EKS Audi Sport head to Mettet with mixed feelings

PHOTO CREDIT: Audi Sport

The EKS Audi Sport drivers are heading to Mettet (Belgium) with mixed feelings. In 2016, Mattias Ekström won the World RX round, but has also had some unpleasant encounters with the tyre walls in previous events. 

“This is one of those strange, artificial race tracks we drive on from time to time,” says Ekström. “Actually, the track has only turnoffs and this massive downhill jump. The racing line is narrow. It’s difficult to achieve a fast lap time and the Joker Lap is so slippery and slow that you feel like you’re stopping.” Overtaking is difficult in Mettet and this has led to EKS Audi Sport focusing on optimizing the race starts, among other things.

Andreas Bakkerud, currently the World RX runner-up trailing Johan Kristoffersson (PSRX Volkswagen Sweden) by 9 points in the drivers' championship standings, ended his test at Mettet at the beginning of 2018 with a crash. 

“I’ll definitely try to avoid that this weekend,” said Bakkerud. “Mettet has always been my weakest round in the World RX to date. I need to improve there and show the consistency I had in my first World RX events in the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro.” 

“It’s easy to make a mistake there and crash into the tire walls," Bakkerud adds.

EKS Audi Sport are currently second in the FIA World Rallycross team standings with 80 points (16 points behind the championship leaders PSRX Volkswagen Sweden). While, Andreas Bakkerud is second in the drivers' championship and Mattias Ekström 6th overall.

Team Peugeot Total aim to tame the famous twists and turns of Mettet.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool

Team Peugeot Total has had a promising start to the 2018 FIA World RallyCross campaign, with 2 second places scored by Sébastien Loeb in Spain and Portugal, while team mates Timmy and Kevin Hansen [independent entry] showed plenty of speed. Timmy also collecting a useful points haul. As a result, the team are currently 3rd in the team standings, while Loeb is 4th in the driver rankings, 3 points ahead of Timmy Hansen. 

The circuit Jules Tacheny, located close to Charleroi in Belgium, is one of the most technical tracks that the championship visits all year. The venue is famous for its jump and low-speed, zig-zag corners that require the utmost precision. The lap is 1.149 kilometres long, 61% asphalt and 43% gravel, with the lap record standing at 38.074s from last year. Unlike the previous round in Montalegre, the joker comes at the very end of the lap, which could lead to some exciting race finishes. 

The weather in Belgium at this time of year can be uncertain: but after extreme conditions in both Spain (rain) and Portugal (snow), the Peugeot team and drivers are prepared for almost anything! After Montalegre, the cars returned to base in Versailles, to be re-prepared before heading to Belgium.

Sébastien Loeb
“Mettet is a track I like: it’s a nice place and actually not too far from my home town in Alsace, so usually I have a few friends coming to watch and there are plenty of fans from France coming too. The atmosphere is really friendly and it’s always a pleasure to be there: when I first came to Mettet I was on the podium, so happy memories for me. The circuit is quite a varied mix with some technical turns and also some complicated corners on gravel, as well as a sharp hairpin. The start here is never easy, so the first corner can be a bit of an adventure, but it’s always good fun for a driver.”

Timmy Hansen
“I hope we can continue the great pace we’ve had so far in Belgium; there’s no reason why not, as last year I could have won, but I had a puncture at the jump on the final lap. That jump, and the corner after it, is one of the most critical sections of the whole track: you have to jump and make sure that you land exactly on your braking point, which is really difficult to judge. But it’s all part of the job if you’re a rallycross driver. There’s also a super-fast chicane on the lap where you have to get so close to the tyre barrier: it’s one of the places where you have to be super-brave! So I would definitely describe Mettet as a ‘confidence track’ but luckily the PEUGEOT 208 WRX gives me the confidence that you need.”

Kevin Hansen [Independent Peugeot entry]
“From the very start of the year I’ve felt great with the car, but I just need to turn that good feeling into a final result.  Mettet is very different from the last round in Portugal: it’s actually a bit more similar to Barcelona in feel. Last year it was very bumpy, and the 208 WRX was really fast. I’ve been doing my homework and I feel well-prepared to take every opportunity that comes. Things haven’t always gone my way so far this year, but in motorsport everything always comes around, so I’m feeling happy and confident as we head to Belgium.”

Source: Peugeot Sport

Petter Solberg: “I want the win, but I won’t risk everything for it."

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden's team owner and driver, Petter Solberg returns to Mettet, Belgium where he had a problem in the lead of the World RX final last year, when he might well have won. His team-mate Kristoffersson was able to pick up the spoils and took the race win for the team. 

“I’ve never won this race in Belgium, but I came close last year, I should have had this one last year. But this sport comes down to the fine details and these are what we are working so hard on right now," said Solberg. "We are working harder than ever on our strategy, we’re looking at everything we can do to bring a small advantage. But at the same time, we’re early in the season and this isn’t the time to be taking big risks.

Petter is currently in third place in the FIA World RallyCross championship standings, just a point shy of second place, Andreas Bakkerud [EKSRX]. Solberg has only managed to pick-up a podium in the first two rounds of the championship.

“The first two races have been quite strange. We were really quick, probably the fastest, at round one, but we had no luck. Then in Portugal last time we struggled a little bit, but we made the podium!," says Solberg. "You know me, you know how much I want to win, more than anything. I’m really happy to see Johan on the top step, but I think I’m ready for a go up there as well now!"

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden's strategists are poring over race data and plotting another course to be competitive and win in Belgium. 

“I want the win, but I won’t risk everything for it. We have to be sensible, add the points all the time. I’m definitely not going to get stressed about this," said Solberg. "I know we had the speed in Barcelona and then we got some bad luck in Portugal – like when they put the gravel out in the qualifying heats. We got some really slippery conditions and could only make 10th fastest in that heat."

“That’s the difference in World RX today – you have something small, some small detail that doesn’t work for you and you are 10th. That’s why we focus on detail," Solberg concludes.

Johan Kristoffersson: "We don’t get distracted by anybody, any other team or anything."

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross 

A return to the place where the winning started for PSRX Volkswagen Sweden and Johan Kristoffersson 12 months ago. The team heads to Mettet at the top of the drivers’ and teams’ championship after back-to-back wins.

Despite the early 2018 success, the start of the season has been a little bit topsy-turvy at times. PSRX Volkswagen Sweden are now looking to steady the ship starting with this week’s World RX of Belgium.

“It’s a nice track. It’s not my favourite, I wouldn’t say that, but it’s a good place to race and it’s definitely somewhere I have good memories – this is where we took our first win with the new team last year," said Krisoffersson. "It’s the kind of place where you really have to be on your toes, you have to be ready to adapt to the conditions changing really quickly. But this is a very different track to Montalegre in Portugal – and hopefully we’ll have some very different weather as well.

Johan Kristoffersson has now taken back-to-back race wins with 10 rounds remaining. He inherited the race win at the season opener in Barcelona after Mattias Ekstrom's disqualification and drove to victory in the snow of Montalegre, but it won't be that easy for the defending champion with competition closer than ever.

“One of the things we learned in Portugal – and from Barcelona as well – was the importance of not focusing on anything except for what we’re doing. We don’t get distracted by anybody, any other team or anything," says Kristoffersson. "All the time now we are just looking at Petter and me and the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team; what can we do? How can we be better?"

“As well as that, it’s so important to stay calm, stick to the plan and work the strategy. The trouble is, the last round was such a freak event with the crazy weather and conditions. But that showed how this team doesn’t panic, we pull together, we make the results and we do this by maximizing our own performance," Kristoffersson concluded. 

Cooper Tires to Title Sponsor the World RX of Great Britain

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross

The FIA World Rallycross Championship has today announced that the World RX of Great Britain will be headline sponsored by Cooper Tires. The first international rallycross event to be held at Silverstone Circuit is officially named Cooper Tires World RX of Great Britain.

The agreement is an extension of World RX’s long-standing relationship with Cooper Tires, which sees it supply the entire series in its capacity as Official Tyre Supplier and Associated Partner.

"To increase visibility of our brand at the championship's only UK round, we have finalised a new agreement as title sponsor of the World RX of Great Britain," said McRoberts, Marketing Communications Manager, Cooper Tires. "Being held at Silverstone for the first time, this much-anticipated event promises to deliver an unforgettable Speedmachine festival for all rallycross fans from home and abroad."

The Cooper Tires World RX of Great Britain will be a highlight of the 2018 World RX season as part of the Speedmachine festival, which combines World Championship motorsport with live music acts, Esports, iconic car displays and opportunities for event-goers to get behind the wheel of a performance car and drive the world-famous Silverstone Formula 1 circuit. 

“Cooper Tires has been integral to the growth and success of World RX so we are delighted to announce it as title sponsor for the landmark World RX of Great Britain at Silverstone," said Bellamy, World RX Managing Director. "Boasting a huge entry list as part of the Speedmachine festival, Britain’s round of the World Championship will be the perfect stage to showcase the Cooper Tires brand.”

Petter Solberg: "We have to be even stronger."

PHOTO CREDIT: PSRX Volkswagen Sweden

Petter Solberg overcame a dramatic semi-final on Sunday claiming third place after stalling his PSRX Volkswagen Polo R on the line. "I drove like hell through that race, I was sure I wouldn’t make the top three, but I did," said Solberg.

"This whole weekend has been really tough right from the very first heat," said Solberg. In Q1, Petter found himself in tenth place overall but made an improvement in Q2, which saw him improve to fourth place. 

The changing weather conditions proved to be very challenging for many of the World RX drivers. With four seasons in one day (Sun, clouds, rain and snow). "We have had just about every type of condition. You know, I am in rallying for a lot of years and I know how to drive in the snow, on the dry gravel, wet mud and asphalt – I did that for a long time in the World Rally Championship," says Solberg. "But until I came to Montalegre, until I came to World RX of Portugal, I never drove in all of those conditions in one day. It was unbelievable to be racing in a snow storm. But quite cool as well…"

Solberg went on to finish third in the final (+3.938 seconds behind his team-mate.) 
"What we have to focus on now is the small details with our car. Yes, it’s fantastic to lead the championships and to take two cars on the podium – congratulations, of course to my team-mate Johan for his second win of the season – but we have to be ready for the other cars coming," said Solberg. "We saw here with Peugeot, [Sébastien] Loeb is strong and those guys are only going to get stronger."

Solberg concluded saying: "We have to be even stronger."

Written By: Junaid Samodien

Kristoffersson claims victory for PSRX Volkswagen Sweden in the Portuguese snow.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World Rallycross Media

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden's Johan Kristoffersson took his second win in a dominant fashion, in the World RX final on Sunday, while Petter Solberg overcame a dramatic semi-final to clinch third in what turned out to be a snowy final.

All the teams were expecting changeable weather conditions during the second round of the World RX season, but nothing prepared the paddock for the snow storm that hit on Sunday. 

"From the second row of the grid in the semi-finals, my plan was to follow the leader on the main lap, but after [Andreas] Bakkerud slid wide I grabbed the chance and was very happy to take the win," said Kristoffersson. "But then the snow really started to fall and I was wondering what could happen in the final – in the end, it was perfect for us. The car was great and I couldn’t be happier. Sure, the battle at the top is getting closer, so to take two wins from two starts – and to have Petter on the podium as well – is the perfect start to the season for me and for the whole PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team."

Petter Solberg didn't have a straight forward Sunday but pulled off an incredible comeback drive in the semi-final to overcome stalling on the line. "What a fantastic race that final was. It was unbelievable and a really nice way for me to forget about stalling on the line in the semi-final," said Solberg. "I drove like hell through that race, I was sure I wouldn’t make the top three, but I did. What we have done here is race smart and take the points. That’s so important."

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden now lead the FIA World RX teams championship standings by 16 points (a total of 96 points), while Johan Kristoffersson leads the drivers' standings by 9 points to his nearest rival Andreas Bakkerud with team-mate Petter Solberg in third (10 points down on the championship leader.)

Written By: Junaid Samodien
Source: PSRX Volkswagen Sweden

Loeb secures another World RX podium in a reliable and competitive Peugeot 208 RX.

Photo Credit: Peugeot Sport

Team Peugeot Total driver Sébastien Loeb may be used to snow from events like Rally Sweden – but he certainly wasn’t expecting it in rallyross! Nonetheless, Loeb secured a 2nd consecutive runner-up spot in round 2 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship this weekend in Montalegre, Portugal.

Sébastien Loeb got off to a flying start in Portugal by winning Q1 and finishing 2nd in Q2, making him the points leader overnight on Saturday. “I had a really good feeling with the 208 WRX from the beginning," said Loeb. "In the dry, the car was easy to handle, and I felt very confident: I could concentrate on the lap time rather than what I was doing with the car itself."

Loeb felt a bit less confident in the wet and slippery conditions of Q3 and Q4 on Sunday morning, he comfortably went through to the semi-final. The Frenchman finished 2nd in the semi, which earned him a place in the final that was held just as the snow started to fall hard. "It was a good fight all weekend and I really enjoyed it; it’s not normal to see snow! The battle is so close between everyone, but we are right up there too," says Loeb. "You have to do everything perfectly if you want to have a good weekend in rallycross. It's not always easy but very satisfying when it happens.” Loeb finished 2nd overall in the final: the same result that he achieved in Barcelona, to boost his position in the championship rankings.

Timmy Hansen was the only driver to beat Loeb in a race on Saturday, winning Q2 in front of his illustrious team mate to lie 2nd overnight in the overall points rankings. He too easily qualified for the semi-finals, and the news got even better for the Swede on Sunday afternoon when he won his semi-final, again in front of Loeb. "In the final, I was going well but Kristoffersson was faster, and I made a mistake when I was trying to keep up. The weather changed for the final and we didn’t have time to adapt the car to the slippery conditions: we still had the set up from the dry run before," said Hansen. "So, I think that was part of it, but it was also my mistake. I went too fast into the corner, hit the rail and spun round. That’s racing sometimes, mistakes can happen."

Kevin Hansen also had a great start in Portugal and seemingly got better and better as conditions became more challenging: finishing 5th and 9th in the wet Q3 and Q4 sessions on Sunday morning. These strong results promoted him to the semi-final but disaster struck when he was caught out by a rival who braked early and went into the back of him. "I had a really good start again in the semi-final and I was just behind Ekstrom: I was sure he was going to go for the joker," said Kevin Hansen. "Then he braked, and I didn’t have time to stop: I hit him in the rear and broke the intercooler." To save the engine from terminal damage, he chose to switch it off, and his promising weekend was sadly over.

"We've had two events now and I’ve been through to the semi-final on each occasion. I feel very good with the car and I trust it: especially when you have to go sideways like you do here," Kevin Hansen added. "Without the incident in the semi, I think we could have been in the final, so that’s great."

After reliability issues in round 1 at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona, the Peugeot Total drivers have more confidence in the 208 RX supercar after showing good pace.

Written By: Junaid Samodien

Grönholm RX achieve targets in tricky Portugal conditions

Photo Credit: GRX Taneco

GRX Taneco aimed to get both cars through to the semi-finals, and they achieved this target with Niclas Grönholm and Timur Timerzyanov. The two drivers made a smooth start to the first day with Grönholm eighth fastest and Timerzyanov finishing in ninth place in Q1. 

Grönholm progressed up the rankings to seventh place in Q2, whereas Timerzyanov could do no better than 13th. “We didn’t make any mistakes and the car was running well," said Grönholm. "We need to do some more work on the settings as it’s a new car, but we’re getting there.”

On Sunday morning the conditions became tricky when the rain turned to snow, but the conditions didn’t prevent Grönholm from making it through to the first semi-final with eighth place and 14th fastest times. Timerzyanov, in search of points, qualified for the second semi-final by clocking the 12th fastest time in Q3, before following up with an encouraging seventh place. 

“I went all out in Q4,” Timerzyanov said. “I got a good start and led my race. Conditions were quite changeable and it wasn’t easy to find grip. We missed out on the top 10 in qualifying by just one point, but getting both cars into the semi-finals is a positive result.”

Starting from the back row in each semi-final, the two drivers had a chance to secure a few more points which later would prove vital for the team consolidating FOURTH place in the Teams' Championship standings. 

“I got off to a good start, but Kevin Hansen closed the door on me,” Grönholm said. “I had to take the main line. I was fourth at that point and then put in my joker lap. We were up with the pace, but the strategy didn’t work out in our favour.”

“We had a sensor issue,” Timerzyanov added. “I was stuck on the start line for several seconds. The car is in great shape but there’s still some work to do for the next round in Belgium.” 

The GRX TANECO Team will now head to Belgium. The Mettet Circuit will host the third round of the 2018 season from Friday 11 May. 

Source: GRX Taneco

A roller coaster ride for EKS Audi Sport in the Portugal snow

Photo Credit: Audi Sport

A weekend of mixed weather conditions at round two of the FIA World Rallycross Championship proved to be roller coaster ride for EKS Audi Sport. After positions one and three in the qualifying rounds the expectations of Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekström had been higher than positions four and seven.

Andreas Bakkerud in fifth position after day one at Montalegre, he made a really strong showing on Sunday. On his favorite track in the mountains of Northern Portugal, the Norwegian won Q3 and Q4, so securing overall victory in qualifying ahead of Sébastien Loeb in a Peugeot. His teammate, Mattias Ekström, completed the strong qualifying performance of the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro cars in position three.

Then the first setback in the semi-finals: After having been bumped by Peugeot driver Kevin Hansen in turn one, Ekström, in fourth position, missed the final – for the first time since Canada in early August 2017. Bakkerud lost a position due to the tussle as well but, in second place, made it into the final.

But then Bakkerud, in his 51st run in the World Rallycross Championship, experienced a premiere: snow! “I’ve never driven a supercar on snow before,” said the Norwegian. “The conditions were extremely difficult. In the end, I only finished fourth. But the joy about my first qualifying victory in the Audi S1 EKS RX quattro outweighs any disappointment.” With his strong performance the Audi driver advanced to second place in the World Championship.

“Today again showed how close victory and defeat are together in rallycross,” said Ekström, who was half a second short of making it into the final. “Following the qualifying heats, things looked promising but then, after turn one of our semi-finals, really bad. Due to the impact from behind I simply lost too much time even though I tried everything afterwards. The end was disappointing. But we again showed that we have a fast car.”

Source: Audi Sport
Edit: Junaid Samodien

World RX defending champion Kristoffersson wins in the snow at the World RX of Portugal

Johan Kristoffersson leading the World RX Final.
Photo Credit: FIA World Rallycross

Johan Kristoffersson extended his lead in the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy after taking his second straight win of the season in the Bompiso World RX of Portugal. Sebastien Loeb finished second for Team Peugeot Total with Petter Solberg placing third for PSRX Volkswagen Sweden in the final, which was run in a blizzard at the end of a weekend of mixed weather.

Kristoffersson led the final into turn one and, with the benefit of clear vision, drove confidently away from his rivals as the battle for places raged behind him. Backing up his round one win in Catalunya-Barcelona, Kristoffersson is now nine points in clear in the lead of the Championship.

"I felt like I had great pace all weekend and from the semi-final my PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo R worked very well," commented Kristoffersson, who won his first World RX final in Portugal three years ago. "It was snowing in the final and it was very, very slippery but I had a great launch and was able to get into the first corner in the lead. From there I just kept pushing as hard as I could for five laps so I could take the Joker on the last lap."

Loeb consolidated Team Peugeot Total’s strong performance over the course of the weekend with his run to second place in the final. The Frenchman and team-mate Timmy Hansen won two qualifying races and a semi-final between them. Loeb took the Joker in lap one and climbed to second place as the race progressed.

"I had a really good start and went for the Joker straightaway," said Loeb, who won the Monster Energy Super Charge Award for the quickest reaction off the line. "It’s been a great weekend for Peugeot and I am very pleased to be on the podium again. I had a really good feeling in the car from the start and felt confident in all conditions."

Solberg joined Loeb in taking his Joker early before chasing his rival all the way to the chequered flag for his first podium of the season. The two-time World RX Champion acknowledged the wild weather was a test of his considerable experience.

"We have had just about every type of condition," he said. "I competed in rallying for many years and I know how to drive in the snow, on gravel, wet mud and asphalt. But until I came to Montalegre, until I came to World RX of Portugal, I have never driven in all of those conditions in one day. It was unbelievable to be racing in a snow storm, but quite cool as well!"

Andreas Bakkerud was Top Qualifier and went on to place fourth in the final driving the EKS Audi Sport S1. The Norwegian claimed dominant wins in both Q3 and Q4 to leapfrog overnight leader Loeb in the Intermediate Classification but just missed the podium in the hotly contested final.

Making a career-first appearance in a World RX final, Guerlain Chicherit completed his landmark weekend with a run to fifth. A breakthrough result for the GC Kompetition team, Chicherit produced a superb performance in semi-final one to guarantee his route to the final as the Prodrive-engineered Renault Megane RS proved competitive in the Frenchman’s hands.

Timmy Hansen started on the front row alongside Kristoffersson after winning semi-final two, but a mid-race spin coming out of the final corner scuppered the Swede’s hopes of a podium and dropped him to sixth place.

Last year’s World RX of Portugal winner Mattias Ekstrom didn't progress beyond the semi-finals. The 2016 World RX Champion was in the thick of the action at the start of the race but was denied a place in the final by the in-form Chicherit.

GRX Taneco's Niclas Gronholm and Timur Timerzyanov both advanced into the semi-finals again, together with Olsbergs MSE’s Kevin Eriksson, Team STARD’s Janis Baumanis and Peugeot racer Kevin Hansen.

In the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600, Artis Baumanis claimed his second consecutive victory in the Volland Racing Skoda Fabia. A lowly 12th place overnight, the Latvian driver fought back to make his way to the final where he’d get the better of Espen Isaksaetre (Norway) in his Peugeot 208 and Ondrej Smetana (Czech Republic) driving his Ford Fiesta. With two of the six Super1600 rounds completed, Baumanis tops the championship standings, five points ahead of team-mate Rokas Baciuska.

Paul Bellamy, World RX Managing Director for IMG, commented: "Montalegre never fails to disappoint when it comes to enthralling racing, and this weekend’s World RX of Portugal has been absolutely no exception. Though the unseasonably cold and snowy weather certainly presented its own challenges as it changed quickly from session-to-session, the racing remained high quality throughout. Congratulations to Johan Kristoffersson and PSRX Volkswagen Sweden for their second win of the season – you can definitely say it was hard-earned on a day like this! Finally, thank you to the Montalegre organisers and the Portuguese ASN for putting on the event in very testing conditions – 25,000 fans have enjoyed fantastic racing in a spectacular location.”

The 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship will continue with World RX of Belgium at Mettet in two weeks’ time (12-13 May).

Story By: FIA World Rallycross Media

2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Post-Race Press Conference.

Photo Credit: FIA.com

DRIVERS

1 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
2 – Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari)
3 – Sergio PÉREZ (Force India)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by David Coulthard)

We have our top three here. Lewis Hamilton just being weighed in. We just have to wait for the guys to get their helmets off. We’ve got a very happy Checo Pérez there and Kimi Räikkönen. Checo, you’re first with the helmet off: fantastic, absolutely brilliant, last time you were on the podium was here.

Sergio PÉREZ: Yeah, two years ago. I think today I did the best two laps of my whole career. The last two laps with Sebastian behind, with cold tyres, it was so difficult. I was on the supersoft tyre. I had to keep a very strong rhythm, trying to keep close to Räikkönen, to make sure that Sebastian didn’t get close enough, and in the end we did a real… I’m speechless.

Great stuff, great job indeed. We’ll come across to our race winner, Lewis, that was the perfect example of you never give up, running down with cold tyres at the re-start. Could you predict what was going to happen with Seb?

Lewis HAMILTON: Definitely not. Really quite an emotional race to be honest. Valtteri did such an exceptional job today and really deserved to have the win. Also, Sebastian did a great job. I think it was really, really fortunate today, so it feels a little bit odd to be up here, but I’ve got to take it. I didn’t give up, I keep pushing but definitely a very untidy race from me.

Well, it was absolutely a fantastic race to see, congratulations Lewis. We’ll jump over to Kimi Räikkönen. Tough start to that grand prix, you came together with Ocon. The Clerk of the Course thought it was a race incident. I guess you have a different point of view?

Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: Yeah, well, obviously I was inside and I think he probably didn’t see me. It’s pretty difficult sometimes to see. So obviously he just turned in and I was there. It wasn’t ideal the start for me but I didn’t get worse off from that, so I was lucky in that way. A difficult race after that. I tried to come back and at certain moments I felt good but I struggled a bit with the tyres, to keep them warm enough. I just tried to pay the long game and to stay there, expecting issues. It paid off, but it wasn’t easy.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, many congratulations, win number 63. You’ve already said it wasn’t the easiest – but are you happier with the car this weekend than in China last time out?

LH: A little bit, yeah. In all honesty, I think I struggled throughout the weekend and I’m definitely struggling to extract, I think the car’s potential but also my potential so it’s definitely been a little difficult, particularly the last two races but also with the tyres in Bahrain. But I have to be happy with today. I have to be thankful and grateful for today because it is such a tricky race and you don’t know what’s going to happen: Safety Car comes out and you can lose out and lots of different things happening within this race but what’s important is just to keep your head down and keep going and live to fight another day. I came out in the lead and honestly I couldn’t believe that I was where I was, that I had a Ferrari behind me and I was just praying that I could keep it together, stay focussed and bring it home. So, we’ve definitely got a lot of work still to do, we still are behind, whilst we finished ahead today that was due to, as I said, lots of different circumstances getting in the way. But Kimi was nearly on pole yesterday, two-tenths ahead of Sebastian, their pure pace is a lot ahead of ours at the moment. Then, within the race, I’m sure Sebastian was managing but I’m sure their pace also in the race is a little bit up on ours. We definitely are there in the mix and we’ve not got a terrible car at all, by any means. We’ve just got to refine it a little bit and make it a little bit easier to drive. She definitely isn’t as easy to drive as it was last year. So yeah, that’s what we’re going to continue to work to.

Q: And a sense of relief to be back at the top of the Championship?

LH: Hmmm… I definitely don’t feel relieved at the moment. I have really mixed emotions. Obviously, I could hear constantly I was battling with my team-mate over time, over the pitstop window and ultimately Valtteri had done an exceptional job. Obviously, I did a good job in qualifying and put myself in a good position – but there were a lot of faults in the race, which is rare for me – but I struggled with the car, struggled with the tyres and that’s something I don’t take lightly, so I’ve definitely got to go away from here and work even harder to make sure that there’s not a repeat performance-wise of today for myself.

Q: Kimi, so close yesterday, so close today. Is there a sense of frustration building inside you now, of what do you have to do to win a grand prix?

KR: No, not really, yesterday I can only look in the mirror and the reason is easy to know. Yeah, it was frustrating, as I said earlier, I was taking it easy into the corner and I still managed to throw it away, so that is more painful that just if you happen to know that you have to try something to be fast enough – but that wasn't the case. Yeah, pretty eventful race today. Got a destroyed front wing and tyre in the first few corners. I had a good feeling sometimes but was struggling to switch the tyres on. It was kind of on and off. I had a great many close moments. Even on the way to the grid I was pretty certain that it’s in the wall already but I managed to get it away from it. Too many close calls. The feeling was there but not consistently. I thought, OK, I just try to go as fast as I can and a little bit safer and the Red Bulls, looking at what they were doing earlier in the race it was pretty certain something will happen later on when they get close to each other. Everything changed after that and once put the other tyres on and again it felt OK and it all played into our hands. Very definitely a better day than yesterday but it still… second is not what you want but looking where we were earlier, you take it and we go from there. We know we have the speed. We just have to put things together, and I’m sure it will come.

Q: Checo, great to see you and Force India back on the podium. It’s been a dramatic turnaround by the team over the last month. How confident are you that you can stay where you are going forwards?

SP: Well, obviously, this result is a coincidence of so many things happening but it’s not a coincidence that we are always there to take anything that is offered to us. I think our battle is not here, to be honest, it’s the midfield and finally we got plenty of points today with this podium, that we can close up the gap to the cars ahead, to the Renaults. I think we were definitely the fourth-best team this weekend. In two weeks’ time, we have a very important challenge. Barcelona is where really the car is… you show all of your potential there. It will be very interesting to see where we are. I believe that we are making good progress. Up to now we only had one point as a team. It’s definitely a massive motivation for all the boys that are doing a fantastic job. They did an incredible job with the stops. With the strategy. Yeah, what else can I say? Amazing job.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR 

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Kimi, you’ve had a lot of bad luck in the races this season. You’ve had some big results go amiss through no fault of your own. Do you feel that you got a bit of that luck back today and how important is this for you to really kick on for the rest of the season?

KR: Well, I wouldn’t say that I have had a lot of luck over the years, but I don’t count on luck. You cannot count on that. I think you get what you deserve in a way and sometimes you are a bit luckier than other times but if I take over the years, I’m far from on the positive side yet. Maybe today certain things worked in our direction but then whatever happened in front of us are self-made issues in many ways. Stay out of trouble in this kind of race and definitely knowing what happened last year, it’s going to pay off. I’m more happy that I have the speed  - I know that I have the speed. We just didn’t do it: the mistake yesterday and some issues earlier. That’s the main thing, that we have the speed. We just need to put it together and I’m sure that we can do even better.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Lewis, we didn’t see Valtteri hit anything; did you see him hit anything on the lap he had in front of you? Do you think there was still debris around the area where Romain had crashed before?

LH: For me it was impossible to see. I was obviously chasing Valtteri and it was so blurred, the vision is quite blurred at that high speed so all I could see was a few things fly away from his car and his speed reduced massively so I lifted and I didn’t really know what had happened, so I couldn’t tell you. And I couldn’t see any debris on the straight but the guys were telling me there was some debris there but there was also debris where Grosjean had crashed. It was all on the right side, before the left, fast lefthander so I can’t honestly say where it came from.

Q: (Luis Vasconcelos – Formula Press) Kimi, Checo hit you on the first lap, then you had the incident with Ocon. Was your car damaged for the rest of the race? Did you feel there was something lacking there?

KR: Honestly, I don’t know. Obviously we destroyed the front wing and right tyre but then they changed the front wing so I didn’t check the car at all. Then also, I think on the first lap, after the restart, on the little kink, coming on the last part of the straight, I hit the inside wall at full speed so I’m pretty lucky that the front wheel didn’t go. I was expecting to go quite fast but I was lucky. It felt OK, the car, honestly. I struggled a bit with the tyres sometimes but apart from that I’m sure there wasn’t big damage.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Lewis, you mentioned that you think Ferrari’s still a bit ahead of Mercedes at the moment. We saw exceptional pace from you in Australia, you’ve sort of struggled since then. So do you think that in order to get back on terms with them or get ahead it’s going to be upgrades that you require or just unlocking more from the package you have at the moment?

LH: I think the performance upgrade battle will be important, to see how that development goes between both teams, so that will definitely be important. I think more unlocking the potential of the car. Australia, we started on the right foot on the Friday and it progressed and got better and better. Since then, every weekend we’ve generally started a couple of steps – at least – behind the Ferraris and struggled to catch up. So whilst there has been a lot of work that has been done, we are still, today, performance-wise, we are still behind them. If you look at them, they had a little bit more downforce this weekend yet they were a little bit slower on the straights but quicker through all the corners. The middle sector was always three tenths up, three or four tenths up, which we just couldn’t catch up so their package really suited this track perfectly, I would say. Maybe ours did in Australia but I would imagine they just didn’t unlock their potential in that race, particularly, and since then have. But I don’t think we’re under any illusions that we have the fastest car or that we don’t have work to do. We know that. Everyone’s working as hard as they can but we’ve got to keep pushing, really got to keep pushing. I’ve got to figure out how to get on top of this car a little bit more. Australia, as I said, I was really comfortable with it and since then I’ve not been and I don’t really know why, so I’ve got to try and work on that.

Source: FIA.com

2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: FIA Team Members' Press Conference

Paul Monaghan (left), James Allison (centre) and Mario Isola (Right)
Photo Credit: FIA.com

TEAM REPRESENTATIVES – Paul MONAGHAN (Red Bull), James ALLISON (Mercedes), Mario ISOLA (Pirelli)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Paul, if we could start with you and deal with the here and now, Max Verstappen had a crash in that FP1 session. What can you tell us about the state of your car?
Paul MONAGHAN: It’s not survived unscathed, so we’ve got a front-left corner to change, we’re underway with that. There’s a little bit of bodywork repair to do on the left-hand side, change the floor, rear wing, that sort of thing. It’s time-consuming but recoverable. So, with a following wind we’ll get him out in P2.

Q: Have you spoken to Max, do you know what caused the accident? 
PM: It’s difficult to know what caused it to swap ends under braking. Nothing’s broken, nothing’s gone wrong. I think he’s braked pretty much in the same point so we’re having a hunt through to see what may lie underneath that but I don’t think there’s anything sinister in it and he’ll be out in P2 – and he’ll be quick, don’t worry.

Q: Max’s problems aside, the team has hit the ground running this year with RB14, fastest lap in two of the opening three races and, of course, that terrific victory last time out in China. Just how much can you achieve with that car this year?
PM: We ought to have that chat in Abu Dhabi really, and then we can put facts to it. It really comes down to what the gentleman to my left does and what other competitors do. We will develop at the best pace we can, we’ll try to operate the car in the most competitive way we can and, actually, we’re judged by our opposition, aren’t we? We’ll do what’s in our control, get to the end of the year, be as quick as we can and if we’re in the hunt, we’re in the hung.

Q: And what can you tell us about updates? Have you got stuff coming in Barcelona? Is there a big chassis upgrade there?
PM: I don’t think there’s a race where we don’t have any updates. The magnitude of the updates varies race to race, as I’m sure it does for other people as well. There might be a few more changes in Spain – you’ll have to wait and see.

Q: Mario, if we could come to you now. You gapped the tyre compounds in China, leap-frogging the supersoft tyre. How successful was that approach? What feedback have you had from the teams?
Mario ISOLA: I feel it was successful but obviously, the Safety Car changed a little bit the situation. So, we had a two-stop race but mainly due to the Safety Car – but it’s interesting to see that the top teams – Ferrari, Mercedes – decided to qualify in Q2 with a soft compound in order to have this opportunity to start the race with a different tyre. So, we created a bit of difference in strategies also at the beginning of the race. It was the same in Bahrain where all the three compounds were suitable for the race and all the teams used different combinations, different strategies. This is the target we can achieve.

Q: The desire pre-season was for two pitstops in each grand prix – but one stop has been possible at all of the races. What have you got to do to achieve those two stops?
MI: If I look at the target that we have, it’s to have different strategies with different numbers of pitstops possible. Obviously if a team is able to control degradation, they always try to maximise the one-stop strategy – or to use the one-stop strategy. So, what we do when we select the compounds is to try to have a two-stop strategy that is the quickest – but obviously, we have a three-stop and a one-stop that is close to the two-stop but with a delta lap time, a total race time, that is sometimes a few seconds. So, depending on team choice and how they manage the pace, they can change and go towards the one-stop strategy that is always, let’s say, less risky, because you don’t go back in traffic – and we know how difficult sometimes it is to overtake another car – you don’t take the risk to have another pitstop, so to make a mistake in that pitstop, and so on. That’s why when you have strategies that are all very close, all the teams are trying to go in the one-stop direction. But, if we have different cars with different strategies, I think we had a couple of good races with a good show. So, we should continue in this direction.

Q: You announced yesterday your compound choices up to and including the Austrian Grand Prix. Is there a little bit of evidence of a more aggressive compound choice from Pirelli going forwards?
MI: In general, this year we are more aggressive with at least one step. Here in Baku we are two steps softer than last year. This is the direction. To make the right decisions, we need to collect more data. We started the season, for example, the nomination for Baku was 15 weeks ago and had available only the numbers coming from the Abu Dhabi test, end of last season, so we are collecting new numbers, we put the new numbers in our system to generate strategies, and, if it is possible, – we don’t just consider the numbers but also other elements – but if it is possible, we want to move on the softer side in order to have more interesting races.

Q: James, Mercedes are leading the Constructors’ Championship but this is the first time in the hybrid era that you’ve got three races without a victory – so what is the mood in the camp at the moment?
James ALLISON: Well, hungry to get that first victory, obviously! And hungry to follow it up with more. We’d had our chances. We’ve squandered some of them and we would like, dearly, to have a race weekend where we do everything right and get a race win.

Q: Is there any evidence that Lewis is struggling with this car more than Valtteri?
JA: No, I wouldn't say so. No, I don’t think so. If you look at pre-season, Melbourne and Bahrain as well where he was hampered by a gearbox penalty, but he’s been going well.

Q: How do you assess the pecking order so far this year?
JA: It’s tough to do, honestly. We were clearly quickest in Melbourne; it was really close between us and Ferrari in Bahrain and all three teams had a fair shout in China. Probably Ferrari had the edge overall but we looked like we were going to rob them with a bit of a burglary job in an undercut and then Paul had us over at the Safety Car. So it’s terribly tight – which makes for a great spectacle, gives us a real challenge and is anxiety-inducing and exhilarating in equal measure for us and the teams.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) A question for both Paul and James. From next season we will have an increase in the fuel limit in Formula 1. I just wanted to get your thoughts on the potential this has to change the competitive order. Do you think there is enough of a difference in the fuel efficiency of the different engine manufacturers to make a bit of a difference?

PM: Honestly, I can’t answer your question, because I can’t tell you how fuel efficient the Ferrari or the Mercedes is, not from their measured sheets, we can make an estimate. Will it change the competitive order, I don’t believe it will, no. What you’ll find is… let’s take the ideal scenario, by which the Red Bull is the quickest car next year. We’ll get first and second on the grid, other people will be behind us and then in the race you’ll have 110kg of fuel to burn. If we all need to lift off a certain amount at the beginning of the race then you’re not going to change the order very much. What will happen is, let’s say if our engine is less fuel efficient, then we won’t be lifting off but we will go off the line slightly heavier. If anything, what we will avoid is all the people lifting off the straights to try and save the fuel, which I think will be better for the overall spectacle.

James, anything to add?
JA: No, very similar. I don’t think it will change the order one iota, but people don’t really like the lift-and-coast spectacle and it will reduce that somewhat at the very heavily fuel-limited tracks. However, not all the tracks are heavily fuel-limited and there it will make no difference at all.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) To Paul and James: after the Ferrari report of their incident in Bahrain was shared with the teams, have you in way changed your pit stop procedures and operations?
JA: No, is the answer.
PM: We’re the same; we’ve not changed anything

Q: (Ben Edwards – Channel 4) To Paul and James: just a quick question about the rule change on the ability to fit mirrors on the Halo. I just wondered if teams had looked into that at all yet and if it’s something we will see in the future?

PM: Now there is some clarity, I guess we know that we can now put mirrors on Halos, so if someone wants to go down that route and try to fulfill the other requirements in the TD, which are not trivial to observe, then yes, we will see it in a few races’ time. Whether or not you actually can make it work I think is more tricky.

JA: Yeah, it’s not a rule change, it’s a clarification of the existing rules and it is tough. It is tough to attach to attach a mirror and not make it wobble around and satisfy all the criteria of the TD that clarifies what you can and can’t do.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Again to the two technical delegates on the stage. If we look at the post-2020 regulations, where they’re talking about doing away with some of the heat energy recovery systems and increasing rev limits and fuel flow and whatever. Could we see a return to pit stops with refueling or are we just going to go to the line with cars weighing 50 or 60 kilos more than they do at the moment?
JA: Well, there would need to be a change that would allow refueling back into the sport for that to happen. If refueling was allowed it’s quicker to do a race that way, but I’m not sure that’s part of the package of things that is currently on offer for 2021. Does that answer your question?

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) Then the weight is going to go up drastically?
JA: Well, the weight will be whatever the fuel allowance is, won’t it?

Paul?
PM: It’s difficult to answer your question Dieter, because we haven’t been presented with a set of technical regulation proposals for 2021. You could up the fuel flow rate to the engine and not give us any more fuel flow for the race, in which case your off-the-line weight doesn’t actually change but will never attain the qualifying fuel flow rate. So, as James had said, we don’t have refueling at the moment, we could, but if that’s not in then you are correct in that the potential is for the car weight to go up off the line.

Would you like to see a return of refueling? 

PM: No idea, actually. We looked at it a while ago and from memory of the simulation work done within Red Bull, I suspect all the teams’ strategies would converge on the same thing, because you no longer have an ever-decreasing car weight, you reset every time. You‘ll pick the quickest way to do the race, the pit stops get a little bit longer, and if we all sit there doing the same thing then what we have done is to put a big valve in the side of the car.

JA: It’s to be assessed carefully but the refueling strategies are more predictable and allow less variation in the race and less surprise in the race than non-refuelling strategies, because once you put a chunk of fuel in your car, you have to stop on the lap where you run out, or a lap or two before and everyone knows when that is going and it just stops the surprise undercut or the chance overcut that comes with the current regs.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) James, last season Mercedes faced a sustained challenger from Ferrari, which mean that you were having to react to having an extra car or two in the competitive picture from the beginning. This year it looks like Red Bull is in the mix too. Apart from simply adding two more cars to the equation, how much more difficult has that made Mercedes’ life and how have you responded to that challenge.

JA: Well, time will how we respond to it. Hopefully we respond to it by being nicely competitive and at the front of the pack. But that will be very difficult, because these are two very strong competitors. Having six cars that can have a claim on the top step of the podium makes it a headache for all six that are doing that. All we can do is try to make our car as quick as it can be, with the developments we bring in the factory and then have a weekend, every time we come out here, where we make no mistakes, and hopefully other blink, and others maybe don’t develop quite so strongly. But these are three very strong teams, so it makes for an exciting prospect.

Q: (Tony Dodgins – Channel 4) Question for Mario: have you had any feedback on the ultrasoft performance from the first session, because we heard Seb’s radio message where he said these tyres are toast and we know that Kimi’s only got one set of supers? Has there been any feedback?

MI: I think we have a lot of track evolution, which is typical of street circuits like this one. The circuit was with a lot of dust and so we need to wait for FP2 to understand the real performance of the three compounds. It’s not a surprise that the level of grip in general is very low so we will see. There is also the wind that sometimes affects the performance or changes the braking points and so on, so let’s wait and see what happens in FP2.

Q: (Julien Billiotte – AutoHebdo) Mario, several teams including Mercedes have found it harder to find the sweet spot with the 2018 Pirelli tyres. Have you been surprised by that? And to Paul and James, how has been the tyres’ measurement from your own perspective? 

MI: No, I’m not surprised because when we have a working range, we give an interval of temperature where the tyres are working but there is always a peak and when you have three teams with the cars so close, they are looking for any hundredth of a second to find the best performance in the tyre. That means that it’s very difficult to find the sweet spot, even if you have a working range that is wider. To develop new compounds, especially the softer compounds we started from the soft from last year - that was the one with the wider working range, so the approach was this one, trying to increase the working range but as I said, it’s not flat performance from eighty to 110 degrees, you always have a peak and if a car is able to stay in that position, they have a performance advantage.

JA: Well, we have generally got it right in the race, so we’ve generally had the tyre working very nicely in the races, pre-season and in these opening rounds but we have not always got it right in qualifying, to make the tyre wake up and play on the single lap and that’s our job to do. It’s eminently do-able and it’s going to be fun when we get it right every time.

PM: To answer your question, I don’t think it’s any more difficult than it’s been the past few years. Once you’ve identified what you want to try and do with it, if the drivers and teams get it right then we can find it. I think it’s an evolution of what we’ve learned for the last few years.

Q: (Dieter Rencken – Racing Lines, Racefans.net) To the two technical delegates: there’s been this talk about the $150m budget cap which applies predominantly to technical issues and race operation issues because marketing etc are excluded. James, specifically your team, which is one of the biggest budgets on the grid and also to Paul, is it actually realistic to expect a team to cut back to $150m in two years’ time? 

JA: Well, I think the answer to that is probably a little above my pay grade. You want to probably pitch that towards Toto but what I would know is that this is the opening point of what will be a fair amount of discussion between the teams and Liberty over the coming weeks and months, and I’m sure that a position will eventually be agreed that works for all parties.

PM: I would agree with what James has said. We will see where the discussion goes and we’ll set the team up to suit the rules as they evolve and become clearer.

Q: (Scott Mitchell – Autosport) Another question for James and Paul: over the last few months, there’s been plenty of discussion over FIA personnel leaving and joining different teams on the grid; in fact one of those is starting his first Grand Prix weekend here with Renault. One of the suggestions has been that that could lead to a bit of mistrust from teams about what they can and can’t present to the FIA for fear of it eventually being taken elsewhere. Has there been any evidence of that so far and do you think that is a serious issue going forward? 

PM: It is a serious issue. It has been discussed in other forums, shall we say. I believe that there is now a non-disclosure agreement between the FIA, F1 and all the teams, so our data is at least protected. People move between the teams, so knowledge is transferred in that respect. I suppose someone in a governing body with access to all the teams’ areas could be a prize catch and I believe that there are changes afoot to limit how… what a gardening period and after that it’s a process that we are all at risk to, I guess.

JA: I think your question was whether there had been any evidence of that? No, the FIA have always treated our data with unimpeachable fairness and discretion and there’s no evidence at all that there’s been anything other than that, even with a couple of people leaving so no.

Source: FIA.com

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden look to build on winning start

PHOTO CREDIT - PSRX Volkswagen Sweden

PSRX Volkswagen Sweden and defending World Champion Johan Kristoffersson were declared victors of the season opener at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona after championship rival Mattias Ekstrom was disqualified after making contact with Petter Solberg at Turn 1 in the final. 

“What happened in Barcelona wasn’t so nice [the first corner incident for which Mattias Ekström was excluded], but that’s history now," said Solberg. "We forget about that and move on to this race. And these are exciting times for the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team, we have some small upgrades coming for the car – nothing major, but they all count. It’s fine-tuning."

As the idiom goes: "One man's loss is another man's gain." In this case, Johan Kristoffersson gained from his rivals misfortune. “Barcelona was a good weekend that turned great for me. I have to admit, the first heats were not so strong, I was struggling to get comfortable with the car in the really wet conditions," said Kristoffersson. "We had made some changes to the Polo R Supercar and trying to find the feeling when there is virtually no grip and certainly no consistent grip is so difficult. I worked with the team and the engineers and by Saturday afternoon things were looking good – even better when the sun came out on Sunday!” 

Round one was eventful, but it concluded with a win for Johan Kristoffersson, the lead in both drivers’ and teams’ championships and a very successful start to the defence of both titles. PSRX Volkswagen Sweden now aim to build on the winning start to the season. 

Montalegre, Portugal is a race that has suited the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden drivers well in the past; Petter Solberg and Johan Kristoffersson have only lost one final in four years at the Montalegre track.

“I love this track. I won here twice and I was close last year before I got the puncture. This year I would really love to go back there and finish that job. This is a real rallycross track with some really nice corners and grip changes," says Solberg. "It’s somewhere that you can really lean on the car and have a good go. Fantastic."

Located in Portugal’s far north, Montalegre nestles in rolling hills and mountains overlooking the Spanish border. But, with an altitude of close to 1000 metres, the weather can vary from warm spring sunshine to heavy rain and near freezing conditions.

“Last year Petter and I were pretty strong in the heats, but that didn’t transfer to Sunday afternoon. I scored my first podium with PSRX Volkswagen Sweden with third place, but there was a bit of frustration when we left," said Kristoffersson. "It’ll be good to get back to this track and make more progress from last season. I think we have good potential in Portugal.

The PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo R looks to be a very competitive car. The Polo R is based on the 2017 chassis with some cooling and aerodynamic updates. “I wouldn’t say this year’s Polo R Supercar is necessarily any faster than last year, but what we have from Volkswagen Motorsport is a car which has a wider window of performance; you don’t have to have the absolutely perfect set-up to get confidence, feeling and grip from the car this season. To know you’ll be able to react to weather or condition changes quickly really helps so much," Solberg said.

Written By - Junaid Samodien
Image Credit - PSRX Volkswagen Sweden