Gian Carlo Minardi answers

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Last week end I carefully followed all the comments posted by many Formula 1 fans on the net.

I would like to thank all the people who expressed their affection and confidence and give my regards to all those people who criticized me.

I just want to point out that my intention was not to blame anyone  and I don’t want to make any dissection of events to anyone’s favor. I am and forever will be  a passionate sportsman.

It’s with this spirit that I simply expressed my impressions and I still think that Newey has a “surprise” inside his “hat”. This doesn’t mean that the aforementioned surprise is something irregular, on the contrary, my reference to a “rabbit” inside a “hat” is to stress the possibility that something “magic” ,not to say brilliant,  is hidden inside the hat itself.

This is the point. As a person who is passionate about motorsport, I would like to discover what can make a performance so special: we’re talking about a 2.5 sec. advantage per lap.

That’s all!

Regards to all racing enthusiasts!

Face to face with Davide Rigon: "At Monza to race in the GT Open Championship alongside the Villorba Corse Team"

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After the unlucky race at the Nurburgring, which was the Blancpain Endurance Series’ last event, Davide Rigon’s season is almost coming to an end. Together with his demanding work on the Ferrari Simulator and his engagement in the Endurance Championship at the wheel of the Kessel Team’s Ferrari 458 GT3, the Minardi Management’s driver made his debut in the WEC World Championship and in the international GT Open Championship at the wheel of the Ferrari 458 GT2. He finished second at Interlagos and scored a double win at Spa-Francorchamps. “It was an end to the Championship to be forgotten about. Because of some accidents, penalties and mistakes we didn’t manage to score a win which could have been within our reach. Once again our pace was good, but it was not enough unfortunately. I want to praise all the team on a job well done. All the guys did a great job on the car, they did miracles!”

After scoring a win in the Championship’s opening race at Monza and contesting the Championship’s final race as leaders, we all know how your season ended. What do you think about the racing season?

It was a positive season as we delivered good performances as drivers. Along with Daniel and Ramos, we were among the fastest on track, but luck was not at our side. At the 24H of Spa we had to withdraw just 1 hour before the end of the race. It was a crucial abandon.

An intense season is coming to an end. Besides your engagement with Ferrari as a test driver and your participation in the Blancpain Endurance Championship, you made also your debut in the WEC and in the GT Open.

It’s always exciting to put oneself to the test in different challenges and live new experiences. I made my debut in the WEC World Championship and in the GT Open and I got excellent results in both challenges. I hope to have further chances to draw attention on myself in similar challenges.

 

What are the differences between the Ferrari 458 GT3 and the Ferrari 458 GT2?

The Ferrari 458 GT3’s competition level is very high; the 458 GT2 is very close to a formula car. It’s a very reactive car, aerodynamics plays a very important role with regards to that and the car doesn’t have any ABS system. I like that car very much.

Will you get back on track before the season ends?

I’ll take part in the GT Open Championship’s last event at Monza behind the wheel of the Villorba Corse team’s Ferrari 458 GT3, along Montermini. It’s a pleasure for me to have the chance to continue to race alongside the Raimondo Amadio’s team and have Andrea as my teammate. We got excellent results at Spa-Francorchamps. Two Italian drivers will race at Monza behind the wheel of the Ferrari GT2. It’ll be fabulous. Both Andrea and the team are fighting for the title, so we have an important goal to reach. Let’s meet in Monza on October 5th.

 
 
 

Singapore, What’s inside Newey and Vettel’s magic hat?

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Waiting for the Korean GP, the F.1 Championship’s 14th event to take place at the beginning of October, I would like to bring back all the wonderful memories linked to my experience at the Marina Bay Street Circuit and make some remarks about the Singapore GP, which I’d like to share with you and try to find some answers.

I will start by saying that I was enthralled by the Singapore background. It was a brand new experience, which was completely different from any other experience I was used to live (the circuit opens only in the afternoon and closes at late night). I had the chance to monitor all drivers’ on-track deeds from a suite located at the end of the pit’s straight (which leads to the first chicane). The monitor I used to watch the race displayed also all drivers’ laptimes.

Since I left Singapore, I’ve been keeping in my mind the 2.5 sec advantage of Vettel over his teammate Webber and the other drivers.

INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT: By this statement It’s not my intention to devalue Sebastian Vettel, who always manages his Red Bull the best way and I don’t want even to jab at anyone, I just want to tell what I personally saw and heard during that three-day-event.

According to my experience, I think that a 2.5 sec advantage each lap is really too much. It’s like a three-generation- development gap, it’s a huge gap. Furthermore, the time gap between Vettel and Grosjean in FP3 and the Red Bull’s driver and Rosberg in qualifying was only few tenths. The German driver could have played cat and mouse on Saturday, anyway, something is still not clear for me.

DOUBT 1: from my suite, I chose some mainstays as a reference point in order to monitor and compare the drivers’ way of driving. My mainstays were the kerbstones located on the corner which leads to Republic Boulevard. Their function is to avoid passing on the kerb. I was impressed by Vettel’s neat way of driving on that stretch of the track. He was able to drive all that stretch without making any corrections, unlike all his rivals (also his teammate). His laptime was also remarkable in T3, which is the track’s sector with the highest concentration of corners.

 

DOUBT 2: on the same stretch,  Sebastian was able to speed up 50 m before any other driver, Webber included. Whilst all the other drivers speeded up on the same stretch, Vettel was able to speed up before them. The thing that surprised me the most was the RB1 engine’s output sound. Besides speeding up 50 m before any other driver, the Renault engine of the German’s car grinded like no other French engines on track, neither like Mark’s. That sound was similar to the sound made by the engine when the traction control system got into action in the past seasons.

Furthermore, that sound was only heard when Vettel chalked up his excellent performances. For example, after the safety car went off, he took a great re-start and chalked up many excellent laps, gaining a 32 sec. gap over Alonso, then he leveled off, taking precautions in the case he would have had to pit one more time. In those moments the Renault engine was more powerful than any other engines (Renault and other brands).

There are some aspects (1- Vettel’s very neat way of driving; 2-Vettel’s speedup 50 m before the other drivers; 3- the abnormal sound of the RB1’s Renault engine; 4- Vetter’s more than 2 sec. advantage over the rivals ) that make me think and I would like to have some answers. All those doubts are even more serious if we consider that Webber wasn’t able to do that, since he’s a common human being….I don’t want to blame anyone , I just would like to get into the deep of the matter.

Singapore GP – UP & DOWN

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Sebastian Vettel 10 – There’s nothing more to say. Besides his technical predominance, the German driver manages his car the best way, unlike his teammate who is a fast driver in my opinion. His way of driving gave the impression he still had a margin to improve. Red Bull deserves a 10, too.

Fernando Alonso 10 – He took an excellent start. Started 7th, he jumped up to 3rd and he was determined until the end. Despite Red Bull’s technical predominance he didn’t give up and drove the whole race with strong determination. Ferrari’s strategy was flawless; anyway the Italian team doesn’t deserve more than a 7.

Kimi Raikkonen 9.5 – Despite some physical problems (backache), he made a great recovery and managed to finish 3rd.

Nico Rosberg 8 – He drove an excellent free practice session and an excellent race. He started from the dirty side of the track and he was ahead of his teammate throughout the week end. I liked his way of racing very much.

Felipe Massa 7+ – It was his first race after the official departure from the Maranello-based team. The Brazilian’s future is uncertain. His strategy was different if compared to Alonso’s, but he was able to recover several positions and finished 6th. He was ahead of his teammate in qualifying.

Jenson Button, Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil 7 – They didn’t make any mistakes and finished in the zone points even if their cars were not so performing. All the other drivers get an unsatisfactory grade, especially Mark Webber who got up to all sorts of things, hitch-hiking included.

Singapore GP – THE POINT

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Sorry for the delay but, despite a comfortable and quick journey back to Italy, I landed yesterday in the morning, so I didn’t have time to talk about the GP immediately after the race. Before analyzing the Singapore GP, I’d like to talk about my experience in Singapore. It’s been fabulous to live a one-of-a-kind experience, which is completely different from any other F.1 racing week ends both for the night background and for the Paddock opening hours. The circuit opens at 3pm and closes at late night, so race enthusiasts have the time to visit the city, which is full of modern buildings. Me too, I had the chance to live that city as a tourist. What is more, it’s an honor for Italian people to see an Italian company (DZ Engineering) taking over the management of the whole track lighting system, all the audiovisual and safety control equipment. It’s a huge circuit, even bigger than the Montecarlo’s.

As far as the race is concerned, I had the chance to see cars and drivers in action from two different perspectives.  In particular, I had the chance to appreciate all drivers in action on the first hairpin after the finish line, especially Alonso’s amazing start. It was a breathtaking manoeuvre. He analyzed the video of the past season and arbitrarily planned to do that manoeuvre. He managed to do that the best way. We don’t have to forget that he Spaniard was able to do that with a 180 kg- gas- load on board…..It was also very impressive to see how easily Sebastian Vettel tackled that stretch of the track; it was like he still had room for improvement. Unless something unordinary happens (which is unlikely), the situation won’t easily change. Beyond his predominance from the technical point of view, I would like to applaud Vettel also because he is always able to handle his Red Bull the best way, unlike Webber (even if I think he’s a fast driver).

Despite an unlucky Saturday for Ferrari, Alonso and Massa scored some points which placed the Italian team ahead of Mercedes. Once again the Spaniard didn’t resign himself to the Red Bull’s predominance, displaying all his determination until the end. Felipe delivered a good performance; the Brazilian scored important points for the team. It was his first race after his official departure from the Italian team. Despite the strategy he carried out was different, he managed to recover. It’s a great result…Kimi Raikkonen drove an excellent race; despite he had a backache, he was author of a great recovery, confirming Ferrari’s excellent choice.

Once again Nico Rosberg gave troubles to his teammate. I liked his way of driving very much and his performance level was higher than Hamilton’s throughout the week end. Mercedes goes on delivering good performances in qualifying; for what concerning the race, the fact the team has two drivers of the same level, is an added value in terms of points. That should make us think about Ferrari’s choice, even because Mercedes will be a very competitive rival next year.

McLaren improved its performance level a little bit, but this is an unlucky season for the English team. The two drivers’ confirmation for the next season is a symptom of continuity, the project will gain substance starting from 2015, which is the year Honda will become the official engine supplier.

Hulkenberg and Sutil close the top 10. Despite Sauber’s encouraging results over the last races, I don’t think the Austrian team will bother the Toro Rosso’s seventh place as, except for some unordinary event to happen, the two teams’ gap is 12 points and each GP only one or two points are made available (9th and 10th place). What is more, the Faenza-based team proved to be very competitive in qualifying, even if a mistake made by Ricciardo during the race frustrated all the work done until that moment.

Davide Rigon ready to compete in the 1000km of Nurburgring

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Here we are. The wait is over. This week end the Blancpain Endurance Championship’s last event will light up the Nurburgring circuit. It’s a 60-hour-race and drivers will cover 1000 km.

Davide Rigon, along with his team mates Zampieri and Ramos will be in the hunt for the title behind the wheel of the Ferrari 458 GT3. They’ve been the Championship leaders since the first race at Monza, where the race car #44 made in Maranello was the first to cross the line. Forgotten the grim 24H of Spa, the talented driver is ready to get on track again, after finishing second in his WEC World Championship’s debut race and scoring an exciting win at Spa-Francorchamps in the GT Open Championship, behind the wheel of the Ferrari 458 GT2.

“We’ve identified the problem which stopped us at the 24H of Spa and we’ve managed to solve it, so this is the most important thing. The Nurburgring race will be the decisive one. It’s like the Championship starts and ends at the Nurburgring. It’s an historical and narrow track. It will be so important not to make any mistakes”, says Davide Rigon “We’ve given evidence of our potential since the opening race at Monza, but unfortunately some unlucky events have slowed us down, just like at Spa, where if we hadn’t had that issue, we would have almost won the Championship.”

The German week end will start on Saturday with a 90’-free-practice-session in preparation for pre-qualifying (12.50pm-02.20pm) and qualifying (04.50pm-05.50pm) to set the starting grid order of the 6H scheduled for Sunday at 11.45 am, “The free practice session will give evidence of our potential. We’re ready for the final challenge.”

“We’re running the final race of one of the most important Championships of the GT series and we’re competing as leaders at the Nurburgring, anyway, we regret getting that bad result at Spa. If we had driven a successful race at Spa, we would have been more relaxed in competing in this event”, says the manager Giovanni Minardi “Unlike the other drivers Davide has had a busy month, as he competed in the WEC Championship and in the GT Open for the very first time, finishing second in the former and sealing a win in the latter. I think he’s in a very good shape and he’s ready to bring home the title. They will push hard until the end.”

Singapore GP – Preview

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With the Monza GP, the F.1 Championship has left Europe, seven more races outside the ancient continent are scheduled for the next months. The first one is the Singapore GP to take place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit this week end.  It’s a street circuit and it’s not an ordinary one for F.1 both because the GP is raced at night and because safety car is traditionally deployed during Sunday race. That is due to the circuit’s features: walls and very few escape hatches. Some drivers’ supremacy could be void. So, good fortune will play a key role, especially if tyre shift will be done in the right moment in the case the safety car will be deployed. What is more, due to weather condition and the high temperatures of the asphalt, Pirelli tyres will play a key role again, as they will be probably subject to sudden degradation.

Many aspects can affect the final result, so they have to be kept under control. The Singapore GP represents for Ferrari the last chance to keep on playing the role of a 2013 title contender, before giving itself up to the 2014 season. We’ve seen how competitive Red Bull is in any situation, so, despite many upgrades will be made, it won’t be easy for other teams to stop its supremacy without an external “support”. Mercedes can bother Red Bull and Ferrari for what concerning the competition for the 2013 title, while Lotus is undergoing a financial crisis as proved by Kimi’s return to Ferrari and many technicians’ exit.

As far as the Championship’s outsiders are concerned, all eyes are on Toro Rosso and Sauber, which both delivered good performances at Monza in qualifying and during the race. The Faenza-based team will make further upgrades to try to get higher positions until the end of the season. The Italian team is also working on the new car. I’m glad to point out that in this venue, the “made in Italy” will not only be represented by the Maranello-based Scuderia, but also by a Forlì-based company who will be responsible for lighting up the Singapore’s night race, the DZ Engineering.

Leaving Europe, all teams will have to face a further snag, which is linked to next venues’ geographical position, which makes aerodynamic upgrades very difficult to be made, because of some logistic problems. The final part of the season will be so intense.

It will be my first time in Singapore. The Minardi Team has never had the opportunity to take part in the Singapore GP, so I will have a chance to experience the Singapore GP’s stunning atmosphere for the first time.

Bhai Tech Driving Simulator Challenge: the Day

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Unforgettable day at the Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre. The Mestrino-based technological centre opened its doors to 12 guys on Saturday. The 12 guys, coming from all over Italy, had in common the passion for car racing and for competing on the quick and long straights of the Monza circuit. In fact, they were “racer for one day” and challenged each other on the track where Vettel sealed a win only one week ago.

The guys put themselves to the test by driving the cutting edge full-motion 6-DOF driving simulator, which is situated in the Bhai Tech suite. They had a chance to experience all the difficulties professional drives usually have to face during a race week end.

Under the watchful eye of Gian Carlo Minardi, the Imola circuit’s director Pietro Benvenuto, Giorgio Pantano and Rafael Suzuki (Bhai Tech Racing’s official drivers), the day began with a training session in the gym. The Forlì-based Driver Program Center’s founder Stefano Elia and the physiotherapist José H. Poletti explained the guys the importance of physical and mental training through some physical tests and the use of e-health, which avail itself of a portable physical performance dial which allows trainers to make a real-time detection of the main body activities such as heartbeats, sweating, breathing. The Driver Program Center is equipped with that dial.

After the physical training session, the 12 guys challenged each other at the wheel of the “Bhai Tech driving simulator”, following the engineer and technical director Roberto Costa’s meticulous technical instructions. The technical director taught each guy how to handle a driving simulator from a technical point of view, before and during the simulation session, “It was a very interesting day. It was very interesting to see people who are not used to doing this kind of activity and being under such a physical and mental stress, challenging each other. They had the opportunity to test a real simulator for the first time, a simulator which is conceived for professional drivers. William Zerbini really deserved to win, as he was fast, steadfast and confident. He made a very interesting progression for what concerning lap timing. He also confirmed his skills during the wonderful race on the Singapore’s demanding track. He drove a very fast race, without making any mistakes.” The Monza challenge’s winner put himself to the test also on the Singapore’s demanding track, where the F.1 World Championship’s 13th GP will take place on September 21-22. After the Bhai Tech Racing’s official driver Rafael Suzuki, who competes in the International GT Open Championship at the wheel of the McLaren MP12-4C along with his team mates Pantano, Van Der Drift and Razia, drove some laps, William Zerbini took over the race and delivered good performances in the Singaporean night “Second place for Zerbinati, who amazed us. He was very cautious at the beginning, but, after working on telemetry, he made the grade”, said Roberto Costa at the end of the simulation day, “Corrado Ciriello delivered very good performances and drove a very fast race. He was very aggressive at the beginning, and then he became confident. He could have further improved and he took an interesting path. He’s the typical virtual driver who has never driven a car”, ends the Brazilian engineer, “Besides the lap times set by them, I was also pleased to see their progression lap after lap, as they were at their first experience and they didn’t have so much time at their disposal.”

Gian Carlo Minardi was one of the special observers: “It was a very positive day, spent with car racing enthusiasts, who proved to be very skilled in living car racing competition through cutting edge simulation facilities such as the Bhai Tech’s driving simulator. Besides lap times, it was interesting to see the guys’ driving behavior after the engineer’s technical instructions and their progression lap after lap. I want to pay everyone my compliments on their driving performances. We don’t have to forget that they drove a professional simulator, which is usually driven by professional teams and drivers. It was a challenge, but also a funny day”, says the manager from Faenza “We’re working on the possibility to establish a Championship, as it would be great that young drivers would enter the world of motorsport through virtual simulation. F.1 uses driving simulation to decrease costs, so it is right that also young drivers would have given a chance to put themselves in the test through this kind of technology.” The Bhai Tech day’s emotions can be re-experienced on RaiSport2, inside the “Numero 1” sport program presented by the journalist Franco Bortuzzo.

The Made in Italy lights Singapore up

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“Almost 1700 headlights fed by 2000W lamps placed on a 7-km-long aluminium truss which is supported by 247 steel pylons, a 214-km-long electric cables system, 475 switchboards, a 57-km-long optical fibers system, 47 closed-circuit cameras for race monitoring placed in the operations centre. More than 530 loudspeakers arranged in all the areas attended by the audience, 500 radios for the communication between race commissioners and race professionals, 160 days of hard work and hundreds of men engaged.” These are only some of the numbers which allow the whole world to attend the Singaporean GP, which is the F.1 World Championship’s 13th event, come to its 6th edition. The Marina Bay street circuit was inaugurated in 2008 and hosted the F.1 World Championship’s first night race. The circuit is getting ready to switch on its reflectors again on September 21-22.

Who makes all this possible it’s the Italian company DZ Engineering, which is headquartered in Forlì. The company has the honor and the duty of shedding some lights on the Singapore’s darkness “It takes a six-month-assembly and dismantling work to arrange a three-day-event. In fact, it’s a fully off-taking lighting system”, explains the Project Manager Mr. Roberto Grilli, “It takes 100 days to install it. At mid-May we start to setup all the infrastructures inside which the track lighting system, the close-circuit cameras for on-track operations and the loudspeakers for sound diffusion, will be placed. We need to have all systems installed by the end of August, as it takes 10 days for them to be tested. It’s an extremely accurate check; every single piece has to be tested and checked. The rest of the pre-race period is dedicated to headlights pointing and all the other systems’ fine tuning. The dismantling begins the same night of the race and it takes about one month to dismantle the whole system. All materials have to be scrupulously inventoried after they are stored in a government’ s property area” continues Mr. Grilli the engineer “ It has to be considered that we have to work in the heart of a very dynamic city and on streets which are open to daily traffic. The track is closed to traffic on the Wednesday night of the race week, only some streets are opened every morning to let traffic stream towards main streets. Furthermore, there are also some private areas to which access is allowed only in certain periods. So we have to follow a well-structured time schedule which makes our work very long.”

The DZ Engineering’s name is also linked to the design and installation of all devices related to on-track safety, which is guaranteed through a close-circuit cameras system and a sound and communication system. Our trip in the Singaporean GP’s backstage begins through Roberto Grilli’s words “The Singapore’s project gather the company’s many skills. Even if track lighting is the activity which gives us more visibility from a media point of view, on the occasion of this race event, we are also in charge of designing and installing other technological systems which are integrated in the infrastructures, such as the TVCC, Audio and Radio communication systems. All the system is fed by twelve stations which are deployed along the circuit. Each station is equipped with two 500 kVA power units working at the same time. In case of malfunction of one of the two units, the second one is able to support the whole electric load, which is equal to 30-35%. The track lighting system is made available through 1565 headlights powered by a 2000 W lamp, while the three tunnels are fed by 179 headlights powered by a 400 W lamp.”

Galleries and paddocks are lighted by respectively 98 and 80 headlights.” Since this year, the DZ Engineering is in charge of carrying out the lighting system of the advertising panels which are affixed on the side facades of the pedestrian bridges which cross the circuit “Considering that the track lighting system is installed only on one side of the circuit, it is necessary to increase the visibility of the advertising banners which are on the opposite side. Some special headlights will be installed on the truss, so that the beam of light can be shaped. Doing that, we act only on the area which has to be lighted up, avoiding dazzling drivers, cameras and audience.”

Thanks also to the know-how gained by the company for what concerning the carrying out of the lighting system of some of the main artistic and historical places such as the Roman remains in Pompei and Paestum, the Temples’ Valley in Agrigento, the Singapore National Art Gallery, the Otranto’s Cathedral, the S.Vitale’s Benedictine historical complex in Ravenna (just to mention a few), since this year, the DZ Engineering is in charge of carrying out the lighting system of the pit stop area, whose façade will be lighted up for the first time “The Singapore’s government announced a tender for the lighting of ten sites of historical and artistic interest, whose value has to be increased during shooting.” The Government, through the Formula 1’s mass media exposure aims at promoting the State-City of Singapore to the whole world. “Doing that, the visibility of the city’s most important monuments and touristic attractions will be increased, creating an added value for the paying audience and television-viewers. So, starting from this year, the Pit Building’s façade will look different thanks to our cooperation with two other Italian companies: Namaste and Proietta. What is it? You only have to watch the GP to discover that”, ends Roberto Grilli.

Now we only have to wait for Vettel and Alonso to challenge each other in the Singaporean night, after the Red Bull’s successful race on the Monza’s fast straights. Ferrari will have to make a great effort and the Marina Bay Street Circuit could represent the last chance for the Italian team to be a candidate for the 2013 World title, before focusing on the 2014 season. It was the Red Bull’s German driver who won the Championship last season. The blond racer will be a contender for the win also in Singapore, ahead of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.

Italian GP – UP & DOWN

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The Italian GP was won by an amazing Sebastian Vettel. Let’s grade drivers.

Sebastian Vettel 10 – We have to applaud an amazing Red Bull and an extraordinary Vettel. They were flawless all through the race week end. The team made remarkable upgrades. I had the opportunity to see the new wing and I have to admit it was a real masterpiece. No doubt they have the edge over their rivals who will barely beat them. Only bad luck can slow them down.

Mark Webber 8.5 – The Australian drove a good race, even if he feels the weight of the upcoming end of his career in F.1. He held a very interesting press conference at Monza and, even if he was overtaken by Alonso, he attacked the Spaniard for all the time.

Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa 8.5 – Nando’s overtaking on Webber was stunning. Felipe drove a very good race, as well. The Brazilian took an excellent start and showed to be a faithful supporting driver. In the case Ferrari hasn’t taken a decision about the Brazilian’s future employment as a Ferrari racer, yet, the already-mentioned characteristic can be in his favor.

Nico Hulkenberg 8 – He drove an excellent qualifying race and a very good official race. He was one of the GP’s main protagonists. Sauber confirmed to be at ease in Monza, where last year he finished second ahead of Alonso.

Nico Rosberg 6 – Mercedes had probably hard times to run on the long straights of Monza circuit; however the German driver was very good at scoring points.

Daniel Ricciardo – Toro Rosso 7.5 – They were very performing both in qualifying and during the race. Both cars finished in the top 10. Ricciardo finished 7th, after fighting tooth and nail.

Lotus’s drivers – It’s hard to judge their performance. Their qualifying race was not so good, while Kimi set good chronos during the race, recovering positions. If we analyze the race after the accident, we would give them more than a passing grade; however, because of an awful qualifying race and a contact with Perez at the beginning of the official race, they only deserve a passing grade.

Lewis Hamilton 6 – The official race was ruined by a negative qualifying race. He recovered several positions during the race. That is a clear proof of how important a qualifying race is, especially on those circuits where the time gap between teams is only few tenths.

Jenson Button 6.5 – Despite his car is still not competitive; he managed to score one point.

Davide Rigon stands out even in the GT Open

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From Interlagos to Spa, from the WEC to the GT Open. Championships and circuits change, but the result is always the same. After making a successful debut in the WEC Championship one week ago, Davide Rigon and his team mate Andrea Montermini sealed a win at Spa-Francorchamps, where the International GT Championship’s sixth round was run last week end.

Despite the talented driver from Thiene competed in the GT Open Championship for the first time, he immediately became familiar with the challenge and managed to lead the Villorba Corse’s Ferrari 458 GT2 to the highest step of the podium, along with the Championship’s leader Andrea Montermini.

In a week end full of pitfalls, where the weather played a key role as it usually happens in Belgium, Davide weighed up the situation during free practice, set the second best chrono in Q2 and scored a fabulous win in the official race on Sunday. “It was a glorious week end; I want to congratulate Andrea and the team on a successful race.  Spa is always an amazing circuit to race at. In race – 2 I took the option to start on slicks, even if the track was wet. I tried to be as cautious as possible in the first laps to avoid making mistakes”, said Rigon “then I began to push hard and I recovered a bit before passing the wheel to Andrea, who completed the masterpiece in the final stint by sealing a stunning win”, commented Davide “however, we regret for race -1 final result.”

In fact, a lively Saturday was ruined by a penalty imposed to the Villorba Corse pair for shifting driver while the safety car was still on track. After taking the pole in qualifying – 1, Montermini set the best chrono before passing the wheel to his team mate Rigon. The new-entry continued to drive a glorious race and, thanks to several amazing passes under the rain, he successfully managed to lead the car to the third position “Unfortunately the race was ruined by a one-lap-penalty which dropped us to the 14th place. Unfortunately, only few minutes before the window closed, the safety car got on track.”

After Spa, it’s time to focus on next event to be scheduled for September 21/22 at the Nurburgring, where the Blancpain Endurance Series’s final round will be raced. On that occasion Davide will be back at the wheel of the Kessel Racing team’s Ferrari 458 GT3.

Italian GP – THE POINT

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Vettel-Alonso-Webber. I like that podium so much because the three drivers who finished on that have the place where their career into F.1 started in common: Faenza. Alonso and Webber made their first steps into F.1 alongside the Minardi Team, while Vettel made his debut alongside Toro Rosso, sealing his first win in 2008 at Monza. It is clear that in Faenza the atmosphere you can breathe, brings  not only the history linked to the world of pottery and its famous museum with itself, but also the technology and good fortune linked to the world of Motorsport.

We saw a very performing Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel is more and more determined to become the World Champion, even if Alonso demonstrated to be the best driver once again. Singapore is the crucial point for Ferrari’s final part to the season to be decided. Seven events are yet to be run and many points are still up for grabs and we know how easy it is to make mistakes or have a moment of weakness. It won’t be easy for the Maranello team to challenge Red Bull, considering that the Austrian team usually makes consistent upgrades, but the men “in red” will have to stay focused and try to get the most of their potential, just as they did on Sunday. With regards to the strategy, Fernando’s race was flawless. Massa ran a great race but he didn’t manage to bother Webber after his pit stop. The Brazilian’s fourth place was not due to tyre change in my opinion, since the time gap between him and the Australian was only 4 tenths….In the last races Massa’s contribution to get the second place in the constructors’ championship to the detriment of Mercedes has been very important, however his engagement as a Ferrari’s driver is still a pending matter. I think this week will be the decisive one.

I would like to give credit to Toro Rosso, as its two cars qualified in the top 10 and to Ricciardo as he finished seventh (4 Ferrari engines in the top 10 is a very important result). I would give credit to Sauber and Hulkenberg, as well. The German driver drove a flawless race on Saturday afternoon and got an unexpected third place. On Sunday he finished fifth ahead of Mercedes, Lotus and McLaren, demonstrating his car is very competitive. I hope this result will help the team to overcome a difficult situation.

The challenge Raikkonen – Hamilton was very interesting. The Lotus’s Finn, after a collision on the first lap, ran several fast laps thanks to which he got the top positions before pitting. If he hadn’t pitted one more time, he could have bothered Hulkenberg. Lewis Hamilton showed what he’s made of by overtaking Kimi and Button in the last laps; he bothered Grosjean (he finished eighth).

 In a couple of weeks the circus will fly to Singapore, which represents the last chance for rivals to challenge a very performing Vettel, who is supported by a team which doesn’t give anything to rivals.

A grim race at Spa-Francorchamps for Bhai Tech

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Unlucky return to competition for Bhai Tech Racing. The Italian team, who contested the International GT Open’s sixth round on the track of Spa-Francorchamps, experienced the season’s most difficult race week end, which ended with zero points scored after four consecutive good results and three successful races at Nurburgring, Jerez and Silverstone.

The Italian team’s race week end at the Ardennes-based legendary circuit began in a good way, with the team’s four drivers Gorgio Pantano, Rafael Suzuki, Chris Van Der Drift and Luiz Razia able to lead the two McLaren MP4 – 12C to the standing’s top positions. The two qualifying turns proved the team, directed by Mr. Roberto Costa the engineer, was in a very good shape and gave evidence of its technical skills. In fact the team scored the second and third place in the GTS class (fifth and seventh in the overall standing) in qualifying – 1 with Pantano and Razia and the pole (third place in the overall standing) with Van Der Drift in qualifying – 2. “We were so fast since free practice, which is a clear proof we did a great job over the past few months. Our potential was demonstrated by scoring the second and third place in the GTS class in Q1 and the pole in Q2”, says the technical director Mr. Costa.

The Spa-Francorchamps race event is a typical example of how the final standing doesn’t reflect a team’s real value. After getting the top positions, this time Bhai Tech had to make an empty-handed return to the Advanced Vehicle Science Centre. After leading the GTS class, the Italian-Brazilian pair was imposed an one-lap-penalty in race – 1 because of a driver shift when the safety car was still on track, while the #66 car’s race ended on the 16th lap, as Van Der Drift was a victim of a terrible accident occurred at the Raidillon (luckily the accident had no bad consequences for the driver). The car was damaged in an irreparable way “It was an awful week end. We regret we lost the chance to score two possible wins, although we demonstrated to have a good potential. In race – 1 Pantano took a very good start, setting good times and taking the lead before giving way to Rafael.”, continues Costa, “Unfortunately, in the race confusion, we called Giorgio to pit, while the safety car was still on track (that is forbidden according to law 42.5) and we were penalized. Van Der Drift went off track because of the failure of a steering wheel tie-rod’s support piece, which was damaged as a consequence of collisions. Luckily Chris was unharmed, but the car was seriously damaged, so we couldn’t get the most of the pole we scored in race-2.”

In the Sunday’s final race, a great Pantano was author of a great recovery, after taking control of the car, which was passed to him by his Brazilian team mate, who was competing on the Belgian track for the very first time. “We made Rafael run a lot during free practice, which was to give him the chance to become more familiar with the track. Spa is a very demanding and technical track, where every mistake is heavily paid. Giorgio was very good at recovering and managed to finish seventh in the GTS class.”

The Championship will move to Italy in one month, to the Monza’s “cathedral of speed”, where the seventh and second to last round will be raced. The Italian staff has to fix the car #66 “We’ve already got in touch with McLaren to order the parts we need to rebuild the car. Once we’ll be at the headquarter, we’ll immediately get to work to rebuild the car. We’ll plan to shake-down the car before the Monza race. The Championship is still open and the final part to the season will be so challenging”, ends the Brazilian engineer. The best reward after a difficult week end is to chase for release.