DTM Adria: Scheider wins crazy race, Prémat escapes terrifying crash

RichardsF1    DTM, Results     Audi

Timo Scheider returned to the winner’s circle in the DTM championship, taking Audi’s second win of the 2010 season in an action-packed race at Italy’s Autodromo Adria.

Watch Alexandre Premat’s massive accident at Adria

The race was marred – and shortened by 21 laps – after an horrific accident for Alexandre Prémat on the second lap. The Frenchman speared into the wall on the opposite side of the pit straight after making contact with Maro Engel, digging into the grass and violently rolling several times before coming to a stop on its side. Incredibly, the former A1GP winner walked away from the accident only seconds later, giving further rise to the incredible safety standards in this category. The red flags were brought out while the mess was cleared away.

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WTCC Okayama: Farfus wins as title becomes a two-horse race

RichardsF1    Results, WTCC     Augusto Farfus, BMW

Augusto Farfus broke through to take his first race win of the 2010 World Touring Car Championship season, as the penultimate round of the championship drew to a close.

The Brazilian was handed the race win on a plate when the SEATs of Michel Nykjær and then Gabriele Tarquini slid off the soaked Okayama circuit. Tarquini’s retirement means that the Italian will no longer be able to defend his World Championship crown, and Robert Huff finishing behind Chevrolet team-mate Yvan Muller also means the Brit is out of the championship hunt as well.

Muller has effectively had the chance of a second WTCC title handed to him on a plate, as Farfus’ team-mate Andy Priaulx crashed out of the race as well, leaving the Frenchman (who finished third again) to take a 38-point lead over Priaulx into the title decider at Macau. Should Muller finish on the podium in either race, he will win the championship.

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WTCC Okayama: Huff wins wet opening race

RichardsF1    Results, WTCC     Chevrolet, Robert Huff

Robert Huff has kept is very slim championship hopes alive by winning the opening race of the World Touring Car Championship round at Okayama’s TI Aida circuit.

Starting third in the race – which started with two laps behind the safety car due to the very wet conditions – the Chevrolet driver passed Augusto Farfus for second place at Turn 4 on the third lap of the race, and quickly set about chasing down pole-sitter and race leader Andy Priaulx.

He caught the three-time WTCC champion just two laps later, and after a bit of wheel-banging in the opening corners of the fifth lap, he made the move stick at Turn 7, and assumed a lead he would not surrender.

Sutil rules out moving to Mercedes GP in 2011

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Adrian Sutil, Force India, Mercedes GP, Michael Schumacher, Renault, Williams

Yet another possible scenario in the F1 silly season has been shot down in flames, with Adrian Sutil ruling out a move to Mercedes GP as a possible replacement for Michael Schumacher, should the 41-year-old decide to abandon his F1 comeback after a single season.

“There is no truth in that,” he told the Daily Mail newspaper. “Michael is going to stay there for another year at least, and I think he has a three year contract, so that is how it is.

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WTCC Okayama: Ten-place grid penalty for Dahlgren

RichardsF1    News, WTCC     FIA, Rules, Volvo

Robert Dahlgren has been slapped with a ten-place grid penalty ahead of the first race for this weekend’s World Touring Car Championship round at Okayama.

The Swedish driver had no choice but to change his engine after his Volvo C30 refused to fire up for the morning warm-up session, meaning he drops to 24th on the grid after qualifying a respectable 14th yesterday.

Chevrolet driver Alain Menu was quickest overall in the 15-minute session, followed by Tiago Monteiro and Tom Coronel in the SEATs. Pole-sitter Andy Priaulx was only 14th-quickest in the morning warm-up.

Chevrolet to appeal BMW sequential gearboxes

RichardsF1    News, WTCC     BMW, Chevrolet, FIA, Rules

Another war of the manufacturers looks set to erupt in the World Touring Car Championship, with Chevrolet announcing that it intends to appeal the Okayama Stewards’ ruling to allow the RBM BMWs to race with sequential gearboxes.

The central theme to its argument is that the switching of Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus’ BMWs from five-speed H-pattern gearboxes to six-speed sequential units allows the respective drivers to run with 30kg less ballast on account of the additional weight of the new units.

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Williams praises his current drivers, so just who will actually stay in 2011?

RichardsF1    Driver Market, Formula 1     Nico Hulkenberg, Pastor Maldonado, Rubens Barrichello, Sir Frank Williams, Williams

Williams team founder Sir Frank Williams has offered praise to Nico Hülkenberg’s recent performances and states he has hopes that the German achieves success with his squad, and in turn created another twist in the latest round of rumours that suggest the rookie driver will actually be dumped from the outfit at the end of the season.

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Birthdays for Derek Bell and Sébastien Buemi

RichardsF1    Birthdays, Former F1 Figures, Formula 1     Derek Bell, Sebastien Buemi

Former F1 driver and sports car ace Derek Bell is sharing his 69th birthday with Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Buemi, who turns 22 today.

Encouraged by his stepfather to take up racing, Bell graduated to Formula 3 in 1965, achieving several wins before moving to Formula 2 in 1968, where his performances caught the eye of Enzo Ferrari, who appointed Bell into the team to make his debut at that year’s Italian Grand Prix.

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DTM Adria: Paffett snatches pole position

RichardsF1    DTM, Results     Gary Paffett, Mercedes

Championship ‘roughie’ Gary Paffett took pole position in a closely-fought qualifying session at Italy’s Adria circuit.

A trackside view of DTM qualifying at Adria

The McLaren test driver had the first run in the final top-four shoot-out for pole, and had a nail-biting time watching his three rivals – Bruno Spengler, Mattias Ekström and Jamie Green – all post better split times in their first and second sectors of their hot lap.

However, none could overhaul Paffett’s time in the final sector, and the Briton claimed pole by just one-hundredth of a second from Spengler.

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Looky-Likey #14

RichardsF1    Formula 1     Jerome d'Ambrosio, Looky-Likey

Jérôme d’Ambrosio Drives a Virgin at the occasional Grand Prix

Robert Pattinson Drives a Volvo C30 in the occasional ‘Twilight’ film