The Racing weekend that was - Wk 11

F1, at the Australian GP:
The Britton Lewis Hamilton started 2015 like he finished 2014 on the top of the podium with an easy and commanding victory from lights to finish.

Felipe Nasr (Brazil)

Though the first race of the year was contested by only 15 cars, it did give us a glimpse of who did their home work over the off season. Mercedes kept their performance whilst McLaren seem to have taken a step backwards. Ferrari's Vettel fired a shot across the bow of the silver arrows with a strong third finish and believes that they can be reeled in. Let's see. The Williams outfit are pretty fast though Felipe Massa could not hold Vettel beck. The other Felipe, Felipe Nasr, in spite of some internal team issues regarding the drive of Giedo vd Garde, put down his head and drove an exceptional race, keeping none other than Daniel Ricciardo at bay, to finish fifth in his debut race. Dutchman Max Verstappen also had a great debut, at one point racing in fifth place, only to drop out with technical issues while running in eight. Both Lotus' cars would drop out after just the first lap of the race. Pastor Maldonado was hit from behind sending him into the wall while Romain Grosjean developed problems of the starting line.

The top 5:
1. Lewis Hamilton, GBR, Mercedes-Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, GER, Mercedes-Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel, GER, Ferrari-Ferrari
4. Felipe Massa, BRZ, Williams-Mercedes
5. Felipe Nasr, BRZ, Sauber-Ferarri

The next F1 race will be the Petronas Malaysia GP on March 27-29.


MotoGP, at the final pre-season testing at Losail, Qatar:
The factory Ducati riders were amongst the fastest on Sunday. The Monday session was canceled due to rain.

The top 5 on the final day of testing:
1. Andrea Dovizioso (Right), ITA , Ducati
2. Marc marquez, ESP, Repsol Honda
3. Andrea Iannone, ITA, Ducati
4. Jorge Lorenzo, ESP, Movistar Yamaha
5. Valentino Rossi, ITA, Movistar Yamaha

The first race of the year will be held on March 26-29 at the Losail Circuit in Qatar.


NHRA, at the Gatornationals:
After witnessing a frightening crash during the first qualifying session on Saturday, in which the Top Fuel car of three time world champion Larry Dixon went airbourne, (to see the video click here) the rest of the competitors went about their business.

Spencer Massey drove his Top Fuel dragster to a holeshot victory over Tony Schumacher. Massey covered the 1,000 ft distance in 3.882 seconds at 320.74 mph.

Ron Capps, driver of the NAPA Auto Parts Funny Car defeated John Hale, which went to his first ever final.

KB Racing's Greg Anderson claimed his 75th career victory when he defeated none other than his teammate Jason Line in the finals of the Pro Stock category. Greg clocked a 6.538 at 213.43 mph.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle it was a women who got the win light and the Wally. Karen Stoffer defeated three-time world champion Eddie Krawic by running a 6.900 at 195.11 on her Suzuki. She's pictured on the right.

The next race will be the 4 Wide Nationals at the zMax facility on March 27-29.


Source: Crash.net, Drag Illustrated.com.
Photo credit: Sports.yahoo.com, Formulapassion.it

The racing weekend that was - Wk 47

Formula 1, at Abu Dhabi:
As most had predicted, the start of the race would be crucial and would probably determine who would win the race, and with it, the 2014 championship.

A jubilant Hamilton after the race

Lewis Hamilton made a lighting fast start while pole-sitter Nico Rosberg somehow failed to keep up, allowing Hamilton to take the ever so important first corner. Though Rosberg would keep Hamilton is his sights with a 2.0 second or so gap, around the midway point of the race he would suffer reliability issues with his Mercedes. The Energy Recovery System (ERS) failed giving him all sorts of problems. It was so bad that at one point his team requested him to park the car, to which he replied he wanted to continue and finish the race. He would finish in 14th place. Though he lost the championship, he won the hearts of many with that drive!

Towards the end of the race, Felipe Massa would make a last ditch effort to reel in Hamilton, and he would have if the race were a bit longer. All in all, Lewis Hamilton drove a great race and with this win, his 11th of the season, he would become the 2014 world champion, for the second time.

Lewis on his 2nd championship: "So I've very much embraced that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I hope there's more of those for us. The second one many years after, it feels like it's the first. I feel like I'm having the first experience, even though it is the second, it does feel like the first."

Valtteri Bottas gave Williams their first double-podium finish (see pict to the right) of the year, even though he had a poor start of the race. Daniel Ricciardo drove a great race, starting from the pit lane due to penalties incurred on Saturday. Both Red Bull cars were penalized due to rear-wing rule infractions

Top five:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, Mercedes
2. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Williams-Mercedes
3. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Williams-Mercedes
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Red Bull-Renault
5. Jenson Button, Brittain, McLaren-Mercedes

Championship's top five:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, 384 points
2. Nico Rosberg, Germany, 317 points
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, 214
4. Valtteri Bottas, Finland, 186 points
5. Fernando Alonso, Spain, 161

The season starts on March 15, 2015, with the Australian GP. In the meantime, check back with us to keep yourself abreast of the latest developments in F1.

The racing weekend that was - Wk 44

Formula One at Interlagos, Brazil:
In what turned out to be a race between team-mates, Nico Rosberg was yesterday quick enough to hold off the fast charging Lewis Hamilton. The latter's chassis was not as well set up as the German's and he had to struggle a great deal to catch Rosberg and to the detriment of his tires. Hamilton would radio in telling his engineer that when he pushed hard the tires would be completely shot in just one lap.

Though rain showers had been expected at the Interlagos Circuit, as is during most F1 races over the years, everybody struggled with the high temperatures. The drivers had to look out for severe tire degradation, flat spots and graining. Rosberg had the advantage though, as front runner his front spoilers insured for the adequate down force all the time.

Unfortunately, Hamilton's race slipped away from him when excessive tire wear caused him to make a mistake going into Turn 4 as he had the hammer down. The rear tires locked, and without rotation, caused the car to go into a lazy but length spin that took a lot out of his tires (see pict on the right). The spin cost him some 5 seconds and the Brit would end-up losing to his team-mate by 1-2 seconds.

"I think ultimately it did cost me the win", said Hamilton after the race. "I was much quicker up until that point and then on that lap I had gone a second quicker. I thought I was going to pit and the end of that lap so I had used up everything in the tires and on the next lap I had nothing left."

Felipe Massa had a great outing in front of his home crowd, and though he made two uncharacteristic mistakes, Sir Frank William's car was fast enough to get him on the podium in third place.

The top five:
1. Nico Rosberg, GER, Mercedes-Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton, UK, Mercedes-Mercedes
3. Felipe Massa, BRA, Williams-Mercedes
4. Jenson Button, GB, McLaren-Mercedes
5. Sebastian Vettel, GER, Red Bull-Renault.
*The Interlagos Circuit is pictured on the right.

The next and final race is in two weeks at Abu Dhabi. Hamilton leads the championship by 17 points but the double points rule for the season finale, designed to maximize focus on the championship until the end of the campaign, may throw a monkey wrench into things. The double points rule is applicable to both the drivers' and constructors' championships.


MotoGP at Valencia, Spain:
A jubilant Marc Marques ended the season as it began, by winning the race, his 13th this year, and in front of his home crowd. The win propels the 21 year-old Spaniard to the rider with the most wins in a single season in MotoGP, eclipsing the great Mick Doohan (Australia) in 1997 with 12. What a phenom this Marques!

In the opening laps of the race, Iannone, Rossi and Marques made a break from the pack and by lap eight Marques started exerting pressure on Rossi. He made the move on the Italian going into Turn eight on lap ten and set his sights on Iannone, whom he passed a couple of laps later. Then came some light rain which caused the riders to ease the pace considerably, which allowed Rossi to briefly challenge Marques for the lead. But as the threat of rain passed, Marques was able to pull away. With ten laps to go, Jorge Lorenzo switched to his wet set-up expecting the rain to return. Unfortunately, his gamble didn't pay off and he had to pull out of the race. Iannone encountered technical issues on his Ducati on lap 16 which caused him to run off the track, but he would eventually finish 22nd.

The top five:
1. Marc Marquez, Spain, Repsol Honda,
2. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Movistar Yamaha,
3. Dani Pedrosa, Span, Repsol Honda,
4. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Ducati,
5. Cal Crutchlow, Brittain, Ducati.

Summing up the 2014 season, Rossi (right) made the following statement ....jokingly:

"My bad luck is called Marc Marques, because without him I can win the championship and a lot of races. He did a fantastic job and won a lot of races. It's a great pleasure to fight with him, but we are not so far and we never give up and try to come closer".

What a great year of MotoGP racing. Today the 2015 season starts with testing at Valencia.

Source: Crash.net
Photo credit: Formula1.com