Alonso speaks of ‘fantastic emotion’ following home win

By May 12, 2013, 10:45 AM EDT
0 Comments

Fernando Alonso has spoken of how the extra support at his home race has made today’s Spanish Grand Prix victory extra special.

The Spanish driver stormed to his second win at the Circuit de Catalunya in front of his home fans, and he made it clear how important this support was to him.

“It definitely was a fantastic emotion, they really helped because you feel the support from everybody,” he said on the podium after the race. “We want to do well here in front of our fans, in front of so many people supporting Ferrari so we did it.

However, Alonso was adamant that Ferrari could not rest on their laurels, and must keep pushing if they are to challenge for the championship in 2013.

“We’re happy for that but we don’t want to stop here, obviously.

“Nothing really changes; we know that we have had five races only, some ups and downs. We know that we have the car to fight at the top, and if we do well we can fight for the championship. If we don’t do good enough, maybe we don’t fight, but we want to do so.”

This video is no longer available. Click here to watch more NBC Sports videos!

Ferrari will be delighted with the result as Alonso has cut the gap to Vettel to 17 points at the front, and the win will re-ignite hopes of winning both championships following a disastrous showing last time out in Bahrain. Quite whether they can continue this form at the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks’ time remains to be seen, but for now, all of those at Maranello will be delighted with the win.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
IndyCar
0 Comments

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”