The race has been tough and exciting till the end, but there was no dramatic reversal of the standings in the final round this year, whatever the classes, as all the favorites clinched the title.
Team ORECA-Matmut-AIM took the checkered flag in first place in the LMP1 class, whereas Speedy Racing Team Sebah won for the first time of the season in the LMP2 class. Gigawave Motorsport took the victory in the GT1 class and JMW Motorsport ruled the GT2 class.
Koldo Zuazaga – Ferbis Press – Dpto. Prensa Mallorca New Limit
Circuito Renn Arena de Llucmajor, "Trofeo Motorrad", penúltima prueba de la temporada de velocidad del Campeonato de Baleares organizada por el Motoclub Muro, con la participación de 26 pilotos repartidos en las cinco categorías convocadas.
Open Élite
En esta ocasión tuvimos la partícipación de Enric Ferrer, que actualmente está participando en el CEV con el equipo New Grip. Como era de esperar después de ver los tiempos en los entrenos, tuvo muy poca oposición en la carrera, sobre todo después que Alfonso Ho tuviera que abandonar la carrera el romper el motor de su Suzuki. La victoria de Enric fue incontestable, dejando al segundo clasificado a más de un minuto y veinte segundo, y eso después de aflojar el ritmo en las últimas vueltas. Jaime Bestard, actual líder de la clasificación provisional dejó prácticamente sentenciado el campeonato, ya que el único piloto que aún tenía opciones, Alfonso Ho, no sacó ni un sólo punto del Renn Arena. Sebastián Pérez se subió al podio, precediendo al resto de los pilotos, Carlos San Juan, Matías de la Morena, Javier Agredano y Bernat Adrover.
Open 125 GP
La participación de Juan Perelló volvió a dar emoción al campeonato de Baleares, ya que después de su trabajada victoria se coloca a un punto de Óscar Calvo, que en esta ocasión, con evidente problemas de motor, fue tercero. La carrera del próximo octubre dictará sentencia sobre quien se llevará el título. Angel Poyatos obtuvo una merecida segunda plaza, y aunque no le permite luchar por el campeonato puede ser el juez que incline la balanza hacia uno o hacia el otro.
Open Master
Sigue el dominio de Javier Orellana en esta categoría, en la que suma sus participaciones con victorias. Bernat Crespí obtuvo la segunda plaza, aunque como no ha participado en las primeras pruebas de la temporada no le podrá quitar el su-campeonato de Paquita Ruiz, que se mantiene tremendamente regular y que, en esta ocasión, fue tercera.
80 Expert
Tampoco ha tenido ningún problema en conseguir una nueva victoria Carlos Javier Serrano, que ya atesora cuatro y que le permitirá, si no sufre un descalabro en la última prueba, alzarse con el título al final de la temporada. Juan Manuel Muntaner fue segundo, seguido por Juan Miguel Guerrero, que se coloca a 24 puntos de Serrano.
Promo Base
Otra nueva victoria de Javier Orellana, que está arrasando, por partida doble (en Open Master y en Promo Base), en esta temporada 2009. Diego Pérez le sigue de cerca, pero ya a 20 puntos de Javier. La emoción en esta carrera la pusieron Onofre Quijada y Miquel Pons, que mantuvieron una magnífica lucha por la tercera posición del podio, resuelta a favor del jovencísimo Miquel en la misma recta de meta por 21 milésimas de segundo. Onofre fue cuarto, seguido de Bernat Crespí, Paquita Ruiz, Adam León, Adrián Alcaraz y Augusto Fernández.
Resaltar que las clasificaciones que hemos mencionado son oficiosas, y que sólo tienen un carácter informativo.
La próxima carrera se celebrará el 4 de octubre, organizada también por el Motoclub Muro, y denominada "Trofeo Balaustradas Palma"
Departamento de Prensa de la FBM
Fotos: © Koldo Zuazaga / Ferbis Press / FBM
Rubens Barrichello (Brawn GP Formula 1 Team) used a medium – soft tyre strategy to score his second race win of the season after a thrilling and tactical high speed Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Barrichello finished over two seconds ahead of team-mate Jenson Button who used a soft – medium strategy. Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro) finished third with a two stop strategy, soft soft medium. Hiroshi Yasukawa Director of Bridgestone Motorsport, says Congratulations to Rubens for his second win of the season and Brawn GP for their fourth 1-2 finish this year. We saw an exciting race today and it was interesting to see how the different strategies worked. It is also always good to see a Ferrari driver on the podium on a glorious day in Italy. For Bridgestone, we were pleased that our Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, Mr Arakawa, and our other important guests were here to enjoy this great display from Formula One. Hirohide Hamashima – Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development, says This was a thrilling race with a fantastic strategic battle. Even though it was a one stop strategy that won the race, it is difficult to say whether a one or a two stop was better. Both Bridgestone Potenza compounds gave very similar overall performance so there was a good variety of different strategy uses. For Brawn GP in their championship battle this was a good day. We must also mention the fighting spirit of reigning champion Lewis Hamilton who pushed very hard right to the final lap where he was unfortunate not to finish.
Nico Hulkenberg (ART Grand Prix) claimed the 2009 GP2 Series title on Sunday in Monza, after a sensational rookie season. The penultimate round of the Bridgestone-supported championship also provided Giedo van der Garde (iSport International) and Luiz Razia (Party Poker Racing.Com SC) with race wins on Bridgestones wet and medium dry specification tyres. The main challenge for the teams and drivers in Monza was managing the heat durability of the tyres during the Friday sessions, and battling with changing track conditions in the wet on Saturday. With varied and extreme weather, tyre management was one of the most important aspects of the weekend. Saturdays 32 lap feature race was delayed by heavy rain and started behind the safety car, with van der Garde ultimately taking the lead from Vitaly Petrov (Barwa Addax Team) just two laps before the chequered flag. All drivers, but one, were on Bridgestones wet specification tyre for the full duration of the race. Petrov finished in second having started on pole, with Lucas di Grassi (Fat Burner Racing Engineering) taking third place. The point for fastest lap went to Edoardo Mortara (Telmex Arden International). Sundays 21 lap sprint race was led by Razia throughout, while Hulkenberg and Petrovs positions behind were to decide the championship. Completing the podium, di Grassi took second place with Hulkenberg third. Petrov finished fifth as he was unable to pass Jerome dAmbrosio (DAMS) in the closing stages, while the final point of the weekend went to Luca Filippi (Super Nova Racing) for quickest lap. Hulkenberg is now champion with 90 points in the drivers standings, while Petrov is second on 68 and di Grassi third with 57. ART Grand Prix leads the teams championship with 126 points from Barwa Addax Team on 113. Fat Burner Racing Engineering is in third position with 57. The final round of the 2009 GP2 Series will be held in Portimao, Portugal, on 18-20 September, on Bridgestones soft compound slick. Quote from Hirohide Hamashima – Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Congratulations to GP2 Series drivers champion Nico Hulkenberg, it has been an exciting penultimate weekend for GP2. The postponed start of the feature race on Saturday would have interrupted the drivers concentration, but Giedo van der Garde drove well despite the track conditions. The GP2 drivers showed that wet tyre management is important when the circuit conditions change, as the track dries. At the end of the race, pit stop strategies altered the finishing order, making it a very interesting race for spectators. Degradation of the rear tyres was higher than the fronts and most competitors felt a tendency for the car to oversteer, which is why many drivers only changed the rears. Sundays race had an entertaining start, the tyres performed well and congratulations to Luiz Razia for his first GP2 win.
Skoda Motorsports Czech star Jan Kopecky took victory with a measured performance on the Rally Principe de Asturias, his second consecutive win on the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge trail. In a fast and furious two days on the roads around host city Oviedo, Kopecky maintained a consistent pace while other leading contenders endured drama upon drama to claim a hugely popular win and close to within one point of championship leader Kris Meeke.
Peugeot UK ace Meeke suffered a puncture on the first day which, in a hugely competitive field, plunged him down to 16th place overall. Despite fighting back into the points positions, it took similar misfortunes to befall several rivals to get him back into contention. Finally, Peugeot Benelux driver and defending IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz incurred a time penalty after the final stage allowing Meeke through to claim second place and thereby retain his series lead by a single point.
Vouilloz, one of the star performers of the rally, won six of the 15 stages across the two days of the event, but was another driver whose push for victory was blunted by a puncture. Similarly afflicted was the home town hero Alberto Hevia, returning to top-flight competition after an enforced break through lack of funds, who led the opening stages of the event at the wheel of his privately-entered Skoda Fabia.
There was disappointment for Abarth on the IRC’s Spanish outing. Local man Miguel Fuster, drafted in to the squad for this event, crashed out on SS4 while the first days action the field was led by the Grande Punto of team leader Giandomenico Basso.
Basso, who won the event in 2008, held a commanding lead until SS12 when he spun off the road and his reverse gear failed. With no spectators in that section of the stage to help him, the Italian dropped out of contention and surrendered any mathematical chance of a shot at the IRC title.
Thus the championship battle rests between Meeke and Kopecky, who head towards the final two events separated by just one point. On the basis of their performances this weekend it would in fact be Kopecky leading the way towards the Rally Sanremo later this month, as Meeke finished the final stage in Asturias in third place on the road.
Nevertheless when second-place driver Vouilloz was hit with a time penalty for leaving the final service after his allotted time, Meeke was elevated to the runner-up position, claiming two extra points with the result that he keeps his place at the top of the points table.
At the start of Day 2 we were in seventh and, with everyone running at the same pace, it looked like that would be the maximum we could score, Meeke said. But todays been incredible so many of the guys have had the same sort of problem that we had and in the end weve come through.
Rally winner Kopecky clearly took all the goings-on in his stride, and counted his blessings not to have suffered any of the incidents that befell so many of his rivals. Winning last time on the Barum Czech Rally Zlin was important because it was my home event, but winning here on my first visit is just as special, he said.
I always planned to take it steady on this event, to get to the finish without a problem, because its really hard to make the time back if you get a puncture or anything. We didnt make any mistakes and thats got a lot to do with the quality of the pacenotes.
Jan Kopecky delivers victory for Skoda in Asturias
Peugeot claims third sucessive IRC manufacturers‘ title
Peugeot has completed its 100 per cent record of manufacturers´ championship wins on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Its total of 109 points after the Rally Principe Asturias puts the French giant out of reach of its rivals with two rounds remaining.
Peugeot has claimed both the drivers‘ and the manufacturers‘ titles every year since 2007. Despite increased competition from new cars such as the Skoda Fabia S2000 and Proton Satria Neo S2000 – as well as the pace of longtime rivals Abarth and Ralliart – the 207 S2000 cars have triumphed once again.
Its fantastic for Peugeot Sport to be rewarded again for its commitment, said IRC drivers‘ championship leader, Peugeot UK driver Kris Meeke. Its doubly important from my perspective because with the manufacturers championship in the bag we can focus everything on winning the drivers title.
Peugeot has triumphed again in the IRC manufacturers‘ standings
Millet wins round 9 of IRC 2WD Cup
While there were no challengers from Honda, Skoda or Volkswagen in Asturias, the battle for honours in the 2WD Cup proved tense and extremely competitive between the two men at the top of the points table.
Ultimately Frenchman Denis Millet prevailed at the helm of his unique turbocharged Peugeot 207 RC, increasing his lead over Abarth-mounted Italian Manuel Villa. Villa, with two victories to his credit this season, pushed hard to regain ground lost to Millet in recent rounds. In the opening stages the lead passed between the pair like a pendulum but Millet built a 30-second cushion to end the opening day.
At the start of Day 2, Villa pressed hard to eat into that advantage, but then lost time with an incident with two stages left to run, allowing Millet to take his second win of the season.
Denis Millet surges to his second win of the season in Oviedo
Rally Principe de Asturias – facts and figures
Overall Positions
1 Jan Kopecky (CZ) Skoda Fabia S2000 2hrs 41m 51.3s
2 Kris Meeke (UK) Peugeot 207 S2000 – +2m 46.9s
3 Nicolas Vouilloz (F) Peugeot 207 S2000 – +2m 49.5s*
4 Freddy Loix (B) Peugeot 207 S2000 – +2m 58.9s
5 Corrado Fontana (I) Peugeot 207 S2000 – +3m 45.0s
6 Alberto Hevia (E) Skoda Fabia S2000 +4m 27.2s
7 Michal Solowow (PL) Peugeot 207 S2000 – +5m 58.0s
8 Giandomenico Basso (I) Abarth Grande Punto S2000 +7m 3.8s
*40s penalty incurred
2WD Cup
1 Millet (F) Peugeot 207 RC +2m 42.0s
2 Villa (I) Abarth Punto S1600
Stage Winners:
SS1: Hevia, SS2: Vouilloz, SS3: Kopecky, SS4: Vouilloz, SS5: Hevia, SS6-7: Basso, SS8: Cancelled, SS9: Kopecky, SS10: Meeke, SS11: Vouilloz, SS12-14: Vouilloz, SS15: Basso
Leading Retirements:
Fuster (E) Abarth Grande Punto S2000 SS4, accident
IRC Drivers standings after 9 of 11 rounds
1 Meeke 50 points
2 Kopecky 49
3 Loix 32
4 Basso 28
5 Vouilloz 25
6 Hanninen 20
etc…
IRC Manufacturers standings after 9 of 11 rounds
1 Peugeot 109 points *
2 Skoda 72
3 Ralliart 42
4 Abarth 34
5 Proton 5
6 Honda 1
*Peugeot is the 2009 manufacturers champion
IRC 2WD Cup Drivers‘ standings after 9 of 11 rounds
1 Millet 41 points
2 Villa 36
3 Tulio 10
= Piepers 10
= Koitla 10
etc…
IRC 2WD Cup Manufacturers‘ standings after 9 of 11 rounds
1 Peugeot 79 points
2 Abarth 54
3 Honda 40
4 Volkswagen 16
Remaining Events:
Rally Sanremo (Italy) September 24-26
RAC MSA Rally of Scotland (UK) November 19-21
For further information please visit: www.rally-irc.com
Durch Beschluss der Sportkommission des ACL war der siebte Lauf der VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring kurzfristig für das lange Zeit angekündigte, jedoch nicht durchgeführte Event auf dem Goodyear-Circuit in Colmar-Berg, in den Luxemburger Rundstreckenkalender aufgenommen worden. Das 32. RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen bedeutete somit den Abschluss in der Luxemburger Meisterschaft und auf den Plätzen zwei und drei war noch alles offen. Die Überlegung noch um Meisterschaftspunkte, gar um einen Podiumsplatz zu fahren, hatte Joe Schmitz, der nur beim ersten Event (im BMW 130i-Cup) Ende Juni in Colmar-Berg angetreten war, eigentlich nicht angestellt.
Für den Marathon, Ende August, in der Eifel hatte der Maschinenbaustudent wieder bei Gentle-Swiss-Racing angedockt und spannte im Aston Martin V8 Vantage mit den beiden Schweizern Fredy Barth und Stefano Comini zusammen. Während Barth in diesem Jahr im Seat Leon Eurocup am Werk ist, bestreitet der Tessiner Comini die Formel Renault 2000 in Italien. In den letzen Minuten des Qualifyings zum Grenzlandrennen wurden noch neue Slicks für Barth aufgezogen, der dann eine Zeit von 90925 hinlegte und somit den GT4 auf Startplatz 39 bei 192 Teilnehmern stellte. Das Schweizer Team hatte entschieden Schmitz als Ersten ins Rennen zu schicken; eine Erfahrung, den Start aus der ersten Gruppe, den dieser noch nicht kannte. Wohl verständlich, daß es dem Nachwuchsmeister 2008 etwas mulmig war sich in der Meute der tobenden Porsche-Fahrer wiederzufinden. Seine Konzentration war denn auch darauf ausgerichtet den britischen Sportwagen durchs Feld zu bringen und heil an Comini weiterzugeben. Vor dem Start war bereits klar, dass der Wagen den Speed der Trainingszeit im Rennen nicht halten konnte, dadurch gingen einige Plätze beim Start verloren. Doch Schmitz zeigte sich zufrieden über seinen Einsatz. Schlussendlich wurde der Wagen auf Platz 50 bei 131 klassierten Teams abgewinkt.
Die 70 Punkte die er als bestklassierter Luxemburger Fahrer bekam brachten ihn in der Rundstreckenmeisterschaft noch auf Platz drei in der Endabrechnung. Lange Zeit wird er allerdings nicht diesen Podiumsplatz feiern können, am kommenden Wochenende wird er mit seinem Mygale-BMW K1 beim Bergrennen in Turckheim, Frankreich, dem vorletzten Lauf der Luxemburger Bergmeisterschaft, antreten und versuchen seinen dritten Rang in der Tabelle zu verteidigen.
(R.H.) www.schmitzjoe.com
Team Oreca-Matmut AIM made a strong come back and posted the best time. The French team had decided not to enter the race at Nürburgring and so lost all chances for the title, but would like to end the season on a high note as a reward for the hard team work, as Nicolas Lapierre explained: The practice sessions went well and the balance was getting better and better. Our package works well here and we want to finish the race tomorrow. It would be good for us to take the victory because we have been trying to win since the beginning of the season, but traffic and reliability will be key factors tomorrow.
This year is definitely a turning point for OAK Racing team. Further to the change of name (the team was formerly Saulnier Racing), 2009 is the year of development, of new identity affirmation and moreover, of the sporting successes.
