GPspirit - October 2015

Free digital monthly magazine

Formula 1 MotoGP

October 2015

Formula-1

the

MotoGP

MESSAGE

Off-track

Formula 1

MotoGP

Off-track

Impressum

90

GPspirit free digital magazine Editor-in-chief: Niki Kovács Contributors: Matthew Bayliss, Tammy Gorali, Megan Townsend, Miklós Vég, Nemzeti Sport/ Barna Zsoldos Graphics & layout: Leslie Hantos Pictures: Formula 1 and MotoGP teams, 2SNAP, Leslie Hantos, Niki Kovács, Rafa Marrodán, Monster Energy, Pirelli, Repsol Media, John Townsend, Williams F1 archive Publisher & Founder: GPspirit Team gpspirit@gpspirit.com The stories in the magazine are the views of the editorial team. Measures will be taken to make sure that at the time of printing all articles are as accurate as possible. ©All rights reserved It is prohibited to reproduct any part of this publication, store it in any information system or broadcast it in any was without the prior permission and agreement with the publisher.

For the secondary utilization of any writing or photograph from this publication, the written permission of the publisher is required.

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THE MESSAGE Topic of the month BIG STEP FOR THE TITLE The story of the F1 Italian GP HAMILTON, THE NEW HUNT? The glamourous life of Lewis KING OF THE NIGHT The story of the F1 Singapore GP CHAMPION FROM THE GOLDEN AGE Alan Jones exclusive interview BACK TO NORMAL The story of the F1 Japanese GP RAIN? NO RAIN? RAIN! NO RAIN! The story of the MotoGP San Marino GP HARD TIMES Scott Redding exclusive interview LIKE A SHARK The story of the MotoGP Aragon GP I'M NOT NO2 The best quotes from Dani Pedrosa TOP GUN Maverick and an F-18 IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RHYTHM Petter Solberg exclusive interview

THE MESSAGE Text: Miklós Vég / Photos: McLaren Honda

„I'm being passed on the straights like GP2. Embarrassing. Very embarrassing...” – complained Fernando Alonso when Marcus Ericsson drove by him in the Suzuka straight, but this was just the beginning. After Max Verstappen’s overtaking the spaniard’s emotions surfaced again as his team received the message: „ GP2 engine! GP2! Aggh!”. The message became a classic and in a few seconds meant the end of any optimism.

Story of the month

McLaren’s chairman and CEO, Ron Dennis named Honda’s power source „jewellery” one year ago at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, and then added that the engine will surely be „competitive”. Then a year later he had to explain himself concerning the Honda engines which caused the drivers countless headaches, and were deemed lacking in performance and reliability. Nevertheless, the drivers endured this all and persisted with their optimistic statements.

Until now.

Alonso’s message was not just for the team leaders, but for the public as well. With this Alonso, who played as the good boy in the first 9 months of the McLaren-Honda partnership, clearly displayed his dissatisfaction with this year’s performance, quite rightfully to be honest.

The frustration had been piling up for thirteen races as his car stood no chance in not only Japan, and it was not the first time that his rivals outdid him. Those few words carried a significant weight, even if it was due to an emotional outburst as a professional driver would not just say these kind of things for laughs whilst millions of people are watching.

Perhaps it is not even needed to say that Alonso’s outburst split the Formula 1 audience.

There were some who deemed it as perfect tactic, whilst others thought that he crossed the line. After the race even Dennis expressed how the spaniards outburst did not come to his liking – this sounds extremely interesting after their year of „clashing” in 2007 – these events will surely be discussed. The McLaren boss’s statement is completely understandable as the team is not only aiming for success, but they are also running a business, and an outburst like that does not do good for business. Especially not in the home country of their number one partner.

Thus, it is very difficult to support either side’s claim.

Formula 1

Story of the month

One can understand Alonso, as he accepted Honda’s offer in the hope of receiving a competitive car and a promising project No serious action was taken in the last nine months, so Honda can see that probably none will even be taken this year. Mainly because the problems with the KERS, which are the main issue holding the company back, will only be able to be fixed before the season of 2016.

In the last few weeks and months the Honda leaders were making optimistic statements, and constantly mentioning that they know exactly what the issue is, and that the internalcombustion engine is looking strong. Therefore, they can deal with the issue next year.

But will Alonso hold his patience?

He still has his contract for the next two years, but after this year’s weak performance more and more seem to think there is no guarantee that he will still be driving for McLaren-Honda in 2017.

When he left Ferrari last year, he decided to take part in a completely new project, and it’s construction. However, he never expected the first year to be this poor. Time seems to be working against him as well as he is no longer a youngster either, and it is very likely that he does not want to spend four to five years waiting for Honda to make a comeback.

He even made reference to this after the race when he mentioned that he might not be there anymore. Of course a speedy positive statement followed shortly, and the team ensured that Alonso would complete his contract. History has however, proved that these long-term contracts can be abolished. If Alonso is dissatisfied he can leave whenever he pleases. Thus, the next year will play a key role in his future with Honda, because if Honda cannot up their game, then perhaps others will complain on the radio...

Formula 1

The smile is a history already...

BIG STEP

FOR THE TITLE Text: Mikl贸s V茅g / Photos: F1 teams, Pirelli

Formula 1

Briefly

Formula 1

There was no question about who is the fastest on track. Lewis Hamilton won again, but it wasn’t sure whether he could keep this victory. Meanwhile the tifosis were celebrating their hero, Sebastian Vettel, but let’s see the key moments of the race.

After his second position on the grid Kimi Räikkönen made the worst start for a while, finding himself at the end of the field. ‘I don’t know exactly what happened. As far as I know I did everything correctly, but the car went into the antistall and did not move at all. We wasted a big opportunity to fight at the front.’ – he said after.

Behind him also Nico Rosberg lost a few positions and fell behind the Williams drivers at the start, but with new tyres on lap 18 he attacked to good effect. Williams reacted but slower stops meant both drivers lost positions to Rosberg.

Ultimately the German retired with engine failure when he started to attack Vettel for the second position.

Hamilton won again with a huge margin, Vettel could stand on the podium in Monza (first time there as a Ferrari driver) while Felipe Massa finished third after forcing back all the attacks from Valtteri Bottas.

After the race the FIA investigated the Mercedes as the measured minimum tyre starting pressure of the left rear tyre of Hamilton’s car was 0.3 PSI below the specified minimum. Finally after the hearings of the Pirelli and Mercedes delegates the stewards decided to take no further action, so Hamilton could keep his victory.

Quote

Formula 1

This weekend has been just fantastic. A perfect weekend for me - I can't remember one like it. This race is so special for every driver. When you stand up on that podium it's so emotional. It's a really proud moment to be up there in front of that sea of fans and to walk in the footsteps of so many great drivers who have won here.

Lewis HAMILTON

Quote

Formula 1

It’s an incredible day, it’s the best second place I ever had in Formula One. Thanks to all the tifosi for giving me those emotions today on the podium: it’s fantastic to see so many fans, feel the support we get as a team. It just makes our lives so much more worth living when you see all the fans coming underneath the podium. In terms of emotions it’s more than a victory. It’s nearly a perfect day: I’m saying nearly because I don’t know what happened to Kimi at the start.

Sebastian VETTEL

Statistics

ITALIAN GRAND PRIX Autodromo Nazionale Monza · Monza, Italy

RECORDS RECORDS

LAP RECORD 1:21.046 R. BARRICHELLO (2004)

FACTS

FASTEST POLE 1:20.089 R. BARRICHELLO (2004)

F1’s highest ever racing speed was recorded at Monza, Juan Pablo Montoya reaching 372.6 km/h for McLarenMercedes in 2005, the final season under V10 rules.

FACTS 1st

FIRST GRAND PRIX 1950

(on this layout 2000)

CORNERS

4

Left

LENGHT 5 793m

7

Right

QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION

Q1 Q2 Q3 1.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12* 13 14 15* 16* 17* 18* 19* 20*

Lewis Hamilton Kimi Räikkönen Sebastian Vettel Nico Rosberg Felipe Massa Valtteri Bottas Sergio Perez Romain Grosjean Nico Hülkenberg Pastor Maldonado Felipe Nasr Marcus Ericsson Will Stevens Roberto Merhi Jenson Button Fernando Alonso Carlos Sainz Daniil Kvyat Daniel Ricciardo Max Verstappen

GBR FIN GER GER BRA FIN MEX FRA GER VEN BRA SWE GBR SPA GBR SPA SPA RUS AUS NED

Mercedes Ferrari Ferrari Mercedes Williams / Mercedes Williams / Mercedes Force India / Mercedes Lotus / Mercedes Force India / Mercedes Lotus / Mercedes Sauber / Ferrari Sauber / Ferrari Marussia / Ferrari Marussia / Ferrari McLaren / Honda McLaren / Honda Toro Rosso / Renault Red Bull R / Renault Red Bull R / Renault Toro Rosso / Renault

1:24.251 1:23.383 1:24.662 1:23.757 1:24.989 1:23.577 1:24.609 1:23.864 1:25.184 1:23.983 1:24.979 1:24.313 1:24.801 1:24.379 1:25.144 1:24.448 1:24.937 1:24.510 1:25.429 1:24.525 1:25.121 1:24.898 1:25.122 1:24.457 1:27.731 1:27.912 1:26.058 1:26.154 1:25.410 1:25.618 1:25.742 1:25.796 1:25.633

1:23.397 1:23.631 1:23.685 1:23.703 1:23.940 1:24.127 1:24.626 1:25.054 1:25.317

1:26.214

*Penalties Ericsson got 3 place grid penalty for impeding an other driver, Button got 5 place grid penalty for power unit element changes, Alonso got 10 place grid penalty for power unit element changes, Sainz got 10+25 place grid penalty for power unit element changes, Kvyat got 15+15 place grid penalty for power unit element changes, +5 place grid penalty for gearbox replacement, Ricciardo got 25+25 place grid penalty for power unit element changes, Verstappen got 20 place grid penalty for power unit element changes, +10 place grid penalty for removal of FIA seals without FIA supervision

Formula 1

04-06 SEPTEMBER 2015 5 200

Curva di Lesmo

5 165 DRS

169 kg

Curva del Serraglio

5.5 g 172kg

5.6 g

8 338

Variante della Roggia

8 320

Variante Ascari

2

8 323

Curva Parabolica

3

5 185 Curva Biassono

1

2 80

Variante del Rettifilo

Average deceleration 155 kg

5.8 g

GEAR 5.4 g

Total driver pedal load

177kg

7 240

Sector beginning DRS activation zone

SPEED km/h

Circuit Strategy by UBS Monza is the fastest track on the calendar, the shortest race at around 80 minutes and a unique track with ultra low-downforce for the long straights. Teams like to try to do this race in one stop, but Pirelli has selected soft and medium tyres this year to open up more strategic possibilities and increase variation.

The new start rules will have a big impact here as it is a long run to Turn 1, so any loss on getaway will be magnified as cars get swallowed up in the dash to Turn 1.

TYRE ALLOCATION Soft

Medium

Intermediate

Rain

Source: Lotus, Pirelli, UBS

7 290

DRS

Statistics

1

2

3

CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION

Race distance: 53 laps / 306.720 km Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton 1:26.672 (on lap 48) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Felipe Massa Valtteri Bottas Kimi Räikkönen Sergio Pérez Nico Hülkenberg Daniel Ricciardo Marcus Ericsson Daniil Kvyat Carlos Sainz Max Verstappen Felipe Nasr Jenson Button Will Stevens Roberto Merhi

Mercedes Ferrari Williams / Mercedes Williams / Mercedes Ferrari Force India / Mercedes Force India / Mercedes Red Bull R / Renault Sauber / Ferrari Red Bull R / Renault Toro Rosso / Renault Toro Rosso / Renault Sauber / Ferrari McLaren / Honda Marussia / Ferrari Marussia / Ferrari

Not finished 17 Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) on lap 51 18 Fernando Alonso (McLaren / Honda) on lap 48 Not classified Romain Grosjean (Lotus / Mercedes) on lap 2 Pastor Maldonado (Lotus / Mercedes) on lap 2

1:18:00.688 hours +25.042 secs +47.635 +47.996 +1:08.860 +1:12.783 +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +2 Laps +2 Laps

Engine failure Electrical failure Collision Collision

MILESTONE STATISTICS STATISTICS

Formula 1

MILESTONE

358.3 km/h Top speed – Räikkönen / race

23 Pit stops

31 Overtakes

63 LAPS Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

1 leaders: Hamilton

TYRE

25.042 margin of victory

TYRE WINNING STRATEGY

Sebastian Vettel’s 150th grand prix start Romain Grosjean’s 10th podium finish

Used soft (26 laps)

New medium (17 laps)

STANDING FASTEST WORLD WORLD LAP STANDING FASTEST LAP 1:26.672

1:27.390

Hamilton

Verstappen

on soft compound

on medium compound

WEATHER WEATHER

Air

Sunny

dry

Track 37-40ºC

21-24ºC

Humidity 33-36%

1 Lewis Hamilton 2 Nico Rosberg 3 Sebastian Vettel 4 Felipe Massa 5 Kimi Räikkönen 6 Valtteri Bottas 7 Daniil Kvyat 8 Daniel Ricciardo 9 Romain Grosjean 10 Sergio Pérez 11 Nico Hülkenberg 12 Max Verstappen 13 Felipe Nasr 14 Pastor Maldonado 15 Fernando Alonso 16 Carlos Sainz 17 Marcus Ericsson 18 Jenson Button

252 pts 199 178 97 92 91 58 55 38 33 30 26 16 12 11 9 9 6

HAMILTON, Text: Miklós Vég / Photos: MercedesAMG

’THE NEW

HUNT’?

Soon the world champion will be at every ’it’ party, he shares more and more pictures about his extreme hobbies, the tabloids in turn put him together with a different woman every week. Therefore, it is not surprising that many compare him to the star of the 1970s. Are they rightfully doing this? Is Hamilton the Playboy of the 2010s? Or is the whole thing just a mask?

Does Formula 1 need a personality like this? Is he even a personality? The opinions are contradicting...

Many complain that there are not any real personalities in the grid anymore, that the drivers have been turned into robots by the teams and the PR-conditions which mask their actual personalities.

Nevertheless, we have a world champion who continues to grab people’s attention in the paddock with his extreme sunglasses, attire, jewellery, and recently blonde hair. Meanwhile, he admits to even having a cigar during his holiday in Barbados, and to going to parties nearly every weekend, and if he is not teaching his dogs to swim, he is playing around with some silly gadget.

Whether this is an appropriate example to follow, or the correct and pleasant road? It is irrelevant and does not matter! Due to the fact that Lewis Hamilton is truly a personality. In fact he is more than one character, he is the rapper, the fashionista, the partier, a dog person. He is a youngster, a golden boy enjoying life. A special guy, just like James Hunt was in the 70s. Hamilton is a unique individual who we have all been waiting for, even though not everyone likes him, and not everyone would live their lives like him, one has to admit that he is a unique character. At least, this is my opinion.

Whilst others have a completely opposing view, such as that of my friend. We had an extensive debate over it, and their points were so interesting, I thought I would share them with GPspirit.

Feature

Formula 1

Friend: Hamilton, like many of his colleagues, worked very hard in a disciplined manner through his youth.

From category to category he climbed to the top of motorsport. Despite his achievements in his first years he walked around the paddock just like his fellow competitors. These days his lifestyle is quite unique in the motorsports’ world, but are we actually talking about a real individuality? If we compare a picture of Hunt in 1969 in Formula 3 with one from 1979, we cannot detect much difference. Hunt was always a hedonist, enjoying the pleasures of life, he lived a lifestyle of a rockstar. He was like this at the age of 20 and even at the age of 47, when he died of a heart attack. He did not just suddenly start living like that out of the blue.

The writer: I understand what you are referring to, however, it is impossible to compare Hamilton’s first few years with the present as he grew up in the most conservative and strict Formula 1 team. Behind the cold stone walls of McLaren there would be no place for such behaviour and lifestyle, but at Mercedes he was able to act more freely and discover himself. At this team he is not told how to spend his freetime, they do not restrict him, or tell him what to wear on the track, at least they would definitely not do so whilst he is achieving good results. Which he is doing! His life is in order, which could also be tied with this newly experienced freedom.

Feature

Friend: I still think there should have been signs earlier on which would have pointed to how Hamilton would turn out. Sticking with Hunt – his extreme lifestyle was no mask for him, he did not want to stick out of the crowd, this is what his persona was really like. He felt comfortable in his own skin, in this lifestyle. Hamilton, however, changed very suddenly. He got tattoos, started wearing caps and gold chains, and danced around in Barbados. When he became a star he bore this new style as one would put on a new piece of clothing.

One champion puts on a show, whilst the other was just living their life. In a PR-perspective this is surely great as millions of fans can relate to this lifestyle.

However, this is not the best example to set for the other drivers. This is not how someone becomes themself, an individual. Hamilton is indeed a unique personality within Formula 1, nevertheless, he is just another person following the relevant trends in the world.

The writer: This still sounds to me like another conspiracy-theory. Also, did James Hunt not also fade into the crowd in 1975? Was he not just another hippy out of the many? One hippy who just received more attention as a Formula 1 driver, and thus seemed a very unique individual in his world, whereas would have been lost in a crowd at a festival?

Naturally the debate continues between my friend and I, as it still does on forums, in pubs and in the Formula One world, and it will still persist for a while. Even this is a huge deal, that one person could evoke such emotions and reactions out of other people. He must know something then! We can all agree on that.

Formula 1

Feature

Formula 1

Feature

Formula 1

Formula 1

Text: Mikl贸s V茅g / Photos: F1 teams

Briefly

Formula 1

It happened! After one and the half year someone beat the Mercedes from power.

Sebastian Vettel got under control the whole weekend meanwhile the Mercedes duo disappeared in the Singapore night.

Vettel made a really good start and could build up a fair gap in front of Daniel Ricciardo already in the first lap. The Australian started to get closer again when the Safety Car entered on lap 13 because of the accident of Felipe Massa and Nico H端lkenberg.

The SC had to be employed again when a British (and drunk) fan decided to jump the barried and had a short walk on he track on lap 37.

Briefly

Vettel used both safety car periods to execute their scheduled pit stops.

By stopping under a safety car they saved 10 seconds per stop which deprived Ricciardo of the chance of challenging Vettel for the win.

The Mercedes was in trouble already during the practices and qualifying and they didn’t make a better performance either during the race.

Lewis Hamilton was on 4th position when his car lost its power. The team tried everything with all the settings possible, but finally the championship leader had to retire from the race.

Nico Rosberg finished 4th far away from the podium.

Formula 1

Quote

Formula 1

It was an incredible race today, in fact all in all an incredible weekend and it is difficult for me now to sum it up. The race was intense and long, I had some pressure from Daniel behind me, we were the quickest two cars out there today, but I was able to control the pace and look after the tyres, which ran ok for the whole weeekend.

Today we are in paradise, but we know we’re still a long way to go. It has been a surprise that Mercedes hasn’t been on the pace this weekend, we don’t know why, but to be honest we don’t really care.

Sebastian VETTEL

Quote

Formula 1

I think this was our best chance of a win and we got close, so we can be proud of what we did. At the start Seb just went away and then I was coming back to him and if it hadn't been for the Safety Car, we'd have got pretty close and maybe an undercut would have been possible at the pit stop. Making both stops under the safety car affected our chances and I think that dictated the race really. We got the fastest lap right at the end and we can be proud of that.

Daniel RICCIARDO

Statistics

SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX Marina Bay Street Circuit · Marina Bay, Singapore

RECORDS RECORDS

LAP RECORD NO LAP RECORD YET EXISTS FOR THE 2015 CIRCUIT LAYOUT.

FACTS

The track has been re-aligned between turns 10 and 13 and now uses the left hand side of the Anderson Bridge

The Singapore Grand Prix has a 100 per cent record of safety car intervention. Of the 424 laps raced here over the past seven years 45 laps have been under the safety car across 10 safety periods.

FACTS 1st

FIRST GRAND PRIX 2008

CORNERS

14 Left

LENGHT 5 065m

9

Right

QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION

Q1 Q2 Q3 1.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19* 20*

Sebastian Vettel Daniel Ricciardo Kimi Räikkönen Daniil Kvyat Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Valtteri Bottas Max Verstappen Felipe Massa Romain Grosjean Nico Hülkenberg Fernando Alonso Sergio Perez Carlos Sainz Jenson Button Felipe Nasr Marcus Ericsson Pastor Maldonado Will Stevens Alexander Rossi

GER AUS FIN RUS GBR GER FIN NED BRA FRA GER SPA MEX SPA GBR BRA SWE VEN GBR USA

Ferrari Red Bull R / Renault Ferrari Red Bull R / Renault Mercedes Mercedes Williams / Mercedes Toro Rosso / Renault Williams / Mercedes Lotus / Mercedes Force India / Mercedes McLaren / Honda Force India / Mercedes Toro Rosso / Renault McLaren / Honda Sauber / Ferrari Sauber / Ferrari Lotus / Mercedes Marussia / Ferrari Marussia / Ferrari

*Penalties Stevens and Rossi got 5 place grid penalties for replacement gearbox

1:46.017 1:44.743 1:46.166 1:45.291 1:46.467 1:45.140 1:45.340 1:44.979 1:45.765 1:45.650 1:46.201 1:45.653 1:46.231 1:45.887 1:46.483 1:45.635 1:46.879 1:45.701 1:46.860 1:45.805 1:46.669 1:46.305 1:46.600 1:46.328 1:46.576 1:46.385 1:46.465 1:46.894 1:46.891 1:47.019 1:46.965 1:47.088 1:47.323 1:51.021 1:51.523

1:43.885 1:44.428 1:44.667 1:44.745 1:45.300 1:45.415 1:45.676 1:45.798 1:46.077 1:46.413

Formula 1

18-20 SEPTEMBER 2015 151 kg

155 kg

5.1 g 134 kg

T3

4.3 g

T1 T7

T4

3 111

T9

3 117

4.9 g

2

T8

8 310

T2

8 305 T6

1

T5 DRS

T15

T14

T16

T19

3

T10

T20 T22

6 235

T11

T17

T12

T18

3 110

DRS T23

T21

T13

2 60

155 kg

GEAR 5.4 g

Total driver pedal load

7 240 SPEED km/h

Circuit Strategy by UBS It is the longest race in the F1 calendar at almost two hours and one of the hardest on brakes because the high number of corners gives little time for cooling. Add in a 100% record of a safety car, a long pit lane and a choice of the softest tyres in the Pirelli range, which require a minimum of 2 stops, and it becomes clear why the Singapore GP is always a huge challenge.

The undercut is a tactic that works very well here to gain places.

This involves pitting before the cars ahead of you and using the performance of the grippy new tyres and then gaining places when your opponent pits.

Sector beginning DRS activation zone

TYRE ALLOCATION Supersoft

Soft

Intermediate

Rain

Source: Lotus, Pirelli, UBS

Average deceleration

Statistics

1 3

2

CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION Race distance: 61 laps / 308.828 km Fastest lap: Daniel Ricciardo 1:50.041 (on lap 52) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Sebastian Vettel Daniel Ricciardo Kimi Räikkönen Nico Rosberg Valtteri Bottas Daniil Kvyat Sergio Pérez Max Verstappen Carlos Sainz Felipe Nasr Marcus Ericsson Pastor Maldonado Romain Grosjean Alexander Rossi Will Stevens

Ferrari Red Bull R / Renault Ferrari Mercedes Williams / Mercedes Red Bull R / Renault Force India / Mercedes Toro Rosso / Renault Toro Rosso / Renault Sauber / Ferrari Sauber / Ferrari Lotus / Mercedes Lotus / Mercedes Marussia / Ferrari Marussia / Ferrari

Not classified Jenson Button (McLaren / Honda) on lap 53 Fernando Alonso (McLaren / Honda) on lap 34 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) on lap 33 Felipe Massa (Williams / Mercedes) on lap 31 Nico Hülkenberg (Force India / Mercedes) on lap 13

2:01:22.118 hours +1.478 secs +17.154 +24.720 +34.204 +35.508 +50.836 +51.450 +52.860 +1:30.045 +1:37.507 +1:37.718 Retired +2 Laps +2 Laps

Gearbox Retirement Power Unit Power Unit Collision

MILESTONE

Formula 1

MILESTONE

310.6 km/h Top speed – Hamilton / race

42 Pit stops

11 Overtakes

TYRE

1 leaders: Vettel

TYRE WINNING STRATEGY

1.478 margin of victory

Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)

STATISTICS STATISTICS

61 LAPS

This was the second occasion in 2015 that none of the Mercedes drivers finished on the podium. Also the first race that Lewis Hamilton didn’t finish because of mechanical failure.

Sebastian Vettel stood on the podium 75th time in his F1 career, meanwhile Daniel Ricciardo reached this 10th TOP3 finish.

Used supersoft (13 laps) New supersoft (24 laps)

New soft (24 laps)

STANDING FASTEST WORLD WORLD LAP STANDING FASTEST LAP 1:50.175

1:50.041

Maldonado

Ricciardo

on supersoft compound

on soft compound

WEATHER WEATHER

Air

Sunny

dry

Track 33-37ºC

28-30ºC

Humidity 67-79%

1 Lewis Hamilton 252 pts 2 Nico Rosberg 211 3 Sebastian Vettel 203 4 Kimi Räikkönen 107 5 Valtteri Bottas 101 6 Felipe Massa 97 7 Daniel Ricciardo 73 8 Daniil Kvyat 66 9 Sergio Pérez 39 10 Romain Grosjean 38 11 Max Verstappen 30 12 Nico Hülkenberg 30 13 Felipe Nasr 17 14 Pastor Maldonado 12 15 Fernando Alonso 11 16 Carlos Sainz 11 17 Marcus Ericsson 9 18 Jenson Button 6

The Williams team’s first world champion, and so far Australia’s last. Alan Jones, 1980 Drivers’ World Champion, started every season with the renewal of his life insurance, yet never thought a tragedy could happen to him.

It is always a fantastic experience to talk with a 70’s or 80’s champion, as in those days there were real heroes racing, and also... ... let’s just stick with the term ’idiots – interrupted the 68 year old Alan Jones during his exclusive interview, who was the Australian world champion in 1980 and with the exclusion of 2 years, was a driver in Formula 1 from 1975 1986.

Okay, but seriously, how could one race knowing that they could possibly die in any race?

I simply just did not think about it as I truly believed that nothing would happen to me anyway. I have taken part in many races where my fellow drivers had lost their lives – just like the 1978 race in Monza where Ronnie Peterson started next to me and then after 400m had such a huge crash that he died the following day. We were driving such cars with aluminium bodywork on which the sidewalls did not even come up to our shoulders. However, we still thought the cars were amazing and that they could not be any safer.

So even after the tragedies it did not even occur to you to just stop and leave all of this behind?

No. Every year I had my own little ritual where I would sort out my life insurance, and assure myself that everything is in order regarding my family, and then I went all in with the new season.

CHA THE G

Text: Nemzeti Sport - Barna Z

AMPION FROM GOLDEN AGE

Zsoldos / Photos: John Townsend, Williams F1 archive

The interview was originally published in Nemzeti Sport

INTERVIEW

Interview

In those days the saying was ’one race on Sunday, two funerals on Monday’.

This was normal for me. If I managed to escape the odd accident, I did not start praising the heavens with teary eyes, thanking how lucky I was.

I just ran to the reserve car and focused on the race.

How do you remember your first Formula 1 race?

That is such an experience as the first time you make love – you never forget it. Before then I had been racing for years in all sorts of categories and when I was able to finally race in Formula 1, I could hardly believe how precise and organised everything was compared to the smaller series. It was in those times when I realised how the road leading to Formula 1 is the hardest.

How did it feel to be on the same grid with stars such as Niki Lauda, James Hunt or Emerson Fittipaldi?

Back then I did not really feel anything special as I just saw them as my competition who I wished to beat. Of course these days I think of it as a huge honour that I can say that I raced with them as they were true legends.

Have you seen the film Rush?

Yes and I think the producers did a good job in my eyes, who lived these races. Naturally, there were a few mistakes or Hollywood exaggerations, but this is not uncommon.

What sort of relationship did you have with the two main characters, Lauda and Hunt?

I got on really well with James, even when he was racing in Formula 3 and Formula 2. Regarding Niki though, I did not see him too much because he spent most of his time in Austria or somewhere around there, and he was also convinced for a while that I purposely let James by during the race

Formula 1

At the Canadian GP in 1980 after winning the world title

Interview

which decided the world championship in 1976, so he could win, even though of course none of this was true. I told him myself that this accusation was ridiculous especially because I was at that point of my career where every point was needed like water to a fish. I would never have slowed my pace in anyone’s favour. James simply overtook me. Of course we are friends now as well, however, for a long time he teased me as the „champion-maker”.

Then in 1980 you became world champion at Williams.

Yes, but the whole year was very tense as it was a very close fight. All of the frontliners were within 0.6s of the other.

There were some unbelievable fights going on during the races. My biggest fights were always with Nelson Piquet, and I was struggling with a lot of difficulties, so it was a huge relief to finish the season with winning the world championship.

Formula 1

With the team at the Spanish GP in 1981

Carrier highlights

Formula 1

In his F1 career Jones started 116 grand prix, won 12, took 6 pole positions and set 13 fastest laps. He made his grand prix debut at the wheel of a privateer Hesketh at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix. He switched to Graham Hill’s team for the remainder of the season and then in 1976 moved to Surtess team. He scored his first victory at the following season’s Australian GP, racing for Shadow. In 1978 he moved to Williams and the following year scored four wins on his way to third in the championship. His finest hour came in 1980 when he won five grands prix on his way to being crowned champion.

Quotes

'An obnoxious little bastard, a big-headed little prick.'

Jones' view on himself as a youngster

Alan Jones with Frank Williams and his teamate, Carlos Reutemann

Formula 1

'About as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle.'

Jones on the Lola he drove in his final season in F1 in 1986

'He was great fun to be with. He never needed propping up mentally, because he was a very determined and bullish character. He didn't need any babysitting or hand-holding and that's the way it should be. It shouldn't be necessary for me to ask a driver if he is happy, or if he needs his underwear changed.'

Sir Frank Williams

BACK T

TO NORMAL Text: Mikl贸s V茅g / Photos: F1 teams, Pirelli

Formula 1

Briefly

Only one week after the Ferrari success and Mercedes failure in Singapore, Lewis Hamilton was back on the top again, while Nico Rosberg’s chances were gone right after the start, when he dropped back fourth from the pole position. Later the team declared that it happened because of an engine problem.

Felipe Massa and Daniel Ricciardo touched on the run to turn one, leaving both with punctures and no chance of upsetting the top 3 drivers.

This start may not only have decided the race but also the Championship even if Rosberg later regained two positions and finished 2nd in front of Sebastian Vettel, but almost 20 seconds

Formula 1

Quote

Formula 1

I’m buzzing like you could not believe. As I’m walking through after the race I’ve got this rush but I’m thinking about all the different experiences I’ve been through and the people that have helped me along the way: my family, without whom I wouldn’t be here today, and everyone else that’s helped me – they know who they are.

It was very tight through Turn One but from then on it was just the most beautiful day. I have struggled every year at this circuit, but I always loved it.

Lewis HAMILTON

Quote

A tough day for me. It wa the corner and on the exit to avoid a collision, whic pushed me back to fourth fighting for P2 today rathe The team did also a great of Sebastian, this worked o hard out-lap on the new ty damage limitation for m in Japan to close the gap t pushing and try to win in S

Formula 1

as very close throughout I had to go off the track ch cost me speed and h place. After that, I was er than the win. job with the undercut out perfectly with a really yres. So second place is me, as I had to win here to Lewis. But I will keep Sochi now.

Nico ROSBERG

Statistics

JAPANESE GRAND PRIX Suzuka International Racing Course · Suzuka, Japan

RECORDS RECORDS

LAP RECORD 1:31.540 K. RÄIKKÖNEN (2005)

Kimi Räikkonen holds the record for winning from farthest back on the grid. In 2005 the Finn won from a starting position of 17th.

FASTEST POLE 1:29.599 R. BARRICHELLO (2006)

FACTS FACTS 1st

FIRST GRAND PRIX 1987

CORNERS

8

Left

LENGHT 5 807m

10

Right

QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION

Q1 Q2 Q3 1.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13* 14 15 16 17** 18 19*** 20****

Nico Rosberg Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas Sebastian Vettel Felipe Massa Kimi Räikkönen Daniel Ricciardo Romain Grosjean Sergio Perez Carlos Sainz Pastor Maldonado Fernando Alonso Nico Hülkenberg Jenson Button Marcus Ericsson Felipe Nasr Max Verstappen Will Stevens Alexander Rossi Daniil Kvyat

GER GBR FIN GER BRA FIN AUS FRA MEX SPA VEN SPA GER GBR SWE BRA NED GBR USA RUS

Mercedes Mercedes Williams / Mercedes Ferrari Williams / Mercedes Ferrari Red Bull R / Renault Lotus / Mercedes Force India / Mercedes Toro Rosso / Renault Lotus / Mercedes McLaren / Honda Force India / Mercedes McLaren / Honda Sauber / Ferrari Sauber / Ferrari Toro Rosso / Renault Marussia / Ferrari Marussia / Ferrari Red Bull R / Renault

1:33.015 1:32.632 1:32.844 1:32.789 1:34.326 1:33.416 1:34.431 1:33.844 1:34.744 1:33.377 1:34.171 1:33.361 1:34.399 1:34.153 1:34.398 1:34.278 1:35.001 1:34.174 1:34.873 1:34.453 1:34.796 1:34.497 1:35.467 1:34.785 1:35.328 1:34.390 1:35.664 1:35.673 1:35.760 1:34.522 1:38.783 1:47.114 1:34.646 1:34.201

Penalties * Hülkenberg got 3 place grid penalty for causing a collision at the previous round ** Verstappen got 3 place grid penalty for unsafe manner in qualifying ***Rossi did not qualified in QP, but was permitted to start ****Kvyat started from pit lane after change of chassis following qualifying accident

1:32.584 1:32.660 1:33.024 1:33.245 1:33.337 1:33.347 1:33.497 1:33.967

Formula 1

25-27 SEPTEMBER 2015 4 145 145 kg

4.1 g

6 241 7 250

3

DRS

22

144 kg

11

7 252

3 120

4.1 g

135 kg

6 201

Average deceleration 155 kg

GEAR 5.4 g

Total driver pedal load

7 240 SPEED km/h

Circuit Strategy by UBS Doing well in Japan is all about cool heads and good race strategy.

Tyre degradation is high at Suzuka so Pirelli has brought the medium and hard tyres. Using these well is crucial to a team‘s success. A classic two stop strategy involves pitting for the first time around lap 14 and then a second time around lap 35, with an opening stint on medium then two equal stints on the hards. However, there is a pace benefit to teams that can make it with two of the three stints on medium tyres. Look out for these two approaches. In Suzuka there will once again be plenty of attention on the new mandatory tyre pressures from Pirelli, as this is a circuit like Spa, where the cornering loads are significant.

Sector beginning DRS activation zone

TYRE ALLOCATION Medium

Hard

Intermediate

Rain

Source: Lotus, Pirelli, UBS

3.8 g

Statistics

1 3

2

CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION Race distance: 53 laps / 307.471 km Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton 1:36.145 (on lap 33) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Lewis Hamilton Nico Rosberg Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen Valtteri Bottas Nico Hülkenberg Romain Grosjean Pastor Maldonado Max Verstappen Carlos Sainz Fernando Alonso Sergio Pérez Daniil Kvyat Marcus Ericsson Daniel Ricciardo Jenson Button Felipe Massa Alexander Rossi Will Stevens Felipe Nasr

Mercedes Mercedes Ferrari Ferrari Williams / Mercedes Force India / Mercedes Lotus / Mercedes Lotus / Mercedes Toro Rosso / Renault Toro Rosso / Renault McLaren / Honda Force India / Mercedes Red Bull R / Renault Sauber / Ferrari Red Bull R / Renault McLaren / Honda Williams / Mercedes Marussia / Ferrari Marussia / Ferrari Sauber / Ferrari

1:28:06.508 hours +18.964 secs +20.850 +33.768 +36.746 +55.559 +1:12.298 +1:13.575 +1:35.315 +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +1 Lap +2 Laps +2 Laps +3 Laps DNF

MILESTONE STATISTICS STATISTICS

Formula 1

MILESTONE

315.5 km/h Top speed – Rosberg/qualifying 44 Pit stops

26 Overtakes

53 LAPS Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

1 leaders: Hamilton

TYRE

18.964 margin of victory

TYRE WINNING STRATEGY

With this victory Hamilon took his career wins to 41, matching that of Ayrton Senna, fourth in the list of all-time winners. Mercedes duo secured an eighth Silver Arrows 1-2 this year out of the 14 rounds yet, the sixth one in Hamilton-Rosberg order.

Used medium (16 laps) New medium (16 laps)

New hard (21 laps)

STANDING FASTEST WORLD WORLD LAP STANDING FASTEST LAP 1:37.961

1:36.145

Hamilton

Hamilton

on medium compound

on hard compound

WEATHER WEATHER

Air

Partly cloudy

dry

Track 35-42ºC

27-29ºC

Humidity 49-55%

1 Lewis Hamilton 277 pts 2 Nico Rosberg 229 3 Sebastian Vettel 218 4 Kimi Räikkönen 119 5 Valtteri Bottas 111 6 Felipe Massa 97 7 Daniel Ricciardo 73 8 Daniil Kvyat 66 9 Romain Grosjean 44 10 Sergio Pérez 39 11 Nico Hülkenberg 38 12 Max Verstappen 32 13 Felipe Nasr 17 14 Pastor Maldonado 16 15 Carlos Sainz 12 16 Fernando Alonso 11 17 Marcus Ericsson 9 18 Jenson Button 6

RAIN? NO RAIN! NO

Text: Matthew Bayliss / Photos: Leslie Hantos, Niki Kovรกc

MotoGP

O RAIN? O RAIN!

cs, 2SNAP, Repsol Media

Briefly

This was a race for the ages.

The whole unpredictable milieu of the weather was just a recipe for the perfect storm.

Right after the Moto2 race, light sprinkles started to fall and stop, teasing a dramatic MotoGP race.

The moment after the red lights went off, it started to rain with big drops.

The mid-race drama was incredible.

Jorge Lorenzo made his factory Yamaha team bite their nails, because the Spaniard stayed on track before the second bike-swap, despite the team constantly telling him to come in, via the pitboard. Jorge took a huge risk with delaying the bike swap, and a mistake six laps before the end of the race, seen the two time world champion out of the race.

Marc Marquez not just judged the conditions perfectly, but his time he was really care about the messages from his team, so he followed the command and came into the pit two laps earlier than Lorenzo (and three earlier than Rossi) which lead him to score his 4th win of the season.

MotoGP

Briefly

Tech 3 Yamaha rider Bradley Smith went on the same card with risks if not more. The Briton did the incredible, with staying out on the track all race long without coming to the pits. Against all of the odds, Bradley managed to finish in second position and some says, the sighs of relief from the Tech 3 pits are still echoing.

The third place for Scott Redding was the surprise for himself as well and made him the other hero of the day.

Redding crashed on lap 6 so he was forced to an early bike change, which was a lucky move at the end.

MotoGP

Loris Baz finished in 4th place overall and as the winner of the open category. The Frenchman proved that he is a 'rainmaster' and can match even factory riders performance in rain, as he did in World Superbikes for years.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi rounded up the Top 5 but the race was a missed opportunity for him as his teammate and championship contender Jorge Lorenzo dropping out, the Italian failed to gain more points on him.

Quote

MotoGP

Honestly I think nobody expected this rain. But when it started to get cloudy we checked the radar, also we planned everything before the race and we did the perfect job. During the race it was really difficult to understand how the situation was, more when it was from wet to dry again. It was difficult to see whether the asphalt was still wet or not as the new surface is really dark. But the team informed me when to come in and that was the good decision.

Marc MĂ RQUEZ

Quote

MotoGP

I stayed out on slicks all race, I didn’t pit once, which was definitely a crazy decision, I even admit that myself. But at the end of the day I missed the first lap to come in when the others did and the next lap it seemed to rain a little bit less, so I decided to stay out. At some point it was quite scary, I also did a 2:18 and I also almost high-slided. When I made the gamble I never expected to be on the podium, but these kind of opportunities come really rarely for a satellite rider, so you have to take it when it comes around.

Bradley SMITH

Quote

When it started to rain I thought, ’I have nothing to lose’, so I started to push as hard as I could. And I pushed a bit too much so I blocked the front and went to the gravel where I crashed at the end. I thought the race was over, and I came in to switch the bike. On the rain tyre I had a really really bad feeling. After going back on slicks I push hard again and the position came down. First I thought it was a mistake.

I didn’t expect this result, but I’m really happy.

Scott REDDING

MotoGP

Results Formula-1

MotoGP

San Marino GP

WEATHER

MWC Marco Simoncelli • Misano Adriatico, Ita

MOTOGP AIR 27ºC

TRACK 31ºC

34%

RACE: 28 laps / 118.328 km STARTERS: 26 POLE POSITION: Jorge Lorenzo 1:32.146 new best lap FASTEST LAP: Jorge Lorenzo 1:33.273 (lap 4) new record

TYRE ALLOCATION FRONT SLICKS

Soft

Medium

Hard

REAR SLICKS - OPEN

Soft

Medium

REAR SLICKS - FACTORY

Medium

1.

Marc Márquez

Repsol Honda Team

48:2

2.

Bradley Smith

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

+7.2

3.

Scott Redding

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

+18.

4.

Loris Baz

Forward Racing

+26.

5.

Valentino Rossi

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +33.

6.

Danilo Petrucci

Octo Pramac Racing

+35.

7.

Andrea Iannone

Ducati Team

+36.

8.

Andrea Dovizioso

Ducati Team

+37.

9.

Dani Pedrosa

Repsol Honda Team

+39.

10.

Aleix Espargaró

Team Suzuki Ecstar

+39.

11.

Cal Crutchlow

LCR Honda

+41.

12.

Jack Miller

LCR Honda

+46.

13.

Mike di Meglio

Avintia Racing

+48.

14.

Maverick Viñales

Team Suzuki Ecstar

+52.

15.

Álvaro Bautista

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +53.

16.

Stefan Bradl

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +58.

17.

Nicky Hayden

Aspar MotoGP Team

+1:0

18.

Héctor Barberá

Avintia Racing

+1:0

19.

Eugene Laverty

Aspar MotoGP Team

+1:0

20.

Claudio Corti

Forward Racing

+1 L

21.

Karel Abraham

AB Motoracing

+1 L

HUMIDITIY

Hard

NOT CLASSIFIED Pol Espargaró (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) on lap 27 Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) on lap 21 Yonny Hernandez (Octo Pramac Racing) on lap 10 Alex De Angelis (E-Motion IodaRacing) on lap 10 Michele Pirro (Ducati Team) on lap 10

aly • 11-13 September 2015 TRAMONTO

23.819 min

S2

RIO

05

.692

.995

.075

.381

.325

.348

MISANO

03 S1

: 1-ES SZEKTOR

S

: MÉRÉSI PONT

S2

: 2-ES SZEKTOR

01

: KANYAR SZÁMA

S3

: 3-AS SZEKTOR

15

13 14 S3

FAST FACTS

WORLD STANDING

First GP: 1980 Lenght: 4 226 m Left corners: 6 Right corners: 10 RECORDS Circuit record: 1:33.906 J. Lorenzo (2011) Best pole: 1:32.915 M. Márquez (2013) Fastest race: 44:05.522 min J. Lorenzo (2013) 2014 Winner: V. Rossi NUMBER OF SPECTATORS FALLS (MGP) FRI 21 243

SAT 38 836

SUN 92 315

TOTAL 152 394

05.677

Lap

01

CARRO

04.768

Lap

12

VARIANTE DEL PARCO

.828

02.649

16

02

.196

.516

CURVONE

08

07

06

.427

.434

11 QUERCIA

S1

04

.793

.527

S

09

288 secs

.087

10

5

14 4

5

Friday Saturday Sunday (Total 28 in 2014)

1 Valentino Rossi

ITA

Yamaha

247

2 Jorge Lorenzo

SPA

Yamaha

224

3 Marc Márquez

SPA

Honda

184

4 Andrea Iannone

ITA

Ducati

159

5 Bradley Smith

GBR

Yamaha

135

6 Andrea Dovizioso

ITA

Ducati

128

7 Dani Pedrosa

SPA

Honda

109

8 Danilo Petrucci

ITA

Ducati

93

9 Pol Espargaró

SPA

Yamaha

81

10 Cal Crutchlow

GBR

Honda

79

11 Maverick Viñales

SPA

Suzuki

69

12 Aleix Espargaró

SPA

Suzuki

66

13 Scott Redding

GBR

Honda

63

14 Yonny Hernandez COL

Ducati

41

15 Loris Baz

FRA

Yamaha Forward 28

16 Álvaro Bautista

SPA

Aprilia

23

17 Héctor Barberá

SPA

Ducati

23

18 Jack Miller

AUS

Honda

16

19 Nicky Hayden

USA

Honda

12

20 Stefan Bradl

GER

Yamaha Forward 11

21 Michele Pirro

ITA

Ducati

8

22 Eugene Laverty

GBR

Honda

7

23 Mike di Meglio

FRA

Ducati

7

24 Hiroshi Aoyama

JPN

Honda

5

25 Alex De Angelis

RSM

ART

2

FULL RIDERS AND CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

Briefly Formula-1

MotoGP

A HAT-TRICK

BY ZARCO

Johann Zarco started the race from the pole position, with a 85 point lead in the championship.

The race began with a huge battle between Álex Rins and Dominique Aegerter, but it came to a sudden end, when Rins took the Swiss out and himself from the race, with a rookie-ish move.

Zarco managed to pull away from the field and never looked back, winning the race with a 4 second lead in front of Tito Rabat, and an emotional Taka Nakagami, who scored his first Moto2 podium in two years, dedicating the result to the late Shoya Tomizawa. ”Honorable” mention goes to Anthony West, who after scoring the final point scoring position, got immediately dropped by QMMF after the race.

Briefly

WORLD STANDING 1 (-) 2 (↑1) 3 (↓1) 4 (↑1) 5 (↓1) 6 (-) 7 (-) 8 (-) 9 (-) 10 (-)

Johann Zarco Tito Rabat Álex Rins Thomas Lüthi Sam Lowes Jonas Folger Xavier Simeon Franco Morbidelli Dominique Aegerter Álex Márquez

FRA SPA SPA SWI GBR GER BEL ITA Kalex SPA

Kalex Kaley Kalex Kalex Speed Up Kalex Kalex Kalex SWI Kalex

FULL RIDERS AND CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

274 181 164 131 128 112 96 84 62 62

CLASSIFICATION 13 September, 2015 12:20 Weather: cloudy / sunny

Air 26ºC

Track 32ºC

Humiditiy 59%

Race: 26 laps / 109.876 km Started: 31 • Finished: 32 Pole position: Johann Zarco 1:36.754 new best lap Fastest lap: Jonas Folger 1:37.422 (lap 10) new record POINT SCORERS 1 Johann Zarco FRA 2 Tito Rabat SPA 3 Takaaki Nakagami JPN

Kalex Kalex Kalex

42:38.099 minutes +3.850 secs +5.388

4 Simone Corsi (ITA / Kalex) +7.058; 5 Julián Simon (SPA / Speed Up) +9.225; 6 Jonas Folger (GER / Kalex) +10.466; 7 Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA / Kalex) +13.784; 8 Sandro Cortese (GER / Kalex) +16.334; 9 Luis Salom (SPA / Kalex) +17.896; 10 Thomas Lüthi (SWI / Kalex) +18.353; 11 Axel Pons (SPA / Kalex) +24.029; 12 Xavier Simeon (BEL / Kalex) +27.609; 13 Azlan Shah (MAL / Kalex) +29.037; 14 Randy Krummenacher (SWI / Kalex) +32.140; 15 Anthony West (AUS / Speed Up) +33.312

FALLS Friday

9

30 7

Saturday

14

Sunday (Total 40 in 2014)

Briefly

Enea Bastianini finally took his first ever win in front of a home crowd and cut down Danny Kent's championship lead to just 55 points. On the victory lap, Enea took off his helmet and had his freshly bleached hair sprayed the colours of the Italian flag.

He started the race from the pole position being the only rider to race with the softer front tyre.

Danny Kent started to lose pace to the leading pack of seven riders, moreover after the half race distance, he got punished by the race control, for exceeding track limits three laps in a row at turn six.

ITALIA

AN JOB

Oliveira led the race until the penultimate lap, until Antonelli and Bastianini passed him, but he managed to get the lead back at the beginning of the last lap. Bastianini's tyre had more grip for getting a faster line at turn 11, overtaking Oliveira for the lead and managed to score his maiden Moto3 win. Oliveira took second place and Niccolo Antonelli held off Romano Fenati for the last spot on the podium.

Briefly

WORLD STANDING 1 (-) 2 (-) 3 (-) 4 (↑1) 5 (↑1) 6 (↓2) 7 (-) 8 (-) 9 (-) 10 (-)

Danny Kent Enea Bastianini Romano Fenati Miguel Oliveira Niccolò Antonelli Efrén Vázquez Brad Binder Fabio Quartararo Isaac Viñales Jorge Navarro

GBR ITA ITA POR ITA SPA RSA FRA SPA SPA

Honda Honda KTM KTM Honda Honda KTM Honda Husqvarna Honda

FULL RIDERS AND CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

FALLS 6

Friday

16 4

6

Saturday Sunday (Total 41 in 2014)

234 179 139 134 126 116 110 92 82 72

CLASSIFICATION 13 September, 2015 14:52 Weather cloudy, sunny

Air 26ºC

Track 27ºC

Humidity 49%

Race: 23 laps / 97.198 km Started: 32 • Finished: 26 Pole position: Enea Bastianini 1:42.486 Fastest lap: Niccolò Antonelli 1:42.841 (lap 3) new record POINT SCORERS 1 Enea Bastianini ITA 2 Miguel Oliveira POR 3 Niccolò Antonelli ITA

Honda KTM Honda

39:43.673 minutes +0.037 secs +0.345

4 Romano Fenati (ITA / KTM) +0.584; 5 Brad Binder (RSA / KTM) +0.637; 6 Danny Kent (GBR / Honda) +8.000; 7 Alexis Masbou (FRA / Honda) +11.654; 8 Francesco Bagnaia (ITA / Mahindra) +11.776; 9 Isaac Viñales (SPA / KTM) +11.839; 10 Philipp Öettl (GER / KTM) +11.973; 11 Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA / Husqvarna) +12.187; 12 Livio Loi (BEL / Honda) +12.214; 13 Andrea Migno (ITA / KTM) +12.532; 14 Stefano Manzi (ITA / Mahindra) +19.260; 15 Jorge Martin (SPA / Mahindra) +24.296

INTERVIEW

Text: Niki

H

i Kovács / Photos: Leslie Hantos, Niki Kovács, 2SNAP, MarcVDS Team

HARD TIMES

I like to get the chance to talk with the riders time to time. You can see and feel the changes, the progress of their soul and mind. Like every person, they have better and worse periods, and you can learn different things about them. It’s not a secret that Scott Redding is going through a tough season. I knew already that he was a sensitive guy, but this time he opened his soul a bit more.

An honest interview about the bad results, the frustration, the judgement of strangers, weight problem, and the will of winning again.

Interview

Two years ago you said to me that you are a fighter. I know that you went through some difficult periods before arriving to MarcVDS Team, and now you are in a delicate period again. How much do you need your fighter attitude now?

It is kind of difficult in this situation. You almost cannot fight with everything.

Sometimes you have to take one step back because it is not about just riding a bike in MotoGP. When you do not have everything under control you have to try to get under the control. You cannot say, okay, whatever it is I will go for it because it will not happen. You can try and try and try, and it does not come.

So you have to work out the paddle and see what is working and what is not, and this takes a lot of time.

Now I am just thinking about how to survive the races because I am not at the point to think about results. We are not where I feel we should be at the moment, so we try to improve the bike every weekend.

How frustrating is it?

It is frustrating because the people that I know I can beat, and I have beaten many, many times, are many seconds in front. If I could fight with the top eight riders I would be happy, but this is not the case. I believe that we can do it, so this is really frustrating.

For me it is something to understand about this bike, you know, maybe I don’t get on with this bike, or maybe there is just one small thing and it will all start to come into place.

You don’t know how far or close you are.

Where can you find the motivation to come here and fight every weekend?

It is difficult. Sometimes there is a light at the end of the tunnel like in Texas for example.

However, then at the next race: boom.

MotoGP

Interview

Everything goes wrong again.

Then in Barcelona we could have stayed with the front guys in the first part of the race, and we were 0.3s from the first Honda in the practices, but then in the FP3 something happened again and I was in Q2.

It is almost like it is not worth putting all the efforts in because at the end the result will be what the result will be. You can work 24 hours, watching all the details, but at the end of the day if the feeling is not there, the feeling is not there.

So you have to be calm with the situation. You know you can’t keep attacking because this way you will quit before the end of the season.

You have to understand why and where to attack.

Is it possible to stay calm in a period like this?

Well, I am a calm person but when you do not get what you want, you start to get agitated, and then probably it becomes worse. Then you have to reset, relax and try again, and that is the annoying part. Sometimes you think it is never getting better even if you are just trying and trying again. For the head it is especially tough because you do not know which the right way is.

Who or what can help you relax?

The relax side is not the biggest problem. It is not that I am completely stressed, I am more infuriated.

Is it better to stay alone when you are infuriated?

It does not bother me. I am only thinking about riding, and this is also a bit of a problem because I wake up and I think about riding.

Now I am thinking about riding when I go to sleep as well, so 24 hours a day I think about how to improve. There is no break.

MotoGP

Interview

Don't you get tired? I mean mentally.

Of course you do when you don’t get the results. After a race weekend on Mondays normally I’m destroyed. I turn my brain off and I cannot do anything, and that is the hardest point. You need to turn off, but you do not want to because you just want to figure out why all this is happening, and how to change it. I have been after results for six months and this is the most frustrating thing.

Is there anything that can help switch your mind off?

Not really. It is strange, but when I leave the circuit, I never really want to talk about racing.

If someone comes - my dad, uncle - and starts asking me about the weekend I become angry and I do not want to talk about it. This is my way of switching off a bit between races.

Clearly I think about it but I would prefer not to go into details. In this situation if I knew the problem I would fix it, so I don’t want to hear questions about it, especially the same questions 5000 times. When things don’t go in the right direction this is another situation you have to handle somehow.

In 2013 you were fighting for the Moto2 title until Phillip Island when you got injured. Was that situation more difficult to go through?

In that situation I was on the peak of my performance, so that kind of thing can happen. You are not frustrated but more upset and disappointed because of how much work and effort you put into it, and just in one split second something happened and you lost everything. So this is a bit different.

At that time at least we were there, but now I do not get results and it does not get easier.

Also, when it is getting harder there is more pressure, and more people talk behind my back even though it is not about me.

MotoGP

Interview

MotoGP

Is it that important what others think about you?

I do not really care what people say but sometimes when you are trying everything and they say that you are nothing, etc. My reaction to such things is me thinking ‘you just do not know anything, you have no idea what is going on’, and this is another frustrating thing and it upsets me. Because for example if Wayne Gardner comes to me and says a criticism about me then that is ok because he knows a lot about racing. However, the others… It is easy to judge someone from the outside but I know that I try everything. It is difficult but you have to deal with it.

Have you ever thought about how it would have been better to remain one more year in Moto2?

This was what I would have preferred to be honest. But the problem was my size and weight. I was always in a disadvantaged situation, and when I had to really fight with the wind with Pol for example – then every time he was able to win. We were at similar talent but he had a small advantage with the weight, so he always had something in the pocket.

Talking about weight, is it true that you had some problem with it?

We can say I tried almost everything. After 2012 - when we had a really good season, couple of podiums etc. - I knew that next year I had a good chance of winning the title. The team did everything to take the weight down, the leather company did everything they could, and then it was up to me. I was 75-76 kilos which was my comfortable weight. So in the winter I was training hard and tried to weigh less and less, because the weight meant everything in that category.

Interview

I managed to get down to 73.5 kilos and I was more or less dead. It was almost impossible for me to train, I had no power, no energy. I was sleeping three or four times a day and I was eating like one yoghurt, four rice cakes and two bananas throughout the whole day with the training. So I said ‘you don’t want to risk this opportunity, now you have to find a balance’. So maybe I put on two kilos more but at least I have the power.

Did you not have anyone by you to warn you?

Well, I was training with other riders like Marcel Schrötter, Jasper Iwama, and a friend of mine, but I was basically alone.

During my time in Spain my family was by me. Now I have a trainer which clearly has its benefits.

You said in an interview that you started to do triathlon races to find some extra motivation for training.

It was more from the dietitian side, and to keep that fire burning for winning because sometimes you can lose the will to win. At time you can be happy just to go ride, and when you are in a situation like me now this can happen. So for me I go to a triathlon to enjoy it but also to be competitive. Just to keep the feeling that I can win even if I don’t win. But it is only about me and not the matter of the bike, the tyre, the conditions or whatever.

If I train harder and work hard I can gain time, and I can possibly win. So it is about keeping my soul know that what I do can change the result.

MotoGP

A few weeks after our interview Scott signed a contract with Ducati Pramac Racing for 2016, so really soon a new adventure will begin for him riding the latest GP15 bikes.

Also, the result he was dreaming about arrived at the San Marino GP. During a hectic and dramatic race after a crash at the early stage of the race, he was able to stand on the podium for the first time ever in his MotoGP career. It was really nice to see him smile. I do believe that he deserved it. Hopefully the Ducati will suit him, and we can see that huge smile again and again.

L

Text: M

LIKE A SHARK

Matthew Bayliss / Photos: 2SNAP, Niki Kovรกcs, Repsol Media, Yamaha

Formula-1

MotoGP MotoGP

Briefly

MotoGP

The MotoGP race seen Jorge Lorenzo taking the lead from the second place on the grid. The Spaniard was determined to get a clean and big getaway from the rest of the field.

Marc Marquez tried to chase Lorenzo, but his crash on the second lap meant the race end for him.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi suffered from his “trademark”, qualify bad, and lose time to get in the front syndrome. The nine time world champion first stuck behind Andrea Iannone on the Factory Ducati for four laps, after that he got in a fight with Dani Pedrosa.

That meant Lorenzo was able to pull a bigger gap from the two. Pedrosa managed to show something from that well respected “race craft” he have.

Fighting Rossi off for the second place with incredible passes made the championship even tighter than it was.

Eugene Laverty secured his first open class victory, finishing 14th overall, in a nail biting fight with his teammate, Nicky Hayden.

Hot stuff

The raceday o Not only beca Prix win over a But with thei e won Team Wo season, thanks

of the Aragon GP was a big days for the Yamaha Factory Team. ause Jorge Lorenzo secured his sixth win of the season and 60th Grand all classes and Valentino Rossi clinched his 13th podium finish this year. eighth double podium of 2015 after four not that successful year they orld Championship Title again, already four races before the end of the s to the great step compared to last year and compared to Honda.

MotoGP

Quote

This was a really important race, because I couldn’t lose more points in the championship. I was quite a bit lucky with Márquez’ crash. He could make the second part of the race really difficult for me, it would have been really complicated to beat him today. When I saw my gap was 2.3 in front of Dani I had a deep breath, but then I said to myself to stay concentrated and keep the distance. It is very emotional after the two bad races I just had. Now the negative feelings are gone and I can look forward.

This time I felt strong as a shark, that was the reason of my celebration. I wanted to keep this joke from Misano alive a bit longer.

Jorge LORENZO

MotoGP

Quote

MotoGP

�

I’m really happy with the final result.

It was hard at the beginning also because I was stuck behind Iannone a bit longer as I expected, so I lost some time there. Then the feeling arrived with the front and I started to ride my rhythm. But Valentino came strong like every Sunday. He stayed many laps behind and I could hear his engine in lot of corners. I knew that he was ready to fight and attacked much earlier than I thought. I knew I had to fight with him and I had a good control on the bike.

Sure this was one of the best battles in my career, because of the rival.

Valentino is a master of this situation and he has so much confidence, while this is one of my weakest points.

Dani PEDROSA

Quote

MotoGP

”

When you lose a battle like this, it’s always a bad feeling from one point of view. But I’m happy, because it’s a good result, my best race at Aragon during my career. I wasn’t strong enough to stay in front of Dani. I played all my cards I had, also one extra in the last chicane which is not a place to overtake. It’s shame for the championship as I lost 4 points, but it’s like this. Jorge rides fantastic, he is very close to the perfection, so it will be hard.

Valentino ROSSI

Results Formula-1

MotoGP

Aragon GP

WEATHER

Motorland Aragon • Alcañiz, Spain • 25-27 Se

MOTOGP AIR 23ºC

TRACK 39ºC

50%

RACE: 23 laps / 116.794 km STARTERS: 25 POLE POSITION: Marc Márquez 1:46.635 new best lap FASTEST LAP: Jorge Lorenzo 1:48.120 (lap 2) new record

TYRE ALLOCATION FRONT SLICKS

Soft

Medium

Hard

REAR SLICKS - OPEN

Soft

Medium

REAR SLICKS - FACTORY

Medium

1.

Jorge Lorenzo

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP 41:4

2.

Dani Pedrosa

Repsol Honda Team

3.

Valentino Rossi

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP +2.7

4.

Andrea Iannone

Ducati Team

+7.8

5.

Andrea Dovizioso

Ducati Team

+24.

6.

Aleix Espargaró

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR

+24.

7.

Cal Crutchlow

LCR Honda +25.367

8.

Bradley Smith

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

+25.

9.

Pol Espargaró

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

+26.

10.

Yonny Hernandez

Octo Pramac Racing

+43.

11.

Maverick Viñales

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR

+44.

12.

Scott Redding

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

+48.

13.

Alvaro Bautista

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +49.

14.

Eugene Laverty

Aspar MotoGP Team

+50.

15.

Nicky Hayden

Aspar MotoGP Team

+50.

16.

Hector Barbera

Avintia Racing

+50.

17.

Loris Baz

Forward Racing

+51.

18.

Stefan Bradl

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini +53.

19.

Jack Miller

LCR Honda +56.859

20.

Mike di Meglio

Avintia Racing

+59.

21.

Toni Elias

Forward Racing

+1:1

HUMIDITIY

Hard

NOT CLASSIFIED Karel Abraham (AB Motoracing) on lap 12 Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) on lap 10 Alex De Angelis (E-Motion IodaRacing Team) on lap 6 Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) on lap 2

+2.6

eptember 2015

10 09 08

05 04

44.933 min

11

S2

06

683 secs

07

S1

773

13 12

858

14

.503

.452

.889

.255

.176

.755

.271

.364

17

S1

: 1-ES SZEKTOR

S

: MÉRÉSI PONT

S2

: 2-ES SZEKTOR

01

: KANYAR SZÁMA

S3

: 3-AS SZEKTOR

S3

FAST FACTS

WORLD STANDING

First GP: 2010 Lenght: 5 078 m Left corners: 10 Right corners: 7 RECORDS Circuit record: 1:48.565 D. Pedrosa (2013) Best pole: 1:47.187 M. Márquez (2014) Fastest race: 42:03.459 min M. Márquez (2013) 2014 Winner: J. Lorenzo NUMBER OF SPECTATORS FALLS (MGP) FRI 18 763

.997

15.237

SAT 28 246

SUN 67 122

TOTAL 114 131

.406

1 3

11

S

16

.722

.607

02

15

.322

.829

01 03

Friday Saturday

7

Sunday (Total 14 in 2014)

1 Valentino Rossi

ITA

Yamaha

263

2 Jorge Lorenzo

SPA

Yamaha

249

3 Marc Márquez

SPA

Honda

184

4 Andrea Iannone

ITA

Ducati

172

5 Bradley Smith

GBR

Yamaha

143

6 Andrea Dovizioso ITA

Ducati

139

7 Dani Pedrosa

SPA

Honda

129

8 Danilo Petrucci

ITA

Ducati

93

9 Cal Crutchlow

GBR

Honda

88

10 Pol Espargaró

SPA

Yamaha

88

11 Aleix Espargaró

SPA

Suzuki

76

12 Maverick Viñales

SPA

Suzuki

74

13 Scott Redding

GBR

Honda

67

14 Yonny Hernandez COL

Ducati

47

15 Loris Baz

FRA

Yamaha Forward 28

16 Álvaro Bautista

SPA

Aprilia

26

17 Héctor Barberá

SPA

Ducati

23

18 Jack Miller

AUS

Honda

16

19 Nicky Hayden

USA

Honda

13

20 Stefan Bradl

GER

Yamaha Forward 11

21 Eugene Laverty

GBR

Honda

9

22 Michele Pirro

ITA

Ducati

8

23 Mike di Meglio

FRA

Ducati

7

24 Hiroshi Aoyama

JPN

Honda

5

25 Alex De Angelis

RSM

ART

2

FULL RIDERS AND CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

Briefly

CROWNING DELAYED

The original Moto2 race was red flagged because of Dominique Aegerter's massive shunt.

The Swiss rider declared OK on track, but later after the race it got confirmed that he suffered seasonending injuries (Fracture of the 4th metacarpal bone and the radius of the right hand without any displacement. Small fracture on the 12th left rib with minor lung contusions and small fractures on L1-L2-L3 vertebras. No neurological trauma.)

The restarted race seen Tito Rabat and Ă lex Rins fighting for the win. Their cat-mouse game ended with the defending Moto2 champion's victory.

Tito's win was important to keep his championship fight alive as Johann Zarco finished only in 6th place, with one of his hands on the title already, holding a 78 point advantage over Rabat before the final four rounds.

Briefly

CLASSIFICATION 27 September, 2015 12:45 Weather: partly cloudy

Air 21ºC

Track 34ºC

Humiditiy 57%

Race: 14* laps / 71.092 km Started: 29 • Finished: 23 Pole position: Tito Rabat 1:52.232 new best lap Fastest lap: Álex Rins 1:52.767 (lap 13) new record POINT SCORERS 1 Tito Rabat 2 Álex Rins 3 Sam Lowes

SPA SPA GBR

Kalex Kalex Speed Up

26:25.125 minutes +0.096 secs +5.364

4 Jonas Folger (GER / Kalex) +7.363; 5 Thomas Lüthi (SWI / Kalex) +16.723; 6 Johann Zarco (FRA / Kalex) +16.989; 7 Hafizh Syahrin (MAL / Kalex) +17.086; 8 Takaaki Nakagami (JPN / Kalex) +18.056; 9 Simone Corsi (ITA / Kalex) +18.658; 10 Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA / Kalex) +19.656; 11 Mika Kallio (FIN / Speed Up) +20.090; 12 Axel Pons (SPA / Kalex) +20.222; 13 Sandro Cortese (GER / Kalex) +21.043; 14 Azlan Shah (MAL / Kalex) +22.384; 15 Marcel Schrotter (GER / Tech 3) +26.017

*The original race was red flagged in the 2nd lap because of accident. The new race were shortened by 7 laps

FALLS 4

5

18 9

Friday Saturday Sunday (Total 19 in 2014)

Luis Salom crashed out on lap 3 at turn 9 and he was blaming other riders for his crash.

He touched Xavier Simeon’s rear wheel with the front of his bike and it was enough to fall.

Simeon didn't last much longer, he finished the race in the gravel some moments later.

WORLD STANDING 1 (-) 2 (-) 3 (-) 4 (↑1) 5 (↓1) 6 (-) 7 (-) 8 (-) 9 (↑2) 10 (↓1)

Johann Zarco Tito Rabat Álex Rins Sam Lowes Thomas Lüthi Jonas Folger Xavier Simeon Franco Morbidelli Takaaki Nakagami Dominique Aegerter

FRA SPA SPA GBR SWI GER BEL ITA JAP Kalex

Kalex Kaley Kalex Speed Up Kalex Kalex Kalex Kalex Kalex SWI

FULL RIDERS AND CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

284 206 184 144 142 125 96 84 69 62

Briefly

The race delivered an incredible spectacle, like Moto3 doing it almost all the time. Lap to lap, turn to turn lead changes, wonderful excitement.

Miguel Oliveira made a hat-trick of his wins in 2015, finishing ahead the battered Jorge Navarro, who had to skip the Misano round due to an injury plus, he was taken to the hospital during the warm-up. Romano Fenati finished third.

Championship leaders Danny Kent and Enea Bastianini are failed to finish the race, making the title fight a little longer than expected. Both crashed out in the last lap. Bastianini fell down together with Brad Binder fighting for the podium spots, while Kent high-slided in the last corner.

Lady racer MarĂ­a Herrera finished in the points for the second time in her Moto3 career. The 13rd place meant her best ever Moto3 result as well.

LATE DRAMA IN ARAGON

Briefly

CLASSIFICATION 27 September, 2015 11:03 Weather sunny/cloudy

Air 16ºC

Track 20ºC

Humidity 72%

Race: 20 laps / 101.560 km Started: 35 • Finished: 27 Pole position: Enea Bastianini 1:57.755 new best lap Fastest lap: Niccolò Antonelli 1:58.726 (lap 15) new record POINT SCORERS 1 Miguel Oliveira 2 Jorge Navarro 3 Romano Fenati

POR SPA ITA

KTM Honda KTM

39:54.343 minutes +0.193 secs +1.505

4 Efrén Vázquez (SPA / Honda) +1.792; 5 Philipp Öettl (GER / KTM) +2.466; 6 Niccolò Antonelli (ITA / Honda) +4.903; 7 Jorge Martin (SPA / Mahindra) +6.512; 8 Alexis Masbou (FRA / Honda) +15.746; 9 Andrea Migno (ITA / KTM) +15.884; 10 Hiroki Ono (JPN / Honda) +15.775; 11 Francesco Bagnaia (ITA / Mahindra) +16.260; 12 Stefano Manzi (ITA / Mahindra) +16.354; 13 Maria Herrera (SPA / Husqvarna) +16.899; 14 Jakub Kornfeil (CZE / KTM) +16.849; 15 Livio Loi (BEL / Honda) +17.125

FALLS Friday

7

15

8

Saturday Sunday (Total 26 in 2014)

WORLD STANDING 1 (-) 2 (-) 3 (↑1) 4 (↓1) 5 (-) 6 (-) 7 (-) 8 (-) 9 (↑1) 10 (↓1)

Danny Kent Enea Bastianini Miguel Oliveira Romano Fenati Niccolò Antonelli Efrén Vázquez Brad Binder Fabio Quartararo Jorge Navarro Isaac Viñales

GBR ITA POR ITA ITA SPA RSA FRA SPA SPA

Honda Honda KTM KTM Honda Honda KTM Honda Honda Husqvarna

FULL RIDERS AND CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP CLASSIFICATIONS

234 179 159 155 136 129 110 92 92 82

INTERVIEW

I'M NOT NO2

Text: Tammy Gorali / Photos: Niki Kovรกcs, Repsol Media

2

To those who do not know Dani Pedrosa, he is actually a very philosophical rider, reserved, quiet, needs his safety space around him, and sometimes surprisingly honest. Tammy Gorali, Israeli Sport 5 MotoGP commentator and got some great quotes from the Repsol Honda rider on a heart to heart level.

Interview

MotoGP

ON INJURY AND RECOVERY The 2015 season seemed promising at the start but moments after a disappointing result in the first round in Qatar, Dani dropped the bomb by revealing he was suffering badly from arm pump and will have to take some time off for surgery, and that there is also a possible risk of retirement. As the season closes to an end he looks in great shape again.

How is the hand now?

Better.

And how is the mind?

Better, mind and body go together.

Do you think the aggressive engine aggravated the arm pump?

For me it comes more from the current riding style. The breaks are better, the tyres are better - all the technology is better but the body is the same. You can ride more to the limit, and the techniques of training are better but the body and recovery time did not change, so we are having more problems like that. Since my last surgery I have done a lot of research (which I’m still doing) and I discovered some new technology to keep my fitness ready for this sort of problems.

Do you think you should have practiced day by day like other riders on dirt bikes or wall climbing?

No, but I still keep my testing quiet as it is only my experience. I knew the technology was better but now I also have to adapt my physical training, so I am looking for different things. Some of them are useful, some are helping me keep the level I need on the bike. I would rather keep it to myself for now how it works, as it is not guaranteed - it is only my personal experience.

Interview

MotoGP

SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP You said before ‘The bikes made of pieces but sometimes it feels like it has some life in it‘, could you explain this to me?

This is a quote taken from life experience because I rode more or less the same bike for over a year. Normally you can do whatever you want with the bike, but sometimes the bike does not allow you to do that. Sometimes it kicks you out of the seat as if she was angry, sometimes it feels like she is not having the right day. Things like this.

It also occurs that we have a conversation. I am not specifically talking but I have a feeling like the bike has life in it and I feel that inside.

When you manage to merge and connect with the bike normally on that day you are unstoppable.

Do you forgive your bike when she throws you off?

Not many times. There are days I was angry about my situation or whatever and then she threw me off, so I just get angrier because of that.

It is like the horse and the jockey - the better you feel, the better you are, and she is happy too.

It is strange because even though it is a machine it is a relationship.

Are there days you do not want to see her at all?

I had some. I had some days, yes, but you miss each other at the end of the day, and like in any relationship you have your ups and downs.

Interview

MotoGP

NUMBER 2 You must have heard that people say you look comfortable as a number two rider, do you feel like a number two rider?

Not in my soul. The results, luck, and everything are mixed and finally end as number two, but not in my spirit.

Did you ever feel you were treated like number two?

I do not care because I know it is not true.

Interview

MotoGP

SOCIAL MEDIA Do you ever offended from all the comments of the "sofa racers"?

It can hurt, for example when I was at home injured this year. Or like last year when I was racing with an injury. I was hurting but nobody knew, and I could not share the truth.

But at the end of the day I am the lucky one because I am here, I am living my dreams, I am racing, and making so many people happy and feeling emotions.

Do you check what people write about you?

Sometimes, for example on my twitter when I was injured I had a lot of fans sharing their good wishes and that, when you recover can be usable in your life. The negative thought of people would only pull you down.

You are more shyer than other riders since the social media became such a big part of life. Does it make it easier for you to keep your life separate, and to feel safe?

A little bit of both. Having the personal account I can share my point of view directly without having that camera or something that makes me insecure. If you embrace the social media positively you can get good things out of it.

Interview

MotoGP

ABOUT THE HONDA RC213V & AGE Do you think your riding style fits the current Honda more than your team mate’s?

I do not know how he feels as I only know how I feel.

Is there big difference in the bike in comparison to last year?

No, no big difference. Some small ones but sometimes it is enough when the competition is this close. You have to take into account that Ducati has made some huge improvements and Yamaha has done the same also, so they create a larger gap.

So what do you do in order to get back into business?

I'm trying to have a better feeling on the bike, because I need to understand where I can be faster. I’m also trying to find some possible ways to improve the bike, although, with the new rule everything is so difficult.

Is there anything you can change about yourself?

Yes, that is why I try to alter things.

However, at some tracks it is already enough to manage the gap. Sometimes the gap is too big and you can do nothing about it without some technical help.

Is it scary to try to change your riding style after so many years?

No, because comfort is not the way to maximize your life.

Interview

MotoGP

You seem calmer than years before you smile more. What has changed?

Me, the age, my experience. I have to learn from what I go through. So it is just life.

Is the age an advantage sometimes or only a disadvantage? (After a long pause comes the reply) It is positive, it is positive.

Find the full interview on www.wheelz.co.il

So seeing VR is encouraging?

Yes, there are things to learn from him because he reinvented himself. He transmits a good image of himself, and that is difficult to do. He is a master of that, and in our field he is very solid.

Postcard Formula-1

MotoGP

TOP GUN Source: motogp.com / Special thanks for the photos to Rafa Marrodán

Maverick Viñales emulated his namesake as he took to the skies in an F-18 ahead of the Aragon GP capable of reaching over 2,100 kilometres per hour.

Captain J. Barcala briefed Viñales for over an hour, teaching him the ins and outs of how to cope with the extreme G-forces produced by a fighter jet. ’It was the best experience of my life, nothing can compare to this even when I was World Champion in Moto3™. It’s a really unique experience and nothing else compares, it’s a once in a lifetime thing. I feel very privileged to have received this wonderful experience.’ - said Maverick after.

MotoGP

Postcard

MotoGP

Postcard

MotoGP

He doesn’t have any superstitions the only important thing for him is to have everything clean and nice around him. Everything else comes from the knowledge, the experience, and self-confidence and mostly from his heart. He believes that this makes the difference between driver and driver. Petter Solberg also has a big heart.

It is a real honour to meet you Petter, or should I say, Mr. Hollywood? Do you remember where your nickname comes from? I read a lot of stories about it.

I did a lot of promotional stuff in Hollywood, driving cars for the TV etc. We had a really good time there. Then after all the people started to call me Mr. Hollywood. First I was a little bit embarrassed because I thought it wasn’t a good nickname, you know, but after that I said ‘OK, it is cool’.

So it is not because of your smile. That was my other idea.

Well, normally I smile a lot, when everything goes well, clearly.

I read that ten years ago you established your own aviation company.

I had private planes for ten years, yes, then it became a company. I had five planes, but four years ago I sold everything. While I was in rally I had to do a lot of promotions, tests, races so I was flying 250 hours a year. If I didn’t have an own plane I wouldn’t have had time to do everything I should. So this was the main reason for an own plane. Then I also had others I rented out.

I

INTERVIEW

T'S ALL ABOUT THE RHYTHM Text: Niki Kovรกcs / Photos: Leslie Hantos, Monster Energy

Interview

Your brother is racing here too, your son is racing and your wife was also involved in motorsports. What a family!!

If I’m right you also raced together with Pernilla.

Yes, my wife is doing a little bit of everything. She is a Norwegian champion and she also came third twice in WRC’s group N class, so she was one of the best women in the whole world. She had a contract with Subaru America to do the championship there but she got pregnant, so she stopped racing.

Are you worried when you son races?

I’m not worried at all. My wife is always with my son, Oliver, she is his team manager basically. He is in good hands, he can drive, so no problem for me.

I’m not afraid when he is driving, but if you ask me what scares me generally, it’s if anything is going to happen to my son.

He is very motivated. He is already a champion. He is the youngest Norwegian champion, Swedish champion, became the North-European Champion last year and he is in the National Swedish Team now as well.

And what are the plans for him?

I don’t know. We don’t push him in any directions. He has to find his own way and enjoy it.

Any plans to race together with him in the future?

This year was the first occasion that he beat me in go-karting, so he is very happy. But I’m not happy [he laughs]. But I can’t race with him as it’s too dangerous [he laughs again]. He is also crazy like me. Maybe even more.

Off track

Interview

I saw a tweet of you remembering Colin McRae… He was my best friend, we did everything together. He came with me on my plane, we flew together to the races. When I was young I came with him and he was helping me a lot when we were teammates. He was at my wedding…yes…we had a lot of stories together.

For example, you know the Colin McRae game?

We were developing that together during nights and nights on rallies. We were sitting in a room, playing together and developing it.

But I don’t want to tell stories about him as there are too many.

I can see now some gold colour on your shoes, but your first golden shoes were a special one.

Yes, I got that pair of shoes from Tommi Mäkinen after I won the WRC title as he had a spare pair. That night we both were wearing the golden shoes and dancing all night long.

I still have them at home and I was wearing them also last year when I won the RX world title.

Talking about dancing, I think you are pretty good at it too.

I danced for seven years, yeah. I did proper dancing for two years and I was also a dance teacher. I’ve been asked 10 times to participate in the ‘Let’s dance’ program in Norway, but I don’t want to do that, I’m doing motorsport.

And I don’t think my wife would be happy if I danced with another girl. It is very close contact…

For me it looks like two completely different worlds. I mean dancing and motorsports.

Well it is still about the rhythm and flow, like in rally. You dance through the stages and it is not so bad actually. Dancing can be good for fitness and can help during the races.

Off track

Interview

Off track

What do you think about the drivers crashing too much, like Robert Kubica for example? Is there a point when it is better to stop?

No, I don’t think that. If you have passion for it, you have can go on. You have to go through the tough period and also learn from it. Sometimes I did the same thing, I had lot of crashes. I stepped back a little bit accepting also the worst results.

I don’t know whether he has any help from anybody. He is a fast driver, so maybe he wants too much too early.

What was your biggest crash?

Germany, 2004. I remember it very well. It was a really bad crash. I remember every second and I almost killed my Co-driver, so it was a very special moment.

I won the next three races after the accident,.

Now you are racing in rally cross. How much has the sport changed since you started?

Comparing to where I started there is a massive difference. When I started I had my own team which was a very small thing but then the series became a world championship. Back to the WRC times I had 300 people working for me, and I had another driver too, so everything was big.

In rallycross now it’s like back to the roots again, smaller team, very effective and like the rallycross itself, it’s growing very-very quickly.

Things are developing because of TV and marketing but you have to go with the flow and be a part of the changes as long as it goes to the better way. It is also good that we don’t have so much politics here.

Not yet.

Interview

In your opinion which rally format has the largest potential to attract more people in the future?

WRC has been in a special and difficult period for a long time. One reason is TV, the other one is safety. And also it costs a massive amount of money. It is like between 40 and 60 million euros a year.

So if you see rallycross again, it is quite an easy format for TV, for spectators, everything is in one area. So for me RX. If you have a look on the last few years, how fast it has grown, this is one the reasons that is attracts more and more drivers too.

How would you encourage young people to get involved in motorsports?

It is difficult for anyone. First the main thing would be not talking about how difficult it is. It is more about finding solutions because everything is possible if you have the passion.

But many people start from the problems and not with the solution.

And afterwards, what is the key to become a champion like you did in two different disciplines?

You have to be crazy, this is the first thing. You have to have a lot of good people around you, and then you have to do everything for it (eat, practice, live etc.) in every area. You have to work a lot on yourself. You just have to want it a lot, and I mean A LOT. There any many good drivers but so many of them are five percent away, and that five percent is coming from the heart. If you don’t have it properly you will never reach it.

Off track

Photos: Niki Kovรกcs / Dorna / Ferrari / Canon

F1 / MotoGP / WTCC