2018 Monaco Grand Prix: Post Race Press Conference TRANSCRIPT.

DRIVERS

1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by David Coulthard)

Sebastian, as you’ve got your helmet off first, we’ll let Daniel celebrate with your old team Red Bull Racing. You’re sixth podium finish here, but not the result you were looking for. You just didn’t have the pace today?

Sebastian VETTEL: I think we had the pace but it was a tricky race. I think Daniel had the answers at all times. First stint I could follow him fairly easily and then he started to push just, I think, when Lewis started to pit. Then he was a bit stronger there and I couldn’t follow. I was going through the tyres fairly quick. Next stint was a bit the same. I think he had a problem half way through with his MGU-K. I think towards the end I picked again but at the re-start I just didn’t have much confidence in the tyres and I lost quite a lot, otherwise it would have been nice to keep the pressure on until the end.

Daniel Ricciardo, you win in Monaco. How do you feel?
Daniel RICCIARDO: Ah… good. I think I can show more emotion today than yesterday. Two years in the making this, so I finally feel like the redemption has arrived. We had problems. I don’t know how much the radio broadcast, but we had a lot to deal with during the race. I think it was before half way, I felt a loss of power and I thought the race was done and we got home just using six gears. Thanks to the team we got it back. I’m stoked.

We did have the radio played into our broadcast. We were with you in the cockpit. We knew you were driving wounded. This was reminiscent of Schumacher in Barcelona, stuck in fifth gear. You managed it superbly so that must make it even more sweet?

DR: There were a few doubts that came in mid-race, but yeah, just… we won Monaco! Feels good, feels good. Thanks everyone for the support. There were a lot of Aussie flags on the in-lap, so thanks everyone. Awesome.

Soak it up. Lewis Hamilton: difficult weekend. You mentioned after qualifying it was about damage limitation. You still gave it you all out there but that was the best you could get today – third place?

LH: Well firstly, a big congratulations to Red Bull and to Daniel, they did a great job this weekend. Ultimately they were the quickest all weekend and we knew that would be the case. Yeah, it would have been nice to be second, but I did everything I could. But it was an interesting race. Well, I believe it was an interesting race.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) Daniel, in the past with Red Bull we have seen victories celebrated by jumping into the pool and jumping in the harbour. What will you do?

DR: As I said, the pool looked a little bit worse for wear yesterday, so maybe the harbour is cleaner – and it’s higher, so maybe more fun.

LH: You’ve got to do a good jump where you land flat and make that slap.

DR: A belly flop?

LH: Yeah, a belly flop. Can you do a belly flop? The belly flop challenge. Everyone has done a back flip and a normal jump. You gotta do a belly flop.

DR: Well, belly flop, maybe I’ll try a front flip, which could be a back slap.

LH: Or the pike. Have you heard of the pike? It’s when you jump and land on your back.

DR: No.

LH: Come on!

DR: Maybe we’ll have a pool party. Maybe we can start drinking early.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Daniel, you didn’t need anything else to go wrong but when the VSC came out, were you thinking good news or bad news?

DR: I saw the debris in the chicane I think it was. I didn’t really want anything. I was just like “let’s get this race finished”. It had already felt long enough. I was glad it was a VSC and not a Safety Car, because I thought having less power, with the problems, I would have been vulnerable on a re-start. Again, it’s hard to overtake here, so if I got good traction out of the last corner and blocked into Turn 1 I still think I would make it difficult for Seb but I didn’t feel like becoming vulnerable in the last few laps. We'd already done 72 or something. I wasn’t excited to see it but yeah, in the end it helped me as Seb seemed to lose time behind it, but it just made the last few laps go a bit longer.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte.com) It’s time for celebration for sure, but concerning the next race, Daniel, mainly for you, it’s a certain of completely characteristics, do your performances relate to the track or have you really made a step forward on your car?

DR: For sure the circuit helps us. As I said, I was using six gears pretty much the whole race, didn’t touch seventh or eighth. I think all weekend anyway we’re not really using eighth, so I think it shows that even with an extreme loss of power our chassis still works really well. Fortunately this isn’t a power circuit, so I think the circuit certainly helped us here. It’s proven again we have a really good chassis. Montreal, we’ll see. I think we’re back on the hypersofts. It looked like our degradation was better than the others today. Montreal is more of a power circuit. If our chassis is working well and being kind on tyres we may see ourselves fighting again but as always this circuit leans towards our strengths. As I said in Italian earlier, we’ve all got two victories between us this year, I wouldn’t have thought that coming into February so that’s pretty cool and we’ll try and keep it going for now.

Sebastian, Montreal?
SV: yeah, it’s a different track. Tyre choice I guess is the same, so we’ll see. Obviously a bit more straightforward in terms of racing and overtaking than here, but yeah, we’ll see. Two weeks now to prepare and look into our strengths and our weaknesses. Then we’ll see where we are. It’s a different track, yeah it’s quite smooth on tyres, hence the tyre choice, so I don’t know. I think we’ll all be there. As you’ve seen, in the first six races it’s been really close, which is good for us, because going into Sunday, you never know and you’re in the mix and in the fight, so looking forward.

Lewis, Montreal?
LH: They answered it pretty well, not really much more to say. It’s going to be fun. More fun than this race, I think.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Two questions, one for Daniel and then one for everybody. Daniel, you’ve got an engine upgrade coming for Canada which is supposed to be pretty good. Can you be a title contender? And then, the wider question. A couple of years ago, or a bit more, you three were all instrumental in getting Pirelli to change the tyres, so they could be raced on and pushed on. Today, we saw you lapping four, five, six seconds off the pace for pretty much the entire race. How do you feel about that?

DR: I think it’s a natural question after a victory. I think I got asked after China if it means we’re in the title hunt. We’re still… I think Lewis still has a pretty good buffer on me, so we’re still on the outside of that. It’s not impossible but not really at the forefront of my mind yet. But, even if it was, I’m not going to change obviously the way that I’m driving or trying to attack. So, yeah, Montreal will be interesting. Try to get a few more podiums but yeah, we’ve got to probably prove on at least one other circuit before the summer break that we can win again. And then maybe we’re a nice little outside chance. For tyres, yeah, I think today, because it’s a tight circuit, you’re able to take the piss a little bit with going slow. I mean, there were times I was really cruising but, y’know, the circuit allows you to do that because it’s hard to overtake but I don’t think we’ll be able to maintain that kind of rhythm on a circuit like Montreal or something. So, I think it’s more circuit-dependent – but I’m glad they’re bringing the hypersofts again. When we pitted early, I thought it was maybe even looking like even a two-stop race – but obviously we could control the pace. But, as I said, on a different circuit I think today would probably have been a two-stop.

Seb, anything to add on the tyres?
SV: No, I don’t want to answer. Sorry.

Lewis, anything to add on the tyres?
LH: erm… except for we were probably just cruising around from lap six, maybe. Literally cruising. So it wasn’t really racing.

Q: What did you learn from the hypersoft this weekend, going forward to Montreal? Do you think it’s a tyre you’re going to be able to push hard for a whole stint in Montreal?

LH: I have no idea if it will be more or less in Montreal. I don’t know. I guess there’s less hard core corners so probably it will go a little bit further. Yeah, Daniel did a great job today so super happy for him but ultimately we were turned down and just cruising around to make sure we got to the end. I don’t know if that was exciting for you guys to watch. If it is, no problem.

Q: (Jacquelin Magnay – The Australian) At the end, Christian Horner mentioned Michael Schumacher’s race in Barcelona where he finished and won after difficulties. I’m just wondering what that meant to you when he mentioned that, and can you just take us through your roller coaster of emotions during the race?

DR: I don’t really know how to… Obviously it’s a compliment towards me and my race. I don’t really know… so much went on, I guess, for me in that race, trying to figure out what was going on. It’s hard to kind of let it all sink in, once it’s done. Even now, I don’t know, it feels weird that I did get that win but obviously I will take the compliment.

Obviously it’s a long weekend here with the practice on a Thursday, it stretches the weekend an extra day so it’s a long week. There’s obviously a lot of hype – I mean I love it, it is the most fun weekend of the year but it is pretty draining so even today it was long and the race obviously starts an hour later now – an hour and ten minutes later. Yeah, you’re just trying to like control everything until the moment of the race. I kind of wish the race was at ten in the morning so we could just get it done already. Going through all that and then finally starting, getting a good start, that was really the key moment and then obviously, as I mentioned, the problems I had, that obviously threw a lot of doubt in my mind for a few laps. Every lap I got by with no extra problems was a little victory so happy to see the chequered flag.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport Magazin.com) First part of the question is for Daniel: can you explain a bit how you drove around that problem? Was it only deploying the energy or was it also harvesting and did you have any problems with the temperatures in the car because of the rear brakes and so on? And for Sebastian, second part, you probably saw the lights flashing when the K didn’t work for Daniel. Did you change anything to put a bit more pressure on him, did you have any strategy for that?

DR: Yes, obviously I had a lot less power so that was the obvious thing, but then, yeah, the rear brakes got really hot so I went I think six or seven percent forwards with the brake balance. That’s a lot. Maybe we go one or two percent change during the race, at least, for us, so we had to go a long way forwards and I have to lift a lot before braking to save the brakes and put less energy through them. The pace was slow, for the power, the pace was slow to manage the tyres and then the pace was slow because I was managing brakes. Hence why it felt like a very long race but obviously we got it home.

SV: Yeah, not really. Obviously I saw the issue and I was also told by radio and that’s when I started to push, but as soon as I got too close or closer then I struggled to stay there and never got in range, especially at the exit of the tunnel, I was always too far (behind) to try and get close. I had the DRS a couple of times but obviously the track makes it quite difficult which is a bonus if you are ahead but with all the problems he had, he was still quicker than us.

Q: Daniel, is this your most satisfying victory?

DR: I think it’s… give it two days, probably and I look back on the weekend as a whole, I think it was definitely my best weekend and the most satisfying. Right now, there’s still a lot to process but as I said, once it all settles I think yeah, I could probably say that. You know the race itself… it’s a different race to a China. China obviously got everything going and got the adrenalin going and whatnot but as a whole this is probably the best weekend of my career.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) After a weekend like this where you’ve dominated, winning in difficult circumstances today, would you say that your stock as a driver has never been higher than this?

DR: I guess. We’ll see. We’ll see what the others think. I can’t pay myself but for sure I feel I’ve done a really good job the first six races and as I said, we’ve all got two victories so yeah. Lewis is being nice.

LH: I’ll negotiate for him.

DR: What cut will you take?

LH: We can negotiate.

DR: If Lewis finishes at the end of the year he can maybe step in as my manager.

SOURCE: FIA.com

2018 Monaco Grand Prix: Post-Qualifying Press Conference Transcript

DRIVERS

1 – Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

PRESS CONFERENCE

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Daniel, the Red Bull has been very strong here this week, but just how good was the car here today and how were you able to harness the strengths of the package here?

Daniel RICCIARDO: It’s been good all weekend. Every session we’ve been quicken. It’s a bit like 2016; we came into this race knowing we had a legitimate chance to fight for pole. Just knowing how the car has performed in the first few races and knowing if it got hooked up around here then for sure we knew we could be here. We didn’t really change much on the car all weekend, it was kind of one of those pretty smooth ones and we could just build up to it and obviously find my rhythm and have some fun. I love this place and it’s obviously a pleasure to drive in a 1m10s, it’s a lot of fun. It’s been awesome, the boys have done a good job. The team. There are some girls in the team as well!

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and Speedsport) Daniel, what happened to Max shows how quickly this place can bite. Was that at the back of your mind or were you able to clear your mind and just go for it?

DR: It’s always in the back of your mind here, I guess, because the risk and reward is very real and that was proven this morning. It’s one of those things… it’s there but it is at the back of your mind, because to be fast you can’t think about those things. Knowing we had obviously a great package all weekend… we need to push it but I don’t think we need to overdrive it. The car has been performing well. It’s just hitting your marks and just trying to keep it clean I guess. We’re all pushing each other, particularly Max and myself in the same time. It’s no surprise that these things can happen and, as I said, when we’re lapping 1m10s 1m11s there’s no room for error.

Q: (Lennart Wermle – Bild) Daniel, who were talking to on the phone directly after qualifying? I was wondering who you were talking to there? 
DR: Do you know or not? No. OK. It was the boss, Dietrich. It was nice.

Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) What kind of guarantees do you have for your tyres tomorrow?
DR: Come on. Next question. They’re cool, yeah. We’ll be fine, there’s no rain tomorrow, we’re OK.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport-Magazin.com) Question for Seb and for Lewis. Do you think it was the general DNA of your cars why you didn’t have a chance against Red Bull here or do you think if you had got everything right, the set-up, the perfect lap, you would have had a chance?

Sebastian VETTEL: I was pretty happy. I think there is always the feeling that there is a little bit but I don’t think we were a threat to Daniel’s time today. So, I think you always look back and think ‘here and there’, especially around this place, but well done to Daniel, he owned the qualifying session. For us, I think, we were playing around with the set-up quite a bit trying to squeeze out everything because we knew we had to if we wanted to have a word for front row and for pole. I think we put ourselves in a good position. I think they looked strong yesterday, they looked strong this morning, I think we got as close as we could and now we see what we can do tomorrow?

Lewis, your thoughts?
Lewis HAMILTON: DNA.

How was the session for you?
LH: It was a good session. We knew we wouldn’t be quickest here. We did the best we could and the car was in a good place, just a little bit off them really.

Were you pleased with your lap?
LH: My first Q3 lap… I was happy with my last one. I was 0.27s but I lost it in the middle and the last sector so naturally not happy with that. That wouldn’t have been enough anyways for pole but it would have made a difference, obviously I would have been second. Am I happy about that? No, but it’s a long race tomorrow. I gave it everything I could and you can’t always get it perfect. The good thing is the car is in one piece and I can live to fight another day.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) A question for Seb and Lewis. Obviously, the unique characteristics of this circuit means that it doesn’t necessarily translate from here to other places. With that in mind, does it make missing out on pole here today easier to take, knowing that it’s a special circuit and won’t necessarily be repeated elsewhere?

SV: I think it was expected that Red Bull will be quick here. I think they have a strong car, they have more downforce than everybody else. I think in terms of drag or efficiency, maybe they’re not the best, so at this track, y’know, we knew that they will be strong. Other tracks, I think we have to look at ourselves, y’know? I think Barcelona we know we weren’t where we want to be. Going forward, Canada, will be different again. The think is, for us, that have potential in the car. We need to make sure we unleash it and we improve. Then, I think, I don’t need to answer your question, or these questions. For today, no doubt, Daniel was the best man out there. He deserves the pole and no matter whether his package was maybe a little bit better or a little bit worse, he did the job. That’s what it’s about here.

Lewis, the pace of the Mercedes elsewhere, does that make today an easier pill to swallow?
LH: Like I said, we knew what was going to happen this weekend. So… it still doesn’t feel great but it’s just one race, so…

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Question to Daniel and Lewis. On Thursday, there was some questions about the legality of the Ferrari ERS system. I just wondered if there’s any feelings amongst you two, whether you think it’s legal. Are you happy with the investigation, the answers that you’re being given by the team?

DR: Don’t know about it. Yeah. I don’t. Probably because I haven’t been reading anything. Particularly since Thursday, just been focussed on trying to put myself here, in this position. So, I’m sure the team know about it – but they haven’t bogged me down with that information at the moment.

Lewis, anything to add?

DR: Do you know about it?

LH: I keep my ear very close to the ground, for sure. I know what’s going on.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globoesporte.com) To all drivers. Come back to the subject of tyres, changing the approach. What expectations do you have for the hyper tyre from Pirelli? And also, Daniel, having around 40hp less than your competitors, were you afraid at the end in the Q3 that you could lose your pole position?

DR: No, I knew the first lap in Q3 was pretty good. I felt it was enough but obviously you never know – but it was a relatively clean lap. So yeah, for sure the chassis works well around here and we don’t have maybe as much power in qualifying but we’ve still got enough around here to get it done. So that feels good. The tyres. Thursday seemed mixed for everyone. Some people suffered a lot of graining with the front. We didn’t do a very long run but what we did, it was OK. So, I’m OK for tomorrow. I feel confident. I think we’ll still be able to one stop. I think everyone will make it happen. Yeah. It’s good.

Sebastian. Anything to add on the tyres?
SV: Well, I mean this is a track where we put the least energy on the tyres. So, I think it’s normal the softer the tyres, the better it is for us. We have more grip. Yeah, we saw, as Daniel said, in practice that maybe the tyre’s not meant to last super-long. So, I’m sure if you put it on a normal race track it’s fun for probably half, or one lap – but after that it will be difficult. But I don’t know. The tyre choices now, going forward, when will be have the hypersoft next time, I’m not sure. Is it in Canada? Canada is quite smooth on the tyres so it makes sense. Yeah.

Lewis, your thoughts on the hypersoft tyre.
LH: It’s OK.

You guys experimented with the ultra in Q2.
LH: That wasn’t the greatest either.

Do you think a one stop is possible tomorrow, as Daniel suggested?
LH: I think that’s the target, which I think is not very good here. They should make us use multiple ultrasofts, or hypersofts. One stop is always a boring race. Especially on a track where you can’t even overtake. So, it adds more excitement to it. I’m sure we’ll do one stop tomorrow. The other tyres could probably go a long way.

Q: Your thoughts on the hypersoft?
LH: It’s OK.

Q: You guys experimented with the ultra in Q2.
LH: Yeah, that wasn’t very good.

Q: Do you think a one stop is possible tomorrow, as Daniel suggested?
LH: I think that’s the target which I think is not very good here. They should make us use multiple ultrasofts… hypersofts. One stop is always a boring race, especially on a track where you can’t even overtake, so it adds more excitement to it. I’m sure we’ll do a one stop tomorrow. Yeah, I think the tyres could probably go a long way.

Q: (Fred Ferret – L’Equipe) To Seb and Lewis, you’ve won Monaco outside the pole, what would your mind set tomorrow? Would it be a waiting game during the race?

SV: Well, jump Daniel at the start.

DR: Preferably don’t jump, like over me. That would hurt.

SV: No, no. I mean it’s a long race. If you look at the race, then it’s nearly impossible to overtake, we know that, but it’s still one of the most fascinating races because things can happen. It doesn’t mean that they do happen but they can. Rain is not forecast, I guess, for tomorrow but who knows? It’s going to be a long race, a lot of laps, easy to do a small mistake which goes without noticing or can be very costly. I think the plan is to – as I said – make a good start and then settle into the race. Keep the pressure up until the end.

Q: Lewis, tomorrow, do an even better start? What’s your plan?
LH: To catch this one, to catch this guy, that’s my goal. Switch places with him.

Q: (Christian Menath – Motorsport Magazin.com) Seb, the first lap in Q3, did you have any specific mistake there or was it just a bit easygoing, well, just to set a time on the board?

SV: I don’t know what the others did but I did two times one lap and in Q2 I tried a little bit but it didn’t work so for Q3 I think I knew what I had to do and yeah, I was happy with the first lap, not so happy with the beginning or with the feel for the tyres throughout the lap. I think today I was – I would say sensitive but it was important for me to feel the car, the tyres switching on. In the last run I definitely felt it was a bit better so I had a cleaner lap and more trust and that’s where the extra time is usually coming from. The lap before wasn’t bad but I could do better, I knew it and I was pretty happy with the last one I had.

Q: (Tomasz Kubiak - Swiatwyscigow.pl) Daniel, do you look forward to a race when you don’t have to think about passing with your teammate?

DR: I only heard passing your teammate, is that what you said? What was your question?

Q: do you look forward to the race more when you haven’t got to worry about passing your teammate?
DR: I don’t know. It’s not a bad question. We’ll move on. At least you laughed, you got your kick out of it. No comment.

Q: (Scott Mitchell - Autosport) Daniel, because Red Bull’s been so strong this week, how much of it has been a mental, psychological battle between you and Max, just trying to get the upper hand before qualifying? Obviously he ended up paying the price for it on his side but how important was it just to be the number one guy basically?

DR: Obviously you’re aware of your teammate’s speed and everyone’s speed but for me, from the start of the weekend, I guess a battle with myself, wanting to be the quickest from the start and trying to reach my personal goals for the weekend. Obviously, yeah, we were close throughout all the sessions but yeah, I don’t know if it’s… it could be a psychological battle if an opponent sees it that way but for me personally I just wanted to see my name on top and just try to keep that momentum going from the start.

Peugeot Total aim to score as much points as possible with unchanged car in Silverstone.

PHOTO CREDIT: Team Peugeot Total

Fresh from a victory in Belgium 10 days ago, Team Peugeot Total heads to England and the legendary Silverstone circuit: also known as ‘the home of British motorsport’. 

The Silverstone circuit was previously used for the World RX pre-season test and media day in March, so the drivers already have some limited experience of it. 10 days prior to that, Sébastien Loeb also won the opening round of the British Rallycross Championship there, which he contested as a practice event, along with Timmy Hansen, who finished 2nd. The 0.972-kilometre track is very technical and consists of 40% asphalt and 60% gravel.

Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport Director
“Our goal at Silverstone remains unchanged: we want to score as many points as possible in both the teams’ and drivers’ championships and make as much progress as we can up the classifications. The cars are also unchanged: we have the same specification as we did in Belgium, which worked well. Silverstone is of course very different: the track is slow. We have a small experience there but no real reference, so it’s hard to know exactly what to expect. The Silverstone round is being held as part of the Speedmachine Festival, with concerts and other entertainments planned, so we look forward to seeing how rallycross fits in with this interesting new concept organised by the promoter, and see if we can attract new people around motorsport competition.”

Sébastien Loeb [Championship Standings: 2nd place - 66 points]
“I’m feeling very positive after our win in Belgium and obviously the target is to continue on the same trajectory. I competed on the Silverstone track before, but the level of competition will be higher this weekend and also it was practically snowing back then, so I do not think you can really compare it! At any time of year, you can never predict the weather in England, so we have to be prepared for anything. The track itself is quite slow, which is a pity as I think there was space to make some faster sections as well, but we will take everything as it comes and just do our best as always, with the simple aim of improving our position in the championships. It’s the same for everybody.”

Timmy Hansen [Championship Standings: 5th place - 59 points]
“While Silverstone is nothing like any of the other tracks we’ve raced on, we’ve been quick in Barcelona, Montalegre and Mettet – which are all very different to each other – so there’s no reason to think that we can’t be quick in Silverstone too and fight for the win. The key thing I think will be to find good traction out of all the slow corners. We’ll see what the circuit is like when we get there – hopefully in a bit better condition to when we were there before – but the main thing is that it should be a really cool weekend with the Festival as well, so I think everyone will have a good time. I’m looking forward to getting there.”

Kevin Hansen - Independent Driver [Championship Standings: 12th place - 26 points]
“I’ve only tested at the Silverstone circuit, but I can say that it’s certainly very different to anything else: it’s very technical with most of the corners taken in second gear. The start-finish straight is really the only place where you get to open the car up a bit: the rest is mainly 90-degree corners and hairpin bends. I really enjoy the challenge of mastering different circuits though and I feel that I’ve learned a lot this year – about myself as well – so I’ll be walking into Silverstone with a big smile on my face! I’ve come close but not quite had the results I wanted so far: I think Silverstone could mark a real turning point. With another new circuit coming up later this year, at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, Silverstone will be an interesting learning opportunity for all of us about how to tackle a new venue.”

Niclas Grönholm: "I’m confident and I’m sure we can put in a good performance in Great Britain"

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco Team

The World RX of Great Britain will be raced on a brand new circuit comprising 60% dirt and 40% asphalt. At 972 metres long, it is the shortest track so far this season. 

“We were unable to take part in pre-season testing at Silverstone, unlike our rivals. They’ll have a slight advantage over us in that respect," said Grönholm. "However, I’m confident and I’m sure we can put in a good performance in Great Britain." 

Grönholm started from the back in Semi-Final 1 at the World RX of Belgium and finished in fourth place, but that was not good enough to earn him a spot in the final. 

"Our results weren’t satisfactory in Belgium but we’re heading in the right direction. We are gaining confidence in the car but it can be tough against the factory teams," says Grönholm. "Obviously the aim is a place in the final and, before that, to qualify for the semi-finals, at the front of the grid if possible to give us the best possible chance of a good result.”

Timur Timerzyanov receives VISA to race at the World RX of Great Britain.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco Team.

Timur Timerzyanov is raring to go racing after securing a visa to participate in round 4 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Silverstone this weekend. 

Earlier this week Timur said: “I’m a bit worried at the moment as I’m not sure I’ll be able to compete in the race. I’m still waiting for my visa. We hope it’ll all work out and I can take to the Silverstone track."

Timur took to Twitter yesterday saying: "Good news! I got UK Visa and in a hurry to Silverstone!!! See you there!"

Last time out in Belgium, Timerzyanov made it into the second semi-final and finished sixth after a spin and a spin at the start. 

Timur is now looking forward to the race weekend ahead. "I feel ready and am raring to go! The British round has always been a tough one for me, but this is a brand new track," said Timerzyanov." 

"It’s a chance for a fresh start, even though we’re at a slight disadvantage, not having been able to take part in the pre-season test sessions. We’ll still do our utmost to get the result we want," he adds.

PREVIEW: 2018 Cooper Tires World RX of Great Britian

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media

The FIA World Rallycross Championship ventures to pastures new this weekend (25-27 May) with the series’ first-ever visit to the iconic Silverstone Circuit for Cooper Tires World RX of Great Britain, round four of the 2018 season.

The first international rallycross event to take place at the ‘Home of British Motor Racing’, the race weekend sits at the heart of the much-anticipated Speedmachine festival, which will combine phenomenal world championship racing with headline live music, Esports, drifting and the unique opportunity for attendees to get behind the wheel of a performance car and drive the world-famous Silverstone Formula 1 circuit.

Set against the backdrop of the Silverstone’s landmark Wing building, the brand new track – purpose-built for World RX – has been designed to ensure spectators don’t miss a moment of the racing from its viewing spots. 

Cooper Tires World RX of Great Britain boasts a capacity Supercar entry of 25 drivers, including three homegrown racers in Andrew Jordan, Mark Higgins and Oliver Bennett.

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson leads the World RX points race heading to Silverstone but faces a renewed challenge from Sebastien Loeb, who scored his and Team Peugeot Total’s first win of the 2018 season last time out in Belgium to close the leading margin to nine points. Petter Solberg is a further point behind in third position, ahead of EKS Audi Sport pairing Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekstrom, while Timmy Hansen in the second factory Peugeot follows. After three rounds, only 16 points cover the top six drivers.

In addition to the 15 permanent drivers, ten round-by-round entries will take to the start at Silverstone. Local favourite Jordan makes his latest World RX of Great Britain appearance at the wheel of an MJP Racing Team Austria Ford Fiesta, the 2013 British Touring Car Champion eyeing a repeat of his hugely popular podium finish on home soil in 2014. 

Three-time British Rally Champion Higgins is set for his World RX debut in an Albatec Racing Peugeot 208 having made the switch to rallycross this year, while Bennett in the XITE Racing MINI Cooper S makes his third World RX outing of the year in front of his home fans.

Ma Qing Hua will write history as the first Chinese driver to start a World RX event driving a second Team Stard Ford Fiesta entry, while current European champion Anton Marklund appears in his eponymous Marklund Motorsport VW Polo alongside 2015 European champion Tommy Rustad in a sister Marklund – HTB Racing machine. 

Former British Rallycross Champion Ollie O’Donovan flies the flag for Ireland in a Ford Fiesta, while Frenchman Herve “Knapick” Lemonnier returns to World RX action in a Citroen DS3 and Hungary’s Tamas Karai competes in a Karai Motorsport Audi A1.

Andrew Jordan, MJP Racing Team Austria, said: "I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of one of these brilliant 600BHP beasts this weekend and do my country proud in the first-ever World RX event to take place at Silverstone. Together with Speedmachine, it’s going to be a very special weekend and I’m sure fans are going to absolutely love it! I’m confident myself and MJP Racing Team Austria can really take the fight to the World RX regulars this weekend and give the home fans something to cheer about!"

World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy commented: “We are immensely proud to bring World RX to such a world-class facility as Silverstone for the first time and to do so with a capacity entry list brimming with rallycross talent should make for fantastic racing. Few venues in motorsport are as iconic or historic as Silverstone, so to be competing here on an all-new rallycross circuit purpose-built for this event is a hugely exciting moment for the championship. Moreover, we’re delighted to be launching Speedmachine here. We set out with the intention of creating a new kind of festival that appeals to every type of event-goer, whether they’re seeking high-quality sport, live entertainment or exhilarating activities, all with world championship motorsport at its heart. We're also delighted to launch ARX this weekend at Silverstone and especially pleased to give European fans a rare chance to see the mighty Subaru Rally Team USA and Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross teams in action. It is going to be a truly unforgettable weekend.”

Americas Rallycross Championship (ARX)
The all-new Americas Rallycross Championship will make its debut at Silverstone. The new series features many of the world’s foremost rallycross stars, including drivers Tanner Foust and Scott Speed along with other big draw contenders Patrik Sandell, Chris Atkinson, David Higgins, Liam Doran, and Timo Scheider. Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross and Subaru Rally Team USA will look to bring their national success overseas, giving European fans a rare opportunity to see their cars and drivers.  The ARX Champion of Speedmachine will be crowned live on the ARX Rallycross Facebook page, free to air for all viewers. 

RX2 International Series 
The closely-contested RX2 series continues at Silverstone following a dramatic season-opener in Belgium where Ben-Philip Gundersen claimed victory. Gundersen leads the championship battle from Vasiliy Gryazin and Sondre Evjen. British champion Nathan Heathcote will seek a strong result on home soil after a tough opening round saw his weekend end with a roll in Q4.

SOURCE: FIA World Rallycross Media

2018 Monaco GP: Team Members' Press Conference.

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Zak BROWN (McLaren), Christian HORNER (Red Bull Racing), Toto WOLFF (Mercedes), Frédéric VASSEUR (Sauber)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Zak, if we could start with you, please. there’s been a lot of McLaren news in recent days, most of it financial, so can you tell us what’s going on?

Zak BROWN: Yeah, we’ve had some great. We’ve had Mr Latifi, who had invested in McLaren Group, which is fantastic. We’re a very fast-growing company, both our automotive business, of course our Formula 1 and racing efforts, as well as our applied technologies business, so great to have Mr Latifi as part of our shareholder group. And then, announced this morning, is a new partnership with FxPro, which is going to be sponsoring our team and there are a couple more yet to come out this weekend, so it has been a good week.

What impact will Mr Latifi’s shareholding have on the racing team specifically?
ZB: Ultimately his investment goes into McLaren Group, so the board and the shareholder will ultimately decide where they want to invest that money. I presume it will ultimately be sprinkled into all three business in some way, shape or form and Formula 1 obviously has a big thirst for expenditure to try to keep up with the teams here to the left of me that have a larger budget, so I’m sure some will go towards investing in our racing team but also developing our road car and our technology business.

And what will it mean for the drivers in the F1 team. Will there be pressure to put Nicholas Latifi, son of new shareholder Michael, in the car in the future?

ZB: No, it’s never been a discussion. He’s doing quite well in Formula 2. At McLaren we’re always looking for the best drivers we can get. He’s doing a good job but it’s never been part of the conversation.

Thank you. Christian, there was a lot of pre-race hype surrounding Red Bull, and it seems justified after the first free practice session, with your cars first and second. How do you view this weekend, do you view it as your biggest chance so far?

Christian HORNER: Firstly, it’s only Thursday morning, so it doesn’t mean too much, but what we can say is that the circuit is very quick this year. The re-surfacing has definitely improved lap time and the cars are circulation close to 1.5s faster than this time last year, so that’s encouraging. Both drivers seem reasonably comfortable in the car. But as we’ve seen, Saturday has been our weakness throughout the season. We’ve always had a strong race car, but Saturday is where we’ve tended to struggle, at the business end of qualifying. But hopefully with the shorter straights here and with this circuit layout, it offers us our best qualifying chance of the season.

You’ve got a lot on your plate, looking ahead, with both an engine and a driver still to decide upon for 2019. Are they interlinked? Does the identity of next year’s engine impact on your ability to keep Daniel Ricciardo?

CH: No, not really. Daniel is fully aware that we are wanting to make the best choices for the future regarding the power unit, to put us in the most competitive position we can possibly be in, and of course that is absolutely in his interest. So, during the next month or so engine things will probably pretty much come to a head and then drivers will inevitably follow on from that.

Drivers do tend to think shorter term than race team though, don’t they?
CH: Yes and no. I think Daniel has been with Red Bull for a long time now. He’s aware of the capability of the group and the team and he is very comfortable in the team. So once the engine scenario is sorted I think things will move reasonably quickly.

In percentage terms, how confident are you of keeping him?
CH: It’s always difficult to put a number on these things. But we’re very, very happy with Daniel. He does a great job in the team, he’s a popular member of the team and there is a desire for us to retain him for next year.

Sixty per cent?
CH: That’s your number.

OK, thank you Christian. While we’re talking about drivers, perhaps let’s move on to Fred. You’ve worked with a lot of young drivers in your career, so tell us a little bit about Charles Leclerc. How impressed have you been by him this year?

Frédéric VASSEUR: For sure, he is doing a very good start of the season, but it is very difficult also to compare from 2018 to 2006 or ’07 and you don’t have to do this kind of exercise. He is on the learning curve for sure. If you have a look at the start of the season he struggled a little bit on the first two events and then he made a good step from Shanghai or Baku, but still a lot to do. I think he is very focused on the next events and he avoids to be focused on the future and that is a good thing.

You mention China there, did he change something on the car or did he change his driving style, because that seems to be the breakthrough race for him?

FV: From an external point of view you have a big change after China, but it was not really the case. A small mistake at one stage of the race could change completely the situation. He did a very good first stint in China before the spin and I think the pace was already there. In Melbourne he did also a good race. The method is just to put everything together at the same stage. There is a huge step between Formula 2 and Formula 1 and step by step he is managing the situation.

We haven’t spoken to you in this forum previously this year. Can you tell us a bit about the car, the C37? How good is it and the improvements from last year to this year, is it solely the engine? How pleased are you with the chassis?

FV: I hope it’s not only the engine, thanks! No, the fact is we’re pushing like hell, but for sure the process is a long one. We have a huge inertia on the system, on the chassis side, it’s very difficult to recruit and when we identify someone they don’t want to give the green light – thanks to you – but step by step we are improving. I think on the chassis side we made a good step also, not only on the engine, but it will take time. But we know exactly what we want to achieve.

Toto, Monaco was your bogey track last year. Have you seen enough evidence this morning that you’ve overcome the problems from last year? How’s it going?

Toto WOLFF: Thursday morning was very good for us last year too. In terms of pure lap time we were the fastest car out there. But we started the weekend in a tricky place – the set-up didn’t make a lot of sense, but the lap time was quick – so we got a little bit lost through the weekend. We know what happened. But the fundamental issue, that you can see certain cars perform circuits, remains and this hasn’t been one of our top circuits in the past.

The drivers said yesterday that you are better prepared for this race this year. What have you done differently?

TW: We have understood what happened last year in terms of set-up. We have improved our simulation tools and I think we know our weaknesses. We will be trying to put the car in a place where we can extract the maximum performance it is able to deliver around Monaco.

Lewis said yesterday that he is not in a hurry to sign his new contract. Is that feeling mutual?

TW: It’s a funny situation because we have been discussing for a long time. We get together and sort things out and then get busy in our daily operation jobs – us on the team side and Lewis on his preparation. It shows that we have great confidence in each other; nobody is pressuring each other. We haven’t set a fixed date where we want to announce but I can tell you that I don’t see a reason why this shouldn’t be happening.

When will it become a priority for you?

TW: It is in the process of just closing. There is a bit of an email ping-pong on details. I don’t want to set a date because then you will be asking me why, why hasn’t it been done, but maybe we choose one of the nice grands prix in the future, in the next couple of months.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Toto and Christian, Ferrari is an immediate competitor for your respective teams. There have been some rumblings in the background leading up to this race about the processes they may or may not be engaging in on the energy recovery side. I just wanted to know your respective understandings are of the situation, and how happy you are with the actions that appears to have been met by the FIA this weekend?

CH: We’re not an engine supplier, so maybe Toto can answer more on the engine specifics but there have obviously been some rumours that no doubt you guys are cottoning onto as well. I’m sure that the FIA have all the competence to be able to able to measure, administer and look at the car that’s presented for scrutineering and during a grand prix weekend, and of course it’s the team’s obligation to ensure that that happens. I think the FIA are probably the best people to point that question at.

TW: Yes, Christian is absolutely right. We have legality topics come up regularly. Some are more controversial but it's the daily business of the FIA to check what the teams do. It is the obligation of the teams to comply with the regulations and this is an ongoing process. I have great confidence with whatever issues are coming up, be it on the engine or the chassis, the FIA has been on top of it a lot. And as far as I understand this is a process that’s taking place as we speak and we will see what the outcome is.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines / racefans.net) Fred, on that topic, it’s no secret that you obviously get your power unit and energy storage etcetera from Ferrari. I believe that from FP1 this morning, Ferrari have had an additional piece of hardware built into their car at the FIA’s insistence to check whether they are running anything. Have you had to add anything to your car at all?

FV: No. I’m not aware this kind of thing, that we have just to deal with the engine we have into the car, and I trust Ferrari on this point. I don’t care about the situation.

Q: (Jerome Pugmire – AP) Question for Toto. Lewis was saying yesterday that he’s in no hurry to sign. Today you’re saying there’s no date set. Seems to be a bit of confusion about when this is going to happen. Is it a case that Lewis can decide when he wants?

TW: No. This is, as I said, a pretty normal procedure, that you talk to each other and you negotiate in a completely normal procedure, similar to what happens in some of the other teams. I mean, Daniel’s and Christian’s situation is maybe similar. This is work in progress and we see no hurry to pressurise each other into signing a document that will eventually anyway happen. I don’t know what he said yesterday but we’ve had very good conversations and there is no desire for him to leave the team and we have no desire for us to lose him.

Zak, this might be a question that we could put in your direction as well regarding Fernando Alonso.

ZB: Well, I think our situation is the same as everyone’s. It’s a little early in the season. Of course, we’re all talking to our drivers, probably talking to each other’s drivers to a certain extent up and down the pitlane. I think that we’re now back in Europe, it’s usually around the summer time that things start really taking shape as far as our conversations with Fernando. Just like last year, we decided to wait ‘til about the summertime and I think Fernando will let us know what he wants to do here pretty soon.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / Speed Sport) Zak, a two-part question. In the short term, where do things stand with a title sponsor and in the longer term, where does the group stand with having maybe more shareholders?

ZB: More shareholders would be decided by the shareholders. I’m not aware of any conversations going on in that sense, I think everything’s quite settled and everyone’s quite happy with the shareholder makeup that we have. Then, as far as title sponsor goes, y’know, we’ve got a great commercial team that is trying to find partners, as does every Formula One team, every day. I wish I had a crystal ball to predict exactly when that will come on board – but we’re making good progress, we’ve brought on four or five partners, which I believe is more than any other team at this point, in the off-season. So I think, happy with the progression that we’ve made, and we announced yet another one this morning. We’ll just keep going: you can never have enough partners in Formula One.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To all but Mercedes. In your minds, is Lewis still available – or is it such a done deal that he’s going to stay at Merc, that that’s that?

CH: Well, I can only imagine that a delay can only involve money. And I should think it’s such a grotesque amount of money that Toto’s talking about, it probably is what’s making his and Niki’s eyes water at the moment. So, yeah, he’s got an expensive lifestyle. He’s a four-time world champion and I doubt he’s cheap. I can only envisage that that’s probably got something to do with the delay.

Zak?
ZB: I’d be very surprised if Lewis wasn’t in a Mercedes next year. So I’m of the view that it’s just a matter of time before until the arm-wrestling… someone wins. But I think Lewis will be in a Mercedes next year.

Fred?
FV: I trust Lewis and Toto and I think they will continue together.

Where do you think Charles Leclerc will be next year?
FV: I hope with us. They look very happy with their respective drivers. I will do the same.

Q: (Matthew Marsh – Fox Sports Asia) Question to Zak. We’ve been delighted to see Gil de Ferran in the paddock the last couple of races. Can you clarify his role with the team?

ZB: Gil’s a good friend of McLaren, we have brought him on as an advisor to McLaren. We want him to help with our young drivers. We are looking at some other forms of motorsport, most notably Indycar is under review – he obviously has great history there, having owned a team, won the Indy500 – and generally is a great racer that knows his way around a garage, and so any expertise he has that he can volunteer to help us improve, we’re very open-minded to that. So you’ll see him around: in Detroit at the Indycar race in a couple of weeks’ time and around our Formula One garage often.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Zak, with reference to Michael Latifi, you called it exceedingly good news, or very good news – yet your group kept his identity hidden behind a BVI – British Virgin Islands – entity until we revealed it. Is that sort of opacity any good for a company like McLaren? And second, after his investment, what is the shareholder breakdown now of the Group please?

ZB: Shareholder breakdown is, I believe, published, so anyone that’s interested in that can look that up accordingly. And any time you have, whether it’s a sponsor announcement, a driver announcement, an investor announcement, you have a time in place in which you hope to announce that and you did a good job in getting ahead of that story. So that news was going to come out in due course. We chose to accelerate that news after the word got out.

Q: (Agris Lauzinieks - Kapitals) A question to the whole panel: how disappointing is it for you to have grid girls this weekend on the track and do you feel that if they wanted to, they should be at other races too?

FV: I’m not very disappointed to have the grid girls back. I think that at the end of the day it’s up to the track also to decide if they want to put grid girls on the grid. I think it’s a good move.

TW: I think if you ask five people you will have eight opinions on grid girls. I think it was not discriminatory at all, it was part of the history of Formula One. It has become sponsorship property, thinking about Emirates or Heineken and not to have Hawaiian Tropic girls we remember 30 years ago. So I’m happy to see them back on the grid in Monaco.

CH: Well, the girls here I think are provided by TAG Heuer, our partner, for this weekend and I think it’s a subject that has obviously raised huge debate across different spectrums. To be honest with you, I think the girls make a welcome return this weekend. I think that it’s something that should be open to all categories, so some races will choose to have grid kids, others will have mixed grids and I think that so long as it’s done in an appropriate manner, then it’s ultimately down to the promotor.

ZB: I don’t really have anything to add beyond what my three other team bosses have added on the topic.

Q: (Louis Dekker – NOS) Can you tell me your first impression of the hypersoft; will it change the outcome of the race? Or will it just be another tyre?

ZB: I landed about 30 minutes ago so I’ve not had my debriefing yet so I don’t have a view yet.

CH: It’s certainly the softest of the Pirelli suite of tyres and there’s quite a jump between that and the next compound. I think probably what you’ll see is as the circuit rubbers in with all the cars running around and the Formula One mileage that goes in over the next few days that by the time raceday comes, that tyre will probably be absolutely fine. It’s a very low degradation circuit around here, there’s no big inertia corners so that’s why, compared to other circuits, we’re running at the softest level of the Pirelli compounds.

TW: In the morning the jump was quite big. We have been running the hypersoft and the ultrasoft and it was more than a second between the tyres. We have seen quite some deg which was expected on the hyper; you could see that on the other team, Ferrari, running it. We observed that Red Bull had a different run plan but as Christian said, the circuit is going to rubber in and the picture could change over the next three days. I find the tyre exciting. With the new asphalt and these cars and the hypersoft, the lap times are going to be absolutely mind-blowing.

FV: Yeah, the gap with hyper was probably the biggest one in Barcelona last winter and I think it’s the same today but we will have also to have a look at this during the weekend because the track will have a huge grip evolution, it will completely change the system. We will see on Saturday.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, RaceFans.net) Given the uncertainty of Formula One post-2020, how difficult is it to sign major deals such as drivers, engines, major sponsors etc?

CH: Well, we have a meeting tomorrow where hopefully a lot of detail will be put on the table as to what Liberty’s next steps are. They need to be responsible steps, because some of the things like budget caps involve literally thousands of jobs through teams and suppliers and sub-contractors. It’s certainly heavy in the UK. But we’re waiting with interest. It will be interesting to see what the next stage of that roll-out is.

TW: Highly complex matter because the cost cap or potential cost cap… it’s about technical regulations, revenue distribution so there’s multiple balls in the air which you need to catch and insofar I hope also that the meeting tomorrow is productive, so we understand more and can act accordingly.

FV: No. I think that we had our first meeting in Bahrain and the meeting tomorrow morning is an important one. We need to have clarification on the different points and it will be the start of a new era but we need to move forwards quickly, also for F1, I think.

ZB: Well, I think the question was around the difficulty of signing drivers, sponsors and making engine decisions, so everything the guys to the left of me mentioned as far as addressing how you’re going to run a team is all accurate and we need to know pretty soon and definitely to be able to respond accordingly but as far as signing up sponsor partners, they all know Formula One’s going to be here in 2021 and under the direction of the sport, should be more competitive, should be higher fan engagement so I think sponsors are excited about the future direction of the sport. I think drivers either want to drive in Formula One or not so I don’t hear any drivers contemplating whether they want to drive in the new era of Formula One and then maybe engines because that isn’t yet defined. That may be the one area that’s a bit difficult, sitting here today, to make decisions on because I’m not sure every engine manufacturer is definitively committed for 2021 so that would be the one area that would be difficult to maybe make a decision on today, but I think we have to have faith that everything is going to go in the right direction and the sport’s only going to get more exciting so I don’t see anyone leaving.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Fred, I believe Marcus and Charles have a new combustion, turbo and MGU-H for this weekend. Is that just for reliability reasons to freshen up after the first five races or is it related to a performance step, a spec two from Ferrari?

FV: No, we are sticking to the plan that… it was planned from the beginning we will change the engine for Monaco. It’s a performance update like as planned.

Q: (Maximilian Wendl – Mannheimer Morgen) For many drivers this is a special track, Monte Carlo. How special is it for you and what is special in Monaco for you team bosses?

TW: Monaco is the signature track, I would say, for Formula One. It’s a street, city circuit, very difficult to drive these cars around here and the environment is very special. It’s glamorous, it represents – for me summer represents Formula One like it was in the old days and it’s good that we are keeping to the tradition in racing in Monte Carlo.

CH: Yeah, look, I mean all the races have the same points, but this one just means that little bit more, the history. I think this is the 76th Grand Prix this year and to win this race is something very very special. You know working conditions have changed dramatically over the last ten years here. We’ve seen another step up this year with the pit complex which is hugely impressive. So it’s got its uniqueness, it’s got its challenges. Obviously it’s a track that is probably the hardest on the calendar to overtake at. It’s probably the most expensive hotel room you’ll have all year but it epitomises Formula One and as Toto says, there’s a huge amount of history surrounding this event.

ZB: Yeah, I don’t have a lot to add, other than that it is certainly the most prestigious race on the Formula One calendar. Other racing series, whether it’s the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports cars, the Indianapolis 500 or in NASCAR the Daytona 500, each racing series has its most famous event that I think any driver… if you kind of said pick one race to win other than maybe their home race it would be Monte Carlos so it’s always great to race here.

FV: It’s probably one of the most exciting races throughout the world, not only in Formula One and the test for the winner is also a particular one. Even if you only score 25 points like everywhere else, the test is particular. Also because I think it’s more driver related than everywhere else so for them it’s an exciting challenge.

TW: Bernie’s place in Paul Ricard is more expensive than the hotels here.

Source: FIA,com

Americas Rallycross to be launched at Silverstone

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross

The all-new Americas Rallycross Championship (ARX) will make its debut at Silverstone as part of the Speedmachine festival from 25-27 May 2018.

The new series will feature some of the world’s foremost rallycross stars, including drivers Tanner Foust and Scott Speed along with other big draw contenders Patrik Sandell, Chris Atkinson, David Higgins, Liam Doran, and Timo Scheider. 

Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross and Subaru Rally Team USA will look to bring their national success overseas beginning with free practice on Friday, 25 May. Four qualifying rounds, followed by the semi-finals and a final will be held across Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 May. The ARX Champion of Speedmachine will be crowned live on the ARX Rallycross Facebook page, free to air for all viewers. 

Cooper Tires will be the Official Tire Partner of ARX, and will supply the same high-quality tires that they provide for the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

Paul Bellamy, IMG’s Senior Vice President for Motorsports said: “With a fantastic line up of teams and drivers, this weekend’s inaugural round of ARX promises to be a highlight of our Speedmachine festival. We are incredibly excited to welcome the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross and Subaru Rally teams to Silverstone, and look forward to seeing them line up for the start of the new Championship. With Hoonigan Racing Division’s Ken Block and Steve Arpin also entering the future rounds of ARX, it’s going to be fascinating series right to the end.

INFORMATION and IMAGES - FIA World Rallycross Media

Multi-Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris to headline concert at the World RX of USA

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross

The FIA World Rallycross rights holders, IMG have today announced that multi-Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris will be the headlining performer on Saturday, September 29, at the FIA World Rallycross Championship held at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. 

Tickets, starting at $30, are currently on sale for the full weekend (29-30 September) and available for purchase at www.WorldRXUSA.com.

With album sales of more than 20 million in the US alone, iconic Atlanta rapper, actor, and philanthropist Ludacris emerged 18 years ago with the release of his debut album, Back for the First Time. He went on to become one of the most influential Southern rappers in the history of the genre, with four of his albums reaching the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart. Also a critically-acclaimed actor, Ludacris has appeared in countless television shows and films, including his recurring role in the Fast and the Furious franchise. He has earned multiple Grammys and BET Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award during his career.

World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy commented: “The first World RX of USA will be all about fantastic entertainment at incredible value for money. For just $30 event-goers will experience truly spectacular motorsport action along with the opportunity to see a global music superstar perform. With VIP packages now available offering exclusive access, World RX of USA is an event not to be missed.”

The much-anticipated World RX of USA speeds into COTA from September 29-30 for what will be the spectacular World Rallycross Championship’s first-ever visit to the United States. Signaling the tenth round of the 12-event season, the immensely popular series pits some of motor sport’s most accomplished racers against one another in a series of fast-paced, high-octane mixed-surface races.

On a new track purpose-built for rallycross and incorporating sections of the globally-acclaimed Circuit of The Americas layout, as used by the FIA Formula 1 World Championship and FIM MotoGP World Championship, fans will be treated to a packed weekend of racing, including action from the brand-new Americas Rallycross Championship (ARX) starring superstar racers Scott Speed and Tanner Foust.

Tickets for World RX of USA are on sale now and available at www.WorldRXUSA.com. Guests can also purchase VIP tickets, which include Premium Grandstand seating, access to an open-air VIP lounge, and more exclusives. For more information, please visit: www.worldrxusa.com/vip. All tickets purchased for the weekend grant access to the post-race concert. 

For more information on World RX of USA at Circuit of The Americas, please visit: www.circuitoftheamericas.com

CONTENT BY - FIA World Rallycross

EKS Audi Sport aim to strike back in Silverstone

PHOTO CREDIT: Audi Sport 

EKS Audi Sport heads off to Silverstone in England for the next round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, where the most difficult jump of the year awaits the Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekström.

Silverstone is regarded as “Home of British Motor Racing” since 1947 and is one of the world’s most traditional race tracks. A new 0.972 kilometer track comprised of 40 percent tarmac and 60 percent gravel was created for the World Rallycross Championship between the Formula 1 paddock and the famous Hangar Straight. 

“The corners are not so exciting,” says Ekström. “But the artificial jump could decide the outcome of a race. It is the biggest and most difficult of the year.” 

Normally jumps are taken at full throttle in rallycross. In this case the driver must regulate the speed well so as not to jump too high. “It’s extremely difficult to adjust the speed correctly for the jump,” said Ekström.

Mattias Ekström set the fastest time (41.601s) during the official pre-season test at Silverstone. While his teammate Andreas Bakkerud completed the third fastest time in the test (42.059s). 

“I’ve already driven there in a national rallycross race as well and have a good feeling,” said Bakkerud. “After having narrowly missed the podium on several occasions at the recent events it’s high time to spray champagne again. It’s crystal clear that we aim to strike back in Silverstone!”