McLaren sets the pace at Barcelona
New McLaren signing Sergio Perez topped the timesheets as the second of the three pre-season tests at the Barcelona-based Circuit de Catalunya drew to a close on Friday.
Perez, who replaces the departing Lewis Hamilton at the British team, set the fastest time of 1m21.848s during the second day of the test on Wednesday, edging out Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. The best time set by the two time champion – who made his debut in the 2013 Ferrari having missed the opening test at Jerez – was set the following day and was just 27 thousandths of a second adrift of Perez’s effort the previous day.
Topping the relatively slow opening day of the test was reigning champion Sebastian Vettel with a time of 1m23.046s, but the Red Bull team once again appeared reluctant to show their car’s ultimate pace during low-fuel runs – most pundits are expecting the team to be competing very much at the front of the pack this season despite relatively unimpressive headline lap times in testing so far.
The evidence suggests that Red Bull, along with McLaren and Lotus, look to be at the head of the pecking order so far with just one pre-season test left before the season kicks off at Melbourne. Ferrari appear to be a small fraction behind this trio, albeit in far better shape than they were in pre-season testing this time a year ago.
Mercedes appears to be some way off challenging at the front of the pack for now, despite the fact Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets on a rain-affected final day of the test with a 1m23.282s. The Brit has continued to play down expectations for the start of the season, citing a lack of aerodynamic downforce as the main challenge facing his new team.
Much speculation surrounded the Force India team during the test, who are yet to confirm the identity of Paul Di Resta’s teammate for the season. Both the experienced Adrian Sutil, who last drove for the team in 2011, and the rookie Jules Bianchi were present at Barcelona, but in spite of suggestions of a ‘showdown’ between the pair financial considerations are likely to be the clinching factor in Force India’s decision. An announcement is expected this week.
The final pre-season F1 test gets underway at Barcelona on Thursday (February 28).
Dream start for Aprilia in World Superbikes
Reigning champions Aprilia enjoyed the perfect start to the World Superbike season at Phillip Island as its riders Sylvain Guintoli and Eugene Laverty shared the spoils at the Australian track.
In race one, Guintoli – who has joined Aprilia in place of retiring two-time champion Max Biaggi – stealthily rose from his starting position of sixth during the first half of the race, taking advantage of a crash involving Marco Melandri (BMW) and pole-sitter Carlos Checa (Ducati) to move into second behind race leader Laverty. Gradually eroding his teammate’s advantage, Guintoli made what transpired to be the winning pass at around two-thirds distance.
Laverty lacked the pace to keep up with his new teammate, and was later forced to switch his attentions to defending his position from privateer Aprilia rider Michel Fabrizio. The Italian veteran would however ultimately lose out to Laverty for second by a margin of just seven thousandths of a second.
In the second race, Guintoli and Laverty were able to break away fairly from the pack early on, forming a leading trio along with Melandri that would last the remainder of the distance. Unlike in the first race however, Guintoli was unable to get away at the head of the field as Laverty remained firmly in touch.
After being passed by Melandri late on and moving down to third, Laverty re-took the position before rapidly catching Guintoli. The race one victor was then unable to stave off Laverty’s charge, conceding the lead at the start of the penultimate lap with the Irish rider levelling the score at the top of the points standings with a well deserved win. Melandri held on to the final podium spot despite a late challenge from countryman Fabrizio, narrowly averting another Aprilia podium whitewash.
Despite nursing a broken wrist sustained in a testing crash, 2012 series runner-up Tom Sykes was the best of the British riders, finishing fifth place in both races for Kawasaki.
Points Standings after 1 Round: Laverty & Guintoli 45, Fabrizio 29, Sykes 22, Melandri & Rea 16.
Jamie Klein
exeposedev 