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Formula 1 Toro Rosso

AusGP: Ricciardo buoyant leading into race

Daniel Ricciardo, 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Daniel Ricciardo has already ticked off one of this season’s goals by qualifying in the top 10 for today’s Australian Grand Prix. The 22-year-old Toro Rosso driver is confident that good showing can translate into a solid race result.

“The ambition at the start of the weekend, as far as qualifying was concerned, was to get into Q3 and we have achieved that,” Ricciardo said.

“Before we got to Melbourne, we did not have a clear idea of how our pace would compare with the other teams. In fact, I thought Q3 might have been a little bit out of reach, so this was a really positive result for me and for the team.”

Tenth place represents the highest starting position in Ricciardo’s young F1 career and he’s hoping a good start off the line will set him up for a good finishing position in his maiden Australian Grand Prix.

“We should have a strong race as we are in good shape, so it will be a case of trying to get the best start possible followed by a good opening lap and see how we get on from there,” he said.

“It will be a bit of a new experience for me compared to last year as this is the first time I start a Grand Prix from as high as the mid-field.”

Ricciardo’s intra-team battle with rookie Jean-Eric Vergne will be one of 2012’s highlights and with the Frenchman alongside him in P11 their interactions during the race will be worth monitoring.

“We have laid the groundwork for Sunday and Jean-Eric is not far behind me, which will keep me on my toes, so as a team we can be pleased with the work we have done.”

[Pic: Toro Rosso/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Red Bull Racing

AusGP: Webber hopeful rather than confident

Mark Webber, 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Following his fifth place in qualifying Mark Webber is hopeful it will bring him good luck. Today will be Webber’s 11th race start in the Australian Grand Prix and so far the best he has to show for it is a trio of fifth places (2002, 2005 and 2011).

Aside from his debut race here with Minardi back in 2002, where a fifth place was something of a minor miracle, his results since haven’t met his expectations, not to mention those of a demanding public.

Speaking after qualifying Mark didn’t exactly sound as though he was filled with confidence his luck is about to change.

“Fifth is my lucky number here, but we’re looking to go forward and it is a long year,” he said.

“I’m not happy where we are on the grid. I feel we will find out tomorrow how we are on Sunday afternoons. Saturday [qualifying] is not our strength right now.”

Although, it does appear that Webber has confidence in the RB8 even though he feels they need more time to develop its potential.

“We would have liked to have had a bit better track time and having a slightly better understanding of the car, but the base is absolutely there,” Webber explained.

“We need to leave here with some points in the bank and we need to massage more out of this car quite quickly.”

[Source: ABC | Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Formula 1 Lotus McLaren

2012 Australian GP: Qualifying press conference

2012 Australian Grand Prix

So we have two McLarens on the front row for the 2012 Australian Grand Prix. That’s probably not such a big surprise, certainly not as much as seeing the Red Bulls two rows further back. The real surprise, of course, is seeing 25-year-old Romain Grosjean in P3 in just his eighth race and his first visit to Australia.

Grosjean has shown the Lotus is no flash in the pan, too; he has been near the top of the timesheets more than once this weekend. Could he win it? Well anything can happen in Formula One…

After the break you can read what the first three men had to say after qualifying.

Continue reading “2012 Australian GP: Qualifying press conference”
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Formula 1

AusGP: Hamilton claims pole position

A fascinating qualifying period at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix has ended with Lewis Hamilton claiming pole position for McLaren. He was the only man to break the 1:25 barrier with a time of 1:24.922, en route to his 20th pole position.

In second place was Jenson Button (1:25.074) completing a front-row lockout for the Mercedes-powered McLarens.

Romain Grosjean, fast emerging as the dark horse for the 2012 F1 season, finished third for Lotus (1:25.302). Michael Schumacher will start alongside the young Frenchman after he came home fourth with a 1:25.336.

That means Red Bull will start tomorrow’s race from an unfamiliar row three, with Webber in P5 (1:25.651) and Vettel alongside in P6 (1:25.668). Yep, you better believe it, this season is wide open now.

The remaining places in the top 10 were claimed by Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG, 1:25.686), Pastor Maldonado (Williams, 1:25.908), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India, 1:26.451) and Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso, no time).

Full results from qualifying are available here. We’ll have pics and the full post-quali transcript for you later tonight.

Categories
Formula 1

AusGP: Observations from trackside

McLaren MP4-27, Friday practice, 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Qualifying is about to start at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix but we thought we’d share with you a few observations from trackside. During Free Practice 3 we watched proceedings between Turns 4 and 6.

Three things were clear. In a sea of hackneyed platypus nosed dogs the McLaren MP4-27 stands out as a really great looking car. We’ve grabbed a few pics from Friday’s practice to support our claims.

The HRT’s, god bless’ em, are little more than mobile chicanes. They are visibly slower and from what we’ve seen will serve to build up the arm muscles of the flag marshalls and not much else.

Of most interest, however, was the sound made by the two Red Bull RB8’s on the entry to Turn 6. Clearly different to all the other cars on track they exhibited an off throttle note that was somewhat reminiscent of the spluttering noises made last year when the engine tunes were busy feeding exhaust blown diffusers.

As a side note watching an F1 car from behind as it makes its way from Turn 6 and on to Turns 7 and 8 is a wonderful sight.

Continue reading “AusGP: Observations from trackside”
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Formula 1

AusGP: Hamilton quickest in Saturday practice

Lewis Hamilton, 2012 Australian Grand Prix

In bright, sunny conditions Lewis Hamilton sent McLaren to the top of the timesheets in the final practice session before this afternoon’s qualifying at the Australian Grand Prix. It was the first totally dry period of the weekend and Hamilton’s time of 1:25.681 is the early benchmark.

Showing their pre-season pace was no fluke Lotus sit comfortably inside the top three with their returning F1 driver posting a time of 1:25.758. But it wasn’t the 2007 World Champion, Kimi Raikonnen, instead the former Renault driver, Romain Grosjean, who was just 0.077 seconds behind.

Australia’s best chance of a home win in Melbourne rests with Mark Webber and he has indicated his Red Bull will be at the pointy end of qualifying by setting the third fastest time in FP3. Webber’s best lap of 1:25.900 was only 0.225s behind the leading McLaren.

Jenson Button was fourth, with the Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, despite an excursion in the kitty litter, finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

Sebastian Vettel provided light drama when he went into the gravel with 15 minutes of the session remaining. He was unable to rejoin but the dual world champion still managed with seventh fastest time with a 1:26.211.

Pastor Maldonado will have impressed his team boss Frank Williams by putting the Fw34 in eighth. Sergio Perez will also ensure Peter Sauber has a grin on his face after completing practice with the ninth fastest time. Daniel Riccardo rounded out the top 10 some 1.042 seconds behind Hamilton.

We expect there’ll be glum faces in the Ferrari pit with Fernando Alonso back in sixteenth (1:27.323) and Felipe Massa eighteenth (1:28.023). You’d reckon it will be tough for them to fight their way into Q3 from there.

HRT also struggled and they may find it difficult to post a time within 107% of the fastest Q1 qualifier which could put them in jeopardy for Sunday’s race.

You can see a full list of times after the break and we’ll be back with more after the qualifying.

Continue reading “AusGP: Hamilton quickest in Saturday practice”
Categories
Porsche

VIDEO: Porsche 911 Cabriolet

991 Porsche 911 Cabriolet

At the Geneva Motor Show August Achleitner, Manager of the 911 model line, popped in to give us a rundown on the new Porsche 911 Cabriolet.

Achleitner tells us Porsche has made a lot of improvements to the performance and handling but they’re keeping Greenpeace at bay by also reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

More importantly, though, the 911 convertible is both stiffer and lighter than before. This all leads to Achleitner declaring, “This is still a sports car.”

If a cabrio 911 is your thing you’ll be able to visit your local Porsche Centre to pick one up next month.

Check out the clip after the break.

Continue reading “VIDEO: Porsche 911 Cabriolet”
Categories
Audi

2013 Audi A3 driving footage

When the new Audi A3 was officially launched at the Geneva Motor Show Audi Australia weren’t willing to divulge their launch plans. Our guess is the new A3 will be on display at the Australian International Motor Show in October before going on sale locally early next year.

Seeing as you can’t see the car out on the streets you’ll have to make do with this YouTube footage, brought to our attention by Audi UK.

As soon as we hear something concrete from Audi Australia and their A3 rollout we’ll let you know.

Categories
Formula 1 McLaren Mercedes-Benz

AusGP: Button quickest in Friday practice

Jenson Button, McLaren, 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Rain interrupted proceedings during both of F1’s free practice sessions at the 2012 Australian Grand Prix yesterday. It robbed the teams and fans of the first genuine chance to see who was going to be the team to beat in Melbourne.

In drying conditions during the morning session it was Jenson Button who set the day’s fastest time when lapped the 5.3km Albert Park Circuit in 1:27.560. For context that time is four seconds slower than Sebastian Vettel’s pole position time from last year.

In the afternoon Michael Schumacher relived the glory days by finishing the session on top of the timesheets. His time was 1:29.183 and as such doesn’t really offer us a true representation of what to expect in today’s sunny and dry conditions.

World Champion team Red Bull Racing was down the field, with Webber finishing fifth fastest in FP1 (1:28.467) and Sebastian Vettel eleventh (1:29.790). While in the second session it was Vettel who led the Red Bulls in tenth (1:32.194) just ahead of Webber (1:32.296).

Australia’s other hope Daniel Ricciardo took his Toro Rosso to seventh in the morning (1:28.908) before being well down the field in twenty-first during the afternoon (1:34.604).

Free Practice 3 starts at 2pm and runs for an hour. Qualifying starts at 5pm and it is then that we should get the first genuine insights as to how the early part of the season should progress.

[Pic: asphotos]

Continue reading “AusGP: Button quickest in Friday practice”
Categories
Formula 1 News

Channel 10’s 2012 F1 TV coverage confirmed

2011 Australian Grand Prix

With their telecast of the 2012 Australian Grand Prix about to get underway the question over who Channel 10 will source their commentary feed from has been answered. In a recent tweet Channel 10 commentator Greg Rust confirmed: “2 all the F1 followers tks 4 ur patience. Yes @tensporttv will be taking the @SkySportsF1 commentary for the 2012 F1 season.”

Questions were raised following the shock move by the BBC to step back from their F1 coverage, forging a new deal allowing British pay TV network Sky Sports to step in and fill the void. It’s a move hoped to save BBC some cash in the face of increasing budget concerns. The Beeb will still offer free-to-air limited coverage for UK viewers with around half the season to be shown live, while the remaining races will be a highlights package.

Australian viewers can rest easy in the knowledge that Channel 10, via their HD channel One, will continue to show all qualifying sessions and races live throughout the 2012 F1 season.

A juicy cheque, rumoured to be in the seven-figure price bracket, has lured Martin Brundle from the BBC to Sky and he will head their commentary team. For more info on their F1 coverage check out the Sky Sports F1 website, which may prove to be a good source of info throughout the year.

[Thanks to Wes for the tip]

Categories
Formula 1 Toro Rosso

Ricciardo told to push it, push it real good

F1 Jerez pre-season testing, February 2012

As we prepare for the 2012 F1 season to start in earnest one of the most intriguing side stories is the Daniel Ricciardo–Jean Eric Vergne rivalry. Both in their first year with Toro Rosso they are in effect taking part in a year-long interview for Mark Webber’s race seat at Red Bull. That’s the commonly held belief anyway.

The pair have competed against each other in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series so have some idea what to expect. The good news for those of us watching with interest is the Toro Rosso top brass have basically said, all gloves are off chaps, get out there and have a crack.

“We’re going to be on the edge. They have said if you make a mistake, it happens. At least we know you’re pushing it,” explained Ricciardo.

“Obviously we’re not going out there trying to crash the car, but sometimes a team needs to see you go off, whether it’s a crash or you run across the grass’ to know that you’re trying to find that limit.

“I’m not going to hold back.”

And that’s excellent news for us.

[Source: tensport]

Categories
Ford WRC

Chris Atkinson hopeful for more WRC action

Chris Atkinson, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, Rally Mexico

Last weekend Chris Atkinson enjoyed his first WRC start since 2009 when he took part in Rally Mexico as part of Ken Block’s Monster World Rally Team.

“Atko”, as he’s become known, showed good pace too, running well inside the top 10 and winning the Super Special 2 stage. That was the first ever WRC stage win for the Monster WRT.

Unfortunately for Chris a brake failure contributed to him crashing out of the event on day two of the rally. But he’s still hoping to sign off on at least two more appearances this year by participating in Rally NZ and Rally Finland.

“Having been part of the Monster World Rally Team in Mexico, I’m really, really pushing to make it happen in Finland and New Zealand. I felt like I really fitted in with the team, it was great—and really cool to see how those boys push the marketing and social media side of the sport,” explained Atkinson.

“I’ve always got on really well with Ken [Block, Monster team-mate] and I reckon we make a good team. Everybody’s pushing hard to make the deal work for us to do more and those two rallies are two of my favourites.”

Indeed Atkinson has previously finished fourth at NZ and secured a WRC podium by finishing third in the 2008 Rally Finland.

[Source: wrc.com | Pic: Monster WRT]