F1 News
Date: 28/October/2012
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel extended his lead at the top of the F1 World Championship with his fourth win in a row during Sunday’s Indian Grand Prix.
But it was the performance of title rival Fernando Alonso that grabbed much of the plaudits, after the Ferrari star battled from fifth on the grid to second place.
While Vettel led from start to finish, keeping the lead even during his pit stop, Alonso fought tooth-and-nail to limit the Championship damage.
The Spaniard, who hasn’t won in seven rounds, spent the early laps elbowing his way past the McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
Alonso then later caught and passed Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber for second, as the Australian struggled with a KERS problem.
“It’s not easy at the moment to fight with Red Bull, but we will never give up,” declared Alonso.
“We were not fast enough to compete against them here, so we lost the minimum points, which is finishing second. That was more or less the plan this weekend.
“Now we are 13 points behind. We know we need to be faster, so hopefully we can improve the situation in Abu Dhabi or in the USA.
“There are still many points on the table and I'm still very optimistic [about winning the title].”
While Alonso pins his hopes on future Ferrari upgrades, Vettel believes the key to his recent form has been focussing on the present.
“I think the secret, if there is any, is that we didn’t approach the first of these four races thinking we can win four. We focussed on the first one, then the second, then the third, then the fourth,” he said.
“We were in the moment. Not thinking about yesterday or last week and not thinking about the end of the race or next week.”
Vettel also played down the latest rumours that he has some form of future agreement with Ferrari.
The reigning double champion was eager to stamp out the speculation for fear of demotivating staff at the Red Bull factory, whose efforts he frequently credits for turning his 2012 season around.
“There's nothing to tell you, nothing I've signed [with Ferrari]. Nothing has changed. It's quite amusing. I don't know where it came from,” commented the reigning double Champion.
“Actually, there's one thing I would like to say. Because I can’t speak to every single person in the [Red Bull] team and if they read some stories in the press, obviously there might be some concerns back in the factory.
“But I'm 100 percent behind them as I feel they're 100 percent behind me and therefore I want to set this straight: there's nothing to report and I'm very happy at Red Bull Racing.”
F1 now heads straight to Abu Dhabi for next weekend’s 18th of 20 rounds.
Stoner’s fairytale finish, Lorenzo Champion
MotoGP News
Date: 28/October/2012
Casey Stoner rode to a ‘fairytale’ sixth home win in front of his adoring Australian fans in Sunday’s Phillip Island MotoGP, while second place secured the title for Jorge Lorenzo.
Stoner hadn’t lost at Phillip Island since 2006 and, despite recent ankle surgery, never looked likely to be beaten in his penultimate race before retirement.
The Repsol Honda hero, 27, was out of sight during practice and qualifying - despite the interruption of a small crash - and blitzed the field on race day, beating Lorenzo by 9.2 seconds.
The no-nonsense Aussie isn’t prone to emotion, but admitted the whole weekend had been straight out of a storybook.
“My time’s counting down now and it was very important for me to win a race before I retire - and to do it at my home grand prix here was just a fairytale,” said Stoner, who had won four races prior to his mid-August ankle injury.
“It was just a fantastic day today. We’ve topped off a difficult year and I think there’s no better way to do it than in front of your home crowd. A crowd this big and this enthusiastic is something else.”
The Australian fans flooded onto the home straight for the podium ceremony, where they saluted ‘King Casey’ for the final time.
“The fans has just been amazing,” said Stoner. “I’ve never seen it so busy. I know a big part of the reason they are here is to watch me ride. So it gives me a great feeling to be out there making them proud.”
Stoner took the lead when team-mate Dani Pedrosa crashed at low-speed on lap two, ending his title chances.
Yamaha’s Lorenzo then held second place to the finish to become Spain first double Champion in the premier-class.
An emotional Lorenzo, who won his first title in 2010, said: “I’m really happy with this championship, because only we know how difficult it is to fight with riders like Casey and Dani, and to fight with factories like Honda. It is very hard.
“So today is a special day and I want to thank everyone that believed in me and wanted me to win.”
Stoner’s final MotoGP appearance will be at Valencia from November 9-11. Lorenzo and Pedrosa, now runner-up for a third time, have re-signed to stay with their present teams until at least 2014.
Date: 28/October/2012
Casey Stoner rode to a ‘fairytale’ sixth home win in front of his adoring Australian fans in Sunday’s Phillip Island MotoGP, while second place secured the title for Jorge Lorenzo.
Stoner hadn’t lost at Phillip Island since 2006 and, despite recent ankle surgery, never looked likely to be beaten in his penultimate race before retirement.
The Repsol Honda hero, 27, was out of sight during practice and qualifying - despite the interruption of a small crash - and blitzed the field on race day, beating Lorenzo by 9.2 seconds.
The no-nonsense Aussie isn’t prone to emotion, but admitted the whole weekend had been straight out of a storybook.
“My time’s counting down now and it was very important for me to win a race before I retire - and to do it at my home grand prix here was just a fairytale,” said Stoner, who had won four races prior to his mid-August ankle injury.
“It was just a fantastic day today. We’ve topped off a difficult year and I think there’s no better way to do it than in front of your home crowd. A crowd this big and this enthusiastic is something else.”
The Australian fans flooded onto the home straight for the podium ceremony, where they saluted ‘King Casey’ for the final time.
“The fans has just been amazing,” said Stoner. “I’ve never seen it so busy. I know a big part of the reason they are here is to watch me ride. So it gives me a great feeling to be out there making them proud.”
Stoner took the lead when team-mate Dani Pedrosa crashed at low-speed on lap two, ending his title chances.
Yamaha’s Lorenzo then held second place to the finish to become Spain first double Champion in the premier-class.
An emotional Lorenzo, who won his first title in 2010, said: “I’m really happy with this championship, because only we know how difficult it is to fight with riders like Casey and Dani, and to fight with factories like Honda. It is very hard.
“So today is a special day and I want to thank everyone that believed in me and wanted me to win.”
Stoner’s final MotoGP appearance will be at Valencia from November 9-11. Lorenzo and Pedrosa, now runner-up for a third time, have re-signed to stay with their present teams until at least 2014.
One lap wonder puts Vettel on pole
F1 News
Date: 27/October/2012
Having been forced to scrap his first pole attack, F1 World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel faced an all-or-nothing final attempt in qualifying at the Buddh International Circuit, India.
It worked. The young German pinched pole from Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber by just 0.044s on a day when title rival Fernando Alonso was left in fifth place for Ferrari.
Vettel is just six points ahead of Alonso with four races to go.
"My first run, I did a mistake in Turn Four and had to abort the lap, so that was not as per plan,” admitted Vettel. “We only had one more set of tyres left but fortunately I got the lap together and was very happy.
“I could have been a bit faster, because I made sure not to lock up the fronts again at Turn Four, but all in all it was a very good session for us, the car was fantastic.
“We had lots of feedback from the factory, which was very helpful from yesterday to today, so thanks to those guys there.
“We have to keep pushing obviously. I think we have a lot of races to go, important races, but the best chance of doing well is to focus on every single step. Today was qualifying. I think we got a very good result and now we look forward to the race.”
Between the Red Bulls and Ferraris on the starting grid will be a second row formed by McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
“I think the McLarens, went very quick in the long run yesterday, as well as the Ferraris. So, I think it will be a close race, also in terms of strategy it could be a surprise,” said Vettel.
Vettel is F1’s man of the moment with victories in the last three rounds, and also won the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011.
“Last year was pretty special, to be the first winner here in India and to do it again this year is obviously the target,” said the reigning double world champion. “I like the circuit, it suits our car as well and there are opportunities to overtake - hopefully we don't have to use them tomorrow…”
Alonso claimed he had no chance to battle the Red Bulls and McLarens in qualifying, but insists he isn’t demotivated and is ready to attack.
“We must try and make up places on the first lap and try to put pressure on our main rivals, ensuring they don’t have an easy race,” he said. “There are 60 laps to work with and we will need to tackle each one as if it’s qualifying, by attacking.”
Date: 27/October/2012
Having been forced to scrap his first pole attack, F1 World Championship leader Sebastian Vettel faced an all-or-nothing final attempt in qualifying at the Buddh International Circuit, India.
It worked. The young German pinched pole from Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber by just 0.044s on a day when title rival Fernando Alonso was left in fifth place for Ferrari.
Vettel is just six points ahead of Alonso with four races to go.
"My first run, I did a mistake in Turn Four and had to abort the lap, so that was not as per plan,” admitted Vettel. “We only had one more set of tyres left but fortunately I got the lap together and was very happy.
“I could have been a bit faster, because I made sure not to lock up the fronts again at Turn Four, but all in all it was a very good session for us, the car was fantastic.
“We had lots of feedback from the factory, which was very helpful from yesterday to today, so thanks to those guys there.
“We have to keep pushing obviously. I think we have a lot of races to go, important races, but the best chance of doing well is to focus on every single step. Today was qualifying. I think we got a very good result and now we look forward to the race.”
Between the Red Bulls and Ferraris on the starting grid will be a second row formed by McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.
“I think the McLarens, went very quick in the long run yesterday, as well as the Ferraris. So, I think it will be a close race, also in terms of strategy it could be a surprise,” said Vettel.
Vettel is F1’s man of the moment with victories in the last three rounds, and also won the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011.
“Last year was pretty special, to be the first winner here in India and to do it again this year is obviously the target,” said the reigning double world champion. “I like the circuit, it suits our car as well and there are opportunities to overtake - hopefully we don't have to use them tomorrow…”
Alonso claimed he had no chance to battle the Red Bulls and McLarens in qualifying, but insists he isn’t demotivated and is ready to attack.
“We must try and make up places on the first lap and try to put pressure on our main rivals, ensuring they don’t have an easy race,” he said. “There are 60 laps to work with and we will need to tackle each one as if it’s qualifying, by attacking.”
Pole, scare for Casey Stoner
MotoGP News
Date: 27/October/2012
Casey Stoner’s dominance of his final home Australian MotoGP continued in qualifying at Phillip Island, but not without a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted in MotoGP.
Unbeaten in Australia for the past five years, the Repsol Honda star - just two races from retirement - had finished free practice with a huge one-second advantage.
The 27-year-old then led all but the opening minutes of the qualifying hour for his fifth consecutive pole at the Melbourne race track.
However it could have turned out very differently, with Stoner escaping unharmed after being thrown from his RC213V motorcycle.
Had Stoner landed on his injured ankle his weekend - and perhaps career - could have been over, with only two weeks until the Valencia season finale.
The incident was caused by a cool rear tyre, Stoner having just switched from the softer to harder option as the halfway mark approached.
“I was on my out-lap with a hard tyre and the bike just decided to flick me off,” Stoner explained.
“I tried to make sure I kept my right leg out of the way as I came off and fortunately it didn't get caught up. But if I had come down on my foot it would have been a different story.
“My left hip is hurting a little as I landed on it, but hopefully we shouldn't have any issues with it tomorrow.”
Stoner soon returned to lap faster than ever, eventually claiming pole by over half-a-second from Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, the World Championship leader.
That spill aside, Stoner is revelling in his last chance to ride a grand prix bike at one of his favourite circuits, the characteristics of which also allow him to avoid putting too much stress on his healing ankle.
Stoner, who missed three events due to surgery, said: “To be honest it’s been really nice to be back at this circuit and also feeling a little bit more comfortable. Most of the important corners are on the left, so I’m actually able to relax on the right-hand turns.
“And it’s been nice to ride one of these bikes around this track again - it could well be my last time here. So I’m just trying to enjoy every minute of it really. We’ve had a fantastic weekend so far, just getting faster and faster and hopefully we’ll have something to celebrate tomorrow.”
While Stoner has the speed to disappear into the distance, Lorenzo looks set to be embroiled in a close battle with the other Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa will start third on the grid and needs to beat Lorenzo to keep his title hopes alive.
Date: 27/October/2012
Casey Stoner’s dominance of his final home Australian MotoGP continued in qualifying at Phillip Island, but not without a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted in MotoGP.
Unbeaten in Australia for the past five years, the Repsol Honda star - just two races from retirement - had finished free practice with a huge one-second advantage.
The 27-year-old then led all but the opening minutes of the qualifying hour for his fifth consecutive pole at the Melbourne race track.
However it could have turned out very differently, with Stoner escaping unharmed after being thrown from his RC213V motorcycle.
Had Stoner landed on his injured ankle his weekend - and perhaps career - could have been over, with only two weeks until the Valencia season finale.
The incident was caused by a cool rear tyre, Stoner having just switched from the softer to harder option as the halfway mark approached.
“I was on my out-lap with a hard tyre and the bike just decided to flick me off,” Stoner explained.
“I tried to make sure I kept my right leg out of the way as I came off and fortunately it didn't get caught up. But if I had come down on my foot it would have been a different story.
“My left hip is hurting a little as I landed on it, but hopefully we shouldn't have any issues with it tomorrow.”
Stoner soon returned to lap faster than ever, eventually claiming pole by over half-a-second from Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, the World Championship leader.
That spill aside, Stoner is revelling in his last chance to ride a grand prix bike at one of his favourite circuits, the characteristics of which also allow him to avoid putting too much stress on his healing ankle.
Stoner, who missed three events due to surgery, said: “To be honest it’s been really nice to be back at this circuit and also feeling a little bit more comfortable. Most of the important corners are on the left, so I’m actually able to relax on the right-hand turns.
“And it’s been nice to ride one of these bikes around this track again - it could well be my last time here. So I’m just trying to enjoy every minute of it really. We’ve had a fantastic weekend so far, just getting faster and faster and hopefully we’ll have something to celebrate tomorrow.”
While Stoner has the speed to disappear into the distance, Lorenzo looks set to be embroiled in a close battle with the other Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa will start third on the grid and needs to beat Lorenzo to keep his title hopes alive.
Ferrari deny ‘political statement’ at Indian GP
F1 News
Date: 25/October/2012
Ferrari has denied making a political statement by running the flag of the Italian navy on the cars of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa during this weekend’s Indian F1 Grand Prix.
“Ferrari pays tribute to one of the outstanding entities of our country, also in the hope that the Indian and Italian authorities will soon find a solution to the situation currently involving two sailors from the Italian Navy”, said a Ferrari statement.
The sailors are facing trial in India following the deaths of two local fishermen in February, whom the sailors are reported to have mistaken for pirates.
FIA rules strictly prohibit teams from making any ‘political statements’ and Ferrari insists that expressing “hope of a solution” is not a political statement. But many Indians - including some in the government - are clearly unhappy and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali found himself being grilled about the gesture.
“I think that if you look at what is written in the press statement it [the flag] is not really what you are saying [a political statement],” he said. “You have to look at what is written exactly, and the reason why we put that on. There's not any political intention or discussion in that.”
On track, Ferrari’s title contender Alonso finished Friday’s practice sessions in third place, behind Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Reigning double champion Vettel holds a slim six-point advantage over Alonso with four rounds to go.
“At the moment we are behind and we need to fight, believing that it is possible because that’s the spirit I want to see within the team,” said Domenicali of the Championship battle.
“And if Sebastian - or anyone else, because we need to respect everyone - wins, they will deserve it, and we will congratulate them. But up to that moment, we will fight with every resource we have.”
Date: 25/October/2012
Ferrari has denied making a political statement by running the flag of the Italian navy on the cars of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa during this weekend’s Indian F1 Grand Prix.
“Ferrari pays tribute to one of the outstanding entities of our country, also in the hope that the Indian and Italian authorities will soon find a solution to the situation currently involving two sailors from the Italian Navy”, said a Ferrari statement.
The sailors are facing trial in India following the deaths of two local fishermen in February, whom the sailors are reported to have mistaken for pirates.
FIA rules strictly prohibit teams from making any ‘political statements’ and Ferrari insists that expressing “hope of a solution” is not a political statement. But many Indians - including some in the government - are clearly unhappy and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali found himself being grilled about the gesture.
“I think that if you look at what is written in the press statement it [the flag] is not really what you are saying [a political statement],” he said. “You have to look at what is written exactly, and the reason why we put that on. There's not any political intention or discussion in that.”
On track, Ferrari’s title contender Alonso finished Friday’s practice sessions in third place, behind Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Reigning double champion Vettel holds a slim six-point advantage over Alonso with four rounds to go.
“At the moment we are behind and we need to fight, believing that it is possible because that’s the spirit I want to see within the team,” said Domenicali of the Championship battle.
“And if Sebastian - or anyone else, because we need to respect everyone - wins, they will deserve it, and we will congratulate them. But up to that moment, we will fight with every resource we have.”
Stoner sublime in Phillip Island practice
MotoGP News
Date: 25/October/2012
Casey Stoner destroyed the opposition with a stunning display of speed and skill during Friday’s practice sessions for his final home Australian MotoGP, at Phillip Island.
The Repsol Honda star left Championship contenders Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa trailing by almost one-second as he drifted his RCV around the sweeping turns of the Melbourne track.
Reigning double World Champion Stoner, whose own 2012 title hopes ended with ankle injuries at Indianapolis, hasn’t won since that brutal mid-August fall - but few would now bet against a sixth successive ‘Island MotoGP victory on Sunday.
Stoner, 27, who had turn three of the circuit named in his honour on Thursday, said:
“It was a very positive first day, we were pretty quick to get on the pace and to be honest I didn't expect to achieve the lap times we did. With the extra horsepower we have this year it's a little easier to get around this place quickly!
“I thought everybody would improve a lot more in the second session, but we were able to go quite a lot faster than everybody with almost race distance on our soft tyres and then we put the hard tyre on and were able to improve again.
“This is very positive at this stage of the weekend but we'll have to wait for tomorrow and Sunday to see where everyone else is. There are a lot less right hand corners here, so it's nice to take a bit of weight off my ankle.”
Stoner will retire after the final round of the year at Valencia.
Among those awestruck by Stoner’s Friday performance was injured Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies, watching on TV in Texas after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Spies, who crashed last Sunday at Sepang and will miss the last two rounds, wrote on Twitter: “Gotta say without a doubt [Stoner] does stuff even GP racers watch and scratch their heads at! #pureclass.”
Spies’ team-mate and title leader Lorenzo was runner-up to Stoner by 0.905s in the morning session. Stoner’s team-mate Pedrosa then took over second place in the afternoon, but still 0.885s from the top.
Lorenzo, just 0.121s from Pedrosa in FP2, starts the penultimate round with a 23-point lead over his fellow Spaniard. Lorenzo basically needs to beat Pedrosa on Sunday to be crowned MotoGP Champion for a second time.
However, Pedrosa has won five of the last six races and hasn’t been beaten by Lorenzo - in races they have both finished - since July. Pedrosa, Stoner and Honda have all denied that team orders will be employed to help Pedrosa.
Date: 25/October/2012
Casey Stoner destroyed the opposition with a stunning display of speed and skill during Friday’s practice sessions for his final home Australian MotoGP, at Phillip Island.
The Repsol Honda star left Championship contenders Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa trailing by almost one-second as he drifted his RCV around the sweeping turns of the Melbourne track.
Reigning double World Champion Stoner, whose own 2012 title hopes ended with ankle injuries at Indianapolis, hasn’t won since that brutal mid-August fall - but few would now bet against a sixth successive ‘Island MotoGP victory on Sunday.
Stoner, 27, who had turn three of the circuit named in his honour on Thursday, said:
“It was a very positive first day, we were pretty quick to get on the pace and to be honest I didn't expect to achieve the lap times we did. With the extra horsepower we have this year it's a little easier to get around this place quickly!
“I thought everybody would improve a lot more in the second session, but we were able to go quite a lot faster than everybody with almost race distance on our soft tyres and then we put the hard tyre on and were able to improve again.
“This is very positive at this stage of the weekend but we'll have to wait for tomorrow and Sunday to see where everyone else is. There are a lot less right hand corners here, so it's nice to take a bit of weight off my ankle.”
Stoner will retire after the final round of the year at Valencia.
Among those awestruck by Stoner’s Friday performance was injured Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies, watching on TV in Texas after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Spies, who crashed last Sunday at Sepang and will miss the last two rounds, wrote on Twitter: “Gotta say without a doubt [Stoner] does stuff even GP racers watch and scratch their heads at! #pureclass.”
Spies’ team-mate and title leader Lorenzo was runner-up to Stoner by 0.905s in the morning session. Stoner’s team-mate Pedrosa then took over second place in the afternoon, but still 0.885s from the top.
Lorenzo, just 0.121s from Pedrosa in FP2, starts the penultimate round with a 23-point lead over his fellow Spaniard. Lorenzo basically needs to beat Pedrosa on Sunday to be crowned MotoGP Champion for a second time.
However, Pedrosa has won five of the last six races and hasn’t been beaten by Lorenzo - in races they have both finished - since July. Pedrosa, Stoner and Honda have all denied that team orders will be employed to help Pedrosa.
Raikkonen enjoying life back in F1’s fast lane
F1 News
Date: 25/October/2012
Michael Schumacher may have been forced to wait until midway through his third comeback season to stand on the F1 podium, but fellow former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen took just four races.
And it was no fluke. The Finn, who spent two seasons rallying after leaving F1 at the end of 2009, has steered his Lotus to no less than six top-three finishes so far this year.
Add to that his third place in the World Championship and Raikkonen, accused of lacking motivation during his final season at Ferrari, is a contender for any ‘surprise of the season’ award.
“For me, nothing's really changed,” he shrugged. “People always talk about where I was last time [Ferrari] and that I didn't have the motivation, but I thought I drove better than ever in the last year; it was just that we had a pretty bad car.”
Much had changed in F1 technically since Raikkonen’s departure, most notably the switch to fast-wearing Pirelli tyres.
“I admit I had some [worries] about the tyres,” conceded Raikkonen, “but then I did a private test and thought that they were fine. Coming from rallying, they have much more grip anyway and also I didn't really remember how it was [with the Bridgestone tyres] two years earlier.
“[The Pirelli tyres] wear a bit faster than in the past, but it's the same for everybody and they've been doing a very good job for Formula One so I'm happy with that.”
Although without a race win, Raikkonen still has a slim chance of winning the title with four rounds remaining.
The former Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari driver is 48 points from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, and 42 from his Ferrari replacement Fernando Alonso
“I'm happy,” he said. “If you had told me before the season that I will be in this position with this many points I would have taken it. But of course when you do some good races you always want more. It could have been better but it could have been much worse also.”
Raikkonen’s only concern is that, since the summer break, Lotus looks to have lost ground to some of its opponents and he has finished no higher than fifth for the last four rounds.
“For some reason, after the summer break, some of the teams have been much more consistent,” he said. “I think we still have a good car. We improved it in the last race again, but we are not at the level that we maybe were compared to others at the beginning of the season.”
Looking ahead, it seems certain that Raikkonen will continue with Lotus, given that the 2013 race seats at Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes are now all occupied.
“We have options, but nothing is decided,” commented Raikkonen.
Raikkonen will be making his Indian Grand Prix debut in this weekend’s second F1 visit to the Buddh International Circuit.
Date: 25/October/2012
Michael Schumacher may have been forced to wait until midway through his third comeback season to stand on the F1 podium, but fellow former World Champion Kimi Raikkonen took just four races.
And it was no fluke. The Finn, who spent two seasons rallying after leaving F1 at the end of 2009, has steered his Lotus to no less than six top-three finishes so far this year.
Add to that his third place in the World Championship and Raikkonen, accused of lacking motivation during his final season at Ferrari, is a contender for any ‘surprise of the season’ award.
“For me, nothing's really changed,” he shrugged. “People always talk about where I was last time [Ferrari] and that I didn't have the motivation, but I thought I drove better than ever in the last year; it was just that we had a pretty bad car.”
Much had changed in F1 technically since Raikkonen’s departure, most notably the switch to fast-wearing Pirelli tyres.
“I admit I had some [worries] about the tyres,” conceded Raikkonen, “but then I did a private test and thought that they were fine. Coming from rallying, they have much more grip anyway and also I didn't really remember how it was [with the Bridgestone tyres] two years earlier.
“[The Pirelli tyres] wear a bit faster than in the past, but it's the same for everybody and they've been doing a very good job for Formula One so I'm happy with that.”
Although without a race win, Raikkonen still has a slim chance of winning the title with four rounds remaining.
The former Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari driver is 48 points from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, and 42 from his Ferrari replacement Fernando Alonso
“I'm happy,” he said. “If you had told me before the season that I will be in this position with this many points I would have taken it. But of course when you do some good races you always want more. It could have been better but it could have been much worse also.”
Raikkonen’s only concern is that, since the summer break, Lotus looks to have lost ground to some of its opponents and he has finished no higher than fifth for the last four rounds.
“For some reason, after the summer break, some of the teams have been much more consistent,” he said. “I think we still have a good car. We improved it in the last race again, but we are not at the level that we maybe were compared to others at the beginning of the season.”
Looking ahead, it seems certain that Raikkonen will continue with Lotus, given that the 2013 race seats at Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes are now all occupied.
“We have options, but nothing is decided,” commented Raikkonen.
Raikkonen will be making his Indian Grand Prix debut in this weekend’s second F1 visit to the Buddh International Circuit.
All eyes on Stoner as MotoGP arrives in Australia
MotoGP News
Date: 25/October/2012
Casey Stoner will be chasing a sixth successive home win at Phillip Island in Australia this weekend, during his penultimate MotoGP race before retirement and at a track that named a corner in his honour on Thursday.
Unfortunately for the almost mythically talent 27-year-old, the only rider to win dry races for Ducati since 2007 and then champion for a second time after moving to Honda last year, even he cannot defeat medical science.
Stoner suffered ankle ligament and bone damage during a huge crash in qualifying at Indianapolis in August, forcing him to head for surgery - after finishing fourth in the race.
The straight-talking Australian missed three events following the operation, but said he would be at Phillip Island if they had to duct tape him onto the bike. And since Australia was the last of three consecutive races, Stoner thought he’d enter the Japanese and Malaysian rounds to help prepare for his homecoming.
Unfortunately, the past two rounds have proven to Stoner just how much healing is still required to regain full movement in his ankle, while his overall physical strength has also been sapped by a lack of training.
Fifth at Motegi was followed by third in the red-flagged Sepang monsoon and the big question is, can Stoner achieve a perfect home farewell with a record sixth win?
“It’s the last time I’m going to be racing here and there are only two races to go in my career. So it’s a big weekend,” confessed Stoner. “I’m still going attack it exactly as I have always done and in a lot of ways it’s no different than any other weekend, except that I really love this track.
“We’ve managed five wins in a row, which is fantastic, but I’m not going to start the weekend expecting anything. We’ll just wait and see.
“The ankle is actually worse than when I first came back in Japan. I’m having a lot more trouble just getting around on it, but I don’t think it will affect me on the bike. The biggest issue is flexibility in the ankle and fortunately there are not too many right hand corners here. The main fitness problem I’m having is just endurance.”
On having turn three - a fast downhill left-hander which MotoGP riders hit at over 250km/h - named in his honour, Stoner added: “It’s got to be one of my favourite turns. It’s very quick and to have it named after me was something very, very special. I really appreciate it and it’s a great honour for me.”
Stoner is only the third rider to have a corner at the spectacular seaside circuit named after him, following fellow Australian premier-class champions’ Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan.
“No-one has set Phillip Island alight, and thrilled our fans, time and time again like Casey," declared Circuit chief Fergus Cameron.
Stoner looks set to finish his final MotoGP season third in the Championship, while Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) start this weekend separated by 23-points at the top of the standings.
Date: 25/October/2012
Casey Stoner will be chasing a sixth successive home win at Phillip Island in Australia this weekend, during his penultimate MotoGP race before retirement and at a track that named a corner in his honour on Thursday.
Unfortunately for the almost mythically talent 27-year-old, the only rider to win dry races for Ducati since 2007 and then champion for a second time after moving to Honda last year, even he cannot defeat medical science.
Stoner suffered ankle ligament and bone damage during a huge crash in qualifying at Indianapolis in August, forcing him to head for surgery - after finishing fourth in the race.
The straight-talking Australian missed three events following the operation, but said he would be at Phillip Island if they had to duct tape him onto the bike. And since Australia was the last of three consecutive races, Stoner thought he’d enter the Japanese and Malaysian rounds to help prepare for his homecoming.
Unfortunately, the past two rounds have proven to Stoner just how much healing is still required to regain full movement in his ankle, while his overall physical strength has also been sapped by a lack of training.
Fifth at Motegi was followed by third in the red-flagged Sepang monsoon and the big question is, can Stoner achieve a perfect home farewell with a record sixth win?
“It’s the last time I’m going to be racing here and there are only two races to go in my career. So it’s a big weekend,” confessed Stoner. “I’m still going attack it exactly as I have always done and in a lot of ways it’s no different than any other weekend, except that I really love this track.
“We’ve managed five wins in a row, which is fantastic, but I’m not going to start the weekend expecting anything. We’ll just wait and see.
“The ankle is actually worse than when I first came back in Japan. I’m having a lot more trouble just getting around on it, but I don’t think it will affect me on the bike. The biggest issue is flexibility in the ankle and fortunately there are not too many right hand corners here. The main fitness problem I’m having is just endurance.”
On having turn three - a fast downhill left-hander which MotoGP riders hit at over 250km/h - named in his honour, Stoner added: “It’s got to be one of my favourite turns. It’s very quick and to have it named after me was something very, very special. I really appreciate it and it’s a great honour for me.”
Stoner is only the third rider to have a corner at the spectacular seaside circuit named after him, following fellow Australian premier-class champions’ Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan.
“No-one has set Phillip Island alight, and thrilled our fans, time and time again like Casey," declared Circuit chief Fergus Cameron.
Stoner looks set to finish his final MotoGP season third in the Championship, while Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda) start this weekend separated by 23-points at the top of the standings.
Red flags save Lorenzo at Sepang
MotoGP News
Date: 21/October/2012
A Sepang rain storm and on-form Casey Stoner looked set to significantly tighten the MotoGP title race, until red flags stopped Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix with seven laps to go.
Having lost the race lead to title rival Dani Pedrosa just before mid-distance of the planned 20 laps, MotoGP Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo looked set to lose at least four more points as he dropped into the clutches of Stoner.
Unlike the Honda riders, Lorenzo had chosen the softer Bridgestone rear tyre and had less tread available to deal with the increased rain that arrived just before the midway point.
Lorenzo was clearly in trouble: Fellow Yamaha riders Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso - also on the soft rear - had all crashed, and Lorenzo was seen pointing to the sky in an effort to alert Race Direction to the dangers.
By coincidence they responded just in time to save Lorenzo.
The Yamaha rider came close to losing a full 25 points when he almost crashed under braking for the final corner on lap 14, allowing Stoner to pull alongside. But as they accelerated along the start/finish straight the red flags were waved.
With the final result taken from the end of the previous lap, Pedrosa was officially credited with a 3.7s victory over Lorenzo, with Stoner 7.1s behind in third. In reality, Lorenzo was extremely fortunate to surrender just five-points from his lead.
Lorenzo said: “It was very difficult race, because we chose the soft rear tyre and Casey and Dani chose the hard
“The conditions were not so wet at the start and I pushed to try and get an advantage. But I wore down the tyre, so when it started to rain a lot I didn’t have any tread in the middle.
“I was struggling a lot and then in the last lap I almost crashed at the last turn. I have been very, very lucky because zero points here would mean the championship was much more difficult.
“I think it was the right moment to stop the race! Maybe one corner before would have been better for my heart!”
Pedrosa’s win was his sixth of the season and fifth in the last six rounds, yet he will still arrive at next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix 23-points behind Lorenzo with only 50 still available.
Despite seeing a rare opportunity to gain big points on Lorenzo slip away, Pedrosa stated that the race could not have gone on much longer.
“At the end it was hard to stay on the bike. I was lucky to win this race, and Jorge was lucky to finish second because he was almost on the ground,” he said.
“At maximum we could have done one more lap before stopping the race. The standing water was getting deep in some places and on the straight I was wheel-spinning in every gear.
“Anyway, this is my first win in the wet - ever! I’m really happy about that because it’s taken a long time. As far as the title, all I can do is keep focused and keep riding at my best.”
Reigning World Champion Stoner - competing in his second race back from ankle surgery - believes he could have won without the stoppage.
Stoner said: “I seriously considered not starting the race, because if I crashed and hurt my ankle again I’d be out for the rest of my final season.
“But as the race went on I got more confident and when the rain started coming down hard, that’s always my ‘playground’.
“If the race had gone full distance we had a very good chance of winning. But realistically I don’t think we could have done more than another 1-2 laps in those conditions.”
Another one or two laps would surely have been enough to overtake the struggling Lorenzo. The next best rider with the soft rear tyre finished seventh.
Date: 21/October/2012
A Sepang rain storm and on-form Casey Stoner looked set to significantly tighten the MotoGP title race, until red flags stopped Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix with seven laps to go.
Having lost the race lead to title rival Dani Pedrosa just before mid-distance of the planned 20 laps, MotoGP Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo looked set to lose at least four more points as he dropped into the clutches of Stoner.
Unlike the Honda riders, Lorenzo had chosen the softer Bridgestone rear tyre and had less tread available to deal with the increased rain that arrived just before the midway point.
Lorenzo was clearly in trouble: Fellow Yamaha riders Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso - also on the soft rear - had all crashed, and Lorenzo was seen pointing to the sky in an effort to alert Race Direction to the dangers.
By coincidence they responded just in time to save Lorenzo.
The Yamaha rider came close to losing a full 25 points when he almost crashed under braking for the final corner on lap 14, allowing Stoner to pull alongside. But as they accelerated along the start/finish straight the red flags were waved.
With the final result taken from the end of the previous lap, Pedrosa was officially credited with a 3.7s victory over Lorenzo, with Stoner 7.1s behind in third. In reality, Lorenzo was extremely fortunate to surrender just five-points from his lead.
Lorenzo said: “It was very difficult race, because we chose the soft rear tyre and Casey and Dani chose the hard
“The conditions were not so wet at the start and I pushed to try and get an advantage. But I wore down the tyre, so when it started to rain a lot I didn’t have any tread in the middle.
“I was struggling a lot and then in the last lap I almost crashed at the last turn. I have been very, very lucky because zero points here would mean the championship was much more difficult.
“I think it was the right moment to stop the race! Maybe one corner before would have been better for my heart!”
Pedrosa’s win was his sixth of the season and fifth in the last six rounds, yet he will still arrive at next weekend’s Australian Grand Prix 23-points behind Lorenzo with only 50 still available.
Despite seeing a rare opportunity to gain big points on Lorenzo slip away, Pedrosa stated that the race could not have gone on much longer.
“At the end it was hard to stay on the bike. I was lucky to win this race, and Jorge was lucky to finish second because he was almost on the ground,” he said.
“At maximum we could have done one more lap before stopping the race. The standing water was getting deep in some places and on the straight I was wheel-spinning in every gear.
“Anyway, this is my first win in the wet - ever! I’m really happy about that because it’s taken a long time. As far as the title, all I can do is keep focused and keep riding at my best.”
Reigning World Champion Stoner - competing in his second race back from ankle surgery - believes he could have won without the stoppage.
Stoner said: “I seriously considered not starting the race, because if I crashed and hurt my ankle again I’d be out for the rest of my final season.
“But as the race went on I got more confident and when the rain started coming down hard, that’s always my ‘playground’.
“If the race had gone full distance we had a very good chance of winning. But realistically I don’t think we could have done more than another 1-2 laps in those conditions.”
Another one or two laps would surely have been enough to overtake the struggling Lorenzo. The next best rider with the soft rear tyre finished seventh.
Lorenzo pole as riders get ‘chatter’ at Sepang
MotoGP News
Date: 20/October/2012
Jorge Lorenzo deprived MotoGP title rival Dani Pedrosa of pole position by delivering a record-breaking lap at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session at Sepang, Malaysia.
Yamaha star Lorenzo claimed his seventh pole of the season by just 0.158 over his Honda opponent.
However the post-qualifying talk centred on ‘chatter’ problems, which tormented almost every rider as circuit grip levels evolve.
Chatter is a hard-to-cure handling issue, related to grip, which causes a motorcycle to shake up-and-down when it is leaned over during cornering.
Although chatter does not necessarily lower the performance of a bike, it can be a massive distraction for a rider and mentally draining over a race distance.
“With the new tyre I felt great, strong and pushed for two laps to get pole at the end,” said Lorenzo. “But before that, with the used tyre, I had much more chatter and also wheel spin on the exit of the corners.
“So we need to improve the set-up because it would be difficult to keep the pace all race like this, but other riders have similar problems.”
Sunday’s race will mark the first of three chances for Lorenzo, who clinched the 2010 MotoGP title at Sepang, to wrap up the 2012 title. However he would need to increase his points advantage from 28 to 51.
“It’s possible, but very difficult to win the title tomorrow,” said Lorenzo. “Dani must crash and I must win the race. Let’s see what happens.”
Pedrosa had been fastest in practice, but also struck chatter problems in qualifying - his factory RC213V even vibrating along the straights, a highly unusual occurrence.
“Today was hard because we had a lot of chatter. We don’t know why. It was chattering even on the straight and it was really difficult to ride like that,” said Pedrosa.
“But we still managed the front row and hope it’ll be better for tomorrow. We need to see about the weather as well…”
Tropical storms have soaked the Sepang circuit every day this week and the 4pm MotoGP start time, to better suit European TV viewers, increases the chance of rain still further.
Joining Lorenzo and Pedrosa on the front row will be satellite Yamaha rider Andrea Dovizioso, who lapped just 0.233s from pole.
The Italian will be seeking his seventh podium of the season on Sunday and believes he even has a chance of victory, whatever the weather. To put that into context, a non-factory rider hasn’t won a MotoGP race since 2006.
“I’m so happy!” said Dovizioso. “Our pace is quite good and I think we have a chance to fight with Pedrosa and Lorenzo. The front row is so important because we need to start fast to stay with them.”
Heading up the second row will be Casey Stoner. Following a strong opening day, when he split team-mate Pedrosa and Lorenzo at the head of the timesheets, the reigning World Champion was left a disappointed fourth after a complicated qualifying.
“We've had good pace all weekend and the first session looked promising, but we had problems with the brakes and huge issues with the set-up today,” explained the Australian, who made his comeback from ankle surgery last weekend in Japan.
“It was extremely frustrating because I think we had the pace to get pole position, but every step we take to try and improve the bike, we make it worse.”
Date: 20/October/2012
Jorge Lorenzo deprived MotoGP title rival Dani Pedrosa of pole position by delivering a record-breaking lap at the end of Saturday’s qualifying session at Sepang, Malaysia.
Yamaha star Lorenzo claimed his seventh pole of the season by just 0.158 over his Honda opponent.
However the post-qualifying talk centred on ‘chatter’ problems, which tormented almost every rider as circuit grip levels evolve.
Chatter is a hard-to-cure handling issue, related to grip, which causes a motorcycle to shake up-and-down when it is leaned over during cornering.
Although chatter does not necessarily lower the performance of a bike, it can be a massive distraction for a rider and mentally draining over a race distance.
“With the new tyre I felt great, strong and pushed for two laps to get pole at the end,” said Lorenzo. “But before that, with the used tyre, I had much more chatter and also wheel spin on the exit of the corners.
“So we need to improve the set-up because it would be difficult to keep the pace all race like this, but other riders have similar problems.”
Sunday’s race will mark the first of three chances for Lorenzo, who clinched the 2010 MotoGP title at Sepang, to wrap up the 2012 title. However he would need to increase his points advantage from 28 to 51.
“It’s possible, but very difficult to win the title tomorrow,” said Lorenzo. “Dani must crash and I must win the race. Let’s see what happens.”
Pedrosa had been fastest in practice, but also struck chatter problems in qualifying - his factory RC213V even vibrating along the straights, a highly unusual occurrence.
“Today was hard because we had a lot of chatter. We don’t know why. It was chattering even on the straight and it was really difficult to ride like that,” said Pedrosa.
“But we still managed the front row and hope it’ll be better for tomorrow. We need to see about the weather as well…”
Tropical storms have soaked the Sepang circuit every day this week and the 4pm MotoGP start time, to better suit European TV viewers, increases the chance of rain still further.
Joining Lorenzo and Pedrosa on the front row will be satellite Yamaha rider Andrea Dovizioso, who lapped just 0.233s from pole.
The Italian will be seeking his seventh podium of the season on Sunday and believes he even has a chance of victory, whatever the weather. To put that into context, a non-factory rider hasn’t won a MotoGP race since 2006.
“I’m so happy!” said Dovizioso. “Our pace is quite good and I think we have a chance to fight with Pedrosa and Lorenzo. The front row is so important because we need to start fast to stay with them.”
Heading up the second row will be Casey Stoner. Following a strong opening day, when he split team-mate Pedrosa and Lorenzo at the head of the timesheets, the reigning World Champion was left a disappointed fourth after a complicated qualifying.
“We've had good pace all weekend and the first session looked promising, but we had problems with the brakes and huge issues with the set-up today,” explained the Australian, who made his comeback from ankle surgery last weekend in Japan.
“It was extremely frustrating because I think we had the pace to get pole position, but every step we take to try and improve the bike, we make it worse.”
Storms, Stoner to shake up MotoGP title fight at Sepang?
MotoGP News
Date: 19/October/2012
Dani Pedrosa continued his strong run of form by leading MotoGP practice at Sepang in Malaysia, but two other Friday factors could heavily influence his title hopes.
Pedrosa is lagging 28-points from Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo with just three races and 75 points to go. And whilst Pedrosa has won four of the past five events, Lorenzo has finished no lower than second, thwarting the Honda rider’s Championship chances.
Yet there are two reasons to believe that the shake-up at the front Pedrosa so desperately needs could happen this Sunday at Sepang.
The first is the notorious Malaysian weather, which produces tropical storms almost every afternoon.
That is exactly what happened on Friday, ruling the second practice session meaningless. And with the race delayed until 4pm on Sunday - to better suit European TV viewers - the chances of wet weather has increased even further.
Speaking after practice, Pedrosa said: “We've been lucky to have morning practice in the dry to begin setting up the bike for the race, because as we've seen in the last few days sooner or later it rains here.”
The other factor is the form of Casey Stoner, the reigning double MotoGP World Champion who will retire at the end of this year and whose own title chances were scuppered by ankle injuries at Indianapolis.
Stoner finished fifth on his return last Sunday at Motegi, but looks much more threatening at Sepang, where he finished between Pedrosa and Lorenzo in free practice.
Stoner said: "I definitely feel more comfortable here than I did in Japan, I'm not sure if this is time on the bike or the fact that this track isn't quite so demanding on my right leg.
“There aren't so many slow corners that I need to pick the bike up from and I'm getting a better feeling here so the lap times came easier.
“We still have quite a bit of work to do and I don't think we are anywhere near the pace that we need to be, but the first session went very well and hopefully we can continue in this way for the remainder of the weekend.”
Honda and Stoner insist there will be no team orders to help Pedrosa. That is unlikely to concern Pedrosa too much and he will simply be grateful that another rider is capable of fighting Lorenzo.
Both factors - the weather and Stoner - could work for or against Pedrosa, but at this stage he probably has more to gain than lose should they come into play.
After all, even if Pedrosa wins all three remaining races, Lorenzo could afford to finish third in each and still be champion.
Date: 19/October/2012
Dani Pedrosa continued his strong run of form by leading MotoGP practice at Sepang in Malaysia, but two other Friday factors could heavily influence his title hopes.
Pedrosa is lagging 28-points from Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo with just three races and 75 points to go. And whilst Pedrosa has won four of the past five events, Lorenzo has finished no lower than second, thwarting the Honda rider’s Championship chances.
Yet there are two reasons to believe that the shake-up at the front Pedrosa so desperately needs could happen this Sunday at Sepang.
The first is the notorious Malaysian weather, which produces tropical storms almost every afternoon.
That is exactly what happened on Friday, ruling the second practice session meaningless. And with the race delayed until 4pm on Sunday - to better suit European TV viewers - the chances of wet weather has increased even further.
Speaking after practice, Pedrosa said: “We've been lucky to have morning practice in the dry to begin setting up the bike for the race, because as we've seen in the last few days sooner or later it rains here.”
The other factor is the form of Casey Stoner, the reigning double MotoGP World Champion who will retire at the end of this year and whose own title chances were scuppered by ankle injuries at Indianapolis.
Stoner finished fifth on his return last Sunday at Motegi, but looks much more threatening at Sepang, where he finished between Pedrosa and Lorenzo in free practice.
Stoner said: "I definitely feel more comfortable here than I did in Japan, I'm not sure if this is time on the bike or the fact that this track isn't quite so demanding on my right leg.
“There aren't so many slow corners that I need to pick the bike up from and I'm getting a better feeling here so the lap times came easier.
“We still have quite a bit of work to do and I don't think we are anywhere near the pace that we need to be, but the first session went very well and hopefully we can continue in this way for the remainder of the weekend.”
Honda and Stoner insist there will be no team orders to help Pedrosa. That is unlikely to concern Pedrosa too much and he will simply be grateful that another rider is capable of fighting Lorenzo.
Both factors - the weather and Stoner - could work for or against Pedrosa, but at this stage he probably has more to gain than lose should they come into play.
After all, even if Pedrosa wins all three remaining races, Lorenzo could afford to finish third in each and still be champion.
A moment for Marco on MotoGP’s Sepang return
MotoGP News
Date: 18/October/2012
The MotoGP community gathered to remember Marco Simoncelli on Thursday, at the corner which claimed his life in last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
The charismatic and hard charging young Italian fell on lap two of the race, with the trajectory of his motorcycle then dragging him across the circuit in front of oncoming riders.
Simoncelli was hit almost simultaneously by Valentino Rossi, his close friend, and Colin Edwards.
The force of the impacts removed Simoncelli’s helmet and the 24-year-old, whose second season in MotoGP had seen him claim pole positions and podiums, tragically died of his injuries.
MotoGP has returned to Sepang for testing twice since last October, but Thursday marked the first time the whole paddock had returned to the circuit.
Starting from Simoncelli’s Honda Gresini team pit box, the whole paddock made its way to Turn 11 on foot, where team owner Fausto Gresini placed a permanent plaque in Simoncelli’s honour.
“Everyone in the paddock came to Turn 11 where Marco crashed last year so it was very emotional,” said Rossi. “It’s already one year, but when these things happen it’s difficult to understand the time - it’s always like the first day, because we miss him a lot.”
Simoncelli had won 14 grand prix races in the 125 and 250cc category before reaching MotoGP at the start of 2010. ‘Super Sic’ wrapped up the 2008 250c World Championship title at Sepang.
Date: 18/October/2012
The MotoGP community gathered to remember Marco Simoncelli on Thursday, at the corner which claimed his life in last year’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
The charismatic and hard charging young Italian fell on lap two of the race, with the trajectory of his motorcycle then dragging him across the circuit in front of oncoming riders.
Simoncelli was hit almost simultaneously by Valentino Rossi, his close friend, and Colin Edwards.
The force of the impacts removed Simoncelli’s helmet and the 24-year-old, whose second season in MotoGP had seen him claim pole positions and podiums, tragically died of his injuries.
MotoGP has returned to Sepang for testing twice since last October, but Thursday marked the first time the whole paddock had returned to the circuit.
Starting from Simoncelli’s Honda Gresini team pit box, the whole paddock made its way to Turn 11 on foot, where team owner Fausto Gresini placed a permanent plaque in Simoncelli’s honour.
“Everyone in the paddock came to Turn 11 where Marco crashed last year so it was very emotional,” said Rossi. “It’s already one year, but when these things happen it’s difficult to understand the time - it’s always like the first day, because we miss him a lot.”
Simoncelli had won 14 grand prix races in the 125 and 250cc category before reaching MotoGP at the start of 2010. ‘Super Sic’ wrapped up the 2008 250c World Championship title at Sepang.
Pedrosa wins on big day for Spain
MotoGP News
Date: 14/October/2012
Dani Pedrosa took another nibble out of Jorge Lorenzo’s MotoGP Championship lead with victory at Motegi, in a race that saw the first ever all-Spanish premier-class podium.
Pedrosa overtook Lorenzo halfway through the 24-lap main event and went on to claim his fifth win of the season by four-seconds.
The final place on the rostrum saw a more heated battle, with Alvaro Bautista and Englishman Cal Crutchlow making contact as they disputed third - until Crutchlow’s Yamaha ran out of fuel on the very final lap.
“It’s unbelievable how things change no?” said Lorenzo of the all-Spanish podium.
“When Alex Criville had the first race victory in 500cc [in 1992] it seemed almost impossible for Spanish riders to win and now we can win quite regularly. It is a big day for Spain and I hope we will see more in the future.”
For Pedrosa, the podium had a more personal connection.
“For me, it’s not so much about the nationality, it’s more about the fact that when I was 8, 9 and 10 years old I was riding with Alvaro in the Spanish minibike championship,” he revealed.
“I have pictures of us racing together when we are really small. It feels like the world is so small, because today we are here together.”
Bautista was celebrating only his second ever MotoGP podium - and just one day after being re-signed by the Honda Gresini team for 2013.
“I am happy to be one of the three Spanish guys!” smiled Bautista. “But, as Dani said, this podium started many years ago with minibikes and the Spanish Championships. I think Spain did a good job to help us and this is the result.”
Either Lorenzo or Pedrosa will lift Spain’s third 500c/MotoGP World Championship title at the end of this season - following previous crowns for Criville (1999) and Lorenzo (2010).
Yamaha’s Lorenzo remains favourite, holding a 28-point lead over Pedrosa with 75 points still to be decided. However Honda rider Pedrosa has won four of the last five races and Lorenzo was left feeling openly frustrated by his latest defeat.
“You can see it on my face. I cannot stay smiling when I am a little bit disappointed with this race,” said Lorenzo. “We are closer to the championship, but I still want to win races and I felt I had a great chance today.”
The Malaysian Grand Prix takes place at the Sepang Circuit next weekend.
Date: 14/October/2012
Dani Pedrosa took another nibble out of Jorge Lorenzo’s MotoGP Championship lead with victory at Motegi, in a race that saw the first ever all-Spanish premier-class podium.
Pedrosa overtook Lorenzo halfway through the 24-lap main event and went on to claim his fifth win of the season by four-seconds.
The final place on the rostrum saw a more heated battle, with Alvaro Bautista and Englishman Cal Crutchlow making contact as they disputed third - until Crutchlow’s Yamaha ran out of fuel on the very final lap.
“It’s unbelievable how things change no?” said Lorenzo of the all-Spanish podium.
“When Alex Criville had the first race victory in 500cc [in 1992] it seemed almost impossible for Spanish riders to win and now we can win quite regularly. It is a big day for Spain and I hope we will see more in the future.”
For Pedrosa, the podium had a more personal connection.
“For me, it’s not so much about the nationality, it’s more about the fact that when I was 8, 9 and 10 years old I was riding with Alvaro in the Spanish minibike championship,” he revealed.
“I have pictures of us racing together when we are really small. It feels like the world is so small, because today we are here together.”
Bautista was celebrating only his second ever MotoGP podium - and just one day after being re-signed by the Honda Gresini team for 2013.
“I am happy to be one of the three Spanish guys!” smiled Bautista. “But, as Dani said, this podium started many years ago with minibikes and the Spanish Championships. I think Spain did a good job to help us and this is the result.”
Either Lorenzo or Pedrosa will lift Spain’s third 500c/MotoGP World Championship title at the end of this season - following previous crowns for Criville (1999) and Lorenzo (2010).
Yamaha’s Lorenzo remains favourite, holding a 28-point lead over Pedrosa with 75 points still to be decided. However Honda rider Pedrosa has won four of the last five races and Lorenzo was left feeling openly frustrated by his latest defeat.
“You can see it on my face. I cannot stay smiling when I am a little bit disappointed with this race,” said Lorenzo. “We are closer to the championship, but I still want to win races and I felt I had a great chance today.”
The Malaysian Grand Prix takes place at the Sepang Circuit next weekend.
Alonso looks to Ferrari as Vettel takes title lead
F1 News
Date: 14/October/2012
Fernando Alonso made clear he will need upgrades from Ferrari if he is to reclaim the F1 World Championship advantage from Sebastian Vettel.
Red Bull’s double World Champion knocked Alonso from the head of the standings with victory in Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix - Vettel’s third win in a row.
Alonso finished third, behind Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, turning a four-point lead into a six-point deficit with four rounds remaining.
The Spaniard emphasised that he still has an excellent chance of finally lifting his third world crown - and the first for Ferrari since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 - but needs assistance from the Italian factory.
“We just need a little last step to be as competitive as Red Bull and I think it will be a beautiful last four races to the end,” said Alonso.
“We didn’t bring anything new to the last six or seven races so we have been doing what we can and trying to save points.
“But if we can make a little step in terms of performance then we can fight for bigger things.
“Overall, in the next four races, we need to score seven points more than Sebastian. That will be extremely tough, but we believe we can do it.”
Alonso hopes to have updates to try at the forthcoming Indian Grand Prix, on October 26-28.
Vettel, chasing a third consecutive crown, played down the significance of moving into the World Championship lead.
“If you look at this season, it has been pretty much up and down. It was very good for us in the last couple of races, but we also know how quickly it can change,” he said.
“We can take nothing for granted. Whether we have a mental advantage now or not, I don't really care. I'm not into those kind of things.
“We just have to look after ourselves and focus on doing a perfect job every weekend.”
Vettel has won four races this season and Alonso three.
Date: 14/October/2012
Fernando Alonso made clear he will need upgrades from Ferrari if he is to reclaim the F1 World Championship advantage from Sebastian Vettel.
Red Bull’s double World Champion knocked Alonso from the head of the standings with victory in Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix - Vettel’s third win in a row.
Alonso finished third, behind Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, turning a four-point lead into a six-point deficit with four rounds remaining.
The Spaniard emphasised that he still has an excellent chance of finally lifting his third world crown - and the first for Ferrari since Kimi Raikkonen in 2007 - but needs assistance from the Italian factory.
“We just need a little last step to be as competitive as Red Bull and I think it will be a beautiful last four races to the end,” said Alonso.
“We didn’t bring anything new to the last six or seven races so we have been doing what we can and trying to save points.
“But if we can make a little step in terms of performance then we can fight for bigger things.
“Overall, in the next four races, we need to score seven points more than Sebastian. That will be extremely tough, but we believe we can do it.”
Alonso hopes to have updates to try at the forthcoming Indian Grand Prix, on October 26-28.
Vettel, chasing a third consecutive crown, played down the significance of moving into the World Championship lead.
“If you look at this season, it has been pretty much up and down. It was very good for us in the last couple of races, but we also know how quickly it can change,” he said.
“We can take nothing for granted. Whether we have a mental advantage now or not, I don't really care. I'm not into those kind of things.
“We just have to look after ourselves and focus on doing a perfect job every weekend.”
Vettel has won four races this season and Alonso three.
Brakes getting baked at Motegi
MotoGP News
Date: 13/October/2012
Brakes could prove a crucial factor in Sunday’s Japanese MotoGP race, with two of the front row qualifiers noticing overheating issues already this weekend.
The stop and go nature of the Motegi circuit, combined with this year’s heavier 1000cc machines, is pushing the carbon brakes beyond their optimum temperature.
There is no danger of a brake failure, but the excessive heat results in a reduction in braking performance, which will only get worse as the race goes on.
Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo, Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, plus factory Ducati riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden have all suffered some degree of braking reduction.
However World Championship leader and Motegi pole sitter Lorenzo’s smooth riding style means he has been the least affected of the M1 riders.
“Yes, we’ve been chatting about this,” said Lorenzo. “Cal has more problems than me, because he brakes harder. I had a little problem in the morning, where the braking performance was coming down, but not too much.”
Crutchlow, whose discs were seen glowing during practice, confirmed: “Yeah we have big problems. Not just me. Also Andrea, Ben, Vale and Nicky. Apparently they are the same.
“It seems that if you are braking hard the temperature is getting too high and then the brakes are not working too well. We’ll have to see for the race tomorrow.”
Crutchlow will start third on the grid, with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa splitting the two Yamaha riders on the front row. Pedrosa is one of the few manufacturer riders not to be troubled by the overheating
“No problem,” Pedrosa declared. “The mechanics didn’t say anything to me. So I should be fine.”
“If Dani has no problems, maybe we will go and steal his brakes tonight!” quipped Crutchlow.
Lorenzo will start Sunday’s grand prix, round 15 of 18, with a 33-point advantage over Pedrosa.
Date: 13/October/2012
Brakes could prove a crucial factor in Sunday’s Japanese MotoGP race, with two of the front row qualifiers noticing overheating issues already this weekend.
The stop and go nature of the Motegi circuit, combined with this year’s heavier 1000cc machines, is pushing the carbon brakes beyond their optimum temperature.
There is no danger of a brake failure, but the excessive heat results in a reduction in braking performance, which will only get worse as the race goes on.
Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo, Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso, plus factory Ducati riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden have all suffered some degree of braking reduction.
However World Championship leader and Motegi pole sitter Lorenzo’s smooth riding style means he has been the least affected of the M1 riders.
“Yes, we’ve been chatting about this,” said Lorenzo. “Cal has more problems than me, because he brakes harder. I had a little problem in the morning, where the braking performance was coming down, but not too much.”
Crutchlow, whose discs were seen glowing during practice, confirmed: “Yeah we have big problems. Not just me. Also Andrea, Ben, Vale and Nicky. Apparently they are the same.
“It seems that if you are braking hard the temperature is getting too high and then the brakes are not working too well. We’ll have to see for the race tomorrow.”
Crutchlow will start third on the grid, with Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa splitting the two Yamaha riders on the front row. Pedrosa is one of the few manufacturer riders not to be troubled by the overheating
“No problem,” Pedrosa declared. “The mechanics didn’t say anything to me. So I should be fine.”
“If Dani has no problems, maybe we will go and steal his brakes tonight!” quipped Crutchlow.
Lorenzo will start Sunday’s grand prix, round 15 of 18, with a 33-point advantage over Pedrosa.
Webber pole after Red Bull reversal
F1 News
Date: 13/October/2012
Mark Webber turned the tables on Red Bull team-mate and F1 title contender Sebastian Vettel by beating the German to pole position in Korea.
Vettel - winner of the past two races - had been on pace-setting form for much of the weekend. But it was Webber who proved the one-lap king in qualifying, outpacing Vettel by 0.074s to claim his first ‘real’ pole of the year.
“In Monaco [when fastest qualifier Michael Schumacher had a penalty] the pole was by default, so yeah, this is the first one on track this year,” said Webber.
“Most qualifying sessions this year have been tight and I’m very, very happy to get the job done today. It was a reasonable lap and we did it when it counted obviously.
“It’s been a tricky last few events for me, but I’m really happy to start on pole. Tomorrow’s the main day and we’re in a good position to get a good result.
“We have a pretty handy car around here. The guys at the factory have been working very, very hard and there’s no question, the hard work’s paying off.”
While reigning champion Vettel has closed to within four points of Championship leader Fernando Alonso, Webber has only the slimmest of title chances - sitting fifth in the standings and 60 points from Alonso.
That raises the prospect of potential team orders by Red Bull on Sunday although Vettel, who was held up slightly by Felipe Massa on his final qualifying run, is confident in his own chances.
Vettel said: “I would rather be on pole but we’re happy with second and a front row for Red Bull Racing. Obviously the car seems to work well, I think in the race we might even be a little better. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.
“Last year we made a good start from second on the grid and I think here you could start third, fourth or fifth and still be leading by turn four, because of the long straight.
“It could be interesting tomorrow. It's difficult to know what's going to happen, but first of all I will focus on the start and then go from there.”
Ferrari’s Alonso qualified fourth on the grid and will start alongside McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel won last year’s race by twelve-seconds from Hamilton.
Date: 13/October/2012
Mark Webber turned the tables on Red Bull team-mate and F1 title contender Sebastian Vettel by beating the German to pole position in Korea.
Vettel - winner of the past two races - had been on pace-setting form for much of the weekend. But it was Webber who proved the one-lap king in qualifying, outpacing Vettel by 0.074s to claim his first ‘real’ pole of the year.
“In Monaco [when fastest qualifier Michael Schumacher had a penalty] the pole was by default, so yeah, this is the first one on track this year,” said Webber.
“Most qualifying sessions this year have been tight and I’m very, very happy to get the job done today. It was a reasonable lap and we did it when it counted obviously.
“It’s been a tricky last few events for me, but I’m really happy to start on pole. Tomorrow’s the main day and we’re in a good position to get a good result.
“We have a pretty handy car around here. The guys at the factory have been working very, very hard and there’s no question, the hard work’s paying off.”
While reigning champion Vettel has closed to within four points of Championship leader Fernando Alonso, Webber has only the slimmest of title chances - sitting fifth in the standings and 60 points from Alonso.
That raises the prospect of potential team orders by Red Bull on Sunday although Vettel, who was held up slightly by Felipe Massa on his final qualifying run, is confident in his own chances.
Vettel said: “I would rather be on pole but we’re happy with second and a front row for Red Bull Racing. Obviously the car seems to work well, I think in the race we might even be a little better. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.
“Last year we made a good start from second on the grid and I think here you could start third, fourth or fifth and still be leading by turn four, because of the long straight.
“It could be interesting tomorrow. It's difficult to know what's going to happen, but first of all I will focus on the start and then go from there.”
Ferrari’s Alonso qualified fourth on the grid and will start alongside McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel won last year’s race by twelve-seconds from Hamilton.
Vettel continues form in Korea
F1 News
Date: 12/October/2012
Sebastian Vettel, winner of the last two F1 Grands Prix, continued his rich vein of form by leading the Friday practice timesheets in Korea.
Red Bull’s reigning double World Champion is now just four points behind Fernando Alonso and victory in Korea would put him both top of the standings and the first driver this year to claim four race wins.
The German star began the day with fifth place in morning practice, then led a Red Bull one-two by topping the quicker afternoon session by just 0.032s from tem-mate Mark Webber.
Vettel said: “So far so good, we have good information and the guys will now get on with the job tonight.
“We’ll have a look where we can improve; it’s always a compromise on a track like this with a bit of top speed in the first sector, then the last sector is pretty twisty.”
Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey added: “It’s a tale of two tracks here in as much as the first is very long straights. Engine power is important. And then you’ve got the rest of the lap, which is quite twiddly, so you can get quite big swings between the various sectors.”
Ferrari driver Alonso set the third fastest lap time in the afternoon, a mere 0.328s behind Vettel.
“It’s hard to say where we are compared to the others, because today, we focused mainly on ourselves, working this morning on various ideas relating to car configuration and, in the afternoon on the tyres,” said Alonso.
“We must wait until tomorrow to have a more precise picture of the situation. The track improved a great deal from one session to the next: it’s a phenomenon that’s particularly accentuated here, because there’s hardly any racing on this track and this morning, it was particularly dirty.”
Date: 12/October/2012
Sebastian Vettel, winner of the last two F1 Grands Prix, continued his rich vein of form by leading the Friday practice timesheets in Korea.
Red Bull’s reigning double World Champion is now just four points behind Fernando Alonso and victory in Korea would put him both top of the standings and the first driver this year to claim four race wins.
The German star began the day with fifth place in morning practice, then led a Red Bull one-two by topping the quicker afternoon session by just 0.032s from tem-mate Mark Webber.
Vettel said: “So far so good, we have good information and the guys will now get on with the job tonight.
“We’ll have a look where we can improve; it’s always a compromise on a track like this with a bit of top speed in the first sector, then the last sector is pretty twisty.”
Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey added: “It’s a tale of two tracks here in as much as the first is very long straights. Engine power is important. And then you’ve got the rest of the lap, which is quite twiddly, so you can get quite big swings between the various sectors.”
Ferrari driver Alonso set the third fastest lap time in the afternoon, a mere 0.328s behind Vettel.
“It’s hard to say where we are compared to the others, because today, we focused mainly on ourselves, working this morning on various ideas relating to car configuration and, in the afternoon on the tyres,” said Alonso.
“We must wait until tomorrow to have a more precise picture of the situation. The track improved a great deal from one session to the next: it’s a phenomenon that’s particularly accentuated here, because there’s hardly any racing on this track and this morning, it was particularly dirty.”
Tough return for Stoner
MotoGP News
Date: 12/October/2012
Casey Stoner experienced a tough return to MotoGP action at Motegi on Friday, battling both physical and technical adversity on his way to setting the seventh fastest lap time.
The day began badly for the reigning double World Champion, side-lined for the past three events following ankle surgery, when he suffered a technical failure on his Honda just seconds after leaving the pits on Friday morning.
The Australian, who will retire at the end of the 2012 season, later suffered brake problems in the afternoon session, leaving him 0.890s behind pace setting team-mate Dani Pedrosa.
Stoner said: "Today was a little disappointing, this morning we had our first bike fail on us so we lost valuable time, then in the second session we had a brake issue and spent a lot of time in the garage fixing that also.”
Stoner, who suffered ankle fractures and ligament damage after a crash Indianapolis in August, is also struggling physically.
“The hard braking areas are not the main problem with my ankle, it’s more the acceleration points,” he said. “There is so much wheelieing on this circuit that you have to keep your body at the front of the bike, to keep as much weight on the front as you can.
“But unfortunately my ankle doesn’t want to bend far enough to put my weight forward, so I’m having to pull myself forwards with my arms and they are working a lot harder than usual as a result. With all the acceleration points here, that is the biggest issue.
“We'll keep working tomorrow and see what we can do".
Pedrosa, who trails Jorge Lorenzo by 33 points in the Championship, outpaced the Yamaha rider by 0.102s on Friday.
Date: 12/October/2012
Casey Stoner experienced a tough return to MotoGP action at Motegi on Friday, battling both physical and technical adversity on his way to setting the seventh fastest lap time.
The day began badly for the reigning double World Champion, side-lined for the past three events following ankle surgery, when he suffered a technical failure on his Honda just seconds after leaving the pits on Friday morning.
The Australian, who will retire at the end of the 2012 season, later suffered brake problems in the afternoon session, leaving him 0.890s behind pace setting team-mate Dani Pedrosa.
Stoner said: "Today was a little disappointing, this morning we had our first bike fail on us so we lost valuable time, then in the second session we had a brake issue and spent a lot of time in the garage fixing that also.”
Stoner, who suffered ankle fractures and ligament damage after a crash Indianapolis in August, is also struggling physically.
“The hard braking areas are not the main problem with my ankle, it’s more the acceleration points,” he said. “There is so much wheelieing on this circuit that you have to keep your body at the front of the bike, to keep as much weight on the front as you can.
“But unfortunately my ankle doesn’t want to bend far enough to put my weight forward, so I’m having to pull myself forwards with my arms and they are working a lot harder than usual as a result. With all the acceleration points here, that is the biggest issue.
“We'll keep working tomorrow and see what we can do".
Pedrosa, who trails Jorge Lorenzo by 33 points in the Championship, outpaced the Yamaha rider by 0.102s on Friday.
MotoGP boss tries to calm WSBK fears
MotoGP News
Date: 11/October/2012
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP organiser Dorna Sports, did his best to calm concerns following the shock announcement that Dorna is to run both MotoGP and its arch-rival the World Superbike Championship.
The unexpected marriage has been triggered by private equity firm Bridgepoint, Dorna’s main owner, acquiring Infront Sports & Media at the end of last year. Part of the vast Infront portfolio included the commercial rights to WSBK, through Infront Motorsports.
It had appeared that the separation between the controllers of the FIM’s two biggest World Championships - MotoGP for prototypes (as F1 is for cars) and WSBK for production bikes (sports cars) - would continue, but the running of WSBK has now been integrated within Dorna.
On the eve of this weekend’s Japanese MotoGP round, Ezpeleta held a special press conference to talk about Dorna’s new role.
The Spaniard - the closest MotoGP gets to a Bernie Ecclestone figure - explained that the change had been made by Bridgepoint after the two championships failed to agree on future technical rules.
Dorna has long felt that WSBK allows too many technical modifications for a production Championship, while Infront has been angered by MotoGP allowing Superbike-powered ‘CRT’ bikes to be raced by privateers in grand prix.
Ezpeleta said: “Since Bridgepoint’s acquisition of Infront, we have been having meetings with Infront Motorsports to try to adapt the technical rules of both championships.
“This has been impossible. So finally the decision of Bridgepoint was to maintain two separate championships - and separate companies - but both under the umbrella of Dorna Sports.
“We are still talking with the people to know exactly who will run WSBK, but at the top of both championships there will be Dorna.”
Aware that instability could cause teams and manufacturers to desert WSBK, Ezpeleta emphasised that nothing will change for 2013 and that Dorna was committed to the long term success of both Championships.
"For next year things will continue as they are. Both MotoGP and WSBK will continue the same way, with exactly the same system of organisation and technical rules.
“And from now, together with the FIM, the manufacturers, the circuits and with the teams, we will try to accommodate these difficult economic times to set up two championships that are able to continue and to grow together.”
Ezpeleta gave little away in terms of Dorna’s specific 2014 intentions for WSBK.
However it is well known that he is currently pushing for major MotoGP cost cutting proposals for the 2014 season, including the possibility of a control ECU and rev limit.
With MotoGP and WSBK lap times presently only a few seconds’ apart, corresponding technical restrictions would need to occur in WSBK in order for MotoGP to maintain its position of superiority.
“We are in favour of reducing the costs and increasing the show. This is the main aim of both championships,” he said.
Ezpeleta’s only specific example was in terms of engine restrictions. Currently MotoGP riders are limited to six engines per season, but in WSBK there is no limit at all.
“A Championship derived from production bikes that is using 39 engines during one season, and in MotoGP you are only allowed to use six - to be honest it’s not very correct,” he said.
“We need to set up both championships with their own spirit. One is from bikes based on production motorcycles, and another is for prototypes. This is something we will do with the FIM first, and then with the manufacturers.”
Previously agreed changes for the 2013 WSBK Championship, expected to be officially announced at last weekend’s season-finale, have not yet been published.
Many see the delay as a sign of the anxiety now being felt in the WSBK paddock.
Date: 11/October/2012
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP organiser Dorna Sports, did his best to calm concerns following the shock announcement that Dorna is to run both MotoGP and its arch-rival the World Superbike Championship.
The unexpected marriage has been triggered by private equity firm Bridgepoint, Dorna’s main owner, acquiring Infront Sports & Media at the end of last year. Part of the vast Infront portfolio included the commercial rights to WSBK, through Infront Motorsports.
It had appeared that the separation between the controllers of the FIM’s two biggest World Championships - MotoGP for prototypes (as F1 is for cars) and WSBK for production bikes (sports cars) - would continue, but the running of WSBK has now been integrated within Dorna.
On the eve of this weekend’s Japanese MotoGP round, Ezpeleta held a special press conference to talk about Dorna’s new role.
The Spaniard - the closest MotoGP gets to a Bernie Ecclestone figure - explained that the change had been made by Bridgepoint after the two championships failed to agree on future technical rules.
Dorna has long felt that WSBK allows too many technical modifications for a production Championship, while Infront has been angered by MotoGP allowing Superbike-powered ‘CRT’ bikes to be raced by privateers in grand prix.
Ezpeleta said: “Since Bridgepoint’s acquisition of Infront, we have been having meetings with Infront Motorsports to try to adapt the technical rules of both championships.
“This has been impossible. So finally the decision of Bridgepoint was to maintain two separate championships - and separate companies - but both under the umbrella of Dorna Sports.
“We are still talking with the people to know exactly who will run WSBK, but at the top of both championships there will be Dorna.”
Aware that instability could cause teams and manufacturers to desert WSBK, Ezpeleta emphasised that nothing will change for 2013 and that Dorna was committed to the long term success of both Championships.
"For next year things will continue as they are. Both MotoGP and WSBK will continue the same way, with exactly the same system of organisation and technical rules.
“And from now, together with the FIM, the manufacturers, the circuits and with the teams, we will try to accommodate these difficult economic times to set up two championships that are able to continue and to grow together.”
Ezpeleta gave little away in terms of Dorna’s specific 2014 intentions for WSBK.
However it is well known that he is currently pushing for major MotoGP cost cutting proposals for the 2014 season, including the possibility of a control ECU and rev limit.
With MotoGP and WSBK lap times presently only a few seconds’ apart, corresponding technical restrictions would need to occur in WSBK in order for MotoGP to maintain its position of superiority.
“We are in favour of reducing the costs and increasing the show. This is the main aim of both championships,” he said.
Ezpeleta’s only specific example was in terms of engine restrictions. Currently MotoGP riders are limited to six engines per season, but in WSBK there is no limit at all.
“A Championship derived from production bikes that is using 39 engines during one season, and in MotoGP you are only allowed to use six - to be honest it’s not very correct,” he said.
“We need to set up both championships with their own spirit. One is from bikes based on production motorcycles, and another is for prototypes. This is something we will do with the FIM first, and then with the manufacturers.”
Previously agreed changes for the 2013 WSBK Championship, expected to be officially announced at last weekend’s season-finale, have not yet been published.
Many see the delay as a sign of the anxiety now being felt in the WSBK paddock.
Alonso, Vettel talk five-race F1 showdown
F1 News
Date: 11/October/2012
The final five races of the 2012 F1 World Championship will start with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel separated by just four points, heading into this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Alonso lost much of his 29-point advantage when he crashed out at turn one of last Sunday’s Japanese race, after contact with the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen.
Reigning double World Champion Vettel won for Red Bull at Suzuka, just as he had in the previous Singapore race, putting the pair almost neck-and-neck after 15 rounds.
Speaking at the Yeongam Circuit on Thursday, Alonso insisted it is business as usual.
“We all need some good points this weekend,” shrugged the Spaniard, “it’s the same situation for everybody, if not worse, so that’s it.
“We have been pushing from the first test in the winter, so nothing has changed for the last five races,” he continued. “We just need to keep doing the things we’ve been doing so far.
“I think it has nearly been a perfect championship for us. Everything we had in our hands on each Sunday we have maximised. We had one non-score in Spa and one in Suzuka but those were completely outside of our team.
“We’ve been more or less competitive in the last eight, ten races - maybe not the fastest but always in position to fight for podiums. I think here will be no different.”
Man-of-the-moment Vettel won last year’s Korean Grand Prix and has traditionally enjoyed a strong end to the season.
“I have good holidays in the summer, so I should consider doing the same in the winter!” joked Vettel, when asked why his results are usually better in the second half of the Championship.
Looking ahead, the young German warned that each of the five remaining rounds could see ‘surprise’ performances.
“We have seen this year that there are a lot of cars that can surprise. In Barcelona for instance, where the Williams was very competitive. Pastor [Maldonado] drove a fantastic race and won. In China Nico [Rosberg] was very strong and won the race so there's more than one or two cars that are able to win.
“It has been the story of the championship. It has been up and down. Same for us, we have good races, bad races. I think the last couple of races were good for us but again, only three races ago we didn't finish the race in Monza.
“Things can change quickly, so we need to stay focused and concentrated on what we have. Whether there is a trend where we do better in the second half I don't know, but throughout the season we are pushing very hard, trying to get our maximum.”
Vettel also insisted that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton - the only other triple race winner of the year - is still a contender. Hamilton is fourth in the Championship and 42 points behind Alonso.
“I think they are still fighting for the championship,” said Vettel. “They are the ones which will be very competitive, no matter where we go, at least that's what the last couple of races showed. I think they still have a very good chance.”
Raikkonen is five points ahead of Hamilton, but yet to win a race in 2012.
Date: 11/October/2012
The final five races of the 2012 F1 World Championship will start with Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel separated by just four points, heading into this weekend’s Korean Grand Prix.
Ferrari’s Alonso lost much of his 29-point advantage when he crashed out at turn one of last Sunday’s Japanese race, after contact with the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen.
Reigning double World Champion Vettel won for Red Bull at Suzuka, just as he had in the previous Singapore race, putting the pair almost neck-and-neck after 15 rounds.
Speaking at the Yeongam Circuit on Thursday, Alonso insisted it is business as usual.
“We all need some good points this weekend,” shrugged the Spaniard, “it’s the same situation for everybody, if not worse, so that’s it.
“We have been pushing from the first test in the winter, so nothing has changed for the last five races,” he continued. “We just need to keep doing the things we’ve been doing so far.
“I think it has nearly been a perfect championship for us. Everything we had in our hands on each Sunday we have maximised. We had one non-score in Spa and one in Suzuka but those were completely outside of our team.
“We’ve been more or less competitive in the last eight, ten races - maybe not the fastest but always in position to fight for podiums. I think here will be no different.”
Man-of-the-moment Vettel won last year’s Korean Grand Prix and has traditionally enjoyed a strong end to the season.
“I have good holidays in the summer, so I should consider doing the same in the winter!” joked Vettel, when asked why his results are usually better in the second half of the Championship.
Looking ahead, the young German warned that each of the five remaining rounds could see ‘surprise’ performances.
“We have seen this year that there are a lot of cars that can surprise. In Barcelona for instance, where the Williams was very competitive. Pastor [Maldonado] drove a fantastic race and won. In China Nico [Rosberg] was very strong and won the race so there's more than one or two cars that are able to win.
“It has been the story of the championship. It has been up and down. Same for us, we have good races, bad races. I think the last couple of races were good for us but again, only three races ago we didn't finish the race in Monza.
“Things can change quickly, so we need to stay focused and concentrated on what we have. Whether there is a trend where we do better in the second half I don't know, but throughout the season we are pushing very hard, trying to get our maximum.”
Vettel also insisted that McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton - the only other triple race winner of the year - is still a contender. Hamilton is fourth in the Championship and 42 points behind Alonso.
“I think they are still fighting for the championship,” said Vettel. “They are the ones which will be very competitive, no matter where we go, at least that's what the last couple of races showed. I think they still have a very good chance.”
Raikkonen is five points ahead of Hamilton, but yet to win a race in 2012.
Vettel in title touch after Suzuka victory, Alonso woe
F1 News
Date: 7/October/2012
Sebastian Vettel vaulted to within four points of Fernando Alonso and the 2012 F1 title lead after becoming the first back-to-back winner of the season at Suzuka on Sunday.
While reigning Champion Vettel steered his Red Bull from pole to victory, Alonso saw most of his 29-point advantage over the German effectively disappear at turn one, when light contact from the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen caused the Ferrari star to spin into retirement.
Vettel stated that his car had been ‘like a dream’ to drive this weekend: “You come across these kinds of races or weekends very, very rarely. Unbelievable. We had a very good start, stayed out of the trouble at turn one, and after that I had a very, very good race car.
“We didn’t have major upgrades for this race. The balance was there and it was just working. I said to the guys, ‘when you have a dream about how your race car should be, that’s exactly what you’re wishing for’.
“I tried to stay in the moment and until the end it was fantastic because I had a car where I could control the race and I could push as hard as I wanted to and still take care of the tyres.”
While just four points now separate Alonso and Vettel - who have both won three races this season - next best Raikkonen (sixth at Suzuka) is 37 points behind. The title is thus shaping up to be an Alonso-Vettel duel over the final five rounds.
But after so many title twists and turns this season, Vettel remains cautious: “I’m very careful about this. Obviously, in terms of the championship, this race was a big step but we have seen how quickly things can change.
“There are many races to go. I know I finished in front of everyone today, but you don't know what happens next weekend.
“It seems that everyone is more on the limit this year. Every weekend can be different and instead of having a bad weekend and still finishing fourth or fifth, you might only be tenth.
“That is why I say I want to be very careful because it’s still a long way ahead and there’s a lot that can happen. We have a very tough remainder of the season, a very new calendar for all of us, with a lot of back-to-back races.
“Next week Korea, then India and Abu Dhabi, and then obviously America and Sao Paulo to finish. There's still a long way to go. We have to focus on every single race and try to do our best and then see whether it's good enough.”
Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber was another Lotus turn one casualty, after Raikkonen’s team-mate and serial first lap offender Romain Grosjean ploughed into the back of the Australian.
Second on the grid Webber re-joined at the back of the field, leaving Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa to provide Vettel’s closest opposition.
The Brazilian secured his first podium since 2010, but was over 20-seconds from Vettel, while local star Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) became the first Japanese driver to stand on an F1 rostrum since 1990 after just holding off the McLaren of Jenson Button.
Date: 7/October/2012
Sebastian Vettel vaulted to within four points of Fernando Alonso and the 2012 F1 title lead after becoming the first back-to-back winner of the season at Suzuka on Sunday.
While reigning Champion Vettel steered his Red Bull from pole to victory, Alonso saw most of his 29-point advantage over the German effectively disappear at turn one, when light contact from the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen caused the Ferrari star to spin into retirement.
Vettel stated that his car had been ‘like a dream’ to drive this weekend: “You come across these kinds of races or weekends very, very rarely. Unbelievable. We had a very good start, stayed out of the trouble at turn one, and after that I had a very, very good race car.
“We didn’t have major upgrades for this race. The balance was there and it was just working. I said to the guys, ‘when you have a dream about how your race car should be, that’s exactly what you’re wishing for’.
“I tried to stay in the moment and until the end it was fantastic because I had a car where I could control the race and I could push as hard as I wanted to and still take care of the tyres.”
While just four points now separate Alonso and Vettel - who have both won three races this season - next best Raikkonen (sixth at Suzuka) is 37 points behind. The title is thus shaping up to be an Alonso-Vettel duel over the final five rounds.
But after so many title twists and turns this season, Vettel remains cautious: “I’m very careful about this. Obviously, in terms of the championship, this race was a big step but we have seen how quickly things can change.
“There are many races to go. I know I finished in front of everyone today, but you don't know what happens next weekend.
“It seems that everyone is more on the limit this year. Every weekend can be different and instead of having a bad weekend and still finishing fourth or fifth, you might only be tenth.
“That is why I say I want to be very careful because it’s still a long way ahead and there’s a lot that can happen. We have a very tough remainder of the season, a very new calendar for all of us, with a lot of back-to-back races.
“Next week Korea, then India and Abu Dhabi, and then obviously America and Sao Paulo to finish. There's still a long way to go. We have to focus on every single race and try to do our best and then see whether it's good enough.”
Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber was another Lotus turn one casualty, after Raikkonen’s team-mate and serial first lap offender Romain Grosjean ploughed into the back of the Australian.
Second on the grid Webber re-joined at the back of the field, leaving Alonso’s team-mate Felipe Massa to provide Vettel’s closest opposition.
The Brazilian secured his first podium since 2010, but was over 20-seconds from Vettel, while local star Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) became the first Japanese driver to stand on an F1 rostrum since 1990 after just holding off the McLaren of Jenson Button.
Vettel continues momentum with Suzuka pole
F1 News
Date: 6/October/2012
Reigning F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel maintained the momentum from his Singapore victory with pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
It also put the young German on course to bite another chunk out of Fernando Alonso’s title lead after the Ferrari driver qualified just seventh fastest, which equates to sixth place on the grid at the expense of McLaren’s Jenson Button.
Button will drop from third to eighth due to a gearbox-change penalty, putting Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber in an even stronger position to dominate the race - next best Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) having been almost one-second slower than Vettel.
Vettel said: “I’m very, very happy with today’s result, I think we had a very, very smooth qualifying session, nearly perfect, so we couldn’t really ask for more. The car feels fantastic around here and now obviously we hope for a very good race.”
Team-mate Webber explained why the Red Bulls always seem so strong at Suzuka.
“Silverstone, Suzuka - you just have to look at Adrian's [Newey's] record on some of these tracks, going back to the Williamses with Mansell and McLarens with Hakkinen. Adrian’s cars have always been strong on these types of tracks… It's in the DNA of our car.”
Vettel will start Sunday’s race 29-points behind Alonso. If he can reduce that margin by at least four points then he will be within one-race win of the Spaniard - with five rounds still to go.
Date: 6/October/2012
Reigning F1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel maintained the momentum from his Singapore victory with pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
It also put the young German on course to bite another chunk out of Fernando Alonso’s title lead after the Ferrari driver qualified just seventh fastest, which equates to sixth place on the grid at the expense of McLaren’s Jenson Button.
Button will drop from third to eighth due to a gearbox-change penalty, putting Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber in an even stronger position to dominate the race - next best Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) having been almost one-second slower than Vettel.
Vettel said: “I’m very, very happy with today’s result, I think we had a very, very smooth qualifying session, nearly perfect, so we couldn’t really ask for more. The car feels fantastic around here and now obviously we hope for a very good race.”
Team-mate Webber explained why the Red Bulls always seem so strong at Suzuka.
“Silverstone, Suzuka - you just have to look at Adrian's [Newey's] record on some of these tracks, going back to the Williamses with Mansell and McLarens with Hakkinen. Adrian’s cars have always been strong on these types of tracks… It's in the DNA of our car.”
Vettel will start Sunday’s race 29-points behind Alonso. If he can reduce that margin by at least four points then he will be within one-race win of the Spaniard - with five rounds still to go.
Future McLaren door open for Hamilton, Perez potential
F1 News
Date: 5/October/2012
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is open to the possibility of Lewis Hamilton one day returning to the team, whilst excited at the potential of replacement Sergio Perez.
Hamilton, who made his 2007 F1 debut with McLaren and won the World Championship the following season, is to cut his 14-year McLaren ties in search of a ‘new challenge’ at Mercedes.
Whitmarsh denied feeling ‘betrayed’ by Hamilton’s decision and insisted a McLaren comeback could happen in the long term.
“Certainly, yes,” said Whitmarsh. “But I think he's joining a strong team in Mercedes and I don't think he'll be coming back any time soon.
“I don't think Lewis's intention is to hop from team to team on an annual basis. I'm sure that's not Ross's [Brawn, Mercedes team principal] intention either, but never say never, and we'll see what happens in the future.”
Whitmarsh added: “Lewis is a great driver and Mercedes, I'm sure, are very happy to have him and therefore losing a driver like that is something that, as a team principal, you don't set out to do.
“But if [as Hamilton is reported as saying] there's nothing we could have put on the table which would have kept him then it makes me feel a whole lot better.”
Adding an extra level of complexity to the Hamilton switch is the fact that Mercedes is also McLaren’s engine supplier.
Many have pointed to the 2014 F1 engine changes as a major pull factor for Hamilton joining Mercedes, the implication being that the official Mercedes team will receive preferential treatment relative to McLaren.
Whitmarsh stressed that McLaren has a “fantastic partnership” with Mercedes, while Ross Brawn quashed talk of engine favouritism.
“Our agreement with McLaren is to supply engines to the same specification,” said Brawn. “Our ambition is to have the best engine in 2014 and McLaren will have that engine as well.”
The fallout from the Hamilton deal has also seen present Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher opt to retire, for a second and final time, while Sauber’s Sergio Perez has been handed a dream chance to take Hamilton’s place at McLaren.
Perez, 22, is presently in his second year of F1 with Sauber and has scored three podiums this season.
“Sergio’s about the same age now as Lewis was when he started in Formula One, so Sergio’s some way further down the learning curve [than Lewis in 2007],” said Whitmarsh.
“That makes it intriguing and exciting to see what we can do and how he can develop.
“The goal is to have him in a condition where he can go into that first race of 2013 with the potential to win it.”
Hamilton was second fastest behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber during Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fifth.
Alonso leads Vettel by 29-points with six races to go.
Date: 5/October/2012
McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is open to the possibility of Lewis Hamilton one day returning to the team, whilst excited at the potential of replacement Sergio Perez.
Hamilton, who made his 2007 F1 debut with McLaren and won the World Championship the following season, is to cut his 14-year McLaren ties in search of a ‘new challenge’ at Mercedes.
Whitmarsh denied feeling ‘betrayed’ by Hamilton’s decision and insisted a McLaren comeback could happen in the long term.
“Certainly, yes,” said Whitmarsh. “But I think he's joining a strong team in Mercedes and I don't think he'll be coming back any time soon.
“I don't think Lewis's intention is to hop from team to team on an annual basis. I'm sure that's not Ross's [Brawn, Mercedes team principal] intention either, but never say never, and we'll see what happens in the future.”
Whitmarsh added: “Lewis is a great driver and Mercedes, I'm sure, are very happy to have him and therefore losing a driver like that is something that, as a team principal, you don't set out to do.
“But if [as Hamilton is reported as saying] there's nothing we could have put on the table which would have kept him then it makes me feel a whole lot better.”
Adding an extra level of complexity to the Hamilton switch is the fact that Mercedes is also McLaren’s engine supplier.
Many have pointed to the 2014 F1 engine changes as a major pull factor for Hamilton joining Mercedes, the implication being that the official Mercedes team will receive preferential treatment relative to McLaren.
Whitmarsh stressed that McLaren has a “fantastic partnership” with Mercedes, while Ross Brawn quashed talk of engine favouritism.
“Our agreement with McLaren is to supply engines to the same specification,” said Brawn. “Our ambition is to have the best engine in 2014 and McLaren will have that engine as well.”
The fallout from the Hamilton deal has also seen present Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher opt to retire, for a second and final time, while Sauber’s Sergio Perez has been handed a dream chance to take Hamilton’s place at McLaren.
Perez, 22, is presently in his second year of F1 with Sauber and has scored three podiums this season.
“Sergio’s about the same age now as Lewis was when he started in Formula One, so Sergio’s some way further down the learning curve [than Lewis in 2007],” said Whitmarsh.
“That makes it intriguing and exciting to see what we can do and how he can develop.
“The goal is to have him in a condition where he can go into that first race of 2013 with the potential to win it.”
Hamilton was second fastest behind Red Bull’s Mark Webber during Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Webber’s team-mate Sebastian Vettel was third and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso fifth.
Alonso leads Vettel by 29-points with six races to go.
‘No regrets’ as Schumacher retires for final time
F1 News
Date: 4/October/2012
Michael Schumacher will retire from F1 for the second and time at the end of the 2012 season.
The German’s place at Mercedes has already gone to Lewis Hamilton, but the seven time World Champion waited until the eve of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix to confirm the end of his career.
Schumacher, who won world titles for Benetton (’94, ’95) and Ferrari (2000, 04), originally retired at the end of 2006, before being tempted back into grand prix by the chance to drive for the ‘Silver Arrows in 2010.
It was to be no Hollywood comeback, with just one podium and one (unofficial) pole to show for his efforts, but Schumacher remains one of the biggest names in the motor racing and could doubtless have chosen to continue racing with a lessor team.
Schumacher, 43, insists he is still able to hold his own in F1, but has decided that now really is the time to retire.
“I have decided to retire from Formula One at the end of the season, although I am still able to compete with the best drivers of the world. This is something that makes me proud, and this is part of why I never regretted my comeback,” he insisted.
“I can be happy with my performance and the fact that I was continuously raising my game during the last three years. But then, at some point it is time to say goodbye.
“Already during the past weeks and months I was not sure if I would still have the motivation and energy which is necessary to go on; and it is not my style to do anything which I am not 100% convinced about. With today’s decision I feel released from those doubts.”
Schumacher, a winner of 91 grands prix, has finished eighth and ninth in the Championship since his return. He is currently ranked twelfth in the 2012 standings, having finished only half of the 14 races due to a combination of technical problems and incidents.
Team-mate Nico Rosberg is seventh in the Championship, the same position he has finished each previous season alongside Schumacher. Rosberg, who will continue alongside Hamilton, has claimed one win from four Mercedes podiums.
Schumacher admitted that he had fallen well short of his goal to help turn Mercedes into Championship contenders.
“I said at the end of 2009 that I want to be measured by my success, and this is why I had a lot of criticism in the past three years which partly was justified. It is without doubt that we did not achieve our goal to develop a world championship fighting car within those years.”
Schumacher added that he had learnt a lot about himself since his return, including that “That losing can be both more difficult and more instructive than winning; something I had lost out of sight sometimes in earlier years.
“I am at ease with myself,” he declared.
Hamilton isn’t comfortable with the description of ‘replacing’ Schumacher next year and simply feels privileged to have had the unexpected chance to race against him.
“I don't see myself as replacing Michael,” said Hamilton, who joined F1 in 2007. “I don't think anyone can replace Michael, he's a legend in the sport and has achieved so much.
“I watched him winning all his World Championships at home in my living room and then for him to come back and for me to get to race with him has been a real privilege.
“I hope that one day, I can achieve some of the things he has done.”
Hamilton, who is cutting his long McLaren ties to join Mercedes, has so far won 20 F1 races and one World Championship (2008).
Date: 4/October/2012
Michael Schumacher will retire from F1 for the second and time at the end of the 2012 season.
The German’s place at Mercedes has already gone to Lewis Hamilton, but the seven time World Champion waited until the eve of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix to confirm the end of his career.
Schumacher, who won world titles for Benetton (’94, ’95) and Ferrari (2000, 04), originally retired at the end of 2006, before being tempted back into grand prix by the chance to drive for the ‘Silver Arrows in 2010.
It was to be no Hollywood comeback, with just one podium and one (unofficial) pole to show for his efforts, but Schumacher remains one of the biggest names in the motor racing and could doubtless have chosen to continue racing with a lessor team.
Schumacher, 43, insists he is still able to hold his own in F1, but has decided that now really is the time to retire.
“I have decided to retire from Formula One at the end of the season, although I am still able to compete with the best drivers of the world. This is something that makes me proud, and this is part of why I never regretted my comeback,” he insisted.
“I can be happy with my performance and the fact that I was continuously raising my game during the last three years. But then, at some point it is time to say goodbye.
“Already during the past weeks and months I was not sure if I would still have the motivation and energy which is necessary to go on; and it is not my style to do anything which I am not 100% convinced about. With today’s decision I feel released from those doubts.”
Schumacher, a winner of 91 grands prix, has finished eighth and ninth in the Championship since his return. He is currently ranked twelfth in the 2012 standings, having finished only half of the 14 races due to a combination of technical problems and incidents.
Team-mate Nico Rosberg is seventh in the Championship, the same position he has finished each previous season alongside Schumacher. Rosberg, who will continue alongside Hamilton, has claimed one win from four Mercedes podiums.
Schumacher admitted that he had fallen well short of his goal to help turn Mercedes into Championship contenders.
“I said at the end of 2009 that I want to be measured by my success, and this is why I had a lot of criticism in the past three years which partly was justified. It is without doubt that we did not achieve our goal to develop a world championship fighting car within those years.”
Schumacher added that he had learnt a lot about himself since his return, including that “That losing can be both more difficult and more instructive than winning; something I had lost out of sight sometimes in earlier years.
“I am at ease with myself,” he declared.
Hamilton isn’t comfortable with the description of ‘replacing’ Schumacher next year and simply feels privileged to have had the unexpected chance to race against him.
“I don't see myself as replacing Michael,” said Hamilton, who joined F1 in 2007. “I don't think anyone can replace Michael, he's a legend in the sport and has achieved so much.
“I watched him winning all his World Championships at home in my living room and then for him to come back and for me to get to race with him has been a real privilege.
“I hope that one day, I can achieve some of the things he has done.”
Hamilton, who is cutting his long McLaren ties to join Mercedes, has so far won 20 F1 races and one World Championship (2008).
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