Formula One’s mid-season break is almost over. That means it’s time for the Belgian Grand Prix. Mark is also back to tell us about Belgian sausages, rain and, of course, one of the best circuits on the F1 calendar. For a bird’s eye look at the Spa F1 circuit click here. The view from the Red Bull simulator can be seen after the break.
Let’s hope we see Webber leaping for joy late on Sunday night!
As most readers will be aware MINI and Prodrive recently announced a new partnership which is set to produce lovely little WRC racecar offspring. So, if you reckon the MINI Countryman is not all bad, plus you have a spare £346K (AU$600K) burning a hole in your pocket and you know how to flick a Scandinavian, or something like that, then head on over to MotoringFile and download the official brochure.
It’s been a couple of months since Pirelli was announced as the sole tyre supplier for Formula One. As such they’ve extracted Nick Heidfeld from MercedesGP, put him in a Toyota TF109 and started testing in earnest prior to the 2011 season.
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery said, “We’re delighted to welcome Nick into the Pirelli family, and we’re confident that he’ll do a great job for us.
“The role of test driver is a crucial one, so we were looking for a driver who had plenty of recent Formula One experience, the speed to push our new tyres as hard as possible, and the consistency to provide reliable simulations, as well as the analytical skills to relay information accurately to our engineers. Nick fits the bill in every respect and we’re very pleased to have secured his services and obviously thankful to Mercedes GP Petronas for agreeing to release Nick from his contract.”
Hembrey went on to explain the 2009 Toyota was chosen so as to avoid any conflicts of interest with any current cars, “The Toyota was the perfect solution, as it is a contemporary racing machine with proven speed and reliability but without links to any of the manufacturers currently competing in Formula One.”
The new Pirelli deal will run for three years. F1 teams will get their first chance to try the new rubber at the short post-season test session following the final Grand Prix for the year to be held at Abu Dhabi on 14 November.
[Source: Formula1.com]
Good news for wannabe track day heroes, Mercedes-AMG GmbH are now taking orders for their SLS AMG GT3 racer. If you do want to kick sand in the faces of the Audi and Porsche kids you’ll need to cough up €334K plus taxes. That’s around half a million bucks in Aussie dollars. Deliveries are shceduled for February 2011.
As the model names suggests the SLS AMG GT3 is designed to meet regulations for FIA GT racing and we should see the Gullwing tearing up the track at the Nürburgring 24 hour race in 2011. Bravo!
Mercedes have been testing the car since June, with successful DTM star Bernd Schneider undertaking most of the test duties. The SLS AMG GT3 will make its racing debut in a VLN mini-enduro at the demanding Nürburgring Nordschleife in late September.
Peak power from the 6.3 litre V8 and final kerb weight will be confirmed by the FIA during the homolgation process in accordance with its “Balance of Performance” guidelines which are aimed at ensuring equality.
Uncle Norbert seems quite happy with his new toy, “This is an exciting and spectacular sports car for dedicated private teams and talented private drivers. AMG will work together with our tried-and-trusted sports and touring car partner HWA to put in place a motorsport customer department 
which will guarantee its motorsport customers hallmark Mercedes service.”
So far, it looks like demand will out strip supply in the early stages. So Norbert really is a happy chappy.
A big photo gallery (including more of that blinged up chrome SLS) and the full press release from Mercedes-Benz are all yours after the break.
Falken Tyres have been kind enough to post video of Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima’s assault at the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Tajima was at the wheel of a Suzuki SX4 and the little pocket rocket you see above has a massive 910 horsepower.
Tajima made the most of all that power, too, by winning the event for the fifth time in succession. Check out the clip in full after the break and keep an eye out for the spectators and sacrificial cones.
[Thanks to Richard for the tip]
After Mark Webber won the British Grand Prix in July he celebrated on the podium with what now seems to have become his trademark crab-like leap. The crab-leap made a re-appearance at Hungary, too.
In true internet stylez a few wags have taken an idea and run with it to create a new e-phenomen. Sourced from the autosport forums here are a few of the best Leaping Webber’s found online. If these pics don’t quite float your boat, then why not check out Mark’s Chippendale routine.
You may remember Mark first created a bit of an internet ruckus thanks to the Canberra Milk television commercial, which AUSmotive first brought to people’s attention in March.
[Source: autosport forums]
UPDATE: It looks like the Leaping Webber images may have originated from a Spanish forum; CLICK HERE for more.
A recent report from autosport suggests both Saab and Volkswagen are considering a future in WRC. Saab have a proud rallying history but haven’t competed at the highest level in over 30 years.
It’s understood they could return in 2012 with a WRC car based on their 9-1 or 9-2 platform. They could even source their engines direct from MINI, who have also recently announced a return to top level rallying.
An anonymous source has reportedly told autosport that meetings between Saab and WRC organisers have already taken place, “The initial meeting has happened and there’s a huge amount of enthusiasm from all concerned. Like Mini, Saab has a great heritage in the sport and a return to the WRC makes a lot of sense.” The article states more talks are planned in October.
It was also reported that Volkswagen could be ready to commit to the WRC with a limited program in 2012, before a full on assault in 2013.
Simon Long, CEO of North One Sport, WRC’s promoter, said, “I think Mini’s announcement has given people a lot of confidence in the sport. The messages we’re getting are all positive.”
Support for Formula One in Australia is currently riding a wave popularity, thanks largely to the exploits of local lad Mark Webber. The Australian, of course, is currently leading the drivers title race and is in with a real chance of being crowned this country’s first F1 World Champion since Alan Jones in 1980.
Despite this, many F1 fans might be surprised to learn that the television ratings for the sport have knocked the V8 Supercars off its perch as the most watched motorsport category in Australia.
Based on figures published in The Age numbers for the recent Hungarian Grand Prix, won by Webber, peaked at 345,000. Keep in mind the live broadcast was available on the digital only channel One HD. In contrast, viewing audiences for recent rounds of V8 Supercars have reportedly fallen below the 300,000 mark.
This figure represents a drop of more than 25% from V8 Supercar audiences from a couple of years back. Meanwhile, the introduction of the One HD channel in 2009 has given Australian audiences access to live telecasts for the majority of Grands Prix and qualifying sessions for the first time ever.
We shall have to wait and see how sustainable the popularity of F1 remains in future years when we’re unlikely to see an Australian leading the charge. For now, though, One HD, while far from perfect, must be quite content with the way things sit.
[Source: The Age via motorcentral | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]
Dave Richards, Prodrive chairman, has been talking recently about the return of MINI to the world rally stage. You can see a brief television piece after the break. A more in-depth interview is also available on the WRC website. Here’s a snippet:
“The traditional way of producing a rally car is that a manufacturer comes along and asks you to make a car out of this product. Instead, we took the new regulations and said, right, what would the ultimate car look like? We used reverse engineering. Three months in, we looked at what we’d got and analysed this against the cars of all the manufacturers in the world. By March 2009 we had come up with 11 target cars. Then we went to talk to the manufacturers.
“Ironically the MINI wasn’t on that list because the car as we knew it was too small. It just didn’t fit the rules. But during discussions we found out that a new, larger car was in development – the four-door Countryman – and it went straight to the top of our list. Firstly, as being just about perfect in dimensions and layout, and secondly being one of the most iconic names and rally brands ever.”
Follow the source link below for the full interview.
[Source: WRC | Thanks to Chris for the YouTube tip]
Last year Flavio Briatore found himself in a bit of a pickle. Fixing a Formula One race tends to do that, I guess. At the time Mark Webber stood by his man, declaring he would not seek another manager if Briatore’s right to continue as Webber’s agent was taken away. Now, in return, Briatore has tipped Mark to win this year’s F1 world championship.
Speaking to Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport, The Flav said Webber is the driver to keep an eye on, “Watch out, Webber is on his way to win the title: what he has done in Hungary on Sunday was phenomenal. But I’m not tipping Webber just because he is one of my drivers, I only state what everyone has seen from home.
“Mark is a driver capable of exceptional feats. He has now reached a maturity and inner calmness that can take him really far. In Hungary he was the first one understanding that he could take a risk in running for three-quarter distance on the soft tyres he had at the start. That was the winning move, but it also demonstrated how much he uses his brain, unlike many others.”
[via autosport.com]
1. Mark WEBBER (Red Bull), 1h41m05.571s
2. Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari), 1h41m23.392s
3. Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull), 1h41m24.823s
Q: Mark, a commanding win by the end of 70 laps. But it was probably the 43 you managed in your first stint that really set it up.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, that’s right. The start we always knew was going to be a little bit tricky on that side. Fernando got a good start. Seb’s was pretty good as well. But we all jumped into the slipstream in the run to the first corner and then I had Lewis (Hamilton) there as well, so had to make sure to at least get out in third position. If not, see what happened in front. Then settled in. You know around here it is going to be very difficult to make any moves on the track unless anybody made a mistake, so it was not a surprise to see Seb disappearing with Fernando doing his absolute best but I was still marking him and waiting for the crucial part of the race to see what would happen. That being the pit stop. Then we had the safety car and I had to go off strategy to try and pass Fernando and make it a bit easier to try and do that. But we were asking a lot of the option tyres. You are right, building from safety car through to when we decided when to make the stop we knew that we needed around 20 seconds but I told the guys ‘let’s get a bit more of a buffer to make sure the guys have less pressure in the pit stop.’ All those types of things. But they were on it anyway. The front left was completely finished, it was pretty difficult with the grip that we had finishing that stint. But in the end, I knew once I got the primes on, these guys had already done 20 odd laps and the race was pretty much in the bag. I knew that Seb had some difficulties on the re-start for whatever reason and it was a bit of a gift to day for me. But I have not had many of them, so I will take today’s. Tough luck for Seb as he lost a couple of spots. I enjoyed the fight with Fernando at the start. Not much of a fight but as I was saying I was just trying to get the most out of the car and keep pressing on and we were gapping Felipe (Massa) and Lewis. But an incredible day for the team. Another victory. One-two was our goal. Unfortunately we didn’t get that, so we still got a big chunk of the points, so it was a good day.
At last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix details of the 2011 F1 season were revealed, according to media reports. The leaked information shows a provisional 20 race calendar, with the inaugural Indian Grand Prix to be staged on 9 October.
Bahrain maintains its hold on the opening race of the year and has been pencilled in for 13 March, with the Australian Grand Prix to follow a fortnight later on 27 March. The season finale will take place in Abu Dhabi on 13 November. The Korean Grand Prix is poised to move forward from its October slot to April, meaning it will host two races inside six months.
Five double-headers are on the cards in 2011; Australia–Malaysia (March-April), China–Korea (April), Germany–Hungary (July), Belgium-Valencia (August) and the Japan-Brazil fixture (October) which will test logistics.
[Source: motorsport.com]