Kimi’s new steed?
Citroen have published pictures of their new souped up DS3, a model that is tipped to be the French firms next World Rally Championship contender. Loeb must be rubbing his hands, whereas Kimi is probably wondering where the beer can holder is on the dashboard...
Ferrari sandbagging?
According to a story in Autosport, Fernando Alonso has told the Spanish press that the Ferrari is the best car he's driven and that their times at the recent tests have not really demonstrated it's full potential. Should we be awaiting Schumacher/Ferrari style domination, or is it just a bit of pre-season Braggadocio? Well, who knows? However, it is interesting to take note that the double world champion is feeling confident of his chances.
Podding along
Elsewhere, Motorsport have continued their excellent series of podcasts this month with a great double header, comprising two broadcasts which feature the team chatting with Sportscar star Brian Redman and the Indycar champ/F1 World champ Mario Andretti. Great stories and interesting contemporary views all round, so I would urge you to take a listen here.
Achy breaky hand
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo has bashed his hand in pre-season training, after falling off a motocross bike. He'll be unable to attend the next MotoGP test in Sepang, but should be fit for the start of the season. Full story here.
Makes you wonder how big the van was that took him and his ego to hospital...
McCoy back in MotoGP
Australian Garry McCoy is rejoining MotoGP after a four year break. The 37 year old had been riding for Triumph in the World Supersport championship, but has now signed a two year deal with FB Corse to take part in the premier grand prix class. McCoy won several grand prix in both the 125cc and 500cc classes, with his distinctive oversteering riding style winning many fans along the way.
The FB Corse team has an excellent record as a World Superbike and Supersport private entrant. The bike is of their own design and build, hoping to showcase Italian motorcycle engineering at it's best. They will also be entering a Moto2 bike for Simone Grotskyj Giorgi.
It's good to see an independent team taking on the Yamaha's, Suzuki's and Honda's of this world. Best of luck to Garry and FB Corse!
New layout for Silverstone!
Don't worry, it hasn't been Tilke-ised, they've just made it better. Take a look at the new layout here. The Abbey chicane, the neutered bridge corner and the Tesco's car park section have all been removed, with a new stretch of track that sweeps infield and joins the national circuit back straight. This layout was supposed to be just used for MotoGP, but the fast, sweeping nature of the new section obviously gave the organisers a few ideas for F1.
It seems that now Silverstone have the contract to hold the Grand Prix again, investments have been made and the future looks good for our Grand Prix once more.
In appreciation of Barry Sheene Pt 2
After his successful 1971 campaign in the 125cc class, Sheene entered the 250's the following year with a Yamaha. Unfortunately, 1972 wasn't the most successful of seasons, as uncompetitive machinery hampered him and he only entered a couple of Grand Prix as a result (fourth in Austria and third in Spain). According to 'Barry', the book by Nick Harris and Steve Parrish, the disagreements with Yamaha would not do him any favours in the future, when he split from Heron Suzuki in '79 and tried to acquire competitive machinery from them.
First championship win
1973 saw him enter the Formel 750 championship, (an FIM racing competition for 750cc bikes) which put him up against some of the best established and up-and-coming stars. The season started off with the Imola 200 (which you can see here), a race dominated and won by the Finnish maestro Jarno Saarinen, a man considered to be one of the best riders of all time. Unfortunately the Finn was killed at the Italian Grand Prix that year, making Imola the only 750 race he entered. At Imola, Barry had to retire, but won the next race at Clermont Ferrand. Mr Consistency, he did not finish out of the top three for the rest of the season, winning him his first international title.
500cc and taking on the big boys
1974 saw the Englishman back in Grand Prix racing, making his début in the 500cc class for Suzuki, facing the big names of Agostini and Read. Riding the unstable but quick RG500, Sheene put his bike on the front row at the fearsome Clermont Ferrand circuit in France. He finished second to Phil Read's MV after Agostini's Yamaha gave up the ghost. A third place in Austria at the Salzburgring and a fourth on the public road circuit at Brno further developed Sheene's reputation as the coming man.
The Dutch TT at Assen was one of the races that Sheene did not take part in that year, however looking past the domination of Agostini in the 350cc and 500cc races, there is an interesting marker laid down for the future (particularly Sheene's) in the 250cc race. American AMA track star Kenny Roberts was entered for a one off race on a Yamaha and immediately impressed, finishing third. However, it wouldn't be for another four years before Roberts returned to Europe.
Unfortunately Sheene's involvement in the season was curtailed by an accident in the Swedish Grand Prix at Anderstorp. The Suzuki slung him into the catch fencing, taking Agostini with him. Both riders were injured severely enough to rule them out of the following round in Finland. Fortunately the Englishman was able to recover and take that fourth place in Czechoslovakia at the last 500cc round of the season.
With the RG500 becoming more competitive, Sheene gaining in confidence and experience, the prospects for 1975 looked very good indeed.
Sauber C29 makes debut at Valencia
Pedro del la Rosa gave the new Sauber a shakedown at the Ricardo Tormo circuit (a bit of a naff track named after an excellent world champion bike rider who plied his trade on 'real' circuits). The new car was third fastest behind the two Ferrari's during the first F1 test of the year. The C29 is probably only car seen so far that looks a little different (apart from the Renault and it's super retro paint work), featuring a broader looking nose and sidepods. Of course, we don't know if the Sauber will be competitive yet, due to the differing fuel loads carried by the cars during the tests. It looks like we'll have to wait until the first qualifying session of the year for that.
Rossi fastest at Sepang test
The Doctor finished the second day of testing at the Malaysian Sepang circuit on top of the timesheets, registering a 2m00.925s lap. Casey Stoner was hot on his heels in second and Rossi's team mate Jorge Lorenzo third. Dani Pedrosa took fourth with 2009 World Superbike champ Ben Spies finishing an impressive fifth.
The proposed change of the MotoGP formula to 1000cc may keep Mr Rossi in Grand Prix racing for another few years, according to Autosport. He was talking about racing rally cars or vans etc, but it seems the two wheel pull is a little too much...
Full results of the test below (results courtesy of Autosport):
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap 1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m00.925s 2. Casey Stoner Ducati 2m01.320s + 0.395s 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m01.680s + 0.755s 4. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m01.822s + 0.897s 5. Ben Spies Yamaha 2m02.266s + 1.341s 6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 2m02.272s + 1.347s 7. Colin Edwards Yamaha 2m02.479s + 1.554s 8. Nicky Hayden Ducati 2m02.493s + 1.568s 9. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 2m02.647s + 1.722s 10. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 2m02.763s + 1.838s 11. Marco Melandri Gresini Honda 2m02.810s + 1.885s 12. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 2m03.032s + 2.107s 13. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 2m03.043s + 2.118s 14. Hiroshi Aoyama Interwetten Honda 2m03.195s + 2.270s 15. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 2m03.245s + 2.320s 16. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 2m03.274s + 2.349s 17. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 2m03.359s + 2.434s
Mercedes GP launch new car (properly this time!)
The new Mercedes was unveiled in the pit lane in Valencia yesterday after the team launch a few days ago. The car on display that day was a repainted Brawn from last year, but this piece of cutting edge automotive technology is this years actual competitor. It appears to be following the vague trend of the new cars we have seen so far, with a high, curved nose. It's this season's 'in' thing, daaarling.
Toro Rosso have also launched their new model for the coming year, complete with obligatory high nose and back fin. Interestingly, this is the first time since their Minardi days that they have produced a car of their own, due to rule changes disallowing them to be a customer of Red Bull.
Renault have hauled their asses up for a final season in the bear-pit with their 70's retro coloured effort and a new driver line-up. Robert Kubica has been joined by Russian Vitaly Petrov, who will be the first Russian to drive in F1. The car currently has only one sponsor on it, fuel supplier Total, so maybe the eastern European line up may attract some investors from their respective countries?
With a month still to go before Bahrain, we should see the unveiling of more cars, with teams eager to see if their investments pay off. I'm interested to see what the new teams are going to come up with, particularly Peter Windsor's USF1 effort. But, as ever, it's a waiting game at the moment.