F1 >> MotoGP >> WRC

week.com
Issue No 126 MONDAY JULY 25, 2011
EVERY MONDAY AROUND THE MOTORSPORT WORLD
CLASSIC!
Is it cause
I is back?
MOTOGP:
Stoners Laguna rout
WRC:
Preview, Rally Finland
xxxx
Cold, but scenic the Nurburgring is set close to the Eifel mountains.

GPWEEK OPENING Shot

>>

Now called FanVision, the new G3 is available for

sale with our best experience ever, including an
ultra-bright 4.3 inch LCD screen, the ultimate in
personalisation, more data, stats and camera
angles than anywhere else. Our classic version is
still available for weekend rentals.
Experience Formula 1
TM
like never before.
Save 20% when you reserve online!
F1.FanVision.com
There have been big changes at Kangaroo TV.
YOUR RACE, YOUR WAY
Get the next generation in fan enhancement.
Click HERE to go to

McLaren jumps to Whitmarsh defence

plus the latest from the worlds of F1 and MotoGP
CLick on any advertisement for more details
GPWEEK NEWS >>
Moto GP: CLINICAL CASEY >>
F1: Is it because I Iis back? >>
ISSUE 126 JULY 25, 2011
>>
Go to
>> Go to
>>
Go to
>>
Yup, in his own words, sort of, Lewis is BACK. Peter Windsor
analyses one of Hamilton's best ...
Stoner came from third to win the US GP and it's looking
ominous. Michael Scott reportrs
EDITOR: ADAM HAY-NICHOLLS
adam@hay-nicholls.com
Assistant Editors
Naoise Holohan, Kate Walker
MotoGP Editor: Michael Scott
michael@gpweek.com
Rally Editor: Martin Holmes
martin@gpweek.com
Production Artist (Australia):
Cedric Dufour,
Asstistant: Callum Branagan
Photography
Sutton Motorsport Images
www.sutton-images.com
Keith Sutton keith@gpweek.com
Publisher
Chris Lambden
publisher@gpweek.com
Published by:
Grand Prix Week Ltd
61 Watling Street, Towcester
Northants NN12 6AG
United Kingdom
P: + 44 1327 352 188
F: + 44 1327 359 355
ADVERTISING
UK, Europe, East Coast USA
European Media Services Ltd
(Richard Partridge)
49 Old Steine, Brighton
Sussex BN1 1NH
United Kingdom
gpweek@ntlworld.com
Ph: + 44 1273 232 566
Mob: + 44 7771 567 644
SE Asia, Australasia
GPWEEK (Australia)
PO Box 7072
Brighton, VIC 3187, Australia
Ph: + 61 3 9596 5555
Fax: + 61 3 9596 5030
publisher@gpweek.com
Material published in GP WEEK is
copyright and cannot be reproduced
(or photocopied) other than for
individual personal use.
WRC: can they stop the streak? >> >> Go to
Citroen heads into Rally Finland looking for a record of in-a-
row wins can Ford stop them?
FULLY GREEN
Informing motorsport
fans world-wide
and not a
single tree
destroyed
to do
it!
Now called FanVision, the new G3 is available for
sale with our best experience ever, including an
ultra-bright 4.3 inch LCD screen, the ultimate in
personalisation, more data, stats and camera
angles than anywhere else. Our classic version is
still available for weekend rentals.
Experience Formula 1
TM
like never before.
Save 20% when you reserve online!
F1.FanVision.com
There have been big changes at Kangaroo TV.
YOUR RACE, YOUR WAY
Get the next generation in fan enhancement.
Click HERE to go to
5

F1 NEWS
>>
IN the immediate aftermath of the British
Grand Prix, McLaren team principal
Martin Whitmarsh was widely criticized
by the British tabloid press, who called
for his imminent departure in light of the
teams poor performance at their home
race.
The critics appeared to be unaware that
McLaren currently standing in second
place in the 2011 constructors standings,
with two wins under their belt are the
biggest threat to the ever-dominant Red
Bull.
Speaking to the Formula One press in
the run-up to the German Grand Prix at the
Nurburgring, McLaren managing director
Jonathan Neale emphasized his support
for the beleaguered Whitmarsh.
Martin has done such a fantastic job for
McLaren, and is a proven race winner and
championship winner, Neale said.
In terms of a succession plan, thats not
something we are either going to publish
or that we need to have ready in case
theres a sudden exit. We want Martin,
Lewis and Jenson here for the long term.
I think [the speculation] is just part of the
media circus and expectation of course,
in a home grand prix if you dont deliver,
which we didnt, then you have to expect a
bit of comeback on that. We just looked at it
internally, smiled and moved on.
McLaren supports
Whitmarsh in the
face of criticism
ON Saturday night at the
Nurburgring, FOTA held a special
meeting to discuss the potential
return of in-season testing for
rookies.
A return to some form of in-season
testing has long been a priority for
FIA president Jean Todt, who said in
Turkey that it is a stupid decision to
have no testing during the season. In
the past it was crazy to have unlimited
testing during the year, but to go from
unlimited to completely banned, it is
not the right measure.
It doesnt allow young drivers to
test, it doesnt give the opportunity
for young drivers to learn some
experience in F1, and I will make sure
that this situation will change for the
future, Todt continued.
It cannot come back to free testing,
but teams now have simulation
facilities in the factory, so we are not
talking about [a testing ban] being a
cost-saving for the big teams. So we
will push for a few days of free testing
during the season as soon as possible
but by respecting the rules.
While the teams have yet to come to
an agreement about in-season testing,
it is believed that a comprise has been
proposed which would see the pre-
season tests reduced to 12 days from
the current 15, so that a three-day
young driver test could take place
during F1s August break.
Autosport quoted Williams technical
director as saying that is being
reviewed in the Sporting Working
Group right now and we had a
meeting at Silverstone about it. There
has not been a vote yet. All they have
done is put a few ideas out there about
what you could potentially do, which
might involve doing an extra young
drivers test during the season.
Its just being discussed. Theres
not been any agreement or votes or
anything. ... I think everyone has got
a pretty similar idea on it and its in
everyones interest, Michael added. It
was a proposal put on the table, and
from reading the minutes there was
just an initial thought.
More debate on in-season
testing for young drivers

nWhile the Nordschleife is usually

filled with members of the public
testing their vehicles be they a
Renault Espace, a Nissan GTR, or
anything in between against the
punishing circuit, the run-up to the
German Grand Prix saw exhibition
laps from Nico Rosberg and Michael
Schumacher. Rosberg was given Jean-
Manuel Fangios 1954 German Grand
Prix-winning W196 to take around the
fearsome track, while Schumacher
also spent time behind the wheel of
a W196. It was a very, very special
experience for me to drive the car
which Fangio had his first win in a
Mercedes in 1954 and around the
Nordschleife, Rosberg said. It was
just a part of it, but still it was very,
very nice. Even I must say I didnt
know what to expect. To drive the car
was fun. It feels like a go-kart and the
position is cool. The gear shifting, very
easy to shift and everything, so it was
great. The only thing was the driving
position which was very strange. A
big steering wheel and the pedals
completely right and left as there was
the big gearbox in the middle, right
between your legs, so it was quite
strange.
nIn what will certainly go down
as one of the more awkward driver
press conferences of the 2011 season,
Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher
was taken to task by the German me-
dia for his failure to live up to their ex-
pectations since his comeback. While
the Thursday drivers press confer-
ence was peppered with references
to Schumachers lack of race-winning
form, the low point came when he
was asked: Michael, at the beginning
of this season, you announced that
this year we will be stronger, we will
be better. Do you remember your
points and place after nine races last
year? I can tell you. Thirty-four points
in ninth place and this year, 28 points
in tenth place.
nOur spies in the Red Bull
motorhome tell us that despite
informing the world at large that
he wasnt disappointed with P3 in
qualifying, Sebastian Vettel may
have been in tears after the press
conference ...
Short
Straights
AccOrdING to a report in Autosport,
Pirelli are close to confirming that 2012s
rear tyres will be reprofiled to improve
durability.
Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery
told the magazine that 2012s rear tyres
will have a boxier profile than the current
rubber.
The shape, yes [will change]. To get
better wear on the shoulder. Its hard to
quantify by how much its going to change,
Hembery told Autosport. At the moment
were not utilising the full footprint there,
which we knew about, but we had to
try and block some of the development
because we had so little time and we
wanted to at least give the teams some
fixed data that were new to the sport and
not wanting to keep making changes.
Pirellis brave decision to supply rapidly
degrading rubber is widely seen as one
of the key contributing factors to 2011s
dramatic races.
But the Italian tyre manufacturer is keen
to improve performance possibly at the
cost of the nail-biting action on track.
Its Pirelli wanting to improve its product,
from our point of view, improve the wear,
improve the shape of the wear profile
across the tyre, Hembery said.
Pirelli to reprofle
2012 tyres to
improve durability
IT takes a brave man to blackmail Formula
One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, but the
Nurburgring paddock was buzzing with
the implication that Ecclestones alleged
bribe paid to German banker Gerhard
Gribkowsky was actually the result of
extortion.
The Gribkowsky affair has been on the F1
radar for months, with the banker charged
with accepting an illegal $44 million
payment in the wake of the sale of Formula
1 to CVC.
Until the German race weekend, Ecclestone
refrained from commenting on the scandal,
but in the paddock this week the F1 puppet
master spoke to journalists about his role in
the affair. Ecclestone was very careful with
his choice of words, admitting to paying
Gribkowsky, and implying but not saying
that he had been blackmailed.
According to Ecclestone, Gribkowsky
threatened to cause difficulties with the
Inland Revenue concerning a trust the F1
boss had set up for his then-wife Slavica
Ecclestone. But the details of the trust had
undergone a five-year inspection by the
Inland Revenue, who found nothing out of
the ordinary.
The [Inland] Revenue obviously had to
check everything, Ecclestone said. It took
five years going through that. I didnt deal
with it. The trust had to show it was correct.
The taxation people in England at the time
were in the middle of settling everything
with the trust and the last thing you need
is for them to start thinking something
different. [Gribkowsky] was shaking me down
and I didnt want to take a risk. Nothing was
wrong with the trust. Nothing at all.
He never said to me if you dont give me
this I will say that. He left me with the fact
that could he do it or not.
While Ecclestone is confident there were
no problems with his trust, he was advised by
his lawyers that Inland Revenue are required
to investigate every allegation, groundless or
otherwise.
[My lawyers] said I tell you what would
happen, the Revenue would assess you
and you would have to defend it, because
you could defend it, and you would be
three years in court and it would cost you a
fortune. Better pay.
Despite his unshakeable confidence he
is in the right, Ecclestone acknowledges
he should not have made the payment to
Gribkowsky.
So many things in life are hindsight. So
many things we all wish we hadnt have
done. Its not my style to have anyone
threaten me. Believe me, in my life I have
been threatened properly.
But in this case [my lawyers] advised me
to pay up. But dont worry, I have nothing to
worry about.
Ecclestone admits to
Gribkowsky payment

F1 NEWS
>>
F1 NEWS
>>
Was Chandhoks German weekend
enough for an India drive?
KArUN chandhok spent the German
Grand Prix weekend getting to know Jarno
Trullis Lotus T128 in a move that was
widely viewed as a three-day audition for a
race seat at the Indian Grand Prix.
Unfortunately for the Indian driver, all did
not go quite to plan instead of impressing
with his prowess behind the wheel,
Chandhok struggled to get to grips with the
Pirelli tyres and finished the race four laps
down on the leaders.
Tyre struggles were to blame for
Chandhoks high speed spins and trips
across the gravel, and the reserve drivers
difficulties only served to emphasize the
importance of track time for test and reserve
drivers.
The popular paddock figure has been out
of an F1 car since the 2010 German Grand
Prix, and the technological differences
between last years HRT and this years Lotus
were great enough that Chandhoks Formula
One experience was essentially irrelevant.
Thats a full race distance completed
and an awful lot of learning under my belt,
Chandhok said after the race.
Honestly, that probably wasnt the race I
wanted I had a couple of high speed spins,
and I think I need more time to get used to
the tyres. When they start to go off theres
very little give compared to last years rubber,
but thats all part of the learning process and
Im glad I got the car home and did the best
job I could.
In their post-race comments, Chandhoks
Team Lotus bosses appeared to damn him
with faint praise.
Karun acquitted himself pretty well,
despite having a couple of moments he got
on with the job and has definitely learnt a lot
from his time in the car here this weekend,
was chief technical officer Mike Gascyones
take on the Indian drivers performance.
Team principal Tony Fernandes had a
similar take: The main aim today was to
bring two cars home and to make sure Karun
could learn as much as possible over a full
race distance. It is good that he finished the
full 60 laps and showed some reasonable
pace.
It remains to be seen whether or not
Chandhoks Germany performance was
good enough to merit a race drive at
Octobers maiden Indian Grand Prix, but the
PR benefits of having a native driver on the
grid are likely to override any performance
concerns.
Pirelli to reprofle
2012 tyres to
improve durability
IT takes a brave man to blackmail Formula
One supremo Bernie Ecclestone, but the
Nurburgring paddock was buzzing with
the implication that Ecclestones alleged
bribe paid to German banker Gerhard
Gribkowsky was actually the result of
extortion.
The Gribkowsky affair has been on the F1
radar for months, with the banker charged
with accepting an illegal $44 million
payment in the wake of the sale of Formula
1 to CVC.
Until the German race weekend, Ecclestone
refrained from commenting on the scandal,
but in the paddock this week the F1 puppet
master spoke to journalists about his role in
the affair. Ecclestone was very careful with
his choice of words, admitting to paying
Gribkowsky, and implying but not saying
that he had been blackmailed.
According to Ecclestone, Gribkowsky
threatened to cause difficulties with the
Inland Revenue concerning a trust the F1
boss had set up for his then-wife Slavica
Ecclestone. But the details of the trust had
undergone a five-year inspection by the
Inland Revenue, who found nothing out of
the ordinary.
The [Inland] Revenue obviously had to
check everything, Ecclestone said. It took
five years going through that. I didnt deal
with it. The trust had to show it was correct.
The taxation people in England at the time
were in the middle of settling everything
with the trust and the last thing you need
is for them to start thinking something
different. [Gribkowsky] was shaking me down
and I didnt want to take a risk. Nothing was
wrong with the trust. Nothing at all.
He never said to me if you dont give me
this I will say that. He left me with the fact
that could he do it or not.
While Ecclestone is confident there were
no problems with his trust, he was advised by
his lawyers that Inland Revenue are required
to investigate every allegation, groundless or
otherwise.
[My lawyers] said I tell you what would
happen, the Revenue would assess you
and you would have to defend it, because
you could defend it, and you would be
three years in court and it would cost you a
fortune. Better pay.
Despite his unshakeable confidence he
is in the right, Ecclestone acknowledges
he should not have made the payment to
Gribkowsky.
So many things in life are hindsight. So
many things we all wish we hadnt have
done. Its not my style to have anyone
threaten me. Believe me, in my life I have
been threatened properly.
But in this case [my lawyers] advised me
to pay up. But dont worry, I have nothing to
worry about.
Buemi pays price for fuel pressure issue
FOLLOWING a problem with a fuel sample
taken from his Toro rosso post-qualifying,
Sebastien Buemis P16 qualifying lap was
excluded from the afternoons results. The
fuel sample in question failed the FIAs
technical inspection.
The FIA announced Buemis exclusion
with a statement that read:
The stewards, having received a report
from the FIA Technical Delegate that the
fuel sample taken after Qualifying from Car
18 showed an increase in one given GC (gas
chromatography) Peak Area of an absolute
amount greater than 0.1 per cent for the
component present at a concentration
below 0.8 per cent, and having heard
from the FIA Formula One Analytical
Chemist and the Team Representatives and
examined the fuel test graphs, determine
this to be a breach of Article 19.8.3 of
the 2011 FIA Formula One Technical
Regulations and decide to impose a penalty
of exclusion of Car 18 from the results of
Qualifying.
The rules governing F1 fuels are as tight
as any found in the FIAs Sporting and
Technical Regulations.
In the run-up to each race, teams must
supply the FIA with a fuel sample of the
fuel they intend to use over the weekend
in question. Each sample has a fingerprint,
and the FIA can ask for additional samples
at any point during a GP weekend. If
the sample taken does not match the
original fingerprint tolerances are within
micrograms then exclusion and possible
disqualification can ensue.
Fuel fingerprints can change for a
multitude of reasons, and trace amounts
of dust and grease can make the difference
between failure and success.
According to paddock whispers, Buemis
fuel tank was thoroughly cleaned with
acetone after Friday afternoons fuel
pressure problems. Trace amounts
of acetone remained in the tank, and
corrupted the sample taken on Saturday
afternoon.
As a result of the disallowed qualifying
time, Buemi started the German Grand Prix
from P24.

FIA confrm 2014 power unit

specifcations
IN the 2014 Technical regulations
published this week, it was revealed that
along with the changes to the engine
specifications F1 cars will have eight
forward gear ratios.
According to Article 9.6 of the Technical
Regulations, the number of forward gear
ratios must be eight. Each competitor
must nominate the forward gear ratios
(calculated from engine crankshaft to
drive shafts) to be employed within their
gearbox. These nominations must be
declared to the FIA technical delegate at or
before the first Event of the Championship.
Because a poor pre-season selection
could hamper a drivers bid for the World
Drivers Championship crown, the FIA has
permitted some leniency with regard to the
selection of ratios.
For 2014 only, a competitor may re-
nominate these ratios once within the
Championship season, in which case the
original nomination becomes immediately
void, the Technical Regulations state.
Ratio re-nominations must be declared
as a set and may only be effected by the
substitution of change gears.
F1 cars to use eight gears from 2014
THE future changes to the Formula One
engine specifications have been the
subject of much to-ing and fro-ing.
Last December, it was agreed that the
2013 engine specifications would see
teams using 1.6l 4-cylinder turbo engines,
there was discontent amongst the engine
manufacturers, some of whom felt
pressured to concede to the FIAs desire
to see a greener engine formula.
After much discussion, it was
announced in Valencia that the change to
the engine formula would be put back to
2014, and that cars would be powered by
1.6l V6 engines rev-limited to 15,000rpm,
with a focus on energy recovery.
But in the Technical Regulations
published this week, the FIA laid out strict
guidelines governing fuel mass flow,
pressure charging, and exhaust gases.
According to Article 5.1.4 of the
Technical Regulations, Fuel mass flow
must not exceed 100kg/h. Article 5.1.5
states that Below 10,500rpm the fuel
mass flow must not exceed Q (kg/h) =
0.009 N(rpm) + 5.
Pressure charging is governed by
Article 5.1.6, which says that Pressure
charging may only be effected by the use
of a sole single stage compressor linked
to a sole single stage exhaust turbine by
a common shaft parallel to the engine
crankshaft and within 25mm of the car
centre line. An electrical motor generator
(MGUH) may be directly coupled to the
same shaft.
Finally as far as specifications go, at
least following the increased attention
on exhaust gases stemming from 2011s
off-throttle blown diffusers, the FIA have
tightened regulations governing engine
exhaust gases. As of 2014, they may only
exit the cylinder head through outlets
outboard of the cylinder bore centre line
and not from within the V centre.
Additionally, the FIA have altered the
rules governing engine starts. From 2014,
It must be possible for the driver to
start the engine at any time when seated
normally at the wheel and without any
external assistance.
10
F1 NEWS
>>
F1 NEWS
>>
IT can be hard to keep a secret in a village.
And while F1 is a transitory village, one
that takes in the four corners of the globe
and is populated by people from every
continent, it is a village nonetheless. As
a result, its borderline impossible in the
paddock to keep anything secret for long.
Rumours of an all-electric pitlane have
been circulating for quite some time, but
in the Nurburgring paddock this weekend,
the FIA finally confirmed what everyone
had been talking about.
According to Article 5.19 of the 2014
Technical Regulations, The car must be
run in electric mode (no ignition and no
fuel supply to the engine) at all times
when being driven in the pit lane.
Speaking in the Nurburgring paddock
on Friday, Ferrari team principal Stefano
Domenicali said that there was still a lot
to be discussed before the electric mode
could be confirmed.
This is a topic that, in my view, because
of the situation that is for 2014, it can still
be discussed, we have the time to discuss
it in a proper way, Domenicali said. There
are different opinions on this subject
because, on one side, there is the technical
aspect and, on the other side, there is the
sport and the passion.
You may say that, in the pit-lane, with
no noise, it would be difficult for the
people to perceive the passion that F1
is all about. On the other side, you may
say that F1 has to be the pinnacle of
motorsport in terms of new developments
and research, and so this goes in
the opposite direction. I think this is
something that we will discuss.
FIA confrm 2014 electric pitlane rumours
For your daily dose
of Formula 1 news ...
FIA President Jean Todt is a man on a
mission, and that mission is to make
Formula One technology more relevant
to road cars while also improving the
sports environmental reputation.
It is those desires that were behind his
push to switch to 1.6l 4-cylinder turbo
engines, and it is the same desires that
form the basis of F1s movement to
improved energy recovery.
Existing KERS devices already harness
the energy used under braking, and that
energy is used to give drivers a brief boost
of power once per lap. But KERS is only the
tip of the energy recovery iceberg.
Logically, the next stage of F1s
technological arms race will see teams
innovating in the energy recovery sphere
as every joule used is the opportunity of
another joule gained. But for the moment,
while the concept is still in its infancy,
the FIA has produced strict guidelines to
govern propulsion and energy recovery
in 2014.
According to Article 5.2 of the 2014
Technical Regulations, The use of any
device, other than the engine described
in 5.1 above, and one MGUK, to propel
the car, is not permitted. The maximum
power used to propel or brake the car
through the MGUK must not exceed
120kW.
Energy input from the MGUK to the ES
may not exceed 2MJ in any one lap and
energy released from the ES to the MGUK
may not exceed 4MJ in any one lap. The
difference between the maximum and
minimum state of charge of the ES may
not exceed 4MJ at any time the car is on
the track.
Any energy stored in the MGU Control
Unit must not exceed 5kJ.
The ERS may only recover energy from
the car via a single MGUK and/or a single
MGUH.
The MGUK may only recover energy
from or give back energy to the car via
its mechanical link to the drive train. This
mechanical link must be of fixed speed
ratio to the engine crankshaft and may be
clutched.
The MGUH may only recover energy
from or give back energy to the car via its
mechanical link to the exhaust turbine
of a pressure charging system. This
mechanical link must be of fixed speed
ratio to the exhaust turbine and may be
clutched.
With the exception of a single ERS, the
total amount of recoverable energy stored
on the car must not exceed 300kJ. Any
which may be recovered at a rate greater
than 2kW must not exceed 20kJ.
2014 Energy Recovery System
regulations revealed
11
hbddi]Vh###
Shoving foom is moslly woler, lopped up wilh chemicols - check oul lhe
ingredienls lisl. Nol only con il slrip nolurol oils from your skin cousing rozor
burn, oll lhol woler slrips money from your wollel. 0SClR Nolurol Shoving
0il is differenl. il moislurises os you shove. You`ll be omozed how much
smoolher your skin feels ond how mony shoves you gel from one liny bollle.
lll#dhXVgcVijgVa#Xdb
Technical Update: German GP
Track temperature and blown difusers were the issue at the Nurburgring, as
GPWEEK Technical Editor Paolo Filisetti explains
The Nurburgring track is completely diferent from
the Silverstone one, both due to its layout, with
few slow corners and not particularly long straight
lines, but also for the average temperature, that
was particularly low throughout the weekend,
representing a further challenge in terms of tyre
temperature for all the teams.
It was also the race where the recent step back of
the FIA concerning the blown difuser of-throttle
fring, was expected to mix again the cards of the
top teams competiveness.
No major changes were brought here apart from
various refnements, although most of the chief
aerodynamicists of each team gathered , to watch
the efect of the aero changes they introduced at
the previous race, but also to closely look at the
rivals cars.
McLaren tested an interesting solution in
terms of venting placed on the front brake drums,
compared to the standard solution. Mercedes
introduced a new front wing that partially recalls
the Williams one, in relation to the additional front
winglets array and the renaut one.
The most active in terms of changes brought
here, as well as testing new elements, not to
be used for the race here instead to collect
data useful to develop the solution for a future
installation on the car, was Lotus renault GP.
The team introduced a deeply revised front wing
(lower right) sporting an interesting array of faps,
including one small curved inwards, placed just in
front of the main one, beside the main profle slit.
This new confguration was particularly studied
for this race and the next one, where high
downforce levels are required.
But the most striking development seen on the
car, even though just for an evaluation test, was
the new backward confguration of the exhaust
system (top right).
As is well known, renault conceived its current
car around a forward exhaust system. The
development carried out subsequently by many
teams on the blown difuser proved a backward
exhaust system to be more efective in terms of
increasing the efciency of the blown difuser.
So here the team tested backward exhausts to
see the potential, in terms of aero efciency, but
also to evaluate all the installation problems that
such new confguration of the exhausts may carry
inherently.
A deep development of the r31 is expected after
the summer break, with visible changes to the cars
bodywork in the sidepod and rear end area.
1
hbddi]Vh###
Shoving foom is moslly woler, lopped up wilh chemicols - check oul lhe
ingredienls lisl. Nol only con il slrip nolurol oils from your skin cousing rozor
burn, oll lhol woler slrips money from your wollel. 0SClR Nolurol Shoving
0il is differenl. il moislurises os you shove. You`ll be omozed how much
smoolher your skin feels ond how mony shoves you gel from one liny bollle.
lll#dhXVgcVijgVa#Xdb
1
J
OHN Hopkins will take another step in the rehabilitation
of his MotoGP career at the next round at Brno, with a
second wild card ride on the improved rizla Suzuki. And
negotiations are under way for him to take part also in the
last three races of the year, to bring the Suzuki team up to
two-rider strength again.
This time, the 28-year-old American said, will be different
from his 10th-placed first outing at Jerez: his first time on a
MotoGP bike since 2008. I got thrown in the deep end I Spain,
he said: he was a last-minute replacement for injured team
regular Alvaro Bautista.
Now, with half-a-season of British Superbike racing behind him
he is more confident. I will have a lot more race-craft, he said.
Brno is also a favourite track. He achieved his best MotoGP
result there with second in 2007. After switching from Suzuki
to Kawasaki in 2008, Hopkinss career has been on a downward
slide powered by injuries and personal problems, but his aim is
to get back to MotoGP.
Im really pumped to be going to Brno again, and as far as
the Suzuki goes, I think its a great bike and the package is a lot
better than when I rode it last in 2007.
Hopkins will be re-united with crew chief Stuart Shenton (ex-
Kevin Schwantz), who was let go by the Suzuki team when it
dropped to one rider for this season.
W
OrLd champion Jorge
Lorenzo was caught out by his
own launch control system on
Saturday morning at Laguna, when his
Yamaha M1 ficked him sky-high at low
speed.
Lorenzo landed heavily on his right
side on the track, and was then struck by
his bike as he slid into the gravel, ending
up in obvious pain. But he limped off,
hadnt broken anything, and emerged
from the medical centre a couple of
hours later ready to set a string of fastest
laps to make absolutely sure of pole
position.
The reason showed the down side of
sophisticated electronics.
The session was over; Lorenzo
essayed a practice start as usual. This
meant disengaging the traction control
and relying on launch control, which
measures different parameters. The
TC automatically takes over at the first
down-shift; but Lorenzo approached
the bogey Turn 5 in second, without
downshifting. He was only cruising
round the corner at around 70 km/h, but
when he opened the throttle there was
no electronic intervention to prevent full
power being released, and it triggered
an instant and violent high-side.
The rider at first feared broken legs or
worse, because for the first few seconds
I didnt feel my legs.
The accident was a sobering moment
in the ramshackle Laguna paddock,
threatening not only the race to come
but the while championship, where
Lorenzo has been closing remorselessly
on Stoner.
There were several fallers in practice
at the frantic and challenging US circuit,
shortest of the season at just 3.610 km,
including Hayden, Pedrosa, Bautista,
Spies and Elias. The only one hurt was
Randy de Puniet, who suffered fractures
to two vertebrae and possible his pelvis
at the same Turn 5. He walked away, but
was later struck by severe pain, and was
ruled out of the race the next morning.
Lorenzo launched by his own safety aids
HOPKINS TO RACE AT BRNO ...
1
Moto GP news
>>
d
UcATI riders went two diferent
ways in answer to their current
dilemma with rossi sticking
exclusively to the latest hybrid version,
the GP11.1 (dot One) and Hayden
doing the opposite after a back-to-back
test in the frst session.
The Marlboro-backed factory team had
remained undecided after the German GP
the weekend before, where Hayden on the
GP11 (a Step Two version with a revised
front chassis) beat Rossis newer bike, in its
third race, and took both versions for each
rider.
It took a sinew-stiffening meeting with
veteran crew chief Jerry Burgess back
after two races away on family business
for Rossi to make up his mind to persevere
with the new bike. His old GP11 remained
unused.
In Burgess absence in Germany they
had arrived at a counter-intuitive setting
that had improved his feel on the Dot One.
The difference is plain to see, with the bike
riding like a speedboat: front high and
rear low. He persisted with this setting at
Laguna, describing it as a big modify with
the weight distribution.
The other bike was a more normal
setting. We confirmed that the new
setting is a bit better, but we are out of
balance with the front. One day later
after qualifying, another change meant
the rear is sliding a lot. But the work in
progress meant he equalled his best
qualifying with the old bike, marking
some improvement.
Hayden had been agitating for the new
bike for his home GP, but had hoped to
get some prior miles. In the event he used
the Dot One only in the first session, then
elected to stay with what he knew until he
can test it more fully after the next race
at Brno.
I was a little faster on the new one
yesterday, but it wasnt half a second
better. It has more potential and I like the
gearbox, I dont yet have a great feel for
where its limit is. For now, we prefer to go
with what we know, he said.
Hayden waxed lyrical about the Honda-
like instant-shift transmission:
This is a whole new step in technology
and Im sure it wont be long before
street bikes come with this gearbox. The
advantage was not in lap time but could
come in a close race.
Ducati riders play Pick-Your-Own
15
to access a HUGE
global audience
ADVERTISE in GPWEEK
HIGH
SIDES

nWild card Ben Bostrom showed
the full-timers some good manners
at the pre-race Press conference.
Thanked in the normal way by
the moderator after his round of
questions, he replied: Thanks for
having me. At 37 the oldest GP
debut rider, Bostrom had been
generously released by his US
Superbike Suzuki team to race the
second LCR Honda.
nJorge Lorenzo had another
conference witticism, when asked
the reason for qualifying times
being slower than the year before.
Maybe it is because we are older,
he said.
nMoto3 bikes the 250 four-
stroke replacements for 125 will
get a first official championship
outing later this year at the
European championship meeting
at Albacete in Spain in October.
The purring singles will be pitted
against the purebred racing two-
strokes they will replace next year,
on a head-to-head basis.
nYamaha, celebrating 50
years of racing at Laguna, have
released another of their annual
short videos, timed to coincide
with the big race. Heroes ancient
and modern Roberts, Rainey,
Lawson, Lorenzo, Spies, Edwards
and Crutchlow take a journey
together through time. Worth
watching (hunt YouTube) for the
hairstyles alone.
nOn the subject, the bikes were
in the same classic Yamaha red-
and-white livery as at Assen, where
Ben Spies won his first GP. Hence
his request to Yamaha: If I win here,
can I keep that colour for the rest of
the year?
nDucati President and CEO
Gabriele Del Torchio was a
looming presence in the Laguna
Seca pit, but it was just a routine
visit, according to sources at the
beleaguered team.

W
ITH Laguna the tenth of 18
rounds, it seems inevitable that
both the factory ducati riders
will be forced to go over the engine
allocation for the year with the penalty
of having to start from pit lane for each
transgression.
The total engine allocation for the year is
six. Both Rossi and Hayden are already up
to engine number five. At the same time,
the switch from GP11 to GP11.1 means
that engines still available for the old bike
are of no use: the Dot One version uses a
different motor, sleeved down from next
years 1000cc-rules engine.
For Rossi, that means just three engines
for the rest of the season. One is still in
an unopened box, but another is already
close to mileage, after running three races,
and the other will soon be there as well.
Haydens situation is more complex,
depending on when he switches to the
Dot One. He is also on his fifth engine,
broken out for his back-to-back test at
Lagunas first free practice. Whichever bike
he chooses, he too has only one unused
engine remaining for the last eight races.
While all Yamaha riders are now on their
fourth engines, it is different at Honda.
The three factory riders each have three
unused engines available. Only Toni Elias
has used a fifth engine ... broken out from
his allocation for his part-time team-mate
Ben Bostrom.
Honda ahead in engine use
1
Moto GP news
>>
Images used in GPWEEK are shot by
the photo-artists at Sutton Images.
Posters available of any
shot CLICK HERE for
more information
Interested in Aussie V8
Supercars?
cLIcK HErE to access
Australasian Motorsport
eNews ...
Images used in GPWEEK are shot by
the photo-artists at Sutton Images.
Posters available of any
shot CLICK HERE for
more information
Interested in Aussie V8
Supercars?
cLIcK HErE to access
Australasian Motorsport
eNews ...
The world of MoTorsporT direcTly To your deskTop
Issue No. 146 March 16 -22 2010
WHINCUP
IN A
FORMULA 1
CAR AT
ALBERT PARK REIGNING CHAMPS SET FOR F1/V8 CAR SWAP NEXT WEEK FULL DETAILS INSIDE!
POWER
PLAY!
Aussies fight it out
in IndyCar opener
and Will wins!
EXCLUSIVE!
T
HE resolve of the rebel MotoGP
riders for a mass boycott of
the Japanese GP seemed to be
crumbling at Laguna Seca, with the
previous weeks frm assurances of
unwillingness replaced by equivocation,
hesitation or (in the case of Stoner) an
abrupt refusal to discuss the matter.
And while dorna cEO carmelo
Ezpeleta has received the independent
Motegi radiation report he had
commissioned at the riders request, the
contents remained a tightly guarded
secret. It will be released in full to teams
and riders once it has been translated
from Italian into Spanish and English
during the coming week, and a public
statement will follow on July 31.
All informed opinion expects the
report to be in favour of the race going
ahead as rescheduled on October 2, with
no appreciable radiation danger at the
circuit, which is owned by Honda.
Stoner said firmly in Germany that
he wouldnt be going, and snapped
at an American reporter who asked
him at Laguna. Later a repsol Honda
spokesman requested journalists to drop
the subject with their star rider.
Stoners team-mate Dovizioso revealed
that he, Stoner and Pedrosa had a meeting
with HRC boss Shuhei Nakamoto on
Thursday, and that I think for everybody
it is good to wait for the results of the
investigation. After that we will decide.
Lorenzo, another definite no at the
Sachsenring had meantime softened his
words, saying he would be willing to go to
Japan ... but not to Motegi, some 130 km
from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.
The word from several other teams is
that the riders will do as they are told,
while all Japanese factories are clearly
much in favour of the race going ahead.
Ducati are thought to have offered all
their employees a get-out-of-jail-free card
should they prefer not to go.
It appears likely that most of the riders
will attend. It would be hard for Stoner
to decline, at such a crucial state of the
championship.
Footnote: The controversy made it ironic
that US graphic designer Troy Lee had
chosen this race to debut a special Troy
Lee Designs helmet, worn by Rizla Suzukis
Alvaro Bautista. It bore a Japanese flag
on top, with the flags of all nations that
host a MotoGP round. It will be auction
at Indianapolis, the proceeds to Japanese
tsunami victims.
Motegi sanction riders back down
1
nAdapta, the Ostberg WRC team, have
announced they will miss Rally Australia,
and concentrate on the other fve events
in the series.
nBritish Subaru driver David Higgins
(below) has scored his third major US
rally championship title. After his SCCA
titles in 2002 and 2003, he clinched the
2011 Rally America title when he fnished
second at the New England Forest Rally,
won by their closest rival Antoine lEstage
(Mitsubishi).
nWRC -registered team driver Federico
Villagra misses Finland this weekend, as
this event lies between two important
rounds of his national Argentine series,
the Misiones Rally at Apostoles and the
Vuelta de la Manzana (round the Apple
Tree) in Rio Negro.
He won the wet and muddy Apostoles
Yerba Mate Rally (named after the local
beverage) in his Ford Fiesta ahead of
VW Gol Trend driver Gabriel Pozzo, both
at the wheel of Maxi Rally formula cars.
Villagra is currently leading the series. This
event also qualifed as the third round of
the FIA Codasur championship, in which
championship leader Victor Rempel
fnished third overall.
nNorwegian Valter Jensens Lancia
037 heads the 83-car entry for the
Lahti Historic Rally which runs
contemporaneously with the NORF. While
the Dutch federations Talent First team
member Timo van der Marel contests
NORF as a WRC Academy driver, his father
Jan is to drive a Porsche Carrera RS in
the Historic event. Jan was seven times
national Dutch champion.
ENTrY details have been released for
rallye deutschland, the first of three
Wrc rallies being run on asphalt stages
this year (19-21 August).
86 crews have entered, including
sixteen of the 18 WRC Academy drivers
in Fiesta R2 cars. 20 World Rally Cars are
on the list, including the first appearance
this season in the WRC for the 2010
JWRC champion Aaron Burkart, entered
by Stobart in a Fiesta, and an un-named
entry from the French Federation FFSA
for a Mini John Cooper Works. Nine
Fiestas, six Minis and five Citroen World
Rally Cars are entered, but no Class 1 1.6
turbo Super 2000 cars.
After driving a Mini S2000 in Sardinia,
Patrik Flodin is now entered in a WRC
version. The rally counts for the SWRC
as well as the WRC Academy, with two
Guest drivers. SWRC Guest Felix Herbold
drives a Fiesta S2, while Academy Guest
Sepp Wiegand drives in place of Christian
Riedemann, who is entered on this event
in one of the two VW young-driver team
Skoda Fabia S2000s.
In the second young-driver VW car
is the Dutch driver Hans Weijs Junior.
Unusually two Diesel cars (an Opel and a
SEAT) have been entered
M-SPOrT will launch their new
hospitality unit at NOrF, having invited
fans to report back to base when
they spotted the equipment being
transported across Europe.
The Ford team are also emulating the
promotional ideas of Citroen in painting
their rally car roofs with different designs.
Citroen have been doing this all season,
using a design which relates to the
country involved (see Argentina, above).
Ford have chosen a set of designs, just
for this event, based on food (right)
Masterchef
hits WRC?
Tarmac drivers named for Deutschland
Photo: Halac
Photo: Lars Gange
1
RALLY news
>>
FIA
U-turn
on 2WD
DECIDED at the World
Rally Championship
Commission last week
was that the FIAs
Production Car Cup for
Drivers of 2WD Cars,
the subsidiary to the
PCWRC, was not now
going to be cancelled in
mid-season.
The FIAs instruction
given earlier to the
Neste Oil Rally Finland
to remove Harry Hunt
and Mikko Pajunen
from the list of PCWRC
runners is to be
rescinded.
Other matters
discussed at the
Commission included
the way in which the
structure of the 2012
world championship
can be modified.
Currently the Makes
championship admits
not only manufacturer
teams themselves, but
also private teams using
the same type of cars
as the makes teams,
private teams which
run cars not used by
registered official teams
and also single_entry
teams.
A further topic under
discussion concerns the
way in which pre-event
shakedown can be
used for qualifying for
Day1 running order as
well as the opportunity
to set up cars for the
forthcoming event.
Proton takes Pacific Cup
PrOTON Satria Neo S2000 driver chris
Atkinson (right) has won the 2011 FIA
Pacific cup, as a result of his outright
victories in both the New caledonia rally
and now the Whangarei rally in New
Zealand.
The Cup comprises three of the events
in the Asia Pacific series, but ironically it
was on the first round, the Queensland
Rally held in Atkinsons home Australian
state, that a third victory was denied. Here
he was forced to retire on account of
alternator problems. Two events (Japan
and China) remain to be run in the full Asia
Pacific championship which Atkinson is
also leading.
The last time a Proton driver won an FIA
series was when Karamjit Singh won the
Asia Pacific series in 2004 (for a third time)
in a four wheel drive turbocharged Proton
Pert.
2011 Monte carlo rally winner Bryan
Bouffier has been excluded from second
place on the Ypres rally, thereby dropping
back from his second place in the Irc rally
championship.
Almost one month after the end of the
Belgian round of the IRC, scrutineers have
rejected the car. It is reported that non-
homologated parts were fitted to the steering
of his Peugeot 207S2000. Different Peugeot
cars have been used by Bouffier through
the season. Bouffier had been the strongest
challenger to the Skoda drivers who have
been dominating the IRC series.
Skoda drivers now lie 1-2-3 in the
championship with five events still to run. A
Peugeot source has said that the problem
arose from an assembly mistake.
Photo: Ridder
Bouffier excluded from Ypres
Tarmac drivers named for Deutschland
1
The German announced at his home race that he is now signed to Marussia
Virgin Racing through to 2014. He spoke with Adam Hay-Nicholls
5 MINUTES WITH ...
TIMO GLOCK
GPWEEK: How easy was it to make this
decision to re-sign?
TIMO GLOCK: It was quite easy. I think
we had a plan 18 months ago, and weve
had a tough time but the team has
made some positive announcements
in the last few weeks which shows their
commitment, and what I want is for us
to be successful together. I think the
possibilities we have now are just very
positive.
Will the technical cooperation with
McLaren help move the team forward?
This is a clear step. The number of races
McLaren has won tell their own story. The
commitment to do this shows what the
team wants to do in the future.
Last year you were fairly bullish about
cFd as opposed to wind tunnels, but
now the team is doing wind tunnel
testing. How big a step forward is this in
terms of the team growing?
Massive. We still have the CFD capacity,
but using the wind tunnel in addition, as
every other team is doing, is the right
way forward. Theres no negative, its
all positive, and that will change our
position in the future.
Given this long-term commitment, will
you consider moving to the UK to be
close to the team?
No, theres no reason to do that.
Whenever I have to be there, I go there.
By 2014 well be racing in russia. Virgin
racing is now part russian owned, so
what chance of a podium there?
Yeah, well see. You have to have targets
and our target is to be successful at
Socchi. We want to fight for the podium
or top five there. A lot of people laughed
at me when I said I wanted to win the
championship with Toyota, but you have
to have targets. I put so much pressure
on these guys and they put so much
pressure on me, so we are in a good way.
How was last weekends F1 demo in
Socchi? did the fans turn out in force?
It was great, and a good way to show
a new country what F1 can bring. Im
looking forward to going back a couple
more times before 2014. To be a Russian-
supported team in Russia made us very
happy. I had some fun, did some donuts
What are your targets for next year?
We have to find a way to race in the
midfield, being in Q2 regularly, getting
an occasional point.
Youve been with the team since its
inception. Have you not got frustrated
at times and thought you might want
to be somewhere else?
I was frustrated at certain moments
last year, but that takes two or three
hours and then I reset my head and think
about the next weekend.
People ask how I remain motivated
when I am fighting for P20, but I love
what I do.
Formula One was my goal and I enjoy
it, and fight till the last lap whether its
for a podium or P20. I just want to get
100 percent from the package, which is
what Im doing.
0
F1 CHAT
>>
21
Danger for breakfast ...

Email us
Something to say?
Email us at
mail@gpweek.com
Michael Scott Fan Club!
H Michael, Well done, exceptional well done this
time!
Youre always writing my cup otea but now
youve hit my personal JACKPOT in beating up
those hypocrite yellers with Help Japan on their
bikes, eating Japanese food, riding Sushi and still
abandoning when help is needed the most!
Keep on truckin this way, eh motobiking Michael,
youre doing very fine
By the way, you can also take the Ducati fabric on
your viewfinder again maybe they listen to you
and give our Wonderboy the bike (frame) he needs,
otherwise we can begin to write a sad pension song
for Vale Ouch, that would be a shame
Peter Muller (photographer) The Netherlands
pmfoto@kpnplanet.nl
Not such a fan ...
I am surprised by the support for Mark Webber and
Casey Stoner.
In response to Fiona Furze and David Owens: the
issue is simple. Sebastian Vettel has been the class
of the F1 Championship so far this year and team
orders or not, he has earned his positions.
Webber going to Ferrari? Well, knowing Ferrari
and Fernando Alonso, Mark might just as well have
'number two' stitched on his firesuit for the rest of his
career.
As for Casey, he has shown little respect to other
riders throughout his MotoGP career and judging by
his actions towards Karel Abraham it looks like that
is not going to change soon.
Lee-Ming, Australia
lee_ming_au@yahoo.com.au
Nurburgring revelation(s)
You never quite know what you are going to get
from Lewis Hamilton these days, but Germany was
one of those great days.
Qualifying aside, His moves, inside Webber, then
outside Alonso, on that same tricky Turn 2, stamped
him as a real racer. Webber, you shouldn't have
taken that; Alonso, were you asleep?
Anyway, all of a sudden it looks like Red Bull are not
total dominators, so even if Vettel has enough points
banked to cruise to the title, we may be in for some
cracker races.
Nigel Andersson
Gloucester, UK
What is it about German drivers at the German GP?
To a man they all under-performed at the
Nurburgring. Is there THAT much pressure to
succeed at home, or was it just coincidence?
Tomas Enderling
Hong Kong
Was red Bull racings lack of speed
just because the rB7 likes it hot,
not cold and miserable? We shall
hopefully see in Hungary, because
right now everyone in the paddock
is hoping for sunshine or at least
some radiators where we can dry our
socks.
The rain started literally as I arrived
at the track on Thursday, right on cue. I
saw a sign saying Media Warm Up and
that sounded ideal. In fact, it was a
Mercedes event and the warm up was
adrenalin-based. All I was after was a
hot water bottle.
The sign led the way to the fearsome
Nordschleife. Danger for breakfast -
it sounds like the sort of line a spoof
super-spy might come out with, but
thats what was served up. I was
handed a croissant and a helmet and
then, strapped in alongside FIA Safety
Car driver Bernd Maylander, was
hurled down the terrifying 14-mile-
long Northern Loop.
This, as youre doubtless aware,
constitutes the bulk of the Rings
original grand prix track, where Jackie
Stewart took the greatest win of his
career back in 1968 and, 35-years-ago,
Niki Lauda lost an ear.
Indeed, I recall on the 30th
anniversary of his crash, Niki led a
group of friends to the site, chucked a
tear of bacon from his coat pocket and
announced look, Ive found it!
On the wet and greasy tarmac,
Bernds powerful C63AMG saloon
fishtailed around the bends,
scrabbling for traction over the bumps.
Thank goodness I saved the croissant
until after. As we arrived back in
the pits, Nico Rosberg and Michael
Schumacher pulled up and jumped
into a brace of svelte silver Mercedes
W196 racers, in which Juan Manuel
Fangio took wins in 1954 and 55.
Its nice to start the weekend in
a winning car, joked Schumi as he
spoke of the Mercedes GP teams woes.
The old Nurburgring is far more
o
p
i
n
i
o
n
ADAM
HAY-
NICHOLLS
GPWeek Editor
The return of pragmatist Jerry
Burgess after two races away seems
to have stiffened the resolve at
beleaguered ducati.
After Germany, the team had
been wavering over whether to
persist with the new GP11.1, or
return to the GP11.0. They ignored
the freight bill and took both types
to America for both riders. Some
straight talking from JB put an end to
it. Rossi ignored the old bike; Hayden
meanwhile took a back-to-back
comparison, then stuck with what he
knew.
JBs decision was in character.
The new bike is better in some
respects, but not its results ... rather
the opposite. But it was new, and
therefore offered possibilities that
had been exhausted on the old one.
Therefore, dont go back.
Burgess can call on decades
of experience, and no doubt
remembers the pivotal 1984
season. In 83 Freddie Spencer had
triumphed on Hondas simple but
MICHAEL
SCOtt
MotoGP Editor
o
p
i
n
i
o
n
Ducati: backwards, forwards, or just marking time?

Danger for breakfast ...

GPWEEK OPINION
>>
effective V3 two-stroke. It compensated
for average power with agility and good
torque. And defeated King Kenny Robertss
faster V4 Yamaha.
Now Freddie was back with a radical
weapon to defend his title.
The NSR500 was a V4, and then some
the engineers had turned accepted
principles upside down, literally. The fuel
tank was slung beneath in the belly pan,
the cluster of exhaust expansion chambers
ran over the top of the engine: covered by
bodywork resembling a fuel tank.
There were many problems. The wacky
weight distribution played the balance
foul as the fuel burned off; the rider got
scorched; mechanics had serious difficulty
accessing the engine for routine jetting
or sparking plug changes. Then at its first
GP the all-carbon-fibre back wheel broke,
injuring Fast Freddie.
Honda persisted, Freddies chances
dwindled. The bike was very, very fast,
but difficult and unpleasant to ride. Then
towards the end of the year Honda
succumbed: bringing the faithful old
triple out of mothballs for Freddie to try
and catch up. It was too little too late:
Yamahas Eddie Lawson won the first of
four championships.
The moral of the story?
There are several. Firstly, that going
backwards didnt take them any further
forward.
Secondly that even the worlds best rider
cant win regularly on a sub-standard bike.
And thirdly, dont be afraid to start
again. Hondas 1985 NSR kept the
engine but arranged the hardware
conventionally. Spencer won the title and
the NSR went on to become the definitive
500cc racer.
The last one may be the hardest for
Ducati. But if the independent Italian
company will listen to the twin voices
of history and JB, can we expect them
to abandon the heresy of the minimal
carbon-fibre chassis and copy their rivals
full-length aluminium chassis?
I hope not. Id rather see them get this
one to work.
atmospheric and challenging than the
Southern Loop, which has hosted F1 since
1984 after the Nordschleife was deemed too
unsafe, not to mention too long for efficient
TV coverage. Its much too dangerous
to race [an F1 car] there, confirmed Nick
Heidfeld who is the only man to have driven
the circuit in a contemporary machine (and
who learned to ride a bicycle here as a kid!).
Rosberg told me the bumps, which sent
Fangios car a foot in the air several times
each lap, would probably result in a modern
F1 car, with all its aerodynamic gismos,
doing a backflip.
Adrian Sutil had an accident on Tuesday,
although he was keen to stress it was a lot
less dramatic than some had reported. He
took to the wheel of a 225mph Gumpert
Apollo supercar and only reached the third
corner before crunch!
Something broke on the rear of the car
and I lost control at slow speed, hitting the
barrier at only about 10mph so there wasnt
much damage. I just walked back to the pits
and got in another car. I laughed when I
read the newspapers the next day because
they said I lost all my teeth [in the impact]!
Losing ones brekkie definitely sounds
preferable to that.
Ducati: backwards, forwards, or just marking time?
2

T
HE weather was Nurburgring-cold,
which meant that the F1 paddock
poseurs constantly paraded
the very latest in winter-warm
leisure-wear; Pirelli brought the medium
compound that had worked so well
in Valencia, Spain, which is about as far
removed from the dark and dank Eiffel
mountains as a wet tyre is from a slick;
and they all again ran Valencia-spec
engine mapping regs the ones that
seem to reward each team more or less
equally but which nonetheless allow the
engine to be used for generating more
than just power to the driven rear wheels.
The result was a motor race a very
fine motor race by any standards and
particularly by the standards of 2011,
when passing has generally usurped
overtaking as the standard by which
specific grands prix are judged. By my
count, not one overtaking (or passing)
manoeuvre in the German GP could be
laid at the feet of the adjustable rear
flap; on the contrary, some great racing
took place in the zone preceding the first
corner, where wings were non-adjustable;
and, although there were nothing like as
many passes in Germany as there were,
say, in China or Turkey, this was a race full
of tension, irony, paradox and passion.
Even when the cars were not passing, in
other words, the racing was dramatic.
I
t was won, of course, by Lewis Carl
Hamilton, a racing driver who has
come in for a lot of criticism from fringe
observers over the past couple of months
or so but who remains as Ive always said
as good as anyone in his era and in many
ways beyond it. Lewis has allowed himself
in recent times to be too involved in early-
lap skirmishes but on this occasion he was
able to prepare for the first corner from
the comfortable position of the front row
of the grid. This immediately gave him a
very different sort of race to drive.
He earned that privilege with a
beautifully accurate lap in the closing
minutes of Q3. The new Nurburgring
doesnt add up to much alongside the
great circuits of 2011 the paddock
of the old Nurburgring, let alone the
Nordschleife itself, is more exciting than
the existing bunch of corners, for Petes
sake, but the current circuit nonetheless
hurts your lap time substantially if you
are in any way messy, imprecise or even a
step or two away from energising the car
correctly.
McLaren didnt look too clever on Friday,
when Jenson Button additionally lost
time with a major KERS issue, but they
rebounded beautifully on Saturday with
a much-improved Mercedes engine map.
I understand that this had been driven
by some pre-Valencia reliability concerns
and that these, in turn, had been side-
issued by the whole diffuser debacle at
Silverstone. Mods were made for Friday
in Germany and then more mods again
on Friday night, taking into account, of
course, of the relatively high altitude of
the Nurburgring.
Come Saturday morning, Lewis
Hamilton had a race car a blown diffuser
that actually gave him some grip and feel
and a bit more power besides.
T
he Q3 lap that will live in posterity was
carved as much as it was driven a
description that was manifest on the back
straight, leading to the chicane they call
Turns 13/14.
On flat-out exit from the right-hand kink
(Turn 12) on his final Q3 lap, Lewis stayed
perfectly to the left of the road, parallel to
the white line, resisting the temptation to
swing across to the right for the chicanes
braking area until the last, possible
(comfortable) millisecond. At exactly the
same point, on his pole-winning lap, RBRs
Mark Webber was at least two metres
further towards the centre of the road,
running lateral load through the engine
even as it was climbing up to maximum
revs. Mark was of course beautifully-
positioned for the next braking area and
his lap overall was a Vettel-beater; no-one
could take that away from him.
Lewis, though, in my view reached
perfection certainly on that point of the
circuit.
And if he was doing it there, what was
he doing through the fast ess-bend (Turns
8 and 9) or through the medium-speed
esses (Turns 10 and 11)? If you looked
later at the on-boards, you could see
Lewis gently guiding the car, applying
a little opposite lock here or a tad more
positive there, making it look so easy that
you were tempted to ask why no-one else
was doing the same thing; but what you
couldnt see, of course, were his feet, for
most of the lap he was constantly varying
the throttle and brake pressures, using
those two pedals to balance the car and
thus to complement, uniquely on every
corner, the third, more obvious, dimension
of steering.
It was, though, Mark Webber who took
the pole. If his lap was 98 per cent perfect
in what remains the fastest single-lap car
in F1, Seb Vettels on this occasion was
down there in the 90 per cent zone.
He didnt look slow or ragged or
unbalanced but by his standards he
was in trouble. He couldnt feel the RB7
couldnt feel the surface of the relatively
cold (22degC) road and so he left the
tiniest of margins. Thats why he didnt
look slow. Bear in mind, too, that this was
not a circuit on which Seb flew when
they last race there (2009) and that
its a pretty perfunctory circuit anyway:
given that, I think we can allow the world
champion an off weekend. Even so, Seb V
qualified third behind Mark and Lewis.
Ferrari? Ferrari felt the cold of the Eiffel
forests. The medium Pirellis for Fernando
and Felipe were ice blocks; the soft tyres
were good for long runs but difficult
for the Ferrari drivers to heat out of the
box. Thus they qualified fourth and fifth,
praying for rain as they perused Saturday
night dinner menus at the Sporthotel.
It was a similar story in other garages. At
Williams, for example, they had understeer
for the first time in ages. Drivers up and
It was close and unpredictable all the way to the fnish line, but Lewis
Hamilton was just about perfect in Germany, writes PETER WINDSOR.
A
N
A
L
Y
S
I
S
PEtEr
WINDSOr
F1 Columnist
F1 germany
>>
IS IT BECAUSE I IS BACK?
25
down the pit lane locked inside fronts
with abandon; LRGP ran both forward- and
rearward-exhaust blowers but for the most
part found the tests to be inconclusive: tyre
temperatures were a far greater divide.
The big difference was at McLaren.
Historically a team that is ultra-sensitive to
cold temperatures, McLaren on this occasion
had grip. Credit to the new engine maps.
Credit to the aero department at Woking.
W
ould it rain? Would Mark Webber
finally lead a lap in a 2011 F1 race?
And could that be the final lap of the
Germany GP? These were the pre-race
questions. The answers, surprisingly, were
No. Yes. And no.
It was Lewis who took the lead. Marks
third pole of the year dissolved into a mess
of bogged-down engine revs and first-
corner shuffles, from which Mark emerged in
second place just. Fernando was third, Seb
fourth but not for long. Struggling to find
temperatures, Fernando ran wide at the start
of lap two. Seb was up to third.
Weve seen Seb Vettel in the past recover
from a rough Friday or even a slow
Saturday. In Germany, though, there was
no such pace: driving hard to stay with
Hamilton and Webber, and catching a right-
rear edge on an entry kerb, Seb spun wildly
a few laps later. From then on he was driving
only for points something he needs in
reality about as much as he needs a new
mobile phone.
Which left the three of them Lewis, Mark
and Fernando to fight it out.
To fight out: tyre wear and conservation;
the correct moment to stop for second and
third helpings of option tyres; the correct
time to stop for Pirelli primes; and any
breaks or holes they might encounter.
Lewis was almost-perfect in these regards.
His first set of options began to fade towards
the end of his first stint, which enabled Mark
to zap him into the final corner as early as
lap 11. Setting the tone for the afternoon,
Lewis then refused to sit down, immediately
out-braking Mark at the end of the pit
straight and re-taking the lead one he
retained until his first stop on lap 16.
Dont talk to me while Im racing! Lewis
had shouted into his radio, Nigel Mansell-
style, while all this was going on. Still,
though, Mark Webber had now actually led
a race for the first time this season albeit
for a couple of hundred metres.
Marks response was to be the first to stop
for new (but used) options. He did so on lap
14; Lewis and Fernando did likewise two laps
later.
And it worked. Mark took the lead, with
Fernando now second and Lewis third. This,
you mused, was probably how it was going
to finish: Mark was due for a win; Ferraris
recent progress would be rewarded with
yet another podium; and both Lewis and
McLaren would be happy with third place
after where theyd been in recent weeks.
A bit like Seb in Canada, though and
in the closing phase of Silverstone Mark
didnt (or couldnt) maximise his position.
His lap times were conservative a sure sign
that he was driving to protect his tyres after
his early-ish stop; and both Fernando and
Lewis breathed easily, knowing that they,
too, now had chances of keeping things
alive. By lap 29, by which time, in the old Red
Bull days, an RB7 would have been leading
by 10 or 12 seconds, Mark was a bare 0.8 sec
ahead of Fernando and Lewis. He had been
lapping at Felipe Massa-pace. There was still
a motor race out there, alive and well.
A
nd so they threw the dice. In these
circumstances with everyone trying to
make the Pirelli softs last as long as possible,
and with a final, inevitable stop for primes
looming constantly, like the storm clouds
overhead stopping last was not necessarily
going to win you time. Having made it work
once, therefore, Mark again stopped first,
followed a lap later by Lewis and then a lap
after that (lap 32) by Fernando.
For Mark, it didnt work out.
The pit lane exit/first corner element of
the new Nurburgring is perhaps the circuits
greatest asset. Cars rejoin in a tough braking
area, the track running downhill into a tight
but wide hairpin. Mark Webber could see
Lewiss McLaren accelerating down towards
that hairpin even as he held his RB7 in
seventh gear. They were side-by-side as they
left the corner, Lewis on the outside but thus
riding on the better line for the long left-
hander that followed. Mark
stayed with him, pushing, pushing on the
outside around Turn 2, but then Lewis ran
him out of room, as he was always going to
run him out of room, and Mark had to settle
back into what he thought would be a still-
promising second place.
Make that third place
A lap later, Lewis saw Fernando
accelerating out of the pit lane exit just as
Mark had seen the McLaren. Mark could
only watch as Lewis, taking advantage of
the Ferraris more delicate tyre temperatures,
ran around the outside of the Ferrari at that
same Turn 2. Now it was Hamilton-Alonso-
Webber, with Lewis maximising his position,
clear in the knowledge that Fernando would
hold up the Red Bull until the Ferrari found
real Pirelli tyre temp.
Lewis was helped, too, by a Webber
mistake a couple of laps later. Following
Fernando closely out of Turn 12 and down
into the braking area for the chicane, his RBR
unable to overtake the Ferrari even with the
flap down, Mark lost the rear as he turned in.
He instantly bailed out of the first apex, and
straight-lined his way back onto the track
but a couple of seconds were lost.
Worse, the momentum had gone. Fernando
could now relax a little. And Lewis, leading,
could focus on edging away from the Ferrari.
Five laps later, Fernandos tyres had come
in. He was able to match the McLaren lap
for lap. By then, though, Lewis was three
seconds in front. The race had changed
its face. Fernando remained poised, ready
to pounce. Mark, his tyres going away (for
they were two laps older than Fernandos)
began to lose a tenth or so a lap about the
margin you earn at the Nurburgring when
you minimise lateral acceleration loads with
straight-line exits
A
nd so to the last phase and to the
appearance of the dreaded primes. As it
happened and as Vitaly Petrov proved in
the Lotus Renault, when he switched to the
hard tyres on lap 46 they turned out to be
a pleasant surprise.
McLaren made the right response call,
bringing Lewis in on lap 51. Fernando
stopped on lap 53; but RBR, trying vainly to
regain track position, called Mark in as late as
lap 56. It was another strategic error: he fell
further and further away on the worn options.
Barring the unforeseen, it was over: Lewis,
Fernando, Mark. Lewis even set fastest race
lap on the primes fuel load light, of course.
Seb Vettel recovered well to finish fourth
with the help of Kenny Handkammer and
the boys, for both he and Felipe had come in
for primes with one lap to run, Felipe ahead.
It was Seb, though, who left the pit lane first;
Adrian Sutil was outstanding in his drive to
sixth place for Force India, ahead of the two
Mercedes drivers. (His was a strong, two-
stop drive from lap one a classic example
of a low-key driver, now that he lives low-key,
post-China, maximising a well-run car.)
And Kamui Kobayashi again drove from
nowhere into the points, reminding us yet
again of how worthy he would be of a drive
with a front-running team.
Lewis was ecstatic in victory and for a
while had Parc Ferme to himself. In what you
would call perfect management, Fernandos
Ferrari ran short of fuel on the in-lap. And
with what you would call perfect manners,
Mark stopped to give Fernando a ride. The
photographers went wild. It was that sort of
day.
Dont talk to me while Im racing!
Lewis had shouted into his radio, Nigel Mansell-style ...
For more F1 Words of
Wisdom from Windsor,
cLIcK HErE to check
out his website:
www.thefyinglap.com

down the pit lane locked inside fronts

with abandon; LRGP ran both forward- and
rearward-exhaust blowers but for the most
part found the tests to be inconclusive: tyre
temperatures were a far greater divide.
The big difference was at McLaren.
Historically a team that is ultra-sensitive to
cold temperatures, McLaren on this occasion
had grip. Credit to the new engine maps.
Credit to the aero department at Woking.
W
ould it rain? Would Mark Webber
finally lead a lap in a 2011 F1 race?
And could that be the final lap of the
Germany GP? These were the pre-race
questions. The answers, surprisingly, were
No. Yes. And no.
It was Lewis who took the lead. Marks
third pole of the year dissolved into a mess
of bogged-down engine revs and first-
corner shuffles, from which Mark emerged in
second place just. Fernando was third, Seb
fourth but not for long. Struggling to find
temperatures, Fernando ran wide at the start
of lap two. Seb was up to third.
Weve seen Seb Vettel in the past recover
from a rough Friday or even a slow
Saturday. In Germany, though, there was
no such pace: driving hard to stay with
Hamilton and Webber, and catching a right-
rear edge on an entry kerb, Seb spun wildly
a few laps later. From then on he was driving
only for points something he needs in
reality about as much as he needs a new
mobile phone.
Which left the three of them Lewis, Mark
and Fernando to fight it out.
To fight out: tyre wear and conservation;
the correct moment to stop for second and
third helpings of option tyres; the correct
time to stop for Pirelli primes; and any
breaks or holes they might encounter.
Lewis was almost-perfect in these regards.
His first set of options began to fade towards
the end of his first stint, which enabled Mark
to zap him into the final corner as early as
lap 11. Setting the tone for the afternoon,
Lewis then refused to sit down, immediately
out-braking Mark at the end of the pit
straight and re-taking the lead one he
retained until his first stop on lap 16.
Dont talk to me while Im racing! Lewis
had shouted into his radio, Nigel Mansell-
style, while all this was going on. Still,
though, Mark Webber had now actually led
a race for the first time this season albeit
for a couple of hundred metres.
Marks response was to be the first to stop
for new (but used) options. He did so on lap
14; Lewis and Fernando did likewise two laps
later.
And it worked. Mark took the lead, with
Fernando now second and Lewis third. This,
you mused, was probably how it was going
to finish: Mark was due for a win; Ferraris
recent progress would be rewarded with
yet another podium; and both Lewis and
McLaren would be happy with third place
after where theyd been in recent weeks.
A bit like Seb in Canada, though and
in the closing phase of Silverstone Mark
didnt (or couldnt) maximise his position.
His lap times were conservative a sure sign
that he was driving to protect his tyres after
his early-ish stop; and both Fernando and
Lewis breathed easily, knowing that they,
too, now had chances of keeping things
alive. By lap 29, by which time, in the old Red
Bull days, an RB7 would have been leading
by 10 or 12 seconds, Mark was a bare 0.8 sec
ahead of Fernando and Lewis. He had been
lapping at Felipe Massa-pace. There was still
a motor race out there, alive and well.
A
nd so they threw the dice. In these
circumstances with everyone trying to
make the Pirelli softs last as long as possible,
and with a final, inevitable stop for primes
looming constantly, like the storm clouds
overhead stopping last was not necessarily
going to win you time. Having made it work
once, therefore, Mark again stopped first,
followed a lap later by Lewis and then a lap
after that (lap 32) by Fernando.
For Mark, it didnt work out.
The pit lane exit/first corner element of
the new Nurburgring is perhaps the circuits
greatest asset. Cars rejoin in a tough braking
area, the track running downhill into a tight
but wide hairpin. Mark Webber could see
Lewiss McLaren accelerating down towards
that hairpin even as he held his RB7 in
seventh gear. They were side-by-side as they
left the corner, Lewis on the outside but thus
riding on the better line for the long left-
hander that followed. Mark
stayed with him, pushing, pushing on the
outside around Turn 2, but then Lewis ran
him out of room, as he was always going to
run him out of room, and Mark had to settle
back into what he thought would be a still-
promising second place.
Make that third place
A lap later, Lewis saw Fernando
accelerating out of the pit lane exit just as
Mark had seen the McLaren. Mark could
only watch as Lewis, taking advantage of
the Ferraris more delicate tyre temperatures,
ran around the outside of the Ferrari at that
same Turn 2. Now it was Hamilton-Alonso-
Webber, with Lewis maximising his position,
clear in the knowledge that Fernando would
hold up the Red Bull until the Ferrari found
real Pirelli tyre temp.
Lewis was helped, too, by a Webber
mistake a couple of laps later. Following
Fernando closely out of Turn 12 and down
into the braking area for the chicane, his RBR
unable to overtake the Ferrari even with the
flap down, Mark lost the rear as he turned in.
He instantly bailed out of the first apex, and
straight-lined his way back onto the track
but a couple of seconds were lost.
Worse, the momentum had gone. Fernando
could now relax a little. And Lewis, leading,
could focus on edging away from the Ferrari.
Five laps later, Fernandos tyres had come
in. He was able to match the McLaren lap
for lap. By then, though, Lewis was three
seconds in front. The race had changed
its face. Fernando remained poised, ready
to pounce. Mark, his tyres going away (for
they were two laps older than Fernandos)
began to lose a tenth or so a lap about the
margin you earn at the Nurburgring when
you minimise lateral acceleration loads with
straight-line exits
A
nd so to the last phase and to the
appearance of the dreaded primes. As it
happened and as Vitaly Petrov proved in
the Lotus Renault, when he switched to the
hard tyres on lap 46 they turned out to be
a pleasant surprise.
McLaren made the right response call,
bringing Lewis in on lap 51. Fernando
stopped on lap 53; but RBR, trying vainly to
regain track position, called Mark in as late as
lap 56. It was another strategic error: he fell
further and further away on the worn options.
Barring the unforeseen, it was over: Lewis,
Fernando, Mark. Lewis even set fastest race
lap on the primes fuel load light, of course.
Seb Vettel recovered well to finish fourth
with the help of Kenny Handkammer and
the boys, for both he and Felipe had come in
for primes with one lap to run, Felipe ahead.
It was Seb, though, who left the pit lane first;
Adrian Sutil was outstanding in his drive to
sixth place for Force India, ahead of the two
Mercedes drivers. (His was a strong, two-
stop drive from lap one a classic example
of a low-key driver, now that he lives low-key,
post-China, maximising a well-run car.)
And Kamui Kobayashi again drove from
nowhere into the points, reminding us yet
again of how worthy he would be of a drive
with a front-running team.
Lewis was ecstatic in victory and for a
while had Parc Ferme to himself. In what you
would call perfect management, Fernandos
Ferrari ran short of fuel on the in-lap. And
with what you would call perfect manners,
Mark stopped to give Fernando a ride. The
photographers went wild. It was that sort of
day.
Nick Heidfeld was badly done over by Buemi ....
F1 germany
>>
2
GOING into the German race weekend, Lewis
Hamilton told his supporters that he did not expect
to be challenging for pole. But challenge for pole
he did, putting together a faultless lap that was a
whisker shy of Mark Webbers pace-setting time.
The British driver then improved on a good
Saturday result by besting the Australian off the
start at the Nurburgring, before ceding and then
reclaiming the lead.
It was a dream result for the McLaren driver,
who had been slipping backwards in the drivers
standings and the popularity stakes after some
risky passing attempts at Monaco and a retirement in
Montreal.
This weekend, however, Hamiltons performance
was faultless. The British driver admitted in the
press conference that his passing and attacking
manoeuvres were the most precise hed delivered all
season, and it was obvious to all and sundry that the
victory had restored his mental equilibrium.
With a win this weekend, Hamilton was able to
silence his critics, who included a number of former
F1 drivers. David Coulthard was but one voice in a
chorus proclaiming that Hamilton and McLaren had
one weekend, and one weekend only, to save their
chances of a 2011 title win.
While the gap to championship leader Sebastian
Vettel is still an intimidating 82 points, Hamilton is
now the only man other than Vettel to have scored
multiple wins in the 2011 F1 season.
Hamilton gets dream result
rEd Bulls blistering Saturday pace is no longer enough
for Sunday dominance, now that Ferrari and McLaren
the teams closest rivals appear to have closed the gap.
Mark Webber started Sundays race from pole position,
but made another poor start and handed the lead to
McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton before the first lap had
been completed. Webber then reclaimed the position,
Webber lacks pace needed to convert pole into win

F1 germany
>>
Hamilton gets dream result
It was a strong performance from Ferrari
driver Fernando Alonso in Germany; the
Spanish driver followed up his Silverstone
victory with a P2 at the Nurburgring.
The German Grand Prix was a 60-lap three-
way battle for the win between Alonso, Mark
Webber, and eventual race winner Lewis
Hamilton, but the Asturian kept the pressure
on McLaren until the final round of pitstops
seemingly moments from the chequered flag.
The bulk of the German race was run
on the Option tyre, with drivers only
pitting for their final stint on Primes in
the last 15 laps. This was a tactical move
from Ferrari, who have struggled on the
hards all season, but the chilly weather
on offer in the Eifel mountains made it a
necessity for the bulk of the pack.
Alonso got an excellent start to the race,
passing Sebastian Vettel for P3 on the
opening lap and besting Webber in the
pitstops.
I think in the last stint we could not get
any closer to Lewis, Alonso said. I think
with the medium tyres we were not too
quick so we just controlled the gap with
Mark and secured second place. For us
it was a fantastic race, a fantastic Sunday
again. We struggled a little bit in quali being
fourth yesterday but today again the car
showed great pace and great degradation
with the tyres so we can keep the pace of
the leaders. We jumped Vettel on the track
and Mark in the pit stop and it was great.
Alonso strong, but
misses out to Hamilton
after the pitstop
Webber lacks pace needed to convert pole into win
but was unable to hold onto the lead after
the first round of pitstops, when Hamilton
overtook him just past the pit exit on lap 31.
Speaking in the post-race press conference,
the Australian driver admitted that Red Bull
just werent fast enough on race pace.
We werent quick enough today, he said.
I did everything I could. Im happy with the
way I drove, but these guys had a bit of an
extra margin, especially in back part of the
stints. That made us a little bit exposed on
strategy.
We know what we have got to improve on
and we couldnt give much more than we
did today. Im disappointed not to get a win,
we had a good fight around the stops, so
its mixed emotions. You need to perform at
a good level to get these. We keep learning
and the progress has been decent but we
need to improve.
2
It was an error-strewn grand prix for red
Bull driver and regular race winner
Sebastian Vettel, whose first second-row
start of the season led to his first non-
podium finish of 2011.
Vettels run of misfortune started at the
first corner, when he was overtaken for P3
by Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso.
On lap 10, the German driver span at
Turn 10, flat-spotting his tyres and making
him vulnerable to the approaching Nico
Rosberg, who was less than half a second
behind Vettel when the RB7 was pointing
in the right direction. The damaged
tyres put the defending champion at a
disadvantage, but he hung on till lap 16
before pitting for the first of three stops.
As the race was approaching its mid-
point, Vettel was warned of rear brake
issues, and asked to adjust the bias
forward, compounding his difficulties.
On lap 43, Vettel missed the chicane,
but did not gain any advantage or
subsequent penalty from doing so.
The highlight of the defending
champions race was his pitstop overtake
of Massa on the penultimate lap of the
race, without which Vettel would have
finished in P5.
I felt good [about the stop], the Red
Bull driver said after the race. Obviously
I entered in to my pitbox first and when I
got out obviously you cant wait to leave
the box after the boys have changed the
wheels and it was nice to see that the
Ferrari was still stationary so it was down
to them, they did a very good job in the
end.
We were pushing Felipe very hard all
race trying to lead him in to a mistake, I
think both of us were right at the limit, the
cars were pretty nervous and generally
I think fourth anyway was probably our
maximum today, which is not satisfying.
But we have to accept it and go from
there, next week is the next race and it
looks like McLaren and Ferrari are getting
quicker and quicker. So we need to work
harder on our car trying to improve it
in order to be back on the podium and
maybe soon on the top step again.
Sutil gets season-
best result for
Force India
For any driver, securing a season-best
result for the team is something to be
proud of. But to accomplish that feat in
front of a home crowd is better still.
With his P6 finish at the German Grand
Prix, Adrian Sutil achieved Force Indias
best result of the season thus far, while
also launching his team above Toro Rosso
in the constructors standings.
It was an incident-free afternoon at the
Nurburgring for the German driver, who
was able to manage both tyres and fuel
load for a clean finish and 8 championship
points.
It was a great race today and Im so
pleased to get this result for the team
because we really deserved it, Sutil
said. We had a great car all weekend and
everything just went perfectly. The tyres
lasted well and we definitely made the
right calls with the strategy, which helped
me beat Nico [Rosberg] in the final stint.
It was actually quite a lonely race for me
because I spent most of the time running
in clean air so I could really show the
potential of the car, the Force India driver
continued. To get this result in my home
race also makes it extra special and Id like
to thank the fans for their support this
weekend. But this is just the start because
we still have lots of work to do in the
coming races to score lots of points and
catch up with the teams ahead of us.
Error-strewn race for
Vettel saved by Massas
slow fnal stop
30
F1 germany
>>
FOrMULA 1 round 10 NUrBUrGrING
Points drivers: Vettel 216, Webber 139, Hamilton 134, Alonso 130,
Button 109, Massa 62, Rosberg 46, Heidfeld 34, Petrov 32, Schumacher 32,
Kobayashi 27, Sutil 18, Alguersuari 9, Perez 8, Buemi 8, Barrichello 4 etc
Manufacturers: Red Bull 355, McLaren 243, Ferrari 192, Mercedes 78, Renault
66, Sauber 35, Force India 20, STR 17, Williams 4.
Pos # driver Team Laps Time Grid
1 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 60 1:37:30.334 2
2 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 60 +3.9 secs 4
3 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 60 +9.7 secs 1
4 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 60 +47.9 secs 3
5 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 60 +52.2 secs 5
6 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 60 +86.2 secs 8
7 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 59 +1 Lap 6
8 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 59 +1 Lap 10
9 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 17
10 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 59 +1 Lap 9
11 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 15
12 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 16
13 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 59 +1 Lap 12
14 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 59 +1 Lap 13
15 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 59 +1 Lap 24
16 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 58 +2 Laps 18
17 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 57 +3 Laps 19
18 25 Jerome dAmbrosio Virgin-Cosworth 57 +3 Laps 21
19 22 Daniel Ricciardo HRT-Cosworth 57 +3 Laps 22
20 21 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault 56 +4 Laps 20
Ret 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 37 Electrical 23
Ret 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 35 Hydraulics 7
Ret 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 16 Oil leak 14
Ret 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 9 Accident 11
The biggest moment of drama in the
opening stages of the German Grand Prix
came courtesy of renaults Nick Heidfeld,
who was launched across the gravel at
Turn 13 following a collision with Sebastien
Buemi, taking out a TV camera in the
process.
Heidfelds accident took place on lap 9,
moments before race control issued the
German driver with a drive-through penalty
for causing a lap 1 collision with Force India
driver Paul di Resta.
According to the Renault driver, the blame
for the spectacular crash that brought a
premature end to his race lies squarely in
Buemis lap. Heidfeld was attempting to pass
the Toro Rosso around the outside of Turn 13
when he was catapulted into the air before
sliding sideways across the gravel in the run-
off area.
I lost some positions there when I collided
with Paul [di Resta], Heidfeld said after the
race. After that I tried hard to make up some
positions. I overtook a couple of cars and
came up behind Buemi. He was blocking me
which was fully okay on the left side, on the
long straight before the chicane. But then
I was next to him on the right and he just
moved over, and there was nowhere to go. So
he pushed me on to the grass and there was
an accident, that couldnt be avoided with
what he did.
Buemi saw the accident in a different light,
saying after the race Heidfeld drove into me
at the chicane.
Heidfeld
crashes out,
takes a camera
with him
The German Grand Prix was not a
great one for McLaren driver Jenson
Button, who suffered his second
retirement in two races.
On lap 35, Button was called into the
pits by his team, who informed the
British driver that his car was suffering
hydraulics issues, and he would have to
retire for safetys sake.
At the British Grand Prix two weeks
ago, the Briton was forced to retire as
the result of a pitstop error, that saw
him exit the pits with only three wheels
securely attached to his car.
Buttons recent run of bad luck has
ended a long reliability streak prior to
his Silverstone retirement, the McLaren
driver had seen the chequered flag at
every race since Spa 2010, when he was
knocked out of play by Red Bull driver
Sebastian Vettel.
Prior to the hydraulics problem,
Button was running solidly in the
points, after a strong race strategy
more than made up for his lacklustre
qualifying session. The British driver
told BBC Sport he should have finished
the race in P4.
The first three, there was no chance
[of catching them] but the next two,
yeah it was looking pretty good. Adrian
Sutil who I passed before I passed
Rosberg, was catching Massa and Vettel,
so we would have had a good race. I
think in the end we wouldnt have
been in the top three but fourth was
definitely possible.
BUtton:
Two retirements in two races
1
Team-By-Team: German Grand Prix, Nurburgring
Hamilton surprised all, including himself, by
taking second place on the grid in qualifying,
having ruled himself out of the fight for
pole only 24 hours earlier. He turned that
front row start into the lead on the first lap
before going on to win despite falling behind
Webber during the second stint. He was
chased hard all the way, but held a constant 3-
second lead over Alonso during the final half
of the race. Team-mate Button was on for a
sixth-place finish before having to retire with
hydraulics problems. A poor start dropped
him to tenth, putting him out of touch with
the leaders.
Red Bull were beaten for the third time in four
races on Sunday, as their dominant start to
the season was brought to a definitive end
by the revitalised McLarens and Ferraris. They
still have qualifying sewn up, with Webber
having taken pole, but was not on the pace of
Hamilton and Alonso during the race, further
compounded by a late stop for primes at the
end. Vettel was even slower and had a spin
at turn 10 to blame for falling behind Massa,
before beating him in the pits on the final lap
to take fourth.
Vitaly Petrov kept Renault 100% points-scoring
record of 2011 going at the Nurburgring,
after coming home in tenth place after a two-
stop strategy. Starting ninth, he was one of
the last drivers to make his first pitstop, and
waited until lap 46 to make his second stop
for medium tyres to finish the race. He had
a comfortable six-second cushion to 11th
place at the flag. Team-mate Heidfeld had an
incident-filled ten-lap race. He hit di Resta at
the start and was then pushed off the road
by Buemi while trying to overtake into the
chicane, forcing him into retirement.
Schumacher may have finished ten seconds
behind team-mate Rosberg, but it was he who
enjoyed the better pace, having lost over 13
seconds with a spin at turn 10 on lap 23. On
the same strategy as Rosberg, he recovered
strongly and took eighth place at the flag.
Rosberg had a rather anonymous race from
sixth on the grid, finishing seventh after losing
out in a battle with Massa during the first
stint. He then lost out to the two-stopping
Sutil, finishing the race 18 seconds adrift of his
fellow German.
An early first pitstop for Maldonado managed
to elevate him up the order in the first half of
the race, but the extra tyre wear during his
second stint ultimately came back to bite him
as he had to pit early for the second and final
time, resulting in a longer stint on the slower
medium tyre. He took the flag in 14th place.
Barrichello didnt even make it that far after
retiring with an engine oil leak on lap 16. He
had jumped Maldonado at the start and was
running 11th when he had to park up.
Alonso extracted the maximum from his Ferrari
throughout the race and even led briefly when
he emerged from his second pitstop, but
ultimately fell just short of Hamiltons pace. He
battled with Vettel during the first stint, before
overtaking Webber during the second round
of stops to take second. He then pitted too late
for the medium tyre at the end to be able to
challenge Hamilton. Team-mate Massa enjoyed
a race-long battle with Vettel for fourth, after
overtaking him just before the first pitstops, but
fell behind due to a slow final stop when they
both pitted on the final lap.
3
F1 EUROPE
>>
Team-By-Team: German Grand Prix, Nurburgring
Adrian Sutil converted his best grid position of
the season into Force Indias best finish of the
year as he took an admirable sixth at his home
race. He was the highest-finishing two-stopper,
pitting on laps 22 and 48, and even beat both
Mercedes cars by a comfortable 18-second
margin. Paul di Resta endured a tough race
in the sister Force India, after being hit into
a spin by Nick Heidfeld at turn 3 on the first
lap, having kept his place off the line. Despite
recovering well from last place, he fell 20
seconds short of points, taking the flag in 13th.
A disappointing weekend for Toro Rosso who
failed to score points for the first time in five
races. Alguersuari, starting 16th, represented
their best chance, but he finished just short
in 12th after struggling with his brakes. Buemi
started dead last after a fuel irregularity on
Saturday evening, but things got even worse
when he tangled with Heidfeld on lap 10,
forcing an early pitstop and earning himself
a 5-place grid penalty for Hungary. He was
compromised even more by running a wet-
weather set-up and finished the race a distant
15th.
Kamui Kobayashi returned to the points for
the first time in three races with another
eye-catching drive from the back of the grid.
The Japanese driver started 17th, but was
immediately in contention for points after
picking up six places in the first few laps. He
then two-stopped and hassled Schumacher
until the flag, unable to overtake due to the
Mercedes high straightline speed, to finish
ninth. Perez also two-stopped but was angry
with himself for making an error on lap 8,
forcing an early pitstop and putting a points
finish out of reach.
Glock was unable to take the fight to Lotus at
his home race, just hours after announcing
a long-term contract extension with Virgin
on Sunday morning. He slotted in behind
Kovalainen at the start, but quickly lost ground
and once Liuzzi retired at mid-distance, he had
an untroubled run to the finish. DAmbrosio
spent much of the race fighting with HRT,
pulling clear only in the final ten laps as
Ricciardo faded, before finishing ten seconds
behind Glock.
HRT ran a strong race in Germany on Sunday,
despite finishing behind the lead Lotus and
both Virgins. Liuzzi again showed the way,
beating Virgins dAmbrosio and battling
with Glock until he was forced to retire with
an electrical failure at the start of lap 38.
Ricciardo showed huge improvements in
only his second F1 race to battle hard with
the Virgins for almost the entire race. After
overtaking dAmbrosio early in the race, he fell
behind again before his final pitstop but fell
away rapidly to finish 25 seconds adrift of the
Belgian.
Karun Chandhok endured a dismal return to
the Formula One grid on Sunday, as he stood
in for Jarno Trulli at the Nurburgring. After
qualifying 20th behind Virgins Timo Glock, he
dropped to last on the second lap and kept in
touch with his main rivals during his first stint,
but had the first of a number of high-speed
spins on lap 10, forcing an early pitstop. He
eventually finished over 3 minutes behind
team-mate Kovalainen, who drove a strong,
consistent race. The Finn finished 2 laps down
on Hamilton but was more than 80 seconds
clear of the leading Virgin.
F1 germany
>>

G
r
e
e
ting
s fr
om
G
e
r
m
any
xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxx
3
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
G
r
e
e
ting
s fr
om
G
e
r
m
any
F1 germany
>>
5
C
l
i
n
i
c
a
l

C
a
s
e
y

g
e
t
s

b
a
c
k

t
o

b
u
s
i
n
e
s
s
C
l
i
n
i
c
a
l

C
a
s
e
y

g
e
t
s

b
a
c
k

t
o

b
u
s
i
n
e
s
s
It was classic Stoner; a tough race, two big passes and a
strong win. The Aussie is in top form. ...
MICHAEL SCOTT reports
MOTOGP UNITED STATES
>>
T
HE morning mist has lifted, and the sun is
shining again on casey Stoner. In an echo
of the weather of the Monterey peninsula,
the repsol Honda riders fifth win of the
season lifted the mood of the past few races as
he returned to brilliant winning form in front of
52,670 cheering fans.
His US GP weekend hadnt been easy. Hed
qualified on the front row with a one-lap
wonder, and finally got his Honda to his liking
only in race-morning warm-up.
Then, riding with clinical precision on the
fairground swoops and curls of a sun-baked
Laguna Seca circuit, he waited for the right
time, then picked off first his team-mate Dani
Pedrosa and then long-time leader Jorge Lorenzo
(Yamaha) to win by better than five seconds.
The pass on Pedrosa was clean and hard, into
the Corkscrew; on Lorenzo even more so in both
respects, round the outside at the daunting Turn
1.
The put his title quest back on track, and went
some way to erase the bitter memories of his
defeat here at the hands of Rossi in 2008.
I was struggling to turn the bike after the start,
but I was patient and I still had something left.
Then lap by lap when the fuel went out, it just got
better, said Stoner I think people had forgotten
me a bit over the last races. Its good to come
back and show I can still win.
Lorenzos second was itself a heroic feat. The
previous morning hed smashed his leg and
back in a vicious low-speed high-side crash, and
was walking with difficulty. Riding beautifully,
however, again qualifying on pole and leading
for 26 of 32 laps of the shortest and giddiest track
of the year.
After qualifying I wanted to fight for the win.
But dreams are not reality: Casey was faster today,
and when he came past I threw in the towel. Of
course, the pain was also difficult ... I feel lucky to
be second.
Pedrosa fell away in a safe but distant third, also
suffering physically at the exhausting track, after
his recent third collar-bone surgery this season.
At first the race was between Lorenzo and
Pedrosa, with Stoner more than a second adrift
after the first two laps, only narrowly ahead of
Repsol Honda third man Andrea Dovizioso and
a hard-pressing Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo
Honda).
By the seventh he was closing steadily but
firmly, with Dovi losing touch and Simoncelli out
after losing the front into downhill Rainey Corner
after the notorious Corkscrew.
As the front trio sorted themselves out, Ben
Spies (Yamaha) had been swamped at the start,
but had got ahead of Valentino Rossi (Marlboro
Yamaha) on lap three to begin a lonely pursuit
of Dovizioso. The Honda man was slowing and
Spies speeding up when they met with seven
laps to go, and they battled furiously to the end,
Spies pushing past into the last corner on the
penultimate lap, and staying there.
Another nine seconds away the factory Ducatis
were glued together all race long, seldom more
than half-a-second apart. They finished in the
same order, Rossi just that little fraction too fast
and too good for double Laguna race-winner
Nicky Hayden to nose ahead.
Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) had been with
the pair until he crashed out on lap 14. So had
Hector Barbera (Mapfre Aspar Ducati), but by the
end he had dropped away behind Colin Edwards
(Monster Tech 3 Yamaha). Karel Abraham (AB
Cardion Ducati) had been safe in tenth, but
slowed radically in the last two laps to give the
place to Hiro Aoyama (San Carlo Honda).
Loris Capirossi (Pramac Ducati) and Toni Elias
(LCR Honda) were a lap down. Cal Crutchlow
(Monster Tech 3 Yamaha) crashed out on lap
four; wild card Ben Bostrom (LCR Honda) made
a gear-shift muddle while lying last and ran into
the gravel, and then retired, having an AMA
Superbike racer to consider later in the afternoon.
Stoner reversed the shrinking points gap, now
up to 20, with 193 to Lorenzos 173. Dovizioso
is falling away on 143, Pedrosa closing on 110,
having consigned Rossi (108) to fifth
Stoner came from third
(right), but passed his
team-mate to hone in on
the back of Lorenzo (top
left)
MOTOGP UNITED STATES
>>
WITH the season one
race past halfway, the
balance of power is also
at a fulcrum point. What
started out going all
Hondas way is no longer
so obvious, with Yamaha
fighting back.
At the start of the
season, the Honda could
do no wrong. Steady
development had finally
wrought a definitive
800cc racer. The bike
was powerful and well-
balanced; the seamless
gear-shift was icing on the
cake.
Nobody spoke more
clearly of its many virtues
than Yamaha rider Jorge
Lorenzo. After celebrating
second place in the
opening round as if it had
been a victory, he said:
If I have to ride this hard
for the rest of the year, I
will crash for sure.
You could see that quite
easily, from the way the
Honda put the power on
earlier, and was faster all
the way down Qatars long
straight.The Yamaha has
changed but little since
then, but enough to make
a difference as Lorenzo
starts eyeing wins rather
than just podiums, and
Assen winner Spies also
raises his sights. Especially
at circuits where the bikes
natural rhythm can be
exploited.
At the same time,
Hondas wealth of top
talent means Pedrosa and
Dovizioso were taking
points from Stoner. It was
only here that he was able
to fight back in the internal
war.
Importantly, the Yamaha
pair expect serious
upgrades, especially
horsepower, at Brno for
the next race, though
probably only for post-race
tests.
Its what is needed to
spur for the second part of
the championship season.
There is something else
teetering. When they
arrived at Laguna, Honda
and Yamaha were exactly
equal, with 65 GP wins
apiece in the four-stroke
MotoGP era, which began
in 2002.
They left with Honda one
win ahead.
HONDA BACK ON TOP
but Yamaha upgrades are coming
MOTOGP UNITED STATES
>>
VALENTINO rossi might be rethinking
his comments earlier this season, when
he described the new generation of
MotoGP riders as pussies compared
with his heroes from the golden age of
the 500 class.
Two out of three on the Laguna rostrum
were only there because of impressive
feats of precision racing, and even more
impressive feats of physical courage. Both
of them were Spanish, too, which might
make you raise your assessment of the
fortitude of the breed.
Lorenzo is possibly the braver. He had
a huge and obviously painful high-side
crash the day before and was walking with
difficulty. But he still qualified on pole a
couple of hours later, and raced hard to
second.
Nor is it his first such feat. Most notable
was at China in his first MotoGP year: a
similar huge practice high-side put him in
a wheelchair, but again he was ready to
race.
Pedrosa is a less likely candidate hes
better known for being a bit physically
flimsy. When he falls, something tends to
snap somewhere.
His mystery absence after his Le Mans
injury, when he missed three races,
reinforced the view.
But victory in Germany last weekend
also after a thumping practice crash and
a determined ride to third in America,
belied the fact that he is still weak and in
pain, after no less than three collar-bone
operations within the last three months.
They are not the only super-tough
racers: you dont have to be Spanish. Colin
Edwards and Cal Crutchlow both made
heroic returns from broken collar-bones
earlier this year: Youre injured already
so whats the worst that can happen,
quipped Edwards.
The MotoGP grid may be small, but there
are some very tough customers aboard it.
These are not ordinary motorcycle racers.
Or, to put it another way some pussies!
SOME PUSSIES!
41
Can the
streak be
stopped?
WRC PREVIEW
>>
Ford needs a win to stop Citroen setting
a new consecutive-wins total the
blue oval drivers are at home so it could
be their best chance. Martin Holmes
previews Neste Oil Rally Finland
r
ound eight of the Wrc, start
of the second half of the 2011
season, has attracted the biggest
total entry for any world championship
event for more than 10 years, with the
entry list at 124 cars in total, of which 41
are Ford Fiestas of one sort or another.
In addition to the usual battle between
Citroen and Ford, the BMW Mini
team is now ready to become regular
challengers after a long and exhaustive
testing period.
After last years experimental basic
two-day event with only one opening
first evening stage, the event reverts to
a three-day format, the first three-stage
leg being run through Thursday evening,
with the usual two overnight halts. It
will be a truly huge and intense event,
the only event counting for all three
supporting championships and the FIAs
historic cars series as well.
Once again, Finland follows the FIAs
initiative of creating variety in events.
Finlands first speciality is short total
stage length (314km compared with an
average of 350km) with correspondingly
a large proportion of liaison section
driving.
The second is the remote Friday service
at Lahti, nearly 100km away from rally
base at Jyvaskyla. The journey down to
Lahti means that Fridays route has the
chance to make a full lap of the famous
sprawling Paijanne, the second largest
lake in the country, the first time the rally
has done this since 1981 - in the days
when NORF was called the Rally of 1000
Lakes.
The stages in the Lahti area are
reported to be very fast, with ultimate
grip, except for Stage 5 Evo, named
after the local village, not a famous rally
car which is narrower and rocky.
This format brings two major
consequences. There is a far higher
proportion of special stages on this event
(eight of the total 15) used once which
creates increased demands on recceing.
For the first time in many years the recce
will take place over a three-day period,
starting Monday afternoon and finishing
Wednesday afternoon, with a mammoth
day on Tuesday, of over 800km driving.
Long days and short nights will be the
hallmark of this event, bad news for
co-drivers whose already limited non-
driving hours during recce must be given
over to re-writing their pace-notes.

WRC PREVIEW
>>
4
T
he WRC championship
is approaching make-or-
break time. A Ford victory is
desperately needed for the interest
in the series. If Citroen win this event,
it will be a record seventh successive
WRC victory, starting with Mexico
2011 fine for the record books but a
turn-off for the fans!
Sebastien Loeb is going to Finland
with a mission to conserve his
championship lead:
Victory in Finland isnt an out-and-
out objective. Depending on how I
feel Ill see how hard I want to push.
How laid-back can a champion be?
Or, perhaps, how patronising?
Ford however has won this event
four times in the last five years and
have home crews, with Finnish
drivers Mikko Hirvonen and last
years winner Jari-Matti Latvala. They
are curious to know if Hirvonen has
finally put behind him the memory
of his heavy crash here in 2010.
With six Minis due to start, a total
of 21 World Rally Cars were entered,
a record number for the current
formula, seven of these cars driven
by Finnish drivers, but since then one
has withdrawn. This was the Fiesta
WRC due to have been driven by the
Finn Janne Tuohino.
Each team has been engaged in
the permitted four-day test sessions
in the country, with both Citroens
Sebstien Ogier and Minis Kris Meeke
off the road and out of action. Mads
Ostberg won Rally Estonia, the
traditional pre-NORF test event, with
his Fiesta beating Markko Martin in
an old Focus WRC.
If the conditions are dry, the road
cleaning and running order issues
will be a nightmare for the driver
who starts the stages first car on the
road, with 104 out of 134km being
run on Day 2 in virgin conditions. If
conditions are damp the problem
will be reduced, if it is very wet
maybe first car has the prime
position!
On this event the running order
for Day 2 (Friday) will be based on
just stages 1 and 2 held the evening
before, the distance of these stages
being 35km, more than the requisite
10% of the total stage distance. So,
the prevailing weather forecast will
dictate whether the top drivers will
drive hard on these stages or not!
On this event the Power Stage will
be held on the Saturday evening,
though still comfortably in daylight
(sunset on a clear evening is after
2200 local time), but even this will
not bring the event to a close. Things
will go on well into the night in
Jyvaskyla.
After the successful after-event
party time held to celebrate the
events 60th anniversary last
year, this year the theme is being
expanded with an official party also
on the Friday night, due to end just
five hours before the next days rally
is to start!
S
WRC: Nine of the 10 registered
SWRC teams have entered,
missing being Nasser Al Attiyahs
Barwa team. Most significant is the
additional Guest entry for Juha
Salos Mitsubishi R4, which runs in
the same class as the S2000 cars,
the first time on a world rally an R4
has been head-to-head with SWRC
championship cars.
There are three powerful non-
championship entries in S2000 cars
which include two by Volkswagen
Motorsport in Skoda Fabia S2000 cars,
the first step in the WRC project which
was launched in Sardinia in May.
Drivers will be Andreas Mikkelsen,
already an accomplished Fabia driver,
and Juha Kankkunens protege Joonas
Lindroos. These two have been given
special priority status by the FIA
and will start in front of the SWRC
championship drivers.
PG Andersson has also entered,
making the WRC debut of Subarus
new R4 car.
Al Attiyahs on-off relationship with
VW continues, but he is definitely
absent from Finland. Currently he is
expected to continue driving after
this event with his current Ford.
P
CWRC: In addition to 15 of the
regular competitors there are two
Guest drivers, Riku Tahko in an Evo X
and Mikko Pajunen in a Clio R3.
Tahko is in his eighth year of
rallying and works with the Juha
Kankkunen driving academy.
Pajunen is in his fifth year of rallying,
and in 2011 has been driving a
Twingo R2 in British championship
events.
Pajunen presents Harry Hunt, the
registered PWRC Citroen DS3 R3T
driver, with his first opposition in
this years Two Wheel Drive cup. The
organisers were originally instructed
by the FIA that the subsidiary 2WD
Cup had been cancelled this year, but
this order has been postponed and
this event will run for their Cup after
all.
W
RC ACADEMY: 16 of the original
18 Academy drivers are expect
to be at the start of NORF, but only
after considerable rebuilding efforts
by the Polish M-Sport operation after
Sardinia
Of the 18 cars on the Italian event,
nine had engine problems caused by
heavy under-car impact which led
to broken sumps and subsequent
damage to the internals. (R2 cars
used by Academy drivers have wet
sumps whereas WRC cars have dry
sumps.) Five of the cars had cracked
cylinder heads. Calle Wards car was
the most damaged when he also
rolled, while Karyakin had other
damage caused by a very heavy
landing.
Financial problems mean that
Ward and Matteo Brunello, engaged
in the DS3 Trophy in his native Italy,
have withdrawn from the event.
Three of the remaining Academy
drivers have changed co-drivers for
the event - Ahlin has his third co-
driver in three WRC events this year.
F
inland is also round six of the
FIAs European Historic Sporting
Rally Championship. This event,
headquartered at Lahti, will use five
of the stages run by the WRC cars on
the Friday, after the WRC cars have
passed, and three of the Saturday
stages between the first and second
passes of the WRC cars.
A special curiosity of the event,
however, is the sudden plentiful
emergence of private competitors,
in a way which has been strikingly
absent in recent WRC seasons. A
high proportion of the privateer
drivers are little-known, even
locally, enthusiasts often renting or
borrowing cars from friends simply
to participate in Finlands biggest
rally. Available space in the grounds
surrounding Jyvaskylas Paviljonki
exhibition halls this year is already
limited due to development in the
area and therefore some of the
teams will be working this year
inside the halls themselves.

WRC PREVIEW
>>
N
ew in the 2011 rally season
are the Group r4 rally cars,
conversions of cars running
under the old N4 class.
The intention is to make the
traditional turbocharged Mitsubishi
and Subaru cars more competitive
with the old generation and much
more expensive 2-litre normally
aspirated Super 2000 cars.
Until the end of 2009, the N4 class
cars ran with a 32mm restrictor, but
there was a marked performance
shortfall over many conditions found
round the world, so at the start of
the 2010 season the differential was
reduced when 33mm restrictors
were permitted, but still there was
a general shortfall. More radical
modifications were required,
especially as the two types of car ran
together under the same old class
system.
Meanwhile at the start of the 2011
season the FIA changed the class
systems, so that now the old N4
specification cars would run alone
in the new Class 3, the cars modified
into the new R4 rules would run in
Class 2 together with old generation
Super 2000 cars, while the new
generation (1.6 turbo, direct injection)
Super 2000s would run alone in Class
1. Neste Oil Rally Finland will see the
first time that the Mitsubishi and the
Subaru R4 cars face each other in the
WRC.
The basic procedure is for existing
Group N car which are authorised for
use in Class 3. When the upgraded
kit is added it becomes an R4 and is
authorised to run in Class 2.
There are specific areas allowed
in this upgrade: longer travel
suspension with revised geometry,
lighter weight generally, stiffer chassis
and improved under-bonnet cooling.
Engines have to be unchanged and
33mm restrictors fitted. Cars can be
upgraded privately by competitors
using officially supplied components
or by authorised preparation
companies.
Both Mitsubishi and Subaru have
homologated the changes which can
be used on two models the Evo
IX and Evo X, and the familiar five-
door (hatchback) Subaru GRB and
the newer four-door GVB models.
Modifications can be carried out
piecemeal but must always feature
side door protection foam inserts.
In the case
of Mitsubishi, the upgrade work was
aimed at providing budget- friendly
conversion work and homologation
was granted as of April after
development work as a joint venture
between Ralliart Italia and MML
Sports in Britain. There were initial
difficulties with the FIA because of
a conflict of rules as to whether the
R4 cars could run in WRC events with
other than Michelin control tyres, and
eventually the teams were told they
could not.
The first appearance of a Mitsubishi
Evo X R4 was in Sardinia with Matti
Rantanen. The total weight saving
for both the Evo IX and Evo X models
is reckoned to be about 60kg. The
extended top mounts of both the
front and rear suspension allow
improved castor angles rather than
increasing wheel travel.
In the case of Subaru the two new
bonnet orifices have had a marked
effect on the engine performance.
It is claimed that under bonnet
temperatures themselves have
been reduced by 30-40 degrees.
Considerable work has been done
with the suspension including a
completely new subframe, roll cage
stiffening, extended wheel travel and
strengthening of the suspension with
wider use of spherical bearings. It is
claimed that the car is nicer, stronger
and quicker to drive and up to 75-
80kg lighter!
The debut of the car was the IRC
event in Corsica with Toshi Arai while
PG Andersson makes the debut of the
car in the WRC in NORF this year.
Development of Group R4 cars is
continuing apace, and the benefits
and the corresponding performance
equivalence with Class 2 Super 2000
cars are still hard to define, and in
any case are still highly dependent on
the rally conditions, but certainly R4
cars are generally about between 0.6
and 1.0 second/kilometre faster than
their basic N4 versions and still seem
to be slower than the Class 2 S2000s.
At this time R4 is going fine, but R-
GT (Class 4, for sports cars) has not
progressed.
Here come the R4 cars ...

One of the great corner in world motorsport the corkscrew at Laguna Seca
GPWEEK PArting Shot
>>