F1: Alonso Leads Driver's Championship After Rain-Drench Korean Grand Prix





Fernando Alonso of Ferrari emerges victorious in the inaugural Korean Grand Prix at Yeongam circuit amidst a rain-delayed, bizarre and chaotic F1 race of the season.  The story of the race belongs to Red Bull Racing team as both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel succumbed to a crash on Lap 12 and an engine failure in Lap 46, respectively.  along the Korean circuit as well as their championship leads. With both RBR out of action, Alonso was lucky enough to hold the lead of the race and grabs the driver's championship with two remaining races in Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

Alonso wins Korea F1 Grand Prix amid the rains, crashes, and safety cars.

Alonso is way ahead of Webber with 231 points, Webber at second place with 220 points, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton with 210 points at third place.  RBR's Vettel is at fifth place with 206 points after his RB6 engine blew along the long straight way after coming out of Turn 2.  Before the race, the young German driver is in second place tied with Alonso.

Ferrari made good with its promise to win in the new Korean circuit with also a podium finish for its other driver, Felipe Massa.  Massa joined his Ferrari teammate at the podium with a third place finish.   McLaren's Lewis Hamilton arrived in second position of this dramatic, chaotic rain-delayed race.   

With torrential rain pouring on the circuit before the start of the race, a 10 minute delay was announced to wait for the rain to stop.  However, race director Charlie Whiting decided to start the race behind the safety car since the track condition did not improve and visibility was poor because of the downpour.  The F1 cars completed three laps around the circuit behind the safety car when Whiting decided to call the red flag as most drivers over their team radios expressed concerns of the track conditions.

The race started behind the safety car and stopped by red flag because of the track conditions.

The race was stopped for 48 minutes amid the bustling activities of heavy vacuum cleaner tracks and stewards on the race circuit.  The weather condition improved and the cars again started behind the safety car.   The real game started after 37 minutes behind the safety car.    The wet circuit claimed six cars due to crashes and another two for engine failures. 

RBR's Mark Webber lost his car and championship lead in a crash on Lap 12.

In my own analysis, the top 4 drivers will have a chance to grab the Driver's Championship in the next two races.   The race schedules for Brazil and Abu Dhabi will be marked in the next few weeks for busy activities of testing and setting up of race cars of the different F1 racing teams.  Alonso, Webber, Hamilton, and Vettel will go back to the drawing boards again to evaluate their previous performances on these circuits.

This is another exciting season for F1 fanatics as every driver is a cinch to finish the F1 season in a dramatic fashion and cop the F1 diadem.  It is now or never for these drivers comes November.

Images are courtesy of AP and Reuters

Video copyright is owned by Formula One Management (FOM)

F1: Korean Grand Prix Under Rain; Safety Car Leads The Race

The inaugural season of the Korean Grand Prix at Yeongam is under torrent rain at the start of the race.  Race control and stewards decided to use the safety car at the start of the race with the yellow flag and markers flashing around the racetrack.  The organizer decided to have the red flag at Lap 4 to wait for the rain to stop and water in the track to dry up.

Sebastian Vettel still have the pole position followed by his RBR teammate Mark Webber.  Fernando Alonso of Ferrari is running third in the grid.  Heavy vacuum cleaner trucks were utilized to dry out water rain form the track. The race will resume at 16:05 ET.

Stay tuned for more updates of the Korean International Grand Prix.

MotoGP: Stoner Overruns Lorenzo, Rossi

Ducati's Casey Stoner wins his 4th Australian MotoGP crown 
at Phillip Island Circuit, Australia.

Casey Stoner wins his fourth consecutive Australian MotoGP crown with a convincing race over compatriot newly-crowned MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi before a 43,227 roaring hometown crowd in Phillip Island Circuit, Australia.

Ducati's Stoner dominated his hometown race in 41 minutes 9.128 minutes to take the 2010 Iveco Australian MotoGP diadem.  Fiat Yamaha's Lorenzo took second place 8.598 seconds later.  Seven-time World MotoGP champion Rossi finished third with a far 17.997 lead from the Australian race leader.

Stoner blasted the oppositions in the starting grid with superb riding and lead Lorenzo by 1.5 seconds in the first lap and never looked back to take his win.  The Italian Rossi slid into 9th place after a poor start and some maneuvering made by his opponents in the first three corners of the circuit. 

The Doctor made some aggressive overtaking in Lap 3 and Lap 6 to climbed from 9th place to 5th place,  he pushed hard on Honda's Marco Simoncelli to take his new position.  In Lap 7, Rossi a strong corner overtaking maneuver on Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies to grab 3rd position.  Stoner is now way ahead of the pack with a lead of 3.7 seconds over Fiat's Lorenzo.  

It was all a Stoner's race with superb riding but the real drama was between Rossi and Hayden all the way to the finish line. In Lap 24 of the 27-lap race, Hayden made a brilliant overtake on Rossi to regain 3rd position in the race.  The two riders were neck-to-neck until the last lap with Rossi making an aggressive move in the last hairpin and went on to hold on his 3rd place position up to the finish line.

Stoner now leads Rossi in the driver's championship race for third with 205 points.  The Italian Fiat rider has 197 points and Honda's Andrea Dovizioso in 5th place with 179 points.   Dani Pedrosa of Repsol Honda is still in second place with 228 championship points. However, he was not able to race along with Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi due to injuries prior to the race.

The next MotoGP race will be on Portugal's Estoril Circuit on October 31.

Photo Courtesy of motogp.com   

  

   

German F1 Grand Prix Highlights

MotoGP: Rossi To Stonewall Stoner At The Island

Valentino Rossi with his 46th career team win
with Fiat Yamaha in Sepang

Valentino Rossi will have his hands full as hometown hero Casey Stoner will gun for a home win at Iveco Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on Friday.  Despite Stoner's early exit in the first lap of the Malaysian MotoGP, Rossi still believes that the Ducati rider poses a great challenge to him after his magnificent winning ride on Sepang. 

In today's practice session newly crowned MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo set the fastest time in the circuit with 1'41.146 aboard his Fiat Yamaha bike.  Stoner came in with 0.334 seconds down on Lorenzo's time on board his Desmosedici GP10 motobike.  The Doctor is in seventh place on his Fiat Yamaha M1. 

Rossi last won the Australian GP in 2005 and has dominated it since 2001.  This race will erase many doubts among Rossi's detractors after coming from a broken leg injury in mid season.  "The Malaysia race was a bad day for Casey but I'm sure he is the man to beat at Phillip Island," Rossi said. "Last time I won was in 2005 so I will try but Casey and Ducati are very, very fast at the Island. I need to be at 100% to try and beat him."

With a nagging shoulder injury, Rossi believes that he is back 100% mentally in racing.  It took him three months to come back from his injuries and made a fantastic win  in Sepang.  It was his 79th MotoGP career win and 46th win for his Yamaha team the same as his bike's race number.

"That was one of my best ever races -- a Valentino Rossi-style win," Rossi said of Sepang. "My confidence came back and winning from 11th was something great."

The Australian MotoGP will be on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 1:00am EST.

   

F1: A Preview Of The New Korean Grand Prix Circuit

The new Korea International Circuit in Yeongam, South Jeolla Province has been cleared by FIA for its first taste of Formula1 racing scheduled on October 22 - 24, 2010. The circuit has been regarded by FIA as "Grade A" circuit complying all the requirements for an F1 race track.

The Korean race track is divided into three sectors with 18 corners and several long straights. It is 5.621 kms in distance and F1 will run the race in 55 laps with a total distance of 309.155 kms.  Take a tour of the new Korea International Circuit.

Red Bull's Mark Webber is leading the Driver's Championship with 220 points after completing 16 races for the season.  Tied for second place is teammate Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with 206 points.  Red Bull F1 racing leads the pack in the Constructor's Championship with total aggregate score of 426 points.  Far behind RBR is McLaren Mercedes with 381 points.  It will be a no-holds barred  race in Korea for the F1's 17th race of the season.