WTCC 2015

It's time for a new season.
While the engines are cooling down after the first practice in Argentina, let's take a quick look at what has changed for the 2015 season.

Starting from the grid, we will find the same Honda drivers as last year, with the addition of Borkovic, moved from Chevy to the Italian Proteam Racing and Rydell, back to the WTCC with team NIKA.
Similar situation for the French Citroen: same official squad plus the fast Bennani who moved from the Proteam Racing owned Civic.
Lada, backed by the new strong Russian sponsor Rosneft, keeps the three drivers from last year but is introducing the new car, much more similar to the Cruze, that replaces the retiring Granta: the Vesta.

Chevrolet supplies four team, including the coming back Craft Bamboo who's placing at the wheel of its Cruze the young Demoustier,involved last year in the Blancpain Endurance Series. Filippi (John) replaces Pepe Oriola in the Campos Racing Team. The Spaniard will join other two departing drivers, Morbidelli and Engstler, in the brand new TCR International Series.

Morbidelli is leaving the seat of his All-Ink Chevy to the other Italian D'Aste who is back after a year away from the Championship. The All-Ink team has also lost the other driver, Munnich, who is still owning the team but is focusing for this year in the Rallycross, and for now that's the last seat available for the WTCC.

Sadly, after nine years, since the FIA World Championship format has been in force, we have to say goodbye to one of the most iconic makers in the history of touring. With the departure of Engstler, in fact, BMW won't take part to the Championship.

Take a quick look at this year calendar and you'll notice that a little revolution took place. The only thing to remain the same is the number of events, twelve, that makes the season run on 24 races. 

That aside, the list of changes is quite long, with some disappointing decisions but also with some very exciting news.

The season is starting this Sunday, a month before the first race of 2014, and it starts in Argentina. But then we'll have two full months of stop between July and September, which is just a little shorter than the period between last season and this one...

Sadly, this year we won't see some of the best tracks like Spa-Francorchamps, Salzburgring and Macau. But at the same time we won't have to stare at that desolated, unsafe and embarrassingly unorganized location of Beijing (see last year's endless attempt to recover the cars of Munnich and Borkovic).

On the other end, the list of tracks entering the calendar in 2015 starts with the brand-new Thai circuit of Chang, which will also host a Superbike event this year, the street circuit of Vila Real in Portugal, that will host the event for the next three years, the well known Circuit of Losail and, last but not the least, the world famous German track also known as Nurburgring-Nordschleife. Yes people, a FIA World Championship event returns to the legendary track so we all sim-racing aficionados can invest some time in trying to beat the lap time of our favorite racers! 

Last change is the venue of the Japanese event, not Suzuka this year but the equally exciting Motegi.

As for us, we can't wait for the season to unfold and we'll be here to report on these 24 raceswith the same passion as usual.

Stay tuned!!

WRC 2015 Round 2 SWEDEN

Shakedown, Rally and Power Stage. There's really not much more to win in a round of the World Rally Championship. Certainly there's not more than 28 points to collect and when they all go in the pocket of the winner of the first round in Montecarlo, it may seem that the supremacy of the pair Ogier-Wolksvagen has already set the pace for the upcoming events in just two rounds.

The German-French powerhouse didn't have it easy though, this is still racing on the seconds and when you're speeding at 200 km/h on a sheet of ice, jumping between a forest of  conifers, the smallest mistake can end up in compromising your day. if not the whole round.

Let's step back now to the first event on Thursday, the shakedown.
Teams and drivers moved from the cold hills surrounding Montecarlo to the freezing taiga of Sweden. -25 C will be the average temperature for these four days and snow and ice won't be a variable here, but a constant.
Ogier is the quickest one to find the feeling with the conditions and the studded tires but he won't feel lonely. The club of  fast drivers sees many memberships today and at the end of the stage Kubica, Meeke, Mikkelsen and Latvala are all crowded in within a second from Ogier, keeping each other warm.

SS1 on Thursday and SS 2 to 4 on Friday morning are prerogative of the VW army which places in order Ogier, Latvala and Mikkelsen at the top of the standings. Close after them we find Ostberg, Neuville and Meeke, all within a second from the leader.

But Friday is preserving its fireworks for later on. Between SS 6 and 9 the standings looks more like a roulette table, due to the many accidents that pushed most of the top drivers to the "peloton". Victims of this crazy afternoon are, among others, Ogier, Latvala,  Evans and Meeke.
Protasov, Latvala, Mikkelsen and Neuville are the winners of the four stages and the standings after SS 9 is quite different from the morning: Mikkelsen, Neuville, Ostberg and Ogier within 30 seconds, with Latvala almost a minute after Kubica in 23rd position.

SS 10 to 14. Some of the top drivers are looking for revenge and they have to make up a lot of time to gain back the best positions. For sure Ogier put this thought on the snow better than everybody else, winning four of the five stages and starting to breathe on the neck of Mikkelsen. The Norwegian is still in first position but only less than two seconds ahead of his French teammate. Third is Neuville, still hanging on before Ostberg and Tanak. Sixth is the brilliant New Zealander Paddon thanks to consistent placements in all the stages.

Saturday ends with Stages 15 to 18 and with another move to the top of the standings. While Mikkelsen was making sure to keep his teammate Ogier behind, is the Belgian Neuville, with his Hyundai, to enjoy a pretty sweet Saturday Night, thanks to two stages wins and as much good finishes. Only one day to go and the virtual podium sees Neuville, Mikkelsen and Ogier in just 10 seconds....it might be freezing in here but the pressure will make somebody sweat tomorrow!

Sunday is the day where everybody prefers to be in first position, even better if it's Sunday night, and the quest seems to be a job for three. It is in fact the same trio to occupy the first three position before the Power Stage even if Mikkelsen is now back in first place, followed by the shadow of the the Polo who speaks French. Neuville is in third but still plenty in the mix: 4.6 seconds are not that much after all, it's pretty much how long it will take you to get to the end of this paragraph. Not bad eh?

SS 21, the Power Stage. If one of the first three wins this stage, he will most likely win the Rally  plus he will cash the three extra points. As anticipated at the beginning, is Ogier who gets the en plain. Neuville sits on the second step of the podium, while Mikkelsen breaks under pressure and ends up on a snowbank which pushes him some forty seconds away from the lead to a not too bad third place overall which doesn't taste that sweet to the Norwegian that was just a step from winning his first WRC Rally. 

After the top three, within 5 minutes from Ogier we have Tanak, Paddon, Evans, Meeke and Prokop.

  

The Championship standings is almost monopolized by the French Ogier who took an important jump ahead from the rest of the field, 23 points from Neuville and Mikkelsen, tied in second position, and 31 points from Latvala who ends the Swedish campaign in twelfth position collecting no points.

Next stop Mexico, from the hard winter to the boiling temperatures of Leon, from snow and ice to gravel and rocks. Will anybody be able to shorten the gap from the flying French?

On March 8th we might have an answer.

For more info and references to the videos, visit the official page of the WRC: http://www.wrc.com/en/

  

WRC - 2015 - MONTECARLO

Wow! What a start for the 2015 WRC season!!

If the win by the 2014 Champion Sebastien Ogier doesn't come as a big shock, this four-days event turned out to be a concentrate of excitement!

Many eyes were focus on the big return of the Roy, Sebastien Loeb, for a one rally deal with the car that he won the championship with for nine years in a row.
The French wasn't able to grab the eight victory on the streets of the Principality but what a great show for the many fans hanging on the edges of the tortuous streets of Monaco!

The opening day on Thursday sees Loeb first, Ogier second and Latvala third, all three in just half a minute.
By Friday night Loeb leaves the top of the standing, dropping down to 15th position, due to an accident that compromised a suspension which made impossible for the car to safely transfer and make it to the team mechanics. Same fate as the Polish Kubica a day earlier. Is Mikkelsen to raise to third position, with Tanak just behind him.
Saturday ends with the first three positions frozen from the night before, with Ogier leading on Latvala by 42 seconds and Mikkelsen just over one minute behind the Finnish.
Sunday, between the mighty Col De Turini and the streets of Montecarlo , is the usual, crazy show. Ogier comfortably manage the margin on Latvala and ends up winning with almost a minute on the Finn, while Mikkelsen can sit on the lowest step of the podium. Ostberg, Neuville and Sordo are the other drivers within five minutes from Ogier.


Here below the link to the recap from the official WRC website.

Have a great time!

POLLS POLLS AND POLLS!!!!

Big news this year!!

Share your prediction on your favorite races!

As you can see, click on the first link in the right column and take part in our poll!

Starting today you can pick the driver that you think will win the race! Compare your prediction with all the other followers but hurry, the clock won't wait for you!

TUDOR UNITED SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP 2015

On January 24th and 25th, on the glorious track of Daytona, the International Motor Sport Association will host the first round of the 2015 racing season.
The top series will open the year 2015 with the classic Rolex 24, the first big endurance race of the year worldwide.

This year the calendar has been shortened by one race since Championship won't stop in Kansas and Indianapolis but it will race at Lime Rock, Connecticut.

Unfortunately this year the calendar is not the only thing losing lines. Even the lists of teams participating in each class are smaller: The teams in the Prototype class moved from 13 to 12; the Prototype Challenge class from 8 to 7; the GTLM from 9 to 7 and with the SRT Team leaving we won't see the Viper fighting on the race; the Gt Daytona class from 23 to 15.

Many are the seats changing for the drivers but it's exciting to verify that many top notch drivers are listed to take part into this season, keeping the quality of the race one of the best in the world.

As North America officially opens the 2015 motorsport season, we're looking forward for an exciting year ahead.

Stay tuned!

World Rally Championship 2015

Let's take a quick look at the upcoming new season of the WRC.

Not many changes in the constructors officially participating in the Championship. Here below a quick look at the 2015 cars:

The list of teams competing for manufacturers points sees the entry of the Italian team FWRT s.r.l. with a Fiesta RS WRC, assigned to the driver and co-pilot Lorenzo Bertelli and Giovanni Bernacchini, which will replace the Robert Kubica Team.

The Polish driver will still drive his own Ford this year but the manufacturer won't benefit from any point scored from him.

Talking about drivers, it's a big surprise to see again Sebastian Loeb, even only for the Rallye of Montecarlo, behind the wheel of a Citroen, with his buddy of many victories and Montecarlo resident Daniel Elena.
Ott Tanak gained a seat in the official Ford M-Sport WRT, replacing the retiring Mikko Hirvonen.

In the Hyundai family the new entry is Kevin Abbring, with his co-driver Sebastian Marshall, who'll replace the French Bouffier, moved to the Ford M-Sport team but not competing for manufacturer points, the Finnish Junno Hanninen who will race only in the Swedish round with a private Citroen and the Aussie Chris Atkinson.

The calendar remains pretty much untouched except for the wise move to switch the rounds of Argentina and Portugal, for a much more economic sequence Mexico-Argentina-Portugal-Italy.

The Rally of Portugal is moving back in the Porto area, after been relocated in the southern region of Algarve since 2002.


The appointment is for Thursday Jan 22nd at the glamorous Place du Casino, Monaco, to begin the 43rd World Rally Championship.

See you

Happy new year

It's back!

Our new Motorsport season 2015 is finally here!

Thursday the spotlights will turn on the sharp and tortuous streets of Montecarlo, where the 2015 World Rally Championship will be hosted in its first appointment, for four days, until Sunday.

Same day, other continent, the IMSA teams will be down on the Daytona International Speedway to warm up for the Rolex 24, scheduled between Saturday and Sunday.

Different scenarios, different weather, different cars, tracks and drivers but same passion: Speed, drive at the limit, as on ice as it is on tarmac, adrenaline, engines roaring.

Yes, the 2015, our 2015, it finally begins!



Coming soon we'll look close at each category to find what's new and what to expect.

About us, we just made some minor changes in the categories that we'll follow: we had, unfortunately, to let EuroV8 and Asian LMS go but we're happy to welcome in our schedule the Super GT!


Stay tuned for the next update!

And again, Happy new year!