Carlin Racing's Mikhail Aleshin has strengthened his lead Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship with a win at a wet Magny-Cours in France. The talented young Russian star leads ISR’s Sebastian Guerrieri and Comtec Racing's Stefano Coletti. Guerrieri took advantage of disappointment for Tech 1 Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo, Fortec Motorsport’s Sten Pentus and Tech 1 Racing’s Brendon Hartley to carve himself a solid second place in the championship. Conditions were tough for the drivers s they lined up on a track still wet from a morning of incessant rain. Fortec Motorsport’s Jon Lancaster stalled even before the warm-up lap and had to start from the pits.
Continue reading...Wednesday, April 14, 2010
On a night when a 30 year old TV show made it's return to Australian television screens, now comes a report that Formula One may soon return to the days of the 1.5 litre turbocharged engine. According to the popular motorsport website Pitpass, serious consideration is being given to introducing a four cylinder 1.5 turbo engine for F1 from 2013. The 1.5 litre turbo era saw some of the most powerful and fastest F1 cars ever built with some engines claimed to be putting out well in excess of 1000 BHP. The cars were however often unreliable and very expensive to build and maintain. What do you think? Would you like to see a return to the turbo era of F1? That, and many other issues will be just one of the subjects we'll be talking about in our In Pit Lane Live Forum Thursday April 15 at 8.30 pm Australian EST here on the In Pit Lane website. To join just check out the chat box on the right hand side of the page and enter your email to register. It's free, and we hope it'll be fun.
Continue reading...Thursday, November 5, 2009
Toyota's decision to leave F1 had prompted Renault to reassess their continued involvement in the sport. According to the BBC the French manufacturer held an emergency board meeting to discuss whether to remain in Formula One, become an engine supplier only, or exit the sport altogether. Renault president Carlos Ghosn is due to promote the Renault's zero-emissions policy during a special publicity event on Thursday. Ghosn is known to be less than enthusiastic about F1, seeing the sport as increasingly irrelevant in a changing economic and environmental landscape.
Continue reading...Wednesday, September 16, 2009
In a bombshell announcement Renault said that they will not dispute the serious allegations of race fixing in last years Singapore Grand Prix when the team appears before the FIA World Motorsport Council on September 21. The team also announced that controversial team boss Flavio "fun bags" Briatore and executive director of engineering Pat Symonds have "left" the team. The team will face the WMC to answer the charge after disgruntled former driver Nelson Piquet Jnr alleged that he had been asked to crash his car during the early stages of the race in order to advantage his team-mate Fernando Alonso. In a brief statement Renault said:
Continue reading...Friday, June 19, 2009
Formula One teams led by Ferrari and other major manufacturers have called the bluff of FIA President Max (hurts so good) Mosley and announced that they will run a breakaway series beginning next year. At a meeting held at the Renault F1 factory in Oxfordshire the teams refused to back down on their demands for changes for next years regulations. Ferrari, McLaren, Renault, Toyota, BMW Sauber, Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso have therefore declined to enter the FIA Formula One Championship for 2010. The announcement, on the eve of what looks set to be the final British GP at Silverstone, seriously ups the ante in the multi-billion dollar stare-down between the teams and the FIA. In a statement issued by FOTA, the teams said that there was no room for further compromise. "It has become clear that the stables cannot continue to make compromises on the fundamental values of the sport," they said. "The teams have no other alternative but to begin to prepare for a new championship which reflects the values of the competitors and their sponsors. According to the statemant the new series will have a transparent governing body, one single set of rules, encourage new entrants, and would better listen to the fans' wishes. Just what role, if any, Bernie Ecclestone may play in this is not yet clear. Despite the posturing of both the teams and the FIA, the real power broker is still Bernie. It is he who controls the sports commercial rights and the valuable TV deals that provide so much of the sport's income. Publicly at least, Ecclestone has shown qualified solidarity with his old mate Max, but Bernie is Bernie and friendship will count for nothing if there's a quid involved. And with literally millions of quids involved expect Bernie to jump wherever it's best for Bernie.
Continue reading...Thursday, October 2, 2008
The World Series by Renault's premier saloon car championship the Mégane Trophy has undergone a raft of radical modifications in readiness for the 2009 campaign. The most visible change concerns its new body design which takes its inspiration from the lines of the new Mégane Coupe revealed at the Paris Motorshow. Under the bonnet, a fresh look has also been taken at the Renault-Nissan Alliance's V6 3.5 24V powerplant which now delivers 360hp. At the same time, Renault Sport Technologies has carried over many of the acclaimed features of the current Mégane Trophy to produce a reliable, competitive and affordable racing car.
Continue reading...Monday, September 29, 2008
ING Renault driver Fernando Alonso was the surprise winner of the inaugural Singapore F1 Grand Prix. Held under lights the world's first night time Formula One race went off without a hitch for the organisers but the same couldn't be said for Ferrari with both Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen striking major problems in the race. Massa had led the race early but a disastrous pitstop which saw him leave before the refuelling hose had been removed cost him any chance of a win.
Continue reading...Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Mini Challenge (Australia) will return this weekend at Phillip Island in support of the L&H 500 V8 Supercar event, with the man who gave Ayrton Senna his Formula 1 start, Ted Toleman, at the helm. Since Motorsport Event Management Pty Ltd was placed into liquidation, Toleman Motorsport has been in negotiations with MINI and the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) and was appointed the Category Management Agency for the remainder of 2008.
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Sunday, June 20, 2010
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