F1 News
Date: 13/May/2012
Lewis Hamilton thought he had claimed his third pole position of the 2012 F1 season during a topsy-turvy qualifying in Catalunya, but was later excluded and will now start at the back of the grid.
The McLaren driver’s misery means a first ever grand prix pole for Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado and the first for sleeping F1 giant Williams since Nico Hulkenberg in Brazil 2010.
Hamilton had been ordered to park his car rather than try to return to the pits after claiming pole by over half-a-second, his McLaren team clearly feraing they had insufficient fuel on board to complete the necessary post-race checks.
The team put it down to an operational error, and hoped that by stopping the car on track they would at least be able to provide the necessary sample. However the FIA declared the incident was a clear breach of the rules.
An FIA statement read: “The Stewards received a report from the Race Director which stated that during post-qualifying scrutineering a sample of fuel was required from car 4, however, the car failed to return to the pits under its own power as required under Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations.
“The Stewards heard from the team representative Mr Sam Michael who stated that the car stopped on the circuit for reasons of force majeure. A team member had put an insufficient quantity of fuel into the car thereby resulting in the car having to be stopped on the circuit in order to be able to provide the required amount for sampling purposes.
“As the amount of fuel put into the car is under the complete control of the Competitor the Stewards cannot accept this as a case of force majeure.
“The Stewards determine that this is a breach of Article 6.6.2 of the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations and the Competitor is accordingly excluded from the results of the Qualifying Session. The Competitor is however allowed to start the race from the back of the grid.”
Hayden’s Ducati thought it was somewhere else
MotoGP News
Date: 7/May/2012
The debate over advanced electronics in MotoGP was reignited at Estoril on Sunday after an unusual ECU malfunction for Ducati’s Nicky Hayden.
The Italian factory revealed that the American’s ECU ‘was subject to interference from a radio signal near the track’ during the race.
This meant that all of the electronic calibrations for his motorcycle - fine-tuned for each corner of the circuit - were running out of phase with Hayden’s actual position on the racetrack.
In other words, Hayden’s ECU thought it was somewhere else on the Portuguese circuit.
Hayden explained: “Starting from the first lap, there was an electrical problem and the bike didn’t know where it was on the track. I tried my best to ride around the problem and not make mistakes.
“It’s really a shame to work hard all weekend but not be able to take advantage of it with a result in the race. Of course I’m not saying I was going to fight for the win, but it would have been nice to at least have a decent race.”
Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi confirmed: “We’re really sorry for Nicky because during the race, a radio signal interfered with our ECU’s transponder, forcing him to ride with the electronic calibration out of phase. Riding in those conditions is truly difficult, and he did a great job to finish the race.”
MotoGP is rumoured to be considering the introduction of a control ECU in the near future, in order to cut down on the amount of expensive electronic wizardry.
Date: 7/May/2012
The debate over advanced electronics in MotoGP was reignited at Estoril on Sunday after an unusual ECU malfunction for Ducati’s Nicky Hayden.
The Italian factory revealed that the American’s ECU ‘was subject to interference from a radio signal near the track’ during the race.
This meant that all of the electronic calibrations for his motorcycle - fine-tuned for each corner of the circuit - were running out of phase with Hayden’s actual position on the racetrack.
In other words, Hayden’s ECU thought it was somewhere else on the Portuguese circuit.
Hayden explained: “Starting from the first lap, there was an electrical problem and the bike didn’t know where it was on the track. I tried my best to ride around the problem and not make mistakes.
“It’s really a shame to work hard all weekend but not be able to take advantage of it with a result in the race. Of course I’m not saying I was going to fight for the win, but it would have been nice to at least have a decent race.”
Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi confirmed: “We’re really sorry for Nicky because during the race, a radio signal interfered with our ECU’s transponder, forcing him to ride with the electronic calibration out of phase. Riding in those conditions is truly difficult, and he did a great job to finish the race.”
MotoGP is rumoured to be considering the introduction of a control ECU in the near future, in order to cut down on the amount of expensive electronic wizardry.
Stoner blasts MotoGP retirement rumours
MotoGP News
Date: 4/May/2012
Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner blasted rumours that he is considering retiring at the end of the 2012 season.
The Australian, 26, is out of contract at the end of this year, but insisted there was no truth to a recent front page article in the Spanish print media suggesting he could walk away from grand prix racing to spend more time with his wife and young daughter.
“Don’t believe what you read in the press. Don’t read what you produce,” was Stoner’s blunt reply to the media, on the eve of this weekend’s Portuguese round.
“Everyone seems quite good at stories and making them up. I’ve said in the past that I’m not going to keep riding until my mid 30s. But I haven’t decided what I’m doing, so certainly no-one else is going to know
“A few people’s contracts end at the end of this year,” he continued. “There’s nothing to do with retirement at this point. I definitely have to think at some point about how many more years I want to race, but not right now.
“This is just another rumour and it has no fact.”
Stoner, a world champion for Ducati (2007) and then Honda (2011) starts this weekend’s Estoril event just four point from title leader Jorge Lorenzo.
Date: 4/May/2012
Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner blasted rumours that he is considering retiring at the end of the 2012 season.
The Australian, 26, is out of contract at the end of this year, but insisted there was no truth to a recent front page article in the Spanish print media suggesting he could walk away from grand prix racing to spend more time with his wife and young daughter.
“Don’t believe what you read in the press. Don’t read what you produce,” was Stoner’s blunt reply to the media, on the eve of this weekend’s Portuguese round.
“Everyone seems quite good at stories and making them up. I’ve said in the past that I’m not going to keep riding until my mid 30s. But I haven’t decided what I’m doing, so certainly no-one else is going to know
“A few people’s contracts end at the end of this year,” he continued. “There’s nothing to do with retirement at this point. I definitely have to think at some point about how many more years I want to race, but not right now.
“This is just another rumour and it has no fact.”
Stoner, a world champion for Ducati (2007) and then Honda (2011) starts this weekend’s Estoril event just four point from title leader Jorge Lorenzo.
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