From GMM
Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez has moved to silence the persistent rumours about Kimi Raikkonen's future.
Recently, the impressive F1 returnee and Finn was linked with a switch next year to his former title-winning team Ferrari.
And now amid the Lewis Hamilton rumours, some have mentioned 32-year-old Raikkonen as the ideal successor, reprising his five-year McLaren career of 2002-2006.
Lotus team figures have, however, revealed that Raikkonen is on a two-year contract.
But, in F1, contractual situations are usually complicated, with drivers and teams often only obligated in the event of certain performance-related criteria.
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| Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) fifth at Monza. (Photo: WRi2) |
Lopez told Finland's
Turun Sanomat that Raikkonen is staying in 2013.
"At least in the short term, Kimi is with us. We have an agreement that is based on performance, and it has been fulfilled," he revealed.
Gerard Lopez acknowledged, however, that a team should not "force anyone" to race its cars "if they don't want to be with us".
In that case, "Kimi wants to be here, as does Romain Grosjean," the Luxembourgian entrepreneur insisted, "and we are happy with them too."
Lopez said he has not been surprised by the McLaren and Ferrari rumours.
"No," he answered. "This is F1. Sometimes the rumours are true, sometimes someone has just come up with it, based on nothing."
EURO-RACECAR's reigning champion, Frenchman Eric Helary will contest the Loudon, New Hampshire round of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series as part of a new team from Europe!
Helary will contest this race race on September 22 as his grand prize for having secured the 2011 Racecar Euro Series championship.
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| Éric Hélary (Photo: EURO-RACECAR) |
Since ir created the Racecar Series in 2009, Team FJ has made clear its desire to prepare European drivers for NASCAR competition and create a path to the USA.
Every year since the championship's inception, the title winner has been rewarded with a race seat for a NASCAR event on the other side of the Atlantic. Wilfried Boucenna and Lucas Lasserre were the pioneers, entering the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale near Los Angeles, and now Hélary is preparing to make his American bow.
EURO-RACECAR creators and promoters Team FJ recently acquired Fadden Racing, a vastly experienced K&N Pro Series East outfit for whom formerowner Mike Olsen won two titles. The team has three cars: one for road courses, the second for fast ovals and a third for short tracks.
Now aged 46, Helary won the 1988 French Formula Ford title, French Formula 3 title in 1990 and has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993 for Peugeot.
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has made it clear that engine supplier Renault had to solve the problem of the faulty alternators before the next Grand Prix in Singapore.
The alternator on Sebastian Vettel's car failed with just a handful of laps to run in Sunday's Grand Prix of Italy in Monza.
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| A lonely Sebastian Vettel walks back to his garage in Monza... (Photo: WRI2) |
“A hugely disappointing race -- our first non-points scoring race since Korea 2010,” said Horner in a team press release.
“It was a repeat failure on Sebastian's car with the alternator and we need to look into it and work with Renault to ensure it doesn't happen again. It's already cost us a victory in Valencia and now a points-finish again here in Monza,” he said.
“We changed the alternator on Sebastian's car yesterday during FP3, but unfortunately we had the same failure in today's race,” said Cyril Dumonyt of Renault.
Remi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations said in both cased, the alternator failed.
“We introduced a new spec' of alternator following the problems in Valencia and believed this would overcome the issues,” Taffin explained.
“We are still looking into why the part failed again here but we do know that even though the alternator was being operated entirely within the prescribed range, the part itself overheated and shut off the power supply. This is a priority between ourselves and our suppliers and we have to ensure we are fully on top of the problem before Singapore,” the engineer added.
Remi Taffin also explained that the failure is caused when the alternator's internal temperature gets too hot for it to be able to produce the electrical energy that the car requires.
Pete Shepherd III earned his third NASCAR Canadian Tire Series win in the Wahta Springs 300 Sunday at Barrie Speedway in Ontario last weekend.
Shepherd was running third at the start of a green-white-checkered finish on the tight .333-mile oval when race leader Steve Matthews and second-place J.R. Fitzpatrick got together. The contact allowed Shepherd to slip by into the lead.
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| Pete Shepherd celebrates winning the Wahta Springs 300 Sunday at Barrie Speedway for his first NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 win of the season. (Photo: Matthew Manor/NASCAR) |
Two-time series' champion Andrew Ranger took second, followed by Noel Dowler.
Steve Mathews, who won the pole position in qualifying earlier Sunday afternoon, dropped back to fourth. Dexter Stacey rounded out the top five.
Points leader D.J. Kennington, who encountered mechanical issues now has a 14-point advantage over Ranger and 18 over Fitzpatrick with two races remaining.
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| Martin Roy (90) gets loose and spins while leading the Wahta Springs 300 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series presented by Mobil 1 race at Barrie Speedway. (Photo: Matthew Manor/NASCAR) |
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series returns to the track Saturday, September 15 in the penultimate race of the season for the Wilson Equipment 300 at Riverside International Speedway in Nova Scotia.
Italian electronic company Magneti Marelli used the paddock of Autodromo di Monza last weekend to reveal some of their new hardware destined to run the new 1600cm3, V6 turbo engines in 2014.
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| Photo: WRI2 |
Magneti Marelli engineers started by showing their new ERS system -- an engine boost coming from the recovery of kinetic energy during braking associated with the energy coming from exhaust gases, both aimed at feeding the electrical motor-generators hooked up to the engine shaft).
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| Heat exhaust recovery system (Photo: WRI2) |
Then, they unviled their new fuel systems (injectors and pumps for GDI engines with fuel pressure of up to 500 bar) as well as their two-way WI-FI systems for data transmission from vehicle to infrastructure (i.e., exchange of a much larger set of data and of different types of signals between machine and pit).
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| Different KERS components (Photo: WRI2) |
In their press release, Magneti Marelli writes that the technology and methods used in developing the KERS system are a source of solutions and technological spin-offs for systems and components aimed at mass-produced hybrid and electric engines (moto-generators, electronic control systems, inverters, battery control, etc.).
From GMM
Mark Webber's alternator survived the Italian grand prix because it was an "older" specification.
That is the claim of Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko, after reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel on Sunday suffered a repeat of his Saturday morning failure and
failed to finish at Monza.
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| Sebastian Vettel, back to the Red Bull's garage, without his RB8. (Photo: WRi2) |
"The part was from the latest specification (of alternator) that came after the similar failure in Valencia," Marko is quoted by
Salzburger Nachrichten. "Webber had an alternator from an older specification that had no problem."
Germany's
Auto Motor und Sport said engine supplier Renault, whose supply partner for the alternator is Magneti Marelli, is treating the problem as a priority.
"Since 2011 we have changed virtually nothing," said Renault's baffled Remi Taffin.
One glimmer of hope is that the Renault alternator used by Lotus' Jerome d'Ambrosio at Monza was showing early signs of failure, which could be useful for getting to the bottom of the mystery.
Arguably the bigger problem for Red Bull, however, is the recent lack of pace.
Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari said Monza was "the (team's) worst performance since 2008".
And yet another problem on Sunday was Vettel's penalty for driving Fernando Alonso off the track, even though a similar incident at Curva Grande a year ago was ignored by the stewards.
Was the FIA giving Ferrari a helping-hand at Monza on Sunday?
"I think not," Vettel, dismissing the conspiracy, told
Bild newspaper.
Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato (Ferrari 458 No. 69) had the opportunity to clinch Grand-Am's GT title at Laguna Seca, and ceased it.
On top of their drivers' title, the pair brought home, thanks to their second place finish, the manufacturers title to AIM Autosport.
“As of right now the championship is clinched, but it certainly hasn't hit me yet,” Segal said. “It's certainly a tremendous accomplishment for our team AIM Autosport in their first year back in GT. With Ferrari in its first year back, it's just a tremendous day.”
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| Photo: Grand-Am Rolex |
In front of Segal and Assentato, the race was won by Dane Cameron and Wayne Nonnmaker (Mazda RX-8 No. 43). Third place went to John Potter and Andy Lally (Porsche 911 GT3 No. 44).
In the Daytona Prototype category, Richard Westbrook and Antonio Garcia won, aboard their No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette, from Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty, in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette. It was strategy that put Westbrook and Garcia ahead when it mattered.
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| Photo: Grand-Am Rolex |
As of right now, Ryan Dalziel and Alex Tagliani stand as third place finishers, but their No. 8 Ford/Riley, supposedly to wide, failed a post-race inspection. An announcement regarding a penalty is pending.
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| Photo: Grand-Am Rolex |
Davide Valsecchi wins race 2 at Monza, and pulls away in front of provisional classification, following his main rivals' troubles in Italy.
Valsecchi, who started from 3rd position on the grid, had a clean start and quickly moved in first position. He takes a brilliant win ahead of Fabio Leimer and Jolyon Palmer.
Valsecchi extends his lead in provisional championship classification, as Luis Razia, his main rival, took 16th position after he started 25th following a grid penalty after a collision with Fabio Leimer in race 1. Esteban Gutierrez went off the track in lap 3, while James Calado was only 14th.
The final rounds will be presented in Singapour on 22 and 23 September.
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| Davide Valsecchi, DAMS. (Photo: GP2 Series) |
Monza - Race 2:
1 - Davide Valsecchi - Dams - 21 laps in 33'06"731
2 - Fabio Leimer - Racing Engineering - 0"444
3 - Jolyon Palmer - iSport - 7"873
4 - Stefano Coletti - Rapax - 10"787
5 - Johnny Cecotto - Addax - 10"953
6 - Max Chilton - Carlin - 11"418
7 - Marcus Ericsson - iSport - 11"606
8 - Julian Leal - Trident - 12"661
Etc.
Championship:
1. Valsecchi 229; 2. Razia 204; 3. Calado 160; 4. Gutierrez 152; 5. Chilton 144, etc.
Alex Fontana and Markus Pommer won the two rounds of the Formula 2 Championship held in Hungary last weekend, while Luciano Bacheta maintains the lead in the point standings before the final two rounds of the season in Monza.
After he started from second position on the grid for race 1, Alex Fontana overtook polesitter Kevin Mirocha on lap 4, and then cruised to his maiden Formula 2 victory ahead of Mirocha and championship leader Luciano Bacheta.
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| Alex Fontana won Race 1. (Photo: James Bearne - Formula Two) |
In race 2, Markus Pommer had no rivals. The German driver started from pole position, and took a lights-to-flag victory ahead of Matheo Tuscher and Dino Zamparelli.
Luciano Bacheta remains in first position in the point standings before the last two rounds in Monza. The Brit leads by 33,5 points over Tuscher, and 43,5 points over Markus Pommer.
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| Luciano Bacheta. (Photo: James Bearne - Formula Two) |
Hungaroring - Race 1:
1 - Alex Fontana - 22 laps in 36'11”949
2 - Kevin Mirocha - 2”774
3 - Luciano Bacheta - 9”111
4 - Daniel McKenzie - 9”922
5 - Christopher Zanella - 17”442
etc.
Hungaroring - Race 2:
1 - Markus Pommer - 22 laps in 35'53”761
2 - Matheo Tuscher - 16”227
3 - Dino Zamparelli - 18”811
4 - Kevin Mirocha - 28”927
5 - Alex Fontana - 31”243
etc.
Championship:
1. Bacheta 208,5 points ; 2. Tuscher 175; 3. Pommer 165; 4. Zanella 161; 5. Marinescu 141, etc.
From GMM
Jean-Eric Vergne is unhurt after Sunday's incident at Monza.
Toro Rosso is investigating why the French rookie's Ferrari-powered car suddenly veered out of control at the end of Monza's front straight during the Italian grand prix.
The high-speed incident launched Vergne's car over a kerb, "And I count myself lucky that the car did not flip over", he said.
He did, however, land with a bump, and immediately complained on the radio of a sore back.
"I was taken from the accident to the medical centre," explained the 22-year-old, "but apart from a bit of pain in my back and my head, I am fine."
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| Jean-Eric Vergne aboard the flying Toro Rosso. (Photo: WRi2) |
News
9 Sep, 2012
Lewis Hamilton has won the Italian Grand Prix, ahead of Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso
Ford CEO Alan Mulally says the automaker is considering adding a low-cost Fiesta-based subcompact to sell globally. "We are looking around the world at opportunities to offer a car priced below the Fiesta," Mulally told Automotive News Europe.
Ford CEO Alan Mulally says the automaker is considering adding a low-cost Fiesta-based subcompact to sell globally.
After a thrilling finish, and the victory of Tio Ellinas from Cyprus, Mitch Evans secured the 2012 GP3 title after the final rounds presented at Monza.
Mitch Evans held the championship's lead by a healthy margin before Monza, and thought he had made a step forward to the title when he clinched pole position.
But the driver from New-Zealand, who could have secured the title after race 1, lost everything at the start. He went straight at the first chicane, then wide at the second corner, which damaged his car.
Evans was forced to retire, while Daniel Abt was flying to the victory, which allowed the German driver to stay in contention for the title, mathematically, ahead race 2, the very last race of the season. Meanwhile, Antonio Felix Da Costa was out of championship race, having retired with a broken gear box.
Abt could still clinch the title, but to do so, he had to win again, and hope that Evans would not score any point. From his 25th position on the grid, Evans had a great comeback up to P10, which was enough for him to secure the title.
But, once more, the New Zealander ran out of luck when he suffered a puncture following an off road, and was forced to stop in the pits again.
Evans could only hope that Abt would not win. Luckily for him, Tio Ellinas got passed the German with two laps remaining, which gave Evans the championship lead back.
Abt passed Ellinas back with two laps remaining, but Ellinas was able to overtake once more the German driver in the penultimate lap. Evans, who once more failed to score any points, there
fore got away with the championship, by only two points.
Monza - Race 1 :
1 - Daniel Abt - Lotus - 16 laps in 28'17"548
2 - Tio Ellinas - Manor - 0"349
3 - Matias Laine - MW Arden - 1"881
4 - Conor Daly - Lotus - 14"108
5 - Patric Niederhauser - Jenzer - 14"602
Etc.
Monza - Race 2 :
1 - Tio Ellinas - Manor - 16 laps in 28'18"541
2 - Daniel Abt - Lotus - 1"003
3 - Giovanni Venturini - Trident - 1"408
4 - Marlon Stockinger - Status - 1"715
5 - Antonio Felix Da Costa - Carlin - 7"377
Etc.
Championship :
1. Evans 151,5 points ; 2.Abt 149,5 ; 3.Da Costa 132 ; 4.Vainio 123 ; 5.Laine 111, etc.
From GMM
Jenson Button and Paul di Resta now share a manager.
Force India's di Resta, who recently dumped his former manager Anthony Hamilton, is now officially in the management stable headed by Richard Goddard.
The Scot has been advised by The Sports Partnership since the Hamilton split, which is now in the hands of the courts.
"Based on how it's gone and having seen what they've achieved with other clients, in and out of the sport of F1, it became clear that it was the right way to go," said di Resta.
The Anthony Hamilton split and tie-in with Button's management group comes at an interesting time, with di Resta linked with Lewis Hamilton's 2013 McLaren seat.
There may also be a conflict of interest issue, if Goddard is steering the careers on both sides of McLaren's garage.
Goddard said it wouldn't be a problem.
"There are two of us at the top of The Sports Partnership and if needed James (Williamson) could always look after one whilst I looked after the other," he told the Telegraph.
Anyway, di Resta said it is premature to be talking about a move to McLaren.
"It's always nice to have speculation, to see the interest," he said at Monza.
"But it's something I can't let my brain run away with. I'm in the car this weekend and expected to do a job. That is going to be the focus."
From CRC
After taking a lead on the very first stage of the 2012 Rallye Defi, Ken Block (Park City, Utah) and Alex Gelsomino (Park City, Utah) drove through bright sun, heavy rains and over rough roads on their way to victory. The Monster World Rally Team pair led the rally from start to finish, thrilling the fans at the fourth round of the 2012 Canadian Rally Championship.
On the very first stage of the rally, Block set the fastest time, beating his closest rival by 19 seconds. Over the following three stages, the team opened up a lead of nearly a minute.
Clouds and rain rolled in overnight, and Saturday offered a different challenge to drivers. Roads stayed wet as thunderstorms rolled through the region all day. The high humidity also caused a number fogged windshields, cutting already reduced visibility.
Block and Gelsomino continued to maintain their lead trading times with Antoine L'Estage (Ste-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.) and Nathalie Richard (Halifax) through the second day. Although L'Estage has won the Rallye Defi six times, he did not have an answer to the pace of the leader and finished the event on the second spot on the podium.
Driving at the limit all weekend took a toll on L'Estage's car. Suffering two flat tires with seven kilometres remaining in the stage, L'Estage was forced to drive without stopping, losing more than 90 seconds and dropping even further back. Problems in the transfer case meant the crew had to rush to replace the part during the midday service.
Crazy Leo Urlichich (Toronto) and Carl Williamson (Swansea, Wales) battled both difficult conditions and an occasionally difficult car all weekend.
On the very first stage, the pair suffered driveline problems, losing power to the right rear wheel of the car. The pair had to contend with the problem for another three stages before they could have the service crew attempt repairs.
Despite these issues, the team was able to keep a secure hold on third place, rounding out the podium.
Pat Richard (Squamish, B.C.) and Alan Ockwell (Toronto) were one of the teams eliminated early, when mechanical problems sidelined the team just a few hundred metres from the finish of the third stage. It was a devastating blow to the team, who needed a strong performance to revive their championship ambitions.
In two wheel drive, only one car - the Ford Fiesta R2 of Ed McNelly (Dalton, New Hampshire) and Ole Holter (Long Beach, California) - made it to the finish. Even so, the rally was not easy, with the pair having a light roll on Saturday. With spectator help, they righted the car and made it to the finish.
From GMM
Christian Horner has confirmed that yet another alternator failure caused Sebastian Vettel to retire from Sunday's Italian grand prix.
Having lost his charge for victory in Valencia earlier this year with the same problem, the issue resurfaced at Monza on Saturday when the reigning world champion broke down in practice.
It struck again on Sunday; a big blow to the German's championship hopes.
"It has to be corrected quickly," team boss Horner told the German broadcaster Sky.
After the practice problem, alternator supplier Renault apologized to Red Bull.
"Today it cost us a lot of points," Horner said on Sunday. "We have to move forward with it urgently if we are to continue for the title."
With Mark Webber also retiring in Italy, is is defending champions Red Bull's first double non-points finish since Korea 2010.
Earlier at Monza, Vettel was penalised by the stewards for forcing his championshp rival Fernando Alonso wide at the Curva Grande.
Last year, it was Alonso who pushed Vettel wide at the very same corner.
"It looked quite the same as a year ago," Horner said. "I thought it was a normal racing incident, with Sebastian in front and taking his line.
"It was very surprising that we were punished for it," he insisted.
From GMM
Valtteri Bottas is waiting in the wings at Williams, according to Toto Wolff.
Austrian Wolff doubles up as a Williams shareholder and executive as well as team reserve driver and Finn Bottas' manager.
In the context of Romain Grosjean's Monza race ban, the word in the paddock is that the FIA is also running thin on patience for Pastor Maldonado.
"Of course I don't hope that Pastor gets more penalties, and certainly not a ban," Wolff told Turun Sanomat newspaper.
"He wouldn't deserve that. He has certainly made mistakes, but he is aware of what has happened, and often the penalties have hurt him a lot.
"I don't want to see race bans, but if that were to happen, we have a third driver Valtteri Bottas ready to enter immediately," added Wolff.
Bottas, 22, has regularly practiced in Bruno Senna's Williams this year.
"Sometimes he has exceeded our expectations, but we want to keep Valtteri's feet firmly on the ground rather than have him thinking he is a superstar before he is a superstar," said Wolff.
Wolff also said it is too early to say if Bottas will have a full race seat in 2013.
"No, we don't know yet. We have only just begun to think about the situation and the timing of the decision," he said.
"We want to take (an overview of) the situation as a whole, rather than trying to do it a couple of weeks before Singapore."
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