Rossi outlines Alpine’s 100-race path to the top of F1
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi says the French outfit is on a 100-race path to reach the summit of…
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WTCR – Vernay defeats Muller in home victory battle
Sport news
Jean-Karl Vernay reignited his FIA WTCR – World Touring Car Cup title hopes by beating WTCR Race of France pole position starter Yvan Muller to win Race 2.
The Frenchman got the better of his countryman at the start and brushed off the threat of a late safety car intervention to win on home soil in his Goodyear-equipped Engstler Hyundai N Liqui Moly Racing Team Elantra N TCR.
Vernay got the drop on Muller from the lights and with the inside line into Turn 1 swept into a lead he wouldn’t lose. “That was the key, we said it yesterday,” said the delighted winner, who claimed his second victory of the season. “I did a much better job than Yvan. I really wanted this one. Yesterday I was annoyed after Q3 not to have pole position. But after the start it was just a case of managing the tyres in case of a safety car which arrived with a surprise for the last lap.”
Behind the top two, there was plenty of action at Circuit Pau-Arnos as WTCR Race of France burst into excitement in the second half of the race. Norbert Michelisz was running third, but started to struggle to pace. “I have a vibration,” he reported on his radio.
Santiago Urrutia began to pile on pressure, tagging Michelisz on successive laps and receiving a stewards’ warning. Meanwhile, the following pack concertinaed, Race 1 winner Frédéric Vervisch taking a chance to demote Esteban Guerrieri on lap 17. The pair made contact and Guerrieri lost two places on the lap – most crucially slipping behind WTCR title rival and Goodyear #FollowTheLeader Yann Ehrlacher.
Michelisz finally lost his battle to cling on to a podium finish on the following lap, both Urrutia and Vervisch passing the Hungarian. Now he came under pressure from Ehrlacher. The Frenchman was frustrated to be held up by the Hyundai and it allowed Guerrieri to attempt to make up for what he’d lost on lap 19.
The battle came to a head at the back chicane, Guerrieri making a move up the inside and nudging a tyre stack out of position. The pair collided and the Lynk & Co was forced to cut the second tyre stack, with Vervisch also getting in on the action. After all the drama the order was now Vervisch in fourth from Michelisz, Ehrlacher and Guerrieri – but the displaced tyre stack led to the Honda Civic Type R Limited Edition Safety Car heading out for what should have been the last lap. Two more were added to the race total to ensure the race could finish under green flag conditions.
Racing resumed on lap 22 for what was a single-lap shootout, a disgruntled Vernay keeping his cool to head Muller to the line. Urrutia followed in third to complete the podium with Vervisch adding a fourth place to his Race 1 win. But a struggling Michelisz couldn’t hold back Ehrlacher who grabbed fifth place on the run to the finish, with Guerrieri back in seventh.
The result means King of WTCR Ehrlacher heads Vernay who has jumped up to second in the table, 16 points behind the Goodyear #FollowTheLeader. Guerrieri has dropped to third, 22 points down on Ehrlacher with Vervisch up to fourth – meaning four customer racing brands fill the top four places with two meetings and four races to go.
Gabriele Tarquini finished eighth in his Hyundai, with Thed Björk (Lynk & Co) and Nathanaël Berthon (Audi) completing the top 10. The other points scorers were Luca Engstler in P11, Tiago Monteiro – whose Honda returned to the fray after his crash in Race 1 – Tom Coronel (Audi), Mikel Azcona (CUPRA) and Rob Huff (CUPRA).
Néstor Girolami was out of luck. He was running sixth in the early stages until he reported a tyre problem and slipped down the order, eventually choosing to pit.
WTCRRace of FranceWTCR
SEASON 2021SportCircuit1SportWorld Touring Car CupCircuitWTCRSEASON 2021WTCRRace of France00Sunday, October 17, 2021 – 4:08pmSunday, October 17, 2021 – 4:08pm
Palmer puts his money on Hamilton to snatch title
Max Verstappen reclaimed the lead in the championship in Turkey, but Jolyon Palmer is putting his money on…
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How high-tech F1 has changed the race engineer role
However, it has now transformed into a very complex role. It requires an individual to not only deal with the driver aspect, but be at the top of a communication chain that includes the pit-wall, garage and remote factory operations to offer analysis in real time.
In simple language, a race engineer is now a driver interface fed by real-time data.
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In simple language, a race engineer is now a driver interface fed by real-time data.
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Mercedes reportedly set to drop Petronas for Aramco deal
Mercedes is reportedly set to part ways with long-standing title sponsor Petronas, and make way for a new…
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Webber: Alonso ‘still a bit of a magician’ on race day
Mark Webber believes his good friend Fernando Alonso can’t rival Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen over one lap,…
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Norris: Openness over mental health important to help others
The McLaren driver has confessed to facing some troubled times during his early F1 career, as he struggled coping with the pressure to perform at such a young age.
But after working with both a good external support team, and his own McLaren squad, the young Briton has got himself in to a happy place and is now enjoying grand prix racing again.
While some top sports stars have been reluctant …Keep reading
But after working with both a good external support team, and his own McLaren squad, the young Briton has got himself in to a happy place and is now enjoying grand prix racing again.
While some top sports stars have been reluctant …Keep reading
Newey focused anew on RB16B after bike crash break
Adrian Newey is fully focused once again on improving Red Bull’s RB16B ahead of the final leg of…
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Vettel sounds warning over ‘too many races’ in 2022
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has warned that there are too many races currently being planned…
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WRC – Neuville on top in Spain after super Saturday
Sport news
Thierry Neuville dominated Saturday’s second leg of RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España to close on a second FIA World Rally Championship victory of the season.
He was virtually untouchable on the flowing asphalt speed tests in the Costa Daurada hills to extend a slender 0.7sec overnight lead into a 16.4sec advantage over Elfyn Evans with one day remaining of this penultimate round.
After winning the final three special stages of Friday’s opening leg, the Hyundai i20 pilot added five more consecutive fastest times to his tally before a rejuvenated Sébastien Ogier broke the Belgian’s winning run. Neuville rounded off the day with another stage win.
Evans, who led on Friday before Neuville hit top gear, could do nothing but retained control of second with a 22.3sec advantage over Toyota Yaris team-mate and championship leader Ogier. That would be sufficient to take their fight for the drivers’ title to the final round in Italy.
As Evans floundered, Ogier prospered. The Frenchman struggled for pace this morning as Dani Sordo came within two-tenths of snatching third, but a raft of changes at mid-leg service transformed his performance.
He rebuilt his advantage over Sordo’s i20 only to see it reduced to 1.2sec after stalling his engine in the final stage.
Kalle Rovanperä was 32.4sec behind Sordo in fifth. The young Finn was lucky to escape a huge ‘moment’ this morning when his Yaris speared into a field at high speed.
Rovanperä had room to breathe after Adrien Fourmaux lost more than 10 minutes when he clipped a barrier and punctured a tyre on his Ford Fiesta. After replacing the wheel, he battled on with a broken driveshaft, a damaged steering arm and suspension issues.
Team-mate Gus Greensmith conceded more than a minute with a morning puncture and an engine sensor problem this afternoon. The M-Sport Ford duo’s dramas allowed Oliver Solberg up to sixth, but a final stage clutch problem delayed the Swede and the pair swapped positions, separated by seven-tenths.
Nil Solans ended eighth on his first top-tier drive, FIA WRC2 leader Eric Camilli, driving a Sports and You-entered Citroën C3 Rally2, was ninth with Movisport’s Nikolay Gryazin completing the leaderboard in a Škoda Fabia Evo.
In eleventh overall, Emil Lindholm edged closer to Spanish success after tightening his hold on the WRC3 lead on Saturday. He arrived back at the evening service in Salou having more than doubled his advantage to 31.4sec over Kajetan Kajetanowicz.
In the Junior WRC class, Sami Pajari moved into the lead after the title battle was turned on its head, when his main championship rival went off twice and was finally not able to continue. If Pajari stays on the road and maintains his pace on Sunday, then the championship will be his by a comfortable margin.
Sunday’s finale contains two laps of the well-known Santa Marina and Riudecanyes tests, the first pass of Santa Marina extra challenging in darkness. Mid-leg service divides the loops, with the second pass of Riudecanyes forming the bonus-points paying Wolf Power Stage. The four tests cover 50.90km.
The provisional results can be consulted here.
Rally of SpainWRC
SEASON 2021SportRallies1SportWorld Rally ChampionshipRalliesWRCSEASON 2021Rally of Spain01Saturday, October 16, 2021 – 8:30pmSaturday, October 16, 2021 – 8:30pm