WTCC
The scenario of the Californian stage of the World Touring Championship held on September 9 was not very typical. Tom Chilton opened the score with the victory in the very first race. He had already made a statement in the qualifying by winning the pole. He had a successful start and even the experienced Yvan Muller, who tried to draw ahead Chilton, had to surrender. Tiago Monteiro seized the moment and got ahead of the French driver in the second corner and… and that was it. No more changes in the race. Muller dropped behind a little, Monteiro tried to attack Chilton but the latter finished the race without a single mistake. It is true to say that the battle beyond the first 6 positions was much more active, but Rob Huff was successfully restraining the whole chasing group so that in the end it did not have any influence upon the race results. The second race was won by Gabriele Tarquini. The Italian veteran from Honda also had the second start position like his main competitor Muller. But unlike Muller, Tarquini managed to pass pole-sitter Mehdi Bennani. Power-steering was damaged on his BMW and after consulting with the team the decision was taken to continue the race instead of going into boxes. Despite the damaged car, Bennani kept a hold over the second place and repeated his current best result. Norbert Michelisz was trying to ‘get’ the Moroccan driver but soon had to fight back the attacks made by Muller and Monteiro. Eventually Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini still have the ‘mathematical’ championship chances. The French driver did not manage to clinch the win.
In the beginning of September in Hungary on the Hungaroring circuit the Citroën team conducted the first tests of Citroën C-Elysée WTCC as part of its 2014 season preparations. Sébastien Loeb and Yvan Muller have started to work actively on car’s adjustments. Team principal Yves Matton stated that all previous tests had more of a ‘presentation and shooting’ character. And in Hungary the full-scale engineering work has begun. Both pilots were satisfied with the work accomplished and the way the car reacts to settings readjustment. According to team’s boss, track mileage had been the team's major focus. Matton also confirmed that the team was planning to conduct tests at Valencia with the Argentine driver Jose Maria Lopez. But the final decision whether to have the third car will be made later.
Formula 1
The Italian Grand Prix is held on the famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza which is considered to be one of the most untypical Formula race tracks. It has experienced 9 track configuration changes over its history. And it is unlikely that the current one, which was introduced in 2000, will be the final version. It’s a home track for Scuderia Ferrari, though Tifosi had a chance to greet ‘their’ team with happy chanting on the victory podium only three times over the past decade. This year their only joy was the second place taken by Fernando Alonso. But they did not fail to jeer Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) who managed to win without any problems all the Grand Prix. In the very beginning he was trying his strength against his teammate Mark Webber, who took the third place eventually. Webber said that it was a totally honest battle after which Vettel could stop looking back. The only thing that could prevent Sebastian from chalking up another Grand Prix win was having problems with the gearbox which started happening towards the end of the race. But 15 seconds margin was enough to slow down a little without losing the competition.
News from Italy: FIA took the wraps off the 2014 race calendar. It’s a preliminary list which still has to be approved, but some novelties can already be noted. First of all, the calendar includes 21 Grand Prix. It is the most challenging season over the past years. The calendar lacks Grand Prix in New Jersey on which Bernie Ecclestone was insisting. But it includes the races in Mexico and Russia but only providing that the race tracks are ready. Besides that the Bahrain Grand Prix will be held as a night race to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the race in Manama.
Sauber is now preparing Sergey Sirotkin for obtaining his Super License which will give him the right to take part in Formula 1 in 2014 as a prize driver. In order to get it he should conduct a certain amount of tests and drive the necessary amount of kilometers. The team uses 2011 chassis for that purpose. There are no restrictions on conducting tests using these chassis. As stated by the team principal Monisha Kaltenborn, the testing programme for different tracks has already been scheduled and right now there are only some details left to be smoothed out. In addition to that Sergey Sirotkin is now visiting all the team’s tech briefings. Nevertheless, the team’s principal assured that the conversation about Sauber’s 2014 lineup will be carried on only when the team’s specialists are certain that Sirotkin is ready for the Royal races.
”Round about” news
WRC. Hyundai is getting closer to the World Rally Championship start. During the tests in Finland the i20 hatchback has already had almost the final specification. Juho Hänninen did a big job together with Bryan Bouffier, who was making car’s asphalt testing. They both supplied the team’s engineers with a sufficient number of new points to ponder. Right now the major task of the engineers is to get as much power as possible. Lack of engine’s power became obvious during the gravel tests.
RALLYCROSS. Sébastien Loeb, who left the World Rally Championship except for the preparations for the World Touring in 2014, decided to take part in the European Rallycross Championship. In spite of the fact that before the race start the multiple World Rally champion expressed confidence that his debut should be quite successful, the stage final, which took place in Loheac, France, was missing monsieur Loeb. He was only 4th in the semi-final while it was necessary to fight his way to the top three. Kris Meeke was also left in the basket but not only the final, but the semi-final as well due to a penalty for rude driving in qualifying.
GP3. The Russian pilot Daniil Kvyat won the Italian Monza stage and took the second place in the Series. Starting from pole, Kvyat was leading the peloton from the first second of the race till its finish flag. The Russian driver showed the best lap time and won his ‘Grand Slam’.
F1. Two-times World champion Fernando Alonso became a team owner in international cycling. After the announcement made by Euskaltel Euskadi team sponsor about the failure of agreement with its partners and their refusal of further team support, Alonso suggested purchasing Basque Pro Cycling Team which is holding the Euskaltel Euskadi license. Alonso settled for it in order to save the oldest Basque cycling team. Team’s management has already expressed its gratitude to the famous driver for the attention towards their team and its actual rescue. Besides cycling, Alonso also has an autosport business — kart chassis are produced under his brand.
Photo by fiawtcc.com, f1fanatic.co.uk, ausmotive.com
