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Hamilton the history maker shows his class

Before the Russian Grand Prix weekend, many Formula One fans would have sighed at the prospect of a Lewis Hamilton-Max Verstappen 1-2 in Sochi. In the end though, we had by far the best Russian race since it’s debut in 2014, and one which was a microcosm of the season so far.

As soon as Max Verstappen opted for new power unit components after FP1 on Friday, his weekend was always going to be about damage limitation, whereas Lewis Hamilton knew he wouldn’t have a better chance to retake the championship lead with his main rival out of the picture. This looked like a straightforward task right up until the final moment s of qualifying, when old intermediates on a drying pitlane led to the smallest of mistakes from the seven-time champion. Fixing the front wing meant Hamilton (and Valtteri Bottas, who was held behind the Brit) only got one lap on slick tyres, leaving Lewis starting fourth behind Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and his future teammate George Russell.

The rain caused a difficult day for Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton on Saturday – Courtesy of Mercedes F1 Media

Still, many would have expected the Mercedes man to take an easy victory on Sunday, but this looked a lot less likely by the time the field reached the braking zone for turn two. Just like in the Monza sprint race, Hamilton was slow away, and he dropped to seventh before re-passing Fernando Alonso.

As his rivals pitted, this is where Hamilton’s mastery came to the fore. ‘Bono my tyres are gone’ has become the most feared message in Formula One, as it’s normally followed by purple sectors across the board for Car #44. For a man who was initially known as being hard on his tyres, Lewis seems to be able to eek out performance when the rubber is far from fresh, and this – combined with a less than ideal stop for McLaren’s Ricciardo – helped him jump up the order.

Once on fresh hards, Hamilton looked unstoppable. Sainz was dispatched with consummate ease, and the gap to Norris started rapidly reducing. Dirty air started having an effect though, and Lewis couldn’t quite get within that all important one second window.

Up until Spa, the prospect of wet-weather led to excitement rather than trepidation from Formula One fans. And Sochi proved that you don’t need monsoon-like conditions to cause drama; just a small shower can create panic and problems. As the heavens opened over the Black Sea coast, Norris initially extended his lead, and it looked like we were going to get a second debut winner of the season. Both drivers stayed out when the majority were pitting, before a decisive move from the McLaren driver proved to be costly. Whereas the Woking team were more advisory about Lando pitting, Mercedes were insistent: The slicks would soon be skidding, and intermediates were the only option. Straight away Hamilton gained time, and within one and a half laps he was well on the way to his hundredth victory – a simply staggering achievement.

Of course, the irony in this is that the rain hindered Hamilton’s chances of taking a record-breaking eighth title. Max Verstappen was in seventh, struggling to make up ground before the downpour, and he came in at just the right time to shoot up the order, finishing in second, and an astonishing eighteen places higher than he started. A twelve point swing had been reduced to seven, and he is now just two points behind with seven races still remaining.

Max Verstappen’s sublime recovery saw him limit the ground lost to Hamilton in the standings – Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

For Lando, his time will come. And with an extra engine in the bag, Max may well be slight favourite for the championship despite trailing in the standings, thanks to a drive which again showed why many expect him to be the man to pick up the baton from Hamilton. But yesterday was Lewis’ day. Even the young karter from Stevenage could have barely imagined getting one hundred race victories, and there’s no reason why more won’t be added to the tally. The greatest of all time? That’s a bold statement. The greatest of his time? Unquestionably. The future is bright for Formula One, with Max, Lando, George and Charles Leclerc all looking like world championship material. But you’d be a brave individual to bet on any of them to surpass the achievements of Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton.

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Alex Palou clinches historic first IndyCar title as Colton Herta wins at Long Beach

Alex Palou sealed the 2021 IndyCar championship with a measured and controlled race finishing in fourth for the final round at Long Beach, California which was won by Colton Herta. The Andretti Autosport driver finished the season in style with his third win of the season from 14th on the grid.

Colton Herta drove a magnificent race to take his sixth career victory. Photo Courtesy of James Black.

Josef Newgarden started on pole position ahead of Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves. Herta, who had been on the pace all weekend collided with the wall in qualifying meaning he started down in 14th, but it didn’t take long for the American to carve through the field – within a few laps he was already up to sixth with some incredible late-braking maneuvers on Romain Grosjean and Alex Palou.

Alex Palou started tenth and drove a tentative first half of the race as a Top 12 would be enough to seal the Spaniards first IndyCar title in his sophomore year. He made up a few places but largely remained in the upper half of the Top Ten.

The championship saw a dramatic turn as Palou’s primary rival, Patricio O’Ward was spun by Ed Jones and immediately fell to the rear of the field. However, he suffered further damage to the driveshaft and was forced to retire from the race effectively ending his title hopes to the delight of Alex Palou.

At this point, Newgarden was the only other contender, albeit a win and for Palou to retire would be the only perceivable permutation that would see the American seal his third championship – a long shot!

However, a long shot was all that Newgarden needed and he led the race up until shortly after the second caution of the race, brought out by the Chip Ganassi of Marcus Ericsson, who crashed into the wall after failing to pull off a move on Alexander Rossi. On the restart, Herta set about clearing Dixon and eventually passed Josef Newgarden for the net lead around Lap 35.

After clearing Newgarden, Herta pulled out almost a seven-second lead and putting the Penske driver effectively out of championship contention.

With O’Ward and Newgarden falling short,  Palou was in fifth and didn’t need to make up any more places in the race. But despite that, he continued pushing forward and putting the pressure on Hinchcliffe in front around Lap 37.

Alex Palou tried to take Hinchcliffe into Turn 1 but it was the Canadian who was later on the brakes to win out that fight, the Spaniard deciding to live to fight another day. In fact, soon after the second pit stop cycles got underway where Palou was able to jump Hinchcliffe in the pits.

Meanwhile, Romain Grosjean was in a title fight of his own, hunting down the prestigious ‘Rookie of the Year’ award. By Lap 37 he was up to seventh having gotten past Alexander Rossi around the outside of the fountain section. The Swiss-Frenchman only needed another 12 points to eclipse Scott McLaughlin.

Unfortunately, he would retire soon after with a rear-left suspension failure essentially gifting the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title to McLaughlin.

After the second set of pit stops, the overall situation at the front had not changed that much. A late caution brought out by a collision between Oliver Askew and Conor Daly threatened to shake things up with around 20 laps remaining.

On the restart, Colton Herta got a fantastic launch and was able to hold Newgarden off by just over a second ahead of Dixon, Palou, and Pagenaud. However, with five laps remaining Newgarden brought the gap down to less than half a second a put a great deal of pressure on Herta.

In the end, it was Herta who crossed the line to take his seventh career win ahead of Newgarden, Dixon, Palou, and Pagenaud. O’Ward briefly attempted to return to the track later in the race but fail to rescue any more points.

Rounding out the Top Ten was Alexander Rossi, Jack Harvey, Sebastien Bourdais, Takuma Sato, and Will Power. Helio Castroneves stayed out on a counter-strategy, refusing to pit after the first safety car, he was quickly swallowed up later in the race and finished down in 20th.

Both Rinus VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson, and Callum Ilott were the other three retirements from the race.

Palou, would be the new and deserving champion of IndyCar – the youngest since Scott Dixon at the age of 23 in 2003 finishing 38 points over new second-place man, Newgarden, as O’Ward slipped to third, just ahead of Dixon.

Ericsson’s retirement and Herta’s sixth career victory meant the Andretti Autosport driver moved up to fifth in the championship.

 

 

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BTCC Silverstone – Hill keeps title fight alive with win in final race

Jake Hill reignited his title challenge by taking the win in the third and final race of the weekend at Silverstone. He overtook and held off reverse grid polesitter Dan Lloyd who finished second.

Ash Sutton managed to extend his title lead by finishing third after a quiet but consistent weekend for the reigning champion.

Lloyd made a good start from pole, while team mate Jason Plato, who started second, fell down the order, losing places to Hill and Stephen Jelley in his BMW.

Tom Chiton’s poor weekend continued as he collided with Sam Osborne coming out of Copse. He spun off but managed to rejoin and finished last on the road.

The BTCC Hybrid programme was concluded with the Toyota Corolla Hybrid driven by 2013 champion Andrew Jordan pulling into the pits midway through the race. The objective of the car was not to affect the action or get into any incidents. The programme a success on both fronts.

On lap 11 Hill managed to get past Lloyd and it was a lead he didn’t give up. He passed into Copse with a brilliant move and held on from then on in. Sutton was doing his best to catch the leading duo. He dispatched Chris Smiley on lap 16 into Becketts. Smiley had a good race, running in fourth for the majority of the race and held on for it.

Sutton was charging, he couldn’t quite catch Hill and Lloyd but by finishing third he manages to extend his championship lead with Tom Ingram and Hill chasing behind.

Josh Cook had the poorest weekend of the five title challengers, with Colin Turkington grabbing a hat-full of consistent points.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Jake Hill Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport 21:24:184
2 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +0.698
3 Ash Sutton Infinti Q50 Laser Tools +1.444
4 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +4.474
5 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +4.906
6 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +5.269
7 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +5.476
8 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +6.146
9 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +7.740
10 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +8.731
11 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +8.938
12 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +10.652
13 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +11.434
14 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +12.965
15 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +13.277
16 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +13.566
17 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +14.111
18 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +15.390
19 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +15.487
20 Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo +16.120
21 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +16.273
22 Rick Parfitt Jr Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +20.854
23 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +21.147
24 Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +21.405
25 Sam Osborne Ford Focus ST Motorbase +22.992
26 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST Motorbase +27.816
27 Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD +28.265
28 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +28.534
Retirements
DNF Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD Mechanical
DNF Andrew Jordan Toyota Corolla Hybrid – N/A

 

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Round 10 WorldSBK Jerez, Spain, Race 2

Track temperatures were now in excess of 40 degrees Celsius as the track had been heating up during the day. As the Superpole race had been cancelled, positions on the grid were the same as for race one.

Race 2 Jerez Michael Rinaldi and Scott Redding Picture courtesy of Aruba.it Ducati

Lights out and its Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) yet again with the quickest start off the line to get into turn 1 ahead of the others. Followed by Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati) in 2nd, Rea (Kawasaki KRT) in 3rd, Redding (aruba.it Ducati) 4th and Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) in 5th.

Toprak was looking keen to get away but the Ducati team mates of Rinaldi and Redding were looking good in the higher track temperatures, as they had in Navarro earlier in the season. So too the Honda team mates of Haslam and Bautista in 6th and 7th, were looking much better.

With 18 laps to go Rea looked to be losing time and now had Redding pass him to demote the Irishman to 4th. Locatelli was now eyeing up the Kawasaki ahead of him.

With 17 laps to go, Redding puts in a fastest lap of 1:40.776 and was looking to make a move on his team mate . Meanwhile Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) loses control of his bike into turn 6 and that spells the end of his race.

With 15 laps to go Redding makes the move on Rinaldi up the inside into the last corner to take 2nd. Meanwhile further back Locatelli cuts up the inside of Rea to take 4th. Rea was really struggling to get his Kawasaki stopped into the hard braking corners and was losing ground, with Bassani (motocorsa Ducati) right behind.

Race 2 Jerez Scott Redding and Toprak Razgatlioglu Picture courtesy of Aruba.it Ducati

With 12 laps to go Redding had closed the gap down to Toprak to 0.4 and was looking comfortable in the warmer conditions. Further down the field it was vd Mark (BMW Motorrad) in 8th, Baz (go eleven Ducati) 9th and Laverty (BMW Motorrad) 10th.

With 10 laps to go, the gap between Razgatlioglu and Redding was further closing with the gap now 0.3, meanwhile Rea was still holding off Bassani for 6th.

With 8 laps to go Bautista (Honda HRC) had now caught up to the back of the Rinaldi, Locatelli group but went too hot into a corner going wide and losing time.

With 7 laps to go, Locatelli gets by Rinaldi into turn 6 to take 3rd. Bautista was showing great late race pace and was looking for a way past Rinaldi who was dropping back looking to be suffering from tyre wear issues. Bautista does make the pass and takes 4th.

With 4 laps to go, Razgatlioglu goes slightly wide into a corner, leaving space for Redding to drive the Ducati up the inside and take over the lead for the first time. Meanwhile it was now the turn of Bassani (motocorsa Ducati) to go past Rinaldi for 6th, Rinaldi who was continuing to lose ground had previously been passed by Rea who was now in 5th.

With 3 laps to go, Bautista goes through on Locatelli. Meanwhile at the front Razgatlioglu retakes the lead diving under Redding into the last corner. The Yamaha showing how much better it could turn in comparison to the Ducati.

Race 2 Jerez Garratt Gerloff Picture courtesy of Pata Yamaha Racing

Last lap and would Redding be able to retake the lead? He was lining up Toprak and looked to be gaining momentum through the last series of corners it could be a last corner pass as it has been so often here at Jerez.

Razgatlioglu holds off Redding and crosses the line to take the double win this weekend. Redding 2nd, Bautista 3rd.

Result top 5:

  1. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
  2. Redding (aruba.it Ducati)
  3. Bautista (Honda HRC)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha)
  5. Rea (Kawasaki KRT)

Out: Cresson (Perdercini Kawasaki), Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Ponsson (Gil Yamaha)

Championship top 3:

  1. Razgatlioglu – 449 pts
  2. Rea – 429
  3. Redding 375

 

 

 

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Round 10 WorldSBK Jerez, Spain, Race 1

Superpole on Saturday, saw Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) claim pole with a fastest lap of 1:38.512, with the Kawasaki KRT team mates of Lowes and Rea in 2nd and 3rd.

Race 1 Jerez Leon Haslam Picture courtesy of HRC Racing

Track conditions were near enough perfect for race 1 with a mix of tyre choices throughout the grid. Toprak going for the softer SCX rear tyre, while Rea went for the harder option. After the tragedy yesterday in the Supersport 300 race there was definitely a sombre mood over the grid with riders all deep in their own thoughts before the start.

Lights out and its Razgatlioglu with the hole shot up into turn 1, followed by Rea in 2nd, Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati) 3rd, Lowes 4th and Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) in 5th. Rea is not hanging around and dives underneath Razgatlioglu, hoping to get away early.

Next lap and Locatelli has moved up to 3rd, Rinaldi went wide into a corner and loses a position, while Redding (aruba.it Ducati) is 5th Lowes had a terrible start and now finds himself slipping back to 8th. Special mention for Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad) who is back racing on Tom Sykes’s bike, who misses the race due to injury last week and is in 13th.

With 19 laps to go Redding moves past his team mate not wanting to lose touch with the group up front. Further back its the Honda team mates of Haslam and Bautista in 6th and 7th respectively, vd Mark (BMW Motorrad) in 8th and Lowes who continues to slip back, is now in 10th.

With 18 laps to go, Rea puts in a fastest lap of the race with  a 1:39.837 no doubt trying to break Razgatlioglu behind. This relentless pace being set was distancing everyone behind, except for Locatelli in 3rd who was trying to hang on.

With 16 laps to go Rinaldi loses control of his Ducati sending it sprawling down the track and ploughing into the gravel. His race is over.

With 14 laps to go Razgatlioglu comes from a long way out into the Pedrosa corner, turn 6, but is unable to get it stopped in time and runs into the back of Rea. Fortunately both riders are able to stay upright, but this gives Rea extra incentive to get away from the Turkish rider.

With 12 laps to go, Baz (go eleven Ducati) who is riding Chaz Davies’s bike, also out due to injury, moves up to 7th. Meanwhile Haslam is falling back and now in 9th. Redding in 4th, initially looked to have the pace to catch Locatelli in 3rd but now seems to be unable to gain any more time on the Italian rider.

With 7 laps to go, Razgatlioglu makes his move on Rea, diving up the inside into turn 1. Another tough pass but that is how the Turkish rider races and it would not have been a surprise for Rea who would be looking to respond.

Race 1 Jerez Garratt Gerloff Picture courtesy of PATA Yamaha Racing Team

With 4 laps to go Razgatlioglu now held a gap of 0.8 to Rea in 2nd and was looking comfortable in the lead. Meanwhile Locatelli was still holding onto 3rd with Redding in 4th.

Last lap now, and Redding has closed right up to Locatelli, he makes the move using the power of the Ducat and takes 3rd. Further back vd Mark is trying to hold of Bassani (motocorsa Ducati) who has shown great late race pace for 7th.

Razgatlioglu crosses the line for the first win of the weekend followed by Rea in 2nd, Redding 3rd, Locatelli 4th, Bautista 5th, Baz 6th, vd Mark 7th and Bassani in 8th.

Result top 5:

  1. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha)
  2. Rea (Kawasaki KRT)
  3. Redding (aruba.it Ducati)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha)
  5. Bautista (Honda HRC)

Out: Mercado (Honda), Cavalieri (Ducati), Rinaldi (aruba.it Ducati)

Championship top 3:

  1. Razgatlioglu – 424 pts
  2. Rea – 418
  3. Redding 355
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Heartbreak for Norris but it’s 100 for Hamilton!

Hamilton finally gets his 100th win in a race with changing conditions. Heartbreak for Norris who was leading for most of the race, but a call to stick to slicks as the rain got heavier with just 3 laps left meant that he finished P7. Verstappen gained the most though finishing P2 after starting at the back of the grid.

Qualifying yesterday created a dream top 3 for some fans, and with Verstappen starting from the back it was set to be a good race. Bottas took a shock engine penalty this morning meaning he start P17, interesting tactics by Mercedes? The weather, which had played a part all weekend, looked like it may play a part with rain out at sea closing in.

Lights out and Norris got a great start, Sainz was battling Russell through to turn 2 but wins out. Sainz picked up an incredible slip stream and takes the lead around the outside of turn 3. Hamilton had a terrible start, bogged down and lost out to Ricciardo and Stroll who picked up a slipstream from Hamilton as he was boxed in.

Now in P6, Hamilton was on a charge as part of the train behind Russell who was still in P3 on lap 5. Verstappen was making up places, up to P15 but was stuck behind Bottas. The Mercedes team game looking at the bigger championship picture. However, Verstappen made a move after just 3 laps, Bottas leaving the door open and Verstappen going through.

10 laps in and Norris was now within DRS of Sainz and closing every lap. Russell holding up the rest of the pack meant that the top 2 were now 7 seconds clear to battle each other. Just 1 lap later and Verstappen was making up more places. Leclerc made a move on Vettel on the inside of turn 4 but went too deep. Verstappen just behind wanted to take advantage, but nearly pinched into the wall he had to back out and wait for Leclerc to go wide again, which happened just 2 corners later.

SOCHI, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 26: Max Verstappen driving the (33) Red Bull Racing RB16B Honda during the F1 Grand Prix of Russia at Sochi Autodrom on September 26, 2021 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Lap 13 and Norris makes it past Sainz in a great move down the back straight using DRS. He managed to pull out a gap before Sainz went in to pit just a few laps later with an unfortunate slow stop. Stroll was the first to pit and took full advantage of the powerful undercut. Once Russell pitted, who was ahead of Stroll before pitting, he came out behind Stroll.

Ricciardo came into the pits 23 laps in. Both McLaren and Mercedes were ready but Hamilton was told to do the opposite. Ricciardo had a very slow stop trying to get to grips with the new, slower, pitstop system. The light didn’t change and therefore Ricciardo was held in his pit box. This played into Hamilton’s hands, who had a whole pitstop over Ricciardo. However, Hamilton, in clear air, decided to stay out longer and was putting in fastest laps. Lap 27 and having pulled a gap to Ricciardo, Hamilton had a clean stop but still came out behind Stroll. Verstappen pitted for mediums at the same time, coming out only 2 places behind Hamilton.

Norris finally pits for a set of hard tyres with a much cleaner stop. He came out in clean air with the 3 drivers ahead of him yet to stop. Hamilton on fresh hard tyres made use of the action packed back straight to dispatch of Stroll, Sainz and Gasly to begin gaining on Norris just over halfway through the race.

By lap 37 Verstappen was still behind Ricciardo, which was hurting his medium tyres. Perez pitted but had a very slow stop with problems on the rear right, meaning he came out just ahead of Verstappen. This is where team orders were expected but there was no change over and Verstappen lost out to Alonso who had fresh tyres, having pitted at the same time as Perez.

SOCHI, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 26: Sergio Perez F1 Grand Prix of Russia at Sochi Autodrom on September 26, 2021 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Lap 46, the rain finally came around turn 5. Umbrellas were up and every team now deciding what to do because it came in initially as light rain. Norris thinking about the race win and Hamilton thinking about the championship. Sainz the first to make a call about getting ready for intermediates. Norris went wide on the wet corners, but Hamilton also had to go slowly around the corner and stayed behind Norris.

Trying to decide when to come in the entire grid were changing positions. Importantly Norris decided to stick with the slicks with a 25 second gap to Hamilton who did pit for intermediates. Hamilton had over a 40 second to Perez so knew he had a free pit stop.

As the rain got heavier chaos ensued. Norris couldn’t keep control and slides off down the back straight giving the place to Hamilton who was able to make up the gap with Norris  around. Verstappen, who did also pit for inters, took advantage of those falling off the track and made it up to P2 after starting from the back of the grid. Heartbreakingly for Norris, he couldn’t control the car into the pits, crossed the line twice and will likely get a penalty to add to his eventual P7 finish. Carlos Sainz rounded out the podium with a solid performance along with the right call at the right time for the intermediate tyres.

SOCHI, RUSSIA – SEPTEMBER 26: Race winner Lewis Hamilton, second placed Max Verstappen and third placed Carlos Sainz celebrate on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Russia at Sochi Autodrom on September 26, 2021 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Yuri Kochetkov – Pool/Getty Images)

Sire Lewis Hamilton finally gets his 100th win. The first driver in Formula 1 history to achieve this especially in changing weather conditions. He also now leads the championship by only 2 points to Verstappen going into the next round.

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BTCC Silverstone – Butcher holds off Cook for second win of the day

Rory Butcher took his second win from two at Silverstone as he held off a chasing Josh Cook.

Once Cook had cleared Tom ingram in a thrilling race-long battle, he hunted down Butcher but couldn’t quite take the win.

Cook was however disqualified from the result for failing a ride height check at the end of race scrutineering.

The first of two safety car periods came on lap three when Nicholas Hamilton’s Cupra was in the gravel trap. He recovered and rejoined the race.

On the restart Josh Cook was battling Tom Ingram for second place. The pair were side by side from Brooklands through to Becketts. The Hyundai of Ingram prevailed and he maintained second place.

On lap nine there were two incidents to bring out the second Safety Car. Carl Boardley was tapped into Copse by Andy Neate’s Ford. Further back Jade Edwards and Gordon Shedden collided and not for the first time this season. Shedden tipped Edwards into the gravel at Brooklands and out of the race.

Racing resumed on lap 16 with Sam Smelt joining the list of retirements with a mechanical issue. It was round two of the Cook and Ingram battle on lap 17. This time Cook managed to squeeze past Ingram into Copse and went on the hunt for race leader Butcher.

Senna Proctor was next to join the list of retirements after contact going into Becketts. His team mate Cook however was closing in on Butcher, and was hot on his heels into the penultimate lap.

The final lap meant it was now or never for Cook. He made an audacious dive down the inside of Butcher into Brooklands, getting onto the grass, but Butcher held on for the win.

He took his second win of the day from Cook, Ingram came third with Colin Turkington behind him. Championship leader Ash Sutton finished fifth with team mate Aiden Moffat behind him. Dan Rowbottom, Chris Smiley, Stephen Jelley were seventh, eighth and ninth respectively with Jake Hill going from 21st on the grid to tenth.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo 27:16:006
2 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +3.021
3 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +3.162
4 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +3.456
5 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +3.492
6 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +4.182
7 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +4.494
8 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +5.550
9 Jake Hill Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +6.706
10 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +7.031
11 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +7.036
12 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +7.796
13 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +8.348
14 Sam Osborne Ford Focus ST Motorbase +9.570
15 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +9.728
16 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +10.036
17 Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +10.166
18 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +10.773
19 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +11.066
20 Andrew Jordan Toyota Corolla Hybrid – +11.621
21 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +13.751
22 Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD +14.902
23 Andy Neate Ford Focus ST Motorbase +15.589
24 Rick Parfitt Jr Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +15.754
25 Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD +24.217
Retirements
DNF Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools Damage
DNF Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing Mechanical
DNF Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo Mechanical
DNF Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing Crash
DSQ Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing Ride Height

 

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BTCC Silverstone – Butcher cruises to win despite compromised start

Rory Butcher allayed pre-race fears to convert pole to victory in race one at Silverstone.

A liquid spill from the earlier British F4 race on the start/finish straight meant Butcher’s start would be compromised. However despite losing the lead to Tom Ingram, he soon reclaimed his lead on lap three at Brooklands with an audacious and well executed move.

The opening lap saw five retirements, with Andy Neate suffering a puncture and causing damage. Gordon Shedden and Sam Smelt had a coming together, Jack Mitchell retired early on with a mechanical issue and Adam Morgan also never returned from the pits after pitting on lap one.

Once Butcher took his lead back, Ingram was reeled in by Dan Lloyd in his Vauxhall Astra. Of the five title protagonists Ingram finished highest, with Josh Cook, Colin Turkington and leader Ash Sutton finishing fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Jake Hill however struggled with 66kg of ballast in his Ford Focus, and was embroiled in a race-long fight with Tom Chilton and Jack Butel. He eventually finished 21st, and out of the points.

Butcher cruised to a win, with a winning margin of just over three seconds. Ingram held off Lloyd for second with Aiden Moffat’s second half renaissance to the season continued with fourth place.

History was made as the BTCC’s Hybrid car competed in its first race, driven by former champion Andrew Jordan. While it finished last, this wasn’t due to lack of performance. The Hybrid programme was simply to run the car in racing conditions, and so stayed near the back to avoid any incidents or affecting the championship.

Ash Sutton remains in the lead of the championship with only a handful of races left to go.

Pos Driver Car Team +/-
1 Rory Butcher Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo 21:21:142
2 Tom Ingram Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +3.262
3 Dan Lloyd Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +3.666
4 Aiden Moffat Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +4.263
5 Josh Cook Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +6.674
6 Colin Turkington BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +6.929
7 Ash Sutton Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +7.379
8 Dan Rowbottom Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics +8.113
9 Stephen Jelley BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +10.154
10 Jason Plato Vauxhall Astra Power Maxed +10.564
11 Tom Oliphant BMW 330i M Sport Team WSR +10.757
12 Ollie Jackson Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +16.981
13 Chris Smiley Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +17.270
14 Senna Proctor Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +17.621
15 Carl Boardley Infiniti Q50 Laser Tools +18.009
16 Sam Osborne Ford Focus ST Motorbase +18.763
17 Aron Taylor-Smith Cupra Leon Team HARD +19.410
18 Jack Butel Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +19.886
19 Jack Goff Cupra Leon Team HARD +23.460
20 Tom Chilton BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley +23.822
21 Jake Hill Ford Focus ST MB Motorsport +24.904
22 Jade Edwards Honda Civic Type R BTC Racing +25.239
23 Rick Parfitt Jr Hyundai i30N Excelr8 +26.015
24 Nicholas Hamilton Cupra Leon Team HARD +28.099
25 Andrew Jordan Toyota Corolla Hybrid – +30.593
Retirements
DNF Andy Neate Ford Focus ST Motorbase Wheel
DNF Adam Morgan BMW 330i M Sport Ciceley Damage
DNF Sam Smelt Toyota Corolla Toyota Gazoo Crash
DNF Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Type R Team Dynamics Crash
DNF Jack Mitchell Cupra Leon Team HARD Mechanical

 

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F2 Sochi: Piastri wins feature and extends championship lead

Oscar Piastri won the Sochi Formula 2 feature race with a dominant performance over Theo Pourchaire who finished second. Jehan Daruvala rounded out the podium with the rest of the top four in the championship standings finishing one behind the other in fourth, fifth and sixth, setting up a tight fight in the final leg of the championship.

The feature race was only the second of this unusual weekend. After a huge crash in the sprint race yesterday Felipe Drugovich was declared unfit for this race. He is OK but the chief medical officer was not happy for him to compete in the race today.

Piastri had the best start of anyone, pulling out a gap immediately on Daruvala who bogged down off the line and lost two places down into fourth. The virtual safety car came out before the end of lap 1 with contact between Bent Viscaal and Roy Nissany in Turn 3 leaving Viscaal’s car stranded. Nissany was given a 5 second time penalty for his part which he served during his pitstop.

Jehan Daruvala, Carlin (Lars Baron, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F2)

As Juri Vips came into the pits he suffered a problem and on the way out couldn’t get it resolved. This meant he had to stop on track but managed to park in a good place and no flags were needed. This brought in the first of the mandatory pitstops early on lap 8 for Daruvala and Robert Shwartzman. Both had quick stops but with a lot of traffic in the pit lane they struggled to get out of the box.

Piastri pitted just one lap later leaving Pourchaire, Guanyu Zhou and Dan Ticktum at the front of the pack. A radio message from Ticktum to say ‘let me chase him’ as he was only a couple of tenths off Zhou. Importantly, he made a great move on track around Turn 6 and then came out in front once they went in for tyres.

With warmer tyres, Piastri manage to get past Pourchaire who had come out from the pitstops in front. However, once Pourchaire’s tyres were warmed up he was on a charge, consistently getting fastest laps in an attempt to get back to the top. On lap 15 both drivers were behind Nissany on the alternative strategy. Piastri got past quickly, but Pourchaire took an extra lap, which meant that Piastri open up a gap on Pourchaire.

With work to do, Daruvala was closing the gap on Ralph Boschung in the last 8 laps. By lap 23 Boschung was feeling the pressure and had a huge left front lock up down the back straight, sending him wide and allowing Daruvala to make an easy move back into third.

Ralph Boschung, Campos (Lars Baron, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F2)

Boschung lost out again with no grip left as Shwartzman took advantage of the mistake and dropped Boschung down to fifth. Just three laps later that lock up came back to bite Boschung. The tyre began to fall apart, and a puncture meant he had to retire from the race with just two laps left.

Importantly for the championship Ticktum was able to keep Zhou behind him, despite only a three tenth gap between them for several laps, and they finished fifth and sixth respectively. However, championship leader Piastri extended his lead with a dominant win. Pourchaire finished with a strong performance in P2 and Daruvala made up for his poor start, finishing on the final step of the podium.

For the championship, Shwartzman finished in fourth, gaining points on Ticktum and Zhou but still significantly behind Piastri. Pourchaire with that second is now just nine points behind Shwartzman in the standings in fifth.

Theo Pourchaire, ART (Bryn Lennon, Getty Images / FIA F2)
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F3 Sochi: Doohan seals Trident teams’ title with contentious feature win

Jack Doohan took his fourth win of the season in the Sochi feature race and helped Trident to snatch the Formula 3 teams’ championship away from Prema, albeit by ignoring team orders in his battle with Clement Novalak.

Doohan and Novalak started alongside each other on the front row, and although Novalak got a quick launch to challenge Doohan into Turn 2, Doohan was able to hold his lead from pole position. Behind them Jonathan Hoggard kept third place while Frederik Vesti dropped from fourth to sixth behind Juan Manuel Correa and Lorenzo Colombo.

Vesti soon took those places back however, repassing Colombo by the end of the first lap and Correa on lap 3. On lap 5 he then caught and passed Hoggard’s Jenzer to bring himself up into the podium positions with just over three seconds separating him from the Tridents out front.

Jonathan Hoggard, Jenzer (Lars Baron, Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images / FIA F3)

Colombo and Correa continued to fall back through the field after those opening laps. Colombo dropped to ninth place after running wide while being passed by Vesti, and was then bumped out of the points altogether by Oliver Rasmussen by the end of lap 1. Meanwhile Correa lost fifth and sixth to Logan Sargeant and Jak Crawford, although he managed to hold seventh by seeing off the new F3 champion Dennis Hauger.

Hauger continued to pressure Correa for seventh, closely pursued himself by Victor Martins. Their battle came to a head on lap 7 as the three of them ran side by side through Turn 7. Correa came out ahead as Martins ran wide, but Hauger was spun around by Rasmussen who tried to take advantage of the melee.

Hauger dropped to the back of the field while Rasmussen and Martins both ended up outside the points. Arthur Leclerc benefited from the incident to sneak through and take seventh from Correa, while Ayumu Iwasa and Alex Smolyar were promoted into the points.

Arthur Leclerc, Prema (Courtesy of Prema Racing)

At the front of the field Doohan and Novalak were separated by just a few tenths of a second as they fought for the lead. Novalak set the pace early on with the fastest lap and ran just two tenths behind Doohan by lap 7. On lap 9 Novalak tried a move around the outside of Turn 2 for the lead, but he ran deep into the corner and was forced to slot back into second.

While Doohan and Novalak battled, Vesti was closing in fast on the pair of them. By lap 10 he’d halved his gap to 1.5 seconds behind the Tridents, while Novalak was being visibly held up by Doohan who was sliding through the hard right-handers.

With Vesti coming up fast behind them and the team needing to protect the win to take the teams’ title, Trident instructed Doohan to let Novalak through as he appeared to be the faster driver. But unsurprisingly with a win on the line Doohan didn’t let his teammate past, even though that allowed Vesti to close to just half a second by lap 15.

Trident were spared some anxiety a lap later when Vesti ran wide and dropped out of DRS range of Novalak. But Doohan also ran wide on the same lap which gave Novalak a run on his teammate down the straight at the start of lap 17. Novalak initially got ahead through Turn 2, but Doohan used the corner to set up the inside line into Turn 3 and retake the lead.

Clement Novalak, Trident (Rudy Carezzevoli, Getty Images / FIA F3)

To make matters worse for Novalak he then lost grip in Doohan’s wake and not only dropped out of DRS range of Doohan, but into Vesti’s clutches. Vesti was just a tenth behind Novalak heading through the middle sector while Novalak was warned about weaving in his defence.

When they got to the DRS straight out of Turn 10 Vesti had little trouble pulling alongside and passing Novalak for second. But despite his earlier speed, Vesti’s brief but close battle with Novalak had given Doohan the opportunity to open up a slight lead with two laps remaining, and he ended up crossing the line with two seconds in hand.

Vesti held onto second while Novalak completed the podium in third, but despite losing the 1–2 Trident were still able to take the teams’ title by six points from Prema. Sargeant completed a quiet race in fourth ahead of Crawford and Hoggard, while Leclerc finished seventh and Martins, Iwasa and Olli Caldwell rounded out the points.

Winning the race meant that Doohan keeps his second place in the championship, while Novalak finishes the season in third place ahead of Vesti and Martins.

Frederik Vesti, ART (Bryn Lennon, Getty Images / FIA F3)
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