There are just too many great motorsport events and series to fit into a comparatively short weekend. Sadly because of this, many exciting moments go unnoticed to the oblivious racing fan. But thatâ€
Another weekend, another painful lack of motorsport action.
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As the series conclude and the action dries up, we become thirsty for pitstops and hungry for discarded rubber. But at least there’s still one series going strong.
The Australian V8 Supercars series finally came to a conclusion in Sydney over the weekend. With the Championship wrapped up at the penultimate Philip Island event a fortnight prior, there’s was nothing but fun and games to be had.
Additionally, the usual quota of news off the tarmac makes up the windfall.
So without further ado, here’s what you missed in the weekend’s motorsport action.
1. Jamie Whincup wins race one, Sydney weather wins race two
V8 Supercars quickly became V8 Powerboats in race two’s torrential downpour at the Sydney Olympic Park circuit. Race one was won by Championship victor Jamie Whincup, who took his 88th victory of his career, but race two was a bit more like it for ducks.
The race was suspended with a mere 19 laps completed.
2. Dunlop V8 driver rams fellow competitor in the paddock, pretends nothing happened
In the Dunlop V8 Series there’s a mixture of amateurs and professionals, but it seems the chap in the clip above was definitely the former. Brett Stewart rammed his car into Josh Kean while in the paddock after one of the V8 Supercars support races concluded, after the two had a bit of an on-track dispute.
Deliberate? Perhaps, but his comment after the incident was equally perplexing:
“Nothing happened. […] I hit someone on the warm-down lap, that’s life.”
3. Carlos Sainz, Jr. will partner Max Verstappen in Toro Rosso’s 2015 driver lineup
Image: Scuderia Toro Rosso
With a combined age of just over 37, Toro Rosso’s driver lineup is officially the youngest Formula 1 partnership ever. These two — Max Verstappen especially — will probably make most of the paddock feel decidedly old. Nevertheless, there’s a lot of raw talent and speed in this team.
Carlos Sainz, Jr. of course is son of former WRC and Dakar Rally winner Carlos Sainz. He’s only 20-years-old while Verstappen is three years his junior.
4. New F1 calendar to feature 21 races, teams put head in hands
It seems like the FIA have gone slightly crazy again, issuing a massive 21 race calendar for 2015 that will see the return of the Korean GP. Also added is the Mexican GP, while the Monaco GP retains its traditional mid-May slot.
At a time where cutting costs is imperative for the sport, adding races to an already long calendar is probably not the best remedy.
5. FIA adopts the BTCC’s rules and regulations for touring car class pyramid
So the FIA have released a new tiered touring car concept too, with the WTCC at the top of the pile, the BTCC’s rules and regulations featuring slightly below that and finally, Argentina’s touring car championship dubbed the “Argentine Tourismo Nacionale Championship” below that.
In short, the BTCC’s now the series below the WTCC — FIA’s TCN-1 rules and regulations set — while the Argentinian series will be classed as TCN-2.
Does this make the WTCC any more exciting than the other two? Not even in the slightest. If you don’t know the BTCC well, the video above is a quick introduction to its fabled history.
6. WTCC ditches Macau in favour of Qatar, motorsport world spits in disgust
And what’s bound to upset even more fans of the series is the decision to remove the Macau season decider from the calendar. That’s right, for the first time in nearly ten years the WTCC will not race around the crazy streets, instead taking the circus to Qatar’s desolate, boring and yawn-inducing Losail Circuit.
The Qatar season ending event will be the first WTCC night race, but on a thoroughly boring track with next to no soul, one must wonder how the sport’s likely to suffer.
Have a look at the video to understand just how clueless a move this is.
Feature image: Jason Goulding via Flickr
