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Of course, no discussion about past or future BTCC legends would not be complete without talking about triple-winner and current championship leader, Ashley Sutton. Sophia known as a trailblazer and inspiration for women in motorsport was announced as an Alpine Academy driver at the beginning of the 2023 season. After taking two years out of formula racing, she returned as part of PHM Racing. Caio Collet set the fastest time of those who got over the line before the red flag flew again when Dufek on full send during his first Qualifying session took to much curb through turn 8 and ended in the gravel, unable to continue. Again the grid returned to the pitlane.
Difficulties were faced in the Ferrari garage as Charles Leclerc faced a +5 penalty for speeding in the pitlane, to make the race even more painful for the Monegasque driver completed the race with no water, and a tyre fitting issue that led to a 9.4 second pit stop putting him out behind teammate Carlos Sainz. After Leclerc trailed behind his teammate for 16 laps the team pitted him first for the pairs third set of tyres. The Ferrari drivers finished in 7th and 8th. This follows the Qatar Grand Prix in October, when several drivers needed medical attention after the race. This weekend F1 & the FIA are trialing a new Qualifying format, previously run in Baku during the sprint weekend. This weekend is different in that the format won't be incorporated into a sprint weekend and the qualifying sessions with limited tyre running will have a direct impact on the Sunday feature race grid, where as the last test this format set the Sprint Race grid. The big end drillings - each journal shares two rods - these holes enter into the internal oilway and are 3.5mm in diameter. They also have an eased trailing edge to promote oil wedge formation at low rpm in respect to the hydrodynamic oil film present between journal and shell pairs,But it was felt the arrangement put too big a gap between qualifying and the grand prix and raised questions about the merit of Saturday's action, as the consequences of the sprint, with its reduced points, are minimal.
It is very rare to find two journalists in Formula 1 with the same career path or route to working in the industry. So the short answer to this – as it will be to many other questions here! – is that there is no single correct way to do things. For the last two seasons, qualifying for the grand prix has been run on Friday, before Saturday is devoted entirely to the sprint, with a qualifying session before a race.
Taking nothing away from other triple-winners in BTCC's history - which include Bernard Unett, Frank McGovern, Win Percy and Neal's Team Dynamics team-mate, Gordon Shedden - it is Matt Neal's story that will forever live on within BTCC folklore. An agreement that "development of future tyres should be focused on reduction of overheating and improving raceability" has led to a decision to abandon the ban on tyre-heating blankets for 2025 Whatever it takes, the race before the race" will have its world premiere on 6th September 2023 in Venice.
Lap 42 Ocon got Stroll and was only 2.8 behind Norris on very old tyres. Ocon did his very best to hunt down Norris but the Mclaren man held on and scored a respectable 7th place when earlier a points finish seemed out of reach today. Becoming a three-time champion within his first six years in the BTCC is a remarkable feat in itself but also consider that not only has As Sutton achieved this already but - given his current form - could join Turkington and Rouse as a four-time champion before his thirtieth birthday! Of all of the 'three-peaters', it is safe to say that Ash Sutton is more than deserving to be part of this conversation. Saturday at Spa for the F3 grid was a wet one. The Sprint Race saw 3 safety car interventions and ultimately ended behind it.The first Singapore Grand Prix in 2008 was won by Alonso and the Renault team in one of the most famous cheating scandals the sport has ever seen. Nelson Piquet Jr was instructed by team boss Flavio Briatori and Chief Engineer Pat Simmons to crash into the wall at turn 17(removed for 2023) because there was no crane in that area and it would guarantee a safety car, he agreed to do so with the understanding that he would be resigned to the Renault team for 2009. On lap 13 Renault pit Alonso, lap 14 Piquet crashes into the wall and when everyone else pits Alonso assumes the lead and bish bash bosh Renault win the very first Singapore Grand Prix...............but they didn't resign Piquet Jr and he wasn't happy about it, so he exposed the whole thing to the FIA and the world. Briatori was orginally given a life time ban for participating in any FIA governed motorsport (this was lifted a while ago), Pat Simmons took a short ban but ultimately returned to the F1 pitlane years later. Alonso was allowed to keep the win and the result stood with everyone keeping their points, but this has now become the center of the Massa legal case for having the 2008 championship result changed because the points for this race should never have been given if Renault cheated. We wait with baited breath to see the outcome of this first of it's kind court case.Its important to state that Alonso still denies any knowledge of the events taking place around him( but didnt question why he was pit 11 laps early) and to this day claims this win as one of his best. Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images What does a race day at work look like for an F1 journalist?
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