Category: Open Wheel Racing

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Will Power ends winless IndyCar drought with fifth victory on IMS road course. Points leader Palou retires.

Will Power withstood late pressure to take victory at the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, his first of the season. The win is his fifth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and extends his winning streak across 14 seasons, having taken his first in 2007.

Romain Grosjean and Colton Herta rounded out the podium, with Alexander Rossi fourth, and Patricio O’Ward fifth after late drama with Championship leader Alex Palou.

Pole-sitter O’Ward led Power off the line. Photo Courtesy of Karl Zemlin

O’Ward started on pole position having edged out Power by an incredible margin of 0.06s. He led the field away strongly able to pull out a two-second advantage over the Australian, having started on sticker red ‘alternative’ tyres. He tried to use them to an early benefit, pulling a gap on the rest of the field knowing that he would be on slower rubber in the middle stint.

However, it was Will Power, who also started on sticker ‘reds’, who pitted before O’Ward. The undercut worked wonders as the Arrow McLaren SP driver emerged less than one second ahead of Power. Unfortunately, on cold tyres there was little O’Ward could do. He fought bravely but it was Power who triumphed, diving down the inside at the penultimate corner on Lap 18 to take the race lead.

The day went from bad to worse for O’Ward, now on primary ‘blacks’, was now vulnerable to those on fresh ‘reds’. Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean made light work of the Mexican who found himself in fourth by Lap 30.

Conversely, it was ‘easy-street’ for Power who was able to pull out an eight-second gap on the rest of the field. He would eventually pit on Lap 38 for his second stop and emerge comfortably in the lead.

Meanwhile, Championship leader Alex Palou had emerged from the pits behind both Alexander Rossi and Jack Harvey in seventh. After his first pit-stop, he would make light work of them find himself immediately behind points rival O’Ward.

Danish Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver Christian Lundgaard did extremely well to qualify fourth on his IndyCar debut. However, it was a difficult day as he lost a position to Herta off the start and then lost out to those who had perfected the undercut on their first stop. He found himself down in tenth after the first cycle but would eventually slip further down the order.

Will Power had an eight-second advantage over Colton Herta on Lap 40. That was, he did until he encountered traffic in the form of James Hinchcliffe who was fighting to stay on the lead lap. What played out was an intriguing position where Herta’s teammate could help slow down the race leader, as there are no blue flags in IndyCar. An eight-second advantage fell to four within a few laps.

The final pit stops took place around Lap 60 with Power emerging ahead of Herta, now under immediate pressure from Romain Grosjean. This would prove to be Herta’s undoing as he proceeded to use up his remaining ‘Push-to-Pass’ to defend. Yet, the gap to Power continued to fall down to two seconds.

Alex Palou retired as Championship rival O’Ward finished in fifth. Photo Courtesy of Karl Zemlin

That was until Championship leader Alex Palou stopped on Lap 68 with a mechanical issue bringing out the first caution of the day. Luckily for Power, the safety car would bring Hinchcliffe out of his way and would have clean air with a significant ‘Push-to-Pass’ advantage over his rivals.

On the restart, Power got away cleanly while Grosjean courageously overtook Herta into Turn One for second place. The French-Swiss racer found himself fending off the American for the final laps having used up his ‘Push-to-Pass’ while attacking Herta.

Rinus VeeKay brought out the final caution following contact with Penske’s Scott McLaughlin which sent the Dutchman into a spin. On the restart, it was a good getaway again for Power who used up his remaining 70s of ‘Push-to Pass’ to cruise home to the chequered flag.

The victory is a huge relief for the Australian who came so agonizingly close to a win at Detroit before he was forced to retire following a late red flag where his ECU overheated.

Romain Grosjean would take his second podium of the season. Photo Courtesy of James Black

It would be a second podium of the season for Grosjean who still continues to impress in his rookie IndyCar season while Jack Harvey, Graham Rahal, Takuma Sato, Josef Newgarden, and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the Top 10.

Christian Lundgaard impressed on his debut with a late-recovery to finish 12th, pulling off a sensational overtake on Dixon into Turn One.

Palou had entered the race with a 42-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon and by 48 points over O’Ward. Going off sequence with an early pit stop, Dixon finished 13th and at least salvaged some points from starting 26th.

Palou’s advantage at the top of the championship has now been slashed to 21 points over O’Ward who moves into second place in the standings. The Spaniard will likely take a penalty for the next race at Gateway due to his need to change his engine due to his retirement.

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Formula E Berlin Eprix Weekend Preview: Championship Wide Open

image courtesy of Formula E

The sun is beginning to set on another enthralling season of Formula E as the championship heads to Berlin with 18 drivers still in championship contention.

Formula E returns to the Berlin Tempelhof Airport for its season finale this weekend as both teams and constructors titles are still wide open. It will be the 6th time the all electric racing series has visited the airport, with the circuit making its debut in 2015, albeit with a different layout. With just 10 turns and only 2.4km long, the current layout was first used in 2017 and has since become a staple of the Formula E calendar.

This year, however, there is a slight change to the weekend. Following last year’s successful running of 3 different layouts, the second race will be run in reverse, with work needing to be done overnight to ensure that the barriers are all correctly positioned for the new design. The reverse loop was trialed in 2020 as part of the series’ unprecedented 6 races in 9 days season finale.

A staggering 18 drivers and 10 teams come in to the weekend able to win the championships, as Mercedes EQ driver Nyck De Vries edges out Envision Virgin’s Robin Frijns by just 6 points. A whopping 29 points is available for each of the two races so it really is all to play for.

In the teams championship, Envision Virgin lead Mercedes EQ by just 7 points. Jaguar are a mere 2 points further back.

Audi in particular will look to end the season strong as they say goodbye to the series. Created by Hans Jurgen Abt, the German team were among the first to enter the series back in Season 1. Despite some name changes along the way they have become one of the most successful and iconic teams the sport has ever had, finally winning the constructors championship in Season 4 (the 2017/18 season) with their drivers Lucas Di Grassi and Daniel Abt.

With the departure of Audi, we may also see the departure of their star driver Lucas Di Grassi. Di Grassi has driven every race for the German team since Formula E’s inception, and he has become one of the sports best ever drivers. From the very first race Di Grassi had etched his name into the history books, capitalizing on a collision between Nico Prost and Nick Hiedfeld to win the inaugural race. He then followed this win up a few years later with a Season 3 title win. Lucas himself is confident of remaining in the series next year, with rumors circling that he may take Norman Nato’s Venturi seat. However, if Formula E has taught us anything, it’s that this series is never predictable, so a Di Grassi exit cannot be ruled out.

Prior to this weekend it was also announced that several drivers will remain with their teams for next season, whilst BMW will also (sort of) leave the sport. Both Porsche drivers, Pascal Wehrlein and Andre Lotterer will continue with the German outfit, and Robin Frijns will still race for Envision Virgin. BMWi Andretti’s Jake Dennis will also remain at the team as it changes its name to Andretti Autosport. BMW will continue to supply the powertrains however.

It’s set to be a weekend of both firsts and lasts in Berlin and with both championships still wide open, you’d be a fool to miss it.

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IndyCar Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix Preview

We didn’t have to wait long for IndyCar as we prepare for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

This 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course will play host to the eleventh round of the championship. Since its inception, the road course has always been seen as the ‘warm-up’ act on the lead-up to Indianapolis 500, traditionally on a Saturday two weeks prior. However, the 2021 calendar included a *second* Indy GP to replace the cancellations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inaugural Nashville Music City Grand Prix gave us an IndyCar spectacular like no other. Nine cautions and two red flags were enough to make any keen viewer dumbfounded as the chequered flag dropped.

Ericsson and Chip Ganassi Resurgence?

Chip Ganassi teammates Marcus Ericsson and Scott Dixon share the podium in Nashville. Photo Courtesy of James Black.

Nevertheless, Marcus Ericsson left Nashville a two-time IndyCar race winner and added a fascinating twist to the title fight. Who would have thought that before the start of the season?

In fact,  he was unfortunate not to win at Mid-Ohio as he chased down Josef Newgarden to the line. Since his first win in Detroit Ericsson has been a revelation, justifying Chip Ganassi’s decision to sign him and perhaps unleashing a level of performance that has always been there.

Importantly, he has finished ahead of his six-time champion teammate Scott Dixon 4 out of the last 6 times of asking and in doing so has thrown himself into championship contention.

Alex Palou sits comfortably in the lead on 410 points with his next closest competitor Scott Dixon trailing by 42 points. Patricio O’Ward is a further 6 behind. However, Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson are only a couple of wins away from leapfrogging many of their aforementioned rivals, both on 335 and 331 respectively.

Three out of the top five in the championship are Chip Ganassi Racing, which underlines the impressive level of performance and consistency they have reached.  However, it remains to be seen how the team will be able to manage the driver battles as we draw closer to the business end of the season.

Christian Lundgaard Makes His Debut With Rahal Letterman

Christian Ludgaard will make his IndyCar debut with RLL at the IMS. Photo Courtesy of Alpine F1.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan announced on Monday that the team will enter FIA Formula 2 driver Christian Lundgaard into the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. The 20-year-old Danish driver recently tested with the team at Barber Motorsports Park and is a member of the Alpine Driver Academy, a program originally known as the Renault F1 Academy set up in 2002 to nurture and develop young drivers through their careers.

The news comes as RLL prepares to evaluate drivers in anticipation of expanding to a third entry.

Son of European Rally champion Henrik Lundgaard, Christian is no short of success, having claimed the SMP F4 Championship and F4 Spanish Championship. The following year he was the runner-up in the Formula Renault Eurocup.

Lundgaard is currently in his second full season of Formula 2 with two race wins and a pole position to his name.

McLaren Acquires Majority Stake in IndyCar Team

McLaren Group set to acquire a majority stake in Arrow McLaren SP. Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens.

In a surprise announcement earlier this week, the McLaren Racing Group announced that it would be acquiring a majority stake in the Arrow McLaren SP team.

The partnership, which saw McLaren partner with the former Arrow Schmidt Peterson team has seen remarkable success in their short time together. They were able to build on their five podiums in only their first season to achieve two wins in 2021 while sitting third in the drivers’ championship.

It is believed that they will acquire a 75% majority stake in the team which would give them complete control over drivers and whether to expand to a third car entry, something they are widely expected to do.

As part of the agreement, the Arrow McLaren team will be headed by a new management structure which will be comprised of, team founder Sam Schmidt, co-owner Ric Peterson, McLaren Racing chief executive Zak Brown and Taylor Kiel, the president of Arrow McLaren.

Who To Watch Out For?

Colton Herta was unfortunate not to win at Nashville, having dominated the whole weekend and being within touching distance of victory.

Having found himself in fourth after the penultimate caution, he made light work of James Hinchcliffe and Scott Dixon before hunting down Marcus Ericsson. However, his race ended with five laps to go as he locked up and went straight into the wall at Turn 9.

A victory at Nashville would have propelled Herta into the championship fight and will be looking to bounce back in spectacular fashion. He is no stranger to success at the IMS, finishing twice in the Top Five at the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix.

Rinus VeeKay won last time out at the IMS after usurping pole-sitter Romain Grosjean in the closing stages. Could they be a factor again this weekend?

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How Did Marcus Ericsson Win the Nashville Music City Grand Prix?

Marcus Ericsson crashed early, only to take his second career IndyCar victory in a chaotic Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, bringing himself into championship contention.

But how did he do it?

Colton Herta led from pole position. Photo Courtesy of Chris Owens.

All weekend long Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta dominated the rest of the field, leading all practice sessions and claiming an incredible sixth pole position, the second of his season. He would lead the field convincingly from the start ahead of  Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Andretti teammate Alexander Rossi. Or at least, he would have led convincingly had there not been a run of safety car interruptions.

One of the culprits came in the form of eventual race winner Marcus Ericsson who was lucky to escape a collision with Sebastien Bourdais without serious damage.  The Swede made a dreadful misjudgment on the restart, collecting into the back of the Frenchman and launching himself into the air.

The TV cameras were able to pick up the underside of Ericsson’s car as he soured through the air so much was the scale of the accident. Luckily, he landed bottom down and continued to the pits (albeit with a broken front wing, which at one point was bending underneath the car and remaining in a *vertical* position)

Following repairs, he was forced to serve a stop-go penalty for his part in the Bourdais incident. However, importantly it was during this time his team made the interesting strategy call to put on the red sidewall tyres. He had already used the primary black sidewall tyres for his first stint, meaning he had fulfilled the need to use both compounds early on. The team still had one more set of red tyres for the rest of the race which offers more grip, with the risk of less life.  But when he would have to pit again, it would be early, preempting any late safety cars.

As a result, Ericsson was on an off-set strategy to the rest of the field and able to capitalise through the series on ensuing caution periods.

So much so, on Lap 31, Ericsson emerged in the lead while under caution as the rest of the leaders (including Colton Herta) dove into the pits. Heading back out just as the safety car led the field through Turns One and Two. In fact, it was millimeters that decided the lead of the race as both Ericsson, Hunter-Reay, and Herta crossed the ‘Blur Line’ at almost the exact same time.

Would you believe it? Marcus Ericsson had soured through the air, served a penalty, and had somehow come out in the lead of the Nashville Music City Grand Prix, a place where track position is key.

Marcus Ericsson at the Music City GP. Photo Courtesy of Joe Skibinski.

The Swede would lead until Lap 45 when it was time to stop again which cycled Herta back out to the front. However, the constant flow of safety cars never gave the American a moment to build a gap. On the seventh caution, Herta would eventually pit again, rejoining down in ninth which would eventually become fourth as the pit stop cycles sorted themselves out. With twenty laps to go, he would have to make it past James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon, and Marcus Ericsson for the win.

On the restart he set out to do just that, pulling off some audacious overtakes, the best one arguably on Scott Dixon into Turn Nine after getting a great run off the bridge. With 18 Laps remaining, it was just Ericsson left with neither having to stop again.

With ten to go, Ericsson was under incredible pressure, with his red-wall soft tyres falling away and with a significant amount of fuel-saving to do. However, he held firm, masterfully using his advantage of ‘push-to-pass’ to hold off Herta over the bridge. It almost came up to an abrupt end for both. Herta locking up coming into Turn Nine and almost running into the back of Ericsson.

Unfortunately, the resulting flat spot led to another, more catastrophic lock-up in the same corner, forcing Herta into the wall. Within a blink of a second, his dominant weekend came to an end. Overcome with emotion, the American was left languishing in the medical truck, head deep in his hands, and fought back the tears of what could have been.

The incident triggered the second red flag of the day, and as the field got back underway, it was Ericsson’s to lose. His teammate Scott Dixon seemed happy to settle for second leaving James Hinchcliffe to fend off Ryan Hunter-Reay for the final podium positions with three laps to go. Soon after, the fairytale comeback was achieved as Ericsson crossed the line to take a fabulous Chip Ganassi ‘1-2 ‘with James Hinchcliffe rounding out the podium. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal completed the Top Five positions.

Ericsson remains fifth in the championship but is now only four points behind Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

Ganassi team-mate Alex Palou, who salvaged seventh in Nashville, leads Dixon by 42 points with Pato O’Ward third for Arrow McLaren SP whose race was ruined after causing a collision with Alexander Rossi.

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IndyCar Nashville Grand Prix Preview: The Title Race Takes Shape

IndyCar returns this weekend for the tenth round of the season at the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, which aims to add to an already enthralling IndyCar season at the newly designed Nashville City course.

The Grand Prix will take place along a 2.17-mile temporary circuit, the first of its kind for over a decade. The circuit will take place around the Nissan Stadium campus and the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge eventually finishing back at the stadium that is home to the Tennesse Titans NFL team.

For fans, a three-day weekend of food, entertainment, and support races await them, including the GT America, Trans AM, and Stadium Super Trucks series. But importantly, after a hefty four-week break IndyCar picks up where it left off with an unbelievably tight championship battle with plenty of contenders looking to steal a march on the second half of the season.

Championship Battle Becomes Clearer

Championship battle rages ever on between Alex Palou and Patricio O’Ward. Photo courtesy of Joe Skibinski

The ninth round of the season left us with a fascinating picture of the next generation of drivers vying for championship glory.

Chip Ganassi’s Alex Palou came away with the upper hand and taking a well-earned podium and extending his lead in the championship while his closest competitor Patricio O’Ward settled for an eighth-place finish.

Both have claimed wins at both Detroit and Road America and are likely to be in contention again this weekend.

Ganassi’s Scott Dixon and Penske’s Josef Newgarden aren’t far behind, with the Kiwi only 17 points away from O’Ward with a win and a podium to his name already this season. Newgarden, who was born and raised in the suburbs of Nashville, has overcome his early-season struggles and sits 13 points off Dixon after a second and first place in the last three races.

Unless something dramatic occurs, it seems incredibly likely that the championship will ultimately be between these four drivers, presenting an incredibly intriguing contest between the established veterans of the sport, and the next-generation superstars. Dixon and Newgarden are seeking to add to their illustrious list of championships, while O’Ward and Palou both are pushing for their first in their sophomore seasons.

Nashville presents a great chance for one of these drivers to change the championship picture, depending on who can adapt to the new circuit. It will also be important to make no mistakes, qualify well, and keep track-position. Although, we may well see a significant amount of cautionary periods which will provide opportunities to move up through the field as we saw with O’Ward at Detroit, who pulled of some incredibly impressive moves to ultimately steal the win from Newgarden in the closing laps.

Helio Castroneves Returns After Signing Full-Time for 2022

Helio Castroneves will race the final rounds of the IndyCar season with Meyer Shank Racing. Photo courtesy of Chris Owens

Helio Castroneves returns to the IndyCar paddock as part of his six-race deal with Meyer Shank Racing, the team which saw him claim victory at this year’s Indianapolis 500. It is understood that he will run in all five of the season’s remaining road and street course races this year.

The Brazilian recently announced that he will race with the team full-time in 2022, in place of Britain’s Jack Harvey whose destination is unknown. It is unclear as to the reason’s behind the separation, but it is likely that they were coming to the end of a contract together. Rahal Letterman Lanigan is being touted as a potential destination for Harvey.

In the recent mid-season IndyCar test at Portland International Raceway, both Harvey and Castroneves were second and third respectively behind Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward.

As the most experienced driver on the grid alongside Scott Dixon, Castroneves will be an exciting driver to watch on this newly-designed track.

Power on Energy Save?

Will Power is still winless in 2021. Photo courtesy of Joe Skibinski

Will Power is one of a range of drivers seeking their first win of the 2021 season at Nashville. However, the Australian is extremely unfortunate to not have taken victory at Detroit. He has one of the longest winning streaks in the series, having taken the top spot of the podium in every season since 2006, then known as Champ Car.

Rossi and Pagenaud are also seeking their first win of the year, while the likes of Colton Herta and Rinus VeeKay are also in desperate need of a strong weekend to restart their title charges. However, Power will be a man on a mission this weekend and may have returned well-rested from the summer break with the mental reset he needed.

With Penske securing their first win of the season last time out at Mid-Ohio, and getting something of a ‘monkey off their back’. The momentum could be with them heading into the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

 

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F3 Hungary: Hauger prevails over Leclerc in mixed conditions battle

Formula 3 championship leader Dennis Hauger won the Hungary feature race, beating his Prema teammate Arthur Leclerc in a race-long battle in changing conditions.

Leclerc started the race from pole ahead of Hauger. But before either driver had the chance to fight for the lead off the line, the track was drenched by heavy rain and the race was started behind the safety car instead.

When the race got underway with a rolling start, Leclerc got going to stay clear of Hauger into Turn 1. Behind them, third-placed Jack Doohan came under pressure into the first corner from his trident teammate David Schumacher, who tried the move around the outside but didn’t have the grip.

The safety car was back out by the end of the first lap, as Victor Martins found himself in the wall with a broken front wing. When the race resumed on lap 4 Leclerc again went into Turn 1 unchallenged, although Hauger was much closer throughout the lap and was putting the pressure on.

Arthur Leclerc, Prema (Lars Baron, Getty Images / FIA F3)

Further back in the pack, several cars tried to make places as their rivals struggled on the wet track but ended up coming under attack themselves as a result. Clement Novalak in fifth was slow at the restart and gave an opportunity to Alex Smolyar, but when Smolyar couldn’t get the move done he found Frederik Vesti looking up the inside of him instead.

Olli Caldwell tried to take advantage of Vesti’s fight with Smolyar to slip up the inside of the Dane, but had to back out to defend from Ayumu Iwasa behind him. At the start of lap 5, Caldwell then missed his braking for Turn 1, clipping the back of Vesti and dropping to ninth behind Iwasa as a result.

At the front Hauger settled into a rhythm and started setting fastest laps to close to within four tenths of Leclerc by lap 7. With the pressure on, Leclerc then dipped a wheel into the standing water towards the end of the lap and gave Hauger a run down into Turn 1 on the next lap.

Leclerc forced Hauger to the outside where the Norwegian had to back off and slip back in behind. Hauger kept up the attack through the next few corners, but each time Leclerc held the inside line, forcing Hauger to back off from an outside move and dropping him back towards Doohan.

But on lap 9 Leclerc was wide through Turn 1, and this gave Hauger the opportunity he needed to run alongside his teammate and take the lead heading down to Turn 4. Hauger then cemented his pace in the conditions by setting the fastest lap while in front, and starting lap 10 with a 1.5 second lead over Leclerc.

With the track almost dry by the halfway stage, Hauger’s wet tyres started to overheat and Leclerc began coming back at him. Leclerc set the fastest lap on lap 11 to cut the gap to half a second, but Hauger responded on the following lap and opened it back up to a second.

As Hauger and Leclerc traded lap times, Prema told them to be wary of overheating their wet tyres. This brought Doohan into play, who began setting fastest laps and closing the gap to Leclerc to under a second.

Jack Doohan, Trident (Red Bull Content Pool)

But despite the late surge from Doohan, the Premas were able to keep enough tyre life to stay just out of reach. Doohan’s charge was then called off altogether three laps from the end, when Laszlo Toth collided with Ido Cohen at the rear of the field and brought out a safety car to lead the field over the line.

Hauger therefore led home Leclerc and Doohan, who took their second and fourth podium finishes of the year respectively. Doohan’s Trident teammates Schumacher and Novalak followed him in fourth and fifth. Smolyar was sixth ahead of Vesti and Caldwell, and Enzo Fittipaldi and Logan Sargeant rounded out the points for Charouz in ninth and tenth.

Matteo Nannini, who started 13th, was the only driver to chance a stop for slick tyres when the track dried out. But despite being the quickest car on track by almost two seconds and taking the fastest lap, the final safety car coupled with a very slow stop meant Nannini couldn’t capitalise on the gamble, and he finished in 26th.

Hauger’s third win of the year gives him 152 points in the standings and a 63-point lead, meaning he could fail to score in the next round entirely and still hold the championship lead. Doohan’s third place returns him to second in the standings on 89 points, three points ahead of Olli Caldwell in third.

F3 returns after the summer break on 28th and 29th August at Spa-Francorchamps in support of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

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F3 Hungary: Nannini storms to first victory in race two

Matteo Nannini took his maiden Formula 3 victory in the second Hungaroring sprint race, while Dennis Hauger put in another charging drive to increase his championship lead.

Nannini started the race from third on the reverse grid behind Enzo Fittipaldi and Roman Stanek, neither of whom had won before in F3 either. Although Fittipaldi looked to have the lead covered heading into Turn 1, Nannini made a late braking lunge around the outside to jump from third to alongside the Charouz.

Fittipaldi held the position, helped in part by a lockup from Nannini through Turn 3, forcing Nannini to settle back into second ahead of Stanek. The trio led a chaotic opening lap that also saw three cars stalled on the starting grid, and a collision between Oliver Rasmussen and Olli Caldwell that left Caldwell with a broken front wing and well outside the points.

Olli Caldwell, Prema (Courtesy of Prema Racing)

Fittipaldi set an early fastest lap, but Nannini stuck with him. At the start of lap 4, Nannini closed to the back of Fittipaldi under DRS and passed him for the lead around the outside into Turn 1. Fittipaldi tried to fight back through the following corners, but although Nannini locked up at Turn 3 the HWA managed to stay ahead.

Once in front, Nannini put the clear air ahead to good use to open up a 2-second gap by lap 8. As that increased even further to almost three seconds by the halfway stage, Fittipaldi was unable to keep up and instead had Stanek and fourth-placed Alex Smolyar on his tail.

Fittipaldi managed to stabilise by lap 15 and drop Stanek out of DRS range, but by this point Nannini was too far up the road to catch. Nannini crossed the line with a comfortable lead to take the victory, with Fittipaldi and Stanek following him across the line in second and third.

While the podium battle was settled early on, the midfield played host to several close fights in the closing laps. Jack Doohan was running in fifth behind Smolyar for most of the race, but his tyres faded on lap 16 and he was passed by teammate David Schumacher at Turn 3.

David Schumacher, Trident (Bryn Lennon, Getty Images / FIA F3)

Doohan then fell prey to Dennis Hauger two laps later at the outside of Turn 1, before tumbling back through the order. Lorenzo Colombo and Clement Novalak demoted him to ninth at the start of lap 19, which then became eleventh as Logan Sargeant and Ayumu Iwasa found their way past the Trident before the end of the lap.

On the penultimate lap Hauger made up another place by launching around the outside of Schumacher at Turn 1 to take fifth. He even managed to catch up to fourth-placed Smolyar by the end of the lap, although didn’t have enough time to pass the ART before the chequered flag.

Hauger crossed the line fifth behind Smolyar to add another six points to his championship tally. Schumacher was sixth, and Colombo, Novalak, Sargeant and Iwasa rounded out the points.

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W Series Hungary: Chadwick dominates to retake title lead

Jamie Chadwick took her second win of the W Series season, beating title rival Alice Powell by some margin to reclaim the lead of the championship standings.

Chadwick lost the title lead to Powell following the latter’s victory at Silverstone two weeks ago, but Chadwick struck back this weekend with pole position. She then got a much better launch off the line than Powell on race day to hold the lead into Turn 1.

Powell briefly had to go on the defensive to stay in second ahead of Nerea Marti, who got away quickly from third. Meanwhile, Marti’s Academy teammate Ira Sidorkova jumped forward from fifth position to challenge Beitske Visser, and claim fourth place at Turn 4 on the opening lap.

Further back in the pack, Chadwick’s Veloce teammate Bruna Tomaselli dropped back from sixth on the grid to ninth behind Marta Garcia, Emma Kimilainen and Belen Garcia. At Turn 1, Fabienne Wohlwend got caught up in the jostling for position and lost her front wing, forcing her into a pit stop at the end of lap 1, and retirement shortly after.

 

Over the opening few tours, Chadwick set a series of fastest laps in clean air to stretch clear of Powell. The gap was already over a second by the end of lap 2, and that continued to grow with each following lap. As Chadwick drove away, Powell and Marti also began opening up a gap on the rest of the field.

Chadwick continued to lead for the remainder of the race, and opened a gap of over seven seconds after consistently setting fastest lap times and lapping within a second of her pole time from Friday. She crossed the line to take the win at the end of lap 19 with Powell a distant second, and Marti further back in third and taking her first podium in the series.

Behind the top three, Sidorkova and Visser remained locked in a tight battle over fourth place. Sidorkova made an error at Turn 11 on lap 3 which allowed Visser to close to within half a second, although Sidorkova responded well in the following laps to keep ahead of the Forbes car.

 

Visser continued to put the pressure on the 18-year-old ahead and was consistently a tenth quicker per lap. But with the Hungaroring being such a difficult circuit to overtake on, Visser had to follow Sidorkova home over the line in fifth place.

Kimilainen took sixth place, having pounced on a late wide moment by Marta Garcia through Turn 11 to take the position on lap 16. Marta Garcia was seventh ahead of Belen Garcia, Tomaselli and Jess Hawkins.

Chadwick’s win puts her back at the top of the championship standings with 73 points, although Powell is just one point behind in second place. Marti’s podium moves her up into third in the standings on 37 points, with former third-place driver Sarah Moore one point behind her after finishing the Hungary race in 15th.

W Series returns after the summer break on 28th August at Spa-Francorchamps, in support of the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

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F3 Hungary: Iwasa inherits race one win after Colombo penalised

Hitech’s Ayumu Iwasa has inherited the victory in the opening Hungaroring sprint race, after original winner Lorenzo Colombo was handed a post-race penalty.

Colombo was penalised for dropping more than ten car lengths behind the safety car late in the race. Drivers are only allowed to do so after the safety car has turned out its lights prior to the restart. Colombo was handed a five-second time penalty for the infringement, which drops him from first and seventh.

Iwasa therefore inherits the win, with Olli Caldwell moving up to second place and Logan Sargeant taking his first podium of the year in third. Clement Novalak is now fourth, Dennis Hauger fifth, and Alex Smolyar sixth. David Schumacher, Jack Doohan and Matteo Nannini remain eighth, ninth and tenth behind Colombo.

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F3 Hungary: Colombo and Campos take emotional maiden win in first sprint race

Lorenzo Colombo scored his and Campos Racing’s first Formula 3 win in the opening Hungaroring sprint race, beating the Red Bull juniors of Jonny Edgar and Ayumu Iwasa.

Colombo started the race from second on the grid behind reverse polesitter Edgar. The Italian looked to the inside of Edgar at Turn 1, but had to slip back to hold second as Iwasa tried to take them both around the outside.

The top three ran in single file in the first few laps, and quickly broke the DRS gap back to Olli Caldwell in third. But despite Edgar, Colombo and Iwasa being separated by just a second in total, neither was able to make any move to change the order.

Jonny Edgar, Carlin (GEPA pictures, Manfred Binder / Red Bull Content Pool)

That changed soon after though, as Colombo started putting in a sequence of good laps to close up more on Edgar. At the beginning of lap 8 Colombo drew alongside Edgar under DRS on the start/finish straight and swept around the outside at Turn 1 to take the lead.

But as Colombo settled in front of Edgar, the Carlin started slowing with a mechanical problem and dropping down the order. As Edgar fell out of the points and eventually pulled over to retire, Iwasa inherited second and Caldwell third.

Iwasa wasn’t able to pressure Colombo for the lead though, as he himself had to defend second from Caldwell. Just two laps after taking first place, Colombo had already opened up a second gap over Iwasa to protect from the DRS threat.

Colombo’s drive to victory was briefly worried on lap 16, when Frederik Vesti came to a halt by the track and brought out a safety car. But at the restart on lap 19, Colombo went early through the final corner and caught Iwasa off guard, and restored his one second gap within two laps.

Ayumu Iwasa, Hitech (Red Bull Content Pool)

Colombo eventually crossed the line with a 1.5 second lead, and dedicated his win to team founder Adrian Campos, who passed away in January this year. Iwasa scored his first F3 podium in second, while Caldwell finished in third and moves up to second place in the championship.

Logan Sargeant finished fourth for Charouz ahead of Clement Novalak. Championship leader Dennis Hauger took sixth place from eleventh on the grid, having made up places at the safety car restart. Alex Smolyar, David Schumacher, Jack Doohan and Matteo Nannini rounded out the points, and Enzo Fittipaldi finished twelfth to take pole for race 2.

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