Pit Lane Reporter : Issue 7 by PitLane Reporter

september 2014

Daniel Ricciardo the Interview will power is indycar champion

hunt vs lauda - the rivalry returns for 2014

PLUS

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contents 4 6 9 11 17 24 30 34 38 44 49 54 58 63 67 69 72 73 76 78 85 91 95 105 108 110 113 116

Editors Notes Meet The Team Letters Page Belgian F1 Grand Prix Review Belgian F1 Grand Prix Gallery Italian F1 Grand Prix Review Italian F1 Grand Prix Gallery Daniel Ricciardo Interview Freddie Hunt Interview DTM Demands Improvements Indycar Rewind Indycar - Thoughts about 2014 Inside Indycar - Will Power Indycar - News In Brief GP2 Belgian Grand Prix Review GP3 Belgian Grand Prix Review NASCAR Finds New Title Sponsor NASCAR Chase Grid Is Set NASCAR Announces 2015 Schedule David Bartrum Interview BTCC - A Rocky Road To The School Of Hard Knocks Blancpain Sprint Series: Round 4 Rally Germany Report Gold Cup - Oulton Park Memories Of A Pioneer Interview With Sarah Sahadin Everyday Driving Column Limited Edition Artworks by Gary Drew

Ricciardo Interview Page 34

freddie hunt interview

Page 38

Rally germany report page 95 www.pitlanereporter.com

EDITORS NOTES

t’s that time of year now, the business end of the motor sport season begins, that is unless you are into IndyCar in which case we already know the champion. On that, everyone at Pit Lane Reporter wants to say a huge well done to Aussie driver Will Power for finally lifting the title after trying for 15 years. Now that’s perseverance and evidence that you should never give up on your dreams, well done Will. Formula One has been in the news again this month following the Rosberg/Hamilton crash at Spa. The emails sent to us prove how passionate people are on both sides of the argument; did Rosberg mean to cause the crash or not? I very much doubt it myself; I feel it was just a silly mistake and Rosberg not thinking clearly. Formula One moves on and silly season arrives, we already know that Toro Rosso have employed a teenager to drive next season, although he didn’t have a great start when he put the car into a wall during a demonstration in his home country of the Netherlands. Apparently Alonso is staying with Ferrari; McLaren haven’t made a decision yet. Personally, I hope they make one soon, as I would hate it if this was Button’s last

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season and it ended with a whimper, he deserves a good send off. In this packed edition we have some great interviews, starting with Formula One hotshot Daniel Ricciardo, and then we have the son of a hero who is following his father’s legacy. I had a chat with Freddie Hunt, son of James as he begins a new generation of Hunt/Lauda rivalry. It doesn’t end there as we celebrate 10 years of Motorbase Performance, the team behind the BTCC Airwaves Racing team; we interviewed the man who started it back in 2004. As always, the team of fantastic writers from around the globe bring you the best coverage of the major championships and more. We bring back the ‘Fans with a Passion’ this month too, an interesting interview with a motor sport artist. Before you read this edition, I would like to thank you all for giving us another record breaking month. Without you, the readers and sponsors we would not be able to produce this magazine. Thank You. Phil

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No part of this magazine may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form – electronic, mechanical or physical – without express prior permission and written consent of the publisher. Contributions are invited and when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. The Publisher accepts no responsibility in respect of advertisements appearing in the magazine and the opinions expressed in editorial material or otherwise do not necessarily represent the views of the Publisher. The Publisher cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non publication of any advertisement. Information about products and services featured within the editorial content does not imply an endorsement by The Pitlane Reporter. © 2014. The Pitlane Reporter. Published by MFO Publishing (UK) ltd.

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MEET THE TEAM ERIC HALL - INDYCAR JOURNALIST Eric, based in Indianapolis, has been an IndyCar fan for his entire life and has been independantly covering the series since 2011. His blog, anotherindycarblog, has been at the core of his coverage for the past four years along with contributing to a number of online outlets as well. His love for motorsport and IndyCar history and unconventional way of writing his “from the fan’ perspectives has garnered a small, but strong following. Eric can be found at the track during most of the summer and looks to bring the readers behind the IndyCar catch fence in 2014 Eric can be contacted at eric@pitlanereporter.com

BRUNO KEISER - RALLY JOURNALIST Hello rally fans all over the world! Matchbox cars are my very first childhood memories. Since then I´m hooked on speed, cars and powerful engines. Later I became a car mechanic and in my last “normal” job, I worked for the Swiss air force as a jet engine engineer. My passion for rally (and motorsport in general) has grown together with the burning desire to capture speed and passion with my camera. In autumn 2010, I made a meaningful decision: All or nothing! I quit my job, sold everything I had (incl. my beloved Lotus Elise) and bought an old motorhome. I added everything needed to live in it permanently. Fully packed, with a budget for only one year and my beloved cat “Megi”, I left my family and friends on April 4, 2011, heading for my new life as a motorsport photographer in Finland.Since then I´m living my dream in my 14m² on wheels… Bruno can be contacted at bruno@pitlanereporter.com

KIRIL VARBANOV - TECHNICAL JOURNALIST IT engineer (at Experian - yes, we sponsor Williams), Formula 1 TV commentator, BBC TopGear Bulgaria columnist, F1Technical.net site editor. Blogger and avid petrol head. Independent consultant and crossfit-er. Excyber cop and sound engineer.On the F1 side (which I assume it’s the most interesting part), I’m a co-host of the national F1 TV show, so I’m a media person. I’m fascinated by the technical details, but most of all in aerodynamics, which has been my passion for 14 years. I have a column in the Bulgaria Top Gear’s print issue (the largest auto magazine here), as well as online articles for AutoBild Bulgaria. Kiril can be contacted at kiril@pitlanereporter.com

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TRAVIS BAREND - NASCAR JOURNALIST

Travis is a Public Relations student with a strong passion for NASCAR racing. Whether it is through the PR field or as a journalist, Travis dreams of having a career in NASCAR one day. Through his own blog, TracksideChatter. com, Travis showcases some of his writing while also giving other aspiring journalists an opportunity to contribute. Additionally, he is a writer for Speedwaymedia.com as well asNASCARTheGame.com. You can follow Travis on Twitter @TracksideTravis to keep up with his writing and his take on everything NASCAR. Travis can be contacted at travis@pitlanereporter.com

KATY McKONNACCHIE - GP2, GP3 & DTM Katy, currently a media student, has been a Motorsport fan for as long as she can remember. When she isn’t studying, she can be found watching anything from Formula 1 to World Series by Renault or over on her blog sharing her passion for Motorsport with other fans. Over the course of year Katy will be bringing you updates and features on GP2, GP3 and DTM. Katy can be contacted at katy@pitlanereporter.com

ADAM JOHNSON - BTCC JOURNALIST Chief BTCC corrospondent for Pit Lane Reporter, and unashamed fan of the series since 1998. I cover touring car racing on these shores and around the world, with a penchant for noise, spectacle and a good underdog story. With the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series growing, it’s exciting times for stock car racing in Europe, and I cover the European stock car scene in detail. Away from motorsport I’m a Media Writing student at University of Greenwich, uni radio presenter, and I love rock music and the sport of roller derby. Adam can be contacted at adam@pitlanereporter.com

BRYNMOR PIERCE - HISTORIC RACING JOURNALIST From the age of three I was taken along to various race and rally meetings with my late dad, the passion (some may call it an obsession) stems from him!! I’ve been fortunate over the last nearly 20 years to compete at most levels of rallying within the UK as both a driver and co-driver , currently you’ll regularly find me on British National events occupying the co-driver’s seat. That said throughout my life I have always had a passion for Historic’s, indeed the passion extends to Historic racing too and upholding a family tradition we’ve not missed an Oulton Park Gold Cup since it’s inception. I look forward to bringing you news and views from across Historic Motorsport in the UK. Should anyone have anything they wish me to cover please do get in touch!! Brynmor can be contacted at brynmor@pitlanereporter.com

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ANNIKA GOCKE - DTM JOURNALIST Annika, based in Germany, has been an accreditated F1 and DTM journalist in the past. She has been writing for almost two years and gained experience at speedmagazin.de as well as motorsport-magazin.de. Annika is an educated specialist in media and information services. She is passionate for racing and will be concentrating on DTM Annika can be contacted at annika@pitlanereporter.com

chris powley - features writer Qualified Electrical/Electronic engineer. Started out employed life as a want to be motor mechanic. Fan of many forms of motor racing since the seventies and forefilled my ambition of owning an Alfa Romeo GTV only for it to burst into flames (surprise). I have a very eclectic taste in music and loves anything out of the ordinary. Chris can be contacted at chris@pitlanereporter.com

dario dominin - official photographer Dario, based in Belgium, has recently seen his dream come true as a professional photographer after 5 years of amateur photography. He is passionate about photography and motors (cars, motorbikes ... basically anything that has a powerful and loud engine). His latest important event he took part in was the 24hours race of Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) but he is always looking for great motor sport events all over Europe. Dario can be contacted at dario.dominin@gmail.com.

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letters page porter Dear Pit Lane Re year old be How can a 16 rienced enough capable or expe . Couldn’t this to join an F1 team other drivers? compromise the Regards Harry Liverpool (UK) Hi Harry is very young Max Verstappen through the and has risen tonishing rate. ranks at an as rmula Three, Racing in Fo great season Max has had a so far. I think winning 8 races t people have the worry mos he was still is that in 2012 estion is, can in karts. The qu that quickly someone learn e best drivers to be among th If I am being in the world?

much doubt it. honest, I very ed a Formula He recently test demonstration One car in a herlands. The day in the Net t great as he outcome wasn’ and then put stalled the car e next part of it in a wall. Th is a little more your question sume you are interesting, I as safety? I am talking about I know that at no expert, but ds, rookies can such high spee but equally, so make mistakes enced racers, can the experi . I do worry as we’ve seen ep too far on that this is a st s into F1 and entering rookie ing to be more yes, there is go e same time risk. But at th t stupid, they Red Bull are no ampionships didn’t win 4 ch they believe for nothing. If gh, then you he is good enou probably is. know what, he Phil

Dear Editor What is you r opinion of Formula E? Is there a ch ance that w e could see Formula One become all el ectric one day? Sara Malaga (Spai n) Hello Sara Formula E is a great idea, for a couple of re asons; it is an opportunity to p ut new tech nology to the test. I’ ve seen the se cars go round the track, they are mega fast, and so lightweight that they can reach speeds aro und that of a Formu la One car. There is

a more con troversial a nswer to your quest ion, relatin g to the second part . As far as I am concerned, if F ormula E e x ists, then Formula O ne perhaps won’t be tempted to go all elect ric; that is my hope anyway. A Formula One withou t petrol is ju st wrong in my view . Regardless of what happens, I don’t belie ve we will ever see fu lly electric F1 cars. Imagine th e length o f the pit stop as each car waits 2 4 hours for a recha rge! On a serio us note, I do believe that Formu la E will be a success. Cheers Phil

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Dear Editor ilton and Nico Can Lewis Ham of the same Rosberg be part team next year? Josef ) Antwerp (Belgium Dear Josef tting talked This keeps ge can see why. about and I the chasing are They me sa in the championship in en gs happ team and thin , ly al le. Person the heat of batt t ou ab hearing I am bored of over and over g in the same th

Dear Eric (H all) Why is the In dyCar seaso n so much shorter than the Formula One season? William Lakewood (O hio, US) Thank you for your q uestion! During 20 13, IndyCa r enlisted Boston Con sulting Gro up to analyze the se ries and m ake recommendati ons to its co mmercial and financi al viability. The report was never officially re leased to the public, but the w ildly suc-

nce of course, again, no offe onal opinion. itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a pers in the same Yes they can be next season, team again tely no reason there is absolu tell you why I why not. I will are about to think this. They second in the finish first and d in the cars championship an constructorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; made by the winners too. championship at the powers Do you think th eak up a team that be will br unlikely; but like that? Very ............. then again....... Thank you Phil

cessful Ind ianapolis G rand Prix was purpo rted to be straight from BCG. They also recommend ed ending the season by Labor Da y, the first week in Se ptember, to avoid the opening of the America n football season . America eats and breathes fo otball so avoiding is not a ba d idea from a ratings standpoint. Did it work ? Ratings were up 34 % for the se ason, but a 7 month o ffseason lo oms. Eric Hall

We love to hear from you. If you have a burning question and would like to put it to one of the team, please email us at letters@pitlanereporter.com

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world class ricciardo wins again Formula One Belgian Grand Prix Review BY PHIL WOODS

Daniel Ricciardo made it a second win in a row by taking a deserved victory in Spa. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collide and Pastor Maldonado ends his race early but nobody noticed. Yet again I find myself wondering where to start my review. I am not complaining though, it was another exhilarating race with excitement in every lap. The action started before the Formation lap; Fernando Alonso was having technical difficulties with his Ferrari and his team of mechanics came back onto the grid, despite time being up. A somewhat dangerous move by the team, especially as the lights had now gone green, so a pile of mega-powerful cars had to avoid the not-so-prancing horse. It was immediately obvious that a penalty would be forthcoming and very soon too. They eventually got the car started and Alonso was able to catch up and pass the cars necessary to get back into grid position by the time the formation lap was complete. Within a few laps it was announced that he had received a 5 second ‘stop and go’ penalty which, in my opinion, wasn’t enough due to the danger the team put their mechanics in. I know it’s not Fernando’s fault, but what other way was there to send out an immediate message? A fine in a few days would probably not have even made the newspapers, therefore having no effect. Onto the race; Hamilton had a brilliant start off the line, taking first place before the first corner. He had said that pole position was probably not the best place to start in Spa, and he was proven right. He sailed passed www.pitlanereporter.com

Rosberg as did an aggressive starting Vettel (aggressive as in fighting spirit and not at all ‘crashy’). Vettel was looking particularly strong at the start of this race and, as he was using a very skinny wing, he was showing good overall pace too. We were beginning to think that Red Bull had a good chance to beat the ‘Mercs’ here. However, Rosberg was soon to take the place back off Vettel and it was a Mercedes one-two again. Then on the second lap came the talking point of the whole race weekend. Rosberg got a run on Hamilton after Lewis had run a little wide (not off track, just not on the perfect line). Nico couldn’t get any more than the nose of his car down the side of Lewis and Hamilton then took the racing line back. At this point, Rosberg had a decision to make, do I pull out, or do I try to stick at it to get more traction off the corner? His decision ultimately gave him neither of those two things. He simply didn’t pull out and caught Hamilton’s back wheel with his front wing and caused a puncture that would ultimately ruin Lewis’ race. He didn’t do his own race much good either as he lost his end plate, costing him downforce. Ricciardo was the one to take advantage of this mistake (or whatever you believe it was), taking first place on lap 9 when Rosberg pitted for a new nose. So opinion time, and I always get in to trouble for this, but I don’t really care. The first thing to say is that Lewis and Nico should not have been so daring at this early stage of the race; I don’t care who was in front. Nico should have considered the consequences of impact and pulled out of the move when it was obvious that it wasn’t on, as the two cars were mighty close anyway and there were loads of laps still to go. I am sure Nico would have had another opportunity. If this hadn’t happened, I do believe that a Mercedes one-two was almost a certainty. It is little wonder that Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda were fuming after the race. Following a team meeting, Hamilton came out and insinuated that Nico hit him on purpose, but the media being the media perhaps didn’t 12

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read Lewis that well. Remember the “Is it because I am black” comment made as a joke? Well, I am thinking that what Lewis said was ‘nearly’ factually accurate, but not quite said in the right way. I haven’t heard the comments, but I suspect they were made in a rush or the heat of the moment. I have heard since that what Rosberg actually said was that he could have pulled out, but decided against it. So yes, in a way he did hit him on purpose, but only because it could have been avoided. But, on the other hand, it’s only on purpose if he did the whole move with intent, which I very much doubt as it could have caused them both to be in a horrific accident if things had taken a slightly different turn. What it all means is that Lewis is now 29 points behind Rosberg in the drivers’ championship and the points loss has meant that Ricciardo is now closing in on both of them. With double points (bloody awful rule) on offer in Abu Dhabi, don’t write off the Aussie just yet. Back to the race; Hamilton re-joined in 19th and despite being fast at first, he couldn’t make up the time to go through the field. He complained of a lack of downforce not helped by a huge chunk of his floor missing. He was struggling to pass a Sauber and by lap 39, and after a lot of requests to his team, he was retired from the race. Kimi Raikkonen was having a much better race this time round. The Finn pitted early and had managed to get himself in the top 5 following that. For a while there was a battle between him and his compatriot, Valterri Bottas, in the Williams. I suppose it was inevitable that the Williams driver would eventually win this battle as his car was far superior on the straights. Eventually he made a pass on Kimi to take 4th place. Both Finns made up another place by the end of the race, with Kimi finishing in 4th and Valterri taking 3rd and yet another podium for the highly rated young driver. Without the technical issues that began to www.pitlanereporter.com

It feels a bit surreal, but another win is very, very cool

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haunt Fernando Alonso on the grid, I am confident that he would have had a much better race. As usual though, Alonso battled on against all the odds to finish the race in 8th and in a points paying position. This might well have been a race that Alonso would have made the podium, so things are looking a little bit better ahead of Ferrari’s home race in Monza. For the final stint, Rosberg was on brand new soft tyres and began to chase down the leader, Daniel Ricciardo. Most predicted that Nico would be all over the back of Daniel by the final lap. However they didn’t factor in that, at the speed Nico was going, his tyres would drop off too and of course the fact that Daniel was very much in control of his lead. Rosberg couldn’t catch him and therefore Daniel managed to take a great victory and show the world once again why he is a world champion in waiting. After the race, Ricciardo spoke about Red Bulls 50th Formula One victory, “You know everyone was saying we didn’t really have a chance around here, but I think we had some really good pace today and surprised ourselves. It feels a bit surreal, but another win is very, very cool. It was difficult staying out at the end of the race. When you’re the leader as well, you always feel like you’re the most vulnerable when it comes to a pit stop or not but Simon, my engineer, came on the radio and said I think it’s 11 laps left, can these tyres get to the end? I said that I think I can keep more or less this pace, and we were able to. Then on the last lap I found a couple more tenths, so I was having a bit of fun then! There have been a lot of good things about the win today. Obviously the previous two came from a more aggressive style of race, but today was more calculated and it was nice to win under different circumstances.” Next stop Monza – let the fireworks continue

Driver of the Day – Daniel Ricciardo Team of the Day – Red Bull (1st for Ricciardo, 5th for Vettel. The right strategy, perfect maths on tyre wear when they kept Ricciardo out for the final stint. Great race for the team against all predictions) www.pitlanereporter.com

belgian GRAND PRIX results Position

Name

Team

Nationality

Points

Laps

Daniel Ricciardo

Nico Rosberg

Valtteri Bottas

Kimi Raikonen

Sebastian Vettel

Jenson Button

Fernando Alonso

Sergio Perez

Daniil Kvyat

Nico Hulkenberg

Jean-Eric Vergne

Kevin Magnussen

Felipe Massa

Adrian Sutil

Esteban Gutierrez

Max Chilton

Marcus Ericsson

Jules Bianchi

Lewis Hamilton

ret’d

Romain Grosjean

ret’d

Pastor Maldonado

ret’d

Andre Lotterer

ret’d

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Belgian f1 grand prix gallery BY dario dominin

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Italian Grand Prix (Formula One) Race Report BY PHIL WOODS

cracked under pressure? The end to the European Formula One season was a race to savour for Brit Lewis Hamilton after he went from pole to top step of the podium in Monza, but it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Mercedes driver. During qualifying both Mercedes cars were dominant, claiming a deserved 1-2, with Lewis Hamilton putting in an awesome lap to take pole position. They were followed by the two Williams who looked a very close match for the silver arrows. Behind them, locking out row three, were the two McLaren’s, with Magnussen getting the edge over Button in 5th place. The Mercedes engine, as expected, was at its very peak on this fast flowing track, taking the top 6 qualifying places, a testament to the work that has been put in by the German manufacturer. Hamilton as he managed to pass Magnussen himself, quickly moving back into the top three. He knew that to stand any chance in this race he would have to dispatch ‘the fast’ Massa pretty quickly. Then on lap 10 at the first chicane, Hamilton pulled off one of the moves of the season to pass Massa, daring to go round the outside and made it stick, something not often done there. At this point Bottas was starting to make his way back through the field; something we have seen him do on numerous occasions this season, but would he have the speed to do it again in Monza? He’s fantastic to watch when he is making his way through. I know he’d prefer not to have to keep doing that, but I’ll be honest with you Valterri, you are making the sport so much more enjoyable this season. You will get your overall reward in the future, I am sure of that. Until then, keep entertaining us all. Bottas found himself falling 24

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back again after the pit stops, and was also shoved off the track by Kevin Magnussen, but that didn’t stop the incredible Finn; he rose up the pack to finish an excellent 4th, just behind his team mate Felipe Massa. What of the Red Bull’s? Well, Vettel was called into the pits early, leading to an unusually long stint on the hard tyre; one can only assume that his tyres were going off very quickly. Initially, this gave him a good position of 4th as others pitted, but the fact he was on those tyres for so much longer than anyone else saw him quickly fall back. On the other side of the garage, the socalled apprentice of the team, Daniel Ricciardo, showed yet again why everyone believes we are watching the growth of a future champion. He made some incredible moves to eventually finish 5th, including another overtake on his team mate. It’s pretty clear who has made better use of the new regulations in that team, although I am sure Vettel will be back soon. Things were not so rosy for Fernando Alonso, driving the Ferrari in front of the adoring Tifosi. Unfortunately, around half way through the race his car lost drive and he was forced to come to a halt at the first chicane. Max Chilton also failed to finish in his Marussia after going off track, a rare occurrence for both these drivers. McLaren can be pleased with their progress in Italy. They have certainly picked up some speed and had Magnussen not been presented with a 5 second penalty for shoving Bottas off track, they would have got a much better result than 8th and 10th. They can look forward to a brighter future though, as they seem to be improving considerably at the moment. Back to the two Mercedes drivers. On lap 9, Nico Rosberg out-braked himself into the first corner and had to go straight through dodging the polystyrene bollards as he went. Fortunately for him this mistake only cost him around 2 seconds. He wasn’t so lucky later on lap 29 though, where Lewis Hamilton was putting him under considerable pressure, closing in to under a second. Nico made the same mistake again, not something you’d expect from a driver of his standard. Lewis didn’t need to be given a third opportunity as this time he sailed past to take the race lead. www.pitlanereporter.com

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What was even more impressive was Lewis’ thinking prior to the over-take. Despite racing round at over 200mph, he took a decision to ignore his team’s advice to keep a two second gap to Nico to preserve tyres for an attack at the end. He continued to chase Nico down and eventually it proved to be decisive, as the end of the race was pretty benign from the point of view of the Mercedes pair. Lewis opened up a four second gap and Nico was unable to make any inroads into it. On this occasion, it was right for Lewis to ignore his team and make his own decision. Lewis Hamilton comfortably won the Italian GP in the end, ahead of his team mate to reduce the title deficit by 7 points. In third was Felipe Massa for Williams, a great performance and a deserved podium from a crowd and paddock favourite. Now it’s on to the night race in Singapore, what next in this intriguing season? Who knows, one thing is for sure, the Championship race has got a long way to go yet.

Driver of the Day – Lewis Hamilton Team of the Day - Mercedes www.pitlanereporter.com

italian GRAND PRIX results Position

Name

Team

Nationality

Points

Laps

Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg

Felipe Massa

Valtteri Bottas

Daniel Ricciardo

Sebastian Vettel

Sergio Perez

Jenson Button

Kimi Raikkonen

Kevin Magnussen

Daniil Kvyat

Nico Hulkenberg

Jean-Eric Vergne

Pastor Moldanado

Adrian Sutil

Romain Grosjean

Kamui Kobayashi

Jules Bianchi

Marcus Ericsson

Esteban Gutierrez

Fernando Alonso

retâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d

Max Chilton

retâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d

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italian f1 grand prix gallery BY dario dominin

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overall championship standings Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10

Name Mercedes Red Bull Williams Ferrari McLaren Force India Toro Roso Lotus Marussia Sauber Caterham

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Engine Mercedes Renault Mercedes Ferrari Mercedes Mercedes Renault Renault Ferrari Ferrari Renault

Points 454 272 177 162 110 109 19 8 2 0 0

Interview Daniel Ricciardo

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A legend in the making

number of years ago, the talent scouts at Red Bull found a young Australian racing driver; his name was Daniel Ricciardo. In 2013 after a couple of years with Toro Rosso and a spell with the now defunct HRT Formula One teams, he was announced as the replacement for Mark Webber in the Red Bull senior team. He would be partnering the 4 time world champion Sebastian Vettel. How would he fare? The answer is, sublimely well, getting on the podium in his first race for Red Bull, winning races in his first season and comfortably beating his illustrious team mate. People are now talking about him as a future World Champion. Personally I believe that Daniel is fast becoming one of the best drivers on the grid. He appears to have no fear and is never intimidated; if there is a chance of an overtake, he will take it. In this issue we ask Daniel about his racing past and the pressures of being a top driver. Here is that interview; Remember back to your own thoughts when you first climbed into a kart as a member of the Tiger Kart Club. Did you ever imagine for one minute that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be a Formula One winner and spoken of as a future world champion? Daniel Ricciardo: Yeah I imagined it - to win a Formula One race and stand on the top step of the podium, but did I think it would happen? Not really! Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve won two championships before in 2008 (Formula Renault) and 2009 (Formula 3). Has this success helped you keep a cool head, as youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve climbed into a front running car this year? DR: Yeah, I mean any success you have helps you build up for more, so having to deal with a bit of pressure in leading a championship and fighting for a championship is a nice thing to have done before. Formula One is more in the public eye, but when it comes down to it, I believe these wins back in 2008 and 2009 will help me. I know positive smile; I change.

from research that our readers love your attitude to racing and in particular your know I certainly feel it makes a refreshing I know some of those readers will want to

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know if you ever get frustrated when other drivers walk around with a frown on their face? After all, for a motor sport fan, there can be no job they’d rather have than to be an F1 driver. DR: I mean everyone has their days, and I’m not always happy, but most of the time yeah I am! You have your ups and downs, but we live a pretty nice life, and stay in nice hotels and all the rest of it; so life isn’t too bad! A lot of teams at the back of the grid seem to go through drivers very quickly. I know that some of the time it’s financial, but do you think new drivers get a decent chance to prove themselves these days? You are proof that a driver given a chance in a better car can be hugely successful. It’s like the old saying, ‘You can take a horse to water….’. You can’t force a poor car to the front of the grid. DR: It is tough, but I think it’s like this with a lot of sports. You don’t always get a lot of time to prove yourself. Put it this way, I think a year is enough because by the time you get to F1, you will have done enough racing and had enough experience to learn in a year. I’m not saying you’re going to turn into a world champion in one year but the team will know if you’ve got what it takes by then. A year is short and it goes quickly, but I think if you’ve got the goods it should be enough time to prove yourself; either for a better car or for more longevity in the sport. With the talk of you as a potential world champion, perhaps next season (or even this season if the Mercedes guys continue to love each other so much, well….they seem to like being close) do you feel extra pressure? Or do you take it all in your stride? DR: No I don’t feel extra pressure, obviously people talk about it and this year people are starting to ask the question ‘can you win the world championship?’ But it’s only extra pressure if you take it all in. If you start reading too much and listening too much then maybe you might feel a bit of pressure. For me, I think I’ve just got to keep the simple approach and treat every weekend the same – I’ve just got to get out there and drive. It’s worked for me the last few months with a couple of race wins so if I keep winning then a world championship will come with

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that, but I’m just going take it all in my stride and not think about it too much. Can you pinpoint a moment in your life when you thought, “A professional racing driver is the career for me”? If so when and what were you doing at the time? DR: I think one moment was at the end of 2006 for the Formula BMW World Final. That year was my first full season in cars racing in Asia. I only came third in the championship and I was hoping to try and fight for the win but it didn’t quite happen, so I thought “there’s a world final at the end of the year; all the good drivers in Formula BMW will be there, so let’s try and put myself with a good team and see if I’ve got what it takes”. I raced with Fortec who were doing really well in the English Championship, so I thought they were a good fit with me for the World Final. I finished fifth, which exceeded my expectations, as it was my first race on a European level really, and that was when I thought, maybe this can work. We all saw the elation from the fans back in Melbourne when you managed to get on the podium in your first race for Red Bull. What type of reaction do you get when you go home to Australia? Are you the hero we all imagine you are? DR: Yeah, Melbourne was pretty crazy and that was new to me. I hadn’t really been seen as a sort of ‘hero’ before. Obviously, as Mark had moved aside, it was only me in Formula One and getting the podium got a few people excited. I haven’t really been back home much since so I don’t know. I hear that I’m in the paper a bit more and on the news a bit more so I guess when I get home I’ll be recognised a little bit more, but I sort of hope I’m not – I hope I can still walk around and be normal! Finally, if you weren’t a racing driver, what job do you think you would be doing? (You’re not allowed to pick another sport, that’s far too easy for an Australian) DR: I was going to say another sport, but I can’t pick that! I don’t know, I hate computers and I can’t sit down for long, so it definitely wouldn’t be an office job. I’m just way too restless and active – even when I sleep I move a lot so I guess the answer would be something active.

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INTER

reddie Hunt is the son of one of motor racings all time heroes, James Hunt. Earlier this month, I spoke to Freddie about his own racing career and his plans for the future. These plans include a renewal of the Hunt vs Lauda rivalry but for a completely new generation. Here is that interview:

Phil Woods speaks to Freddie Hunt Hello Freddie, let’s start at the beginning of your career. What was your earliest memory of racing? It was probably the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. I have very vague memories, one of which is of Dad insisting we wear ear plugs for obvious reasons, I do remember that much. I remember once standing behind a McLaren which I imagine would have been Senna’s or Prost’s in those days. Standing right behind the car when they started the engine and I wasn’t expecting it and the noise when you are standing right behind the exhaust it is very loud and it frightened the crap out of me. That is one of my most vivid memories. What was it that eventually meant you said, “I would like to have a go at this racing stuff ”? Yeah it was 2006 I think, Goodwood Festival of Speed. I was there as a spectator, as I was invited by a friend the previous evening and we went to see my friend’s girlfriend, Jodie Kidd who was driving a Maserati. She said jump in and have a drive if you want to. I had to be very careful as this was highly illegal since I didn’t have a racing licence. I put her racing helmet and her racing suit on and then up the hill I went pretending to be her. Do you remember your first race? If so, tell us a bit about the pressure, the nerves and the race itself. Yeah well it was at Donington Park. I was very nervous indeed and during qualifying I was a good two seconds off my own pace and qualified about eighteenth or something, pretty terrible. When the race started I rushed down to Redgate corner arriving about ninth or tenth having made up a good few places from the start. I then saw a gap down the outside, went for it, put a wheel into the grass and spun out taking five cars with me. That was my first race! 38

Hunt versus Lauda Pa

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RVIEW

You recently took a 2 year gap in racing. What was the main reason behind this decision? It was a bit longer than two years actually. It was during the second half of 2009 that I stopped professionally as I couldn’t get my head together under competition. I was perfectly fine in practice but as soon as I got into competition either in the race or qualifying started, I just couldn’t get my head together, so I knocked it on the head for that reason. Not because I wasn’t quick enough but because I couldn’t deliver under pressure. And then during 2011-12, I had some invitation drives, which was just fun stuff. It was in the Chevrolet Cruze Car which was fine because I wasn’t a professional and it was purely just for fun. In that relaxed state of mind I could deliver. So that was a bit of a breakthrough but I couldn’t continue because it was taking too much time away from my business. The team couldn’t pay for my expenses so it was costing me a lot of money and, with it taking my time away from my business at the weekends which is where I made my money, unfortunately I had to stop. Earlier this year, you talked about getting back into Endurance racing, eventually into the LMP2 category. There was talk of racing with Tiga; what is the latest news on this project? Yes that was a possibility. I think at the moment they are still building their car and still developing it so it will be sometime before they are ready to race. If they want me to drive for them then I will. Is that something your focused on or is it a case of if the opportunity arose, you’ll do it? No I very much want to get myself into a LMP2 car. Which team is the best at the time I just don’t know but Tiga is very much an option. At the end of the day whichever is the most competitive car with the right money will determine my choice. At the beginning of August you got back behind the wheel of a racing car, taking part in the Formula Ford at Castle Combe. How did it feel to get back behind the wheel? And how did you get on? Most importantly, did you enjoy it?

art 2 – Are you ready?

I really did enjoy it a hell of a lot. It was a breakthrough as it was my first race in a professional environment where I was actually feeling relaxed and confident. That was a big breakthrough and I suspected that

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Photograph © Thomas Hobson

I was 99% sure I would be like that because of my new found maturity. I had grown up a lot but was still not 100% sure until I got in the car and drove it that weekend. I was confident that I had managed to sort out my mental issues, so it was really good. We arrived on the Thursday to practice but didn’t get that many laps in because they were only short sessions and in the afternoon we had a mechanical failure in the car. But the time I did get on the track was really good. I was feeling good; very rusty and it takes a bit of time to get used to all the normal things, the vibrations and the smells of the car. I didn’t have any nasty moments, so it was all good. Then on Saturday morning in qualifying it was chucking it down with rain, so it was my first time driving the car in the wet on that circuit, but managed to get pole position in class and seventh overall which I was pretty happy with. I cautiously dropped back a little off the start line and I took it very easy going into the first corner, as my primary objective was to finish the race. Anyway three laps later I was still stuck behind a Class A car (mine was class B), as he had better traction than me and a bit more horsepower. Anyway, I stuck behind him catching him at the corners but then on the straight he would pull away from me. At the end of lap three or four he suddenly braked super early at one of the corners for some reason and I wasn’t quite quick enough on my brakes and I just touched the back of him. Didn’t spin him or anything and it should not have done any damage but it did and I noticed by the end of the lap that there was something amiss as the steering wasn’t right. Then a lap later to make matters worse, I hit some oil and it spun me into the car behind me, which was annoying. Until then it was going really well. You have the MRF Formula 2000 series starting soon. What can you tell the readers about that? Well it is a new championship that only started up three years ago. It is the third or fourth season, so it’s very new. All the cars are all the same. They have Dallara F3 chassis and all have the same twolitre Renault engines. I think they are putting out something like 240 horsepower. It should be a very competitive championship as I am racing against Mathias Lauda. Its Hunt v Lauda again; this time we are in the same team but obviously still racing against each other. Now that you are racing again, what is your ultimate ambition? Where do you see yourself in

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5 years? In five years I will hopefully have just won or be just about to win the La Mans 24 hour, in an ideal world. Other championships are a possibility as well, assuming that everything goes to plan, that I get the money to drive and I am driving well. Once I have the experience DTM is a possibility, or Formula E would be great. There are plenty of other championships I would like to compete in. I would like to drive in various different things and drive various different cars to be honest. The pinnacle of it would be the Le Mans 24 Hour. You just mentioned Formula E. I recently watched one of those cars do a lap and I was shocked at how fast it was, were you? No I think I was kind of expecting it, I have heard rumours for a while about what kind of power they had. So when I first saw them I was not too surprised because it was sort of what I was expecting. You said you were surprised about the power and this is literally the dawn of the battery technology beginning to get into cars. The problem they have at the moment is the batteries are so big and so heavy. But it was not so long ago since we couldn’t fit mobile phones in our pockets, so I don’t think it will be too long until these batteries are half the size and putting out twice the power as a Formula one engine. So, as long as the championship can stay alive long enough for the technology to develop, which I pray to God it does, it will be incredibly exciting. If you could drive any car from any mode of motor sport and from any era, what would that car be and why? It will be Dad’s M23, as I have not driven it yet. If you asked the same question apart from that car, it is hard to say really. I think it would have to be one of the Turbo Formula One cars from the mid 80’s. Just to see what that ridiculous power feels like. Eleven to twelve hundred horsepower in a 500kg car has got to be an experience you can’t say no to. What do you enjoy doing with your spare time? The thing I enjoy most in my spare time is Bush Bashing; tracking in the bush really. I like to get into the countryside and during the weekend I often trek up a mountain for the day. Its good exercise and it is what I enjoy. My grand life plan is wildlife www.pitlanereporter.com

conservation and the reason I am driving motor cars is because I was given two choices in life. One was to go into wildlife conservation and the other was to go into driving. So I thought if I drive and I make a success of it, then I can do more for wildlife than I could ever do on my own just slogging it out on a reserve somewhere. With a high profile and the money raised I can use it to spread awareness and put the money into good effect.

The next race I have will be the first round of the MRF Championship in Qatar in October, 16th 19th. Then at Silverstone for the Walter-Hays Trophy on the first weekend of November. I’m really excited about that one in particular because I love driving formula Fords so much. If there was one thing you could say to a young person wanting to become a racing driver, what would it be?

From your point of view, what are the best things about motor racing and the worst things? What do you say to someone who wants to be a young racing driver? Make sure you have a damn I don’t really know how to answer that. Best things and good understanding of commercial markets. worst things about motor racing? It is a combination of two things related to the driving. The two main Freddie Hunt supports The David Shepherd things I like about my life and career are actually Wildlife Foundation. driving the car and then the second is the lifestyle that I lead with the travelling and the keeping fit, I Freddie can be found on Twitter @freddiehunt76 like all of that. But I wouldn’t want to do one without the other if you know what I mean. If I was stuck You can also follow his progress via Facebook at home in Sussex or London and just driving in the https://www.facebook.com/huntofficial UK the whole time and still doing an office job then I wouldn’t be enjoying it, whereas if I was travelling Pit Lane Reporter will catch up with Freddie around the world just keeping fit for no real reason, I wouldn’t enjoy that either. So it is the combination later in the year and report back on how the of the driving and what I have to do for the driving; new MRF series is going for him. for me that is one of the best parts of it. Is there anything that might stop you following your father’s footsteps into Formula 1? Yes, there is a reason that could stop me going into F1, apart from my lack of experience. Say in five years’ time, I had been winning and been very dominant, then mathematically it could be possible I would be good enough to go into Formula One. I don’t know whether I would accept if a team did offer me a drive because of what Formula One has become. I don’t think you can be yourself in Formula One and I don’t think I could act myself and be myself without getting into trouble. That is what I don’t like about it. It has become very commercial and PC, I mean it is not just Formula One, I see it in football and other sports as well. For example, a few years ago Hamilton came in to his pit stop during a bad race and was asked after the race what was going through his head during that pit stop (it was a long stop due to a mistake from the team) and his answer was, quite understandably, “I could do with a beer”. Then the press were claiming that Hamilton is an alcoholic. It’s bloody ridiculous! Where can our readers watch you in action next? 42

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The

RACE for SURVIVAL is on...

Support the team with a winning formula

www.davidshepherd.org Fighting for endangered wildlife since 1984

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation is a charity registered in the UK number: 1106893 Photo courtesy of www.suzieszterhas.com

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Thirst for action: DTM demands improvements BY ANNIKA GOCKE

olitics in motorsport; a disliked but unavoidable topic. One can observe that this “phenomenon” particularly occurs in racing series described as “most popular”, “elite class” or “top class.” This includes DTM and the various incidents which have been dividing opinion since the beginning of the season. Recently, similar or identical situations were interpreted and penalised differently which lead to heated debates. We only want to name a few, for example the “two seconds penalty” also known as “non respectation of the track limits.” If a driver crossed the white lines of the track with all four tyres for the second time, gaining an advantage, he has to drive two seconds slower compared to his previous lap time. This happened to Edoardo Mortara and Timo Glock who were battling for third position in Budapest. Mortara received the “two seconds penalty” and managed to be slower without getting passed by Glock. The latter was upset and wanted something to be done to change this, but even Glock admitted that he has no better proposal to offer.

Transparency: Against show for racing The current source of trouble relates to the release of Robert Wickens (Mercedes) after his pit stop at Spielberg. A replay from a bird’s eye view shows that Wickens is released before Timo Glock (BMW) reached the fast lane. Wickens then put himself in front of Glock leaving the pit lane. This all happened in just a few seconds. Later in the race Wickens received a drive through penalty which he didn’t serve within the three lap window 44

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(because Mercedes wanted to submit a protest). (Please click the following link to view the “Open letter to the DTM Commission” of Mercedes: https:// www.facebook.com/mercedesbenzmotorsport/ posts/875281475832786) As a result Wickens was disqualified. By now the general opinion is that this wasn’t an unsafe release. Even worse was the scene behind where you could see Pascal Wehrlein (Mercedes) grabing Marco Wittmann (BMW) after his release. It was investigated and initially no further action was taken. Later Wehrlein was given a three place grid penalty for the seventh round of DTM at Nürburgring.

Austria. “One of the DTMDA’s main tasks will be to consult and represent the interests of all the DTM drivers. The goal of the DTMDA is to present the drivers’ view as an independent position in discussions with all the parties involved, particularly when dealing with such issues as improving safety standards and defining the sporting regulations. The DTMDA officially represents the interests of all active DTM drivers and will, in the future, ensure that shared viewpoints are voiced more strongly in public,” the official statement explained.

In addition, rule changes during the season are causing confusion. Other factors are the decreasing number of spectators, team orders, as well as the belated permission for Mercedes to develop their DTM race car within the specifications of the existing technical regulations until 25th September while all the other DTM vehicles’ homologation were frozen. Not only dissatisfaction, but also the thirst for action has grown, especially among the DTM drivers.

DTM drivers given unified voice: DTM Driver Association “In the future, the role of the DTMDA , which operates independently of the individual manufacturers, is to improve cooperation between drivers, the organiser of the series, the ITR, and the German Motor Sport Association (DMSB). Any active DTM driver may join the DTM Driver Association“. One driver has been selected for each manufacturer represented in DTM to act as spokesperson. The Audi drivers will be represented by Timo Scheider, Timo Glock is the BMW representative, and Gary Paffett will take on the role of spokesperson for the Mercedes drivers. The members of the DTMDA will hold regular meetings on DTM race weekends, during which they will discuss and agree on issues. The DTMDA After the fifth DTM round in Moscow the drivers will be represented externally by former DTM driver founded the DTM Driver Association (DTMDA). It Manuel Reuter. This representation will be neutral was important to introduce the Association before and independent of the manufacturers. Manuel the second half of the season because that is in Reuter will present the positions and views of the time for the decisions regarding the 2015 season. DTMDA in the media and public.” Furthermore the Association was already in action at the sixth race of the 2014 DTM season in Spielberg, Officials - like Gerd Ennser of Germany’s racing www.pitlanereporter.com

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governing body DMSB and ITR chairman Hans Werner Aufrecht - welcomed this initiative. “Overall this can only be for the good for DTM. We will consider and investigate where to implement certain proposals”, said Hans Werner Aufrecht. Twenty two of the overall twenty threee current DTM drivers joined DTMDA. Only Audi driver Mattias Ekström wants to voice his opinion on his own. “I have no need for more work and therefore I see no reason why I should get involved in the DTMDA. As the oldest driver in the field I don’t have to take part in everything”, Ekström told the German news agency dpa.

Political talks must come to an end There is no doubt that something - with regards to the regulations, spectators, changing the schedule of the race weekend and so on - has to be done to change the situation. It will hopefuly lead to more consistent regulations, to more racing and to less confusion. It is also clear that it is impossible to please everyone, especially when so many different parties (officials, manufacturers, drivers, fans) are involved. But meetings and talks are the first step towards improvement, and this is is always a good way to start. In my opinion the ones who tell this in a negative way are the “sensational media.” If you are following the media reports and the words used by the journalists, you could get the idea that there is a huge amount of dispute; that there might be a huge fight brewing behind the scenes, and this isn’t true. Even though these talks are political, they are needed to ensure that everyone moves in the same direction to achieve their aim: it should be seen as a positive push to improve things and to move the series forward.

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INDYCAR REWIND ABC Supply Wisconsin 250

BY eric hall

he Verizon IndyCar series first stop for the final run to the championship was the historic Milwaukee Mile. 111 championship races have taken place on the 1 mile oval contained within the confines of the Wisconsin State Fair Park. A gorgeous weekend of comfortable weather and sunny afternoons would set the stage for a dominating performance from championship hopeful Will Power. The Australian ran away with qualifying by starting on the pole by 0.15 seconds overs P2. Not much by road racing standards, but an eternity on an oval; the same gap spanned the next six starters. And that speed was not lost during the race. Once the green flag was unfurled, Will Power jumped out to an early lead to set the tone for the rest of the race. 28 laps was all it took for Power to catch the end of the field and start the march through lapped traffic that punctuates the racing at Milwaukee. Losing the lead for only 4 laps during the first pit stop rotation, Power led 117 of the first 121 laps before being jumped by Tony Kanaan for a mere 11 laps before regaining the lead during the yellow flag pit stops. An excursion into the turn 4 wall by Carlos Munoz on lap 130 led to the sole caution period of the day. Once again, Will Power dominated the restart and continued his clinical march to the checkered

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flag. Tony Kanaan continued to keep power within reach, and was able to go wheel to wheel with him a few times during the following laps, but could never complete the pass. Power would relinquish the point for only 5 more laps during the final pit stop rotation, 3 to Tony Kanaan and 2 to Juan Pablo Montoya. On lap 193 when Montoya came in for his final stop, Power retook the lead and did not look back until the checkered flag on lap 250. Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan were able to keep Power in sight, but could not navigate traffic with the same consistency as a Power focused on his championship march.

GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma Rolling hills and artisan vineyards of Napa Valley California provided a picturesque backdrop for the penultimate round of the 2014 IndyCar season. A late August fixture on the IndyCar schedule since 2005, Sonoma Raceway has been an important stop on the championship trail for a decade, and the 2014 edition would be no different. Qualifying was again dominated by Will Power, who was clear of the field by over 3 tenths of a second. After such a dominant performance in Milwaukee and blistering speed during qualifying, smart money was on another Will Power runaway. A 6.0 earthquake shook the Napa Valley region very early on Sunday morning and was foretelling of the rocky race ahead. The IndyCar paddock was shaken, but undamaged, when they arrived at the race facility on race morning. Teams and drivers were clearly tense as a long afternoon on a tight and twisty track lay ahead. A summer of mostly clean starts was brought to a grinding halt as soon as the green flag was shown. Power got away cleanly, but the only remaining championship contender Helio Castroneves was not as lucky. The Brazilian was spun and had his front wing clipped during the ensuing mayhem. Castroneves stopped for repairs, sending him plummeting through the running order. Power held station in P1 through the first pit stop rotation, but a pair of mid-stint caution periods continued the weekend shake-up. First, Carlos 50

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Huertas slowed on course when his engine expired, necessitating a full course caution and assistance from the Holmatro Safety Team. During the ensuing restart, a spirited passing move by Helio Castroneves sent Sebastien Saavedra spinning into Ryan Briscoe. Saavedra was left stranded, and there was carbon fibre all over the course. About two thirds of the field took the opportunity to pit, leading to a mix-up in the running order and Power finding himself out of touch with the front for the first time in two weeks. The pressure on Power was visible as he had an unforced spin coming out of the far hairpin, dropping him through the order. Mike Conway shot to the lead to control the pace until the final pit stop exchange. Graham Rahal drove around a fuelconserving Conway, but had to relinquish the lead for fuel himself only a handful of laps from the end. Conway, who was gifted the lead by the pitting Rahal, could not hold off a charging Scott Dixon. By the end of the race, cars were running dry all around the track, but Dixon had just enough to clinch his second win of the year.

MAVTV 500 Emotions were running high for the final race of the season. 500 long and gruelling miles on the blistering fast two mile Auto Club Speedway oval was all that stood between either Helio Castroneves or Will Power and their first championship. Friday evening practice was the scene of a scary crash as Russian rookie Mikhail Aleshin got loose and speared straight into the path of the oncoming Charlie Kimball who was unable to avoid him. Kimballâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car launched Aleshinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chassis into a violent spin and impact with the retaining wall and fence. Mikhail was extracted from his damaged chassis and rushed to an area hospital for surgery. Aleshin is currently recovering comfortably in the hospital and looks forward to a quick recovery for the 2015 season. Helio Castroneves drew first blood by taking pole position and an important championship point for the feat. Power did not fare as well as a bobble during his run relegated him to a P21 start and a long night 52

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of racing to secure the championship. The race started as a blistering dog-fight between Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Juan Pablo Montoya that continued unabated through the first pit stops. As the drivers settled in after the first 100 miles of the evening, drivers started showing increased speed. After steadily working their way through the field, James Hinchcliffe and Ed Carpenter were able to push into the top five with Hinchcliffe able to lead for a few laps. Both drivers were penalized for speeding on pit road during the second stop rotation; effectively ending their race. During the race up front, Will Power was methodically working his way through the field and keeping himself out of trouble, all for a bid to finish P7, thus clenching the championship no matter what position Castroneves finished. After the third round of pit stops, Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay were able to work their way into the top 5, joining still strong Castroneves, Dixon and Montoya for the P1 battle. The five would continue to consistently fight at the front for the next 75 laps, whilst Will Power lingered in the top ten, exactly where he needed to be. Ryan Hunter-Reay brought out the nightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only caution on lap 175 for an unforced spin off of turn 4. He continued undamaged but the mistake ended any hope he had of winning the season finale. Power was able to jump into the top 5 during the pit stop rotation and made a decisive move to the lead on the restart. Tony Kanaan quickly retook the lead and control of the evening on lap 197 and was flanked by his Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon by lap 200. The Ganassi duo held off all competitors through the final pit stops, including a charging Ed Carpenter, with Tony Kanaan eventually finding the checkered flag; his first victory of 2014 and his first for Ganassi Racing. During the final pit stop, Castroneves was penalized for a lane infraction while heading into the pits for his final stop. The simple mistake was all it took to end his evening and any championship aspirations he held. Will Power fought an ill-handling car through the last stint of the evening and finished P9. That was enough to give Power the title of 2014 IndyCar champion. Everyone at Pit Lane Reporter would like to wish Mikhail Aleshin a quick recovery ahead of the 2015 season. www.pitlanereporter.com

indycar - thoughts about 2014 BY eric hall

nother spectacular year of IndyCar racing is in the book, but how did 2014 stack up? The driver who was the undeniable championship favorite for the last 5 years finally clinched what had seemed so obviously his for half a decade. Team Penske brought two contenders to the championship battle; their strength and consistency was rewarded with the first team championship in 7 years. The excellence that Team Penske finds itself in each year is shared throughout the paddock. Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon won 2 races this year to bring his lifetime total to 35 wins. The New Zealander jumped Al Unser Jr. and now ties with Bobby Unser for fifth on the all-time wins list. Only men with the last names of Unser, Andretti and Foyt tally higher than Dixon. Sebastien Bourdaisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s win in Toronto, the first since 2007 in Mexico City with ChampCar team Newman/Hass/Lanigan Racing, elevated him past Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti and into sole eighth place on the wins list. Taking the top step of the podium in Detroit brought Helio Castronevesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s total to 29; equal to Rick Mears and good enough for P12 on the lifetime table. Will Power added 3 in 2014 to bring his total to 24, equaling Bobby Rahal and Ted Horn in the process. The current drivers of the Verizon IndyCar Series are among the best group of men ever to race in the series. Although there were only 21 full time contenders (plus the split seat of Ed Carpenter Racing), they make up one of the closest fields American open-wheel racing has ever seen. 11 of those pilots stood atop the podium in 2014;

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a number that ties the all-time record for different winners in a single season. 2000 and 2001 in the CART Championship also saw 11 different winners. Rookie Carlos Huertas clinched his first win, albeit in a rain shortened timed event, but you still have to be in position to win. That is especially true considering the treacherous conditions encountered in Houston that day. Ryan Hunter-Reay claimed 3 wins, Simon Pagenaud took home a pair and Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan each visited victory lane once. Mike Conway and Ed Carpenter were able to capitalize on their strengths and rack up 4 wins for Ed Carpenter Racing between the two. Each driver was victorious twice during the season; an impressive feat for the partial season entrants who share a single seat.

an extremely robust car that gives the drivers the confidence to make a low-chance maneouvre and know their machine won’t fail them, barring heavy contact. When the drivers were able to race flat out, the lead was never safe and the battles were close and intense throughout the field. However, many events in the DW12 era have morphed into short endurance style racing with a premium put on tire and fuel conservation.

Because the field is so close, being unable to take advantage of the ‘full course yellows’, often seen in North American racing, has changed the way races are contested. Teams have learned that it is always better to have extra fuel in the tank. The art of fuel saving has often changed the race for the lead from 2013 saw 3 first time winners with Simon Pagenaud, an all-out battle to a purposeful match of wit between James Hinchcliffe and Charlie Kimball; all of whom the pit stands and drivers. were highly competitive in 2014. Rookies Jack Hawksworth, Carlos Munoz and Mikhail Aleshin all IndyCar displayed a good mix of strategy and look to be on the cusp of winning, and third year outright speed, but the series’ spiritual home on the driver Josef Newgarden is one turn of luck away ovals suffered slightly in 2014. The spectacle of oval from winning multiple races. racing is a different beast from road and street racing, and presents an entirely different set of challenges for ‘Excellence’ is the only word to describe the IndyCar everyone in the paddock. paddock from top to bottom. The top level drivers are indispensable assets for the teams and the drivers, Undeniably, the racing at The Indianapolis 500 forced to bring in money due to the economics of big was extremely good this year. Rolling off into Turn time racing, have all earned the right to be among 1 at Indy doing over 230 miles per hour requires a such high caliber talent. special kind of aerodynamic wizardry, and once again Dallara answered the call. After 2 years of 2014 was clearly an unpredictable year and it was not development, the DW12 executed its best show yet. until very late in the season that Will Power became For all the flack that Dallara has taken, they know the clear favorite; but how did they race? Simply put, how to make a machine that can race at Indy. the racing was amazing. IndyCar offers the closest open-wheel action in the world. Dallara has built The same aerodynamic package was used at Texas www.pitlanereporter.com

Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Auto Club Speedway. But, as in the previous two years, the racing was not up to the level seen at Indianapolis. Without the 33 cars at Indy, most big ovals simply did not have enough cars circulating to create the slipstream and draft needed. More horsepower can always help things out, but in this financially limited era of racing it is up to series personnel to create innovative ways to allow drivers to race closer while avoiding the dangerous pack racing seen in the past.

news that has swept through IndyCar paddock like a virus in years past. The most suspect part of the season was the calendar itself. The schedule saw teams run no less than 7 weeks in a row from May to June and have only had 3 weeks off from June until the end of the season. Teams, sponsors and fans felt pushed too hard in having the season unreasonably short just to avoid the American football season. The promise of international races early in 2015 have quelled the sting slightly but, without confirmed races, the realization that the IndyCar paddock could be in for a 7 month off-season is a tough fact for anyone to reconcile. 2014 marks a banner year of television ratings and sponsorship activation. Commercially, the series is on a promising path to some kind of recovery, but if it is too little too late is yet to be seen. IndyCar needs similar success to continue building on the foundation that 2014 has created.

Short ovals saw an interesting, but different kind of problem. The road course aero package that allows for extremely close racing on road and street courses was also used on the short ovals of Iowa Speedway and The Milwaukee Mile. Aerodynamic wash that limited following distance was the main complaint received from drivers after these races; odd information considering how well the same package works on road and street courses.

For the first time in many years, American openwheel racing has a perceivable head of steam to take into the off-season and beyond. Increased visibility from Verizon should help keep the series in the public eye during that painfully long period, but it will need the continued cooperation of teams, sponsors, manufacturers and series bosses to take the series to the heights once seen by the fastest speedway cars in the world.

Off the track, IndyCar had a much quieter year. As a series that is usually embroiled in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;politickingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and in-fighting, the media focus was on the racing for most of 2014. Race control provided a much more consistent standard of officiating and offered more information for teams and fans to understand their decisions than in years past. IndyCar management was also able to keep itself out of the news; a very welcome change from many years previous. Although personnel changes happened mid-year, the fallout did not dominate the off week 56

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inside indycar - will power

fter cutting his teeth in Australia racing Formula Fords and Australian F3, fighting with Europe’s best and brightest in British F3 and World Series by Renault 3.5, and maturing into a perennial championship contender in America in IndyCar and ChampCar, Power’s life long journey culminated by clinching the Verizon IndyCar Series championship. Power started his career with 2 years of strong championship finishes in Australian Formula Ford. A P7 and P2 finish in 2000 and 2001, opened the door for a move to Formula Holden in 2002 and a championship year for Power in the Australian Driver’s Championship. Australian Formula 3 would welcome Power for his final year of Australian competition and a P2 championship finish that year would be the perfect send-off for the quick Toowoomba native. His jump to British Formula 3 championship in 2003 was fraught with funding troubles. A partial schedule saw him finish a disappointing P14. Undeterred, Power came back for the full season in 2004 and fought valiantly for an eventual P9 championship finish. Looking for a more competitive stage to do battle, Power moved to Formula Renault 3.5. Although he did not start the first two or last two races of the season, Power racked up 5 top-five finishes, with 2 wins and an overall P7 championship finish. Power’s journey to Formula 1 culminated in 2004 with a Paul Stoddart promised test with his Minardi Formula 1 outfit at the Misano Circuit. Power, and fellow countryman Will Davison, each logged 22 laps with Power edging Davison on the timesheets by a mere 0.11 seconds. That afternoon would mark Power’s final dance with

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BY eric hall

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Formula 1. While still competing in the 2005 ‘World Series by Renault 3.5 championship’, Power inked a deal with ChampCar stalwarts Walker Racing, necessitating his withdrawal from Formula Renault. Although his Formula 1 dream was dead, a new career in North America awaited the young Australian. During his two full seasons of competition in ChampCar, Power visited the top step of the podium twice and racked up 13 top sixes in a mere 28 attempts. Unfortunately, the ChampCar World Series folded after the 2007 season, but he found a home in the IndyCar series transitioning with his Team Australia sponsors to KV Racing. A difficult 2008 in IndyCar followed, but his year was buoyed by winning the ChampCar farewell race in Long Beach. Unable to continue with KV Racing due to the withdrawal of Team Australia, Power was approached by Roger Penske to pilot his Team Penske #3 machine while team regular Helio Castroneves was embroiled in a tax evasion court battle. Castroneves returned after a single race, but Power’s P6 finish in the season opener earned him another 6 races with the IndyCar powerhouse. Power paid back the support of Roger Penske by winning the Edmonton Indy, but just two races later his year would be cut short. During practice for the Grand Prix of Sonoma, Frenchman Nelson Philippe spun exiting a blind corner. Power was the second one on the scene, but was unable to avoid the stationary car just over the blind crest. A violent impact between the two ensued with Power sustaining a broken back, while Philippe suffered a broken ankle. Although Power missed the remainder of the 2009 season, he inked a full season deal with Team Penske. Upon his recovery, Power started his journey for the championship in earnest during the 2010 IndyCar season. 5 wins punctuated a strong rookie season for the Australian en route to a runner-up finish to series strongman Dario Franchitti. 9 wins and a pair of runner-up championship finishes in 2011 and 2012 ensued but Power began to lose his nerve and consistency. The second half of 2012 was exceedingly frustrating as Power was only able to visit the podium 3 times. 60

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Good by almost any measure, yet not enough to clinch the IndyCar championship that prides itself in consistency and winning. It took Power the first two thirds of 2013 to regain his composure and speed. Late season wins at Sonoma Raceway, the Houston Street Course and a career defining night at Auto Club Speedway set the stage for his run to the championship in 2014. Two things have held Will Power back in the past: ovals and himself. Over the course of a single lap Power is the fastest man in the series, but his inability to overcome mid-race troubles has always been his championship downfall. Whether it was self-inflicted penalties, unnecessary skirmishes with other drivers or simply over-driving himself into a mistake, Power was either winning or languishing well down the order. Quick and successful, but not consistent enough to solidify a championship run, Power also struggled on the ovals until his landmark win at Auto Club Speedway in 2013. Yes, he won a Dallara IR07 Chassis era oval race during the quirky double header night in Texas in 2011, but the oddities of random starting positions and the incredible amount of available downforce allowed him to sprint away from the field for a quick, but empty win. It was his season ending win at the massive 2 mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California that tempered the final skills set needed to clinch a championship. Power always possessed the finesse and car control needed, but the rocket-like IR07 chassis masked his deficiencies and ultimately frustrated the Australian. Power overcame his self-defeating driving strategies and mastered the ovals marching to 3 wins and 15 top ten finishes en route to the 2014 championship. He was also the most sanctioned driver of the championship with 5 penalties and at least 4 other self-inflicted hurdles to overcome. But he overcame; something he was simply unable to do in seasons past. Add this to his incredible consistency and it was almost a guarantee that he would emerge from 2014 with the championship hardware. 2014 was also the first year for the Verizon series sponsorship, a fact not lost on the Verizon sponsored driver. With his 5 penalties there were no favorites played, but maybe this extra pressure allowed Power to rise to the challenge and force him to find the focus to finally clinch the championship and kiss the www.pitlanereporter.com

Astor Cup. If Will Power and Team Penske can continue this amazing championship form, we could see another era of dominance. However, there is still a field full of hungry drivers behind him. Veterans like Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Tony Kanaan; his own teammates of Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya and the young guns of Josef Newgarden, James Hinchcliffe and Jack Hawksworth, all look to make that as difficult as possible for the 2014 champion. Everyone at Pit Lane Reporter would like to congratulate 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Champion and Verizon Team Penske drive Will Power!

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indycar - news in brief BY eric hall

anufacturer Aerokits - When Honda and Chevrolet signed on as OEM manufacturers for the DW12 era, the promise of manufacturer specific bodywork was a major selling point. To their credit, both OEMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s have supported IndyCar through three years of delays, but 2015 will finally see Honda and Chevyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patience pay off. Chevy has tapped its racing arm, Pratt & Miller Engineering, while Honda has enlisted Wirth Research to design the bespoke wings and bodywork to replace the terribly inefficient Dallara designed kit. In fairness, Dallara never expected their kit to become the spec. bodywork, so it never saw extensive wind tunnel or CFD development. Designs should see the maligned overhead airbox disappear in favor of the classic open roll hoop. This change, along with the hope of seeing visual differences between the Honda and Chevy machines, has many IndyCar fans looking forward to the debut. In preparation for the increased efficiency and downforce predicted by technical bosses, INDYCAR and Dallara have already tested a less aggressive floor design to pre-emptively limit total downforce and keep cornering speeds in check. The series defined testing window will open on October 6th and run through to January 18th 2015. Manufacturers will each be given six days to test, with predefined testing teams, to make any last minute changes ahead of the March 1st delivery date. On-track and wind tunnel testing re-opens on March 13th (dependent on the 2015 schedule).

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Changes in Race Control - IndyCar race director Beaux Barfield has vacated his position after only 3 years. Barfield left a shaky American Le Mans Series for IndyCar after the 2011 season and he will return to sports car racing as the Competition Director for IMSA, the sanctioning body of the Tudor United Sports Car Championship. Beaux Barfield revolutionized IndyCar race control in his 3 short years at the most difficult job in motorsports. Direct communication from teams to officials, enhanced replay and increased accountability highlighted the improvements implemented during his time with IndyCar. No replacement candidates have been officially identified by series bosses.

2015 Schedule Changes -The compressed and fast paced style that punctuated the 2014 should return in 2015, albeit with a few key talking points ahead of the official release. We still expect the North American season to start in late March and run through to early September.

are not high for the materialization of that event. A return to Brazil is planned for early March and the Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet is the target facility. Word out of Brazil is positive with Portuguese language news outlets reporting the race to be a done deal; however no confirmation has been announced by IndyCar brass. The race still has a good chance of happening due to the contract which still remains between IndyCar and Band TV, the Brazilian cable outlet co-signed with IndyCar to host races in Brazil Closer to home, the Houston Street race will not return due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts. The traditional street race in Toronto will return but still not in its traditional early to mid-July date because

the city will be hosting the Pan-American Games. An alternate date is being investigated, as is a one year engagement at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

The Indy Grand Prix of New Orleans is slated to debut during early April at the upgraded New Orleans Motorsports Park. The track has many Current focus is on the proposed international available layouts and is awaiting homologation from expansion ahead of the traditional North American IndyCar pending safety upgrades and the installation season. Officials are eyeing a Dubai street race for of additional fan and scoring amenities. early February, but details have been vague so hopes 64

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indycar - final standings Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

Name Will Power Helio Castoneves Scott Dixon Juan Pablo Montoya Simon Pagenaud Ryan Hunter-Reay Tony Kanaan Carlos Munoz Marco Andretti Sebastien Bourdais Ryan Briscoe James Hinchcliffe Josef Newgarden Charlie Kimball Justin Wilson Mikhail Aleshin Jack Hawksworth Takuma Sato Graham Rahall Carlos Huertas Sebastian Saavedra Ed Carpenter Mike Conway Oriol Servia Kurt Busch JR Hildebrand Sage Karam Luca Filippi James Davison Jaques Villeneuve Alex Tagliani Townsend Bell Pippa Mann Martin Plowman Buddy Lazier

Team Penske Penske Target Chip Ganassi Penske Schmidt Peterson Andretti Motorsport Target Chip Ganassi Andretti Motorsport Andretti Motorsport KVSH Racing NTT Data Chip Ganassi Andretti Motorsport Sarah Fisher Hartman Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Dale Coyne Racing Schmidt Peterson BHA/BMM with Curb-Agajanian A J Foyt Enterprises Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dale Coyne Racing KV AFS Racing Ed Carpenter Racing Ed Carpenter Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Andretti Motorsport Ed Carpenter Racing Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing KV Racing Technology Schmidt Peterson Sarah Fisher Hartman KV Racing Technology Dale Coyne Racing A J Foyt Enterprises Lazier Partners Racing

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Points 671 609 604 586 565 563 544 483 463 461 461 456 406 402 395 372 366 350 356 314 291 262 253 88 80 66 57 46 34 29 28 22 21 18 11

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gp2 - belgian grand prix BY KATY MCCONNACHIE

Marciello hails victorious in Francorchamps

t was a maiden victory for Racing Engineeringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Raffaele Marciello at Spa Francorchamps, after battling the difficult conditions to take the victory from home hero, Stoffel Vandoorne in the closing stages of the race. Johnny Cecotto rounded out the podium positions in third.

dropped back, with Marciello taking the first corner a little too wide, opening the door for Mitch Evans and Cecotto to cut through. With conditions worsening Conor Daly unfortunately saw his race come to an early end; the Safety Car made an appearance and the race was red- flagged for a lengthy 15 minutes.

After taking pole position a day earlier in much The race was restarted behind the Safety Car, calmer conditions, Vandoorne lined up beside with Vandoorne leading from Cecotto, Marciello, DAMSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Jolyon Palmer as the rain began to fall over NathanaĂŤl Berthon and Felipe Nasr. the historic Belgian circuit. On lap five, the Safety Car pitted and the drivers As the lights went out, ART Grand Prix driver were free to race. Cecotto had a fantastic restart, Vandoorne had the advantage going towards La taking the lead at La Source but went wide at Les Source and swiftly used his local experience to Combes, allowing the home favourite back through maintain the lead over the rest of the field. Whilst it after a few words from his Trident engineer. was a good start for the Belgian, Palmer had a much A little further down the pecking order, Nasr was more difficult start when he spun his wheels and having a good run, moving up at the Bus Stop www.pitlanereporter.com

chicane whilst Cecotto had Marciello in his mirrors before the Ferrari Academy driver flew past the Venezuelan, and began his chase on the race leader. Whilst Nasr and Marciello were making moves, Berthon and Trummer were falling down the order after they came together at Les Combes. Palmer was the first to stop on lap 14 and re-appeared on a fresh set of full wets. Over the next few laps, several of his rivals copied this action. On lap 17, race leader Vandoorne pitted, followed by Cecotto and Marciello a few laps later as Evans squeezed past Palmer.

clean move up the inside when the field reached La Source and took the lead ahead of Abt, Palmer and Cecotto. After a mistake coming into Les Combes, Abt lost out to Palmer and to the fast Cecotto who quickly passed the German and began chasing the Brit down for second place. On the next lap, along the Kemmel straight, Cecotto took his Trident straight past the DAMS and was soon hunting down Nasr.

It was three laps from the end when Marciello made his move on the Belgian for the lead in front of the Belgian Grand Prix spectators. The Italian easily squeezed past the ART GP driver to cross the line and claim the flag by 2 seconds to take his first GP2 victory. Cecotto came home in third, 4 seconds ahead of Nasr. A little further down the order, André Negrao had made a brilliant start from ninth on the grid to fifth, but soon had Mitch Evans and Stoffel Vandoorne looking for a clear path past. At Blanchimont, Evans made a clean move past the Brazilian and McLaren protégé Vandoorne did the same into Les Combes next time round to continue his ongoing battle with Evans. Nasr continued a dominant run out front, managing to hold off Venezuela’s Cecotto as he began to close in but, despite the Trident drivers push, he ended up five seconds behind Nasr as the race reached its final After his move on Palmer, Evans came home fifth. laps. Nasr was untouchable as he crossed the line to Artem Markelov came home in seventh for his first claim victory for Carlin. ever GP2 points after a strong race ahead of Daniel Abt who lined up for Sunday’s race in pole position. Palmer had to hold off Evans in the closing lap after André Negrao and Daniel de Jong completed the the Kiwi had eased past the struggling Hilmer car points. of Abt out of Eau Rouge at the start of the final lap. Evans quickly closed in on Palmer but was unable to Brazilian claims Belgium victory with faultless squeeze past before they reached the line. performance Abt might have been struggling but the German did Felipe Nasr clenched another 2014 victory after an manage to hold off Vandoorne for fifth place. untouchable drive during the GP2 sprint race at Spa Francorchamps ahead of Saturday’s third place man, After starting twenty-fourth, Stefano Coletti was Johnny Cecotto and main title rival Jolyon Palmer. delighted to come home in seventh for some points The Williams F1 reserve made a fast getaway as ahead of Negrao who took the final points position. the lights went out, catching poleman Daniel Abt Despite a fairly tough weekend, Palmer remained as he and fellow front row starter Artem Markelov championship leader ahead of Nasr but with a struggled with grip on the damp track. Nasr made a reduced gap as the series heads to Italy. 68

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gp3- belgian grand prix BY KATY MCCONNACHIE

from him by Emil Bernstorff who had yet another brilliant start. Patric Niederhauser and Jimmy Dean Stoneman secured his second win of the season Eriksson werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t so lucky at the start and the two after fighting the difficult conditions and soaring of them made contact into the first turn, ending from eleventh to first to be ahead of fellow Brits, Dino both their races before they had even got underway. Patrick Kujala was also unfortunate on the opening Zamparelli and Nick Yelloly. lap when he spun and retired.

All British podium after challenging race

Difficult conditions, caused by rain prior to the race, made it tough decision for drivers and their teams Ghiotto was handed the lead when Bernstorff pitted whether or not to use wet tyres. The majority of the his Carlin car for a set of slicks after the opening lap. Tuscher, was the first of those on slicks to start grid decided to take on the wet tyres for the race. moving up the order with Stoneman close behind Before the lights had even gone out, Marvin him. It didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take the Swiss driver long to move up Kirchhofer found himself in trouble and to second, as those in front of him began to pit or unfortunately didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make it past the formation lap lose positions after the wet tyres began to lose life. After just four laps, Tuscher was leading for Jenzer when he made contact with the barrier. after passing the Italian who then pitted. Series leader Alex Lynn and title contender Richie Stanaway had made late calls to switch to the dry There was only a 2.9s margin between Tuscher and rubber before the lights went out which meant that Stoneman with Zamparelli a further ten seconds behind the two. The Swiss made an error coming up both had to start from the pit lane. to Eau Rouge and lost control, luckily missing the Trident rookie, Luca Ghiotto was on pole position barrier but was unable to restart his car, meaning his in his first GP3 weekend but had his lead taken race was over after a fairly strong run in the lead. www.pitlanereporter.com

The Safety Car was deployed to move the Jenzer his fellow Brit through Eau Rouge. Motorsport car. Lap five proved manic for Patric Niederhauser who crashed out after starting from the pit lane. The leading two had pulled out a huge lead of over eleven seconds to third place man, Fontana but when Lynn thought it was going well, he made an error allowing Stanaway a chance for the lead and the Kiwi driver took it but a few corners later, Lynn pushed his Carlin back past, forcing Stanaway to run deep. Dino Zamparelli forced Varhaug into an error, making the other out-brake himself. This allowed both the ART driver and Bernstorff through whilst Stoneman was also ready to attack.

Stoneman had the lead in the palm of his hands and didn’t want to let go as he pulled ahead by over a second from the ART of Zamparelli, before crossing the line for the win in his Marussia Manor Racing car. Despite all his pushing, it was second for Zamparelli and third for Yelloly. Jann Mardenborough, Pal Varhaug, Alex Fontana, Stanaway, Lynn, Bernstorff and Riccardo Agostini completed the top ten. Lynn takes win to extend his championship lead Red Bull Junior, Alex Lynn took a very close victory ahead of the Status Grand Prix driver, Richie Stanaway, who put pressure on the Series leader right up to the chequered flag in what was one of the season’s greatest battles yet. After the previous day’s downpour, the conditions appeared much better as the sun was out. Although it was damp, foggy and a little cold, Lynn made a good start from his reverse pole with Stanaway and Alex Fontana keeping close behind him.

In the closing stages of the race, Lynn pulled a three second gap over Stanaway but not before the Status Grand Prix driver had made another serious attempt at taking the lead from the Brit. On the final lap, Luis Sa Silva crashed at the top of Eau Rouge. This led to yellow flags whilst Lynn crossed the line for Pal Varhaug lost two places at the start whilst yet another win. Stanaway and Fontana completed Yelloly managed to gain positions, passing Jann the podium with the latter bagging two extra points Mardenborough for fourth. for the fastest lap. Pressure was right on Fontana’s doorstep as he ran wide at Les Combes, giving Mardenborough the chance to catch up with the Swiss driver and close the gap. A little further down, Dean Stoneman lost a place after Emil Bernstorff made a brave move past 70

Mardenborough, Yelloly, Bernstorff, Zamparelli and Varhaug took the final points. Lynn extended his championship lead with his race two victory over Stanaway.

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GARAGE

TEAM-

HARD

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NASCAR Finds New Title Sponsor for Nationwide Series

BY travis barend Beginning in 2015, the Nationwide Series will have a new name – the XFINITY Series.

aligns with NASCAR’s $8.2 billion TV contract through 2024.

It was announced in early September that NASCAR has reached a 10-year deal with XFINITY, a television and Internet provider. The deal gives XFINITY naming rights to NASCAR’s second-tier series in what matches the longest single title sponsorship agreement in NASCAR’s history.

While the announcement did not disclose financial details, reports by the Sports Business Journal price the deal at near $200 million. “We’re proud to welcome XFINITY to the NASCAR community as title sponsor of the NASCAR XFINITY Series for the next decade,” said Brian France, NASCAR Chairman & CEO. “NASCAR The company will replace Nationwide Insurance, and XFINITY are each leader brands with much in which will sponsor Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Sprint Cup common. Both are focused on innovation and have Series car after a seven-year sponsorship of the products built for speed. Together, we will work to Nationwide Series. take this series to new heights and elevate one of the most unique and powerful partnerships in all of Comcast owns XFINITY and is also the parent sports.” company of NBC, which is NASCAR’s newest television partner. The 10-year sponsorship deal A logo for the series has not yet been revealed. 72

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NASCAR’s chase grid is set BY travis barend

After 26 Sprint Cup Series races, the Chase Grid has been set. Now only 10 races remain to crown a champion.

2. Jeff Gordon – Seeded second on the Chase Grid is Jeff Gordon, who has scored three wins this season - Kansas Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Michigan International Speedway,. For the first time, the Chase will feature 16 drivers. whilst finishing consistently in the top-10. Gordon Three eliminations after every three races will reduce has earned the runner up position going into the the Grid by four drivers each time, until only four Chase and is looking for his fifth championship. teams remain eligible for the championship trophy in the final race. The highest finisher in the season 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Dale Earnhardt Jr. finale wins it all. scored a win in the season-opening Daytona 500 and followed his success with two wins at Pocono Every driver will begin the Chase with three bonus Raceway over the summer. While working with crew points for each win scored during the regular season. chief Steve Letarte for the final season, NASCAR’s However, after the first round, the drivers will be most popular driver is looking for his first Sprint reset to the same number of points. The points will Cup Series championship. be reset to equal amounts each time. 4. Jimmie Johnson – Joining his Hendrick Motorsports teammates in victory lane is Jimmie The following is a look at the Chase Grid: Johnson, who has won three races this season. Winning at Charlotte, Dover and Michigan put 1. Brad Keselowski – After four wins this Johnson solidly in the Chase. Now, the driver looks season, Brad Keselowski enters the Chase with more for a seventh championship, which would tie him bonus points than any other driver. Winning at Las with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt Sr. Vegas Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway and most recently at 5. Joey Logano – Winning at Richmond, Richmond, Keselowski has his sights set on a second Texas and Bristol was Joey Logano, who has had Sprint Cup Series championship. www.pitlanereporter.com

tremendous success in his second year at Team Penske. The driver is looking for his first Sprint Cup Series championship, while team owner Roger Penske is looking for his second.

While rain shortened, the victory was still sweet as it solidified the small team’s Chase chances.

13. AJ Allmendinger – Winning in dramatic fashion in a duel against Marcos Ambrose at 6. Kevin Harvick – The 2014 season started Watkins Glen was AJ Allmendinger, who scored his strongly for Kevin Harvick after the driver won first Sprint Cup Series victory. While the driver is a the second race of the season at Phoenix. While long shot for the title, he is leaps and bounds ahead he added another win to the column at Darlington of where he was a few years ago, when he failed a later in the spring, the year has been difficult for the random NASCAR drug test. new team. Mechanical failures and pit road mistakes have frequently plagued the team. Preventing these 14. Matt Kenseth – He did not win a race, but mistakes will be crucial in Harvick’s efforts to capture Matt Kenseth made the Chase Grid on points. his first Sprint Cup trophy. Although coming close to wins on several occasions, the No. 20 team is considerably ‘off ’ from 2013, when 7. Carl Edwards – He will leave Roush Fenway they frequently contended for wins and challenged Racing at the end of this season, but he still has a Jimmie Johnson for the title. chance of going out on top. Carl Edwards won at both Bristol and Sonoma, giving RFR their only wins 15. Greg Biffle – Greg Biffle did not visit victory in the Cup Series this season. Edwards is going for lane, but he raced his way into the Chase during the his first Sprint Cup championship. final race of the regular season, barely making the cutoff. The driver has been vocal about the team’s 8. Kyle Busch – He only won once (at Auto lack of performance this season. Club Speedway), but it was enough to get into the Chase. Kyle Busch looks for his first championship 16. Ryan Newman – In his first year at Richard in NASCAR’s top level. In the past, the Chase has Childress Racing, Ryan Newman has made the proved to be a challenge for the driver but, under a Chase. While he did not score a victory, the team was new format, anything is possible. consistent enough to make the playoffs on points. 9. Denny Hamlin – Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin won at Talladega Superspeedway to lock himself into the Chase Grid. Hamlin came close to a title in 2010, but was unable to close the deal. He looks to redeem himself this time around. 10. Kurt Busch – Despite the distraction of competing in the Indianapolis 500, Kurt Busch was still able to pull of a win this season. Winning at Martinsville in the spring, Busch earned a position in NASCAR’s playoffs. If he wins his second Sprint Cup championship this year, team owner Gene Haas will offer him a test session in an F1 car. 11. Kasey Kahne – Unlike his Hendrick Motorsports teammates, wins have not come often for Kasey Kahne. But with two races remaining in the regular season, Kahne successfully battled Matt Kenseth for victory in Atlanta. The win gave him the opportunity to join the top-16 and potentially earn his first championship. 12. Aric Almirola – Aric Almirola brought the No. 43 car back to victory lane in Daytona’s July race. 74

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NASCAR Announces 2015 Schedules BY travis barend

The 2015 NASCAR schedules have been established and announced.

Series race will move to the early September slot left by Atlanta’s move to March.

The Camping World Truck Series schedule will again As NASCAR enters a new era with a massive television feature unique events such as the dirt race at Eldora contract, opportunities have arisen to make changes Speedway and the road course race at Canadian Tire to the calendar. While some dates have been swapped Motorsports Park. around, particularly with the Sprint Cup Series, changes are minimal. For the Sprint Cup Series, Atlanta Motor Speedway moves to the second race of the season, instead of hosting an event on its usual weekend near the beginning of September. Darlington will move from May to fill the void left by Atlanta’s move. Bristol’s spring race, which has recently been plagued by bad weather, will move from March to April in hopes of warmer weather. The Daytona July race will “The 2015 NASCAR national series schedules promise move from Saturday night to Sunday night. It will be to provide our fans with the compelling competition the first race of NBC’s new television contract with and storylines they so richly deserve,” said Brian NASCAR. France, NASCAR Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “These enhancements to our race dates, The Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck particularly in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will Series schedules are very similar to this year, with be of benefit to our fans and other stakeholders in our some minor tweaks. Road America’s Nationwide industry.” 76

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10 Years of Motorba Performance - david bartrum

An interview by P

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ase

It was never in the plan and it was never really thought about - 10 years has gone so quickly I can’t believe it! Was it in the plan for Motorbase to turn out as big as it has? In all honesty, no it wasn’t. It was very much something that was supposed to operate in the Carrera Cup around our other element of business at the time, but it’s grown into a high profile race team competing in three major championships.

Phil Woods and Nicki Hickman

The basic thing to do was always to go out and to be a professional race team. It wasn’t something that concise or planned; it was to look after Gary and Andy Britnell in the Carrera Cup. We started out with two cars and by the end of the year we had four cars and had actually won our first Carrera Cup race so that was quite an opening year. Year two didn’t live up to that; it was quite a hard time and we had

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to rethink what we did the following year and I think year three was when it all started to take off. That’s when we went into touring cars with one car, running Dave Pinkney and I also took the decision to buy three of the new 997 cars and expand our Carrera Cup operation. We had Tim Harvey, Michael Caine and Phil Quaife - that was quite a high profile and it went from there. So year three really was the landmark year, when we went forward. We never really had any targets in mind, we thought it was something that we’d do for a few years and see where it went! Winning the Carrera Cup Teams Championship was one big highlight and getting our first win in touring cars was a second big highlight for Motorbase. I think that one of the significant things for me was dealing with A C Schnitzer with Charlie Lamb and Dieter Lamb because that was a big thing for a small team from England to do; to go and buy two works BMW’s from the works team and the German team that I respect personally quite deeply. So that was quite something and then to finally get a win with those and to start beating WSR who were the established BMW team at the time – that was my touring car high in the early days. Carrera Cup wise, again getting our first win. I would class 2008 onwards as our defining time in touring cars and then I think 2007 with Carrera Cup with Steven Kane was pivotal. We won a lot of races that year; we should have won the championship but Steven threw it away at Knockhill by making a mistake in qualifying which led to us losing a lot of points and we finished up third that year, seven points behind the champion. We were 40 points clear at one point and we won 8 races so that was our biggest year in Carrera Cup – we went on to win the Teams Championship in 2010 and we won the Pro-Am 1 twice with Ollie Jackson and Phil Quaife. Then obviously the big landmark for Motorbase was 2012 when we became a constructor in British Touring Cars and designed and built the Focus which we’ve got a lot of unfinished business with. That was something that I did because that was where the championship was heading. Really and truly is it something that I would want to do again? No, I wouldn’t but we’ve done it now! I don’t think that anyone appreciates how difficult it is to become a constructor especially when you’re a small team with small resources. The guys like Richard Townsend made a massive contribution 80

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to that and without those guys on board it wouldn’t have been possible. It’s a difficult thing to get involved in – building and designing your own car. You have no idea how much hard work it is, how financially stretching it is and all the angles that come from it. You couldn’t even second guess it. I think, from the point of view that we’ve got the GT programme at the moment, which we’re putting a lot of effort into, that I’d like to fiddle more with the International stuff. I quite like that we’ve raced in Monza, Spa and Paul Ricard this year - the big circuits. It’s a different type of atmosphere, a different type of circuit and different type of racing so I’d like to explore that further whilst keep our feet in touring cars, which is where we’ve come from. I still like to explore other things as well. Looking back at the times that make me smile the most over the past ten years racing I would say Rob Collard and Steven Kane. Believe it or not, they are some of my fondest memories as we had some really, really good times. We were a really small team at that point, it was just me and the two drivers and the team just worked really closely. That’s all we did that year because we’d spent so much on the cars – it was quite full on and passionate because we wanted to do well. I guess Steven Kane was also part of the Carrera Cup memory because of the fact that we did so well with him and obviously working with Michael Caine year in/year out has been quite interesting - he’s a different character! Coming up to date, I like working with Mat Jackson and Ahmad Al Harthy and Liam Griffin who actually along the way has been really good fun, and is good for the team. It’s a job to mention them all, but I suppose they’re the guys that I clicked with the most and that stand out for me. It’s quite amusing but that little group of drivers have made it good fun. The lasting memory for me is where we started from, because the whole thing began around running two Carrera Cup cars for Gary and Andy Britnell and you know those guys are both a huge part of this team up until this year with Gary passing and but Andy still there. So, that’s probably my happiest memory, the three musketeers that started off the whole thing back in 2004. It was quite a jolly jape and we’ve met some great characters along the way and I think that laid the foundation stones for a lot of what still goes on now.

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British Touring Car Championship: A Rocky Road to the School of Hard Knocks

BY adam johnson

epeat after me: A dominant driver does not a boring series make. Fact is, unless you are Sebastian Vettel and the field are trundling around in single file in another time-zone every week, one driver being superior to the rest of the field doesn’t equal a dull series. In fact, a driver managing to canter away from a competitive, hardnosed field of rough and tumble touring car drivers speaks volumes about just how much that particular driver deserves the title. Someone should’ve probably told Brian France that last year, before he decided a slapdash rip-off of the NFL was a good way to decide a motor racing championship...but I digress. I guess I should be careful what I wish for. Earlier on in the season I bemoaned the fact that for all the competition and record grid numbers, it still felt like the same old guard up front every single race. Refreshingly though, the BTCC’s return from the summer break seemed to find the legendary series re-invigorated and getting back to what it’s all about; a mightily tough series, full of stories to tell, no matter what the budget, driver background or indeed drivetrain. More on that later. The fact is that Colin Turkington stamping his authority on the 2014 title race with supreme conviction was only one of

many great stories to emerge from the twisty knifefights at Knockhill and high-speed shenanigans of Rockingham. Let’s start with those sub-stories, for this is what the BTCC is all about. What has been most frustrating in recent rounds of the championship was that, amongst the many cars sitting broken at the side of the tracks, with drivers raging at Louise Goodman postrace about penalties and grid drops and whatnot, were many who have been tantalisingly close to a breakthrough performance this season - only to see it go up in smoke or clouds of gravel. However, in a championship as fiercely competitive as the BTCC, it’s hard for the cream to rise to the top when the cream keeps getting spilled all over the table. Hence perhaps that is why we’ve seen the same old faces up front - they were already there. And frankly, it seems Turkington’s strategy is simple; stay there and let the others get dragged into the fistfights behind. It felt strange talking about Team Dynamics Hondas getting down and dirty in the midfield, scrapping for less than a handful of points. Or Andrew Jordan’s podium in Race 3 at Rockingham being a return to form after many had written off the reigning champ. But what was more satisfying was seeing other teams

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grab their chance of the limelight, however briefly. One gets the sense that the landscape might be about to change significantly in 2015 (again, more on that later) and many teams and drivers making breakthroughs now will be hoping to spearhead a new vanguard into next season and beyond. Perhaps the sentimental pick of the stories is that of the gregarious Dave Newsham taking a shock podium in Race 3 on home soil at Knockhill, only days after the passing of his mother. Not for lack of trying has he been unable to capitalise on his breakout 2012 season, and splitting the all-conquering West Surrey Racing BMWs was a mighty effort for the AMD Tuning crew. Perennial nearly-men Motorbase also started making some big noises, with Mat Jackson ending his drought in Knockhill Race 2 with a breakout drive; although some rubbed fenders with fiery teammate Fabrizio Giovanardi at Rockingham might need addressing swiftly. Thankfully being touring car drivers, we shouldn’t see a Rosberg/Hamilton-style soap opera play out, although with Gio’s combustible reputation, anything is possible. Speaking of veterans, how refreshing was it to finally see Alain Menu show his colours at Rockingham, with three excellent drives capped with a 2nd place in Race 3. He was only being beaten by his ex-protege and favourite fan, Rob Austin. The fact that Menu comfortably leads the Jack Sears Trophy shows just how many times promising positions have been squandered by incidents, and both he and Austin’s point positions really do not reflect the form both drivers have shown. Finally, with raw pace to burn and open country to roam in, both drivers showed their wares, and no-one begrudged Austin his hard-fought 2nd career win; certainly not his old mentor Menu. But hanging over all these dramatic underdog stories, like the alien spaceship in Independence Day, is Colin Turkington, a man who hasn’t so much stepped up in recent rounds as stuck his tongue out and run off like Roadrunner from Looney Tunes. He even has his own Wile E. Coyote - Jason Plato, who frankly looked burnt out and ready to throw in the towel by close of play at the Rock. And judging by his most recent mutterings about drivetrain parity, this could be an exasperated ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ attitude, if rumours linking him with a West Surrey Racing drive in 2015 are true. Both are understandable. He isn’t exactly a spring chicken, and perhaps doesn’t want to be the plucky underdog anymore. He would rather back a winning team and car from the start, rather than play Tom to another team’s Jerry. He’s spent enough years 86

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chasing the likes of Gordon Shedden, Matt Neal and Turkington around, so perhaps fancies going fullcircle and joining an all-conquering team just like the one at Williams Renault, where he started his career in 1997. And the question one must ask at this stage is; is it really a drivetrain thing? Or is West Surrey Racing just in sensational form right now? I think a subtle blend of both is the answer. Turkington went from ‘returning driver’ to ‘outsider for the title’ in the latter half of 2013 with the 125i being a new car at the time, so we shouldn’t be surprised that he has kicked on to the pinnacle. And with Andrew Jordan and Eurotech Racing putting together a brilliant campaign last season to take the title, the idea of independents knocking over the two manufacturer titans isn’t that outlandish anymore. Rob Austin would be the first to tell you that RWD is not the magic bullet Plato makes it out to be. Perhaps a bigger factor in his teams performances are a budget that could be doubled by finding a fiver down the back of the sofa, or luck so poor that if he were a gambler he’d have a wardrobe full of empty shirt hangers. It is not the fact his power goes to the rear wheels rather than the front. The fact is that you can’t just dismiss Turkington’s crushing march towards the 2014 title based on RWD power. It is the culmination of a determined effort; and if I were Dick Bennetts, I’d take it as a compliment that rivals are bad-mouthing your drivetrain choice whilst also being linked with driving for your team. To me, it shows that you are doing a lot of things right.

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btcc driver standings (10th september 2014)

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Name Colin Turkington Jason Plato Gordon Shedden Andrew Jordan Robert Collard Mat Jackson Matt Neal Sam Tordoff Rob Austin Aron Smith Adam Morgan Alain Menu Fabrizio Giovanardi Jack Goff Tom Ingram Nick Foster Dave Newsham Marc Hynes Hunter Abbott Glynn Geddie Martin Depper Jack Clarke Lea Wood Warren Scott James Cole Robb Holland

Car

Points

BMW 125i M Sport MG6 GT Honda Civic Tourer Honda Civic BMW 125i M Sport Ford Focus ST MK.III Honda Civic Tourer MG6 GT Audi A4 Volkswagon CC Mercedes-Benz A-Class Volkswagon CC Ford Focus ST MK.III Vauxhall Insignia Toyota Avensis BMW 125i M Sport Ford Focus ST MK.III MG6 GT Audi A4 Toyota Avensis Pirtek Racing Ford Focus ST MK.III Toyota Avensis Chrome Edition Restart Racing Toyota Avensis Rotek Racing

366 311 302 255 242 234 199 184 139 138 137 136 108 97 95 77 64 32 20 15 13 13 6 5 5 2

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Blancpain Sprint Series Round 4: Slovakiaring, Slovakia 23-24 August

BY adam johnson

ou know, for a series derided by several (including me) as the baby brother of the Blancpain Endurance Series, and a series which no-one quite knew what to make of it, the Sprint Series hasn’t half been spectacular this season. Putting the long-distance-minded GT3 cars into 60-minute sprints lets us really see what the awesome machines can do. This leaves a bit of a quandary; either you hold position after a manic opening lap and bag the points, or you realise there is only 1 hour to get the job done rather than 3 (or technically 30 minutes or so for each drive) and go all guns blazing. And after a lot of the former in the early stages, we saw a lot more of the latter as the Sprint Series returned from its summer break at the Slovakiaring. It took me five seconds into the qualifying race at Slovakiaring to be convinced that every circuit should have an outrageously wide start-finish straight. It appeals to a race car driver’s implied instinct to use every bit of road, and seeing the 22-strong BSS field fan out at the start of the qualifying race (looking like a NASCAR field at Talladega or Fontana), was an epic sight. I’m going to assume that Tomas Enge is less keen on them though; his race ended moments after it started in spectacular fashion, after contact

with Stef Dusseldorp sent his Reiter Engineering Lamborghini spiralling off and flipping end-overend. Fortunately he was okay, but his big crash seemed to wake up Mother Nature, who proceeded to empty the sky onto the racetrack. This led to two red flags - first at 4 minutes into the race to retrieve Enge’s flying machine combined with the efforts to fix the barrier and, and a further one at 32 minutes to finish the job. Fortunately, unlike the WTCC earlier this season, rain didn’t stop play permanently and if anything the wet weather was no deterrent to the field’s efforts to have a great race. The battle came alive after the second red flag; almost as if the field collectively agreed that it was time to get this race done and dusted with no more interruptions. The Grasser Racing Lamborghini had led early on but the WRT Audis, coming off a win in the Spa 24 Hours, were relishing splashing around in the puddles. Enzo Ide in car #2 nabbed the lead soon after the restart, and team-mate Cesar Ramos in car #1 ranged up behind them after fending off the advances of Procyzk in the Lamborghini and the points leading #84 HTP Mercedes. Ultimately any question of team orders was irrelevant - Ide binned the car with just six minutes to go, handing victory to Ramos and Laurens Vanthoor. Behind them, an epic

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pain train formed in the closing minutes consisting of Procyzk, Nico Verdonk (replacing the suspended Maxi Buhk for the weekend) and all-star Silver Cup driver Vincent Abril - who then did a great Ide impression on the very last lap, blotting what had been a great copybook. Two more reasons why a wide front straight is entertaining were revealed in the main race on Sunday. Starting positions proved irrelevant, as Ramos was swamped in the 9-wide swarm, and then going into turn 1 something had to give - five into one just doesn’t go. Crucially the championship contending Grasser Racing #28 Lamborghini was one of the victims, along with the #30 BMW Brasil car and multiple others as Ramos’ poor start was compounded by contact with team-mate Ide causing the BSS’ version of the Big One. I told you the front straight resembled Talladega, didn’t I? Lap 1 quickly became a battle for survival, with Nicky MayrMelnhof spearing off in the Phoenix Audi and both ROA L BMWs limping to the garages. This resulted in an unfamiliar look to the top 10. Out of nowhere the Fortec SLS was in 3rd place, and this swiftly caused a pain train behind as the faster cars of Marc Basseng (Phoenix Audi), Thomas Jager (Schubert BMW) and Ramos (recovering from his awful first corner). Both Basseng and Jager snuck past Miguel Toril before the pit-stops, with Verdonck and Caca Bueno in the #0 BMW Brasil car running nose-to-tail in a fascinating duel. At dead on 30 minutes both leaders pitted, with HTP just edging BMW Brasil in the pit-stop war; a big achievement considering BMW Brasil’s epic pit-stops this year earning them several places. Meanwhile Vanthoor promptly binned the #1 Audi just after he jumped in, doing some impromptu lawn-mowing to cap off a miserable Sunday for those guys. Just as Maxi Gotz thought he was easing to victory ahead of Sergio Jimenez, he promptly fell off at the final corner, handing his Brazilian rival the lead out of nowhere. Meanwhile, a wildcard had come into play - Dominik Baumann, having taken over from Jager, was shredding the gap to the front two at an outrageous rate. Gotz faded swiftly with 17 minutes to go after a storming pass by Jager, and then Jimenez quickly found his mirrors full of black and white Z4. He held out admirably before a jaw-dropping move round the outside took the race win for Baumann in an epic drive for Team Schubert BMW – who, remember, only arrived in the championship at Zandvoort. 92

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Main Race Results (Qualifying Race Position in Brackets) 1 #76 Jäger/Baumann 2 #0 Bueno/Jimenez 3 #2 Ide/Rast 4 #84 Verdonck/Götz 5 #86 Wolf/Stolz 6 #85 Afanasiev/Dusseldorp 7 #5 Basseng/Latif 8 #61 Van der Drift/Pentus 9 #4 Abril/Lisowski 10 #63 Toril/Ebrahim

– BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert (19th) – BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil (7th) – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (9th) – HTP Motorsport (3rd) – HTP Motorsport (Silver Cup) (17th) – HTP Motorsport (21st) – Phoenix Racing (Pro Am Cup) (8th) – Bhaitec (13th) – Belgian Audi Club Team WRT (Silver Cup) (6th) – Fortec Motorsport (Silver Cup) (11th)

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rally germany repo

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Re Br 94

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IN VINO VERITAS

ort

Welcome to the German round of the World Rally Championship. Let’s have a quick look first at the positions for the top teams. Firstly, serial winner Volkswagen wanted to patch things up with a win on home soil after last year’s disaster when both cars crashed out and secondly, winning would secure the manufacturer’s championship. Citroën was very motivated to continue their dominance in Germany; no other national anthem than the French was played in Trier previously. For Hyundai it was like a home event too. The Korean’s motorsport division is located in Alzenau, a little over 200km east of the rally headquarters. Recent improvements could make the car shine here. Last but not least, comes M-Sport. After a podium finish in 2012 and again in 2013, there was no doubt that the Fiestas could be there again.

Thursday

eport and Photos by runo Keiser

The Volkswagen trio set an early mark with a perfect 1-2-3 in shakedown. Finland winner JariMatti Latvala continued where he left off around three weeks ago and was 0.5 seconds faster than championship leader Sébastien Ogier. 1.3 seconds down of the Finn’s pace was the pairing of Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene, piloting the third Polo R WRC. Citroën’s Kris Meeke followed and the clock showed fifth best time for the first i20 WRC, last year’s winner Dani Sordo. But the story of shakedown was written by Hyundai’s spearhead Thierry Neuville. On his third run through the 4.60km Konz stage, he left the road with a six times roll into the vineyards. Later on he indicated that this had been the biggest accident of his career and the heavily damaged i20 underlined that statement. Should this have been the first retirement of the rally? An enormous team effort with an extra 18 hour shift made miracles come true and the Belgian, who walked over the ceremonial starting ramp, was able to leave service park on Friday morning under the applause of all the teams.

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Friday The first five stages in the Mosel vineyards and Eiffel hills were all won by a Volkswagen. Sébastien Ogier and JariMatti Latvala set the pace with two fastest times. Best of the rest was the DS3 WRC of Kris Meeke, followed by the first Hyundai with Dani Sordo behind the wheel and Andreas Mikkelsen in the third Polo. Tarmac specialist Robert Kubica hit “something” (his own words) in a left bend and dropped four minutes after sliding off 600 metres after the start of SS3, buckling his front left wheel and damaging the clutch. The biggest surprise, or shall I say drama, happened on SS6 when world champion Ogier went off the road 7.5km after the start. His Volkswagen Polo R emerged from the grapes onto a different road below the stage, which he drove along in an effort to regain the correct route. However, it did not lead back to the stage and the Frenchman eventually found a way down to the main road and set off on the journey back to service in Trier, receiving a10 minutes time penalty for not completing the test. Also in trouble was Thierry Neuville who drove the day’s last stage with smoke in his ‘office’ caused by an overheating exhaust tunnel; most probably a consequence of his shakedown accident. At the end of the first leg, flying Finn Latvala was in the lead with a 37.0 seconds advantage over Kris Meeke with trouble free Dani Sordo another 5.6 seconds down. Mikkelsen, who suffered a puncture in the morning, was only 3 seconds behind a podium place, Neuville was fifth and Hirvonen placed the first Ford on sixth. Team mate Elfyn Evans was next and Mads Östberg, who struggled on the dirty roads, rounded up the top eight.

Saturday Overnight rain provided tricky conditions through Saturday’s opening stage and Robert Kubica took advantage of being second in the running order and set the day’s first fastest time. Road opener Ogier missed a junction but managed to finish fourth fastest. This incident wasn’t the only one for the newly married Frenchman. On a very fast section he lost control and crashed heavily into a roadside barrier after 1.1 km in SS8. Luckily driver and co-driver were unhurt but were taken to hospital for precautionary checks. The impact damaged the barrier which separates the stage from the motorway and the test had to be cancelled for safety reasons. Later the team announced that Ogier’s Polo 96

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was too badly damaged to be repaired. No restart on Sunday but an extra honeymoon day for him. Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala won five of the seven special stages on often wet and dirty roads and ended the day with a 56.6 seconds lead. Northern Ireland’s Kris Meeke repelled a fierce challenge from Thierry Neuville for second with a margin of only 4.3 seconds. The Belgian, who started the day as fifth, leap-frogged Andreas Mikkelsen and team-mate Sordo in the first pass through the 42.51km marathon “Panzerplatte” military zone stage. This test wrote its own story; as usual, I have to say. Dani Sordo had luck on his side when he aquaplaned in sixth gear in standing water and spun onto grass but escaped unharmed. Andreas Mikkelsen lost precious time after he misjudged a hairpin bend and Brian Bouffier became a victim of the infamous “Hinkelsteins”. It goes without saying that the kerbstones along the roadsides in the military area stayed unimpressed by the impact of Bouffier’s Hyundai. A ripped off a front wheel ended the likeable Frenchman’s third WRC appearance this season. The two M-Sport Fiestas of Mikko Hirvonen and Welshman Elfyn Evans battled all day for sixth position with a 4.9 seconds advantage for the Finn at the end of the day. Norwegian Mads Östberg on eight, Martin Prokop on nine and double stage winner Robert Kubica made the top ten complete.

Sunday For all Robert Kubica fans there was bad news. He left service park that morning, but his Fiesta’s gearbox got stuck in third gear on the road section to the opening stage and the former Formula 1 ace was forced to retire. Rally leader Latvala began the day with a comfortable 56.6 seconds lead; his very first win on tarmac in sight. The big margin seemed to be enough to control the rally and to bring home the manufacturer’s title. But to finish first, you must finish first... I’m sure you already guess what’s coming now... Sunday’s opener “Frontal” was the one to blame for the unexpected. Jari-Matti went off the road after the 14 km mark in a vineyard section. His Polo dropped down the vines and got stuck, covered with all the green stuff he collected on his way down. No matter how desperately he tried to continue, his rally ended there. Later he blamed himself for a pace note change done in recce... Everything played into Kris Meeke’s and Citroën’s hands to extend their dominance in Germany, but... www.pitlanereporter.com

you guessed again... ‘Mr. Murphy’ (of Murphy’s Law fame) was Mr. Meeke’s guest too. The new rally leader ended his bid for victory in the second bend of the very next stage. Like Latvala, Meeke made a pace note error during recce responsible for the crash into the stone wall which ripped off a rear wheel. All of a sudden, Thierry Neuville who was very near to not even starting the rally was about to win it. This time there were no bad surprises and he was able to claim a maiden victory for him and Hyundai. To make the weekend perfect for the Korean/German team, Dani Sordo brought home second place. Congratulations to the new winners, it’s good for the sport to see new faces on the top podium spot! Andreas Mikkelsen finished third after he survived a spin on the same spot Latvala went off. That wasn’t the result the Volkswagen squad had expected and that’s why the manufacturer’s title run is still open. Elfyn Evans excelled on his debut asphalt event in a World Rally Car, matching a career-best fourth place after outgunning more experienced Ford Fiesta RS team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. Mads Östberg on sixth admitted that all weekend he was unable to get the best out of his DS3. Martin Prokop was lucky to scrape seventh after being in hospital following a serious allergic reaction to a bee sting during the recce. Dutchman Dennis Kuipers was an unspectacular eight; WRC2 winner Pontus Tidemand was ninth and Ott Tänäk rounded up the leader-board’s top ten. What a dramatic final, what surprises. Rally has once more provided thrilling entertainment, great action and the best advertisement for its own sport. I’m sure the next round of the World Rally Championship, Coates Hire Rally Australia, will add another remarkable chapter. Stay tuned!.

Bruno Results from Rally Germany can be found here http:// www.wrc.com/en/wrc/results/germany/stage-times/ page/384-234-8--.html

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current championship standings correct following the rally of germany Position Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

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Sebastian Ogier Jari-Matti Latvala Andreas Mikkelsen Mads Ostberg Mikko Hirvonen Thierry Neuville Elfyn Evans Kris Meeke Martin Pokop Hanning Solberg Juho Hanninen Bryan Bouffier Danii Sordo Robert Kubica Ott Tanak Benito Guerra Latapi Hayden Padden Chris Atkinson Pontus Tidemand Jaroslav Melicharek Dennis Kuipers Nasser Al-Attiyah Lorenzo Bertelli Matteo Gamba Craig Breen Yuriy Protasov Jari Ketomaa Karl Cruuda Khalid Al Qassimi

Points 187 143 110 74 73 73 57 54 37 26 20 18 18 12 11 8 8 6 6 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

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Gold Cup – Oulton Park BY brynmor pierce

n these times of continual ‘anniversaries’ being celebrated, it seems somewhat inappropriate to mention yet another. However when that 60th anniversary is for one of the best loved tracks in the UK (if not the World!), we need to mention it. Oulton Park - Happy 60th birthday.

The history of the circuit dates back to Oulton Hall, which was situated in the trees behind the first corner ‘Old Hall’. As with so many houses back then the Hall sadly burned down in the 1920’s, following which the parkland had various uses and was then commandeered for military purposes during WW2 as a staging post for General Patton’s troops amongst So on the Bank Holiday weekend of the 23rd of others. Evidence of the old military buildings can still August a varied selection of Historic Sports Car Club be found in some of the wooded areas of the track. (HSCC) competitors gathered at the picturesque circuit in Cheshire to celebrate 60 years of racing. It was in the late 1940’s that the idea was formed to turn the land into a race circuit, in the same way that Silverstone/Goodwood and Croft had all been. The story of the conversion is well documented in ‘The naming of Knicker Brook’, a comedy story available on YouTube, by the demolition expert ‘Blaster Bates’, who was charged with clearing the land. The first race was closed to the public (but is also available on YouTube), but the second event was open to the public and saw 40,000 people attend…the track was born. Indeed I’m fortunate that my late father was there and luckily I still have those early programmes. The Gold Cup arrived soon after and over the years has been run, initially for F1 cars, then F5000 www.pitlanereporter.com

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followed by a selection of single-seater formulae and service provided from a well-used estate car….if only Touring Cars, becoming a Historic meeting in the the grass in the paddock was still in place we really early 2000’s. could be going back in time. Sunday’s half day of racing in glorious weather brought no real surprises in proceedings...Stewart Whyte in his Honda Accord took a Super Touring win to move within 5 points of championship leader James Dodd. Mark Dwyer took the first Derek Bell trophy race for F5000/F2 cars in his March 782, after passing the Gurney Eagle of Michael Lyons, which had a failing gearbox. Lotus Europa’s dominated the 70’s roadsports race, whilst Jaguar’s E-Type scored podium positions in the Guards Trophy race; Matt Nicoll-Jones winning from Alistair Dyson.

Anyone who’s anyone in the past has taken part in the Gold Cup; the ‘golden’ period being mid 60’s to early 70’s when it was a non-championship F1 race. This saw Surtees, Clark, Stewart, Rindt, Hill and many more take part.

After a glorious Sunday, Monday dawned rather cold and damp, sadly more November than August. This dip in the weather saw a rather sparse crowd enjoy possibly some of the best Historic racing seen in the UK this year. Old Mother Nature had definitely decided things needed spicing up and my goodness didn’t the rain do that!!

This year’s event featured a varied programme of Saloons, Single Seaters, Sports GT’s and the Super Tourers…Saturday’s qualifying and practice day was one of two halves, the morning seeing rain of biblical proportions, the afternoon being a glorious summer’s day. It must be said that the entry numbers were down this year; FISCAR for sports GT’s (Healey 100’s and the ‘ilk’) mustering only 12 starters and Super Tourers only 15. I’ll talk about entry numbers and what’s going on in Historic circles in another article. An unusual quirk of the venue is that Sunday racing cannot start until midday due to the local planning regulations, which makes for a rather truncated weekend in many ways. Now I may be alone in this, but some of the historic paddocks of today are rather depressing places, that being caused by teams using massive trucks (which is fine) but then hiding the cars away behind closed paddock shelter doors. The paying punters want to see the cars my friends. It was therefore refreshing to see the Healey 100 of FISCAR crew Pugh-Lewis/ Jenkins being tended to under a pair of e-ze up’s with 106

The series we’ve reported on several times this year, the Super Tourer series, really came down to the wire. Sunday’s race had seen Stewart Whyte close the gap on championship leader James Dodd to only 5 points which left it all to play for in the final round. On the warm up lap James Dodd got a puncture which saw him dive for the pits whilst the crews circulated for

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the rolling start. A demon change from his pit crew meant he was ready to join in as they went past for the start but the chances of glory had seemingly vanished with Stewart Whyte only needing a top 3 finish, eminently possible. Amazingly, out of sight on lap 1, Whyte slid off into the gravel at Shell Oils hairpin and as crews came back into sight over Hilltop a collective gasp went up as fans and commentator realised that the championship was back in Dodd’s hands. Indeed he kept his cool to claim the year end prize. Race glory for the second time this year went to John Cleland who put in a measured performance for a popular win. Quite were the series goes for 2015 remains to be seen as surely it can’t carry on at such a low entry level (14 cars compared to 28 at the last Oulton Park round). Sadly, the variety has rather gone from the series too, with it being predominantly made up of mid to late 90’s cars; the Cosworth’s having seemingly left the series along with most of the E30 M3’s.

The most entertaining races of the day came from the By-Box Historic Touring cars. In race one, held in dampening conditions, a dazzling battle was fought between local Mini Cooper S driver Pete Morgan and the Lotus Cortina of Tim Davies. The pair were wheel to wheel for the whole race with the Cortina edging it on the power advantage. Race 2 was held in almost monsoon conditions and this evened out the power differential. Pete Morgan was not to be denied this time, but he had to fight hard to keep the identical Cooper S of Tim Harber at bay. So a rather damp end to the 60th celebrations. I’m unashamedly a big Oulton fan having been going there for 35 of its 60 years. However whilst the infrastructure is wonderful, it really needs a big push to attract some more top level cars/drivers, or dare I say maybe even classic motorbikes, to what has been the North’s largest Historic Motorsport event, a mantle that Croft circuit is close to stealing. www.pitlanereporter.com

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Memories of a Pioneer BY brynmor pierce

round this time 12 months ago I had a call asking if I’d like to compete in the 2013 Roger Albert Clark rally in a newly built E30 BMW. Being a map based rally I jumped at the chance. But really there was a personal draw to do it, as that person who invited me along was well known Rally Television producer David Winstanley and he wanted to produce a show that gave people a sense of adventure whilst describing the ‘black art’ of reading off the map. This was going to showcase road rallying also, which happens to be my background. During this report I’ll try and peel away some of the myths that surrounded David and explain why in such a short space of time he became someone who I considered a very dear friend. There are people who knew him far longer than me and to them I doff my cap, but sometimes you just connect. As a preface to this story I would hasten to add that people found David rather a marmite character, in the nicest possible way…, he would admit as much himself!!

stars of his show were the cars and crews not the presenter. Through the late 90’s and early 2000’s he competed in a wide range of events and developed a niche in the burgeoning Historic scene; it’s here he really made his mark on both long distance and British Historic stage rallies. One area that David where David was heard was in the musical overlays on his production, most usually involved music from his own group ‘Peerless’. Their track ‘All the gear, no idea’ has become a staple of the motorsport scene ever since. This thought permeated my mind when he asked me to do the event; I agreed as long as he promised not to sing at me!!

I suppose the adventure really began on the Friday morning, perhaps in a quintessentially British way. David was rather disorganised mainly due to his huge workload…the pre-event test never happened For those not familiar with David he had a unique and the arrangement for heading to Pickering was all style. A former racing driver, he moved to TV done via Neil at Rally Prep who ran the car, oh and work in the mid 80’s mainly with racing and then the first view of the maps was when I arrived!! through his Sports Scene involvement into rallying. David very much considered himself a producer and It must be said that the car looked superb and was a interviewer who was to be ‘heard and not seen’, the real credit to the guys at Rally Prep. I’ve never been a 108

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fan of the 3 series but this really looked the business.

As David’s company were filming the event we spent Sunday based around service and stage finishes Now if you’ve ever competed, you’ll probably conducting interviews. It was a truly magical 12 hours understand this next paragraph. There tends to be two getting an insight into a world I’d always wanted to be sorts of competitor….the ones who chat with anyone in but from which my career had gone in a completely and everyone up until the flag dropping and the ones different direction. To be at the finish of the last stage who take themselves away to a quiet corner. David fell as Steve Bannister, the event winner, arrived into the in the former, myself somewhat in the latter, in itself control was something I’ll never forget. In private not an issue except that trying to keep tabs on him as company David was a totally different persona to time ticked away was a bit of an issue!! the public impression, a delightfully self-deprecating sense of humour and a willingness to listen. But for me the event almost became a side show, as good as it always is and as much fun as it always is. Due to our shortened event the plan was that we’d Having a driver in the form of David was amazingly have a day’s filming over at his home, going through interesting, the stories just kept flowing and in some the concept of maps , how to read them etc. and ways it was taking our minds off the kind of event we then hopefully do something involving his new Alfa were having. The car itself was intrinsically a stonking Romeo project for later in the year…the plans were piece of kit but the team had been rather let down looking good. by a suspension supplier which was causing rather too much bottoming out. Saturday breakfast was The weekend was over too soon, but David and I, an adventure in itself as another name from the TV despite his hectic schedule and to some degree mine, credits joined us in the form of ace cameraman Mal kept in close contact but that meet-up for a beer and Herrick, the stories kept flowing. a chat just didn’t seem to happen. I competed in the Wyedean Rally in early February and exchanged texts Saturday’s rally was one of consolidation for us, and tweets with him over the Friday and Saturday, but although the racing driver in David really showed come Sunday all was quiet. I didn’t think anything of at the Croft Circuit, if only we’d had tarmac rubber this but on Wednesday morning I got a call from a on!! All was going well through the day until we went friend, Kev Haworth, asking me if I’d heard David had into Pundershaw. The sound of William Woolard’s passed; it took a call from a second source for me to voice on old BBC Rally Reports saying the crews were believe it. ‘pounding through Pundershaw’ echoed in my mind. David was gone. Not since my dad had passed in 2010 Sadly the suspension gremlin caused us to hit a rock had I felt so horrendous at the passing of anyone. In that every other car was sailing over the top of. The that short space of time David had become a friend resultant damage to the sump put us out ; a heart- and indeed a confidante in a way that only my father breaking end for all the Rally Prep team after all the had been before; our plans to bring out an Alfa Romeo work they’d put in. David and I wandered off and onto the stages were now not going to happen. found what could only be described as a pub out of ‘the League of gentlemen’, right in the middle of the Even though they knew I’d only known him properly forest….it’s that sort of comedy that makes rallying a short while, David’s sister’s very kindly asked me the sport that it is, I’ll forever recall David knocking to be a bearer at his funeral. In a strange way I felt on someone’s front window in the pitch black dressed it fitting that the opportunity to navigate him on his in his race suit searching for said pub, quite what the final journey arose, and to his family my sincerest poor people thought had landed on their front lawn thanks for that. I’ll forever wonder!! It’s been odd these past 6 months, the phone call Once back at our Hotel we tuned into match of the answered with the typical ‘’aye up’’ won’t happen again day, it was then that it really hit home quite who and the updates on his madcap adventures via a tweet this chap was. I’d watched and listened to his work or on screen are sorely missed. since I was ten, grimaced at some of his commentary (anyone who recalls it will know what I mean), but On behalf of many it’s fair to say we miss you David a now we were having a beer and discussing the race for heck of a lot, but will be eternally grateful for the time Premiership glory. we all had with such a character of the sport. www.pitlanereporter.com

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interview with sarah sahadin Fans With a Passion BY annika gocke

it Lane Reporter Magazine is written by and for the fans of motor sport. So whilst it is nice to bring you the opinions of Racing Drivers and teams etc, it is fantastic when we get the opportunity to speak to you, the fans. In this very special part of the magazine, we talk to fans with a passion for the sport. This month we speak to Sarah Sahadin from Malaysia. Enjoy this insight into her passion.

“Without art, racing will never be perfect”, Sarah Sahadin - a fan with passion Sarah Sahadin is a 20 year old girl from Kuantan, Malaysia. Sarah took the chance to turn her hobby into a profession as it felt like a ‘calling‘ for her. That is why she is studying Fine Arts with the aim of becoming a cartoonist. Sarah is currently in her final semester of Diploma studies at MARA Technology University of Malaysia (Kelantan state campus). In this Issue, Sarah not only shares her passion for arts and motorsport, but also talks about her next big project: A “mini exhibition” of her artworks at the 2015 Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix weekend in Sepang. Furthermore, Sarah’s projects are not just 110

work, they are a way of life. Annika Gocke - When did you develop your passion for arts/ drawing? “I discovered Japanese cartoon (anime) drawings while reading a magazine back in May 2004. The character design motivated me to draw my own cartoon character! Then, with a pen and some scrap paper I started to create the character. I was really happy with the result. Soon afterwards I knew I really liked doing that!” AG - What did you do afterwards? Did you show it to someone? “Well, I did show it to my parents and took a picture of it as proof that their daughter has real talent in this; but I was too shy to show it to anyone else at that time. This has changed now and one of the people I knew even told me that my drawings could be a masterpiece when it comes to the professional cartoonists.”

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AG - When did you realise that you are a girl with a true passion for motorsport? “I first heard words like Sepang in 1999, but I didn’t knew what they meant back then. In 2002, my dad brought me to the F1 demonstration in Kuantan. After that I was always keen to follow the races, but they were only shown on television some time after the actual race. My interest did not diminish - on the contrary and I kept up to date with race results via newspapers. My interest grew and as a result I wanted to explore other racing series. This is why I followed series such as Formula 3, GP2 Series and DTM in 2009. I found it totally awesome and became a motorsport AG - What was your first memory of enjoying the enthusiast. In the same year, I also brought fan arts sport? onto the scene. In addition, many of my friends whether in real or social media life - told me that I’m “My first memory of enjoying the sport was listening a crazy motorsport fan. I have to admit: It’s really to the awesome V10 engine sound of F1 back in 2002 true!” on TV. It was pretty amazing!” AG - What was the first motorsport event you ever attended and where? “The first motorsport event I ever attended was in March 2002. It was a Sauber Petronas F1 demonstration in my hometown Kuantan - in conjunction with the 2002 Petronas Malaysia F1 GP weekend. I was amongst the crowds on the street with my dad and my neighbour. It was really exciting, but unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures or videos. After attending the demonstration, I wanted to be involved with the excitement of motorsport! Then, in August 2009 my family brought me to Pekan (approx. 30 minutes drive from my hometown Kuantan) to see the Royal Pahang Kart Prix / Rotax Max Asia Challenge. I met one of Malaysia’s F1 prospects, Nabil Jeffri (currently in ATS Formel 3 Cup with Lotus-Motopark and this AG - How did these series manage to keep your year’s title contender) during the event and took a interest? picture with him. He is such a nice guy! “Unfortunately we don’t have any live broadcast of In 2010 and 2012 I attended the Malaysian Grand other series (excluding the FIA Formula E and nowPrix. It was a truly amazing experience, and I have defunct A1GP) in Malaysia. To keep my interest to say that I was quite sneaky after qualifying. I went alive, I check their official websites for updates as to the Sama-Sama Hotel (known as Pan Pacific KLIA well as the live streaming on the Internet. However, Hotel) where the drivers stay overnight, to meet them the connection is often poor on race day...” personally! I did meet several drivers, including Max Chilton, Paul di Resta, Marcus Ericsson, Felipe AG - What was the special charm and the Nasr, Fairuz Fauzy and Jules Bianchi. I also met Niki fascination about these series for you? Lauda, Norbert Haug and even Bernie Ecclestone!” www.pitlanereporter.com

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“A special attraction is in knowing other top drivers, I was delighted to see he favourited it on Twitter!” new talents and teams competing in each series, as well as understanding how it works while following AG - What are you currently working on? the races.” “I’m currently working on sketches for final projects AG - In one sentence what makes the sport so of drawing, painting and printmaking subjects as the exciting? final Diploma show is coming in early October. I’m also broadening my ideas to design my own website “Perfection makes the sport so exciting.” for my Time Based Media final project, which takes a long time to do! Time Based Media is a 3 semester AG - Do you have a favourite driver, team and/ or subject in Diploma in Fine Art programme in the racing series and if yes - why? University. It consists of graphic design, 3D design, web and animation. You have many sleepless nights “I support almost every driver in every racing series when you’re working on it, especially when your because they are the stars of the sport. My favourite lecturer give you a big final project just days before racing team is Carlin Motorsport (F3, GP2 and the final assessment.” GP3). They are experienced and have a great eye for evolving young talented racing drivers to become the AG - What are your plans for the future? stars of tomorrow especially in F1. In fact, they are a multiwinning junior team.” “At the moment, I an planning to continue with a Bachelor in Graphic Design course next year. I would AG - How and when did you put your passions like to hold a mini exhibition of my artwork made together? in campus during the 2015 Petronas Malaysia F1 GP week at Sepang. But first, I need to discuss it further “It came from my own heart. It happened back in early with my lecturers and the race organiser. 2007 when I made my own F1 scrapbook by including news and some bits of my drawing. In December 2012, my painting (semester 2) lecturer told every fine art student - including myself - to choose ONE subject matter for painting, printmaking, drawing and sculpture subjects until the final semester. I chose F1 cars as the subject matter because of my love for motorsport.” AG - What was your personal highlight/ biggest achievement so far? “My personal biggest achievement so far was being nominated for Best Leadership Award (Diploma in Fine Arts category) in Student’s Excellence Award 2013/2014 earlier this year, as well as winning the best female trainer for my campus’ marching band during my last year.

The exhibition’s aim is to show all racing fans and the community that art is a part of racing. I also want to bring arts closer to them. Without art, racing will never be perfect. What I hope to achieve from my mini exhibition is advice from my lecturers and family, as well as the support from them and my friends. It still needs approval from the organisors, I experienced my highlight in terms of drawing and but I would be unbelievably happy to receive a yes motorsport during the recent mid-semester break at as it will be part of the Malaysia F1 GP weekend at the end of July. I was doing a FIA Formula E drivers Sepang.” portrait. I was really happy to see that Bruno Senna, Nicolas Prost, Antonio Felix da Costa, Katherine AG - In closing - would you like to share a message Legge, Virgin Racing FE Team and Mahindra with other motorsport fans? Racing’s team boss Dilbagh Gill liked my work a lot! In the middle of August, I made a watercolour sketch “Never listen to your haters about what you like. Be of Max Verstappen in Red Bull Junior Team overalls. yourself and love what you like.” 112

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Phil Woods

Road Test – Mazda 6

his month I have decided to change my column slightly to introduce road tests. This is the part of motoring journalism where people like me get to drive sparkly new cars, some great and some not so great. For my first foray into this field for Pit Lane Reporter, I was presented with the new Mazda 6 by Mitchell Mazda in Ellesmere Port. What follows are my thoughts on the car: First the outside. Now Mazda’s have traditionally been neither stunning nor bad looking, but the new design is so damn good that I stood at my window the morning after the test and stared at it on my drive for a few minutes. Alright, I didn’t start salivating but it is a great looking car that will no doubt turn heads as it passes by; something that is usually reserved for the so-called prestige marques (I have to say though, some of those have got decidedly ugly recently).

The interior of the Mazda 6 Sport Diesel, had heated leather seats, satnav, a dark trim, keyless starting but most important of all, proper cup holders (other manufacturers take note). I looked around the interior expecting to see stitching a bit lop-sided or perhaps plastics that looked cheap, but you know what? I found absolutely none of that; it was a great looking cockpit and I knew that if nothing else was good, I had already found something nice to say. Before I set off I made my choice of music, switched it on ready for the journey. The sound from the Bose speakers was crystal clear, even at the stupidly loud volume which I listen to music at. No vibrations, no fuzziness and a really good bass sound. That’s enough, I could end this report here and now, most men would be satisfied with that.

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So what was it like to drive? The first thing I looked at was the amount of fuel, 75 miles left apparently, not enough for my journey to Lancaster (around 90 miles away) but there are places to buy fuel on the way. Here is where it gets all spooky and supernatural, I had travelled the length of the M56 to the M6 turn off (I don’t need to explain that route in this modern day of google maps, look it up, it’s around 20 miles), anyway another check of the fuel gauge and I had 83 miles of fuel remaining, how? Perhaps even God loves this car so much that he turns fresh air into diesel, just so people can enjoy it for longer! I’m not thick, I know it’s down to how the car is driven, but by the time I got to Lancaster I still had 30 miles of fuel left. Filling the tank back to its starting position cost me just £8, now that’s economy I have never experienced. So it’s economical, it must be slow and boring I hear you say! No, no and a big huge splodge of no-ness, it’s fun to drive too, especially on the motorway. The acceleration in higher gears is great for this type of car, the turbos kick in with minimal lag and allow you to safely overtake or make decisive manoeuvres when other idiots on the motorway decide to not to use mirrors, but that’s all for another column. On the way home, driving at night, the anti-glare is a Godsend; it’s one of my pet hates having headlights blind you as you’re hurtling along the motorway at 80mph, erm 70mph I meant to say. When I arrived in Lancaster, a City that has its fair share of traffic problems, I encountered the i-stop system. This is another fuel saving technology that virtually stops the engine when you are stationary and starts it again when you set off. Clever stuff; I was always taught that it used more fuel switching an engine on and off, but I am told that this technology simply puts the engine to sleep or idle. It works and most certainly saves fuel. In summary, the Mazda 6 is a good looking car both inside and out. It drives beautifully and is economical. It’s spacious with a generous boot and plenty of space in the back seats too. The price point is not restrictive either, putting this comparable with the Ford Mondeo or the Vauxhall Insignia, the only difference is that you are getting so much more for your money with the Mazda 6, and for me, it wins hands down every time. I’ve driven some prestige cars in my time that don’t match this. Quite how Mazda have managed to pull this off is beyond me, the only thing I can suggest is that perhaps God himself has shone down on these Japanese manufacturers. To copy my colleagues in the motoring world of journalism, I have to find a negative about this car, and I won’t disappoint you, because I found a huge one..........I had to give the car back this morning. 114

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limited edition prints by gary drew

his is an exciting opportunity to own some unique and exciting artwork from the exceptional Gary Drew.

Part of a set of 11 pieces, one for each Formula One team, these are each limited to 250 copies. These are ideal for motorsports fans and art lovers alike. Each print is priced at ÂŁ25.00 plus ÂŁ3.49 postage and packaging , and can be ordered individually or alternativly you can subscribe to the print releases for ÂŁ50 per month for five months and you will receive

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limited edition prints by gary drew

the whole collection of limited edition prints, one of which will be free of charge. When they are gone, they are gone, so click on the link below to place your order before they are all gone!

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Photograph and Media Credits Blancpain Photographs © Blancpain Media | BTCC Photographs © BTCC Media | Daniel Ricciardo Interview Peter Fox/Getty Images; Mark Thompson/Getty Images; Paul Gilham/ Getty Images; Peter Fox/Getty Images; Ricciardo & Vettel Young - Copyright BMW Motorsport | DTM Article - The 23 DTM drivers of the 2014 season ©DTMmedia; DTMDA: Timo Glock is the representative of BMW ©DTMmedia; Hungaroring 2014: vacant chairs on the grandstands underline decreasing number of spectators ©DTMmedia; DTMDA: Gary Paffett will take on the role of spokesperson for the Mercedes drivers ©DTMmedia; DTM starting grid Spielberg ©DTMmedia; Former DTM driver and ARD TV commentator Manuel Reuter becomes DTMDA spokesperson ©DTMmedia; DTMDA: the Audi drivers will be represented by Timo Scheider ©DTMmedia | NASCAR Articles - All photos copyright Getty Images | Rally Germany Photos - Bruno Keiser | 118