Formula 1: Alonso’s pursuit ends in second place
Fernando Alonso’s inspirational performance paved the way to second place in the Belgium Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. As a result, the Ferrari driver celebrated his sixth podium finish in the eleventh race of the season and in climbed to second in the overall standings. After a difficult qualifying session, the Spaniard, who relies on dampers from ZF Friedrichshafen AG in his Ferrari, laid the foundation for the good position on the opening laps. Following a perfect start, the two-time Formula 1 World Champion moved up from ninth into the leading group. After having taken second place in the first half of the race, Alonso savoured an uneventful race afterwards. The gap to the front was too big to attack, but he increased his advantage lap by lap to his pursuers. His team mate Felipe Massa also scored points for Ferrari by finishing seventh.
Meanwhile, Kimi Räikkönen’s title aspirations took a knock. The Finn, whose Lotus-Renault is equipped with a clutch of the ZF brand, was forced to retire his car for the first time this season. Brake problems on Räikkönen’s Lotus-Renault were the reason for the Finn failing to score points for the first time in 28 races. This in turn proved fortunate for his team mate Romain Grosjean who recorded his seventh top ten position of the season with eighth place.
The Australian Daniel Ricciardo put in a good day’s work to bring his ZF clutch equipped Tor Rosso to tenth place and scored the last point as a result.
Results, Belgian GP (B), round 11, FIA Formula 1 World Championship, Aug 23–Aug 25, 2013:
1 Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, 1h 23m 42.196s
2 Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, + 16.869s ZF
3 Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, + 27.734s
4 Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, + 29.872s
5 Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault, + 33.845s
6 Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, + 40.794s
7 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, + 53.922s ZF
8 Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Renault, + 55.846s ZF
9 Adrian Sutil, Force India-Mercedes, + 1m 09.547s
10 Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso-Ferrari, + 1m 13.470s ZF
Drivers World Championship:
1 S. Vettel, 197 points; 2 F. Alonso, 151; 3 L. Hamilton, 139; 4 K. Räikkönen, 134; 5 M. Webber, 115; 6 N. Rosberg, 96; 7 F. Massa, 67; 8 R. Grosjean, 53; 9 J. Button, 47; 10 P. Di Resta, 36.
Constructors World Championship:
1 Red Bull-Renault, 312 points; 2 Mercedes, 235; 3 Ferrari, 218; 4 Lotus-Renault, 187; 5 McLaren-Mercedes, 65; 6 Force India-Mercedes, 61; 7 Toro Rosso, 25; 8 Sauber, 7; 9 Williams-Renault, 1.
WRC: good performance goes unrewarded
Blow par: although the Volkswagen drivers won eight of the 15 stages held on the German rally, there were no big celebrations at the finish. After two consecutive victories, the Volkswagen factor drivers Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia had to settle for 16th position overall in the ninth rally of the World Rally Championship. In the process, the duo, which could have won the Rally World Championship with several rallies to spare, even topped the standings. However, after winning two of the opening stages, the French duo had to retire early following a collision. After returning under Rally 2 regulations, Ogier/Ingrassia, who rely on a twin-plate clutch as well as dampers from ZF in their Volkswagen Polo WRC, took three of a possible five fastest stage times before going on to win the Powerstage. At the end, the duo finished 16th. Jari-Matti Latvala and his co-driver Miikka Anttila were a little luckier. The duo led up to the eleventh stage. On the twelfth stage they slid off the track and retired. However, they secured seventh place after returning under Rally 2 regulations.
Ogier/Ingrassia comfortably lead the drivers’ and co-drivers’ classification after nine of 13 World Championship rallies. At the next World Championship round in Australia (September 12-15) they could already wrap up the title.
Results, Rally Germany (D), round 9, World Rally Championship, Aug 22–Aug 25, 2013:
1 Daniel Sordo/Carlos del Barrio, Citroën, 3h 15m 19.4s
2 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul, Ford, + 53.0s
3 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen, Citroën, + 2m 36.1s
4 Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst, Ford, + 8m 0.8s
5 Robert Kubica/Maciek Baran, Citroën, + 9m 01.3s
6 Elfyn Evans/Daniel Barritt, Ford, + 9m 14.2s
7 Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila, Volkswagen, + 9m 55.0s ZF
8 Hayden Paddon/John Kennard, Škoda, + 13m 01.2s
9 Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson, Ford, + 13m 28.1s
10 Evgeny Novikov/Ilka Minor, Ford, + 15m 17.9s
Drivers’ World Championship:
1 S. Ogier 184 points; 2 T. Neuville, 109; 3 J. Latvala, 98; 4 D. Sordo, 96; 5 M. Hirvonen, 88; 6 S. Loeb, 68; 7 M. Østberg, 65; 8 M. Prokop, 49; 9 E. Novikov, 40; 10 N. Al-Attiyah, 30.
Constructors’ World Championship:
1 Volkswagen Motorsport, 251 points; 2 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT, 196; 3 Qatar M-Sport WRT, 115; 4 Qatar WRT, 104; 5 Jipocar Czech National Team, 39; 6 Abu Dhabi Citroën Total WRT, 33; 7 Volkswagen Motorsport II, 26; 8 Lotos WRC Team, 20.
Other results:
Results Spa-Francorchamps (B), round 6, Supercup, Aug 22–Aug 25, 2013:
1 Klaus Bachler, Porsche, 26m 55,440s ZF
2 Sean Edwards, Porsche, + 1.679s ZF
3 Michael Christensen, Porsche, + 4.146s ZF
4 Robert Lukas, Porsche, + 4.695s ZF
5 Michael Ammermüller, Porsche, + 5.079s ZF
6 Jeroen Bleekemolen, Porsche, + 5.975s ZF
7 Kévin Estre, Porsche, + 6.570s ZF
8 Nicki Thiim, Porsche, + 6.688s ZF
9 Ben Barker, Porsche, + 11.310s ZF
10 Jeroen Mul, Porsche, + 12.285s ZF
Drivers standings
1 S. Edwards, 106 points; 2 N. Thiim, 80; 3 M. Ammermüller, 76; 4 M. Christensen 70; 5 K. Giermaziak, 65; 6 K. Estre, 59; 7 K. Bachler, 54; 8 C. Engelhart, 42; 9 B. Barker, 38; 10 J. Bleekemolen, 36.