Archive für 3.9.2010
Kelvin Snoeks hits the top prior to qualifying
3.9.2010 von Wolfgang.
Dutchman enjoys his best session of the year in second practice
Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks had his best ever session in Formula Two during today’s second free practice session, running at the front for the majority of the half hour before recording the fastest time.
Snoeks seems to get on well with this circuit, with his best race in Formula Master last season occurring at this very track, and he built on a third place finish this morning by topping the timesheets in second practice - dipping into the 1m21s barrier twice, the only man to do so during the 30 minutes.
Jack Clarke was second, although he lost time mid way through the session after spinning into the gravel at turn five. He was unable to recover under his own steam, but was lifted out of the gravel by the marshals and returned to the track, setting his best time late on in the session.
Kazim Vasiliauskas showed good consistency to record the third fastest time, with Ricardo Teixeira continuing his impressive pace from the opening session to wind up the session in fourth.
This morning’s fastest man Sergey Afanasiev could only manage fifth this time around, while championship contenders Jolyon Palmer and Dean Stoneman were sixth and 11th.
Benjamin Bailly and Ebrahim were seventh and eighth while Johannes Theobald continued to impress on his F2 debut with the ninth fastest time.
The warm sunshine was a contrast to this morning’s grey and damp practice, but several drivers were still caught out by the technical nature of the Oschersleben track. Plamen Kralev had several excursions during the session, while Armaan Ebrahim twice went off at turn 12. Will Bratt and Ivan Samarin also had off track excursions on their way to 10th and 17th respectively. All drivers were able to continue.
With the top ten in each practice period separated by less than a second, qualifying is likely to be a close-run affair in which the championship contenders will be looking to move further up the order. Qualifying starts at 16.15CET, with live text commentary and live timing available from the Formula Two website.
www.formulatwo.com
YUKINORI TANIGUCHI REPLACES VAULKHARD
3.9.2010 von Wolfgang.
Japanese racer Yukinori Taniguchi will replace Harry Vaulkhard at bamboo-engineering in the next three WTCC events at Oschersleben this week, Valencia and Okayama.
Team principal Richard Coleman commented: "While it’s sad to see Harry go it’s a great opportunity for us to work with Yukinori, his experience at the Okayama circuit will no doubt help us as a team when we get there."
Taniguchi made a brief appearance in the World Championship two years ago, when he raced at Monza and Okayama at the wheel of a JAS Motorsport Honda Accord car. Now he will be driving a bamboo-run Chevrolet Lacetti alongside Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young.
"I have been looking to drive in WTCC since 2008 and now I have this opportunity in a great team and car. Bamboo showed they are one of the fastest independent teams this season and I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel," Taniguchi said.
Being sidelined because one of his sponsors pulled out, Vaulkhard commented, "I’m gutted, but my goal is to be back in WTCC for 2011 and I’m also working on other things for the remainder of the current season."
Yukinori Taniguchi takes over Vaulkhard’s Chevrolet from Oschersleben
THE CHAMPIONSHIP RESUMES AFTER SUMMER BREAK
The FIA WTCC resumes at Oschersleben after the traditional summer break and the title fights are on for the final four events of the season.
Chevrolet’s Yvan Muller continues to lead the standings on 199 points after scoring three victories this year. However, last time out in Brno, Muller endured his worst weekend of the season scoring no points and allowing his rivals to close the gap. Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini remains second just 5 points adrift after being consistently up the front in his SEAT León TDI with seven visits to the podium.
Andy Priaulx lies third, only 16 points behind the leader. The BMW ace has put in some fantastic drives to claim five victories, the most of any competitor this season, to keep in contention for the title yet again.
Britain’s Rob Huff is fourth and reduced his gap to Muller to 32 points after claiming his first victory of the season for Chevrolet in Brno.
In the Manufacturers’ championship Chevrolet currently lead on 445 from SEAT Customers Technology on 405.
The battle in the Independents is also raging with Proteam’s Segio Hernández leading his team-mate Stefano D’Aste by 18 points. Darryl O’Young is just 28 points adrift.
In the Rookie Challenge, Fredy Barth and Norbert Michelisz have mostly shared the spoils this year. Barth took over the lead in the standings after Brno with 104 points, Michelisz is now 5 points behind and Michel Nykjær is third with a 31-point gap.
With just four events remaining - Germany, Spain, Japan and Macau - all titles are still firmly up for grabs in what looks set to be a thrilling end to the 2010 season.
The FIA WTCC resumes in Oschersleben for the final part of the season
YVAN MULLER TO MAKE WRC DEBUT
Chevrolet WTCC ace Yvan Muller will make his first World Rally Championship appearance on the occasion of the Rallye de France that will take place on October 1st to 3rd.
The 2008 WTCC champion will be at the wheel of Petter Solberg’s former Citroën Xsara, run by the Automeca team, his co-driver will be Gilles Mondésir.
"In the latest seasons I have been focusing on Touring Car racing. However I competed in different specialities during my career, including rally raid, ice racing and rally. And I am always in favour of new experiences. Long since I wanted to try rally at a top level and I am very happy that this plan for the Rallye de France is being fulfilled. It is also a good occasion for me to discover the roads of my native region the Alsace," Muller commented.
www.fiawtcc.com
Afanasiev fires opening salvo at Oschersleben
3.9.2010 von Wolfgang.
Russian edges out Dean Stoneman to top first practice session
Following a four week summer break, the FIA Formula Two Championship returned to the tarmac today at Oschersleben, with Russia’s Sergey Afanasiev getting his weekend off to a perfect start by topping the timesheets in the first free practice session.
Afanasiev, who finished second at the track last year in International Formula Master, made the most of a progressively drying circuit to clinch the top spot in the final few minutes of the session - denying championship contender Dean Stoneman by little over two hundredths of a second.
Stoneman was forced to settle for second, although the Briton was once again highly impressive as he set about learning the technical Oschersleben circuit for the first time.
Behind the lead duo, Kelvin Snoeks finished third fastest after topping the timesheets at the halfway stage. Like Afanasiev, Snoeks has raced at the circuit before in International Formula Master, and the Dutchman made the most of his previous experience by finishing third quickest.
While Stoneman finished second, his title rival and current championship leader Jolyon Palmer also started the weekend strongly as he topped the timesheets on several occasions before eventually finishing fourth. Just four points separate the pair going into what could be a potentially decisive penultimate round here in Germany.
Behind Palmer, Kazim Vasiliauskas, Jack Clarke and Ricardo Teixeira finished within one tenth of a second of each other in fifth through to seventh. Vasiliauskas and Clarke both ran well at the circuit last year in Formula Two, and the pair looked in good touch again - Kazim in particular impressing by setting the fastest time of any driver in the first sector.
France’s Benjamin Lariche finished eighth fastest, just over three hundredths of a second ahead of Armaan Ebrahim - who arrived in Germany after spending two weeks in Brazil filming India’s ‘Fear Factor’.
Johannes Theobald, making his F2 debut on home soil this weekend, completed a highly impressive session by rounding out the top ten - fractions ahead of Brno race winner Nicola De Marco and older brother Julian, both of whom finished within nine tenths of Afanasiev’s benchmark time.
Early pace setters Philipp Eng and Benjamin Bailly faded a little toward the end, ending the session in 15th and 16th respectively.
www.formulatwo.com
TRIUNFO DE ALBERT COLL, Y VAN TRES . . .
3.9.2010 von Wolfgang.
El pasado fin de semana tuvo lugar, en el Circuito Mallorca Renn Arena de Llucmajor, la 4ª prueba puntuable para el Campeonato de Baleares de karting, y de nuevo el piloto mallorquín Albert Coll se proclamó vencedor del meeting en la categoria Open II.
El piloto de SUSHICLUB, fue el más rápido en los entrenamientos clasificatorios, obteniendo así la pole. Albert, ganaba la primera manga de carrera y conseguia en la segunda manga una brillante segunda posición, que le hacia subir a lo más alto del podium.
Con este nuevo triunfo, Albert, pasa de la 5ª plaza del campeonato a la 3ª posición, a tan sólo 5 puntos del segundo clasificado, y con aspiraciones más claras de volver a revalidar el título de Campeón de Baleares de karting, obtenido en las temporadas 2006 y 2008.
La próxima y penúltima cita del campeonato, para el piloto mallorquín, tendrá lugar dentro de dos semanas en la isla de Menorca.
Albert: “El campeonato se puso muy difícil, por el abandono en la primera carrera, pero he remontado gracias a las tres victorias consecutivas. Tengo muchas posibilidades de volver a ganar el campeonato, ya que sólo faltan dos carreras, y lo voy a intentar”.
