Friday, May 8, 2009
PaddockSpy Headline
Media attending this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix have the chance to visit the Aldar Motorhome Terrace to experience Ferrari World Abu Dhabi - the world’s first Ferrari theme park - which will open in 2010 on Yas Island, the venue for this November’s inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Ferrari World Abu Dhabi will be the world’s largest indoor theme park, sitting under a roof designed in the style of a classic double-curve body shell of a Ferrari GT car.
With over 20 rides and attractions, including the world’s fastest rollercoaster, the park will provide the total Ferrari experience.
Those rides and attractions will include an exhilarating thrill-ride on a 200-foot high (over 60 meters) tower, dual coasters that offer guest riders the chance to race each other to the finish line, as well as a variety of interactive motion and sound theatre experiences.
Yas Island is a 2,500 hectare leisure, entertainment and lifestyle development, being undertaken by Aldar Properties, featuring the Yas Marina Circuit, which will host the 2009 Abu Dhabi race.
source: www.formula1.com
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Formula 1
Thursday, 07 May 2009
French riders Randy de Puniet and Jules Cluzel headed straight to Le Mans after the Gran Premio bwin.com de España, as they took part in a pre-event press conference ahead of their home GP.
Looking ahead to their home race in a special press conference this week MotoGP star Randy de Puniet and 250cc rider Jules Cluzel previewed the event in the company of promoter Claude Michy and the French Motorcycle Federation president, former GP rider Jacques Bolle.
De Puniet arrives at the 15th-17th May Grand Prix de France in good form having added to his good results in Qatar and Japan with an excellent fourth place in Jerez last weekend.
“Last time out was my best race with LCR, so now I want to build on that and get as consistent as possible. It won't be easy of course, but at least we know we’ve been working in the right direction so far.”
“Racing at home in Le Mans is always something special,” he added. “But I can’t get carried away, I have to keep my focus and just treat it as any other race. However, obviously getting a good result here would be a great feeling.”
Cluzel, meanwhile, is in great spirits having achieved a surprise podium in Qatar and another top ten finish at Jerez. Although he suffered a DNF in Japan, 2009 is already a big contrast to his 2008 season on 125cc machinery - in which he failed to score a single point.
The Matteoni Racing man stated, “Nobody expected me to be at the front and finish on the podium in Qatar, so it was a great way to kick off the year after a fairly short preseason. Moving back up from 125cc, I got used to 250cc again quite quickly and everything really clicked with the team.
“If Qatar was a dream come true, the following race in Japan was really tricky as we had very little mileage ahead of the race. It was good to be back with normal conditions in Jerez. The race was really tough, but finishing in the top eight is a satisfying result. Now I want to keep it up and I’ll arrive at Le Mans in the best possible condition.”
source: www.motogp.com
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MotoGP
Sunday, 03 May 2009
A crowd of more than 120,000 fans at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit witnessed a victory for Valentino Rossi in the first European race of 2009.
Valentino Rossi took his first win of the season at the Gran Premio bwin.com de España on Sunday, beating Dani Pedrosa to the line by a 2.7s margin in front of a huge Spanish crowd in Andalusia.
Pedrosa led for the first half of the race having made one of his trademark strong starts from second on the grid, but Rossi took the lead with ten laps to go and did not look back there and his triumph gives him an 11 point lead in the general standings.
The rostrum was completed by Casey Stoner, who trailed Rossi by 10 seconds, the Ducati Marlboro rider moving into second place in the championship. It was the Australian’s first podium appearance at the southern Spanish track.
As was the case in the 250cc and 125cc races the Spanish rider who got underway in pole position crashed out when Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo lost control riding in fourth place with three laps to go, losing ground in the championship race.
An excellent performance from Randy de Puniet, meanwhile, saw the Frenchman bring his LCR Honda satellite machine home in fourth place, having qualified in fifth, to give himself a confidence boost ahead of his home GP in two weeks time at Le Mans.
Another excellent run from Marco Melandri gave the Italian another good points haul in fifth, the former Ducati and Honda rider improving on his good result from last weekend in Japan for the Kawasaki-equipped Hayate Racing team.
Rizla Suzuki’s Loris Capirossi rode steadily from sixth on the grid, to come home in the same position, meaning five different manufacturers were represented in the top six.
Monster Tech Yamaha’s Colin Edwards crossed the line seventh, whilst Andrea Dovizioso did well to finish eighth in his third ride for the factory Repsol Honda team having left the track at one stage. Toni Elías was the second best Spaniard in ninth for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team, with the top ten completed by Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen.
Sete Gibernau on his return to Jerez could only manage 11th for the Grupo Francisco Hernando team, whilst 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden crossed the line 15th.
The MotoGP stars return to action at the Grand Prix de France in a fortnight’s time.
source:www.motogp.com
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MotoGP
Monday, May 4, 2009
Sunday, May 03, 2009
A1 Team Ireland and Adam Carroll completed a dominant weekend with victory in this afternoon’s A1GP Brands Hatch Feature race to win the 2008/09 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport championship.
Ireland had been in control all weekend, claiming two pole positions yesterday which were both converted into wins today.
Carroll took the lead from the start to take a comfortable victory, eventually crossing the finish line 10-seconds ahead of the Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen. Neel Jani ended third, securing second the runner-up spot in this year’s championship.
Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque came home in fifth to give them third place in the final championship rankings.
Portugal’s Filipe Albuquerque came home in fifth to give them third place in the final championship rankings.
How the Feature race unfolded:
After an aborted start when South Africa’s Alan van der Merwe stalled on the grid, the race finally got underway with Carroll getting off the line to lead into Paddock Hill Bend.
As the field came through the first corner an incident involving China, USA and India left China and India in the gravel and out the race and brought out the safety car as the cars came round to complete the first lap. USA’s John R Hildebrand Jr limped back to the pits for a new nose cone but rejoined the race.
The order behind the safety car was Ireland from Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, France, Great Britain and Italy.
Ireland had a good run out of the final corner on the restart to come across the line 0.653-seconds ahead of the chasing pack. Further down the field Mexico’s Salvador Duran took tenth from Italy’s Vitantonio Liuzzi.
By the end of lap five Carroll had built up a 1.424-second lead before New Zealand’s Earl Bamber spun Black Beauty into the gravel and out of the race at Westfield.
As the pit window opened for the first round of stops race-leader Ireland was the first to dive in, closely followed by Portugal. Another slick pit stop from the Irish crew saw Carroll safely back out in the lead.
Switzerland and Netherlands came in a lap later with Monaco opting to stay out a lap extra. The strategy didn’t work, however, as Clivio Piccione fell to fifth after the stops.
Mexico had a good stop to get out in front of Australia with the order on lap 15 now Ireland 6.956-seconds from Netherlands, Switzerland and Portugal.
Great Britain’s Dan Clarke was flying on home soil, placing his car perfectly on the inside of Paddock Hill Bend to take seventh from John Martin.
He then began attacking Mexico for sixth while Netherlands started to close the gap to Ireland up ahead.
On lap 26, Germany’s Michael Ammermuller rolled to a halt bringing his season to an early end. Ireland was now being held up by USA’s Hildebrand as Carroll came round to lap the American car.
A few laps later, Malaysia Aaron Lim ran wide and crashed out at Druids bringing a disappointing end to his weekend just as the second mandatory pit window opened.
Ireland was the first to come in again to get a new set of tyres as the second pit stop window opened, along with South Africa, Lebanon, Indonesia and Mexico. Great Britain and the Netherlands made their stops a lap later with orange car remaining in second despite Ireland having a slightly slower stop this time around.
John Martin kept the pressure up in Jackeroo, giving Australia the fastest lap, with a 1m 12.754s, which he beat a couple of laps later recording a 1m 12.698s.
Ireland was in control at the front but there was a great battle for third with Switzerland holding off Monaco and Portugal. Great Britain’s Dan Clarke was also putting pressure on Mexico for sixth.
As the lap wound down, Carroll never looked under threat, and he brought the Celtic Tiger across the line to take victory by 10.156-seconds from the Netherlands and Switzerland, and with it sealed the team’s maiden A1GP title. Ireland had been in control all weekend, claiming two pole positions yesterday which were both converted into wins today.
Ireland’s Adam Carroll said: “It was a perfect weekend for us, it’s what we needed to come here to do, it was the plan so it really did come through. We knew by the pace we set in Portugal that if we came here and everything worked out ok we would be really hard to beat, and that was the way it worked out so it couldn’t have been better.
“I didn’t get a great start again, it’s really hard to start from pole, but I knew if I stayed where I was there wouldn’t be any bumping in to each other.
“In the second pit stop the team was nothing to do with why we were slow, the guys did their job but had to hold me because Switzerland was coming in and if they had let me go it would have been very dangerous so we lost some time.
“The team is just unbelievable, they are the best team on the face of this earth in motorsport and I believe that fully. Their commitment is second to none and we are the best in this pit lane. These guys left on Friday night after 29 hours in the pit lane, that says it all.”
After an amazing season of A1GP racing the title went right down to the final race with A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira, presenting A1 Team Ireland’s seat holder Mark Gallagher and an elated Adam Carroll with the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport trophy in front of the cheering crowds.
source: www.a1gp.com
Labels:
A1GP
Sunday, May 03, 2009
LAP BY LAP
Flag A1GP chairman Tony Teixeira presents Mark Gallagher and Adam Carroll with the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport trophy. It's going to be some party tonight!
Flag Everyone piles onto the grid to congratulate Adam Carroll and the team. These here are amazing scenes here at Brands Hatch!
Flag Adam Carroll gets out of the car and waves to the crowd. He is elated!!
Flag A1 Team Ireland wins the Feature race, from Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain and Australia.
FLAG A1 TEAM IRELAND IS 2008/09 A1GP WORLD CUP OF MOTORSPORT CHAMPION
Lap 50 One lap to go!
Lap 49 What a weekend from A1 Team Ireland, we're nearly there!
Lap 48 Just two laps to go.
Lap 46 Dan Clarke has had an off, and Australia's John Martin is right behind him now.
Lap 45 With five laps to go, it's Ireland leading ahead of Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia, Italy, France.
Lap 43 Ireland has got the lead back up to 7.4 seconds.
Lap 40 Ten laps to go. It looks like this will be Ireland's title and Feature race win...
Lap 36 Australia have gone even quicker in their persuit of the fastest lap.
Lap 35 Ireland seem to have this race won. There is a great battle for third with Switzerland holding off Monaco and Portugal.
Lap 33 Australia has now got the fastest lap, with a 1m 12.754 second-lap.
Lap 31 Netherlands has got the gap down to 4.7 seconds at the start.
Lap 31 So the order is Australia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain and France.
Lap 30 Italy comes in, while Ireland gets the fastest lap.
Flag Everyone piles onto the grid to congratulate Adam Carroll and the team. These here are amazing scenes here at Brands Hatch!
Flag Adam Carroll gets out of the car and waves to the crowd. He is elated!!
Flag A1 Team Ireland wins the Feature race, from Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain and Australia.
FLAG A1 TEAM IRELAND IS 2008/09 A1GP WORLD CUP OF MOTORSPORT CHAMPION
Lap 50 One lap to go!
Lap 49 What a weekend from A1 Team Ireland, we're nearly there!
Lap 48 Just two laps to go.
Lap 46 Dan Clarke has had an off, and Australia's John Martin is right behind him now.
Lap 45 With five laps to go, it's Ireland leading ahead of Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain, Australia, Italy, France.
Lap 43 Ireland has got the lead back up to 7.4 seconds.
Lap 40 Ten laps to go. It looks like this will be Ireland's title and Feature race win...
Lap 36 Australia have gone even quicker in their persuit of the fastest lap.
Lap 35 Ireland seem to have this race won. There is a great battle for third with Switzerland holding off Monaco and Portugal.
Lap 33 Australia has now got the fastest lap, with a 1m 12.754 second-lap.
Lap 31 Netherlands has got the gap down to 4.7 seconds at the start.
Lap 31 So the order is Australia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Monaco, Portugal, Mexico, Great Britain and France.
Lap 30 Italy comes in, while Ireland gets the fastest lap.
Lap 29 Great Britain and Netherlands make their stops. Netherlands doesn't get out ahead of Ireland.
Lap 28 Ireland come into the pits first along with South Africa, Lebanon, Indonesia and Mexico.
Lap 28 Plenty of cars come into the pits.
Lap 28 Malaysia goes off at Druids. Aaron Lim has ran wide and crashed.
Lap 27 The gap is down to 4.7 seconds, with Adam Carroll seemingly held up by USA, who is nearly a lap down.
Lap 26 Germany has retired. Michael Ammermuller rolled to a stop.
Lap 25 Netherlands has now got the gap down to 5.5 seconds.
Lap 22 Jeroen Bleekemolen is still not giving up, and has got the gap down to 6.5 seconds
Lap 15 Ireland now has a 7.0-second lead over Netherlands.
Lap 14 Switzerland has a cracked exhaust. The car sounds a bit raspy as it passes the pit straight here!
Lap 14 Dan Clarke is flying - he just passes Australia's John Martin at Paddock Hill bend for seventh place.
Lap 28 Ireland come into the pits first along with South Africa, Lebanon, Indonesia and Mexico.
Lap 28 Plenty of cars come into the pits.
Lap 28 Malaysia goes off at Druids. Aaron Lim has ran wide and crashed.
Lap 27 The gap is down to 4.7 seconds, with Adam Carroll seemingly held up by USA, who is nearly a lap down.
Lap 26 Germany has retired. Michael Ammermuller rolled to a stop.
Lap 25 Netherlands has now got the gap down to 5.5 seconds.
Lap 22 Jeroen Bleekemolen is still not giving up, and has got the gap down to 6.5 seconds
Lap 15 Ireland now has a 7.0-second lead over Netherlands.
Lap 14 Switzerland has a cracked exhaust. The car sounds a bit raspy as it passes the pit straight here!
Lap 14 Dan Clarke is flying - he just passes Australia's John Martin at Paddock Hill bend for seventh place.
Lap 14 So the order is Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Monaco, Mexico.
Lap 14 A1 Team China is under investigation for the start-line accident.
Lap 14 Mexico pits and get out in front of Australia.
Lap 14 A1 Team China is under investigation for the start-line accident.
Lap 14 Mexico pits and get out in front of Australia.
Lap 13 Fastest lap for Great Britain.
Lap 12 Australia pits, leaving Mexico out front.
Lap 11 Staying out has not worked for Monaco. It has fallen to fifth of the front runners after the stops.
Lap 11 Monaco and Great Britain both pit.
Lap 10 Monaco stay out, without Australia and Great Britain.
Lap 9 It's a great stop from Ireland, beating Portugal.
Lap 9 Ireland and Portugal come into the pits, handing Monaco the lead.
Lap 8 We're closing on the first round of pit stops.
Lap 7 New Zealand has retired in the gravel. Earl Bamber has spun into the gravel at Westfield. It was a highspeed off, but he is ok.
Lap 6 France is slowing. Nicolas Prost has a problem.
Lap 5 USA comes in to change its nosecone after the earlier crash.
Lap 12 Australia pits, leaving Mexico out front.
Lap 11 Staying out has not worked for Monaco. It has fallen to fifth of the front runners after the stops.
Lap 11 Monaco and Great Britain both pit.
Lap 10 Monaco stay out, without Australia and Great Britain.
Lap 9 It's a great stop from Ireland, beating Portugal.
Lap 9 Ireland and Portugal come into the pits, handing Monaco the lead.
Lap 8 We're closing on the first round of pit stops.
Lap 7 New Zealand has retired in the gravel. Earl Bamber has spun into the gravel at Westfield. It was a highspeed off, but he is ok.
Lap 6 France is slowing. Nicolas Prost has a problem.
Lap 5 USA comes in to change its nosecone after the earlier crash.
Lap 5 Ireland gets away well at the restart.
Lap 4 Safety car in this lap.
Lap 1 So the order is Ireland, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, New Zealand, France.
Lap 1 So the order is Ireland, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, New Zealand, France.
Lap 1 Safety Car is out while the mess is cleared up.
Lap 1 China is out, but USA has kept going.
Lap 1 India's Narain Karthikeyan gets out of the Indian car at Paddock Hill Bend. It was a big crash.
Lap 1 India's Narain Karthikeyan gets out of the Indian car at Paddock Hill Bend. It was a big crash.
Lap 1 Big crash between USA, China and India.
Lap 1 Ireland grabs the lead at the start!
Lap 1 Now we're away!
Lap 1 No we're not. We're having another formation lap, because of South Africa stalling on the grid.
Lap 1 And away we go!
15:00 Germany struggles to get away from the dummy grid, and the team has to help Michael Ammermuller get away.
14:59 The engines are started and the formation lap begins.
14:55 The grid is being cleared. We're nearly ready to go and crown a champion!
Lap 1 Now we're away!
Lap 1 No we're not. We're having another formation lap, because of South Africa stalling on the grid.
Lap 1 And away we go!
15:00 Germany struggles to get away from the dummy grid, and the team has to help Michael Ammermuller get away.
14:59 The engines are started and the formation lap begins.
14:55 The grid is being cleared. We're nearly ready to go and crown a champion!
14:49 It's bright and sunny here at Brands Hatch for the title decider. Remember, one of Ireland, Switzerland or Portugal will win the title this afternoon.
14:45 All the championship permutations can be found here.
14:39 Ireland needs to finish sixth or better to secure the championship, no matter what anyone else does.
14:27 The Feature race is 50 laps.
14:27 The Feature race is 50 laps.
14:25 The second pitstop window has been announced and will be between laps 28 and 36. The first stop is, as always, between on 8 and 16.
14:20 Welcome to Brands Hatch. We're going to decide the 2008/09 A1GP Championship this afternoon. Everyone can't wait for the race to be underway!
spurce: www.a1gp.com
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A1GP
Thursday, April 30, 2009
The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has handed McLaren a three race ban for bringing the sport into disrepute after they were found to have misled race stewards at March’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
The ban will be suspended, however, in light of the ‘open and honest way’ in which team principal Martin Whitmarsh addressed the Council on Wednesday, and will only be applied if further evidence emerges, or there is another breach of the International Sporting Code.
Accepting the decision, Whitmarsh commented: "I would like to thank the FIA World Motor Sport Council members for affording me the opportunity to answer their questions this morning. We are aware that we made serious mistakes in Australia and Malaysia, and I was therefore very glad to be able to apologise for those mistakes once again.
“I was also pleased to be able to assure the FIA World Motor Sport Council members that we had taken appropriate action with a view to ensuring that such mistakes do not occur again."
The full statement from the FIA:
At an extraordinary meeting of the World Motor Sport Council held in Paris on 29 April 2009, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes admitted five charges of breaching article 151c of the International Sporting Code relating to events at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix.
The following decision was taken:
“Having regard to the open and honest way in which McLaren Team Principal, Mr Martin Whitmarsh, addressed the WMSC and the change in culture which he made clear has taken place in his organisation, the WMSC decided to suspend the application of the penalty it deems appropriate.
“That penalty is a suspension of the team from three races of the FIA Formula One World Championship. This will only be applied if further facts emerge regarding the case or if, in the next 12 months, there is a further breach by the team of article 151c of the International Sporting Code.”
The full reasons for this decision will be issued shortly.
source: www.formula1.com
Labels:
Formula 1
Monday, April 27, 2009
Jenson Button made it three wins out of four for Brawn GP in Bahrain on Sunday afternoon, with a finely judged performance that stretched his world championship score to 31 points.
Before the race the Englishman had suggested that Brawn’s domination was under threat. But when Red Bull dangerman Sebastian Vettel lost out at the start as McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton burst through to momentarily separate the Toyotas, Button was able to squeeze round the outside of the German in Turn One and was thereafter never threatened by him.
It was just a matter of waiting for the Toyota to make their stops (leader Glock on lap 11, polesitter Trulli on lap 12), and thereafter he only lost the lead after his own first stop on lap 15 (regaining it on lap 22 when Vettel and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen stopped), and after his second stop on lap 37, when Vettel again moved ahead for three laps.
Far from challenging, the young German had his hands full looking after his tyres in traffic, and as Button sped away the Red Bull driver had to contend with a strong challenge to the end from Trulli. A day that started well for Toyota ultimately yielded a podium finish, but after both cars started from the front row that had to count as a disappointment. Trulli blamed a long middle stint on the prime Bridgestone tyre which let Vettel pass in the final stops.
Hamilton quickly faded after his KERS-assisted start, but nevertheless ran strongly to a good fourth place for the improving McLaren team.
Rubens Barrichello had an up and down afternoon in the second Brawn with three pit stops, and grabbed fifth ahead of Raikkonen, who thus scored Ferrari’s first points of the season, having led laps 20 and 21 after a long opening stint. The Finn actually fell behind Glock when the German made his second stop, but used his KERS to squirt past into a sixth place that the Toyota driver challenged to the flag. Fernando Alonso completed the points scorers in eighth for Renault, fending off Nico Rosberg after the latter’s final stop.
Felipe Massa had a terrible afternoon after an extra stop to check damage sustained in first-corner traffic at the start, and could only finish a lapped 14th. Ahead of him were Nelson Piquet who drove a strong race for Renault, Mark Webber who charged from the back of the grid for Red Bull, Heikki Kovalainen who never recovered from a terrible start for McLaren, and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais.
Behind were Giancarlo Fisichella, who collided with the Ferrari briefly and then held up Button on the 51st lap, his Force India team mate Adrian Sutil, Sebastien Buemi in the second Toro Rosso, and the BMW Saubers of Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld which had a simply dreadful time with an initial heavy fuel load. Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima was the sole retirement, after a clash with Kubica.
Button now has 31 points from Barrichello on 19, Vettel on 18, Trulli on 14.5 and Glock on 12. Brawn have 50 points, to Red Bull’s 27.5 and Toyota’s 26.5. Ferrari got their points tally off the ground, and have three.
source: www.formula1.com
Labels:
Formula 1
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