Category Archives: Motorsports

F1 News & Notes

As we prepare for the United States Grand Prix at the wonderful new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, here are some quick hits that you may have missed in a busy week of F1 news.

  • Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen will miss the last two races of the season, although not because of a pay dispute, as had been threatened. The Ice Man had season-ending surgery to correct a recurring back problem that had bothered the Finn over the last several races. Bypassing their official 3rd driver, Davide Valsecchi, Lotus plucked another Finn from his unwilling retirement: former McLaren and Lotus/Caterham veteran Heikki Kovalainen will man the seat on Sunday and in Brazil. Valsecchi was understandably less than thrilled with being passed over but Kovalainen posted very respectable times in Friday’s Practice sessions after not having a drive for nearly 2 years.
  • Sergio Perez is out at McLaren for next year. In a surprise move, McLaren have chosen young phenom Kevin Magnussen to replace the 23-year-old Mexican as Jenson Button’s teammate. Magnussen, the son of 4-time LeMans winner Jan, was this year’s Formula Renault 3.5 champion.
  • Departing Ferrari #2 Felipe Massa will join the Williams F1 team next season to partner young Finn Valtteri Botas, leaving Pastor Maldonado temporarily out in the cold. But Maldonado, who brings bags of Venezuelan oil sponsorship money to wherever he may land, should be able to find a drive among the cash strapped teams despite a lackluster season in a poor Williams chassis.
  • Russian teenager Daniel Kvyat earned his Formula 1 Super License and participated in Friday Practice in Austin. Kvyat, a 19-year old GP3 champion, will join Jean-Eric Vergne at Torro Rosso for the 2014 season, which not coincidentally should feature the first-ever Russian Grand Prix. Kvyat replaces Aussie Daniel Ricciardo, who is moving up to the senior Red Bull team upon Mark Webber’s departure to sports cars and the new Porsche Le Mans prototype program.

Indycar Series — Tonight a champion will be crowned

Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves (photo from USA Today/Gannett)

The Izod Indycar Driver’s Championship comes down to the last race of the year once again. Tonight’s MAVTV sponsored 500-miler from the 2 mile D-oval in Fontana, California will determine whether Scott Dixon can hang on for his third Indycar Championship or Helio Castroneves can recover from late season woes to claim his first. Despite the fact that Chip Ganassi’s Dixon has won four races this season to Penske driver Castroneves’ one, a mere 25 points separates them. And the Penske cars’ Chevy engines seem to have the flat out speed this weekend with a 1st-2nd-3rd lockout in Qualifying (Power, Castroneves*, Allmendinger), as well as the comfort level at Fontana having tested there frequently. But the Honda-powered Ganassi cars might have the advantage on gas mileage even with Dixon starting 7th*, so look for a very interesting strategic race to unfold so long as both contenders can avoid crashing out early on this notoriously slippery and windy circuit.

As you might have noticed with that Qualy result, Penske has added a third car to help their Brazilian ace try to win, with hot shoe A.J. Allmendinger joining Aussie Will Power and hoping to recreate his superb Indy 500 run. Power, too, has been excellent in the latter part of the season and he will be hoping to erase memories of last year’s early race wipe out at Fontana, which led to yet another heartbreaking fumble of the championship and gifted it to American Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Continue reading →