November 28, 2011 2:52 pm
The Interlagos Circuit at Sao Paulo, the largest city in the southern hemisphere, is the last race of an eventful season. Practice and qualifying was dry but the forecast for race day was wet, so the teams had a tricky time to get set up right for the race.
Qualifying was quite special with Vettel maintaining his supremacy with his 15th pole of the season and beating the previous record held by Nigel Mansell. Webber was consistent with getting second followed by Button, outperforming his teammate Hamilton. Rosberg did well in 6th place just behind Alonso and outperforming his teammate, Michael Schumacher, yet again.
November 16, 2011 11:54 am
Yas Mariner Circuit is an amazing complex built on a man- made island in the desert state of Abu Dhabi. It is run in the evening under flood lights for prime time TV coverage in Europe and also to avoid the high temperatures during the daytime. Vettel took pole position yet again even though Hamilton beat the time in Q2 – Q3 is the one that counts. The 2 McLarens were next followed by Webber in the other Red Bull and the 2 Ferraris. Vettel equalled Nigel Mansell’s record of 14 pole positions and the 17th time he had been on the front row this season.
October 31, 2011 3:28 am
The Buddh International Circuit, a brand new track, 30km from Delhi is hot at 31C with lots of dust. Practice was eventful with many offs due to the dust on the track making it very slippery offline with little grip available. There were also penalties of 3 places on the grid given to Perez and Hamilton for ignoring waved yellow flags whilst marshals were clearing a car from the track.
The usual hot weather of Spain had deserted last race of the season at the circuit in Valencia. Practice was cold, wet and dreary with temperatures around 15C. The 2010 World Champion was at the track, his home GP but was not taking part due to the injury to his hand incurred during practice in Australia. Some comments were made
The Sepang track in Malaysia where the penultimate Grand Prix is taking place is hot, humid and with temperatures around 33C it usually has a monsoon shower in the late afternoon around the time the Grand Prix is due to finish. The track is the second longest of the season with two straights where riders get to travel at over
Phillip Island is a fast, flowing and hilly circuit overlooking Bass Strait near Melbourne and served up a mixture of conditions during practice and qualifying. There was rain and sunshine but the biggest problem was the strong winds from the Antarctic. During the unpredictable conditions plenty of crashes resulted in several non-starters including both the factory Yamaha riders. Both World
After 3 months of “will they, won’t they” the riders all agreed to attend the delayed Japanese GP after the threat of radiation had been dismissed and no risk to the riders. The track owners had resurfaced 70% of the track after rectify the earthquake damage. Last year this race was extra exciting with Rossi and Lorenzo attacking each other
We visit Spain for the third time this season but unlike the other times the weather was overcast and windy causing problems for some. Stoner managed to be fastest, yet again, and took pole position followed by Pedrosa and Ben Spies, who out performed his team mate in fourth place. Rossi was to start from the pit lane as his
The bright sunshine welcomed the riders to the road track at Indianapolis and everybody was anxious to get going again with track having been upgraded and resurfaced. A lot of the bumps and change of surfaces had gone with the positive result that there was only 35 crashes in practice compared to 75 last year for all levels
The Misano Circuit near Rimini on the Adriatic Coast is always interesting with the fast corners and bends. For safety reasons it has been improved and the riders circulate in the opposite direction to allow better run off in the event of a problem. The usual suspects were at the front with Lorenzo fastest during practice but beaten into pole
After three weeks break the antagonists were ready to commence battle in the sunshine at Brno. However practice was cold and damp with some rain. Race day brought the sun with Dani Pedrosa back to his usual place on pole position followed by Lorenzo and Stoner. Ben Spies and Marco Simoncelli were on next row with Valentino Rossi being better
Laguna Seca is the shortest track on the GP circuit and is on the side of a hill in sunny Northern California, a stones through from San Francisco. Practice and qualifying were eventful with several crashes including a very bad high side by the World Champion. He flew about 3m into the air and landed on his back and right
High in the hills of Florence, Italy is the Mugello circuit and home of the Italian MotoGP. Several riders live just up the road, including Valentino Rossi and the blue sky and sunshine of race day was a big change from the rain and cold for practice and qualifying. The good news is that Danni Pedrosa is back after missing
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