Formula 1: Alonso wins in China
With a commanding performance in the Chinese Grand Prix Fernando Alonso clinched his first victory of the season. Clinching his second China success after 2005, the Spaniard who in his Ferrari relies on dampers by ZF Friedrichshafen AG advanced to third place in the drivers’ championship, with nine points separating him from the top of the standings. His team-mate Felipe Massa in sixth place scored points for Ferrari as well.
At Shanghai four other drivers using technology from ZF also finished in the points. Australia winner Kimi Räikkönen in his Lotus-Renault took second place, his French team-mate Romain Grosjean finished in ninth. Both Lotus-Renault are fitted with a clutch of the ZF brand. Daniel Ricciardo took seventh place for the Scuderia Toro Rosso, relying on a clutch by ZF Friedrichshafen AG in his car as well. The German Nico Hülkenberg scored one point in tenth place, using damper technology from ZF in his Sauber-Ferrari.
Results, Chinese GP (CR), round 3, FIA Formula 1 World Championship, 12 Apr–14 Apr 2013:
1 Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1h 36m26.945s, ZF
2 Kimi Räikkönen, Lotus-Renault, + 10.168s, ZF
3 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, + 12.322s
4 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, + 12.525s
5 Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, + 35.285s
6 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, + 40.827s, ZF
7 Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, + 42.691s, ZF
8 Paul Di Resta, Force India-Mercedes, + 51.084s
9 Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Renault, + 53.423s, ZF
10 Nico Hülkenberg, Sauber-Ferrari, + 56.598s, ZF
Drivers’ World Championship:
1 S. Vettel, 52 points; 2 K. Räikkönen, 49; 3 F. Alonso, 43; 4 L. Hamilton, 40; 5 F. Massa, 30; 6 M. Webber, 26; 7 N. Rosberg and J Button, 12 each; 9 R. Grosjean, 11; 10 P. di Resta, 8.
Constructors’ World Championship:
1 Red Bull-Renault, 78 points; 2 Ferrari, 73; 3 Lotus-Renault, 60; 4 Mercedes, 52; 5 Force India-Mercedes and McLaren-Mercedes, 14 each; 7 Toro Rosso, 7; 8 Sauber, 5.
WEC: Audi one-two victory at season opener
At the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener at Silverstone Audi achieved a one-two victory. Three laps before the end of the six-hour race Allan McNish took the lead and together with Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval won in front of their Audi team-mates André Lotterer, Benoît Tréluyer and Marcel Fässler. Both Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars which are equipped with clutches from ZF Friedrichshafen AG ran on different race strategies in the last hour of the race. After a spin and an additional tire change McNish showed a strong recovery that was ultimately rewarded with victory.
Third place went to Anthony Davidson, Stéphane Sarrazin and Sébastien Buemi in the Toyota TS030 Hybrid in front of their team-mates Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre. ZF is a new Technical Partner of Toyota Racing.
Results, Silverstone (GB), round 1, FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), 12 Apr–14 Apr 2013:
1 Tom Kristensen/ Loïc Duval/Allan McNish, Audi, 6h 00m01.686s, ZF
2 André Lotterer/Benoît Tréluyer/Marcel Fässler, Audi, + 3.462s, ZF
3 Anthony Davidson/Sébastien Buemi/Stéphane Sarrazin, Toyota, - 1 lap, ZF
4 Alex Wurz/Nicolas Lapierre, Toyota, - 1 lap, ZF
5 Nicolas Prost/Neel Jani/Nick Heidfeld, Lola-Toyota, - 4 laps
6 Andrea Belicchi/Mathias Beche/Cong Fu Cheng, Lola-Toyota, - 7 laps
7 Tor Graves/Antonnio Pizzonia/James Walker, Oreca-Nissan, - 13 laps
8 Olivier Pla/David Heinemeier Hansson/Alex Brundle, Morgan-Nissan, - 14 laps
9 Chris Dyson/Michael Marsal/Tom Kimber-Smith, Zytek-Nissan, - 17 laps
10 Luis Pérez Companc/Nicolas Minassian/Pierre Kaffer, Oreca-Nissan, - 18 laps
WRC: Sébastien Ogier celebrates third victory of the season
Sweden, Mexico and Portugal: The Volkswagen factory drivers Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia celebrated their third consecutive victory of the season at the Portugal Rally and further extended their lead of the standings in the World Rally Championship. The Frenchmen who in their Volkswagen Polo R WRC rely on a two-plate clutch and dampers from ZF were able to take the lead early on and defended it all the way to the finish. By setting a fastest time on the 52-kilometre Power Stage they scored three additional points. Their team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila, who were running in second place part of the time, finished third overall. Junior Andreas Mikkelsen together with Mikko Markkula finished his competition debut in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC in sixth place and scored World Championship points as well.
Results, Rally Portugal (P), round 4, World Rally Championship,11 Apr–14 Apr 2013:
1 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia, Volkswagen, 4h 07m38.7s, ZF
2 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen, Citroën, + 58.2s
3 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila, Volkswagen, + 4m 04.5s, ZF
4 Evgeny Novikov/Ilka Minor, Ford, + 5m 27.7s
5 Nasser Al-Attiyah/Giovanni Bernacchini, Ford, + 7m 43.5s
6 Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula, Volkswagen, + 9m 39.8s, ZF
7 Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst, Ford, + 15m 04.2s
8 Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson, Ford, + 15m 43.6s
9 Khalid Al Qassimi/Scott Martin, Citroën, + 15m 56.9s
10 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm, Škoda, + 16m 21.0s
Drivers’ World Championship:
1 S. Ogier, 102 points; 2 M. Hirvonen, 48; 3 S. Loeb, 43; 4 M. Østberg, 32; 5 J. Latvala, 31; 6 D. Sordo, 27; 7 T. Neuville, 25; 8 M. Prokop and N. Al-Attiyah, 20 each; 10 E. Novikov, 15.
Constructors’ World Championship:
1 Volkswagen Motorsport, 121 points; 2 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 107; 3 Qatar M-Sport WRT, 55; 4 Qatar WRC, 36; 5 Abu Dhabi Citroen Total WRT, 27; 6 Jipocar Czech National Team, 22; 7 Lotus WRC Team, 12; 8 Volkswagen Motorsport 2, 10