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Formula E-Rome EPrix Round 13 and 14 Race Reports: Evans Goes From Hero To Zero As Dennis Takes Championship Lead

Round 13 and Round 14 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship took place in the Italian capital of Rome. As the heat in the air and the track heated up, the championship battle reached new levels with chaos on Saturday and Sunday.

Round 13:

The first round kicked off with a Jaguar front row;  Sam Bird overtook his teammate Mitch Evans off of the line at the start.  Sacha Fenestraz maintained P3 withSebastien Buemi falling down the order after contact with Rene Rast. Edo Mortara went for a dive and held up Nick Cassidy in the opening stages, but he fell down the order as championship leader Jake Dennis made his way up to P5. It was a poor race for Pascal Wehrlein, he started in the top ten – however, the title contender fell down to P13 due to damage.  Evans tried to battle for P1 but was unsuccessful as Andre Lotterer’s Andretti collided with the barrier, bringing out the safety car for a couple of laps.

The pair of Jaguars battled again after the safety car restart and ended up swapping positions, with Evans taking the lead. Bird soon began to falter, he was overtaken by the Nissan rookie of Fenestraz as Rene Rast tried to pounce on the British driver.  Rast was able to make a move on Sam Bird a lap later as Da Costa also moved up . Evans went for attack mode in the opening stages, ended up dropping behind Fenestraz as the rookie took control and the lead of the race.  He was able to keep the lead as the first glut of drivers began to take the attack mode.

Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6, leads Jake Dennis, Avalanche Andretti Formula E, Porsche 99 X Electric Gen3
Image Credit: Formula E’s Media

After a brief yellow flag, the race was red flagged for a MONUMENTAL crash. Sam Bird lost the rear end of his car on a blind corner and crashed into the wall, ended up stranded in the middle of the track Buemi was the first car to pass but ended up being collected by the rear end of Bird’s car. Meanwhile, Mortara crashed into Bird’s stranded car. As replays show, the Mahindra of Di Grassi was also collected at the same place as Buemi on Bird’s car and he ended up crashing out too. After about 40 minutes, the cars lined up again after the red flag to resume the race with 13 drivers left in the race.

Rast lost  positions at the start of the race to P4 with Dennis making his way to the podium positions, battling with Evans.  Gunther and Rast went side by side after turn 4 but Cassidy managed to overtake the Maserati. Nico Muller also had a terrible race, colliding with Dan Ticktum and Jean-Eric Vergne, the former picked up damage.  As the time ticked down, Dennis and Cassidy remained towards the front with their attack mode still intact. Fenestraz lead from Evans in P2 and Dennis in P3 but Fenestraz began to struggle in the closing stages. Dennis began to make moves, overtaking Evans to take P3 and then dispatching of Fenestraz to take control and lead the Rome E-Prix.

Sacha Fenestraz, Nissan Formula E Team, Nissan e-4ORCE 04. Image Credit: Formula E Media.

Fenestraz continued to falter, with Evans sweeping through on  lap 16 and Cassidy following a few laps later to snatch the final podium positions.  Dennis took his attack mode after building a sizable gap, managing to maintain the lead.  Dennis and Cassidy began to exchange fastest laps – until Evans joined the fray setting the fastest lap on Lap 19.  Evans and Dennis managed to pull a lead from Cassidy in the final podium position. Evans missed his attack mode in the latter stages, and had to retake it again as Cassidy made his way up into P2.  Two laps were added to the end of the race, as  Gunther slipped past a struggling Dennis to take the final spot on the podium.

Evans won the Rome E-Prix ahead of Cassidy making it a Kiwi 1-2 with Gunther in P3 and a home podium for Maserati.  Dennis held onto P4, Vergne in P5, Muller took P6 with Wehrlein in P7, dropping down to P9 due to a 5 second time penalty. Nato and Sergio Sette Camara took P7 and P8 respectfullywith  Fenestraz rounding out the top ten.

Mitch Evans, Jaguar TCS Racing, 1st position, with his trophy on the podium. Image Credit: Formula E Media

With Cassidy’s P2 finish, he took the lead of the championship by 5 points ahead of Dennis in P2. Mitch Evans leapfrogged Wehrlein to go to P3 in the championship.

Round 14:

Round 14 started off with the championship leader Nick Cassidy starting P2 with his closest championship competitor Jake Dennis on pole. Dennis held off the lead from the Envision Driver while Norman Nato held P3. However, Bird looked impressive, slipping past the Nissan man to slot into the podium positions. Jake Hughes, missing from the previous round due to injury, and Ticktum both managed to have excellent starts, picking their way through the field.  Title contender Mitch Evans managed to get up amongst the action to take P3 in the early stages.  He began to battle with Cassidy, but the Envision man held off the Jaguar.  However, a lap later, Evans tried to make a move that failed,  sending him out of contention and damaged his car which brought out a safety car and caused collisions behind them including Hughes, Rast and Vergne having a broken wing, forcing them all into the pits.

After the drama, it was a clean restart with many drivers immediately going for attack mode. Evans returned to the pits  to retire his car after his collision with Cassidy, a major blow to his championship hopes. Nato tried to overtake Dennis shortly after but he got some damage after this attempt. Dennis wf the leaders to take attack mode, keeping his lead as Bird moved up to P2. Antonio Felix Da Costa locked up and ended up going off the track, ruining any chances of points as Buemi began to climb the order to P4.


Nick Cassidy, Envision Racing, Jaguar I-TYPE 6.
Image Credit: Formula E Media

Dennis managed to hold onto the lead after pressure from Bird, as Di Grassi was forced to retire after contact with the barrier. Both Mahindras retired on lap 13 as Bird activated his attack mode, dropping down to P4. Dennis and Nato went for their attack mode in the final stages, both keeping their positions.  Buemi moved down to P6 as he took attack mode and both Maseratis took attack mode, retaining their positions which disrupted Buemi’s progress.

Cassidy never managed to get back onto solid ground after his incident with Evans, circulating near the back of the field, he was collected by Lotterer in the dying stages, a blow to his championship hopes.  It was a quiet end to the race,  as the pole sitter Jake Dennis claimed victory, ahead of Nato and Bird clinging on for a crucial P3. Mortara claimed P4 ahead of Buemi and previous podium winner Gunther. Wehrlein hung on for P7 ahead of Vandoorne and Ticktum, with Muller taking the final point.

Jake Dennis managed to extend his championship lead up to 24 points from Nick Cassidy in P2. Mitch Evans is 20 points behind his rumoured teammate in P3 and Pascal Wehrlein is arguably out of the title race.

What did you think of these last 2 races? Do you think Dennis can clinch the title in London or can someone mount a comeback?

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Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race was won by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), followed by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), and Andrea Locatelli in 2nd, and 3rd respectively.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

With the extreme heat conditions persisting, it was decided by the race organization to shorten the length of race 2, to 15 laps.

Lights out then for race 2, and after initially getting a great drive off the line, Bautista tipped into the right handed turn 2 and went straight down, he had no chance to save it, and the bike somersaulted into the gravel. A rare mistake from the reigning champion.

Toprak took over the lead, followed by his team mate Locatelli in 2nd, and Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) in 3rd. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) then dived through on Bassani and took 3rd. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th, and Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 6th.

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Toprak 2. Locatelli 3. Rea 4. Bassani 5. Lowes 6. Redding 7. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 8. Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha) 9. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 10. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW).

With 13 laps of 15 left, Bassani aggressive as always from the start, dived up the inside of Locatelli to take 2nd, Rea seized the opportunity and likewise did the same to the Italian who dropped down to 4th. Out in the lead, Toprak had pulled the gap out to 0.9s.

With 11 laps remaining Rinaldi took Redding into the chicane to take 6th. Meanwhile further back it was Petrucci 10th, Vierge (Honda HRC) 11th, Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 12th. Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) then crashed out, his race over.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

With 10 laps to go Toprak had pulled the gap out to 0.3s. Bassani put in the new fastest lap with a 1:47.4. Rea was in 3rd. The leading trio had pulled away from the rest, with Locatelli now 1.7s behind Rea.

With 8 laps to go, Bassani had been steadily gaining on Toprak, and cut under him to take over the lead. Toprak now in 2nd, Rea 3rd. Further back it was Locatelli 4th, Lowes 5th, and Rinaldi 6th.

Just over half race distance and Bassani only held a gap of 0.1s to Toprak. Meanwhile it was Toprak who put in the new fastest lap with a 1:47.7. Drama further back for Isaac Vinales (Team Pedercini) who crashed out, his race over.

With only 4 laps remaining Rea was now struggling to remain in contact with the two ahead of him, and had a gap of 1.0s to overcome to 2nd. Drama for the other factory Kawasaki, Alex Lowes crashed out from a comfortable 5th place, losing the front end, his race over. Meanwhile up ahead Toprak had caught back up to Bassani, and cut up the inside of the Italian into turn 16, to retake the lead. Bassani, however, snapped straight back although Toprak was able to defend the lead.

Last 3 laps and the win would surely be decided between Toprak, and Bassani. Rea now too far back to be in contention.

Penultimate lap and Toprak had put the hammer down, obviously with more tyre grip, and broken the ability of Bassani to remain in contact. Great race for Brad Ray who was now up to 6th, in contention for his best ever WorldSBK result. Behind was Baz 7th, Redding 8th, and Petrucci 9th.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 2 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Toprak took the win to make it a double across the weekend. Bassani 2nd, Rea 3rd, Locatelli 4th, Rinaldi 5th, Ray 6th, Baz 7th, Redding 8th, Petrucci 9th, Lecuona 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  2. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing)
  3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  5. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 391
  2. Razgatlioglu – 321
  3. Locatelli – 208

 

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Bridewell stamps his authority on BSB with Snetterton treble

After a weekend of British Superbikes action like we saw at Snetterton last weekend, it’s time to (try) and condense it all down.

But there’s one point that really needs nailed down and focused on in particular: Tommy Bridewell.

An eight-point lead heading into the fifth round quickly jumped up to a 25-point buffer come the end of the weekend’s action, making one thing clear.

Bridewell has truly stamped his authority on this year’s championship.

Of course, there’s still absolutely anything that could happen with six rounds and 18 races remaining this year, and as we’ve seen in the past things can change in the blink of an eye in the UK’s premier motorcycle racing series.

However we’re seeing a side of Bridewell that has been waiting to be unleashed for years, and right now the 34-year-old is flying.

“These types of meetings don’t come around too often, so I’m delighted to take my first ever treble”

Tommy Bridewell

He took three wins from three at Snetterton, something he’d never achieved in the BSB prior to last weekend, and each of those victories were more than deserved.

But the BeerMonster Ducati rider had to work for it right from the off, with Saturday’s opening race coming down to the wire as Bridewell snatched the lead from teammate Glenn Irwin at Nelsons corner.

The disappointment for Irwin didn’t end there however, as he then dropped another two places at the final corner with Josh Brookes sliding up the inside of the Ducati which then invited Jason O’Halloran through on the run to the line.

Snetterton’s second race of the weekend was a little more straightforward for Bridewell, who made the most of a red flag restart to edge away from his rivals as they scrapped for the remaining podium positions.

But once again the pair of PBM Ducatis put on a show in the final race, and this time it was Irwin chasing down Bridewell for the win after the Northern Irishman made a slight mistake in the closing stages when he ran wide and lost the lead.

On the final lap Bridewell looked comfortable out in front, but that gap quickly diminished in the final sector, and it was a drag race to the line with the championship leader coming out on top by just 0.032 seconds.

A treble in the books and a comfortable lead in the championship going to Brands Hatch meant Bridewell was understandably delighted.

“What can I say!? It’s been a great weekend and these types of meetings don’t come around too often, so I’m delighted to take my first ever treble,” he told Paul Bird Motorsport.

“We’ve hardly changed the bike all weekend and the team absolutely hit the nail on the head with set-up so a huge thanks to them.

“It was nice to go toe to toe with Glenn in the final race with neither of us willing to give an inch, but it was good, clean racing.

“I focused on preserving the tyre in the early stages and we exchanged places on more than one occasion, so it was nice to come out on top and get the job done.”

As mentioned earlier, it’s been clear Bridewell has had this talent locked away for quite some time, and now with everything falling into place he certainly is the man to beat in 2023.

Find the standings after Round 5 here.

Featured Image Credit: @OfficialBSB on Twitter

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Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1

The earlier Superpole saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) claim top spot with an unbeaten time of 1:45.959, followed by team mate Andrea Locatelli, and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Ducati) in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Scorching temperatures were already taking hold across Southern Europe, and the mercury was hitting 34 degrees Celsius for race 1, with a track temperature of nearly 60 degrees.

Lights out then for race 1 and it was Andrea Locatelli with the hole shot into turn 1, followed by Bassani 2nd, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 3rd, Toprak 4th, and Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1 – Picture courtesy of KRT WorldSBK

Next lap of the 19 lap race and positions were as follows: 1. Locatelli 2. Bassani 3. Bautista 4. Toprak 5. Rea 6. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK)  7. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 8. Brad Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha) 9. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 10. Baz (Bonovo Action BMW)

With 18 laps to go, Bassani who had been looking aggressive from the off, dived up the inside of Locatelli to take the lead. Further back Rea held a gap of 0.7s to Redding, while Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was up to 10th. At the front Locatelli responded to retake the lead, Bautista moved into 2nd, while Bassani dropped down into 3rd. Drama then for Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha) who crashed out, his race over.

Next lap and Toprak got through on Bautista up into 2nd. Pata Prometeon Yamahas were now 1 and 2.

With 16 laps of 19 remaining, Bassani continued to fall back and this time Rea got through and into 4th.

Next lap and Toprak got through on his team mate and took the lead. Meanwhile further back it was Redding 7th, Petrucci 8th, Baz 9th, Lowes 10th, and Ray 11th. Bautista then got through on Locatelli and up into 2nd, Rea too seized the opportunity and dived up the Italian into 3rd. Locatelli had now dropped to 4th.

With 13 laps to go, Bautista was slowly ratcheting up the pressure on Toprak. Rea put in a new fastest lap a 1:47.554 and was right on the back of Bautista. The leading trio were edging away from the rest of the field. Meanwhile further back Petrucci was up to 7th, Redding 8th. The factory Hondas were struggling again with Vierge 14th, and Lecuona 15th, although Vierge had to start from the back of the grid due to a last minute issue, so his position was well deserved. Leon Haslam (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK) was in 13th and riding for the injured Tom Sykes.

Next lap and it was Locatelli with the new fastest lap a 1:48.353, he had clearly not given up and was trying to make contact with the leading trio. Bautista then had a massive tank slapper down the back straight and it allowed Rea to come through. Bautista was lucky to get away with what could have been a nasty crash. It didn’t deter Alvaro however, and he snapped back to take 2nd.

With 11 laps remaining Locatelli held a gap of 1.6s to Bassani in 5th, Rinaldi 6th.

Next lap and it was Petrucci who got through on Bassani up into 6th, Rinaldi was ahead of him in 5th, and Bassani had now dropped down to 7th.

Just over half race distance and Bautista had shrugged off his earlier moment, and was now right on Toprak. Rea was struggling to keep contact with the pace being set by the leading duo, and was falling behind.

With 8 laps to go Bautista had been lining up a pass and used the power of the Ducati to once again blast past Toprak down the back straight, and into the lead. It was a perfectly clean pass and Toprak could not respond. The 250 revs docked from the Ducati by the organisers, seemingly making no difference to the performance what so ever.

And if to reiterate the point, Bautista put in a new fastest lap a 1:47.065 with now only 6 laps remaining. Drama for Eric Granado (Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team) who crashed out.

With only 5 laps remaining the positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Rea 4. Locatelli 5. Rinaldi.

Next lap and drama for Lecuona who had to retire due to a mechanical issue. Meanwhile further back Bassani continued to slide down the positions, and was now getting reeled in by Loris Baz. Lowes was 9th, Redding 10th, Haslam 11th. Vierge then got through on Leon to take 11th. Meanwhile drama for the Swiss rider Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who retired back to the pits due to a mechanical.

Penultimate lap and Bautista now held a gap of 3.4s over Toprak, while Toprak held a similar gap over Rea in 3rd.

Round 7 WorldSBK, Imola, Race 1 – Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Bautista secured yet another win followed by Toprak 2nd, Rea 3rd, Locatelli 4th, Rinaldi 5th, Petrucci 6th, Bassani 7th, Baz 8th, Lowes 9th, and Redding 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
  3. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Prometeon WorldSBK)
  5. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 382
  2. Razgatlioglu – 284
  3. Locatelli – 188

 

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Extreme E: RXR Double at Island XPrix

Imagine courtesy of Extreme ENico Rosberg’s team, RXR, won both races at this weekend’s Island XPrix, putting them right back into championship contention.

Meanwhile Acciona Sainz took advantage of Veloce’s poor weekend, going into the lead of the championship with two second place finishes.

Round 5 Redemption Race:

A bad qualifying from the championship leaders saw Veloce compete in the redemption race against McLaren, X44, Carl Cox Motorsport, and JBXE.

Contact off the start line with McLaren caused Bakkerud in the JBXE machine to spin out. The McLaren would lose its door.

But with all the chaos going on behind them. Veloce cruised to a win in the redemption race, securing crucial points in their championship fight.

Round 5 Final:

The top five qualifiers from the round five competed in a thrilling final.

As the cars raced towards the first turn, Johann Kristofferson was forced off into the bushes.

Miraculously, the car was relatively unharmed and the experienced swede quickly got it going again.

Kristofferson made light work of the ABT Cupra car, which had picked up a puncture, before closing down on Acciona Sainz.

After the switch Kristofferson’s teammate, Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky, passed Acciona Sainz and looked to overtake Andretti United.

However, contact between the two cars saw the Andretti United roll onto its side. The driver, Catie Munnings, was unharmed but unable to finish the race.

Chip Ganassi crossed the line first but a penalty for a switch-zone infringement saw them drop down into third, behind RXR and Acciona Sainz.

Round 6 Redemption Race:

If Veloce thought Sunday would allow them to bounce back, they were to be mistaken, as they once again found themselves in the Redemption Race.

ABT Cupra got the best start and led into the first turn, swiftly followed by X44 and Veloce.

It was a relatively uneventful race after the initial start, with ABT Cupra taking the victory. Veloce finished in second, and X44 were just behind in third.

Round 6 Final:

In a move similar to the previous day’s Final, Andretti United’s Timmy Hansen was forced into the bushes off the start line.

Learning from the day before, though, was Kristofferson, who initially slowed to avoid getting squeezed, before storming into the lead in the aftermath of the contact ahead. Acciona Sainz were just behind.

Though the cars ran fairly close to one another for the entire race, there was little action for the remainder of the race, and RXR took their second win of the weekend.

Acciona Sainz finished in second and Andretti United rounded out the podium.

Championship Standings:

  1. Acciona Sainz – 109 Points
  2. RXR – 105 Points
  3. Veloce – 95 Points
  4. Carl Cox Motorsport – 80 Points
  5. X44 – 59 Points
  6. Andretti United – 55 Points
  7. McLaren – 44 Points
  8. ABT Cupra – 40 Points
  9. Carl Cox Motorsports – 26 Points
  10. JBXE – 26 Points

Another fascinating weekend of Extreme E is over and only two rounds remain in the season. The next round location is yet to be confirmed but a trip to the Americas seems likely. You won’t want to miss it!

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Extreme E: Carl Cox Motorsport Announce New Driver for Island Xprix

Carl Cox Motorsports Image courtesy of Extreme EThere’s a new kid on the block in Extreme E this weekend: teenage superstar Lia Block, who will replace Christine GZ at Carl Cox Motorsport for the rest of the season.

Block, who is the daughter of the late rally driver Ken Block, is currently sixth in the American Rally Association championship standings.

Lia brings with her a renewal of the Block name to Extreme E. Her father tested the Odyssey 21 car at Dakar Rally in 2020, the first time it had been raced in competitive motorsport.

Elsewhere, rally legend Sebastian Loeb returns to the series at the Island XPrix, replacing Nasser Al-Attiyah for ABT Cupra.

Loeb was part of the X44 team that won the 2022 Extreme E championship, and was the runner-up the year before.

Form Guide:

The surprise of the season so far has been current championship leaders, Veloce.

Prior to this season, the team had achieved just one podium finish across two seasons.

But a change in driver line-up has seen the team take two wins in four rounds, and has put them eleven points clear of nearest rivals, Acciona Sainz.

X44 also come to the Island XPrix off the back of a win the previous weekend.

Championship Standings:

  1. Veloce – 80 Points
  2. Acciona Sainz – 69 Points
  3. RXR – 52 Points
  4. X44 – 51 Points
  5. Chip Ganassi – 50 Points
  6. McLaren – 36 Points
  7. Andretti United – 29 Points
  8. Carl Cox Motorsport – 23 Points
  9. ABT Cupra – 20 Points
  10. JBXE – 15 Points

With a new driver on the scene, and the return of an old one, it is set to be a thrilling weekend at the Island XPrix.

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British Grand Prix Preview – Can Anyone Stop the Verstappen Juggernaut?

This weekends marks one of those rare occasions in British sport.

It is Round 10 of the 2023 Formula One World Championship as the British Grand Prix rolls into Silverstone. The Wimbledon Tennis Tournament is in full swing and the third Test Ashes Test between England and Australia will be on Day Four at Headingley.

The last time those three sports collided on the same day in Great Britain was 2019, where Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix in another all conquering, England won the Cricket World Cup “by the barest of margins” and Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer in a thriller in SW19.

Verstappen juggernaut rolls on.

12 months ago it looked as if Verstappen would take a comfortable victory after passing Charles Leclerc for the lead during the race.

That was until he ran over a piece of debris caused by Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Pierre Gasly, before Ferrari left Charles Leclerc to fend for himself after a Safety Car allowing Carlos Sainz to win his first career Grand Prix.

As with 2019, 2023 has a dominant team and one dominant driver, as Hamilton was cruising to the sixth of his seven World Drivers’ Championships, while this season Max Verstappen can pick and choose the races he attends and he will still be the Drivers’ Champion for a third time.

It is a question of when, not if he wins the World Championship and inevitably Verstappen is the hot favourite to win his eighth race of the season, and keep Red Bull’s 100% record in 2023 going.

The Dutchman has won the last five Grands Prix and lies 81 points – over three race victories – clear of Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez.

The fight behind Red Bull.

The real fight is behind them, with three teams vying to be the best of the rest.

Mercedes currently have that honour with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell consistently banking points.

The Silver Arrows are three points clear of Aston Martin – largely as a result of Lance Stroll’s struggles to match teammate Fernando Alonso for the Silverstone team.

The Spaniard is himself just 18 points behind Perez in third but, as with the cricket, it is very difficult to see the home side managing an unlikely series victory this weekend.

The third team fighting for the best of the rest is Ferrari, who have had something of a renaissance themselves over the last two races with a well managed fourth and fifth in Canada, before Charles Leclerc took an excellent second place in Austria last week.

McLaren, sporting a throwback Chrome livery in a nod to their history this weekend, will be looking to build on a strong weekend for Lando Norris who took fourth in Austria, as their season of catch up continues.

Track Limits?!

As yes, track limits.

Last weekend saw a farcical 1,200 instances of drivers losing lap times for exceeding track limits, largely at the final corner around the 2.7 mile Red Bull Ring.

Track limits will be monitored at Copse Corner, or Turn 9 depending on who you are, but we can expect minimal impact as the layout at Silverstone’s former first corner is different, and crucially a lot less awkward, than the final corner in Spielberg.

Don’t expect to see eight drivers affected by track limit penalties, five hours after the race this weekend.

What else should I look out for?

Well…. the battle at the bottom.

With McLaren and Alpine in fifth and sixth in the Constructors cut well adrift from the top four, four teams at the bottom are separated by nine points.

Haas and in particular Nico Hulkenberg benefitted from a wet-dry sprint qualifying, and race, to nick sixth place and three points as more established teams fell over themselves on Saturday to lift themselves up to seventh in standings with 11 points.

They’re two points clear of Alfa Romeo on nine, with the team run by Sauber having failed to push on from a strong 2022 to sit just two points clear of a resurgent Williams team.

Their team principal James Vowles has warned that progress will be slow, but despite this the team, courtesy of Alex Albon, have been genuine points contenders ever since a raft of upgrades were introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Rookie Logan Sargent will finally be able to access those this week, as the team look to celebrate 800 races in style.

At the bottom of the pile, Alpha Tauri’s miserable season continues with Nyck de Vries seemingly unable to get close to scoring points, while Yuki Tsunoda has two points.

Dr Vries has been the subject of speculation over his future in his debut season in the sport, with Red Bull driver supremo recently suggesting that Red Bull team principal Christian Horner “maybe was right” in his opposition to signing the Dutchman.

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Verstappen’s clean sweep in Austria amongst Track Limit Dramas.

Verstappen took a clean sweep in Austria with Leclerc in P2 and Perez making a great recovery drive to finish on the podium. But, late penalties meant the on-track finishing positions changed hours after the race. 

Less than 24 hours after an entertaining Sprint, F1 fans settled down to watch the Grand Prix with the grid set from Friday’s qualifying session. Unlike Sprint Saturday, Sunday’s race was set to be dry with the Ferrari’s able to launch a double attack on Verstappen ahead, if they could catch him.

Vertappen narrowly leading Leclerc into turn 4. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area.

Lights out and Verstappen got a clean start with the Ferrari’s following behind. Both Mercedes had a better launch than Norris in front, and Hamilton went around the outside of the McLaren while a small tangle with Stroll behind meant Norris was compromised and had to give the place up to Hamilton.

Further back in the pack many were trying to get three wide through turn 1 which didn’t end well for Tsunoda who picked up front wing damage. Having lost downforce he locked up into turn 4 but was able to make it back to the pits for a quick front wing change. However, a safety car was deployed at the end of lap 2 to recover the debris from the Alpha Tauri.

On the restart everyone got away cleanly with very few dramas. The Alpha Tauri’s were getting very close together while Magnussen tried to go around the outside of turn 4 but managed to get back on track. Perez also gained a position on Ocon.

Just nine laps in and this is where the track limits debacle began. Norris was reporting Hamilton using every inch possible and slightly more on each lap. This was due to a brake issue Hamilton was managing meaning he couldn’t slow the car properly, however he did manage to pick up a black and white flag by lap 13.

While this was happening, Hamilton’s teammate, Russell, was under pressure from Perez. It took a few laps of great defending from the Mercedes but he made a mistake into turn 3 and went wide, leaving the door open for the Mexican driver to take advantage of DRS and make his move which eventually stuck by turn 4.

One lap later, a very slow Haas pulled to the side of the track. Hulkenburg lost power and had to retire the car. A Virtual Safety Car was deployed as they pulled the stricken vehicle to the escape road. However, it only took them two laps, and by lap 16 the green flag was shown.

Confusion now rained over the grid with main making pitstops as this was the first stop window of the day. However, Ferrari and Aston Martin missed the initial VSC call so came in just as the green flag was shown. To make matters worse for Ferrari, their double stack didn’t work, Leclerc’s stop was slow which compromised Sainz who came out in P6, losing 3 places.

A four car battle on track. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Press Area.

Through the now interesting developments in the race, Tsunoda was the second driver to pick up a penalty for track limits. Meanwhile Ocon, Albon, Magnussen, Stoll and Gasly had an intense battle on lap 20. It was hard to keep up with everything going on.

Despite most coming in for a change of tyres during the VSC, Verstappen chose to stay out and not come in until lap 25. He came out having lost two places behind the Ferrari’s now in P1 and P2. There was finally action for the lead however, this was not to last very long because within five laps Verstappen was back out in front.

As the race began to settle again Norris in his upgraded McLaren was pressuring Hamilton at every turn. On lap 28 he made a great move around the outside of turn 4 to make it into P4. Some great racing between the brits.

Sainz then became the third victim of the time penatlies fro track limits while Ocon was given one for an unsafe release during the stops. At this point four drivers had penalties but this was not the end.

Gasly was added to the list on lap 38 with De Vries picking up a penalty for pushing Magnussen out wide around turns 5 and 6. While it may seem like there were a lot of penalties, at this point nearly half the grid had been shown the black and white flag, so some penalties were taking longer than normal to be given.

To make matters worse for Tsunoda he was given a 10 second time penalty for not serving his original penalty correctly. This was added to his time at the end of the race. 

The action on track never stopped. Perez was making his way through the pack and came up against Sainz in P4 on lap 59. This led to a three-lap long battle between the drivers as Sainz attempted to hold off the faster car behind. After some great racing however, Perez learned to hang back slightly into turn 3 and gain DRS towards turn 4, eventually making the move stick.

Perez finally overtakes Sainz.

Sargent and Magnussen picked up time penalties for track limits while Verstappen picked up his 7th Grand Prix win of the year. However, the race was not over yet.

Aston Martin lodge a protest of the results which was accepted and reviewed. The complaint was regarding the track limits violations which seemingly hadn’t all been through the stewards so more penalties were yet to be dished out.

In total 83 lap times were deleted, resulting in the following penalties:

Sainz – 10 seconds, Hamilton – 10 seconds, Gasly – 10 seconds, Albon – 10 seconds, Ocon – 30 seconds, Sargent – 10 seconds, De Vries – 15 seconds, Tsunoda – 5 seconds.

It is fair to say the track limits issue tainted the race with results being decided hours after the chequered flag dropped. This will be a talking point at least for the next week as we head to the British Grand Prix next where track limits are not considered as much of an issue.

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Sweet Home Chicago: Grant Park 220 preview, lineup, drivers to watch

The NASCAR Cup Series will make history today by racing around the 12-turn 2.2-mile street course around and in Grant Park in downtown Chicago in what will be NASCAR’s first ever street course race, the Grant Park 220, with the Chicago city skyline and Lake Michigan as the backdrop.

  • Preview
  • Qualifying report
  • Drivers to watch
  • Starting lineup 

Bubba Wallace, driver of the No. 23 McDonald’s Toyota, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Grant Park 220 will consist of 100 laps (220 miles), and will have three stages of 20, 25, and 55 laps but like road course races this season, there will be no stage ending cautions, giving crew chiefs more options with strategy.

The green flag has been moved up from 5:30pm ET to 5pm due to downtown Chicago receiving a month’s worth of rainfall in the last 24 hours with the intention of avoiding further weather however it will be a very wet start to the race at least.

Drivers on Saturday prior to qualifying did get some practice in light rain conditions but will possibly have to relearn the track in the anticipated tricky conditions.

Check NASCAR and the @PitCrew_Online on Twitter for updates.

Qualifying

Denny Hamlin knocked three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen off provisional pole, to secure his third pole of the season with a 1.28.435.

Hamlin said: “The course is actually very very good and raceable. I think there will be a ton of passing zones [in Sunday’s race].”

Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 Yahoo! Toyota, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course on July 01, 2023 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Shane van Gisbergen, who is making his NASCAR Cup Series debut with the Trackhouse Racing Project 91 team, ended up third fastest in the top-10 shootout with a 1.28.588.

Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, looks on during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)

23XI Racing’s Tyler Reddick, who Hamlin is the team co-owner of, qualified second with a 1.28.479.

Jenson Button, in his second Cup Series start with Rick Ware Racing, also made the top-10 shootout, qualifying eighth with a 1.29.571.

Mexico’s Daniel Suarez topped the Round 1 Group A qualifying session with a 1.28.755, with Larson, Button, Reddick, and Allmendinger joining him for the top-10 shootout.

Group B’s qualifying session was not so smooth with Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick crashing and bringing out two red flags in the session.

Elliott, while following Shane van Gisbergen, clipped the right hand wall going into turn eight and the hit the wall opposite head on. Harvick made the same mistake in turn one, hitting the wall hard.

Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 Ford took on damage during practice on the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Taylor Robbins/Race Service)

Polesitter Hamlin topped Group B with a 1.28.369, while van Gisbergen was second with a 1.28.509. Bell, McDowell, and Logano also joined them for the top-10 shootout.

Drivers to watch

In terms of one-lap pace, Hamlin, Reddick, and van Gisbergen were nearly a whole second quicker than the rest of the top-10 shootout contenders.

Van Gisbergen is a three-time and reigning Supercars champion in Australia and topped the practice charts on Saturday in what has been a mighty impressive performance so far from the New Zealander.

With the Gen 3 Supercars sharing many similarities with NASCAR’s Gen 7 car, Gisbergen who drives for the Red Bull Ampol Racing Chevrolet Camaro team in the series, is accustomed to racing heavy V8-powered muscle cars around street courses, with the Supercars series competing on several street courses each season such as in Newcastle, and Townsville, Australia.

Shane van Gisbergen, driver of the No. 91 Enhance Health Chevrolet, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)

Shane van Gisbergen could very well take the chequered flag today, if he can carry over his experience, patience, and sensational car control and placement that he has shown in the Supercars series.

The NASCAR Cup Series regulars could come out on top by the end in Hamlin or Reddick, with Hamlin having one road course win at Watkins Glen, and Reddick winning three of the last six road course races, at Indianapolis Road Course, COTA, and Road America.

Martin Truex Jr. has been on fire lately, including winning the Sonoma road course race three weeks ago for a second consecutive year and has five road course wins to his name.

Chase Elliott, while not having been at his best this weekend, should not be dismissed, as he holds the highest number of road course wins amongst active drivers with seven, coming at five different road courses.

2009 F1 World Champion Jenson Button finished 18th at NASCAR’s Cup Series race at COTA earlier this year. With improved pace on the field this weekend, and extensive experience driving in the wet, we could see Button dueling it out for a top-five finish or better today.

Jenson Button, driver of the No. 15 Mobil 1 Ford, drives during practice for the NASCAR Cup Series Grant Park 220 at the Chicago Street Course (Photo by Alejandro Alvarez/NASCAR Studios)

Starting lineup 

  1. Denny Hamlin
  2. Tyler Reddick
  3. Shane van Gisbergen
  4. Christopher Bell
  5. Daniel Suarez
  6. Michael McDowell
  7. Kyle Larson
  8. Jenson Button
  9. Joey Logano
  10. AJ Allmendinger
  11. Martin Truex Jr.
  12. Ty Gibbs
  13. Alex Bowman
  14. Bubba Wallace
  15. Chris Buescher
  16. Chase Briscoe
  17. Ryan Blaney
  18. Kyle Busch
  19. Corey LaJoie
  20. Brad Keselowski
  21. Erik Jones
  22. William Byron
  23. Noah Gragson
  24. Aric Almirola
  25. Todd Gilliland
  26. Chase Elliott
  27. Josh Bilicki
  28. Ryan Preece
  29. Austin Dillon
  30. Andy Lally
  31. Austin Cindric
  32. Harrison Burton
  33. Ty Dillon
  34. Ross Chastain
  35. Kevin Harvick
  36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
  37. Justin Haley

 

Featured Image: A general view of the setup for the Chicago Street Race frontstretch (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

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Round 6 WorldSBK, Donington Park, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race saw a new winner crowned, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK) claiming only his 2nd win of the season so far, with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) in 2nd, and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 3rd.

Toprak Razgatlioglu WorldSBK Donington 02.07.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Lights out then for race 2 and both Toprak and Bautista were in contention, before Toprak took the early lead. Then before the first lap could be completed, a massive crash involving 3 riders into turn 8 Coppice, brought the red flag out and the race was stopped. The riders involved were, Tom Sykes (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW). Seemingly it was Sykes who had a massive highside, and the others were collected in the process.

The race would be restarted with a total of 22 laps.

Lights out for the restart and this time Bautista gets the hole shot, followed by Rea, Toprak 3rd, Locatelli (Pata Prometeon WorldSBK) 4th, and Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 5th. Toprak dived up the inside of Rea into his favourite corner, Melbourne Loop, to take 2nd.

Next lap and positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Rea 4. Locatelli 5. Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 6. Lowes 7. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 8. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 9. Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 10. Oettl (TeamGoEleven).

Toprak then once again, and in his favourite corner, stuck it up the inside of Bautista to move into the lead. The Spaniard had to pick the bike up, and it allowed Rea to come through into 2nd. Bautista got mugged in that corner and found himself in 3rd.

Next lap and Rea put in the new fastest lap with a 1:26.4, and increased the gap to Bautista to 0.3s. Meanwhile in 5th, the Texan, Gerloff, was having one of the best rides for a BMW rider in some time.

With 18 laps of 22 remaining, at the front it was still Toprak leading Rea, with Bautista in 3rd, Locatelli 4th, and Gerloff 5th. Bautista had reduced the gap to Rea to 0.2s.

Next lap and further back it was Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 10th, Oettl 11th, and Remi Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)  12th. Meanwhile at the front there was now a group of 7 riders forming, and Alex Lowes was showing good pace and passed Gerloff into 5th.

With 15 laps to go, the lap times between the leading trio of Toprak, Rea, and Bautista was similar. Further back Locatelli was struggling to keep in contact. Lowes then carried on his charge and moved past Locatelli into the chicane to take 4th.

Next lap and both Hondas were having a disaster of a weekend, with Vierge 13th, and Lecuona 15th. The Brit, Brad Ray (MotoxRacing Yamaha), was sandwiched in between in 14th.

With 13 laps to go, Bautista, who had been closing the gap made his move on Rea into the chicane and into 2nd. Meanwhile Toprak was looking to take his 2nd win of the weekend.

Next lap and Bautista put in the new fastest lap with a 1:26.4, and was now slowly reeling in the Turkish rider ahead. Meanwhile Rea couldn’t match the pace and was now losing contact with the two ahead the gap increasing to 1.6s.

Just over half race distance and Bautista seized the moment, and blasted past Toprak and into the lead in turn 1. Toprak however had the pace down the Craner Curves, and snapped straight back at Bautista into turn 4 to retake the lead.

Next lap and Bautista knew he had the speed to take Toprak down the straight, which he did to retake the lead. Toprak again responded using the agility of the R1 to close the gap through the twisty parts of the track. Meanwhile further back it was still Rea leading his team mate, followed by Locatelli 5th, Petrucci 6th, Redding 7th, and Gerloff down to 9th.

With 8 laps remaining, the weekend was going from bad to worse for Honda, and Xavi Vierge retired to the garage. Meanwhile as he had shown in race 1, Petrucci was capable of late race pace, and he was again gaining on the riders ahead. He caught Locatelli and made a clean pass into 5th.

Next lap and Scott Redding was having the best race of his season so far, and got through on Locatelli into 6th. He had only started from 9th on the grid. Meanwhile at the front the gap between Bautista, and Toprak, increased to 0.7s.

With 6 laps to go, Petrucci had now caught Lowes, and dived through into the Foggy Esses to take 4th. He now had Rea in his sights, and got through into 3rd with what would be his first podium of his WorldSBK career to date. Both Kawasakis were now dropping back, and Redding was reeling them in, he caught Lowes first and cut under him into the Melbourne loop to take 5th.

With 4 laps to go Redding had now caught Rea, and made a clean pass again into the Melbourne loop. The BMW had much better acceleration, and Rea was unable to respond. Meanwhile at the front Bautista increased the gap to 1.3s. Toprak was winding the life out of his R1 but was unable to make up any ground.

Penultimate lap and Petrucci had now increased the gap over Redding to 1.2s. Meanwhile Rea launched an attack on Redding into the chicane, but Redding was able to defend his position.

Petrucci WorldSBK Donington 02.07.2023 Race 2 Picture courtesy of WorldSBK

Last lap and Bautista crossed the line to take another win, followed by Toprak 2nd, Petrucci 3rd, Redding 4th, Rea 5th, Lowes 6th, Bassani 7th, Locatelli 8th, Gerloff 9th, Oettl 10th, Brad Ray 13th.

Results top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Prometeon Yamaha WorldSBK)
  3. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing)
  4. Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
  5. Rea (Kawaski Racing Team WorldSBK)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 357
  2. Razgatlioglu – 264
  3. Locatelli – 175

 

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