In the round-up: Former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat has joined the Iron Lynx-run Lamborghini LMDh programme to join the World Endurance Championship for 2024
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In brief
Kvyat to race for Lamborghini’s hypercar programme under Italian license
Former AlphaTauri and Red Bull F1 driver Daniil Kvyat will compete for Lamborghini’s LMDh hypercar programme in 2024 after signing with the Iron Lynx-run programme.
Kvyat, who took three podiums throughout six seasons in his F1 career, will join fellow ex-F1 driver Romain Grosjean, Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti in the squad, which will compete in both the WEC and the IMSA series in 2024. While Kvyat raced under Russian nationality in Formula 1, he will compete under an Italian licence with Lamborghini.
“I am very happy to have joined Lamborghini Squadra Corse, it is a great honour for me,” Kvyat said.
“Lamborghini is a very well-known Italian brand with a great history in the automotive world and, having grown up in Italy, this is an additional source of pride for me.”
Motorsport world reacts to death of WRC racer Breen
The international motorsport community has reacted in shock to the news that World Rally Championship driver Craig Breen died following an accident in Croatia yesterday.Breen, who was 33, died from injuries sustained from a crash in a private test ahead of next weekend’s Croatia Rally. Breen’s Hyundai team confirmed his death from the crash, in which co-driver James Fulton was uninjured.
FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem extended his “sincere condolences to the family and friends of Craig Breen” on behalf of the governing body, while Formula 1 said it was sending “our thoughts and love to Craig Breen’s family and friends“.
Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas described Breen’s loss as “shocking news” while Alpine’s Esteban Ocon called it a “very sad day“. F1 champions Red Bull, their rivals Mercedes and Ferrari as well as Alpine and Haas all expressed their condolences to Breen’s family, friends, team and follow competitors.
F3 leader Borteloto quickest as Barcelona test begins
FIA Formula 3 championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto was fastest during the opening day of in-season testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
The Trident driver set the best time of the day with a 1’27.221 in the earlier of the two session in the day using the restored final two corners on the Barcelona circuit. ART’s Gregoire Saucy was second quickest, with Prema’s Dino Beganovic third.
The test will conclude with a second and final day of running today.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Hong Kong billionaire Lo in talks with potential F1 teams (Reuters)
The chief executive of insurance broker RE Lee International told Reuters he was considering backing a bid to enter in 2026 and money was not the major hurdle. While he would not identify the teams, he ruled out involvement in a planned all-American Andretti Cadillac outfit and another Hitech Grand Prix one.
Horner says Adrian Newey staying with team 'for many years to come' (Sky)
His heart is still very much in Formula 1 and his commitment to the team, it's not something (minor). We don't talk about contracts or longevity of contracts, but he'll be here for many years to come.
F1 rookie killed on 'last ride' with girlfriend before bike put away for winter (Mirror)
Cracknell, 20, who worked for F1 team Williams, collided with a campervan after losing control of his bike on a bend in Oxfordshire. The devastating crash left him with severe brain injuries and he passed away in hospital a week later. Cracknell joined Williams' team right after leaving school, working as a prototype and test apprentice. Following his death, Williams paid tribute to him at the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the team wearing black armbands and flying their flag at half-mast.
From IndyCar to F1: The best of the Long Beach Grand Prix (Motor Sport)
In celebration of IndyCar’s 39th Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend, here’s a list of some of the best moments we’ve witnessed along this 1.9 mile stretch of Californian tarmac.
Roman Stanek: A Race in my Words (F2)
I worked a lot over the winter to extract to get the best out of myself. The mind really has no limits, the things you can do with your mental health is amazing. An example, I can sit underwater for five minutes now but I worked very hard with my mental coach to extract the best to be able to do that. I love to explore this so I think that makes me stronger.
Bortoleto: No expectations after Feature Race success but confidence building (F3)
For sure, you get more confidence after winning the only races that you’ve done, but at the same time, it’s still the same feeling I had before Bahrain. I like to drive this year, it’s a car that suits me very well, especially the Trident car. I don't have any expectations for the next round. I’m just happy to be driving and to be fast every time that I’m going out on track, but I don’t know how it will go in Imola.
Charlie Eastwood and Luke Browning set for Berlin Rookie Test with NEOM McLaren (Formula E)
McLaren will field Charlie Eastwood and Luke Browning at the official Formula E Rookie Test at Berlin’s Tempelhof Street Circuit on 24 April.
Racing in our Modern World | Jarno Opmeer (TEDx Talks via YouTube)
Jarno Opmeer describes the paths of his career, and details what made him succeed throughout them.
Ride 5 Announcement Trailer (Milestone Games via YouTube)
The reveal trailer to the next entry in Milestone's Ride motorcycle franchise, which will be released exclusively on current-gen consoles and PC in August.
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
|@Max33Verstappen streamed his @iRacing session with @TeamRedlineSim yesterday – but called time on it when his partner's daughter wanted to play with him. #F1 pic.twitter.com/MBNtSclh4L
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) April 13, 2023
Can’t actually believe I’m racing at Silverstone this weekend 😅 pinch me pic.twitter.com/RoOpmuRdDC
— Lucas Blakeley (@LucasBlakeley01) April 13, 2023
I’m honored to be selected for the Rookie Test with @NISMO Formula E in Berlin ⚡️
It will be a great chance for me to experience a Formula E.Thank you to @NISMO Formula E for giving me this great opportunity and Alpine Academy ! I’m excited to give it a try.#VictoryLane #FE pic.twitter.com/bnurpGZL2T
— Victor MARTINS 🇫🇷 (@VictorMartinsFR) April 13, 2023
Welcome to the Mercedes Family, @marcelkiefer_. 👋 Our Esports Team just got even stronger. Let’s get it. 💪
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 13, 2023
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Should Formula 1 do more to reduce travelling on its calendar? It’s not as simple as it may seem, says @GT-Racer…
Grouping races by region is something that’s been a discussion point since at least the early 2000s but ultimately plans to do so always stall when the various factors that play into what goes where come up.
The climate is one consideration as you want to try and get the best of a regions weather.
Other local events are also a consideration as while some are fine to be grouped with F1 others are not for various reasons.
And then you have other things to consider, Especially with races on temporary circuits that need time to be build up and tore down as there may again be local considerations around the disruption that need to be taken into account. They don’t want the construction work interfering with other local events for instance so races may be scheduled taking that into account.
On paper grouping everything together is easy but when you dig into it, Start talking to everyone and looking at the local circumstances you see it starts to get a bit trickier which is why it’s something often talked about but ultimately never actually done.
GT Racer
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Cmcgato!
On this day in motorsport
Jere (@jerejj)
14th April 2023, 6:24
Good thing he had lived in Italy for a while in karting & lower single-seater days, as otherwise, he couldn’t have received an Italian racing license.
I still can’t quite believe Breen is gone. WRC teams regularly do pre-event testing in different locations & while accidents can happen (& have happened) in these non-competitive runs, on this occasion, he unfortunately crashed in a way that proved fatal, with a wooden piece striking through his side.
Finding out came as shockingly & unexpectedly as Charlie Whiting’s sudden death on the pre-2019 Australian GP Thursday.
RIP to Breen & also Cracknell, who I found out about only today, & never noticed the black armbands during the last Abu Dhabi GP weekend.
I already responded to COTD in the relevant article, but yes, easier said than done in reality versus theory, although as regionalized as possible should still be the minimum target.
Qeki (@qeki)
14th April 2023, 6:40
R.I.P Graig Breen
RandomMallard
14th April 2023, 8:22
Devastating news about Craig Breen. Not much of a rally fan I must admit, but for something like that to happen is truly awful, especially after such a strong showing in his last round in Sweden. My thoughts are with his friends, family, team, and the whole WRC paddock.
Rest In Peace Craig.
CD (@clipperdael)
14th April 2023, 11:13
Absolutely devastated when rumours turned into more rumours turned into news of Breen’s death over the course of yesterday afternoon. We lost a great man.
I still remember his elation and that big smile at the post stage interviews at Rally Sweden a few weeks ago when it finally looked like things got back on track for him after the abysmal year with M-Sport. It seemed like the future held so much for him still.
What can I say. I’m lost for words. May you Rest in Peace, Craig. We’ll miss you.
Jere (@jerejj)
14th April 2023, 17:40
@clipperdael His post-stage interviews in Rally Sweden, especially the one at Brattby 2 stop control, were enjoyable, & overall, he’ll indeed be missed.
MacLeod (@macleod)
14th April 2023, 13:30
A bit strange Kvyat racing while his daughter is playing with Max (and Max even making time for her stopping a race) but i don’t know on how who or what so i don’t say anymore about it.
F1 frog (@f1frog)
14th April 2023, 17:54
RIP Craig Breen.
At least he died doing what he loved.
Claus J
15th April 2023, 11:16
Kvyat refuse to denounce the Russian invasion of Ukraine. WEC (and Nascar and others) ought to do like FIA and ask him to drive in a Russian series until he does… Italy’s (and many others) approach to Russia post-invasion is two-faced and unsupportive in general, frankly embarrassing, and this is just another example – circumventing sanctions when no real alternatives exist is one thing, doing it for economic reasons is somehow in the realm of the understandable; but supporting Russian nationals or companies who back Mr Putins tsarist ambitions when there is absolutely no need or gain is incomprehensible…
Bio
15th April 2023, 15:51
If you are in the public eye in Russia and you denounce Putin, you are jailed or you disappear.
Your comment is very ignorant of life in such a country.