VETTEL HOT IN INDIAN TAKE AWAY

Sebastian Vettel has written his name in the Formula One history books once again, winning the first ever Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida. Vettel led from pole to flag, never at any point under pressure from his racing peers, eventually building a gap of over six seconds between himself and the rest of the field. The German also set a new record for number of laps led in a Grand Prix, taking the title from previous record holder Nigel Mansell from the 1992 season. And, as if his dominance was being at all questioned, he set the race's fastest lap on his final circulation of the circuit: at 1 minute, 27.249 seconds. 'Obviously it was a very good race for us,' said Vettel, stating the obvious. 'I enjoyed the time in the lead very much.' 'Overall obviously a fantastic performance. Thanks to the whole team. 'All in all it was fantastic. I'm very proud to be the first winner in India.' Jenson Button finished best of the rest, and subsequently strengthened his claim for the same title in the year's Drivers' Championship.

BRITISH DRIVERS DOWN UNDER PAY TRIBUTE TO DAN

British sportscar drivers Richard Westbrook and Oliver Gavin will pay tribute to countryman Dan Wheldon at this weekend’s Armor All Gold Coast 600. Wheldon tragically passed away following an IndyCar accident in Las Vegas last weekend. He was scheduled to race alongside James Courtney at the Surfers Paradise street circuit this weekend. Both Westbrook and Gavin are life long friends and rivals of their countryman Wheldon, with all three members of the exclusive British Racing Drivers Club. Westbrook and Gavin will unveil special visor stickers in memory of Wheldon in pit lane at the Surfers Paradise street circuit at 9.30am local Queensland time. All BRDC members present at this weekend’s event will carry the special visor stripe stickers as a tribute to Wheldon. They are Westbrook, Gavin, Andy Priaulx, Emanuele Pirro, Gil de Ferran, Marino Franchitti, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Lyons and Darren Turner. Westbrook will partner Todd Kelly in the #7 Jack Daniel’s Commodore at the Armor All Gold Coast 600, while Gavin will drive alongside Greg Murphy in the #11 Pepsi Max Commodore. Source: Kelly Racing Media Release

INDY 500 WINNER DAN WHELDON DIES IN LAS VEGAS RACE CRASH

Two time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon has been killed in a tragic end to the 2011 Indycar series at Las Vegas. 33 year old Wheldon, died after being involved in a huge 15 car crash at the final round of the championship at Las Vegas speedway. Indy car released the following statement: "INDYCAR is sad to announce that Dan Wheldon passed away from unsurvivable injuries. Our thoughts and prayers are with Dan and his family. INDYCAR, its drivers and teams have decided to end the race. We will run a five-lap salute in honour of Dan." The crash also saw Australian Will Power, English driver Pippa Mann and J% Hilderbrand taken to hospital for treatment. Power, who had previously broken his back in a race crash is complaining of back pain. Wheldon, who did not have a regular drive in the series, was contesting the final in a bid to win a $5 Million bonus for a non regular driver to win the race.

HAMILTON ENDS RED BULL POLE DOMINATION IN KOREA

Lewis Hamilton has become the first non-Red Bull driver of the season to claim pole position after a scintillating lap around the Korea International Circuit. The Englishman set an untouchable time of 1 minute 35.820 seconds, keeping newly-crowned World Champion Sebastian Vettel at bay by a little over two-tenths. Hamilton's team mate Jenson Button qualified in third, lining up alongside Mark Webber on tomorrow's grid. Felipe Massa again outqualified Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari pair securing P5 and P6 for the race. Nico Rosberg decided that his first run was the most he could extract from his Mercedes, forgoing a second hot lap and winning him P7, with Vitaly Petrov in eighth place. The two Force India cars of di Resta and Sutil filled P9 and P10. Rosberg was the first to set a quick lap in Q3, but it was the revitalised Lewis Hamilton who set the fastest time, beating Rosberg's lap by more than one and a half seconds. A flurry of quick laps were soon posted, with Vettel falling desperately short, three-hundredths of a second slower than the McLaren driver. Webber was next fastest, but more than three-tenths adrift.

VIRTUAL ADVERTISING CREATES REAL PROBLEMS FOR GRASS ROOTS MOTORSPORT

It not exactly new technology, in fact it's been around for years, but the Seven Network's use of "Virtual Signage" at Mount Panorama is a worrying situation for Australian Sport and one that the circuits and CAMS need to get a grip on quickly. Viewers of last weekends "Great Race" were treated to a number of CGI created virtual bridges and signs across the famous circuit, mostly for major V8 supercar sponsors Telstra and Norton, a company that has made billions protecting people from the inadequacies of Mr Gate's Windows operating system. The problem with virtual signage is that while these signs pump dollars into the host broadcaster and perhaps even V8 Supercars Australia, do the circuits see any of this money? You see real signage, of the old fashioned type, was a substantial earner for circuits and sporting venues, this money, could, in theory, be used by these circuits to improve facilities for spectators and competitors across the board, not just at the elite level.

VETTEL WINS THE TITLE AS BUTTON GRABS THE RACE

VETTEL ON POLE FOR TITLE DEFENCE IN JAPAN

Sebastian Vettel is just one day away from claiming his second World Championship after claiming pole position ahead of tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix. The German needs only one point to become the sport’s youngest ever World Champion. ‘What a qualifying,’ exclaimed Vettel. ‘It was a tough qualifying, but I enjoyed it a lot.’ ‘Yesterday I went off in [...]

VETTEL ON POLE AGAIN AT MONZA

Speculation that Red Bull's dominance over pole position this season would come to an end in Italy proved wrong, with Sebastian Vettel taking his least-predictable P1 of the year at Monza. The German, who almost lost his car as he slid through the Ascari chicane, recovered to bank an unbeatable lap time of 1m 22.275 seconds. 'We thought it would be much closer than that,' said Vettel. 'We are quite quick throughout all three sectors, so we just had to put it together.' The German was stuck in traffic as all cars but Senna left the pitlane at once, but mistakes by Hamilton, Button's decision to abandon his fast lap, and teammate Mark Webber unable to extract the same pace from the Red Bull meant that he kept the RBR7's 100 per cent pole record for 2011 alive. 'We were not expecting, not thinking of being on pole by that margin,' he continued. 'This year, I have to say the car is very good here. The balance is perfect.' The pace promised by McLaren in the lead up to the Italian Grand Prix was only good enough P2, with Hamilton pipping teammate Button to the front from by half a tenth. 'Sebastian was mega quick today. It looked like we'd be quite competitive in the weekend, but that last lap was untouchable for me,' elaborated Hamilton. 'I didn't have another half a second in the bag. We perhaps could have got another couple of tenths out of the car.' Button noted that despite Red Bull running a seemingly lower downforce package than McLaren, they still managed to move faster in the high speed turns.

FOSTER FEELS FORMULA FORD FAME

Nick Foster came out on top in the opening race of round five of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Sandown Raceway. The Mygale driver had to work hard to fend off the advances of Sonic Motor Racing Services team mates Cameron Waters and Gary Jacobson, as well as Synergy Motorsport's Liam Sager. The victory follows on from race wins at the previous two championship rounds at Eastern Creek and Queensland Raceway. "After the restart (for a mid-race safety car), I put my head down and was able to make a gap," Foster said. "I feel that I do my best driving out in front, so I felt pretty comfortable towards the finish. "Hopefully the weather holds off again for tomorrow's races."

WINSLOW WINS SATURDAY SANDOWN

British driver James Winslow set a new Sandown lap record on the final lap to hold off main rival Chris Gilmour to win the first race of this weekend's Australian Drivers Championship at Sandown. Gilmour led away early from pole sitter John Magro, but it wasn't long before Winslow grabbed the lead. Magro hung on for third with the first three all under the long standing lap record. Fourth place was a great result for Formula BMW Asia-Pacific graduate Steel Giulliania who led home his R-Tek team mate Josh Burdon. Queenslanders Ben Gersekowski and Roman Krumins rounded out the field. Only Seven cars fronted the start of the event, a clear indication of just how sad the state of open-wheel racing is in Australia.