Friday 6 September 2019

2019 Italian GP: FIA Team Principals' Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com
TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Claire WILLIAMS (Williams), Franz TOST (Toro Rosso), Mattia BINOTTO (Ferrari), Mario ISOLA (Pirelli), Aldo COSTA (Mercedes)

Q: Question to all of you to start with. There was confirmation this week that the Italian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar for at least another five years. How important is it to for the sport to retain races and tracks like this one?

Mattia BINOTTO: Obviously we are very happy with the announcement at first because the Italian Grand Prix – and we believe this obviously as Ferrari but for the sport and the fans – having one race in Italy is key. Fundamental. We’ve celebrated this season the 90th season of Scuderia Ferrari but as well the 90th year of the Italian Grand Prix – so it is something which is part of the F1 history and we cannot miss it.

Franz?
Franz TOST: I think it’s very important and really good news that Monza stays in the calendar because, as we all know, Monza is an essential link to Formula 1, to the history of Formula 1 with highlights but also with tragedies. For me, Monza is one of the most important tracks regarding the history, like Silverstone – there should also be one race in Germany – like Monaco, Spa. These are the tracks where, in Europe we have to have races because the history matters to us.

Claire?
Claire WILLIAMS: I would totally agree with what everybody has said already. Monza is a historic race; the Italian Grand Prix should remain on Formula 1’s calendar. As much as it’s great to have all these new tracks we’re going to in lots of far-flung places across the world, Formula 1 having races remaining in its heartland is absolutely critical to our sport. It’s a wonderful track. The fans here are fantastic – as much as predominantly they’re Ferrari fans, I know there are a few Williams fans in the crowd as well, and that’s great. There’s nothing better than racing in places where you have so many fans turn up to cheer you on.

Mario?
Mario ISOLA: I cannot add a lot more. Monza is our real home race because the company is half an hour from here, so on top of the reasons mentioned by them, I fully agree. It’s feeling at home, it’s great for the fans, great for everybody, so happy to have Monza in the calendar for a long time.

Feeling at home – stay at home as well?
MI: Yes, sleeping at home, not at a hotel. Fantastic.

Aldo?
Aldo COSTA: I can give you the petrolhead answer. It has been my first circuit as a fan, where to see a Formula 1 race, and then, yeah, career has developed with Minardi, Ferrari, Mercedes, a lot of memories. It has been an incredible story around this circuit, and I’m very happy that it will be kept for the future.

Q: Staying with you, Aldo, news broke today that you’re joining Dallara next year. Can you just tell us why you’ve made that change, and tell us about the new role as well?
AC: Yes. It has been, of course, a difficult decision. I have spent, until now, eight years in England at Mercedes and it has been really a fantastic experience: a fantastic experience with the people, with the team. In the team you should see which harmony is there and how great is working for the team. Unfortunately my family stayed in Italy and for us it was quite tough, and at the end, I decided to take an opportunity that will allow me to further develop as an engineer and, in the meantime, to stay closer to home. So, coming back to my land and try to develop the Dallara Group to the next step, and try to develop new talents – something that I love. And, I love as well, working on different cars and not only Formula 1. So, fantastic opportunity combined with a different lifestyle and yeah, was a perfect choice for me.

Q: Eight years at Mercedes, as you say, but more than 30 years in Formula One. How do you reflect on your career so far – your Formula 1 career?
AC: yeah, it has been amazing. I have done three big, long cycles. This is what I like. Minardi; Ferrari; Mercedes: building up a team; building up an organisation; building up processes; building up design capabilities. So, yeah, it has been a career, wonderful for me and a lot of nice memories in all the three environments. And now, yeah, I’m starting the fourth long cycle – I hope.

Q: Franz, you spoke last weekend about how you were going to manage Pierre Gasly on his return to Toro Rosso. So, how do you assess his performance at Spa?
FT: He showed in Spa a very, very good race. A very good performance. I think that Pierre is back underway and he will also come up with good results – hopefully here in Monza as well and I am quite positive. Unfortunately here he has to start from the back of the grid because we change the power unit on his car but nevertheless – and Daniil showed it last week in Spa – it’s possible as well, scoring points and starting at the back of the grid. He gets more and more familiar with the car. The team, he knew already. There’s nothing special. And he is making the progress which we expected.

Q: Monza hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Toro Rosso in the last few years – in the hybrid era. Pierre is at the back but what you do you think you can achieve this weekend with that car?
FT: It depends which weather it is. If it’s wet, I think we’ve a good chance because Daniil was quite happy today with the car and the wet conditions. I hope that we can show this performance as well under dry conditions as it looks like tomorrow – Saturday – will be dry but Sunday could be wet. If we get the set-up together, especially from the aerodynamic side, I think that we are quite competitive because, with the Step 4 engine from Honda, we made a step forward, and therefore I don’t think that we have any disadvantage.

Q: Claire, coming onto you, while we’re talking about performance, we saw your team take a step forward in Hungary a couple of races ago. What can we expect from you this weekend on a very different type of circuit?
CW: I think probably similar levels of performance to that which you saw in Spa. These circuits are particularly penalising when you’ve got quite a lot of drag on car, which unfortunately we do at the moment. So, it’s going to probably be another tough weekend for both George and Robert. I think, probably, long run pace in Spa was better than we expected it to be. The guys had a vaguely decent race. They were able to fight with somebody else rather than just themselves. But, again, Sunday’s going to be difficult for us. Maybe depending on the weather, we might be able to capitalise, is there’s a bit more of a lottery going on – but I think we’re probably more looking forward to Singapore than racing on Sunday afternoon here.

Q: And where are you at in your understanding of this year’s car? In terms of, do you understand the deficiencies enough to be able to implement the correct changes into next year’s car?
CW: I think we’re probably pretty – very – clear on where the deficiencies are. We need more downforce, we need less drag. And obviously the aerodynamics team are working really hard on that. As you all know, we bought a significant package to Germany. We’re still trying to capture a lot of data to truly understand how much that performance did bring for us – and we continue to bring test items to each and every race to dial out some of the issues that we have across other issues that we’re facing at the moment around some of the mechanical areas on the cars. So, we’re doing all of that. We’ve got a very clear pathway moving forwards. A lot of that work will continue to ensure we improve this year’s chassis but also so that we bring performance items this year that will have an impact on the FW43 – the 2020 car.

Q: Mario, coming to you. It’s the Temple of Speed this weekend. The cars exceed 200mph on four occasions around the lap here at Monza. How do those speeds affect tyre performance?
MI: Yes, Monza is a circuit where you need a lot of traction, where you need to protect the rear tyres. There is not a lot of downforce on the cars because they need the speed, so there is an additional stress on the tyres, I believe. We have a good  tyre choice, then a lot will be on weather, because the weather forecast is, for the moment, on a wet race, and maybe we will see a lap record tomorrow in qualifying. That should be dry – but I think it’s not easy for the teams to understand the weather this weekend, so the stress on the tyres is quite high – but more on that is how to understand the condition of the circuit.

Q: Now, looking further ahead than this weekend, big week for you next week when you begin testing the 18-inch tyres with Renault at Paul Ricard. Can you just enlighten us a little bit more about what the programme is for that test?
MI: Yeah. We are ready. We start with a baseline, obviously. The test will be more on construction. That is what happens usually, when you have a new size, a new challenge. I have not a clear idea what to expect. We started already the F2 tests with 18-inches. That is going quite well, so hopefully we have the same result with Formula 1. It’s obviously more… I don’t want to call it a ‘shakedown’, because we are going to test for two days and we have a programme that is quite big. We want to test different solutions to have a better idea. We have these three sessions to understand and assess the baseline for next year and then, obviously, we will have a full year of development next year to finalise. The challenge is big, as I’ve said many times, and happy and excited to start very soon.

Q: Mattia, wonderful celebration of Ferrari’s history on Wednesday evening in Milan. What was it like from your point of view – lots of former team-mates there?
Mattia BINOTTO: It was fantastic to see so many people there, our fans, the passion. The number of people, the guests, was very, very high. The entire square of the Piazza del Duomo was full of people. I think it was a great celebration, because firstly we hoped people would come after such a bad start to the season I would say, but then here it’s where you can really feel the passion of the tifosi of Ferrari. It was incredible. We had many drivers of Ferrari of the past. We got people who somehow had been part of the Ferrari history and I think to see all these people on the stage was something impressive. And from my personal point of view as well being there on the stage and to see so many people it is something that is giving you a boost of energy. After Spa as well it was a great way as well to somehow celebrate the very first victory of the season but certainly a big boost for this weekend as well here in Monza.

Q: Now talking of Spa, Sebastian spoke yesterday about his tyre difficulties. Are you able to explain why he suffered more than Charles in that race?
MB: Obviously after Belgium we did some analysis. I think at first we all had quite high degradation on the medium. That’s true not only for Ferrari but looking as well to our competitors. We believe the degradation was similar but unexpected at least for us that degradation was high on the medium compared to the soft. Obviously also we had a very early pit stop on Sebastian, so let’s say that he got a disadvantage on tyre degradation by the time he was on the track with the other guys on the same compound. Most of the difference between him and the others was simply tyre degradation and not his own pace. Obviously we had to pit him very soon to protect ourselves to Hamilton but that somehow as well put him in a bad position, trying to compete and be on the same pace as the others.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frédéric Ferret – l’Equipe) A question to Mattia. Is being the team principal of Ferrari as difficult as you were expecting and what kind of difficulties have you already met since you became the boss?
MB: I would say it is more enjoyable than what I was expecting, rather than difficult. The reason why it is enjoyable is because I think we have got a great team and a great team spirit and that is somehow giving to the team principal the right confidence and boost and again our tifosi, as I just mentioned before. I think these are circumstances where you may somehow play your role in a proper manner. I would not say difficult but certainly the pressure is there. The first part of the season has been difficult and somehow to manage the situation is never easy. It’s true with the fans, with the media and it’s true within the team. But somehow that will make us even stronger in the future by making sure that we have been able and capable of managing the start of this season.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines/racefans.net) To the four team representatives: Guenther Steiner this week in his team’s preview questioned the need for standardized or prescription parts and a budget cap – basically saying ‘don’t tell us how much money we can spend and then tell us how to spend it’. Would you agree with that?

CW: I think I’ve made Williams’ perspective on this very clear. We very much agree with the cost cap and you know standardization of part again all talks towards cost saving or cost efficiency in Formula 1 and again that’s something we are very much in favour of.

FT: I am also very much in favour of what the FIA and FOM suggest, what hopefully will come within the regulations and I think for me it’s clear and there is nothing more to say.

MB: What Guenther said is not, let me say, a new position for Ferrari since the very starts. We were arguing the standardisation at first because, as he said, there is a budget cap somehow to control the costs and whatever you may do at the end you may standardise but the budget cap, at least for the top teams, will be the level of expenditure for the season. We believe that standardisation may even be a risk for Formula 1 in the future, because at first you don’t know what is the reliability on standard parts at the very start. We had a situation as well, if we look back at F2 for example, on a standard clutch, for many races they simply had to start behind the safety car because the clutch was not reliable enough. So we may accept standardisation but we need to make sure at first that it is reliable, that the level of quality is the right one, that the level of performance is what you may expect for an F1. And more than that we need to make sure that we do not have extra indirect cost by simply developing a standard component. We believes that for most of the standard components that we are proposing currently for 2021, we will all needs to redesign our car, we will need somehow to make sure that whatever is the new component is properly functioning and that’s extra cost. That maybe it’s not costs that you have from 2021 onwards but it will be extra cost from now until 2021.

AC: We are in a similar position. We accept the cost cap. It is a measure that will for sure impact how our teams develops thing, as Ferrari, Red Bull for sure, I don’t know who else. So we accept the challenge. In terms of standardisation, the same concern Mattia was expressing. We need to make sure they are reliable. They will require a lot of redesign around, so we are not convinced that they will be a real cost reduction. The cost reduction can be negligible. But the cost cap will definitely be something quite big for the big teams.

Q: (Ian Parkes – New York Times) – A question for to the three team principals and Mario, if you have an opinion. When Michael Masi took over from the late Charlie Whiting he naturally had very big shoes to fill. He’s been in the role now for six months, so I just wondered if you could give me an idea of what you have come to expect from Michael and the role he has done so far?
MB: I think Michael is doing very well since Australia and if you look over the first races I don’t there have been, from a race director’s point of view, any mistakes or big mistakes. And as you said it has not been easy for him, obviously in Australia first, because it’s, let me say, with no advice he had to jump into the role. But since then he’s doing really a pretty good job and I’m really happy.

FT: I can only agree with Mattia said. Michael is doing a fantastic job because it was not easy for him because as you said they were big steps he had to go in and he fulfilled it and he is doing the best possible job he can do in this position and so far I would not say that the made any wrong decision we are quite happy with him.

CW: I don’t have much to add. I agree with what Mattia and Franz have said.

MI: I agree. Our position is probably slightly different compared to the teams. We are working with the FIA every day on many subjects. We have different reference people now. Obviously it’s difficult to replace Charlie and Michael has probably a slightly different role compared to Charlie – Charlie was a bit everywhere. He was our… I don’t want say unique reference, but every time we needed something we went to Charlie, and now in the FIA there is a slightly different organization so we have different people but I believe Michael is doing an excellent job.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) A question to Mattia and maybe Aldo as well if you feel you would like to comment. With what needs to be resolved with the 2021 rules, do you expect that it will be resolved within the time that has been set or do you think it could rumble on beyond that either by the bigger teams delaying it or by veto or anything like that?
MB: Well, by the end of October we need to vote and I’m pretty sure that regulations will somehow be somehow voted and accepted by that date. I think obviously the current effort is that when we come to the end of October we are in the best position in terms of compromise or agreement. But regs will be voted and obviously later as well, as they can still be discussed and eventually modified if we may find let me say at least if not unanimity but a majority on what can be the intent. I’m not expecting anything wrong by the end of October. It’s only a matter of collaborating as much as we can from now to there to have to have the first set of regulations which are as best as we can and continuing on them for the future.
AC: Nothing else to add.

Q: Franz or Claire anything you’d like to add?
FT: The major topics must be fixed until the end of October. This is what we agreed. We can’t delay it anymore, because discussions are going on without any results then. I think that currently the different working groups are doing good jobs. We have next week another meeting in Geneva where we hope we will fully decide some important things and as I said before the end of October it must fixed. Maybe afterwards there will be some small fine-tuning but the regulation must stand.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action, Speedsport) Claire, we all know how much Frank loves to be at the race track; he was at Spa, first time out of Britain at a race (sic). How much of a thrill was that for him and how much of a good medicine for him?
CW: Yeah, it’s always great when Frank’s at the track, I think not just for our team – our team thoroughly enjoy having him there. He is our leader, he is our inspiration and just to have him there gives everybody a really boost - but I think for a lot of people in the paddock as well who know Frank, I think they, as well, find it a real joy to have him around. Obviously because he can’t fly any more, Silverstone is invariably the one race that he can get to but we obviously saw how much he enjoyed being at Silverstone, put a plan in place to have him driven over to Spa and he loved the drive. If nothing else, it was great for him to get out of the office and it was great for him to be at the race track, I think. As everybody knows, Frank lives and breathes Formula One. As he says, this is his oxygen, it’s what keeps him going and I think if we can put a plan in place to bring him to more races by car then we will. I think he’s talking about driving to half the races next year. I think that means he’s going to have to set off pretty early for a lot of them. It’s great for him and I think it’s great for Formula One as well.

Q: (Andrew Benson – BBC Sport) Mattia, the Ferrari’s got a very different performance profile from the Mercedes this year and I think it’s fair to say it’s only competitive at certain types of tracks, so far, anyway. Is that something that’s going to continue for the rest of the year? Is it something that you can’t change without a philosophy change on the car? And are you doing a philosophy change on the car for next year?
MB: Certainly there is quite different characteristics or let’s say that as Ferrari we are certainly lacking in grip-limited areas and this is where we need to improve, and whenever we may got to circuits where there are a lot of corners and where grip-limited is important or maximum downforce will be required to be fast, we are certainly showing our main weakness. How we are addressing that by the end of this season? I don’t think so because the gap is too big in that area. Can we improve the situation? Certainly we are working to address it. And are we putting too much effort into this season or should we concentrate on next year? We are trying to address the issue. Being that the regulations are now stable from now to next year, we believe that whatever we may do this season will be useful for the next one. So yes, there is a gap, it will remain; hopefully we may close it.

Q: (Daniel Horvath – The Paddock Magazine) Claire you touched earlier on the improvements you are working on. That’s your view, how much of a re-set does the team need and what changes can we expect considering 2020?
CW: Yeah, there’s been a huge re-set at Williams which I’ve talked about a lot this year and a re-set invariably takes an inordinate amount of time and time that you wish could go a whole lot faster but we have put in a lot of change in the business and a lot of change that unfortunately a lot of people when they tune in on a Sunday afternoon, they don’t get to really see, but change does take time to bed its way in. But we’ve made those changes, we’ve made a lot of changes over nine months, not just to what we do from a performance perspective on the car but also to how we operate and function as a business, to make sure that Williams really is set up to be prosperous in the future and that’s been really important to us and something that we’ve put a huge amount of energy and time into. I think we’re starting to see the results of some of that work that we’ve done but it is a journey for us, this is going to take us a long time to get ourselves back into the midfield and I suppose we just keep asking for patience and for people not to expect that suddenly the light switch will come on and we will suddenly find ourselves back fighting for P4 and P5, particularly when you look at the competition out there at the moment. The guys ahead of us are doing a fantastic job and it’s up to us to keep taking that fight. And we will. The ambition at Williams is still there. The spirit within our team is probably stronger than it’s ever been. I think we’ve really galvanised our team this year into knowing, understanding what the vision, what the mission is for Williams moving forward and put a timeline in place so people know and understand what they’re working to and I think that’s probably a critical part of what we’ve been doing over the past few months at Williams. We’ve clearly still got some work to do on some personnel issues and we’ve obviously still got to find the performance and that’s the work that the guys across the engineering functions are working really hard on at the factory at the moment, and I’m just hoping that next year’s campaign is a whole lot more successful for us than this year’s one, because this is the second year of pain for Williams and we don’t want to find ourselves at the back of the grid next year. We’re doing everything to make sure that we don’t. Certainly ’21, hopefully, will be a whole lot brighter for us as we continue that campaign of work and then with the new regulations that we’re hoping will be signed off at the end of October will all contribute to making or putting Williams in a better place and giving us greater opportunity moving forward.

Q: (Thomas Maher – FormulaSpy.com) Claire, Jamie Chadwick is here this weekend. Can you outline more about what her role is here this weekend and over the next couple of months and whether there is the possibility we might see her maybe in some older Formula One machinery at some point?
CW: Yes, Jamie joins us tomorrow. She’s actually in an F3 test today. I hope I’m allowed to say that… She’s doing that today. She’ll join us – this is, I think, her third race weekend that she’s joined us at and it’s all part of the driver academy programme that we have in place at Williams, that we established this year and it’s working really well for us. It’s all about obviously taking young talent that we can find and helping develop them, but also for them to help Williams develop. Jamie has been an instrumental part in that this year and when she come to the races with us, when she’s trackside she shadows basically, she watches what’s going on in engineering briefings, she listens to the drivers, she obviously watches all the track action and she just learns how a Formula One weekend operates. I think she’s yet to announce her plans for 2020 but I know she’s got a lot of offers on the table, not surprising considering the job that she did in the W Series this year and just the personality that she has and the ambition and the drive that she has as well, I think it will take her a long way. As for our plans for Jamie, moving forward, we’re obviously working out what we’re going to be doing from a race driver perspective for 2020 at the moment, and once we’ve resolved that then we will start looking and thinking about the plans for the driver academy and who we have in there.

Q: (Luigi Perna – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Mattia, you planned to put your new power units back here in Monza. Did you use it already today and in this case is it working as you expected?
MB: Yeah, we used the new power already in FP1, that’s normally our normal way of proceeding so on the Friday to make sure everything is working properly and making sure that we are at least tuning the mapping in the best way for Saturday and qualifying and the race. Yes, so far so good. Obviously we had very little running this morning apart from in the wet which are quite different conditions compared to the top speed we may expect for the rest of the weekend and certainly for tomorrow but yeah, we’re all good.

Q: (Davide Russo – NewsF1.it) Mattia, it’s your first time here as Ferrari team principal so what’s your expectation and sensation for the race?
MB: Ok. At first, I didn’t realise it, I didn’t think about it because it’s not my very first time here in Monza which is even more important. Expectations? No doubt that after Spa the expectations can only be high. This is a circuit with long straights and we know that our strengths are on the straights but we know as well from Belgium that we just finished the race a second ahead of our competitors and so there is no margin there. It has been a great and perfect weekend for us in Spa. We know that we can do well here in Monza only if we have a perfect weekend.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Mattia, I wonder if you can clarify a comment that you made earlier on when you said that the regulations will have to be voted for by the 31st of October? We were under the impression that the international sporting code was being used which is why it was deferred from 30th of June to the 31st of October. Has that changed?
MB: No, no. We all agreed by a meeting to postpone it because some more time was required but we are all aware and fully aware that we cannot postpone it even more so that will be the deadline by when we need to vote. To postpone it further would mean not to be ready in 2021.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) … vote side, because the international sporting code doesn’t make provision for a vote.
MB: We should have that to the FIA and F1 but I think their intention is to vote to make sure that somehow all the teams are agreeing.

Q: (Alessandro Bucci – ItaliaRacing.net) Franz, about the aerodynamic content of STR14, how is the ambivalent state of that part after the summer break?

FT: After the summer break. All the new upgrades we’ve decided to put on the car before the summer break, because in the summer break they don’t do anything, and OK, here in Monza a new aero package so all the teams with a different rear wing configuration and also front wing some changes and then we will come up with smaller upgrades to Singapore and some changes on the floor for Suzuka and Mexico we will see then. This is still in the wind tunnel. Don’t know yet.

IMG to reveal electric series Projekt E Supercar at World RX of Latvia

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.
The FIA World Rallycross Championship series promoters IMG has today confirmed that the first 2020 Projekt E Supercar will be unveiled on Friday, September 13 at the Neste World RX of Latvia.

The electric development series, codenamed 'Projekt E' will use Austrian firm STARD’s [Stohl Advanced Research and Development] “REVelution” EV powertrain systems which will produce up to 450kW (613bhp) combined power, 1100Nm of instantaneous torque and produce a top speed of 240km/h.

Projekt E will showcase electric-powered cars on the same event schedule as traditional World RX Supercars at selected European rounds of the championship in 2020.

The aim of Projekt E is to evaluate electric racecars in a World RX environment in accordance with the roadmap for electrification of the FIA World Rallycross Championship which was has been ratified by the FIA World Motorsport Council.

“The official reveal of the Projekt E racecar at the Neste World RX of Latvia is an important milestone in our path to introducing electrification to the FIA World Rallycross Championship,” said Paul Bellamy, Senior Vice President of IMG Motorsports.

“Projekt E racecars will be an exciting addition to our World RX race weekend at selected events next year. The automotive world is changing and we are ready to embrace that change.”

TEXT - Junaid Samodien

Thursday 5 September 2019

2019 Italian GP: FIA Drivers' Press Conference.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA.com
DRIVERS – Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Charles LECLERC (Ferrari), Antonio GIOVINAZZI (Alfa Romeo), Pierre GASLY (Toro Rosso), Nico HULKENBERG (Renault)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: A question for you all to start with. Confirmation came through last night that the Italian Grand Prix will remain on the Formula 1 calendar for at least another five years. Can we get your reaction to that and can you tell us what this race and this track mean to you? Sebastian, can we start with you?

Sebastian VETTEL: Very happy obviously. I don’t know if I’ll be here for five years. I think it belongs in the calendar, so I’m very happy that it was confirmed. It’s not really necessary to mention the importance of the Italian Grand Prix for Ferrari. It’s our biggest race of the season. It belongs here. Obviously for me, a lot of memories. The win in 2008, my first win, for sure was very special. The ones after that people weren’t so happy, but I guess nowadays they would be happy again.

Q: Charles?
Charles LECLERC: Obviously very happy. There’s nowhere else you can see as many passionate people as there are here. As Seb said, driving for Ferrari it feels very, very special and I definitely hope that I will still be here in five years.

Q: Pierre?
Pierre GASLY: Same comment. The passion you see in Monza is really special. The whole atmosphere during the weekend is really amazing. Plus, the track is really cool and usually good racing, so it’s fantastic news.

Q: Nico?
Nico HULKENBERG: Yeah, definitely good news. It’s always a good weekend and to secure another iconic European in the long term is very positive.

Q: And Antonio?
Antonio GIOVINAZZI: Of course, really important. For me it’s the home grand prix. My first time here in F1, so really great to have the news yesterday that we’ll be here for at least another five years. Good for Italy, good for Ferrari, good for Italian drivers, so yeah, really grateful.

Q: Antonio, staying with you. You say this is your first time here in F1. You won the GP2 feature race back in 2016, which was a big moment in your career then. Can you compare your emotions now coming into this race, your first Italian Grand Prix?

AG: Yeah, it’s incredible, I would say. This was one of the grands prix I always watched when I was young, of course supporting Ferrari. Back in 2016 it was one of the best races of that season and of my career as well – coming from last and I won the race in front of all the tifosi, my friends, my family, so it was a really great memory. Now I am here in F1, so I’m looking forward, I have a lot of people coming here to support me. I hope to have a good result and just enjoy my first weekend here in Italy.

Q: Now, you’re the first Italian to race in the Italian Grand Prix since 2011. Why do you think it has taken so long for another Italian, you, to come through?
AG: I think in go-kart already when you are young and you start to dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver, I think karting now has become too expensive, so there is not much support in Italy to give to the young drivers. I think we have a lot of good Italian drivers now, from watching now like some races in go-kart but of course it is really difficult to do already the next step from karting to Formula 4. I hope this can change. From my side, I did a lot of sacrifices. I was lucky to find [Ricardo] Gelael to support me until here, but it is not easy. This is one of my points that Italian drivers are not any longer in F1, but I think it’s difficult also for the other countries. But I’m really that Italy is back after a long eight years.

Q: Thanks and good luck this weekend. Pierre, it’s been a very eventful month for you. Can you describe how you were able to re-set head of the race at Spa last week and get that great result?
PG: For sure it’s quite a challenging time for me at the moment that I’m facing. Coming into Spa they were really busy and intense days – to get on top of all the new things with Toro Rosso, being back with the team, also a new crew around my car. It was just really intense ahead of the weekend. I tried to extract the best and deliver the best performance straight away and that’s what we tried to do. Yeah, I think just now I know that I have eight more races coming with Toro Rosso. I’m just trying to focus on myself, improve myself and to deliver the best performance I can for the team. For sure, what happened in Spa, it was really tough before the race on Sunday and it was difficult to keep the focus, especially in this kind of moment, it’s really tricky for everyone. It was tough mentally but it was important to deliver the best race I could for the team and for Anthoine and I think we can be really happy with the two points we scored for our first race back together.

Q: What are you goals for the remainder of the 2019 season?
PG: I think it’s quite clear – just be fast and deliver the maximum points for the team. They are in a good position in the championship and I will do everything I can to offer the maximum points to the guys.

Q: OK, good luck with that and with this weekend. Nico, on the face of last weekend’s announcement regarding Esteban Ocon moving to Renault next year leaves your future uncertain. The 2020 grid still seems quite fluid, however, so are your plans taking shape?

NH: Not concrete yet, but there are definitely talks going on. But I think it will still be a while. Like I said last week, the situation is what it is now, but it needs to be the right deal, a good sporting perspective, and I’m in no urgency or hurry to sign anything, just to have signed anything. I think there are options out there but nothing to talk about right now.

Q: And looking ahead to this weekend, what can we expect from you and Renault, because it was a difficult one at Spa for you guys?
NH: Yeah, it was a tricky weekend but quite rewarding in the end, getting four points back on the board. That was quite positive and we’re trying to take that momentum here. It’s obviously a new weekend, so a new approach and we’ll see how the car performs here. But there’s no reason to be skeptical about it. We’ll just be pushing and working hard and for me, in terms of my mindset, I just want to get the maximum out of it every weekend, take it weekend by weekend, enjoy it, and maximum attack.

Q: Thanks for that, Nico. I want to come to both Ferrari drivers now. We saw a fantastic celebration at the Duomo in Milan last night. How was it? Sebastian, tell us what went on?
SV: Very busy, packed! I think it’s very difficult to put into words. It’s a very iconic on it’s own, it it’s empty, that place, but with the red sea, or flooded with people dressed in red, it was definitely prettier than I remembered it. Probably I should never go back, because it’s never going to be as pretty. I think it was special for us as current drivers, but there were also a lot of recent drivers, older drivers from the past of the Scuderia, so I think that was a nice thing to get together and have a chat also later on with them. Obviously some of them are very around, but others you don’t see so often, so enjoyed that. A lot of old important cars, important pieces of the team’s history, so for me it was a great day.

Q: Charles?
CL: Yeah, it was unbelievable. I think Seb said nearly everything. For me it was also the first time I arrived here in Italy for the Italian Grand Prix as a Ferrari driver. Obviously I knew it was going to be special, but as a first day I could not expect any more. So many people, so much passion, it was just incredible and very, very impressive to see so many people coming together on a Wednesday for us and for Ferrari of course. It was crazy.

Q: Staying with you, you’re now Ferrari’s youngest ever winner in Formula 1. You said on Sunday you were struggling to process what had just happened, so how do you reflect on that achievement now, a week later?

CL: Obviously it was a very tough weekend for different reasons – obviously with what happened on Saturday, but also because we knew with the performance we had in the race it was going to be difficult because Mercedes were very, very strong with their race pace so it was a tough weekend. But in the end we managed to put everything together. I think there was great teamwork between myself and especially Seb, who did the job of keeping Lewis behind for a few a laps that have been very helpful for me towards the end of the race. Looking back obviously I am very happy that this first win is done. It’s always difficult to do this first step but once you do it, it takes quite a bit of weight off your shoulders and of that I’m very proud. Not much time to actually think about it because we are already four days later here in Italy and we need to focus fully on the job that we have to do here.

Q: Sebastian, Charles made reference to the race pace of Mercedes at Spa, how do you think it’s going to play out here?

SV: I can’t predict but I think it should be... It’s a similar track, very different but in terms of the way the cars are set up similar to last weekend. I hope we can be as competitive as we were there. In relative terms it’s difficult to say. For sure we’ve seen the trend that in qualifying we have a bit of an edge on these types of tracks, whereas in the race everything moves very close together. As Charles said, they were very quick last weekend, so I expect the main challenge to be looking after the tyres, finding the right set-up, the right balance in the car, to feel comfortable to extract the maximum. I can’t give you any predictions but I guess it will be very tight. I hope we have something to say. Obviously Mercedes has been in a position to win nearly every race this season but for us it hasn’t been like that, so the more chances we get the better it is for us.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Luke Smith – crash.net) Question for Sebastian. We saw Charles take his maiden grand prix victory last weekend. He’s made a very strong start to life with Ferrari, only 12 points behind you in the Championship. How impressed have you been with Charles start with the team and has he surprised you at all with how good he’s been this year?
SV: No. I think it’s positive that he’s surprised probably a lot of people outside but inside I think we obviously… he’s been with Ferrari, with the Driver Academy for a while and it was clear to see that he has a lot of potential. I think he had a very strong rookie season with Alfa, so, y’know, it’s good to see that he’s right on the pace straight away and obviously form a team point of view I think the most important is that we work together, not against each other. That seems to work, so that’s important. Otherwise it would be a bit of a waste of energy. So, yeah, I think those are the key things. It’s obviously good, I think it was a big weekend for him last weekend, even though it was shadowed by the circumstances, the passing of Anthoine, so not great but as he said, obviously it was his first one and I’m sure he’ll be around for a while so there will be a lot more.

Can I put that question to Pierre as well. Pierre, you’ve known Charles for such a long time. Have you been surprised, impressed by what he’s done with Ferrari this year?

PG: I’m going to say no, because I know he’s like, super-talented and a super-fast guy but it’s the case and we know each other since we were eight years old. He’s been always on top of all the series he’s competed in. So, we’ve been team-mates. I was always surprised and impressed when we were team-mates how fast he was, and all the battles we had, so no, in a way, I’m not surprised but in a way it’s good that he proved it with his first win and I’m sure there will be many more.

Q: (Joe van Burik – racingnews365.nl) Question to Charles, after the race you mentioned you didn’t say a word during the race. Can you describe the state of mind while you were going for that victory?
CL: To be honest, I’ve got no ideas why I didn’t speak but the engineers… they thought there was something wrong on the radio actually because I was not speaking. I had nothing to say. They were giving me the information I needed, and that’s it. I just focused on the job behind the wheel, and that’s it.

Q: (Jonathan McEvoy – Daily Mail) To both Ferrari drivers. I was wondering, in light of the sad events of last week, whether the drivers thought there was any consideration maybe needed be given to the nature of run-off areas. There’s been less and less gravel for reasons that are well-known, but whether that should be examined, whether gravel could actually slow drivers down and make them stick to track limits better. And b) is there anything that the GPDA have discussed about last week that you will now speak to the FIA about?

SV: I think it’s a question for all of us really but I think the answer will probably be the same one – or should be the same one. I think what happened couldn’t be any worse. I think it will be examined in a very detailed way, which is, I think, correct and what everyone would expect – but I think to draw any conclusions now is probably not right. I think we need to have a full picture of a lot of elements. The ones that you mentioned are definitely part of those – but there might be, or there are, also others. Obviously I’m a fan of holding races in Spa, because it’s a great track, has a great history, a lot of the corners are very unique but for sure, we need to have a very close look and take some time to understand exactly what happened before drawing any conclusions.

Q: (Phil Duncan – PA) Slightly following on from that question. There were some comments Jackie Stewart this week, who said that last weekend’s accident might serve as a bit of a wake-up call, and drivers perhaps are taking too many liberties, particularly on the first lap. I was just wondering what your responses would be to that?

NH: I think obviously some of it is true. Tarmac runoff areas do invite us to keep pushing – because it doesn’t have an immediate consequence. I think it needs to be policed. There is always the right balance somewhere. Maybe it’s also a case where we need to have a customised solution for particular corners like Eau Rouge which is quite unique in the way that we don’t really see that corner until we come up on the hill and see what’s going on. But yeah, sometimes things get a bit hectic and out-of-control on lap one. I think more particularly – even though that wasn’t lap one it was lap two, but still, early in the race when everyone is very bunched up – sometimes you see that happening more in the junior series. We’ll see. They’re motivated, maybe a bit too excited but yeah, like I say, maybe there’s a solution for every corner a little bit different.

SV: I think, looking back obviously he was racing at a horrible time where drivers passed away, not regularly but obviously a lot more frequently. So, for sure, you cannot compare his era to our era. Obviously he’s been around at that time, he’s been racing so he knows what it felt like and is able to judge whether it’s different or not. I don’t think we can have that judgement. But yes, again, as far as I understand it, it was a bit of a chain of happenings, of situations that led into the final accident but, yeah, I think we all had our moment on Saturday and obviously Sunday, going to the race track and driving the race but to some extent it’s part of motorsport. It is dangerous, it’s part of the thrill – but certainly obviously the last years have been a wake-up with the passing of Jules and now Anthoine. It shows that there are still things – even if people think it’s too safe and boring – I think there are still things we can do better, we must improve, we must work on, because I’d rather have boring Formula 1 championships to the end of ever and bring him back – so I think there’s no question about that trade.

CL: On my side I think I was always aware it was a dangerous sport because any time you go at that speed it will always be dangerous. On the other hand, ever time I’m getting into the car, I’m going with the same mindset. I think we are all trying to do that. Even with what happened on Saturday, which was obviously extremely sad and I think it has shocked all of us. Especially the new generation, we haven’t known that – or actually the generation that is in Formula 1 like Seb, it’s a much safer sport than a long time ago, so yeah, at the end, once you are going into the car, you are trying to be in your zone, trying to think to what you need to do, and you need to race as hard as you can to finish as high as you can. So yeah, I think I’ve always been aware that there was some risk, but sometimes it’s obviously a shock when something like this happens.

NH: I agree with all the comments.
AG: Me too.

Q: (Davide Russo – newsf1.it) Question for Charles. How would you describe your relationship now with Seb?
CL: I think very good. I think we found the right compromise with Seb between competition and also working together to try and improve the car and to work for the team. I think this is extremely important for team-mates. Any time we are getting into the car I want to beat him as much as he wants to beat me – but whenever we are out of the car, we manage to share information, speak together and, yeah, just try to do our best to help the team to move forwards and to bring the car where it should be. I think it’s a very good relationship.

Sebastian, how different is your relationship with Charles to the one you had with Kimi Räikkönen?
SV: More words! That’s it. As Charles touched on, we try to work together. We try to push the team. Our car is not where we want it to be. I said earlier that we didn’t have the car and the ability to win every race so far, and that is our objective, so I think it serves both of us if we push in the same direction because I believe one day we will have that car and then we can fight it out.

Q: (Umberto Zapelloni – L’Automobile) Can you give yourself a vote from one to ten for the first 13 races of this year?

NH: Eight. That’s too short for you, right? You want more! Why not? It wasn’t a ten because it hasn’t been the best of seasons. I’ve also left out a couple of opportunities hence two away from ten.

AG: I would say, looking back, I lost a lot of opportunities for issues or whatever. I don’t know. Five and a half? 5.5, yes.

SV: I don’t know. We have had a question like that. I don’t remember what I answered so maybe I should say nothing now because otherwise I say something different. No, I don’t remember so I’m not going to go with that.

Q: Five? Same as Hungary.
SV: Well, we’ve had one race since Hungary. Was it after Hungary or before? I don’t know. Yeah, I think the bottom line is that we know we haven’t had the season we wanted so far. Obviously we started off in a good place in the second half and hopefully we can keep that up but we know also, being realistic, that Mercedes is the clear favourite. As I said, they’ve been in a position to win every race this year so yeah, that’s something that we haven’t been in and we need to get there, that’s the point.

CL: Yeah, I also think I’ve answered one of those questions. I might change my answer but probably the six first races weren’t that positive for me so maybe around six. After that, more seven and a half. Bit happier in qualifying, especially and now I’m targeting to move a bit higher for the rest of the season.

PG: I never like these kind of ratings so… It hasn’t been the best start of the year but now the new goal is to raise this mark.

Q: (Zsolt Godina – F1Vilag.hu) Sebastian, we have seen some pictures of the new 2021 car in the wind tunnel. How do you like it and how will the new regulations affect your decision regarding the future?

SV: I don’t know, I think we’ve probably also seen renderings from Renault in the past and other teams so I don’t know whether the pictures we’ve seen are actually what it will be because as far as I understand there are no regulations yet for ’21 so it’s a bit pointless to post pictures but maybe that’s what some people would like the cars to look like, I don’t know. I think that there are no rules yet for ’21, no decisions, no hard decisions so it’s a bit pointless to look at pictures. Yeah, I think there’s a great chance to make things better. I think we, as drivers, addressed our main points. Obviously it was very nice and very respectful that we had a sort of say or at least people asked our opinions for the first time ever in this kind of decision, the people who make the decisions asked our opinions. We were definitely pushing to keep things simple. We want closer racing. From our side, I think it’s very clear and then however the cars look, I guess it’s a bit secondary. I think if the racing is great and so on, then the cars will look great as well.

Q: Will the regulations for 2021 have a bearing on your future?
SV: Yeah, for sure. Obviously I don’t know how long the decision to stay with these kind of rules will be but obviously my contract now finishes next year. Everything after that is based on the new rules so for sure you have a look. As I said, I think it’s a huge chance for the sport to position itself in a better… or to be in a better place. Having said, it’s not that now everything is awful so I think we need to remember that. It’s a fine balance but every change is a chance – a chance to do better or worse and hopefully we do better.

Q: (Luke Smith – Crash.net) You spoke about the passion you saw from the Ferrari fans yesterday at the event. It’s been nine years since the tifosi have been able to cheer on a Ferrari driver to victory here at Monza. How much will it mean to you to end that drought and take that win and be up on that podium?

SV: Well, we’ve been on the podium a couple of times but never on the top step, not that it’s a big thing. This is the biggest race for us, no doubt. It’s a big weekend. Obviously we saw the passion that there is yesterday and I’m sure we will see it throughout the weekend. So hopefully I’m sure it will give us a boost, how much, we will see. I mentioned before, it’s difficult to predict but certainly I think now is the time to sort of over-deliver. Yeah, it’s a big weekend so hopefully we can make it count this time. I think we have a good chance, so we will see. We’re ready, I guess.

Q: (Ben Hunt – The Sun) Just along the same sort of lines: Sebastian does this race offer you your best realistic chance of ending your drought, if we can call it that: twelve months now since your last win. Must it be this weekend?

SV: I don’t think so. I think we have lots of races ahead but I’m not looking to… I don’t know, where I am in ten races time; this is the weekend I’m focused on. As I said, we’re not the clear favourites. Obviously there are signs that we are aware of and put us in a good position but I think we have to be carefully optimistic and realistic. There’s a lot of elements during a Grand Prix that can make a difference. One lap is one thing but then obviously there’s a lot of laps on Sunday, plus the weather, plus, plus, plus. There are a lot of things. I don’t see it that way, I see it as a chance, simple as that, but then again, I think you always have a chance when you’re on the grid no matter where you start from but surely we want to make sure we start from the front which gives you a higher chance and then carry that into the race.

Q: (Jon McEvoy – Daily Mail) Charles, obviously it was a great day in your life to win your first Formula One race, albeit laden with other emotions but is there anything that you’ve done in the last few days to celebrate or bought yourself anything, and what does it feel like, generally, in your mind to be a Formula One winner?

CL: No, I haven’t done much to celebrate that. Hopefully I will be able to celebrate after this one. As I said earlier, there was not much time to celebrate anything.
SV: He asked what you bought.
CL: I didn’t buy anything.
SV: They tell me you bought a boat!
CL: No, no, that’s not true! Obviously it feels good, it’s something that – until you get it, it feels very far away but once you have it it feels obviously very, very good and it gives you a bit of a confidence boost too, so it’s great. Now it’s done and I can focus on the future and hopefully many more will come.

Q: (Jens Nagler – Bild) Nico, you didn’t always have the best of luck this season but suddenly in Spa that seemed to change. I think Pierre locked up, Antonio crashed out, Lando did not finish. Might that be a turning point for you in that season and do you feel you need a turning point in order to secure a seat for 2020?

NH: If you look across a year, it levels out with luck. Sometimes it’s on your side, sometimes it’s against you. In Spa we did get lucky. We picked up two positions from other people who were unfortunate but yeah, I believe it does somehow, across a year, level out one way or another. I don’t think it needs to change for me to secure a seat. I just need to do my job, for me to focus on it and extract what I can from the car and basically perform. I think then it will all be good.

Q: (Stephane Barbe – L’Equipe) Seb, we’ve seen in Spa a tense game in qualifying with drivers going slowly, looking for a good tow. Do you think you could have the same here in Monza, and what is the importance of the slipstream here in Monza in qualifying and the race?

SV: Yeah, obviously if you look on paper, this is the place where you expect this kind of strange games. Yeah, there’s very little you can do to sort of prepare because it depends on the timing of the session. Here I think the lap is a bit shorter so maybe it buys you a bit more flexibility but yeah, we’ll see on Saturday. I don’t know if it’s going to be dry or wet but obviously in the wet there’s no point, not as much as in the dry. Yeah, it does make a difference, how much it’s difficult to quantify but certainly last year it made a difference and yeah, you need to be on the good side, obviously, and it also depends a bit on tyres, whether it’s easy to prepare them or whether it’s really critical. And then you need to make the trade between tyres being in the right window or being in position for the tow. Could be entertaining but you also hope that obviously you get a nice shot, at least one of the two.

Q: (Silvia Arias – Parabrisas) Pierre, in a way, could it be more relaxing for you, driving for Toro Rosso than for Red Bull?

PG: No. I think as a driver you always need to deliver the best of yourself with the car you have. Targets are exactly the same on my performance side.

Wednesday 4 September 2019

Entry List revealed for the World RX of Latvia.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.
The FIA has revealed entry list for the penultimate round of the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship at Riga in Latvia [14-15 September 2019].

Reinis Nitiss will return to World RX for the third time this season with GRX, racing the third Hyundai i20 Supercar under the banner GRX Set. Newly crowned FIA European Rallycross Champion, Robin Larsson will step up to World RX, making it four EKS built Audi S1 Supercars on the grid, alongside Monster Energy RX Catel’s Liam Doran and Andreas Bakkerud, and EKS Sport’s Krisztian Szabo.

In addition to the regular and permanent competitors in World RX, Pal Try will return for his third start of the season, following appearances in Abu Dhabi and Spa, in the second Team STARD Ford Fiesta, alongside Janis Baumanis. 

After his debut at Loheac in France last weekend, Matvey Furazhkin is set to retain his seat at ESmotorsport - Labas GAS for Riga. 

2019 World RX of Latvia: ENTRY LIST
TEXT - Junaid Samodien

Tuesday 3 September 2019

Timmy Hansen dedicates Loheac RX win to Anthoine Hubert.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.
Timmy Hansen has dedicated his World RX of France victory to Anthoine Hubert, who lost his life in a crash during the Belgian Grand Prix weekend at Spa-Franchorchamps.

Hubert succumbed to injuries he sustained in a serious crash during the opening Formula 2 race on Saturday.

Hansen won the World RX of France from the second row of the grid to claim his third win of the season. Speaking in a post-race interview, the Swede said: "Its the second time winning here and its an amazing feeling. This is in memory of Anthoine [Hubert] who passed away yesterday, as a racing driver you feel it, and its a big loss for the whole sport."

It was not the easiest weekend for the Team Hansen MJP driver made a sensational turnaround in Q4 on Sunday afternoon leading the way thanks to the fastest race time and fastest single lap of the weekend on his way to being Top Qualifier. 

The Swede was beaten to the first corner in the semi-final and lined up in third place in the final, but after a first corner melee between Niclas Gronholm and Andreas Bakkerud. Hansen with a tighter line claimed the lead and never looked back. 

"I was all in for the final: I was going to push very hard and then Bakkerud and Grönholm opened the door for me, so I sneaked by. Those were six brilliant laps," he said.

"On the last lap, I remembered that back in 2015, my dad told me to enjoy this lap, and I saw I had a big gap, so again, I took in the atmosphere, looked up at the grandstands, and I felt the feeling of leading the last lap in Lohéac. To cross the finish line first is such an amazing feeling."

TEXT - Junaid Samodien

Euro RX Champion Robin Larsson to compete in World RX in Latvia

PHOTO CREDIT: JC Raceteknik.
Newly crowned FIA European Rallycross Champion Robin Larsson will race in the Latvian round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Riga next week. 

For the second time in 2019, Swedish team JC Raceteknik will contest a round of World RX, having made its debut at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium in May, with former DTM and World RX Champion Mattias Ekstrom. 

By winning last weekend’s French round of Euro RX, Larsson secured his second European title with a race to spare. As such he will miss the final round to race in World RX in Riga.

"It will be really fun to be to take this chance and get into the World Championship. I've obviously raced in World RX before, but it will be a little special to make this jump in the middle of the season when the World RX drivers are in a really tight fight in the championship," said Larsson. 

"We have set very good times in the European Championship season, but the very last pieces have to be put together in World RX. It will be exciting to see how we stand against the World RX guys now when we will be up against them."

"I think you can raise your own level, even more, when you are fighting to keep up, so maybe we can close the gap more too. The goal is to at least make the semi-finals, and use this as a good event to check our pace."

JC Raceteknik Team Principal Joel Christoffersson believes it’s possible for the double Euro RX champion to fight at the front of the World RX field in Latvia. 

"We have had good pace in Euro RX all season, and we were fast in RallyX Nordic in Riga, so it will be fun to see how we get on against the World RX teams," he said. "Of course it’s hard to say how it will go, but if we can fight for the top five times I will be very satisfied."

TEXT - Junaid Samodien.

The Solbergs chase Gymkhana GRiD glory in Warsaw.

PHOTO CREDIT: Oliver Solberg Media Office
After thrilling thousands of fans with a fascinating family fight at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed earlier this year, Petter and Oliver will face each other again at Saturday’s Gymkhana GRiD in Warsaw, Poland.

In a slight change with normal procedure, we’ve asked Oliver to give you the low-down on what’s to come.

Oliver Solberg: Hello. Do you remember GRiD last year?

Petter Solberg: I do. 

OS: So, you’ll remember you were lucky to make the final…

PS: Yeah, yeah, it was a close fight in the semi-final. Who was it I was racing? I can’t remember now.

OS: I would have beaten you if I didn’t have the engine problem. And I was in the Citroën Xsara with 380bhp and you were in the Volkswagen Polo R Supercar with 600! Can I drive the Polo this time?

PS: No.

OS: Please…

PS: No.

OS: OK, then I have to beat you with the Xsara. I don’t mind, it’s a fantastic car. You like GRiD, don’t you?

PS: It’s good fun. It’s so important to have fun when you are driving. Like you know, there’s time when everything has to be really serious, but there’s also time when you can give something back to the fans and everybody who is travelling to the event.

I think GRiD in Poland’s going to be huge. Remember Poland’s round of the World Rally Championship? There were always so many people there, with such a good atmosphere. When you bring an event like this to the centre of such a cool city like Warsaw and get Monster Energy to put on the show… I think it’s going to be amazing.

OS: I agree and I know what you mean when you can give the people something to smile about – but it’s still competition.

PS: It is. That’s why I’m driving the Polo!

OS: Who’s going to be the main competition for you?

PS: There’s always Ken [Block] isn’t there and there are a few other specialists who know the Gymkhana side of the sport really well. 

OS: Anybody you fear in particular?

PS: Not really.

OS: Nobody?

PS: No.

OS: What about me?

PS: Yeah, true… but still nobody I fear! This is part of my Farewell Tour, and you don’t want to spoil that, do you?

OS: OK, I take it easy on you. You’re enjoying the Tour?

PS: Honestly, it’s fantastic. There’s so much interest. Goodwood was just unbelievable, one of the best weekends ever for both of us – so nice and so cool. Then it was the same with the Norges Råeste Bakkeløp hillclimb in Norway. Do you remember what happened that weekend? 

OS: No.

PS: I beat your record from last year! And now we come to Gymkhana, which is going to be fantastic. I have such good memories from this event in South Africa at the end of last season. OK, I was a bit sad I didn’t win, but Johan [Kristoffersson], my PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team-mate did win, I was second and you were third. The emotion on that podium was so, so special.

OS: Do you think we can both make the podium again on Saturday night?

PS: I think we can. 

OS: Do you think I can win?

PS: Only if I lend you my car.

OS: Can I borrow the Polo?

PS: No.
Gymkhana Grid 2019 Finals track layout revealed by Ken Block.
Saturday (September 7) is the 10th running of an event dreamed up by the Solberg’s fellow Monster Energy athlete and rally driver Ken Block. After qualifying rounds in Japan, South Africa, Norway, Britain, Greece and Spain, 64 drivers will line-up for the main day of head-to-head competition.

The event gets underway on Wednesday (September 4) with the first of two days of practice, when the drivers get to learn the intricacies of a course which offers a blend of autocross, drifting and time trial.

Why you should shop for new car insurance every year - MotorHappy.

There are several factors that could affect your insurance premiums, so it’s smart to get a new quote every year from your current insurer. You could also take it one step further by getting a quote from another insurer to assess if you could be getting a better offering elsewhere. 

It might take a bit of time and “admin”, but you could be saving money with a new or updated premium, observes Barend Smit, Marketing Director of MotorHappy, a supplier of motor management solutions and car insurance options. “Shopping around also empowers you with knowledge to make better choices, and you’re more equipped to make decisions that are good for your wallet, assuming you have decent cover.”

 If you’ve had any life or work changes, then let your insurer know as this could affect your cover and premiums. For example, if you previously lived in a house with no cover and in a high crime area, and you moved to a secure complex where you park your vehicle under cover, your premiums could go down. When your situation changes and you think your premiums might go up as a result it might be tempting to withhold the new information, however Smit advises consumers to always be honest with their insurance provider. “While this might seem like an expensive factor you don’t want to disclose, it’s imperative you do in order to receive full benefits if you claim. Also, educate yourself around what you can do to lower your premium,” he says.

Smit lists the following activities that could help lower your car insurance premium:

Take a defensive driving course
Taking an advanced driving course will improve a driver’s skills and as a result many insurers will assume you are a safe driver, which could translate into lower premium.

Driving safely
This sounds obvious but driving cautiously and within the speed limit will decrease your chance of an accident, which will have a positive effect on premiums. The more often you claim from insurance as a result of an accident, the higher your premiums could be.

Installing a new safety device like a tracker
The “safer” or more likely it is that your car will be recovered if stolen, the lower your premium will be.

MotorHappy has partnerships with most car insurers and can provide consumers with accurate quotes to help you compare up to 7 different quotes. They cover cars for theft and hijacking, accidental damage, accident damage and third-party damages.

For more information, please visit www.motorhappy.co.za

"Things just didn’t go our way in Loheac" - GRX Taneco.

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco
The FIA World Rallycross Championship round at the iconic Lohéac circuit in France did not go the way of Finnish squad GRX Taneco. 

Saturday started with wildcard entry, Toomas Heikkinen, setting the fastest time in the first Qualifying session. The Finn ended the opening day in P2 in the overnight standings, while Timerzyanov and Grönholm were aiming to improve their pace, to get higher up in the standings on Sunday.

Day two saw more close fights on track with Niclas Grönholm making it up to fourth place overall in the Intermediate standings before the Semi-final, while Toomas Heikkinen was involved in contact fights of Q4 and dropped to P5. 

Timur Timerzyanov was also part of the door-to-door racing of Q4 and had a disastrous result due to the puncture and broken suspension, but still managed to secure the last spot of the Semi-final.

"Things just didn’t go our way in this race. We need to stay cool and focused and do our best again in Latvia and South Africa," said Jussi Pinomäki, GRX Taneco Team Manager, reflected on the race in France.

The GRX Taneco drivers were the benchmark all weekend with great starts, but they were unable to convert the starts to strong results. In the final, Niclas Grönholm had a superb start to inch half a car ahead of Andreas Bakkerud but a squabble for the lead at turn one led to both drivers running wide and rejoining at the tail end of the running order.

"I had great starts all weekend long, also in Semi-final, where I was first in the first corner and with six clean laps managed a front-row position for the Final. Unfortunately, there I had a contact with another competitor [Bakkerud] on the first corner, and finished at the end of the pack," said Grönholm. 

"Overall I must say that performance-wise it was another good weekend, but it’s a bummer that we are not higher in the standings. Two more rounds to go, and I hope we can have a better result there."

Despite a strong start to Q1, Timur Timerzyanov ended the opening day in seventh overall, and on day two he just about scraped through to claim a semi-final spot by five intermediate points.

"It was a tough race, especially on Sunday, when I had to start from the outside line in the Qualification runs and try to fight through the field. In Semi-final I had a small chance to make it to the Final, but this time the fortune was not on my side," said Timerzyanov.

Toomas Heikkinen, showed an impressive turn of speed on his return to World RX in the third GRX Taneco Hyundai i20 Supercar. The Finn missed on out a place in the semi-final after finishing in fourth place in the second semi-final. 

"I really enjoyed my return to the FIA World RX field," said Heikkinen. "The team gave me a great car and I managed to be up to the pace with the Top guys of the Championship."

"After the first day I was hoping to make my way all the way up to the Final, but contact with another racer left a little impact on car’s performance in the Semi-final and my race ended there."

TEXT - Junaid Samodien

Monday 2 September 2019

REPORT: Timmy Hansen wins, while Andreas Bakkerud takes championship lead.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.
Timmy Hansen took an emphatic victory at the French round of the World Rallycross Championship.

The Swede topped the qualifying heats with a dominant performance in Q4, after finishing fourth overall on the opening day. He would start on pole position for semi-final one but was beaten off the line by title-rival Andreas Bakkerud, who won the semi-final and would secure pole position for the final.

In the final, Bakkerud had a good start but Niclas Gronholm edged the Norwegian into turn one. The two collided after pushing and shoving for position leading to the pair both running wide. 

That allowed Timmy to claim the lead from Rokas Baciuska, Anton Markland and Kevin Hansen. Timmy took his joker on lap four and claimed his third win of the season leading home GC Kompeition’s Anton Marklund with younger brother Kevin Hansen in third.

The overall results from the weekend meant that Andreas Bakkerud has moved into the championship lead, two points ahead of the Hansen brothers who are tied on 158 points. 

Timmy’s victory was a dramatic response after he missed the semi-finals in the previous round in Canada. The Swede also left the opening round in Abu Dhabi a low points tally after heavy contact with Bakkerud in qualifying.

"This weekend has been amazing. From a championship perspective I’ve taken two big hits with nearly no points from two races – Abu Dhabi and Canada – so I’m very happy with the result and that it's actually this close (championship fight) after having those two moments, but coming here we have had so much support, we are getting so much love from them and I can feel it when going out on track," he said. "We can feel that the Peugeot is very comfortable around these corners (the circuit)."

"I was feeling very comfortable this weekend. It was a had race I must say - I needed a perfect Q4 to get into the race and I got it just when we needed it, and we got pole which was very important for the weekend (pole in the semi-final), then Andreas (Bakkerud) had new tyres for semi (final) and I couldn't beat him there, but then in the final I knew he didn't have any new tyres left in fact, nobody did. So, it was a more equal playing field. I was all-in for the final and I was going to push very hard and then Andreas and Niclas (Gronholm) opened the door for me and I snuck by, and then after that, it was so nice to come out in front and do my own driving - because that is what we have been looking for all weekend. It was six brilliant laps."

"It’s going to be an interesting end to the year. It is me, Kevin and Andreas all racing for our first world championship. Who grabs it is down to whoever is able to put it all together for the last two rounds and perform best under this pressure"

Fellow-Swede Anton Marklund was delighted to claim a podium finish at GC Kompetition's home race in France. "I know how much this race means for the team to have a good result here (Loheac). They really put there heads down and they gave us the car that we needed to perform," he said. 

"The Renault Megane has been strong all weekend - already from the first practice session, we were showing great pace. I think we as a team were struggling a bit with starts and getting off the line as well as being in traffic. That made it a bit of a struggle to perform in the qualifying heats but when we have clean air and a clear track ahead of us then we have a really good pace. For sure, the Renault Megane was really quick."

Marklund's claimed a third-place finish in Silverstone, and despite crossing the line first in Hell, Norway the Swede was deprived of the win due to a technical infringement.

"I really wanted a win here. On the first two laps of the final, I had the pace. I was screaming to my spotter on the radio that 'I need to joker, I need to joker... we are quicker than him' and then I got a 'NO!' on the radio because we would come out in traffic. So, we couldn't really joker. On lap 3, I made a mistake at Turn 2 and then I left a small gap to Timmy [Hansen] and went into the joker [lap] and came out behind Kevin and that was when I had to realize that 'okay, I will just have to keep myself cool' and I will hang onto second place when Kevin [Hansen] takes the joker lap," he said.

"At the end of the day, very pleased that we are getting a podium because starting from the back row of the grid in the final is not easy."  

Kevin Hansen, who led the drivers’ championship by five points over Bakkerud ahead of Loheac, had a difficult opening day in 11th place overall. The young Swede only just scraped through to the final after a brilliant recovery drive in the semi-final.

"I have no idea how I got into the final or even the semi-final," he said. "It was a tough weekend for me. I had a lot of bad luck in the qualifying rounds. I was really fast and just took the lap record and I think Timmy took it from me ten minutes later. I had really good speed. In the semi-final, I was on the last lap that I was going to make it to the final. Then I saw Rokas [Baciuska] overtake Timo [Scheider] and Timo lost a lot of time and that was when I knew that we could make it.

"In the final, I didn’t quite have the pace to keep up with the other two Swedes. But then I just sent it completely in the joker lap in the end and managed to just get out ahead of Rokas (Baciuska) and I was just as shocked as everyone else to finish third. This is my strong point I am a rallycrosser and I am not a perfect man in every condition, but I get through it and I never give up. I think this is why I am in the championship fight." 

Kevin Hansen says he will focus on all the details to improve for the remaining two rounds in Riga and Cape Town, and believes that working with his older brother Timmy, they will be able to gain a competitive edge over Andreas Bakkerud. 

"On my side, I am going to work a lot on the details to the last tenth. Timmy [Hansen] has been really strong in the last two events - so this can be very good for us to work very closely together as a team to gain that edge on Andreas, but I just have to do my own thing and hope that it is enough."
Gronholm and Bakkerud running wide, while Timmy Hansen takes the lead at Turn 1.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Pool

En route to fourth place in the final Rokas Baciuska became the first driver from GC Kompetition to win a qualifying session with the fastest time in Q2 on day one.

GC Kompetition team boss Guerlain Chicherit was delighted with the team’s overall performance – with both Marklund and Baciuska making the final. "This was the second time in a row we have put two cars in the final so the team is getting stronger.

"Rokas made a very small mistake on the last lap on turn five which cost him just a few tenths and the chance to put his nose in front of Kevin. We have to acknowledge that the Hansens did an amazing job on the strategy by protecting each other. This is something we still need to learn. We are not at that level yet but we are quick learners."

Chicherit missed out on progressing to the semi-finals by five intermediate points. 

"For me personally the weekend was a bit frustrating," he said. "I had the speed but I had some contact in qualifying but that’s motorsport. We have two more races before the end of the season and I really want to be on the podium. I think I have the pace to do it so it is just a question of putting everything together."

Guillaume De Ridder's run of back luck continued in Loheac despite claiming a race win in Q4. "It’s good for the mind to finish with a victory here in Loheac. Now the focus is on the next round in Riga," he said.

Timo Scheider narrowly missed the final after a stunning last-ditch effort in semi-final two placed him fourth ahead of Timur Timerzyanov and Liam Doran.

Toomas “Topi” Heikkinen, showed an impressive turn of speed on his return to World RX in the third GRXHyundai i20. He finished third overall in Q1 after day one but had to settle for fourth in semi-final one. EKS Sport’s Krisztian Szabo and Team STARD’s Janis Baumanis were fifth and sixth respectively in the same semi-final.

It was a torrid weekend for Oliver Bennett. The Briton ended in the gravel trap after a spin in Q2 and he suffered a second DNF in Q4 after heavy contact with Chicherit and finished well down the order in the overall standings.

"It all went downhill from Q2 really where we had the initial contact and ended up in the gravel," he said. "Then in Q4, I thought I was clear into turn one but got a shove from the left side which triggered a catalogue of events and I was a passenger from then on. Luckily, the damage looks worse than it is. Onwards to Latvia now."

TEXT - Junaid Samodien