In the round-up: Castrol puts Alpine’s F1 drivers in a Gen3 Supercar ahead of the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
In brief
Alpine drivers try Australian Supercar
Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon and Jack Doohan’s promotional duties for Alpine ahead of this weekend’s grand prix included trying out a car from Australia’s popular Supercars series on Calder Park Raceway’s oval.
The trio, plus Extreme E champion Molly Taylor, sampled a Ford Mustang GT built to the series’ latest ‘Gen3’ technical regulations. The car produces over 600 horsepower from a 5.4-litre V8 engine. Due to rain, they tested on wet compound tyres.
“That was insane,” said Gasly after his run. “It was actually my first time driving on an oval, it was incredible.”
On the prospect of racing in Supercars, he added “Bathurst is definitely on my bucket list, I definitely want to participate one day there. Ocon said he frequently drives the iconic Mount Panorama circuit on Alpine’s simulator.
DRS adjustment for Melbourne
The FIA has revealed the location of the four DRS zones for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.Last year three DRS zones were used, although a fourth was initially incorporated into the track design but removed after practice. The detection point for the fourth zone was 45 metres after turn six, and the activation point was 140m after Panel 11, which was located trackside just after the right-hand kink between turn eight and nine.
That DRS zone has been reinstated for 2023, with the detection point brought five metres closer to turn six than in last year’s plan and with the activation point being 10 metres earlier. The second DRS zone, which starts after turn 10, will use the same detection point as the first one in the lap.
Another change has been made at the pit exit. This now ends at the second safety car line, having previously extended beyond it, and been reduced in width by four metres.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Southwire named title sponsor of first Formula E race in Portland (Formula E)
'The 2023 Portland E-Prix will mark the United States debut for FE's Gen3 cars. Southwire was recently named as the official wire and cable provider for FE, and will now sponsor the inaugural Portland E-Prix.'
Jak Crawford: A race in my Words (Formula 2)
'Formula 2’s latest American driver Jak Crawford has made the step up from Formula 3 this year, but it’s a race from that championship that sticks out to him most for multiple reasons. Throwing it back to last season, Crawford picked out a tricky weekend that tested the drivers in all conditions.'
The setup: Texas with Will Anderson (IndyCar)
'This week’s featured guest is Will Anderson, race engineer of the number 5 McLaren driven by Pato O’Ward. He helped guide O’Ward to victory in 2021 at Texas, so how do you prepare for a place like Texas?'
We will never reach peak croissant (The New York Times)
'Kate Reid, who once worked as an aerodynamicist helping to design F1 cars, is known for her expertly engineered, nontraditional croissants at Lune Croissanterie in Melbourne, Australia. She said the creative wave unleashed by Mr. Ansel and his Cronut likely saved her bakery.'
Arrow McLaren teams up with Path to the Pits (Racer)
'McLaren's IndyCar team has aligned with the non-profit Path to the Pits organization in an effort to draw more young talent into the sport.'
The race is on for the grand prix of party invitations (The Age)
'In F1, the racetrack is strictly off limits. But when you are the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, vying for media attention and sponsorship supremacy against sporting rivals including the AFL, spring racing carnival and Australian Open, nothing is sacrosanct.'
Taponen tops test for Italian F4 and F1 Academy teams at Monza (Formula Scout)
'Prema’s Tuukka Taponen was fastest in a joint test for teams from Italian Formula 4 and F1 Academy at Monza this week.'
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
The @marcmarquez93 #MotoGP penalty row recalls Sauber benching @MassaFelipe19 for the 2002 #USGP after he earned a grid penalty for hitting @PedrodelaRosa1 during the preceding race. Heinz-Harald Frentzen substituted.
Doubt that would work nowadays.https://t.co/I7q9TITyqf#F1
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) March 29, 2023
Fun fact: when I ran in Supercup we weren’t even allowed to watch our own onboards due to the fact that it was FOM property. Onboard cameras were strictly for stewards and immediately had all the footage deleted after the session
— Jaden Conwright (@jadenconwright) March 29, 2023
This. Is. Epic. 👏 @ZhouGuanyu24 #F1 #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/U1lyUbbAkS
— Alfa Romeo F1 Team Stake (@alfaromeostake) March 29, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Bobby Epstein, chairman of United States Grand Prix venue Circuit of the Americas, has recently spoken about how his track fares against others in North America that are hosting Formula 1. He made the point that the fact COTA was built for racing puts it at an advantage against the new temporary Miami and Las Vegas circuits.
COTA’s F1 contract runs to 2026, while Miami’s extends to 2031. The Las Vegas Grand Prix is currently contracted to appear on the F1 calendar for three seasons, but is widely anticipated to remain part of F1 beyond 2025 given the world championship is promoting the race itself.
Personally I like COTA. Visually it’s lacking, a bit too Paul Ricard-like with the painted run-off, but I like the uphill drag at the start, the twisty section on top when it’s gusty, then some good overtaking corners and sequences.
Somehow reading ‘it was built for racing’ makes me think Liberty/FIA hear that and think: “hummm, better ditch that circuit then, clearly we can’t be maximising our profits if it was just built for racing.” I’m being serious.
David BR
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Lee!
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Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
30th March 2023, 1:15
Pierre just don’t go upside down rolling along the Armco and you’ll be fine. Enjoy Bathurst.
P.S. Bill Brown Bathurst crash is the perfect example of what not to do!
Glennb
30th March 2023, 5:33
You must be as old as me Dave :)
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
30th March 2023, 8:35
Probably and it’s been a “death defying” journey
BUT I’m still here! as are you and that’s a good thing. 👍
elvira
30th March 2023, 14:53
If you’re going to crash at Bathurst I recommend doing it like Jim Richards.
Just keep some memorable invective ready for the crowd.
Glennb
30th March 2023, 5:31
Steady on Pierre. You need to walk before you can run mate. The Calder Oval is one thing, Mt Panorama is an entirely different animal :)
I hope it’s dry for your debut.
Jere (@jerejj)
30th March 2023, 6:04
So marginally different starting points for one detection & activation point, but I can only hope the reinstatement won’t make things unnecessarily risky, given the T9-10 combination’s high-speed nature since DRS & fast corners never mix well, as Abbey proved in 2018.
One thing I don’t get is why that zone is numbered first despite technically being second, as the activation zone on T2-3 straight is the first that starts after the timing line & FIA’s general approach is to number them from the closest post-timing line activation point, so an S/F straight zone wherever one begins further into that straight than the timing line & the next zone in order if earlier. A similar exception from the norm occurs in Mexico.
I’ve always liked COTA, but don’t necessarily think the circuit would get ditched based on the built-for-racing aspect, although possible someday considering the general temporary circuit push.
frood19 (@frood19)
30th March 2023, 7:15
Seriously dude, do you reply to every article on here? Where do you find the time?! I know, ironic that I have found the time to write this…