlie Kimball (227.758 mph); Max Chilton (227.303 mph)

Row 11: Sage Karam (227.099 mph); JR Hildebrand (226.341 mph); Ben Hanley (222.917 mph)

The Indy 500 will be live on Sky Sports F1 on Sunday 23rd August.

16th August 202016th August 2020

Spanish GP: Hamilton takes his 4th consecutive win in Catalunya

📸 Pirelli Motorsports

Lewis Hamilton absolutely demolished the competition on Sunday afternoon in Spain to take his 88th grand prix victory in what was a very straightforward race for him. The Englishman got off to a brilliant start off the line and never looked back after and now has the most f1 podiums to his name at 156. His teammate Bottas however would be ruing his fortunes after failing to make a decent start which left him on a recovery mode for the rest of the race. The Finnish driver managed to make his way on to the podium which happens to be the 50th of his career.

Max Verstappen had yet another amazing race weekend considering this is the best result that Redbull could have hoped for given the pace of the Mercedes but the Dutchman got off to a good start jumping the Mercedes of Bottas into 2nd place and then managed to hold on to it to the end of the race. His teammate Albon finished 8th after stopping twice and the Thai driver would not be overly pleased with his raceday considering he started 6th but unfortunately found himself in the thick of the midfield battle.

Racing Point managed to convert their good qualifying result into the race result as well after Lance Stroll finished 4th after he got off to a good start and drove a good race from that point. Sergio Perez put in a great show after returning from illness and finished 5th behind his teammate despite finishing 4th on the track. The Mexican driver was penalized by the stewards for ignoring blue flags which meant that 5 seconds were added to his time.

Ferrari’s mixed fortunes continued long into this raceday as well after an electrical failure saw Leclerc retire around lap 40 after the Monegasque driver was just beginning to put on a charge and head for a points finish. A disgruntled Vettel on the radio showed up with a few laps to go after the German driver was asked to push his dying soft tyres to the end of the race. He managed to get on with it however and finished 7th by making the one stop strategy work, which would be a welcome result after a dismal last couple of weekends at Silverstone.

Carlos Sainz finally had an incident free race at his home grandprix after the Spanish driver finished a decent 6th following an aggressive McLaren strategy which saw him put on soft tyres twice followed by mediums to the end. His teammate Norris however could not make the most of the strategy and got caught in traffic and ended up at 10th.

Pierre Gasly continued his impressive form this season after he finished 9th today. The French driver had to fend off early pressure from the Ferrari of Leclerc during his first stint which he did well and managed to achieve a points finish. His teammate Kvyat finished exactly where he started at 12th and also picked up the same 5-second penalty as the likes of Perez for ignoring blue flags.

Renault would like to quickly put this weekend past them after Ricciardo and Ocon managed to finish 11th and 13th out of points despite starting off aggressively. The team would be looking to get things into order quickly with them losing ground in the constructors championship to the other midfield teams. Kimi Raikkonen had a great weekend after the Finnish driver managed P14 where he drove a pretty quiet race apart from an early battle with Ocon.

Both the Haas drivers finished their races with Magnussen at 15th and Grosjean at 19th with the latter having to make quite a save at turn 4 after he lost the back end and risked ending up in gravel. He somehow managed to keep the car on track and finish the race. Both the Williams finished with Russell at 17th and Latifi at 18th after a quiet showing for both the drivers. Giovinazzi of Alfa Romeo just finished above both the Williams at 16th. The Italian would be somewhat happy with that after starting dead last on the grid.

Hamilton is now perfectly poised to take his 7th world driver’s championship after extending his lead over Max Verstappen to 37 points by the end of this race with his teammate Valtteri Bottas sitting a further 6 points behind the Dutch driver. The midfield battle seems to be heating up as we progress further into the season with Racing Point at 63 points, followed by McLaren at 62 and Ferrari at 61.

15th August 2020

Spanish GP Qualifying: Hamilton takes pole as Mercedes lock-out front row

Lewis Hamilton put his Mercedes on pole by 0.059 seconds on a hot Saturday afternoon in Barcelona. Valtteri Bottas seemed to be on a mega lap during his second Q3 run but fell short in the final sector and has to be content with second. This pole means Hamilton now has 92 pole positions and 150 front row starts in Formula 1, and the Englishman will be looking to sign it off with a win tomorrow.

Last weekend’s race winner Max Verstappen put his Red Bull in third and will be hoping for a repeat of the last race. However the Dutchman does not have the luxury of a different strategy this time around with both him and the Mercedes cars set to start on the soft tyres. His teammate Albon will have to be content with starting on the 3rd row after he managed to put a lap together to be placed 6th on the grid.

Racing Point will be happy with the qualifying this afternoon as Sergio Perez is set to start on the second row alongside Verstappen in fourth after missing out the last two races and Lance Stroll starting at fifth alongside Albon on the third row. The team would have definitely liked to be closer to Verstappen but will have to be content with fourth and fifth despite showing promising pace throughout the weekend.

Ferrari’s dismal year looks set to continue after Leclerc only managed 9th place after some complaints with the car in the second run of Q3 and with Sebastian Vettel crashing out in Q2 yet again but this time by just two milliseconds. The Italian team will only be looking for a points finish tomorrow with anything more than that looking like a distant possibility.

GP SPAGNA F1/2020 – SABATO 15/08/2020
credit: @Scuderia Ferrari Press Office

McLaren look set to have a better weekend than last time around as they have locked out the fourth row with Carlos Sainz in 7th and Lando Norris in 8th. The team will be aiming for a double points finish tomorrow and with this being Sainz’s home Grand Prix, the Spaniard will be hoping for a change in fortunes this time around.

Another team that will be happy with qualifying is Alpha Tauri with Gasly managing 10th after a decent qualifying and Danil Kvyat managing 12th place. Gasly will definitely be eyeing another strong points finish given the French driver has been having a much better year compared to the last one.

Renault would be looking to salvage something out of Sunday after a poor showing today with Ricciardo in 13th and Ocon in 15th as the French team just seemed to have been lost for pace. Ocon would hope his situation changes tomorrow after the Frenchman crashed into the wall during FP3 after a poor judgement call followed by a poor qualifying.

A surprise name in Q2 today was Kimi Raikkonen who finally managed to end his streak of exiting in Q1 this season. His teammate Giovinazzi is set to start 20th on the grid after a poor showing in Q1 and damaging his floor during the first run in Q1.

Both Haas cars are set to line up with Magnussen in 16th and Grosjean in 17th with both the drivers admitting they could’ve put together the better laps. George Russell might be bemoaning about him not being to able to score points on social media but his qualifying game seemed on point as he managed to keep his perfect record over teammate Latifi with both the Williams cars set to start in 18th and 19th respectively.

With Mercedes locking out the front row yet again at the Spanish GP, Hamilton is in with a great chance to edge closer to Schumacher’s win record unless his teammate takes the fight to him on Sunday. Max Verstappen might also be in with a chance if Redbull have a strategy masterstroke up their sleeves yet again. Racing Point would not rule themselves out from an unlikely podium but they will have to work for it.

*The Grid:

Hamilton Bottas

Verstappen Perez

Stroll Albon

Sainz Norris

Leclerc Gasly

Vettel Kvyat

Ricciardo Raikkonen

Ocon Magnussen

Grosjean Russell

Latifi Giovinazzi

*Subject to change after investigation of a turn 2 incident between Kvyat and Magnussen