MOTOGP: Laverty never expected MotoGP ride

Thursday, January 3rd 2013, 14:05 GMT

MotoGP rookie Michael Laverty admits he never expected to get a shot at motorcycle racing's top level.

The 31-year-old British Superbike frontrunner is stepping up to MotoGP with Paul Bird Motorsport's new self-built CRT chassis this season.

Laverty said that even after BSB champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne turned down the seat, he did not imagine he would be top of the list of alternatives.

"I know I wasn't first choice for the ride, Shakey was," Laverty told the official MotoGP website.

"And when he turned it down I was actually surprised to get the call, but it was a nice surprise."

He added: "Honestly it's something I never expected I'd get the opportunity to do.

"I'm a realist I reckon, and once you pass your mid-20s you think that if you haven't got to GP by then, then it's not going to happen, so I kind of thought that if I ever got a shot at a world championship that it would be in World Superbike, so it's nice that things have changed."

PBM had a tough 2012 season with James Ellison on its Aprilia. Yonny Hernandez will continue to ride that bike in 2013 while Laverty takes the new PBM design.

Laverty's bike will run the spec ECU that will be mandatory from 2014. He hopes this will ensure strong support from Aprilia, which dominated CRT with its lead squad Aspar last year.

"They seem happy to let the team work on the new project and work on the new electronics," said Laverty.

"Aprilia will have in mind that from 2014 they are going to have to run the Magneti Marelli system, so it's useful for them to have another team using it as it gives them a lot of data.

"They seem happy to help the team sort out the engine management with the Magneti Marelli system so overall I think the relationship with Aprilia is quite good, so hopefully we'll be even, or as close to even as possible to them."

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LEMANS: Davidson sure of comeback fitness

By Gary Watkins

Thursday, January 3rd 2013, 13:45 GMT

Sportscar star Anthony Davidson has no concerns about the back injuries he sustained at last year's Le Mans 24 Hours as he prepares to make his comeback behind the wheel of a racing car this week.

The 33-year-old Briton, who fractured two vertebrae when his Toyota TS010 Hybrid flipped at Le Mans in June 2012, will drive the 8Star Motorsports Coyote-Chevrolet at the official Daytona 24 Hours test, which starts on Friday.

The Briton is scheduled to share the Corvette-bodied car in the US enduro on January 26-27 with Stephane Sarrazin, Nicolas Minassian, Pedro Lamy and team boss Enzo Potolicchio.

Davidson, who has been re-signed by Toyota for its 2013 LMP1 campaign, said: "My back is strong, so I have no worries.

"I have been running and cycling for a while and have been in the Toyota and Mercedes Formula 1 simulators.

"It will be my first time back in a car, so it is going to give me a bit of a work-out before I get going with Toyota.

"It will be a good way to blow the cobwebs away; I can't wait to get going again."

Davidson said he is looking forward to the challenge of driving a Daytona Prototype and racing in one of the major sportscar events for the first time.

"I never driven a DP before, but I've spoken to enough drivers who have to know that it is going to be a new type of challenge," he said. "I'm expecting quite a specific car.

"I'm going into the race with my eyes wide open; anything can happen. Maybe I can have some of the beginner's luck I had at the Sebring 12 Hours when I won with Peugeot [on his debut in 2011]."

Davidson and the other five members of Toyota's 2012 Le Mans line-up have all been retained for the coming season.

It is expected but still unconfirmed that Toyota will field two cars in the full FIA World Endurance Championship.

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F1: Sauber sets 2013 car launch date

By Pablo Elizalde

Thursday, January 3rd 2013, 15:05 GMT

Sauber will unveil its 2013 challenger on 2 February, the Swiss squad announced on Thursday.

The team said the Ferrari-powered C32 will be presented to the public in Hinwil, Switzerland, where its factory is located.

Pre-season testing commences at Jerez three days later.

Sauber finished the 2012 season in sixth position after four podium finishes.

The Swiss outfit's drive line-up for 2013 will be Nico Hulkenberg and Mexican rookie Esteban Gutierrez.

2013 pre-season dates

  Car launches    Team          Date  McLaren       January 31  Force India   February 1  Sauber        February 2    Testing  

  Venue         Date  Jerez         5-8 February  Barcelona     19-22 February  Barcelona     28 February-3 March     

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OTHER: Zanardi open to Daytona 24 Hours

By Michele Lostia and Pablo Elizalde

Wednesday, January 2nd 2013, 10:38 GMT

Alex Zanardi says he is only interested in one-off racing events, after ruling out a full-season motorsport return in the near future.

The 46-year-old Italian, winner of two golds and a silver at the London Paralympics last year, recently tested a BMW DTM car while considering a possible return to racing, but opted against a drive in the series.

Zanardi has also revealed he wants to compete in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.

The former Champ Car champion says he has had offers to return to World Touring Cars as well as his DTM option, but admits he is not willing to commit to a full season.

"The simplest option would be to get back behind the wheel," Zanardi told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked about his plans until the Rio games.

"I've had offers to race in high-level series like the DTM and the WTCC, but a full season is not what I really desire. Instead, a single event to be prepared well could represent the perfect challenge."

Zanardi has already been linked to an Indianapolis 500 bid, having not contested the event during his United States career, but is also eyeing Daytona.

"The Indy 500? Yes, but also the Daytona 24 Hours, in a team of friends, would be fun," he said. "However, I'm not giving up the handbike, that's true love."

Zanardi's former Champ Car team Ganassi, which had been mooted for his Indy 500 plan, is a dominant force in Grand-Am but has already announced its driver line-up for this year's Daytona 24 Hours.

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F1: Red Bull 'caught out' by 2012 changes

By Sam Tremayne and Matt Beer

Wednesday, January 2nd 2013, 12:14 GMT

Red Bull has admitted that it took too long to get to grips with the changes in Formula 1 at the start of 2012, as it strives to ensure a stronger start to its title defence this year.

After dominating 2011, Red Bull did not win until round four of last year's world championship in Bahrain.

Eventual three-time champion Sebastian Vettel was as low as sixth in the points at one stage, and by mid-September only had one win to his name.

He then went on a four-race victory streak to set himself up for another title. Prior to that, he had looked hard-pressed to catch Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and also faced times when McLaren looked a stronger contender than Red Bull.

Team boss Christian Horner conceded that it had taken a while for designer Adrian Newey to get to grips with the 2012 rule tweaks and the new Pirelli tyre specification.

"There was a big regulation change where the exhaust effect was reduced dramatically, and that particularly had a significant impact on our car because arguably our use of exhaust gases was more advanced than other teams," Horner said.

"So it took a while to understand that, and that combined with a different tyre took Adrian and his team time to get his head around.

"But they relentlessly stuck at it and the performance came."

Before Vettel's dominant September/October run, Red Bull trailed McLaren five-three in the 2012 win stakes, but Horner believes his team's performance was always better than the statistics suggested.

"Even when we weren't winning we were able to be securing sensible points," he said.

"We should have won in Valencia, that was probably our biggest frustration of the year.

"The points we gave away not only the 25 points we should have had for the win but also the points it gifted Fernando."

He added: "There were some challenges but getting that performance from the car and particularly for the last third of the championship was crucial."

* Click here for AUTOSPORT's guide to what's new in F1 for 2013

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MOTOGP: Smith to compete in Qatar championship

Wednesday, January 2nd 2013, 14:55 GMT

MotoGP rookie Bradley Smith will contest a round of the Qatar International Championship at Losail this weekend.

Smith steps up to MotoGP with Tech 3 Yamaha this season after two years in Moto2.

The Briton will take part in promotional events at Bahrain and Abu Dhabi's Formula 1 venues during the week before racing a Yamaha R1 against Qatar national riders on Saturday.

"I've been pushing really hard to make this happen," Smith said.

"Of course it's great preparation for me before MotoGP testing gets underway in Sepang but also I'm certain there is some real racing talent in that part of the world.

"You only have to see how MotoGP has exploded in Malaysia to understand what the success of local riders can achieve."

Smith joins countryman Cal Crutchlow at Tech 3, taking the seat vacated by Valentino Rossi's Ducati replacement Andrea Dovizioso.

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MOTOGP: Marquez plays down podium hopes

By Pablo Elizalde and Sam Tremayne

Tuesday, January 1st 2013, 14:03 GMT

Marc Marquez has played down his chances of scoring a podium on his MotoGP race debut this year.

Both Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa managed debut rostrums after winning the 250cc World Championship - Moto2's predecessor - in 2007 and 2005 respectively.

Marquez dominated Moto2 in 2012, winning nine times and pulling off a number of remarkable rides, notably winning from the back of the grid at the Valencia season finale.

He also impressed in his initial MotoGP tests, lapping just over a second off the 2012 pole time at Sepang.

While he admitted he had adapted to Honda's MotoGP machinery faster than anticipated, the 19-year-old Spaniard stressed that breaking into the top three from the outset was unlikely, particularly as Honda wants him to ease into competition in the premier class.

"Right now I don't think it's doable, Marquez told AS when asked about his podium chances for the Qatar opener.

"I'm not ruling out anything - it's impossible to predict - but Honda has told me to be calm.

"What they want to see is progress, and me taking my time and improving.

"Testing has been better than I imagined. In Malaysia when I got there I thought it would be three tough days, but I started gaining confidence with the bike and began to try new things.

"I still have a long way to go though and I'm hoping to take full advantage of the remaining tests."

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FR3.5: Frijns backs Magnussen, da Costa

By Glenn Freeman

Tuesday, January 1st 2013, 11:48 GMT

Formula Renault 3.5 champion Robin Frijns believes that Kevin Magnussen and Antonio Felix da Costa will lead the fight to succeed him in the series this year.

Frijns took a surprise title in 2012, beating the strongest field in the championship's history as a rookie for Fortec Motorsports.

And the Dutchman, who has been signed as a Formula 1 reserve driver by Sauber, believes that 2012 race winners Magnussen (pictured) and da Costa will lead the running in FR3.5 next season.

"It's Magnussen and da Costa," Frijns told AUTOSPORT of the likely contenders for the title. "They were always up there this year, and they are both really quick.

"The speed that Kevin has is impressive. And he always goes for the win. He's capable of dominating races.

"I think da Costa is similar, and he won a lot of races last year. I don't think there will be as many guys going for the title as there was this year, but the ones at the front will be really quick and that's good for the championship."

Magnussen has dominated winter testing so far with DAMS, for which he will race this year. Macau Grand Prix winner da Costa, meanwhile, is expected to retain his Red Bull backing and remain with Arden Caterham.

Da Costa finished fourth in the points and won four races in the series with the team, despite only contesting the second half of the season. Magnussen was seventh overall with Carlin.

Frijns offered some words of warning for both of his title tips though, pointing out that neither had to race with the pressure of going for the championship in FR3.5 last year.

"I don't know Kevin that well, but from what I saw maybe he takes too many risks. You can't win a championship if you only ever go for the win.

"Sometimes you have to settle for second place, third place, or even sixth if you have to. I don't know if he learned that this year, but we will see.

"It's the same for da Costa. He didn't have the pressure that we had going for the championship at the end of last year.

"He was free to do whatever he wanted and he won loads. He's really quick, but if he's in a position to fight for the championship he hasn't got that freedom anymore so he can't take as many risks."

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F1: Brawn: Aero changes caused slump

By Jonathan Noble and Jamie O'Leary

Tuesday, January 1st 2013, 14:34 GMT

Ross Brawn believes that mid-season changes in Mercedes' Formula 1 aerodynamic department were the root cause of the team's slump in form during the second half of 2012.

Mercedes, which took over the world champion Brawn squad in late 2009, scored its first F1 race win as a constructor since 1955 when Nico Rosberg dominated the Chinese Grand Prix from pole position.

By the halfway point of 2012, Rosberg lay sixth in the championshp, only 34 points behind Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

But the squad's form suffered during the second half of the year, Rosberg eventually trailing world champion Vettel by 189 points and Michael Schumacher's sixth place in Brazil its only points finish from the final six grands prix.

Team principal Brawn said that the departure of head of aerodynamics Loic Bigois, coupled with a change in windtunnel philosophy while the team experimented with Coanda exhausts and double DRS, also played a major influence.

Brawn said: "We made a decision to change the structure of the aero group. We had to wait for [new aero chief] Mike Elliot to join us because we had a notice period he had to fulfil at Lotus.

"We concluded the situation with Loic and there was a gap that we didn't fill very well."

"On top of that we were doing the transition from 50 per cent to 60 per cent models in the windtunnel, and there were a lot of other things in the aero group as well. It did have an impact."

Brawn said that the shift to 60 per cent models was necessary to increase the amount of technical data it could extract from Pirelli's tyres.

"Our conclusion was that we would get a much more representative tyre at 60 per cent than at 50 per cent," he added.

"Pirelli have to make 50 per cent and 60 per cent windtunnel tyres. There are only two teams that are still doing 50 per cent.

"Even with Pirelli's best efforts, they're going to be getting better feedback about 60 per cent tyres than 50 per cent. So we wanted to make the move.

"The other thing that has happened over the years is that you're putting more and more equipment inside the windtunnel model to measure, monitor and check. We just ran out of space in the 50 per cent model.

"There were things that we wanted to do that we couldn't do, and we needed the 60 per cent model to accommodate those features. Sixty per cent is the legal limit you can go to, there is no further step we can make."

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F1: Sebastian Vettel: 2012 in quotes

Monday, December 31st 2012, 13:35 GMT

Sebastian Vettel's march towards a third Formula 1 world title came with some pretty memorable soundbites along the way from the German.

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