All three manufacturers of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters came to Vallelunga for a three-day test. It was the first time the cars were present in the fully homologated 2017 spec.
Audi Sport brought to Italy Mattias Ekström and Jamie Green. It was Ekström who gave the new RS 5 DTM first public laps and was very pleased with the experience:
(c) DTM
“We tried out a lot of different things: short stints, long runs, qualifying simulations and many different set-up variants. The new DTM cars are definitely more demanding in terms of driving skills. Plus, finding a perfect set-up compromise for the softer tires and the changed aerodynamics is a great challenge. The season is going to be packed with excitement for sure!” Ekstrom commented.
Both Audi drivers covered 2121 kilometres between them.
Mercedes-AMG’s drivers Robert Wickens, Gary Paffett and Edoardo Mortara posted 518 laps between them, equating to 2116 km. The Stuttgart brand focused mainly on a better understanding of the new-for-2017 softer compound tyres from series’ supplier Hankook.
(c) DTM
Head of the Mercedes-AMG’s programme Ulrich Fritz commented:
“The hard work has paid off so far with plenty of kilometres posted and data collected during two successful weeks of testing. Still, our work is far from over. We must now evaluate all the info, especially with regard to the new generation of tyres, and draw the right conclusions before final testing in Hockenheim.”
(c) DTM
BMW Motorsport decided not to share much information about their participation in testing. The Bavarian brand brought to the track Maxime Martin and Tom Blomqvist, who are understood to have spent the three days understanding the behaviour of the new M4 DTM, which under the new rules was given more power and less downforce than its predecessor.
The last round of collective testing will take place in Hockenheim on 3-6 April. The same track will host the season opener on 6-7 May.
One thing is for sure that we are going to see close racing throughout the four different classes this year. with different cars suiting different tracks and different weather conditions it is set up for a very exciting season.
There have been changes in every class for this year new. Updated cars from Porsche & Toyota in LMP1, new engine for ByKolles, the departure of Audi & Rebellion from LMP1. New cars, drivers, teams & engines in LMP2 and new, updated cars in both GTE-PRO & GTE-AM along with new teams and drivers.
The 2017 World Endurance Championship promises to be yet another fantastic year of sportscar racing.
First action for the WEC entries will be the prologue which this year takes place at Monza over the weekend of the 1st & 2nd April with 27 of the 28 season entries take part.
First race of the season is set to take place at Silverstone on 16th April with the entry list just announced, below is a link to the entries for Silverstone.
After Silverstone the WEC moves onto Spa on the 6th May then onto the BIGGEST & one of the oldest events on the motorsport calendar. The LE MANS 24 HOURS over the weekend of 17th & 18th June, Nurburgring on 16th July, Mexico on the 3rd September, Austin 16th September, Fuji 15th October, Shanghai 5th November with the end of season being in Bahrain on the 18th November.
(c) FIA WEC
LMP1
Unfortunately LMP1 is going to be a bit thin on the ground this year with the departure of Audi from the WEC & Rebellion going to LMP2 for 2017. This leaves just Porsche & Toyota (both running two cars each for the full season with Toyota running third car at Spa & Le Mans) as the only entries into LMP1 – H and one entry into LMP1 – L which is the ByKolles CLM with Nissan power this year.
Hopefully we will see some good battles this season between Porsche & Toyota. But it’s hard to see beyond the #1 Porsche for the world Championship with Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer & Nick Tandy onboard, although I am sure Toyota & the #2 Porsche will do their be to keep them honest.
Porsche see changes in both cars this year with Andre Lotterer & Nick Tandy replacing Romain Dumas & Marc Lieb in the #1 car & Earl Bamber replaces the now retired Mark Webber in the #2 car.
#1
Porsche 919 Hybrid
Neel Jani, Andre Lotterer, Nick Tandy
#2
Porsche 919 Hybrid
Timo Bernhard, Earl Bamber, Brendon Hartley
Toyota also see a slight change in there driver line up with Stephane Sarrazin stepping down (although he will race the third car at Spa & Le Mans) to be replaced by Jose Maria Lopez whilst the line up of Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima & Sebastien Buemi remains unchanged.
#7
Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, Jose Maria Lopez
#8
Toyota TS050 Hybrid
Anthony Davidson, Kazuki Nakajima, Sebastien Buemi
Not to be out done by Porsche & Toyota the ByKolles team also sees a change in the driver line up with Robert Kubica making a welcome return to circuit racing joining Oliver Webb in the #4 car and powered by the Nissan V6 turbo engine which was installed in the Nissan GT-R LM in 2015.
#4
ByKolles CLM Nismo
Robert Kubica & Oliver Webb
(c) @ManorWEC
LMP2
LMP2 see some major changes this year. gone is the option to run an open topped car, along with the choice of engines, and in comes a new for 2017 “spec” engine from Gibson. The new Gibson engine is a 4.2 litre V8 producing around 600bhp which will power all LMP2 cars this season. There is also now a choice of four chassis (ORECA, Onroak/Ligier, Dallara & Riley), unlike last year where chassis choice was open. There are ten cars entered for the full season, all teams have gone for the ORECA chassis this year (although two of them will be entered as Alpine A470). There are two cars each from Rebellion Racing (stepping down from LMP1 this year), CEFC Manor Racing, Signatech Alpine Matmut & Jackie Chan DC Racing (run by Jota). Single entries for G-Drive racing & TDS Racing.
Racing should be close in LMP2 this season with a lot resting on the shoulders of the “silver” rated driver and how they will cope with the increase in power & performance of the new generation of LMP2 cars.
Signatech Alpine will be out to retain their hard earned title from last year but will be pushed all the way to the chequered flag of the last race. Reliability could also play a major part in the outcome of this the LMP2 title with the Gibson being a new engine, although it has done plenty of bench testing and has been already used in this year’s Daytona 24 hours and Sebring 12 hours.
Trying to predict a championship winner in this class is pretty difficult, but I think it will come down to a battle between Signatech & Rebellion.
#13
Rebellion Racing
Matias Beche, David Heninemeier Hanson, Nelson Piquet Jr
For me this is probably the most exciting of all the classes with two cars each from Aston Martin Racing, Ford, Ferrari & Porsche and all with star driver line ups.
Porsche make a welcome return to the WEC GTE-PRO class with the new 911-RSR whilst Aston Martin, Ford & Ferrari all return with updated versions of last year’s cars and we also have a tyre war in both GTE classes this season with Dunlop & Michelin providing rubber to teams. Dunlop on the Aston Martins & Michelin on the Ford’s, Ferrari’s & Porsche’s.
Can Aston Martin retain their world championship from last year with Nicki Thiim & Marco Sorensen? Well this one is even closer to call than LMP2, with any of the eight cars more than capable of lifting the crown at the seasons end. Who will it be? Well your guess is as good as mine, I for one would like to see the Aston Martin of Darren Turner & Jonny Adams take the crown this year but they will have their work cut out.
One of the other big questions for both GTE classes is how much the dreaded “balance of performance” (Bop) affects things this year, let’s hope that Bop doesn’t get in the way of hopefully another fantastic wheel to wheel racing this season.
There are a few driver changes this year in GTE-PRO with Gianmaria Bruni departing from Ferrari & heading towards Porsche (not in WEC). He is being replaced by Alessandro Pier Guidi. Both Ford’s see the addition of a third driver this year. Along side Stefan Mucke & Oliver Pla will be Billy Johnson and teaming up with Andy Priaulx & Harry Tinknell will be Luis Felipe Derani.
#51
Ferrari
James Calado & Alessandro Pier Guidi
#66
Ford
Stefan Mucke, Oliver Pla, Billy Johnson
#67
Ford
Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell, Luis Felipe Derani
#71
Ferrari
Davide Rigon & Sam Bird
#91
Porsche
Richard Lietz & Frederic Makowiecki
#92
Porsche
Michel Christensen & Kevin Estre
#95
Aston Martin
Nicki Thiim & Marco Sorensen
#97
Aston Martin
Darren Turner & Jonathan Adam
GTE – AM
GTE – AM sees a five car entry for 2017 with the arrival of two Ferrari 488, two Porsche & one Aston Martin. The favourite for this class must surely be the #98 Aston Martin with the departure of last year’s winning Ferrari. Once again we see a tyre war with GTE – AM with Dunlop & Michelin providing rubber. Dunlop’s on both Porsche’s and Michelin on the Aston Martin & Ferrari’s.
#54
Ferrari
Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, TBA
#61
Ferrari
Weng Sun Mok, Keita Sawa, Matthew Griffin
#77
Porsche
Christian Ried, Matteo Cairoli, Marvin Dienst
#86
Porsche
Michael Wainwright, Benjamin Barker, TBA
#98
Aston Martin
Paul Dalla Lana, Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda
The 2017 WEC season is upon us. It is going to be fantastic. Hold on tight.
Williams Martini Racing is one of the most historic teams in the Motorsport history, Frank Williams and the British engineer Patrick Head were the two founders of the team. Williams made its debut with Marchs chassis in 1977 in the Spanish Grand Prix and took part in the second half of the Formula One season.
The first car, known as FW06, revealed at the end of 1977 and the Australian driver Alan Jones was the first who had the opportunity to drive it. At that time 17 people were working for Williams and Frank Williams found financial support from Middle Eastern companies.
At their debut season, Williams finished 9th in the constructors’ championship, took part in 16 races and finished once on the podium.
The following season was totally different as the FW07 scored 75 points and finished runner-up in the constructors’ championship, behind Ferrari. Williams won five races at that season and took three pole positions. The two drivers who raced that year were the Swiss Clay Regazzoni and the Australian Alan Jones. The first victory for the team came at the British Grand Prix, Regazzoni took the chequered flag and was about 25 seconds ahead of the other drivers.
Williams Domination
“This is the best feeling in the world.” These were Frank Williams’ words after Williams’ first world title in 1980. The team won six races, five victories for Jones and one victory for Reutemann, also they scored 19 podiums in total, three pole positions and five fastest laps. The FW07B was unbeatable at that season. One of the best moments of that year was when Jones and Reutemann finished first and second respectively in Montreal and the Australian celebrated his driver world title.
Between 1980-1997 Williams won nine constructors’ championship and seven drivers’ championships.
The following season (1981) the team celebrates their second consecutive title. Reutemann finished second and his team-mate third, the FW07C participated in 15 Grand Prix, won four races and finished 13 times on the podium. Carlos Reutemann lost the drivers’ title by just one point at the season finale in Las Vegas.
c Pirelli F1 Media
Keke Rosberg signed a contract with Williams in 1982 and claimed the drivers’ world title by winning just one race during the season. That year there were eleven different winners in sixteen races and one of the most memorable moment was Rosberg’s second place in Austria, where Keke finished only 0.05s behind Elio de Angelis.
The next couple of years, Williams were not very competitive and the team won only two races in those seasons, but in 1985 Keke Rosberg and Nigel Mansell won four races and scored 71 points which moved the Williams up to the third place in the constructors’ championship.
Nelson Piquet joined Williams in 1987, a dominant year for the team as they won the constructors’ and the drivers’ championship. It was Williams second consecutive constructors’ title. Nelson finished first and the team scored 19 podiums, nine wins, and twelve poles at that year.
From 1988 until 1991 Williams finished two times in the second position. The first one was in 1989, Partese finished 3rd while his team-mate Boutsen finished 5th. The team collected 77 points and won two races and finished 10 times on the podium. In 1991, Mansell won five races, which helped the team to score 125 points and finish second in the championship.
2011 Spanish Grand Prix – Sunday Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain 22nd May 2011 Pastor Maldonado, Williams FW33 Cosworth. World Copyright:Steven Tee/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image _A8C3628
The following three years were full of victories and trophies for Williams. Three years, three world titles. In 1992, Mansell won the drivers’ championship with the Renault-powered FW14B. Ten wins, twenty podiums, and fifteen poles for Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Partese. The two drivers collected 164 points combined and Williams finished at the highest position in the championship. At the Portuguese Grand Prix, Mansell claimed Williams’ 50th pole. In 1993, it was Alain Prost’s turn to claim the championship with the FW15C, whilst his team-mate, Damon Hill finished third in the championship. Ten wins and 22 podiums were enough for Williams to secure the constructors’ title.
Three drivers drove the Renault V10 powered FW16 in 1994. Hill, Coulthard, and Mansell but none manage to win the drivers’ world title. Despite that, Williams won its third consecutive world title by collecting 118 points and scoring seven wins.
A battle for the drivers’ title took place in 1996, between the two Williams’ drivers Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. At the final race in Japan, Damon took the chequered flag and the world title. It was a dominant season for Williams as they won twelve of the sixteen races and the FW18 collected 175 points and finished way ahead of their main rival Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.
The next season, Williams won three of the four opening races, Villeneuve beat Michael Schumacher and celebrated his first world title. The FW19 was unbeatable, participated in 17 Grands Prix and won eight of them, it was Williams’ ninth and final title.
The fallen of the empire
After the world title in the constructors’ championship in 1997, Williams did not manage to finish on the highest place on the board again. The team won some crucial races, finished two times as a runner-up and five times in the third place.
In 1998, Williams announced that BMW will be their engine supplier since 2000 as Renault decided to withdraw from Formula 1. At that year the FW20 ran with Mecachrome V10 engine, Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen finished three times on the podium and Williams collected 38 points in total. These points were enough to secure them the third place.
In BMW’s debut as an engine supplier, Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button scored 36 points combined. Schumacher took three podiums and the FW22 and finished fifth in the drivers’ championship. The following year was even better for the team and for BMW, nine podium finishes and four victories for Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya. Williams finished third with 80 points almost double than previous’ season.
Williams reacted positively in the new regulations in 2003, the FW25 was very competitive but still, that was not enough and the team did not manage to beat Ferrari, hence they finished second with 144 points.
The following years were very tough for Williams, the team was not very competitive and even Montoya’s victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2004 was not enough to change the fact that Williams was not as competitive as they used to be. In 2006, BMW departure and Williams raced with Cosworth V8. At that season, Nico Rosberg replaced Nick Heidfeld and became Mark Webber’s new team-mate.
Rubens Barrichello, one of the most experienced drivers on the grid, joined Williams in 2010 alongside the new GP2 champion Nico Hulkenberg. After two low seasons, Williams presented a more competitive car in 2011, the FW34. Pasto Maldonado took the one and only victory of that season at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The introduction of the new hybrid 1.6-litre turbo charged V6 power unit, allowed Williams to score points in the first half of the 2014 season. After two years of absence, the team returned to podium finishes at the Austrian Grand Prix. The Mercedes-powered FW36 collected 320 points and finished 3rd in the constructors’ championship.
Last season Valtteri Bottas with his FW38, secured Williams one and only podium finish in Canada. It was an emotional season, as Massa announced his retirement at the Italian Grand Prix. At the season-finale, Williams, lost the fourth place from Force India, hence they finished 5th with 138 points.
The rookie Lance Stroll will race alongside the ex-retired driver Felipe Massa this season and Williams aims to be more competitive than last year in order to return to the podium finishes.
Neel JANI dominated the qualifying session for the 65th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring with the #13 REBELLION Racing Oreca 07 Gibson powered car and secured the Pole Position with a fastest lap time of 1:48.178.
This is the Swiss Team’s and Neel Jani’s first Pole Position in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. REBELLION Racing and Neel Jani previously captured four Pole Positions at the time of the ALMS from 2012 to 2013.
Today’s achievement is also the first ever Pole Position for the new Oreca 07 LMP2 car and REBELLION Racing is deeply proud to provide this milestone to their constructor partner.
The #13 REBELLION Racing Oreca 07 Gibson powered car will start tomorrow’s 12 Hours of Sebring race from the first position on the grid and the whole Swiss team will aim to keep that position at the end of the race. Being quick in qualifying means a lot, but we all have seen that the race can be a different story, especially here at Sebring.
This Pole position for the 65th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring has a high value for the team, as the they along with the drivers Neel Jani, Sebastien Buemi and Nick Heidfeld have worked really hard since the Daytona 24 race to be back strongly at the front.
Neel Jani – #13 REBELLION Racing Oreca 07 : “It was a good Qualifying session, we didn’t expected to be P1. We had a few issues in free practice and we had to play a lot of catch up. There is no ideal lap here at Sebring, you have to improvise as it’s so bumpy, it’s always a nice and challenging track. We saw in Daytona that we were close in qualifying, but in the race the Cadillacs were really fast. I think that tomorrow it will be an other game to translate this Pole into a win. For sure we will try to stay at the front as long as possible !”
Bart Hayden REBELLION Racing Team Manager : “Before qualifying we were not completely confident of taking the pole position, as we knew the Cadillacs had been quick since the beginning of the weekend and also because it’s always a question of finding a lap clear of traffic without mistakes. Nonetheless, the gap to the next cars is very small, so we know tomorrow’s race will be close. Congratulations to Neel for driving so well the pole winning lap and many thanks to the engineers and mechanics for working so hard to get the setup and preparation right with the car. We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s 12 Hours of Sebring race and hope that it will be an exciting one for everyone.”
It’s almost time to set the grid for the first qualifying round of the year and then wait for lights out on the Sunday. Yes, that’s right, BTCC is back! And it’s looking better than ever. But what should you be watching out for?
(c) Halfords Yuasa Racing – Gordon Shedden
–
This year sees a jam-packed grid of 32 drivers. 16 of which are already race winners in the series. This is by far the strongest field we have seen for a long time on the touring car scene. Between the winning drivers they share a breath-taking 329 victories! So prepare for the races to be hard fought and the action to be closer than ever. Will we see a runaway favourite for the championship or will we get a thriller that goes down to the wire?
(c) Team BMR – Media Day Donington
Something that is for certain is that we can absolutely rely on the fireworks between Jason Plato and Matt Neal. Their fights in touring cars have become stuff of legend, epic championship battles, brutal overtakes on track and even the odd bit of confrontation in the paddock area. The Subaru of Plato is now in its second year and will be keen to show that it is the right car for the job.
(c) West Surrey Racing- Colin Turkington
Honda and Team Dynamics always seem to get stronger every year, no matter whether they are running a Civic tourer or the classic hatchback. BTCC isn’t just about those two though, oh no. Ask Collin Turkington, Gordon Shedden, Tom Ingram and the returning Tom Chilton. All just as eager to provide the action on race day and walk away with the silverware.
(c) WTCC – Tom Chilton
Speaking of Chilton, he hasn’t returned alone to the BTCC, Vauxhall are back as a works team. Partnering up with Power Maxed racing in the new Astra. The car looked resplendent today at Donnington, standing out in the white, black and yellow livery. West Surrey racing also have something to smile about as they managed to bag a works deal with BMW. With the main man Turkington back in the driving seat they will be battling hard to reclaim the title after coming so close with Sam Tordoff last year. It’s the same car with new faces over at Triple eight, Árón Taylor-Smith and Daniel Lloyd will front the charge in the MG’s.
(c) Team Shredded Wheat Racing with Duo – Mat Jackson
My dark horse for this year though has to be Mat Jackson in the Motorbase Ford Focus. If they can get the car to perform in the early rounds then they will stand much more of a chance of having a shot at the title. Something that hasn’t really happened for the last few years. But no doubt they will be there or there about.
Whatever happens this year I can guarantee we will have a cracker of a season. Expect the racing to be heated right from lights out at Brands Hatch indy all the way through to the finale when they return to face the GP circuit. So, who’s ready?
The event got underway with two stages around the famous square in Mexico City. To get the cars there some 400km’s from the base in Leon, they were driven down in transporters, with the teams heading down in a plane. What transpired though was a big shame. The first two stages on Friday morning had to be cancelled. The reason? Well, the transporters were held up on the road back for five hours after there was accident on the road.
The results for those first two stages looked like this
SS1x
1. Hanninen – 1:51,1 (50,9kph)
2. Meeke +0:00,3
3. Paddon +0:01,6
SS1y
1. Ogier – 1:44,8 (53,9kph)
2. Tanak +0:00,1
3. Neuville +0:00,3
So, the top ten looked like this after those two short stages
1 HAN 0:03:37,2
2 MEEKE +0:01,6
3 TAN +0:01,6
4 NEU +0:02,6
5 PAD +0:03,2
6 OGI +0:04,0
7 SOR +0:06,0
8 LAT +0:06,2
9 TID +0:06,7
10 BER +0:10,3
11 LEFEBVRE +0:19,4
16 EVA +5:02,5
So, Juha Hanninen was our surprise leader and with the two morning stages cancelled we had to wait till mid-afternoon before stage four started.
This was the famous El Chocolate which at 54,9 kms and high in the mountains as well, would be a real challenge for these new cars.
It was Kris and Paul who emerged in the lead after this monster stage, held over 2700 metres above sea level! All the Hyundai, M-Sport and Toyota drivers reported big problems with their cars, overheating and going into road mode, meaning that they couldn’t push like they wanted.
Stage four top three
1. Meeke – 39:15,6 (83,9kph)
2. Ogier +0:07,3
3. Paddon +0:17,9
Next up was stage five, and it saw a fight back from the Hyundai and M-Sport drivers with Thierry winning the stage, Elfyn in the D-Mack Fiesta second and Dani in third.
SS5 – Las Minas 2 (19,68km)
1. Neuville – 14:12,6 (83,1kph)
2. Evans +0:05,7
3. Sordo +0:06,5
It was a good fight back for the Hyundai drivers, with good times seeing them both come up the leaderboard after their problems in El Chocolate. Kris Meeke, rally leader lost some time in this stage, after a spin and stalled engine which lost him around eight seconds.
SS6 – Guanajuato Street Stage (1,09km)
1. Neuville – 0:57,3 (68,5kph)
2. Evans +0:01,4
3. Sordo +0:01,4
Just a short stage then and Thierry continued his strong pace which we have seen from the beginning of the year. Also, a good show from Elfyn, showing that he’s very comfortable in his Fiesta and able to express his talent.
Stage 7- Autódromo de León 1 – 2.30 km
1. Meeke 1:40.0
2. Elfyn +0.2
3.Hänninen +0.3
Stage 8 – Autódromo de León 2 – 2.30 km
1. Evans 1:38.0
2. Meeke +0.3
3. Hänninen +1.3
This was the top ten then at the end of this shortened day.
1 K. Meeke P. Nagle 1:01:33.8
2 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia +20.9
3 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul +56.7
4 J. Hänninen K. Lindström +1:27.3
5 O. Tanak M. Jarveoja +1:32.9
6 S. Lefebvre G. Moreau +1:52.8
7 H. Paddon J. Kennard +2:02.1
8 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila +2:30.8
9 P. Tidemand J. Andersson +3:24.3
10 E. Camilli B. Veillas +3:59.7
Let’s hear then from all the drivers, starting with the top three.
1st Place
Kris Meeke said:
“Everything went very well today. We clearly had a good road position, but we had to make the most of it. I didn’t push too hard, because winning isn’t my main target for the weekend. My only regret was the minor mistake I made on SS5, which cost us about eight or nine seconds. But it’s good to be running well after a pretty tough start to the season! I’ll be looking keep up the same pace tomorrow.”
2nd Place
Sébastien Ogier said:
“It’s been a difficult day for more or less everyone but I think we managed it quite well and we can’t complain about being in second place and just 20 seconds off the lead tonight!
“Almost everyone had temperature issues and it was the same for us. We had to run most of the first stage in safe mode. I tried to be as soft as I could but we didn’t reach a critical point so there is nothing major that we need to be worrying about – but of course we still need to find a solution.
“We’ll have a good position on the road tomorrow which hasn’t been the case for quite a long time on gravel, so I’m looking forward to that. There are some very demanding stages still to come, and the temperatures could play a crucial role again, but we’ve been working hard with the team so hopefully we’ll have a good solution.”
3rd Place
Thierry Neuville said: “It was a frustrating way to end the day but we have to concentrate on the positives – we made it through despite the problems and we are still inside the top-three. This is very important as we look to fight for a podium this weekend. We will work hard with the team to make sure we get everything working at optimum level for Saturday’s stages. This is an unforgiving rally, particularly for a brand-new car. We are still learning things; I just hope that’s our bad luck out of the way for this rally. We’ll have a good road position for Saturday so let’s see what happens.”
The rest of the drivers
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala said:
“I knew that the first day in Mexico would be tough, but maybe not this tough! We’ve seen in the past that overheating has been a particular problem on the very long El Chocolate stage, and I had to switch the car to road mode to try and cool it down, going back to stage mode as soon as it was a safe temperature. It was a little bit the same story on the other stages as well. In any case, I knew that we would lose time being first on the road today but we’re still here and looking forward to a better day tomorrow. There’s always a great atmosphere in Mexico and I am really enjoying being here.”
Juho Hänninen said:
“A tricky day, definitely, which meant that we weren’t able to take as much advantage of our road position as we would have liked. Still, after a long time away from this rally, we have to be happy with fourth overall, especially as there is a very long way still to go. Maybe we made a tyre choice that was too hard as well: even though we had a good road position I was still quite shocked as to how slippery the surface was. Like Jari-Matti we also had some problems with overheating but I think the engineers and mechanics can sort this out at service.”
M-Sport WRT
Ott Tänak said:
“The Mexico City stage was a really good idea. It was a very nice place to start the rally and, even though there are some lessons to learn for the future, I think it was generally very good.
“Almost everybody has had some issues to deal with today. This was our first time here with the new cars and our first time with this altitude and these temperatures.
“There are some things to learn for sure, but I think we managed the day pretty well and we are still here which is the most important thing.
“We’ll be taking a good look at everything this evening and hopefully it will be okay for tomorrow. There’s still a long way to go and anything can happen.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans said:
“It wasn’t a perfect start with the penalty, but there was no point dwelling on that, we just had to go out there and drive our best.
“We had a small issue with some overheating which we had to stop and check on the first stage [SS4], but generally I think the feeling has been pretty good.
“Obviously it was the first time here with these new cars so it was to be expected that it wasn’t all going to be plain sailing. Almost everyone has experienced some sort of issue today, and I think we managed our day pretty well with a few top times to boot.
“Tomorrow’s going to be a difficult day running first on the road, but we just have to try our best and see what we can do.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Mexico(MEX) – WRC 08/03/2017 to 12/03/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon said:
“It’s a very unfortunate situation that we had engine misfire issues across all cars but that’s part of rallying. Mexico is an incredibly tough, hard rally so the most important thing is that we made it through the stages and out the other end. Tomorrow’s another day, as the saying goes. These are extreme conditions with the heat and the altitude that we just can’t replicate fully in Europe. We will get on top of it and fight back on Saturday.”
Dani Sordo said:
“It’s obviously very disappointing to lose so much time on the shorter Super Special Stages. There was some confusion on my first run at the Autódromo, when we weren’t allowed to finish the stage. We need to understand what happened because from my point of view there was no reason to stop us. We were losing time because of the engine issue but we were still going. It had been a pretty good day up to that point. We had shown encouraging pace and weren’t taking any risks. The car felt competitive, so our aim now is to regain this for the rest of the weekend. There’s still a long way to go.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 03, Rally Mexico 08-12 March 2017 Dani Sordo, Marc Marti, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Stéphane Lefebvre
“For my first appearance at this rally in a WRC, the team asked me to focus on learning about the stages and adopt a measured pace. We made the right call on tyre choice and I remained focused on my job behind the wheel. The two gravel stages gave me a chance to improve and I’m pleased to be in sixth position, less than half a minute from the top 5.”
Saturday dawned and we would get a full day of competition! Nine stages, some just a couple of km’s and some more than 38km’s!
First, we found out what had caused the problems with the Hyundai’s. The team traced the problem to fuel filters which were blocked.
Stage nine first up then and Dani was pretty fired up, after he was given some time penalties. He flew through the stage to go fastest from Seb, who was 3 seconds slower. Third fastest was Kris, only losing a little of his lead to Seb. Kris did have a worry at the end with smoke coming into the car. The good news that it was just hot brakes causing this, and nothing bad ultimately.
SS9 – Media Luna 1 (27,42km)
1. Sordo – 17:01,4 (96,6kph)
2. Ogier +0:03,2
3. Meeke +0:04,1
Stage ten would also fall to Dani, clearly now in the groove, with Kris setting the same time as Dani and Seb a few seconds slower. Stephane Lefebvre would slide off the road, leaving the car beached.He would be done for the day, but there wasn’t any damage, so he would be able to re-join under the super rally rules.
SS10 – Lajas de Oro 1 (38,31km)
1. Sordo – 28:17,5 (81,2kph)
2. Meeke +0:00,0
3. Ogier +0:03,6
Stage eleven would see Thierry win the stage, the famous El Brinco, with a jump in the stage! Kris had had problems in the past with this stage, but this year he was fine and would once again match the time of the Hyundai driver, this time of course it being Thierry. Look how close they all were though!
SS11 – El Brinco 1 (10,09km)
1. Neuville – 5:27,1 (111,0kph)
2. Meeke +0:00,0
3. Ogier +0:00,8
Stage twelve saw the crews tackle Media Luna a second time and, we saw that Seb would take it this time from Kris, but running a different tyre combination, that would account for the couple of seconds’ difference.
SS12 – Media Luna 2 (27,42km)
1. Ogier – 16:44,0 (98,3kph)
2. Meeke +0:02,2
3. Tanak +0:05,6
Stage thirteen next and Kris would win it, so perhaps his tyre choice was better than Seb’s? Especially given Seb would suffer a spin and lose 18 seconds to Kris.
SS13 – Lajas de Oro 2 (38,31km)
1. Meeke – 28:10,6 (81,6kph)
2. Neuville +0:05,7
3. Tanak +0:12,6
Stage fourteen and the re-run of El Brinco, saw young Estonian Ott set the fastest time with Seb matching him and Thierry third.
SS14 – El Brinco 2 (10,09km)
1. Tanak – 5:22,2 (112,7kph)
2. Ogier +0:00,4
3. Neuville +0:01,2
Just three short stages then at the end of this second full day and Elfyn and Seb would win them. At the end of them, Jari-Matti would sneak back ahead of his team-mate Juho into sixth place.
SS15 – Autodrómo de León 3 (2,3km)
1. Evans – 1:37,5 (84,9kph)
2. Latvala +0:01,0
3. Neuville +0:04,2
SS16 – Autodrómo de León 4 (2,3km)
1. Evans – 1:38,1 (84,4kph)
2. Latvala +0:00,9
3. Neuville +0:02,5
SS17 – Street stage Feria de León (1,33km)
1. Ogier – 1:16,9 (62,3kph)
2. Neuville +0:00,1
3. Sordo +0:00,4
End of Saturday top ten
1. Meeke + 2:47:33.3
2. Ogier +30.9
3. Neuville +1:10.5
4. Tänak +2:12.6
5. Paddon +3:25.5
6. Latvala +4:32.9
7. Hänninen +4:32.9
8. Sordo +5:16.1
9. Evans +8:22.1
10. Tidemand +9:26.4
Let’s hear from the top three then.
1st
Kris Meeke said:
“Following a solid morning, we knew the afternoon loop could be decisive after going for a harder tyre choice than our direct rivals. I had to make it stick… and it worked! On the longest stage, I was able to pull clear. I’ve now got a healthy lead in the overall standings, but we’ll need to keep it neat and tidy tomorrow. I’m pleased to have been able to show the potential of the Citroën C3 WRC. I knew we had done a good job on the car! I’m also proud to have been quicker than Sébastien Ogier in normal racing conditions, without anyone mentioning the start order.”
2nd
Sébastien Ogier said:
“I’m never happy when I lose time but I have no regrets. I did what I could today – pushing without doing anything crazy – but it wasn’t enough and we were only able to set the same pace as Kris [Meeke] who is doing a great job. When it’s like this you have to be clever and think about the points which will be very good for us in terms of the championship.
“There’s still a long way to go and anything can happen. We need to stay focused, keep the same rhythm and keep applying some pressure. You never know what can happen and we can also focus on the Power Stage for a few extra points there.”
3rd
Thierry Neuville said: “First of all, I’d like to thank all the guys for an outstanding job in preparing the car for today’s stages. The Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC worked really well and it’s great to retain our podium position with two tests remaining. The morning loop went without incident. Our pace notes were perhaps a bit slow in places and some parts were quite tricky. Our tyre choice for the afternoon was maybe not ideal but we made it through and our aim now is to secure the podium with, hopefully, some Power Stage points.”
M-Sport WRT
Ott Tänak said:
“It’s been a nice day – our first gravel rally with these new cars and we’ve been trying to improve as the day has gone on. In the afternoon, I think we made the right tyre choice and it was a clean run through.
“Tomorrow there will be some more quite long and tricky stages including the Power Stage. This year you can collect quite a few points there so we need to be smart and hopefully we can collect some of those too.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Mexico(MEX) – WRC 08/03/2017 to 12/03/2017 – PHOTO : @World
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans said:
“It was always going to be a challenge opening the road but the morning was pretty positive. We struggled a bit more this afternoon, but on the whole I think it’s been okay. We’re learning a lot about the new car on gravel and hopefully we can continue in the same vein tomorrow.
“It was good to get a couple of stage victories in the bag on the super specials this afternoon as well – although to be fair I was helped a bit by the weather so I can’t take all of the credit for those!”
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon commented: “There’s not much to say about this rally, in which we had some problems. We can only take consolation from a top-five finish, but with some more luck we know we can be fighting higher up – and for the podium. It’s been good to be back on gravel, it’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t show a better performance. We can only keep on working in the hope that the tide will turn soon. Corsica is next, where I’m hopeful we can get better results.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 03, Rally Mexico 08-12 March 2017 Hayden Paddon, John Kennard, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Dani Sordo said: “I was pleased that our penalty from yesterday was overturned. It meant we could focus on just getting the best out of the car and ourselves. I tried to do well and the feeling from our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC was very good. I was honoured to take the team’s 100th stage win this morning, and to take two stage wins in total. It shows just what we are capable of. The afternoon loop was not quite as clean. I picked up a flat tyre on the road section before the second run through Lajas de Oro, which meant we had to change to a worn tyre. It was a bit rushed, but we made it through the day and we’ll do all we can to reduce our deficit to the top-six in Sunday’s final two stages.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Jari-Matti Latvala said:
“We’ve been managing the car and our situation today and that has worked well for us. The only mistake we made is choosing the wrong tyre: we were actually expecting rain, then it didn’t happen, so we ended up running on a tyre that was too soft, which gave us a lot of wear. The team found a solution to the overheating problems that were affecting us yesterday, which meant that we were gradually able to increase the power throughout the day. On the final day, tomorrow, our aim is to defend our position and score some points: especially on the Power Stage.”
Juho Hänninen said:
“We did what we could today. Like Jari-Matti, our tyre choice was a bit too soft. Also, I wasn’t feeling so well: it’s hard to know how much that affected me, but this afternoon was little better. Generally, it was OK on the stages but it felt worse after I stopped. The car felt very good: thank you to the engineers and mechanics for fixing the problem we had yesterday so efficiently. Today we did a lot of valuable mileage, which means that we can be much better in future in these types of conditions.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Mexico(MEX) – WRC 08/03/2017 to 12/03/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Stéphane Lefebvre
“Three kilometres from the end of SS10, I got caught out when I lost the rear of the car on a long left-hand turn. The car slid wide and off the road, onto a slope. We were unable to get the car back on the road, as there weren’t enough spectators around to help us. It’s pretty rough for us, given just how many fans there are next to the roads here! Everything was going well up to that point. I felt good in the car, but this minor mistake is a very costly one. I’ll be back in action tomorrow to keep learning about the stages.”
So, into Sunday we headed, with everything looking very stable. Just two stages awaited the crews. First up La Calera. Normally we see short stages on Sunday’s, but there was still over 50km’s of action!
Kris took stage 18, with a decent time, opening out his lead by a further seven seconds to nearly forty. Impressive indeed! He was happy that the mud created in the stage by the rain protected his tyres. There was drama for Dani in his i20! Just as he started the stage, it started to rain and then his wipers didn’t work, so it was impressive that he was only 20 seconds slower than Kris. Jari-Matti lost a few seconds to his teammate with a spin on a right-hander about 8km’s into the stage.
1. Meeke – 21:53,7 (90,3kph)
2. Ogier +0:06,3
3. Lefebvre +0:12,6
One stage then to go, and all the cars made it through pretty much okay. Thierry set the quickest time and took all five power stage points with Seb second just three tenths off. There was massive drama for Kris and Paul though! With just one kilometre to go, in a right-hander the car took off and when it landed off into a hedge lining the road with a carpark just the other side. When the C3 WRC emerged the other side, it clipped a VW Passat causing a little damage and the start of a puncture on the left-hand side of the car. Kris drove around the carpark looking for an exit, losing time! Paul pointed and Kris floored the throttle and the C3 burst through the hedge, taking some red tickertape with it, wrapped around the aerials and rear wing! They powered through the remaining kilometre and crossed the line, pretty sure that they’d lost the victory. In fact, they had won, crossing the line eighth fastest, 23 seconds slower than Thierry, but crucially still a gap of 13.8 seconds remained of what was a lead of 37 seconds. Kris and Paul had won taken their fourth victory and the first for the new Citroen C3.
SS19 – Derramadero Power Stage (21,94km)
1. Neuville – 12:13,9 (107,6kph)
2. Ogier +0:00,3
3. Tanak +0:03,8
4. Latvala +0:08,0
5. Sordo +0:09,8
Final Overall Classification – Rally Mexico
1 K. Meeke P. Nagle 3:22:04.6
2 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia +13.8
3 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul +59.7
4 O. Tanak M. Jarveoja +2:18.3
5 H. Paddon J. Kennard +3:32.9
6 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila +4:40.3
7 J. Hänninen K. Lindström +5:06.2
8 D. Sordo M. Martí +5:22.7
9 E. Evans D. Barritt +8:41.8
10 P. Tidemand J. Andersson +10:51.9
So, let’s hear from the top three after a simply heart-stopping moment!
Kris Meeke 1st Place said:
“I think I might end up telling this story hundreds of times… I’m annoyed with myself for making that mistake. The car went wide after a big compression and we were very lucky. I quickly looked to get back on the road because I knew we could still win. That’s the main thing: we showed the potential of the Citroën C3 WRC in securing the car’s first win. I’m proud and delighted for the entire team, this result is for them.”
Sébastien Ogier 2nd Place said:
“I’m really pleased with this result. Coming away from Mexico with 22 points is a great result for me and honestly, I would have taken that before the rally. Opening the road on Friday, we knew that we would struggle in the loose conditions but I think we managed it pretty well.
“When the conditions become more even we were able to set the same pace as Kris but I must congratulate him also. He had a really strong drive and didn’t give us the chance to make any inroads into his lead so it was a deserved victory for him.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Mexico(MEX) – WRC 08/03/2017 to 12/03/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Thierry Neuville 3rd Place said:
“I can only say that I am really happy to have finished on the podium here in Mexico. It’s dedicated to the whole team of Hyundai Motorsport who have kept pushing me after the disappointment of the first two rallies. I described Monte and Sweden as fast but frustrating, so it’s great to be back in the top-three and scoring Power Stage points today. The team has worked hard this weekend, to fix the car after some problems on Friday. It was their persistence and determination that allowed us to stay in the podium positions, so thanks to them. Onwards and upwards.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 03, Rally Mexico 06-12 March 2017 Action Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Day 1 Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Now for the rest of the drivers.
M-Sport WRT
Ott Tänak 4th said:
“We lost a lot of time on Friday so it was a shame not to be on the podium, but it was still a positive event for us. From yesterday onwards we were back on the pace and setting good times so I’m happy with that. It was a very positive rally for the team as a whole and we’ve got some more good points on the board for the championship which is really important.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon 5th Place said:
“There’s not much to say about this rally, in which we had some problems. We can only take consolation from a top-five finish, but with some more luck we know we can be fighting higher up – and for the podium. It’s been good to be back on gravel, it’s just unfortunate that we couldn’t show a better performance. We can only keep on working in the hope that the tide will turn soon. Corsica is next, where I’m hopeful we can get better results.”
Dani Sordo 8th said:
“I am pleased to get to the end of this rally, but I’m trying to remain positive. It’s not been an easy weekend for us. We have battled against problems, which has not given us the confidence we needed to push hard. We had some complications with the wipers this morning, which was definitely interesting when it was raining on the first stage. We did all we could in the Power Stage, and I’m happy to take one point. We haven’t had much luck in Mexico so we have to just put it behind us and focus on the next round, Tour de Corse.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala 6th said:
“I set myself a target of the top five, so I just missed out on that. On the other hand, I don’t think that anyone could have predicted the difficulties that we all faced, so to finish sixth and score some Power Stage points as well is a real achievement, which still keeps us well-placed in both championships. The last day was actually the best day for me: we had a really good feeling with the car until we got caught out by a slippery section on the first stage, so we had a spin and lost 10 seconds. Without that, I think it could have been a really good time. All the signs of progress are there, which is the main thing. We’re here to learn, and we have done a lot of that over the past four days.”
Juho Hänninen 7th said:
“We can take away many positive things from this rally although for me it was not as enjoyable as it could have been because I was not feeling well from start to finish. Still, I am very happy to get to the end and score my first driver points this year. It was fun to be so close with Jari-Matti heading into the final day: we started it separated by just 0.3 seconds but he was faster than me today. We will take on board many things for the future from this and move forwards as a team, which is the most important thing. On this rally, I managed to avoid all the trees as well, so it’s good to see that even at my age I can still learn some new things! Although I did notice that a left-hand mirror was broken, so maybe I didn’t get away with it completely…”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans 9th said:
“It’s been a tricky weekend with the penalty and then having to run first on the road, but overall I think we can be pretty happy with the weekend. This was our first time on gravel with these new cars and we’ve completed all of the mileage with good speed and three stage victories.
“It could have been a lot worse for sure and we’ve collected a lot of good knowledge which bodes well for the next gravel outing in Argentina.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Stéphane Lefebvre 15th Place said:
“We have picked up a lot of experience this weekend. Even today, being eleventh on the road meant I had the same grip as the leaders and I was able to get a feel for what the car can do in these conditions. Well done to Kris, Paul and the whole team; this win is a special moment for Citroën Racing.”
Well, the reigning champion is back on top of the table, but three rounds into this year’s championship and three different winners as well, we are definitely looking at a more open fight for this year’s drivers’ championship.
The next round is the classic Tour de Corse over the weekend of the 6th to 9th of April. It’ll be the first fully tarmac event of the year with conditions that will be equal to all drivers.
Today was the day the drivers and teams gathered at Donington Park for the BTCC media day. Smiling faces and an air of anticipation swept across the circuit as a 32 car grid was confirmed for what is by far the most exciting and action packed touring car series on the planet.
Gordon Shedden has again confirmed that he will not be carrying the defending champion #1 and will instead stick with his #52. He is on course to equal the record of Andy Rouse this season with four titles, but with a grid so full of experience, talent and young enthusiasm it is going to be a big ask.
during the 2017 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Test at Monza March 13 to 15 – Photo Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI
Just 16 cars to race in WTCC this season.
The FIA World Touring Car Championship announced the entry list for the upcoming 2017 season which features the lowest car count in the series’ history.
The 16-car field will be made of six works entries from Honda and Volvo and ten privateer entries, two of which are yet to confirm their full season commitment.
05 MICHELISZ Norbert (hun) Honda Civic team Castrol Honda action during the 2017 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Test at Monza March 13 to 15 – Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI.
Honda’s factory outfit will enter cars for two familiar WTCC veterans Tiago Monteiro and Norbert Michelisz and for the WTCC rookie Ryō Michigami, a former Super GT champion.
Volvo retained only Thed Björk from last year’s line-up and added Nicky Catsburg and Néstor Girolami to the team.
during the 2017 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Test at Monza March 13 to 15 – Photo Jean Michel Le Meur / DPPI
After the works Citroën team left the scene, all four French cars will be run by privateer outfits. The one most likely to fight for the title is Münnich Motorsport, with Rob Huff as a star driver. The Sébastien Loeb’s team retained Tom Chilton and Mehdi Bennani and added John Filippi to the line-up.
Filippi’s old team Campos Racing made an unlikely return and signed an Argentinean star Esteban Guerrieri. However, the deal at this stage is only signed for half of the season’s ten rounds. The other Chevrolet RML will be driven by Tom Coronel, who remained in the ROAL Motorsport team.
68 EHRLACHER Yann (fra) Lada Vesta team RC motorsport action during the 2017 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Test at Monza March 13 to 15 – Photo Francois Flamand / DPPI.
Hungarian outfit Zengő Motorsport will field two Hondas once again. Young Dániel Nagy is the team’s protégé, while Oliver Panis’ son Aurélien will for sure bring some attention. The only new-to-WTCC team on the grid is RC Motorsport, which will field two ex-factory LADA Vestas. The squad will be led by Yvan Muller’s nephew Yann Ehrlacher, while the second driver is yet to be announced.
There are less than four weeks left until the 2017 season kicks off in Marrakech.
Team HARD add another name to their growing list of drivers for 2017 as Benjamin Wallace will be racing again for Team HARD in the VW Cup and VAG Trophy this season.
The 17 year old from Merseyside and former racer for Michael Schumacher’s karting team, will be racing for Tony Gilham’s team in a VW Golf GTI-R Cup car.
The former Ginetta racer joined the Team HARD scholarship at the end of 2015 and impressed team boss Tony Gilham so much he was asked to take part in the junior programme.
Benjamin was balancing test sessions alongside his GCSE exams at the time.
His first race came at Spa, he finished inside the top ten after first free practice showing that he was well within the pace of the top cars and then managed to qualify 6th on the grid. He progressed to achieve pole at Oulton Park in August last year and was battling for a podium position at Castle Combe when technical problems struck. This showed the true character of the young driver and proved Team HARD’s decision to include him within their program of developing young, dedicated and ambitious drivers for the future.
He returns this season with high hopes that the experience he gained last year will stand him in good stead for the 2017 and possibly a chance of challenging for a championship.
His team boss Tony Gilham had this to say about the youngster:
“Ben is an outstanding young talent and continues with us this year on our young driver programme. Ben joined us last year following a very promising display on the Team HARD scholarship programme and went on to show some amazing pace at times in 2016, a pole position at Oulton Park being one of the highlights. If we can improve on his starts and consistency now, with his race craft development, we will have the complete driver and without doubt be challenging for the championship.”
We took Benjamin to one side and asked him to take the Quick 10 interview feature so we could get to know more about this young man who will be hurtling round a race circuit near you soon.
1. What is your favourite circuit and why?
Spa, very technical & Brands Hatch GP
2. Who is/was your racing idol?
Michael Schumacher being part of his Kart Team in Germany and Ayrton Senna
3. Who would you regard as your toughest opponent?
Half the grid in VW Racing Cup
4. Considering racers of all time, you are a team principal and money is no object. Which two racers would you have in your team?
Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel
5. If you could invite four famous people to dinner (past and present), who would you invite?
Tony Gilham, Ben Kattenhorn, Paul O’Neill, Danny Buxton, and Chris Hodgetts (that’s 5 but we cut Ben some slack on this one.)
6. Personal racing number? What is it and the reason behind it?
#88 got it since Karting and won a lot of races with it
7. What is the best race you have been involved in?
Brands Hatch GP 2016 and Spa 2016
8. Is there a race or series you have not competed in, that you would like to or had wanted to?
British GT and BTCC
9. How did you get into motor racing? What ignited that spark?
Karting, won my first kart race in 2005, 6 years old in Spain Alevin class
10. What is the best advice in racing you have been given?
Lots, where shall I start. Michael Schumacher ” Never give up” and Tony Gilham ” Go Hard or Go Home”
We want to wish Ben the very best for the forthcoming season.
Neil Simmons (in association with Team HARD)
Twitter: @world_racing
Team HARD Twitter: @TeamhardRacing
Ben Wallace Twitter: @BenWallace88
(c) Selected Images Watermarked and Copyright of Craig Wheeldon
Alvaro Bautista has been my personal stand out performance across all the pre-season tests ahead of the 2017 MotoGP season. The 2006 125cc champion has been flying on his Aspar Ducati, and finished the Qatar test in a stunning 5th position – ahead of 9 time champion Valentino Rossi, 5 time champion Marc Marquez and 0.195 behind the factory Ducati rider and 5 time champion, Jorge Lorenzo. The former Gresini Aprilia rider really looks strong ahead of 2017.
When it was announced that Alvaro would join the Aspar Ducati Team for 2017 ahead of last year’s Czech Grand Prix, I was a little bit conflicted. I was pleasantly surprised that someone had at least acknowledged that Bautista wasn’t a ‘make-up-the-numbers’ rider, and I was also happy that he had got on the Ducati, which had finally come good after Andrea Iannone took victory in Austria. However, I was a bit annoyed that Aprilia weren’t renewing his contract, but more-so that he wasn’t at what would be considered a ‘better team’ – on paper at least – with Tech 3 or even Suzuki, where his MotoGP career started. He also usurped Eugene Laverty out of MotoGP but technically that isn’t his fault.
The Spaniard has picked up a lot of flack for taking the ride too. Most notably by some of the Laverty fans, who believe that the Irishman had done more than enough to earn his place at the team for 2017 but also by the press in general. Many people were saying that he was just another rider, flicking about and hanging onto the shirt-tails of a MotoGP ride. I must admit, I wanted Alvaro to go to WSBK, a series he will be back winning in and a series that is in need of big names. But now I’m not so sure.
His lowest testing position was 11th, after Phillip Island – although he found a breakthrough on the final day. That was evident in Qatar, having finished that test fifth overall. And the most impressive thing? This is not just one lap pace – Bautista’s race simulation suggests that he’d complete the race in 3rd.
The Losail track has got some fond memories for Bautista too. In 2014, he set the fastest lap of the race, before crashing out of 3rd place with a handful of laps to go. In 2013, he finished 6th, which remains his best result at the track in the premier class. He won the 2006 125cc race, whilst also taking pole position and the fastest lap.
But as we all know, the Losail circuit is not one we can gain any accurate information from. The race is unique; held at night, it poses an aspect of racing that, for MotoGP at least, is incomparable to anywhere else. Not only because of the night race feel, but because it’s in the middle of the desert, meaning that sand is forever engulfing the circuit, located around 30km north of Central Doha. It is also unique because apart from the home straight, there is no real atmosphere at the track with regards to fans. There’s limited noises emitted from the fans, which although maybe not affecting the riders, it does affect the overall feel to the Grand Prix.
We may have to wait until we hit Europe, and in the words of Wayne Rainey “this is where the ground war starts”. More familiar circuits will prove a more accurate test of man and machinery, particularly for Ducati. The Italian manufacturer has tended to slip away during the first four or five European races, although all remains to be seen for 2017.
Alvaro will be up there, challenging the top 8 positions. Do I think a podium is possible for him? Yes, I do. Do I think a win is possible? Maybe, depending on weather and circuit. He is familiar with the team and he loves the Ducati. He knows the championship and has enough experience to go for the big results. The bike is a proven winner and with the data already gathered from not just the test but last season, Bautista could be a bit of a revelation in the forthcoming season.
News courtesy of Rebellion Racing.
