VORTECH SPEED

Hulkenberg joins Di Resta in Force India's 2012 line-up

2011-12-19T05:57:00.000-08:00

Force India have announced that Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg will race for the team in 2012. Di Resta made his F1 debut with the Silverstone-based squad this season, whilst ex-Williams racer Hulkenberg steps up from his position as third driver to replace the outgoing Adrian Sutil.

“I am delighted to present our line-up for the 2012 season,” said Force India team principal and managing director Dr Vijay Mallya. “In Paul and Nico we have two extremely talented drivers with tremendous potential. I think Paul caught the eye of everybody in the pit lane during his rookie season.

“His speed, maturity and race craft confirmed that we were right to believe in him and we look forward to working with him again next year. As for Nico, we identified him as a rising star at the end of 2010 and chose to evaluate him during the course of this season. Despite having only limited time in the car, he convinced us that he deserved a race seat for 2012.”

Di Resta enjoyed a remarkable maiden campaign in the sport in 2011. As well as regularly outpacing then team mate Sutil, the young Scot finished the year as the top rookie driver after scoring 27 points on his way to 13th in the standings. A highlight was his sixth-place grid slot for his home race at Silverstone.

“I’m really looking forward to my second season of Formula One and continuing to grow and develop with Sahara Force India,” said the 25 year-old. “I’ve said all along that I love being part of this team: they are ambitious, hungry for success and we work well together.

“I’m really excited about 2012 and there is a real sense of belief that we can continue to push the top teams and take another step forward. I’d also like to thank the team for all their hard work this year and for all the support they’ve given me. I’ll take some time out over the next few weeks to recharge my batteries and hopefully come back even stronger in 2012.”

Hulkenberg spent the 2011 season on the bench as the team’s third driver, although he did enjoy practice session runs at 14 of the year’s 19 Grands Prix. A year earlier the German enjoyed a stellar debut season at Williams, scoring 22 points and a pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix, but was forced to make way for Pastor Maldonado at the British team for 2011.

“I’m obviously delighted to be staying with Sahara Force India and to be given the chance to race next year,” explained the 24 year-old. “It wasn’t easy to watch from the side lines this season, but I did my best to help the team and show what I was capable of.

“I’m extremely motivated for 2012 and would like to thank everyone for believing in me and giving me this chance. I’m keen to get down to work over the winter to develop our new car and help the team build on this year’s achievements. The first test in Jerez can’t come soon enough.”

Force India’s announcement means that Sutil will leave for pastures new after six years with the team. Sutil’s tenure saw the team change name (and management personnel) from Midland to Spyker and finally to Force India in 2008. In total the 28 year-old scored 95 world championship points for the outfit, enjoying a career-best finish of fourth at the 2009 Italian Grand Prix.

Mallya paid tribute to the departing German, saying: “Our new line-up means we say ‘goodbye’ to Adrian Sutil, who has been with the team since we entered the sport. He has been an integral part of our success over the past four seasons and we wish him well for the future.”

There are two slots left on the 2012 grid that Sutil could in theory fill, with seats at Williams and HRT still vacant.

Official mobile F1 2012 Timing App now available

2011-12-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

If you are already suffering withdrawal symptoms from the amazing action that was the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship, there is now the perfect solution: Soft Pauer’s official F1 2012 Timing and Track Positioning App is now available for iPhone, iPad and Android - and it promises to be the perfect Christmas treat for all Formula One enthusiasts.

For the special pre-season price of £17.99*, the App offers users over 130 hours of racing action, with a whole host of features to enhance the F1 viewing experience. Award winning** and Best of iTunes in 2011***, the official F1 Timing and Track Positioning App is designed to bring the detail and precision of the sport to life. Whether you are watching the race at home and want that extra level of information and detail, or are out and about and don’t want to miss the action, this ‘Championship Pass’ to the 2012 season is your perfect F1 partner.

With exclusive live timing screens, classifications and race schedule information, the official F1 Timing and Track Positioning App also offers a host of other tools to enhance your F1 experience:

- Detailed, fully interactive 3D map means you can see what’s happening on the circuit as it happens, zooming in to focus on any given driver or track position at any given time.
- Live Pause during sessions allows you to quickly replay the action as soon as it happens.
- All the action is brought direct from the track to your handheld as it unfolds, with real time track positions and data streamed directly from the track to your device, all within two seconds.
- Access timing information on pit-stops as soon as they have happened and use the live maps to track the gaps between drivers as they re-join the race track.
- Follow live text commentary****.
- Full replay of every session so you can review the action again and again.

All these features are complemented by a huge database of information on all the drivers, teams, races, circuits and season that can be accessed at any time. The App also runs on GPRS so it can be viewed anywhere.

With just under three months until the 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship gets underway, now is the perfect time to give the ‘petrol-head’ in your life the perfect F1 stocking filler this Christmas…

For further information visit www.softpauer.com/f1site/

BlackBerry device support coming in the New Year.

* Price for UK App Store. Different regions may vary. Price valid until January 1, 2012.
** The F1 Live Timing App won the SportBusiness Ultimate Sports App Award 2010 for providing the ultimate value-added experience throughout a race weekend.
*** iTunes Rewind 2011 iPad UK and other regions Sports category.
**** Text commentary on the App provided in English, French and German.

Pirro: "I want to make a statment in MotoGP"

2011-12-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

In an exclusive interview with motogp.com, the Italian rider expressed his thoughts about the new CRT adventure he will take on in 2012 with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team.

Michele Pirro shared his expectations and goals ahead of his upcoming season aboard the Gresini team’s CRT. "It's definitely an important milestone," began the 25 year-old. "I’ll be joining the best riders in the world in the highest category of racing on board a great team.”

Pirro recently extended his partnership with the Italian team, about which he said: “I am happy I’m staying with them, they are like family and after everything that happened at the end of the season, I really wanted to stay. My first place at Valencia gave Fausto (Gresini) and the team the strength to take the next step they needed to continue. After what happened in Sepang, the motivation to continue racing was at risk, but that victory helped us want to try to build something positive.”

After a competitive season in the Moto2 Championship, the Italian is ready to make the lead into the premier class where he will confront the challenge of the new CRT category, which will commence in 2012. “People are saying that it is the future,” said Pirro. "Of course in the beginning it will be criticized, just like the Moto2 class was. But after the first year, it should be possible to develop the performance of the CRT bikes even further.”

Following his win at the final round in Valencia, most expected that he would run a second term in the 600cc Moto2 class. But the two-time 1000cc Italian Superstock champion surprised everyone by opting instead for the jump to MotoGP. "I admit I waited until the last second to decide whether to continue with Moto2, especially after learning about the circuits and the category in general. With a few improvements to the bike, most likely we could have had a successful season. But I spoke with Fausto several times and he has always had the utmost confidence in me and encouraged me, and has never stopped believing in my abilities, so I'm really happy and proud to represent the Gresini team in MotoGP.”

“Staying in Moto2 surely would have allowed me to develop further in the class as a rider, and taking on this new opportunity will be a lot of hard work. But I'm happy, we will work hard to do our best to have a good season, although, given the newness of the class it’s difficult to predict too much. I am prepared and excited to invest in this new project."

The San Carlo Honda Gresini Team will run a prototype Italian FTR chassis with a Honda CBR 1000 engine, which he went on to describe: "The bike is promising, FTR has always made good chassis and of course the Honda engine and will strong. Although Aprilia and BMW are further ahead in development, I will still try to focus and prepare myself to start from where we are to move the project forward. Hopefully we can adapt the chassis to the tires, but for my part I will have to learn everything about the bike, from the electronics to the best suitable riding position. But most important will be the first test, which is expected to be in February.”

Pirro isn’t new to 1000cc bikes, having won the Italian 1000cc Superstock Championship in 2007 and 2008, riding a Yamaha YZF-R1 for the Yamaha Lorenzini by Leoni team. The next season he won the Italian Supersport Championship, and in 2010 rode as a replacement for the injured Vladimir Ivanov of the Gresini Racing Moto2 team, with which he remained for the next season as a regular rider.

The Italian’s career path saw him jump to the highest category in just a few years’ time. “For every rider, the ultimate goal is to race in MotoGP, but I’ll admit that this step in my plans was expected to happen in a couple of years. The important thing now is to work well with the team and have fun at the same time, because when everything goes your way and you can ride without problems, the results gradually come. In a few years I’ve done what many of my colleagues take much longer to achieve, but I believe I've earned each step along the way to the higher categories."

"I don’t want to just 'participate' in the MotoGP class, I’d also like make a statement. Even if the level is high, and I’m racing with the best riders in the world, I want to try to be competitive with them. I realize that in the beginning this won’t be easy, it will be difficult to achieve much because of the different technical circumstances, but hopefully the first year with CRT is an investment for the future, to grow and be competitive in the coming seasons.”

GP Commission approve new rules changes

2011-12-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

The Grand Prix Commission approved various rules changes with effect from the 2012 season.

The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Ignacio Verneda (FIM Executive Director, Sport), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA) in the presence of Javier Alonso (Dorna), Mike Trimby (IRTA) and Paul Butler (Secretary of the meeting), in a meeting held on 14 December in Madrid, decided the following:

Sporting Regulations

A revised wording of the testing regulation was approved. This incorporated the various decisions made earlier in 2011 concerning this matter.

Additionally it was decided that contracted riders in the MotoGP class may also test machines using the allocation of 240 tyres available to each manufacturer's team. Previously such testing was restricted to test riders only. In the interest of fair competition it was also agreed that other MotoGP class riders could exclusively test their team machines with a limit of 120 tyres per rider.

It was agreed that riders who did not qualify for the race based on their time in the qualifying practice can qualify if they achieve a time at least equal to 107% of the fastest rider in the warm up. This is an addition to the previous regulation which only considered free practice sessions.

Under the regulation concerning MotoGP class riders starting the race from pit lane due to an engine durability sanction, it was agreed that in future they will start ten seconds after the green light is shown at the pit lane exit.

Riders in all classes may now use a starter engine on the grid. For all classes tyre warmers may now remain in place until the display of the one minute board. Generators must still be removed at the three minute board.

Technical Regulations

With effect from 2012, for all classes, it will be compulsory to display a red rear light in rain conditions.

The minimum weight limits for 1000cc machines in the MotoGP class will be increased from the current 153 kilos.
- Effective from 2012: 157 kilos
- Effective from 2013: 160 kilos

The permitted wheel sizes for the Moto3 class were confirmed as:
Front 2.50" x 17" only
Rear 3.50" x 17" only

Several detail changes to regulations, submitted by the Technical Director were all approved.

A list of MotoGP class entries for 2012 was considered by the Commission. The list contained nine entries plus one reserve entry using CRT machinery of various types. Participation of all CRT entries was approved by the Commission on the understanding that the granting of CRT Status was subject to review by the Grand Prix Commission at any time.

Successful operation for Bautista

2011-12-19T05:28:00.000-08:00

The Spanish rider underwent an operation on Wednesday to remove the pins from his left leg put in place after a crash at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar earlier this year.

Álvaro Bautista was operated on Wednesday afternoon at the USP San José de Madrid by Dr. Angel Villamor, who removed the pins from his left femur and clean the affected area.
The 27 year-old MotoGP rider was injured during practice at the opening round of the season, the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, and had to undergo emergency in Doha, although this operation caused him trouble all season.
Bautista thanked the hospital for the care provided him and hoped to return home this Thursday, saying: "Thanks to the all the staff at the USP San José hospital and Dr. Angel Villamor’s terrific team, who have always treated me well. Now I’ll rest and tomorrow morning I’ll get discharged to rest at home,” he said.
A few days ago, Bautista participated in the Riders for Health “Experience Africa”, which led him around various parts of Zambia on a bike in a week long journey. Bautista's impressions after the venture are included in this link.

FIA Thursday press conference - Korea

2010-10-21T07:36:00.000-07:00

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

Drivers: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Jenson Button (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) and Mark Webber (Red Bull).

Q: Gentlemen, you have just been doing the recreation of the 1986 photograph of the World Championship contenders. There were four of them then. There are five of you now going into the third last round of the championship. What are your feelings about the championship going into this race, particularly on an unknown circuit?

Jenson Button: For me it has been a very interesting season. Arriving at a new team and working with a new team-mate and finding my feet pretty early on I felt. I have enjoyed the season. For all of us it has been quite up and down. We have all had some pretty poor events and some good events. It has made the championship very exciting. It is good to still be involved in the championship hunt with three races to go. Obviously it’s most difficult for me as I am 31 points behind. But there is always a possibility. We are still very hopeful and I am looking forward to the next three races. I am sure it is going to be pretty mixed up as we go through these next three races. If you look at the last two races the Ferraris and Red Bulls sort of had the legs on us a little bit but these next three hopefully we will be a bit closer. That will make an exciting fight for the end of the season.
Lewis Hamilton: I think Jenson answered it all really. It is good to be here. It is a new circuit which is quite exciting for all us drivers. Quite dusty out there, but as Jenson said this weekend hopefully we will have a little bit more of a fighting chance against the Red Bulls and Ferraris and hopefully we will be a little bit more fortunate as well.
Sebastian Vettel: I think it has been looking worse this year for me, so I think we are in a good position. The car is really good. The last couple of races were very strong. As the others said this race is a bit unknown yet. I think all of us could be very strong potentially here, so we need to see how it goes. Sector one doesn’t look like our home ground, but I think sector two and sector three should give us a possibility to catch up. We will see. Interesting venue this one, so looking forward.
Mark Webber: It was good to do the photo with all the guys. As you say going back all those years with some of our heroes obviously in those photos. It has been a very interesting season up to this point, lots of different winners, and we are all in a position now. It is not by accident we are in these positions. We have all had the season’s we have had up until this point. We have three races to go and they all offer the same points as the first three races of the year and the ones in the middle, so nothing has really changed too much. Just got to go out there and do your best. It is a clean slate here for everybody. It looks like a good little venue to have a race on, so I am looking forward to getting in the car tomorrow and getting on with it.
Fernando Alonso: Well, I think not much to add. Similar comments, up and down in the season. But for me personally a great 2010 championship, driving for a new team, great integration with Ferrari from day one. Felt very comfortable. It has probably been the best year of my career so far with great experience, very happy. Now the last three races try to do our best to arrive in a position to fight for the championship in Abu Dhabi. We came back. We made some good steps forward in the last five, six Grands Prix, so the last three races should be exciting with some better circuits, some worse circuits for all of us and hopefully making the most every weekend.

Q: A question to you all about Korea. I know Jenson and Lewis raced in Korea before in Formula Three. Jenson on the podium in 1999 and Lewis on pole position in 2003. Your feelings first of all about the circuit, maybe about the country?
JB: I enjoyed my experience here in Korea. In 1999 that was. I finished second in the race. It was partly a street circuit and it was a good experience. I think it was good to see so much interest in the event. I think it was one of their biggest motorsport events here. It was a great experience and they seemed very passionate about their motorsport and it is good to see a lot of interest. Hopefully it will be the same here. It is an interesting layout. I think they have done a good job with the layout of the circuit. I think in the first sector there are overtaking opportunities which is good to see and then you have some very fast flowing corners out the back. I think the layout is nice. It looks very slippery at the moment but that is inevitable considering it is quite a new asphalt.
LH: I don’t really remember too much about it. I remember I was taken out by a driver in the race. That was about it. Otherwise it was a good trip and a good experience and it is great coming back. This was my first time to Seoul and I had a good day there. I think they deserve a pat on their backs for getting this place ready and it looks like they can put on quite a good show, so looking forward to it.
SV: My first time here, so haven’t seen much yet. But walking the circuit this morning it looks very interesting and lots of grandstands, so hopefully we will have lots of people coming this weekend. The circuit itself, I think the main things have been covered. We will see how grippy it will be, but given the fact there was a lot of concern and we were even talking about not racing here, lately they did a very good job. I think most of the things are finished, so should be alright for us to go out.
MW: First time for me too to Korea. They have tried incredibly hard to get everything ready against a bit of a deadline. I think we are all ready to go. It looks like it will be ready, properly ready in a few years time if you know what I mean, in terms of around here and in terms of the city and some rural surroundings if you like. It’s a bit remote but that’s fine. I hope the people in the future can embrace the sport and have a good look at what Formula One is about as clearly at the moment it is new to them and a new experience but the enthusiasm looks good which is the most important thing.
FA: Me too, first time here. I think they did a very good job as well with getting everything ready. I think it is 99 per cent ready, so it will be a good show this weekend. It is always nice also from a driver’s point of view coming to a new circuit. It is a new challenge for us and always with a new country it is very welcome in the championship, so looking forward to the race here and hopefully a good show.
SV: The only thing that they could probably finish in the future is the hotel situation for a lot of team members and I think you journalists. I think for the drivers, we are fine, but I have heard some stories and maybe they can work on that.

Q: Again, to you all. What have you been doing since Japan? Did you stay out here or did you go back? Where have you been training?
JB: I headed back. We spent the day together Lewis and myself at a charity event, last Thursday, then I had a day in the simulator on Friday. We did some work for a partner of ours on Saturday and then headed out to Japan where I have been since in Hiroshima.
LH: I had a couple of days back home which was great. Did some training there and then, flew out here. Got here Wednesday morning and had appearances all day yesterday and drove up this morning.
SV: I stayed out after Japan, on the Asian side, to stay with the time rhythm and got a little bit of sun. Did some training and arrived here yesterday night.
MW: We left pretty quickly after the race in Suzuka which got me in trouble a bit apparently. Went to Australia as quick as possible and had a good time at home in Australia. It was all fine.

Q: Lots of appearances down there? Lots of media work?
MW: Absolutely zero.

Q: How did you manage that?
MW: They are not too bothered. No, they are okay. It was fine. They are excited but it was very well managed so it was all fine.
JB: Did you have any shrimps on the barbecue?
MW: Loads of shrimps on the barbie. I think there was a saint, the Italians will know, that we had Mary MacKillop made a saint. That is big news in Australia, but obviously not big news everywhere else, so that’s what the main news was. I had to watch that for seven days.
FA: I stayed in Asia, south of Japan, a little island. Did some training, playing golf, nothing exciting.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Joris Fioriti - AFP): For Jenson and Lewis. Would you say that this is your very last opportunity for the title? If you miss this one, mathematically speaking it is still possible, but it will be harder.
JB: Every time we go to a race it seems this is the critical race. It is obviously a lot more difficult for us to win the World Championship this year but we have seen in past seasons that anything is possible. We have all had failures this year. We have all had issues, so it is definitely still possible even after this event if it is mathematically possible.
LH: The same.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe): The Red Bulls seem quickest in qualifying, so for the two Red Bull drivers can you explain why it is so fast and do you think you will have the pole on Saturday? For the three others, do you think you can beat them and do you have a special thing to beat them on Saturday?
MW: Well, obviously Seb has had a good run in qualifying. He has had a few pole positions and I have had some poles as well. As you say the car is pretty quick on Saturday afternoon. We have adjustable front ride height suspension which has been running since the start of the year and that works well and then we put the car back up for Sunday. Lots of things have been good for us and we try to do the same job on Saturday.
SV: As Mark said we have this big lever for the ride height. I think that is the secret for Saturday.

Q: (MC) The other three, do you feel you can beat the Red Bulls, either to pole position or the race itself?
LH: I think it’s possible, anything’s possible, and I think you can tell that us, as a team, and the Ferraris as well, are pushing very hard because I don’t think the gap is that big, so it’s not impossible. We’ve outqualified them… what was it, one race maybe? So they’ve had more than a few pole positions but no, I think we can close the gap, hopefully.
JB: Yeah, they have had the advantage this season in qualifying. If you look at the last few races we have got closer. That’s an area where we struggled a little bit at the start of the year but over the last few races we’ve been a lot closer, which is good. I know everyone’s bringing new packages to the circuit but I’ve got to say a big thanks to the guys for bringing the parts that we have here which should hopefully make a difference but we have to wait and see if that is correct.
FA: I prefer to beat them on Sunday.

Q: (MC) Can I continue a bit on that: Mark, it has been said that you are a bit worried about the first sector, even to the extent that if the two of you are on the front row, that the advantage of your rivals could mean that you’re not in the lead by the end of the first sector.
MW: Yeah, that could happen, but there’s another 300kms to go after that. Look, it was the same at Spa. We knew that we were going to be quite vulnerable up the hill there. Obviously we didn’t even get into the lead at the start, initially, there. So there are some tracks where the first sector is different than other circuits but you can only do what you can on the day so, yeah, if, if you’re not leading at the end of the first lap, for sure you can still make an interesting race from there. That’s what you always look to do: put your best foot forward. Yeah, we’re ready for most things, so we shall see how we go.

Q: (Jaime Rodriguez - El Mundo) Mark and Sebastian, the last team that tried to win the championship with two drivers was McLaren in 2007 and this story didn’t finish very well. What do you fear now?
MW: Well, for sure the Spanish probably want this. No one in this room knows what’s going to happen in the next three races, nobody. We can talk here for hours about what we’re going to do, what’s going to happen, this and that, upside down, inside out. No one knows, so we’re going to go out there, do our stuff, clearly Seb and I have had a good season. We’re both in with a chance of doing quite well in the championship and also the team is doing well in the Constructors’, because of both of us obviously are getting quite a few points. If there’s a point, in the future, where we have to race each other again then we will do what we always do and that’s obviously try to get the best result out of whatever situation we have. Irrespective if I’m racing Fernando or JB or Lewis or Seb is that I know that I need to finish races, all of us know that, so that’s always in the front of your mind, but you’re not going to give positions up either, so it’s always a balancing act. That’s what it comes down to: the racing. All the other stuff isn’t important.
SV: Yeah, not much to add. What happened in 2007 happened for a reason. Kimi (Räikkönen) had quite a bad chance of winning the championship with two races to go, at the time 17 points behind. Of course he showed it’s possible but he also did his maximum and he won those races but it also required the others not to finish in the points or not to finish high up, so I don’t think you can really compare… I think it will be different this year.

Q: (Marc Surer - Sky TV Germany) I have a question for Alonso: Fernando you have had some engine problems at the beginning of the season. Do you still have enough engines to finish the season?
FA: I think we are OK. Obviously the first problems with the engine in race two and race three gave us a more difficult situation, no doubts, but I think from there on we planned the year, the championship in a different way and so far the situation has been under control, so we should have no concerns for the remaining races and everything is OK for us.

Q: (Joris Fioriti - AFP) Mark, you know that if you win one race and score podiums at the others you will have your destiny in your own hands. Do you sometimes calculate that or never take that into consideration?
MW: It’s ridiculous to start calculating things because a lot of things can happen. As you say: I win the next two races, it’s all over anyway in terms of doing well. But this is another event, another race here and (I must) keep doing what I’m doing. As I say, the gap has been edging away, the right way in the last few races. I need to try to do that. Then just keep doing our best, that’s the most important thing. I’m doing my best and then hopefully the result will take care of itself.

Q: (Bianca Leppert - Auto, Motor und Sport) For everbody, do you think that on Friday and Saturday morning it will be a race itself to find the right set-up or are all the three top teams on one level?
MW: It’s a new venue, clearly, so we obviously have good simulation tools to understand what we expect to a certain point, but the big unknown is obviously what sort of grip level the track will give to us in the cockpit and how the tyres will work. We’ll have a look at that tomorrow and then use a lot of that, obviously, for Friday going into Saturday. Everybody’s in the same boat, I think we’re all imagining that the track won’t be incredible in terms of grip but it might be a surprise if we have some grip to play with, so let’s see how tomorrow goes. I think for everyone it’s the same boat, it’s not that difficult with what we face.

Q: (Jonathan Legard - BBC Sport) Question to all of you: how much have you achieved what you expected to this season? Fernando, you said it was your best season to date; does that also include winning the championships with Renault as well?
FA: Well, it’s not finished, so we will see how the year ends, but in terms of happiness, in terms of motivation, driving, the team itself etc., it’s the best one. Obviously it will be nice to become champion this year but even if we cannot do it, I will anyway have great, great memories of 2010.
MW: Well, I think all of us to sit at the first qualifying session at Bahrain and say that with three races to go you’re going to be leading the championship is virtually… that is obviously the highest position you can be in with three races to go, so it’s a high bar to set yourself expectation-wise and also for the team, because we know what level of competition we have. We totally respect our rivals and they’re great operations, so that’s why you need to keep your goals in check but on the same side be optimistic and positive and well-driven within yourself that you can achieve great things and clearly Fernando has achieved more things in the past but for me this year has been an incredible season, a real highlight with many special victories for me and a lot of races which I have really, really enjoyed. Also the team chemistry - obviously we’ve had a few little bobbles here and there – but with adversity people learn a lot about themselves as well. So there has been some good stuff from our team and also from myself in terms of learning about the sport and it’s been good. Clearly it’s been my best season to date, so I’m happy with it so far.
SV: Well, I think after last season the expectation was to fight for the championship and with three races to go I think all of us are in a position to do so, some better, some worse, but that’s racing in the end. Sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes you’re probably not. You spoke about Fernando’s engine problems earlier in the season. I think it’s normal to have ups and downs, sometimes you have more, sometimes less, but as I said, the expectation was probably to be in a position to fight for the championship and I think we are in a very strong and very good position. I think so far we have fulfilled our expectations and there’s still a bit to go.
LH: I never have any expectations. I’m happy where I am, we’re still in the fight for the championship, so it’s not a bad position to be in.
JB: For me it’s been a fun year. Last season was obviously very special for me. I’d been in the same team for seven years, so to move teams was a challenge and it’s something I’ve really enjoyed this year, working with McLaren, working with Lewis. I’ve really enjoyed the situation I’ve found myself in. I still know there’s more to come. There are only three races left and with the partnership and the team, for me, I’m very happy. There is still more to come. I’m enjoying my life right now and I’ve enjoyed this season very much. I’ve had some really fun races, a couple of victories. I’d like to have won more races, but there are still three more to go, so we will give it a go.

Korea preview - a critical voyage of discovery

2010-10-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

The inaugural Korean Grand Prix - the race which some thought would never happen - is set to play a key role in the outcome of an increasingly tense world championship battle. Red Bull drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel prepare to go head-to-head with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button. And just to spice things up even more, all of them need to aim for victory.

Webber needs a win to provide himself with a cushion going into the final pair of races, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Vettel and Alonso need a win to close down Webber’s 14-point lead, as the Australian has 220 points to their 206 apiece. Hamilton and Button, on 192 and 189 points apiece, have to score big if they are to retain mathematical chances of the title.

And as if that isn’t enough, Felipe Massa aims to get in on the action to take points away from his Ferrari team mate’s rivals, and Robert Kubica and Renault are burning to make up for the wheel-tightening gaffe that ruined the Pole’s promising run in Suzuka.

"There is nothing that we fear in the remaining three races," says Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. "We were competitive in Abu Dhabi and Brazil last year. But we don't take anything for granted. Korea is new for everybody and there will be areas where we will be weak. It has one of the season's longest straights, followed by a very, very twisty section. Sector one is not going to be great for us, but hopefully sectors two and three will be more our territory.

"So I think you will find that over a lap it will balance out the lap time between the strengths that some of the other teams have and the weaknesses we have."

Meanwhile, Alonso says that he will be giving it everything in the Ferrari. "In Korea we will have to attack because now we must close the gap to Webber. To lose any more ground would make the situation more complicated. The Korean Grand Prix could therefore start to be decisive for some - and for me it will be important also to be able to count on my team-mate. I know that he will be really hoping to make up for two negative results and he has all the capacities required to return to the podium.

"What's more, it will be very useful to work together to discover all the secrets of the new track so we can prepare our cars in the best way. In a moment like this every detail matters to achieve our goals."

Hamilton and McLaren believe the track, with its kilometre-long straight which runs between Turns 2 and 3, will suit their MP4-25. “I’m looking forward to the weekend,” the 2008 champion says. “I think we can have a positive race. While recent results haven’t necessarily shown it, we’ve had a strong car - now I’m hoping to get the chance to prove it on track.”

Team mate Button adds: “It’s always exciting visiting a new circuit for the first time. The Korean track certainly looks very interesting - a real mix of different characteristics - and there appear to be a couple of very likely opportunities for overtaking, particularly at the end of the three main straights, but possibly also off-line in the twisty final sector. The track looks quite high-speed, and the walls are close, so I think it’ll be an interesting challenge.

“We’ve made some improvements to the parts we tested in Suzuka, and it’s looking likely that we’ll run them on Friday. As with all our upgrades, we are pushing the envelope, so I’m optimistic that the tests will be positive and that we’ll be able to race the new components.”

Hamilton, who said his McLaren felt brilliant in the brief fast run he did before crashing on the Friday morning in Suzuka, looks forward to having the new rear wing that he couldn’t run there, and says of the track: “I’ve driven the Korean International Circuit on the simulator, and my first impressions were extremely positive. On paper, the track should suit our car quite well - the first sector is all about good end-of-straight speeds and strong performance under heavy braking, both key characteristics of our car.

“And the middle sector is fast and flowing; it’s the kind of place where you want a car with a good balance and good downforce. I think it’ll reward commitment - it actually feels like quite a nice driver’s track. The end of the lap is slower and tighter, but it’s still all about rhythm and flow - so, as long as the track surface is nice and grippy, I think we’re set for an enjoyable first race in Korea.”

Bridgestone will bring their hard and soft compound rubber, and a lot of the focus over the weekend will be on how they perform on a track whose top surface was only laid in the past two weeks. Will the oils coming to the surface make it slippery? How will it withstand the passage of 24 750-horsepower cars so soon after being laid? How long will it take to rubber in?

Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone’s director of motorsport tyre development, says: “This Grand Prix presents everyone in Formula One with an interesting challenge as the circuit has only recently been completed. This means that we cannot look at any data from races there so we have to rely on simulation data. From this information, the maximum and average speeds will be 310 km/h and 205 km/h respectively. This places the track between Catalunya and Istanbul and close to Sepang in terms of speed, which is an important factor determining the allocation of the hard and soft tyres.

“Korea should be a good test of all of our technology and I expect all the team engineers to be working very hard indeed over the weekend trying to understand the best car set-ups and tyre strategies for the race. As it will be the first motor racing event at the facility we expect a lot of track surface evolution over the weekend. It will also be interesting to see how the teams and individual drivers adapt to this track, particularly those in the hunt for the championship battle.”

The weekend’s weather looks likely to be reasonably settled, with ambient temperatures of 22 degrees Celsius and sunny conditions predicted for Thursday through to Sunday. The race will run over 55 laps of the 5.621 kilometre (3.490 mile) circuit, or 309.155 kilometres (192.100 miles). It starts at 15.00 hours local time, which is nine hours ahead of GMT.

De la Rosa concludes successful Pirelli test

2010-10-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

Pedro de la Rosa has concluded a two-day test for Pirelli at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. It was De la Rosa's second appearance as a test driver for the Italian company, who will become Formula One racing’s official tyre supplier from next season, following his debut in the role at Valencia just over two weeks ago.

The 39-year-old Spaniard tried out Pirelli's intermediate and wet tyres in Valencia, but for the Barcelona test he concentrated on their medium and hard compound slick tyres for the first time, refining the package that had already been formulated from previous tests.
"It's been an excellent couple of days; I've been very impressed because I have to say that the tyres were at an even higher level than I imagined,” he said. “If you look at what Pirelli has done, it's hard to believe that all this work has been carried out in such a short space of time. These Pirelli tyres have their own quite different characteristics to the current supplier that the drivers will appreciate next year and I'm confident that they will form a very competitive package. Pirelli's arrival is great news for Formula One."

De la Rosa's work included validating the conclusions drawn from past tests in Mugello and Jerez, as well as looking at different ways to make the medium and hard tyres even more effective. By the end of the two days, Pirelli was close to defining the rubber that will be taken to Abu Dhabi for the Formula One teams to try out at next month's post-season test.

In total De la Rosa completed 262 laps of running over the two days, equivalent to around 1218 kilometres. Pirelli carried out a number of endurance runs in Barcelona, running for around 35 laps at a time, in order to verify the new tyre's consistent performance and reliability in the long term.

Conditions were unusually cold for Catalunya at this time of the year, with temperatures of seven degrees Celsius in the morning. The weather warmed up to 21 degrees during the afternoon, allowing Pirelli's engineers to see how the tyres operated within a wide window of track conditions.

"Once again, Pedro has shown what a valuable asset he is to us through his hard work and detailed feedback,” said Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembery. “He's carrying out a crucial role and the information that he has provided to us has helped us to further define the tyres that we will take to Abu Dhabi."

Pirelli's next Formula One tests will take place at France's Paul Ricard circuit in early November, where De la Rosa will concentrate on further development of their soft and super-soft tyres - two of the four compounds (along with the hard and the medium) that will be offered to all of the Formula One teams next year.
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Edwards prepared for final push

2010-10-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider finished seventh in the Iveco Australian Grand Prix and is now ready to make a final push in the last two rounds of the campaign.

Edwards reviews seventh place

Colin Edwards got his bid for a top ten World Championship finish back on track today, the experienced Texan claiming seventh. Edwards was hopeful of fighting for a top-six finish but he spent the majority of the race adapting his riding style to counter a small rear grip issue. With two races remaining at Estoril and Valencia, Edwards is just three points away from an overall top ten finish.

Colin Edwards – 7th:

“The pace I'd run all weekend was pretty much the pace I was able to run in the race. Conditions changed so much over the weekend that we never really got enough time to work on finding a decent set-up. I was confident going into the race and got a decent start but pretty much from the second corner I was having some spinning from the rear tyre. I tried to adjust my riding style because I didn't want to lose contact with the group in front of me. I settled into a comfortable rhythm but I just couldn't go any faster. I was trying different lines but I couldn't enter the corner like I wanted to. My speed was basically dictated by what the rear was doing, but we'll look at the data and figure a few things out for the final part of the season. I want to thank my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3. This has been a tough period of the season but we've worked really hard together and I'm happy with the way I've performed. Congratulations to Ben too for getting Rookie of the Year. He's rode awesome all year and he's beaten a lot of good guys to achieve that.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 press release

Tenth in Australia disappoints De Puniet

2010-10-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

The LCR Honda rider was aiming for a top-six result at Phillip Island.

Randy de Puniet sealed a strong qualification for the Iveco Australian Grand Prix with seventh position on the grid at Phillip Island, and was happy with his race pace at the track. Unfortunately the 29 year-old made a mistake in a close battle with Marco Melandri during the race but recovered to take tenth place.

Randy de Puniet – 10th:

“I am disappointed as I expected a top-six finish. With the lap times I did during the race I could have finished in a better position. I had a really constant lap time and I was faster and faster lap by lap. At the beginning of the race I was behind Melandri and overtook him a couple of times but he overtook me back and at turn four I passed him again in the inside. But I made a mistake when downshifting gears and ran wide in the grass losing many places. After that it was a chase for me as I tried hard to come back.”

LCR Honda press release

Best European riders have their sights set on Albacete

2010-10-21T07:12:00.000-07:00

This weekend the UEM European Championship takes place at the Albacete circuit in Spain, where 19 countries will be represented across three categories; Superstock 1000, 125GP and Supersport.

The entry list of riders brings together the top-classified riders from the National Championships in Spain, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as the leading participants in the three main inter-regional Championships in Europe; Alpe-Adria, Scandinavia and the Balkans.

The 125GP category has 42 entrants, a figure arrived at after a difficult selection process in which there was an extremely high number of applications. The main favourites will be Spaniard Isaac Viñales and Portuguese Miguel Oliveira, who have so far dominated the category in the CEV Buckler (Spanish National Championship) this year. Joining them will be Italian youngster Mauriello and Czech talent Popov, both of whom have been competing in the Italian Championship and rode at Mugello last Sunday.

Young German Luca Grünwald is also a talent to watch, and as IDM Champion will attempt to emulate his compatriot Marcel Schrötter as European Champion. Other notable entrants are French Champion Gregory di Carlo, Dutch Champion Roy Pouw and Scandinavian Champion, Norwegian rider Henning Flathaug.

In Superstock 1000 the calibre of entrants is at a premium with Spaniard Javier Forés, who recently claimed his National title, pitting his wits against Italian Champion and veteran Ivan Goi, as well as Czech Michal Filla and Swede Nicklas Cajback. Local representation will come from Javier del Amor, with Santiago Barragán another Spaniard and a rider who fought magnificently with Forés for victory in the CEV Buckler race disputed at Albacete just last month.

In Supersport a surprise entry on the list is the name of Carmelo Morales, current European Superstock 1000 Champion but who this season is competing in the Moto2 category. Morales intends to impose his experience on the category ahead of rivals and former World Championship riders Mirko Giansanti (ITA) and Raymond Schouten (NED).

The best television coverage in the history of the European Championship

A total of seven European television channels will broadcast the action from the UEM European Championship at Albacete this weekend, the highest level of coverage afforded to the event since it started in its current one-race format three years ago.

Teledeporte (Spain), Eurosport UK (Britain), Sport1 (Germany), Sport TV (Portugal), RAI Sport (Italy), Nelonen (Finland) and Super Sport (Albania) will broadcast the Superstock 1000, 125GP and Supersport races, offering either live or extended highlights coverage to their viewers.

The race schedule is as follows (Spanish time):
10:45 Superstock 1000
12:00 125GP
13:15 Supersport

Between the Superstock and 125GP races a tribute to Alex Crivillé will take place as turn two of the Albacete circuit is officially named after the 1999 500cc World Champion

OnBoard at Phillip Island

2010-10-21T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hold on tight and take another look at the best of the action from the Iveco Australian Grand Prix from a very special perspective.

Round 16 at Phillip Island, the Iveco Australian Grand Prix, and as always the OnBoard cameras caught all the action from the perspective of the riders. Review the best of it in the latest motogp.com video which offers you the chance to see it all from an amazing point of view!

Repsol Honda pair energised for Brno

2010-08-11T02:20:00.000-07:00

Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso are both feeling fit, ready and raring to go ahead of the Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic after a summer break.

Having had three weeks off and time to recuperate after a busy first half of the season, Repsol Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso are now more than ready to return to action at Brno. Pedrosa currently occupies second position in the Championship and feels focused upon the resumption of his chase of leader Jorge Lorenzo, having enjoyed a refreshing summer interval.

“This has definitely been one of my best summer breaks of the last few years. I was able to just think about relaxing rather than working to recover from an injury, as has been the case in the last few years,” said Pedrosa, who is fully prepared for the challenge of round ten at Brno.

“Now I’m really looking forward to getting back on the bike at Brno,” he continued. “It’s one of the most difficult circuits on the calendar; physically it’s very demanding but it’s also very enjoyable to ride on a MotoGP bike. I would say that there is only one good line, so it’s crucial to be focused during the whole lap to get a good lap time - and it’s a very long circuit.”

Second in last year’s MotoGP race, Pedrosa has previously tasted victory in the 250cc and 125cc classes at Brno, a result he is hoping to replicate in the premier class. “I’ve had many podiums in Brno, including two wins, so I would like to add another one in MotoGP,” he said, before looking ahead to the one-day test that follows the GP on Monday.

“It’s going to be a busy weekend for everybody, not only with the race but also because we stay on Monday for testing. It’s the only test day remaining this season so we have to make sure we do a good job to help us in the upcoming races,” he added.

Repsol Honda team-mate Dovizioso is similarly eager to climb back aboard his factory RC212V as he aims to close the gap on his colleague, who sits 23 points ahead of him in the standings.

“Our target is to fight for second position in the Championship, and to do that we have to be up there battling for race wins every Sunday starting from this Grand Prix,” said the Italian, who is third in the standings at the moment. “I’m looking forward to this race weekend and also to the test on Monday because that will be really important for us. We will have the opportunity to test some new material and it will be a good opportunity to make some further progress.”

Dovizioso is also focused and ready to do a job this weekend, and he added: “I’m feeling good going into the weekend after a having some time away from the MotoGP paddock, and now I’m ready to get back on track."

In conversation - Bernie Ecclestone & Tavo Hellmund

2010-08-11T02:17:00.000-07:00

Formula One racing has a long and illustrious past in the United States, but one that has been rather sporadic of late. No surprise then that news the US Grand Prix will be back on the calendar for 2012 has been met with universal excitement. For fans, seeing F1 cars battle it out again on American soil is a dream come true, whilst for teams, manufacturers and sponsors the marketing potential of a stateside race is second to none. However, for the two men responsible for the return - Formula One Group CEO Bernie Ecclestone and Tavo Hellmund, managing partner of Full Throttle Productions LP - it’s been a far more personal quest…

Q: The United States are considered to be one of the most important markets for Formula One racing. In 2012 there will be again a United States Grand Prix, in Austin, Texas. Who came up with this idea?
Tavo Hellmund: I considered Austin as the ultimate place and I went to Bernie with this idea. Austin has developed immensely over the last 15 years - in every aspect - so for me there was no better place to hold the United States Grand Prix. The State of Texas has developed into the 11th biggest global economy and many of the Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters here. And Austin is the capital. Think of the ideal location of the city: my fellow countrymen can reach it easily, as well as fans from central and South America. In this respect it’s perfectly central. My philosophy is that you will succeed if you are at the right place at the right time - and for a Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, I considered it to be the right time. We have a contract for the next ten years, but if you ask me we could race here for the next 40 years!

Q: Bernie, what impressions did you take home from Austin?
Bernie Ecclestone: First of all, when Formula One returns to the United States we wanted to go to a place that has global recognition. Texas fulfils that perfectly, so Tavo’s plan and our needs matched perfectly. And Austin is so beautiful. Anyone visiting for the first time will be very impressed. And now comes something important: I’ve known Tavo since he was born.

Q: How come?
TH: My father and Bernie have been friends for decades. As a child I would spend summer vacations with Bernie so I have been familiar with Formula One since I started to walk. One way or another, F1 was always a topic of conversation in our family as my father and Bernie were responsible for the return of the Mexican Grand Prix in the 80’s. Bernie and I always stayed in touch, he was always interested in my projects and sent his congratulations when we did well, including organizing motorsport events or music festivals in the US. Now Bernie is banking that I not only know about the needs of Formula One, but also the predilection of the American fans.

Q: What needed to happen for the Austin F1 project to take off?
BE: We had to verify if it was feasible - from the security aspect of such a mega event down to the most peculiar facet, until we were confident that it would work perfectly.

Q: So far it’s been a tough endeavour for Formula One racing to gain the affection of US motorsport fans. How do you think Austin will manage that?
TH: It will be great. One of the reasons is that I have fantastic partners in Red McCombs (McCombs Partners) and Bobby Epstein (Prophet Capital Management). Red’s legendary ownership experience in the NBA and NFL are huge assets and we have hired various agencies and staff that are the best of the best. Their experience ranges from the entertainment/business world to being involved in the election campaigns of Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barak Obama. Their goal and ours is not only to establish the US Grand Prix at home, but also make it a worldwide event. America shall be proud of it. Therefore we will build a track that will stand as a symbol. Bernie has given us the platform and you can be sure that we will use it! Prominent Texans will support us in making the US Grand Prix in Texas a national and international affair.

Q: Can you drop names?
TH: Well, MotoGP legend Kevin Schwantz - one of my closest friends - is involved in the project. And Austin is home to many internationally prominent actors, athletes and business people. Suffice to say, we have a very deep bench.

Q: That’s all well and good, but isn’t NASCAR too strong a competitor?
BE: Stop! Whenever we’ve raced in the US we had legions of fans that were fascinated and thrilled. It was the case in Long Beach and in Dallas, also in Indianapolis. But the promoters there believed that they could make a better cut financially. The problems in Indianapolis had nothing to do with us. We’ve been always popular with the fans in the United States.
TH: That’s true. What you need to have is the total package, which is extremely difficult to do. Fortunately that is the fact in our case. And what could be better for a city or region than to have this ultimate high-tech-sport with a global audience in your backyard? And with a permanent facility…
BE: Exactly - that’s what is needed. Let’s face it, it’s no big deal for a promoter to build fences and crash barriers around a street circuit, tear them down again and pocket the profits.
TH: We are planning something grand, something that has permanence. Bernie has brilliant ideas on how to inject thrills into the race weekend with support events, mega parties in the park. This is no fairytale or witchcraft - I know that we can do it, but hard work lies before us.

Q: How will the race track look like?
TH: Amazing! I have conveyed my ideas to Hermann Tilke and Peter Wahl who are the most established racetrack architects of our times. The area has natural elevation differences, which promises a fast track with difficult corners. But the most essential thing is that has to be a masterpiece in its suitability for fans. Spectators have to be able to see large parts of the track from wherever they are.

Q: What is your schedule?
TH: The layout is just about to be finished and we will present it to the FIA in September.

Q: Many American motorsport fans love that barbeque-type atmosphere at a race, where they can bring their camper and have their own evening entertainment…
TH: Absolutely. That’s exactly what we are planning, as we are not only staging a race but a happening where racing is just a part of it.

Q: Bernie, how important is it for you personally to bring F1 back to the US?
BE: It’s very simple: we call ourselves a world championship and that implies having a race in the US. But we would not come here at any price and we would not be willing to settle for a rotten compromise. Now we have found someone who thinks the same way, and that means first class, in every respect.

Q: Car manufacturers like Mercedes must be cheering the return of F1 to the US…
BE: Of course they do.
TH: And they will recognise immediately why they have good reason to cheer - because I don’t want to make just Bernie or myself happy, but more importantly our fans, the region and our partners. And the manufacturers I consider our partners. I could not rest easy knowing that anyone in this chain is not happy. Or to use a metaphor, I would not sell you a Budweiser with no Bud in the bottle…
BE: Tavo, hold it - no advertisements please…

Q: Do you think manufacturers and teams will support you?
TH: I am positive about it. They will send show cars and people over because it’s the logical thing to do. Everyone involved can only win: Formula One, the teams, the manufacturer, the State of Texas, the fans - simply everyone!

Q: Wouldn’t it add to the picture if there were an American team or an American driver? Just to cement the success…
TH: Bernie thinks so I guess. Of course it would be fantastic to have an American driver. A team would great, sure, but it’s no real necessity. But I see different options. There is that young Mexican driver Perez who is doing a great job in GP2 right now. For him the 2012 US Grand Prix could be a sort of home race: the distance from Austin to Mexico is a mere 250 kilometres!
BE: His career is followed in Mexico with huge interest, that I can confirm. Regarding an American driver, we have tried that lately but obviously what’s missing is the right attitude. You can race successfully in the US without the huge effort you need to succeed in Formula One. But to have someone like Danica Patrick in F1 would be a perfect advert.

Q: Bernie, have you already been thinking of a slot for the 2012 race in the calendar?
BE: We have to wait and see, but it would be logical to place it close to the race in Montreal and that would mean somewhere in June.
TH: Of course I have a preference, but feel confident that Bernie will do what is best for us to ensure the success of the USGP.

Q: Will there be more than one race in the US in the future?
BE: Let’s make one thing clear: Austin will be the US Grand Prix. But that does not mean that we cannot have another race in the US with another label. I would be insane if there were the option to race in New York and I said ‘no thanks’. But for now that’s nothing more than a pipe dream. The reality is we have a contract with Austin and it is there where the US Grand Prix will be staged.

Lorenzo to continue title charge

2010-08-11T02:15:00.000-07:00

The Fiat Yamaha rider is ready to maintain his fantastic 2010 form and is aiming for a first premier class win at Brno this weekend, where he will look to extend his 72-point Championship lead.

The first half of the 2010 season could not have gone much better for Jorge Lorenzo, who won six of the opening nine races and placed second in the remaining three. That phenomenal form has given the Fiat Yamaha rider a substantial 72-point lead in the World Championship standings at the midway point of the campaign, and after a three-week summer break he will now continue his bid for a debut MotoGP World title at Brno this weekend.

"The holidays were perfect… ten days in the Caribbean for rest and fun, recharging the batteries for the second half of the season. I needed it because the calendar has been busy in the last month and now I can focus on the rest of the season,” explained Lorenzo, who now heads to a track he has won on in both the 125cc and 250cc classes but is still yet to take victory at in the elite category.

“We are going to Brno, a track I like and where I've won three times, but never in MotoGP. I haven't even got a podium here and this is my challenge, my first podium in the second part of the season and in Brno,” explained Lorenzo, who became the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 2002 to finish inside the top two in the first nine MotoGP races of the season with victory last time out at Laguna Seca.

Following the race on Sunday Lorenzo and his Fiat Yamaha team will work on the Spaniard’s M1 machine during the one-day test, to further improve what has proven to be a fantastic package so far this season.

“After the race I will stay in Brno to try something new on the bike, something to improve our bike until the end of Championship. It’s a good place to restart!" he added.

Ferrari target ‘fresh inspiration’ over summer break

2010-08-11T02:07:00.000-07:00

For a fortnight in August Formula One racing comes to a shuddering halt as the teams enforce their self-imposed summer shutdown. For Ferrari, who only recently rediscovered their early season form at the German and Hungarian Grands Prix, the two-week holiday could be considered costly, but team principal Stefano Domenicali is hoping a spell away from the factory could prove productive.

“We will be on holiday, but that does not mean our brains will stop working,” Domenicali told Ferrari’s official website. “Maybe one can even find fresh inspiration when outside the normal working environment and I expect this time to be a fertile one for ideas, which when all is said and done, are what make the difference.”

Although hopeful of returning from the shutdown with a few bright ideas packed into his suitcase, Domenicali believes the Italian team are already on the right track thanks to their hard work in July and he is optimistic the F10 will only get better when they resume racing at the end of this month.

“I have to say I was very pleased with the way our team reacted at a point in the season when the results were just not coming,” he added. “The second half of July went very well and I hope it has given the right impetus for the final part of the season. We know there is much to do, because we still do not have the best car, but this should simply be a further incentive.”

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who won in Germany and took second place in Hungary, isn’t expecting to completely escape Formula One either on his break. He is currently 20 points adrift of standings’ leader Mark Webber and is targeting more strong results when he returns to racing.

“It won’t be possible to switch off my mind completely over these two weeks,” Alonso said. “I will try and relax and do a bit of sport, but at least once a day, maybe just for ten minutes, I will inevitably think about the next race in Belgium. I think it will be the same for everyone. After a few unlucky races, which went badly for various reasons, we are now on the right road.

“The car is much improved and so that makes me more optimistic and has seen the whole team grow in confidence. It only took us two normal races to be fully back in contention for the title. The important thing is to remain calm and concentrated and to do our job well. The percentage chance (of winning the title)? I’d say 50 percent, which is the normal state of affairs.”

Ferrari are expected back in the factory from August 23, ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps from August 27-29.

Valentino Rossi’s 2010 season so far

2010-08-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

A winning start, a horrendous injury and a phenomenal return to action well ahead of schedule… and all by the halfway point of the season. This is the reigning World Champion’s 2010 campaign to date.

Valentino Rossi’s 2010 season so far…

Nobody ever expects Valentino Rossi’s season to be without its fair share of pivotal moments, but the first half of the reigning World Champion’s 2010 campaign must go down as one of the most eventful of his illustrious career to date. Victory in round one, despair in injury and a highly impressive return to action have all been packed into the opening nine rounds by the 31 year-old Italian.

Starting the defence of his title with a win in Qatar Rossi began his quest for an eighth premier class title in the perfect manner, but a motocross training accident shortly after resulted in an injured shoulder which was to continue troubling him for some time. Pain proved no insurmountable obstacle however and third place at Jerez in the next round proved Rossi’s determination. Second place behind team-mate Jorge Lorenzo at Le Mans in round three maintained his solid start as another intense battle between the pair formed early in the campaign.

Eager to secure a second win of the season in his home race at Mugello disaster struck in the second practice session as a crash resulted in a fractured right tibia and fibula, an injury which was to rule Rossi out for four races, a considerably shorter period than had first been suggested. It also brought to an end his record breaking run of 230 successive Grand Prix starts, having never missed a race since his World Championship debut in 1996.

Back on two wheels a little over four weeks after the injury Rossi tested a superbike at Misano at the start of July, and a few days later a second day at Brno led to a decision by the rider and his Fiat Yamaha team to attempt a comeback at Sachsenring. Just six weeks after breaking his leg The Doctor rode to fourth position in the race, losing out on a podium spot only on the final corner of the last lap.

Completing a remarkable comeback Rossi placed third in the next race at Laguna Seca, refusing to hold back in his effort to get his campaign back on course. Fifth in the standings on 90 points, some 120 off leader Lorenzo, the title looks beyond his grasp in 2010 but few would be surprised if Rossi mounted an impressive attempt at recovering lost ground over the remaining nine rounds.

Jenson Button shines at London Triathlon

2010-08-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

Despite suffering from a bout of tonsillitis in the days leading up to the event, McLaren’s Jenson Button put in an impressive performance at Sunday’s London Triathlon. Button is understood to have finished fourth out of the 570 competitors in his group, with a time of 2.14:14.

The annual event includes a 1500-metre swim, a 40-kilometre bike ride and a 10-kilometre run. It attracts 11,000 entrants making it the largest triathlon in the world.

“Great day at the London Triathlon,” said Button on his official Twitter site. “Suffered quite a bit on the run due to just being physically drained I guess from the antibiotics. Still reasonably happy with the result though.”

Button competed to raise money for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity which makes dreams a reality for young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. For more details on the 30 year-old’s fundraising efforts, visit www.justgiving.com/jb2010.

Diversity in rear tyre selection a success at Mugello

2010-06-09T05:44:00.000-07:00

Official MotoGP tyre supplier Bridgestone was highly satisfied with the performance of the two rear tyre options offered at a hot Gran Premio d’Italia TIM.

Bridgestone were extremely pleased with the results they saw at Mugello as the riders employed the widest variety of choice so far this season in terms of rear tyre selection for the race. Every rider opted for the hard front compound due to the hot conditions and hard braking demands, whilst seven went for the softer (medium) rear option and nine for the harder choice
This allowed a direct comparison to be made between the performance of the two rear specifications, and race winner Dani Pedrosa set a new circuit record of 1’49.531 on lap five on the harder rear slick during the 23-lap race.

“This is the second new lap record set on our tyres from the first four races of this season, which is an achievement I am proud of,” said Bridgestone Tyre Development Manager, Tohru Ubukata. “Although his best lap came on lap five, he also broke the lap record on only the fourth lap of the race which indicates good performance from the start. The new fastest total race time at this circuit demonstrates good consistency from our tyres over race distance.”

The number of riders using the softer rear option was also a show of confidence in the performance and durability of the slicks. “Casey and Marco Melandri were two of the riders to use the softer option rear, and they finished fourth and fifth which proves they were good over race distance,” continued Ubukata. “What’s more, Casey and Marco were also in a long battle with Randy de Puniet who used a hard rear tyre and all three riders did very similar lap times throughout.”

The diversity in rear tyre selection was down to the wider temperature operating range of both compounds, meaning both were able to deal with the demanding heat of the asphalt as the track temperature rose to 54ºC during the race. That left the riders to make their decisions based on a combination of riding style and machine set-up.

“Dani, Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso chose the hard compound rear because they could get good grip from it with their individual set-ups and it gave better stability because the rubber is stiffer,” explained Ubukata. “Casey and Marco, for example, chose the softer option rear because it gave more edge grip, and for their styles and set-ups durability was not a concern even with the high track temperature.”

Re-live the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM!

2010-06-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

motogp.com takes you through a full review of the fourth round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship, with the best video action just a click away.

Mugello played host to the latest stage of the World Championship as round four called on the beautiful Tuscan countryside last weekend, and with the weather remaining fine throughout the weekend it was an eventful one in Italy.

The official pre-event on Thursday saw some World Championship riders attempt to make traditional Italian pizza, although their dough skills failed to match up to their abilities on board a motorcycle! The serious business began later that afternoon as a quintet of MotoGP stars – Nicky Hayden, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli – attended the pre-race press conference as anticipation for the race grew.

Friday afternoon arrived and the time for talking was over as the on-track action commenced and it was World Champion Valentino Rossi who took control of the opening practice session, setting the fastest time as Casey Stoner experienced a difficult start to the session.

On Saturday morning it was Jorge Lorenzo who topped the timesheet by the conclusion of FP2, but the main talking point of the session and the remainder of the weekend was Rossi’s crash which ruled him out of the race – and for an as-yet unknown number of rounds – with a fractured right tibia. The Italian was flown to hospital in Florence by helicopter where he had an operation later that day. Dani Pedrosa was the fastest man in qualifying in the afternoon as he secured his second pole position of the season.

Race day arrived and a spectacular 125cc race kicked Sunday off. Marc Márquez took the first victory of his career with a perfectly judged ride to win a thrilling four-way battle with Nico Terol, Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith, who just missed out on the final podium spot by 0.045s.

Moto2 provided a similarly engrossing spectacle, but the battle was for second spot as Andrea Iannone raced to a clear victory. Jules Cluzel was one of a series of fallers as he crashed out when leading the chasing pack.

It was then onto the MotoGP race and before the main event got underway Rossi spoke to fans over the circuit PA via telephone from his hospital bed, thanking them for the overwhelming messages of support. Simoncelli and Lorenzo were amongst the riders who also wished the 31 year-old a speedy recovery as they lined up on the grid.

Pedrosa stormed to victory in the MotoGP race to take his first win of the campaign, with Championship leader Lorenzo and home hero Dovizioso taking the other podium spots. All expressed their delight in the post-race press conference. There was disappointment for Nicky Hayden and Mika Kallio, who both crashed out of the race.

Trackside the Mugello Paddock Girls complemented the stunning Tuscan landscape, and the OnBoard cameras provided the regular unique perspective of the riders.

Rossi in high spirits after operation

2010-06-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Italian expressed his gratitude to the medical staff at the hospital at which he is recovering from his operation and thanked his well wishers, even finding time to joke.

Valentino Rossi displayed some of his characteristic humour as he spoke from his hospital bed at the Centro Traumatologico Ortopedico (Centre for Orthopaedic Trauma) in Florence, Italy on Sunday.
The World Champion, who had an operation to repair his fractured right tibia on Saturday, was interviewed by journalist Guido Meda from Mediaset just before Sunday’s Gran Premio d’Italia TIM at Mugello, the first race he has missed since making his 125cc World Championship debut in 1996.

Rossi’s initial words were ones of thanks to Doctor Buzzi at the CTO, the man who performed his successful operation, and the nine-time World Champion also explained how touched he was by the range of tributes from his fellow riders on Sunday which included a message from Fiat Yamaha team-mate and rival Jorge Lorenzo calling him a ‘legend’.

“I want to thank everyone at Mugello and also all the riders who have wished me well: it’s always a great feeling,” said Rossi. “The operation went well, Doctor Buzzi has been exceptional and they are treating me like I’m part of the family here. I have had a pin inserted into my leg and tomorrow they will close and stitch the wound, then we will wait and begin a good rehabilitation programme.”

Rossi recounted the crash in the practice session which threw him from his bike. “They were difficult moments because it was a bad crash and a bad injury. I’ve watched the accident again and to see how my ankle looked was not a good feeling. There were a few moments of fear, but now I’m doing well,” he stated.

“Now I can say my morale is reasonably high because I’ve discovered I have a great rapport with morphine!” he joked, before going on to show that he was well and truly on the road to recovery with another comment about the race, which Dani Pedrosa won shortly after the interview. “I hope nobody wins!”

Rossi now wants to ensure that he takes enough time to fully recover, and added: “It will take some time, but the important thing is that I’ll return at 100%.”

Ferrari sign Canadian karter to driver academy

2010-06-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

Ferrari have selected 11-year old Canadian karter Lance Stroll to join their driver academy. The programme, which was set up at the end of 2009, was devised by the Italian team to find and support talented young drivers from around the world, with the eventual aim of helping them into Formula One racing.

Montreal-born Stroll has already clinched two wins in the Canadian national championship in the Rotax Mini Max category, as well as winning the Coupe de Montreal and Coupe du Quebec Micro Max championships in 2008 and both Mini Max championships in 2009.
“We are pleased to welcome Lance to our group,” said Luca Baldisserri, who runs the Ferrari Driving Academy. “He is very young, but he has already shown in karting that he is exceptionally talented. We will follow him step by step in his forthcoming events in North America and he will soon also take part in our courses at Maranello.”

Last year, Stroll finished sixth in the world finals at Lonato in the Mini Roc category and second in the Rotax Micro Max Florida winter tour, a series he won this year in Mini Max along with the championships for the Tag/Cadet Florida Winter Tour. In 2008 he was nominated by the Federation Sport Automobile du Quebec as rookie of the year and in 2009 was nominated as a driver of the year.

Others in Ferrari’s stable of young drivers include Brandon Maisano, Raffaele Marciello, Jules Bianchi, Daniel Zampieri and Mirko Bortolotti.

Vettel: Red Bull's heads held high for Montreal

2010-06-09T05:32:00.000-07:00

Red Bull have endured a rough ride in the ten days since May’s Turkish Grand Prix. As well as the furore that surrounded the crash between team mates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at Istanbul Park, the team also know that this weekend’s Canadian race will be a tough test, with many tipping McLaren to dominate.

Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with its slow corners and long straights, should certainly favour the F-Duct equipped MP4-25 of the British team. But rather than feeling downcast, Vettel is optimistic the previously dominant RB6 has enough performance in reserve to overcome the dearth of high-speed corners, in which the car has been particularly quick, to maintain Red Bull’s advantage.

“It’s a very nice track - I like it,” the German told Red Bull’s official website. “On paper it’s probably not the best for our car, but on the other hand our car has been very competitive at every single race this year, so I think we can go there with our heads held high. We will try to do our best.”

McLaren’s much talked about F-duct system, which stalls the car’s rear wing at speed, reducing drag, should be particularly beneficial in Montreal. Red Bull trialled their own version in practice in Turkey, but results were inconclusive and the team are not expected to use the system in Canada.

“I think the McLarens will be very strong there because, whatever you call them - J-switch or F-duct system - should work there again very well,” added Vettel. “So we’ll see, but I think we have a very good chance. We’ll try to score the maximum amount of points.”

Red Bull arrive in Montreal after scoring seven consecutive pole positions and three race wins in 2010. While Webber is leading the drivers’ standings with 93 points, Vettel is down in fifth, 15 points adrift of his team mate. Red Bull, meanwhile, are one point down on constructors’ leaders McLaren.

Stoner aims to build on Italian win

2009-06-10T01:34:00.000-07:00

On the back of his historic first Mugello win for Ducati Casey Stoner is looking for his third victory of the year this weekend at Catalunya.

The winner of a superb Barcelona race in 2007 en route to his World Championship triumph and the victor of the most recent MotoGP race at Mugello - a first win for Ducati at their home track – Casey Stoner has every reason to be confident as he arrives in Catalunya for round six.

However, approaching the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya as the standings leader, Stoner was typically understated as he previewed what promises to be another intriguing weekend at the Montmeló track.

Giving his general perspective on the title race having taken 90 points from the opening five rounds, four more than his current closest rival Jorge Lorenzo, Stoner stated, “This championship is extremely difficult and competitive and even a victory like the one at Mugello, wonderful as it was, needs to be put behind us so that we can turn our focus to the next race.”

“Being leader of the championship at this stage means absolutely nothing. My rivals are very clever, mature and capable of winning races so we have to stay focused, do our best to be competing for the top step of the podium again and if that’s not possible then make sure we are bringing home the maximum number of points.”

On the qualities of the Barcelona venue, the Australian added, “It was one of my favourite circuits until they re-laid it. Even though they put a completely new surface down a few years ago it has never been the same as it was before and the fact they race F1 there hasn’t helped the situation in terms of the bumps and potholes. The layout is nice though. The first part isn’t too difficult but the middle and end parts of the lap are technical and demanding, especially the fast pair of right-handers coming onto the start-finish straight.”

Stoner and his Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden will be honoured by the Circuit de Catalunya on Friday morning with the unveiling of their plaques on ‘Champions Avenue’ - adding their names to those of Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Dani Pedrosa, amongst others - in celebration of their respective 2007 and 2006 MotoGP titles.

Suzuki unsure of race day engine rollout

2009-06-10T01:33:00.000-07:00

Vermeulen and Capirossi uncertain of new engine debut before post-race test.

Rizla Suzuki have been fighting against a lack of top straightline speed since the start of the season, with the cavalry of a new engine promised in time for this weekend’s race in Catalonia to make up the deficit. The long straight of the Spanish track is one at which any discrepancies in power soon get found out, but the team may postpone their use of the upgraded motor until the permitted Monday test session following the race.

“We are hoping that the upgrades from Suzuki this weekend will work as well on the bike as they have in the factory, we're not sure if we'll use them in the race or hang on for the test day, we'll just have to wait and see,” says rider Chris Vermeulen, who resides a short distance away in the principality of Andorra.

Teammate Loris Capirossi came close to a podium last time out in Mugello, and seems determined to run the new engine at the upcoming round. He was the unofficial holder of the MotoGP top speed record with a 990cc Ducati at the Circuit de Catalunya before Dani Pedrosa’s phenomenal burst two weeks ago, and is looking for a similar push with the new GSV-R addition.

“We know we will have to work hard on the long straight at Barcelona, but we learnt a lot from the last race and hopefully that will help us this weekend. We have got some new parts coming from Japan which should make a difference to the performance of the GSV-R so we are all quite excited about that,” declared the Italian.

Suzuki have been testing out the engine since both riders made a request for more speed in preseason, but until now the motor has only been tested in laboratory conditions.

Pedrosa receives clearance for Catalonia

2009-06-10T01:28:00.000-07:00

Spaniard to participate in home race after last-minute check.

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has confirmed his presence at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, less than two weeks after suffering a minor fracture to his right femur. The Spaniard undertook a final check-up at Barcelona’s Dexeus facility on Tuesday, with Doctors Xavier Mir and Manel Ribas giving him the all-clear to ride.

The participation of the 2008 racewinner was never in serious doubt, based on his past record of riding around injuries, the closeness of the title chase in front of him and the fact that the weekend’s race is one of his best chances of taking a first victory of the season. In a statement, Pedrosa also listed the desire to ride in front of his home fans as a key motivational factor.

“I didn’t want to miss this important date for anything in the world,” he said. “On the one hand I wanted to ride because missing this race would mean losing too much ground in the standings, and also because I wanted to race in front of my fans, friends and family.”

Pedrosa has been resting up following his Mugello ordeal, with his right leg immobilised and a cocktail of anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants to ease the pain.

Jarno Trulli Q&A: Turkey result a reward for our efforts

2009-06-10T01:22:00.000-07:00

From qualifying 18th and finishing 13th in Monaco, to starting the Turkish Grand Prix fifth and crossing the line fourth, Jarno Trulli’s results over the past two rounds have been erratic to say the least. But for Trulli the reason for Toyota’s turnaround in performance is simple and comes down to the Japanese team’s hard work. Here the Italian reviews his Istanbul race and looks ahead to the forthcoming British Grand Prix…

Q: What is your reaction to the Turkish Grand Prix weekend?
Jarno Trulli: We are back on track and it was good to be fighting at the front of the grid again. To return to the top five immediately after what happened in Monaco is great and it is a credit to the team, who have worked really hard to improve our performance. We were not far away from the fastest car; there is still a small gap which we will work to close but we are moving in the right direction.

Q: How did the team achieve such a big change of fortunes after Monaco?
JT: Basically it has been achieved through a lot of hard work after Monaco, by everyone in the team. Monaco is a one-off race and we felt sure our problems would not be repeated in Turkey but we didn't leave this to chance. We had a few upgrades, with changes to the front and rear wings, which brought additional performance. Overall we improved in many areas, including the start which was fantastic for me on Sunday. Timo (Glock) and I have worked together with the team to understand where we can improve and the result we had in Turkey was a nice reward for our effort.

Q: Did the car immediately feel competitive in Turkey?
JT: Normally you have a good idea straight away in first practice if you are competitive and in Turkey I was pretty happy from the beginning. We were clearly competitive and I knew immediately we would be in the top 10. We continued to get more performance out of the car in practice and in qualifying we were not far from pole position, even if the tyre situation was a little unusual.

Q: What was the situation with tyres in Istanbul?
JT: Normally the softer tyres clearly give better performance over one lap but in Turkey there wasn't so much difference between the compounds in qualifying. We used the hard and soft tyres in each session to make sure we had everything covered but the lap times were very similar. In the race it was quite straightforward and both tyres worked well. I used the soft tyres for a short final stint but I actually set my fastest race lap on the hard compound; it was fourth fastest overall which shows we were genuinely very competitive.

Q: How was the race for you?
JT: It was an exciting race for me because I was fighting on every lap. I had a great start and managed to overtake two cars into the first corner, so I was in third. But I was having trouble with the brakes locking and it was impossible to keep (Mark) Webber behind. After that I got into a good rhythm and I was battling hard with (Nico) Rosberg; I was ahead but he was pitting two laps later than me so took the position at the first stops. But I didn't give up. I knew I had to stay as close as possible to him during the second stint because we had more fuel on board. I was trying to make every lap like a qualifying lap and I stayed close, so when we both made our final pit stops I got out ahead. A lot of the credit has to go to the pit stop crew who did an amazing job to help me finish fourth.

Q: What are your thoughts on the season so far?
JT: It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride but right now I believe we are definitely heading in the right direction. The fact we are third in the constructors' championship shows how good our car is but the grid is very close in terms of lap times at the moment. We must develop as fast as possible to not only keep our current level but also put pressure on the teams ahead of us. Having new aerodynamic rules for this season means there is huge room for improvement during the season so our challenge is to continuously get more and more performance from our car.

Q: Are you confident of being competitive again at Silverstone?
JT: I am an optimistic person so I am full of hope for the British Grand Prix. We think Silverstone will suit our car pretty well and, from what we saw in Turkey, we are at a good level. Of course, we need to continue to improve and we have a small gap on the fastest cars, but the team is working on that. Personally I don't have a lot of good memories from Silverstone for various reasons but I am determined to change that.

BMW Sauber not yet ready to call off 2009 campaign

2009-06-10T01:13:00.000-07:00

With the season already seven races old, 2008 frontrunners BMW Sauber have just eight points - 62 less than at the same point last year. Given that championship leaders Brawn are already on 96, even the most loyal BMW fan would concede that the title is probably beyond the German-Swiss team’s reach.

However, after ongoing development work on the F1.09 brought them back into the points in Sunday’s Turkish Grand Prix, BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen is refusing to write-off the team’s 2009 campaign.

“I’m often asked these days if it wouldn’t be better to simply stop working on the enhancement of the F1.09 and fully focus on our 2010 challenger instead,” said Theissen on BMW Sauber’s official site. “But this doesn’t represent an option for us. We won’t give up on the current season - far from it!”

After failing to trouble the top ten at the previous Monaco round, BMW Sauber certainly took a step forward at Istanbul Park. Although a poor start meant Nick Heidfeld finished outside the points, team mate Robert Kubica scored two - his first of the season - for his seventh place. And Theissen believes it was the addition of a new two-tier diffuser, and associated aerodynamic modifications, that made the difference.

“The race at Istanbul was the first we contested with our new twin diffuser. And the new component proved to be useful,” said the German. “Our car was fast enough at Istanbul to score points without having to benefit from any on-track incidents or the bad luck of other drivers. Obviously this isn’t enough to make anyone in the team complacent but it represents a basis we can use for our next enhancements.”

Following the new diffuser’s encouraging debut, far from putting development work on hold to focus on 2010, Theissen has accelerated the team’s 2009 programme, promising to bring new parts - including enhanced versions of the diffuser - to every second or third race over the coming months.

“There is still a lot of work waiting for us but the result secured at Istanbul was vital for the motivation of the entire squad, nonetheless,” he concluded. “At the end of the season we want to be able to say that we’ve encountered a disappointing start to the season but that we succeeded in turning things around and making it back to the front end of the field.”

Bahrain day four - Raikkonen fastest as test resumes

2009-02-13T07:39:00.000-08:00

After spending two days dodging sandstorms, Ferrari, Toyota and BMW Sauber were finally able to carry out some productive running as their four-day Bahrain test concluded on Friday. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was the fastest man around the Sakhir circuit, clocking a best time of 1m 33.325s.

Raikkonen covered 105 laps in the F60, despite a brief hydraulic problem in the afternoon, and focused on evaluating set-up options. Toyota’s Jarno Trulli finished the day in second. Working on set-up and tyre evaluations in the TF109, Trulli completed 127 laps.

“After the interruptions of the last two days, we enjoyed fine weather with perfect sunshine throughout the sessions,” explained Toyota’s chief engineer Dieter Gass. “There was still some wind which made the comparisons harder, but we were able to get through a lot of laps.

“We looked at different tyres and some set-up development directions. It is not often that we get through two race distances in a day so that bodes well for our reliability. Overall it has been a positive end to the week."

Tester Christian Klien was in action for BMW Sauber. Klien, who took up the third slot on the timesheets, concentrated on set-up work and tried different tyre compounds in the F1.09. With the car running for 125 laps, the engineers were able to collect a great deal of data and Klien was pleased to get his first taste of the team's 2009 machine.

“In the morning the track was still slightly wet as a result of being cleaned after yesterday’s sandstorm,” said the Austrian. “Because of this it took some time to build up a proper grip level. That gave me the opportunity to get used to the BMW Sauber F1.09, which I drove for the very first time. In the afternoon the track conditions were much better and we were able to go ahead with our test programme as scheduled.”

Ferrari, BMW Sauber and Toyota will stay in Bahrain over the weekend and resume testing at the Sakhir track on Monday.

Unofficial Friday times from Bahrain:
1. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:33.325
2. Jarno Trulli, Toyota, 1:33.429
3. Christian Klien, BMW Sauber, 1:33.666

Fonsi Nieto planning happy days in Moto2

2009-02-13T07:37:00.000-08:00

Spaniard dedicating year to preparing for new Grand Prix class

Former 250cc World Championship runner-up Fonsi Nieto has given further weight to the future Moto2 category, with the announcement that he is dedicating his immediate future to preparing a title challenge in the class. The Spaniard has signed with the L’Oreal LaGlisse team to test their 600cc bike, and possibly ride it in the 2009 CEV Spanish Championship.

Testing with a machine produced in Eskil Sutter’s Swiss workshop, Nieto is likely to have his first on-track encounter with the four-stroke at the Jarama circuit in Madrid. The intention will be to verify the functionality of the bike. A public test in Valencia will follow.

L’Oreal LaGlisse Principal Jaime Fernandez-Aviles expressed his delight with the addition of Nieto to his team to MotoGP.com, stating that “Fonsi is a very strong rider and will be fundamental to the development of our bike, and we aren’t ruling out the idea of running him in the entire CEV season this year.”

Nieto has been racing in superbike competition since 2005, in addition to a ride with Kawasaki in the 2007 French Grand Prix as a stand-in for Olivier Jacque. His intention will now be to become the first ever Moto2 World Champion when the new class is introduced.

Edwards revels in testing superiority over Toseland

2009-02-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

‘Texas Tornado’ reveals Sepang delight in Indianapolis event blog.

“It’s so funny how we don’t talk anymore”

Not a reference to a late 1970’s break-up song, but an admission from Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards that relations have somewhat soured between himself and teammate James Toseland. The statement was made in the Texan’s new ‘Tornado Warning’ blog on the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix website. A switch of Crew Chiefs has driven a wedge between the two riders but, as in the song, Edwards isn’t losing any sleep over the matter.

“He’s not on the Christmas card list whatsoever. It's funny. We don't talk anymore after this little incident,” revealed Edwards on the rift between himself and his Yamaha satellite colleague. Both riders’ opinions on the changes in the garage have been well documented, but the recent Sepang test has left Edwards even more outspoken and with more than a touch of schadenfreude.

“We looked good in front of him, (Toseland) being 2 ½ seconds off the pace. That was good times. You should hear some of the comments being made. He got the Crew Chief he wanted. That was going to make all the difference in the world, and we just sit and laugh. We have a good time,” writes the 34 year-old, who was altogether more positive about his partnership with new Crew Chief Guy Coulon.

“He's got so much experience. I think he's been doing it since early 70s. I'm really happy. I don't have to stroke ego like I did last year. Everybody's just so relaxed, just happy to be riding motorcycles.”

Edwards has always been a strong tester, and the American is excited about the package used thus far in preseason. Having admitted to losing his way with excessive tinkering in 2008, ‘back to basics’ will be the key philosophy for the veteran this year.

“We changed a couple of things (at Sepang), but you could jump back on the first bike I started with, and you could hardly be able to tell the difference. 2002, my last year in World Superbike, we had a bike like this. We pulled it out, and we went through a whole bunch of stuff the first test. But then we pretty much kept it the whole year. I don't think we really changed much. A click here, a click there… and I won the title.”

Kovalainen: the MP4-24 already feels like home

2009-02-13T07:32:00.000-08:00

Following two productive days at Jerez, McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen has revealed he feels comfortable in the MP4-24 and is confident he has already adapted well to driving whilst using the car's KERS device and adjustable front wing. Kovalainen covered over 150 laps of the Spanish circuit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“It’s been a good start with the new car,” said the Finn. “We’ve been mainly working on the reliability side of things and we seem quite satisfied that everything seems to be working well. The car feels like an evolution of last year’s - the controls, the seating position and driver comfort are very similar.”

With the 2009 regulations allowing for the use of KERS and a driver-controlled moveable front wing, the drivers will have their work cut out over the course of a lap this season. However, Kovalainen is pleased with how quickly he has become accustomed to the additional technology.

“I don’t think it’s very difficult to adapt to these new things,” he explained. “It’s just a few more things to do in the cockpit - press the button a few times every lap. I felt I very quickly became used to it and it quickly becomes a routine.

“There are places where you want to press it and places where you want to back off some front wing: if you feel you need a change during a long run, you can adjust it yourself. I feel I’m already on top of that and controlling it pretty well. And KERS has been running pretty well - it’s been running at full-power without any errors so that’s quite encouraging.”

Indeed, so far the only snag for Kovalainen has been rear tyre wear. But the Finn is certain he’ll be able to fine-tune his style of driving over the coming weeks to solve the issue before the season-opener at Melbourne's Albert Park.

“Obviously, lower grip and with the tyres, you have to take care and really look after them - especially here at Jerez, which is always a killer on the rear tyres,” he added. “So we need to look after them and I think I need to work on my driving style a little bit, to be more cautious in various places.

“But I have all the confidence in the team that they will be able to produce another competitive car. My feeling at the moment is that I have a better feeling this year than I did last year at the same time.”

Kovalainen is scheduled to return to the McLaren cockpit at the start of March, when testing continues at Jerez.

Calendar & Circuits 2009 Season

2009-01-06T00:43:00.000-08:00

Calendar & Circuits 2009 Season

12 April Losail Circuit | Qatar

GRAND PRIX OF QATAR

26 April Motegi | Japan

GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

03 May Jerez | Spain

GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA

17 May Le Mans | France

GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE

31 May Mugello | Italy

GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA

14 June Circuit de Catalunya | Catalunya

GRAN PREMI DE CATALUNYA

27 June Assen | Netherlands

TT ASSEN

05 July Laguna Seca | United States

U.S. GRAND PRIX

19 July Sachsenring | Germany

MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCHLAND

26 July Donington Park | Great Britain

BRITISH GRAND PRIX

16 August Automotodrom Brno | Czech Republic

GRAND PRIX CESKE REPUBLIKY

30 August Indianapolis | Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX

06 September Misano | San Marino

GP DI SAN MARINO E DELLA RIVIERA DI RIMINI

20 September Balatonring | Hungary

GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY

04 October Estoril | Portugal

GRANDE PREMIO DE PORTUGAL

18 October Phillip Island | Australia

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

25 October Sepang Circuit | Malaysia

MALAYSIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

08 November Comunitat Valenciana | Valencia

GRAN PREMIO DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA

Download 2009 MotoGP calendar

OnBoard in 2008

2009-01-06T00:41:00.000-08:00

A riders´ eye view of proceedings in the MotoGP World Championship in 2008.

In a season in which there were was more camera coverage than ever before in the MotoGP World Championship, fans could get closer than ever to the action with OnBoard footage. Overtaking moves, crashes and some audacious leans will have you on the edge of your seat in this highlight of some of the best `up close and personal´ video clips.

OnBoard laps and clips are available for every World Championship round on motogp.com.

Action from 2008

2009-01-06T00:35:00.000-08:00

The most memorable track footage from the 2008 season.

Highlights of the on-track action in the 2008 World Championship season, with memorable moves, breathtaking battles and jawdropping crashes along the way. Footage from all three categories and across the globe feature in the final review of the most recent year in MotoGP.

Race highlights from every Grand Prix event are available in motogp.com´s video archive.

February launch for Red Bull's RB5

2009-01-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

Red Bull have announced that their new car, the RB5, will make its track debut at the Spanish circuit of Jerez on February 9 - significantly later than several of the team’s rivals, who have already revealed January launch dates.

“Our strategic plan has always been to take full advantage of the later start to the 2009 season," said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. "And we are using the time to ensure we have optimised the car as much as possible, within the regulation changes, to start on the grid in Melbourne."

The RB5 will be raced by new signing Sebastian Vettel, who replaces the retired David Coulthard, and incumbent Mark Webber. Both will be hoping to build on Red Bull's seventh-place finish in the 2008 constructors’ championship.

Toyota are expected to kick start this year's launches, revealing the TF109 on January 15, ahead of similar debuts for McLaren, BMW Sauber, Renault and Williams. The 2009 season will get underway in Australia on March 29.

The 2008 News Review, Part One - January to March

2009-01-06T00:27:00.000-08:00

As we welcome in the New Year, we take time to reflect on the past 12 months and the year that was 2008. Even before the season got underway there were plenty of Formula One stories grabbing the headlines - Lewis Hamilton’s new McLaren deal, the unveiling of the car that would win the 2008 constructors’ title, and Williams’ celebrating their 30th anniversary were just a few of them…

January:
BMW Sauber set out ambitious aims for the season ahead, announcing they are targeting a maiden win. Ferrari also get their ’08 campaign underway with a bang, becoming the first team to unveil their new challenger, at their Maranello base in Italy. The F2008 is the 54th single-seater Ferrari have built to contest the Formula One world championship.

Championship rivals McLaren are not far behind, launching the MP4-23 at a special ceremony at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, Germany. That same day, driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates his 23rd birthday and describes his new car as ‘the coolest birthday present you can get’. Super Aguri reveal their launch will be held in February.

Honda announce that former Williams racer Alex Wurz is to become the team’s test and reserve driver, whilst Japanese rivals Toyota launch the TF108 at their German base in Cologne. Force India reveal that Giancarlo Fisichella will join Adrian Sutil to form the team’s 2008 race line-up, alongside reserve driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The majority of teams gets back to business testing at Jerez, but BMW Sauber choose to launch their ‘08 challenger at their Munich facility before giving the car its test debut at Valencia. Things run less smoothly for Super Aguri, who miss vital Jerez track time waiting for parts to arrive from England.

McLaren announce a five-year extension to their contract with star driver Hamilton. The new agreement will run up to and include the 2012 season and takes the length of the team’s relationship with Hamilton to a total of 15 years. The British driver also celebrates clinching the coveted Hawthorn Memorial Trophy.

FIA President Max Mosley confirms that changes to the stewarding system at Grands Prix (with three designated stewards coordinating with FIA representative Alan Donnelly) will make for speedier decision making. In track news, Singapore reveals that ahead of the first-ever night race, the drivers will get to sample driving the track in the dark during the second Friday practice and qualifying.

February:
Huge crowds attend a Barcelona test but the atmosphere is marred after Hamilton is subjected to racist abuse by a small number of spectators. In response, the FIA launch an anti-racism initiative. Marko Asmer and former Honda tester Christian Klien join BMW Sauber to form the team’s test line-up, whilst Renault sign former Super Aguri racer Sakon Yamamoto as a development driver.

Force India launch their maiden season in style, unveiling the VJM01 at a spectacular ceremony in Mumbai. Super Aguri, however, announce they are to postpone the launch of their 2008 car until March’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix and subsequently pull out of two multi-team tests.

On track, McLaren try out some unusual looking front rim shields at Jerez testing, while in Barcelona Williams unveil a special livery, commemorating their 30th anniversary. The design features handwritten messages from each of the team’s seven world championship-winning drivers - Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve.

McLaren executives are questioned by Italian investigators as part an ongoing legal enquiry into 2007’s ‘spy scandal’ affair, but subsequently express their ‘extreme displeasure’ at reports claiming important evidence was found at their factory.

March:
Bridgestone reveal they plan to make their extreme wet-weather tyres distinguishable from the standard wet rubber by marking the extremes with the same painted white line used to mark their softer dry compound. Following uncertainty about the team’s future, and ahead of the season opener in Melbourne, Super Aguri announce they have been bought by the Magma Group.

A week later, Red Bull chief Dietrich Mateschitz confirms he and co-owner Gerhard Berger have put Toro Rosso up for sale and hope a new owner will be in place for the end of 2009. There are changes afoot at Ferrari too, with Jean Todt relinquishing his CEO role.

It is announced that former world champion Michael Schumacher is among the committee members of the FIA’s newly-formed Motor Sport Safety Development Fund, the body which will distribute $60 million from McLaren’s ‘spy scandal’ fine, for the benefit of motorsport worldwide.

A lucky enthusiast buys a slice of Formula One history after snapping up the Red Bull driven by David Coulthard at the 2007 British Grand Prix on eBay for €210,050, in aid of the Wings for Life charity. As March draws to a close, the news breaks that Former FIA President Jean-Marie Balestre has died, aged 86.

Part Two coming soon.

Alonso delayed by plane drama

2009-01-06T00:23:00.000-08:00

Renault’s Fernando Alonso was forced to postpone his travel plans on Sunday after his plane was damaged before takeoff in Kenya. Alonso had been in the country for New Year celebrations at team boss Flavio Briatore’s resort.

Alonso was due to fly back to Europe with his wife and other family, but had to delay his return after the plane made minor contact with a building whilst taxiing on the runway, damaging one of its wings.

No one was hurt in the incident and the Spaniard is now expected to fly on Monday as he looks forward to testing Renault’s 2009 car, the R29, which will be rolled out at Portugal’s Algarve Motor Park on January 19.

Paddock Press: Potherat on Guintoli´s 2008 season

2008-12-16T03:37:00.000-08:00

Departing Frenchman´s season reviewed by L´Équipe journalist.

In the second part of the French-themed day of Paddock Press, Pierre Henry Potherat looks back on Sylvain Guintoli´s 2008 season in the MotoGP World Championship. The L´Équipe journalist admits that his fellow countryman had a tough time with the Alice Team Ducati, but thinks that a comeback after a year in British Superbike competition could be possible.

`Learning the Ducati/Bridgestone package was really tough for Sylvain, coming from his rookie season with Tech3 on Yamaha and Dunlop tyres,´ says Potherat.

`He took him many practice sessions and races to learn and finally he didn´t have the success he could have expected with this bike. Sylvain paid a lot for this learning phase and had many crashes. I think he deserves to be in MotoGP but we hope he´ll come back to the premier class soon.´

Randy de Puniet´s first year with LCR Honda is also reviewed today.

Paddock Press: Turco reviews De Puniet´s 2008 season

2008-12-16T03:35:00.000-08:00

Frenchman´s 2008 campaign as seen by Moto Revue journalist.

Few would say that Randy de Puniet was overly cautious in 2008, given his penchant for pushing the LCR Honda RC212V past its limits in a crash-strewn season. However, Moto Revue´s Michel Turco believes that the Frenchman did just that in the final races of the year, as he reveals in the latest edition of Paddock Press:

`He was too careful in the first few laps of the last races and lost a lot of positions. At the end of the season, he was quite far down in the World Championship and it´s been a bad year for him,´ says Turco.

`He also had a lot of crashes - too many crashes I would say- and after that he lost his confidence.´

Paddock Press takes on a French feel today, with Sylvain Guintoli´s 2008 season also coming under the microscope in the other half of a double-bill.

McLaren lead Ferrari at maiden Algarve test

2008-12-16T03:23:00.000-08:00

McLaren were the early leaders as this week’s three-day test got underway at Portugal’s Algarve Motor Park on Monday. With Red Bull, Williams and BMW Sauber all testing at the Spanish circuit of Jerez, Ferrari were the only other team in action at the new 4.7-kilometre Portuguese track.

Despite strong winds hampering his progress, McLaren tester Gary Paffett managed to cover 63 laps and clocked a fastest time of 1m 31.788s. Paffett spent most of the day running in the team’s KERS-equipped interim car, putting further mileage on the electrical unit and the 2009-spec front wing. Fellow test driver Pedro de la Rosa will be in action for the outfit on Tuesday.

Felipe Massa, meanwhile, took charge of the Ferrari and clocked a best time of 1m 32.926s. Massa concentrated his attentions on an engine endurance test, but managed just 36 laps before finishing ahead of schedule because he was feeling unwell. Testing continues at the Algarve circuit on Tuesday.

Unofficial Monday times from Algarve:
1. Gary Paffett, McLaren, 1:31.788
2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:32.926

Jerez day one - Buemi fastest for Red Bull

2008-12-16T03:16:00.000-08:00

After recent appearances for Toro Rosso, tester Sebastien Buemi was back in action for Red Bull on Monday as this week’s three-day session got underway at Jerez. Buemi clocked the quickest time, a 1m 17.704s, as he ran alongside New Zealander Brendon Hartley in the other RB4, the Williams of Nico Hulkenberg and the BMW Saubers of Nick Heidfeld and Christian Klien.

Over the course of the day Buemi completed his full programme which included data measurement in the morning and a brake evaluation in the afternoon. And despite a slight off at Turn Nine, after being caught out by rain on the artificial grass, he covered 71 laps. Hartley, meanwhile, completed 83 laps and finished the day in third.

“This has been an amazing experience,” said the young New Zealand driver. “The first run was really difficult, just in terms of the mind speeding up, as everything’s going so much faster than normal. There’s a lot of things to think about with buttons and radio calls, but I got more and more confident with the car and it was going well by the end of the day. It’s a dream come true really. I’ve been working for this all my life and it’s been unbelievable.”

Heidfeld finished the day second after covering 75 laps in the interim BMW Sauber, despite a brief on-track stoppage caused by a mechanical problem. Austrian Klien, who was driving an F1.08B fitted with the team’s KERS device, completed 94 laps on his way to fourth on the timesheets.

Both BMW Sauber drivers evaluated different set-up options in preparation for the 2009 season and carried out some tyre testing. Heidfeld will continue to test on Tuesday and will be joined on track by team mate Robert Kubica.

Completing Monday’s line-up was Hulkenberg for Williams. The British team’s tester concentrated on set-up work, aero optimization and slick tyre development and covered 100 laps on his way to fifth in the timesheets.

Testing continues at Jerez on Tuesday.

Unofficial Monday times from Jerez:
1. Sebastien Buemi, Red Bull, 1:17.704
2. Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber, 1:19.360
3. Brendon Hartley, Red Bull, 1:19.586
4. Christian Klien, BMW Sauber, 1:19.655
5. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams, 1:20.704

Hopkins has metal plates removed in California

2008-12-06T16:20:00.000-08:00

Kawasaki´s John Hopkins will need four weeks of rest and recuperation following a torrid season and surgery this week to remove various supportive plates from his left leg.

MotoGP´s Anglo-American star John Hopkins was in a positive mood following a successful operation at the Fremont Surgery Centre in California on Thursday, where he had the metal plates from his left ankle and left foot removed.

Having suffered a nasty groin injury in pre-season at Phillip Island at the beginning of 2008, Hopkins´ season was ruined by a horrific crash in practice at Assen in June - resulting in broken bones in his left leg and a period on the sidelines.

The 25-year-old therefore underwent a surgical procedure to remove the supportive elements in his leg, performed by Doctor Arthur Ting, who also carried out keyhole surgery to clean up scar tissue and cartilage damage in Hopkins´ left knee.

Dr Ting also removed a metal plate from Hopkins´ left hand, the result of a previous injury. The former Suzuki competitor was allowed home on Friday after being kept in for 24 hours, merely as a precautionary measure. He now faces a four week recuperation period, with only mild rehabilitation exercise, before full training can be resumed.

The Kawasaki rider commented, `It´s unbelievable; it´s great to be hardware free again after all this time. I have had several injuries in the past and have had to go through a few surgical ordeals since I was 13 years-of-age, but you never really get used to it. Now all the metal is out of my body I´m looking forward to some rest and recuperation, and spending time with my wife Ashleigh and our two families during the Christmas holiday period. Doctor Ting reckons it will be four weeks before I can start training properly again, but that should give me time to be fighting fit, ready for the start of pre-season testing at the end of January.´

Kawasaki´s Competition Manager Michael Bartholemy, added, `John has been either injured, or handicapped by his injuries, for almost the entire season, so the removal of all the metal from his body is an important step in the recovery process for him. He´ll need approximately four weeks to recover fully from the surgery, but he will then be able to resume his pre-season training programme at full intensity, which should see him fully fit again prior to the first test of the new season at the end of January.´

`It has been hard watching John ride injured this year, so I´m looking forward to seeing him back on the bike fully fit once again. Having John back at 100 per cent is important to us now, as we will have the all-new Ninja ZX-RR at the first test of 2009, and we need both our riders on top form if we are to have the bike ready for the first race in April.´

Rossi begins Rally GB with number 46

2008-12-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

MotoGP World Champion to use customary number as WRC guest appearance begins.

Valentino Rossi may be in the confines of a Ford Focus car at this weekend´s WRC Rally GB event, but the 2008 MotoGP World Champion will be recognisable to motorcycle fans due to his customary number 46´s adorning the four wheeled machine.

Rossi began his latest guest rally appearance in a shakedown test on Thursday, placing 17th out of 21 riders in the Penllergaer Forest stage. The Italian today (Friday) begins the Rally GB proper, with the first stage taking place at Hafren. A further seven stages will follow, racking up a total of around 124 kilometres.

Rossi is using the number 46, which he has run throughout his racing career, after a charitable donation from Finnish driver Jari Ketomaa (the regular owner of the number in the WRC season). Ketomaa will instead use 146 this weekend.

`It was very important for me to get number 46 - Jari was very fair to give me the number,´ said Rossi on the Finn´s generosity. `I was car 46 on the two rallies I have done previously and I´ve never ridden a motorbike or driven a car in an official race without it.´

The Fiat Yamaha rider tested the Stobart-backed car before the recent Jerez test, although he does not feel totally prepared for the event in Wales. `We have only done one day of testing in the UK, about three weeks ago, and that´s not a lot, so our testing will continue in the race. We need to make a few kilometres to understand the car, and then we´ll see,´ he analyses.

`My goal is to have fun and finish. At the end of New Zealand (his previous rally runout, in 2006) in some stages I was about two seconds per kilometre off (WRC star) Marcus Gronholm´s pace. My target is to try and get as close to the leaders again here.´

Rossi recently finished runner-up in the annual Monza Rally event in his native Italy.

New Toseland book hits stores

2008-12-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

`A Year in MotoGP´ features Briton´s thoughts on debut season in the World Championship.

James Toseland´s debut season in the MotoGP World Championship has been thoroughly documented on motogp.com this year, and now the Tech 3 Yamaha rider has released his own memento of his rookie year.

Written with the help of Ted Macauley, `A Year in MotoGP´ reviews every race of the 2008 season from Toseland´s perspective in a round-by-round format. This is the Briton´s second book, following on from `James Toseland: The Autobiography´ -another collaboration with Macauley and rereleased earlier this year.

`A Year in MotoGP´, published by Virgin Books, hit bookstores on November 27th.

Cosworth win FIA standard engine tender

2008-12-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

The legendary Cosworth name could return to Formula One racing in 2010 if the FIA pushes ahead with plans to introduce standardised engines, one of three options being offered to the teams should they fail to come up with their own viable cost-cutting measures.

The FIA revealed on Friday that they are in exclusive negotiations with Cosworth, along with gearbox specialists Xtrac and Ricardo Transmissions (XR), to supply a complete low-cost power train that will be made available to all teams. The engine will be based on the current V10 specification, while the gearbox will be an all-new, state-of-the-art unit.

The other engine options being proposed by the FIA are for teams to build their own engines to Cosworth’s specifications, or to continue with their current ‘frozen’ V8s. In both cases, the engine would be paired with the standard XR transmission.

A number of teams have already voiced their opposition to the standardised engine concept and are expected to put forward alternative engine proposals to be considered by the FIA at next week’s World Council meeting.

Friday’s FIA announcement follows news that Honda is to pull out of Formula One racing in light of the global economic downturn, a move that FIA President Max Mosley said further emphasises the need to bring the cost of competing in the sport under control.

“As the guardians of the sport, the FIA is committed to working with the commercial rights holder and the remaining members of FOTA to ensure that Formula One becomes financially sustainable,” read an FIA statement.

Should any teams decide to take up the FIA’s Cosworth offer, they have until next Thursday (December 11) to express their interest. Cosworth last participated in Formula One as suppliers to Williams and Toro Rosso in 2006.

View the full FIA correspondence with the teams:
Letter from FIA President to F1 Teams - 05.12.2008
Letter from FIA President to F1 Teams - 18.11.2008

Fry confident of finding buyer for Honda

2008-12-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry is optimistic that a new owner will be found for the team following Friday’s announcement that parent company Honda are withdrawing from Formula One racing.

The Japanese car giant has put the team up for sale and Fry and other senior management are now in a race against time to find a buyer ahead of the 2009 season. However, he says they have already received several serious enquiries.

"In the last 12 hours we've had three serious people come and suggest they'd like to buy the team," Fry told British broadcasters, the BBC. "We're one of the best-funded teams and have the best assets and resources in the pit lane - we'll be quite a desirable asset for somebody."

Honda have experienced only limited success in recent years, finishing a lowly ninth in the 2008 constructors’ championship, but any potential buyer would inherit a car developed under the leadership of team principal Ross Brawn, who joined the UK-based team at the end of 2007.

In his previous role as Ferrari technical director Brawn was key to five Michael Schumacher championships and Fry believes the 2009 Honda - the first designed entirely under Brawn’s watch - should make the team an attractive proposition.

"We're very hopeful, as are most commentators, that we'll take a big step up,” he added. “It's a big opportunity for somebody.”

Fry also confirmed that Jenson Button has a 2009 contract with the team, while their second race seat - filled by Rubens Barrichello this season - remains undecided.

McLaren on 2009: Part Two - KERS, engines & racing

2008-12-06T16:03:00.000-08:00

With one winter test session already under their belts, McLaren are fully focused on preparations for the 2009 season and the introduction of some of the biggest and most comprehensive rule changes in Formula One history.

The team’s top engineers, aerodynamicists, engine expert, test team manager and test driver spoke to the McLaren press office to bring you an exhaustive analysis of the changes and the impact they’re likely to have…

The Panel
Pedro de la Rosa, Test Driver
Pat Fry, Chief Engineer MP4-24
Ola Kallenius, Managing Director Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines
Indy Lall, Test Team Manager
Paddy Lowe, Director of Engineering
Doug McKiernan, Principal Aerodynamicist

KERS & Engines
Q: What’s the plan for running a KERS car over the winter?
Paddy Lowe: Before Christmas, we’ll be running one chassis as a KERS car - MP4-23K. We will develop the interim technology on the 23K mule car before the race system is introduced onto next year’s 24A. We’ll also have an additional 23A for running our chassis and tyre programme.

Indy Lall: For our first proper circuit test we want to make sure the device can ride kerbs and withstand a lot of the bumping that we necessarily haven’t seen in any of our previous aero tests. Equally, up to now we’ve extracted a smaller output of power from the KERS device and our step up to maximum power won’t happen instantly. We’ll build up to it.

Q: How will you develop the KERS programme during the season?
Ola Kallenius: Unlike the engine, there is full development freedom on KERS. And like any new technology it’s only natural to expect the system to develop as you learn more about it. Every team will be updating their systems during the season.

Paddy Lowe: There will definitely be constant development of the KERS device through the year. One thing to bear in mind is that the ultimate idealised performance benefit of KERS is capped - because it’s limited in power and energy. So assuming you’ve delivered to that cap, you’re looking more into the domains of doing it for less weight or doing it more efficiently or more reliably.

Q: Is there a firm plan about how best to exploit the system during races?
Paddy Lowe: Certainly, the variation from circuit to circuit will be different. Also KERS will have more authority at some tracks than at others - so the pecking order from circuit to circuit may change a little bit.

Ola Kallenius: There will certainly be different optimal strategies for different tracks.

Q: How easy is it to use KERS in the cockpit?
Pedro de la Rosa: We are still learning about it. It requires a lot of fine-tuning to the car - especially in the braking. KERS has to recharge itself - so when you press the brakes, it generates an extra resistance that you have to somehow compensate for to balance it out. That means interacting with the engine braking and the brake balance. You just have to find the best compromise; it’s not just fitting KERS and going quicker, you have to balance it into the whole system. If you don’t have it properly tuned, it will be very sudden. The difficulty will be to smoothen all the transitions.

Q: What additional steps need to be done to an engine to extend it from two to three races?
Ola Kallenius: It’s certainly not an inconsiderable task. We are currently analysing the engine’s areas of reliability as we plan what measures we need to take to extend its duty cycle. As you can imagine, there is a reliability buffer built into every engine but it’s not sufficient to easily extend its life from two to three races.

Q: How is Mercedes-Benz approaching the winter’s engine equalisation process?
Ola Kallenius: Like all engine manufacturers, we have until December 15 to submit our proposals to the FIA. After that date, the governing body will decide how best to approach the situation to equalise power between every team.

Racing
Q: What does a 2009-spec car feel like to drive?
Pedro de la Rosa: It’s very different. Obviously, the slick tyres give you a lot more grip - so although we will be running with reduced downforce, the overall grip of the car won’t be that different to what we had. But it’s the balance front to rear that will change - the slick tyres have a very strong front-end going into the corners and they have very good traction coming out. Overall, to simplify things, I think the slick tyres will give us laptime in the low-speed corners and because of the reduced downforce we’ll be slower at high speeds.

Q: Do you think it will make overtaking easier?
Pedro de la Rosa: Yes, definitely. Considering this is Formula One - if people think the introduction of KERS and the reduction in downforce and slicks is going to transform Formula One, then forget it. It will still be a wide car, there will still be aerodynamic effect and offline will stay dirty. It will be easier, but it won’t be MotoGP. And people need to understand that.

The changes are headed in the right direction. The difficulty comes from having so many changes and a massive reduction in testing for next year. It will make fine-tuning your car between the races very difficult. It’s going to be very interesting - and there won’t be enough time to test everything.

Q: What sort of impact will the regulations have on downforce levels, car balance and laptime?
Paddy Lowe: When the Overtaking Working Group (OWG) package was put together at the end of 2007, its intention was that the cars would be slower than they were in 2008. Of course, that was difficult to predict because a) we didn’t know what that performance would be and, b) there was some uncertainty over the final performance of the slick tyres.

While Bridgestone made some predictions, there’s some thought that they may have been under-estimated - so therefore the offset of the tyres may have been bigger than predicted.

On the aero side, the OWG put some downforce targets into its research programme for half the downforce for the same amount of drag. Even at a research level, that could not be achieved - so the drag was slightly reduced for the halving of downforce. That’s a bit of performance already.

Of course, that target naturally anticipated that the teams would be able deliver well beyond that figure - we factored that into our calculations.

Nevertheless, there was still some uncertainty over what that figure would be. And even today I don’t know that the answer - we have our own internal targets tracking progress through to next year. But who knows what the other teams have as targets or achievable levels?

Q: Has the Overtaking Work Group succeeded in creating a formula that will produce better racing?
Pat Fry: We’ve achieved a very large reduction in downforce - although not what the OWG had targeted - so that will make the car a couple of seconds slower. But we’ll likely have less drag so that will to some extent compensate. Going to a slick tyre allows for a softer compound. When we’ve tested slicks, we’ve previously been up to three seconds a lap faster - just because of the tyre!

So there is a swing from taking away aero and giving you back mechanical grip with the tyres. And anything that gives your tyres more grip and reduces aero sort of makes the car a little less aero-dependent. But in terms of how it affects the car that follows, it’s still too early to know whether we’ll be better or worse off.

Paddy Lowe: As part of the OWG team, I really hope it does make a big difference. I am reasonably confident that the learning we gained through the OWG programme will produce a good step. To say it’s the ultimate solution for overtaking in Formula One would be incorrect but I expect it to make a significant difference. I expect cars to be able to follow and dice with each other more closely. Perhaps drivers will now be able to take greater advantage when the car in front makes a mistake. The rules should allow for more of that - and hopefully to a balanced level.

In the OWG, we discussed how we didn’t want a ‘basketball situation’ [note: where play is rendered less meaningful due to the high incidence of scoring] where as soon as a quicker car catches a slower one, it’s a dead cert that it will get past within one corner - that would make the sport incredibly boring. We hope the regulations will make the sport more entertaining - most particularly at those circuits where it’s notoriously difficult to overtake, because circuit layout still makes a massive difference.

Third Toro Rosso test for Sato

2008-12-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

Takuma Sato’s hopes of returning to the Formula One grid appear very much alive after his management revealed that he has been asked to test for a third time with Toro Rosso next week.

With neither of their 2009 race seats confirmed, the Italian team will put the Japanese driver through his paces again in Spain as they continue to ponder their line-up for next season.

“Takuma has been recalled by Scuderia Toro Rosso to test at Jerez, Spain, on 10/11 December,” a brief statement read. “We obviously see this as a positive step but still nothing is decided for the 2009 racing season.”

Sato, the most successful Japanese driver in history, has been without a drive since April’s Spanish Grand Prix and the demise of Super Aguri. He tested with Toro Rosso at Jerez in September and again in Barcelona last month, impressing on both occasions.

Toro Rosso have also been assessing Red Bull tester and GP2 star Sebastien Buemi and their 2008 race driver Sebastien Bourdais, who still hopes to retain his seat following the departure of team mate Sebastian Vettel to Red Bull Racing.

Toyota’s Pascal Vasselon on Formula One, 2009 style

2008-11-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

Next week the teams begin their on-track preparations for the 2009 Formula One season, which sees some of the most far-reaching rule changes in recent years. Tighter aerodynamic regulations, the return of slick tyres, the arrival of adjustable front wings and the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) are all set to make cars sleeker and overtaking easier. It means a busy winter ahead for the designers and engineers, but Pascal Vasselon, Toyota’s senior general chassis manager, is relishing the challenge…

Q: Looking ahead to next year, can you explain the reason for the changes to the aerodynamic regulations?
Pascal Vasselon: The regulation change basically targets three main objectives: the first one is to give drivers a better opportunity to overtake, the second is to limit the performance of the cars and restrict the constant increase in speeds and the third is to give the car a cleaner appearance by removing small aerodynamic devices such as winglets, turning vanes and chimneys.

Q: How will the cars' appearance change?
PV: One of the key elements of this regulation change was a desire to alter the appearance of the cars and make them look cleaner. Currently, the appearance of the cars has not been dictated purely by aerodynamic considerations; instead we have worked within what we call 'legality boxes'. These are specific areas of the car where additional downforce-generating devices are permitted. Their location is not driven purely by physics because when race car design is driven simply by aerodynamic efficiency you end up with nice, flowing shapes - not winglets etc. The regulations for next year are written in a way that means we will not see these kinds of devices.

Q: How do the new aerodynamic regulations aim to make overtaking easier?
PV: The aim of these new regulations is to make the cars less aerodynamically-sensitive to the wake of the car in front; that is the air disturbance immediately behind a car travelling at speed. This has been addressed with a two-pronged approach from the Overtaking Working Group. The first target is to make the wake of a Formula One car less disruptive to the car behind and the second is to make aerodynamic performance less sensitive to wake.

Q: Why are slick tyres returning to Formula One racing?
PV: The slick tyres are another aspect of the new regulations designed to facilitate overtaking and they play a major part in this whole concept. In order to facilitate overtaking you need to alter the current situation where the wake of a car has a very detrimental effect on the performance of the car behind. But you can also change the balance between aerodynamic performance and mechanical grip in order to limit the drop in performance suffered by the car behind. Improving mechanical grip was an important aspect of this set of regulations, obviously tyre grip is not altered in the wake of another car, and slick tyres, because they provide more grip than grooved tyres, contribute to this.

Q: What are the implications of the adjustable front wing?
PV: The adjustable front wing is another change which contributes to reducing the impact of wake on a car's performance. One of the characteristics of a car following another is to lose front downforce and end up with understeer. The new regulations have tried to minimise that but it will still exist. So the other possibility is to offer the driver an active change to the car's balance and the easiest way to achieve this is to make the front wing adjustable. This means that if a car is experiencing understeer when following another car, the driver can add some flap angle to the front wing to improve the balance. The target again is to limit the performance drop experienced when following another car closely, and to improve the chances of overtaking. But in circumstances when a driver is not following another car, he will also be able to take advantage of the adjustable wing to compensate potential balance issues in certain corners. The drivers will certainly be kept busy next year!

Q: How much of a challenge is it to deal with these regulation changes?
PV: Obviously it is a challenge because we are talking about a very large regulation change. But I have to say it has been a really interesting and exciting challenge, especially given our team's situation. We are still a young team in Formula One terms and we have been playing catch-up with other teams who were more experienced in dealing with the regulations. Now, with these new regulations, everyone has reset to zero in terms of experience with the new regulations so all teams are starting from scratch. We have given full freedom to the creativity of our team members, without imposing any restrictions, and the results have been really rewarding. It is an enjoyable challenge to face.

Q: Is there more anticipation than usual to see which solutions are adopted by other teams?
PV: We are all looking forward to seeing what the new cars look like because all teams have been working without references to the others, so we can expect more differences than we have seen in the last years - even though the regulations are far more restrictive than before. Within what is left we should be able to see very different solutions.

Q: Are the lessons you have learnt this year in terms of aerodynamics applicable to the 2009 car as well?
PV: Part of our better understanding of the aero performance of a Formula One car is transferrable but the understanding of specific items on the TF108 is not, it is as simple as that. The regulations are different enough to mean that our knowledge of how to get the best performance from a turning vane, for example, will not be especially relevant to the 2009 car.

Exclusive Kubica Q&A: consistency key to ’09 title challenge

2008-11-14T08:34:00.001-08:00

For a while in 2008 it seemed Robert Kubica might achieve the impossible. Midway through the season he had won a race and was vying for the championship with Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen. Then somehow the challenge faded. Kubica cannot yet explain why, but he is certain that BMW Sauber will find the answers and that they can push McLaren and Ferrari even harder in 2009. In the meantime, he’s content to keep busy over the winter break developing his own kart chassis…

Q: Robert, the last time we spoke was before qualifying in China and you were still in the frame for the title. Ultimately in Brazil, however, you slipped to fourth behind Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. How do you explain that?
Robert Kubica: Without going into the details, I think that several circumstances worked against me, especially in the last two races. I do not have a clear picture yet of what happened, but clearly something went wrong.

Q: Knowing your determination to succeed, the last two races in Shanghai and Sao Paolo must have been hard to swallow…
RK: I am fine, since I think that from my side I have not done anything that has contributed to this disappointing end to the season. Also, we should not forget that in Singapore I lost a lot of points purely due to bad luck…

Q: BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen always said that the team would be ready to fight for the championship in 2009. Did it seem like a dream when you found yourself in that position a year early?
RK: I don’t think so. My job is driving to the best of my ability while avoiding mistakes. The rest is not really in my hands. Of course I need a competitive car and good strategies in order to win races, which simply means a lot of good people behind me. In the early part of this season we had excellent reliability and strong pace, which brought me to the unexpected position of leading after seven races. In 2009 we will need to replicate that period, but over the entire season. It won’t be easy, since we will face a lot of new factors and in our case also the KERS issue, which is a concern for all the ‘heavy’ drivers like me.

Q: Did you get carried away by the possibility of making the impossible happen this season?
RK: If I considered it impossible, I’d rather change my job…

Q: In Brazil and China you lacked the pace to make it through to Q2 in qualifying. Where did the speed go - and why was Nick Heidfeld not equally affected?
RK: To be frank, I have no clue. In both races I was quite happy with my car in the first free practice and quite the opposite in all the following sessions. The technical debriefings could not really give an answer to this strange situation.

Q: Before those problems, you had a discussion with Mario in Monza about losing performance. Did you sit down again and discuss the Shanghai/Sao Paolo situation?
RK: I do not comment on our internal conversations.

Q: Reflecting on the season as a whole, what is your assessment?
RK: I have been on the podium seven times and have scored points 14 times. Altogether it was a good season. And of course I am happy for my contribution as a driver to the first win of the BMW Sauber team.

Q: How will 2008’s late-season setbacks affect the team’s 2009 schedule? Is the ’08 car history and the F1.09 a completely new beast, or do you fear some of the F1.08’s shortcomings could be carried over to next season?
RK: I do not have sufficient information to give you an answer.

Q: We have Lewis Hamilton as drivers’ champion and Ferrari as constructors’ champions. Do you believe this was a representative result? And who was your favourite?
RK: I think Ferrari had a very good ‘team players’ attitude and deserved the constructors’ title and Lewis certainly deserved his drivers’ championship. Congratulations to both of them.

Q: After a long season everybody is taking a break. Where are you headed?
RK: There’ll be no holidays for me since I am quite busy with my project for a new go-kart chassis that I want to introduce for competition hopefully next season.

Lorenzo: `No pressure for title win in 2009´

2008-11-14T08:30:00.000-08:00

2008 Rookie of the Year claims no onus on him to take the MotoGP World Championship in his second year.

He played down his title chances in 2008 before a stunning start to his rookie season in MotoGP and, despite establishing himself as one of the top riders in the premier class, Jorge Lorenzo is still adamant that there is no pressure to pick up the World Championship crown in his sophomore year.

`There have been no objectives set out, and nobody is demanding that we win the title,´ says the 21 year-old. `I think that if I can improve my results then it will be an extraordinary season.´

Lorenzo will not be using the complete 2009 Fiat Yamaha package until February, leaving him just six days with which to familiarise himself with a new engine before the opening Grand Prix of the year.

The latest version of the Yamaha M1, modified with the principle intention of giving better power delivery when cornering, is being worked on in Japan, although Lorenzo has plenty with which to get accustomed at this month´s Official Test in Jerez.

`I have only had the chance to try the new bike for a day, with the intention of adjusting to the new regulations,´ said the Spaniard of his first run with Bridgestone tyres after a year with Michelin.

`The bike isn´t working perfectly, so in Jerez we will be working above all with the chassis, now that we won´t have the engine until Sepang.´

Another novelty set to come is a new racing number for the former two-time 250cc World Champion, who is retiring his `48´ for the beginning of a new era. Having narrowed the options down to two -23 and 99- with the help of Spanish newspaper readers, Lorenzo is now taking his time to settle on the final figure.

`We´ve done some tests to see how the two would be aesthetically, but the decision will be made further down the line. We will definitely make the choice in January.´

In the meantime, the factory rider is bringing the `Loren-show´ to the world of four wheels, competing in the Monza Rally this weekend. Like his MotoGP aspirations, the chances of a good result are being played down in the run-up to his rally debut.

`It´s an opportunity to have a fun three days on four wheels. I had a little incident in practice on Thursday that made me realise that it is a little more stable than a bike,´ he explained. `It´s just for enjoyment and, as there are plenty of riders with more experience than myself, I´m sure to finish near last. My goal is to complete the race.´

The Monza Rally takes place this weekend in Italy.

How to keep fit for MotoGP riding

2008-11-14T08:24:00.000-08:00

Video footage looking at how some riders stay in shape for competition at the highest level.

MotoGP riding is demanding work, with the 800cc machines requiring those onboard to be in peak condition. That means plenty of dedicated training time away from the track, both anaerobic and aerobic, in order to muscle the bikes around the World Championship tracks during a race weekend.

Although he slimmed down for the move to MotoGP, James Toseland is still a keen advocate of strength training for premier class racing. The Briton can also be frequently found running the track before the opening practice session of a Grand Prix event, putting the finishing touches to his cardiovascular preparations.

`Cycling, running, rowing, any cardiovascular work is really important, because when you´re riding with your leathers and helmet on in over 35 degrees it gets a bit warm and you do need to be generally fit,´ says the Tech 3 Yamaha man, fully aware that in order to give it `full gas´ one needs to have plenty in the tank.

`Strength wise it is just a personal preference really; if you personally don´t feel that you´re strong enough to get the bike round like you want to then you´ve got to work on your strength a bit.´

When away from the circuit, whether it be between races or during the winter break, training takes on a new importance for the riders, as Toseland explains.

`When not racing it gets your gym fitness levels back up to where you want them to be, but because there is so much riding in MotoGP you get bike fit and riding fit so that is the main thing that you do.´

`You´ve got to keep the training up in the gym but while you´re riding it doesn´t matter because you keep fit with the bike.´

Follow Toseland and former MotoGP riders Sylvain Guintoli & Shinya Nakano in the accompanying video of their preparations.

Renault visit New Delhi for first Indian Roadshow

2008-11-11T01:53:00.000-08:00

After visits to Johannesburg, Kiev and most recently Lisbon, Renault travelled to New Delhi in India at the weekend to demonstrate their cars as part of their 2008 Roadshow programme.

Following several weeks of preparation in close collaboration with Renault India, the demonstration saw Nelson Piquet and Renault third driver Lucas Di Grassi take to the streets of the Indian capital in a first for the team and for the residents of New Delhi, who showed great support for the event.

In all 120,000 people turned out for the spectacular show that saw Piquet and Di Grassi showcase F1 power around a specially-designed 1.2 kilometre track that took the cars along the famous Rajpath Road, through the heart of the Indian capital from the India Gate to the Janpath Road.

"It was my first visit to India and I have to say that I have been really amazed,” said Piquet. “I hope that our demonstration entertained the fans and that they enjoyed the day as much as I did. I'm really happy to have been involved with this event, which was important for Renault, for ING and for India, which is becoming more and more interested in Formula One."

Di Grassi added: "It was also my first trip to India and even though I have not been able to see an awful lot of the country, I have to say that I've really enjoyed being here. We have been really warmly welcomed and I hope that the public now have a better understanding of the true potential of a Formula One car."

The 2008 Season Review - Part Two

2008-11-11T01:48:00.000-08:00

Maiden win puts Kubica, BMW Sauber firmly in the title hunt

They’d been threatening to do it all season and in June BMW Sauber finally made the breakthrough. With Lewis Hamilton’s wrecked McLaren and Kimi Raikkonen’s injured Ferrari sat at the end of the Montreal pit lane, Robert Kubica took full advantage to score his and his team’s first win. In the second part of our season review we go from Canada to Valencia, a period that also included a maiden victory for McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and David Coulthard’s last F1 podium…

June:
Good news for Max Mosley ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix as he wins the FIA’s backing in a vote of confidence to remain President. On track in Montreal a bad Saturday for Toro Rosso sees both cars crashing out of final practice. Sebastian Vettel is forced to miss qualifying, while Sebastien Bourdais gets a gearbox penalty. Luck, however, is on Lewis Hamilton’s side as he has the best of starts to his weekend, securing a dominant pole for McLaren from an on-pace Robert Kubica in the BMW Sauber

A win for Hamilton looks likely until he runs into the back of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari at the end of the pit lane as the Finn sits at a red light waiting for the safety car to pass. Nico Rosberg makes the same mistake and both he and Hamilton are given grid penalties for the next round. The incident consigns all three drivers to an early retirement. With Hamilton out, BMW Sauber capitalise, with Kubica leading a historic one-two to take his and team’s first win and the lead of the championship. Red Bull’s David Coulthard is also in high spirits after securing what would prove to be the final podium of his F1 career.

Toyota arrive at the French Grand Prix in mourning following the death of former team boss Ove Andersson in a classic car event. There’s also unrest in the Magny-Cours pit lane over the FIA’s plans for huge hike in the cost of Super licenses. Neither, however, does much to distract Raikkonen, who takes Ferrari’s 200th pole position ahead of team mate Felipe Massa.

On top of Hamilton’s 10-place drop for his Canadian misdemeanour, team mate Heikki Kovalainen drops five for blocking during qualifying and it’s no surprise that neither McLaren makes it on to the France podium. It’s Massa that eventually collars a fortuitous victory, sneaking past a dominant Raikkonen when his car is beset with exhaust problems. Jarno Trulli gives Toyota their first podium in two seasons, whilst Piquet overcomes his difficult start to the season to pick up the first points of his F1 career.

With a two-week break before the British race everyone’s attention refocuses on the sport’s long-term future, as the FIA announces plans to involve teams in a major review of the running of Formula One. Revised technical regulations aimed at cutting costs by up to half are amongst the suggestions mooted.

July:
The driver market’s first movements are confirmed ahead of the British Grand Prix, as veteran Scot Coulthard announces his retirement and Red Bull extend team mate Mark Webber’s contract. There’s a surprise change to the sport’s future calendar too, with Donington Park taking the place of Silverstone from 2010.

Webber celebrates his new deal by clinching Red Bull’s maiden front-row grid slot, alongside the equally happy Kovalainen, who takes his first ever F1 pole. Typical British weather hampers both drivers in the race, however, and it’s an unstoppable Hamilton who excels in the treacherous wet conditions to win in front of his home crowd. Exhausted but happy, the British driver describes it as ‘the toughest win of my career’.

With Massa, Raikkonen and Kubica all struggling to get a similar handle on the wet track after making poor tyre choices, there are podiums for BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Honda’s Rubens Barrichello. At the top of the drivers’ table it couldn’t be closer, with Hamilton, Massa and Raikkonen tied at the top and Kubica just two points adrift. And just as their on-track skirmishes are heating up, Ferrari and McLaren officially draw an end to their off-track hostilities over the 2007 spy scandal.

At the German Grand Prix a fortnight later, Hamilton secures another win, despite poor luck with the timing of the safety car, prompted by another big shunt for Toyota’s Timo Glock. Piquet also maximizes his race following Glock’s accident to score his maiden podium. Other big stories at Hockenheim are BMW’s one-off revival of the popular M1 Procar support series, with Niki Lauda amongst the drivers, and news that Vettel will partner Webber at Red Bull in 2009.

As July draws to a close, technical preparations for next season take centre stage. But during testing the safety of the proposed KERS systems are called in to question when a BMW Sauber mechanic suffers minor injuries from an electric shock.

August:
After several unseasonably wet races, the paddock is glad of some sunshine at the Hungarian Grand Prix. McLaren lock out the front row, but it’s Massa who takes charge of the race until a failed engine three laps from home hands the advantage to Kovalainen. With team mate Hamilton ruled out of contention by earlier tyre problems, the Finn is thrilled to secure a maiden victory.

Glock bounces back from his German crash to clinch his first podium, ahead of a disappointed Raikkonen in third. Renault continue to show promise with fourth and sixth for Alonso and Piquet. A few days later the French team mourn the death from cancer of Dino Toso, the aerodynamicist behind their 2005 and 2006 title-winning cars.

With the next round, the European Grand Prix, to be held at an all-new track, the teams find it difficult to relax during the three-week summer break. The Valencia Street Circuit is met with enthusiasm, especially by Bridgestone, who celebrate their 200th race appearance.

Massa is quickest to master it, beating Hamilton to pole and also prevailing in the race. Despite predictions of multiple safety-car periods, it is a largely uneventful afternoon, the only real drama coming courtesy of two slip-ups by Ferrari. Firstly Massa almost collides with Adrian Sutil’s Force India after an unsafe release from his pit stop, and then Raikkonen exits his second stop with the fuel hose still attached to his F2008, before his engine fails.

Despite all the commotion, a win is still a win, and the result sees Massa (64 points) move clear of third-place Raikkonen (57) in the standings, while leader Hamilton (70) sees his advantage reduced to six. Ferrari continue to lead the constructors’ championship with 121, from McLaren (113) and BMW Sauber (96), but the Italian team’s celebrations are subdued following news from America that the team’s first world champion, Phil Hill, has died of Parkinson’s disease, aged 81.

Mercedes, Ferrari hold end-of-season celebrations

2008-11-11T01:44:00.000-08:00

McLaren engine partners Mercedes held their annual Stars & Cars Day in Germany this weekend, marking the end of their motorsport season and heralding the success of 2008 drivers’ champion Lewis Hamilton. Meanwhile, the Ferrari World Finals at Mugello saw the Italian team celebrating their 2008 constructors’ title.

Over 70,000 visitors, including world boxing champion Vitali Klitschko, were present at Mercedes-Benz World in Stuttgart to welcome Hamilton for a day of festivities, on and off the track. Hamilton greeted the crowd in German, saying “Guten morgen Stuttgart, alles klar?” (Good morning Stuttgart, everything ok?).

Switching to his native English, the British driver added: “In 2007, I was able to celebrate together with many thousands of spectators being runner-up after only one year in Formula One. Today, one year later, and with 72,000 visitors, we celebrate the world championship. It’s absolutely crazy how many people came today and I hope everybody had fun - I had it, that’s for sure.”

At Mugello, Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa received an equally rapturous reception as they completed several Formula One demonstration laps as well as some pit stops. Michael Schumacher also took to the circuit in his Ferrari FXX supercar, accompanied by official tester Luca Badoer.

Overseeing proceedings was Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo, who admitted that the tense final lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw Massa lose the drivers’ title by a single point, had taken its toll on his television as he hit it in frustration.

"I broke the television, I must tell the truth," Di Montezemolo told the press. "When a television breaks it makes a terrible bang. My daughter in the other room was given an awful fright. Luckily we had another television so I was able to watch the podium ceremony, which I enjoyed."

Red Bull MotoGP Academy compete in Spanish Championship event

2008-11-11T01:35:00.000-08:00

Academy trio place sixth, seventh and eighteenth at penultimate round of CEV Buckler in Valencia.

The Red Bull MotoGP Academy riders were in action at the penultimate round of the CEV Buckler Spanish Championship in Valencia on Sunday, further gaining experience with the intention of a World Championship assault in the near future.

The highest finisher for the Academy was American rider Cameron Beaubier, on his way to the factory KTM team on the world stage in 2009. Beaubier further familiarised himself with the Austrian machinery in a mixed weekend, starting well before experiencing rear tyre problems. Despite his difficulties, Beaubier placed sixth in the Spanish event.

Just behind was fellow Red Bull MotoGP Academy teen Danny Kent, whose race was almost a polar opposite to that of his colleague. Kent started badly due to a clutch problem, before picking up his pace in the latter part of the race. The Briton put in his fastest lap on the penultimate time around the Valencia track, taking him up to seventh.

Participating in another European race was JD Beach, newly-incorporated into the youth initiative and winner of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. Beach placed eighteenth from twenty-second on the grid.

Agostini untroubled by Rossi record-breaking

2008-11-11T01:33:00.000-08:00

MotoGP Legend pays tribute to 2008 MotoGP World Champion.

A MotoGP legend and a man regarded by some as the greatest rider of all time, Giacomo Agostini saw his premier class win record broken by Valentino Rossi at this year´s race in Indianapolis. The previous milestone of 67 had been matched by the 2008 MotoGP World Champion at the preceding race in Misano.

Another attendee at the EICMA show in Milan, Agostini revealed that Rossi´s taking his record for that particular honour had not made him overly concerned, and took the opportunity to remind fans of his other achievements in a barbed bouquet of sorts.

`Regarding records, I congratulated him on beating mine because I wasn´t that bothered about it. I won 123 world championship races, 13 world titles and 301 races in total, they´re the numbers I´m interested in,´ said Agostini wryly. `Valentino asked me if it was okay to overtake me if he ever beat that and it was nice to be so well respected like that from someone like him.´

Rossi also joined Agostini in becoming the only riders to win premier class World Championships with a two-year gap between title triumphs. Although the MotoGP Legend was full of praise for the achievements by the man regarded as his natural successor –both in terms of success and charisma- he would not commit to whether this would be the start of another era of Rossi dominance.

`It´s difficult to find the words to describe Valentino. This was one of his best ever seasons and he did it coming back from some difficult moments and that makes it even more special.

Valentino is incredibly talented and has lots of experience, which probably made the difference this year. However, Casey Stoner can´t be ignored after what he did in 2007. I also think we´ll discover two new riders who will take them on: Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. Watch out for them,´ warned the Italian.

Capirossi takes podium finish in rally event

2008-11-11T01:32:00.000-08:00

Rizla Suzuki rider finishes third in weekend event, whilst Team Manager Paul Denning fails to place in the final standings.

Loris Capirossi left England on Sunday with some new silverware for his trophy cabinet, after a podium finish in a one-off rally appearance. Capirossi took third place in the Suzuki Swift Sport Cup event, held in Aldershot on Saturday.

The Rizla Suzuki star was ably assisted by co-driver Craig Thorley behind the wheel of a Suzuki Swift, adorned with his customary 65 racing number. Capirossi eventually finished just 14 seconds off the final time recorded by rally and championship winner Mark Gamble.

Capirossi´s performance also took him to ninth in the two-wheel drive section of the Tempest Rally, which ran alongside the Swift Cup. Team Manager Paul Denning was unable to challenge his charge in his own moonlighting appearance, having been disqualified from the rally for not returning to the stage within the permitted time limit after pitching his car into a roadside ditch. He and co-driver Jemma Bellingham later participated in the final stages of the event.

For Capirossi, the Suzuki Swift Rally had been an enjoyable race weekend, although the ever-competitive MotoGP veteran still felt that he could have taken victory.

`It has been a great day and it was really fun to do the rally. I took my time in the early stages as I got used to driving on the loose surfaces and in the forests, it was certainly very different from the wide-open tracks that I am used to in MotoGP!´ joked the Italian.

`As I got more confident with the car my times improved and I was able to go a lot quicker. I think if we could have done a couple more stages I might have caught the leader, but I am really pleased with third in my first rally. It was a shame that Paul crashed out, because I think our times were very close and it would have been good to have had that extra bit of competition with him, but I think I would have beaten him anyway!´

Denning took the defeat in good spirits, stating afterwards that: `With Loris, I suppose it was slightly inevitable that one of us was going to crash trying to beat the other, and I think it was even more inevitable that it was going to be me!

` Well done to Loris for his podium position, it's a good end to 2008 and I hope we taste some more champagne on two wheels in 2009!´

Dovizioso plays down Pedrosa tension

2008-11-11T01:29:00.000-08:00

New Repsol Honda rider says there is plenty of time in which to gel with teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Andrea Dovizioso´s move to Repsol Honda has been a big talking point for World Championship observers, eager not only to see what the Italian can do with a first factory ride in MotoGP but how his relationship will be with new teammate Dani Pedrosa. The Italian has been described as `just another rival´ by Pedrosa´s manager Alberto Puig, but Dovizioso is keen to emphasise that there is no bad feeling in the Honda camp.

Speaking at the EICMA motorcycle exhibition in Milan last week, Dovizioso played down any initial tension between the duo, although he admitted that the relationship was not in full stride just yet.

`Dani is a former 125cc and 250cc World Champion and a great rider, but first of all he is a good guy, probably even shyer than I am. Maybe this is the reason why we don´t have a great feeling yet, but we will have a lot of time to know each other,´ said the rider about to enter his sophomore year in the premier class. `I think right now he is not reaching his level on the road, maybe also because of his manager..´

A considered approach to his goals for 2009 includes beating his teammate, especially with only a year to prove himself as a factory rider, but Dovizioso is primarily concerned with his own performances over the course of the year.

`To finish ahead of Dani would be important, and I am confident about my chances, but I will be mainly focused on stepping on the podium any time I can, being consistent with my new Honda HRC throughout the season,´ says the 22 year-old, who took his first rostrum finish in Malaysia last month.

The former 250cc runner-up also gave his thoughts on 2008´s top two in the premier class, with an intriguing insider view on Valentino Rossi´s return to the pinnacle of motorcycle racing.

`Valentino and I are friends, and we get along with each other very well. Valentino managed to win the title in a season in which Casey Stoner was usually the fastest rider on the circuit. This means that sometimes regularity is even more important than speed. Valentino's driving style has changed a lot since he switched to Yamaha, he is focusing more on precision. I try to learn a lot from my colleagues, and firstly from great champions like Valentino.´

Vortech

2008-11-11T01:15:00.000-08:00

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Cecchinello: `De Puniet just needs more consistency´

2008-11-06T01:43:00.000-08:00

LCR Honda expecting more consistency from rider and more support from Japanese factory in 2009.

LCR Honda had a mixed bag of results in 2008 with rider Randy de Puniet, the flying Frenchman with an unfortunate tendency to push his satellite RC212V to just the wrong side of its limit. For the first time since the satellite team arrived in MotoGP back in 2006, Lucio Cecchinello´s outfit will maintain their current rider for a second season, with more stable performances a clear objective for next year.

`We have to work hard on our working system with Randy for the races,´ says Team Principal Cecchinello. `Randy is a good rider, and he listens –which is very important. He´s fast and easy to manage, and the small area in which we think that he can improve is in consistency; if he can do this then next season will be very interesting.´

The only Honda/Michelin team to run Ohlins suspension –typically used by Bridgestone riders- in 2008, LCR Honda will have the benefit of data for the switch to a single tyre brand. The team will continue with the partnership for the coming season, seeing no reason to change another variable from the past year.

`We will carry on working with Ohlins, as we need to capitalise on our experience. We will definitely get more support from them and more support from Honda. So we hope that we can enhance our performance on the technical side as well.´

Gresini looking forward to stronger 2009

2008-11-06T01:37:00.001-08:00

San Carlo Honda Gresini expecting improvement with addition of `factory´ RC212V for Toni Elias.

Fausto Gresini welcomed two new riders into his Honda satellite team in 2008, one of whom will continue with the outfit in the upcoming campaign. Alex de Angelis will stay on for a second year onboard a RC212V and, although Shinya Nakano has not been kept on for 2009, Gresini is still reasonably satisfied with the past season.

`I´m happy that we have completed another season, and that we are able to stay in MotoGP for another year,´ says the former rider. `I want to thank everybody that worked with us in 2008. 2009 will be a new year, a different situation, with a good bike and good sponsors behind us.´

De Angelis´ rookie season with an 800cc bike was not plain sailing, as after finding consistency in 250cc the previous year he returned to finding a bike´s limits in the hardest fashion. Gresini admits that there were more falls for his San Marino rider than he would have liked, but remains convinced that De Angelis is a rough diamond waiting to shine.

`This year Alex had a lot of crashes, which isn´t good for confidence in your first year in MotoGP. However, he´s been improving and has been fast.´

The last satellite team to take a victory in the premier class, San Carlo Honda Gresini have always been high up the chain for receiving new parts. In 2009 they will field what will effectively be a third factory bike, to be used by returning rider Toni Elias.

`Honda are supporting my team a lot,´ says Gresini. `We have a new machine for Toni to use, and we´ll be a more powerful presence next season.´

Elias will have the new bike at his disposal as of the first 2009 test in Sepang, held on January 21st-23rd. Before then the Spaniard will be using the latest spring valve engine satellite bike, developed by Nakano in the latter part of 2008.

Yamano: `Immediate improvement required´ for 2009 title challenge

2008-11-06T01:35:00.000-08:00

Repsol Honda Team Manager reflects on 2008 campaign and Dani Pedrosa´s critical Sachsenring crash.

Falling short in their attempts to regain the MotoGP World Championship in 2008, Repsol Honda Manager Kazuhiko Yamano has targeted speedy work to prepare for 2009. The Japanese boss recalls the 2008 season –his first in the managerial role- with some degree of satisfaction, and has set out a plan for improvement over preseason.

`We were working towards the goal of taking back the title but, as everyone knows, we weren´t able to achieve this. There was something in the way for us, but we have learnt from the experience in many ways,´ says Yamano.

`Now we are trying to improve, and we have to do so immediately with some of the things that we haven´t been able to get to the bottom of this year.´

Whether an individual title would have been possible for Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa in different circumstances remains something of an incognito –and also a moot point now that the trophy has already been won and awarded. Yamano pinpoints the Spaniard´s crash at Sachsenring, when leading both the race and the standings, as the key moment for the team´s fortunes.

`Dani´s crash has been the most difficult part of the year,´ he says of the fall that left his rider out of action in the following round at Laguna Seca. `The injury was hard for the team, but I consider all experiences –both positive and negative- to be ultimately positive.´

Getting ready for 2009: Ducati at the Valencia test

2008-11-06T01:29:00.000-08:00

Video footage and interviews from Ducati´s five-strong lineup at the recent Valencia post-race test.

Five Ducati riders were on-track for the first day of post-season testing in Valencia late last month, as the Italian factory´s 2009 project took shape. Factory riders Casey Stoner & Nicky Hayden, Alice satellite duo Niccolo Canepa & Mika Kallio and Onde 2000 returnee Sete Gibernau all put in miles onboard their respective Desmosedici models, and gave their thoughts on the experience after the dry day one. Watch footage from the test and hear from the riders in the accompanying video.

January launch for 2009 BMW Sauber

2008-11-06T01:28:00.000-08:00

BMW Sauber have scheduled the roll-out of their 2009 car for January 20 of next year. The F1.09 will make its first public appearance in testing at Valencia in Spain.

After scoring their maiden win this season and finishing a highly-competitive third in the constructors’ standings, BMW Sauber hope the F1.09 turn them into genuine championship contenders next season.

The team believe that major changes to the Formula One regulations for 2009, including the return of slick tyres, aerodynamic restrictions and the introduction of KERS to recover waste energy from braking, could play into their hands.

“The challenges are big but we will stick to our ambitious goal: in 2009, we want to be one of the teams battling it out for the title,” BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen told the team’s official website.

Following the F1.09’s launch, it will participate in three further test sessions before the 2009 season kicks off in Australia on March 29.
The new BMW Sauber F1.08 is wheeled out for it's first run. BMW Sauber F1.08 Launch, BMW Welt, Munich, Germany, Monday 14 January 2008. World © Sutton (L to R): Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber F1, Dr Mario Theissen (GER) BMW Sauber F1 Team Principal, Willi Rampf (SUI) BMW Sauber Technical Director and Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber F1 with the new BMW Sauber F1.08. BMW Sauber F1.08 Launch, BMW Welt, Munich, Germany, Monday 14 January 2008. World © Sutton

Theissen: BMW Sauber will fight for title in 2009

2008-11-06T01:26:00.000-08:00

After watching Ferrari clinch the constructors’ crown and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton take his first drivers’ title at the weekend, BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen has refocused his ambitious sights on the 2009 season. Theissen believes BMW Sauber will step out of the shadows cast by their more experienced rivals to become bona fide title contenders next year.

“With immediate effect we will fully focus on the BMW Sauber F1.09,” said Theissen on the team’s official website. “After all, after the season is before the season. The challenges are big but we will stick to our ambitious goal: in 2009, we want to be one of the teams battling it out for the title.”

BMW Sauber finished the 2008 championship third on 135 points to Ferrari’s 172 and McLaren’s 151. However, Theissen believes that wide-ranging changes to the 2009 regulations could bring about a shift in the standings, as teams adjust at different rates to the new rules.

“A shift in the balance of power on the 2009 Formula One grid is entirely possible,” explained Theissen. “In 2009, Formula One will have to face arguably the most dramatic rule changes in the history of the sport. Due to the aerodynamic restrictions, the appearance of the single-seaters will differ massively from this year's Formula One cars.

“To cut a long story short: the front will be bulkier, there won't be any winglets and superstructures in front of and on the side pods respectively - and the rear wing will be smaller and positioned higher. Furthermore, slicks will make their comeback. In addition, the introduction of the KERS technology for the recovery of brake energy is in the offing.”

And despite the obvious challenges of the 2009 season, Theissen is optimistic that BMW Sauber are on schedule with their development programme.

“In both Munich and Hinwil, we have been working flat-out on the developments for the coming season and the work on the different projects is progressing as scheduled, so far,” he added. “The roll-out of the BMW Sauber F1.09 has been scheduled for 20th January at Valencia. Afterwards, we will conduct three further tests before the 2009 season kicks off in Melbourne on 29th March.”
Dr Mario Theissen (GER) BMW Sauber F1 Team Principal. Formula One World Championship, Rd 18, Brazilian Grand Prix, Practice Day, Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, 31 October 2008 Nick Heidfeld (GER) BMW Sauber F1, Dr Mario Theissen (GER) BMW Sauber F1 Team Principal and Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber F1pose for photographers after being confirmed as BMW Sauber drivers for 2009. Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Japanese Grand Prix, Practice Day, Fuji Speedway, Friday, 10 October 2008 Robert Kubica (POL) BMW Sauber F1.08. Formula One World Championship, Rd 18, Brazilian Grand Prix, Qualifying Day, Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Saturday, 1 November 2008

Faster, more transparent stewards’ decisions in ‘09

2008-11-06T01:25:00.000-08:00

The FIA has announced an overhaul to the stewarding system at Formula One events for next season, including a new replay system designed to ensure faster decisions.

Race stewards fell under the media spotlight several times this season, most notably following Lewis Hamilton’s 25-second time penalty for cutting a chicane whilst battling Kimi Raikkonen at Spa.

The new measures should not only mean most decisions are made during rather than after the race, they should also make the whole process clearer to the public, with explanations and video evidence posted on the internet after the race.

In addition, there will be stricter requirements concerning the eligibility of stewards, with the FIA planning to invite a number of trainee stewards to races in order to build-up their experience.

Full FIA statement:
During the 2008 season a review took place of the stewarding arrangements in F1. The current panel of stewards consists of two international stewards and one national steward, all of whom must be eligible for the FIA’s super licence. For 2009, the following updates will be made:

- Any national steward participating who is officiating for the first time will be required to ‘observe’ a minimum of one Grand Prix prior to their event.
- At five Grands Prix in 2009, a number of trainee Stewards, nominated by their ASN and selected by the FIA, will be invited to attend.
- Before each Grand Prix, a short CV of each steward will be posted on the FIA website.
- With the benefit of a new replay system available to the stewards, all incidents will be investigated and appropriate action taken during the race, unless it is essential to seek further evidence afterwards.
- Following the race, a short written explanation of steward’s decisions will be published on the FIA website. This will supplement the formal steward’s decision which largely defines the breach of the rules.
- Where appropriate, additional film evidence that the public may not have seen but which was reviewed by the stewards, will be made available on both the FIA and FOM websites.

Note: No former driver is excluded from seeking their ASN national stewarding licence and then, as with all of the existing stewards, if they gain the necessary level of experience in stewarding events at a national, regional and international level the FIA can consider them for a steward’s super licence.
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari F2008 and Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren Mercedes MP4/23 battle for the lead of the race. Formula One World Championship, Rd 13, Belgian Grand Prix, Race, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Sunday, 7 September 2008 A press release from the FIA announcing that Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren Mercedes has been given a 25 second penalty, relegating him to third position. Formula One World Championship, Rd 13, Belgian Grand Prix, Race, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Sunday, 7 September 2008

Alonso and Piquet to remain at Renault for 2009

2008-11-06T01:19:00.000-08:00

Renault have announced an unchanged driver line-up for next season with Fernando Alonso signing a two-year extension for 2009 and 2010, and Nelson Piquet confirmed for a further season.

The news brings to an end speculation over the future of both drivers. Alonso had been linked to a possible move to Honda, while many had questioned whether Piquet would be retained after a difficult maiden season with the team.

"We are happy to confirm both Fernando and Nelson for next season," said the team’s Managing Director, Flavio Briatore. "This gives the ING Renault F1 Team one of the most exciting driver pairings with the perfect blend of youth and experience.

“Fernando's commitment for the next two seasons confirms the faith he has in the team and we are delighted to continue working with him. He has been a big asset throughout this difficult season and his leadership and talent, matched with the team's hard work and determination, have paid off with our recent performances, which have placed the ING Renault F1 Team back among the top competitors of Formula One."

Alonso returned to Renault in 2008 after a one-year hiatus with McLaren, having previously won his two world titles with the French squad in 2005 and 2006. Following a difficult start to the season, they came on strong in the latter races, with the Spaniard scoring unexpected wins in Singapore and Japan to help the team to fourth place in the constructors’ championship.

"I have decided to stay with the ING Renault F1 team because, as I have often repeated this season, they have always been my first choice and I feel very happy and comfortable with them,” said Alonso. “It's a very close-knit team with a competitive and winning mentality, and also a relaxed and warm attitude, which suits me perfectly."

"After a difficult start to the season, we have overcome our difficulties and constantly improved our performances. My back-to-back wins in Singapore and Japan, and my recent second place podium finish in Brazil, have proved how competitive we can be. In the past we have won championships together, as well as going through tough moments, but we are now determined to show that we can repeat that success together in the coming seasons."

Piquet’s rookie campaign with Renault featured nine retirements, but also included a podium finish in Germany and four other point-scoring finishes as his form steadily improved throughout the season.

"Obviously I am delighted to have the opportunity to race for the ING Renault F1 Team for a second year,” said the Brazilian. “Although I have had a tough year, I have learned a lot from my rookie season and I will aim to put that experience to good use next season. I want to thank the team for their support this year and for the trust they have shown in me for the future. I'm already excited about 2009 and looking forward to working with the team over the winter so that we can start next season strongly."

Alonso finished fifth in the 2008 driver standings on 61 points, while Piquet ended the season 12th with 19 points.

Brno extends MotoGP contract until 2013

2008-11-06T01:12:00.000-08:00

MotoGP will return to the Czech venue of Brno until at least 2013, thanks to an extension of the current agreement between the circuit´s owners and World Championship´s commercial rights-holders Dorna Sports.

It is a two-year extension deal on a contract which already covered the period up to 2011, meaning that MotoGP visits to Brno are assured for at least the next five years.

The Brno date is highly popular with the riders and supporters alike, and this year in August the Czech event was attended by massive crowds of nearly 240,000 over the course of the weekend.

The first ever Grand Prix held at Brno was in 1965 on the original 13.94 km long road circuit, with the current circuit introduced in 1987 and used every year since then with the exception of 1992.

In 2009 the Grand Prix Ceske Republiky will be held at the historic Brno track from 14th to 16th August and the event will be the 22nd time that the current circuit has hosted a Grand Prix.

Montezemolo delighted with Ferrari's 16th constructors’ title

2008-11-04T05:34:00.000-08:00

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo has paid tribute to the Italian team and its drivers, Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen, after the outfit claimed their 16th constructors’ title on Sunday in Brazil. The Italian team finished the season with 172 points to McLaren’s 151.

“Winning for the eighth time in 10 years - a feat unequalled at world level in any other team sport - proves beyond a shadow of a doubt what an extraordinary group we are,” said Montezemolo on the team’s official website. “We have two great drivers in Felipe and Kimi also, and they deserve all our compliments for a job well done.

“Felipe in particular is in my thoughts as he crossed the finish line yesterday as world champion only to see the title slip through his fingers a few seconds later. I can only imagine how painful that moment must have been for him. However, I would like to give him my very special compliments, not only for dominating the running out there on the track in front of his fans, proving he is worthy indeed of the world title, but also for his maturity and sportsmanship off the track. He's a great champion and a great man.”

Despite winning the Brazilian Grand Prix, Massa lost out on the drivers’ title by one point to McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. Montezemolo, however, congratulated Hamilton for his world championship success, and praised the British driver’s performance over the course of the 2008 season.

“I would like to send my congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, the youngest ever world champion in the history of Formula One,” he added. “He was a very powerful rival indeed and his win, close though it was, was well deserved. He'll have the number one on his car next season, but he can rest assured of one thing: we'll be doing our very best to put it back on a Ferrari."

Results GP

2008-11-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

World Championship

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Points
1	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	373
2	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	280
3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	249
4	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	190
5	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	JiR Team Scot MotoGP	174
6	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Repsol Honda Team	155
7	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Tech 3 Yamaha	144
8	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	128
9	Shinya NAKANO	JPN	San Carlo Honda Gresini	126
10	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	118
11	James TOSELAND	GBR	Tech 3 Yamaha	105
12	Toni ELIAS	SPA	Alice Team	92
13	Sylvain GUINTOLI	FRA	Alice Team	67
14	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	63
15	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	61
16	John HOPKINS	USA	Kawasaki Racing Team	57
17	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Ducati Marlboro Team	51
18	Anthony WEST	AUS	Kawasaki Racing Team	50
19	Ben SPIES	USA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	20
20	Jamie HACKING	USA	Kawasaki Racing Team	5
21	Tadayuki OKADA	JPN	Repsol Honda Team	2

GP PARTS EUROPE DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA

MotoGP Race Classification

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Total time
1	C. STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	46'46.114
2	D. PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	+ 3.390
3	V. ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	+ 12.194
4	A. DOVIZIOSO	ITA	JiR Team Scot MotoGP	+ 24.159
5	N. HAYDEN	USA	Repsol Honda Team	+ 26.232
6	C. EDWARDS	USA	Tech 3 Yamaha	+ 32.209
7	S. NAKANO	JPN	San Carlo Honda Gresini	+ 34.571
8	J. LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	+ 35.661
9	L. CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	+ 38.228
10	A. DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	+ 47.583
11	J. TOSELAND	GBR	Tech 3 Yamaha	+ 52.107
12	S. GUINTOLI	FRA	Alice Team	+ 52.350
13	C. VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	+ 52.833
14	J. HOPKINS	USA	Kawasaki Racing Team	+ 53.227
15	R. DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	+ 53.411
16	M. MELANDRI	ITA	Ducati Marlboro Team	+ 1'08.387
17	A. WEST	AUS	Kawasaki Racing Team	+ 1'11.181
18	T. ELIAS	SPA	Alice Team	+ 1'37.055

Suppo wishes Melandri well after Ducati difficulties

2008-11-04T05:20:00.000-08:00

Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo puts 2008 season in perspective.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the 2008 season was a less than pleasant one for Ducati and Marco Melandri, as what had seemed to be a dream combination failed to click. The Italian entities parted ways in an amicable fashion after agreeing to cut short a two-year deal and, whilst the experience of the season was not a positive one for rider nor team, Ducati MotoGP Project Manager Livio Suppo feels that a lot has been learned from the venture.

`I really hope that Marco will have a better feeling with his bike for next year,´ said Suppo after Melandri´s final race as a Ducati rider before joining Kawasaki. `It was a big surprise; everybody expected him to be fast. We also had some mixed results with Toni (Elias, satellite Ducati rider for the 2008 season), so it seems that it is more up to the rider than the bike. We hope that the next riders on the bike will succeed.´

If 2007 was a dream season for the constructor, 2008 was a more complex affair –although far from a nightmare. Suppo, like rider Casey Stoner, has been able to put the title-conceding year in perspective and draw positive conclusions from the campaign.

`At the end of the day, second in the championship is always a good result; it is our best ever apart from last year,´ says the Italian chief.

`We lost points at the beginning of the season, in some parts due to bad luck. That´s racing. Last year everything was perfect, and this year was a little different.

`It´s a pity that a rider as strong as Casey, with a good bike, lost the title, but he is young and will have time to fight for the title again.´

New Ninja on the way for Kawasaki at Sepang

2008-11-04T05:16:00.000-08:00

Michael Bartholemy reveals that Kawasaki are redesigning the Ninja ZX-RR for the 2009 season.

Kawasaki will be rolling out a new Ninja ZX-RR in 2009, with the latest version of the green machine set to make its debut at the Sepang test. The team will provide riders John Hopkins and Marco Melandri with the redesigned bike with the hope of eradicating a troublesome rear grip issue that plagued Hopkins and Anthony West last season.

`For the next test in Phillip Island we will basically use the same bike as this season, although of course with a few modifications,´ said Kawasaki MotoGP head Michael Bartholemy at the recent Valencia test. `At the first test of next year we will have two new bikes; it will be the first time since the introduction of the 800cc regulation that we will be building a new bike. This year we were basically using the base from 2007.

`I´m quite nervous about seeing it and seeing how it works, and I hope that with all the tests and things that we have tried this year that we have a lot of information with which to build a competitive bike.´

Bartholemy also put Kawasaki´s decision to test alongside Suzuki in Phillip Island, instead of Jerez, at the end of the month down to the troubles experienced at last month´s race in Australia. New addition Melandri is a former racewinner at the track.

NASA might speed up moonship’s launch

2008-10-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

Agency considers reducing five-year spaceflight gap by a year

Lockheed Martin

In this artist's conception, the Ares 1 rocket rises with an Orion spaceship on top.

By Marcia Dunn

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA officials said Wednesday it might be possible to try out its new moonship a year earlier than its current target date of 2015.

That would mean just a four-year gap between the last space shuttle flight and the debut of the next-generation spacecraft, instead of five years. Many in Congress, including the two presidential candidates, are troubled by the prospect of the United States having to rely on Russia for trips to the international space station during that time.

NASA is midway through a study looking at ways to move up its March 2015 test launch of the new Orion-Ares spacecraft with a crew, in case the next president wants that. The new rocket would ultimately return the United States to the moon, but the initial flights would be to the space station.

It will be difficult to accelerate the mission by much more than a year, however, said Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA's back-to-the-moon program, called Constellation.

"We're shooting for a more aggressive date of September 2014," and looking at even faster options, he said. "The real stretch is what can we do to accelerate as much as 18 months. That will be particularly hard."

The two-month study, which includes outside experts, should be completed in early December.

NASA's Ares rocket would have an Apollo-style capsule on top, called Orion, to carry astronauts. A moon flight is targeted for 2020.

The Ares concept has been controversial from the start; some engineers, in fact, have been working in their off-hours on alternative rocket designs.

If NASA were to drastically redesign the rocket at this point as some have suggested, it would push everything back three years, said Steve Cook, the Ares project manager at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

"Everybody's entitled to an opinion," Cook told reporters in a conference call. "But I think you've got to stick to the facts of engineering and project management, and the fact that we're three years into this. You'd basically back yourself up three years and start over again, so just watch the gap grow."

NASA has been struggling with ways to make the new rocket safer and has come up with possible solutions for controlling its vibrations to prevent injuring the crew, and preventing the rocket from drifting into the launch tower at liftoff. Cook said the latter problem is remote — a southerly wind would have to be blowing 39 mph (62 kilometers per hour) or more — and could be controlled through the steering system or with tight wind constraints.

Space shuttle commander Brent Jett, director of flight crew operations, said he's sought dissenting opinions from his fellow astronauts, but no one is willing to scrap the Ares rocket.

NASA hopes to perform a test flight of an unmanned Ares rocket next July. But that could be delayed by the space shuttle repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

New engines, no jokers - who’s running what in Brazil?

2008-10-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

Reliability could play a key part in the outcome of this weekend’s title decider in Sao Paulo. Under the 2008 Formula One regulations, ‘joker’ engine changes are not permitted at the final round of the season, so anyone experiencing a failure ahead of the Interlagos race will definitely take a 10-place grid drop.

In theory, that means those starting the weekend on a fresh V8 have an advantage over those whose engines are on the second of the required two-race cycle. Not only are the newer engines likely to have slightly more power, their drivers will also feel they can afford to push them that little bit harder.

So who has a fresh engine? The majority of the field in fact, including title contender Felipe Massa. His championship rival Lewis Hamilton is one of just seven drivers whose engine will be on its second race. The seven in full are:

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren
Nick Heidfeld, BMW Sauber
David Coulthard, Red Bull
Mark Webber, Red Bull
Nico Rosberg, Williams
Kazuki Nakajima, Williams
Adrian Sutil, Force India

Special livery for Coulthard’s final race appearance

2008-10-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

David Coulthard’s Red Bull will be emblazoned with a special charitable livery for his final Grand Prix. Coulthard will promote the research foundation, Wings For Life, which hopes to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, over the course of this weekend’s Interlagos event.

“I'm dedicating my last race to the vision of making paraplegia curable,” said the Scot on Red Bull's official website. “In Formula One success is determined by a few seconds, in medicine people think in terms of years. But in both disciplines, ambition and commitment are crucial factors that are needed in order to reach the finishing line as soon as possible. Wings for Life helps to accelerate the breakthrough in spinal cord research.”

The 37 year-old plans to officially unveil his RB4’s livery on Thursday afternoon, with the help of some of his fellow drivers.

Charley Boorman: `Rossi is the king´

2008-10-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

English actor and motorbike fanatic Charley Boorman was a VIP guest at the Gran Premio Parts Europe de la Comunitat Valenciana.

A huge fan of MotoGP and a bike-lover in general, the co-star of the classic motorcycle-based travel documentary `Long way round´ Charley Boorman was an enthusiastic guest at the last race of the 2008 season in Valencia last weekend.

In an interview which took place beside third place qualifier Nicky Hayden´s starting position on the MotoGP grid before last Sunday´s season-concluding race, the actor revealed, `This beats everything for me. It beats Formula 1, it beats you name it… I have been to all of them and this just turns me on! Standing this close to Nicky it is so cool!´

Boorman went on to comment on his friendship with Rizla Suzuki´s Chris Vermeulen, before saying of 2008 MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, `He is so awesome that guy! I mean, he is the king. There is no-one better. He has done everything, he has won the championship, he is the comeback kid, he is entertaining, he is brilliant with the fans. He is everything you want from a rider.

Dovizioso reflects on wet end to first factory test

2008-10-30T09:29:00.000-07:00

Having concluded his first Repsol Honda test in the wet at Valencia Andrea Dovizioso was pleased by what he had found with the factory RC212V.

Although Andrea Dovizioso undertook less than two hours of testing at Valencia on Tuesday afternoon, like his six fellow MotoGP riders who remained in situ in the Spanish rain, he was satisfied with the important extra outing on his new factory HRC prototype.

Sampling the new specification Bridgestone rain tyres for the first time and continuing his adaptation to factory machinery under the guidance of his new crew chief Pete Benson in the Repsol Honda garage, Dovizioso was second quickest on the shortened Tuesday timesheet, just 0.009s behind his predecessor in the team Nicky Hayden.

Dovizioso reviewed the Tuesday test run, saying, `I´m very happy with my second day of testing. Track conditions were not good, the track was slippery, neither dry nor fully wet, so we had to wait until after 3pm for heavier rain before testing with rain tyres. We had only one set of tyres available. At the beginning grip wasn´t good, then the team made some changes to the set-up, making consistent improvements. We did four or five runs, improving each time and in the end I did my fastest time on my last lap.´

`We gathered a lot of important data that will be very useful, even in the dry. The new Bridgestone tyres require a completely different setting compared to what´s required with Michelin tyres. I am also very happy with the team´s method of working. I am learning the new bike and new tyres and I´m very excited about this new challenge.´

Dovizioso will be back on track for two further days of tests at the Jerez track on 26th-27th November, before MotoGP´s winter testing ban commences on 1st December.

Melandri and Hopkins pay tribute to retiring Fanali

2008-10-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

Moving from 250cc to 800cc machinery at the start of this week Mika Kallio was immediately comfortable on the Ducati MotoGP bike in Valencia.

Graduating from the quarter litre category to MotoGP over the close season, having spent seven years in the smaller classes, Mika Kallio got his first samples of an 800cc Ducati prototype on Monday and Tuesday, enjoying sessions in both dry and wet conditions at the first winter test in Valencia.

Having undertaken his first full season on a Honda in 2002, Kallio spent the subsequent six years with KTM - four in the 125cc class and the last two in 250cc – and he is looking forward to the next chapter in his career having been given his big break by satellite Ducati outfit Alice Team.

The Finn stated this week that he found the initial transition less of a shock to the system than moving from 125cc to 250cc machinery as he did in the ´06-´07 winter tests - and he was fifteenth on the Monday timesheets, two seconds off pace-setter Casey Stoner, but faster than his new Alice colleague Niccolo Canepa who has tested the 800cc Desmosedici on numerous occasions previously.

In the rain on Tuesday Kallio was fifth on a timesheet of seven MotoGP riders as he took it steady in the tricky conditions.

Describing the experience of finally getting onto premier class machinery Kallio said, `It was my dream come true. The first time with a MotoGP bike and the feeling was quite good all the time. There were no problems, we just needed to do some laps and get the feeling with the bike. Everything went quite well, the lap times were ok.´

Although Kallio admitted Ducati had provided him with a reduced power version of the Desmosedici to assist his introduction to the bike, he was still pleased at how easy he had found his initial ride, stating, `For me I was a little bit surprised at how smooth the engine was.´

`I expected a little bit more of an aggressive bike but the power was a bit reduced and although I´m sure it will be more difficult when there is full power my first opinion was that the bike was quite easy to handle. The change of direction was very fast compared to 250cc and the bike is much heavier, but you couldn't feel it.´

The next step in Kallio´s MotoGP preparation will be the late November test at Jerez in southern Spain where it is provisionally planned for him to move from the Desmosedici GP8, which he used this week, onto the GP9.

Summarising this week´s test Alice Team Technical Director Fabiano Sterlacchini commented, `The two days were very important for us. Our two young riders, Mika and Niccolo, had the possibility to get to know the bikes characteristics and the method of work of the team. For Mika, it was the first time he tried a MotoGP bike and therefore he had to understand every single detail. Both of them have worked really well and they were able to give us important information at each run. I am very happy, it seems like everything has started in the best way possible.´

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GRAND PRIX OF QATAR

GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA

GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE

GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA

GRAN PREMI DE CATALUNYA

TT ASSEN

U.S. GRAND PRIX

MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCHLAND

BRITISH GRAND PRIX

GRAND PRIX CESKE REPUBLIKY

INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX

GP DI SAN MARINO E DELLA RIVIERA DI RIMINI

GRAND PRIX OF HUNGARY

GRANDE PREMIO DE PORTUGAL

AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

MALAYSIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

GRAN PREMIO DE LA COMUNITAT VALENCIANA

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