MOTORSPORT: A whole new world awaits

The World Motor Sport Council finalised a host of calendars this week, including for the new electric open-wheeler series Formula E from next September and in which Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is the ninth team confirmed of the proposed 10.

A sixth Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) world championship has been created – in rallycross, with 12 rounds (but none in Australia).

The Formula One schedule for the start of the new era of 1.6-litre V6 turbocharged engines has been trimmed from the earlier 22 races to 19, starting with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 16.

Another piece is in place in the F1 driver jigsaw with German Nico Hulkenberg returning to the Force India team from Sauber, while Australian Daniel Ricciardo has been ordered to lose at least 2kg to ensure he fits genius designer Adrian Newey’s next Red Bull car, the RB10.

Newey is leading a push for a 10kg increase in the minimum weight of the new cars to 700kg (with drivers). That figure already has been agreed to for 2015 but it needs unanimous support of the teams to be brought forward to next season - and Mercedes is believed to be blocking it.  

F1’s 83-year-old supremo Bernie Ecclestone, embroiled in legal actions over the sale of the business seven years ago, has revealed to his favoured journalist Christian Sylt that Ferrari has a veto over who will succeed him. Ecclestone’s recent public nomination of Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner as his preferred successor was just another example of his black humour.

“Somebody said to me, ‘What happens when you go? What’s going to happen?’ Christian (Horner) walked past and I said: ‘What about him? He is a good guy,’ ” Ecclestone said.

“Firstly CVC (private equity firm, F1’s major shareholder) would never agree and secondly Ferrari would have a say.”

Ferrari, which so opposed the introduction of next year’s F1 engine formula, now is talking of returning to the Le Mans sports car classic with a full factory effort for the first time in more than 40 years using the turbocharged motors to take on Audi, Toyota, Porsche and perhaps Renault and Nissan, yet in the next breath it dampens the suggestion.

“It is normal that Ferrari should screen all opportunities and stand at the window and look in,” said Antonello Coletta, head of Ferrari’s non-F1 sporting activities.

“It is important for us to understand what is available in the future.

“At the moment we are concentrated on F1, so it would not be possible to do something else. That means that we cannot say Ferrari will be in LMP1 [the top class of Le Mans prototypes], but we cannot say that Ferrari will not be in LMP1… We can also not say if our vision is for 2015, 2016 or beyond.”

The World Rally Championship calendar for next year had been announced in September but the Italian round now has been pushed back a week in early June. The running order for WRC events has been altered with the aim of increasing the spectacle and reducing the use of slowing tactics.

Priority one and two drivers will run in championship order on day one and reverse rally order classification on the remaining two days.

Manufacturer teams now can nominate their top driver for only 10 of the 13 rounds of the championship if they want, which some in the sport fear could spark a return to running specialists on particular surfaces for certain events.

Hyundai, which has recruited Belgian Thierry Neuville as its lead driver for its new team running its i20, with Finn Juho Hanninen to rotate in its second entry, is thought to be set to confirm Spaniard Dani Sordo as another driver in that rotation – which may leave Aussie Chris Atkinson as a test driver at best.

Meanwhile, Toyota has said it will build a Yaris World Rally Car next year but has not made a firm decision on a return to top-level rallying, which it quit in 1999, while it is still trying to topple Audi at Le Mans.

“We are very much interested in coming back to the WRC,” a Toyota spokesman said.

“We start testing the Yaris World Rally Car next year, running it with our 1.6-litre turbo engine. This will be a pretty low-key program, run in order for us to gain experience of the car and to refresh and build our knowledge base on the technical side of running a World Rally Car."

Honda, the champion manufacturer in the World Touring Car Championship this year with four race wins and 20 podiums, this week unveiled a new Civic to take on newcomer Citroen in the WTCC next season as well as Chevrolets and Ladas.

Honda’s works drivers are Italy’s 2009 touring car world champion Gabriele Tarquini and Portugal’s Tiago Monteiro and there are two privateer Honda entries.

While General Motors no longer has a factory team in the WTCC, Britain’s renowned Ray Mallock is building four new Chevrolet Cruzes for customer teams.

“The car is a completely new clean-sheet design to take advantage of the new regulations,” Mallock said.

“The car represents a very significant step forward in performance over the existing Cruze (which previously dominated the series), with significant aero gain, weight reduction and 20 per cent more power. Of course, with Citroen entering the championship next year along with Honda and Lada, we are in no doubt about the challenges that lay ahead to ensure our customers remain at the forefront of the series.”

Citroen and Lada will field three cars each.

Six F1 seats still vacant
Two Formula One teams, Sauber and Caterham, are yet to name either of their drivers for next season.

The other vacancies are a seat at Force India as Nico Hulkenberg’s teammate, expected to be filled by Mexican Sergio Perez, and at Marussia, where Jules Bianchi is the only driver confirmed.

Mercedes will be the only top team with an unchanged line-up next year (Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg), while Red Bull, Ferrari, Lotus and McLaren have all made one change, bringing in Daniel Ricciardo, Kimi Raikkonen, Pastor Maldonado and young Dane Kevin Magnussen respectively.

Three races that were provisional on the 2014 F1 calendar a few weeks ago were formally dropped this week.

They were the proposed new American race in New Jersey, along the Hudson River and with the New York skyline as a backdrop; Mexico City, which has been out of the championship for more than two decades and cannot upgrade its Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in time; and the failed adventure at Yeongam in South Korea.

The third race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, on November 2 will clash with a NASCAR Sprint Cup round at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, which TMS boss Eddie Gossage has labeled “a foolish move by Formula One”.

“Our two Sprint Cup races draw the two largest crowds in Texas sports. It isn’t the smartest move to try to compete with that,” Gossage said.

“I’m sure, regardless of what they say publicly, the folks at the Austin track are pulling their hair out over this one.”

Circuit of the Americas chairman Bobby Epstein said the F1 event at his track “is a massive, fun and entertaining experience that has performed well against all kinds of competition”.

The New Jersey race now has been postponed for two consecutive years and its organisers are working on “restructured financial arrangements” to make it happen in 2015.

Bernie Ecclestone has said there is “great demand” for that event and he has “no doubt” it will eventuate.

“New races can take many years to get started, but there is significant momentum and we are close to realising a New York City F1 race,” Ecclestone said.

Russia will host a GP for the first time on October 12 in Sochi, also the Winter Olympics city next year. Austria is back in the championship, at the A1 Ring rebuilt and renamed the Red Bull Ring, after a decade out of it. Abu Dhabi rather than Brazil will host the season finale, while India – which already had been deleted from next year’s calendar – may return in 2015.

2014 Formula One driver line-up:
Red Bull Racing – Sebastian Vettel (Germany), Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
Mercedes – Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain), Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Ferrari – Fernando Alonso (Spain), Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)
Lotus – Romain Grosjean (France), Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela)
McLaren – Jenson Button (Great Britain), Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)
Force India – Nico Hulkenberg (Germany), TBC
Sauber – TBC, TBC
Toro Rosso – Jean-Eric Vergne (France), Daniil Kvyat (Russia)
Williams – Felipe Massa (Brazil), Valtteri Bottas (Finland)
Marussia – Jules Bianchi (France), TBC
Caterham – TBC, TBC

2014 Formula One World Championship calendar
March 16 – Australia (Melbourne)
March 30 – Malaysia (Sepang)
April 6 – Bahrain (Sakhir)
April 20 – China (Shanghai)
May 11 – Spain (Barcelona)
May 25 – Monaco (Monte Carlo)
June 8 – Canada (Montreal)
June 22 – Austria (Red Bull Ring)
July 6 – Great Britain (Silverstone)
July 20 – Germany (Hockenheim)
July 27 – Hungary (Budapest)
August 24 – Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps)
September 7 – Italy (Monza)
September 21 – Singapore (Marina Bay)
October 5 – Japan (Suzuka)
October 12 – Russia (Sochi)
November 2 – United States (Austin)
November 9 – Brazil (Sao Paulo)
November 23 – Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

Branson seen as spark for Formula E
Formula E organisers have welcomed the Virgin team to the new championship as “a fantastic addition” and Sir Richard Branson says the series will accelerate the popularity of electric road cars.

“The launch of the Formula E Championship is exciting news for racing fans but also for those that believe in developing the great electric cars of the future,” said Branson, who dabbled in Formula One for three years.

“The need to create fast, dependable and durable race cars will help accelerate the sector and showcase electric cars to a large global audience. With races around many famous city centres I am expecting a lot of spectators, plenty of fun and some sparks flying as the competition heats up.”

Branson’s partner and team principal Alex Tai said: “I’m absolutely sold on the concept of Formula E.

“The drive to develop new technology appeals to Virgin. I’ve been fortunate to have been involved in a number of such activities over years, from the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer to Virgin Galactic activities that push technological and human boundaries and capture people’s imagination.

“We have hugely exciting plans and over the next nine months will be revealing new parts to our story on a regular basis, so I’d ask fans and the commercial world alike to ‘watch this space.’”

Formula E is backed by Spanish tycoons Alejandro Agag and Enrique Banuelos, who are reputed to be investing US$100 million in it.

“Having a global brand like Virgin, renowned for their technological innovation and sporting passion, as one of our 10 teams is a fantastic addition to the championship,” Agag said.

The other teams committed to the series are America’s Andretti Autosport and Dragon Racing, Asia’s China Racing, Super Aguri and Mahindra Racing, and Europe’s Drayson Racing, e.dams and Audi Sport ABT.

2014-15 Formula E Championship calendar
September  9 – China (Beijing)
October 18 – Malaysia (Putrajaya, near Kuala Lumpur)
November 15 – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)
December 13 – Uruguay (Punta del Este)
January 10, 2015 – Argentina (Buenos Aires)
February 14, 2015 – United States (Los Angeles)
March 14, 2015 – United States (Miami)
May 9, 2015 – Monte Carlo (Monaco)
May 30, 2015 – Germany (Berlin)
June 27, 2015 – Great Britain (London)

2014 World Endurance Championship calendar
April 20 – Great Britain (Six Hours of Silverstone)
May 3 – Belgium (Six Hours of Spa)
June 14-15 – France (24 Hours of Le Mans)
August 31 – Brazil (Six Hours of Sao Paulo)
September 20 – United States (Six Hours of Circuit of the Americas)
October 12 – Japan (Six Hours of Fuji)
November 1 – China (Six Hours of Shanghai)
November 15 – Bahrain (Six Hours of Bahrain)

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