РСКГ

Skis and mountains covered with snow. That’s not what they like. For certain car enthusiasts full of adventure the beginning of the year is always about desert and hot sands. In the first days of January caravans of those who came to conquer the endless sands set off for a two-week journey. Argentina, Bolivia, Chile. These countries hosted the marathon in 2014.

Egor Orudzhev, a pilot of SMP Racing programme, scored two victories in three races of Toyota Racing Series held on the tracks of New Zealand. The first series stage consisting of three runs held at Teretonga raceway started on Saturday January 11 and brought the first victory to Egor Orudzhev. Next day the SMP Racing pilot secured another victory in one out of two scheduled runs and is now scoring 150 points which is 16 points less than those owned by the leader in overall point standings.

How will world championship teams change in 2014? Easy and clear.

On Saturday December 7, during the annual Gala Awards of winners and champions held by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in Paris, SMP Racing team was recognised for outstanding achievements as “Team of the Year 2013” and honoured with a special FIA prize. Also SMP Racing team and its pilots Kirill Ladygin, Victor Shaitar, Fabio Babini received highest awards for the victory in individual and team GTC class in the European Le Mans Series.

December 4–5, 2013 SMP Racing conducted two-day tests on Motorland Aragon track as part of 2014 season training programme. The pilots were driving the following cars: Ferrari 458 GT3, Ferrari 458 GT2 and LMP2 Nissan Oreca.

As Paul Hembery, Pirelli’s motorsport director, explains: “Each year, we publish the numbers that tell the story of our Formula One season. This year, we wanted to talk about all the numbers from the three-year period between 2011 and 2013, as one era closes and another one opens. Personally speaking, even I have been astonished by the statistics our engineers have calculated relating to our initial Formula contract: more than 110,000 tyres supplied, 3000 pit stops, and an average of 56 overtaking manoeuvres per race. These three years have also been characterised by unstinting dedication from all our people, both on the track and in our Research and Development facilities, in order to meet the needs of teams and drivers through state-of-the-art technical solutions — as all the key players themselves have acknowledged. Throughout the three-year period, the tyre specification has completely changed year on year, as well as being evolved throughout the season: an effort that has never been seen before under a single tyre supplier regime in Formula One. We were presented with a challenging task and we met it: as the teams, drivers and championship organisers have pointed out on several occasions. And it’s in that same spirit that we are now working towards 2014”.

Same major cast. This might become a standard beginning for all our digests about the queen of motor sports. Sebastian Vettel secured victory in both final F1 rounds. Even after winning the World Champion title for the fourth time three Grand Prix before the end of the season, he was tough with his competitors during the races held in Abu Dhabi, USA and Brazil and managed to win the rest of the season as well. Brazilian round of 2013 World Championship was not just the end of another season. It became the end of eight-cylinder V engine era in the main Formula championship. It’s the last series season for Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber.

Indian Grand Prix did not spring any surprises. Sebastian Vettel won all practice sessions, secured his pole position in qualifying and showed excellent performance during the race finishing it on the podium becoming the World Champion for the fourth time in a row. He needed to finish fifth or higher but Vettel wouldn’t be himself if he got lost in the peloton. The victory should be triumphant.

At the end of the season, autosport news usually tells about changes and perspectives for the next season. But such big series as Formula 1, have no a lot of sensations. For Russian fans — especially. Toro Rosso F1 team declares that they signed contact with russian driver — Daniil Kvyat.

The queen of motorsport continues its Asian tour. The teams moved to South Korea from Singapore and then to Japan. Sebastian Vettel won both Grand Prix creating an even larger gap between him and his Championship competitors.