The nature of back to back races often leave teams with very little time to fix the issues arising from the previous weekend. The Sauber F1 team are hopeful to overcome the issues that hindered the start of the second season at Spa Francorchamps before they head off to the “Cathedral of Speed” Monza.
“A disappointing start”
The team admitted that the race was disappointing, more especially given the upgrades, with just one of the cars finishing the race. Felipe Nasr had a blistering start running in 11th place until he had to pit with a puncture and other race limiting damage.
Marcus Ericsson however had a frustrating weekend after much promise in free practice. The Swedish driver started in pit lane due to cooling system issues and after initially catching the field, he had to retire with gearbox issues.
DRIVERS RACE REVIEW AND MONZA PREVIEW
Marcus Ericsson – Started in Pits, DNF
“It was a tough day. When I went out to the starting grid we identified issues with the cooling system, so we had to make some adjustments. This meant that I had to start the race from the pit lane. It was a good first lap, I was able to catch the group ahead, but then suddenly I lost sixth gear on lap three. That was the end of my race; I had to retire”
Looking to Monza, Ericsson acknowledges that the high speed nature of the fabled Italian track will cause the team to search for the perfect balance in respect of downforce, which would enable them to maximise the straight line speed needed at Monza.
Ericsson is looking to regain lost ground and a track like Monza, at which he had happy hunting in the past, may suit him perfectly.
Felipe Nasr – Finished P17
“A disappointing race. I had a good start and was able to make up some positions running temporarily in P11. Because of a lot of debris on track, I got a rear left tyre puncture, which was very unfortunate. I had to pit early, which compromised the whole race. The floor,as well as the diffusor, was also damaged by the debris. That surely had an influence on the lap times. Now we need to shift our focus onto the upcoming race weekend in Monza.”
The Brazilian driver has fond memories of Monza, given that he lived near-by when he first moved to Italy. He knows the track well, and given his resurgent form, he may cause a few headaches for those around him. Nasr has been an unfortunate victim of other driver incidents and is looking to have a clean start to make the most of the aero package.
Monza presents the need for the lowest possible downforce package, given the top speeds that are expected to be reached. Sauber have already identified the brake and traction areas are the priorities for the Italian race. Come Sunday, only points will do for the team that needs it right now.
McLaren came away from a difficult weekend in Belgium with plenty of reasons to be positive. After a real struggle for Fernando on Friday and Saturday he shown what the car could do from the back of the field. The race started of in such a mess, incidents up and down the field. Sadly Jenson got hit in the rear which caused to much damage for him to carry on. Then the red flag moment. I just want to say how much of a relief it was to see K-Mag step out of that crash. After the red flag stoppage Fernando found himself in 4th place. He was always going to struggle to keep Lewis Hamilton behind him and the very fast Force Indias, but what he did in the final segment of the race was very impressive. For what must have seemed like an age, Fernando has both Williams and Kimi behind in, running very close to the back of him. But in true Fernando style he wasn’t going down without a fight and boy did he deliver. He managed to hold those three off and claim a brilliant 7th place. Spa was marked as a track McLaren would struggle at and to come away with points is a huge boost for the whole team.
FERNANDO ALONSO, MP4-31-04
Started: 22nd
Finished: 7th
Fastest Lap: 1m54.484 on lap 54 (+2.901s, 15th)
Pitstops: One: lap 24 (2.36s) [Prime-BackUp]
“It was an exciting race to drive and I had a good feeling throughout.
“We had good pace this weekend; we did better than expected on this track; we were in the top 10 with Jenson yesterday in qualifying; and we’ve scored points today.
“Believe me: a few months ago that would have been unthinkable on a circuit like this. That’s progress – real progress.
“And, after all the bad luck we’ve had so far this weekend, we finally got some good luck today. We started last, but we managed to keep away from all the incidents, gain some positions thanks to the Safety Car and then a couple more because of the red flag.
“We then put on fresh tyres and found ourselves in fourth place – and, better still, we had the pace to manage the situation afterwards.
“Okay, we couldn’t hold back Lewis [Hamilton], Checo [Perez] or Seb [Vettel], because they were just too fast, but we had enough pace to keep Valtteri [Bottas] behind all the way to the flag.
“Finally, it’s great news that we overtook Toro Rosso in the Constructors’ World Championship – I think we can be regularly in the points from now on.
“So, to sum up, this weekend we saw evidence of very good progress from the team; we’re moving in the right direction, that’s for sure.”
JENSON BUTTON, MP4-31-03
Started: 9th
Finished: DNF – retired on lap 1
Fastest Lap: –
Pitstops: None
“We looked really good for points today, so it’s disappointing that we didn’t score any, but it happens. I’ve been around long enough to know these things happen.
“I had a really good start – I got ahead of a Williams, pulled in front of a Red Bull and drew alongside a Force India. But then I lost a lot of places at La Source and ran wide. I rejoined the track, but Pascal [Wehrlein] made contact with me at Turn Five, damaging the rear of my car. There was a lot of damage and we were unable to complete the race.
“After such a short race, there’s not much more to say!”
Mercedes will leave the Belgian Grand Prix feeling no small amount of relief, as Nico Rosberg cruised serenely to his first victory around the Spa circuit and Lewis Hamilton benefited from the chaos ahead to overcome a 60-place grid penalty and finish third.
Even without Hamilton starting from the back, the team had been bracing themselves for a difficult race – the unusually high track temperatures had been compromising Mercedes’ tyre strategy all weekend, and on Saturday in particular Red Bull and Ferrari appeared much closer than expected.
But in the end, the Belgian Grand Prix proved to be an utterly imperious display from Rosberg. Making a clean start from pole, any immediate threat from behind vanished when Verstappen and the two Ferraris barrelled into each other at La Source, and by the end of lap one Rosberg had already opened a gap of four seconds over Hülkenberg and Ricciardo.
Ricciardo eventually managed to pass the Force India for second but by then had already lost too much time to challenge for the lead, and Rosberg took the chequered flag with fourteen seconds in hand over the Red Bull.
“It wasn’t an easy weekend for us,” Rosberg reflected. “We had to work a lot on the setup – but in the race it was perfect. Our car was really great today, so thank you to the team for all their hard work in getting it spot on.”
Hamilton’s race was also made much easier by the bedlam at La Source. Arriving late on the scene because of his grid penalty, the Briton managed to weave his way through the carnage and emerge in twelfth place.
But Hamilton’s biggest break came when the race was red-flagged on lap ten after Magnussen’s horrifying crash at Raidillon.
Although many drivers dove into the pits during the preceding safety car, Mercedes kept Hamilton on track in anticipation of a full neutralisation and therefore gained a free pit stop over most of the field.
With that, Hamilton restarted the race in a legitimate fifth place, which he upgraded to third by lap 18 after straightforward moves on Alonso and Hülkenberg.
“If you’d offered me third coming into this race with all the penalties I definitely would have taken it,” Hamilton said. “The most difficult part of the race was the mental approach…in terms of whether I risked it all at the start or hung back and tried to pick my way through. Then all this commotion happened and I’m grateful I could capitalise on that.”
Like Rosberg, Hamilton also paid tribute to the wider Mercedes team this weekend, praising the “exceptional job” done by his mechanics in changing so many parts on his car, and hailing the pit wall’s tyre strategy as “the right call”.
Hamilton now leads Rosberg by just nine points in the championship heading into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix – an event he has won three times in the past four years.
The first week of public Formula E testing has concluded, with Renault e.Dams once again staking their claim as the team to beat in the 2016-17 season
Although Renault only topped the timesheets once – defending champion Sébastien Buemi ended day one seven tenths ahead of the field on a 1:30.143s – the French marque appeared on ominous form all week, with Buemi and Nicolas Prost logging a total of five out of a possible six top ten times across the three days.
By comparison, their season two rivals ABT had a quiet few days. Loitering comfortably but not outstandingly within the top ten, the German team’s performance would suggest their ABT Schaeffler FE02 package will again focus on consistent race form over qualifying pace.
The other takeaway from this first test is that many of the midfield teams appear to have closed up over the summer – if not to Renault then certainly to the likes of ABT and DS Virgin.
New entrant Techeetah were perhaps the biggest surprise, with Jean-Éric Vergne finishing fastest on day two after breaking the Formula E lap record around Donington Park, and almost doing the same on Thursday by being the only driver to lap below 1:31s in the wet afternoon conditions.
Swedish debutant Felix Rosenqvist made a strong start to his Formula E career with Mahindra, spending most of day two at the top of the times before being pipped by Vergne. Also showing pace was two-time race winner Jérôme d’Ambrosio in his new Penske-powered Dragon car, and was one of only four other drivers – Buemi, Heidfeld, Abt and Bird – to end each day within the top ten.
For the much-anticipated Jaguar team, this first week was a modest beginning to life in Formula E – the British marque ended day one sixth and ninth with Alex Lynn and Adam Carroll respectively, but managed no more than thirteenth fastest across the remainder of the week.
However, headline-grabbing times were hardly to expected just yet as the team look to bed in their new I-Type 1 powertrain and evaluate drivers for the season ahead. With that in mind, the fact that the team suffered no fatal technical issues and were not left propping up the timesheets hints at real promise for the future – and may even give teams like Venturi and NextEV something to worry about.
11 weeks ago on June 11 the Verizon IndyCar series had just wrapped up a double-header in Detroit and was looking to the high banks and high speeds of Texas Motor Speedway and the Firestone 600.
Mother Nature had other ideas.
First rain delayed the scheduled Saturday night race to a Sunday afternoon start.
71 laps into the 248 lap race, it became a washout.
With the field behind the pace car after a huge crash involving Conor Daly and Josef Newgarden, the skies opened and the race was postponed until this Saturday night.
It marked the first time since Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2011 that an IndyCar race started on one day and would be completed on another. That one wasn’t quite 3 months!
James Hinchcliffe was leading the race when the red flag came out.
The cars will restart the race in Saturday nbight in the same order in which they were scored at the completion of Lap 71. The big deal in all of this is that Josef Newgarden, currently 3rd in the IndyCar Series points battle, and fastest car on the circuit when he crashed, will not be involved since he was taken out of the race prior to the red flag in the horrifying crash with Daly.
Feelings on the topic were mixed. Many drivers wanted to just restart the race from the green flag and run the full 248 laps. This would have allowed both Newgarden and Daly to compete. But with Newgarden being so strong in June and last week at Pocono and dominating the short oval at Iowa, the other key players in the title chase, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, and Helio Castroneves, as well as Scott Dixon from Target Chip Ganassi Racing may end up thankful that IndyCar officials decided to pickup where they left off.
Not to mention The Mayor of Hinchtown, who will start as the leader.
Regardless we know that the remaining 177 will be action packed. TMS is a great track for IndyCar always producing wheel to wheel racing at 215+MPH.
The schedule will be incredibly condensed on Saturday with the cars hitting the track for their only warmup from 5:30 to 6:00PM CDT (10:30 – 11:00PM GMT) and the race resuming at 9:15PM CDT (2:15AM GMT)
The race most likely will have a major impact on the points battle. Simon Pagenuad’s crash combined with Will Power’s win at Pocono last week tightened the battle between P1 and and P2 to but 20 points.
Power will restart in P4 while Pagenaud is down in P15. Here is how the field will line up for the restart:
After a progressive but tough weekend at Brands Hatch three weeks ago, both James Rispoli and Shaun Winfield are ready to get back out on track at the infamous Cadwell Park circuit, to search for more Championship points.
The Lincolnshire based track plays host to the eighth round of the British Superbike Championship over this Bank Holiday weekend, and it certainly lives up to the action the Superbike riders provide.
2.1 miles in length Cadwell is a fast and flowing woodland based circuit, teamed with a tight and twisty section as the rider’s head home over the start finish line. Alongside that, Cadwell has the most fearsome jump in all of motorcycle racing, ‘The Mountain’.
‘The Mountain’ is the only place you will see fully blown 220 horsepower Superbikes fly through the air in formation. The section of the track is certainly a focal point for fans who flock to watch in their masses. Cadwell is a favourite for both fans and riders, and the Bank Holiday atmosphere adds to the occasion.
This weekend will see James Rispoli in a confident mood after making a major breakthrough with the setup of his Yamaha YZF-R1 last time out. In the break the team have worked hard to improve the setup of his bike ahead of the races this weekend, and he should be fully prepared to battle for points.
Shaun Winfield has been working hard on his fitness as he heads into one of the most physically demanding tracks on the MCE British Superbike calendar. The 23-year-old enjoyed a positive outing at Cadwell Park last year, taking a 20th and 18th place finishes in both races, and will be looking for more of the same this weekend.
Ahead of the weekend James ‘The Rocket’ Rispoli said: “Cadwell Park is probably one of the sickest tracks on the calendar, it’s the most aggressive and physical circuit we go to and it has everything, fast corners, slow corners and of course it has the Mountain!
“It is going to be a very difficult weekend all round because of how tough the track is, and for us we are already probably 150 laps down on a lot of our competitors as they have tested there, which makes it even more difficult. I am going into this weekend as I always do, I am really determined and I think the Yamaha could go well at this track.
“There has been a bit of a shake up with some more changes in the team before this round so we will assess that, but I want to keep moving forward and improve in every session because I know what I am capable of achieving. I want to finish the weekend with two strong finishes in the races and if we can do that then I will be happy.”
His team mate Shaun Winfield added: “I’m excited for this weekend at Cadwell Park, it’s a truly amazing circuit and one I really enjoy riding around. It’s a tricky place but when you get it right it’s a great feeling, I’m also looking forward to getting the Yamaha over the Mountain.
“Since Brands I’ve been working hard on my fitness to make sure I’m ready for the challenges that Cadwell will throw at me. The team have worked hard in the gap between races and I know the bike will be competitive, so I’m ready to battle and grab my first points of the season.”
Team Manager Gary Winfield summerised: “Cadwell Park is a great venue for bike racing, and we as a team are ready for the challenge it will throw at us. We have worked hard in the break behind the scenes on the bikes, and we have found further improvements that should help us this weekend.
“Both riders have been working hard on their fitness and are ready for the test that Cadwell will throw at them, it’s important for us now to start the final few rounds of the season strong, it begins this weekend at Cadwell and we are expecting two strong rides from both James and Shaun come Sunday.”
Mahindra Racing enter the 2016-17 season with a revised lineup, pairing the stalwart Nick Heidfeld with young Swedish rookie Felix Rosenqvist. During testing, we grabbed a quick word with Felix to get to know Mahindra’s newest signing a little better.
Born in Värnamo, Sweden, 24-year-old Felix Rosenqvist made his single seater debut in regional Formula Renault, taking titles in the Asian, Swedish and NEZ Formula Renault 2.0 series’ between 2008 and 2009. International recognition came with a third-place finish in his maiden European Formula 3 campaign in 2012 and victory in the prestigious 2014 Macau Grand Prix.
In 2015, Felix took the European F3 title in dominant fashion, finishing more than a hundred points over second-placed Antonio Giovinazzi and racking up a run of 15 consecutive podiums – including eight victories – and a second Macau win to tie off the season. After stints in DTM, Blancpain GT and IndyLights – the latter yielding three wins – Felix was called up by Mahindra to replace Bruno Senna for the 2016-17 Formula E season.
TPCO: Is Formula E’s preference for street circuits a big part of its appeal for you, given your strong history at tracks like Macau?
FR: Yes, it sure is. It’s a big reason why I considered to join Formula E. I love every street circuit and I always had good results on them so for me it made perfect sense.
TPCO: Considering the unique technical challenge of Formula E, how much of a confidence boost is it for a rookie driver to make their debut with a team as solid as Mahindra?
FR: For sure it helps me a lot to join a team that has been here since the start of the championship. Even with my teammate Nick being very experienced and a good team leader it feels like I’m in good hands.
TPCO: Are you aiming for any particular results this season, or is the focus just on finding your feet for now?
FR: For now I don’t really know where I am when it comes to the performance. Obviously the first test went well but I think it’s way early to judge lap times for now. I think I will just prepare in the best possible way and then I guess we will see in Hong Kong!
TPCO: How do you feel going up against a teammate as experienced and highly-regarded as Nick – is it a little daunting, or do you enjoy the challenge?
FR: I think it’s first of all very helpful to have Nick as he’s a great teacher when it comes to leading a team – something that takes a long time to learn as a driver. He’s easy to work with and I hope I can push him as well!
TPCO: Speaking of teammates, is there any current driver, from Formula E or beyond, against whom you’d love to test yourself?
FR: I think in the last seasons I had the opportunity to put myself up against very good drivers around the world, a couple of weeks ago I tested the same car as Scott Dixon and I was very impressed with him. I would love to try to go against Hamilton!
TPCO: Who would you regard as the toughest rival so far in your career?
FR: I think Esteban Ocon is a very good driver, and the one that impressed me the most when he won his rookie F3 season in 2014, and also won GP3 the following year as a rookie as well.
Shivraj Gohil / Spacesuit Media
TPCO: Which location this season are you most looking forward to racing in? And is there any location not on the calendar that you would like to visit with Formula E in the future?
FR: I look forward to Buenos Aires and Mexico as I’ve never been to South America. I think the championship should visit Stockholm for sure, and also come back to London.
TPCO: What are the most difficult, and most rewarding, parts of racing all over the world?
FR: The most difficult is the fact that you’re always a bit jet lagged and tired, and also your private life becomes a bit compromised when it comes to meeting family and friends. The rewarding part is that you get to do what you love every day, and as a young guy it’s nice that you can really go for something instead of being home drinking beer every weekend.
TPCO: How do you like to unwind after a race weekend?
FR: Normally I love just being home for one day doing nothing, then I feel ready to go again – as long as I get this day I’m good!
TPCO: Any predictions for the season – for yourself, for Mahindra, or for Formula E in general?
FR: It’s way too early to judge, at the moment we are just looking at ourselves and focusing on our programme. I think the team has done a very impressive job during the off-season and I can’t wait to see our final product in Hong Kong! For myself, I can just prepare as well as possible and then see how it goes I guess 🙂
Hockenheim, Germany. Sunday 31 July 2016. World Copyright: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Photographic ref: Digital Image _V2I7307
It’s back to work time after the three week summer break for the Haas F1 Team and the rest of the Formula 1 teams.
It couldn’t come soon enough for fans
The season resumes this weekend at the greatest natural terrain road course on this planet, Spa-Francorchamps.
Haas F1 Team have accomplished much in their maiden season in Formula 1, with Romain Grosjean scoring points in 4 races, and Esteban Gutiérrez knocking on the points door with for P11 finishes.
Grosjeans’s points total of 28 have him in the 12th position in the driver’s championship and the team in eighth position in constructors championship, 14 points behind McLaren Honda in seventh and 22 points up on Renault in ninth.
No one would argue that the team have exceeded the expectations of a rookie team, build from the ground up.
But the season is just over half complete and with 9 races remaining, Haas F1 Team still have much to accomplish.
Gutiérrez scoring his first points in the Haas Ferrari powered VF-16 is top on the list and a double points weekend would be a almost an unthinkable occurrence at the start of the year.
On to Belgium. Spa is known for its reputation of being a driver’s track, thanks in large part to the signature Eau Rouge and Raidillon corners, which create a fast and sweeping uphill, left-right-left combination that drivers view with reverence and attack with gusto.
The 19-turn circuit is a favorite of Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Esteban Gutiérrez. Before securing his most recent podium when he finished third in last year’s Belgian Grand Prix, Grosjean clinched the 2011 GP2 Series title at the venerable track. And Gutiérrez, with two Formula One starts at Spa, has enjoyed some fine drives in the wet when he visited the circuit during his junior career in GP2 and GP3.
It’s usually said that “It’s either raining at Spa or it is about to” so a wet track is common, but it’s also common for other portions to be completely dry, as its vast layout means late-summer showers can drench some parts of the track while leaving others untouched. Slicks obviously won’t work in the wet, and intermediate tires and full wet tires obviously won’t work in bone-dry conditions. It’s a conundrum that has often greeted drivers at the Belgian Grand Prix. Preliminary weather forecasts are calling for beautiful warm, sunny weather all weekend. We will see.
Guenther Steiner – Team Principal
How do you prepare for the unpredictability of the weather at Spa, as one part of the course can be clear and dry while another portion can be wet and slippery?
“You can prepare for the race by getting the team’s times down for when you need to change the tires. Otherwise, I think the driver’s experience comes into play here – what to do and when to do it. It all comes down to the driver and what they want to do next.”
How helpful is it to now have clear instruction as to what can be said on the radio and when during a race weekend?
“It’s nice to know that you can’t get fined now for something you didn’t have intentions of doing. Before it wasn’t clear on what was right or wrong to say, so it was difficult to obey the rule. Now we can say what we need to say. If somebody goes back now and listens to the instructions that were given to the drivers, they realize it wasn’t something said to make them go faster but rather solving the problem at hand. It allows us to get a read from the drivers now on the tires and other information that becomes useful to help us perform better. I don’t think it makes racing any less interesting by telling them something. For me, I don’t think there is a gain or loss, but it makes it easier for the team since now the information can be more clear.”
Fuel management played a role at the German Grand Prix, as the Hockenheimring saw drivers at full throttle for two-thirds of every lap. But Spa is 1.5 kilometers (.932 of a mile) longer than the Hockenheimring and drivers are on the throttle just as much. How much does fuel management play into your strategy at Spa?
“Fuel management is about the same, and it’s very important because the car needs the right time to lift off. Now with the radio communication, it is helpful because the engineer can give advice rather than in the past when the driver would ask and the engineer could not answer.”
Spa has high-speed straights and corners combined with a tight and twisting section, especially between turns eight and 15. How do you set up the car to tackle all the different aspects of the track? Do you have to make sacrifices in one section to gain an edge in other sections?
“Like in Hockenheim, we play between levels. It comes between using a low downforce and high topping speed at a low track or using the downforce in the twisty section and losing a little bit of speed in the fast sections.”
Romain Grosjean – Driver #8
How do you prepare for the unpredictability of the weather at Spa, as one part of the course can be clear and dry while another portion can be wet and slippery?
“Basically, you don’t. It’s something that’s out of your control. You don’t really worry about it. When it comes to qualifying or race day, yes, you have to make decisions, but it’s never black or white at Spa.”
Spa has been called a driver’s track. Why?
“It’s just a great track. There are very high-speed corners and there are a lot of turns, different types, some high speed, some low – just a good variety overall. It gives you a good feeling to drive.”
Spa has high-speed straights and corners combined with a tight and twisting section, especially between turns eight and 15. How do you set up your car to tackle all the different aspects of the track? Do you have to make sacrifices in one section to gain an edge in other sections?
“You always see different approaches at Spa. Either you’re fast in sector one and sector three, which are the high-speed sectors, or you’re fast in sector two, which has more of the corners. Both work pretty well, so it’s a matter of how you want to approach the race.”
Can you describe the sensation you feel inside the car when you drive through Eau Rouge and Raidillon? Are you able to take that section flat out?
“The first lap you go through flat out, you feel sick, like you’re on a rollercoaster because it goes up and down. You’re thinking, will I make that for the race? But, once you’ve done it once, it’s all ok and you just enjoy the g-forces.”
How important is it to enter Eau Rouge in clean air to ensure you have the maximum amount of downforce available?
“It’s certainly a corner where you don’t want to have a mistake. Qualifying in clean air is certainly quite good. On the other hand, if you get a big tow, you can have a massive advantage going into turn five. There’s a bit of an argument for both philosophies there.”
Esteban Gutiérrez – Driver #21
How do you prepare for the unpredictability of the weather at Spa, as one part of the course can be clear and dry while another portion can be wet and slippery?
“I think you need to make quick decisions throughout the weekend, especially during the race as it’s a way to gain an advantage. Making a wrong decision can be very detrimental, but that’s what’s special about Spa. It’s a very long track and it can sometimes only rain on one part of the track, on one or two corners, and if you’re on slicks you just need to deal with it. Ultimately, you only want to come in for full wets if it’s raining throughout. You really have to be ready and open minded during the weekend.”
Spa has been called a driver’s track. Why?
“It’s a track that has a lot of corners, as well as being a very long track where you can gain a lot of time if you do everything properly and if you’re consistent throughout the lap. This also depends on how much downforce you have on the car as the circuit has a lot of high-speed and fluid corners, which are important factors.”
Spa has high-speed straights and corners combined with a tight and twisting section, especially between turns eight and 15. How do you set up your car to tackle all the different aspects of the track? Do you have to make sacrifices in one section to gain an edge in other sections?
“It’s a track where you have to compromise a lot because you don’t want to lose too much speed on the straight and you don’t want to lose too much downforce in the corners. It’s important to have an efficient car to find the best compromise between aero and the mechanical set up.”
Can you describe the sensation you feel inside the car when you drive through Eau Rouge and Raidillon? Are you able to take that section flat out?
“Those two corners are usually flat out. It’s an amazing feeling approaching Eau Rouge. It goes up and you can feel the compression at the beginning of the corner and as the car is moving though the corner. As you go uphill, sometimes the car is jumping on the curb at high speed. It’s amazing. It’s difficult to describe it because you have to experience it.”
How important is it to enter Eau Rouge in clean air to ensure you have the maximum amount of downforce available?
“Even in the race sometimes you have to be flat out if you are running behind someone you want to overtake. It’s a corner you don’t require much downforce to make it flat out. Usually, we reduce the downforce at Spa because of the long straights and you want to have the least drag possible in those areas. It’s a compromise of how much downforce you set. Even with a low configuration of downforce, Eau Rouge becomes quite challenging, but usually very nice if you can take it flat out.”
Pirelli is bringing three tire compounds to Belgium:
P Zero White medium – less grip, less wear (used for long-race stints)
P Zero Yellow soft – more grip, medium wear (used for shorter-race stints and initial portion of qualifying)
P Zero Red supersoft – highest amount of grip, highest amount of wear (used for qualifying and select race situations)
Pirelli provides each driver 13 sets of dry tires for the race weekend. Of those 13 sets, drivers and their teams can choose the specifications of 10 of those sets from the three compounds Pirelli selected. The remaining three sets are defined by Pirelli – two mandatory tire specifications for the race (one set of P Zero White mediums and one set of P Zero Yellow softs) and one mandatory specification for Q3 (one set of P Zero Red supersofts).
Haas F1 Team’s drivers have selected the following amounts:
Grosjean: two sets of P Zero White mediums, four sets of P Zero Yellow softs and seven sets of P Zero Red supersofts
Gutiérrez: one set of P Zero White mediums, five sets of P Zero Yellow softs and seven sets of P Zero Red supersofts
The British Superbike championship arrives at the famous Cadwell Park circuit in Lincolnshire for round eight of the season. It will be the penultimate round before the Showdown starts so big points and finishing are the key. It’s Shane Byrne in form after a double at Brands Hatch, with Leon Haslam chasing hard after taking being winless since Knockhill. The Cadwell Park track is spectacular for fans, as it is the point in the season where both wheels are off the ground (intentionally) at the famous Mountain.
Shane “Shakey” Byrne is leading the championship after an incredible double at Brands. He has won three out of the last four races this year, and I wouldn’t bet against him extending that run this weekend. Shakey comes into the Cadwell circuit having had a total disaster at the track last season. Unbelievably, Byrne hasn’t won at the track since 2003, when he won his first title! Personally, I find that incredible! Don’t put it past him to end that run.
Leon Haslam returns to the Cadwell Park track for the first time since his HM Plant Honda days back in 2008, where he did the double. He comes into the round with a 25-point deficit to Shane Byrne and desperately needs to reclaim some of them points by taking wins, giving him an advantage going into the showdown with his podium credits. He finished 2nd to Byrne in both races last time out, so he has what it takes to run with the leader, but can he beat him? Only time will tell.
3rd in the championship is home to Jason O’Halloran, who has shown his skills in the 2016 season. The Australian who has fought back from horrific leg injuries after a Thruxton crash last year, has been something of a revelation this year, but this is the first time he would have been to the track on a BSB Factory Honda. His most recent result at the circuit is a 2nd to Danny Buchan in the Stock 1000 series, meaning the Aussie has the pace to go on to take another BSB win this weekend. Can he do it? The Honda rider will be looking to make it a special day for Honda, who are based in Louth, just down the road from the track.
In an upside down year that has seen him drop in and out of the top six in the title as well as the top 10 in races, Michael Laverty is 4th as it stands. The Tyco BMW rider and former GP star took his latest win in race two at Thruxton after Byrne’s early departure. Laverty won at Cadwell Park back in 2011 on the Swan Yamaha, which he later followed up with a 2nd place. If the Ulsterman can find the form he had five years ago, he is sure to be up there come MONDAY (Bank Holiday race day, don’t forget)!
Dan Linfoot is still waiting on his first BSB race win. After a mistake at Snetterton on the final corner whilst leading and a red flag whilst challenging Shakey in race two, Linfoot hasn’t finished in the top six, let alone step on the podium to gain podium credits, should he get through to the showdown. Cadwell doesn’t seem the track to see him recapture his form either, as recent results show his best finish has been a 7th. If anyone can turn it around though, then Linfoot is your man!
Richard Cooper has been a little bit off the boil recently with a podium drought currently sweeping into his side of the Buildbase BMW garage. The Buildbase BMW rider got another podium in race two at Brands Hatch Indy, but needs wins if he is to be there at the end of the season. The rider from Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, will be looking to make a return to the podium at Cadwell Park, after his 8th and 7th last season. Cooperman is without doubt capable of making a fist of things, but he is just three points ahead of in-form Luke Mossey, who occupies 7th in the standings.
The battle for the showdown is boiling up nicely, with 57 points being the gap from 12th to 6th, with five races left until the top six are locked in. It will be a dogfight, as returning riders like John Hopkins get back to the front, recovering from injuries and Danny Buchan getting back on a Kawasaki he enjoyed so much success with. These two aren’t really in the hunt for the showdown so they could really be decisive in who gets through. BSB is ridiculously close this season, and even riders like Laverty and Linfoot aren’t safe yet. Keep your eyes on Luke Mossey, James Eliison, Christian Iddon and the in-form Glenn Irwin to launch a big attack on the top six.
The BSB riders have also had a game of musical chairs during the three-week break. Howie Mainwaring-Smart left the Smith’s BMW to join the vacant seat at ePayMe Yamaha. Stuart Easton, who left the team earlier on in the season, joins Moto Rapido Ducati, who parted company with former Stock 1000 champion Danny Buchan. Buchan re-joins forces with MSS Tsingtao Kawasaki Racing, the team he rode for in 2014 on his way to Stock success. Ryuichi Kiyonari has also left the Halsall Bennett’s Suzuki team, who are yet to replace him.
You can find out what will happen on Sunday. As well as joining us for our live text commentary by Kiko Giles, you too can also watch it live, free to air on Quest! You can follow @PitCrew_Online for the live text commentary and also @MotoGPKiko for all things bikes and boring. If you are on Instagram, then you can follow ‘crewontwo’ for all the bike racing pics from across numerous series!
Thanks to Gareth Davies for the wonderful images he continues to provide.
Aboard the Team Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex machine Sam Lowes crossed the finish line of today’s rain hit Czech Grand Prix at Brno in third place: despite treacherous conditions the 25-year-old British rider put in an excellent performance, recovering from fifth to third position in the early laps of the race and maintaining the position until the checkered flag, behind winner Jonas Folger and Spaniard Alex Rins, second.
After two races in which he was forced to retire, Lowes was therefore back on the podium reinforcing the third position in the overall standings with 137 points ahead of his home Grand Prix at Silverstone, scheduled for September 4th.
Sam Lowes: The result gives me great conference
“Given the situation, this third place is a very important result for me: in the dry I had a great chance to win, because I rode well all weekend and I felt very competitive, but that’s okay , because I was able to keep a good pace also in the wet and I didn’t expect to be so fast. Today we still managed to beat Zarco, while for Rins, with 7-8 laps to go I thought it would be possible to reach him, then I preferred to avoid risks because we come from two DNFs and today it was really important to finish the race. This performance is also important ahead of my home race at Silverstone, because also there we may face a variable weather variable and today’s result gives me great confidence”.
