| By Edd Straw and Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 3rd 2013, 15:43 GMT |
Caterham should waste no time worrying about the gap to the established outfits right now and instead needs to keep its focus on longer term gains, reckons Charles Pic.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 3rd 2013, 15:50 GMT |
Jenson Button says his expectations are in check about McLaren's update package for the Spanish Grand Prix, and that he is not letting himself believe they will transform its form.
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| By Gary Watkins | Friday, May 3rd 2013, 15:58 GMT |
Audi led the way in free practice ahead of Saturday's second round of the World Endurance Championship at Spa
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| Thursday, May 2nd 2013, 14:00 GMT |
Volkswagen had things all its own way on the opening Sta Catalina to La Pampa stage, as Ogier went quickest and opened an 8.8-second lead over team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala.
Loeb was back in fourth, just behind Citroen team-mate Mikko Hirvonen, and struggling to find the right rhythm in his first World Rally Championship appearance for nearly three months.
But on the following 51-kilometre Asochinga to Agua de Oro stage, Citroen fought back, with Hirvonen and a much happier Loeb first and second fastest.
Ogier lost 6.7s to Hirvonen and hit out at third works Citroen driver Dani Sordo, who he accused of holding him up.
Sordo had rolled his car due to a miscalled pace note, and was limping through the stage without power steering.
Ogier therefore heads to the lunchtime service 3.6s ahead of Hirvonen and 6s in front of Loeb.
Latvala struggled with extreme tyre wear on Ascochinga and fell to fourth, 23.5s from the lead.
Mads Ostberg is the best of the M-Sport Ford drivers in fifth, already half a minute behind. Both the Norwegian and team-mate Thierry Neuville struggled with windscreen wiper issues on SS2.
Sordo's incident leaves him nearly eight minutes behind the frontrunners.
Leading positions after SS3: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Sebastien Ogier VW 1h01m04.0s 2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 3.6s 3. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 6.0s 4. Jari-Matti Latvala VW + 23.5s 5. Mads Ostberg M-Sport Ford + 33.2s 6. Andreas Mikkelsen VW + 55.9s 7. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford + 1m05.5s 8. Thierry Neuville M-Sport Ford + 1m25.9s 9. Gabriel Pozzo M-Sport Ford + 3m08.1s 10. Martin Prokop Czech Ford + 3m19.4s
| Thursday, May 2nd 2013, 13:55 GMT |
Factory test rider Pirro was originally listed as the stand-in for Spies in the Spanish Grand Prix, as the American skips the race to recover from lingering injuries.
But Jerez had previously been announced as one of the venues at which Pirro would ride an additional works Ducati alongside Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden, and Ducati said earlier this week that this would go ahead, with the Italian on a development machine.
Pramac will therefore run just one bike in Spain.
Spies has been struggling for fitness since a crash at last year's Malaysian Grand Prix, when he was part of the Yamaha works team.
He was forced to sit out the remainder of the 2012 campaign, and then exacerbated his upper body injuries in the last round at Austin.
"I am doing my absolute best to get back to 100 per cent, where I need to be, for the team and Ducati," said Spies.
| By Jamie O'Leary | Thursday, May 2nd 2013, 15:07 GMT |
The Formula 1-style system has been introduced, along with option Hankook tyres, to spice up the action and increase overtaking.
Drivers will be allowed one use of DRS per lap, but will not have a designated zone in which it can be activated.
But Abt Audi driver Green is unsure whether the regulation, which allows DRS activation if a driver is within two seconds of the car ahead, is appropriate.
"At Hockenheim in testing the DRS was worth about three and a half tenths of a second per lap if you used it on the longest straight," he told AUTOSPORT.
"In the DTM, usually if you're two tenths quicker than the next guy on each lap, and you're leading, it's actually pretty comfortable.
"As long as you nail the laps and hit all your braking points and apexes and don't make mistakes, you will pull away pretty steadily.
"Now, if the guy behind you is slower by that amount, but gains by three and a half tenths on the straight [provided you're not able to use DRS yourself], he's actually gaining on you.
"Given how close the performance of all the cars is nowadays, that doesn't seem quite right to me."
TWEAKS EXPECTED
Green admitted that the advantage of DRS at circuits without long straights, such as Lausitz and Oschersleben, would be far less marked and could provide an overtaking opportunity that did not previously exist.
But he believes that the system is a work in progress and will be refined over time.
"Sometimes you see in F1 that DRS is too effective, like at the Chinese Grand Prix recently," he added.
"You see some guys being overtaken and then getting back ahead before the braking zone.
"But in DTM we're travelling at a lower top speed, the cars are heavier, the drag you lose by moving the wing is less, so it's far less effective a system.
"I think we'll have to wait and see exactly how it pans out and maybe it's something that will be tweaked a little if it's not giving the right effect."
| By Kevin Turner | Wednesday, May 1st 2013, 13:17 GMT |
The award, named after the inaugural BTCC champion, was introduced for S2000 runners this year.
There are currently six S2000 cars in the field and they are being phased out as the main NGTC element of the grid grows.
There is no exact timeframe on how long the S2000s will continue in the series, but Gow plans to continue the trophy even after the cars have gone.
"When the S2000s die, whether that's next year or the year after, the Jack Sears Trophy won't die with it," he told AUTOSPORT.
"We will award it for something else. It's a great name for a trophy."
Gow would not confirm what the trophy would be awarded for after the demise of S2000, but has said that longer races, pitstops and two-driver events were possibilities once the BTCC becomes NGTC-only.
"We gave the NGTCs bigger fuel tanks than the S2000s so we could do longer races if we wanted, but that doesn't mean we definitely will," he added.
| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, May 1st 2013, 14:32 GMT |
But they admitted on Thursday that it may take more success from Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to secure a race-day sellout again.
Silverstone had to deter fans from attending qualifying at the 2012 British GP after freak weather conditions flooded car parks and campsites.
The move to keep spectators away allowed the circuit to keep its infrastructure intact for race day, which duly took place in front of a record 127,000 crowd.
Although such unusual climatic conditions are unlikely to hit the British GP for a second year in succession, Silverstone is taking nothing for granted.
It has invested heavily in drainage, campsite expansion and transport solutions to do all it can for this year's race on June 28-30 passes trouble free.
Silverstone managing director Richard Phillips said during a media event at the track on Thursday that Silverstone was as ready as it could be.
"What happened last year was unprecedented," said Phillips. "We had 10 years before that of reasonable weather conditions and great grands prix - so we need to keep things in proportion.
"But nevertheless, we cannot rest on our laurels. What happened to us last year was a wake-up call and we have had to put a lot of measures in place to ensure that people have a good time in 2013."
"We learned last year that we have got to go the extra mile. Those sorts of weather conditions, freak as hopefully they were, you cannot tell these days can you?
"So it could happen again – and obviously what we had in place before did not cope with it, so we have spent a lot of time and effort on it [to make sure it does this time]."
TICKET SALES DOWN SO FAR
The weather troubles last year have left some fans reluctant to commit early to buying tickets for the 2013 race, and Philips admitted that sales were down on 12 months ago.
However, he said that was not unexpected because of the weather, Sebastian Vettel's ongoing success and the fact neither Lewis Hamilton nor Jenson Button have won a race so far this year.
"Different factors affect every event. If you take MotoGP, the year before last you had a wet year and last year not many people turned up – plus there was no [Valentino] Rossi.
"What you are seeing now in F1 is a combination of what happened last year with the weather, and probably – controversially – you have Vettel doing a bit too well consistently.
"So ticket sales are not as good as they were last year, but they are not drastic. We could do with some help."
When asked if a lift in results for Hamilton and Button would provide that assistance, BRDC president Derek Warwick said: "If Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button started winning from Barcelona, it would make a massive difference."
SILVERSTONE STILL CHASING INVESTORS
Silverstone's owners, the British Racing Drivers' Club, have not yet concluded an agreement with potential investors about a long-term lease deal that will help push it towards its 'Masterplan' transformation – but are hopeful that a deal can be concluded this year.
BRDC chairman Stuart Rolt said that the worldwide economic slowdown had impacted on Silverstone's chances of finding the right partner – and that the situation was further complicated by the fact that keeping motor racing at the Northamptonshire track was essential.
"We have something pretty special to offer people, but we have had a thing called the recession. Land and investment in property has become really tough – and outside London it is really tough. We have learned that.
"We are also very fussy about speaking to people who will maintain high level motor racing at Silverstone.
"We cannot be surrounded by, or in the hands of, property developers who will take that characteristic away from Silverstone."
He added: "We would like to get something done this year."
| By David Evans | Wednesday, May 1st 2013, 15:34 GMT |
Latvala was three hundredths of a second quicker than returning world champion Sebastien Loeb across the 3.75-mile stage just outside Villa Carlos Paz.
"I'm happy with that," smiled Latvala at the end of the stage.
"I made some changes to the car after shakedown this morning - the car felt soft – so we fitted stiffer springs, but we need to go stiffer still. This is a good start."
Quickest after two practice runs in the morning, Loeb admitted to feeling a little rusty when it came to finding the limit in qualifying.
"It didn't feel natural at the start of the stage," Loeb told AUTOSPORT. "I wasn't sure on the braking point, but then it was OK."
Championship leader Sebastien Ogier was third fastest almost three tenths down and ruing one small mistake in the stage.
"I ran wide in one corner," he said, "it's small, but it cost time. The road was very soft and we just slid a little bit more than I thought we would."
Loeb's fellow Citroen drivers Dani Sordo and Mikko Hirvonen were next up with Mads Ostberg the leading M-Sport runner 1.371 seconds down on Latvala's benchmark.
None of the drivers suffered any significant problems through the stage, which determines who will run where on the road for the event's opening leg tomorrow.
Local hero Gabriel Pozzo was slowest of the World Rally Car qualifiers in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC, 9.234s off.
| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, April 29th 2013, 15:08 GMT |
Ferrari says that teams are not unduly concerned by the fact that Formula 1 has yet to secure a new tyre supply contract for next year
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