Showing posts with label Motorsport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Motorsport. Show all posts
Thursday, August 25, 2011
World's Fastest Electric Superbike Bonneville 2011 [video]
Run 6 of 6 for Lightning Motorcycles @ Bonneville en-route to becoming the fastest electric bike in the world in its class. This was a "video run" as the camera was right in front of the riders face. There was some side wind (notice the bike is leaning) but the camera was angled a bit so it looks worse than it was.
The previous run was faster at 218.6 mph and is the first electric motorcycle to go over 200 mph. Check out the black and orange markers on the sides of the track. They are 1/4 mile apart.
By the way, only $0.18 worth of electricity was used on this run.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Toyota unveil EV racing prototype
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) has revealed further details of its plan to make Nürburgring history on 29 August by setting a new electric vehicle (EV) lap record on the demanding 20.832km Nordschleife.
TMG's high-performance electric powertrain will power the car as it aims to significantly improve on the current lap EV record of 9min 1.338secs. Based on unofficial testing and depending on weather conditions, TMG expects to hit lap-record pace immediately, with additional days scheduled as back-up.
The TMG electric powertrain uses two electric motors to deliver peak power of 280kW and a top speed of 260km/h with zero emissions. That makes it ideal to power any future single-make electric motorsport series and TMG will begin commercial sales of its electric powertrain technology in 2012.
Total weight of the two-seater sports car is just 970kg, including the lithium-ceramic battery which allows for nimble handling around the demanding Nordschleife, essential for setting a competitive lap record.
TMG General Manager Electric & Electronics Ludwig Zeller said: "We want to demonstrate the high level of performance which can now be reached with an electric powertrain, not only in motorsport terms but as part of TMG's existing development work on road car EV technology. There is no more evocative place to illustrate this performance than on the Nordschleife. Our target is to beat the existing record by more than just a few seconds because that will demonstrate just how far our technology has developed since TMG began working on KERS systems in 2007. Many people are still dreaming of an electric future for motorsport; at TMG we believe this is much closer than some think and we intend to show what can be achieved with a high-performance electric powertrain."
TMG today revealed the first images of its electric vehicle, with a modern, dynamic livery from Aguti which captures a sense of electrifying speed. These images can be seen by clicking here.
TMG is also proud to announce its partners in this lap record attempt, all of whom enjoy visible branding on the electric vehicle. Aguti created and implemented the livery concept while rational motion integrated the electric powertrain, traction battery and control strategies. EVO Electric motor technology delivers the power and Yokohama is the tyre supplier.
Official timers will be present to authenticate the lap record while video and a photography crew will record a milestone achievement in EV development. These materials will be made available to all media immediately after any successful record attempts.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Remy Powered Lightning Motorcycle Breaks 200mph @ Bonneville
Using a Remy propulsion electric motor, Lightning Motorcycles, LLC. blasts through the land speed record for production electric bikes by 30mph to be crowned the first electric bike in the world to exceed 200mph. In an August 14 SCTA*-sanctioned run at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, Lightning -- the 2010 land speed record holder -- achieved 206.079 mph, topping its 2010 speed of 176mph.
Lightning retains its claim as the fastest electric bike in the world in its class and will eternally own the achievement of being the first electric motorcycle to break 200mph in its class. The bike was ridden by Paul Thede, principal of Race Tech and the developer of the Lightning suspension system.
This record speed win coincides with the signing of a long term supply agreement in which Remy International, Inc. will provide Lightning Motorcycles with the Remy HVH250™ electric propulsion motor for use in Lightning Motorcycles' commercial electric motorcycles and its professional racing Lightning Superbikes.
Lightning Motorcycles is a California-based motorcycle engineering firm using competition to spur innovation. In addition to its commercial bikes now sold in North America, Asia and Europe, Lightning is already manufacturing their winning Superbikes with a Remy HVH250 motor for sale.
"Lightning Motorcycles has the drive and talent to keep pushing the electric bike land speed record higher with the Remy HVH250 electric motor. We are very proud to be a part of Lightning's amazing record at Bonneville," said Remy Electric Motors, LLC VP and General Manager Kevin Quinn. "The Remy HVH250 motor is the best on the market. Our team works hard to give our customers the competitive power advantage they need; it is dazzling to see it in triumphant action like this," added Quinn.
"Switching to a Remy electric motor made a powerful difference in our design and performance. Coupled with our experienced team, we knew we had a record-breaking bike on the Salt Flats. Remy has been a tremendous partner in our efforts. We look forward to working with them and their motor on both our racing and commercial bikes," said Lightning Motorcycle CEO Richard Hatfield.
The compact size and light weight of the Remy HVH250 electric motor is a perfect match for the Lightning Superbike.
The Remy HVH250 provides the superior power density and performance required by Lightning Motorcycles while fitting into the limited space of this small but powerful application. Efficiency and range are also gained through the reduced weight of the lighter Remy electric motor, which decreases overall application weight with no sacrifice in power or durability.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
2011 DTM : Mattias Ekström wins at the Nürburgring
2011 DTM - Nurburgring winner : Mattias Ekström (SWE) #8 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline - 2009 Red Bull Audi A4 DTM
2011 DTM - Nurburgring winner : Mattias Ekström (SWE) #8 Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline - 2009 Red Bull Audi A4 DTM
In an action-packed race, Timo Scheider showed a great recovery with his Audi A4 DTM, moving up four places to finish fourth. His fellow Audi driver Martin Tomczyk, Spengler’s main rival in the battle for the title, converted seventh place on the grid into fifth place at the finish. The best-placed driver of a 2008-spec car was rewarded with four points. In the drivers’ standings, Tomczyk is seven points down on Spengler. Scheider is ranked third with 29 points.
British driver Jamie Green had a poor start and dropped back from second to sixth place. That was also the position in which the Mercedes-Benz driver crossed the finish line. DTM rookie Edoardo Mortara (Audi) from Italy was classified seventh and thus scored championship points for the third time this season already.
The two ex-Formula 1 drivers Ralf Schumacher and David Coulthard (both Mercedes-Benz) caused discussion at the start of the race. After two subsequent collisions, Schumacher retired, Coulthard crossed the finish line in 17th place. The stewards gave both drivers a penalty, suspended for the next race. In case of a further infringement, the driver involved will be dropped three places on the starting grid for the following event.
A total of 86,500 spectators attended the DTM race weekend in the Eifel. The next stop for the 18 DTM drivers is at Brands Hatch (GB) from September 2nd till 4th.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, head of motorsport Audi: “A very good weekend for Audi. Seven Audis in the top ten are excellent. Mattias is back. After more than one year, he has simply driven a perfect race. I have missed that a little but. Mike had already been under pressure from Bruno for a few laps. I already thought that he would make it for the two remaining laps. At those places where Bruno could have overtaken, the gap was always big enough. Too bad that it still went wrong, but up to that point, Rocky had been driving a very good race.”
Norbert Haug, head of motorsport Mercedes-Benz: “Today, Bruno can consider himself as the winner. He has extended his lead in the drivers’ standings and has shown a performance that is worthy of a champion. Yesterday, he had bad luck in qualifying when he had the worst weather in the final heat, the single-lap qualifying for the best four drivers. Great that he has still turned his fourth place on the grid into second place in the race. He stayed closely behind Rocky, has put him under pressure and thus forced him into a mistake.”
The race at a glance
Air temperature: 16.5 °C
Asphalt temperature: 25.4 °C
Spectators during the race weekend: 86.500
Start Ekström leads, Rockenfeller moves up into second place. Vietoris spins at the back of the field in the Mercedes Arena.
Lap 1 Ekström is leading from Rockenfeller, Spengler, Mortara, Scheider.
Lap 2 Schumacher pushes Coulthard, they both go wide in the Mercedes Arena. Schumacher is then pushed by Coulthard and spins coming out of the Merceds Arena, Schumacher gets out of the car and retires.
Lap 4 Coulthard's car is dented at the front following the battle with Schumacher - he gets a black and orange flag.
Lap 5 Coulthard comes into the pits to have the bonnet of his car replaced.
Lap 6 Coulthard under investigation.
Lap 7 Paffett attacks Molina for eighth place.
Lap 9 Albuquerque and Paffett side by side, Albuquerque and Van der Zande overtake the Brit, Paffett drops back to eleventh.
Lap 11 Albuquerque overtakes Molina and is now eighth, Paffett past Van der Zande for tenth.
Lap 12 Scheider past Mortara for fourth. Martin Tomczyk is the first to come in for his pit stop, Paffett, Molina, Van der Zande also into the pits.
Lap 13 Green, Mortara, Stoddart, Frey into the pits. Tomczyk has moved up two positions after his stop.
Lap 14 Scheider, Albuquerque, Engel into the pits.
Lap 15 Rockenfeller, Spengler, Vietoris, into the pits.
Lap 16 Ekström into the pits.
Lap 17 Ekström returns ahead of Rockenfeller, Spengler and Tomczyk. Jarvis has yet to make his first stop and is in first place.
Lap 18 Jarvis into the pits.
Lap 19 Order after the first pit stops: Ekström is leading from Rockenfeller, Spengler, Tomczyk, Scheider, Mortara, Green, Albuquerque, Molina, Paffett.
Lap 20 Scheider has overtaken Tomczyk and is now fourth.
Lap 23 Green is the first to come into the pits for the second stop.
Lap 24 Tomczyk, Jarvis into the pits. Coulthard comes in for his first mandatory stop.
Lap 25 Van der Zande into the pits.
Lap 26 Engel into the pits.
Lap 27 Molina, Vietoris into the pits.
Lap 28 Paffett, Stoddart, Frey into the pits.
Lap 30 Engel off the track at the Sprint-loop after a battle with Vietoris, Mortara into the pits.
Lap 31 Spengler, Scheider, Albuquerque into the pits.
Lap 32 Rockenfeller into the pits.
Lap 33 Ekström into the pits.
Lap 34 All drivers but Coulthard having made two stops, Ekström is leading from Rockenfeller, Spengler, Scheider, Tomczyk, Green, Mortara, Paffett, Albuquerque and Jarvis.
Lap 35 Coulthard into the pits.
Lap 39 Spengler attacks Rockenfeller for second.
Lap 41 Coulthard is pushing behind fourth-placed Scheider, although Coulthard is one lap down.
Lap 48 Rockenfeller locks up under braking for the first corner. He runs wide, Spengler goes past.
Lap 49 Final lap.
Finish Ekström wins from Spengler, Rockenfeller, Scheider, Tomczyk, Green and Mortara. Paffett, Albuquerque and Jarvis round out the top ten.
2011 DTM - Nurburgring : Race result
2011 DTM : Drivers' Championship
2011 DTM : Teams' Championship
Images : 2011 DTM - Nurburgring
[Source : DTM - Official]
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Toyota shooting for Nurburgring EV Lap record on August 29
Toyota has reportedly announced it will attempt to smash the existing electric vehicle lap record at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife on August 29.
The current electric vehicle lap record at the 'Ring stands at 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds, a time that Toyota says it has already beaten during informal testing. On August 29, Toyota will hit the track with a battery-powered two-seater that soars to a claimed top speed of 162 miles per hours, rips from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and is loosely based on the radical Alpha-1 SRF, a vehicle developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH for German firm e-Wolf.
Rob Leupen, Toyota Motorsport's director of business operations, told the Charging Point, "We are extremely confident we can break the record by some distance, which is an indication of how electric vehicle performance is continuously improving." Only time we tell if Toyota's attempt to tame the 'Ring blows a hole through the existing record, which is held by the spectalur Peugeot EX1.
Source: The Charging Point
Toyota shooting for Nurburgring EV Lap record on August 29
Toyota has reportedly announced it will attempt to smash the existing electric vehicle lap record at the famed Nürburgring Nordschleife on August 29.
The current electric vehicle lap record at the 'Ring stands at 9 minutes and 1.338 seconds, a time that Toyota says it has already beaten during informal testing. On August 29, Toyota will hit the track with a battery-powered two-seater that soars to a claimed top speed of 162 miles per hours, rips from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and is loosely based on the radical Alpha-1 SRF, a vehicle developed by Toyota Motorsport GmbH for German firm e-Wolf.
Rob Leupen, Toyota Motorsport's director of business operations, told the Charging Point, "We are extremely confident we can break the record by some distance, which is an indication of how electric vehicle performance is continuously improving." Only time we tell if Toyota's attempt to tame the 'Ring blows a hole through the existing record, which is held by the spectalur Peugeot EX1.
Source: The Charging Point
Friday, August 5, 2011
Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid to make Monterey Le Mans Series debut
Porsche’s 911 GT3 R Hybrid will make a return to North American racing as Porsche Motorsport announced today the entry of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0 in the ModSpace American Le Mans Series Monterey presented by Patrón. The six-hour race on September 17 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is the eighth round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.
“The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid represents one of the best examples ever of technology transfer between race track and showroom,” said Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. “It brought an entirely new level of relevance to our platform during its North American debut at Petit Le Mans last year; certainly it stands to do the same during its maiden appearance on the West Coast. Porsche is using its involvement in the ALMS to demonstrate that high performance and fuel efficiency are not mutually exclusive achievements. The benefits of this revolutionary development program will no doubt lead to numerous advancements that will be applied to future Porsche road cars. We are proud that our position as the Global Leader of Green Racing enables such technologies to be put to the ultimate endurance test and actively developed in front of our fans.”
Two Porsche works pilots Romain Dumas (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) will share the cockpit of the orange and white racer from Weissach. Dumas already has driven the world’s most innovative GT vehicle last year at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans. Lietz piloted the 911 Hybrid at the 24-hour races on the Nuerburgring in 2010 and 2011 as well as at various other long-distance races.
“I’m so looking forward to demonstrating the capabilities of this very special car at race speed to the spectators in California,” said Dumas, a two-time ALMS champion in LMP2 for Porsche. “Many Porsche fans live on the west coast of America, and some of them have already discovered the advantages of the hybrid system at the wheel of a Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid. I’m very excited because Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is one of the most challenging race tracks on earth. Its layout with a series of up and downhill passages should actually suit our 911 GT3 R Hybrid.”
The outing of Porsche’s hybrid racer at the 24 Hours of Nuerburgring last month was more than heartening. The innovative race car achieved the same quick lap times as its top rivals yet used considerably less fuel. Just two broken transmission flanges and a collision thwarted a potential podium spot.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 - with two 75-kilowatt electric motors on the front axle supplementing the 465 hp four-liter, six-cylinder power unit at the rear - particularly embodies the philosophy of “Porsche Intelligent Performance”: The electric energy is generated during braking and stored in an electric flywheel. During acceleration, this energy is automatically delivered to the front wheels supporting the combustion engine. This leads to a reduction in fuel consumption and increases the cruising range on the circuit.
Moreover, drivers can manually use the stored energy with a boost-paddle on the steering wheel for overtaking. The 911 GT3 R Hybrid has undergone further development since 2010; compared to its predecessor, its weight was reduced from 1,350 kilograms (2,970 pounds) to 1,300 kilograms (2,860 pounds).
This weekend, the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. The fifth round of the 2011 ALMS championship is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 6 with ESPN2 airing the race starting at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 7. Live video coverage on race day will be available at 3:15 p.m. ET on ESPN3.com in the US, and americanlemans.com for international viewers. Canadian fans may also watch live coverage on Rogers Sportsnet. Worldwide radio coverage will be available on American Le Mans Radio at americanlemans.com.
Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid to make Monterey Le Mans Series debut
Porsche’s 911 GT3 R Hybrid will make a return to North American racing as Porsche Motorsport announced today the entry of the 911 GT3 R Hybrid Version 2.0 in the ModSpace American Le Mans Series Monterey presented by Patrón. The six-hour race on September 17 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is the eighth round of the 2011 American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón.
“The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid represents one of the best examples ever of technology transfer between race track and showroom,” said Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. “It brought an entirely new level of relevance to our platform during its North American debut at Petit Le Mans last year; certainly it stands to do the same during its maiden appearance on the West Coast. Porsche is using its involvement in the ALMS to demonstrate that high performance and fuel efficiency are not mutually exclusive achievements. The benefits of this revolutionary development program will no doubt lead to numerous advancements that will be applied to future Porsche road cars. We are proud that our position as the Global Leader of Green Racing enables such technologies to be put to the ultimate endurance test and actively developed in front of our fans.”
Two Porsche works pilots Romain Dumas (France) and Richard Lietz (Austria) will share the cockpit of the orange and white racer from Weissach. Dumas already has driven the world’s most innovative GT vehicle last year at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans. Lietz piloted the 911 Hybrid at the 24-hour races on the Nuerburgring in 2010 and 2011 as well as at various other long-distance races.
“I’m so looking forward to demonstrating the capabilities of this very special car at race speed to the spectators in California,” said Dumas, a two-time ALMS champion in LMP2 for Porsche. “Many Porsche fans live on the west coast of America, and some of them have already discovered the advantages of the hybrid system at the wheel of a Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid. I’m very excited because Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is one of the most challenging race tracks on earth. Its layout with a series of up and downhill passages should actually suit our 911 GT3 R Hybrid.”
The outing of Porsche’s hybrid racer at the 24 Hours of Nuerburgring last month was more than heartening. The innovative race car achieved the same quick lap times as its top rivals yet used considerably less fuel. Just two broken transmission flanges and a collision thwarted a potential podium spot.
The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid 2.0 - with two 75-kilowatt electric motors on the front axle supplementing the 465 hp four-liter, six-cylinder power unit at the rear - particularly embodies the philosophy of “Porsche Intelligent Performance”: The electric energy is generated during braking and stored in an electric flywheel. During acceleration, this energy is automatically delivered to the front wheels supporting the combustion engine. This leads to a reduction in fuel consumption and increases the cruising range on the circuit.
Moreover, drivers can manually use the stored energy with a boost-paddle on the steering wheel for overtaking. The 911 GT3 R Hybrid has undergone further development since 2010; compared to its predecessor, its weight was reduced from 1,350 kilograms (2,970 pounds) to 1,300 kilograms (2,860 pounds).
This weekend, the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón is at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. The fifth round of the 2011 ALMS championship is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 6 with ESPN2 airing the race starting at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 7. Live video coverage on race day will be available at 3:15 p.m. ET on ESPN3.com in the US, and americanlemans.com for international viewers. Canadian fans may also watch live coverage on Rogers Sportsnet. Worldwide radio coverage will be available on American Le Mans Radio at americanlemans.com.
No electric motors in F1 pits, Ecclestone says
From 2014 the Formula 1 race cars have to move in the pit lane just using the KERS electric motor. But Bernie Ecclestone, a self admitted climate change denier, believes it is too dangerous.
According to the regulations submitted to the FIA, the energy accumulated on the braking, shall actuate the motor during the movement of the pit lane.
"To go on the electric motor on pit lane would be dangerous, because people who are there will not hear the machine – says Bernie. – Also, the absence of sound affect the interest of viewers. Now, as soon as the GP3 race starts, where the sound of the engine is almost inaudible, the stands begin to thin out. Electric motors have no place in Formula 1. "
No electric motors in F1 pits, Ecclestone says
From 2014 the Formula 1 race cars have to move in the pit lane just using the KERS electric motor. But Bernie Ecclestone, a self admitted climate change denier, believes it is too dangerous.
According to the regulations submitted to the FIA, the energy accumulated on the braking, shall actuate the motor during the movement of the pit lane.
"To go on the electric motor on pit lane would be dangerous, because people who are there will not hear the machine – says Bernie. – Also, the absence of sound affect the interest of viewers. Now, as soon as the GP3 race starts, where the sound of the engine is almost inaudible, the stands begin to thin out. Electric motors have no place in Formula 1. "
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
2012 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Porsche has releases photos and specifications for the 2012 911 GT3 Cup.
The 2012-spec Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is based on the lightweight 911 GT3 RS (997) street sports car. The power unit is largely identical to the production engine of the 911 GT3 RS with the same output of 450bhp and the same maximum engine torque of 8,500rpm.
The 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup comes equipped with a controlled catalytic converter, flared wheel arches, 9.5Jx18 rims with 25/64-18 Michelin race tires at the front and 12Jx18 wheels with 30/68-18 tires at the rear. Porsche also fitted the 2012 911 GT3 Cup with adjustable blade-type anti-roll bars at the front and rear, PCCB Ceramic Composite brakes, and a special steering wheel with six switches for controlling various settings of the car.
The new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will be delivered to teams around the world from September and will be run in this specification for the 2012 and 2013 race seasons in selected one-make cup series. The price is 161,750 Euro plus value-added tax of the respective countries.
Press Release
Most successful race car now suitable for wider range of motorsport
Stuttgart. It is the most successful race car on earth: The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. With over 2,200 units sold, it is the undisputed number one amongst customer racing teams all over the world. Now, the new 911 GT3 Cup features a 100-litre FT3 safety fuel tank, which is filled via an opening in the front bonnet. Compared to its predecessor, the vehicle is now suitable for an even wider range of endurance racing. Moreover, the new fuel tank contributes to a further improvement of the high safety standards.
The 2012-spec Porsche 911 GT3 Cup is based on the lightweight 911 GT3 RS (997) street sports car. The power unit is largely identical to the production engine of the 911 GT3 RS with the same output of 450 bhp and the same maximum engine speed of 8,500 rpm. A race exhaust system with a controlled catalytic converter keeps emissions to a minimum.
The flared wheel arches at the front axle accommodate light alloy rims measuring 9.5Jx18 with 25/64-18 Michelin race tyres. The light alloy rims at the rear measure 12Jx18 with 30/68-18 tyres. Depending on the type of racing, the new 911 GT3 Cup features different rim specifications. The blade-type anti-roll bars at the front and rear are adjustable in seven positions allowing an extremely precise set-up for each race track. Exclusive to the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup which runs as support to Formula 1 is the PCCB Porsche Ceramic Composite Brake. This is also available for Porsche's road models. Compared to the composite cast brakes in the Carrera Cups and the GT3 Cup Challenges, PCCB reduces the weight of the car by around 20 kilograms.
The cockpit of the new 911 GT3 Cup caters for the needs of the driver. The controls for the info display are positioned on the steering wheel which houses six switches. As in the production car, the reach and height of the steering wheel can be adjusted.
The new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will be delivered to teams around the world from September and will be run in this specification for the 2012 and 2013 race seasons in selected one-make cup series. The price is 161,750 Euro plus value-added tax of the respective countries.
Currently, the 911 GT3 Cup competes in 19 Porsche brand trophy series worldwide. Moreover, it is run in various GT race series and at long distance events. The 911 GT3 Cup is the basis model of Porsche's racing vehicle range. Additionally, Porsche Motorsport offers the 911 GT3 R for championships complying with GT3 regulations and the 911 GT3 RSR built according to GT2 rules.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
2011 Formula 1 : Button wins wet Hungarian Grand Prix
BUDAPEST : July 31, 2011 - Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) made the right tyre choices in changeable conditions to lead in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday.
The 2009 world champion won his first grand prix at this track and made his 200th Formula One start in this race. It was McLaren's fourth victory of the year with two wins apiece to Lewis Hamilton and Button.
As the rain came and went, race leader Hamilton was wrong-footed in his tyre choice and lost the lead. A drive-through penalty dropped him down to sixth but he recovered to fourth. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) was third with team mate Mark Webber fifth and Felipe Massa sixth.
Vettel retains the drivers' championship lead with 234 points, followed by team mate Webber on 149, Hamilton on 146 and Alonso one point behind. Red Bull continues to lead the constructors' championship on 383 with McLaren closing up slightly on 280. Ferrari has 215.
At the start, pole man Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) got to the first corner marginally ahead of Hamilton and Button who drew alongside his team mate and challenged for third place at Turns 2 and 3, but Hamilton hung on.
Nico Rosberg and Mercedes team mate Michael Schumacher both got ahead of the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard got alongside Schumacher but couldn't find a way past as both cars fishtailed in the slippery conditions.
The 26th Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring got under way under grey skies and a light drizzle. The air temperature was 17°C and the track just one degree warmer and the drivers had elected to start on intermediate tread patterns.
Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) was carrying a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Nick Heidfeld (Renault) in the German Grand Prix last Sunday and started at the back of the field.
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) ran off the track on the parade lap, showing that there was not much grip to be had on cold tyres.
Alonso drove around the outside of Schumacher and got past on the third lap.
Hamilton continued to challenge Vettel at every corner, drawing alongside but not finding enough grip to get past. Alonso got past the second Mercedes of Rosberg but he ran wide of f the track and allowed Rosberg to reclaim fourth place.
On lap four, the relentless pressure from behind by Hamilton paid off, and Vettel made a mistake, running wide and allowing the 2007 world champion past. With a clear track ahead of him, Hamilton quickly opened up a 5-second lead over the next couple of laps.
Button was just 1.7 sec behind Vettel and closing.
Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) was the first to make a pit stop for fresh tyres, choosing to return to the race on slicks, but he was battling for traction on the cold tyres. Button and di Resta were next to stop. A dry line had started to form on the racing line and Button was very careful to stay on it.
Race leader Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 11, also going out on slicks.
After all the leading drivers had pitted and their tyres were up to temperature, Button closed right up on second-placed Vettel and drove around him between Turns 1 and 2, taking second place and setting up a McLaren 1-2. Further back, Webber got past Alonso into fifth. He ran wide off the track in Turn 1 and very nearly lost the place back to Alonso, but survived.
On lap 16, Hamilton set a new fastest lap of the race - 1'28.893 - as he opened his lead over Button to 6.9 sec, with Vettel just 0.8 sec behind Button and within the DRS activation zone. Fifth-placed Alonso was close behind Webber and set a 1'28.814 before Hamilton replied with a 1'28.264 on lap 18.
As the weather data predicted another shower in ten minutes, Massa was close behind Schumacher and hoping to get past into eighth as Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) retired.
As tyre temperatures increased and the track continued to dry, lap times were improved on every lap.
As the Pirellis tyres wore down rapidly, Hamilton's lap times dropped and Button moved closer.
On lap 24, Heidfeld pitted and as he left his pit, his Renault caught fire. He continued down the pit lane but pulled off before joining the track and fled the burning car. A similar thing happened to him at Barcelona earlier this year.
On lap 26, race leader Hamilton pitted, dropping to third place behind Button and Vettel. Button pitted on the next lap as did Vettel and Hamilton resumed the lead. 18th-placed Schumacher spun his Mercedes but continued, and the retired half a lap later.
Massa got past Kobayashi on lap 34, the Japanese having only made one pit stop so far. Alonso was all over the gearbox of Webber's Red Bull unable even to get past on the straight using DRS and KERS.
Alonso was the first of the front-runners to make a third stop, fitting another set of super-softs. After two laps his tyres came up to temperature and he began to lap three second a lap faster than the leading McLarens, 34 seconds ahead.
Webber responded to the threat and pitted on lap 39 followed on the next lap by race leader Hamilton who went out again on super-softs.
Vettel had not yet pitted and was battling serious understeer before he pitted on lap 41, electing to go for the harder compound.
Button pitted for the harder option tyres on lap 42, following Red Bull's strategy and he set a new fastest lap of 1'24.549 on lap 44.
Race leader Hamilton and third-placed Alonso were on the super-softs and would have to pit one more time. Second-placed Button and Vettel and Webber in fourth and fifth were all on the harder option tyres and would probably not have to pit again with 25 laps remaining.
Button was 5.6 sec behind Hamilton and closing on him by 0.7 sec a lap.
Then, dramatically, it began to rain and Hamilton spun coming out of the chicane and recovered behind Button who took the lead on lap 47. Alonso pitted for harder option tyres, leaving Hamilton the only one out there on super-softs and 21 laps left.
With 20 laps to go, Button was leading from Hamilton +1.4, Vettel +2.8, Webber +14.1, Alonso +27.3 and Rosberg +53.6.
As the tyres started to lose temperature on the wet track, Button's lap times dropped and Hamilton began to try and find a way past, which he did on lap 51.
As conditions worsened and the harder slick tyres began to lose adhesion, cars began running off the track all over the place. Hamilton made another small error and Button got past into the lead once more, only to lose it a couple of corners later as Webber pitted for intermediate treaded tyres.
On lap 52, Hamilton also pitted for inters and rejoined in third place. Webber returned to the pits to get rid of his inters as the stewards ruled that Hamilton had impeded another car with his spin and was given a drive-through penalty. He pitted first to drop off his inters and a lap later served his drive-through penalty, dropping to sixth place, close behind the Massa/Webber scrap for fifth place.
Button was then leading by 5.5 sec from Vettel with Alonso in third, 18.3 sec behind.
Webber came out from behind Massa as they started down the main straight and he got past, bringing Hamilton closer and he got past the Ferrari two corners later.
There were no problems though for Hamilton's McLaren team mate. He set a new fastest lap of 1'23.937 and opened up his lead over Vettel to 6.4 sec on lap 59.
Hamilton set a new fastest lap of 1'23.876 as he closed up on Webber a second ahead.
There was a six-way battle for ninth place and Webber and Hamilton arrived on the traffic to find cars all over the track. Webber got wrong-footed and Hamilton dived past the Australian into fourth place, 32 sec behind Alonso with five laps remaining.
On the last lap, Hamilton closed up on the Di Resta / Buemi / Rosberg battle for seventh place with Webber just 0,8 sec behind him, but Hamilton retained the place as his team mate Button took the chequered flag.
Jenson Button celebrates his 200th Grand Prix
2011 Formula 1 : Hungarian Gran Prix - Race Result
2011 Formula 1 : Drivers' Championship Standing
2011 Formula 1 : Teams' Championship Standing
[Source : F1-Official, McLAREN, SUPERSPORT.ZA, CRASH.NET]
The 2009 world champion won his first grand prix at this track and made his 200th Formula One start in this race. It was McLaren's fourth victory of the year with two wins apiece to Lewis Hamilton and Button.
As the rain came and went, race leader Hamilton was wrong-footed in his tyre choice and lost the lead. A drive-through penalty dropped him down to sixth but he recovered to fourth. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) was third with team mate Mark Webber fifth and Felipe Massa sixth.
Vettel retains the drivers' championship lead with 234 points, followed by team mate Webber on 149, Hamilton on 146 and Alonso one point behind. Red Bull continues to lead the constructors' championship on 383 with McLaren closing up slightly on 280. Ferrari has 215.
At the start, pole man Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) got to the first corner marginally ahead of Hamilton and Button who drew alongside his team mate and challenged for third place at Turns 2 and 3, but Hamilton hung on.
Nico Rosberg and Mercedes team mate Michael Schumacher both got ahead of the Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard got alongside Schumacher but couldn't find a way past as both cars fishtailed in the slippery conditions.
The 26th Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring got under way under grey skies and a light drizzle. The air temperature was 17°C and the track just one degree warmer and the drivers had elected to start on intermediate tread patterns.
Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) was carrying a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Nick Heidfeld (Renault) in the German Grand Prix last Sunday and started at the back of the field.
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) ran off the track on the parade lap, showing that there was not much grip to be had on cold tyres.
Alonso drove around the outside of Schumacher and got past on the third lap.
Hamilton continued to challenge Vettel at every corner, drawing alongside but not finding enough grip to get past. Alonso got past the second Mercedes of Rosberg but he ran wide of f the track and allowed Rosberg to reclaim fourth place.
On lap four, the relentless pressure from behind by Hamilton paid off, and Vettel made a mistake, running wide and allowing the 2007 world champion past. With a clear track ahead of him, Hamilton quickly opened up a 5-second lead over the next couple of laps.
Button was just 1.7 sec behind Vettel and closing.
Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) was the first to make a pit stop for fresh tyres, choosing to return to the race on slicks, but he was battling for traction on the cold tyres. Button and di Resta were next to stop. A dry line had started to form on the racing line and Button was very careful to stay on it.
Race leader Hamilton pitted at the end of lap 11, also going out on slicks.
After all the leading drivers had pitted and their tyres were up to temperature, Button closed right up on second-placed Vettel and drove around him between Turns 1 and 2, taking second place and setting up a McLaren 1-2. Further back, Webber got past Alonso into fifth. He ran wide off the track in Turn 1 and very nearly lost the place back to Alonso, but survived.
On lap 16, Hamilton set a new fastest lap of the race - 1'28.893 - as he opened his lead over Button to 6.9 sec, with Vettel just 0.8 sec behind Button and within the DRS activation zone. Fifth-placed Alonso was close behind Webber and set a 1'28.814 before Hamilton replied with a 1'28.264 on lap 18.
As the weather data predicted another shower in ten minutes, Massa was close behind Schumacher and hoping to get past into eighth as Jarno Trulli (Lotus-Renault) retired.
As tyre temperatures increased and the track continued to dry, lap times were improved on every lap.
As the Pirellis tyres wore down rapidly, Hamilton's lap times dropped and Button moved closer.
On lap 24, Heidfeld pitted and as he left his pit, his Renault caught fire. He continued down the pit lane but pulled off before joining the track and fled the burning car. A similar thing happened to him at Barcelona earlier this year.
On lap 26, race leader Hamilton pitted, dropping to third place behind Button and Vettel. Button pitted on the next lap as did Vettel and Hamilton resumed the lead. 18th-placed Schumacher spun his Mercedes but continued, and the retired half a lap later.
Massa got past Kobayashi on lap 34, the Japanese having only made one pit stop so far. Alonso was all over the gearbox of Webber's Red Bull unable even to get past on the straight using DRS and KERS.
Alonso was the first of the front-runners to make a third stop, fitting another set of super-softs. After two laps his tyres came up to temperature and he began to lap three second a lap faster than the leading McLarens, 34 seconds ahead.
Webber responded to the threat and pitted on lap 39 followed on the next lap by race leader Hamilton who went out again on super-softs.
Vettel had not yet pitted and was battling serious understeer before he pitted on lap 41, electing to go for the harder compound.
Button pitted for the harder option tyres on lap 42, following Red Bull's strategy and he set a new fastest lap of 1'24.549 on lap 44.
Race leader Hamilton and third-placed Alonso were on the super-softs and would have to pit one more time. Second-placed Button and Vettel and Webber in fourth and fifth were all on the harder option tyres and would probably not have to pit again with 25 laps remaining.
Button was 5.6 sec behind Hamilton and closing on him by 0.7 sec a lap.
Then, dramatically, it began to rain and Hamilton spun coming out of the chicane and recovered behind Button who took the lead on lap 47. Alonso pitted for harder option tyres, leaving Hamilton the only one out there on super-softs and 21 laps left.
With 20 laps to go, Button was leading from Hamilton +1.4, Vettel +2.8, Webber +14.1, Alonso +27.3 and Rosberg +53.6.
As the tyres started to lose temperature on the wet track, Button's lap times dropped and Hamilton began to try and find a way past, which he did on lap 51.
As conditions worsened and the harder slick tyres began to lose adhesion, cars began running off the track all over the place. Hamilton made another small error and Button got past into the lead once more, only to lose it a couple of corners later as Webber pitted for intermediate treaded tyres.
On lap 52, Hamilton also pitted for inters and rejoined in third place. Webber returned to the pits to get rid of his inters as the stewards ruled that Hamilton had impeded another car with his spin and was given a drive-through penalty. He pitted first to drop off his inters and a lap later served his drive-through penalty, dropping to sixth place, close behind the Massa/Webber scrap for fifth place.
Button was then leading by 5.5 sec from Vettel with Alonso in third, 18.3 sec behind.
Webber came out from behind Massa as they started down the main straight and he got past, bringing Hamilton closer and he got past the Ferrari two corners later.
There were no problems though for Hamilton's McLaren team mate. He set a new fastest lap of 1'23.937 and opened up his lead over Vettel to 6.4 sec on lap 59.
Hamilton set a new fastest lap of 1'23.876 as he closed up on Webber a second ahead.
There was a six-way battle for ninth place and Webber and Hamilton arrived on the traffic to find cars all over the track. Webber got wrong-footed and Hamilton dived past the Australian into fourth place, 32 sec behind Alonso with five laps remaining.
On the last lap, Hamilton closed up on the Di Resta / Buemi / Rosberg battle for seventh place with Webber just 0,8 sec behind him, but Hamilton retained the place as his team mate Button took the chequered flag.
Jenson Button celebrates his 200th Grand Prix
Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | Winner | 3 | 25 |
2 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 70 | +3.5 secs | 1 | 18 |
3 | 5 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 70 | +19.8 secs | 5 | 15 |
4 | 3 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 70 | +48.3 secs | 2 | 12 |
5 | 2 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 70 | +49.7 secs | 6 | 10 |
6 | 6 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 70 | +83.1 secs | 4 | 8 |
7 | 15 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 69 | +1 Lap | 11 | 6 |
8 | 18 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 69 | +1 Lap | 23 | 4 |
9 | 8 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 69 | +1 Lap | 7 | 2 |
10 | 19 | Jaime Alguersuari | STR-Ferrari | 69 | +1 Lap | 16 | 1 |
11 | 16 | Kamui Kobayashi | Sauber-Ferrari | 69 | +1 Lap | 13 | |
12 | 10 | Vitaly Petrov | Renault | 69 | +1 Lap | 12 | |
13 | 11 | Rubens Barrichello | Williams-Cosworth | 68 | +2 Laps | 15 | |
14 | 14 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 68 | +2 Laps | 8 | |
15 | 17 | Sergio Perez | Sauber-Ferrari | 68 | +2 Laps | 10 | |
16 | 12 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Cosworth | 68 | +2 Laps | 17 | |
17 | 24 | Timo Glock | Virgin-Cosworth | 66 | +4 Laps | 20 | |
18 | 22 | Daniel Ricciardo | HRT-Cosworth | 66 | +4 Laps | 22 | |
19 | 25 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Virgin-Cosworth | 65 | +5 Laps | 24 | |
20 | 23 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | HRT-Cosworth | 65 | +5 Laps | 21 | |
Ret | 20 | Heikki Kovalainen | Lotus-Renault | 55 | +15 Laps | 18 | |
Ret | 7 | Michael Schumacher | Mercedes | 26 | +44 Laps | 9 | |
Ret | 9 | Nick Heidfeld | Renault | 23 | +47 Laps | 14 | |
Ret | 21 | Jarno Trulli | Lotus-Renault | 17 | +53 Laps | 19 |
2011 Formula 1 : Drivers' Championship Standing
Pos | Driver | Nationality | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | German | RBR-Renault | 234 |
2 | Mark Webber | Australian | RBR-Renault | 149 |
3 | Lewis Hamilton | British | McLaren-Mercedes | 146 |
4 | Fernando Alonso | Spanish | Ferrari | 145 |
5 | Jenson Button | British | McLaren-Mercedes | 134 |
6 | Felipe Massa | Brazilian | Ferrari | 70 |
7 | Nico Rosberg | German | Mercedes | 48 |
8 | Nick Heidfeld | German | Renault | 34 |
9 | Vitaly Petrov | Russian | Renault | 32 |
10 | Michael Schumacher | German | Mercedes | 32 |
11 | Kamui Kobayashi | Japanese | Sauber-Ferrari | 27 |
12 | Adrian Sutil | German | Force India-Mercedes | 18 |
13 | Sebastien Buemi | Swiss | STR-Ferrari | 12 |
14 | Jaime Alguersuari | Spanish | STR-Ferrari | 10 |
15 | Sergio Perez | Mexican | Sauber-Ferrari | 8 |
16 | Paul di Resta | British | Force India-Mercedes | 8 |
17 | Rubens Barrichello | Brazilian | Williams-Cosworth | 4 |
18 | Pedro de la Rosa | Spanish | Sauber-Ferrari | 0 |
19 | Jarno Trulli | Italian | Lotus-Renault | 0 |
20 | Vitantonio Liuzzi | Italian | HRT-Cosworth | 0 |
21 | Pastor Maldonado | Venezuelan | Williams-Cosworth | 0 |
22 | Jerome d'Ambrosio | Belgian | Virgin-Cosworth | 0 |
23 | Heikki Kovalainen | Finnish | Lotus-Renault | 0 |
24 | Timo Glock | German | Virgin-Cosworth | 0 |
25 | Narain Karthikeyan | Indian | HRT-Cosworth | 0 |
26 | Daniel Ricciardo | Australian | HRT-Cosworth | 0 |
27 | Karun Chandhok | Indian | Lotus-Renault | 0 |
2011 Formula 1 : Teams' Championship Standing
Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
1 | RBR-Renault | 383 |
2 | McLaren-Mercedes | 280 |
3 | Ferrari | 215 |
4 | Mercedes | 80 |
5 | Renault | 66 |
6 | Sauber-Ferrari | 35 |
7 | Force India-Mercedes | 26 |
8 | STR-Ferrari | 22 |
9 | Williams-Cosworth | 4 |
10 | Lotus-Renault | 0 |
11 | HRT-Cosworth | 0 |
12 | Virgin-Cosworth | 0 |
[Source : F1-Official, McLAREN, SUPERSPORT.ZA, CRASH.NET]
2011 WRC : Loeb wins Neste Oil Rally Finland
Sebastien Loeb took 'one of his greatest' ever wins in Finland, triumphing on the classic for the second time.
2011 WRC - Rally Finland winner : Sebastien Loeb - Citroen Total World Rally Team - Citroen DS3 WRC
Loeb led pretty much throughout in his works Citroen DS3 WRC moving up into P1 in SS2 and then concluding the short opening leg 3.8 seconds up on his team-mate, Sebastien Ogier. On Friday morning he maintained his position at the head of the pack, despite still running first on the road. However in the afternoon he slipped back, only to be handed back top spot in the final test as the usual tactics came into play [see separate story - click here].
On Saturday he thus started with a slender 1.5 second cushion, but with conditions damp, the moisture bound together the loose gravel and Loeb pulled away, heading into Service F post-SS16 having increased his lead to 10.8 seconds.
This afternoon Loeb pushed on and he immediately gained almost 7 seconds, when Ogier, his nearest challenger, lost time with a front-left puncture in SS17. That left Jari-Matti Latvala to pick up the mantle and the Finn was quickest in SS18, to close to within 13 seconds of P1 and to move up to second overall.
Loeb however was still in control, and managed his advantage over the remaining stages, conceding only 0.5 seconds in SS19, 2.2 seconds in SS20 and 1.9 seconds in SS21.
Heading into the event ending 4.19 km Laajavuori Power Stage, Loeb had 8.4 seconds in hand and unsurprisingly he held on to eventually triumph by 8.1 seconds. It was his 65th career win and his fourth of the season, one that sees him extend his lead in the drivers' championship from 17 points to 27 with five rounds to go.
“It's one of the greatest wins of my career,” Loeb reflected. “I had to work for it and it took a long time before it took shape. Sometimes you have to go beyond the limits to open up the gap. I felt really good on the roads with the Citroën DS3 WRC, even more so than in the past with the Xsara or the C4.
“My aim was to be in the lead in the world championship before the events on tarmac. I've achieved it, but there are still a lot of points up for grabs.”
Jari-Matti Latvala meanwhile had to settle for the runners-up spot, although he felt victory would have been possible, had there been just a few more tests: “I was closing on the lead all the time but I ran out of kilometres. Just two more stages would have been enough,” he noted.
“I drove badly this morning when the car didn't perform as I would have liked and I didn't know what to do. I finally realised that I needed to make a change in the differential, and when I made that everything came together. Unfortunately it was too late.”
Ogier completed the podium and he was miffed to see his chances of victory denied by misfortune in SS17: “It was all going pretty well until the last loop,” he lamented. “We were in a good position to push for victory until we punctured. I feel frustrated because it was a racing incident that ruined our chances.”
Mikko Hirvonen was next up and staged a remarkable recovery after he lost two minutes on Thursday in the opening test when he hit a tree. He charged back up from 36th to sixth on Friday, before making further progress today as he over hauled both Petter Solberg and Mads Ostberg. In the end he was fastest in 13 of the 22 stages, including the Power Stage, which saw him bag the maximum 3 bonus points.
“I'm disappointed not to win,” said Mikko, “But my fightback was good and I had great speed all weekend, which makes it even more of a shame that I wasn't able to fight for victory. I have to thank the fans who gave me great support all rally. I love my home event and I enjoyed driving in front of them.”
Petter Solberg rounded out the top five, although it wasn't a weekend he will not look back on very fondly as he was never on the pace and eventually finished more than a minute off the leaders: “It was hard. You are allowed to be disappointed sometimes,” he said. “Things just did not work out at all this weekend. I was unable to fight for the win. It is a big disappointment.”
Further back M-Sport Stobart Ford trio Mads Ostberg, Henning Solberg and Matt Wilson held positions 6 through to 8, although the latter two were a long way off P6 – more than 1.5 minutes adrift.
“I've been very happy with my speed this weekend. It's been a hard fight with both Mikko and Petter and I really needed to do more than my best to try and finish ahead of them today but unfortunately it wasn't enough,” Ostberg reflected. “We have been going absolutely flat out this afternoon and I have given it my all so I'm not at all disappointed to miss out on fifth place.
“It's great to be able to match the times of some of the 'top five' - everything has been working very well for us today so this has been a great confident boost. I'm just hoping that this weekend will have helped us find the extra help that we need for us to secure us more events.”
Of the rest F1 2007 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen and SWRC class winner, Juho Hanninen completed the points' scorers in ninth and tenth, the former continuing to get to grips with the WRC.
“These roads are as quick and as difficult as ever,” said Raikkonen. “But we still managed to set good times. I'd like to thank the many spectators who cheered us on during the weekend. We were able to maintain a good pace throughout the whole rally despite a few minor mistakes. It's encouraging for the rest of the season.”
In the support categories, as mentioned, Hanninen won the SWRC, while in the Production WRC and WRC Academy, Hayden Paddon and Egon Kaur took 'gold' respectively.
In terms of retirements a number of runners went out, most noticeably Jari Ketomaa, who had led after SS1 and who had been running fifth in his privately entered Fiesta RS WRC, until he went off the road in SS8. Evgeny Novikov also failed to finish in another Fiesta, but he was sidelined by mechanical issues.
MINI WRC men Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo also failed to get to the end, both forced out on 'precautionary' grounds after overheating problems – a shame as they were both on course for drivers' points, with Sordo in P7 and Meeke in P10 post-SS16.
The WRC now heads to Germany in three weeks time for the first asphalt event of the season.
Race result : 2011 WRC : Neste Oil Rally Finland
2011 WRC : Drivers' Championship standing
2011 WRC : Team Championship standing
Images : 2011 WRC - Neste Oil Rally Finland
[Source : WRC-Official, FORD, CITROEN, CRASH.NET]
2011 WRC - Rally Finland winner : Sebastien Loeb - Citroen Total World Rally Team - Citroen DS3 WRC
On Saturday he thus started with a slender 1.5 second cushion, but with conditions damp, the moisture bound together the loose gravel and Loeb pulled away, heading into Service F post-SS16 having increased his lead to 10.8 seconds.
This afternoon Loeb pushed on and he immediately gained almost 7 seconds, when Ogier, his nearest challenger, lost time with a front-left puncture in SS17. That left Jari-Matti Latvala to pick up the mantle and the Finn was quickest in SS18, to close to within 13 seconds of P1 and to move up to second overall.
Loeb however was still in control, and managed his advantage over the remaining stages, conceding only 0.5 seconds in SS19, 2.2 seconds in SS20 and 1.9 seconds in SS21.
Heading into the event ending 4.19 km Laajavuori Power Stage, Loeb had 8.4 seconds in hand and unsurprisingly he held on to eventually triumph by 8.1 seconds. It was his 65th career win and his fourth of the season, one that sees him extend his lead in the drivers' championship from 17 points to 27 with five rounds to go.
“It's one of the greatest wins of my career,” Loeb reflected. “I had to work for it and it took a long time before it took shape. Sometimes you have to go beyond the limits to open up the gap. I felt really good on the roads with the Citroën DS3 WRC, even more so than in the past with the Xsara or the C4.
“My aim was to be in the lead in the world championship before the events on tarmac. I've achieved it, but there are still a lot of points up for grabs.”
Jari-Matti Latvala meanwhile had to settle for the runners-up spot, although he felt victory would have been possible, had there been just a few more tests: “I was closing on the lead all the time but I ran out of kilometres. Just two more stages would have been enough,” he noted.
“I drove badly this morning when the car didn't perform as I would have liked and I didn't know what to do. I finally realised that I needed to make a change in the differential, and when I made that everything came together. Unfortunately it was too late.”
Ogier completed the podium and he was miffed to see his chances of victory denied by misfortune in SS17: “It was all going pretty well until the last loop,” he lamented. “We were in a good position to push for victory until we punctured. I feel frustrated because it was a racing incident that ruined our chances.”
Mikko Hirvonen was next up and staged a remarkable recovery after he lost two minutes on Thursday in the opening test when he hit a tree. He charged back up from 36th to sixth on Friday, before making further progress today as he over hauled both Petter Solberg and Mads Ostberg. In the end he was fastest in 13 of the 22 stages, including the Power Stage, which saw him bag the maximum 3 bonus points.
“I'm disappointed not to win,” said Mikko, “But my fightback was good and I had great speed all weekend, which makes it even more of a shame that I wasn't able to fight for victory. I have to thank the fans who gave me great support all rally. I love my home event and I enjoyed driving in front of them.”
Petter Solberg rounded out the top five, although it wasn't a weekend he will not look back on very fondly as he was never on the pace and eventually finished more than a minute off the leaders: “It was hard. You are allowed to be disappointed sometimes,” he said. “Things just did not work out at all this weekend. I was unable to fight for the win. It is a big disappointment.”
Further back M-Sport Stobart Ford trio Mads Ostberg, Henning Solberg and Matt Wilson held positions 6 through to 8, although the latter two were a long way off P6 – more than 1.5 minutes adrift.
“I've been very happy with my speed this weekend. It's been a hard fight with both Mikko and Petter and I really needed to do more than my best to try and finish ahead of them today but unfortunately it wasn't enough,” Ostberg reflected. “We have been going absolutely flat out this afternoon and I have given it my all so I'm not at all disappointed to miss out on fifth place.
“It's great to be able to match the times of some of the 'top five' - everything has been working very well for us today so this has been a great confident boost. I'm just hoping that this weekend will have helped us find the extra help that we need for us to secure us more events.”
Of the rest F1 2007 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen and SWRC class winner, Juho Hanninen completed the points' scorers in ninth and tenth, the former continuing to get to grips with the WRC.
“These roads are as quick and as difficult as ever,” said Raikkonen. “But we still managed to set good times. I'd like to thank the many spectators who cheered us on during the weekend. We were able to maintain a good pace throughout the whole rally despite a few minor mistakes. It's encouraging for the rest of the season.”
In the support categories, as mentioned, Hanninen won the SWRC, while in the Production WRC and WRC Academy, Hayden Paddon and Egon Kaur took 'gold' respectively.
In terms of retirements a number of runners went out, most noticeably Jari Ketomaa, who had led after SS1 and who had been running fifth in his privately entered Fiesta RS WRC, until he went off the road in SS8. Evgeny Novikov also failed to finish in another Fiesta, but he was sidelined by mechanical issues.
MINI WRC men Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo also failed to get to the end, both forced out on 'precautionary' grounds after overheating problems – a shame as they were both on course for drivers' points, with Sordo in P7 and Meeke in P10 post-SS16.
The WRC now heads to Germany in three weeks time for the first asphalt event of the season.
Race result : 2011 WRC : Neste Oil Rally Finland
| Pos | No | Driver | Group Class | Stage Time | Penalties | Total Time | Diff Prev | Diff 1st | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | S. LOEB | M | A0 | 2:39:27.0 | 10.0 | 2:39:37.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
2 | 4 | J. LATVALA | M | A0 | 2:39:45.1 | 0.0 | 2:39:45.1 | +8.1 | +8.1 |
3 | 2 | S. OGIER | M | A0 | 2:39:49.8 | 0.0 | 2:39:49.8 | +4.7 | +12.8 |
4 | 3 | M. HIRVONEN | M | A0 | 2:40:46.1 | 0.0 | 2:40:46.1 | +56.3 | +1:09.1 |
5 | 11 | P. SOLBERG | M | A0 | 2:40:53.2 | 0.0 | 2:40:53.2 | +7.1 | +1:16.2 |
6 | 6 | M. ØSTBERG | M | A0 | 2:41:04.8 | 0.0 | 2:41:04.8 | +11.6 | +1:27.8 |
7 | 15 | H. SOLBERG | A0 | 2:43:02.5 | 0.0 | 2:43:02.5 | +1:57.7 | +3:25.5 | |
8 | 5 | M. WILSON | M | A0 | 2:43:30.2 | 0.0 | 2:43:30.2 | +27.7 | +3:53.2 |
9 | 8 | K. RÄIKKÖNEN | M | A0 | 2:43:36.8 | 0.0 | 2:43:36.8 | +6.6 | +3:59.8 |
10 | 25 | J. HÄNNINEN | S | A0 | 2:44:50.7 | 0.0 | 2:44:50.7 | +1:13.9 | +5:13.7 |
11 | 9 | D. KUIPERS | M | A0 | 2:47:18.3 | 0.0 | 2:47:18.3 | +2:27.6 | +7:41.3 |
12 | 21 | M. PROKOP | S | A0 | 2:47:28.4 | 0.0 | 2:47:28.4 | +10.1 | +7:51.4 |
13 | 22 | O. TÄNAK | S | A0 | 2:48:29.0 | 0.0 | 2:48:29.0 | +1:00.6 | +8:52.0 |
14 | 10 | K. AL QASSIMI | M | A0 | 2:49:24.8 | 0.0 | 2:49:24.8 | +55.8 | +9:47.8 |
15 | 55 | P. ANDERSSON | A0 | 2:49:31.7 | 0.0 | 2:49:31.7 | +6.9 | +9:54.7 | |
16 | 27 | H. GASSNER JR | S | A0 | 2:50:43.3 | 0.0 | 2:50:43.3 | +1:11.6 | +11:06.3 |
17 | 29 | F. TURÁN | S | A0 | 2:51:01.9 | 0.0 | 2:51:01.9 | +18.6 | +11:24.9 |
18 | 60 | A. NEIKSANS | A0 | 2:51:37.9 | 0.0 | 2:51:37.9 | +36.0 | +12:00.9 | |
19 | 138 | H. PADDON | P | A0 | 2:51:57.2 | 0.0 | 2:51:57.2 | +19.3 | +12:20.2 |
20 | 17 | A. ARAÚJO | A0 | 2:52:30.0 | 0.0 | 2:52:30.0 | +32.8 | +12:53.0 |
2011 WRC : Drivers' Championship standing
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. |  | S. LOEB | 10 | 27 | 21 | 16 | 26 | 26 | 20 | 25 | 171 | |||||
2. |  | M. HIRVONEN | 25 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 21 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 144 | |||||
3. | | S. OGIER | 15 | R | 26 | 28 | 12 | 15 | 28 | 16 | 140 | |||||
4. | | J. LATVALA | 16 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 20 | 96 | |||||
5. |  | P. SOLBERG | 10 | 13 | 8 | R | 15 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 83 | |||||
6. | | M. OSTBERG | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 56 | |||||
7. |  | M. WILSON | 2 | R | 10 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 40 | |||||
8. | | K. RAIKKONEN | 4 | - | 6 | 8 | - | - | 6 | 2 | 26 | |||||
9. | | H. SOLBERG | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | R | - | 10 | 6 | 26 | |||||
10. |  | F. VILLAGRA | - | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 8 | R | - | 20 | |||||
11. | | J. HANNINEN | - | 4 | - | - | 4 | - | 4 | 1 | 13 | |||||
12. |  | D. SORDO | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | R | 8 | |||||
13. |  | M. PROKOP | 0 | 6 | - | - | 1 | - | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||||
14. |  | O. TANAK | - | 1 | - | - | 6 | - | R | 0 | 7 | |||||
15. |  | P. ANDERSSON | 6 | - | - | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 6 | |||||
16. |  | K. AL QASSIMI | 1 | - | 0 | 4 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 5 | |||||
17. |  | D. KUIPERS | 0 | R | 1 | 2 | R | - | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||||
18. |  | H. PADDON | 2 | - | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||
19. |  | B. SOUSA | R | 1 | R | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||
20. | | P. FLODIN | 1 | - | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||
21. |  | N. AL-ATTIYAH | - | Excl | - | R | 0 | - | 0 | - | 0 | |||||
22. | | K. KRUUDA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 0 | ||||||
2011 WRC : Team Championship standing
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Citroen Total World Rally Team | 22 | 25 | 43 | 40 | 37 | 40 | 43 | 40 | 290 | ||||||
2. | Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team | 40 | 33 | 27 | 30 | 20 | 24 | 21 | 30 | 225 | ||||||
3. | M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team | 18 | 18 | 4 | 3 | 18 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 101 | ||||||
4. | Petter Solberg World Rally Team | 0 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 71 | ||||||
5. | Ice 1 Racing | 8 | - | 8 | 10 | - | - | 8 | 4 | 38 | ||||||
6. | Munchis Ford World Rally Team | - | 6 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 8 | R | - | 32 | ||||||
7. | Team Abu Dhabi | 6 | - | 1 | 6 | 6 | - | - | 1 | 20 | ||||||
8. | FERM Power Tools World Rally Team | 4 | R | 2 | 4 | R | - | 4 | 2 | 16 | ||||||
9. | Monster World Rally Team | 2 | 4 | R | - | - | 2 | - | - | 8 | ||||||
10. | Brazil World Rally Team | - | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | R | R | 0 | 1 | ||||||
11. | Van Merksteijn Motorsport | - | - | 0 | R | R | R | R | - | 0 | ||||||
Images : 2011 WRC - Neste Oil Rally Finland
[Source : WRC-Official, FORD, CITROEN, CRASH.NET]
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