Niche Bloc » ASI

Dovizioso wants to develop bike

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:08:46 +0000

Andrea Dovizioso believes Honda needs to allow him to develop the RCV 212 in order to fight for the MotoGP world championship.

The Italian won at Donington in his maiden top class season last year, while Pedrosa won at Laguna Seca and Valencia, but the pair only finished third and sixth in the standings.

Dovizioso admits it was a difficult season and calls on Honda to follow his advice in 2010.

“For me, 2009 was the first year I felt a door slamming in my face,” he told Motosprint. “I got to a place everyone dreams of but I didn’t get the results.

“I’m not like Valentino [Rossi] who was called by Yamaha to develop and everyone has always followed him. I wasn’t given power by Honda to immediately change what I wanted to change.

“That’s also because the changes I wanted were too big. Honda said ‘it’s impossible to do everything now, it’s better to work for 2010′. I would like to change many things and the people at Honda have understood the situation.”

Dovizioso believes the changes he wants to make could help Pedrosa to win the 2010 title.

“In my opinion, Pedrosa too could benefit from the modifications I ask for. He can easily fight for the title, I have no doubt he can do it.”

Ferrari aims to benefit from Shell link

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:07:31 +0000

Ferrari’s engine chief Luca Marmorini is confident the Italian squad will benefit from its close relationship with fuel supplier Shell this year.

Formula 1 has banned refuelling from the start this season and saving fuel will be a critical point in achieving good results.

Marmorini, speaking during the launch of the new F10 car, believes Ferrari’s close ties with partner Shell will help the Maranello outfit extract the maximum performance of the car while saving as much fuel as possible.

“The 2010 season is most interesting,” said Marmorini. “It’s a new challenge, new if you consider the last 15 years. The ban on refuelling has made the fuel consumption parameter very important in performance terms. If you consume less it means the car is more lightweight – so the laptime performance is better.

“We’ve worked hard on that, not only in our team, and consumption optimisation is team work and it involves players who are interested in the engine management. It involves electronic people and the drivers as well.

“The fact that we work under the same roof, well we have a major advantage for optimising fuel consumption. A major contribution comes from this aspect. This is due to important partners like Shell that has allowed us to take a step ahead.

“Together with Shell we have tried to optimise the lubricants and fuel so that we can have an advantage that makes the F10 a winning car.”

The Italian also said Ferrari has carried out few changes to its power unit given the development freeze.

“The engine is frozen which means that the main components can not be developed, so the possibility of developing performance directly is fairly limited,” he said. “So we have redesigned the exhaust system, the F10 exhaust system is fairly unconventional.

“We have modified accessories because the engine will no longer have the KERS as it had in 2009, and we have invested in materials and processes to cut the engine cost.”

He added: “We’ve never forgotten reliability. Reliability can never be forgotten can never be forgotten in engine development activity. In respect to that we have optimised and updated our bench simulation techniques. They are increasingly complex and getting closer and closer to the actual reality on the track during the season.”

Schumacher could race beyond 2012

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:22:23 +0000

Michael Schumacher is open to the possibility of continuing his Formula 1 comeback beyond his current three-year deal with Mercedes.

The seven times world champion has been signed through to the end of 2012, by which time he will 43 years old. But he says there is no guarantee that he will stop racing at that point.

“The good thing is that Mercedes believes in me and is giving me the chance for three years to have success,” said Schumacher in an interview with German newspaper Bild. “But it does not mean it has to end after three years.”

Schumacher said his excitement over his return was so great he could easily see himself committing for longer than his present contract.

“I thought about everything very carefully: Am I just spontaneously high or will my enthusiasm last?” he said. “I have been excited for quite some time and can imagine doing this for a few years.”

Mercedes GP boss Ross Brawn said earlier today that the team knew it could not rely on Schumacher too far into the future so was keen to develop his team-mate Nico Rosberg as a championship challenger too.

“Michael has come out of retirement but we have to accept that there will come a day when he has to stop forever and then we will have Nico,” Brawn told the official F1 website.

The next major step in Schumacher’s comeback takes place next Monday, when he tests the 2010 Mercedes F1 car for the first time.

Wendlinger to drive Nissan in GT1

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:24:57 +0000

Karl Wendlinger will lead the Swiss Racing Team Nissan line-up in the new GT1 World Championship.

The 41-year-old Austrian is a former FIA GT champion and was a regular race-winner in the new GT1 series’ forerunner. His 2009 season was truncated when his K plus K Saleen team pulled out.

Wendlinger will be joined by 29-year-old Swedish driver Max Nilsson, who drove for Swiss Racing in German Formula 3 last year and also had a one-off FIA GT outing with K plus K.

Swiss Racing, which will run two Nissan GT-Rs, has yet to finalise the other two members of its line-up.

“We have not made a final decision yet because we want to find an equally strong team for the second car,” said team co-owner Erich Kolb.

“We get calls from pilots who want a place in the cockpit on an almost daily basis. However, we want to take our time to choose the right pilot.”

The other two Nissans in the GT1 series are set to be run by new British squad Sumo Power.

Moto2 attracts big entry for debut

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:35:27 +0000

The inaugural Moto2 championship will see a full field of 39 bikes, with another two entries waiting in the wings as reserves.

The new series, in which chassis choice is free but all competitors run identical Honda engines, was over-subscribed when entries were first opened last year, and has remained at capacity despite Aprilia’s last-minute decision to pull the plug on its chassis project.

Moto2’s predecessor 250cc averaged 25 entries in its final season.

The entry is led by former MotoGP riders Toni Elias, Alex de Angelis, Gabor Talmacsi, Yuki Takahashi and Niccolo Canepa, with ex-Kawasaki MotoGP racer Anthony West among the reserves having joined the MZ team.

Roby Rolfo and Fonsi Nieto – two more riders with MotoGP experience – join Moto2 from the Superbike World Championship.

All of last year’s 250cc title contenders have moved into MotoGP rather than contesting Moto2, with Mattia Pasini, Raffaele de Rosa, Thomas Luthi, Mike di Meglio and Alex Debon the main ex-250cc men in the Moto2 field. 125cc graduates also feature strongly, led by reigning champion – and former 250cc racer – Julian Simon.

Actor Antonio Banderas is also a Moto2 supporter and is backing Spanish squad Promoracing. The team, which has title sponsorship from Jack&Jones, will run American Kenny Noyes and 125cc graduate Joan Olive.

2010 Moto2 entry list

No. Rider Team Chassis
2 Gabor Talmacsi Speed Up Aprilia Speed Up
4 Stefan Bradl Viessmann Kiefer Racing Suter
5 Joan Olive Jack&Jones By A.Banderas Promoharris
6 Alex Debon Red Bull Ajo Motorsport FTR
7 Axel Pons Pons Racing Pons Kalex
9 Kenny Noyes Jack&Jones By A.Banderas Promoharris
10 Fonsi Nieto G22 Holidaygym Moriwaki
12 Thomas Luthi Interwetten Moriwaki Racing Moriwaki
14 Ratthapark Wilairot Honda-Sag Suter
15 Alex de Angelis Scot Racing Team Scot
16 Jules Cluzel Forward Racing Suter
17 Karel Abraham Cardion Ab Motoracing RSV
24 Toni Elias Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki
25 Alex Baldolini Caretta Technology Race Dept I.C.P.
29 Andrea Iannone Speed Up Aprilia Speed Up
35 Raffaele de Rosa Tech 3 Racing Tech 3
37 Fabricio Perren Kino Racing Kino
39 Robertino Pietri Italtrans S.T.R. Suter
40 Sergio Gadea Pons Racing Pons Kalex
41 Arne Tode Racing Team Germany Suter
44 Roberto Rolfo Italtrans S.T.R. Suter
45 Scott Redding Marc VDS Racing Team Suter
48 Shoya Tomizawa Technomag-Cip Suter
52 Lukas Pesek Matteoni C.P. Racing Moriwaki
53 Valentin Debise WTR San Marino Team ADV
55 Hector Faubel Honda-Sag Suter
56 Vladimir Leonov Vector Kiefer Racing Suter
59 Nicola Canepa Scot Racing Team Scot
60 Julian Simon Mapfre Aspar Team RSV
61 Vladimir Ivanov Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki
63 Mike di Meglio Mapfre Aspar Team RSV
71 Claudio Corti Forward Racing Suter
72 Yuki Takahashi Tech 3 Racing Tech 3
75 Mattia Pasini JiR Moto2 TSR
76 Bernat Martinez Blusens BQR BQR-Moto2
77 Dominique Aegerter Technomag-Cip Suter
88 Yannick Guerra G22 Holidaygym Moriwaki
95 Mashel Al Naimi Blusens BQR BQR-Moto2
TBA tba JiR Moto2 TSR

Reserves

27 Vincent Lonbois Marc VDS Racing Team Suter
TBA Anthony West MZ Racing Team MZ

Rossi switches to Meritus for GP2 Asia

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:35:16 +0000

Alexander Rossi will race for Meritus for the rest of the GP2 Asia Series.

The 18-year-old American, who finished fourth and fifth in the series opener at Abu Dhabi with Ocean Racing in November, will replace Diego Nunes in the Malaysian-based team’s line-up for the second round of the championship on February 5-6.

“I am very confident in the team’s abilities to prepare a race-winning car and I am very much looking forward to getting back to work in Abu Dhabi,” said Rossi.

“My goal is simple, to win. I feel that I can deliver on this ambition as this team is one of continual strength and determination.”

Rossi will partner Luca Filippi at the team for the remaining three rounds of the series, before joining ART for the inaugural GP3 championship.

Meritus team boss Peter Thompson added: “I’m delighted that Luca will partner such a talented new team-mate. Alexander knows the track and Luca knows the team very well. I am really confident that with these two drivers we will be able to fight for podiums and wins.”

Rossi switches to Meritus for GP2 Asia

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:35:16 +0000

Alexander Rossi will race for Meritus for the rest of the GP2 Asia Series.

“I am very confident in the team’s abilities to prepare a race-winning car and I am very much looking forward to getting back to work in Abu Dhabi,” said Rossi.

“My goal is simple, to win. I feel that I can deliver on this ambition as this team is one of continual strength and determination.”

Rossi will partner Luca Filippi at the team for the remaining three rounds of the series, before joining ART for the inaugural GP3 championship.

Rossi switches to Meritus for GP2 Asia

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:35:16 +0000

Alexander Rossi will race for Meritus for the rest of the GP2 Asia Series.

“I am very confident in the team’s abilities to prepare a race-winning car and I am very much looking forward to getting back to work in Abu Dhabi,” said Rossi.

“My goal is simple, to win. I feel that I can deliver on this ambition as this team is one of continual strength and determination.”

Rossi will partner Luca Filippi at the team for the remaining three rounds of the series, before joining ART for the inaugural GP3 championship.

Rossi switches to Meritus for GP2 Asia

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:35:16 +0000

Alexander Rossi will race for Meritus for the rest of the GP2 Asia Series.

“I am very confident in the team’s abilities to prepare a race-winning car and I am very much looking forward to getting back to work in Abu Dhabi,” said Rossi.

“My goal is simple, to win. I feel that I can deliver on this ambition as this team is one of continual strength and determination.”

Rossi will partner Luca Filippi at the team for the remaining three rounds of the series, before joining ART for the inaugural GP3 championship.

Silverstone close to ‘Arena’ go-ahead

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:29:02 +0000

Silverstone is edging closer a decision to run this year’s British Grand Prix on its new Arena Circuit following positive feedback from early meetings with Formula 1 figures.

The track’s managing director Richard Phillips revealed on Tuesday that he was increasingly hopeful that the new layout could be used – but that the final decision now rested with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

“It’s yet to be decided,” he told AUTOSPORT during a site visit to the Silverstone works. “We need approval from three sides. So far two have said yes and one [Ecclestone] says maybe, so we’ll work on that.

“Allsport [F1's corporate hospitality company] has said yes. And while the FIA needs to homologate the new track of course, it is happy with the plan in principle.”

Phillips said that Silverstone planned to send a progress report to Ecclestone soon, so he could approve the idea of the British GP running on an all-new layout.

“Bernie needs us to send him the plans for the changes and a report of the progress so far before he can agree, but I think it should be alright [for 2010],” he said.

The Northamptonshire-based circuit is currently undergoing a major revamp, with a new infield circuit being constructed and major changes being made to grandstands and spectator facilities.

As part of that upgrade, 180,000 tonnes of earth have been moved – and 8,000 tonnes of asphalt have already been laid. The grandstands between Woodcote and Copse have been torn down, ready to be rebuilt in a slightly tweaked location.

The Woodcote to Copse grandstands will be moved back to allow Silverstone to widen the current start-finish straight.