6 things we didn’t know last week
6 things we didn’t know last week
A week is a long time in motorsport, even if the racing has stopped for the winter, but it hasn’t halted big news from breaking and 2017 looks very exciting!
A week is a long time in motorsport, even if the racing has stopped for the winter, but it hasn’t halted big news from breaking and 2017 looks very exciting!
Nico Rosberg retires!
Perhaps the biggest shock news of the decade let alone this week, Nico Rosberg announced his immediate retirement from F1 five days after winning the 2016 world championship, stunning the entire watching world. Fast forward a week and speculation of who will take up his race seat at Mercedes is whirling around with Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas, Pascal Wehrlein and Carlos Sainz all in contention.
French Grand Prix returns to F1
The least surprising news of the off-season with the confirmation of the French Grand Prix’s return to the F1 calendar at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2018. With the German Grand Prix on the ropes the French round was tipped to step in for a while and a deal is now in place after next season.
No more intermediates from Michelin in MotoGP
MotoGP’s rule makers have withdrawn Michelin’s intermediate tyres for next year, meaning only wet or slick tyres will be available in 2017. With the high number of wet races this season the option of the intermediates shook up the MotoGP grid and provided strategy masterstrokes for some and nightmares for others.
World Superbike race two grid shake up
World Superbike race two will look very different in 2017 with the grid shake-up coming into play. Put simply, the race one rostrum trio will start from row three in reserve order (1st = 9th, 2nd = 8th, 3rd = 7th) with P4 to P9 in the race results promoted to the front two rows. The remainder of the grid from P10 down will be order by Superpole results. Regardless of implications it has caused controversy with a split opinion between riders and teams in the paddock.
The Red Bull and Aston Martin hypercar is on its way!
Got a spare couple of million for a hypercar and willing to wait two years for delivery? Then the AM-RB 001 is the car for you! Red Bull confirmed it would continue its partnership with Aston Martin and the pair’s unique car with its projected 1:1 power-to-weight ratio is nearing completion with a prototype expected in late 2017. One small problem: all 150 road-going versions and 25 track cars are already sold out.
Jari-Matti Latvala heads to Toyota
With Volkswagen’s sudden withdrawal from the World Rally Championship, three of the sport’s top drivers all found themselves without race seats for 2017. As a result a mad scramble by rival manufacturers has been sparked to snap up the highly-prized drivers. Finn Jari-Matti Latvala is the first to land at a new team after signing for Toyota who return to the WRC next season.