December 2009
Client of the Month: Oliver Wong
Oliver Wong is a young man with a burning passion for cars. Despite having loved cars for all his life, he had never had any real experience in racing till recently. He is an enthusiast who has been for performance driving programs conducted by BMW and gone for a couple of track days in Malaysia. He approached us, wanting to “get a taste” of what it would be like to drive in a Formula car, and he received more than what he had bargained for. Below is a schedule of what we had planned for his 2 day formula program.
Day 1: BASIC RACING
- 9am: Pick up from Hotel
- 930am – 4pm: Clark International Raceway
- Orientation on Basic Racing and Formula Car Driving
- Learning of the Circuit (Tony Kart)
- Heat 1 – Orientation Gear Shifts and Circuit (Ford Focus Touring Car)
- Heat 2 – Braking (Formula Ford)
- Lunch Break
- Heat 3 – Follow the leader / Racing line Exercise (Formula Ford)
- Heat 4 – Downshifting (Formula Ford)
- Heat 5 – Lapping (Formula Ford)
- 430pm: Return to Hotel
Day 2: ADVANCED RACING
- 9am: Pick up from Hotel
- 930am – 4pm: Clark International Raceway
- Review
- Heat 1 – Skills review: Shifting and Race Line (Ford FocusTouring Car)
- Heat 2 – Lapping (Formula Ford)
- Heat 3 – Lapping (Formula Ford)
- Lunch Break
- Heat 4 – Data Interpretation (Formula Toyota)
- Heat 5 – Data Interpretation (Formula Toyota)
- Wrap –up Discussion
- 400pm: Return to Hotel
On the 17th and 18th of December 2009, Oliver Wong did a 2 day Formula Program with us in the Philippines. He had approached us in early November, inquiring on the feasibility of doing a Formula program and we tailored a program specifically to suit his needs. The agenda for the customized program was simple. To build up the skills needed in a short period of time so that Oliver would be able to handle, and perform in a Formula Toyota. We started him off with the purest and most basic form of racing, karting. This was used to build up the essential concepts that would be required to handle an expensive and delicate race machine, the Formula Toyota. After some theory and practical with the kart, the next step was to put him into a touring car, to get him used to handling a vehicle that was much bigger, and a lot more powerful. This phase saw Oliver hurtling through corners, unleashing the power of a race prepped touring car.
Oliver felt that the progression from karting, to touring car, to Formula Ford, and finally the Formula Toyota was a great way to build up his confidence and to ensure that he had the necessary skills and techniques to advance up to the Formula Toyota. His biggest takeaway from the program was that “In order to drive fast, you first have to learn how to drive slow.” This was something he truly believed in and was emphasized by the instructor that trained him. The initial portion of the training was spent refining his skills and developing his techniques to a greater level. After he got used to the handling, the racing lines, and the driving techniques such as heel and toe, Oliver was then strapped into a Formula Ford. It was his first time in a Formula Car, and Oliver was thrilled. He had no idea that this program would be so much fun. He was taught about the car, its behavior, capabilities, and its limits. His instructors were really impressed with his ability to learn and adapt so quickly to the driving conditions presented to him.
With full confidence, they gave him the opportunity to drive the Formula Toyota car, with uprated horsepower. In the Formula Toyota, he had a blast of a time, with the adrenaline rush from the open cockpit of the Formula Toyota. Oliver was extremely satisfied with the program and felt that it was better than what he had expected. Oliver was pleasantly surprised with the 1 is to 1 instructor to student ratio and the fact that there were only him and another client of ours doing the program. We had customized the program such that it would be a private program so that he would be able to learn and absorb as much as possible within the two days and the addition of the second client, was to reduce the costs of doing the program.
When we asked him about his future plans for racing, he told us that he had such a great time, that he would like to get a racing license and start participating in some race weekends.
We have successfully planted the racing bug into Oliver and we will be seeing a lot of him in the Motorsport scene as we support his training and races so that he’ll be able to live up to his full potential.
Read moreFormula BMW Sponsorship Finalists Results
We are pleased to announce the drivers who have been selected to take part in the Finals of our Formula BMW Sponsorship Program.
No surprise was Chrissy Palmer, as he earned his place by winning the Formula Ford Festival Duratec Final at Brands Hatch in October. We had to choose eight other drivers and it was so difficult that we ended up choosing nine! The standard was amazingly high and we had many so many champions taking part that it was clear there would be many surprises.
Here are the lucky ten in alphabetical order:
1.Elliot Burton 19 United Kingdom
KF1 karter
2.Gabby Chaves 16 USA/Colombia
2009 Formula BMW Americas Champion
3.Daniel Domit 21 Mexico
Novice
4.Eftihios Ellinas 17 Cyprus
Multiple Rotax Champion Cyprus
5.Jesse Krohn 19 Finland
Formula Renault UK race winner 2009.
6.Jordon Lennox-Lamb 17 United Kingdom
KF1 karter
7.Chris Maliepaard 18 Netherlands
3rd British Formula Ford 2008
8.Stevan McAleer 25 United Kingdom
Skip Barber National race winner
9.Chrissy Palmer 18 United Kingdom
Formula Ford Festival Duratec Champion 2009
10.Richie Stanaway 18 New Zealand
2009 New Zealand Formula Ford Champion
We’ll just have to see whoe does well in the Finals where they will be tested in a Formula BMW.
2010 F1 Season Preview and the Return of Schumi
By: Daniel Charles
Once again, we have come to the end of the 2009 racing season, where we saw some of the best action taking place in Formula 1. As we enter into a new year of racing, many changes have to been made to the grid. Top teams like BMW, Toyota which were once thought to have an unlimited flow of funding, are down and out for the count just like Honda did so a year back. It looks like the global recession has hit some of these factories harder than we can imagine.
However, as the saying goes, out with the old and in with the new. So the good thing is that there will be 4 new F1 teams filling up the grids.
1.Campos Meta 1: Spanish-based GP2 team led by former racing driver Adrián Campos, who lodged an entry for his Campos Racing team in conjunction with Meta Image.
2.Virgin Racing: Headed by F3 owner John Booth and former team owner Nick Wirth was an unknown entrant until the FIA published the 2010 entry list on 12 June 2009. The team was originally entered as Manor Grand Prix prior to Virgin’s investment.
3.US F1 Team: A group led by designer Ken Anderson and former Williams employee Peter Windsor.
4.Lotus F1 Racing: A partnership between the Malaysian government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. Mike Gascoyne, whose previous Lotus entry with Litespeed was unsuccessful, will be the technical director.
Although these new teams will not be able to run with the kind of budget that some of the fore runners have, they will present a new era in Formula 1 where cost is brought to a minimum whilst not compromising on the quality and the excitement of racing. Hence, everyone will be holding their breath in 2010 eagerly looking on to see if the legendary Sir Richard Branson can yet again conquer another business challenge with his F1 team.
With any season preview, it is always essential to take a look at what has happened in 2009, if you ask any F1 fan, the first thing that would be on their mind would be the success story of the Brawn GP team and Jensen button. After 10 years, without much luck and success in Formula 1, Jensen got his 1st F1 Championship title with his highly experienced team manager, Ross Brawn.
An amazing feat that started out with dominance by the team during the early stages of the season followed by consistent finishes towards the season close to clinch the title. Their win was been a subject of criticism since the win was not considered typically “convincing” as they looked to have scraped past the victory line rather than to have sped across it.
Question now lies with Jensen button. Could he defend his title in 2010 when he is set head to head with Lewis Hamilton as his new team mate? After all, the young Lewis Hamilton is still fantastically quick as he showed in 2009 when he managed to clinch 5 podium positions in the latter part of the season when the car seemed to be more drivable.
Watch out for Lewis and Button on the track as we could very well see a remake of the bitter rivalry that once plague the McLaren team when Senna and Prost were competing for dominance in the sport. However, our panel of experts still think that the rare talent and speed of Hamilton is still going to be a dominating factor in the McLaren team and Jenson will just have to work harder to earn the same kind of respect and favour he did when he was in Brawn GP.
Now to add even more spice to the entire McLaren team, Mercedes has announced a split with McLaren after they bought a 75% stake in Brawn GP renaming it Mercedes GP. Joining them in the driver line up is Nico Rosberg which has been confirmed and also Michael Schumacher has confirmed his participation with Mercedes GP to be their driver for the 2010 season. After weeks of speculations, it was finally annouced that the 7 time world champion will make a full comback and issues with his neck injury which caused him to stay out of the cockpit as Massa’s replacement has now been resolved. It has been reported that the 7 time world champion got interested to race again after a brief stint in a Ferrari F1 car got him hooked onto the racing bug. We will be waiting to see if this dream team will be able to do the most important thing of all, win world a championship. Now that Michael is back, whose to say whats going to happen for F1 next year? Only time will tell.
Now onto the Ferrari Camp. Massa has been itching to get into his cock pit office space even since the incident at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he was struck on the head with a part from the Brawn GP car. Known for his incredible pace as a qualifier and controlled driver during races, Massa will be one that will be dying to prove himself again on the race track after his long medical leave. He is been actively taking part in kart races and even winning the Granja Viana 500-mile kart race. But Massa won’t be having it easy in 2010 with the exit of Finnish F1 Champion Kimi Räikkönen as he will be repace by 2 time world champion Fernardo Alonso.
Alonso driving for Ferrari after a horrid year with Renault that saw 3 retirements for the young Spaniard and only a 3rd place best finish in Singapore. Back when Alonso was in Mclaren, the bitter rivalry between Hamilton was one of the most well fought battles in F1 for a long time and with Alonso switching to Ferrari, that may well be a possibility with Massa too. We’ll be still expecting Alonso to be able to change the Ferrari team around to take the fight to the Redbull and Mclaren team.
Overall, the 2010 will be a fantastic season to watch with the new entries and also switching around of drivers. When the first race takes places in March 2010, fans will definately be assured of an action packed weekend at Bahrain where teams try to fight for their 1st win of the season.
Here is a short list of People to watch for 2010:
1) Nico Hülkenberg: German Driving sensation discovered and managed by Willi Webber which was also the person that discovered the Schumacher brothers. Winning the GP2 season in his maiden season, Nico will definately be looking to prove himself to the world as he partners Rubens Barrichello in the Williams F1 Team.
2) Lewis Hamilton: No one will truly take out Lewis from the grid of champions. With a 2009 slightly recoved, the Mclaren paddock are all ready and fired up to get a championship winning season in 2010. With Lewis hamilton as their lead driver, that is definitely a strong possibility.
3) Michael Schumacher: The 7 time world champion has decided to take up Mercedes GP as his team for the 2010 season, his experience and racing talent will something that will be a force to be reckon with. All eyes will be on him to see if he still has what it takes to compete in the levels required for F1.
4) Jenson Button: The 2009 Reigning World Champion that has everything to prove to the motor sport world and to tell everyone that he is indeed a good driver and his championship is not only because of the brilliant work from the Brawn team.
5) Fernardo Alonso: The Spanish world Champion is desperate to get into a competitive car after 2 season with Renault a 1 season with Mclaren. Hopefully with Ferrari backing him up, it will his time to stretch his legs to make some headlines in F1 yet again.
Read moreThe Reincarnation Of Lotus Confirmed
So, the name of Lotus storms back into Formula One. And with quite a considerable bang, it has to be said.
The team, despite being in the hands of completely different owners and staff, have a lot to live up to when driving under that famous name.
Whether we will ever see Lotus back at the front of the Formula One grid remains to be seen. Seeing a Lotus at the front in 2010 seems extremely unlikely. But the team have laid down their plans for 2010 with confidence, and rightly so, given their newly-announced driver line-up.
Firstly, we have Jarno Trulli. Now reaching the twilight of his career, the Italian has never been a glimmering star of the F1 field, but his performances have always been consistent enough for him to stay on the grid for what will be his 14th season in motorsport’s pinnacle.
Trulli is taking on a mission rather similar to David Coulthard’s venture to Red Bull: developing a new team and help them to become an established force on the Formula One grid.
He will, of course, be out to prove himself. Even at the ripe old age of 35, Trulli is still regarded as one of the finest drivers over one lap. His problem, particularly in the last few seasons with the recently departed Toyota team, has been turning his mesmerizing one-lap pace into race results.
He does, however, bring with him the experience of a single race victory.
Exactly as many as his team-mate in waiting, Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn was hotly tipped to give Lewis Hamilton a run for his money at McLaren after a successful spell at Renault got his F1 career off to a flyer.
It is safe to say, however, that his two years at McLaren were not the most enjoyable. Kovalainen often showed in qualifying what raw pace he possessed, but very rarely turned it into a race result worth shouting about.
A solitary race victory (and an extremely fortuitous one at that) in Hungary after Felipe Massa’s engine had cried enough is all Kovalainen really had to show for his efforts at McLaren, compared to Lewis Hamilton’s seven race wins and a world championship to boot.
In the year that Hamilton stole the title from a once again unlucky Massa in dramatic circumstances, Kovalainen finished a lowly sixth in the overall standings, behind both BMW drivers.
The drivers are extremely difficult to compare on past results, as Trulli has been around for so much longer than his Finnish counterpart.
But both seem to have the same fundamental problem: turning their raw pace into consistent race results.
Both drivers have a point to prove. Trulli would, like any other driver, love to end his career on a high, whereas Kovalainen is in desperate need of a revival after his career was practically left in tatters with McLaren.
It is also particularly important that both drivers prove their worth, or Lotus’ ambitious and confident start will come to nothing if results are not delivered in comparison to their rival debutants, Campos Meta, Virgin Racing and USF1.
If the drivers cannot live with the race pace one again, then Lotus will struggle to live with the pace of the F1 paddock that has changed so dramatically since they last competed in the sport.
Source: bleacher report
Read moreKimi Raikkonen’s Future Revealed: Rallying for Citroen’s Junior Team
Kim Raikkonen, the 30-year-old 2007 World Champion, will be rallying next season for Citroen’s junior rally team in the WRC.
The Finn has signed a one year deal with Citroen’s Red Bull backed junior team. This would give Citroen a great boost, having the greatest driver in Rallying in their main team, Sebastian Loeb, and an ex-F1 World Champion.
Kimi will team up with fellow compatriot Kaj Lindstrom as his co-driver, who previously partnered multiple rally champion Tommi Makinen.
“I always wanted to compete in rally, especially in the World Rally Championship at some point in my career,” said Raikkonen, who impressed on his debut at the Rally Finland, earlier this year. ”Thanks to Red Bull, I have the opportunity to drive the best car of the series with the Citroen C4.”
Citroen team boss Olivier Quesnel as released a statement about Citroen’s future.
“We will continue to count on Sebastien and Dani to defend our world titles in 2010. We will also be prolonging our association with Sebastien Ogier who showed outstanding potential this year.
“Last but not least, it is with immense joy that we welcome Kimi Raikkonen to our ranks. We are very proud he has chosen Citroen.”
Raikkonen will contest 12 out of 13 events, as the team are not entered into the New Zealand Rally.
Raikkonen has said he will return to F1, but only if he is offered a seat in a title winning car, stating, “We will see what happens in the future.”
Raikkonen is taking a sabbatical after Spaniard Fernando Alonso was given his seat at Ferrari, and Kimi failed to secure a seat at his old team, McLaren, who took the 2009 World Champion Jensen Button instead.
The question is now, however, is whether many Raikkonen fan’s will begin watching more Rallying to see if their can man perform as well as he has done in F1.
Source: Bleacher report
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