Pit Lane Reporter - Issue 3

A Word From The EditorContents

Hello again, I am writing this a little earlier than normal, my wife is due to have a baby any day soon, so in the tradition of trying to be organised, here are my notes for this new issue.

We have recently had the official launch party in Chester, UK. The launch was a fantastic event, attended by people from the motor sport industry, business owners, partners and of

course friends. You can find photos and a report of the night in this magazine. We were proud to announce our Issue One download figures that night, an impressive 29,000. Stats currently show that we are at least 10% up on that figure for Issue Two.

In this issue we have our normal reviews written by our great team of writers. We are very lucky to have some of the best talents from around the world, and this month we welcome two new writers: Bulgarian Formula One commentator Kiril Varbanov who will cover the technical side of motor sport (- read part one of his Aerodynamics article in this issue) and we also welcome Djuro Vukasovic Djuka from Montenegro who is going to cover virtual racing, something unique to our magazine. He will explain what it is all about in his introduction to virtual racing in this issue. The best thing about it is that you can get involved yourselves.

Since our last magazine, Formula One has continued to be dominated by Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. Many people were really pleased that the domination of Red Bull stopped, but there are immediate grumbles around the fact that we are moving from one dominant team to another. I am not worried, I believe Mercedes have done a great job and, in time, the others will catch up to make the field close in again. There is a pattern emerging indicating that when we have new regulations, a new team rises to the top. Look back at the history of the sport and you will see that I am right.

This month I had the great pleasure of speaking with Pippa Mann, the British IndyCar star and you can read the interview later in the magazine. I also spoke with Chris Stockton, a star in BTCC - an intriguing interview I am sure you’ll agree.

I really hope that you enjoy this issue. Please carry on sending your letters in, it’s great to hear your views on the magazine and motor sport in general. Some of your emails etc. can be seen on our letters page.

Until next month, have a great time watching some fantastic motor sport.No part of this magazine may be reproduced or stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form – electronic, mechanical or physical – without express prior permission and written consent of the publisher. Contributions are invited and when not accepted will be returned only if accompanied by a fully stamped and addressed envelope. Manuscripts should be typewritten. No responsibility can be taken for drawings, photographs or literary contributions during transmission or in the editor’s hands. In the absence of an agreement the copyright of all contributions, literary, photographic or artistic, belongs to The Pitlane Reporter. The Publisher accepts no responsibility in respect of advertisements appearing in the magazine and the opinions expressed in editorial material or otherwise do not necessarily represent the views of the Publisher. The Publisher cannot accept liability for any loss arising from the late appearance or non publication of any advertisement. Information about products and services featured within the editorial content does not imply an endorsement by The Pitlane Reporter. © 2014. The Pitlane Reporter.

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4 Meet the Team 6 Letters Page 9 Chinese F1 GP Review 13 What is Indy 500 14 Qualifying for the Indy 500 15 Interview with Pippa Mann 19 Rally Argentina Report 22 GP2 Short Article (Conor Daly)23 Launch Night Article and Gallery 26 NASCAR Season Recap 28 NASCAR 2015 Engine Changes29 NASCAR Secures new sponsorship 31 Chris Stockton Interview34 BTCC Championship Standings35 Bob A Baker Interview by Bruno (Part 1 of the ‘Unsung Heroes in Motorsport’) 38 Historic Racing 41 IndyCar Rewind 43 Montoya Report 44 Looking ahead in IndyCar/Upcom- ing Events46 Understanding Aerodynamics Part 151 Spanish F1 GP Review54 Virtual Racing Introduction – by Djuro Vukasovic Djuka55 Phil Woods – Everyday Driving Column 57 Current Championship Standings 59 Inside Next Month60 Photograph Credits

Pitlane Reporter wish Michael Schumacher a speedy recovery

Phil Woods Editor

Bruno Keiser Rally Journalist

Phil has been a writer for over 20 years. He is the former editor of The Podium Magazine and has had a book published in 2009 (Beat About the Bush – The funny side of language). Phil has been involved in motor sport journalism for the past three years and is now proud to bring you Pit Lane Reporter. Phil is a member of the British Association of Journalists. Phil has a unique way of writing that seems to be attractive to readers. He writes in a conversational style, whilst giving his proof readers a nightmare, it has proved to be successful. Phil can be contacted at [email protected]

Hello rally fans all over the world! Matchbox cars are my very first childhood memories. Since then I´m hooked on speed, cars and powerful engines. Later I became a car mechanic and in my last “normal” job, I worked for the Swiss air force as a jet engine engineer. My passion for rally (and motorsport in general) has grown together with the burning desire to capture speed and passion with my camera. In autumn 2010, I made a meaningful decision: All or nothing! I quit my job, sold everything I had (incl. my beloved Lotus Elise) and bought an old motorhome. I added everything needed to live in it permanently. Fully packed, with a budget for only one year and my beloved cat “Megi”, I left my family and friends on April 4, 2011, heading for my new life as a motorsport photographer in Finland.Since then I´m living my dream in my 14m² on wheels… Bruno can be contacted at [email protected]

Eric Hall IndyCar JournalistEric, based in Indianapolis, has been an IndyCar fan for his entire life and has been independantly covering the series since 2011. His blog, anotherindycarblog, has been at the core of his coverage for the past four years along with contributing to a number of online outlets as well. His love for motorsport and IndyCar history and unconventional way of writing his “from the fan’ perspectives has garnered a small, but strong following. Eric can be found at the track during most of the summer and looks to bring the readers behind the IndyCar catch fence in 2014 Eric can be contacted at [email protected]

Kiril Varbanov Technical JournalistIT engineer (at Experian - yes, we sponsor Williams), Formula 1 TV commentator, BBC TopGear Bulgaria columnist, F1Technical.net site editor. Blogger and avid petrol head. Independent consultant and crossfit-er. Ex-cyber cop and sound engineer.On the F1 side (which I assume it’s the most interesting part), I’m a co-host of the national F1 TV show, so I’m a media person. I’m fascinated by the technical details, but most of all in aerodynamics, which has been my passion for 14 years. I have a column in the Bulgaria Top Gear’s print issue (the largest auto magazine here), as well as online articles for AutoBild Bulgaria.

Kiril can be contacted at [email protected]

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Travis Barend Nascar JournalistTravis is a Public Relations student with a strong passion for NASCAR racing. Whether it is through the PR field or as a journalist, Travis dreams of having a career in NASCAR one day. Through his own blog, TracksideChatter.com, Travis showcases some of his writing while also giving other aspiring journalists an opportunity to contribute. Additionally, he is a writer for Speedwaymedia.com as well as NASCARTheGame.com. You can follow Travis on Twitter @TracksideTravis to keep up with his writing and his take on everything NASCAR. Travis can be contacted at [email protected]

Katy McKonnacchie GP2, GP3 & DTM

Adam Johnson BBTC Journalist

Brynmor Pierce Historic Racing Journalist

Katy, currently a media student, has been a Motorsport fan for as long as she can remember.When she isn’t studying, she can be found watching anything from Formula 1 to World Series by Renault or over on her blog sharing her passion for Motorsport with other fans.Over the course of year Katy will be bringing you updates and features on GP2, GP3 and DTM. katy can be contacted at [email protected]

Chief BTCC corrospondent for Pit Lane Reporter, and unashamed fan of the series since 1998. I cover touring car racing on these shores and around the world, with a penchant for noise, spectacle and a good underdog story. With the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series growing, it’s exciting times for stock car racing in Europe, and I cover the European stock car scene in detail. Away from motorsport I’m a Media Writing student at University of Greenwich, uni radio presenter, and I love rock music and the sport of roller derby.

Adam can be contacted at [email protected]

From the age of three I was taken along to various race and rally meetings with my late dad, the passion (some may call it an obsession) stems from him!! I’ve been fortunate over the last nearly 20 years to compete at most levels of rallying within the UK as both a driver and co-driver , currently you’ll regularly find me on British National events occupying the co-driver’s seat. That said throughout my life I have always had a passion for Historic’s, indeed the passion extends to Historic racing too and upholding a family tradition we’ve not missed an Oulton Park Gold Cup since it’s inception. I look forward to bringing you news and views from across Historic Motorsport in the UK. Should anyone have anything they wish me to cover please do get in touch!!

Brynmor can be contacted at [email protected]

PitLane Reporter Launch NightPage 21

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Letters Page

Dear Eric

First of all it’s great to get more

coverage of Indycar in Turkey,

I’m a big fan and it’s hard to

keep up while I am living here.

Do you think this crossover from

NASCAR to the Indy 500 is good

for the sport, or do you think it

cheapens the sport and makes a

bit of a mockery of those drivers

who work hard to learn Indycar?

Keep up the good work

KarenTurkey (formally Miami)

Thanks for reading Karen,

The Indianapolis 500 has a rich

tradition of welcoming drivers

from many different disciplines

of motorsport to try their hand

at the historic 500 miles. From

Formula One greats such as

Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell,

Jim Clark and Nelson Piquet

to NASCAR stars such as Cale

Yarborough, Donnie Allison,

Bobby Allison and John Andretti.

Kurt Busch is simply continuing a

great tradition.

Eric Hall

Dear Editor

Although I love this new era of Formula One, aren’t we just moving from one dominant team to another? Won’t the next few years be the same as everyone tries to catch up with Mercedes? I’m concerned that it is just going to get very boring again.

BenDundee (UK)

Hi Ben

As I have already alluded to in my editors notes, this isn’t really unusual. It seems that every time we have a big change of regulations in the sport, somebody gets ahead of the game as they interpret the rules better. Brawn did it with the double diffuser, Red Bull did it with the blown diffuser and before that we have seen Ferrari, McLaren and Williams all get a head start on other teams. When you have some of the best technical minds working in a sport, it would be strange if someone didn’t find a way to exploit things. I am confident that all the other teams will catch up to Mercedes but it may take a while, perhaps even until the next time the regulations have an overhaul. Even with Mercedes out front it has been a great start to the season, I wouldn’t worry about F1 getting boring any time soon.

Phil

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Dear Editor

I really like the new magazine. I do have one complaint though, you call yourself a motor sports magazine, but there is nothing at all in it about motorbikes. Why is that? Do you not like two-wheeled racing?

SteveGrantham (UK)

Hi Steve,

Where do I start with that one? First of all, I don’t actually call MYSELF a ‘motor sports magazine’. On a serious note, just watch this space as we are talking to a couple of writers at the moment who

could potentially cover Moto GP and The World Super Bikes Championship. Unfortunately, at the moment we don’t have anyone in place to write in the unique style our readers like and expect from us. We hope that in the coming months we will expand into bikes and eventually we hope to have a separate publication for bike fans. Bear with us Steve, we hope to please you very soon. Thanks for the compliment about the magazine at the beginning of your letter, it’s great to have feedback both positive and negative.

Phil

Dear Phil Woods

Can I be a little bit personal and

ask you what your favourite ever

Formula One race was and why?

SammiDhanbad (India)

Hi Sammi

I love the fact that people in

Asia are getting so engaged

with our magazine. It

makes me proud to see it

go worldwide. In answer to

your question, of course you

can ask. My favourite race

was Canada 2011, I know

it’s perhaps predictable

because I am British and it

was won in great style by

a Brit, Jenson Button. The

race itself had everything

in it, from great overtaking,

crashing, wet weather, red

flags, in fact, I am pretty

sure everything happened on

that one day. Jenson was in

a class of his own that day,

to come from the back, not

just once but twice was a

phenomenal achievement.

It doesn’t matter what form

of motor sport you prefer, I

defy anyone to watch that

race and say that it wasn’t

a drive of pure brilliance by

Jenson. I am sorry if you

were expecting an historic

answer, if I’d given you one,

it just wouldn’t have been

the truth. Thanks for asking

though, I love re-living that

race.

Cheers

Phil

Spanish Grand Prix ReviewPage 51

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Mercedes Dominate Again, but Ferrari Show Signs of Improvement

Qualifying

For the third time in four races we had wet conditions for the qualifying session. I say wet, what I mean in this case is damp. In the lead up to the session it was drizzling continuously, leading to conditions necessary for intermediate tyres. However as Q1 approached the rain got heavier making the tyre choice that little more difficult. The cars rolled out onto track with intermediate tyres to try and get a banker lap in, just in case the rain got heavier and full wets would be needed. Everyone that is except Pastor Maldonado, who’s Lotus was in pieces in the garage. He would take no part in qualifying.

In Q1 we expected some surprises due to the weather, but this wasn’t to come as the same teams failed to make it through to Q2. For a period of time, a few big guns teetered on the edge. However it was only Esteban Gutierrez joining the Caterham’s and Marussia’s in failing to make it through. Esteban would start in 17th; Kobayashi was the best of the rest starting the race in 18th, followed by Bianchi in the Marussia, Ericsson in the other Caterham, Chilton in Marussia and finally Maldonado in the stranded Lotus. He would be allowed to start the race despite setting no time.

In Q2 the rain started to ease and teams opted to go out on intermediate tyres. With both McLaren’s and the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen in the drop zone, the weather started to deteriorate leaving some big stars unable to improve on their time. Raikkonen would miss out on the final qualifying round by finishing 11th. Jenson Button was the best placed of the disappointing McLaren’s in 12th, his team mate, Kevin Magnussen way back in 15th. The Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat couldn’t follow his team mate Vergne into Q3 and would begin the race in 13th. Sergio Perez placed his ‘Podium Winning’ Force India in 16th. The final casualty of Q2 was Adrian Sutil in the Sauber, starting 14th in the race.

Phil Woods

Chinese Grand Prix Review

Then came Q3, the first thing to mention is Romain Grosjean managing to drag his Lotus into the final session for the first time in 2014. A great job given the start to the season that the team has had. The conditions were still poor but that couldn’t stop Lewis Hamilton from achieving the new British record for pole positions by taking his tally to 34, beating Jim Clark’s record. Daniel Ricciardo continued his good form over his world champion team mate, lining up 2nd on the grid, qualifying over half a second ahead of Sebastian Vettel in 3rd. Nico Rosberg couldn’t get himself alongside Lewis in this session, starting a disappointing 4th. Fernando Alonso would fill his customary 5th place, followed by the two Williams in 6th and 7th, Massa slightly ahead of Bottas. This was an impressive showing by the Williams cars considering how they have suffered in the wet weather at recent races. Nico Hulkenberg would begin in 8th ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso and in 10th was Romain Grosjean in his Lotus.

The Race

In a race that was rather dull in comparison to what we have been treated with so far this season, Lewis Hamilton produced a pole to flag dominant victory to win his third race in a row.

The majority of the action took place at the start. Felipe Massa was brilliant off the line before being sandwiched between Ricciardo and Alonso. Who knows what might have occurred had that not happened. Soon after, his team mate Valterri Bottas was caught up in a similar situation, also stunting his start. The biggest loser at the beginning was Nico Rosberg, falling to 7th. This was very unlucky as he had lost telemetry and therefore couldn’t set up his clutch for a decent start. This continued throughout the race for Rosberg, so he did incredibly well to go from 7th to finish the race in 2nd place. He may well be disappointed to finish behind his team mate again, but in my opinion, he can be proud of a very good performance given the circumstances he was put in because of a technical hitch.

Hamilton was soon off in the distance, pulling out around half a second a lap from Sebastian Vettel in the ever improving Red Bull. The gap increased by up to a second and a half by lap six as Vettel’s tyres took a battering and started to go off. A train of four cars, Vettel, Alonso, Ricciardo and Rosberg followed behind, all losing

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more and more time to Hamilton out front. On lap 10, Ferrari saw an opportunity and pulled Alonso into the pits. Red Bull reacted a lap later, but that one lap on fresh rubber was enough to allow Alonso to jump ahead. At this point in the race both Ferrari’s were showing signs of massive improvement in performance, especially comparing them to their recent form. In all honesty, Ferrari should have had a much better start to this season being in the fortunate position of manufacturing their own engines.

On lap 15 Red Bull pulled in Ricciardo from 4th place, but the pit stop was not quite the normal speedy work you’d expect. This allowed Rosberg to jump him as he had pitted 2 laps previously. Next up the road for Rosberg was Vettel, yet again there was little competition as the Renault powered car was simply annihilated on the long Chinese straight. Now Rosberg was running in 3rd and started to chase down 2nd place Fernando Alonso.

Perhaps the biggest talking point came shortly after. As in Bahrain, Red Bull had Vettel ahead of a faster Ricciardo, everyone knew what was to come next. Vettel was ordered to let his team mate through. However Vettel refused after asking about his strategy. One of the funniest responses on a radio feed (not including almost everything by Raikkonen) came when Vettel was told that Ricciardo was on “medium tyres but stopped earlier”. The come back from Sebastian was simply, “Tough Luck”. Vettel eventually let Ricciardo through on lap 25, or so we think. He ran a little wide which seemed to be on purpose. As it was Ricciardo would end the race a full 20 seconds ahead of his team mate. Could he have caught Alonso for the final podium spot if he hadn’t been stuck behind Vettel? I guess we will never really know.

On lap 42 the 2nd and 3rd places changed as once again the raw pace of the Mercedes was evident against Alonso’s Ferrari. Having struggled earlier in the race,

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Rosberg tore past his rival to take the second step on the podium and demoting Alonso to 3rd.

Further back in the race, both McLaren’s failed to score points. Both were lapped by Hamilton with Button finishing 11th and Magnussen 13th.

Daniil Kvyat was once again in the points in his Toro Rosso, impressing everyone with the start to his Formula One career. He finished 10th, proving again that Red Bull really do know how to pick future stars.

Only one of the Lotus’s got home, it was Maldonado this time. It was an unlucky run for Grosjean as he had to stop due to a gearbox issue. He was running in the points until then. Regardless of this, it is a significant step forward for the Enstone team, one they’ll hope to take forward to Barcelona.

One lap before the end Lewis Hamilton crossed the line and saw the chequered flag. He questioned this and was told to carry on. The flag was dropped a lap early and following the

race the results were taken back to that lap. The only one affected was Kamui Kobayashi in the Caterham, he had overtaken the Marussia of Jules Bianchi on the final lap. A cruel twist for the green team.

It may have been a dull race, but Lewis Hamilton will be satisfied with his performance and took a third win in a row for the first time in his career. He is now just 4 points behind his team mate Nico Rosberg in the drivers’ championship and will hope to continue his fine form into the European season.

It’s been a great start to the season as a whole. We may have moved from one dominant force to another but we are seeing some great performances from midfield teams, especially Force India, who currently lie in 3rd place in the constructors championship.

Team Performance of the Day – Mercedes

Driver of the Day – Lewis Hamilton

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Position Name Team Nationality Points Laps 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes British 25 2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes German 18 3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari Spanish 15 4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Australian 12 5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull German 10 6 Nico Hulkenberg Force India German 8 7 Valtteri Bottas Williams Finnish 6 8 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Finnish 4 9 Sergio Perez Force India Mexican 2 10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Russian 1 11 Jenson Button McLaren British 0 12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso French 0 13 Kevin Magnussen Mclaren Danish 0 14 Pastor Maldonado Lotus Venezuelan 0 15 Felipe Massa Williams Brazilian 6 16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber Mexican 0 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia French 0 18 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham Japanese 0 19 Max Chilton Marussia British 0 20 Marcus Ericsson Caterham Swedish 0 21 Romain Grosjean Lotus French 0 ret'd 2822 Adrian Sutil Sauber German 0 ret'd 5

Chinese Grand Prix Results

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What Indy Means

‘Another year past and another childhood remembered’

May in Indianapolis. More than a month; more than a race; more than an event. For 300,000 people, May in Indianapolis is a way of life. For a healthy contingent of these people, eleven months out of the year are spent in preparation and in anticipation for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. It’s not just an indycar race; it is the race. A supernova in our quiet galaxy of indycar racing. This is the one time a year that not only the motorsports world, but the entire sporting media pauses to remember what it is that makes Indy so special. Hundreds of thousands of people huddle around a TV or radio all day long and become hardcore indycar fans; even if for just a single afternoon once a year.

Our crown jewel race means something different to each and every person who watches or experiences it. Indianapolis is the temple of speed; the hallowed grounds where engineers, mechanics and drivers toe the line of sanity; taking machines to within an eyelash of catastrophe just to find that extra tenth of a second. Squeezing every ounce of speed out of the high-tech race machines as an offering to the open-wheel gods is the only way to worship at the two and a half mile rectangle. Anyone associated with the ethanol-fueled religious experience wouldn’t have it any other way. The Indy 500 also means prosperity, growth and history. Speedway; the small enclave surrounded by the sprawling city of Indianapolis, was single-handedly born and sustained by its famous racetrack. An entire community was created to fuel the massive machine that was, and is, racing

at the Speedway. From boutique racing shops to diners to team garages, Speedway’s lifeblood has always been the famous brickyard. The Speedway has also given Indianapolis, a once struggling city with a still born automotive industry, a fighting chance at the prosperity we enjoy today.

Without the world’s largest single day sporting event, Indianapolis would be a shadow of its current self. The Colts, Pacers, NCAA headquarters, our booming convention industry, the Super Bowl; none would have been possible without the Memorial Day Classic. Yes, the Indy 500 has been more and more recently marketed to an international market but it’s our history. A celebration of how far we as a city have come with the most famous race in the world. This is a local rite of passage and a celebration of history, not just a stop on a national touring calendar.

The Indy 500 is a month long celebration around the entire state. But more than remembering history, or idolizing speed, the race has always been a time for family. We hear tales from across the world of ‘cookouts’ with a main course of 200 laps of open wheel racing each May. Friends and family plan an entire weekend based around the happenings in Speedway. “See you in Indy” is a saying that means so much more than just a time and place to meet. We are all family for one afternoon a year. Every year for the Memorial Day weekend, my family would take some type of trip so we could watch the race live on TV. Whether it is camping or visiting family out of town, the end of May means racing, family and friends.

Eric Hall

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For the participants, the experience is very similar. Famous racing families have made their name and scribed their name into the history of speed. Andretti, Unser, Chevrolet, Rahal, Bettenhausen, Foyt; generations of drivers have grown up with generations of fans. We have watched our young progeny grow up in the pits and we root for them when they finally take their place on the grid. As if perhaps by destiny, we expect to see the children of our past heroes battle it out on track like their forefathers did before them. For us fans, as well as the heroes we go to cheer on, it has always been a family affair, and always will be.

Another year past and another childhood remembered. A common story among older Indy vets, as well as recent re-returners, is the connection of some part of race day to a simpler time in childhood. For a few hours on those late May afternoons, we are transported back in time. Walking into the amazing facility is like stepping into a time machine. You can hear the sounds of a hundred years of triumph and heartbreak, you can smell the memories of pork tenderloins and methanol exhaust, you can feel the tangible history. All of this sends many of us back to childhoods from many summers past, to a more simple time; an afternoon just to stop and remember.

Indy is all of these things to me. An inextricable link to some kind of intangible rose-colored past that may have never actually existed, and may never exist in the future. But it is this romantic, glamorized reality that brings us back year after year. Even if you are a fan for a single day a year, these 500 miles mean so much more than just a race to the finish - Taps, the Balloon release, Back Home Again in Indiana, Gentleman start your engines. These are all things that have been slowly added to the fabric of what Indianapolis means to all of us; things that are worth far more than the time taken to experience them.

Indianapolis is an afternoon of living history, love and reunion. It is one of a very small handful of events that can bring so many tangibles and intangibles to the center of attention year in and out. As we embark on yet another greatest month in racing, we are constantly reminded of what this battle of speed means. It is contested on a small strip of immovable pavement, founded by men who have become more lore than reality. The 500 may just be another race on the calendar, another points paying event, but if you truly believe that… You just don’t know what Indy means.

Qualifying for the Indy Indy500

How does IndyCar determine the grid for the Indianapolis 500? Upholding the long-standing tradition of tinkering with the qualification procedure, 2014 will see a slightly different schedule than years past. Gone are the traditional “Bump Day” and “Pole Day”; replaced with what can be called time trials on Saturday, and multi-stage, single-car qualifying on Sunday.

All of the weekend’s excitement has been packed into a few short hours of stress on day two. Teams and drivers will be pushed to the limit, and any mistake on Saturday will make for a long evening and an even longer Sunday. There will still be the chance for a last minute entry to make a miracle run and bump a more prepared team from the field, and there will still be the nail-biting, edge of adhesion and sanity that defines capturing the first starting position at Indianapolis.

Saturday, May 17

- All cars are guaranteed one run in an attempt to transfer into the Fast Nine

Shootout to determine pole position. - The fastest 30 cars are locked into the field but their starting positions will be determined on Sunday.- Positions 31-33 hold provisional times and are subject to being bumped from the field. Sunday, May 18

- Group one, comprised of positions 10-30 from Saturday Time Trials, will set qualification times for the Indy 500. Drivers are locked into their starting position at the end of the session.

- Group two, comprised of any entries not locked into the top 30, will set qualification times. The three fastest drivers will fill the final row of the starting grid, while any remaining entries will go home.

- The Fast Nine Shootout, comprised of the fastest nine entries from Saturday Time Trials, will be guaranteed one run in an attempt to clench pole position. Drivers are locked into their starting position at the end of the session.

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Pippa Mann Interview

She is an inspiration to young female racing drivers around the world

In 2012 our editor, Phil Woods, interviewed Pippa Mann, a female British IndyCar driver. The interview was one of the most well received in his own writing career. Phil was lucky enough to be able to speak once again to Pippa on behalf of Pit Lane Reporter Magazine, soon after it was announced that she would be racing in the 2014 Indy 500, this time she would be racing for a very special cause.

For those of you who don’t yet know of Pippa Mann, she is an inspiration to young female racing drivers around the world, showing that it is possible to have success in what is perceived to be a male dominated sport. Pippa started racing at the age of 12 when she stepped into a kart at her friends birthday party. She then started racing karts locally and nationally before taking the brave step of moving to Italy to race in international competition. Pippa Mann is the only British female to win an international kart race, back in 2002 in Austria.

In 2004, Pippa returned to the UK to make her way up the open wheel racing ladder, with spells in both Formula Renault series’ (2.0 and 3.5), in her first weekend racing in the Renault 3.5 series she managed to achieve a top 10 finish, again becoming the first woman to achieve points in

the World Series by Renault. In 2008 she raced in sports cars at the same time as her Renault 3.5 challenge, racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup, again taking the sport by storm finishing inside the top 10 in only her second outing.

A year later (2009), Pippa moved away to Indianapolis to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights series. In her first season with Panther Racing she managed a top 10 spot in every qualifying session at an oval racetrack, a phenomenal achievement by a rookie. In 2010 she was snapped up by Sam Schmidt Racing and rewarded them with a race win (only the second woman to do so) and was also the first woman in history to gain a pole at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. That season she went on to gain three pole positions and finished 5th overall in the championship.

In 2011, Pippa qualified for the Indy 500. She became the first British woman to qualify, start and finish the race. She managed to come home a very impressive 20th in what is the flagship event on the IndyCar calender.

In 2012 and 2013 Pippa continued to raise her profile in the sport and raced in several events. The one constant theme with Pippa is that she remains a fan favourite. She won the ‘Most

Phil Woods

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popular driver’ award in 2009 for the IndyLights series and last year finishing in the top 5 fan favourites, despite it being a year of transition for her.

Pippa works hard with young female drivers in her role at Glass Hammer racing. In the interview today, Phil asks Pippa about this role, her Indy500 entry for 2014, her fund raising project with Susan G Komen and her life in racing.

Phil - Hi Pippa, It’s been over a year since we last spoke. How were things for you in 2013? In both your racing career and in your mentoring role with Glass Hammer?

Pippa - Firstly it was so great to be back in an IndyCar cockpit for four races with Dale Coyne Racing. I was thrilled to be able to put together the opportunity to run my second Indy 500, and even more thrilled that I got to carry the Glass Hammer Racing logo on my sleeve for all of the girls who I work with. I was also able to take Glass Hammer Racing photographer Ali Markus with me as my official photographer throughout the month of May, making her dream of photographing the Indy 500 come true for the first time. Ali will be back with me this May, as will the Glass Hammer Racing placement on my sleeve.

Phil - We have just seen the announcement regarding the Indy 500. It’s great to see you taking part in this great race again. People might recall that in 2012, you were a cover star on our pink edition of the Podium, supporting breast cancer awareness. I am sure our readers will be as keen as me to find out how the partnership with Susan G Komen come about?

Pippa - This was one of those crazy motor racing stories! Susan G. Komen is a huge, household name here in the US, and the leading charity in the fight against breast cancer. This year I was invited to attend the Komen Indy Pink Tie Ball here in town, and there I met their director Natalie. This whole thing started with a scheme to turn my helmet pink, and then donate it to Natalie, and Komen Indy, for them to auction off at their next big event to raise money for the cause. This plan then grew, and grew, and grew. And now we have a Susan G. Komen pink race car, I will be wearing a firesuit with pink logos, my crew guys will be wearing shirts with pink logos, our pit equipment will have pink logos, PippaMann.com has turned pink, and I even have my sock supply company sending me pink socks!

Phil - You are involving your fans in this appeal, aren’t you? How can they get involved in helping you raise money for this great cause?

Pippa - We didn’t just want to do this to raise awareness, we also wanted to find a way to get this pink car to actually raise money for Susan G. Komen too, so that we can help contribute towards their great work. Given this is a racing program, we wanted to tie the idea of how to raise money directly back to the pink racing car, and we came up with the idea of a pledge site whereby people could pledge against laps the car would run during the month of May. The racing driver in me wanted to allow people to literally pledge for every lap, but given the car could easily run 200 laps in testing, plus the 200 in the race, and the final total could have added up to be more than someone might have expected, we didn’t want anyone to get a surprise after the race! Also we wouldn’t have known exactly how many laps we had turned until the race was over, and legally that created an issue in terms of financial gateways, and holding people’s card details - which we didn’t want to do either. So in the end we came up with a simple idea whereby fans, or anyone who wants to get involved, can simply chose a lap package of either 50 laps, 100 laps, 200 laps, or 400 laps for the month, and pledge a set amount of their choosing against that lap total. That way they know exactly how much money they are pledging to Susan G. Komen through this initiative, and there’s no chance of someone being caught unawares. It takes a little longer to explain than the original per lap idea, but it does make a lot more sense for a lot more people once you understand it!

The pledge site itself is called “RaceWithPippa.com” because we genuinely want people who pledge, and who join our campaign this May to feel like they are racing with me. For anyone who doesn’t want to pledge, you can also get involved by simply sharing what we are doing, and sharing the links either to komen.org, pippamann.com, or racewithpippa.com. We would also love for fans to join the conversation on social media throughout this campaign too, to help us make noise. This is about awareness as well as funding, and we will be using the #PippaGoesPink hashtag across social platforms to help spread the word!

Phil - Last time we spoke you were heavily involved in mentoring young female racing drivers. How is that progressing? And is there anyones name that we should be looking out for in the near future?

Pippa - Haha! I love working with young female drivers, and I love that you’re asking me this. Most of the girls I work with at Glass Hammer Racing are very young, and have a long way to come, but this year we have three female drivers competing in the Mazda Road to Indy ladder here in the US, all in the Pro-Mazda level a couple of steps down from Indycar. Julia Ballario, Michele

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Bumgarner and Vicky Piria are all names to watch as they try to move up the ladder in the coming years. Then back in the UK, I also just heard that Alice Powell will be racing in F3 this year too!

Phil - Back to you and your career. Have you been concentrating on getting a drive in IndyCar? Or have you been looking at any other forms of motor sport?

Pippa - Everyone always asks me this, and it’s a great question. The truth is I would love to get the opportunity to drive sports cars as well as open wheel, but much as with open wheel, funding sponsors, or teams with budgets who are willing to take a chance on you when you aren’t racing full time is very difficult. However you never know what’s around the corner, and as long as I am free to come and run the Indy 500 each year, I would definitely love to be racing full time in sports cars too!

Phil - Last time we spoke, your interview helped get our magazine downloads up towards 3 million. 53% of those were from the UK. It shows that you have a good fan base here. Do you get much chance to visit? Have you ever thought about returning here to race one day?

Pippa - Wow - I would never have guessed I had that big of a fan base in the UK. I was convinced no one back home had the slightest idea who I am! Haha! But seriously, I currently only come back at most a couple of times a year, just to see family and friends who still live there. I view Indianapolis as my home these days, and I love living here. Would I ever race in the UK? I would definitely have to move back first unless IndyCar, or another series I am racing in decides to visit, but coming back specifically to race there isn’t something I think about much. When I used to live there I always kind of fancied maybe having a go in the BTCC at some point in the future, but that’s very different to what I’m used to racing right now!

Phil - My particular expertise (if you can call it that) is in F1. I know that it is very difficult to get a drive without a huge back pocket full of money. Is it the same in IndyCar? Or is there still room for pure talent to make it through?

Pippa - It is exceptionally difficult in any form of motor sport. However IndyCar has a much more stream-lined feeder series ladder called the Mazda Road to Indy, and each time a driver wins a level, they are awarded a scholarship to help them compete at the next level. It’s not fail safe, and it still requires going out and busting your butt for more sponsors to go with the scholarship, but it’s much better than winning a championship and coming away with nothing!

Phil - One of the other big things about IndyCar, is that unlike F1, the cars are much more equal. So you can put together budgets to race with the smaller teams, and those smaller teams can take the fight to the biggest teams with the biggest budgets out there. Not every single day, but on many of them. Talent then allows drivers to show well for themselves, which in turn starts to attract the eye of teams whom already have sponsors, or starts to attract the eye of other sponsors. You still have to be just as good at marketing as you are at driving, but I genuinely feel like there’s always that chance to keep making opportunities for yourself out here. Especially given the fact that for our biggest race of the year, the Indy 500, the field always swells to 33 or more cars. It obviously requires far deeper pockets and a lot more sponsors to guarantee you can race for an entire season, and drivers over here often get their first chance to race in IndyCar when they put together a deal to run at the Indy 500 for the first time!

Phil - At the end of 2014, what would you like to be saying about your year in motorsport?

Pippa - That we had an incredibly successful launch to our new partnership with Susan G. Komen, that our campaign this May raised a significant amount of awareness through the pink race car, and funding through RaceWithPippa.com. Those three things are far more important to me than any race result right now. However if you asked me this again actually during the race, I’m sure you would get a much more standard racing driver result along the lines of wanting to beat whoever is in front of me too!

Phil - If you could give anyone, one piece of advice before they start looking at race driving as a career, what would it be?

Pippa - I think you have to understand that it’s not just about driving. Learning how to present, and market yourself is incredibly important. You also have to be prepared for set-backs, difficult times, hard races, potentially even hard seasons, and people writing you off after those days. You have to believe in yourself, be resilient, be determined, and have that ability to come back. This applies both to on track, and in the world of putting together sponsors and partners to go racing with. In real life there are urban legends where no one ever knows someone the legend has actually happened to directly, but it always happened to a friend of a friend. In racing the urban legend is the deal that falls apart at the 11th hour after everyone promised it was going through, the only difference is, almost every single driver you will ever meet has been there at least once personally, if not multiple times

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throughout their career.

Phil - Thanks for talking to us once again, it really has been a pleasure. Perhaps you will speak to us after the Indy 500 for our next issue and let us know you thoughts after the event? Before you go, is there anything you’d like to say to all your fans around the world?

Pippa - Of course, I will definitely come back and speak to you after the event. The final thing I would ask of fans is that if they have been touched by our campaign, in any way, or would like to help us get our awareness message even further, please share what we are doing. Please tell you friends, share on social media,

and let people know why the pink race car is out there. If anyone wants to join our pledge site and race with me at RaceWithPippa.com too, that’s obviously our second big goal from this endeavour - to raise funding. Susan G. Komen has invested over two billion dollars in the fight against breast cancer so far, but their work to fulfil the promise to find the cure goes on.

Pippa Man will be competing in the Indy 500 in the coming days. In fact as we go to print, practice for the race will be well and truly underway. Keep a close eye on her progress via our Twitter account @PitLaneReporter or via Pippa’s own account @PippaMann.

19

Rally Argentina Report

Bruno KeiserA record breaking 9!

Terve!

Stunning landscapes similar to the moon, spectacular water splashes and more than a million enthusiastic fans on the stages - these are the basic ingredients for the fifth round of the world rally championship. A battleground with widely differing road characteristics, including the longest stage of the entire season (51.88 km!), famous water splashes and elevation up to 2000 meters above sea level - now everyone knows I’m talking about the Cordoba based Rally Argentina.

Each of the three legs visited a different area within the province. The action began with Thursday evening’s 6km super special stage on the edge of the host town Villa Carlos Paz before Friday took competitors north into the vast open plains of the Punilla Valley and the Sierra Mountains. Saturday was the longest day with 164 km of action packed into just four stages south of Villa Carlos Paz. The roads here were sandy but faster than the previous day, unlike Sunday’s rocky roads which winded through dramatic landscape in the Traslasierra mountains. The second pass through “El Condor”, one of the most famous stages in the calendar, forms the Power Stage before the finish after 405 km in just 14 stages: Drama guaranteed!

The last eight year had seen only one winner: Sébastien Loeb. After his retirement compatriot Ogier was the bookmaker’s number one choice for the premium podium spot. The frenchman underlined his ambitions with a first overnight lead by 3.0 seconds when he beat Mads Östberg in their head-to-head battle on Thursday’s evening opening stage. Ogier’s blistering pace can be measured by the fact that the next five cars were covered by 2.4 seconds.

The first full day began with a big disappointment for all Mikko Hirvonen fans which were waiting for him more than 7km into the Friday opener “Santa Catalina - La Pampa”, they never got to see him. “It was my mistake, I just missed a pace note,” admitted Hirvonen later. The Finn slammed sideways into a wall with very high speed, no surprise his Ford Fiesta RS was too badly damaged to continue. Better luck had Mads Östberg’s fans along the first 16km in the very same stage. Then the Norwegian struck a rock and ripped a wheel from his Citroen DS3.

Hyundai’s Dani Sordo (who replaced gravel specialist Juho Hänninen after the Spaniard’s great performance in Portugal) struggled with a lack of turbo power and dropped almost three minutes in his i20.

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Fastest was Sébastien Ogier, for whom this was the 150th stage win in a Volkswagen Polo R.

The marathon 51.88km SS3 saw a new rally leader when Jari-Matti Latvala was more than 10 seconds clear of his French team mate. “I hit a stone with the front right,” explained third Polo driver Andreas Mikkelsen the power steering

problem the last 20 km but was still third fastest. Incredible performance indeed!

Sébastien Ogier regained the lead after the second pass of Santa Catalina / La Pampa (SS4)only to loose it again to his Finnish team-mate who was more than 18 seconds faster. Their Norwegian fellow stranded 43.9 km into the stage without electricity due to a cracked alternator belt. More bad luck had both Hyundai drivers. Dani Sordo stopped after only 1 km with an engine problem and Thierry Neuville, who was driving slowly with similar issues, was asked by his team to pull over to avoid further engine damage.

In summary, Jari-Matti Latvala was the second overnight leader, Sebastien Ogier with 17.7 seconds down on second and a trouble free running Kris Meeke on third.

After Friday’s carnage which saw 11 of the 29 starters retire, amazingly the entire field checked into early morning service for the first day. But there were many late nights in the service park. To restore Mikko Hirvonen’s Fiesta, it run up a bill of estimated £75’000, revealed M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson.

Dani Sordo’s frustrating rally took another turn for the worse when he retired his Hyundai i20 (again with turbo problems) after the opening stage on early Saturday morning. Andreas Mikkelsen shrugged off the disappointment of his retirement with the stage win of the opening test and climbed up three places on the leaderboard.

Citroën’s Kris Meeke luckily escaped a hairy moment in a flat out corner: “It was a six left

bend over a crest and I went completely wide into a bank. It was my pace note error.” His Norwegian team-mate suffered a puncture and struggled with a hurting right hand he damaged during yesterday’s accident: “In the ruts there must have been a rock and I had a kickback through the steering. My right hand is really painful and it wasn’t easy to drive after that.”

Flailing rubber from the front left tyre damaged the wing of Ogier’s Polo R in SS8, and the bumper and spoiler unit fell off in the next test. The lack of cooling triggered the engine into road safety mode when it started to overheat.

Thierry Neuville moved ahead from Martin Prokop, Elfyn Evans and Robert Kubica to climb to fifth. On top of the leaderboard was again flying Jari-Matti who won three of today’s five stages, 31.2 seconds clear of his French team-mate and 3:47.0 quicker than Northern Irishman Kris Meeke.

Sunday’s 22.07km opener “Giulio Cesare / Mina Clavero” saw slippery and foggy conditions and run downhill for the first time since 2002. The visibility was very poor but fog expert Mikko Hirvonen delivered a stunning performance. He was 36.4 seconds quicker than Andreas Mikkelsen and Latvala was the only driver within a minute of him. “I never push in this stage. It’s a lottery in

here so I prefer to just drive through.” explained Ogier after being asked why he lost slightly more than one minute.

Conditions in the 16.32 km “El Condor” (SS12) were appalling. Fog limited the visibility to 70 meters but the biggest problem was the long sections of thick, slippery mud.“Absolutely impossible,” said Mads Östberg. “Undrivable, I have no control,” was Robert Kubicas’s view and Kris Meeke ventured: “The most difficult stage I’ve ever driven.The only driver who seemed to enjoy himself was a grinning Mikko Hirvonen: “I like it!”It’s not reported if the spectators liked it. Thousands went to the El Condor stage on

21

Saturday afternoon, more than 24 hours before the stage started. Overnight rain and temperatures below +10°C were not the most comfortable conditions to camp. For those who came here on Sunday morning the police had a nice surprise: some access roads were closed more than 10 km before the spectator areas. Some spectators had better luck and only two hours of hiking later a view over spectacular landscape rewarded their effort.

Mads Östberg’s effort to finish the rally with a badly hurting right hand didn’t pay off. The Norwegian retired his Citroën DS3 after the first pass through El Condor. He drove both morning tests with his left hand only and the team decided that, in the awful conditions, it was too dangerous for him to continue.

The rally closing Power Stage was held in even more foggy conditions than on its first pass, it was getting worse as the stage went on. Sébastien Ogier might have missed out on his maiden Argentina win but he bagged the three bonus points for winning the Power Stage: “It wasn’t a bad weekend for my championship.”Mikko Hirvonen was happy with the 2 extra points for being second quickest and Jari-Matti Latvala wasn’t unhappy with the final extra point either. His maiden Rally Argentina victory was bonus enough.“Last year I finished on the podium but I couldn’t dream to win here, it’s something special,” said Latvala who especially praised his co-driver Miikka Anttila for his precise work all weekend.After only 18 rallies, Volkswagen 9th back-to-back win has broken Citroën’s record of 8 consecutive wins in 2011. Congratulations!

Chris Meeke, under pressure after crashing in Mexico and Portugal, gave the best possible answer to all sceptic with a solid run to the last podium spot.

Andreas Mikkelsen’s alternator warning light flashed on again (we remember his broken belt on Friday) but this time he safely brought home fourth place.

Thierry Neuville managed to defend fifth place with a broken driveshaft in the final stage. Robert Kubica promised to approach Rally Argentina more carefully and he kept it with finishing sixth.

Elfyn Evans ended seventh on his Argentine debut ahead of Martin Prokop. Three stage wins in the final day propelled Mikko Hirvonen into ninth and WRC2 winner Nasser Al-Attiyah rounded off the top 10.

High octane greetings,Bruno

22

Conor Daly signs with Lazarus for 2014

Conor Daly has been announced as Venezuela GP Lazarus’ second driver for the 2014 season alongside Frenchman, Nathanaël Berthon.

The American driver made his debut with the team in Bahrain at the start of the 2014 race season, impressing them enough with a strong performance and near top 10 finish over the course of the opening weekend, to sign him for the rest of the season.

Nicolò Gaglian, Venezuela GP Lazarus, on the signing of Daly said: “We are delighted to have reached an agreement for this season with Conor Daly, a driver we have followed in recent years in GP3 and who has now thoroughly impressed us when he got behind the wheel of our GP2 test in Abu Dhabi. It is a pleasure for us to be able to get on track a US driver: Conor, despite having little experience with the GP2 car, knows the circuits having raced three seasons in GP3. He’s a talented driver and we hope to reach good results together.”

Conor Daly said: “This has been a long winter of uncertainty for me, but I am committed on my path to Formula One. GP2 is where I want to be right now, and the Lazarus team really has a great group of people. We have learned a lot so far this season and have more work to do, but I will give everything to the team to help achieve a great result.”

In 2013, Daly competed in both GP3, where he finished in 3rd position in the overall standings with 126 points, and the Indy Lights series.

Katy McConnachie

23

International Motor Sport Magazine

Launches

April 23rd witnessed the official launch event for a new international digital motor sport magazine based in Flintshire.

Pit Lane Reporter Magazine is already working on Issue 3 of it’s monthly look at the world of Formula One, Rally, Touring Cars, IndyCar and NASCAR.

It was announced on the night by Editor Phil Woods that Issue One was downloaded an incredible 29,000 times and he had this to say about Issue 2, “We were astonished by the reaction to issue one, however issue two is on target to beat that number by a huge amount. This gives us the opportunity to attract advertisers and sponsors, a great opportunity for them to take advantage of our success.”

So far this month, Pit Lane Reporter have achieved more downloads than other popular and long running motor sport magazine’s. That in itself is testament to the massive rise in popularity for this new publication.

Harry Tunnicliffe, Operations Director added, “We are ahead of targets now and this means that we can begin to bring in new staff earlier than expected. We have a new member of staff joining us at our head office on Monday and hope to add a few more in the coming months.”

The launch, held at House Bar in Chester, was a huge success with business people from up and down the coast attending along with other guests. John Holt, one of Chester’s finest table magicians entertained everybody with his incredible tricks and humour.

When asked about the decision to open the office in Flintshire, Wales, Phil explained, “Why not? Flintshire and the North Wales coast has a tradition of grass roots motor sport and as tonight has prove, a great deal of passionate fans. It also has a generous pool of talent to help us expand to become one of the worlds most popular digital magazines, not just in the motor sport category.”

Head graphic designer, Mark Roberts told of some of his plans for the future, “We are going to be making full use of the digital aspects of the magazine, advertisers will be able to embed videos, games and other media into their adverts making them more attractive. The magazine content will become more digitised as we add exclusive 360º panoramic photographs of rallying taken by Bruno

Keiser our WRC journalist.”

Flintshire Councils Deputy Leader, Bernie Attridge gave his opinion on the news, “This is great for the local area, job creation is always positive news. To have growing businesses like this on our doorstep is something this council works hard towards.”

Pit Lane Reporter’s American Editor, Eric Hall, told of the reaction across the atlantic to the first couple of issues, “The reaction to “Pit Lane Reporter” in the US has been stronger than expected. With over 20% of readers coming from the US, there is no doubt that a market exists for “Pit Lane Reporter”. On-line motor sports reporting is popular on both sides of the Atlantic; the extremely promising initial response is a sign for a bright future in a competitive market.”

Initial figures show that Issue 2 downloads are on average 30% higher than Issue 1. Pit Lane Reporter Magazine is now able to proudly adopt the tag line ‘The World’s Fastest Growing Motor Sport’s Magazine’.

Launch Night Gallery

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Photographs by Josie Towers

26

NASCAR Season Update

Repeat Winners and Dominant Teams Step Up

In the first seven points races of the 2014 Sprint Cup Series season, there were seven different winners, meaning seven drivers had virtually guaranteed themselves a position in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Following Texas Motor Speedway, which was the seventh race of the year, NASCAR’s top series moved to Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, where the first repeat winner of the season was crowned.

With the race in a Green-White-Checkered finish, which is NASCAR’s version of overtime, Phoenix winner Kevin Harvick passed Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. when the white flag waved. While Harvick took four fresh tires on the final pit stop, Earnahrdt had only two. Earnhardt was unable to put up a fight once Harvick caught him and Harvick won the race, becoming the first driver to grab two wins in 2014.

After the 1.5-mile track of Darlington, the tour moved to the .75-mile short track of Richmond International Raceway, where another driver grabbed his second win of the season. The final laps featured a multi-car battle for the lead between Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and Brad Keselowski. While those drivers fought for the win, Joey Logano, on fresh tires, closed on the leaders, passing each car for the top position. It was Logano grabbing the checkered flag, taking his second race of the year.

A week later, Talladega Superspeedway provided the eighth different winner of 2014. Known as a race where cars draft closely together in a pack, there were 188 green flag passes for the lead around the track, according to NASCAR’s telemetry data.

A final lap crash littered debris around the start/finish line, forcing NASCAR to display the yellow flag. Per the rulebook, once the leader is on the final lap, the race cannot be extended into overtime. Thus, the leaderboard was frozen at the moment of the caution, which determined the winner. Denny Hamlin was in the lead and was therefore, declared the winner of the race.

In the Nationwide Series, JR Motorsports has been the dominant team recently. After winning his first Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, Chase Elliott earned his

Travis Barend

PitLaneReporter IOS and Android Apps

second consecutive win at Darlington Raceway, going from sixth place to first in the final two laps of the race.

A week later, Kevin Harvick scored his first win for JR Motorsports at Richmond International Raceway, while Chase Elliott finished in second place. At Talladega, three JR Motorsports cars found themselves in the top three near the end of the race, but it was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Elliott Sadler who scored the victory.

The Camping World Truck Series has not raced since March at Martinsville. The next race for the tour is at Kansas Speedway in May.

27

This May, you will be able to download our powerful and stylish new app, and have every new edition placed straight onto your device automatically. Never miss an issue, and gain

access to exclusive content.

28

NASCAR Plans Rule Changes for 2015

NASCAR is currently finalizing a new rule package for 2015 that could decrease horse-power and alter aerodynamics for Sprint Cup Series cars.

According to several reports, NASCAR ex-ecutives have met with race teams and en-gine builders several times over the recent weeks to discuss options for next season. It is likely that NASCAR will reduce horsepow-er, but it is still being decided by how this would happen. In case of major changes, NASCAR wants to give teams as much no-tice as possible to prepare.

The sanctioning body is looking to save teams money in the long run by increasing the efficiency and durability of the engines, while also enhancing the competition.

Last fall/autumn, NASCAR held an open test at Charlotte Motor Speedway to try differ-ent rule packages for the 2014 season. Af-ter the test, NASCAR increased down force through new aerodynamic rule changes and also took away the minimum ride height rule.

Still, NASCAR officials have made it clear that changes would be an ongoing process to enhance the racing. Specifically, tracks of 1.5-miles in length are the target of these changes, as they dominate the schedule.

While many in the garage have a strong opinion about whether or not slower speeds equates to more competitive racing, NA-SCAR believes less horsepower will open up options for other changes, specifically relat-ing to aerodynamics and tyres.

“If you combine the aero package with that (reduction of) horsepower (and) allow some aero changes with the engines going into the corner, drivers have to get off the gas and they’re able to maneuver around a little bit more,” Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s ex-ecutive view president, said in an interview with the Des Moines Register in Iowa. “Com-bine that with Goodyear and a little softer tyre, now you’ve got the full package.”

According to the report, NASCAR is hopeful for an announcement on engine rules by the Sprint All Star race in May.

Travis Barend

29

It was announced in the beginning of May that NASCAR and title sponsor of the Truck Series, Camping World, have reached a seven-year contract extension. Camping World’s contract with NASCAR was set to expire following the 2015 season, but an early renewal will keep the partnership alive through to at least 2022.

Camping World’s relationship with NASCAR as a title sponsor began in 2009 after Craftsman vacated the position.

According to a report by the Sports Business Journal, the deal is valued at more than $5 million a year, which includes rights fees and media commitments.

“The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has one of the most consistent and durable audiences in all sports, averaging approximately 800,000 or more television viewers per event over the past six years,” said Steve Phelps, NASCAR’s chief marketing officer. “Camping World’s seven-year continued commitment to our sport demonstrates its confidence in our on-track product and strength of our brand loyal fan base.”

For Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis, the partnership has resulted in a strong return on investment for his company.

“Camping World and NASCAR have invested in

the growth of a national series that is celebrated for its exciting brand of racing and the most loyal fan base in the country,” said Lemonis. “Six years ago we felt strongly that the sponsorship would dramatically increase our customer base and it’s delivered. We expect to see continued success in the coming years.”

While NASCAR has secured sponsorship for its third series, it is currently searching for a new title partner for its second-tier circuit, the Nationwide Series.

It was announced last season that Nationwide Insurance would be leaving the title sponsorship position to invest in other areas of the sport. Just days before the Camping World extension was confirmed, Nationwide announced a three-year sponsorship deal with Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR’s most popular driver. The deal, for 12 races in 2015 and 13 in 2016 and 2017, is valued at more than $10 million a year, according to the Sports Business Journal.

NASCAR is currently searching for a replace-ment sponsor, but has not as yet indicated po-tential partners. Representatives from NASCAR have made it clear that there is a strong interest in the naming rights of the series.

According to the report by the Sports Business Journal, NASCAR is asking for a minimum 20 percent increase for the Nationwide Series title

NASCAR Secures Major Sponsorship, and Looks for More

Travis Barend

NASCAR’s third tier series has a strong future.

30

sponsorship. Currently, Nationwide pays $10 million a year in rights fees.

NASCAR is also looking for a media commitment worth $10 million a year and an activation com-mitment worth $10 million a year, according to

the report. This puts a potential deal at over $30 million a season.

NASCAR is hoping to sign a title sponsor for 2015 by the end of 2014.

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Chris Stockton Interview

Hard Work Pays Off – An interview with British Touring Car star, Chris Stockton

If there was an award for hard work within racing, Chris Stockton would most certainly be on the shortlist. Chris manages to juggle running a successful furniture company alongside racing in one of the world’s most challenging racing disciplines, the British Touring Car Championships.

Chris started his racing career in 1999 in the North West Formula Ford Championship and has had a vast amount of experience in Touring Cars. He has also raced in the prestigious Le Mans race, something you will read about in this interview.

Chris currently races with BTC, a team sponsored by Power Maxed. You cannot fail to see their distinctive yellow and black livery during a touring car weekend. The team is also sponsored by www.ningbofurniture.co.uk, also for more information on the team you can visit their official website www.btcracing.co.uk

In this very candid and open interview, Chris talks about his hopes and dreams for the future, the thrills of racing in Le Mans, the difficulties of getting further up the grid in BTCC as a small team and much more. It was great to speak to Chris and as I am sure you’ll all agree, it has produced a fascinating interview.

Phil Woods - Hi Chris, thank you for agreeing to speak with us. First of all, what do you hope to achieve in BTCC this season?

Chris Stockton - You may think I am mad saying this after the disappointing start we have made, but I still very much aim to be on the podium at some point this year.

PW - This season you are driving the Chevrolet Cruze, it’s a car with a lot of pedigree in BTCC, having been a winner on so many occasions. Was this one of the reasons you chose to run this car?

CS - The Cruze as an S2000 chassis had a lot of pedigree, as do RML. But in this Championship under the new NGTC regulations, neither RML or the Chevrolet Cruze have any form. The package we took on from RML is now nearly 3 years old, and it has showed against teams who have been running these cars for over 2 years. Hence Power Maxed Racing is truly on catch-up. I am sure that we will get there, because fundamentally we all have the same tools in the box with so many stock parts. We are under no illusion that we are still a good way off in all three main areas: engine development and mapping, set up and running experience and finally track time and experience for me in the car.

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Phil Woods

PW - You’ve been racing in BTCC on and off since 2006. You’ve also raced in some GT series’ during the past few years. Which of the two formats do you enjoy most and why?

CS - I love the BTCC. I enjoy GT Racing and love the fast European tracks, but the cut and thrust in the BTCC is awesome, and so is the fact that it is world class.

PW - Earlier in your career you raced Formula Ford (very successfully with 14 wins). Can I ask what was it that made you move away from open wheel racing to ‘tin tops and have you any desire to return to open wheel one day?

CS - I swapped to closed wheels after doing reasonably well in Formula Ford because I wanted a bit more action on track, and I wanted to try and keep challenging myself by trying different formulas and going up against better and better drivers.

PW - People may not be aware, but you drove in the Le Mans back in 2004. You drove for TVR and this was the first time a TVR had completed the flagship endurance race. Your times were the quickest among your team mates. Can you tell us a bit about that race and how different it is to the quick races in BTCC which people are used to seeing you in?

CS - Le Mans was an amazing experience: 220,000 spectators and 6,000 TVR followers. The TVR was un-competitive against the Ferraris and the Porsches, but personally I was really pleased to have been the quickest in testing and qualifying than the other 5 drivers, two of whom I rated highly. The challenge of being behind the wheel flat out for 9 1/2 hours driving out of 24 hours was immense. I lost 3/4 of a stone in weight, and despite drinking and drinking and drinking sports type fluids I just could not stop the cramp in my hands. The physio worked on each driver for 40 minutes after the stint, and

then it was a quick change and get ready to get back in it. Myself and Michael Caine did the vast majority of the driving totalling 20 hours between us. I did the double stints at night while Michael slept for 2 hours at a time, and then I slept in the morning for 3 1/2 hours. Massively tiring, but what a thing to be involved in.

PW - How do you find juggling life as a company director with that of a racing driver?

CS - Ningbo.co.ok is hugely busy at the moment, and it is very difficult making the time needed to do the racing project justice. This week is a typical example. It’s a Bank Holiday week so we’ve lost Monday, and we are testing on Friday at Oulton Park, which makes it a 3 day week for me at work. I work from about 7am to 7pm every day, and usually catch up at work on Saturday mornings when it’s quiet. Life is full on with two young boys, plus Polly my wife competes professionally in 3 day eventing, and up until our second child last year was on the GB team. Full on and frantic is the only way to describe life at the moment.

PW - Can you tell us about the hopes for the BTC team now they have returned to BTCC after a 6 year absence?

CS - The BTC Racing team which is now sponsored and run as Power Maxed Racing, is made up of the same 12 members, plus 6 new members during a race week, to set up, and breakdown the travelling equipment, and to organise and run the hospitality unit which seats 70 guests.

PW - If money was no object and you had the choice of racing in any car on any track in any format of racing world-wide, what would your choice be? And why?

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CS - If it was possible, I would race a HONDA NGTC car. I have massive respect for the team, drivers and the way they methodically go about making and getting their car to be ultra-competitive. As a team it would hugely help us to have a developed car, rather than trying to start from scratch. Andrew Jordan is now world class, but he has now had several years with Honda with top notch help and advice and a set up to copy from the works cars. That is the way to do it as a small independent team if possible (which it’s not as I’ve already had a meeting with them - the way the rules are set up prevents other teams or certainly discourages other teams to sell cars at the moment unfortunately).

PW - What are the biggest obstacles for a small team to overcome just to get on the grid for a BTCC weekend?

CS - Getting enough sponsorship is the biggest hurdle, closely followed and linked by getting the car set up, tested and on the pace with the a competitive package all from restricted funding and restricted mid-season testing allocations.

PW - At the end of 2014, what would you like to be saying about the season that has just gone?

CS - I’d like to end 2014, by being able to show that we made massive inroads in our reliability and competitiveness.

PW - Finally, it’s your local race next at Oulton Park. Does the fact that it’s nearest to home make this one even more special?

CS – Oulton Park is our local track, and now that it is on the International Circuit it will make it even better. The guys that I am racing are world class, and the fact that I know the circuit won’t be an advantage. Most of the others have driven more laps around there than me, and certainly in NGTC machinery. That being said we are at an official test there on Friday this week with all of the other teams, so it will be good to get some mileage there.

PW - From everyone at Pit Lane Reporter, Good Luck for the rest of 2014.

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BTTC Driver Standings 12th May 2014 (After Thruxton)

Position Name Car Points

1 Andrew Jordan Honda Civic 1412 Gordon Shedden Honda Civic Tourer 1333 Colin Turkington BMW 125i M Sport 1234 Matt Neal Honda Civic Tourer 1105 Jason Plato MG6 GT 1066 Robert Collard BMW 125i M Sport 887 Mat Jackson Ford Focus ST MK.III 798 Sam Tordoff MG6 GT 759 Adam Morgan Mercedes-Benz A-Class 4910 Fabrizio Giovanardi Ford Focus ST MK.III 4711 Jack Goff Vauxhall Insignia 4612 Aron Smith Volkswagen CC 4313 Tom Ingram Toyota Avensis 3714 Alain Menu Volkswagen CC 3515 Nick Foster BMW 125i M Sport 2716 Rob Austin Audi A4 2117 Dave Newsham Ford Focus ST MK.III 2018 Marc Hynes MG6 GT 919 Glynn Geddie Toyota Avensis 520 Lea Wood Toyota Avensis 421 James Cole Toyota Avensis 222 Jack Clarke Ford Focus ST MK.III 123 Hunter Abbott Audi A4 124 Warren Scott Volkswagen CC 0

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Unsung Heroes of Motorsport

Part 1 - World Rally Championship – Truck Driver: Bob A Baker

Without them, the wheels of motor racing would stop turning!

Bruno Keiser

Terve!

The WRC is one big family, with everybody involved to the show knowing more or less everyone. Thirteen times a year they gather together and share their passion regularly somewhere in the world. It goes without saying there are countless hard working people behind the scenes. Usually we don’t see them in the rally summary on TV. One of these hidden faces is Bob A Baker, a truckie for Stobart, the company which partly takes care of the M-Sport World Rally Team’s logistics.

Our paths crossed in 2012 in Jyväskylä, two days before Neste Oil Rally Finland. It was already after midnight when I met Bob at M-Sport while shooting a fan card picture for Matti Rantanen.

When you meet a team member in the middle of the night in a rally service park, you can bet anything that the guy has an interesting story to tell:

Q: Hello Bob, can you tell us a bit more about yourself?

A: Hi, I’m Bob A Baker, I was born on March 17, 1955 so I’m 59 years young at the moment.I’ve been happily married for 38 years to my lovely wife Rita. We have 2 children, Emma and Andy (who is a truck driver too) and a grandson. I live in Leyland, Lancashire, about 40 miles north of Manchester. My favourite meal is a delicious steak and like many other Brits, I enjoy drinking tea.

Since 2007 I’m happy and proud to be one of the 60 motorsport truckies of Stobart. I drive for M-Sport, Mercedes Petronas Formula 1, Williams and Pirelli, very exciting!

Q: Everybody remembers the Stobart World Rally Team. Was this your first contact with rally?

A: Actually no, when my son was younger, he drove local rallies and I supported him with the logistics. I bought a motorhome which we used as service hospitality. I still have it and in my leisure time or holidays, there’s nothing more relaxing for my wife and I than driving to beautiful places, parking it by water and meeting new people. As you can see, I work in a tin can and I live in a tin can. :-)

Q: Can you tell us the schedule of an average rally weekend?

A: For sure, let’s use Rally Sweden 2014 as an example.On January 28, I left the M-Sport headquarter in Dovenby Hall fully packed heading south for the ferry to Holland. From there I continued my journey through Germany and, Denmark to arrive on Sunday at Hagfors/Sweden. The trip took three and a half days, a bit longer than normal because at that time there was so much snow in Sweden.

On Monday we began to build up the service hospitality and as soon as the cars arrived (Wednesday) my task changed. Every evening, I welcomed our guests and VIPs at the entrance of M-Sport and at night, I was in charge of M-Sports’s security.

Immediately after the rally, we disassemble all the tents and pack our trucks. We finished this on Tuesday and I then drove back on the same route accompanied by other fully loaded trucks. On Wednesday, February 12, we were safely back at Dovenby Hall.

For insurance reasons, my wife isn’t allowed to join me on my trips. Maybe you understand now when my wife says, we have been together only four out of the 38 years of our marriage. :-)

Q: As you always work at night, I have the feeling you can’t go spectating a lot.

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A: Yes, believe it or not, I have never spectated at a rally stage. The only time I saw our rally cars in action was in Portugal four years ago. Back then the super special stage was held in the Algarve Stadium, only a few steps away from our service park.

Q: At the moment, negotiations are going on between the WRC Promoter GmbH and the rally teams about future TV coverage. Critical voices even say rally cross is the future of rally. What’s your opinion?

A: I see how passionate Malcolm Wilson is. He gives his whole life to the sport and he likes to give young drivers a chance to show and develop their talent. Additionally, there is the new Fiesta R5 of which 50 have already been sold. Its big success on the rally stages all over the world was very important for the M-Sport family and shows that drivers and teams believe in the future of rally. Personally, I can’t see a decreasing interest, rally cross and rally go very well side by side.

Q: Can you reveal your future plans?

A: I hope I can be a truckie for Stobart and M-Sport until I take my pension at 65.

We motorsport truckies are one big family. It’s a great honour for me to work for M-Sport and I love to meet new people everywhere. They get goose-bumps when they come first time to a rally service park and I get goose-bumps too when I see their excitement. Next time that I’ll enjoy that will be in Sardinia in June.

Q: Final question Bob: Which 3 things are on top of your bucket list?

A: First of all, I really want to see a rally from the spectator’s point of view.

Secondly, I’d like to be a truckie on the Dakar rally once. This seems to be a real challenge.And last but not least, I’d love to get a ride in our Fiesta WRC with a professional driver behind the wheel. Let’s hope Malcolm reads this interview... ;-)

Me: Thank you very much for this interview, Bob. I wish you all the best for the future and have crossed my fingers that you can tick these three things off your list. See you again soon.Bob: Thank you too. See you at one of the rallies.

If you attend a European WRC event, make a point of visiting M-Sport one evening and say hello to the man at the entrance, Bob has hundreds of interesting stories to tell...

High octane gretings

Bruno

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38

Historic Racing

Back To The Future?Brynmor Pearce

It’s midnight, 18th November 1980. Along with friends you’ve walked two miles from the car park to stand in the middle of a Welsh forest. The rain is slowly falling as you huddle to gain shelter under the trees. In the darkness you can hear the low chatter of other voices.

After waiting for what seems an eternity, suddenly in the distance the bark of a competition engine can be heard. It quickly fades again but then an arc of lights flash across the sky. Over the next two minutes the pattern repeats and, with each burst of light and sound, the chatter of the fans increases until suddenly the engine sound is nearly upon you. In the blink of an eye a cacophony of noise and light burst into view. You realise the few voices you heard were hundreds of like-minded fans standing along the banks. Flash bulbs go off to illuminate the Blue and White of car 16….the Lotus Sunbeam of eventual winner Henri Toivonen slides past, scattering stones as it goes. Within seconds he’s gone, the animated discussion of the fans brings the banks alive as they eagerly await their next hero.

To those hardy souls this is living, this is ‘rally’.Many may have thought the above was just a distant memory but, thanks to the efforts of a group of dedicated people, the sport of Historic Rallying is now huge. Let’s take a look at what’s on offer in the UK today.

Whilst modern day/modern car rally has been in a slow decline over the last decade. Historic’s have been one of the few branches of the sport that have seen a huge increase in participation and it is one of the few areas where year on year growth is being seen.

Historic rallying in the UK is run in categories based on age, with year-end dates of 1968 (cat 1),1974 (cat 2),1981 (cat 3),1985 (cat 4). There is an outright ban on four wheel drive turbo charged vehicles in the first 3 categories - basically the Quattro.

There are intrinsically two levels where crews are putting their hard earned cash to enjoy the iconic cars we all remember; Road based event’s ,which in the main are run by the Historic Rally Car Register (HRCR) and Historic Endurance Rally Organisation / Classic Rally association (HERO/CRA). These are mainly daylight events ranging in length from 1 to 9 days spread across the length and breadth of the UK.

“The HERO CRA mission is to enable anyone to be able to participate in historic motor sport, be it as a competitor, a marshal or even an event official. We pride ourselves on producing high quality events aimed at competitors of any ability, from the raw novice to the seasoned campaigner’’

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Ken Howarth - HERO

The general format of these events gives a nod to the type of rally that was seen in the UK up to around 1965. Low speed regularity timing on the open public highway coupled with manoeuvrability tests on private ground, typically car parks, short forest tests and farms.

The recent Tour of Cheshire saw over 100 entries for the 75 places available, if you can think of a competition car from the late 1950’s to the early 1980’s it was almost certainly represented. Value for money? How about entry fee’s ranging from £120 for a day’s fun including lunch and an evening buffet, it’s hard to say no.

“There has never been a better time to be involved with historic rallying. From the feedback we receive from competitors on our events; we constantly strive to improve. We are seeing a marked increase in entries (to our events), something we are immensely proud of, but we will never sit back, we have to evolve to stay out in front. There’s a real upsurge in interest in classic vehicles, and we believe that this can only bring good to historic motor sport.

We also periodically run training days for both marshals and competitors. These take place prior to events, and therefore allow you to be conversant with the way an event runs, even without any prior knowledge. Also, with our ever expanding fleet of Arrive and Drive cars, we offer the chance for you to try historic rallying without the investment of purchasing a vehicle.”

Ken Haworth

Whilst the type of navigation used can be very difficult (as it is all based around maps), there is no other branch of the sport where the navigator can play such a huge role in getting the best

result possible.

Moving onto stage rallying. It’s arguable to say there has been a power struggle in the last few years with regards to both the main championship and the cars used.

For the last ten to twelve years the main series and indeed the officially tagged MSA British Historic Championship has been run by the HRCR. This truly encompasses a cross section of events and surfaces from Gravel to Asphalt (sometimes run over 3 days), from the south coast up to Scotland and across to Northern Ireland. Up until 2 years ago fans were seeing massive entry lists littered with Escorts/Sunbeams and even a Stratos, but the times they were a changing. Entries were dropping, the cars of the 1960s were not being brought out, and crews were picking and choosing single events rather than a whole championship campaign.

It’s no surprise given the period covered, that the most heavily used vehicles are the Mk1 and Mk2 Escort, but in many ways that has been an issue in that Historic rallying had become formula Escort. One event last year had an entry that included over 40 Escorts fitted with the incredibly expensive BDG engine, (try £25,000 per engine and you won’t be far wrong). Thankfully the tide is turning and variety is coming back via a relative newcomer to the Historic scene….

Sensing a change was needed and listening to crews, that newcomer saw an opening. Somewhat in line with the global economy, crews have been finding it cost-prohibitive to cover such big events on a wide variety of surfaces and all the differing tyres/suspension permutations this entailed. Late in 2012 in stepped the organisers of the three day Roger Albert Clark (RAC) rally and set up a championship of consisting of all single day gravel based events and all on the mainland…

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“The R.A.C. Rally Championship was created in response to competitor demand. A growing number of crews wanted to see a fresh approach with a more affordable calendar of events. The 2014 season is going extremely well with an average of 65 registered contenders across the first three rounds. The championship is delivering sporting competition, a friendly atmosphere and genuine camaraderie among the competitors’’

Paul Lawrence - RAC Championship

That format has seen a huge shift in crews, with over 70 taking part (including around 20 of the pre 1968 category 1 cars), in the recent RAC counting Mid Wales Stages Rally, which compares with only 30 taking part on the BHRC counting Pirelli rally, a marked shift in levels!

At present the tender is out for the licence to run the MSA British Historic series for 2015 onwards and it will be interesting to see if the MSA take a radical new approach or stay with a format that is tried and proven.

Whichever way they go, it’s fair to say that within the UK, a large majority of fans are looking back to the future to get their rally thrills. Whether that is sustainable and even whether that is a healthy scenario is one very much open to debate, but certainly for the next 5 years it would seem to be the way forward.

But that said, if you’ve a classic car or even an interest in being a navigator, Historic rallying really does offer something for everyone.

The 40th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach played host to Round 2 of the Verizon IndyCar Series Championship. Briton Mike Conway was the man standing atop the podium once the smoke cleared; the second such visit for him at Long Beach.

Fans were treated to the first standing start of the season from North America’s premiere open-wheel series. Pole-sitter Ryan Hunter-Reay led the field into Turn 1 while drivers were still dicing for position behind.

26 laps of hard and fast green flag racing followed with Juan Pablo Montoya taking the early honors of the races biggest mover gaining five spots on the field before the first round of pit stops.

Sebastien Bourdais brought out the day’s first two cautions with two very similar trips into the tire barriers in Turn 8 and Turn 10 on laps 27 and 41 respectively.

In an unrelated incident, Will Power pushed Simon Pagenaud wide into the tires on the lap 31 restart. The affable Frenchman was able to make it back to the pits and rejoin the race without too much damage.

The rough and tough racing witnessed all afternoon was showcased on lap 55 when Ryan Hunter-Reay made a dive bomb pass attempt on young Josef Newgarden heading into Turn 4.

The ensuing impact not only removed himself and Josef Newgarden from the race, but it also brought out a lengthy cleanup period whilst involving Andretti Autosport teammate James Hinchcliffe, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth in the incident as well.

The ensuing restart was clean and methodical, similar to the other restarts the field had successfully completed all afternoon.

With only two laps to go, then leader Scott Dixon relinquished the lead for a final splash of fuel.

Mike Conway took over point from the pitting New Zealander and drove away from the remaining contenders, bring his Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevy home P1 for Ed Carpenter Racing.

It was another successful race and an even better result for the little team of ECR who notched their second win. The heavy hitters at Andretti, Penske and Ganassi, fought themselves and poor judgment all day long, allowed the surgical Conway to sneak in for the win and to mix the usual finishing result.

Two short weeks later, the paddock descended onto the lush and rolling green hills of Alabama’s Barber Motor Sport Park. Although the track has been known for being a difficult place for overtaking, IndyCar and the Dallara DW12 put on yet another excellent show for round 3 of the championship.

Fans attending the race were welcomed with a spring deluge of rain that left rivers flowing across the track and ponds in the apexes of several corners. The green flag was delayed by nearly two hours and the race was declared a timed event with one hour and forty minutes of action planned for the compressed afternoon.

Will Power led the field to green, but almost as soon as the flag fell, Takuma Sato spun and stalled his Honda machine requiring a yellow flag and a jump start to rejoin the field. 18 laps of slicing and dicing followed with the skilled drivers navigating a treacherous track strapped with tricky wet weather tires.

One moment that was not quite so shining was on lap 15 when Will Power overcooked the entrance into Turn 5, slid through the grass and nearly collected the wall before gathering himself back together and rejoining the race, but not before relinquishing the lead to Ryan Hunter-Reay. The next yellow was on lap 21 because Mikhail Aleshin was bumped into a spin and stall by Sebastien Bourdais. During pit stops, almost the entire field dumped their worn out wet tires for the grippy red side wall Firestone tires.

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Eric Hall

As the drivers struggled to find grip on the drying track with slicks, there were two quick cautions on laps 27 and 31 as the race also struggled to find a smooth flow. Juan Pablo Montoya and Carlos Huertas, respectively, both had their own off-track excursions requiring assistance from the Holmaltro Safety Team and the safety of yellow for the track workers.

Once the green finally was waved on lap 33, the drivers began an ever quickening game of setting fast lap after fast lap. The final half of the race was a clinic in managing ever changing surface conditions and balancing speed with keeping it

between the white lines.

Ryan Hunter-Reay only gave up the lead a single time on his way to the win, and that was during the final round of green flag pit stops on lap 49. The 2012 IndyCar Series Champion clinched his first win of the season and marked the third different winner in three events.

As always, the supplemental results for the inaugural Grand Prix of Indianapolis can be found on PitLaneReporter.com

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The Montoya Report

Eric HallEveryone’s Favorite Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya had an excellent couple of races in April. At the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, he gained a very respectable 12 spots to finish the day in P4 after a lack-lustre start to the week-end.

One of Montoya’s main issues during these few early races has been the Firestone red sidewall tires. The softer and grippier (but less durable compound) offered by Firestone is not available for practice, so the first time he can try the red tires is in qualifying and the race. The ‘reds’ can also change the balance of the race machine, so anticipating and staying ahead of these changes is key to using the ‘reds’ as successfully as possible.

Without any extra time on the option ‘reds’, Montoya really has to learn on the fly, but it won’t be too long before he and his team can use the hidden speed in the stickier rubber to unlock the last few tenths of a second of lap time.

The Formula 1 style road course within the confines of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway should provide him an excellent test bed to

find these final few tricks of speed. Montoya is unlikely to hassle the established drivers for the championship, but it is almost certain that he will hassle them for the top step of the podium every few races.

The rain at Barber Motorsports Park presented a whole new set of challenges for Juan Pablo. He is clearly uncomfortable on the Firestone wets; not a total surprise considering the tread is closer to a passenger tire/intermediate tire than a full-on single-seater wet weather specification. Tread improvements may be coming this year, but Montoya will still have some learning to do on the IndyCar wets.

After his trip through the gravel on lap 27 his day was done as he was relegated a lap down after running as high as P4. A finish of P21, the final running driver, was not indicative of his true pace, but the record books don’t hold that kind of information.

Juan Pablo Montoya should have all the pieces in place and enough tricks up his sleeve to really start challenging the top of the race standings.

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Looking Ahead in IndyCar

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway will welcome back its namesake series for the historic 98th running of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. With average lap speeds of over 225 miles per hour and drivers completing a single circuit of the famed 2.5 mile rectangle shaped speedway in just under 40 seconds, The Speedway presents more than a unique challenge.

Top secret engineering, absolute harmony within the team, inch perfect car placement from the driver; these are all things that will be needed to complete 200 laps and see the checkered flag first. The saying goes: “Things just happen so fast at Indy”. Drivers will be covering over 300 meters in literally a blink of an eye; blinking at the wrong time could be the difference between making friends with the outside wall, or loading the race machine back onto the truck in one piece.

500 oval miles can be very similar to endurance racing. There will be small teams who will be fast all month long, but they just will not have the skill level to keep up with the larger teams during the pit stops. The perennial heavy weights of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti will most likely show very strong with Marco Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya possibly at the head of the field once the laps start to wind down.

For most small operations, just being in touch with the leaders will be good enough on the off chance that something goes wrong with the frontrunners. Indy is hard to tame, and as soon as a team or driver thinks they have it handled, they will get bitten. The best prepared and most dynamic teams will have the best chance at capturing a victory.

Rounds six and seven will comprise the first double header weekend of the year on the Belle Isle Street Course in Detroit Michigan. The tight, twisty concrete canyons in Detroit are about as different as you can get from the long, wide straight of Indy that teams will have competed at just six short days prior.

To make matters even more difficult and stressful for the teams, there will be two full distance, full points paying races; one on Saturday and one on Sunday. If a driver stuffs it into the tire barriers or is unceremoniously helped into the concrete walls on Saturday, teams will have to work flat out to get the chassis in a raceable condition for Sunday.However, do well on Saturday, and your chances

of repeating those results are very high. During double header weekends, the drivers are usually well behaved to save equipment for Sunday but, once the final green flag of the weekend drops, all bets are off. The action in race two is usually mental, be ready for anything.

The high banks and tight confines of Texas Motor Speedway will welcome the circus next for round eight of the championship. Because everything is bigger in Texas, the race is billed as the Firestone 600. That’s 600 kilometers, or about 373 miles, so not quite the long endurance run that was seen in Indianapolis just two weeks prior.

“Jet fighters in a gymnasium” is the usual description when drivers are asked what circulating the 24 degree, 1.5 mile quad -oval is like. If things happen fast at Indy, they happen even faster in Texas. Although the average lap speeds are slightly lower than Indy, the track is a mile shorter and the drivers are in a corner for much more of the lap.

When open-wheel race cars head to Texas, they are truly pushing the limits of what the human body is capable of handling. In 2001, the CART series attempted to stage a race at the facility, but it was cancelled on race morning due to the concerns that the g-forces were so high drivers were blacking out in the corner. Speeds aren’t quite as high now days, but that memory lives on.

With such short lap times, there is no room for error. Oval racing in IndyCar is an exercise of speed, patience, commitment, and focus. Make no mistake; these are still very dangerous races when lapping at over 200 miles per hour.

Again, look out for the big three teams to dominate the race early, with the pretenders dropping out of the lead pack very shortly after the race starts. With such little wiggle room for extra time spent in the pits, it’s of the upmost importance that teams are able to work in harmony and communicate the drivers’ needs to set-up changes.

The paddock will receive a few very welcome weekends off after Texas; their first weekend off since before the Grand Prix of Indianapolis over a month before. The summer break for IndyCar is a new addition, and after the 12 straight weeks of racing or testing they did in the summer of 2013, I’m sure it will be welcome.

Eric Hall

Upcoming IndyCar Events

17/18 May -98thIndianapolis500Qualifications-IndianapolisMotorSpeedwayOval25 May -98thIndianapolis500-IndianapolisMotorSpeedwayOval31 May/ 1 Jun -ChevroletDualsinDetroit-BelleIsleStreetCourse7 Jun -Firestone600-TexasMotorSpeedwayOval28/29 Jun -ShellandPennzoilGrandPrixofHouston-ReliantParkStreetCourse

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46

Understanding Aerodynamics

KIRIL VARBANOV Glossary - A to F (Part 1 of 3)

In simple terms, aerodynamics involves four forces acting on a car as it moves:

- “Lift”- “Weight”- “Thrust”- “Drag”

This article is a reference point for the most commonly used aerodynamic terms in Formula 1 listed alphabetically for easier navigation. There is a simple explanation and picture/diagram for each of the terms

AIRFOIL (sometimes referred to as “Aerofoil) - actually this is the ‘transverse cross-section of the wing’, but in motorsport, it is generally that’s just another word for the wing or its shape.

ANGLE OF ATTACK (see above) - The angle between the airfoil’s ‘chord line’ and the wind airflow, regardless of the wing’s direction.

ASPECT RATIO (term mainly used in Aircraft design but means the same in motorsport) - The ratio of the length of wings to the width of the wings i.e Wing Length / Wing Width

Long, narrow wings = High Aspect Ratio. Short, wide wings = Low aspect ratio

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BARGEBOARD

This a section of bodywork on an open-wheel race car, generally situated between the front wheels and the side pod. Bargeboards, are usually created with trapezoid profile, and their main task is to redirect turbulent air from the wake of the front wing, tyres and suspension. A secondary function of bargeboards is to serve as vortex generators creating and directing a fast vortex around the side pods.

BERNOULLI’S PRINCIPLE - “an increase in a fluid’s speed occurs simultaneously with accompanying decrease in pressure or decrease in fluid’s potential energy”Published in 1738 by the Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli in his book, Hydrodynamica. It shows a close relationship to the ‘Conservation of Energy Principle’ and ‘Newton’s 2nd Law’.

BOUNDARY LAYER - When an object moves through a fluid or gas the molecules of the fluid near the object are disturbed and aerodynamic forces are created. The magnitude of the forces is dependent on the fluid’s viscosity and elasticity.

Viscosity is very important, as the molecules next to the surface of the object are sticking to it. The collision between these molecules and those above the surface creates what is known as the ‘Boundary Layer’ which has a very small velocity. Boundary layers can be Laminar or Turbulent (see below)

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CAMBER (ANGLE) - the difference between the ‘Chord Line’ and ‘Camber Line’ (see Airfoil/Angle of Attack above).Sometimes wrongly defined as ‘the top surface of a wing’, but in fact, as long as the upper and lower surfaces have different curvatures, then the airfoil has camber.

COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD) - CFD is one element of fluid mechanics which uses numerical and computational methods to solve issues arising during fluid flow.

Typical CFD simulation provides approximations and assumptions by solving Navier–Stokes equations (which define any single-phase fluid flow).

F1 teams use CFD alongside wind tunnel testing. By correlating the data they can produce parts with greater confidence, as they have undertaken simulation prior to actual fabrication and production. Generally, a CFD task consists of three stages:

Pre-processing - where the geometry is defined. The total occupational volume of the fluid is divided into cells (polyhedral mesh creation).

Solving - the iterative process of solving the conditions of each cell;

Post-processing - the stage where the results for each calculations are being analysed and then presented in a readable form, usually like the picture below. The red colour indicates high pressure (velocity) zones - blue indicates low pressure zones.

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DOWNWASH - The downwash effect is air being forced down - due to wing trailing edge or due to the shape of the body in general. Where down-force is induced by the airfoil, the downwash occurs in front of the wing.

Original concept: deus1066, Model remix: F1 Framework

END PLATE - In order to overcome the problem of turbulence created between the front wheels and the front wings, end plates have been introduced (blue color on the picture be-low). Their shape has evolved over the years but the purpose remains the same - to redirect air away from the tyres, and to act as pressure equalisers (at the rear wing).

Original concept: deus1066, Model remix: F1 Framework FLAP - The front wing of an F1 car consists of end plates, centre section, cascade elements and main flap, highlighted in blue on the picture below. Generally, there’s a slot gap between each of the elements, in order to keep the air as attached as possible, thus prevent stall and flow separation. This adjustable flap is a very important element that determines the angle of attack of the front wing.

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Original concept: deus1066, Model remix: F1 Framework

F1 Aerodynamics – Parts 2 and 3 of the Glossary can be read in the June and July editions of ‘Pit Lane Reporter’

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Spanish GP Review

Hamilton Reigns In Spain

Qualifying

Although Barcelona is a track that the drivers and teams know very well, they didn’t have pre-season testing here so there were a lot of lessons to be learned in these new cars.

A dry qualifying session for a change meant that we would be able to see how well the teams had done in this first big step in the 2014 development race. New parts galore for teams up and down the grid gave everyone the hope that the gap would close to Mercedes at the front. As you are about to read, the gap didn’t really reduce at all; as the others have developed, so have Mercedes.

Q1 started with the Sauber’s going straight out. Gutierrez was the first driver to set a timed lap, doing a 1:29:257. Shortly after that time was set, the session was ‘red flagged’ as Pastor Maldonado found himself in the wall. Surely questions have to be asked now about Maldonado. I’m no expert in driver skills, but this is getting ti be a rather common situation. Once his car was moved out of the way, the session was restarted. Marussia looked as though they had found some speed with their updates but, despite being on the cusp, they couldn’t quite get themselves close enough to the teams ahead. Max Chilton managed to out-qualify Jules Bianchi for the first time this season qualifying in 18th with Bianchi in 19th. As we reached the end of the session, Jenson Button was looking in a precarious position. McLaren were no doubt

concerned that he wouldn’t make it through, but a great final lap from Jenson put him well and truly safe. The Lotus of Grosjean and the Sauber of Sutil were the two cars battling to get into Q2. Grosjean won this battle, leaving Sutil going out in Q1. Rosberg finished the session ahead of Hamilton who was complaining that they had made his car worse. The best of the rest was Vettel in 3rd. Marcus Ericsson won the Caterham battle, finishing the session ahead of Kobayashi in 20th.

As Q2 got underway, Jenson Button was curiously trying to set a time on the hard tyre, a tyre that was around 1.5 seconds slower that the medium. Quite why McLaren tried that, I have no idea. I suspect it was down to comments Jenson had made recently about the McLaren handling better with the harder tyres. There was no sign of his team mate, Kevin Magnussen on track; in fact he didn’t set a time, meaning he would not make it through to the final part of qualifying. Early on in this session, both of the Williams topped the time sheets and looked pretty good, but then the Mercedes came, with Rosberg taking top spot by a massive 1.3 seconds. The only driver to get anywhere near that time in this session was Lewis Hamilton. Jenson Button changed to the medium tyres for his second run and then easily put his car into Q3. The Force India’s of Hulkenberg and Perez missed out on the top ten shoot out, finishing 11th and 12th respectively. Daniil Kvyat will start the race in 13th with his team mate Jean-Eric Vergne joining Magnussen in not setting a time. Local hero, Fernando Alonso,

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somewhat surprisingly only just made it through to the final session in 10th position. His team mate, Kimi Raikkonen showed a new vein of form today, beating Alonso easily.The top 10 shoot-out started with everyone talking about which Mercedes would come out on top. Hamilton had been struggling today and Rosberg had been fastest in Q1 and Q2. We had another red flag in this session, this time it was for the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. His recent luck is not that of a champion. Following his gear box problem he will start the race in 10th position. Vettel had opted for the older chassis for this race, hoping that his fortunes

might change but, unfortunately for him, that was not the case. After the first run, Hamilton got himself into provisional pole ahead of Rosberg, could the tide be changing? Home favourite Alonso was in 4th at this point behind Ricciardo in 3rd. Then came a lull whilst teams planned and waited until the final few moments to send their cars out for a hot lap that would make or break their qualifying session. Rosberg was the first of the Mercedes to cross the line, wiping around half a second off Hamilton’s provisional pole. Hamilton was close behind, he was going even faster in each sector and it all now rested on a good finish to the lap. Hamilton managed to finish two tenths ahead, giving him yet another pole in what is turning out to be an amazing season for the Brit. Ricciardo did well to achieve 3rd place on the grid ahead of the impressive Bottas in the Williams. Grosjean showed a great deal of improvement for the Lotus team as he finished a brilliant 5th ahead of Raikkonen, (who was the fastest Ferrari on display). Alonso will be bitterly disappointed with 7th in front of his adoring fans. McLaren will be pleased to have Button in 8th, but Massa and Williams would have expected better than 9th. A great session that leads nicely into the race. Can Hamilton turn pole into another race win on Sunday?

RACE

Lewis Hamilton came out on top in the battle of the Mercedes in Spain. A race that seemed to leave all the excitement until the final few laps. Tyre strategies were seemingly very important on the day the order of the day, but Lewis managed to fend off a charging Rosberg to take his fourth straight win of the season.

Before the race began, it was announced that Sebastian Vettel had to change his gearbox following yesterday’s qualifying session. This meant a five place grid penalty putting him down in 15th place. He then reported issues on his installation lap, prompting some concerns within Red Bull that Vettel’s season was about to get even worse.

As the lights went out, Hamilton got a good start and Rosberg stayed close behind in 2nd. The most significant change was down to a great start by Bottas, which relegated Ricciardo down to 4th place. The McLaren’s start to the race was awful with Jenson Button falling to 13th and Magnussen going off track, touching Vettel’s Red Bull as he came back onto track. Fortunately for both cars a crash was avoided.

Maldonado was up to his old tricks again early on, he went into the side of Ericsson in the Caterham. It is a little worrying, no actually, let me rephrase that, it is very worrying how many incidents Maldonado is getting involved in at the moment. Surely someone has to look at why this is happening and take some serious action soon.

By lap 7, Ricciardo was all over the back of Bottas in the Williams. Unfortunately for the Australian, the Red Bull didn’t seem to have the overall pace to make a pass and retake that podium place. It didn’t at that stage anyway.

On lap 10, judgement was handed down by the stewards on Maldonado, he was awarded a 5 second stop and go penalty. At this point in the race, the Mercedes had a massive 15 second gap on 3rd place Bottas. This is an amazing 1.5 second a lap faster that their opponents.

The first pit stop came on lap 13, Sebastian Vettel pulling in for a fresh set of tyres. On lap 14 Ricciardo was putting a lot more pressure on Bottas but he was called in a lap later in an attempt to undercut the Williams.

There was a fight between the two Ferrari’s. On lap 18, Alonso pitted first, to the surprise of many. Historically, Ferrari allowed the leading car to come in first. Raikkonen came in a lap later and came out of the pits to find his mirrors full of Alonso’s car. Alonso tried a pass and it was very close, but in the end Raikkonen stayed ahead.

The first of the Mercedes to pit was the leader Lewis Hamilton. His pit stop wasn’t the best and he came out in 2nd place, 18 seconds behind Rosberg. He needed to ensure he had a good out lap to avoid losing out when Rosberg pitted.

On lap 21, Bottas pitted, he came out way behind Ricciardo. The Red Bull choice to bring him in earlier worked a treat. Some believed that Bottas may be on a strategy that would make up for this later in the race, this never materialised.

Rosberg pitted from his inherited lead on lap 22. Unfortunately, the undercut didn’t work as he came back out around 3 seconds behind Hamilton and in the middle of some back-markers. He did have fresher tyres though and seemingly was playing the patient game, hoping for an end to the race similar to Bahrain.

A battle between the Lotus of Grosjean and the Ferrari of Raikkonen was ensuing further back in the pack and on lap 24, Raikkonen overtook Grosjean but couldn’t keep the lead. After another lap, the Finn managed to get past using his DRS. Grosjean had done really well

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to keep the Ferrari behind for so long. Alonso did the same to Grosjean 3 laps later.On lap 25 we had our first retirement with Jean-Eric Vergne pulling his Toro Rosso out of the race. It was an unusual sight this season, seeing all the cars still on track nearly half way through the race. Our second retirement came on lap 37 as Caterham’s Kobayashi suffered brake failure and had to pull out.

Sebastian Vettel had been working his way up the pack and had managed to get into 7th position by lap 39, helped by his magnificent pass on Kevin Magnussen. Next in his sights was home favourite Fernando Alonso. Vettel was proving that he could overtake, putting all those doubters in their place. Essentially, for the last few years, he has been doing what Hamilton is doing now. We all knew Hamilton was a great racer; it just seems to be the other way round for Vettel, success first, then proof of his race craft later.

Lap 41 clearly demonstrated the difference in pace between the Williams and the McLaren, despite them having the same engine. Massa was able to pass Magnussen with absolute ease.Lewis Hamilton was called into the pits on lap 42, but decided against it, leaving the mechanics waiting for another lap before they got the chance to work on his car. When he did eventually pit, it was yet again a slower pit stop than normal. Not an awful lot in it, but it could have proved a decisive few tenths of a second if this race went to the wire, as was now expected. He came out around 18 seconds behind new leader Rosberg, similar to the first round of stops.

When Rosberg pitted two laps later, he took on the softer/faster tyre and came out just behind Hamilton. Vettel was now in 5th place and despite all his recent success, it could be argued that he was having one of

the races of his life.

Hamilton’s radio broadcasts were starting to sound a bit stressful now. The pressure was mounting as Rosberg was slicing into his lead. By lap 53, Rosberg had cut the lead from 4 seconds to just 1.5 seconds. A lap later Rosberg was a bit further back, not down to a mistake, it was tyre conservation as the team told him to keep his tyres for the last few laps.

Things began to really hot up in the last few laps with three key battles going on. In the first of these, the Ferrari’s were going at it with Alonso making a great move on his team mate Raikkonen to take 6th place. Perhaps not what the Spanish crowd wanted, but by far and away one of his best moves of the day. In the second battle, Sebastian Vettel managed to take 4th after yet another great move on the Williams of Bottas.

The big battle was for first and second with Rosberg catching Hamilton. With two laps to go Hamilton made a mistake which cost him valuable seconds and allowed Rosberg to get close enough to try and make a move in the DRS zone. Fortunately for Lewis he managed to keep Nico behind at the start of the final lap on turn 1. This meant that if he kept it clean, he would go on to take yet another win, and crucially the lead in the drivers’ championship. He managed that and crossed the line six tenths of a second ahead of his team mate. It may not have been a thrilling race until the end, but Lewis Hamilton won’t mind. A fourth win in the last four races, Lewis is on top of his game right now.

Driver of the Day – Sebastian Vettel

Team of the Day - Mercedes

Position Name Team Nationality Points Laps 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes British 25 2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes German 18 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Australian 15 4 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull German 12 5 Valtteri Bottas Williams Finnish 10 6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari Spanish 8 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Finnish 6 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus French 4 9 Sergio Perez Force India Mexican 2 10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India German 1 11 Jenson Button McLaren British 0 12 Kevin Magnussen Mclaren Danish 0 13 Felipe Massa Williams Brazilian 6 14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Russian 0 15 Pastor Maldonado Lotus Venezuelan 0 16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber Mexican 0 17 Adrian Sutil Sauber German 0 18 Jules Bianchi Marussia French 0 19 Max Chilton Marussia British 0 20 Marcus Ericsson Caterham Swedish 0 21 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham Japanese 0 ret'd 3422 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso French 0 ret'd 24

Chinese Grand Prix Results

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Virtual Racing – An Introduction

Djuro Vukasovic

Balkan Sim Racing is a virtual racing community founded in 2011. The founder and owner is Djuro Vukasovic from Montenegro.

Balkan Sim Racing organizes the races and the Championship in a very professional manner over a number of racing simulations including rFactor. We currently have 12 major sponsors and it is broadcast on television with full commentary. The league involves a number of drivers who have driven in European and World championships in real life and last season there were over 120 entries.

The racing involves two disciplines - Circle (WTCC, STW etc.) and Hillclimb races. At the end of each season various prizes are awarded. These include cups, engine oil, free holiday breaks etc.

Already having three very successful seasons behind us, we will be moving into a 4th season on Saturday 10 May. Starting with the circle drive Opel Vectra STW and the Hill Climb the Renault Clio Cup.

Sponsorship advertising is displayed on all cars prominently, as well as on billboards on the race tracks, the website and forum. Last year we set up the Championship as the popular Hillclimb race track in Kotor (Montenegro) called Troica. This season we get a unique opportunity to run our server and our league from Bosnia and Herzegovina and soon Croatia.

It is hoped that Balkan Sim Racing will expand in the near future into Britain and countries.

The gallery contains spectacular photographs of last year’s season, and you can find out more information and link to the racing via our website and our Facebook group below.

http://www.balkansimracing.com/forum/https://www.facebook.com/groups/249601238445890 /

Next Month : Reports from our first races of 2014

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“My Car is My Own Personal Space”

Sometimes I wonder if people forget that cars have windows. Drivers do the most bizarre things in their cars, I really believe that they take this ‘my own personal space’ a bit far.

There have been many times when I am stuck at traffic lights and notice in the car next to me a man picking his nose. That’s not too bad, the most revolting part is when he feels the need to check its colour and consistency, then tries to find somewhere to dispose of it. It’s no wonder scientists say a car’s steering wheel is more unhygienic than a toilet seat. It isn’t just men who do this, I know, I have seen a few good-looking women get much more purchase up their nostril with their huge fingernails.

It gets much worse than that though. This morning I was driving my child to school and overtook a slow car which contained a woman with a young baby on her knee and she was changing its nappy. Granted, she was in the passenger seat, but surely this must have been somewhat distracting to the driver. She was driving very slowly, so I guess it was perfectly safe then!

In fact, whenever I see a woman behind the wheel of a car I begin to worry a little. Giving women the vote

was perfectly fine, but allowing them to drive turns out to have been a decision made without due care and attention – ironically, a driving offence of which many women are guilty. I’ve seen women driving half a mile without looking at the road, for example, either trying to make their eyelashes unfeasibly long or spending half the journey to school facing the kids in the back seat. I know people say that with children you need eyes in the back of your head, but this is taking it too far.

Guess what, men? It’s all your fault, nothing to do with women drivers. A recent British survey showed that 90% of women say that if their husbands would do more to help around the house, they wouldn’t have to apply makeup in the car. There you have it, men, get your act together! A little tidying up at home will stop many accidents on the roads! (Perhaps women getting out of bed a bit earlier would also do the trick.)

I once saw a man driving with a book taped to his steering wheel. He obviously thought the problem with reading and driving was not that his eyes would not be on the road, but that his hands would not be on the steering wheel. To be fair to the man, he did look up every five seconds for a glance at the road, so he wasn’t all stupid, just mostly stupid!

Phil Woods

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A few years ago, an American woman caused a five-car crash after changing clothes while driving. She told police that she was running late for an interview. Well, now she’s very late as she got 18 months in prison.

Fortunately I haven’t personally witnessed the final thing but, my word, this really has to go down as the worst thing ever. My closest motorway is the M56 in the north of England. This week a man was convicted in court for driving naked on this busy and extremely fast road. Not only that, but he was seen by a passing lorry driver to be… erm, let’s say… engaging in a little personal courtship with a gearstick-shaped implement. And not the gearstick. In court he claimed he got carried away with a text conversation he was

having. I have to ask what he was doing naked in the first place, then how was he managing to drive so fast with a phone in one hand and a… well, you get the idea. Perhaps he should have pulled on the hard shoulder, much safer.

All these people are Category One idiots. Courts shouldn’t be punishing them; there should be a specific place for these people to be sent. Somewhere like a ‘Thick Camp’ or similar.

Yes, a car is the driver’s own personal space. But please remember it has windows and you’re in a public place.

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Current Championship Standings

F1 Driver Standings

F1 Constructor Standings

Position Name Team Nationality Points 1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes British 1002 Nico Rosberg Mercedes German 973 Fernando Alonso Ferrari Spanish 494 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull German 455 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Australian 396 Nico Hulkenberg Force India German 377 Valtteri Bottas Williams Finnish 348 Jenson Button McLaren British 239 Kevin Magnussen Mclaren Danish 2010 Sergio Perez Force India Mexican 2011 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Finnish 1712 Felipe Massa Williams Brazilian 1213 Romain Grosjean Lotus French 414 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso French 415 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Russian 416 Adrian Sutil Sauber German 017 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber Mexican 018 Max Chilton Marussia British 019 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham Japanese 020 Pastor Maldonado Lotus Venezuelan 021 Marcus Ericsson Caterham Swedish 022 Jules Bianchi Marussia French 0

Position Name Engine Points 1 Mercedes Mercedes 1972 Red Bull Renault 843 Ferrari Ferrari 664 Williams Mercedes 465 McLaren Mercedes 436 Toro Rosso Renault 87 Lotus Renault 48 Sauber Ferrari 09 Marussia Ferrari 010 Caterham Renault 0

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship Standings (Top 30) - Race 10 of 36

Current Chase Drivers are highlighted

Position Driver Team Points Points Behind Wins 1 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports 347 02 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing 344 3 03 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 343 4 14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports 328 19 15 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing 328 19 16 Joey Logano Team Penske 305 42 27 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 304 43 08 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing 300 47 09 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing 299 48 010 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing 297 50 011 Brad Keselowski Team Penske 294 53 112 Denny Hamlin J oe Gibbs Racing 292 55 113 Kyle Larson Chip Gannasi Racing 286 61 014 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing 281 66 015 AJ Allmendinger JTG/Daugherty Racing 279 68 016 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports 268 79 017 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing 265 82 018 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing 261 86 019 Kevin Harvick Stewart Haas Racing 258 89 220 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports 252 95 021 Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Racing 244 103 022 Casey Mears Germain Racing 244 103 023 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports 242 105 024 Jamie McMurray Chip Gannasi Racing 241 106 025 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing 218 129 026 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing 209 138 027 Kurt Busch Stewart Haas Racing 196 151 128 Justin Allgaier Hscott Motorsports 190 157 029 Danica Patrick Stewart Haas Racing 176 171 030 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports 152 195 0

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WRC Standings

Position Name Points 1 Sebastien Ogier 1122 Jari-Matti Latvala 883 Andreas Mikkelsen 484 Mads Ostberg 485 Mikko Hirvonen 406 Kris Meeke 327 Thierry Neuville 318 Elfyn Evans 269 Martin Prokop 2210 Bryan Bouffier 1811 Henning Solberg 1612 Ott Tanak 1013 Robert Kubica 814 Benito Guerra Latapi 815 Chris Atkinson 616 Pontus Tidemand 417 Juho Hanninen 418 Jaroslav Melicharek 419 Nasser Al-Attiyah 320 Matteo Gamba 221 Craig Breen 2

Inside Next Month

Part 2 of our look at how Aerodynamics works.

A special feature looking at the Unsung Heroes of Formula One – Those you don’t see on television but are just as important as the drivers, engineers and team principles.

The VW Cup – A special feature

Indy 500 Review – The flagship race on the Indy calender

Touring Cars at Oulton Park

and much more from WRC, NASCAR, GP2, GP3, Virtual Racing, F1, IndyCar and Touring Cars

Special British Grand Prix Formula One Preview

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Photograph Credits for Issue Three

BTCC Review - All photos © BTTC

Chinese GP Formula One Review - Lewis Hamilton China Copyright Mercedes AMG F1 Team, Lewis Hamilton Qualifying China copyright Mercedes AMG F1 Team, McLaren F1 China copy-right McLaren F1 Team, Sahara Force India China Copyright James Moy Photography Chris Stockton Interview - © Chris Stockton

Historic Racing Article - © Brynmor Pierce INDYCAR Rewind - Mike Conway Wins - INDYCAR - John Cote, RHR Wins Barber - INDY-CAR - Bret Kelley Looking Ahead in INDYCAR - all images © wikipedia NASCAR Season Update - © Getty Images NASCAR Secures Major Sponsorship, Looks for More - © Getty Images Rally Argentina Article - © Bruno Keiser Spanish GP Review - © Sahara Force India, Lewis Hamilton Top Dog again - Copyright Mercedes AMG F1 Team, Lewis wins - copyright Mercedes AMG F1 Team. The Montoya Report - Juan Pablo - INDYCAR - Chris Owens Unsung Heroes in Motorsport - all images © Bruno Keiser

Pit Lane Reporter - Issue 3

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Transcript of Pit Lane Reporter - Issue 3