Watch round 11 of the WTCC 2014 from Sukuza Japan!
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
VIDEO - Blancpain Series - Zolder - 2014
Watch the full Practice and Main Races of the second last appointment in the Blancpain Series 2014!
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
F1 - Japan -2014 - Jules Bianchi
It would be nice to talk about the race, about one of the classic F1 appointments on the calendar. Certainly it will be better to report about the head to head going on in the Mercedes team that even this Sunday made us pay close attention at the lap times.
Instead, we have to face reality, we have to deal with something that puts everything else in perspective: a driver, a new member of the paddock, a young person is fighting right now for his life after something that it shouldn't have happened, unfortunately, happened.
Jules Bianchi, a very talented racer driving for the Marussia Team but already in the circle of the young Ferrari drivers, has seen his race ending in a crash into a recovery vehicle that was operating beside the barrier to clear the field from another car, the Sauber of Sutil, who crashed in the same spot a lap earlier.
Bad race management, yellow flags, red flags, to race or not to race, Charlie Whiting, Bernie Ecclestone...As often happens in these situations, the public opinion starts to play the games "Let's find who to blame" and "They should have done this or that". It's a pretty rational reaction since everyone wants to be clear from any responsibility but unfortunately no one can come out of this completely clean.
Yes, because if the race took place anyway although it was known that Japan was under a particularly critical weather situation, if the money making machine of TV rights and advertising has so much weight in the process of decision making, then we all are somehow responsible for pushing the boundaries a little too close to the edge.
Formula One has always been the pioneer and outpost for safety in motor racing and, by default, in day by day driving, we all know that. What is harder to digest is that, no matter what, motor racing is still, and will always be, a dangerous sport. The improving of safety will always be a work in progress and sometimes, unfortunately, accidents forestall actions.
Also, the fact that bad accidents are more and more infrequently these days, contributes to lower the guard against danger. But the risk is still there, hiding at every corner, waiting for a bad combination of event to show up.
We will never have a completely safe motor race. Danger is in the nature of it, danger is what elevates racing drivers to idols to the eyes of the fans, danger is what keeps us hypnotized from the green light to the checkered flag, danger is what makes us look at the champions of the past in an almost mythological way.
Let's just hope that the effort of everyone will be spent now in the direction of avoiding similar situations in the future.
Mostly, let's hope that Bianchi will be able to walk away from this and, as usually happens to these fighters on four wheels, that we will see him again with his helmet on.
Thursday, October 2, 2014
DTM Zandvoort 2014
The Championship has been decided last race when Marco Wittmann conquered Lautsiz. We have to go through Zandvoort before wrapping up the season in Hockenheim. And thank God we do it because this Sunday's race has been so far one of the most exciting of the season.
The release of pressure from the race to the Championship lets the drivers focus only on the race and the result is a gift to the viewers, a hour-and-a-half spectacle worth to pull out from the archives during the upcoming boring winter season.
The manufacturers standings see BMW jumping forward in the fight against AUDI that, however, is pleased to bring back to Ingolstadt the first, believe it or not, victory of the season.
It could have gone even better for the four ringed team if the safety car didn't have to show up on track every other lap, compromising the strategy of two other AUDI contending for first place: Rockenfeller and Muller.
When the red lights go off is Wittmann to take the lead from P2 but only four laps later the safety car makes it first appearance of the day: Tambay loose grip and ends up on the grass, straight until the barrier. The group repack and soon almost all the cars on option tires are in the top positions, Mortara included although he was starting from the last position on the grid.
The second safety car is crucial, it comes out on lap 18, right at the beginning of the pit stop window. Who benefits from this is who just stopped (Di Resta, Wehrlein and Mortara). On the other end, whoever has to stop now and not for option tires is not going to be happy much longer.
There's time for another four calls for the safety car but not to finish all the 44 laps of the race. Ekstrom is the one taking the most out of it flying position after position, wearing an option tire that doesn't leave much hope to the rest of the top five drivers, Superman Wittmann included.
The final verdict says: Ekstrom, Wittmann and Tomczyk on the podium, with a radiant Mortara in forth position after defending his position during the last laps from a much faster Vietoris and starting from P23 on grid.
The second last appointment of the season is over and we are all looking forward to the celebration of the champions in Hockenheim in three weeks.
It will be tough to wait until next season!
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