Pit Lane Reporter - Issue 9 by PitLane Reporter

PLUS

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contents 4

Editors Notes

Meet the Team

Letters Page

F1 Russian GP Race Review

F1 USA GP Race Review

SPECIAL FEATURE and INTERVIEW - Juan Pablo Montoya

IndyCar News in Brief

Farewell Scirocco Cup

Interview with Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky

Audi TT Cup

Hankook in DTM

Freddie on the Hunt - Guest Writer Adam Acworth

NASCAR - Chase Update: Season Finale Approaches

NASCAR hands down penalties after Fights

NASCAR - Toyota Unveils 2015 Sprint Cup Car

BTCC Round 10 Review – Season Finale at Brands Hatch

BTCC Standings

Blancpain Review - Zolder

Interview with Sara Williams – WRC Wales Rally GB Female Driver from Wales

Rally Spain Review

Historic Racing – Photo Spread from the RAC Rally 1960’s to 1994

Unsung Heroes of Motorsport, Nicki Hickman PR & Marketing

Inside F1 – F1 on the TV and Internet

Dario’s Motor Sport Gallery

Everyday Driving Column

MONTOYA interview Page 18

BTCC FINALE REVIEW

Page 50

HISTORIC RACING page 91 www.pitlanereporter.com

EDITORS NOTES What a few weeks it has been since the last issue. Everything comes to a climax but in the midst of all that there are scandals galore and sad news. Marussia and Caterham, the two back markers in Formula One, have gone into administration, something that the powers that be need to sort out very quickly. On the other hand we had a great new race at Sochi in Russia. Our new F1 journalist, Katy will be writing that up for this issue, whilst I concentrate on the USA GP. This big news this month is our amazing interview with Juan Pablo Montoya, a true hero of motorsport; someone who has won in Formula One, IndyCar and NASCAR, an achievement that he should be proud of and has bought him so many fans. Thank you Juan for letting us spend the time speaking with you. Does he think he can win the Indy500 next season? You’ll have to read the interview to find out. You will have noticed something different about this magazine. We have spent 8 months now providing you all with a free

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magazine, this was so we could get the magazine to become a quality product that you all enjoy every month, we hope that this has been achieved, the feedback certainly points to the fact that we have. However to enable us to continue to offer a quality magazine that is well loved around the world we have had to add a small charge of just 99p per issue or a £4.99 - 12 month subscription. You do of course get so much more with this subscription - read our dedicated news article on the website about this. We do hope that you enjoy this issue. It is full of some wonderful interviews, enough to make it our best edition yet. This is along with all the amazing articles and reviews sent in by our regular contributors. Enjoy this magazine and we can’t wait to see you again in December where we will be running end of season reviews plus a fantastic feature you don’t want to miss. Until what may be a cold December Have an ace time Phil

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MEET THE team ERIC HALL - USA Editor/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 - Official Rally Photographer & 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 & Engineering 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 crossfiter. Ex-cyber 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 McCONNACHIE - formula one journalist 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 - Touring Cars, GT & Endurance 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

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BRYNMOR PIERCE - HISTORIC & classic 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

ANNIKA GÖCKE - 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

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 Dear Editor k of the way What do you thin uted between money is distrib ula One? the teams in Form UK) Graham (Dorset, Hi Graham thanks for First of all have to be your email. I that I don’t honest and say e in’s and really know th ts what in out’s of who ge is common Formula One. It Ferrari get knowledge that

Dear Phil I have to sa y that each issue gets better and better, from the design p erspective to the improvemen t every m onth of the writin g. I particula rly like Travis a nd his cove ra g e of NASCAR, it keeps me up to date with things I do n’t really get ch ance to follo w elsewhere. Thanks Pit Lane Reporter and thanks Travis . Mr Artwhistl e (Texas, US A) Hello Mr Art whistle Firstly, use your first na me next time y ou email in , we are not so formal here , we like to get to kno w our readers on first nam e

for turning a premium just esn’t strike up, that do ir. I hate to me as very fa of the past see the events d hope that few weeks an be sorted something can than later. sooner rather rid of more Let’s not get our best to teams, let’s do e have and if protect what w arussia and possible bring M . Caterham back Take Care Phil

terms. I a m humbled by your kind remarks ab out the magaz ine. We h ave worked ha rd as a te am to get it to this sta ge and hope to continue o ur improveme nt over th e coming m onths. I w ill pass on you r comments to Travis but I am sure he will read it hims elf with a sm ile on his fac e. Travis fi rs t worked wit h me in 20 12 and the im provement has been amaz ing. I am g lad you love his work as mu ch as I do. W e have a g re at team here as I am s u re you agree. Thanks Phil

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Dear Phil Wo ods I’ve been an avid reader of your ‘Everyday Dri ving’ Column . I love the humour etc but, and it’s a big one at that, I think perhaps your last one was a lit tle insulting, the one about speed humps. Som etimes you have no choice but to down to 5m slow ph to go ov er them, and parking n ext issue when th to them can be an ere is nowhe re else to park, plus there are no yellow lines next to them so why shouldn’t someone park on them? From Annoy ed Reader (G lasgow, Scotland) Hello Mr Re ader Great name by the way, seems very coincid ental that y o u read things and get annoye d with

Dear Ed end, who’s F1 is near the the drivers’ going to win championship? as a tweet, (no name, this w tness of the hence the shor question) s Tweeter Hello Anonymou n’t near the I do hope F1 is y couldn’t end! Haha, sorr you meant resist, I am sure the season. near the end of lieve that Personally I be

that name. On a seriou s note, the ‘Everyd ay Driving’ column is not nece ssarily all fr om my own though ts. I speak to other people to en sure it is not just me thinking tha t. I can gu a rantee to you that everyone I spoke to gets annoy ed when th ey can’t go over a sp eed bump p roperly when some one parks o n it. I think perha ps you sho uld ask some of y our friends what they think. If none of th e m annoyed by are this then p lease feel free to write to me again. Thanks for taking that time to write in and I hope you g o back to enjoying the column month whe this n I talk ab out ugly cars. Regards Phil

has the Lewis Hamilton d is in the momentum an win. I just best position to title isn’t hope that the lity or on won on reliabi uble points the stupid do last race. system at the ally be an That would re o Rosberg anti-climax. Nic , so it will is a great driver wis to see be tough for Le er I have it out, howev he will. confidence that Regards Phil

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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RUSSIAN Grand Prix Race Review Formula One BY Katy McConnachie

ewis Hamilton reigned victorious at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, awarding Mercedes the Constructors Championship in the process. The Briton raced his way to a lights to flag victory ahead of his Championship rival and team-mate, Nico Rosberg. The German Mercedes driver out-braked Hamilton into the first corner, but soon after, the team were on the radio asking Rosberg to give the position back to his team-mate due to the damage on his tyres after his first corner dash. Rosberg was forced to make an early stop, handing the lead back to Hamilton. As well as the German making a mad first corner dash, there was congestion in the midfield due to a number of drivers going wide there, and being forced to squeeze back onto the track together. As the field settled into position, Rosberg took advantage of both the pit strategies of the drivers around him, and the straight-line speed of the Mercedes, slowly working his way through the field. Behind him, Massa also pitted on the first lap switching from the harder compound www.pitlanereporter.com

to the softer but the Brazilian didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have as much luck as the German, and his strategy was hampered by the slower speed of the midfield drivers.

the German making a good run, there was a minor battle between Perez and Massa with a gap of only 0.8s between the Force India and the Williams.

A difficult week for Marussia continued as the lone car of Max Chilton failed to make it ten laps; a suspension failure forcing the British driver to retire on the ninth.

On the twenty-ninth lap, Caterham driver Kamui Kobayashi, who was racing down in 17th position, was told to retire by his team. This sudden retirement for the Japanese driver was apparently due to a brake problem. Although this was actually confirmed later, it was clear that the driver was left uninformed and confused and told the media that his retirement was uncalled for, and the reason given was to save the power unit for the next race in Austin, Texas. Caterham later confirmed they would not be attending that meeting.

At the front of the pack, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was able to keep close behind Hamilton during the opening stages but soon Hamilton was able to create a forty second gap over the rest of the field. When Hamilton made his stop, his gap was big enough to slot him back into the lead, despite the slower speed limits and lengthy pit lane; he came out just over five seconds ahead of his closest challenger Bottas. Although there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t much drama in the rest of the field, Rosberg provided the Russian fans with some entertainment, as he battled his way into the top ten by Lap 22. As well as 12

Not long after this Romain Grosjean was handed a five second stop/go penalty after causing Sutil to spin. This was somewhat disappointing for him, as it appeared that the Sauber driver was the more aggressive of the two at time of the incident.

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With ten laps to go, Bottas was slowly closing in on the second Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Hamilton continued with an extremely healthy lead over the rest of the pack; his Mercedes now over 18 seconds ahead of his team-mate Rosberg. Whilst Bottas challenged Rosberg, Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen looked comfortable in 4th and 5th, the latter starting from outside the top ten. Alonso, rumoured to be heading in the direction of McLaren at the end of the season, finished behind the Brit and the Dane in 6th. Although 7th and 8th wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t what Red Bull wanted, Ricciardo and Vettel finished respectively in these positions after a fairly quiet race for the two. Raikkonen finished 9th just behind the four time World Champion, struggling once again in his Ferrari. In the closing stages, Massa continued to put immense pressure on the Force India of Perez but couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t find the pace to slip past the Mexican in order to take the final points position. With Mercedes wrapping up the team title, Hamilton leads the Driversâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Championship ahead of Rosberg as the world of Formula One heads across the pond to visit America.

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USA Grand Prix Race Review Formula One BY PHIL WOODS

ustin, Texas was the venue for the third to last Formula One race of the season. There was drama on and off the track for this race and some of it not so good at all.

find buyers and I for one hope that the USA and Brazilian GP’s are the only ones they miss. The grid needs the smaller teams; look at the experience Daniel Ricciardo gained at HRT for example.

During the preceding week there was news of Caterham going into administration and arguments between the new and old owners. Now I don’t know the inner goings on but I do know that Tony Fernandes has always been a helpful and honest chap with me, having had dealings with him way back when I was editor of The Podium Magazine. Obviously you can never know someone 100% but all I will say is that when Tony came into F1 with what was Team Lotus, he came in having been told there would be a cap on finances. That didn’t happen and is the most likely reason for the failing of Caterham. Then a few days later came more bad news as Marussia announced it had gone into administration, as if things could get any worse for the team following the tragic events a couple of races ago. This time it isn’t so clear cut what happened, but the fact that Marussia Car Manufacturing went bust is probably a big reason behind the F1 team following. There is hope that both teams could

So we went into the weekend with a much smaller grid than normal, but that wasn’t the end of the story as Lotus, Sauber and Force India all threatened a boycott of the race. Fortunately that didn’t materialize, as it could have destroyed what ended up being a great race and potentially could have wrecked the sport in the USA again, just like it did in Indianapolis a number of years ago. Thank goodness they managed to see sense, or perhaps thank goodness that Adrian Sutil qualified 9th for Sauber….Just being sceptical for a moment.

Back to the most important part of the weekend, the racing. In qualifying it was Nico Rosberg who took pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton in fine style, signaling that he was ready to take the fight back to Lewis in the drivers’ championship. The Williams cars were lining up on the second row followed by the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, who made it clear that he would be targeting the two Williams cars.

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The start of the race at the front was plain sailing for Rosberg and Hamilton. They both set off and came out of the first corner, at the top of the impressive incline, in the same order they started. Further back, Daniel Ricciardo had a miserable start rapidly dropping down the pack. His team mate Sebastian Vettel started from the pit lane and was hoping for a march up the field. This didn’t materialise as Sebastian struggled to get any power out of his Red Bull, and became stuck behind a Sauber. The first lap was stopped abruptly by a safety car when Sergio Perez knocked the Sauber of Adrian Sutil out of the race with a pretty hefty shunt. You should see the state of the two cars. Force India’s race ended with both cars returning, with Hulkenberg suffering mechanical issues.

spectacle. A huge well done to the team for getting in there and battling hard to create what was a great race from the front to the back of the grid. Onwards to Brazil now and then the season finale at Abu Dhabi. All we can hope is for two great races to end the season on and for the championship not to be decided on double points.

DRIVER OF THE DAY

- Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and the two Lotus drivers (split decision this month.

TEAM OF THE DAY - Lotus F1

The first round of pit stops didn’t change much as Nico Rosberg saved his lead over Hamilton, but very quickly we could see Hamilton catching him at a rate of knots. It wasn’t long before Lewis managed an amazing over-take to grab the initiative; something he never gave up until the chequered flag, taking his tally to five wins in the row. He actually managed it become Britain’s most successful racing driver of all time, an incredible achievement. Nico Rosberg came in second and this meant that Lewis Hamilton took another giant step towards winning the drivers’ championship. All that can stop him now is the crazy double points race in Abu Dhabi. If a huge swing happens in this race then I personally will be disgusted and write off the season as a sham. But let’s not think negative, Lewis Hamilton is on a roll and only a major effort by Nico Rosberg will be able to knock him off his perch. There is one major thing to mention about this race, the Lotuses’ gave us some great action today, with some fantastic overtaking that added to the

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f1 driver standings Position

Name

Team

Nationality

points

Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg

292

Daniel Ricciardo

214

Valtteri Bottas

155

Sebastian Vettel

149

Fernando Alonso

149

Jenson Button

Felipe Massa

Nico Hulkenberg

Kevin Magnussen

Sergio Perez

Kimi Raikkonen

Jean-Eric Vergne

Romain Grosjean

Daniil Kvyat

Pastor Maldonado

Jules Bianchi

Adrian Sutil

Marcus Ericsson

Esteban Gutierrez

Max Chilton

Kamui Kobayashi

Andre Lotterer

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316

f1 constructor standings Position

Name

Engine

Points

Mercedes

608

Red Bull

Renault

363

Williams

Mercedes

238

Ferrari

147

McLaren

Mercedes

123

Force India

Mercedes

121

Toro Rosso

Renault

Lotus

Renault

Marrusia

Ferrari

Sauber

Ferrari

Caterham

Renault

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Juan Pablo Monto â&#x20AC;&#x153;The definition of a legendâ&#x20AC;?

BY phil woods & eric hall

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oya

uan Pablo Montoya stormed onto the international motor racing scene in 1997 when he was hired by Helmut Marko to contest the International Formula 3000 championship for RMS Marko. The rookie Colombian racked up 3 poles and 3 wins en route to a P2 championship finish losing out to Ricardo Zonta and Super Nova Racing by a mere 1.5 points. The finish was almost a disappointment given his amazing karting career that led him through Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar to become one of the most successful drivers of this generation. Like so many racers, the road to big time racing started with a father and son taking up the innocent pastime of karting. It was 1980 and a 5 year old Juan Pablo Montoya was just starting to take the wheel of his first kart in Bogota, Colombia. His rise to local fame was meteoric and by the late 1980â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, he was winning local and Colombian national Karting championships. 1990 and 1991 saw the culmination of his karting career as he competed in the Kart Junior Championship. Success was difficult to find so a few more years of national level karting led to a wide and diverse selection of junior formula and the beginnings of the globe trotting fight to break into Formula 1. Montoya found the top step of the podium and continued success in a multitude of Formula Ford and F3 derived championships including: Colombian Formula Renault in 1992 and 1993, Barber Saab Championship in 1994, British Vauxhall Championship in 1995 and British Formula 3 in 1996. Young Juan Pablo was not only efficient in open-wheel racing, but sports cars as well. At only 16, he won the Bogota Six Hour, driving a fire breathing Group-C Spice. Success was all Juan Pablo knew, and after coming so far from the karting tracks of Colombia, a move to Super Nova Racing was the only option. The operation was the strongest team on the International Formula 3000 grid during the 1998 season and was the very team that denied him a championship in 1997. Driving for the prestigious junior team, Juan Pablo was able to secure his first international championship on the strength of 3 wins and 9 podium finishes out of 12 total rounds. Bolstered by the strength of his F3000 results and his connections to young driver manager Helmut Marko, Montoya earned a test during the 1997 and 1998 offseason with Williams F1 and was their first pick for an open seat heading into the 1999 season. Forced by the departure of Renault and weighed down with the year old Mecachrome engines in 1998 and Supertec engines in 1999, Williams was forced to broker a deal with Chip Ganassi to bring Alex Zanardi back to Formula 1 with hopes of attracting increased sponsorship to the team. In exchange, Ganassi received a young and driven Montoya. Chip Ganassi Racing would enter the Colombian into the CART FedEx Championship series for the 1999 season and he would take no time adjusting to the American open-wheel series. 7 poles and 7 wins later, the rookie would be crowned series champion; at 24 he was the youngest champion the series had ever seen. Indeed, Ganassi had one of the hottest shoes in motorsport. The 2000 season would see Ganassi Racing make a full house engine and chassis switch to the Toyota and Lola combination. The engine was quick, yet unreliable and Montoya could only muster a P9 championship finish while standing atop the podium 3 times that season and giving Toyota their first win in the American series. Ganassi would also enter his team into the 2000 Indianapolis 500 sanctioned by the competing Indy Racing League. The outcome would be a worst case scenario for the fledgling league when CART stalwart Ganassi Racing and Juan Montoya dominated the afternoon, leading 167 laps that day and putting regular season IRL teams to shame. Williams F1 would finally give Montoya the call he had been waiting for since he was a child: the chance to compete in Formula 1. The deal was announced during his dominant weekend in Indianapolis, a fitting moment to announce his plans for 2000. The move back to Williams and the international travelling motorsport circus went slightly worse than expected for the F1 rookie. Highlighting his poor luck on the way to 11 retirements during the 17 race season, he was taken out by lapped car Jos Verstappen while in the lead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. However, when he was able to make it to the checkered flag, Montoyaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s results were impressive. A win

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at the Italian Grand Prix bolstered by 3 other P2 finishes were the high points of his debut season. 2002 saw the high point of Ferrari domination, led by none other than Michael Schumacher, which left the rest of the field fighting for the leftover scraps. Montoya proved to be the best of the rest with 12 top 5 finishes and starting from the front of the field 7 times that year. The fiery Colombian was still one of the most aggressive drivers on the grid, often fighting from behind with tremendous success. Although Montoya was able to capture victory at the prestigious Grand Prix of Monaco and the German Grand Prix, a P3 was all he could muster in 2003. The relationship between Montoya and Williams F1 began to unravel at the French Grand Prix after a pit miscue led to a heated exchange between him and the team. Williams publicly reprimanded the driver following the race; Montoya’s fate was sealed as he decided to look for more fertile lands elsewhere in the Formula 1 Paddock. McLaren Mercedes came to his rescue and inked a deal that was announced at the close of the 2003 season. As a result, Montoya competed the 2004 season with Williams F1 knowing he would bolt for McLaren as soon as the checkers fell on the final race. A respectable P5 championship finish and a win at the Brazilian Grand Prix, the final race of the 2004 campaign marked the end of a nearly decade long relationship. Montoya’s time at McLaren would not be any easier. The MP4-20 was terrifying for the Colombian as his style of muscling the car around handling deficiencies only magnified the issues with the chassis. Early in the year while training in Spain, Montoya injured his shoulder causing him to miss two races that season. By all accounts, he came back too early and the injury lingered throughout the season stifling his competitiveness. Even with the tremendous disadvantages, he and the team were able to transform the woeful chassis, with the second half of 2005 seeing Montoya take 3 wins, 2 poles and 3 podiums. Montoya’s outspoken honesty was more welcome in the McLaren as they worked together to improve the chassis race on race. The momentum McLaren and Montoya enjoyed during the closing races of 2005 was not carried through the offseason and into 2006; a year where mechanical unreliability was centre stage. When he could finish, Montoya gained solid points, but finishing was the problem as he retired half of the grand prix he started. At the start of the season, McLaren signed reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso for the 2007 season and had not yet picked up Montoya’s option. This did not sit well with the Colombian and it became clear he would be on the market again. July 11th marked the effective end of Juan Pablo’s Formula 1 career as he was released from McLaren only two days after announcing a reunion with Chip Ganassi in America, only this time taking on the NASCAR championship. Montoya would strap himself into a stock car for the first time just 3 months later taking the green flag in a stock car development series at Talladega Speedway. 4 races in the second division Nationwide Series and a single start in the premiere NASCAR Sprint Cup series would make up the balance of his 2006 introduction into American stock car racing. Coming to America also gave Montoya the freedom to try his hand at sportscar racing once again. He was paired with Scott Pruett and Salvador Duran in Chip Ganassi’s Daytona Prototype for the 2007 24 Hours of Daytona. In remarkable form, Montoya and company emerged victorious giving the Colombian another high profile trophy to add to his illustrious collection. Montoya would pair with fellow Ganassi drivers for the classic Florida endurance race 6 more times taking victory in 2008 and 2013. He would secure P2 finishes in 2009 and 2011 and a P4 finish in 2012. With such few starts in the 24 Hours, his finishing record is second to none. He would also compete with the team during the Inaugural sports car race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2012. With all the success Juan Montoya enjoyed in American sports cars, success in NASCAR was decidedly more difficult. Early in the 2007 NASCAR Nationwide series, Montoya scored his first win in stock car racing at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course

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in Mexico City, Mexico. His full season efforts in NASCAR Sprint Cup would be best described as a season of learning, but he was still able to clinch his first premier series win at Sonoma Raceway road course. Victory on an oval eluded an extremely driven Juan Pablo during his 7 full seasons of NASCAR competition. Stock car racing was an entirely different animal to anything Montoya had competed in before. With comparable power to a Formula 1 car and about as much grip as a wingless Formula Ford, racing an American stock car is an exercise in finesse, patience and communication, not attributes Montoya was known for at the time. Of the 255 premiere series points paying races he competed in during his NASCAR career, Montoya was only able to muster 23 top five finishes, with 7 of them coming during his most successful NASCAR Sprint Cup season in 2009. Although he struggled for consistency on the ovals, he consolidated his road course prowess by taking the checkers ahead of the field at Watkins Glen International in 2010. Heading into the 2009 season, Chip Ganassi Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and cast aside the undesirable Dodge chassis and engine package for perennially formidable Chevy Racing equipment. With new focus and faster steel, Montoya was able to position himself in the NASCAR Chase for the Cup as a title contender. A spirited run highlighted by 5 top 5 finishes was not enough to break the classic NASCAR monopoly at the top of the standings as he took home a P8 championship finish. Montoya’s struggles in NASCAR was not indicative of his ultimate performance, but more an insight into how specialized motorsport, and specifically NASCAR racing, has become. It takes a lifetime of preparation to compete above the level Montoya was able to attain. He was a competent driver who had plenty of amazing runs. Although his finishing history does not accurately portray his success at Indianapolis, the Colombian was particularly quick at the historic facility, and only further entwined his own story into the lore of The Brickyard. With his return to Indianapolis in stock cars, Montoya has competed at the facility in IndyCar, GrandAM Prototypes, NASCAR and Formula 1, an impressive selection of series. Spending the final 3 years of his NASCAR career struggling to break into the top 20, Montoya closed his NASCAR chapter of his career when Chip Ganassi opted to release Juan into the free agent market. Suitors called from all corners of the motorsport world, but it was IndyCar and Rodger Penske that caught the attention of the most coveted man of the 2013 off season.

The Captain would welcome the man who made his name in IndyCar racing back to the Motorsport Capital of the World for the 2014 season. The decision was made with one goal in mind: to win. His final years in Formula 1 and most of his NASCAR career were unkind to the driver not known for floundering in the midfield. Team Penske is the most successful team in IndyCar history and presented the perfect opportunity to find victory lane once again. Indeed, Montoya found victory lane during his return season. It was at the Pocono Raceway oval that the fiery Colombian would spray champagne for the first time during his IndyCar return. 2014 saw a different Juan Pablo muscling an open wheel car; a more patient and calculated Montoya. DNF’s were few and consistency and steady improvement punctuated his first year back to IndyCar. The future looks bright for Juan Pablo Montoya; a man who could call nearly any team in the motorsport world and have a serious conversation about employment. Could he eventually find his way to Le Mans and add his name alongside Graham Hill as a triple crown of motorsport champion? With his wins at the Grand Prix of Monaco and the Indianapolis 500, he sits alongside giants like Hill, Foyt, McLaren and Rindt as winners of 2 of the 3 great races of the world. First, Montoya will have to navigate another highly competitive year of IndyCar that will see huge downforce increases. Will he be able to replicate his open wheel success from earlier in his career? If he was slowly working his speed and confidence back in 2014, a year that included a win, once he is fully back up to speed there could be nothing stopping him from storming to another championship season. This month our editor Phil Woods, along with help from regular IndyCar journalist Eric Hall, managed to pull off a coup to gain an exclusive interview with the man himself. In Phil’s words, this has been the highlight of his writing career so far. So grab yourself a drink, sit down in a chair and enjoy the chat between Phil Woods and Juan Pablo Montoya; Phil Woods - We have described you as the most experienced oval driver in the series, but the learning curve on the road and street courses has been slightly steeper. Have you had to reach deeper into your arsenal than you initially thought you would have to? Juan Pablo Montoya - “It’s funny because when I got to NASCAR I was considered the road course ace. Now when I get back to IndyCar I’m the oval guy. We knew that the road and street courses were going to take some time. There was a process that we were going to have to go through. The biggest thing for me was adjusting to the red tires. Once we

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figured those out, especially for qualifying, things turned around quickly for us.” PW - With a full season under your belt, what’s the one thing you would tell yourself if you could go back to 2014 pre-season testing? JPM - “Honestly, I don’t think I would tell myself anything. I think we had exactly the year that I thought we would. We won a race, we won a Verizon P1 Pole Award and we challenged for the championship. I think that, for the first year back in this series in 14 years, we did pretty well. That’s not to say that I didn’t learn anything as the year progressed.” PW - Many people, including us, want to see you at Le Mans before you hang the helmet up. Any aspirations to watch the sun set over Le Sarthe eventually? JPM - “I would never say that Le Mans is out of the question, especially as I begin to move into the later stages of my career. A win at Le Mans would give me the Triple Crown of Motorsports. Only Graham Hill has done that. It’s definitely something I think about but it’s not going to happen in the next few years. I want to focus on winning another Verizon IndyCar Series championship.” PW - Can the calmer, more calculating Juan Montoya keep up with Simon and Will in 2015? JPM - “Absolutely. The addition of Simon is going to make us all raise our game a bit higher than it already was last season. I believe I brought some things to the team when I came over that helped us across the board, and I expect Simon to do the same thing. The competition within the team is going to be amazing.” PW - Have you been able to find a comfortable and repeatable setup window to build on in 2015, or are you just man handling the car to the front? JPM - “No I think we have a very comfortable platform with which to build off of for any type of track we go to. It did take us a bit of time to find out what that was, but I think you saw that over the second half of 2014 we had figured it out.” PW - With the introduction of aero kits and the possible aerodynamic reset, will that work in your favour and allow you compete for wins more regularly? JPM - “It’s definitely going to be a big adjustment for all the teams, but I don’t see it as something that will allow me, personally, to compete for more wins. Racing at Team Penske is what allows me to compete for wins regularly and I think we showed that, with the way we finished 2014, we will be more competitive for the entire year in 2015.” PW - You’ve achieved so much in motorsport, more than most could only dream of. I personally loved watching you in F1; is there any chance that you’ll make a comeback into F1 one day? Perhaps one final hurrah! JPM - “Not a chance! I’ve found a home here at Team Penske. Every driver wants to drive for Roger Penske at

some point in their career. I feel very fortunate to be in the position I’m in right now and plan to make the most of it.” PW - With so many moments to choose from, what has been the absolute highlight of your career so far? JPM - “I really don’t think I can pick just one. Winning at Long Beach for my first Verizon IndyCar Series race in 1999 was a very big win in my career. Long Beach is a big race and to win that as a rookie just reinforced the confidence I had in myself. It propelled me to many more wins that year and to the championship. Then winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in my rookie year of Formula One was huge. And I can’t leave out the Indianapolis 500.” PW - A lot of drivers in the past had an input into the engineering of their race cars. This doesn’t happen so much these days. How much input have you had into that aspect of your career? And, what have been the main reasons for this? JPM - “Yes, over the years I’ve had a lot of input on the engineering of the cars I’ve driven, whether that is Formula 1 or IndyCar. I think it’s important for the driver to be involved in that process. We are the ones holding the wheel. We know how the car is reacting on the racetrack.” PW - A lot of people get asked this question, but with you I believe you are in a position to answer it honestly. Do you think the drivers of today are more or less talented than those who raced perhaps 10-20 years ago? JPM - “There are so many talented drivers in the world right now. It’s amazing to see what some of these guys can do. But it’s really hard to compare different eras of drivers because the cars have changed so much over the years. But I will say that you could definitely put a Rick Mears in these cars today and he would still be running up front.” PW - Do you think the focus on the cars (aero etc) has risen to such a level that drivers are becoming more insignificant? Considering what has happened at Red Bull in F1 over the last 4 years and all of a sudden, Vettel is now chasing his tail with a younger team mate in a less competitive car. JPM - “I think that just shows how competitive all levels of motorsports are all around the world. You always have to be advancing or you can easily get behind. And sometimes it can just be a small move in the wrong direction and you are completely lost. But the drivers will never be insignificant. As I said before, we are the ones holding the wheel.” PW - If you could replay one of your racing seasons again, which season would it be and why? JPM - “I would like to have my 2000 season in CART to do all over again. We won the championship in 1999, my rookie season, but we almost led as many laps in 2000. We just had a ton of failures. Our cars were good enough to win the championship again that year, no question.”

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PW - Can you remember that one moment in your life when you thought to yourself, “This is it, I really want to be a racing driver?” If so, when was it? JPM - “I knew at a very young age that I wanted to be a racecar driver. You have to remember, I’ve been racing since I was five years old. I would have given up on the dream of being a racecar driver long ago if that wasn’t what I wanted to do for a living. But we had success early on and that just fueled me to continue to get better.” PW - Who has been your toughest ever competitor and why? JPM - “Obviously, Ferrari was unbelievable when I was in Formula 1. If you look back over the number of races that (Michael) Schumacher won while I was competing against him, it’s pretty remarkable. I was also fortunate – or unfortunate, depending on how you look at it – to race against Jimmie Johnson in NASCAR when he was almost untouchable. But as far as the hardest drivers, especially at the moment, would have to be two of my teammates at Team Penske, Will Power and Brad Keselowski. Those guys just drive hard!”

JPM - “When you drive for Roger Penske, you know you are going to have a shot to win the Indianapolis 500. He loves that race so much and we put such an emphasis on it that I am very confident that the speed will be there to contend for the win. We still need to get some testing and races under our belt with the new aero kits to see how that will affect the racing, but yes, I think we can win in May.” So, all that remains for me to say is a huge thank you to Juan Pablo Montoya for allowing us access into his experiences, thoughts and his life. I hope that every single reader will have enjoyed reading this as much as Eric and I enjoyed writing it. Good luck in 2015 Juan, we, along with millions of others will be supporting you.

PW - Finally, do you fancy a drink of milk in May 2015? :-)

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indycar news in brief BY eric hall

2015 Schedule Released - The Verizon IndyCar Series announced a 17 race schedule highlighted by the 99th Indianapolis 500. Opening in early March and continuing with very few weeks off until late August, the 2015 schedule represents the continued vision of a condensed and rapid-fire calendar envisioned by IndyCar brass. The natural terrain road courses of Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Brazil and NOLA Motorsports Park in New Orleans, Louisiana will both hold their inaugural IndyCar races in 2015 with Brazil bumping the street event in St. Petersburg, Florida as the season opener. As a consolation, Southern Florida will see the competition debut of the Honda and Chevrolet aerokits. Raceway at Belle Isle will welcome IndyCar for the only doubleheader of the season as the other doubleheaders have been forced off of the calendar. Reliant Park in Houston, Texas could not overcome the unbearable summer heat and was ultimately dropped from the schedule leaving IndyCar down two races in one swing of the axe.

ended their season on a road course many times during its nearly 30 year history, so the idea of a modern era IndyCar finishing on a road course is not out of the realm of tradition. The event should be an economic windfall for the series and presents an opportunity to showcase the best of American open-wheel racing, in championship context, to some of the biggest sponsors and supporters outside of the Indy 500 weekend. Admittedly, ending in Sonoma is not ideal, while building the continued vision of a stronger and more competent IndyCar Sonoma isn’t a bad place to end. The possibilities of continued early season expansion ahead of the 2015 season is low, but series boss Mark Miles is in continuous talks with additional international venues for inclusion on the 2016 schedule. Road Course Street Course Oval Track

Historically, IndyCar would venture into Toronto, Canada during the second or third week in July, but local scheduling conflicts with the previously scheduled Pan-America Games forced the race to June as a single event weekend. The race should return to its traditional mid-July timeframe in 2016, but it is unknown whether the doubleheader aspect of the weekend will also return. Once the series hits its summer stride, the back half of the season has a far different look than in years past. Auto Club Speedway, Milwaukee and Iowa have been grouped together as a summer oval swing with Pocono taking over the penultimate spot on the calendar. For the first time in its current guise, IndyCar will finish the season on a road course with Sonoma Raceway playing host to the Series for the final round of 2015. During the ‘split’ era, ChampCar, then known as CART, ended their season at Auto Club Speedway for the final time in 2003 before folding in early 2008. In fact, CART

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March 8

Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet

Brasília, Brazil

March 29

Streets of St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Florida

April 12

NOLA Motorsports Park

Avondale, LA

April 19

Streets of Long Beach

Long Beach, CA

April 26

Barber Motorsports Park

Birmingham, AL

May 9

Grand Prix of Indianapolis

Indianapolis, IN

May 16-17

Indianapolis 500 Qualifying

Indianapolis, IN

May 24

Indianapolis 500

Indianapolis, IN

May 30

Raceway at Belle Isle Park

Detroit, MI

May 31

Raceway at Belle Isle Park

Detroit, MI

June 6

Texas Motor Speedway

Fort Worth, TX

June 14

Streets of Toronto

Toronto, Canada

June 27

Auto Club Speedway

Fontana, CA

July 12

The Milwaukee Mile

Milwaukee, WI

July 18

Iowa Speedway

Newton, IA

Aug. 2

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Lexington, OH

Aug. 23

Pocono Raceway

Long Pond, PA

Aug. 30

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, CA

AJ Foyt Opens Indianapolis Garage - 4-time Indy 500 winner and current Verizon IndyCar Series team owner A.J. Foyt reached a purchase agreement with the Speedway Redevelopment Commission to open a satellite operating garage on Main Street in historic Speedway, Indiana. The Speedway Redevelopment Commission was tasked in 2005 with revitalizing the iconic town. The new 45,000 square-foot A.J. Foyt Racing facility will join neighboring operations Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing and Dallara Automobili as residents of Main Street, in the shadow of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Waller, Texas, the historical home of the Texas based team, will still act as the main facility, but the team will utilize its proximity to the logistical hub of IndyCar, IMS and the wealth of engineering and technical talent present in the Indianapolis area to grow the operation heading into the 2015 season. Hawksworth Key to Expansion - Continuing the team’s momentum, A.J. Foyt racing will expand to a two-car team for 2015. The team welcomed British driver Jack Hawksworth to contest his sophomore year in IndyCar racing with the growing outfit. Hawksworth joins veteran driver Takuma Sato, who returns to the team for his third year, on the strength of a two year commitment from existing sponsor ABC Supply Company and the might of Honda power. A.J. Foyt racing has entered a single full-time car for the past 12 seasons, but team manager Larry Foyt looks forward to the challenge.

“We know Takuma can win on any given weekend in the 14 car... As well, having Jack Hawksworth -- who I feel is a future superstar-- join the team, gives me twice the reasons to be excited.” The acquisition means another much needed multi-car operation for Honda, but also comes as a loss for Bryan Herta Autosport whose future is currently unknown. The team faced funding deficits in the closing races of 2014 and has an uphill battle to make the 2015 grid. Chevy Aerokit Breaks Cover - In an unlikely turn of events, spy shots surfaced from clandestine testing at COTA courtesy of an unhappy neighbor who snapped grainy cell phone photos of a Chevy aerokit clad DW12 after being disturbed at a residence near the track by the mid-week testing. The photo represents only a single test run on a single day of testing during an extremely busy time of open testing ahead of the homologation deadline in early 2015. The bodywork is more sculpted than what is seen on the current Dallara kit, but absolutely nothing can be inferred about the final product from what was captured at COTA that day. What the picture does show, is a search for downforce with multi element front and rear wings, a swooping engine cover and flip-ups covering the side pods all searching for aero efficiency and downforce. Purely an engineering prototype, the aerokit spy shot serves to remind interested parties than Chevy and Honda are both in an aerodynamic arms race that will play out in St. Petersburg when the aerokits make their competition debut.

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End of an era: farewell Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup BY ANNIKA GÖCKE

fter 17 years and 166 races the final curtain fell on Volkswagen’s one-make cup. The last 11 lap Scirocco R-Cup race was action packed. In a sun-drenched Hockenheim, spectators were again able to witness thrilling wheel-to-wheel action and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres for the last time. The future of the one-make cup within the Volkswagen Group was also announced: The Audi Sport TT Cup will take over this platform. It was a tight race at the front, with Jordan Lee Pepper - who had already clinched the title at Nürburgring - fighting his way from seventh on the grid to the front. He managed to use the push-to-pass best and was unstoppable as he charged towards the lead. On lap ten of eleven the 18-year-old overtook his fiercest rival Jason Kremer with the latter finishing second (proving sufficient for him to finish runnerup in the championship). Marc Coleselli crossed 28

the finish line in third position. The Junior Cup title went to Nicolaj Møller Madsen who finished fourth in the final race. Jordan Lee Pepper dominated the season, winning six of the season’s ten races.

Volkswagen’s touring car school Volkswagen’s talent factory success story began in 1998 with the ADAC Volkswagen Lupo Cup (originally known as the ADAC Volkswagen Touring Junior Cup in its first year), which continued to train numerous talented young drivers right through to 2003. This was succeeded from 2004 to 2009 by the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup, the winners of which include reigning ADAC GT Masters champion René Rast. From 2010 it was the turn of the Scirocco R-Cup to enjoy a further five successful years, before the final curtain fell in Hockenheim. It was only fitting that the champion of the 2014 Scirocco R-Cup Jordan Lee

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with speeds of up to 200 km/h in sixth gear. Drivers were also able to use a Push-to-pass system, which increases the performance of the Scirocco by 50 hp to 210 kW (285 hp) for a limited time. The number of Push-to-Pass uses was restricted to six in free practice, while the system was not permitted in qualifying. In the race, the number of times a driver may use Push-to-Pass depended on his/her start position. Drivers at the rear of the grid had more uses at their disposal than those at the head of the field. Pepper triumphed in the final race in the history of Volkswagen’s touring car school. A total of 17 male drivers and four female drivers from eight different countries have featured regularly in the 2014 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup. In addition there were legend starters as well as numerous celebrity guests who added extra spice to the occasions. Special guests starting at this years final in Hockenheim were Albert of Thurn and Taxis (Prince Albert II) - head of the royal house of Thurn and Taxis, Pierre Casiraghi (son of Princess Caroline of Monaco), Robertas Kupcikas (champion Volkswagen Castrol Cup Poland) and Joe Fulbrook (champion Volkswagen Racing Cup Great Britain).

VW in the Paddock: appreciated and highly regarded VW managed to build a development for individual talents where the size of the wallet didn’t matter, just driving ability. Scirocco R-Cup Drivers reached their top speed at Parabolica corner in Hockenheim

The fuel used in the Cup Scirocco was natural gas, provided by partner GAZPROM. Furthermore VW created a good balance between the so-called green technologies (natural gas as fuel), equal opportunities (identical car construction, used centrally) and a family atmosphere, although still very professional. This was not the only reason why VW was highly regarded in the paddock: the legendary Saturday night parties, as well as their famous curried sausage, were hugely popular. And whilst I am writing this, it is already becoming a piece of history. “The season final of the 2014 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup in Hockenheim saw an end to our very last group of graduates into the world of motorsport on the back of a top-class education. Volkswagen’s touring car school is shutting up shop after a number of exciting, successful and sometimes wild years in the Lupo, Polo and Scirocco Cup. We are proud to have paved the way for numerous talented drivers to take the step up into higher motorsport classes”, summarized Volkswagen Motorsport Director Jost Capito.

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women’s AN INERVIEW WITH Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky VW set great value on sexual equality on and off racetracks. In the 2014 season four female drivers raced in Scirocco R-Cup: Swedish Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (21), France’s Lucile Cypriano (18), earned her place by winning a talent competition run by the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission), Swiss Jasmin Preisig (22) and Doreen Seidel (29), (German playmate). Swedish Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky scored most points among the women during the season and thus earned the unofficial title of “Ladies Champion.” Åhlin-Kottulinsky grew up as part of a petrolhead family. Her grandfather Freddy Kottulinsky won the Paris-Dakar Rally in 1980 together with his co-pilot Gerd Löffelmann (with a VW Iltis which was the first Rally Dakar victory for VW.) Her brother Fredrik Åhlin competed in Scandinavian Rallys this year. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky drove her third season in the Scirocco R-Cup and became the only female driver in Volkswagen’s one-make cup history to win a race at Norisring 2014. She received huge applause and a standing ovation entering the motorhome after the podium ceremony. Pit Lane Reporter met with the young, passioned driver to talk about the farewell and her future in racing at the final weekend in Hockenheim. AG - How would you summarise your final race in Hockenheim? “It was a very tough day. I set the second fastest time in qualifying but all my laps have been cancelled: They said I was outside the white lines. As a result I had to start P25. At the Red Bull Ring I started from P17 and made my way up to P4, so I thought everything is possible. Then - at the start - a few guys crashed in front of me and I had to go on the 30

Gosia Rdest (PL), Doreen Seidel (D), Mikaela Åhlin-Kott (A), Lucile Cypriano (F) Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup - Re side off track. I drove through one of the signs which normally isn’t a problem. The signs are not hard and simply fall off when you continue. But today a piece of this sign got stuck in front of my cooler, my engine went hot and I had to go in. So everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Hockenheim was a weekend to forget: Now it’s time to move on and think about next year as well as the next race. Highlighting the positive: my speed was good. The track in Hockenheim and I suit together but I don’t seem to have much luck on this track.”

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s power BY ANNIKA GÖCKE

AG - What was the special charm and fascination about Scirocco R-Cup for you? “Of course racing with the push-to-pass. It’s great fun! You can be tactical and if you use it in the right way you gain a lot of positions and a lot of time.” AG - When you started in 2012, it was your aim to make progress as a driver, learn a lot and quickly implement what you learnt. Are you satisfied and would you say you reached your goal?

tulinsky (S), Jasmin Preisig (CH), Dominique Regatschnig ed Bull Ring Spielberg 2014 AG - Hockenheim was the last race. What did you enjoy most in Scirocco R-Cup? “Since this is the series that I started to drive cars - I only did karting before - it has been three good years. I developed a lot. When I arrived, I started from the bottom and ended this year with one win. Now - at the last race - it turns out that I am the only girl within Volkswagen’s racing history that has won a race. This means a lot to me! But of course it is sad that it was the last race.”

“This year I can say that I am not satisfied with every race. I had a tough weekend at Oschersleben and the weekend in Hockenheim also turned out to be really tough; but my speed developed in the way that I wanted. I was a the bottom of the sheets and not a top guy in the first year, kind of a middle driver and sometimes really fast in the second year, and this year - even if the results doesn’t show though from every race - I had top 3 - top 5 times every race. And that was my goal; to develop myself and become a better driver. So I would say that I am happy after these three years.” AG - You also said DTM would be your goal. Is this still the case? “Yes, it is still my goal: to be the first woman to become DTM champion.” AG - What was your personal highlight/ biggest achievement so far? “My personal highlight -when I was really lucky and happy for the first time - was when I made a good qualifying times. The qualifying has always been a problem for me, and now I have found a way to improve times. Even though it didn’t turn out so good this weekend (when the laps were cancelled|), I still made a P2 time. I really have figured out how

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Mikaela Ă&#x2026;hlin-Kottulinsky

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to make qualifyings and that was a big step for me. My biggest achievement so far was the win at Norisring; to stand on top of the podium and hear the Swedish national anthem - which has always been a dream of mine - was simply amazing.” AG - Looking back - regarding your family history as well - what was your first memory of enjoying motorsport? “That must have been a day in karting when I started to realise that I can be good at this. I am a competitive person, so I always want to win. The day that I understood that this is something I can be really good at was the day I started to enjoy it.” AG - What are your plans for the future, especially looking at 2015? “For sure, I want to do something that has to do with racing next year. Unfortunately I can’t say anything yet because I don’t have the budget for what I want to do, but I do have a plan. After I tried Rallycross this year, many people asked me if I want to do that full-time, but for me racing is still my main goal.” AG - Could the Audi Sport TT Cup be an option for you? “The Audi Sport TT Cup can be an option, yes. I saw the car and think it looks really cool. I think this is going to be a great series.” AG - Please share your experience testing the Audi R8 LMS. “That was also amazing; I tested at the beginning of September with Rahel Frey as my coach. I recently did three test days at Lausitzring with Markus Winkelhock and “Sepp” Haider (Josef “Sepp” Haider, former Austrian rally driver, editor’s note), as coaches. I developed a lot and learnt a lot. It’s a different driving style from the Scirocco but I think that car suits me; the speed, the downforce and the balance it has is really amazing. It’s a great car.” AG - Motorsport is still known as a ‘man’s world.’ Women still don’t enjoy a big following yet. What do you think could be the reason for this? And what has to be done to change this? “I think the reason for this is that some girls still choose to take their clothes off. Another reason could be the grid girls with not so many clothes on. Unfortunately, motorsport is still connected with girls handing out flyers, and if you come to the workshops you also see calendars with naked girls. It’s been like that back in the days and this picture is still in people’s heads. What has to be done to change this is what I am actually trying to do now. Achieving good results, showing that I am a top driver. I feel that within this series the guys and all the girls know that I am a fast driver; they don’t see me as a girl anymore, and that is my goal for the whole world: To not see me as a girl but see me as top driver. What you have to do is achieve good results and prove that there is no difference. You can be fast as a girl too; that’s what needs to be done to change this picture.” AG - Would you like to share a message with other females working hard on entering motorsport or working hard on their careers? “Never give up! Keep on going! Sometimes you have bad days, like I had in Hockenheim. But if you have the talent, always keep on trying and pushing. If you really try, it will for sure come back to you someday.” AG - In closing: Would you like to share a message with your fans? “Thank you so much for your support! It is nice that my fans support during the good days but especially during the bad ones. Without the fans this sport would have been nothing; It’s the fans that are coming to the tracks to watch us, and this is the most important thing that we have, I’d say.”

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AUDI SPORT TT CUP BY ANNIKA GÖCKE

Audi Sport TT Cup as a new supporting series of DTM Audi launched the new “Audi Sport TT Cup.” It was an open secret and the media was speculating for a while after it was clear that the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup would have its last appearance in Hockenheim. Audi stopped the discussions and presented the new Audi Sport TT Cup within the final DTM race weekend in Hockenheim.

Audi Sport TT Cup in Germany While other manufacturers are braking, Audi is at full throttle. For more than 30 years, Audi has continually been developing ‘Advancement through technology’ through motorsport. The brand with the four rings will be offering a new opportunity to enter the company’s successful motorsport world. The Audi Sport TT Cup will be held as part of DTM, starting in the 2015 season. The Audi Sport TT Cup will hold two races per weekend, holding 5 races in Germany and one abroad - all of them as a part of DTM. It isn’t clear yet where the race abroad will take place. The question as to whether or not it will be in the UK - the country where the Audi TT has most sales - couldn’t be answered yet. It’s more likely that the race will be held in a German-speaking area, possibly the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. However, Audi will wait for the DTM calender 2015 to be published before deciding what’s best. 34

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TT is going to thrill fans

The extremely light body of the The four-cylinder TFSI and the electronically variable from the 1,125 kgs delivers 228 kW (310 by 22 kW (30 hp). “With the T Hollerweger, Managing Directo

quattro GmbH will prepare 24 even journalists. Interested driv for the series amounts to 99,000

s and drivers

e third TT generation with its intelligent material mix of steel and aluminum provides an ideal base for a race car. e six-speed S tronic are adopted, virtually unchanged, from the production model. An active differential which is e cockpit ensures optimal traction at the front axle. The racing version of the new Audi TT with a weight of only hp). By means of a so-called push-to-pass function the output of the two-litre TFSI engine can be briefly boosted TT cup we offer an attractive race car for beginners and drivers who switch from other racing series,” said Heinz or of quattro GmbH.

cars. Six of these will be reserved for so-called “guest drivers” – including professional racing drivers, VIPs and vers can apply worldwide for the other 18 places on the grid at www.audi-motorsport.com. The registration fee 0 Euro (approx. 79,000 pounds) excl. VAT, which doesn’t include travel expenses and accidental damage repairs. www.pitlanereporter.com

Audi Sport TT Cup coach Markus Winkelhock. ©Audi Sport.

TT Cup offers opportunities for youngsters

“It is possible to step up from the Audi Sport TT Cup but it won’t be easy of course”, predicted Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. However, the winner of the new Audi Sport TT Cup can look forward to receiving support in Audi’s successful GT3 sports car program. A subsequent promotion to the DTM or the WEC with Audi is another dream of many young race drivers.

Winkelhock to pass on his experience The young drivers will be well-advised by an experienced race driver. Former Audi DTM driver and winner of this year’s 24-hour races at Nürburgring and at Spa, Markus Winkelhock, will 36

be on hand to coach the participants of the Audi Sport TT Cup. Winkelhock first tested the car at a fotoshooting event. His first impression on the TT Cup was revealed on the press conference in Hockenheim. It is reported he said “Whoa, this is a real race car!” Winkelhock then continued to share his general impression: “The Audi TT is a genuine race car, ideal for rookies, yet challenging to drive.” Winkelhock is also involved in fine-tuning the new Audi race car. “Obviously, I’d love to be on the grid of the Audi Sport TT Cup myself in one of the races. The Audi TT is a fantastic car and great fun. But I don’t know yet whether this can be combined with my role as coach.” Another person who revealed he would like to drive was DMSB (Germany’s motor racing governing body) president Hans-Joachim Stuck: “Maybe I am also allowed to drive.” Overall, he happily welcomed the series, wishing them a successful start.

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Audi TT cup technical data As of: October 2014 Model Vehicle Vehicle type Body Engine Type

Exhaust emission control system Engine management Engine lubrication Cubic capacity Power output Torque Drive train/transmission Type of drive Clutch Transmission Differential Drive shafts Suspension/steering/brakes Steering Front suspension

Rear suspension

Brakes

Audi TT cup (2015) Cup vehicle according to Audi Sport TT Cup Regulations Body-in-white featuring a steel/aluminum hybrid design with welded-in steel safety cell (acc. to FIA Regulations) Four-in-line gasoline engine with gasoline direct injection, exhaust gas turbocharger with intercooler, four-valve technology, double overhead camshaft, DOHC Oxygen sensor upstream of turbine (cylinder-selective sensor signal), steel racing catalytic converter Simos 18 Wet sump 1,984 cc 228 kW (310 hp)/250 kW (340 hp) Boost for overtaking accessible through push-to-pass system Over 400 Nm at 1,600 to 4,300 rpm Front-wheel drive, traction control (ASR) Two electro-hydraulically operated oil-immersed multi-plate clutches 6-speed dual-clutch S tronic with paddle shifting Active electro-hydraulic front axle limited-slip differential Constant velocity joint shafts Electric progressive steering McPherson struts with lower steel wishbones, aluminum swivel bearing, steel subframe, struts with coil springs and adjustable dampers, adjustable stabilizers Four-link rear suspension, dampers with coil springs (coil-overconfiguration), steel subframe, aluminum uprights, adjustable stabilizers Hydraulic dual-circuit braking system, with adjustable brake pressure distribution (front axle/rear axle), steel brake discs front and rear, racing ABS Aluminum rims, front and rear, 10 x 18 inches 265/660-18 or comparable

Rims Tires Weights/dimensions Length Width Height Minimum weight Fuel tank capacity

4,620 mm 1,994 mm 1,195 mm 1,125 kg 501

Equipment Fire extinguishing system Seat system Refueling system Electrical system

Audi Sport Audi PS1 Protection Seat Production-level with safety valve Production-level, modified for motorsport purposes

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Hankook celebrated their 40th DTM race at the final weekend o 2014 season in Hockenheim. BY ANNIKA GĂ&#x2013;CKE

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h official of the

Hankook ensured consistently high quality The manufacturer’s successful tyre trio - the ultra fast option tyre Ventus Race Plus, the durable baseline slick Ventus Race Prime, and the reliable wet tyre Ventus Race Rain - performed convincingly on all race tracks with their high performance and consistency as well as providing maximum safety. “In the run-up to our 40th official DTM race at the traditional season final at Hockenheim our teams can be proud of the achievements to date. After all, we’re competing here at the highest level in arguably the world’s best touring car series with the leading marques Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz”, said Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook’s Motorsport Director for Europe.

TYRE CHALLENGES The track in Hockenheim is a particular challenge for the tyres. The legendary 4,574 km long circuit in the Hardtwald, features a very diverse track layout. Fast straights and corners such as the Parabolika are taken at top speed, with slow and narrow passages in between. “On the Hockenheimring a lot of energy is transferred to the tyres. This is especially the case in the fast sweeping corners where the structure of the tyre must withstand heavy loads,” stated Hankook’s DTM race engineer Christophe Stucki, and admitted “the toughest races on the DTM calender are Hockenheim and Zandvoort.” Issues such as high-speed sections or high kerbs are throwing special challenges at the race tyres, especially in Hockenheim. As nothing on the tyres can be changed after the start of the season, the only option for the teams is to cope with possible challenges occuring on track is the setup. Problems can be regulated by vehicle height, tyre pressure and dampers. Furthermore Hankook provides technical recommendations to all DTM teams regarding tyre camber and pressure. The teams then have a window within which they can work to decide what’s best for their cars. A good set up is vital in Hockenheim to keep the car stable and to find the ideal braking point. Ideally, Hankook’s option tyre performs best at a track temperature of 20 to 25 degrees Celsius. “If it should get cold, the teams have to work on special shock absorber settings and different air pressures in order to get the Ventus Race Plus up to the optimal working temperature,” revealed Stucki. Despite everything, problems shouldn’t occur because DTM tested before and held the season-opener at Hockenheim to ‘gain tyre experience’ which constituted an advantage.

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After the final event of the season in Hockenheim, Chairman of DTM, rights holder and promoter, ITR e.V. Hans Werner Aufrecht pointed out: “We will no longer have option tyres, there is consensus on that.” Detailed tyre regulations for 2015 have yet to be defined. Hankook pointed out that they would definitely like to carry on. Normally the development of a new tyre starts in summer because warm temperatures play an important role. The overall time for building a new tyre is six to nine month.

Best Pit Stop Award Since Hankook joined DTM as tyre manufacturer in 2011, the fastest pit crew of the season has been presented with a challenge trophy - displaying a stylised pit stop scene - and rewarded with a lavish barbecue at the team headquarters. In the past, the award went to Audi teams with Phönix Racing in 2011 and Abt Sportsline in 2012. BMW Team Schnitzer was the winning team 2013. As a part of DTM regulations, the points towards this contest are allocated per vehicle and not added team-wise. Over the course of the season, the fastest pit crew from each race weekend earns 25 points for the respective vehicle (2nd-10th position earns 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 points respectively) and is rewarded with three crates of beer at the next race weekend. The score is tallied according to the official DMSB pit stop times from the vehicle entering the pit lane to the time of its exit. The Mercedes mechanics - who were leading with three victories completed the fastest pit stop at Hockenheim with 24.348 seconds. As a result the crew of Paul di Resta, team “Original-Teile Mercedes AMG”, defended their narrow lead over the second-placed team BMW Schnitzer (two victories) and won the 2014 Pit Stop Award.

Overview: The top 3 Pit Stop Award result: 6 10 9

Mercedes AMG BMW Team Schnitzer BMW Team Schnitzer

Paul Di Resta Martin Tomczyk Bruno Spengler

108 105 89

The Hankook hospitality

*Some quotes and text in this feature have been taken from Hankook press releases and other such communications.

Hankook’s DTM race engineers on stage as well as Hankook’s Motorsport Director for Europe Manfred Sandbichler on the right. 40

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Paul di Resta and his crew at the pit st

top

DTM drivers Bruno Spengler (BMW), Martin Tomczyk (BMW) and Christian Vietoris (Mercedes) as Hankookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guests. www.pitlanereporter.com

FREDDIE ON THE HUNT BY ADAM ACWORTH

Excitement began to build as the racers lined up for the afternoon’s heats in front of a packed grandstand. From the second row Freddie had a good chance of making up a place and holding on for a podium finish from the start. As they took off with a roar the crowd cheered and settled in to wait for the cars to round the first lap and reappear into view. A ferocious battle developed between Freddie and the leading pack of drivers. Positions were exchanged on a number of occasions but in the end Freddie held on for a class win and P5 over all.

ast weekend Freddie Hunt, professional racing driver and son of James Hunt 1976 Formula One World Champion took one small step closer to realising his ultimate dream - racing in the Le Mans 24 hour. Supported by the British men’s fashion brand Hackett (www.hackettlondon.com), Freddie entered the prestigious Walter Hayes Trophy, held annually at the home of British motorsport Silverstone. After successful testing sessions on the Thursday and Friday, Freddie lined up against 120 other drivers to contest the Walter Hayes over Saturday and Sunday. Driving a 23 year-old Formula Ford car, Freddie posted a number of fast lap times and found himself lining up 4th on the grid ahead of Saturdays afternoon heats. This performance was particularly impressive given the stiff competition including IndyCar driver Peter Dempsey and the age of his car - relative to some of the more powerful 2014 models Freddie was competing against in the same race.

The class win meant Freddie qualified for Sunday’s semi-final in 14th place. The semi-final got off to a good start seeing Freddie move up to 7th in the first two laps. Unfortunately only to be moved back to 14th after the race had to be re-started due to a crash. After the re-start Freddie came into contact with another car causing him to finish 17th with a severely damaged car. However making it through to the grand final Freddie found himself starting in P33, out of a 36 car field. The lights went out and Freddie was off! After 15 laps of furious racing through the water logged track Freddie managed to fight his way up to finish a respectiable19th overall, 4th in class. Speaking to Freddie afterwards he said, “It’s a shame about the crash in the semi-final, a class win and a top 5th overall finish would have been on the cards if I hadn’t been hit. There was nothing I could do about it so no point worrying I now need to just concentrate on Bahrain next weekend. Freddie flies to Bahrain shortly to compete in the second round of the MRF F2000 Challenge which sees him team up with Mathias Lauda son of three times Formula One World Champion Niki Lauda who’s rivalry with Freddie’s father was famously portrayed in the 2013 movie Rush. For more information on Freddie or to contact him, please visit: Facebook.com/huntofficial or @FreddieHunt76 on Twitter.

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Chase Update: Season Finale Approaching BY travis barend

he 2014 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is coming to a close as the season finale race at Homestead Miami Speedway approaches. So far, the new elimination format has not disappointed. Each race of the playoff has had unique twists.

The Hendrick Motorsports cars of Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson were all eliminated, having struggled in the previous two events. Also missing the cut was Kyle Busch, who preformed well in the first two races of the round, but crashed at Talladega to fall in the standings.

After the first race of the Contender Round, the second round of the Chase, multiple big name drivers were in the bottom four positions in the standings, facing the possibility of elimination. Poor finishes for Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Brad Keselowski meant that each driver would likely need a win in the next two races to advance.

After Talladega, only eight drivers remained eligible for the championship. Each was reset to an equal number of points. Next up was the Eliminator Round, which would decide the final four drivers to compete for the championship in the last race.

At Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag, locking a position into the next round. This meant only one race remained until the bottom four would be officially eliminated. The race that would determine this is one of the most unpredictable of them all â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Talladega. Brad Keselowski scored the win at the superspeedway, taking the trophy in the final race of the Contender Round. This meant the Team Penske driver would move on to continue to fight for the championship.

At Martinsville, Dale Earnhardt Jr., won his fourth race of the season. A week later, it was his teammate Jimmie Johnson who scored the win at Texas Motor Speedway. Since both drivers had been eliminated from championship contention, none of the remaining eligible drivers clinched a place in the Championship Round at Homestead-Miami Speedway. As the Sprint Cup Series moves to Phoenix Raceway, the penultimate race of the season, where four more drivers will be removed, only 18 points separate the top eight teams. Currently, the bottom four drivers are Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick.

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NASCAR Hands Down Penalties After Fights BY travis barend

ASCAR wanted memorable and exciting moments when it created the new elimination format for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. As the season nears a likely dramatic conclusion, NASCAR has received its wish.

crews pushed and shoved until officials broke the altercation up.

At Charlotte Motor Speedway, the second race of the Contender Round, frustration consumed multiple drivers. After slamming into Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart during the cool down lap after the checkered flag, Brad Keselowski was a target amongst his competitors.

Stewart was fined $25,000 and placed on probation through Nov. 12. Keselowski was fined $50,000 and was placed on probation for the same period of time.

Denny Hamlin and Keselowski chased each other through the garage with their cars, while Tony Stewart backed his car into Keselowskiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on pit road. While the incident was originally between Hamlin and Keselowski, both Stewart and Kenseth were upset that they were brought into the issue. While chasing Hamlin, Keselowski made contact with both Stewart and Kenseth. Hamlin attempted to confront Keselowski after the two had gotten out of their cars, however they were unable to reach each other. Kenseth on the other hand, ran to Keselowski. The two drivers and their

NASCAR penalized both Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski for their actions. NASCAR had determined that Keselowski and Stewart used their cars to instigate an altercation.

Kenseth and Hamlin were not penalized because NASCAR determined the two did not use their cars in a dangerous way. A month later at Texas Motor Speedway, a bigger brawl took place. Once again, it involved Brad Keselowski. While racing for the lead late in the race, Keselowski made contact with Jeff Gordon, cutting Gordonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tire and hurting his championship chances. After the race, Gordon confronted Keselowski. Kevin Harvick later joined the two, giving Keselowski a push and walking away.

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A massive brawl took place, involving drivers and crews. Punches were thrown, which led to blood on both the faces of Gordon and Keselowski. Following the race, NASCAR reviewed the videos and penalized anyone who was identified as throwing a punch. Two members of Jeff Gordon’s crew were fined $25,000 and suspended through the next six races, including the beginning events of next season. A member of Kasey Kahne’s team was also penalized in the same manner. An additional member of Gordon’s team was fined $10,000 and suspended through the next three races.

“While the intensity and emotions are high as we continue through the final rounds of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, the actions that we saw from several crew members Sunday following the race at Texas are unacceptable,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR senior vice president, competition and racing development. “We reviewed the content that was available to us of the post-race incident along pit road, and identified several crew members who crossed the line with their actions, specifically punching others.”

All members of the crew were from Hendrick Motorsports. Crew chiefs Kenny Francis (Kasey Kahne) and Alan Gustafson (Jeff Gordon) were fined $50,000 for being unable to control their crew. No drivers were penalized because they did not throw a punch. Brad Keselowski’s team was not penalized at all. NASCAR could not identify any punches thrown from Team Penske members. NASCAR is typically tolerant of pushing and shoving, but not punching.

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47 47

Toyota Unveils 2015 Sprint Cup Series Car by travis barend counterpart -- and provide a performance upgrade on the race track.” The body will debut in February at Daytona with limited on track testing. NASCAR will restrict private testing following this season.

Toyota will field a new Sprint Cup Series body in 2015. It was unveiled in early October. Toyota becomes the first manufacturer to update the Gen-6 Sprint Cup Series car, which was introduced to competition at the start of the 2013 season. NASCAR allows manufacturers to update the body style, but requires approval from their own research and development center. The new body style was designed to correlate to the 2015 production Camry, which was introduced earlier in the year.

“The redesigned Toyota Camry race car is a byproduct of the vastly improved collaboration that has taken place between NASCAR and its auto manufacturers during the past three years,” said Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s Executive VP and Chief Racing Development Officer. “Toyota’s dedication to remodel its Gen-6 race car to more closely resemble its street production counterpart has been exemplary, and we look forward to watching it perform on the track each weekend in 2015.” The Camry will also have a new body for the 2015 XFINITY Series (currently called the Nationwide Series).

“A lot of hard work has gone into redesigning the 2015 Camry race car for NASCAR competition,” said David Wilson, Toyota Racing Development’s president and general manager. “It was a challenging process balancing performance and design, but working closely with Calty Design, NASCAR and our race team partners, we were able to develop a race car that looks similar to its production 48

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Btcc SEASON FINALE: The 2014 Greatest Hits Megamix BY adam johnson

ormally when an ageing rock band release a greatest hits compilation, it’s to swindle another tenner out of you as you inevitably buy it for your dad for Father’s Day, chronicling the career of a band whose glory days are probably some way behind them. In terms of the BTCC however, the closing curtain call of season 2014 at Brands Hatch felt like a mix-tape of everything great about this year’s premier touring car series. Colin Turkington swept to a deserved title with a performance clad with relentless confidence and assurance; Jason Plato mixed tremendous raw speed with pantomime villain antics; the weather conditions varied wildly (to the point that Race 3 could charitably be described as the first BTCC night race since 2001), and in amongst the chaos and fender-mashing lay some of the finest tin-top driving one will see around the world. Having to follow the craziest Bathurst 1000 in living memory is a task most motor racing series would be unable to do, but the BTCC rises to such challenges time and again.

Race 1 As the day started, the championship was still in the balance, albeit firmly in Turkington’s favour. A monster drive in Silverstone - Race 50

3 put one hand on the title, and Plato needed a win with Turkington finishing 4th or worse to somehow keep his fading hopes from being extinguished altogether. He severely blotted his copybook off the start with team-mate Sam Tordoff sneaking into the lead and fending off Turkington, who predictably being part of the invincible rear-wheel-drive mafia (note sarcasm), got a ripper start. The title fight was put on hold however when in the pack behind, Fabrizio Giovanardi went for an audacious move on Gordon Shedden (‘through the pit exit!’ as Shedden described it irately) and squeezed the big Honda Tourer around, sparking off a NASCAR-style ‘Big One’. It’s easier to list the cars who weren’t involved in the ensuing carnage; both Hondas were bashed, as were both Rob Austin Racing Audis of Austin and Hunter Abbott, and Team BMR took a battering as Dave Newsham clipped Jack Goff spectacularly into the air in avoidance with Alain Menu also piling in. Fortunately all involved were OK (although Neal was out of the weekend and flown to hospital for some checks on his hand), although the same can’t be said of the cars - or the teams’ bank accounts. Off the restart, all eyes were on leader Tordoff as to when, or even if, he would hand over the lead to

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Plato. Another factor arrived when Mat Jackson’s Ford Focus moved past Adam Morgan and up onto Turkington’s rear bumper through lap 6. MG were hoping Jackson would be able to nick valuable points from their rival but, once again, Turkington rose to the challenge as he has done time and again this year - firstly slamming the door on Jackson at Clearways in a bold high-speed move, before lodging the fastest lap and nabbing another crucial point on lap 7. With pressure really growing, Tordoff finally let Plato through to the lead at Pilgrims Drop on the following lap, before the safety car returned as poor Team BMR had another VW Passat to fix; as Warren Scott had a high-speed wreck into the spectator bridge at Pilgrim’s Drop. And as you were once again from lap 12. MG had thrown everything at the 2009 champ, and you really started to get the sense as the laps ticked down that the game was up - Plato, like King Canute, was powerless to hold back the Turkington tide. Behind the end-of-term party was starting, with drivers throwing caution to the four winds; Rob Collard muscled past Giovanardi at Westfield on lap 13, and poor James Cole’s race turned sour after a promising top-10 start when Marc Hynes (you know, the man who beat Jenson Button) wrecked namesake and

Cole’s teammate Luke Hines at Graham Hill on lap 17 and collected Cole in the process. Two more cars to fix, but it did provide us with one of the best overtakes of the weekend as Aiden Moffat slid up the inside of Menu as both ducked through the grass in avoidance. This race was all about one man though. Plato inevitably won the battle, and Turkington deservedly won the war - his fastest-lap bonus point meaning his tally could not be heeded by Plato no matter what happened.

Race 2 NASCAR will tell you that race drivers don’t have enough motivation to win races, and that points resets and making the final races winner-takes-all will guarantee excitement all season. Explain to me then why Race 2 at Brands Hatch, a race where all titles had been sown up and with nothing to play for but pride, was perhaps the best race all season. One packed with drama, controversy, and racers throwing everything on the line for victory in an apparently meaningless race. Riddle me that, Brian France?

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The already battered and depleted field lost another one of its number just one corner into Race 2. As new champion Turkington stormed into the lead, poor Menu spun and rear-ended his Passat into the inside tyre barrier at Paddock Hill, ending his weekend and season almost two races early. Once yet another Team BMR VW had been cleared off the circuit, it was title rivals against each other up front; but not for long. Yes, today was the return of Plato the villain, as he lunged for a non-existent gap on the inside at Paddock Hill (unless you call the grass a legitimate passing space) and fired Turkington off into the wall at lap 4. You had to laugh at the fact that Plato at least waited until the title fight was over before pulling that stunt, but it still left a bad taste in the mouth. Jackson suddenly emerged in the race lead, with Collard sneaking up to 2nd ahead of Public Enemy Number One, but the revolving door upfront continued as Jackson slid straight off at Hawthorns before spinning back across the track and brushing the armco. Teammate Giovanardi attempted to oneup him a few laps later, spinning at Dingle Dell under slight contact from Tom Ingram and somehow not wiping out half the field as he pirouetted to a stop in the middle of the circuit - some quick reflexes from the midfield runners avoided further carnage. Meanwhile, Marc Hynes fell off at Graham Hill under contact with Moffat, who was quietly having a career-best weekend. Speaking of career best, one driver rose above all the rest as Race 2 went on to steal the show; plucky Adam Morgan in the WIX Mercedes. In a five-car pain train featuring Collard leading, Plato, Tordoff and Andrew Jordan, the A-Class hatchback looked like a slot car with extra magnets installed as he charged up the field, slicing past Tordoff on lap 8 and throwing a superb hip and shoulder move on Plato through lap 14 at Paddock Hill up to Druids. If anyone doubted this guy’s ability to scrap at the top of the BTCC food chain, this was the elegant and 52

physical riposte. And as he charged past Collard for the lead down the start-finish straight on lap 15, the fairy-tale story was almost written, until heartbreak for the ‘Mega Morg’ at Sheene Curve later the same lap as he slid wide into the grass. A superb save was not enough, and Plato gleefully took a second victory of the day as ‘Mega Morg’ hung on for 2nd ahead of Tordoff, and Collard was mugged off 4th at the line by Jordan. However, the stewards provided one final twist by penalising Plato for his ‘move’ (if you can call it that) on Turkington, which gave Morgan his much-deserved debut victory after all.

Race 3 Can you remember the last time we had a dry final weekend of the BTCC? I can’t. And one of the longest-held traditions in motor racing was kept up as the heavens opened for Race 3. With the rain combining with gathering gloom, we had a rubbish mix of conditions for the grand finale of season 2014. Not that it stopped the BTCC circus from going all-in balls-out as always; if anything the racing became yet more intense amongst the blinding headlamps and clouds of spray. Predictably we had yet another lap 2 safety car, after incidents for Simon Belcher, Cole and Collard on the opening lap, whilst Nick Foster scrapped his way to the lead ahead of Jack Clarke and Goff on the reverse-grid. However, what quickly became apparent was the battered Shedden was smelling a shot at redemption; as others dithered in the conditions, his Civic Tourer resembled a U-boat slicing through the rainwater and past his competition, nailing Foster at Westfield on lap 3 and slicing effortlessly past Clarke on lap 4 at Dingle Dell. Goff ’s race ended soon after, but Aron Smith, the one Team BMR car who had avoided misfortune so far in the weekend, took his place in 3rd hounding the bright green Focus of Clarke. Behind the scrapping was ferocious. Jackson, Tordoff and Jordan fought hard, and both Turkington and Plato were charging up through the field after both found themselves starting at the back. A mishap for Martin Depper at Paddock Hill on lap 9 saw a second safety car intervention and the big loser off the lap 12 restart was Smith, as he got nudged out of 3rd by Jackson at Druids before losing 4th to Tordoff. Plato’s surge took him up to 7th, whereas Turkington dumped a potential 12th-place finish off on the final lap at Surtees. But as those behind him floundered, Shedden was imperious in such awful weather. The race was shortened to 15 laps

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due to the impending gloom, but it looked like he could’ve kept going into the night and nothing short of a tactical nuclear strike could’ve stopped him. It was an epic drive to finish a frustrating year for the Honda boys, and Clarke led Jackson home for a satisfying conclusion to the year for Motorbase Ford. Tom Ingram has stolen the show in terms of star rookies, but Clarke has come on strong in the latter part of the year, and a podium was well deserved for the Crabbie’s crew. Meanwhile, in amongst the bedlam, Dave Newsham rose above the carnage to snatch the Jack Sears Trophy at the last - with main contender Menu not even making the grid, the likeable Inverness man took a deserved trophy home in what has become an interesting side-championship; one which rewards the underdogs and big guns equally. It’s the closest thing motor racing has to an FA Cup, and Newsham and AMD Tuning have earned their trophy the hard way.

right now is in rude health, highly competitive and hugely intense racing between a massive collection of characters and cars. Superstars fought rookies and factory teams fought plucky independents on equal footing, and Colin Turkington’s rise out of the eye of the storm to a second title is an achievement worthy of a lot of respect; he had to do it the hard way. No, we likely won’t ever see anything quite as epic and insane as the Super Touring era in BTCC racing ever again. But the naysayers who constantly whine for the good ol’ days to return can go back to their tea-stained season review tapes. The class of 2014 has been one of the finest in recent seasons, and with Infiniti throwing their muscle into the ring for 2015, the off-season cannot go by quickly enough.

Conclusion What was satisfying as night fell on the 2014 championship was the realisation that the BTCC has really found its feet once more. I’m wary of making any predictions, as they are usually wrong, but Brands Hatch confirmed that the championship www.pitlanereporter.com

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btcc driver standings (10th NOVEMBER 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 27 28

Name

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

Car

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

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Points 434 399 349 316 310 277 255 207 201 185 176 147 138 121 119 101 70 54 50 20 19 15 14 10 6 5 2 -40

Blancpain Sprint Series: Maxi-mum Attack In Zolder Blancpain Sprint Series Round 6: Zolder Circuit, 18th/19th October

BY adam johnson

he penultimate round of a championship season is often just as engaging and enthralling as the final round itself. Not just if you’re NASCAR, where it’s about the fifth different elimination round/points reset in as many weeks, but for championships still decided the old-fashioned way, a strong second-to-last performance of the year can be absolutely pivotal in setting the stage for the grand finale. Look at Colin Turkington’s mighty performance in Race 3 at Silverstone in the BTCC - he remarked that it was his title-winning drive, and it meant he gained both points and psychological advantage on rival Jason Plato going into the final round, where he took the title comfortably in Race 1. A similar situation has unfolded in the Blancpain Sprint Series, which has been a duel between the underdog Grasser Racing Lamborghini team and the experienced HTP Motorsport Mercedes outfit all year. Their lead cars have been head and shoulders above everybody from the word go, with Jeroen Bleekemolen and Hari Procyzk’s raw speed and determination contrasting Maxi Gotz and Maxi Buhk’s relentless drive and consistency. So far the latter’s approach had yielded a 29-point advantage going into Zolder’s penultimate showdown. Would they be able to land a telling uppercut and leave legs wobbling before

the circus arrived in Azerbaijan? Or was this time for Grasser to rope-a-dope back onto level terms? Elsewhere, Buhk was actually fighting on two fronts - an overall points table, champion and prize fund is being awarded this season for both the Sprint and Endurance series into one Blancpain GT Series champion. After sowing up the Endurance Series in September, Laurens Vanthoor had designs on the overall title alongside Buhk for the mightily impressive Team WRT Audi squad, on home turf this weekend and recovering well from a strange lack of pace in the early season.

Qualifying Race Advantage Grasser after qualifying, with Bleekemolen outside pole alongside Vanthoor. But, as has been the case most of the season, a crazy start led to Rene Rast in the #2 WRT Audi stealthing around the outside at Turn 2 to take the lead from 3rd on the grid. The usual first-lap madness didn’t materialise, with Matias Stumpf being the only victim, losing a right-rear tire halfway around the first lap. Otherwise, the opening salvo of the weekend started out fairly lukewarm - Maxi Gotz played safe after a stinker in qualifying left the #84

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Mercedes down in 12th; moving up to 9th initially before holding station in front of the determined Filipe Salaquarda in the #90 Ferrari.

mass charge for the pitlane followed, with bad news for Grasser as debutants Peter Kox and Nicky Catsberg’s Lambo jumped them in the pit lane.

But then the race ignited in spectacular style. Vanthoor had stalked Rast through the early stages, and finally looked to make a move at the penultimate corner after 15 minutes. However, Rast wasn’t expecting a move from his team-mate, so was rather surprised to end up facing the wrong way on corner exit after both WRT Audis collided. Rast angrily rejoined in 4th place and Vanthoor wisely legged it into the lead, but the stewards correctly decided it was a racing incident. Maybe Vanthoor was a bit optimistic, maybe Rast should’ve seen his teammate move up alongside? Who knows? Either way, a mixed day got worse for Team WRT as GP2 graduate Stephane Riquelme spun into the gravel trap at the Kleine Chicane, causing a safety car just as the pit window opened. A

Cesar Ramos, now in Vanthoor’s #1 Audi, mugged off the experienced Kox on the restart, jumping out to a great lead. The front four were relatively secure now, equal on pace, so attention turned back into the pack, where Caca Bueno had snuck up to 5th place. This was thanks to more lightning pit work from the BMW Team Brasil squad, who have been lightning quick all season. Meanwhile, Andy Soucek, who had starred most of the season in the ART Grand Prix McLaren in the Endurance Series, was now lifting the Beechdean Aston Martin #107 up through the field after a solid opening stint from Johnny Adam. An aggressive hip-andshoulder move on the G-Drive Lambo of Roman Rusinov at Bolderberghaarspeldbocht (Turn 8) was backed up by a sensational move

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around the outside of Nicky Mayr-Melnhof ’s Audi at Sterrewachtbocht the lap after. In amongst all of this, the #84 SLS still refused to move forward, now mired in 11th with Buhk at the wheel and falling into a scrap with Mayr-Melnhof and Alex Zanardi, who himself had risen up from a lowly 18th starting spot. Fortunately, Zanardi’s squabble with MayrMelnhof (concluding with an excellent move down into the Terlamenbocht chicane with 17 minutes to go) took the heat off Buhk, but it still wasn’t an ideal run for the title contender. Mind you, this being the qualifying race, they weren’t on to lose that many points to their opponent, and Procyzk was becoming visibly frustrating at not being able to capitalise further - fading from the front two slowly into the clutches of Enzo Ide in the #2 Audi, in turn fending off the determined Bueno. This was a pain train bubbling with vicious intent, which started boiling over when Soucek and a resurgent Buhk joined the party along with Fabio Onidi in the #60 Bhaitech McLaren. Buhk sliced past Onidi in a hugely ballsy move on the penultimate lap at Jacky Ickxbocht, before controversially tangling with Bueno at the same corner on the final lap, knocking Bueno out of the running in an exact replica of the Rast/Vanthoor incident. Buhk and Gotz therefore stole an unlikely sixth at the flag, behind runaway winners Ramos and Vanthoor, Kox/Catsberg, Procyzk/Bleekemolen, Ide/Rast, and stars of the show Soucek & Adam.

Main Race You know how I wrote that the qualifying race start was relatively calm? Anarchy reigned at the start of the main race. Onidi surged up the middle with a great start, Ramos got swamped as Kox surged through into the lead at the first turn with Procyzk going with him and Thomas Jager falling off into the grass, before Ide, Zanardi and Sten Pentus were all involved in separate wrecks on the first lap - only Zanardi could limp back to the pits with a rightfront puncture. Inevitably the safety car charged out to calm everyone down, and once the bits of broken GT3 car had been swept off the track, Kox led the field away with Buhk sneaking up to 4th in the early mayhem. Michel Bartels in the returning Vita4one BMW car had also moved up, and started scrapping with Mayr-Melnhof for 10th, before the safety car returned after a monumental crash for Alexi Vasiliyev in the debutant #177 SLS. This was caused by a blocking move on Zanardi on the straight towards the Kleine Chicane going horribly wrong, sending the silver Mercedes smacking up on top of the barrier and grinding along the armco into the gravel trap in a stunt Tony Hawk would be proud to pull off on a skateboard. Fortunately the shaken Vasiliyev was A-OK after such a brutal wreck. The safety car departed again just before the pit window, and it was time for the pit crews

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to potentially decide the outcome of the race no pressure then, lads. Procyzk came in first, presumably to get the fully-pro Bleekemolen into the car as soon as possible, as did numerous others, with leaders Kox and Ramos coming in a lap later. Tragically Kox’s #95 car would never return to the track with Catsberg at the wheel, with a cockup on the jacks slamming the car down without a right rear tire on it. Vanthoor meanwhile rejoined just behind Bleekemolen, whilst Buhk stayed out a few more laps, trying to maximise clear air. Just as it did in Portimao, the tactic paid off again, with Gotz returning to the race in the lead - just, as Bleekemolen swarmed the back bumper of his title rival. What happened next was a decisive drive, a la Turkington at Silverstone, from Gotz as he not only defended from Bleekemolen on cold tires, but eventually charged away into an unassailable lead. Just like the main race in Portimao, this was a crushing performance from HTP as they sacrificed a few qualifying race points for maximum points in the main race once more. A good day got better when Stef Dusseldorp stayed out even later, and handed Sergei Afanasiev a 4th place after their pitstop ahead of Adam. Unlike the previous day, the second half of the race was quiet and uneventful - just as Gotz would’ve preferred. The only note of interest was the front of Afanasiev’s SLS coming slightly loose and bouncing on the tarmac in the final few laps, putting on a

stylish spark show for Adam behind. In terms of positions, they stayed secure - Gotz romped home ahead of a frustrated Bleekemolen and Vanthoor, with Afanasiev and Adam rounding out the top-5.

Conclusion Is the Sprint Series championship wrapped up on paper? Nope, not at all. Is it largely settled in Maxi Gotz’s favour? Yes, pretty much. 27 points is the lead, 34 are on the table in Azerbaijan. Bar a catastrophic turn of events involving the HTP #84 car falling into the sea and the #28 Lamborghini romping invincibly home to two victories, this will be a deserved championship tilt for Gotz - codriver Buhk missed a round at the Slovakiaring on a technicality, but will be champion also in all but title. It doesn’t feel fair that Grasser Racing will likely come away empty-handed, but to even be in contention alongside the Blancpain heavyweights such as HTP and Team WRT is a huge achievement for the smaller team, and Bleekemolen and Procyzk have driven out of their respective skins to get to this point. Time for a party on the streets of Baku, with what has quietly become one of the finest street circuits in the world. And, with a capacity grid down to compete and a tasty prize fund to go for, the Blancpain Sprint Series is set to recover from a mildly shaky start to end its inaugural season in style.

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Interview WITH Sara Williams - A RISING WELSH RALLY STAR BY PHIL WOODS

Sara Williams has been in rallying of one kind or another for a number of years now, following in her dads footsteps. A young driver from mid wales, she now finds herself with an entry into the world’s most prestigious rally event, the Finale of the World Rally Championship to be held in her home country of Wales. I’ve long been an advocate of females in motor racing, and this is starting to come to fruition now; Sara is one of the pioneers to have made it. Just when this magazine is being released (15th November), Sara will be in the middle of racing and showing her talent with the big names. Watch out for Sara, she could have a few tricks up her sleeve, a talented driver in a great car on the greatest stage of them all. The following interview was compiled just a few weeks before Wales Rally GB.

Meet Sara Williams! Hi Sara, what a month November is for you, competing in the finale of the WRC in your home country. How does it feel just to be competing in this wonderful event? Words can’t describe how much I am looking forward to it! It is the biggest rally I have done in my career to date; I just can’t wait! You started in rally at the age of 16 when you were a co-driver for your father. Had you always wanted to be involved in the sport? 60

Yes definitely, I’ve always had an interest in cars from a young age and Dad has been involved in racing and rallying for years. It was only a year later when you started driving your own car. Was your mind settled at this point that this was the career for you? Yes! Driving is so much fun; I love it! I still like to have a go in the co-driver’s seat now and again though! You have driven at Wales Rally GB before, back in 2010. Can you tell the readers how this went for you? I have competed in Wales Rally GB National for the past 4 years but 2010 was my best result. Coming 4th overall definitely has to be one of my career highlights. I enjoyed every minute. What type of surface do you prefer? The Welsh Rally has a lot of good quality roads, are you happier in this environment or on the dirt? I started rallying on tarmac events but since 2009, I’ve been mostly competing on gravel events. I think I prefer gravel but wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to do a rally on tarmac either. In 2010 the awards started rolling in, most notably the ‘Millers Oil Rising Star Award’, it was then obvious that the world of rally had something special coming through its ranks. How did it feel to get recognised for your talent for the first time?

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That award helped me along so much in my career; it’s a great feeling when everything starts coming together and all your hard work and determination gets noticed. It makes you want to push even harder for that dream. Also in 2010, I won the John Easson Award – an award for drivers under 25. The award is in memory of John Easson who passed away in a helicopter accident. I am very proud to have won it and the prize is money is used towards the cost of your rally entries. I definitely recommend any drivers under 25 to enter for the award, which is run by the 2300 club every year. In 2011 I won another prestigious award - The Louise Aitkin-Walker Trophy for the highest placed rally driver in the British Women’s Racing Drivers Club, I was presented the award by Louise herself, a great role model for any woman rally driver. Moving on to Wales Rally GB, what are your hopes going into this event? As it is such a long rally covering 3 days and 192 stage miles, it would be a great achievement to just to say that I have finished an international event. But a good result to go with that is my aim.

What car will you be driving and who will be your co-driver?

Last year you won two rallies, the Swansea Bay Rally and the Red Kite Rally, can you give us a brief overview of 2014 to date? 2014 has been a strange year for us. We’ve had a few electrical issues with the car so haven’t done that many events but fortunately, we have now overcome those. We competed in the Red Dragon Rally on 20th September when we came in 2nd overall, only 28 seconds behind Melvyn Evans in his world rally car. We also came first in class. Do you have ambitions to compete in the WRC full time? If so, how are those plans coming along? I think it’s every drivers dream to compete in the WRC full time but it’s not easy to get there. Sponsorship is hard to come by these days. Where do you hope to be in five years’ time? It is a scary thought to think where I might be in 5 years! I hope to be competing in the European Rally Championship. In addition, I hope to earn the opportunity to have a real go at the WRC level. Finally, opportunities for talented women in motor sport are opening up. We have a couple of promising females on the ladder in F1, there is Pippa Mann in IndyCar and yourself in Rally among many others. What advice would you give to young women who would like to forge a career for themselves in the world of motor sport? Stick at it, if you want to achieve at something that much, you have to keep trying. Rallying is full of highs and lows and unfortunately, when the lows come along you feel like giving up but that is not the way forward. When the highs come along, then you realise all your hard work, determination and effort really does pay off. It is an amazing feeling.

We are using the same car as we have had for the past couple of years – a Group N Subaru Impreza N12b. My Co-driver is Patrick Walsh. Patrick sat with me on my first ever gravel rally back in 2009! Brave Man! We have done numerous rallies together now including Wales Rally GB in 2010 when we came 4th overall in the Nationals and in 2012 when we won the very prestigious Croeso Trophy, which is the award for the highest placed Welsh crew and is in memory of Gareth Roberts. What stage are you looking forward to the most? Hafren Sweet Lamb, it is a long stage to get into and the roads are great there. It is a perfect stage for the first day of competition. www.pitlanereporter.com

VIVE LE ROI! report BY BRUNO KEISER, Photos by MikeDeHigh.com

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elcome to the 12th and penultimate round of the WRC season, welcome to Rally de Espana!

The only mixed surface event of the season took place around Costa Dorada’s holiday resort Salou, which hosted the rally headquarters. Held in the hills of Tarragona, 17 competitive stages and 372 kilometres promised thrilling action on gravel and fast smooth asphalt. Drivers had to adapt their driving almost as quickly as the cars were converted from gravel to asphalt specification. Besides that, the main topic of conversation before the rally was: Will Sébastien Ogier win one more championship point than team-mate and only title rival left, Jari-Matti Latvala, to seal a second consecutive title?

Thursday Finnish hopes got an early setback when Frenchman Ogier missed the fastest shakedown time by only 0.2 sec behind Hyundai’s spearhead Thierry Neuville. Ogier’s Polo was 0.3 seconds ahead of the second Hyundai of local hero Dani Sordo. Less than a second covered the top six. Robert Kubica’s Ford Fiesta RS was 0.1sec behind Sordo in fourth and 0.2sec in front of surprise package Yuriy Protasov’s Fiesta RS; the Ukrainian preparing for only his second World Rally Car start. Andreas Mikkelsen completed the top half dozen in a Polo R, 0.1sec further back. Was Latvala’s seventh quickest time a bad omen for Friday’s gravel leg? We we’re soon to find out. Later that evening, huge crowds lined the roads on Montjuïc hill, beneath the stadium which hosted the 1992 Olympic Games and close to the city’s former Grand Prix street circuit. Andreas Mikkelsen’s tyre gamble paid off as he was fastest through the opening street stage in the heart of Barcelona. The Norwegian scrubbed the thread from his VW’s gravel tyres before the start to improve grip on the asphalt roads. This trick gave him a 1.8 sec advantage over team-mate Sébastien Ogier with Thierry Neuville a further 1.1 sec behind in third. Ken Block, starting his first WRC round this season, swiped the barriers at the first corner in his Fiesta RS: “The tyres were colder and slicker than I thought and I went way wider than I expected”, said the American Gymkhana star.

FRIday Hyundai told all its drivers to push the cars harder as they benchmarking the car’s asphalt performance against its rivals. This order immediately turned into results when Thierry Neuville took the lead after the opening two special stages of Friday’s first leg. The Hyundai i20 pilot was third quickest in both Gandesa and Pesells to head Sébastien Ogier’s Volkswagen Polo R. Kiwi, Hayden Paddon, was 2.2sec further back in third in another i20 after being fastest in SS3, his very first WRC stage win!

Road cleaning and hanging dust were the big talking points. First on the road Ogier suffering by sweeping loose gravel but benefiting from a clean run, as those behind were hampered by poor visibility through the second half of Pesells. Kris Meeke was fastest through Gandesa but a double puncture in Pesells forced him to retire in the following liaison section. He changed the rear right tyre in the stage but, with only one spare on board his Citroen DS3, a deflated front right spelled the end. Team-mate Mads Østberg, second fastest www.pitlanereporter.com

in Gandesa, was held up by Meeke’s problems and dropped several seconds before passing the Briton. Overnight leader Mikkelsen pushed his Polo R into service with little fuel left in the tank while team-mate Latvala was flustered after hitting a rock and spinning in Gandesa. At the end of the day, road sweeper Ogier was a surprising rally leader. Hanging dust hindered everyone behind him and that’s why dethroned early leader Neuville was frustrated: “I hope one day to have Ogier’s luck! Behind him the dust makes it frustrating. I’ll keep pushing but I couldn’t do any more than this. I had to slow down a couple of times as I didn’t know if I was on the stage or not.” There was bad news for Hayden Paddon and Jari-Matti Latvala. Paddon lost third place and almost six minutes after hitting a bank and spinning the i20. The impact punctured two tyres and he had to stop to change both. Latvala kept his title hopes alive, but was 24.2sec behind in seventh. “The car isn’t good to drive and I’m really struggling. The set-up isn’t working like I thought it would and I have no idea why,” said the Finn.

SATURday Robert Kubica had seen better mornings. He struggled through the opening stage with a broken rear differential after warming up the tyres before the stage start. After limping through all morning stages with only 2-wheel drive, M-Sport fixed the problem at the mid-day service. The Pole’s unhappy day ended in the final stage with a ripped off front wheel. Road opener Kris Meeke hit a rock and had to stop to change the punctured tyre, dropping more than two minutes again. Dani Sordo emerged with the oil warning light flashing on the dashboard of his Hyundai and suffered a lack of engine power. Leader Sébastien Ogier survived a major scare during the 50km monster stage Escaladei. “For 20km I drove with a delaminated tyre, but we survived,” said a lucky Ogier. Soaring temperatures made conditions tough for tyres and brakes and, midway through the test, the asphalt was recorded at 35°C. Andreas Mikkelsen’s hopes of claiming a podium finish disappeared when he stopped to replace a damaged tyre and lost 2min 30sec. His problem left Mikko Hirvonen, fourth fastest in his Ford Fiesta RS, clear in third overall. The Finn had a 25.9sec advantage over Mads Østberg, who was unhappy with his driving. “My pace notes aren’t perfect in the long corners on the wide roads and I’m lifting off the throttle in the flat-out sections, even though the road is 15 metres wide there” he said. Martin Prokop lost almost three minutes when he stopped to investigate a problem 13km after the start. “I thought it was a puncture but it wasn’t that. I think we have a broken driveshaft,” said the Czech driver, who retained eighth place. Though Jari-Matti Latvala claimed four out of six stage wins today, Sébastien Ogier remained in control at the top of the leaderboard, 27.3 seconds clear.

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SUNday

With only 72 stage kilometres to cove Sébastien Ogier switched to “everyt a cautious eye on his team-mate’s sp gap between him and the Frenchman timed kilometres left. The clock stop became the eighth driver to lift the fantastic weekend, but it was tough. I a long two days on tarmac, where I ha be clever and keep watching him all t Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia !

Ogier’s victory was the 23rd of his c season, equalling the record set by Ci

Mikko Hirvonen’s third place in a F podium of the year. The Finn was too s Mikkelsen on asphalt. He finished 1m ahead of Østberg.

Dani Sordo closed on Østberg throu Spaniard fell 8.9sec short in fifth. Th error, where co-driver Marc Marti mis very costly.

Mikkelsen passed Thierry Neuville However, he incurred a 10sec penalty final test and dropped behind again.

er for a back-to-back world rally title, thing under control mode”, keeping plit times. Latvala’s attack shrunk the n but at the end, there weren’t enough pped 11.3 seconds behind Ogier who e title more than once. “It’s been a pushed so hard on leg one and it was ad to watch Jari-Matti flying. I had to the time,” he added. Congratulations, !

career and Volkswagen’s 11th of the itroen in 2005 and 2008.

Ford Fiesta RS gave him his second strong for Mads Østberg and Andreas min 42.2sec behind Ogier and 31.1sec

ughout the final leg in his i20 but the They lost 30 seconds due to a first-leg scalculated a stage start time, proving

for sixth in the penultimate stage. y after a timing error at the start of the

Martin Prokop, Hayden Paddon and Nasser Al-Attiyah completed the leaderboard, Al-Attiyah inheriting 10th when Ken Block punctured a front left tyre in the final stage. At the end of Rally de France report in last month’s issue, Volkswagen team principal Jost Capito had the last word. That’s why it’s now third placed Hirvonen’s bosses turn, Malcolm Wilson of M-Sport: “With just 12 points separating second to fourth in the battle for second place in the manufacturers’ title, I think that it is going to be a very exciting end to the season.” I hope so because I will be there too. Näkemiin! Bruno UPDATE: 6.11.14. : Mikko Hirvonen announced that he will retire after Rally Wales. The 34-year-old Finn ended ongoing speculation about his future when he confirmed today (Thursday) that he will bow out after 13 seasons at the top. Hirvonen plans to devote more time to his family, especially his 7 and 9 years old boys. Goodbye Mikko, all the best for your future and thanks for the years we spent with you in WRC! For the Full Results of Rally Spain please visit:http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/results/spain/stage-times/page/408-237-8--.html

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WRC standings

(10th NOVEMBER 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 27 28 29

Name

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

Car

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Points 242 211 150 108 92 91 84 71 42 40 26 20 20 18 14 11 8 7 6 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1

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PHOTO SPREAD - THE RAC RALLY FROM THE 1960’S TO 1994 BY BRYNMOR PIERCE

Works cars at a halt during 1965 Rac rally at Oulton Park

Donald Morley, navigated by his brother Erle in the BMC factory Austin Healey 3000, again Oulton park 22-11-65

Pat Moss, stands next to her works Saab during the Oulton park halt.

November 1971 and it’s Stig Blomqvist on is way to winning the rally.

Mk2 magic, and in this instance it’s Hannu Mikkola en route to a commanding win in 1979, the last event for the dominant factory Ford team.

It’s now 1984 and it’s not just about the big names, here’s the Williams Sunbeam Ti, one of many clubmen crews, servicing on a car park in Mold.

1985 and it’s Markku Alen Delta s4

British heroes in 1985 finishing 3rd overall, Tony Pond/Rob Arthur Mg Metro 6R4

Finishing best british 2wd in 85, Jimmy Mcrae at Donnington Park

hey say a picture paints a thousand words and motorsport photography is perhaps the best example of this. In a departure from the normal text and picture format we thought that as Rally GB is about to start it would 68

be a great chance to take a look back at when it was the RAC Rally. There’s a selection of 1960’s, a couple of 70’s (a period that is very heavily published) then we move into the 80’s and Group B. But perhaps the real joy of the pictures we have access too is that it

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has a really god batch of late 80’s to early 90’s, a time when the old guard where still there but the young guns were snapping ta their heals. Choosing a selection to publish has been far harder than I imagined, in many ways we were spoilt for choice, so we’ve gone for a selection showing particular cars and crews and also some shots that capture the atmosphere over the year.

We hope you enjoy them as much as we did in selecting them, if you’re out on Rally GB have a great time and stay safe.(NB Phil I have a load more if you want any !!) Photo copyright to: Brynmor Pierce Howie Fowler

Grp B drag racing at Oliver’s Mount 1985

Juha Kankkunen his way to 4th in 1985A

Walter Rhorl 1985, in the ultimate Quattro, sadly he retired after a hefty roll during the first night.

Mikael Sundstrom and 1980 winning codriver Paul White, another crew to not finish in 1985 after a roll in Scotland with the end in sight.

The iconic colours of Andrews Heat fro hire, Russell Brookes/Mike Broad 1985

It’s 1988 now and David Llewellin in a one off drive in a Sierra Cosworth

A Mercedes ? Yes indeed, Russell Morgan , father of now BTCC driver Adam Morgan

Derek Warwick ina one off drive in the Legacy RS, 1990

A giant slayer, the late Dave Metcalfe en route to 14th overall !!

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1990 and Juha Kankunen slides the Integrale

1991 and Jonny Milner driving the Peugeot Uk 205 gti

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mad Frankie !! Francois Delecour, on his way to a 6th in 1991 .

The late great Colin Mcrae, the picture really shows his press on style. Sadly a DNF after a large roll in the Lake District

Didier Auriol pushes on into the night, 1991.

Russell Brookes last real go at the RAC, 1992 with Neil Wilson.

Markku Alen 1992 RAC

Per Eklund, backed as ever by Camel...a name synonymous with Lotus F1.

Last but not least Malcolm Wilson on his way to 8th overall on the Sierraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last works outing in 1992

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Unsung Heroes of Motorsport Nicki Hickman - PR and Marketing at Motorbase Performance

BY PHIL WOODS

e return to our regular feature looking at Unsung Heroes of Motorsport this month. This feature enables us to meet and talk with people who don’t normally get the limelight they deserve for the incredible work they do behind the scenes in a motorsport team. This month we talk to Nicki Hickman, the brains behind PR and Marketing at Motorbase Performance. Motorbase Performance have been in the racing game for 10 years, but as you will see, without the important marketing and PR carried out in any team, it would be a struggle to go racing. This is why people like Nicki deserve recognition. Today we ask her a number of questions to get an insight into her working life and role in the team. Phil Woods - Nicki, thank you for taking the time to speak with us as part of our regular look at the people behind the scenes in motorsport. First of all, would you explain to us all what the role of a PR & Marketing person generally entails in a race team? Nicki Hickman - I would guess that it differs within each team depending on the set up. Within Motorbase Performance my role isn’t really set in stone, as it just wouldn’t work. We’re a good group of people with the same objectives and we tend to do whatever is needed to get the right end result. My main role really is to secure press coverage for all of our teams across all channels, be it TV, print or digital and to ensure that the team is presented in a professional manner and promotes its sponsors and partners through a positive association with

the team. Aside from liaising with press contacts, and issuing press releases, a lot of time is now spent on trying to build our social media channels to keep engaging the public and also liaising with sponsors and partners to ensure that we’re helping them to achieve their objectives and ultimately getting the best ROI for their brand or product. Phil Woods - You work for one of the top teams in British motor racing, especially in the British Touring Car Championships (Motorbase Performance, also known as Airwaves racing), how long have you worked for this team? Nicki Hickman - I’ve worked alongside the team since its first season at Airwaves Racing in the BTCC back in 2009. Although for the first two years my relationship with the team was as a sponsor, as I was the Brand Manager for Leyland Paints at the time. After a hugely successful couple of years sponsoring the team, I left Leyland in 2011 to work on a freelance basis and am very proud to have been working with Motorbase ever since. Phil Woods - I should explain to readers at this point that you are freelance, however the majority of your time is spent with Motorbase. What are the key differences to a PR/marketing role within motorsport to that in other industries? Nicki Hickman - The role of marketing and PR doesn’t and shouldn’t really change too much depending on the market that you’re in. The basis for the job and goals are always the same; it’s about making sure that your brand or product is represented in the best way possible and to ensure

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that your voice is heard – there’s a lot of noise out there these days with the ever-increasing number of digital outlets. The biggest challenge is probably trying to balance the needs and requirement of the different parties involved such as sponsors and partners, particularly when competing in different championships across the globe. Phil Woods - A lot of people don’t realise how important the marketing/PR role is. One large part of the job is that you are the most important link between both fans and the team; ensuring supporters are kept informed of the latest news. What do you find is the most challenging part of this element of your job? Nicki Hickman - For me, it’s probably time! Motorbase is a big team in regards to results and its exposure but we’re still a small team of people behind the scenes. We aim to be, and pride ourselves on being, accessible and approachable for our fans, but at the same time we get an awful lot of special requests and interactions, and at especially busy times, that can be challenging to manage. Phil Woods - Another side of your job is hospitality, keeping sponsors happy throughout the season, not just at race weekends, although that is very important. A lot is made by supporters of the socalled “Prawn Sandwich Brigade” (people who are essentially VIP’s, normally the owners of the brands you see displayed on the cars and team kits), but without them, would I be right in saying that fans would not have a sport to watch? Nicki Hickman - I’m not so sure I’d call them that! But, yes essentially you’re correct in what you say. Teams such as ourselves are businesses and need to raise the budgets required through sponsorship. We’ve been extremely lucky over the years to have had the opportunity of working with some fantastic brands (too many to mention!) and they’ve all brought something unique to the team both on and off the track. Motorbase is very much a ‘family’ team and that is one of the main points that we pride ourselves on and is why our guests and sponsors enjoy spending their time with us both on and away from the race track. It’s very important to us that we deliver a great experience to all of our sponsors at all times, and one of the main reasons why many of the team sponsors are long-term partners. Phil Woods - This is why I personally class people in your position as ‘Unsung Heroes of Motorsport’, if a team didn’t have happy sponsors, they’d have no money and therefore no cars, engineers, drivers or anything else for that matter. That would be a 72

pretty uneventful race. I know you are probably too modest to agree with that statement, but how do you feel, knowing that team owners see your job as so important? Nicki Hickman - I can only speak from experience and my relationship with Motorbase and the Team Principal David Bartrum has always been a great one. I work really closely with David and also Oly Collins, the Team Manager and, as corny as it may sound, it is a team effort. Everyone in the team is as important as the next person, even more so in a small team. We all need to do our jobs well for the team to work, simple as that! Phil Woods - Part of your role is developing relationships with the media, in fact people like ourselves here at Pit Lane Reporter Magazine. How difficult is it to manage what the media say about your team/drivers etc? Nicki Hickman - Luckily I’ve not had to experience much negativity around the team or drivers; I’d like to think that’s because we’ve never given them cause to! I think it’s important to have good relationships with the press and it’s something that I work hard on building and maintaining to the point where I’d like to think that, if there was anything controversial, we’d know about it first! Phil Woods - As editor of this magazine I deal with people in your position a lot. I have found that there are some I get on really well with, who are receptive to requests, helpful over and above the norm and willing to make things happen. There are also those who have a different philosophy on their role, seeing themselves largely as PA’s whose role it is to get rid of the media. My personal experience is that I always give so much more coverage in my magazine to those who have the right attitude, and I believe a lot of my colleagues in other magazines do too. My point here is that the way in which you carry out your role is obviously the correct one, as in the main, in every type of championship; the teams at the front of the grid generally have good PR people. Would you agree that with more coverage in the press, the job of achieving more sponsors becomes that little bit easier? Nicki Hickman - As I stated before, I believe it’s a vital part of the job to be able to build good relationships with my colleagues in the press. Ultimately that’s the whole reason that sponsors are looking to work with a team – to gain exposure for the brand or product and the opportunity for positive association with the team and drivers.

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Phil Woods - Before joining Motorbase in 2011, did you have any interest in motorsport?

Nicki Hickman - No comment! Those who know me well know the answer to this one!

Nicki Hickman - A little, but not really in cars if I’m honest! I worked with DeWalt whilst they were sponsors of the Cadbury Boost BSB team in the 90’s but that’s about as far as my interest and experience stretched!

Phil Woods - Finally, we have witnessed a hugely successful season for Motorbase this year. As people will have seen in the last issue of our magazine, you won the British GT Championship with Oman Racing and we have seen Mat Jackson climb to the top step of the podium only a couple of weeks ago at Silverstone. How does it feel to know that you are an integral part of achieving that success?

Phil Woods - Now some quick fire questions; What do you like to do in your spare time? Nicki Hickman - Just the usual really, I have two young boys and we just try to spend as much time together as a family as possible. Phil Woods - What is the best thing about your job? Nicki Hickman - The banoffee pie! (Motorbase reference). As clichéd as it sounds, the people. I’m very lucky to work with a really good bunch that I genuinely enjoy being around.

Nicki Hickman - I feel very proud to be associated with the team, but to be perfectly honest no more so than usual. The wins are great and obviously we always strive to do the best job we possibly can but for me, the biggest reward is seeing the boys’ (as in the team behind the scenes) get the results they deserve, as I know how hard they work for them and how much it means.

Phil Woods - What is the worst thing about your job?

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F1 ON THE TV AND INTERNET BY KIRIL VARANOV

e are back with another F1 related matter, namely the way F1 is broadcast and the way FOM handles the coverage in social media. Let’s separate that in sections. I know I may sound harsh with the words below, but F1 fans should be treated with the best. F1 on the TV As some of you may know, I co-host the nation-wide TV show for F1 in Bulgaria. Hence, this question is of paramount importance for me as a TV pundit and tech analyst, but most important thing is what the viewers get on their screens. This is what the studio looks like (but not always):

So, watching the sport the way it is transmitted right now doesn’t make it exciting - neither for the fans, nor for us, the commentators. I sometimes find it hard to sound ecstatic, as there’s simply nothing to talk about. This is an onboard edit of the race from Canal Plus (hats off!). I don’t know for how long is it going to stay, so let’s enjoy it. It’s much more thrilling than what we have been presented on the TV feed. Fortunately, there’s the team radio we could intercept, and there are guys like Kimi Raikkonen who don’t care what’s get transmitted or not and they talk straight. This is, of course, entertaining. Way to go, Kimi. One thing on the positive side: the thermal camera. But that’s pretty much all. I can’t count the live graphics and comparisons as something that has to be praised, as this is a must. Next we have the TV ratings, which are definitely seeing decline although we can’t really blame FOM alone for that.

A little secret: when we are on air, we watch the same global wide HD feed that comes from the track and it’s up to the FOM TV director to show you what he thinks is important. The most recent example of that was demonstrated at the Canadian GP, with the crowd having its 15 minutes of glory. Certainly, people on the track have paid quite a lot and it’s always fun to show them, or capture a precious moment, but this time this was done at the wrong time, as there was a significant amount of racing action on the track at the same time. One of the other striking issues is that the camera action is simply slow this season. The way that the race is shown makes it look like it’s actually 20 seconds slower than it is. Example is a static camera frames from a helicopter view at the middle of a straight. Few cars just pass by and that’s it. No tracking them down to the hairpin, no movement. It looks like a static police traffic camera for electronic speeding tickets. Come on, guys, you could surely do better.

The TV ratings are closely tied with the way the season unfolds and how drivers are faring. In Germany numbers show 10% decline, despite names like Mercedes, Vettel and Nico Rosberg shining under the spotlight. In Latin America the numbers are close to the mind-blowing half-slice 50%! Italy and Spain are tethered to Ferrari and Alonso success (or lack of). There we see an average of 20% down. Again, this has its roots back to the Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel’s dominance during the last four years. Don’t get me wrong - they were cleverer than the rivals and they wiped the track with them. This is what Ferrari did before and now it seems it’s time for Mercedes to raise the game and step up on the podium many times. This is likely to lead into another drop of the numbers, but some have done better job than others, have invested large amounts of money and cannot de-tune their engines just for the sake of equality on the track. The 2014 sound issue adds another bitter ingredient to the whole story. Paid TV channels also contribute to this decline. While this is not unusual, it is certainly a factor. Almost half of the channels worldwide are now ‘paid’. On some occasions, I must admit I find the channel prices bit too high. I cannot accept the argument that the real F1 fan will pay whatever it takes to watch his favorite

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game. We are all still feeling the effect of the global economic crisis and people have different bills to pay. Having said that, money is spent well and wisely, in my humble opinion, and if the product isn’t worth, there’s no deal. Worth noting that the extras on the paid channels, such as dedicated pit lane and onboard channels are available only to Sky group and BBC. The idea of having Sky to control and manage the global feed seems inappropriate to me, as national and local bias will inevitably crash. Moreover, the idea of the local-enabled broadcasters isn’t a good one either - there have been many bad examples. So, bottom line - FOM can certainly do better in providing the most exciting parts of the race, because this is what F1 fans deserve. The highlights of the race which are posted on Formula1.com are, well, sometimes below average and I can certainly call them mediocre, considering that there are much better race edits done by fans. Another problem is the fierce pursuit of any F1 related video on sites such as YouTube. The easy exchange of F1 video snippets is hard due to the closed proprietary commercial model. On that matter I definitely think that F1 can be more ‘open-source’. For example, the race edits could be done as a competition where the best one wins and gets his name featured on F1.com. They could open the video data to provide it to those who wish to remaster and re-mix it and then select the best. Does it sound idealistic? Yes. Is it going to work? For sure. We live in a global world where getting in touch happens with just a few taps on the phone screen. This leads on to the second part of the article - The way information is being shared and handled in the social media.

F1 on the social media It sounds like an impossible love affair, right? Before I continue, it’s fair it say that some steps are already being taken and that’s visible. Still, F1 barely has any presence in the social media, where again, sharing F1 info, such as videos, is being pursued by cyber cops. While I can’t say I support digital piracy, but the ‘clients are asking for it’ and the clients are us, the viewers and the fans. Last week the almighty Bernie Ecclestone said that he doubts the social media will last. Seconds of silence for that sentence. He’s so unbelievably out of touch, says a neurosurgeon from Canada on Twitter. Because, as we agreed, we live in easily accessible global world. Mr. Ecclestone however, in my view, will be soon leaving the house, and I truly hope that his successor will be in line with the new technology world. At the same time, Pirelli motorsport Chief Paul Hembery believes understanding what fans want from the sport is one of the biggest issues facing F1.

“We look at how many people are watching the sport and what they think of the current F1. Viewing figures so far this year are extremely disappointing - there’s no doubt about that.” But, with BBC figures suggesting that iPlayer growth was 33 per cent last year, and live radio audiences jumped by 53 per cent, there is a growing view that the way people consume F1 is changing dramatically. The proposal of having a pay-per-view per race F1 model will be further taking the TV figures down, but one has to wonder - is that necessarily a bad thing? Wouldn’t the same sponsors and advertisers have their logos in the digital world as well? This is a fairly known and successful model. Today there’s no legal way for you to watch an old race, in case you have missed it for some reason. You can’t even pay for it. One good example of how social media and highlights are handled is the National Basketball Association in US, which has excellent communication with the fans, via a YouTube channel that feeds quite interesting and quality content. However, F1 continues to employ its closed commercial model, which is against what people really want. Social media isn’t going anywhere - some may fade, but others such as Facebook and Twitter, are destined to stay as a core part of online communication. Not to mention that almost the entire F1 world lives in Twitter. You can find me there at @Kiril_Varbanov Bottom line: F1 has to embrace social media as a way to communicate and to stay in line with the rest of the world.

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GARAGE

TEAM-

HARD

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darios motorsport gallery BY dario dominin

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BY PHIL WOODS

The Worlds Ugliest Cars This month I want to look at another pet hate of mine, and that is ugly cars. Cars that when you look at them you think, “How dare they grace my roads”. So this will be mostly a pictorial article with a few pointers. First of all I have to ask myself who the people are that drive these monstrosities; who goes into the garage forecourt and says, “Oooo, that’s lovely, I think I want one of those, I will look so cool.” You may think I am joking, but I tell you now that people must do that, faced with a multitude of good looking cars they go for this lot instead…… crazy! First we have the worst of the lot, the Mickey Mouse look alike, the Fiat Multipla

Next we look at the car that is clearly built for extremely tall people. What other reason would there be for an unfeasibly large roof? It’s the Toyota Yaris Verso

Now this one, I can’t really comment on, it’s just so ridiculously ugly it just needs a big NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

These are just a few of the most ugly cars in production. My advice, please don’t subject us all to feeling sick every time we hit the roads. If you own one, send it to the car crusher ASAP please. www.pitlanereporter.com

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

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Photograph and Media Credits Blancpain Article - All photos copyright blancpain GT |BTCC Articles - All photos copyright BTCC | NASCAR Articles - All photos copyright getty images | WRC Australia Article - All photos copyright Red Bull Content Pool | IndyCar History Part 1 - 1911 500 T1 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Archives, Barney Oldfield April 1907 Lakeside Track Sand Diego California - Wiki Media Commons - Public Domain, Ray Harroun wins 1st 500 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Archives | IndyCar News Update - Ed Carpenter and Sarah Fisher after 2011 Kentucky Win - Bret Kelley - INDYCAR, Hinch wins Iowa ‘12 - Chris Jones - INDYCAR, Simon Pagenaud wins GPoI 2 - Chris Owens - INDYCAR | Japanese Grand Prix - AMG Mercedes F1 Team, Clive Mason/Getty Images, Clive Mason/Getty Images, Mark Thompson/Getty Images | “01-Hockenheim”: Marco Wittmann celebrating first victory with RMG team principal Stefan Reinhold (left) at the season opener at Hockenheim. ©BMW “03-Budapest”: Wittmann winning in Budapest. ©BMW; “08-Lausitzring”: Marco Wittmann is DTM champion 2014! ©BMW; “9L2A0245”: Marco together with his father Herbert Wittmann at his garage in Fürth (D.) ©BMW; “IMG 9924”: The team behind the champion: BMW Team RMG based in Niederzissen, right in the heart of the Eifel Mountains. ©BMW ;“P90162987”: Marco with his father Herbert, his mother Angelika and his brother Nico. ©BMW; “P90162993”: BMW celebrating the DTM driver’s title of Marco Wittmann. ©BMW |Singapore GP - AMG Mercedes F1 Team, Charles Coates/LAT Photographic, Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images, Photograph by Vladimir Rys | www.pitlanereporter.com