Tag: racing

Indian Grand Prix Dropped From 2014 Formula One Calendar

Formula One Chief, Bernie Ecclestone and organisers of the Indian Grand Prix, Jaypee Group have confirmed that the Indian Grand Prix has been dropped from the 2014 Formula One calendar, and will be held in the first half of 2015.

There has been intense speculation about the future of the event for the past few weeks, amid major tax issues with Indian authorities. Ecclestone said from that he and his Formula 1 management always wanted the India round early in the season, but the organisers preferred October.

When we signed the five-year deal with Jaypee, we were keen on going to India in the first half and Jaypee wanted it to be in October. We gave in at that time, but now it looks we will have the race early 2015.

– Bernie Ecclestone, Chairman & CEO, Formula One

The 2014 round will not take place as it is not possible for Jaypee to host two races within six months. The organisers shell out $40 million (Rs 237.7 crore) for every Formula One race at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) as licensing fee. During the Hungarian Grand Prix last week, Ecclestone said that the Indian Grand Prix was unlikely to happen next year due to political reasons. Widespread interpretations took it as the unhappiness of Formula One teams regarding the heavy taxation policy of India and its rigid structure, which is largely inflexible towards Formula One teams.

The ditching of the Indian GP clears the way for Ecclestone to slot in the Russian Grand Prix in October next year. A race at the start of the 2015 season means India will have to be clubbed with Australia, and the Asian nations Malaysia, Bahrain and China.

July 31, 2013
Andretti Autosport Signs Up for All-Electric ‘Formula E’ Series

Four-time IZOD IndyCar Series champions Andretti Autosport has announced that it will field a team in the upcoming FIA Formula E Championship, the all-electric racing series that will debut next season. Andretti Autosport is the first U.S.-based team to sign up for the new racing series.

The Andretti team plans to create a two-car program for the series, which will compete in 10 cities around the world. The American outfit now the third team to sign on so far for Formula E’s inaugural season, joining China Racing and British-based Drayson Racing.

Andretti Autosport is run by none other than former racer Michael Andretti. Michael Andretti, who is the son of racing legend Mario Andretti and father of current Andretti Autosport driver Marco Andretti, was the 1991 CART IndyCar champion and raced in Formula One for McLaren in 1993. He has led Andretti Autosport to the status of IndyCar champions on four occassions, with drivers Tony Kanaan, the late Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti and last year’s title winner Ryan Hunter-Reay. Andretti Autosport also won the Indianapolis 500 with both Wheldon and Franchitti.

It’s an honour for Andretti Autosport to have been selected as one of the 10 founding Formula E teams for the inaugural season. I look forward to further exploring the series and helping build the future of open-wheel racing across the world.

– Michael Andretti

Interestingly, Andretti Autosport plans to run one of its cars for the Formula E championship but potentially use the second as a “star car” for well-known drivers. This in turn could mean appearances in the new category from their stable of IndyCar pilots – defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, James Hinchcliffe and E.J. Viso.

We are absolutely delighted to welcome Andretti Autosport to the series; a team with an incredible racing pedigree and track record who I have no doubt is going to make a big contribution to the FIA Formula E Championship. It’s fantastic too for such a highly-established outfit to show its commitment to sustainable motoring and with two US races on the inaugural calendar – Los Angeles and Miami – I’m sure American motorsport fans will have a lot to cheer come race day.

– Alejandro Agag, Chief, Formula E

Formula E’s first season will run from September 2014 to June ’15, running entirely on street circuits, including one in London. Berlin was unveiled as the final venue on the calendar last week.

July 21, 2013
Fangio-driven Mercedes F1 car auctioned for record $29M at Goodwood

The Bonhams auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed is known for hosting some iconic race cars in its history. The race car in the picture above adds to that list, and how. This Mercedes W196R was driven by legendary F1 driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, to wins in the 1954 German and Swiss Grand Prix races. When the hammer fell at the auction yesterday, it was sold for $29.65 million, making it the most expensive car ever sold at an auction. With that sale, It also earned the honour of being the most expensive F1 car ever sold and the most valuable Mercedes Benz in the world.

Fangio’s wins gave Mercedes its first back-to-back post-war Grand Prix victories, and it introduced F1 cars to fuel-injection, tubular spaceframe chassis and inline eight-cylinder engines.

The most important historic Grand Prix racing car ever offered for sale.

– Robert Brooks, Bonhams Chairman

The Mercedes W196R came close to the record price for a car sold privately, with the current holder being a 1962 Ferraro GTO built for Sterling Moss that went for a reported $35 million in a private sale last year.

July 14, 2013
Auto GP: Karthikeyan Handed Maiden Victory at Silverstone

Narain Karthikeyan scored his maiden Auto GP win on Saturday at Silverstone in the UK after on-track victor Kevin Giovesi was given a one-minute post-race penalty. Driving for team Super Nova, Narain had initially crossed the line second behind the race winner Kevin Giovesi. But Giovesi’s Ghinzai Motorsport team was ruled to have made an illegal pitstop on the 14th lap of the race, which happened to be the last. The series’ sporting regulations state that mandatory pitstops can be made only between lap three and the penultimate lap.

Narain, who started on pole in race 1, had Giovesi and teammate Vittorio Ghirelli shadowing him right from the start. As the race progressed, it became a two-horse race as Karthikeyan and Giovesi carved an eight-second gap over the rest of the field by the mid-way mark. But the Indian driver had managed to keep a safe distance while leading the pack, until he pitted for his obligatory tyre change. The team didn’t have the cleanest of pitstops which resulted in Narain conceding the race lead, which he had held for 11 laps, to Giovesi.

Giovesi then pitted on the following lap and as expected, came out of the pits ahead of Karthikeyan. Despite struggling with some front tyre warmup issues, he challenged the Italian GP2 racer for the lead but Giovesi managed to cross the line three-tenths ahead.

This is what a very happy Karthikeyan had to say after the race:

I’m glad I got my first victory in Auto GP. I immediately found a good feeling with the car on a track like Silverstone and I managed to get the most from the package we had at our disposal.

Earlier this year, Narain didn’t have the best of starts to the season racing with the Zele Racing Auto GP team. He encountered reliability issues and many goof-ups during pitstops which robbed him of opportunities to finish strongly in previous rounds. Due to these reasons, Karthikeyan quit the team and later joined the reigning Auto GP champions, Super Nova for the Silverstone round. It proved to be a smart move as the ex-Formula 1 racing driver dominated the sessions on Friday and Saturday, proving his detractor wrong.

[Top Gear]

June 3, 2013