Category: Motorsports

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Citroen WRC

Sebastien Loeb to make one-off Monte comeback

Sebastien Loeb, 2013 Rallye Monte-Carlo

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena will be making a one-off return to the WRC by taking part in the 2015 Rallye Monte Carlo.

Under the guise of promotion for Citroën’s DS brand the seven-time winners of the event have been nominated, along with Kris Meeke, to score championship points for Citroën’s WRC manufacturer’s title campaign.

“I didn’t hesitate for a second when I was offered the chance to compete at the opening round of the 2015 World Rally Championship in the DS 3 WRC,” said Loeb. “I think Daniel and I would agree that Monte-Carlo is one of our favourite events. The beautiful roads, the fact of having to gamble when it comes to tyre choice and the party atmosphere that you get on the stages: we can’t wait to experience it all again!

“Obviously, it’s going to be a personal challenge for me, as I haven’t competed in a rally for over a year. A few days from now, I’m going to take part in the Rallye du Var and that will give me the chance to reacquaint myself with the car. We have also managed to find a few available slots in my schedule so I can take part in testing. I’m absolutely delighted about this opportunity to meet up with the big rallying family during the FIA WTCC off-season!”

Loeb and Elena last competed in Rallye Monte-Carlo in 2013. It was the start of their WRC swansong and they won the event for the seventh time.

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Formula 1 Lotus Video

Get the truck out of here!

Lotus F1 Team truck jump

When teams such as Lotus are crying poor about the costs associated with running a Formula 1 team the last thing you’d think they’d be doing is a stunt like this. Still, it’s fodder for the masses and a great promo for the team’s IT sponsor EMC2.

Really, who doesn’t want to see a massive truck jumping over an F1 car?!

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

2014 Abu Dhabi GP: Post-race press conference

2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

As you might expect the post-race press conference after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was all about the newly crowned world champion Lewis Hamilton. It’s good for the fans that he was on the podium so that we can get a first-hand account of his thoughts after a big season.

Similarly, it would have been nice to see Daniel Ricciardo on the podium so we might have been able to get some more insight into his breakout year in Formula 1. Instead we have to make do with the words supplied to us by Red Bull:

“I think it was pretty much a faultless race from all sides, from the strategy, to myself and the pit stops, everything was good so we did everything we needed to,” Daniel said. “I had fun passing, it wasn’t boring out there, so it was pretty much what I asked for. One spot better would have been nice, but fourth is really cool from the pit lane.

“It’s been pretty much a perfect season, as perfect as it can be without holding a world title, so no real regrets, no complaints. It’s nice to not only start the season well, but to finish it well also and I think all the way through it was good—we had a strong summer as well, so the start, middle and end were pretty good!”

If last summer was a strong one, let’s pray this summer is a bit stronger for Daniel and Red Bull. It will need to be of they’re to catch the all conquering Silver Arrows.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

Lewis Hamilton wins 2014 Abu Dhabi GP

2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton secured his eleventh race win for the season and his second world championship with victory in the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix overnight.

The 29-year-old Briton made a lightning start from P2 on the grid, powering into the lead leaving his championship rival and teammate Nico Rosberg in his wake. Rosberg wasn’t able to mount a serious challenge and his title hopes were dashed mid-race when his ERS system failed, meaning he lost the ability to boost engine performance by 120kW for 33 seconds per lap.

Despite his engineer asking him to retire with two laps to go, Rosberg held on to finish the race having dropped to a lowly P14 and was also lapped by Hamilton.

Felipe Massa made a late charge and although Hamilton’s winning margin was a reasonably slender 2.5 seconds the Williams driver wasn’t able to get close enough to challenge for the lead of the race. In the end Massa will be happy with P2, his highest finishing position this season.

Valtteri Bottas finished third and proved he’s got some serious potential. The 30 points he collected were enough to elevate him to fourth in the world championship.

After starting from the pitlane due an illegal wing used in qualifying Daniel Ricciardo impressed everyone, but surprised noone to charge his way through the field to finish the race in P4. He also set the fastest lap and a podium finish may have been possible had he been able to start from the P5 he qualified in. Still, it’s a been a great year for Daniel and we hope Red Bull is able to provide him with a decent car in 2015.

Jenson Button finished fifth in what could be his final race in Formula 1. It would be a quiet and understated ending for the likeable Brit if that were the case. As a world champion he probably deserved the right to say goodbye, assuming McLaren has already made up its mind on who will drive for the team next year.

The Force India pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished in sixth and seventh, ahead of Sebastian Vettel and the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton’s win is the 33rd of his career, which now moves him ahead of Fernando Alonso on the all time winners list. In addition to his 2008 title, he now joins Jim Clark (1963, 1965) and Graham Hill (1962, 1968) as Britons who have won two world championships.

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz Video

Do you think Lewis will do this tonight?

Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna collide at the start of the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton is no stranger to winning an F1 world championship in dramatic circumstances; remember those closing laps in 2008? Yet three years—1989, 1990 and 1994—stick in the memory as moments when the world champion was decided in highly controversial circumstances.

With two races to go in 1989 Ayrton Senna trailed his fierce rival Alain Prost by 16 points in the title race and needed to win the Japanese Grand Prix in order to take the championship to the final race in Adelaide. On lap 47 we saw one of the most iconic incidents in Formula 1 when the two collided. If both cars retired that was enough for Prost to claim the title. But more controversy was to follow after Senna was able to restart and go on to win the race, only to be later disqualified.

The following year the tables were turned in the Senna v Prost battle. This time Senna held the upper hand and Prost needed to win at Suzuka to keep his championship hopes alive. The image above shows what happened when the two cars fought for position into the first corner. Senna clipped the back of Prost’s car and forced both cars out of the race. Senna became world champion for the second time.

Four years later the championship fight made it to the last race of the season in Adelaide. It was desperately close, with Michael Schumacher a single point ahead of Damon Hill. On lap 36 Schumacher was leading the race but ran wide at Turn 5 allowing Hill to catch up and as the pair fought for position going into Turn 6 the result was seemingly inevitable. Contact was made, both men retired and Schumacher won his first world championship.

We’re not categorically saying Prost (1989), Senna (1990) and Schumacher (1994) deliberately caused those infamous accidents. But watch the videos after the break and then put yourself in Lewis Hamilton’s shoes. Would you deliberately cause a race-ending incident in order to secure yourself a Formula 1 world championship?

[Pic: F1 Fanatic]

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

2014 Abu Dhabi GP: Lewis v Nico title fight

Lews Hamilton v Nico Rosberg, 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton enjoys a 17 point lead over Nico Rosberg heading into tonight’s final grand prix of the year. He is the favourite to win the 2014 F1 world championship. But with double points on offer in Abu Dhabi Nico Rosberg needs to only finish fifth (20 points) to close the gap. Of course, if that is the case then Lewis would only need a P9 (4 points) result to deny Rosberg.

We thank Sky Sports F1 for the graphic above which shows in a simple format what each driver needs to do to win the title, based on Rosberg’s results.

[Pic: @SkySportsF1]

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Formula 1 Mercedes-Benz

2014 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying report

2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg needs a lot to go right for him this weekend to wrest the world championship from the grasp of Lewis Hamilton and he started well by earning himself pole position for tonight’s race.

Rosberg’s time (1:40.480) was comfortably faster than Hamilton’s (1:40.866) who made a few minor mistakes. It would be easy to say the pressure is getting to Lewis and maybe it is, but if he can stay out of trouble and finish the race he should be celebrating his second world championship.

Valtteri Bottas (1:41.025) edged out a flying Felipe Massa (1:41.119) for P3 but as the image above shows, the only story in town is all about the Lewis v Nico title fight.

Qualifying in P5 and P6 were Red Bull teammates Daniel Ricciardo (1:41.267) and Sebastian Vettel (1:41.893) but they have both been disqualified for running an illegal front wing.

Speaking before the Stewards had disqualified him Ricciardo said: “I’m really happy with quali; we knew after FP3 we had a bit of work to do, but we knew when the sun went down the temperature would drop so we stayed optimistic that our set up would work better in the evening and we made some good changes for that.

“I was the happiest I have been all weekend during quali. We are fairly close to the Williams and not too far off at least one of the Mercs, so not a bad session.”

Daniel and Sebastian will start from the back of the grid and any points they can claim will be a bonus.

The top 10 was rounded out by Daniil Kvyat (1:41.908), Jenson Button (1:41.964), Kimi Raikonnen (1:42.236) and Fernando Alonso (1:42.866).

It will be all eyes on the front of the grid at the start of the grand prix. Lewis Hamilton needs third or better to guarantee his title win. Let’s hope we see an exciting and fair race.

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Formula 1

Spike Goddard to test with Force India

Spike Goddard

Young Australian driver Spike Goddard, Richard to his mum and dad, has scored a test with Force India in Abu Dhabi after this weekend’s championship deciding grand prix.

The 22-year-old started racing Formula Fords in Australia, before making the move to the United Kingdom in 2011. He won the British Formula 3 Rookie Class in 2012 and has spent the next two years racing in various Formula 3 championships. Naturally, he’s very excited to get his chance in the VJM07.

“I would like to thank Sahara Force India for this incredible opportunity,” Goddard said. “Every young racing driver dreams to be at the wheel of a Formula 1 car and I am very excited to be one of the very few who gets to fulfil this dream.

“The test is an important stage in the preparations for 2015 and I hope my contribution will be useful for the team to get a head start for next season.”

Goddard will be in the car on Wednesday 26 November, the second of the two day test program. Jolyon Palmer, the son of former British F1 driver Jonathan Palmer, will drive for Force India on the opening day.

“I’m pleased that we can conclude our season by giving two promising youngsters their first taste of Formula 1,” said Dr Vijay Mallya, Team Principal and Managing Director. “As a team we have a strong track record of identifying up-and-coming prospects and giving them valuable mileage and experience in our cars.

“I have been following Jolyon’s progress this season in GP2 and he is clearly a big talent that deserves a chance in Formula 1.

“Spike has also worked hard to get this chance and it’s the perfect opportunity to showcase his skills.

“I wish Jolyon and Spike all the best for a successful couple of days in Abu Dhabi.”

We have to confess to not knowing a lot about Goddard and it would seem to us his opportunity is one he’ll need to grab with both hands. We wish him well and hope we’re soon hearing a lot more about him.

[Pic: spikegoddard.com]

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Ferrari Formula 1

Sebastian Vettel joins Ferrari on 3-year deal

Sebastian Vetel

In the most unsurprsing Formula 1 news you’ll read this week Sebastian Vettel has been signed by Ferrari on a three-year deal. He’ll start with them next year, sharing a garage with 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen.

“The next stage of my Formula 1 career will be spent with Scuderia Ferrari and for me that means the dream of a lifetime has come true,” said Sebastian Vettel. “When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it’s an incredible honour to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari.

“I already got a small taste of what the Ferrari spirit means, when I took my first win at Monza in 2008, with an engine from the Prancing Horse built in Maranello.

“The Scuderia has a great tradition in this sport and I am extremely motivated to help the team get back to the top. I will put my heart and soul into making it happen.”

The movement of Vettel from Red Bull to Ferrari is great for F1 and the Sebastian–Kimi pairing will provide some great fodder for the F1 masses next year. Bring on the fireworks!

Ferrari’s full statement can be read below.

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Formula 1 Lotus

Romain remains with Lotus

2014 Brazilian Grand Prix

Romain Grosjean has announced via his Facebook page that he will remain with Lotus F1 Team in 2015.

This season has been one of disappointment for Lotus. They were late to the pre-season party after suffering problems with the new Renault power unit and haven’t really recovered. Next year, though, Lotus will have Mercedes power and understandably this has Grosjean expecting better times ahead.

“I’m very pleased, happy and proud to be part of Lotus F1 Team for next year and excited at the prospect of being powered by the Mercedes engine which has looked so strong this year,” Grosjean on the Lotus F1 Team website. “The E23 should be a good step forward, building on all the lessons from 2014.

“I’ve spent a lot of time at the factory working with everyone, and the relationship I have with the team is very strong. We’ve had some good moments and tough ones and we always stay together, which makes it even more attractive for the future.”

No announcement has been made on who will partner Grosjean next season.

[Source: Lotus F1 Team]

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Formula 1

Jules Bianchi out of induced coma, remains critical

Jules Bianchi

The family of former Marussia driver Jules Bianchi, who was seriously injured at the Japanese Grand Prix, has confirmed he is no longer in an artifical coma. However, he remains unconscious and his condition is still critical.

“Jules is no longer in the artificial coma in which he was placed shortly after the accident, however he is still unconscious,” the family’s statement explained. “He is breathing unaided and his vital signs are stable, but his condition is still classified as ‘critical’. His treatment now enters a new phase concerned with the improvement of his brain function.”

Bianchi has been relocated from Japan to the university hospital in Nice so that he can be closer to his family.

“Jules’ neurological condition remains stable,” his family added. “Although the situation continues to be serious, and may remain so, it was decided that Jules was sufficiently stable to be repatriated to his native France.

“We are relieved, therefore, to confirm that Jules was transferred aeromedically last night from the Mie Prefectural General Medical Center in Yokkaichi, Japan, to Le Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice (CHU), where he arrived just a short time ago.

“Jules is now in the intensive care unit of Professors Raucoules and Ichai, where his care will also be monitored by Professor Paquis, Head of Neurosurgery Service.

“We are thankful that the next phase of Jules’ treatment can continue close to home, where he can be surrounded and supported by his wider family and friends.”

The Bianchi family thanked the hospital staff in Japan, in particular Doctors Kamei and Yamamichi, and Mr Ogura, saying Jules received “outstanding care” while in Yokkaichi.

[Source: Formula1.com]

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Citroen WRC

Kris Meeke keeps his job with Citroën

2014 Wales Rally GB

Put Kris Meeke in a rally car and you’ll soon learn he has raw pace. Consistency is where Meeke struggles and, of course, he’s partial to the odd spectacular crash. Yet, after his full WRC season in a top team he has progressed enough to keep his job. And that’s good news for the WRC, because as well as pace Meeke is great to watch.

“When we chose Kris Meeke for this season, we took a bit of a gamble,” said Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal. “But he has improved with pretty much every race and has now become a complete driver.

“The real turning point was at Rally Finland. He adopted the right approach. He has managed to acquire experience throughout the season. He has shown that he not only has real pace, but that he can be more patient sometimes as well.”

Meeke’s ability to perform well on numerous surfaces impresses his bosses and helped his cause. He scored podiums in Monte-Carlo, Argentina, Finland and France.

“This first full season has been spent learning about the WRC,” explained the 35-year-old Meeke. “In the second half of the year, I was able to show part of my potential.

“There’s room for improvement, but I now have some decent foundations to build on next year, in order to keep progressing.”

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