Tag: Weekend Preview

Some of things happening this weekend that I’ll be watching.

Times are approximate and in British Summer Time.

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Formula E:  Paris ePrix
(Saturday, 2:30pm 5Spike)

Circuit des Invalides, Esplanade des Invalides, Paris, France.
Race starts at 4pm local, 3pm UK.
1.93km (1.2 miles)
Race lap record:  1:02.323
Qualifying record:  1:01.616

Round 8 of a scheduled 12 this year, this is series’ 3rd visit to Paris. The previous winners were Lucas di Grassi and Sebastien Buemi.

Jean-Eric Vergne holds an 18 point lead over Sam Bird. Felix Rosenqvist dominated the Rome race until he hit the kerb. All three drivers have 2 wins this season. JEV has finished every race 5th or better, every other driver in the field has at least one non-points finish or DNF.

If Jaguar can get their energy management sorted they are very close to scoring a podium result, maybe even a win. Andre Lotterer seems to be improving at every round. And last season’s champ Lucas di Grassi finally has points on the board, look for him to score well again and move up the standings.

Due to live rugby coverage on Channel 5, this race will air live on 5Spike at 2:30pm and delayed on Channel 5 at 11:40am Sunday.
Due to live snooker and cycling on British Eurosport, this race will air delayed at 4:35pm Saturday on BE1.

Points after 7 races:
Drivers:
119  Jean-Eric Vergne (Techeetah);
101  Sam Bird (DS Virgin);
82  Felix Rosenqvist (Mahindra);
60  Sebastien Buemi (Renault DAMS);
50  Daniel Abt (Audi Sport Abt);

Teams:
152  Techeetah;
118  DS Virgin Racing;
103  Mahindra Racing;
89  Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler;
88  Panasonic Jaguar Racing;

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Formula 1:  Azerbaijan GP
(Channel 4 & Sky Sports F1)

Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan
Race starts at 1:10pm UK.
6.0km (3.7 miles)
Race lap record:  1:43.441
Qualifying record:  1:40.592

The 3rd F1 GP at Baku, though only the second under this name, moves earlier in the year from June to April. The previous winners were Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo. One race was turgidly dull, one race was fantastic! Let’s hope we get another good one.

This is the track with the ridiculously long and undulating front straight into a 90 degree left-hander, it was almost purpose-designed for Daniel Ricciardo and he made great use of it last year despite being a little down on power versus other teams.

It was of course the setting for Vettel banging wheels with Hamilton before a restart, I’m still astonished he didn’t get more of a penalty for that one.

Points after 3 races:
Drivers:
54  Sebastien Vettel (Ferrari);
45  Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes);
40  Valterri Bottas (Mercedes);
37  Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull);
30  Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari);

Constructors:
85  Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport;
84  Scuderia Ferrari;
55  Aston Martin Red Bull Racing;
28  McLaren F1 Team;
25  Renault Sport F1 Team;

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Elsewhere

Other things happening this weekend.

Formula 2 at Baku;
WTCR at the Hungaroring;
BTCC at Donington Park;
British GT at Rockingham;
Pirelli World Challenge at VIR;
ADAC GT at Most;
NASCAR Talledega;
WRC Argentina;
WRX Portugal;

I plan to catch up with WTCR, BTCC and British GT at a later date. Maybe even Formula 2 but I’m about 5 years behind on that.

Some of things happening this weekend that I’ll be watching.

Times are approximate and in British Summer Time. And yes, the MotoGP and IndyCar races are both in the US and they overlap. I’ve noted the start of TV coverage since I’m not sure of exact start times this week, but I don’t think we’ll see MotoGP completely done before IndyCar starts.

MotoGP:  GP of the Americas
(8pm Sunday, BT Sport 2)

Moto3 4:15pm, Moto2 6pm (TV coverage times)

Circuit of the Americas hosts round 3 of MotoGP.

Will we see some sense of the usual order? Or are Crutchlow and Zarco going to be competitive all season? If the former is true then Doviziosio has a healthy points advantage. If the latter, we have one hell of a season in progress!

That said, COTA is Marc Marquez country:  There have been 5 MotoGP races at this circuit and he has won all of them. (Lewis Hamilton has won 5 of the 6 F1 GPs.)

Dani Pedrosa is apparently intending to race, despite breaking his wrist two weeks earlier in Argentina. Made of stern stuff, these motorcycle racers.

Points after 2 races
Riders:
38  Cal Crutchlow;
35  Andrea Dovizioso;
28  Johann Zarco;
21  Maverick Vinales;
20  Marc Marquez;

Manufacturers:
45  Honda;
38  Ducati;
36  Yamaha;
23  Suzuki;
7  KTM;
4  Aprilia;

Teams:
41  LCR Honda;
37  Monster Yamaha Tech 3;
37  Movistar Yamaha MotoGP;
36  Ducati Team;
36  Alma Pramac Racing;

IndyCar:  GP of Alabama
(8pm Sunday, BT Sport ESPN)

The first time we see the new 2018 IndyCar aero package at a natural terrain road course. I can’t wait to see them, the looser cars with lower downforce could either open up passing opportunities or it could make a one-groove racetrack like it was when the ex-IRL cars started racing here in 2010.

Watch onboard cameras at this track, it feels like video from a rollercoaster! That’s one reason alone to watch this race even if it turns out to be boring competitively, the drivers really are working so hard at this place and you can really see it here, unlike somewhere like the Indy road course.

Three different styles of track in three consecutive weeks:  Phoenix short oval, Long Beach street course, and Barber road course. Hell of a mix.

Expect a lot of talk about Indianapolis, this being the final race before the “Month of May”.

Most Barber wins (current drivers):
2  Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden;
Most wins (teams):
5  Team Penske;

Points after 3 races:
126  Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport / Honda);
104  Josef Newgarden (Team Penske / Chevrolet);
93  Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman / Honda);
88  Sebastian Bourdais (Dale Coyne / Honda);
83  James Hinchcliffe (Schmidt Peterson / Honda);

Other

Other things happening this weekend, that I probably won’t see.

NASCAR Cup and Xfinity both at Richmond;
Indy Lights at Barber;
IMSA PC at Barber;
Blancpain GT Endurance at Monza;
24H Series with the 12H Navarra;
Supercars at Phillip Island;
World Superbikes at Assen;
Super Formula at Suzuka;
NHRA at Baytown;