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Archive for April, 2011

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Motorsports Mondial - April 6, 2011

Filed under: General,Motorsport Mondial,News
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f1weekly @ 5:16 PM

 

Marcus Ericsson concludes pre-season testing on top

iSport International driver sets quickest laptime of the day

After a cold and wet first day yesterday, the thirteen GP2 Series teams were greeted by a bit of sunshine this morning at Silverstone for the second and final day of the opening 2011 pre-season test. A dry track meant that Pirelli’s wet weather tyres were replaced by slicks, enabling the drivers to push their GP2/11 machines to the limit.

On good form since the beginning of his 2011 campaign, Giedo van der Garde at Barwa Addax was the early pacesetter of the morning session in 1:41.434, but by the first hour mark his laptime was bettered by iSport’s Sam Bird. The Brit stayed at the top for half an hour before being edged out by another Brit, Jolyon Palmer at Arden International. The rookie lapped the circuit half a second quicker than his countryman, but soon after that Jules Bianchi improved his personal best enough to claim the top spot.

At mid-session, with most of the drivers on new tyres, the standings kept on changing as everyone on track tried to get the most out of their fresh rubber. Eventually, on the one-hour mark, Christian Vietoris at Racing Engineering moved to the top of the timesheet ahead of Bianchi, Dani Clos and Charles Pic. The German’s pace was never matched, and he even improved his personal best in the last half an hour of the session to increase the gap with Bianchi. The session was briefly interrupted by five red flags, the last one happening with two minutes left on the clock and ending the proceedings for the morning.

The afternoon session opened in even warmer conditions and it was Vietoris who set the early pace ahead of Romain Grosjean and Luca Filippi.. On the one hour mark, Lotus ART’s men took control of the rest of the field, with Bianchi ahead of Esteban Gutierrez. Despite improving on his following lap, the GP3 Series Champion failed to edge out his teammate by 0.004s. Bianchi stayed firmly at the top, while Scuderia Coloni’s Michael Herck made his way past Vietoris to claim P3, but the German replied with another quick lap to gain his position back. Soon after, he managed to clock in a fastest laptime that put him back at the top of the timesheet.

However, the Racing Engineering man’s pace was bettered by iSport’s Marcus Ericsson who snatched the top spot with forty-five minutes left on the clock. He lost it temporarily to Herck, but on the final shoot out managed to lap the British track in 1:40.154, and became the fastest man of day. Bianchi, Pic, Vietoris, Grosjean, Gutierrez, Oliver Turvey, Luiz Razia, Max Chilton and Johnny Cecotto rounded out the top ten.

Next up, the GP2 Series paddock will head to Barcelona for the second and final 2011 pre-season testing on April 19-20.


Motorsports Mondial - April 5, 2011

Filed under: General,Motorsport Mondial,News
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f1weekly @ 5:20 PM

Romain Grosjean quickest in Silverstone

2011 GP2 Asia Series Champion starts European Series on top at first pre-season tests

The first 2011 pre-season testing opened today at Silverstone in cold, wet and windy conditions. While Christian Vietoris rejoined Racing Engineering for the European season, Ocean Racing welcomed a new line up consisting of Johnny Cecotto and rookie Kevin Mirocha. Davide Rigon returned to GP2 at Scuderia Coloni and Oliver Turvey assisted Carlin in the absence of Mikhail Aleshin.

The twenty-six drivers braved the tricky track conditions as soon as the pitlane opened this morning, all of them eager to get as much mileage as possible in the GP2/11 car on Pirelli wet weather tyres. GP2 Asia Series Champion Romain Grosjean was the early pacesetter ahead of Davide Valsecchi and Esteban Gutierrez. But at mid-session, it was iSport’s Marcus Ericsson who went top, five hundredths quicker than the Dams’ man. As the clock kept ticking, GP3 Series Champion Gutierrez became the first man to break the 1:58 barrier setting a laptime of 1:57.400 – six tenths quicker than Ericsson. Grosjean later matched the young Mexican’s performance, but Gutierrez stayed in control of the timing sheets. Lotus ART’s Jules Bianchi then went quickest, going under 1:57 and improving his teammate’s laptime by seven tenths. Carlin’s Max Chilton and Cecotto also improved to edge Gutierrez out.

With fifteen minutes left on the clock, Bianchi bettered and broke the 1:56 barrier while Gutierrez moved up to P2 and Addax’s Charles Pic made his way to P3. But in the dying seconds, Arden’s rookie Jolyon Palmer moved up to P2. A third and final red flag closed the morning session.

The afternoon session started on a slightly dryer track and with Grosjean as the early pacesetter, four hundredths quicker than Coloni’s Rigon. The Italian later lapped the British circuit in 1:52.243 which put him at the top of the timing sheet, and three seconds ahead of his closest rival. While some teams were hard at work with pitstop practice, Addax’s duo Giedo van der Garde and Pic improved their laptimes and moved up to P2 and P3 respectively.

On a drying track, Grosjean got back on top, but Trident’s Stefano Coletti decided to put on slick tyres before everyone else and immediately bettered the Dams’ driver’s laptime, setting a fastest laptime of 1:44.085. Ericsson and Fairuz Fauzy also chose to go out on slick tyres and the two men played catch up with Coletti, but the Monegasque driver kept on improving his personal best to stay at the top.

However, thirty minutes before the end of session, iSport’s Ericsson went top, two tenths quicker than Coletti. The rest of the field then decided that it was time to go out on slick tyres as well. Valsecchi, Filippi, Roldolfo Gonzalez, Julian Leal, Luiz Razia and Palmer entered in the top ten, just as Fabio Leimer at Rapax climbed at the top of the timesheets, with Vietoris and Filippi in tow. It was then Arden’s Josef Kral took control of the timing sheet just fifteen minutes before the end of the session and while Bianchi pushed his way to P3. Just as Grosjean set the quickest laptime in 1:40.725, the proceedings were interrupted by a red flag caused by Fauzy losing control of his car on the Astroturf, eight minutes before the chequered flag. The session did not restart and the Frenchman finished on top ahead of Kral, Leimer, Sam Bird, Bianchi, Vietoris, Filippi, Leal, Herck and van der Garde..


Motorsports Mondial - April 4, 2011

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f1weekly @ 6:37 AM

Monsanto Moment


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnLf9uW-I-w

 

The PM said Iceman is coming to Lisbon. Now here’s a guy I’ve never met in my life but with whom I have spoken several times (10? 15? who’s counting!?) a year, over Skype, during the races for the last two, three years (again, who’s counting). Somehow I feel I know him and that we are friends, but at the same time we’ve never met. We agree on dinner with wives on Friday and I offer to take him on a round Lisbon trip on Saturday. Iceman, being the brave man that he is, used to hang around tigers and other gentle pets, accepts, even though I hint at a mysterious mission we need to perform, with no further details.


Most people, when asked to associate Portugal and F1, say Estoril. A few more informed ones, like our Nasir, know that the first Portuguese GP took place in Porto in 1958, followed next year by a 2nd edition in Lisbon, in a street circuit in the Monsanto park, using some park roads and part of a pre-second World War German-built motorway.


Stirling Moss won that race, and the 2008 Motorsport Memories Calendar “The Lost Tracks” features a photo of Fangio in Monsanto (my father, who attended the race, still goes on and on about how Fangio seemed to flow easily through the corners while others had to struggle with their cars). I have a copy of the calendar with that very photo signed by Nasir and it’s been a while since the idea of taking a photo of the calendar on the exact spot has been playing in my head.

Things being what they are, Iceman and I really hit it off over dinner, after the first awkward moments in the Hotel  lobby,  Mrs. Iceman and Mrs. Iceman’s daughter area great ladies with a fine sense of humor and a large tolerance for boys discussing racing and Formula One! So, on Saturday we took off in the wee small hours of the morning (9 AM, but remember, it’s Saturday) for a tour on Lisbon and Sintra, with a detour through Monsanto.


We stopped at Lisbon’s flee market, visited the Royal Carriages Museum (make sure you read the details in the forum) and finally made our way up to Monsanto.

Fifty years ago, Monsanto Park was a recent creation of the Estado Novo (New State) fascist dictatorship, with lots of open spaces where pine trees had been planted but were still small and rather unimpressive (you can see them on the background of the Fangio picture). Today, the pine trees are young adults (lifespan 250 years), there is a new generation already growing and loads of other plants have found a sanctuary to photosynthesize in peace. What this means is that the Tejo, which can be seen flowing in the calendar picture, is well hidden behind a thick green wall of vegetation, making the exact location of the picture hard to place. Knowing the area, I sort of know where it is, but in all honesty we may be 100m (330 feet) off the mark.

Once we agreed on the location Iceman took out his state-of-the-art photographic equipment, set it up for Mrs. Iceman and, as the saying goes, the rest is Forum History – the first Location Insertion of a MotorSport Memories Calendar. Hopefully others will follow.

After that we headed towards Sintra, almost froze in a sudden 10C drop in temperature accompanied by rain, drove by Estoril and the Parabolica and had an overall good time, included a baked beans dinner. Sunday we headed towards F1Weekly Situation Room for the Iberian Peninsula (also known as my parent’s house) where we watched a tape delayed Australian Grand Prix. And since all good things must come to an end, soon it was time to drop the Iceman family at the hotel and head back to my uneventful routine life.

Iceman Family, you promised to return soon, remember!!!

 

Words and photos by Miguel Tecedeiro.

Wishing racing and sailing regards from Portugal.


Motorsports Modial - April 2, 2011

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f1weekly @ 11:20 AM

Roundy Round Raikkonen I Reckon

 

AP Photo/Lehtikuva/Juha Sorri

Kimi Matias Raikkonen. The Espoo enigma. The kid who did less than two dozen motor races before making and scoring a point on his Grand Prix debut. That was something even Senna and Schumacher could not achieve. Man of little talk with mega racing talent. One of the few who took the fight to Schumacher. And would have been the first to dethrone Ferrari’s Red Baron had he enjoyed a little more reliability on his McLaren.

Raikkonen rides his own trail. When Pele presented a trophy at Interlagos in 2006 before his final race to Schumacher, who had announced his retirement from F1 at Monza after winning the Italian GP, Raikkonen was the only driver missing from the ceremony. When Martin Brundle saw and asked where he was, the BBC audience was treated to a classic Kimi one liner, “I was having a shit”.

His lifetime goal was achieved at same location the following year, thanks in part to the season long extra efforts of the McLaren duo to out-do each other. But Raikkonen did stage a great comeback to steal the crown, winning three of the last four races and overhauling a 17-point deficit before the final two races.

His lack of motivation, zero interest in PR and lackluster performance after winning the title forced Ferrari to buy out his contract.

Raikkonen rapidly found a place with Red Bull and Citroen in rallying, second nature to Finns. Though the highlights here have been high speed crashes. The world of Loeb and Latvala has not been a walk in the park for the talent who so impressed Peter Sauber the first time he tested an F1 car that the gentle Swiss team owner was willing to part company with sponsor, the very same sponsor who won the season opener last Sunday in Australia.

Sauber remembers his first meeting and experience on that test day with Raikkonen, noting the young driver wanted ‘his space’.

Kimi is now craving for new space.

The world of NASCAR. Where his ex-teammate and another mega-talent, Juan Pablo Montoya, has found comfort and loads of corn dogs.

Kimi will keep on Truckin. From Martinsville to Sears Point. Not bad after winning in Formula 1 from Monte-Carlo to Sepang.

-         Nasir Hameed

Greetings and racing regards from….



F1weekly podcast # 493 - April 1, 2011

Filed under: General,Interviews,Motorsport Mondial,News,Podcast
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f1weekly @ 11:29 AM

Crying Love for Motorsports


Photo: Giada de Zen

Italian teenager in pursuit of her racing dreams

Meet Giada de Zen. Miss Icewoman. She is 15-years old and already in her second year of single-seater racing. At Monza last Saturday she achieved her best result and now has her sight set on the podium.

Q. What led to your interest in motorsports?

A: When I was eight my father bought me a go kart, a 50 baby kart. The first time I heard its noise I started to cry, but then I started to drive it around my father’s factory and after 3 months I raced in my first race.

Q. How how long it stayed as fun before you decided to go for a racing career?

A. After some races my father could see my passion for it. At the beginning I did it just for fun, but then I understood it’s more than just a sport.

Q. In the beginning did the boys take you seriously?

A. Not really. They saw me and they said “Ooh, a girl, it’s gonna be easy to stay in front of her!!” but then in the track they couldn’t believe in their eyes when I overtook them!

Q. What are your best moments from karting days?

A. I think the best moment was when I won my first race in 50 baby kart and the Open Master in Siena in 2009: I did a great race, I arrived 2nd but it has been really hard and after the race I couldn’t believe I did that!

Q. You moved into single-seater racing at age 14; was this your own idea  or a decision made by your management team?

A. During the winter of 2009 I did a test in Le Mans with the F4 and at the beginning of 2010 I believed to race in kart but one day my father and my manager Gabriele Biancalana told me “Hey, you’ll race car this year”. The best surprise I could have!

Q. Last year you raced in French F4 Euro Cup Championship; what was the biggest challenge you faced going from karting to single-seaters?

A. The biggest challenge has been for me the way to drive. The first day of test they told me “Forget all that you’ve done in karting… it’s really different!!”

Q. What is your goal in this year’s Formula Renault?

A. I would stay in the top ten (I’ve already done it in the first race) but the podium would be great, sure! I’ll just do my best and I’ll try to do as much experience as I can for the next year.


Photo: Giada de Zen

Q. Saturday you finished sixth at Monza, what was that feeling like?

A. During the race I just thought to do my best and push and overtake while I saw I was 9th,8th, 7th… but just at the end of the race I understood that I arrived 6th, and I couldn’t believe it!

Q. Are Mama and Papa happy and supportive of your racing adventure?

A. Yes, they are. Mum is scared from races, so she doesn’t come to see me very often, but dad always comes with me. They support me very much and I wouldn’t know how to do if they didn’t.

Q. Your favorite F1 racing driver and track?

A. My idol is Kimi Raikkonen. I love him and I always watch his old races on TV. Now, in F1 I like Robert Kubica, and I am really sorry for his crash. I also like Danica Patrick, she’s great.

My favourite track is Silverstone, but unfortunately I’m not going to race on it this year.

Q. There is a lot of girl power in racing these days; are you friends with drivers like Vicky Piria, Beitske Visser and Michelle Gatting?

A. Yes, I know Vicky and I often talk to her. I saw Michelle on the track and I think she’s very fast but I’ve never talked to her.

Q. If you achieve your racing goals and dreams, where will we see Giada de Zen in five years?

A. I dream (like everyone) the F1, but I can see it’s very difficult and that I need a lot of money. For sure I would become a good racing driver… we’ll see.

For more information please visit www.giadadezen.com

– Nasir Hameed

Greetings and racing regards from the ‘sinistra’ coast of America.

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