Davide Rigon signs with Kessel for the BEC GT

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Davide Rigon signed with Kessel Racing Team a last minute agreement. The cooperation between the talented Italian driver and the Lugano-based team managed by Mr. Ronnie Kessel will continue also in the 2013 racing season of the Blancpain GT Endurance Championship, to start next weekend on Monza track.

This is the second consecutive year Davide takes part in the series at the wheel of the Ferrari 458 GT2. His aim is to move up the podium improving the third place achieved at Paul Ricard in the past season, relying on a greater experience in terms of his knowledge of the car and Championship.

“I’m so pleased with this agreement, which gives me the opportunity to continue to race for the Kessel Team. I’ll start this new challenge having gained one more year experience in the championship at the wheel of the amazing Ferrari 458 Italia. When I arrived in Monza last year I hadn’t tested the car before, now I can rely on a full season experience upon my shoulders. I hope to race in the dry, so to have the chance to understand all the values available”, Rigon says.

36 teams will take part in the Championship, 61 cars and 9 different constructors will challenge throughout a 5 races championship. After the Italian event the Championship will be raced in England (Silverstone, 2nd of June), in France (Paul Ricard, 30th of June), in Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps, 28th of July) and in Germany (Nurburgring, 22nd of August).

“It will be a difficult racing season in terms of drivers’ quality and because, with only 5 events to be disputed, any mistakes will be paid considerably. The most awaited event of the season is the 24H of Spa, as usual. That race is as important as a full racing season both for its charme and in terms of scoring”, the driver from Veneto says, as well.

“I’m so glad that Davide will continue to race for the Kessel Team in an amazing Championship such as the Blancpain Endurance. Last season was a little bit difficult, but I think this year the title will be easier to achieve, thanks to the team’s development, a good feeling with the engineer, an excellent staff and, above all, an excellent work on car development made by Michelotto, which made the car even more performing.

I hope this year Davide will finally forget about the accident occurred in 2011 at the Istanbul Park and start again to achieve the success achieved until that moment. Good luck to him, his teammates and Kessel Team.”, the manager Giovanni Minardi says.

The racing weekend will start with two sessions of free practices to last 120 min. each, to be held on Saturday; the qualifying session will be held on Sunday morning at 10.35 and will determine the starting grid of the race to start at 14.30 and finish at 17.30.

GP China – Preview

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In less than one week spotlights will be switched on the F1 world championship again. The Shanghai venue will be the third round of the season and it’s going to be an interesting racing weekend from a technical point of view.

In Shanghai we’ll see the Pirelli soft tyres (P Zero Yellow) making their debut in the championship. Soft tyres will be tested for the first time in different weather conditions if compared with the first two venues. Besides soft tyres, drivers will also use the already lapped medium tyres (P Zero White) to be used on a track which usually alternates dry conditions with wet ones. Teams have had two weeks to analyse the strategy, learn how to make the most of the Pirelli compounds and compare all data collected during the first two races.

As far as tyres are concerned, the Pirelli is willing to strengthen the tyres compound in order to extend their duration. As we saw during the Malaysian GP, pitting three times per car it’s too much and it’s so difficult to avoid making mistakes. Pit-stops are getting more and more dangerous, especially if we consider the pit-stop time which is shorter and shorter. Teams and mechanics are subject to a remarkable level of stress.

The car designed by Adrian Newey still remains the reference car, but they’ll have to sort out a problem regarding drivers’ management. I’m expecting the Ferrari to undertake an offensive strategy. The Malaysian event has to be quickly forgotten and they have to try to regain the lost ground.   Historically speaking, the car from Maranello has always been at ease with both compounds. We’ll see if Mercedes will deliver a good performance again or if the result achieved in Sepang was a bolt from the blue. It was just in China that one year ago Rosberg scored his first win.

Little reassuring voices are heard about Lotus, due to the critical economic situation. So, I hope teams will soon sign the new Concorde Agreement. The situation is quite critical and the 2014 is just round the corner. The debut of turbo engines will cause a remarkable increase in costs.

Those could be the ingredients for a weekend full of suspense, which will hopefully help us to better understand the quality of each squad.

Backstage –………towards F1

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Last weekend represented not only the second appointment of the F1 racing season, but it was also the opening weekend of those preparatory championships which have the important mission of forging the future world champions.

Just in concomitance with the Malaysian GP, the GP2 racing season took its start at Sepang circuit. The GP2 Championship was created to complete drivers’ apprenticeship and facilitate their access into the top category, “I think we reached the 80% of our goal. The economic crisis didn’t help the programme, as F1 teams have to face with their financial resources, as well. This is the reason why, especially over the last few 3-4 years, the drivers who could bring a great amount of money to teams were favoured. It is still a valuable championship, as the car used to race is powerful and demanding. Driving that car, you can learn how to control yourself and it’s a good training for a future step into F1”, said the manager Giovanni Minardi.  “I’m expecting this championship to be hard-fought and difficult, as showcased by qualifying where 16 drivers crossed the line within 1 second. Tyres will rule the race, as well as drivers’ consistency. Now 6-7 drivers are competing for the world title. Among them we can find Coletti, Cecotto, Ericsson, Calado and Bird, five young drivers whose performance level wasn’t consistent in the past”.

 

At the same time the curtain rose over the Auto GP and the FIA International F3 Championship at Monza National Circuit “It’s still too early to make a prediction regarding Auto GP, as the grid is composed both by very young drivers (who are just 18) and more experienced ones. It will be so interesting to see how many of them will contest the whole season, because, starting from the next race, there will be more cars involved. Riccardo Agostini powerfully got the pole, but some issues during the race made him lose the podium”, said also Minardi “Regarding the FIA F3 Championship, the driver Marciello is contesting his second Championship, so he must win it. He took a great start of season, but he has to pay attention to many other drivers who are competing for the title: his teammate Lynn and some outsiders such as Auer, Buller, who delivered very good performances during practices at the wheel of the Dallara-Nissan and Rosenqvist with the Dallara-Mercedes. To Marciello’s benefit, Wehrlein will be promoted to DTM, starting form next race. We should also keep eyes on Giovinazzi (Dallara-Mercedes), who is at his first experience in such a demanding championship.”

 

Giovanni, in his long experience as a manager, helped drivers such as Maldonado to make his first step into the world of F1 by making him test a Minardi F1 car. He’s presently the manager of another great driver, Davide Rigon, “There isn’t a recipe to understand if a driver has that extra oomph. All is given by the match of different aspects. First of all it’s very important to follow a driver and see him acting on track to know his driving style. Then, it’s so important to have a deep knowledge of the championship, of the team he runs with and of the curriculum. The driver’s improvement throughout the season is also another important item to be carefully taken into consideration. To end up, you have to know the racing environment in details, as it changes so quickly”, ended up the manager from Faenza.

Malaysian GP- Un & Down

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During the Malaysian weekend we saw not only beautiful struggles between drivers and team mates, but also many pit-stop mistakes and much more…. Let’s try to analyse drivers’ performances and see who is up and who is down, before the Chinese GP.

RED BULL. The Austrian team has to deal with an inner problem, so they will have to be determined if they want to avoid bad consequences throughout the season. When a driver disregards a command, he has to be ticked off immediately. Positions had already been fixed. The command was clear. It was not the first time Vettel behaved like that. The team has a broaden concept of the race and, what is more, the point of the track where he overtook his teammate was very dangerous, considering also the fact he went beyond the white line which defines the track. I wonder what it would have happened if Bianchi, Bottas, Pic, Chilton or Grosjean were in the place of Vettel and Red Bull………..Would have everything ended up in oblivion or would have they been penalised? We will see during the season. I think the team took advantage of the weather condition.

MERCEDES. They made a great step forward. They finished 3rd and 4th, getting a result that only 8 days ago was absolutely unpredictable. They jumped up to the first four places of the overall standing. Brawn’s command makes us understand that the team has a good team spirit, so did Rosberg’ post-race statement.

MCLAREN. Their performances at Sepang blanked out the Australian hard weekend, showcasing that Button can get excellent results on hard.

FORCE INDIA. Unfortunately they had technical issues, because of which they couldn’t achieve good results. They can have the same issues even in the future, as pit-stops are getting faster and faster (the average time is 2 seconds). In such conditions it’s very easy to make mistakes and have issues. Anyway, the car behaved so well in qualifying and in the first part of the race.

LOTUS. Their performance level got down just a little bit; by the way both drivers scored important points.

FERRARI. It’s difficult to make an evaluation. Supposing that it was a driver’s decision, the team had to take over and command Fernando to pit. A wing has only a certain load resistance, so it was impossible for it to withstand all the laps required to avoid a further pit-stop. It’s a long championship and every single point scored is very important.  It was necessary to pit and try to recover.

SAUBER. The team recovered a little bit in comparison with the opening race. Hulkenberg delivered good performances, but we’ll see their further step.

 WILLIAMS. The team has too many issues. It’s non-comprehensive at the moment.

Gian Carlo Minardi: “I was deeply impressed by Alonso”

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For Fernando Alonso the Malaysian GP, scheduled for the coming weekend, will not only represent the second race of the season, but also the achievement of 200 GP.

12 years have passed since that young Spanish driver (who was only 19) made his debut in the top category, thanks to Gian Carlo Minardi who, after seeing him racing, he wanted the Spaniard to run for his team. It’s just with the Minardi team that the Spanish driver made his debut into F1 at the wheel of the PS01: “I’ve always paid much attention to young drivers’ results, thanks to the support of a valuable staff. One of my contributors was Adrian Campos. After recommending me Mark Genè, who was a Minardi racer for two seasons, he made me focus on Fernando. I began to follow him and I was so impressed by his performances. It was clear that he was a step ahead of anybody else”, remembers Minardi.

In 1999 Fernando won the World Series by Nissan Championship and he had the opportunity to test a Minardi car at Jerez “As a tradition, my team usually raffled off a testing session to those drivers who won the most important Championships. That was the year of Fernando and other drivers. Despite the heavy rain, Alonso was able to do things a rookie driver had never done before. He just played with the car, so much so that in the third lap he had already set the best lap time, running 1.5 sec. faster than any other tester……At that point I understood that I was dealing with a completely different driver. So we negotiated for such a long time and, in the end, he finally signed a long-time contract with us.”

In 2000 he contested the F.3000 Championship with Astromega Team. He was successful, as in he finished second and scored a win in the last two races: “He began to work with us while he was contesting the F.3000 Championship. The most important test was at Fiorano, where he set incredible lap times so much so that he drew the attention of the Ferrari team. From that moment on, his reputation got better and better. Unfortunately we were in troubles and were thinking about selling the team. So we decided to put on the market Alonso’s registration which was offered to Flavio Briatore, as it happened before with Fisichella. According to the agreement, Alonso had to race either with the Minardi Team or with the Renault Team, he couldn’t race with other squads. In 2001 he contested 17 GP with us, running a successful season. The following year he was engaged by Briatore as a test driver.”

I immediately realised he would have become a successful driver and during his first season with us I stated many times he would have become the world champion. Now he’s about to contest the GP number 200, having two world titles under his belt. I hope he will win the third.

What’s Fernando best trait? “He’s always very concentrated and performing. His strength is to be able to run a race to the same level he runs in qualifying. That separates him from Vettel, Hamilton, Raikkonen and Webber. He has a broaden overview of the race, even without being supported by the radio or the timesheet. Happy anniversary Fernando!”, ended the manager from Faenza.  

Australian GP – Successful and unsuccessful drivers

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The first race of the 2013 F1 racing season is over, now all eyes are on the Sepang International Circuit, where the second race will be held next weekend.

Teams and cars are on a trip to Malaysia, but we want to go back to the Albert Park and talk about drivers who deserved a glowing report and those who didn’t deserve it. We don’t have to forget that the Australian GP is an “anomalous” race; it’s a street circuit with nonabrasive asphalt and the weather can change within few hours. In fact, by mid-week the temperature was 45°C and cooled down to 15° on Sunday. Furthermore, since it was the “first day at school” for drivers and teams, they still have to learn how to use the new Pirelli compound. In the past season, it took seven races to see a double winner.

All the aforementioned items could have influenced the on-track performance. Only after some GP, we’ll have a more precise overview of the situation. What is certain is that we have 5 first actors who will strive for the world title and some outsiders like Force India and Williams, who can disturb their struggle.  We’ll see how many of them will continue to make car upgrades until the end of the season, considering that 2014 will be the year of the new turbo engine.

LOTUS (…and Kimi Raikkonen). They can drink Champagne, as they deserve it. Despite the car was less fast than before, the team managed to get a good result and made the most of the strategy. They’re not a surprise, considering also that during the past season they finished almost every race on the score zone. Kimi is a world champion, so he hardly misses points. The budget available for the team is lower than the one available to Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes. So, it will be interesting to see until when they’ll manage to make car upgrades.

FERRARI their objective was to finish on the podium in Australia. They’re now heading the world championship. Anyway, it is important to stay grounded. They’re very performing in the long run, even though they are not so good in qualifying. They didn’t miss a shot and I think we don’t have to blame Massa’s pit-stop. The chain of command inside the team has already been established. The second driver has to “sacrifice himself”, so the team’s strategy to delay Felipe’s pit-stop in order to make him pit only twice, it’s comprehensive.

RED BULL after holding the stage during free practices and qualifying, the situation suddenly changed. They were able to recover during the race, but later they slowed down their racing speed. Once again Webber had some issues in the starting stage. Team and driver will have to concentrate all their efforts to solve this issue.

FORCE INDIA they showcased to be the first among secondary teams, having enough strength to bother the 5 top teams, thanks to an interesting car. Along with Lotus, they played on the two pit-stop- strategy. They were successful in Q3 with Di Resta. On the contrary Perez didn’t manage to get the Q3.

MCLAREN the result achieved in Australia doesn’t mirror the team real skills. It will be necessary to wait until the next GP to see the necessary upgrades. In the past, Button showcased he could mange tyres very well. But it’s too early to judge their performances, as well as Williams’, which has many issues in terms of reliability and performance.

MERCEDES they still have many issues in terms of reliability. They moved team’s improvements to the background; Hamilton’s fifth place is good. The Englishman’s race was only compromised by the aggressiveness expressed towards Alonso. The Mercedes’ driver had to change his strategy as a consequence of tyres degradation. By the way, it has to be said that everybody has to look out for both of them, because Rosberg behaved like a leader.

This year championship will be a point struggle, so what is important is to seize every chance and avoid rivals to take over. This season is expected to be full of uncertainty, so let’s get ready to see some disruptions in terms of performance and winners.

Now, we’re heading to Malaysia, where the team will use a new rubber, the P Zero Orange hard, besides the usual medium. Weather conditions will be so different if compared to Australia; humidity and heat will change the situation. Sepang is a very fast track and the downforce level has to be higher than the one required by the Australian circuit (in Australia a low downforce was demanded). What is more, particular weather conditions such as high temperatures and showers will impact on everyone’s performance.

Bet on Melbourne – a winning Button

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The first race of the upcoming season will start in a short time at the Albert Park. In few hours we will see the green light switched on at the Australian circuit, where the first of 19 GP will take place. In the past season, the McLaren duo, along with the Red Bull team started the racing season by getting a podium finish; Jenson Button won the race, Vettel finished 2nd and Hamilton 3rd.  The 2009 world champion was the first of 7 winners who would have won different GP throughout the season.

Even this year the English driver is considered to be successful at the wheel of the MP4-28. That is due to his way of driving, which is so respectful towards the Pirelli tyres, as declared by Gian Carlo Minardi to the website www.minardi.it. The manager from Faenza contested 21 world championships with his Minardi Team: “Jenson Button is the favourite driver among top teams, because in 2012 he showcased his ability in managing and using Pirelli tyres, especially medium and super soft, which will be used in Australia. I’m expecting drivers to pit at least 3 times. An exciting struggle will be undertaken by Ferrari and Red Bull to get onto the podium. The Australian GP will be full of uncertainty and in qualifying both Lotus and Mercedes could bring attention to them. After the first four races, we’ll have a more precise overview of the situation.”

The Australian GP meant happiness and regret to the Minardi Team, for the results obtained and for the ones missed: “For us, it was always an interesting GP, even because it was the last race before the beginning of the racing season. I have good memories, but sometimes bad luck was at our side like in 1989, when Martini qualified 3rd behind Mansell and Senna, after having had a wonderful warm up performance. Unfortunately our work was ruined by heavy rain, so we finished 6th, scoring one point. Before the Australian race we got important results, such as the 5th and 6th place in England, the 5th place at Estoril and set the best time at Jerez.

It’s a pity that only the first six drivers could score points. Maybe, things would have changed with a system like the one we have today…..For example, in 1985 – the year that marked the debut of the Minardi Team into F1 – we ended the season by finishing 8th at Adelaide, with the driver Martini. Nowadays it would have been a great result. Thinking about more recent events, in 2002 a budding Mark Webber finished 5th in the first race”, said also the manager.   

FOCUS Melbourne

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Here we are. Winter is over, as well as the new F1 cars launch days and the 12-day-pre-seasonal testing. The teams checked the new changes to be brought on track for the upcoming racing season (or for the first races, at least), which is about to start at the Alberta Park in Melbourne.

While teams made all their evaluations and have all parts well checked, supporters and racing enthusiasts still have many unanswered questions: “How much gasoline was there in their tanks? What kind of tyres did they use? Did they push as hard as they could? And obviously……how is the new Ferrari F138?”

These are all good questions which are almost impossible to answer, as we think that teams played seek and hide with each other and tested all their upgrades separately. Sometimes they also raced on unbranded tyres and worked a lot on reliability.

Let’s start by telling some important points:

–          The new Pirelli tyres had a sudden and heavy degradation, so it will be very important to find the right moment for tyres change;

–          Compared with 2012, regulations haven’t changed so much and a technical programme has come to an end. That led teams to make their performance lever higher.

–          Talking about the Scuderia from Maranello, we have to say that the Ferrari team found a good match between the wind tunnel data and on-track data. This didn’t happen in the past racing season.

Let’s go step by step:

PIRELLI: as it already happened in the past season, the Pirelli tyres are the darkest horse of the upcoming racing season. During tests, tyres showed to have a sudden and heavy degradation, so drivers will probably have to pit many times each race. (according to the data collected in Barcelona, 4 or 5 pit-stops would be scheduled). Honestly, I’m wondering if it’s correct that all wind tunnel and on-track tests undertaken by teams in winter, were influenced by tyres degradation or performance.

FERRARI: they’re recovering from the past season shock. In fact, last year, timesheet data and car on-track behaviour were completely different if compared to simulator and wind tunnel test data. No doubt they progressed so much, but only in the first races we will see how much they progressed over rivals.

MERCEDES: they showed having their work optimised on a single qualifying lap and on super-soft tyres. Now, they have to demonstrate if they overcame the on-track and long run issues they had in the past season.

MCLAREN: it’s a balanced car. It is driven by a young driver like Perez and an experienced one like Button, who demonstrated to manage tyres so well in the past. This aspect could make the difference in the first GP and could be a winning surprise.

RED BULL: they’re the reigning champion; it’s impossible to decode feedbacks. This is the most scaring item. Their real potential is not the one displayed in Spain, and it’s also difficult to evaluate how tyres influenced car performance. Both drivers complained about tyres degradation, but this will be a common issue. They showed off self-confidence and set good times on hard tyres.

LOTUS: the new E21 is a top team car, for sure.  Raikkonen’ positive comments on the car mean that the Finnish driver appreciates his car potential so much. He will be one of the outsiders to struggle for the 2013 world title.

Besides the 5 top teams, a good struggle could be also undertaken by Sauber (which has the best car from a technical point of view), Williams, Force India and Toro Rosso to get that 6th place which is like the 1st for secondary teams. The Swiss team has to make a step forward thanks to Nico Hulkenberg’s contribution, even if Gutierrez is a “dark horse”. Finally, we have Marussia and Caterham; the Russian team has a slight advantage over the Anglo-Malaysian team.

After analyzing teams I would like also to analyse the couples of drivers who will give the best contribution to their teams, in terms of scoring.

HAMILTON/ROSBERG: they’re the best couple among the 5 top teams.  This is due to their long experience and the feeling between them. Nico and Lewis raced in the same lower formulas. Rosberg can cause problems for the 2008 world champion. They can be a good duo for the constructors’ championship.

ALONSO/MASSA: Fernando’s performances are like the ones displayed last year, so he will act in the same way even in the forthcoming season. Massa’s performances are getting better and better, as he showed in the final part of 2012 championship and in the pre-seasonal tests; they will aim for scoring important points.

VETTEL/WEBBER: this is the duo to be defeated. Thanks to them, Red Bull won three constructors’ championships. They demonstrated to be the two most prolific drivers of the world championship.

RAIKKONEN/GROSJEAN: they represent the biggest wild card. If the Finnish drivers demonstrated to be able to strive for the world title, Grosjean was able to deliver good but also tragic performances. He had good performances during winter testing, so the Frenchman’s progression can be decisive to score points for the constructors’ championship.

BUTTON/PEREZ: despite the Englishman great experience, even regarding tyres management, as demonstrated by winning three GP in the past season, the McLaren duo’ general performances may not be so good; the Mexican driver’s limited experience may not be enough to confirm their position in the championship.

MALDONADO/BOTTAS: among second-category teams, the Williams drivers will be the ones who will be able to score the most. They’re young and determined and, if Maldonado is able to make some steps forward, the team will probably be the protagonist of some race.

VERGNE/RICCIARDO: they have to confirm their potential. They can both rely on one more year experience. Running for an economically speaking sixth place team, they’ll have to make a double effort to express their potential. The car was built in such a good way and, to enable one of them to get Webber’s position, they’ll have to act like top drivers.

BIANCHI/CHILTON: I think Bianchi made a good choice running for Marussia. Although he doesn’t run for a highly competitive team, he will have the opportunity to progress, thanks to a good competition with his teammate. The first year in F1 is never easy. If he had signed a contract with Force India, he would have been much more under pressure, as he would have asked to get high results, besides the fact of being competitive towards an experienced driver like Di Resta.

Gian Carlo Minardi “The truth will be discovered only in Melbourne”

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With the 4-day-test session at Barcelona, the pre-season practice stage came to an end. Now, all eyes are on Melbourne circuit, where the first F1 GP will be held. This year, all F1 races will be broadcasted by SKY and RAI and they will be live or pre-recorded. We’ll finally see all cars showing their newest changes.

Once again every squad played hide and seek with rivals, to prevent them to take advantage of new amendments on car development and see their real potential.

“Even the third session of winter testing came to an end. It was so hard, almost impossible to understand something during this four-day-session, as teams were so good at hiding car changes. I had the impression that they tested the modified cars separately, so, only in Melbourne we’ll have the opportunity to see the real changes.

I think tyres will be the protagonists of the first races, as they’re so difficult to manage. In ten days, in Australia, we’ll see cars racing on medium and super soft tyres, which caused many problems to teams and drivers during the last session. In Malaysia, drivers will race on hard and soft. So, in the first two racing weekends we’ll get an overall view of the new Pirelli compounds”, says Gian Carlo Minardi.

“I think Red Bull played hide and seek again; the Austrian team set an interesting time only once, before being on 1-1.5 sec. behind the team on top. If this is true, teams will have to be seriously concerned. 8 cars crossed the line within 1 second; they can even grow up to 16 in qualifying. In Q3 we’ll see an interesting struggle between Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes (which is so lively on a single qualifying lap); Lotus and Williams could join in the struggle as outsiders. The competition level is higher than one year ago, as shown by times, which are so close to the 2012 pole, or even faster.”

“It seems that Ferrari found a good reliability; I’m so pleased to hear Pat Fry and the Ferrari staff saying that they’ve finally found a good match between the wind tunnel testing (virtual reality) and on- track testing(reality). This is so important, especially for a team which has always considered development as its flagship.”

Gian Carlo Minardi “We’re at an interlocutory phase”

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The four-day-tests on the track of Barcelona ended up the second pre-season tests session. This session was characterized by bad weather conditions which affected the last day of testing during which teams usually put into practice all the work done, as analysed by Gian Carlo Minardi.

“Teams started to make amendments to be ready for the last session of testing and the first GP. It’s very hard to say if teams used cars to their full potential. What is almost clear is that it is quite hard for teams to manage soft tyres. I still remember what Paul Hembery said when new tyres were introduced; he pointed out the will (or need) to make the race even more interesting”, said the manager from Faenza.

“In the second half of the past season, teams equalized their performances on medium/hard tyres. Drivers pitted according to regulations. Comparing times in the first few laps of the long run with times in the last laps, we could notice sudden performance downfalls within a short time. It will be extremely hard but important to set the right time to pit. So, in the first GP it will be interesting to see different strategies. We’re still living an interlocutory phase and the four-day- testing session was interrupted by bad weather conditions. Generally, the last day of testing shows the results of the work done during the previous days, but this time it wasn’t possible.”

The tests at Barcelona confirmed a compression of times, as 7-8 teams crossed the line within one second.” Therefore, it will be so interesting to see what it will be going to happen during the third and last session of testing (from February 28 to March 3), to be held on the track of Barcelona, again. We will see how much teams will show their cars’ performances; I think they will be going to make separate tests in order to avoid opponents to take advantage of each car’ strengths and weaknesses. We’ll have two GP so close to each other (Australia and Malaysia), and then three weeks after the Malaysian GP, there will be the Chinese GP, where we’ll see amendments.”

The Ferrari gets people to discuss again: “We’re at the end of a cycle. It could be the result of a car built thanks to a cutting edge wind tunnel. Most of the mistakes made in the past season were certainly linked to an imperfect wind tunnel”, ends up the ACI CSAI supervisor.

Examination passed with flying colours for Bhai Tech

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A lot of work was done over the past few days at the Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Centre, the new cutting-edge vehicle centre located in Mestrino (not far from Padua) and conceived by the businessman Mr. Ferdinando Bada. The Centre hosted a three-day-event dedicated to all the young promises of the international motorsport.

Seven young drivers, racing in the main national and international championships – Formula ACI CSAI Abarth, Formula 3, GP3 and GT – had the opportunity to test the cutting-edge full motion driving simulator and experience mental and physical training. All the work done was made thanks to the presence of a gym equipped with advanced equipments and motorsport specialists, all supported by the staff of the Forlì based Driver Program Centre.

The centre was established to sustain the professional growth of drivers and teams by technologically contributing to tweak racing cars, as Mr. Roberto Costa, the technical manager, told to Autosprint: “A team which wants to cooperate with us conveys everything about tyres, set-up and downforce. All data are put into the system and, after defining a basic set-up, we start simulating.” Bhai Tech main facility is just the 6-DOF driving simulator, which is equipped with 5 outboard headlamps and an 8m210° curved screen with rear-view images. “In many F1 teams usually a hundred people are involved in this field”, says Mr. Costa, “we’re able to offer clients this kind of advanced technology by only involving few people, so to get costs down and make it affordable for teams”.

The GT driver Nicola De Marco, along with Juan Branger and Santiago Urrutia, two other young drivers running in the Formula Abarth, were invited to test Bhai Tech’s driving simulator. The rookie champion Santiago Urrutia, who was at his first experience at the wheel of a simulator, commented as follows “It was an amazing experience. I had the chance to run 20 laps on the Monza track at the wheel of a GP2 car. Everything was new to me, except the track. The simulator is an absolutely realistic and wonderful vehicle. I think it could be a good substitute for on-track tests”, said the future Open F3 driver. Alessandro Cicognani, the 21-year-old driver who ran in the Carrera Cup Championship last season, thinks the same, too “I think the centre is really fantastic, the simulator is so professional and realistic. It can perfectly simulate reality. When I got off the vehicle I felt like I had run on track. Arms and legs are stimulated just like when you’re racing on track, even though you have to be more concentrated. I think it’s an ideal device for the drivers racing in the GP2 and WSR 3.5 Championships, where you don’t have much time to test the track and private tests are so expensive”, ended up the driver from Ravenna.

His thoughts were also echoed by the Open F3 Champion Niccolò Schirò and the Trident GP3 team racer David Fumanelli “I think the simulator could be a good substitute for on-track tests. I drove a GP2 car for the first time and I got along so well with it, even if I had a little bit of headache, so I didn’t manage to race for too long”, said Schirò “I was astonished by the centre, which is so modern and advanced. It’s equipped with all sort of equipment, just like a F1 Team. The simulator is so developed and it’s even better than the ones used by F1 Teams, because it was built using better materials. Given the fact they’re at their first stages, I have to say that the base is so good. I drove a GP2 car, too, but on Barcelona track”, said Fumanelli “I had never driven this kind of car before and I was amazed by braking. I think it could be so useful to get ready for a GP3 or GP2 racing weekend, since you don’t have much time to test the track. For example, you can train to find the right braking point, besides working on the set-up.”
Nicolò Granzotto, who will be the next Antonelli Motorsport Team driver in the Carrera Cup Championship, was enthusiastic about the simulator, too “The centre is amazing and it’s run by a very professional staff. Nothing is left to chance. The driving simulator is astonishing, as it can perfectly simulate reality. Just after a few laps, everything becomes so automatic, as if you were on track. It’s an essential device and I think it should be tried, as it allows you to work both on car balance and braking points. Along with the engineers support, telemetry can also be analyzed. I want to praise the staff of the Driver Program Center who made us do some physical and mental training before and after the simulator session.”

Gian Carlo Minardi “At Jerez, a first taste of the 2013 racing season”

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The 4-day-testing at Jerez finished the first session of the 2013 collective testing. Over the last 4 days we started to know more about the new single- seaters (except the Williams which will be tested at Barcelona), which will be the protagonists of the upcoming F.1 World Championship. As shown, the performance level will be higher.


“The current regulations, which will last till the end of the upcoming season, have been taken to the extreme, At this point it’s so difficult to think up new amendments. The common denominator is represented by very thin sidepods which could cause rear side’s overheating.  All teams got medium-high positions and the Red Bull is a benchmark. The McLaren seems to be a very interesting car, as well as Sauber and Toro Rosso. Good feelings come from the Ferrari, as well. The long runs of the first two days (13-14 laps), during which lap times were less important than other performances, were quite good. I think that the Spanish track was a mean to collect as many data as possible and compare them with the ones obtained by making simulator and wind tunnel tests. This is the way the Spanish tester will help the team. According to his interviews, it seems that the team will have to improve the simulator hardware. Along with Davide Rigon’s contribution, we all hope that they will be able to solve a problem that sounds like a “false note” in the world of F.1. It’s unacceptable not to test cars before running such a long Championship. It is important to reach a compromise in order to give teams the chance to test the turbo engine on track. The turbo engine will be the 2014 racing season official engine; it’s also interesting for the world of production cars. Cars have to be tested directly on track, not only by using a simulator”, says Gian Carlo Minardi.

“Long runs have always been Sebastian Vettel’s prerogative and I think Red Bull has mainly worked on car reliability and race performances, rather than on lap time. Beyond Ferrari good results, it’s difficult to set an on-track hierarchy yet.  No doubt 4 cars are a step ahead of the others, but it will be interesting to see also the steps of the latter. After taking a shaky start on the first two days, the Mercedes recovered in terms of reliability and performance by running almost 300 laps between Thursday and Friday.”

At Jerez teams started to test and improve all the changes made by running hundreds of laps, before working on further revisions to be presented at Barcelona, the track where the second session of the pre-season test will take place from February 19th to 22nd and from February 28th to March 3rd “Pre-season test in Barcelona will be so important, as the Spanish track will also host the World Championship opening tests. Thus we’ll have accurate feedbacks from cars and drivers. With the Barcelona test we’ll get closer to the first GP of the season, so team will get ready to play their ace card”, ends up the manager from Faenza.

Minardi “F1 is going back to ‘90s”

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In less than one week, spotlight will be on the F1 World Championship again, as the new cars which will be the protagonists of the forthcoming racing season, will be soon introduced to the audience. Even the top series has been affected by the economic crisis the whole world is undergoing now, as shown by the fact many seats are still up for grabs. The crisis is also shown by the quit of the HRT Team and the many difficulties expressed by other teams.
“We’re going back to ‘90s, when the grid was composed by 18 Squads (mostly private), who had to integrate their budget by choosing rich drivers. Starting by saying that if a driver gets the Superlicenza, then he deserves to race in F1, the impossibility to get enough money through sponsorships, forces a team to choose those drivers who can either rely on the support of multinational companies or on the support of countries which use sport to promote their own products and tourism; their choice is not based on sports meritocracy. Teams’ financial situation won’t be better, as the reintroduction of the turbo engine in 2014 will further increase costs.”
In the last few years, many attempts were made to reduce costs: restrictions and cancellations of private testing and reduction of on-track staff “Strengths have been shifted from one side to the other. Private testing restriction has forced teams to concentrate their resources on new sectors, such as virtual simulation. Moreover, top teams can rely on an in-house team who supports technicians in managing the race. To reduce costs, it should be necessary to have less sophisticated cars, reduce the employment of electronics and aerodynamics and set rules which will help the development of material and technology to be applied on the series production. Anyway, I can hardly understand how costs can be kept under control”, says the manager Gian Carlo Minardi.
Car racing has always been one of the most expensive sports ever. Since a long time ago, all the drivers who made it into F1, could rely on the support of their family and important companies. It’s hard to see a driver pushing forward with his own resources. The revolution FIA is carrying on now is aiming at reducing the number of categories in order to make the talent identification process easier. In the past, we had only few categories: F1, F2 and F3. In F2 there were 4 or 5 constructors and more engine suppliers. That was the right way to emphasize talent. We must have the courage to make some steps backwards, even if it’s not easy. The CSAI has made a hard decision: suspend the Italian Formula 3 Championship with the aim of collaborating with Berger and the FIA to achieve a change.”
Few months before the beginning of National Championships, many teams haven’t completed their staff yet and many contracts still have to be signed “By now, GP2, GP3 and WSR teams have many vacancies. The fact that successful teams haven’t completed their staff yet, sounds like an alarm bell. Furthermore, there is another particular circumstance that should be taken under control: many parents are either buying or becoming part of racing teams to assist their sons’ professional development. No doubt this means certainty to some teams, but, if results didn’t come, they could give up. That is what happened when car companies got into F1. As soon as the crisis started to affect the world of car racing, car companies left the scene, causing problems for the entire system.”