Hamilton had ‘no answer’ to Verstappen’s pace in Abu Dhabi GP qualifying

Verstappen pulled off a brilliant effort in his first run in Q3 to deliver a lap that was half a second clear of everyone else – although it was slightly helped by a tow from team-mate Sergio Perez.
But despite Hamilton improving on his second run to close the gap, with his first lap having been hurt by a lock up at Turn 5, Verstappen had pole in the bag.
Hamilton said he could not …Keep reading
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Cross-Country Rallies – Al-Attiyah and Baumel claim FIA World Cup title with victory on Hail Rally

Cross-Country Rallies – Al-Attiyah and Baumel claim FIA World Cup title with victory on Hail Rally

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Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel have won the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies* after another commanding drive saw them victorious at the Hail Rally, the final and decisive round of the series. Their fourth victory of the season came after winning three of the four selective sections in Saudi Arabia, clinching them a fifth and fourth FIA World Cup title respectively. Denis Krotov and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished a fine second overall on the rally with Sebastian Halpern and Bernardo Graue inching into third in a similar MINI John Cooper Works Buggy.

The Toyota Gazoo Racing crew of Al-Attiyah and Baumel went into the event heading the standings by 28 points over Lucio Alvarez and Armand Monleon, the Argentinean/Spanish crew needing a top haul of points to potentially overhaul the multiple champions. The Qatari/French pairing were however on fine form and were fastest on all but one selective section to win by 21 minutes and 51 seconds after another trouble-free event, their last in this generation of Toyota Hilux.

Krotov and Zhiltsov were on consistently good form throughout the event, notching up two second fastest times on route to second overall in the John Cooper Works Buggy and third in the series standings. Argentina’s Halpern and Graue pushed hard and were rewarded with third, overhauling Vladimir Vasilyev and Oleg Uperenko for the final podium position today. The Russian crew went into today’s shortest 148 kilometre section third, but a tight battle saw them lose the position by just 43 seconds.

Title contenders Alvarez and Monleon, in a Toyota Hilux Overdrive, had a steady run to fifth and second overall in the FIA World Cup standings. They finished ahead of Jakub Przygonski and Timo Gottschalk after the Polish/German Buggy crew lost time yesterday with a broken driveshaft.

Pole Marek Goczał, co-driven by fellow countryman Lukasz Laskawiec, finished a fine seventh and took his first honours in the T4 category, at the expense of brother Michal who dropped from the lead with a broken gearbox on the penultimate leg. Laia Sanz and Maurizio Gerini bounced back from delays earlier in the event to finish eighth overall in the MINI John Cooper Works Rally, and ninth was claimed by Miroslav Zapletal/Marek Sykora in their Ford F150 Evo. Molly Taylor and Dale Moscatt finished an impressive second in T4 and 10th overall in their Can-am Maverick despite some mechanical problems and a puncture today. T3 was won by the Saudi Arabian/Russian crew of Saleh Al-Saif and Egor Okhotnikov in another Can-Am with Saudi’s Mashael Alobaidan second in the category.

The Hail Rally closes the 2021 FIA cross-country season, but just weeks away is the start of the new FIA World Rally-Raid Championship, which launches with the famous Dakar Rally (January 1-14).

Hail Rally – Final Classification

1

Nasser Al-Attiyah/Mathieu Baumel

Toyota Hilux

10hr 50min 23sec

2

Denis Krotov/Konstantin Zhiltsov

MINI John Cooper Works Buggy

11hr 12min 14sec

3

Sebastian Halpern/Bernardo Graue

MINI John Cooper Works Buggy

11hr 19min 07sec

4

Vladimir Vasilyev/Oleg Uperenko

BMW X5

11hr 19min 50sec

5

Lucio Alvarez/Armand Monleon

Toyota Hilux Overdrive

11hr 25min 31sec

6

Jakub Przygonski/Timo Gottschalk

MINI John Cooper Works Buggy

11hr 38min 38sec

7

Marek Goczał/Łukasz Laskawiec

BRP Can-Am Maverick (T4)

12hr 11min 19sec

8

Laia Sanz/Maurizio Gerini

MINI John Cooper Works Rally

12hr 14min 10sec

9

Miroslav Zapletal/Marek Sykora

Ford F150 Evo

12hr 24min 27sec

10

Molly Taylor/Dale Moscatt

BPR Can-Am Maverick (T4)

12hr 43min 14sec

2021 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – titles*

Driver

Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT)

Co-Driver

Mathieu Baumel (AND)

Team

Overdrive SA

T3 Driver

Cristina Gutierrez (ESP)

T4 Driver

Austin Jones (USA)

T4 Team

South Racing

FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies – Classifications:
https://www.fia.com/events/world-cup-cross-country-rallies/season-2021/classifications-2

* Subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA

World Cup for Cross Country Rallies

Cross-CountryAll fia sportSEASON 2021SportCross-Country1SportWorld Cup for Cross Country RalliesCross-CountryAll fia sportSEASON 2021Cross-Country01Saturday, December 11, 2021 – 3:32pmSaturday, December 11, 2021 – 3:32pm

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F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen storms to pole over Hamilton for season finale

The two title contenders will start Sunday’s race on different strategies after Verstappen used the softs to go through Q2, where Hamilton progressed on the mediums, and they will start ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris with their respective team-mates down in fourth and sixth.
On the first Q3 runs, Red Bull sent Perez out ahead of Verstappen and ordered him to push to create a gap while …Keep reading
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Red Bull: FIA should not change racing rules stance for F1 finale

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One week on from an ill-tempered Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Masi reminded teams ahead of the weekend that the FIA’s own International Sporting Code does allow the governing …Keep reading
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Piastri would be “pretty annoyed” not to land 2023 F1 drive after title treble

The Australian scored his third consecutive single-seater title with two races to spare after finishing third in Saturday’s opening F2 sprint race at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The F2 title completes an impressive treble of championships following on from last year’s run to the FIA Formula 3 crown in his rookie year after winning the 2019 Formula Renault Eurocup championship at the second …Keep reading
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F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Hamilton tops final practice from Verstappen

The afternoon session started with the usual install laps which, uncharacteristically, included both championship protagonists right from the start.
Verstappen immediately embarked on a medium tyre run and demoted Esteban Ocon’s opener with a 1m24.997s lap. Later on in the run he lowered his early benchmark by a tenth with a 1m24.828s effort.
After 10 minutes Hamilton came out on soft …Keep reading
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F1 set for more driver-eye cameras in 2022 after new deal

Since this year’s Belgian Grand Prix, F1 has been experimenting with a new mini camera that is positioned in the lining of a drivers’ helmet.
First trialled by Fernando Alonso at Spa-Francorchamps, it has been run several times over the second half of the campaign, with Charles Leclerc trialling it at this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
With the footage having been a hit with fans, and F1 …Keep reading
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Gasly reveals bizarre Ugandan sponsor scam trip

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He claims that in his effort to pull together a sponsorship package for 2016 to move to Prema, with whom he ultimately went on to win the championship, he was enticed to fly to Uganda after being promised some …Keep reading
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Horner: “Mad Max” F1 narrative driven by “Mercedes media machine”

Verstappen will go head-to-head with Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton for the F1 title this weekend in Abu Dhabi, where they will start the race tied on points.
Verstappen claimed ahead of the race weekend that he was treated differently by the stewards compared to other drivers after receiving two penalties during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last Sunday.
Hamilton called Verstappen “f**king …Keep reading
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