ThePitcrewOnline

28th July 2017

Exclusive: Steve Parrish Q&A: 20 Minutes with Britain’s Fastest Prankster

I was lucky enough to know that Steve Parrish would be at Snetterton a few weeks back for the BSB meeting, so I decided that after giving him a remote control rat to play around with at home, to get an interview with one of Barry Sheene’s best friends. So, in this exclusive interview, Parrish reveals his racing career highlights, the best race he ever commentated on, the British Talent Cup, why he voted to Remain in the EU and what the easiest prank to play on someone is.

Main highlights of your motorcycle racing career?

Having lots of fun and causing chaos. I suppose you could say, ‘enjoying living the dream’. I guess however that I peaked early; 1977 was my best year in the Grand Prix paddock. I had a cracking bike, it was the old Sheene bike from the previous season and I ended up fifth in the World Championship on it. I had lots of races against the heroes that I used to have posters on my bedroom wall of, such as Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read.

I carried on in British Championship’s and just being involved after that was great. It’s a lovely sport we are in and I met a lot of good friends via the sport, whilst also losing quite a few friends via the sport, as it was probably a lot more dangerous back then. However, I look at it as the best part of my life really and had the best part of 10-12 years racing motorcycles, which were massively exhilarating to ride, although a little bit dangerous and painful at times! I will always look back on my career and I’m often asked, ‘what is your favourite form of racing?’ and it would be motorcycle racing. I have more admiration for motorcycle racers than anyone else.

Who was your fiercest competitor back then?

I have to say Barry Sheene. At the time, he was the guy to beat. He was on the same bikes as I was on and he was pretty special. He beat me a lot more times than I beat him, I grant you!

How about your media career highlights?

One of the best races I have ever commentated on was Colin Edwards vs Troy Bayliss at Imola, for the 2002 World Superbike championship. Two guys, duking it out, whoever took the win, took the title, or near enough to that. It was very, very special and was probably one of the greatest motorcycle races we have ever seen.

Another one was Valentino Rossi beating Jorge Lorenzo on the final corner at Catalunya in 2009, which was very special. Generally, the highlights have been covering MotoGP for a number of years. Watching, admiring and meeting heroes of my world.

The 2017 North West 200 race was one of the greatest too, with Glenn Irwin beating Alistair Seeley. I really rate Seeley, he’s been Mr. North West 200 for a number of years now but for the fans and also for the media, it was nice to see someone else take a win there. I never realised how much Glenn actually expected to win that race. Personally, I didn’t think he had a chance because he had to relearn the circuit and he’d only ever ridden it on a 600cc machine. He came there on a bike that you wouldn’t necessarily say was the ultimate bike for the NW200 but he endured the weird conditions we had. It’s a shame he’s injured now because I think his success at the NW 200 would’ve propelled him to greater things at BSB.

Do you think the NW200 deserves more media coverage?

I don’t think you could say it “deserves” it because if it deserves it would generally get it. In Northern Ireland, it gets more media coverage than what the British Grand Prix gets here in mainland Britain. It is wall to wall coverage over there and I’d say that Seeley, Irwin and Michael Dunlop are all just as famous as any premier league footballer over in NI. You couldn’t consider saying the same for Shakey Byrne or James Ellison over here because not as many people know who they are. Over in NI, motorcycle racing is on the front page of all the major newspapers. It would be nice if it got more over here but then again, we see nothing but women’s rugby and women’s cricket and it annoys me quite frankly.

What would you say to the people who want road racing banned?

I think they need to go first. They need to know someone who does it, who gets the sensation and the satisfaction they get from doing it, the amount of fun they have doing it and the adrenalin rush they get from doing it. Unless they’ve done it, they’re not qualified to say that it should be banned and I doubt that people who have done it would want it banned either!

What about your career in general, what was the hardest part?

I’d say that the hardest part of my career is the travel that you do. I don’t do as much now but at one point I’d be away between 6-8 months a year. It takes a tole on your family, on your marriage – which they all went out the window – it’s difficult to carry that through. I travelled a lot with my racing, then with my team ownership, then truck racing and then the media work. I had 40 years of going all around the world.

Sitting in hospital with broken legs and arms and not knowing who or where you are isn’t much fun either. But I think if it was easy then everyone would do it. Truthfully, compared to many people in this world, I haven’t had a lot of hard things to deal with. It’s been hard in my own little world but I’ve been lucky and I don’t think anything I’ve done has been mega, mega tough.

If you could choose one race circuit from your time (except the TT), which would you consider the most dangerous?

The Nordscheife Nurburgring circuit, when the German Grand Prix was held there. I found that very dangerous because it was difficult to learn, similar to TT for foreigners going there. I didn’t think it was right to have the GP at the Nurburgring because Barry Sheene was still battling for the title and it was wrong to try and get people to learn a circuit as long as that, as all the locals had been there before and knew it better than us. Imatra was pretty dangerous in Finland, as was the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix on the old street circuit at Brno. Spa’s old street circuit in Belgium was fierce too.

If you could go back to one race circuit to ride again, which would it be?

I’d probably choose somewhere nice and safe, like Mugello. You get to the stage where you’ve gone through a lot of accidents, so you don’t really want to continue doing the hard stuff. That’s why as you get older, you generally get slower. I’ve ridden a road bike around Mugello but I wouldn’t mind riding a race bike round there. I rode a 500cc two-stroke round there in the 70s but it has changed a bit since then! I wouldn’t mind a blast round on an RCV!

Your thoughts on the British Talent Cup?

I think it is great. I think any championship for youngsters to build up their talent in the kind of country we live in is good. It’s a bit like an academy. The Red Bull Rookies has been brilliant, so many riders of today have come through that, such as Zarco. There can never be enough cups, simply because we need to give chances to kids who don’t necessarily come from privileged families. It’s an expensive sport and if you come from a not – so – privileged family, then you’ll probably end up playing football or rugby or cricket, which you can do down on the village green. However, with motorcycle racing, you need a wealthy parent to get you a motorcycle. If you can get more riders then it’s good because the bigger championships will be choosing from a bigger pocket of people.

I am a believer in the fact that if you can ride a motorbike, you can ride a motorbike, whether that be on a GP bike or Superbike. Danny Kent may be an exception to that and going back to my era, then Angel Nieto never could ride a big bike. Jonny Rea, Ben Spies and Cal Crutchlow have all proved that they can win or do well on either prototypes or road-go bikes. I don’t think it will take away from riders coming to the British championship.

Will Brexit effect British motorcycle racing, or motorcycle racing on a whole?

I think it will effect the country. I voted to remain in the EU because I feel we are bigger and better and a lot easier together. I travel a lot and a lot of people do the same, so I don’t really see the point in Brexit. For me, we’ve gone the wrong way. I’ll get my shoulder behind it like everyone else however. It could, in theory, hinder international based British companies that want to trade with the EU, however I really don’t know. I come from a period where, when I wanted to drive to Italy, I had to get stamps in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland etc. Open Europe has been a Godsend for everyone and lets hope it stays that way.

The state of other national championships.

They lost their way a bit. We are sat here on a sunny day at Snetterton and the amount of teams, sponsors, motorhomes, personnel etc is huge. I’ve walked around just now with Matt Robert’s and I think it is as good as any WSBK event, if not bigger. I suspect their series’ aren’t as healthy as ours because half the good guys come here anyway. BSB is unquestionably the strongest domestic championship in the world.

What are your favourite pranks?

Oh God. There’s been so many of them! The easiest one to do and anyone can do this at home – it sounds like one of these Blue Peter programmes! If you get they keys to someone’s car, then just wind the window down and put a brick and some shattered glass on the seat. You need some broken glass of course – I always keep a dustbin full of broken glass which I get from Autoglass. Then, when the person comes out, all you have to say is that they’ve had problems with the gypsies or the neighbours. Lend them some tape to try stick it together and then they generally drive down to a garage or Autoglass to get it replaced, when the actual window itself is just wound down! I got my daughter not long ago – she should know better!

Now, with this remote control rat, it looks like it could be quite good for ladies toilets. You have to get in there in the first place and whizz it under and then listen for the scrambling of feet and the screaming. In a restaurant would probably be good too. I know you used yours in KFC. If you do it in the right restaurant then you might be able to get a discount with your meal but then again, I might end up in the shit!

I would like to say a massive thank you to Steve for his time, as I know he was pushed for time as his Plummet Airways flight back to South Cambridgeshire was departing very shortly. We wish Steve all the best and look forward to seeing or hearing him in his various forms across the TV.

Interview by Kiko Giles – @MotoGPKiko

26th July 20176th August 2017

Ungarn -GP: Was ist drin für McLaren-Honda?

Für McLaren-Honda könnte der Ungarn GP sportlich eine der größten Chancen der gesamten Saison werden. Doch neben der Performance auf der Strecke steht weiterhin die Frage im Fokus, ob die leidgeprüfte Britisch-Japanische Allianz auch 2018 zusammen an den Start gehen wird.

Das anstehende Wochenende in Ungarn wird auch in diesem Jahr wieder eine der größten Hoffnungen auf Punkte für McLaren werden. Nicht umsonst rechnen sich die Verantwortlichen nur in Monaco und Singapur ähnliche Chancen aus. Bereits in den letzten beiden Jahren konnte man auf dem Hungaroring, einer Strecke auf der ein gutes Chassis deutlich besser zur Geltung kommt, als bei den meisten anderen Rennen im Kalender, die besten Saisonergebnisse erzielen.

Die Statistik gibt ihnen Recht:

Während Fernando Alonso und Jenson Button im Katastrophenjahr 2015 hier mit den Plätzen 5 und 9 glänzten, schafften es beim letztjährigen GP beide McLaren-Fahrer erstmals seit 2014 in den dritten Qualifikationsabschnitt.

Auch dass der MCL32 der wohl vom Chassis her beste McLaren in den letzten Jahren ist und man in Silverstone deutliche Fortschritte von der Pace sehen konnte, spricht für eine gute Chance an diesem Wochenende.

Alonso muss an diesem Wochenende ausnahmsweise auch nach jetzigen Stand noch nicht über eine Startplatzstrafe bangen: Dieser Umstand ist der Tatsache geschuldet, dass man bereits in Silverstone sämtliche Teile an der Powerunit des Wagens mit der Startnummer 14 wechselte, um sich in Ungarn nicht um eine gute Chance zu bringen.

Zu der Hoffnung des guten Chassis und der wohl gewohnt einwandfreien Leistung von Alonso, gesellt sich jedoch auch Mut auf der anderen Seite der Garage. Stoffel Vandoorne konnte bei den letzten Rennen ein klaren Aufwärtstrend verzeichnen, zuletzt sogar seinen Teamkollegen zum ersten Mal in dieser Saison ausqualifizieren.

“Auch wenn wir etwas Pech hatten, fühle ich, dass meine Performance sich von Rennen zu Rennen steigert. Ich arbeite hart mit den Ingenieuren und fühle mich nun wohl im Auto. Meine Rennwochenenden laufen nun deutlich besser als im ersten Teil der Saison und wir machen als Team jedes Wochenende Fortschritte. Wir haben die Geduld, arbeiten hart und hoffen dass sich unser Einsatz lohnen wird.”

Das Team weiß: Es gibt in dieser Saison nicht mehr solche großen Chancen wie in Ungarn, Punkte zu holen. Und die hat man auch bitter nötig, denn selbst 2015 hatte man zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt mehr Punkte als jetzt. Mit zwei Punkten hängt das einstige Siegerteam weiterhin auf dem letzten Platz der Konstrukteursweltmeisterschaft.

Doch ebenso gibt es berechtigte Sorge, dass aus einem guten Punkteresultat erneut nichts werden könnte: Und da wären wir bereits beim Thema Honda angelangt. Während die Japaner die Antriebseinheit nach der letzten Ausbaustufe zumindest leistungsmäßig etwas nach vorne bringen konnten, wird man weiterhin von Zuverlässigkeitsproblemen heimgesucht. Zuletzt traf es Alonso beim Rennen in Silverstone, als der Spanier sein McLaren wiedermal mit den Worten “No power” in die Box schleppen musste. Grund genug für den Starpiloten sich Gedanken zu machen:

“Das Wichtigste ist für uns wie immer die Zuverlässigkeit. Selbst wenn unser Auto in Ungarn konkurrenzfähiger sein wird, brauchen wir ein Problemfreies Wochenende um jede Chance auf Punkte nutzen zu können. ” – Fernando Alonso

Hierbei sei eine aktuelle Statistik von den Kollegen bei Speedweek.com erwähnenswert: Diese zogen die Ausfallquote von Alonso aus den Jahren 2005 bis 2014 zum Vergleich mit der von 2015 bis Mitte 2017 heran. Das Ergebnis: Während Alonso in den ersten genannten Jahren eine Ausfallquote von weniger als 10% vorzuweisen hatte, schied der Spanier in den letzten drei Jahren in 40% (!) aller Rennen aus.

In Bezug auf die Konkurrenzfähigkeit des Motors drängte sich in den letzten Wochen immer mehr die Frage auf, wie es mit der einst so glohrreichen Partnerschaft McLaren-Honda weitergehen könnte. Wenn es nach einigen Medienberichten ginge, würde McLaren 2018 wohl mit vier verschiedenen Motoren an den Start gehen. Vom sicher erzählten Mercedes-Comeback, über ein Alfa Romeo-Ferrari Motor und zuletzt die Möglichkeit Renault. Fakt ist: McLaren und Honda haben ein bestehenden Vertrag und Honda-Motorsport-Chef Masashi Yamamoto stellt klar:

“Wir haben einen Vertrag mit McLaren. Und der sieht nicht vor, dass McLaren mit einem anderen Partner arbeiten kann, auch nicht übergangsmässig. Für uns käme das ohnehin nicht in Betracht. Einen Rückzug aus der Formel 1 wird es nicht geben. Ich rede ständig mit Firmenpräsident Takahiro Hachigo. Es gibt keine Absicht, die Formel 1 zu verlassen.”

Auch die Worte von McLaren-Boss Zak Brown klingen mittlerweile deutlich zahmer als noch vor einigen Wochen. Mercedes und Ferrari scheinen nicht zu wollen und ob man das Risiko “Renault” eingeht, ist ebenfalls fraglich. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit McLaren und Honda 2018 gemeinsam am Start zu sehen, wird immer höher.

Was auch immer am Ende bei diesem Motorentheater rauskommen wird, eine Entscheidung ist wohl in den nächsten Wochen nicht in Sicht. So bleibt den Verantwortlichen aus Woking und auch den McLaren-Fans nichts anderes übrig, als das Beste aus der Situation zu machen und an diesem Wochenende erneut auf eine ähnliche Sensation wie in Silverstone zu hoffen, als mit dem kurzfristigen Schachzug auf abtrocknender Strecke auf Slicks zu wechseln, am Ende von Q1 mit tosenden Applaus das Erste Mal seit Indien 2013 ein McLaren auf Platz 1 in einer offiziellen Session stand.

26th July 20176th August 2017

Hungarian GP: Big chance for McLaren?

The Hungarian Grand Prix could be one of the biggest chances for McLaren-Honda to score some points and start to catch up the midfield. But while the focus is on track performance, the big question remains if the long-suffering British-Japanese alliance will be still competing together in 2018.

The upcoming weekend in Budapest will be the big hope for the third year in a row for McLaren. In the last two years, the team’s best results of the season have been achieved at the Hungaroring, where a good chassis is much more important than on most of any other tracks in the current calendar.

While Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button finished fifth and ninth in the disaster year of 2015 both McLaren drivers made it to the third qualifying session in last year’s Grand Prix.

With the MCL32, probably the best McLaren chassis in the last few years, showing significant progress at Silverstone, this race should be a good opportunity.

Also (currently) Alonso doesn’t have to worry about a grid penalty this weekend: this is due to the fact that McLaren changed all parts of the engine in Silverstone, to protect Alonso from grid penalties in Budapest.

With the good chassis, there is also light on the other side of the garage. Stoffel Vandoorne was able to show a clear uptrend in the last races: most recently his Q3 appearance at Silverstone, in which he outqualified his teammate for the first time this year.

“I’ve won in Hungary before, in GP2, and I enjoy driving on this track,” Vandoorne said. “Although we’ve been a bit unlucky, I feel that my performances have been consistent and improving race-by-race.

“I’ve been working hard with the engineers and I feel confident in the car—my weekends are coming together better now in the first part of the season and as a team we are progressing every weekend. We have to be patient, keep working hard, and I hope to see the reward for our efforts paying off soon.”

McLaren have to score points in Hungary. Just in mind: even in the painful 2015 season, the team had more points than now. With only two points in the bag, the ex-winners still hangs in the last place of the Constructors’ World Championship.

Reliability

Unfortunately, there is still a big concern for this weekend: and there it is, the big topic of the last weeks: Honda. While the Japanese were able to bring more power with the latest upgrade, the engine is still hurt by massive reliability issues—the latest being on Alonso’s car in Silverstone, when the Spaniard had to drag his McLaren back into the pits with the words, “No power”. Reason enough for the star pilot to think about the reliability:

“The important thing for us, as always, is reliability,” Alonso said. “Even if our car could perform better in Hungary, we need to have a trouble-free weekend to take advantage of every opportunity for points.

“We made some big decisions in Silverstone in terms of taking grid penalties in preparation for this race, and hope that’s paid off so we can put ourselves in the best possible position for points this weekend.”

A current statistic from Speedweek.com shows the worse numbers since 2015. They put the rate of DNF’s from Alonso’s F1 years from 2005–2014 in comparison to his last three seasons with McLaren-Honda. The shocking result: while Alonso had a failure rate of less than 10% in the first few years, the Spaniard failed to finish 40% of his races in the last three years.

McLaren and the engine question

Regarding the competitiveness of the engine, more and more people have been wondering how the McLaren-Honda partnership could continue. If all the media reports tell the truth, McLaren would probably start with four different engines in 2018. From the obvious Mercedes comeback, to a branded Alfa Romeo-Ferrari engine, and finally the possibility of Renault.

The fact is, McLaren and Honda have an existing contract and Honda Motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto spoke to the media last week and made it clear that Honda has no intention to leave McLaren or the sport, or consider the possibility of McLaren using another engine until the Japanese company solves its problems:

“There is a contract between us and the premise of the talks with them is to continue,” he said. “We exclude the possibility that McLaren will even temporarily use the power unit of another manufacturer. I am always talking with president Takahiro Hachigo and the board members, and there is no intention to withdraw from Formula One.”

After comments to the media from both the McLaren leadership and from the drivers, the words of McLaren boss Zak Brown and the whole Woking team have been much quieter since the Austrian Grand Prix.

While Mercedes and Ferrari don’t seem to want supply McLaren, the talks with Renault as an engine partner continue. But the chance of seeing McLaren and Honda together on the 2018 grid is getting more and more likely. Not only because of the loss of money, but because time is also playing against the British team. But there are other reasons why McLaren will probably stay with Honda:

There is maybe time until October to decide what engine should be in next year’s car—but remember that the Renault engine has a completely different layout then the Mercedes or Honda engine. Honda copied the Mercedes concept after getting to the performance limit with their 2015/2016 engine layouts. According to Zak Brown, the building of the 2018 car begins now. That means that the team has to build two different chassis, one for a Honda engine and the other for a Renault engine. That will definitely be no help for 2018.
If McLaren break the current contract between them and Honda while not having another engine deal in the pocket, they will not only pay much money for breaking the contract. The FIA Rules say: The manufacturer with the fewest teams to supply will be forced to supply a team which has no engine. And you know what manufacturer that is? Bingo! It’s Honda.

Remembering these facts, McLaren will probably be forced to keep Honda as partner next year and hoping for a massive improvement.

Whatever is going to come out at the end of this engine-war, a decision will probably be taken in the coming weeks. So the team and the fans will have no choice, but to make the best of the situation and believe in something similar as two weeks ago in Silverstone, where a McLaren finished a session (Q1) fastest for the first time since India 2013.

26th July 2017

Formula E: 2017 Montreal ePrix Preview

The end of the 2016–17 Formula E season is upon us. In a few days time, the chequered flag will fall at the second round of the Montréal ePrix, and the champion of season three will be crowned.

Mathematically speaking, there are still four drivers in contention for the title going into Montréal—Sébastien Buemi, Lucas di Grassi, Felix Rosenqvist, and Sam Bird. But as anyone who has followed this season will know, it would take something truly special to see three of those four drivers come out on top come Sunday.

Bird, who was propelled into the top four by his double victory in New York, would need to score every available point this weekend—both wins, both poles and both fastest laps—with Buemi scoring none at all if he has any hopes of taking the season three title. Nor does Rosenqvist have much more margin for error, sitting just four points ahead of Bird and 53 behind Buemi; in fact, this pair will be more concerned by Nico Prost, who at twenty points behind them will be a major threat for third overall.

Di Grassi has the best chance of sneaking through to the title, having both arguably the second-fastest car on the grid and only a ten-point deficit to overcome. However, that gap will likely feel more like a gulf psychologically, considering the opportunity he missed in Buemi’s absence to take the lead of the championship in New York. There is still time for di Grassi to turn things around, but it would take a level of performance the Brazilian has frankly yet to show this season.

In the teams’ championship, the top spot is unsurprisingly safe in the hands of Renault e.Dams. ABT Schaeffler Audi, however, will have their hands full fending off Mahindra for second place in what has been by far the Indian team’s best season yet; with just twelve points separating the two squads, another podium for Rosenqvist or Nick Heidfeld could be enough to lift Mahindra to an outstanding best-of-the-rest come Sunday evening.

DS Virgin could move up to take third, providing Bird or José María López can build on the team’s dominant New York performance and recover the 29 points by which they trail Mahindra. The series’ two Chinese teams, Techeetah and NextEV, look set to finish fifth and sixth respectively—an impressive result considering the former is in its debut season and the latter finished last year in last place.

Behind them, the US outfits Andretti and Dragon Racing are locked on thirty points apiece and will both be desperate to break that tie. António Félix da Costa will be especially hungry for points, having yet to score since the season opener in Hong Kong whilst his teammate Robin Frijns sits in twelfth with double the Portuguese driver’s points total.

But as well as each other, Andretti and Dragon will need to keep their eyes on Venturi and Jaguar, who lurk just two and nine points behind respectively. For Jaguar, the opportunity to finish their first season in Formula E as high as seventh will be a major inspiration for the team, and in particular for Mitch Evans, who has acclimatised to the series quickly in his rookie season and scored the lion’s share of his team’s points.

Jaguar will no doubt need Evans, and Adam Carroll too, to have a strong weekend in Canada if they are to finish above Venturi at the very least. Like Jaguar, the Monegasque team enjoys its own pairing of points-capable rookies in Maro Engel and Tom Dillmann, and Engel especially will be someone of whom the lower midfield teams will be very wary: pumped up from his maiden DTM win in Moscow last weekend, the German should have all the necessary momentum to hunt down those few points his team needs to beat Andretti and Dragon.

Although the sharp end of the two championships looks to be a foregone conclusion in Buemi’s and Renault’s favour, 2017’s inaugural Montréal ePrix still has plenty of room to spring a few surprises. Stay tuned to ThePitCrewOnline for all the action and updates across the weekend.

26th July 201731st July 2017

F2 Hungary Preview: Chasing Charles in Budapest

The last round of the Formula 2 season before the summer break takes place at the Hungaroring circuit just outside of Budapest, a track which traces its history back to 1986. We are now past the halfway point in the championship, with Charles Leclerc storming ahead at the top of the driver standings after another strong showing in the two back to back race weekends at Spielberg and Silverstone. But it’s all change in the standings below him, with Russian Time’s Artem Markelov moving into second place, and DAM’s Oliver Rowland falling to third, just three points separating the two drivers. Their respective teammates; Luca Ghiotto and Nicholas Latifi, could very easily come into contention as the season progresses, as they trail not far behind. But if Leclerc continues his prodigious form, then his fellow competitors will have to dig deep to threaten him.

Prema showed impressive form in Budapest last year, with eventual champion Pierre Gasly taking pole and the win in the feature race, and Antonio Giovinazzi coming in second to give the Italian team a double podium. If Charles Leclerc can score his seventh successive pole on Friday, then he will set a new record for the most consecutive pole positions in GP2/F2, inheriting that title from Stoffel Vandoorne. And a good weekend in Hungary would set the young Monegasque driver up well, not only for the month off, but also for the day of testing he will do for Ferrari next week, also at the Hungaroring. While his Prema teammate, fellow Ferrari junior driver, Antonio Fuoco, looked like he had made positive steps forward in Austria, scoring his first podium of the season, another pointless weekend in Silverstone showed he is still a long way off his teammate. Prema have retaken first place in the team standings, but only by three points.

DAMS occupy second in the team standings, with Russian Time just a single point behind them in third. With two of the strongest driver pairings on the grid, it will be a tough fight until the end of the season to see who comes out on top, particularly with their sets of drivers so close together. If Nicholas Latifi had started his season as well as he is performing now, then he may have been up there with his teammate Rowland, but there is still plenty of time for him to close the gap. Meanwhile Russian Time’s Ghiotto is still in search of that race win, but has been stringing together a series of consistent results, perhaps leading many to overlook and underestimate the Italian driver. All four drivers from these teams have certainly proved that they are capable of performing, but it is qualifying that is the area where they are still looking for that perfect result.

After fielding three different drivers in one seat so far this season, Trident announced that Haas development and current GP3 driver Santino Ferucci will race in the number 17 car in Hungary alongside Nabil Jeffri. While the last two drivers to fill that spot; Raffaele Marciello and Callum Ilott were only drafted in for a single round, there is no indication as to whether Ferucci is a permanent addition to the team. The young American driver will be forced to miss this weekend’s GP3 round, but the call up does offer a better opportunity to impress those who have eyes on him in the Formula 1 paddock.

French team ART have the potential to pull off a good weekend in Hungary. GP3 graduate Alexander Albon secured victory at the track last year, and despite his overall weaker season in 2016, Nobuharu Matsushita qualified well at the Hungaroring, and managed to score points in one of his best finishes of the season. Albon will be looking to make up lost ground, his points tally still suffering from missing the round in Baku and a disappointing weekend in Silverstone.

Since moving to Rapax ahead of the Austrian round, junior formula veteran Sergio Canamasas has amassed enough points to move the Italian team into fifth place in the team standings. The Spanish driver scored his best results of the season at the British round of the Formula 2 season, a fifth and a fourth place (helped along a little by Oliver Rowland’s time penalty), and will hope to carry that momentum with him to Hungary. His teammate, Nyck de Vries, however, needs to bounce back from the previous round; one he walked away from almost empty handed. Despite his failure to start the feature race at Silverstone, due to a power problem, his impressive drive on Sunday from the back of the grid to score a pair of points proves that he might already have recovered from a spell of misfortune.

Since their race win back in Baku, Pertamina Arden have improved considerably compared their early season performances. Norman Nato’s podium in Silverstone, and Sean Gelael’s drive from eighteenth to ninth, indicate that this is one team on an upward curve. Nato performed well at the Hungaroring last year, scoring points in both races, and a podium in the sprint race – the kind of results he will want to replicate this weekend.

Down the bottom of the standings, MP Motorsport, Campos Racing and Racing Engineering have floundered in recent rounds, struggling to score more than a few points for the most part. Admittedly, MP Motorsport’s Jordan King has only failed to score points in races from which he has retired or been disqualified, but the handful he has secured is not enough to give his season any momentum. His combined struggles with the team have made for a disappointing season for the Brit, who lined up in Bahrain hoping that 2017 would be his year.

The underperforming is perhaps most disappointing for Racing Engineering, who came second in the team standings in 2016. Despite flashes of form in the early rounds, they have faded to the back of the field. The Spanish team achieved a double podium in the sprint race in Hungary last year and though that kind of result seems highly unlikely, the team could do with replicating some semblance of the form they had last year.

For those in the title battle, the Formula 2 season has very much turned into a game of catch up between Charles Leclerc and the rest of the front runners. But with two races each round, and points for pole positions and fastest laps, the season is deceptively long, and if Leclerc’s form was to slip, especially going into the summer break this weekend, then there is no shortage of drivers snapping at his heels.

25th July 201726th July 2017

Exclusive: Shane Byrne Interview: Why Not Carry On?

I felt privileged to chat to an icon of British Superbikes. Five time champion and the series’ defending champion Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne gave me a great insight into what it’s like at the top of British Superbike whilst also enduring a tricky start to the 2017 season. This is what he had to say in answer to some questions I put to him, way back at Snetterton.

2017 in your words…

The first part of the year has been really difficult. BSB is BSB and as much as some people dislike The Showdown, sometimes it can work for you. I think that as it turns out, even without The Showdown scenario, we’re slowly but surely clawing our way back to the top. We’ve got our difficult tracks out the way now so I’m very hopeful and here (Snetterton) is the start of a run of circuits that I really enjoy and the bike works very well at.

Whilst it hasn’t been the strongest of starts to the year, it’s not because we haven’t had the speed or because of problems. It’s because I got really unlucky at Donington Park and lost the front on a cold tyre, keeping me out of both races. Then at Brands, I really wanted to win and without question I was going to win race two, then, I lost the front on the bumps and down I went. That’s racing. I’ve been around a really long time and you learn to roll with the lows and enjoy the highs when they come.

Are you surprised at how competitive Glenn Irwin has been this year?

Not at all, why would I be surprised? He’s got exactly the same bike as I have. Glenn has come from a very fast family. His dad was a very quick racer. One of his brothers is leading the British Motocross Championship, his younger brother is doing well here in Supersport and you’d be mad to think that Glenn wouldn’t be there too. He’s had a relatively short circuit racing career but at the same time, he’s come through very quick. He’s had a season and a bit on the bike now and there has to be a point where you say, ‘time to do a job now’. As it stands, he’s got unlucky with an accident at Knockhill and all he needs to do now is get himself back and back strong again. The problem with these bikes is that they are so hard to ride. If you comeback injured, you might not be able to do a proper job. Then your confidence starts to go down and it’s spirals from there.

Do you think he will be in The Showdown?

I certainly think so. He’s a very strong and determined rider and if there’s anything I can do to help him secure a top six place then obviously, I will. However, first things first, I need to secure my own placing! I need to get myself up there in the podium points standings. He should be fine when he gets back at Brands Hatch.

Since joining the paddock in 1999, what has been the standout moment for you, excluding your 5 titles?

I don’t know really. I’ve seen lots of people come and lots of people go. I’ve seen lots of fuss made of some people and not so much of others. I’ve seen people where you think, ‘if you had a good bike, you’d do really well’ and others on good bikes where you think, ‘you’re not that good at all’! That’s not me being harsh, it’s the facts.

At Knockhill, I was 7th in the standings and well down on podium credits. I left Knockhill 3rd in the championship and with two podiums. In some ways, you could say ‘job done’. The problem is that it’s not enough. It’s only enough when you come away with two wins. I think the minute that I start accepting third place is worrying.

It’s not what I am here for. I have to push and your continuously looking for that extra something.

Talk about rider preparation in a top BSB team.

I’ve started doing something at this round in my personal preparation. I’ve never done it in my whole career! You may not find half a second in one change on the bike, but three changes on the bike and you might find 0.1 here, 0.5 there. Suddenly, you’ve found a second. It’s the same with your personal preparation. Everything you do and the way you go about doing it has to be in the manner of ‘chipping away’. You’re at the top of a very professional championship and sometimes, I might be the benchmark of the championship, so other riders will be taking chunks out of you. Therefore, you have to find ways to be faster, stronger etc. It’s good and I enjoy the challenge of that. People say to me “how much longer are you going to be around?” etc, but I’ve got some pretty big numbers I want to hit in the championship. The 100 victories is obviously a target. On average, since coming back in 2011, I win 8-12 races per year. The 100 victories is one of my little missions.

Do you feel that you never got a proper chance at World level?

I’d give up all five BSB titles for one WSBK championship. That’s my dream: to be a world champion. The day you stop dreaming of being world champion is the day to hang your leathers up. I still dream of it but the problem is I’m not in the WSBK series!

Could you return to WSBK in the future?

I don’t know. Listen, people look at me now, at 40 years old and think, ‘when are you going to retire?’, ‘do you think you can do this, do you think you can do that?’ and I feel like saying ‘f*** **f’, I’m here to race and win – which I am doing. When you can put on a performance like I have this weekend and show everyone that you can still do it, then why not carry on?

Who was your standout teammate throughout your career?

Carlos Checa was great as a teammate. Jeremy McWilliams was a lot of fun! Ryuichi Kiyonari is the standout one though. I had, and still have, so much respect for that guy. I’m gutted that he left because even when I was his teammate on the exact same bike, when things were going good for me and not so good him, you could never, ever discount him. There was enough mutual respect between us that we never discounted each other. Lots of things have to be right for Ryuichi but his speed is unquestionable. He’s doing the Suzuka 8hr this year, chances are he will win. He’s undoubtedly one of the fastest guys I’ve ever raced.

Image by Gareth Davies of Full Factory Photography.

Story by Kiko Giles

@MotoGPKiko

24th July 20176th August 2017

Red Bull “Hungary” For Success

Red Bull have been edging closer and closer to the top since the beginning of the season, a common trend since the hybrid era in 2014.

The cars seem to start off with a well oiled chassis, up there with the best on the grid. The repetitive scenario is that over the winter period it seems that other engine manufacturers just get that extra horsepower that Red Bull don’t which is leaving them in a current no mans land.

Daniel Ricciardo was excellent in Baku, taking full advantage of others misfortune after his own strife at the start, but could Hungary see the team back at the front on pace? Adrian Newey is by all means one of the greatest designers of all time, whilst everyone uses their computer aided designs (CAD) and tinkers it with a keyboard to this day Newey will still get a pencil, ruler and rubber out.

This is simply amazing, he after beginning his career in 1988 with March hasn’t changed his approach up until this day, a current successful 19 years in the sport. Coming from championships in the early 90’s with Williams, Mclaren in ,1998 & 1999 and as current with Red Bull from 2009 to 2013 Newey’s say on the car is the catalyst for performance. It is widely tipped that like Barcelona a previous highly dependant downforce track Red Bull are rumoured to be bringing substantial upgrades to their RB13.

There is only so much they can make up aerodynamically with their power deficit. If anyone can come up with something it is Newey. He has stepped aside for the time being with Aston Martin road cars, one of Red Bull’s newest sponsors to look at the F1 car. Hungary is less power dependant and with the nature of the highly downforce based second sector this could be one of few chances remaining they have the chance on pace alone to match Mercedes & Ferrari.

Red Bull always tend to be there or thereabouts on heavy fuel but low fuel qualifying they don’t have the extra power they can unlock like Mercedes. We saw Red Bull win in 2014 under the guidance of Daniel Ricciardo, and that was placed on outright performance, his move on Vettel at turn 1 once more showed his epic mastery of late braking, although this isn’t one of their happiest hunting grounds.

In qualifying it will be important to be best of the rest as per the previous races this season, then the start. Max Verstappen at Montreal for example got a fantastic start jumping drivers to second. The car wasn’t competitive enough to place the pressure to eventual winner Lewis Hamilton on that day but things could be different in Hungary.

There are few tracks remaining where Red Bull will be competing at the top with their current car but upgrades and the mid-season test follow.

If this goes well in Hungary and the in the test this could be the reminder to Ferrari and Mercedes that Red Bull aren’t just an energy drink company.

Chris Lord 24/07/20-7

IMAGE: Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

24th July 20176th August 2017

Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel Have Had Their Fair Share of Bad Luck, it’s Game On Now

The Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend sees three men in with a chance to lead the World Drivers’ Championship after the race.

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton are virtually neck and neck at the summit, but Valtteri Bottas has certainly put himself in the hunt.

Suddenly there is a lot more riding on this weekend.

The British Grand Prix set the cat amongst the pigeons in the Formula One World Championship fight.

Where before, Vettel had a lead of 20 points and was steadily extending his lead in the Championship on diet of consistency served with a side of controversy, that gap is no more.

Hamilton’s dominant display at Silverstone coupled with Vettel’s afternoon from hell meant that the Brit’s deficit was cut to just one point.

We’re now exactly halfway through the season, and while Vettel and Hamilton have been the two central figures, Bottas in the second Mercedes cannot be ruled out of the running either.

The Finn has quietly and calmly closed the gap since retirement in Spain from third place – had he finished that race, he’d be only eight points behind Vettel.

Hamilton’s headrest strife in Azerbaijan following that series of crazy events in Baku undoubtedly cost him 15 points, while he was off colour all weekend in Sochi.

Vettel was on for third in Silverstone before his tyre blowout and also should have been higher in Canada after contact with Max Verstappen’s Red Bull caused extensive damage to his front wing and floor, costing the German a podium.

Bottas has confounded experts who said that he was a stop gap until Fernando Alonso could break free from his McLaren contract at the end of 2017.

Victories in Russia and Austria have put him within a race win of the decorated Hamilton.

And that could cause Mercedes a headache. While Ferrari can, and have, lined up behind Vettel from early on this season, Mercedes cannot.

Budapest suits Lewis Hamilton. After all, he has won there five times already – although never in a season in which he has won a world title.

Tighter circuits similar to the Hungaroring layout have tended to suit the Ferrari car, and with the weather often hot in Hungary the Prancing Horse will also be bullish about their chances.

Vettel also has a victory here, taken at the chaotic 2015 staging of the event.

The last time the winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix went on to win the World Championship in the same season was 2004 during the Schumacher/Ferrari juggernaut.

One of the three title contenders will have something to say about that this weekend.

IMAGE CREDIT: Mercedes AMG F1 Photography Pool – Wolfgang Wilhelm, Australian Grand Prix 2017

24th July 201725th July 2017

The Cosworth Option

The Cosworth option

With the recent news that Cosworth could be set for a return to Formula 1 in 2021 alongside the new engine rules and regulations I’ve decided to take a look at who could possibly be the benefactors of this move. As ever nothing is confirmed yet and these are only a few possibilities of what could happen.

Before we look at “who” we first need to understand “why” this would be a good move. Cosworth has huge experience in building and tuning race winning engines. Most famously of course with the Ford DFV which to this day is still one of the most successful engines to ever compete in Formula 1. The rumours suggest that the FIA and the teams want to look for a cheaper version of the current V6 hybrids, this is where Cosworth step in. Because Cosworth operates solely as an engine builder their overheads are a lot smaller than the existing manufactures who all produce various road and race cars. These smaller overheads mean that the customer could then pay a considerable amount less for their power units effectively creating a cost cutting scheme in Formula 1. To go along with this, we would need some sort of hybrid system. Now this could be a spec system that every team would use or I’m sure that the clever guys at Cosworth would be able to come up with a system of their own.

These smaller costs could attract new teams to Formula 1. Whether they are independent teams looking to be the next Red Bull or a car manufacturer who doesn’t yet have the capabilities to produce a competitive power unit. This scenario would help the sport grow immensely as new teams would have a bigger budget to focus aerodynamics and the car’s chassis. Both crucial for making sure you get off to a good start in F1. More teams also means more exposure. New sponsors would once again look to Formula 1 as a way of showcasing their products, in turn creating more money for the sport as a whole.

Now for the existing teams, who if anyone could benefit from this? For me the most obvious team to take this would be Red Bull. Since the hybrid era started in 2014 they haven’t really been able to compete up at the sharp end consistently. The constantly say they need more power, drivability and reliability from their power units (formerly Renault now Tag Heuer branded). There’s no guarantee of course that the gamble would pay off. But it’s hard to move forward if you stand still. Another team that would benefit hugely from this could be McLaren. Their poor form over the last few seasons has been hugely down to their Honda power unit. Every issue you could imagine has occurred for the Woking team which has stunted their development. Reports suggest that Honda is at least five years behind the competition. It seems as though they started on the wrong foot and now have to play catch-up. But is it too little too late? While this move could be a little bit too far away for McLaren it is certainly a great “what if” story. If we’re looking purely at financial gains then the obvious team to take this would be Sauber. We constantly hear stories of how team members haven’t been paid and that the team is struggling to survive. This also affects on track performance as to save money Sauber have resorted to using last year’s Ferrari power units. So a current spec power unit that also costs a lot less, this would be like Christmas to the struggling Swiss team. It would also keep them safely on the grid, it would be a real shame to lose Sauber after all their achievements in the sport.

So if you were a team boss, would you take up the Cosworth option?

24th July 20176th August 2017

Kubica confirmed to test for Renault in Hungary

After much speculation, today Renault Sport F1 team confirmed that Robert Kubica will be driving the R.S. 17 in Hungary on August 2nd as part of the two days of mid-season testing for the teams. After a series of private tests in older Renault machinery, this announcement marks the next step in what many hope will be the Pole’s full comeback to Formula 1.

Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director at Renault, previously labelled Kubica as an “option” for Renault in 2018, and claimed that he saw no “obvious roadblocks” to the return of the Polish driver, who was a race winner back in 2008. Kubica himself claimed that he believed he could drive again at the level he did before his career stalling rally crash in 2011, and was quoted as estimating his chances of a return to F1 as “80%-90%”.

This test will mark the first time Kubica completes laps in up-to-date Formula 1 machinery, and will give both Renault, and the general public, a chance to see how he fares in the newer, more physical cars. It will also be the first time he will drive in a public testing session, where his competitiveness will be displayed to the world for the first time.

While rumours are abound that this is Renault’s way of gauging whether or not Kubica is fit to replace current driver Jolyon Palmer, with some placing the switch happening as soon as Spa. This seems unlikely however, as Abiteboul claims the test is merely to see whether it would be possible for Kubica to return in “the upcoming years”. But nevertheless, the announcement marks a huge step forward in the Pole’s quest to return to racing in Formula 1 full time.

Still, fans will be watching very closely to see how his times compare to those of Palmer, and whether or not he manages to last a full race distance. And regardless of whether it leads to a race seat or not, few will not enjoy seeing Robert Kubica back driving a Formula 1 car again. It looks more and more likely that what people once thought was impossible, might become a reality.

Renault also announced that Canadian Formula 2 driver, Nicholas Latifi, will test the Renault R.S. 17 on the other day of the two day test at the Hungaroring.