The minute of silence in respect to the people who suffered from the earthquake in the Mexico City was one of the most emotional moments in the Mexican Grand Prix. People are above everything and we should always help and support each other.
Max Verstappen took the chequered flag in Mexico, but Lewis Hamilton was the big winner of the weekend. Hamilton became the first British, F1 racing driver, with four world titles.
On Saturday, Vettel set the fastest lap in Q3 of the qualifying session and took the pole position in Mexico, followed by Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. Lights out, a brave start from the young Max Verstappen who added some pressure on Vettel, took the lead after a wheel to wheel battle with Sebastian, who forced to retreat, and had to fight with Hamilton for the second position. Vettel collided with Hamilton, damaged his front wing and caused a puncture to Hamilton’s rear left tyre. Both drivers pitted and dropped down to the back of the grid.
Lewis Hamilton stuck behind Sainz’s car, whilst Vettel was pushing hard to gain position. Sebastian had to finish in the first two positions, in order to have chances for the championship in the two remaining races.
For almost 30 laps, Hamilton, couldn’t find the speed to pass Carlos Sainz’s Renault, Brendon Hartley retired on lap 31 after an engine failure, gave the chance to Mercedes to call Hamilton into the pits, whilst the race was under VSC, and fit him the super-soft tyres.
The new tyres gave the chance to Hamilton to start his counter attack and cover ground as Vettel was gaining places and was hoping for a miracle in order to get a place on the podium. The German, was far behind the first three drivers, he managed to move up to position four and placed behind Raikkonen, Bottas and Verstappen.
A few laps before the chequered flag, Hamilton asked his team if Vettel could get the second position, Mercedes’ reply was “Negative” as Bottas was second and it would be hard for anyone to take it from him.
Esteban Ocon had his chance to shine, especially after lights out, Ocon was third, but after the first pit-stop period Kimi Raikkonen moved up to the third place and forced Esteban to retreat to fourth. Ocon, had to defend his place from Vettel, but that was not easy, and the German took the fourth place. Ocon’s fifth and Perez’s seventh place, were enough to give the fourth position to Sahara Force India in the constructors’ championship.
Lance Stroll had a quiet race, took advantage of Hulkenberg’s and Ricciardo’s retirements also gained an advantage from Hamilton’s and Vettel’s collision and managed to finish sixth and score eight points for Williams.
The four-time world champion Lewis Hamilton had a tough start this season, but despite the difficulties that he faced, mainly during the first half of the season, he had the courage to fight back, and showed to everyone why he is one of the best drivers on the grid. Silverstone was the spark that led to Hamilton’s comeback and to his fourth world title (2008, 2014, 2015, 2017).
Incredible from Dovi. Against the odds in Malaysia but now, can he overcome them in Valencia?
The 2017 MotoGP champion will be decided in Spain at the final round of the season, after Andrea Dovizioso won the Malaysian Grand Prix and Marc Marquez finished 4th, enough to prevent the Spaniard winning his 6th world title. Dovizioso scored 12 points more than Marquez, enough to bring the deficit to the defending champion down to just 21 points.
After a downpour between the end of Moto2 and start of MotoGP, the premier class race got underway in terribly wet conditions, similar to that of 12 months before. Marquez ambitiously bounced down the inside at turn one from row 3 but ran out wide with Jorge Lorenzo, leaving Johann Zarco to lead for Tech 3 out front. By the end of lap 1, Lorenzo recovered to 2nd with Marquez 3rd. Championship challenger Dovizioso was 4th with pole-man Dani Pedrosa 5th.
On lap 5, Andrea Dovizioso made his first move. He passed Marc Marquez to take third but that was not enough: the Italian needed to take 8 points or more away from Marquez; at the time, it was a mere 3. Marquez never looked like fighting back but he maintained the pace and held onto the shirt tails of the leading three at the time.
With Zarco’s lead whittled down to virtually nothing, it was time for the Ducati of Jorge Lorenzo to move ahead. He made short work of Zarco and before long, Andrea Dovizioso followed his so-far-winless teammate, taking 2nd. This now meant that Dovi was taking 7 points off Marquez, 1 shy of the crucial 8 required. This introduced the possibility of two scenarios for the title to be kept alive: Marquez would have to drop back, which would include teammate Dani Pedrosa passing him – an unlikely scenario. The other scenario was Andrea Dovizioso passing his teammate, who, as we have already alluded to, is winless. Would Dovizioso be helped to keep the title alive by Lorenzo? The same multi-million Euro investment Jorge Lorenzo, who is the team’s number 1?
Dovizioso pushed Lorenzo all the way, with the Bologna Bullets blasting off into the distance – over three seconds clear of Johann Zarco who in turn had a massive lead over series leader Marc Marquez.
Perhaps the shock of everything was the fact that there were less riders interfering with Marquez and packing out the places in the order. Back in 2015, Rossi and Lorenzo, as close as it was come the end of the season, hardly met on circuit – either because they were too far out front from each other or there were riders separating them – Silverstone and Phillip Island examples of the latter. On Sunday, there were no signs of Rossi, who looked good in the dry. Likewise, for Petrucci, a demon in the wet – although he suffered a breakdown on the sighting lap. The Suzukis weren’t in the mix and Jack Miller was also out of the top 6. How vital will the lack of interference be at the end of 2017?
We then saw a message from Ducati’s pit crew appear on Lorenzo’s dashboard. “Suggest mapping 8” it read. Whilst we all took to Twitter to ‘suggest’ what “suggest mapping 8” meant, Jorge Lorenzo lost the front of his Ducati at the re-profiled turn 15, allowing Dovizioso to power past Lorenzo and lead across the line. Dovizioso was now in a position where he would take a whole 12 points off Marquez, enough to keep the championship alive.
Dovizioso won for a 6th time in 2017 and Ducati got their first 1-2 since Austria last season, as Lorenzo came home in 2nd – his best result on the GP17. Johann Zarco got his 2nd podium of the season, as he completed the top 3, giving Tech 3 their first taste of champagne in Malaysia.
The championship moves on and heads back to Europe, where all is to play for in what is set to be some of the most high-pressured racing of the season. Who will be the winner of an incredible championship?
After an exciting qualifying yesterday in which Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen outqualified current Drivers Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, anticipation was the order of the day. Mathematically, as long as Sebastian Vettel finished third or lower Lewis Hamilton would win the title today. Even if Vettel had been on one of the top two steps of the podium, Hamilton only had to finish in the top 5 to secure his fourth trophy.
Despite his strong lead Hamilton was clearly on edge as the drivers got settled into their cars, complaining to his crew that his seat was too hot. One suspects he would’ve been happier in a different hot seat, namely that of pole position.
Penalties also reared their head today, with Ricciardo the latest to receive a penalty due to an engine change. The idea of using penalties to coerce reliability has clearly gone off the rails with the teams opting for strategic penalties instead, and otherwise just taking them as they come.
It would be hard to get a more exciting start, and if the Drivers Championship hadn’t been nearly done for Hamilton it would’ve been even more exciting. Hamilton made a tactical error by an opportunistic attempt to get around Vettel after the Ferrari driver’s contact with Verstappen. Had he hung back a bit he’d have likely been able to challenge for a podium spot, but instead wound up at the back of the field with Vettel. Vettel had to come in for a new wing, and Hamilton suffered a major puncture to his left rear tyre.
Both drivers came in for soft tyres, which had the potential to carry them both to the end of the race. While Seb seemed anxious to get back to business and climb the field, Lewis seemed diffident at best.
Despite his maturing over the past few seasons, Hamilton’s own worst enemy continues to be Lewis Hamilton. Despite rampant speculation of damage that wasn’t obvious on camera, Hamilton’s car appeared in good order (and the pit wall confirmed that his floor was good), yet he struggled mightily to regain his race pace. It took some time before he was able to begin overtaking the usual suspects among the backmarkers, and he was even eventually lapped by Verstappen before getting his act together. You certainly don’t see that every day. Once Hamilton began to get his head back in the game he was able to begin climbing the pack himself, and was able to salvage a few points by finishing in 9th.
It seemed that Hamilton had activated the Conspiracy Switch, asking his engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington , “Did he hit me deliberately?” Social media was subsequently off to the races with that one, bit clearly Vettel had much more to lose in this situation than did Hamilton. Hamilton’s worries were clearly still getting the better of him, when asking later on what tyres the cars in front of him were using. Hamilton finally seemed to relax a bit later on when it was clear that Vettel wouldn’t be able to close the gap to the frontrunners.
Fernando Alonso showed that he’s still a fighter, giving Hamilton a good deal of trouble overtaking on lap 66. Hamilton opted for a more cautious approach this time, and while he was able to eventually make the overtake stick Alonso put up a fantastic defense.
Vettel himself had a few fraught moments, particularly following a mid-race tussle with ex-Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. It was quite something to hear his engineers talking him down, reminding him to remain calm. He certainly was able to get back down to business afterwards, though, and finished a very respectable 4th. He was certainly aided by a mid-race Virtual Safety Car brought about by Nico Hulkenberg’s exciting retirement, and took advantage of an opportunity to pit for ultrasofts. Sadly, despite delivering a much better race performance (including setting several fastest laps) and Hamilton finishing well out of the top 5, Vettel wasn’t able to finish high enough to keep his title hopes alive.
Lost in all this was Max Verstappen’s masterful drive to finish 1st after setting the fastest lap of the race himself. Despite some early concerns over blistering on the left front, he drove an uneventful race staying substantially clear of second-place Valtteri Bottas. At one point his engineers had to chide him for not slowing down a bit, to which Max replied with a laughing apology. Watch this kid, he’s going places. Here’s hoping that Red Bull and Renault can deliver him a contending chassis and engine next year!
Renault’s sudden lack of reliability, though overshadowed by the opening lap drama and the title contenders’ battle back up the order, was a dubious star of the show. Daniel Ricciardo’s penalty for his power unit change wound up being meaningless as he retired on lap 7 with an engine failure. Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley was forced to retire as well, his engine going out in a puff of smoke reminiscent of his woes in qualifying. Carlos Sainz of the Renault factory team also retired his car late in the race.
Of the Renault retirements, the most spectacular was Nico Hulkenberg’s. Reporting a loss of power and boost, Hulkenberg was instructed to immediately stop the car: “The car is not safe, the car is not safe, you need to get out by climbing onto the front of the car and jumping off.” The battery systems store a considerable amount of energy, and one shudders to think what might’ve happened had Hulkenberg grounded himself while in contact with the car. Doubtless some will use this as another reason to move away from hybrid powertrains in the future.
Apart from Verstappen, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly was the final Renault-powered car left standing at the end of the race. While certainly better than Honda’s performance over the last several seasons, one can’t help but wonder if Renault is going to prove the best choice for McLaren in coming seasons – but then it’s not like McLaren had a lot of options.
It’s worth noting that both McLarens saw the chequered flag this time around. Alonso even took home a point.
Local favorite Sergio Perez certainly gave the home crowd some moments to cheer about, but a 7th place finish was doubtless a bit disappointing. Happily, with his Force India teammate Esteban Ocon finishing up in 5th the team has locked up 4th in the Constructors Championship and the boys will be free to race in the final two sessions. Bring us a good show, boys!
Happy birthday to Lance Stroll, 6th place and the points to go with it should make for a nice present.
As the sun sets on an eventful Grand Prix of Mexico, congratulations to Max Verstappen on his dominant victory! Congratulations as well to Lewis Hamilton for his 4th Drivers Championship.
Image courtesy of Pirelli Motorsports (Andrew Home)
Going into Free Practice 3 the big question remains, “Will Lewis Hamilton claim his 4th Drivers Championship?”
High altitude and dust at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez makes life more difficult for the teams, and yesterday’s struggles for grip underscore the challenges. A stiff headwind leading into Turn 1 made for a good deal of excitement as drivers entered the braking zone, and the lower temperatures made for a struggle getting supersoft tyres up to snuff.
The FIA has taken a more aggressive approach to track limits by putting additional measures in place to prevent drivers from gaining an advantage by playing fast and loose with the boundaries. Additional kerbing has been laid out to provide immediate consequences for running wide, with further markers being set up overnight at Turn 11. If drivers cut Turn 10, they’ll need to drive through the markers to ensure they don’t gain an advantage. The stewards will additionally remind the teams about certain corners of concern. Racing drivers are competitive in the same way that the ocean is damp, and curbing their natural tendencies to extract every advantage leads to stewarding being a thankless job at times. It’s thus important that they enforce the rules consistently.
From the session, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly will face an uphill fight in tomorrow’s race, his FP3 (and later Qualifying) literally vanishing in a puff of smoke due to a mechanical failure after two laps. With only 10 laps completed yesterday due to an engine issue, and two today, he’s desperately short of real-world track time. Simulator time and study are important tools, but there’s no substitute for getting actual miles in the car.
After losing the Super Formula championship by half a point when the race he skipped Austin for was cancelled due to Typhoon Lan, it feels like Gasly can’t win for losing. We hope his luck improves for the remainder of the weekend! With the Honda power supply deal looming next year, the cynical response would be to say, “Get used to it, kid.”
On the other side of the Baby Bulls’ garage, Brendon Hartley put in another quiet, workmanlike performance to finish the session in 11th. Hartley continues to demonstrate his skill, and Toro Rosso wouldn’t go amiss with him on the roster in 2018.
Mercedes AMG Petronas’ Valtteri Bottas seems to be finding his form again, setting a track record of 1:17.681 on ultrasofts near the midpoint of the session, only to top it with 1:17.537 moments later. Though his record wasn’t to stand, being topped by Ferrari, Red Bull, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is just the sort of circuit Bottas enjoys, so here’s hoping for a good show from him both during Qualifying and the race.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton spent much of the session lurking near the top of the timesheet, but reported engine issues during the middle portion of the session. Happily for Lewis, the response from the pit wall was that it was something that’d just require a calibration adjustment. Hamilton himself went on to sit briefly atop the timings with a momentary record of 1:17.118
Despite being the overall favorites for pace thus far, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen faced some struggles getting his supersoft tyres into shape. The first sector caused him particular trouble, and given Pirelli’s skittishness about lowering tyre pressure the main option to put more heat and grip on the front will be aero. Of course, Verstappen’s first sector times weren’t exactly bad, so one is left wondering if he simply got placebo changes. Whatever they did to resolve it, it seemed to work as Max went on to top Bottas’ and Vettel’s and Hamilton’s top fastest times to finish the session with the new track record of 1:17.113.
Scuderia Ferrari concentrated much of their session on the supersoft compound, but when they switched to ultrasofts their true pace shone through. Sebastian Vettel briefly topped the timing sheets, with a lap time of 1:17.230. Barring quality gremlins, Ferrari will be a force to contend with tomorrow.
Local boy Sergio Perez of Force India ran an uneventful session, finishing in 7th just ahead of his teammate Esteban Ocon. Should Force India conclusively lock up 4th in the Constructors Championship, ‘Best Name in F1’ winner Otmar Szafnauer has said that the drivers will be free to race again. Here’s wishing the team a solid weekend so we can enjoy the Perez-Ocon rivalry in the final events of the season. They’ve certainly done a good job of reining it in for the team, and it’d be great to see them unleashed.
Though it is of course difficult to generalize from practice performance, there should be an exciting battle at the front of the pack between Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Onward to Qualifying!
The twin themes for Qualifying are excitement and disappointment. On the excitement front, watching the shootout for P1 was thrilling. While it’s certainly au courant to knock the current generation of power units, as the 2017 package hits high levels of development it’s fantastic to see the track records falling. Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in its current incarnation may not have much of a history to compare against, but it’s nonetheless exciting to see records fall.
On the disappointment front, the luckless Pierre Gasly of Scuderia Toro Rosso will be starting from the back after missing Qualifying due to a power unit change, and Brendon Hartley’s promising start to qualifying was also cut short due to an engine failure of his own. Haas failed to perform to expectations, and even typical high performers Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo qualified below their proven potential. One can perhaps understand Ricciardo’s slower pace in comparison to his teammate as Verstappen has a more advanced power unit, but it’s still unusual to see him so far behind. McLaren continues to show how what could have been, and Williams continues in their inconsistent form.
Renault and Force India occupied the middle ground between the extremes. Their drivers all delivered competent performances, qualifying in the lower half of the top 10, but apart from the crowd’s obvious love for Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez the highs and lows experienced by the other teams overshadowed their solid performance.
Q1:
It was no surprise to see Ferrari open with a strong performance on supersoft tyres, though while Sebastian Vettel finished the session in 4th his teammate Kimi Raikkonen fell to 7th, behind McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Force India’s Sergio Perez.
While Mercedes was able to beat Ferrari, they did it on ultrasofts. While Mercedes’ pace is generally undeniable, their need for the softer compounds this round shows that they’re not as safe as they might be.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the Ferrari times – also on supersofts. Hamilton’s engine gremlins continued, with Hamilton reporting another engine cut during the latter half of the session. Regardless, his early time of 1:17.518 ensured he’d safely advance to Q2. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo completed the session in 10th.
Force India’s Sergio Perez, the local favorite, put delivered a solid performance for his supporters the grandstands and occupied 6th.
McLaren’s Fernando Alonso continued to demonstrate the sadly-unrealized potential of the car by climbing to 5th in the first half of Q1 following a forgettable series of practice sessions. The waning moments of Q1 showed Honda’s return to form as Alonso reported no power and no turbo. Despite this, he still managed to deliver excellent sector times as the flag fell.
The flying laps after the chequered flag saw the usual last-minute excitement among the backmarkers. Alonso’s teammate Stoffel Vandoorne climbed to 13th. Toro Rosso’s resident Kiwi, the impressive Brendon Hartley, advanced, finishing the session in 14th. Williams’ Lance Stroll rounded out the Q2 field in 15th. Sadly, Haas and Sauber both failed to put together enough performance to advance to Q2. Given the disparity between Sauber and Haas’ power units, Haas’ finishing behind Sauber is troubling.
Advancing to Q2: HAM BOT VER ALO PER RAI RIC HUL OCO SAI MAS VAN HAR STR
Excluded: ERI WEH MAG GRO GAS
Q2:
Records continued to have a very short lifespan due to the battle at the top of the timing chart, and ultrasofts are the order of the session among the frontrunners. Bottas rocketed to the top of the leaderboard with an opening time of 1:17.161 on ultrasofts, but was topped by Vettel with 1:17.058 (incidentally setting a new track record). Hamilton, disregarding any worries over his engine, put in a blistering new record time of 1:17.035 in turn.
Hartley’s Toro Rosso let him down in the early stage of the session with a sadly-familiar puff of smoke echoing Gasly’s FP3 misfortune. His radio message to the pit wall, “No power, no power,” signaled the end of a promising day and bringing out a yellow.
The yellow flags caused Max Verstappen to back off a promising lap, but he recovered to set his own new record of 1:16.524. Vettel fought back and topped Hamilton, but wasn’t able to unseat Verstappen.
Force India and Renault certainly took part in Q2, but apart from the crowd’s cheering for Checo there wasn’t much notable in their performance – but an unexciting advancement to Q3 is just as much an advancement to Q3 as an exciting one, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Williams continued to suffer from their ongoing inability to quite bring everything together, and elected to only run late in the session. The lower air pressure at altitude contributed to their woes thanks to the associated lack of downforce, and they weren’t able to rise out of the drop zone.
While Vandoorne and Alonso did each put in an early lap, McLaren elected to not attempt to set times for Q2 to preserve tyres, and likely power units, for the race. After Alonso’s excellent Q1 performance it’s disappointing to see McLaren still making these decisions.
Advancing to Q3: VER VET HAM BOT RAI RIC SAI HUL OCO PER
Excluded: MAS STR HAR VAN ALO
Q3:
The crowd loves Checo, and their excitement seeing him in Q3 comes through.
The battle for pole didn’t disappoint, and once again the boots of choice were ultrasofts. Bottas got a good start, but was forced to abort his early flying lap when he came up on a slower-moving Verstappen in the Foro Sol section. While Verstappen did move off to the left, Bottas wound up braking hard and locking up briefly before diving for the pits where he was to remain until the closing minutes of the session. The stewards announced an investigation into Verstappen for impeding Bottas, but in a move that will doubtless ease any sense of anti-Verstappen bias determined that no action was warranted.
Hamilton put in a valiant effort and sat briefly in P1 himself with a repsectable-but-not-unbeatable time of 1:16.934. The churn in P2 was entertaining, with Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Sainz, and Ocon occupying the position in turn until Sebastian Vettel coaxed his SF70H, Gina, into delivering a lap of 1:16.833, pushing everyone ahead of Verstappen down a spot.
Verstappen responded with a fastest first and second sector, going on to set an excellent time of 1:16.574. For a moment it seemed that a record other than track time, namely youngest pole winner, might be broken, but this sadly wasn’t to be.
After the mid-session lull, Bottas completed his flying lap with a 4th-place 1:16.958 shortly before the chequered flag fell. Hamilton was unable to improve his time.
After the flag fell, Vettel completed his own flying lap to set a new record with a time of 1:16.488, securing his 50th pole position. Verstappen was unable to improve his own time, taking second. Bottas’s own final lap wasn’t enough to improve his position.
As with Q2, the battle at the front overshadowed otherwise competent drives from Renault and Force India. And as with advancing to Q3, an unexciting top-10 starting position is just as much a top-10 as an exciting one. Ocon certainly had the best performance of the midfield, qualifying a surprising 6th ahead of Ricciardo.
As the dust settled on an exciting qualifying session, the grid prior to penalties was VET VER HAM BOT RAI ECO RIC HUL SAI PER MAS STR HAR ALO VAN ERI WEH MAG GRO GAS.
With Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen on the front row, one can only imagine the conversations in the Ferrari and Red Bull camps, hoping to avoid a repeat of the carnage at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix. Even though it’s quite possible that we’ll see the Drivers Championship locked up for Lewis Hamilton during the race session, it’s still exciting to see Red Bull and Ferrari bringing the fight to Mercedes at this late stage of the season. Hamilton’s engine gremlins certainly add an element of uncertainty, and Renault-powered teams will doubtless be keeping a wary eye on their engines following Toro Rosso’s troubles.
A magical Joan Mir wrapped up the title Down Under with victory on ‘The Island’ after rain stopped play in the Moto3 race, with his focus now on beating Valentino Rossi’s total number of victories during a single season in the lightweight class.
Joan Mir crashed out of last season’s Malaysian Grand Prix, at turn 7 with four other riders. At the time of the crash he was leading, although it was on a KTM. Mir will be looking to convert his first pole-position of the season on Sunday and hopefully, take his 10th win of the season. Honda haven’t won a lightweight class race at Sepang since 2014, with Efren Vazquez – also the last time a Spaniard won the Moto3 event.
It was only a matter of time before the Spaniard took his first ever championship win and where for fitting to do it than at the track he made his GP debut in 2015. His teammate then? That years world champion Danny Kent of course, on board the same bike.
The Leopard team couldn’t have wished for a better weekend, as Livio Loi came home second to get the team’s first 1-2 finish in the Moto3 class. After his monumental crash at Misano, which left him with a broken collarbone, it was a massive result for the Belgian rider who has had a difficult start to his GP racing career.
So, the pressure is off for Mir as we head to Sepang. Good news for Fenati and co for the rest of the season? I don’t think so. The new world champion will be riding like he has nothing to lose (because he doesn’t), which will only make life harder for the rest of the field.
Moto3 and Sepang then, arguably one of the best tracks on the calendar mixed with a series that never disappoints come race day makes for a very tasty encounter.
The Malaysian MotoGP gets underway this weekend for the penultimate round of the 2017 season, at Sepang, approximately 35 miles away from the country’s capital, Kuala Lumpur. Since the switch back to 1000cc motorcycles, Dani Pedrosa has won three times from five races, although last season, it was Italian and current championship challenger, Andrea Dovizioso who took honours. The Malaysian GP has been hosted at three venues in total: the current Sepang circuit since 1999, Johor in 1998 and Shah Alam from 1991-1997. Marc Marquez comes into the weekend with a 33 point lead, after a disastrous Australian GP for rival Dovizioso. This means that a finish in the top two will be enough for Marc Marquez to win the championship, regardless of what ‘Dovi’ does.
With Marquez leading the championship by 33 points, he has to be favourite to take the championship, whether it be in Malaysia or at Valencia in Spain. The Spaniard hasn’t been lower than 2nd since Misano and if you take out Silverstone, the last time he was off the podium would be at Mugello, in June. Marquez won the Malaysian GP in 2014 and also won the 125cc race at Sepang in 2010. However, Marquez crashed in 2015 after him and arch-rival Rossi came to blows and last season, he crashed but remounted to finish 11th. One mistake for Marquez could swing the championship wide open.
Andrea Dovizioso has a simple task: he must beat Marc Marquez by 9 points to keep the championship alive until the Valencian Grand Prix. A race winner at Sepang last season, Dovi has just two other podiums in the premier class at Sepang: in 2008, which was his first ever premier class podium and in 2010, when he was 2nd to Valentino Rossi. Dovizioso hasn’t had back-to-back finishes outside of the top 10 since 2002, at the Sachsenring and Brno. That is a record he will not want to update. Between 2010 and 2016, Dovizioso’s best finish at Sepang was 8th, so it is a track that he hasn’t particularly shone at in the past. Will that change this weekend?
Maverick Vinales returned to the podium at Phillip Island, having been missing from the top three positions since Silverstone in August. The Spaniard was 8th and 6th in 2015 and 2016 respectively at Sepang but will want to consolidate his podium pace this weekend. The last time he had back-to-back podiums was at Le Mans and Mugello, in the first third of the season. Vinales is a winner at Sepang too, taking victory back in 2011 – his first season of racing and his first visit to the track. He also won the Malaysian Moto2 race in 2014 so that proves that he could be a race winner this weekend as well. If he was to win, he’d be the first ever premier class winner at Sepang who has also won a Moto2 race. Vinales can’t mathematically win the championship but he could be just as big an upset.
Valentino Rossi’s heroic ride to 2nd in Australia was his first podium since Silverstone. ‘The Doctor’ hasn’t had back-to-back podiums since the opening three races of the season, an incredible statistic given Valentino still holds 4th in the championship. He has won at Sepang a total of six times in the premier class and won at Shah Alam in 1997. Rossi made his GP debut in 1996 and that was also at Shah Alam, where he finished 6th. Yamaha haven’t had a race win at Sepang since Rossi won their in 2010 but they have also never had a 1-2 at the venue. Rossi is 31 points behind Vinales, meaning he needs to score 7 or more points than him to keep the race for 3rd in the title alive. He is 48 points behind Dovi, meaning nothing less than two wins in the final two races will give Rossi 2nd overall – an unlikely outcome.
Dani Pedrosa was demoted from 4th to 5th in the standings after a dire Australian GP, in which he was 12th. It was the 3rd time in 2017 that Pedrosa had finished a race outside of the top 10, eliminating him from the championship race. Pedrosa has won three times in the past five races at Sepang, making him a hot favourite this weekend. A win for Pedrosa would match Valentino Rossi’s current record of six wins at Sepang. The last time Honda had a double podium was in 2013, a performance they will seek to repeat. Dani Pedrosa hasn’t had back-to-back finishes outside of the top 10 since Donington Park and the Sachsenring in 2001 and he will not want to update that fact. Pedrosa is 14 points behind Rossi.
Johann Zarco has won at Sepang twice, in 2015 and 2016 in Moto2. He was the first rider since Hiroshi Aoyama to achieve this feat. If Zarco was to get on the podium on Sunday, he would be the first Frenchman to stand on a premier class podium at the Malaysian GP since the event started back in 1991. The reigning double Moto2 champion is yet to DNF since the Qatari Grand Prix at the start of the season and has finished every Malaysian GP since 2013 in the points. Tech 3 haven’t had a podium at Sepang in MotoGP, with their best result being 4th, with Ben Spies, back in 2010.
Jorge Lorenzo somehow retains 7th in the championship, despite the Spaniard finishing 15th at the Australian GP. Lorenzo has never won a premier class race at Sepang and will be hoping to become the 4th Ducati rider to win in Malaysia, joining Capirossi, Stoner and Dovizioso. Lorenzo did however win the 2006 250cc race, although that is his only win at the circuit.
Danilo Petrucci missed a huge opportunity to close in on Lorenzo at Phillip Island, with his dire 21st place finish. Petrucci hasn’t had back-to-back finishes outside of the points since Catalunya and Silverstone in 2012, his first season of GP racing. Petrucci was 10th at Sepang last year and 6th in 2015. Teammate Scott Redding has finished every Malaysian GP in the points since 2011 and will yearn for that run to continue.
Cal Crutchlow is 9th in the championship and his 5th place in Australia helped him close in on the battle for 7th overall. Crutchlow has never scored a podium at Sepang and his last back-to-back top 5 finishes came at Aragon and Motegi last season. His best result at the Malaysian GP remains a 5th, from 2015.
10th place in the championship belongs to Jonas Folger but once more, he isn’t racing due to his virus. Michael van der Mark gets his long-awaited opportunity to ride a premier class MotoGP prototype machine and is the German’s replacement this weekend. The Dutchman has been to Sepang before, on a World Superbike Honda Fireblade, where he achieved a 7th and 6th last season and a 5th in 2015.
The factory Aprilia team will be hoping for a change of luck this weekend, as their lead rider, Aleix Espargaro, recovers with a fractured hand and does not take part. That means all eyes will be on Sam Lowes, who has a best result of 13th at Sepang, back in 2015. Last year, Aprilia had a 7th place finish from a row three start, with Alvaro Bautista.
Andrea Iannone’s return to form over the last two GPs have been a welcome return to form for Suzuki too. Iannone hasn’t finished three consecutive races in the top 10 since Brno, the Red Bull Ring and the Sachsenring last year. Suzuki in turn haven’t had three double-top-10s on the bounce since Mugello, Le Mans and Jerez last season.
KTM come off the back of an incredible Australian Grand Prix, where they had their first ever double-top 10. The Austrian manufacturer will be looking to achieve their first back-to-back double-top 10s and possibly even break into the top 8 for the first time ever. Pol Espargaro will be looking to continue his run of top 11 placings and Bradley Smith will hope to achieve his first back-to-back top 10 since Losail and Termas de Rio Hondo in 2016.
Aspar Ducati will be looking to have a change of fortunes after a difficult Australian GP, endured by all Ducati teams. It was the first time Alvaro Bautista had finished a race outside of the points since Brno last year. If he finishes outside of the points again at Sepang, it will be the first time since Austria and the Czech Republic last season that he has done it on consecutive occasions. Karel Abraham was 14th at Phillip Island and has a best finish of 10th at Sepang, back in 2012.
Marc VDS made a welcome return to form at Phillip Island – or one of their riders did. Jack Miller lead the opening laps at home in Australia to the delight of the 36,000 people trackside. His 7th place meant he kept hold of 12th in the championship. Tito Rabat will be hoping to get his first top 10 of the season at Sepang. He won in Moto2 in 2014 and was 3rd in 2015.
Last but by no means least, Avintia Ducati come to Sepang in search of returning to point scoring ways. Both riders were in the top 5 last season, with Barbera beating Baz. The last time the team failed to finish a race in the points on two consecutive occasions was in 2014, at Aragon and Misano.
The championship could be won this weekend with Marc Marquez looking odds on to wrap it up, now he has a 33 point lead. However, as we have seen in British Superbikes this season, a 33 point lead could be slashed if bad luck falls in order. Vinales, Rossi and Pedrosa could all be massive championship upsets on Sunday and after a hardcore ride at Phillip Island, Johann Zarco will be more determined than ever before to mount the podium, after coming so close Down Under. What the weather will do on race day is another question? Could the heavens open and give us a championship fight or will we see Andrea Dovizioso’s championship dreams become drowned out? Time will tell.
He started his career in karting from 2006 to 2009, becoming the Midlands Minimax champion and Bayford Meadows Winter Champion in 2008. In 2010 he finished 4th in the Ginetta Junior Championship with 2 wins, 4 podiums, 2 fastest laps and a pole.
The following season he finished third in the Ginetta G50 Championship and then moved onto become the GT4 champion in the British GT Championship for 2012. He was selected as BRDC Rising Start in 2013 and raced in the Blancpain Endurance Series and various European GT events.
In 2014 he had a wind and a second place in the International GT Open at Silverstone with Darren Turner in an Aston Martin which was followed up in 2015 by being selected for the Aston Martin Racing Evolution Academy. He took two podiums that season in the British GT Championship
For 2016 he competed in the GT Open at Barcelona where he obtained a podium place and again competed in the British GT Championship.
This season he competed in and won The European Le Mans GTE class with Rob Smith for JMW Motorsport in a Ferrari 488 GTE. He took a win and four podiums.
His helmet design is based on the South African flag, where his father originates from and the Union Jack, for his mother. He also has his name on the side of his helmet, exactly the same as Jody Scheckter, the 1979 Formula One World Champion who he was named after.
These are his Quick 10 questions, the newly crowned 2017 ELMS GTE Champion and he is….. Jody Fannin.
What is your favourite racing circuit?
Spa-Francorchamps because of its massive elevation change and speed. If you are walking along the Kemmel Straight, there is a bit where you can look across at the Bus Stop Chicane. You realise then just how much elevation change there is on the track; it looks so far down! Also, through the middle sector of the lap especially, each corner leads into the next, so if you make a mistake through one, it will affect your run through the next, amplifying the error. It’s a real challenge… and obviously Eau Rouge is a proper corner in a GT car!
Who was your racing idol?
Allan McNish because of his undoubted speed and killer instinct through traffic.
Who would you regard as your toughest opponent?
Difficult to single anyone out, but competing in the European Le Mans Series against multiple factory drivers is as tough as it gets in GT racing!
Considering racers of all time, you are a team principal and money is no object. Which two racers would you have in your team?
Mario Andretti because of his versatility, being successful in so many different sorts of cars, and Ayrton Senna because of his prodigious speed.
If you could invite four famous people to dinner (past and present), who would you invite?
It would be fascinating to have people, each from a different era of motor racing, so I could learn about eras that I haven’t lived through and get first hand accounts of what life was like back then. Stirling Moss, Derek Warwick, James Hunt would have some very interesting stories I’m sure..!! Then probably Murray Walker because of his inside knowledge of all aspects of motor racing over many decades.
Your personal racing number? What is it and the reason behind it?
27 because it was Gilles Villeneuve’s number and I admire the way he drove and raced!
What is the best race you have been involved in?
At Monza this year, it was the swansong race for the Ferrari 458 Italia GTE after 7 years of service. No one expected us to have a chance against the newer cars, but we had a fairytale race and managed to win. I had to hold off the Aston Martin of TF Sport for the final stint and gave it absolutely everything. It was an amazing feeling to get the job done! And that chassis actually won its very first and last race, so it was a perfect end to the chapter for the car.
Is there a race or series you have not competed in that you would like to or had wanted to?
Le Mans is the ultimate race for me; I have been to watch the race 15 times, and everything about it is just magic. Racing through the night is an amazing experience, and to race there would be a privilege. To compete in the World Endurance Championship as a factory driver would be very cool. The Bathurst 12 Hour is a race that I would really like to do as well. The track looks awesome and the race is growing in stature year on year.
How did you get interested in motor racing? What ignited that spark?
My Grandad and Dad were both into motorpsport (didn’t have any direct involvement though), so I grew up watching F1, Sportscars, MotoGP, just about anything, so I was surrounded by it from a very young age. I didn’t start karting until I was 11, but I haven’t looked back since! I have always wanted to be a racing driver for as long as I can remember, and being named after Jody Scheckter, guess I was always destined to have something to do with Motor Racing!
What is the best advice in racing you have been given?
Always be ready for the next step up in category/car (both mentally and physically), because if you suddenly get asked to test/race, you need to be immediately ready to go and do the job.
I want to thank Jody for taking the time out of his busy schedule to take part in the Quick 10 feature. Always ready for a quick chat and a very friendly person Also want to congratulate him, Rob Smith and JMW Motorsport on their ELMS GTE title win. The Pit Crew Online wish Jody even more success for 2018.
Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas, United States of America. Sunday 22 October 2017. World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images ref: Digital Image _ONY2503
The weather just south of Austin, Texas was fine for the start of the United States Grand Prix, with the early morning rains moving on with plenty of time. That heavy rain, though, cleaned the track up considerably with all the rubber deposited over practice and qualifying washed away. This newly-green surface added an element of uncertainty to the pre-race proceedings. The very-American opening ceremony proved to be polarizing. For every fan that enjoyed Michael Buffer’s boxing-style driver introductions (beneficial to an American audience, many of whom aren’t as familiar with Formula One), there was one who found it ‘cringey AF.’ Whatever your reaction, you can’t deny that Liberty Media delivered on the promise of spectacle for this race’s opening ceremonies.
The word of the day for the United States Grand Prix was ‘poised’. After a record-setting weekend, Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas faced the day poised to secure the fourth consecutive Constructors Championship for Mercedes AMG Petronas. Sebastian Vettel was poised to breathe a bit of life into the Drivers Championship if he drove well, and if he didn’t (or if he suffered some other issue) Hamilton was poised to seal his fourth Drivers Championship. Carlos Sainz was poised to make a good impression in his debut with Renault. Brendon Hartley was poised to make a good showing in his first single-seater race in years. The paddock was full of expectations. Who would see their goals realized? Who would leave disappointed?
When the lights went out, Lewis Hamilton made a solid start but Sebastian Vettel did him one better, leaping off the line to take the lead at the outset. The remainder of the field enjoyed a fairly clean start.
The opening lap saw a great deal of shakeups in the field. Force India’s Esteban Ocon briefly got the jump on Kimi Raikkonen for 5th, but it was not to last. Fernando Alsonso’s McLaren overtook Carlos Sainz’s Renault for 7th, in what I’m sure McLaren hopes to be a harbinger of next season. Williams’ Felipe Massa overtook the other Force India of Sergio Perez for 9th. At the bottom of the field, Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg took 17th from Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne of McLaren took 19th from Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley. There was a contact between Weherlein and Magnussen, which was later determined to not merit any further action by the stewards.
And Max Verstappen began his inexorable climb in his Red Bull. In the first lap alone, he overtook both Saubers and Williams’ Lance Stroll, bringing him up from 16th to 13th. In the second lap, he claimed Haas’ Romain Grosjean and Toro Rosso’s Dany Kvyat. Lap 3 saw him pass Perez, and Massa in lap 4, rising to 9th by lap 5.
Toward the front of the field, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo brought the fight to Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas several times in the early laps, but wasn’t able to make any of the attempts stick. Raikkonen lurked quietly behind Ricciardo, searching for an opening. Hamilton and Vettel traded fastest laps early on, with Hamilton declaring that the, “[p]ace feels pretty good,” as he settled into the groove. Hulkenberg’s race came to an untimely end in lap 4 thanks to an engine failure, to the disappointment of both his fans and his team.
Lap 6 saw Hamilton finally able to make a move on Vettel to retake the lead. Despite a valiant defense, Vettel was unable to deny Hamilton, and the #44 Silver Arrow found its legs. Weherlein’s race came to an end at this point with a retirement due to damage.
Lap 10 brought Max Verstappen into 6th place, overtaking Ocon in at turn 12. The teams began eyeing pit stops, with Stroll going in for softs on lap 11 and Ricciardo requesting that he be brought in as soon as there’d be good track position. Vettel reported blistering on the left front during lap 12, and Raikkonen made an attempt on Ricciardo.
Pit stops began in earnest in lap 13, with Ricciardo and Perez both taking new tyres. Perez, pitting from 11th and rejoining in 15th, opted for a set of softs, while Ricciardo pitted from 4th left the pits on a set of supersofts to rejoin in 9th. Ricciardo’s stop allowed Raikkonen to rise to 4th and Verstappen to 5th. With his fresh tyres, Ricciardo handily overtook Sainz to advance to 8th. Ocon and Alonso both stopped for fresh rubber in lap 15, with Ocon rejoining in 12th and Alonso in 14th on soft tyres.
After setting the fastest lap thus far, misfortune struck Ricciardo. His Tag Heuer-branded Renault power unit gave up the ghost, leading him to coast to a halt on the grass past turn 15 and bringing out a double yellow for sector 3 as his car was recovered. Both Renault and Red Bull were doubtless feeling a bit of nervousness for their remaining drivers, though (spoiler alert!) there were no further Renault-powered retirements.
By this time, a significant gap had emerged between the Mercedes, Ferraris, and lone Red Bull at the front of the pack.
Lap 17 saw Vettel dive for the pits from second, emerging on his new set of soft tyres in 5th behind the hard-charging Verstappen. When faced with Vettel’s pit stop, Hamilton confidently declared, “Tyres are good, I can extend.” His confidence in his well-worn ultrasofts seemed to be well-placed, as the onboard camera shots showed no indication of striping or blistering. Nonetheless, worn ultrasofts, no matter how well-managed, would be tricky to match against Vettel’s fresh set of softs. Vettel confirmed his tyres’ puissance by setting the fastest second and third sectors, and then going on to set the fastest lap shortly thereafter.
Mercedes brought Bottas in for soft tyres in lap 18, causing him to take his turn in 5th when he rejoined the track and allowing Raikkonen, Verstappen, and Vettel to each climb one place. The battle in the midfield continued apace, with Sainz and Massa jockeying for position with McLaren and Force India. Sainz’ stop in lap 19 for – you guessed it, softs – left Massa in 6th, trailed by Ocon, Alonso, Perez, and Vandoorne. Alonso issued a call to his team for strategy information, sarcastically telling them, “It’d be nice to know what I’m doing.” Rejoining in 11th, Sainz would face an uphill battle for position for the remainder of the race.
Hamilton finally entered the pits in lap 20, also taking a set of soft tyres. His crew turned in an excellent stop, though this led to a fraught moment for Mercedes, as Vettel was closing fast while Hamilton climbed out of the pits and up to turn 1. While his tyres were a few laps newer than Vettel’s, they were cold while the Ferrari’s rubber was already up to temperature. Hamilton did manage to rejoin in 3rd, just in front of Vettel, and was able to defend his position. Vettel wobbled and ran a bit wide in turn 1, and Hamilton set about rebuilding his lead and catching Max Verstappen.
With Raikkonen entering the pits for softs in lap 21 (and duly taking his turn in 5th upon exit), Verstappen’s strategy became a hot topic. Verstappen began the race on a used set of supersofts, and despite his masterful performance thus far they clearly wouldn’t last forever. This was brought into focus in lap 23 when Hamilton was able to successfully attack Verstappen and reclaim the lead. The question of a Verstappen-Vettel battle began to loom when Red Bull finally called their wunderkind into the pits in lap 25 for a set of… softs. Verstappen dutifully rejoined in 5th.
In the midfield, Marcus Ericsson went into the pits in lap 21, emerging with softs of his own but falling from 13th to 18th in the process. In lap 25 tragedy – by now firmly farce – then struck struck Fernando Alonso. Again. With a call from the pit advising him to back off, he returned to the garage and ended his race with yet another Honda-powered retirement. Our hats are off to Alonso for being able to maintain any sense of equanimity after the absolute disaster that is the modern McLaren-Honda partnership, though doubtless seeing the Renault-shaped light at the end of the tunnel helps. We also wish Toro Rosso the best of luck for 2019. Unless Honda is able to resolve these serious issues, they’ll need it.
The following lap, Alonso’s more fortunate teammate pitted for a set of ultrasofts, rejoining in 15th. Sainz began to methodically reel Force India in up in the middle of the pack, while Perez and Ocon continued to vie for position themselves. Happily, both Force India drivers kept it clean, avoiding the on-track contact that cost the team so dearly earlier in the season.
At the front of the pack, Verstappen went on to set the fastest lap of the race. Vandoorne meanwhile passed Hartley on lap 28 and Stroll in lap 29 to rise back to 13th. Massa made his first stop of the race in lap 30, trading his supersofts for a set of new ultrasofts. This late stop did cost him, as he rejoined in 12th. Meanwhile, Hartley continued his quiet-but-proficient drive, breathing down Stroll’s neck.
Continuing the long, slow burning battle between the Force India drivers and Sainz, Perez’s calls to the pit wall requesting that Ocon let him by were denied. Ocon’s fine, he was told, YOU need to manage better, and management’s what we need right now. Sainz’ patience finally paid off, and he overtook Perez at turn 19 to advance to 7th. This in turn left Perez in Kvyat’s sights. In the midst of all this, Massa began to regain positions, overtaking Magnussen in lap 32 and later claiming the other Haas in lap 39.
Lap 38 saw a surprise pit stop from Max Verstappen for a set of supersofts. While exiting the pit, his crew radioed, “You know what we’re up to. We need a big lap.” Vettel followed Max in on lap 39 for a set of supersofts of his own. Pitting from second, he rejoined in 4th. This was a risky move. Would Verstappen’s new supersofts outperform Vettel’s used set? Would Vettel be able to close the gap to Raikkonen and Bottas? Ferrari would doubtless issue team orders, instructing Raikkonen to let Vettel pass, but Bottas certainly wouldn’t be so obliging. Verstappen then set the fastest lap thus far.
By lap 42, Raikkonen was able to mount a successful challenge on Bottas for second. By lap 44, commentators were discussing the scenario of Vettel passing Bottas, and Raikkonen being issued the expected orders to let Vettel pass.
In an example of the interesting things that can happen when the front runners lap the backmarkers, on lap 46 Marcus Ericsson attempted to follow Vettel past Kevin Magnussen at turn 12 under the blue flags. Magnussen wasn’t having it and tried to close the door. The drivers bumped, with Magnussen coming out worse for the wear after a spin, plummeting to 16th. Though Ericsson did briefly claim 13th, the stewards handed him a 5-second time penalty for his trouble and Stroll quickly overtook him for the position.
Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz continued his long search for advantage over Esteban Ocon, but Ocon’s defense continued to be impregnable. This so impressed the world feed directors that they continued to broadcast the feed from Sainz’s car as Vettel set the fastest lap of the race and approached DRS range on Bottas.
By turn 1 of lap 51, Vettel was in position to attack Bottas. Bottas, apparently relying on traffic to provide cover, miscalculated the his position relative to Vettel and the lapped Vandoorne and failed to mount an effective defense against Vettel’s attack on the outside. This cost Bottas 3rd, and opened him up to attack from Verstappen. Bottas was able to more effectively use traffic, in the form of Romain Grosjean’s Haas, to hold Verstappen off for a bit.
In lap 52, the expected radio call from Ferrari’s pit wall to Kimi Raikkonen arrived. “Seb is now the car behind, Seb is now the car behind. OK, if Seb comes alongside, let him by.” The Finn dutifully ceded 2nd place to his teammate. A short distance behind, Bottas had run out of time against Vertstappen. Verstappen attacked on the inside, forcing Bottas wide. Bottas wasn’t able to make his counterattack stick, and with nothing to lose he made a gamble of his own by pitting for a set of ultrasoft tyres. Sadly, it amounted to nothing and Mercedes’ in-house Finn was left to finish in 5th.
Overshadowed by the action at the front, Massa quietly overtook Kvyat for 9th place, and a couple of points for Williams.
Having dispensed with Bottas, Verstappen then set his sights on Raikkonen. With only 2 laps left and a little more than a second between them, Verstappen would have only one chance to attack Raikkonen. Pushing hard, it appeared that Verstappen would fall just short of Raikkonen.
As Lewis Hamilton crossed the line to secure the fourth consecutive Constructors Championship title for Mercedes AMG Petronas, Verstappen mounted an audacious attack on Raikkonen at turn 17 as the chequered flag fell, and claimed third place for his efforts.
In what will doubtless be a long-discussed penalty, the stewards determined that Verstappen had exceeded the track limits to gain advantage, and gave him a five second time penalty. This led to an awkward moment after the race, as Verstappen was already in the cool-down room.
The final finishing order, after time penalties, was:
HAM
VET
RAI
VER
BOT
OCO
SAI
PER
MAS
KVY
STR
VAN
HAR
GRO
ERI
MAG
DNFs:
ALO
RIC
WEH
HUL
Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for a well-fought victory in Austin! Congratulations to Mercedes AMG Petronas for the fourth consecutive Constructors Championship! Congratulations to Sebastian Vettel for setting the fastest lap of the race, with 1:37.766 and keeping the Drivers Championship alive, at least mathematically! Congratulations Max Verstappen for getting us up out of our seats and shouting in the dwindling seconds of the race!
We can’t wait to see what Mexico brings us on Sunday.
Back at Brands Hatch, I caught up with ex-Morello Kawasaki rider, Fraser Rogers, to chat to him about this season and his split from the Norfolk-based team. As well as this, he talks of possibly returning to the World Championships and also opens up about whether he has under achieved in 2017.
How has 2017 been – aside from your split with Morello Kawasaki?
It’s been tough; in fact, very tough. I’ve shown that I have the pace to be at the front. I want to stay in the National Superstock 1000 championship in the UK or move up to the European Superstock 1000 class next season. I have some really good offers and I know that I can run at the front. I just need the right people and the right package to make it all come together and make everything work well. I have shown my speed this year but unfortunately, I’ve suffered a lot of bad luck.
Do you think you could go stronger in 2017, given 2016’s stellar season?
I know what Morello will say but if you actually look through the results properly, then you will see that I went faster at near enough every circuit this season than I did last year. If you take out Thruxton and Cadwell Park, then I think you’ll find that I went faster everywhere else. With the likes of Danny Buchan and Richard Cooper dropping down and some of the fast boys coming up, then you will also notice that the overall pace is faster and the depth of talent in the field is a lot stronger.
Did you feel any pressure from Danny Buchan when you was riding at Morello Kawasaki?
I’ve ridden in GPs and world championships and the National Superstock 1000 class and it doesn’t really bother me. Everyone forgets that I’ve known Danny since I was 12-years-old. I’ve raced with him before. He is just a step ahead of me at the moment but that doesn’t mean to say that it won’t change in the future. It has been good being teammates with him this year; there’s been no animosity with him, it’s just been a healthy rivalry. He’s not got to me all season. I’ve had other established teammates in the past.
Do you agree with Steve Buckenham (Morello Kawasaki Team Owner) that you have under achieved in 2017?
I wouldn’t have said that I have massively under achieved. I finished 3rd in the first part of the Donington Park race and I beat Danny Buchan – my teammate – at Silverstone. I also had the fastest lap at Oulton Park earlier in the year. Like I said earlier, I have improved my lap times in 2017 but I’ve had a lot of bad luck this year too.
We didn’t do a lot of testing pre-season, we had four days in Spain but that was it. The four day test was cut short to 1 and a half anyway. I had a some problem and the chain split the engine casings. The team lent my engine to another rider but that also meant that I couldn’t continue, so we just packed up our stuff. We have done the official test this season but not massive amounts of testing elsewhere.
I don’t agree with what Steve has said. I have had a lot of problems this year. I crashed out at Snetterton all on my own but I could’ve been on the podium because my pace was strong. At another round this year, we had a fuel leak. That meant that with three laps to go, I ran out of fuel and then dropped a load of positions. I had a clutch let go on me at Donington Park Part 2 of the 100 mile race whilst running third & at another round, rain cost me a race win whilst I was out on dry tyres. At another round, results were poor due to some other things going on behind closed doors in the team.
I wouldn’t say I’ve under achieved because other wise, I wouldn’t be in the position with the offers that I have on the table now. I have good British offers and offers also in the world championships and also in Moto2. I went to IDM and on a Superstock bike with treaded tyres, I was able to be competitive against Markus Reiterberger who is an ex WSBK rider. My results could’ve been a lot better but I know, in myself, I am good enough to be in a top team. Things just haven’t fallen into place.
After three DNFs before Brands Hatch, or four because I wasn’t riding there, I am 7th in the championship. I went into Brands Hatch knowing that I couldn’t be beaten for 7th in the championship so how does that add up to me under achieving? Especially, in one of the most competitive stock championships in Europe. Steve is a great guy and Morello Racing are a great team but sometimes I just think ‘they aren’t for me’.
What are the reasons behind the split between yourself and Morello Racing?
I don’t really know. The moment I knew about it most was after the Cadwell Park or Silverstone race. Obviously, some things were said by Steve and I kind of knew then that things had run their course.
Morello Kawasaki have been brilliant with me this last 18 months and I would like to thank them for that chance. Chris Sayle gets on with me really well and that is a shame when myself and Steve just didn’t see eye-to-eye most of the time. It wasn’t very harmonious at all and the short and the long of it was I just wasn’t enjoying riding the bike or being in and around the team anymore, at which point its best to go our separate ways.
What does the future hold for Fraser Rogers now?
I’ve had a really good offer in National Superstock 1000 and likewise in the European Superstock 1000 championship. With Moto2 being confirmed for 2018, that is also an option, especially after I rode for the Fab Racing guys at Brands Hatch. If I can prove myself on a GP-spec bike then that is also an option. I want to end up back in the world championships so it is a logical step.
I would also like to thank all my sponsors for making this season happen, as without them I wouldn’t be racing so I cant thank these guys enough. Simon Whatley from SRS Rail Systems UK,
Matt and James Cox from Swindon Karting Arena, Fibros Promotional Print, Gary from Planet 4, my family and everyone else thats helped me along the way. 2018 awaits us!
