MotorSportsTalk’s predictions: Singapore GP

By Sep 19, 2013, 5:30 PM EDT
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As darkness descends on the 2013 Formula One season, the sport heads to its only night race in Singapore this weekend. The race has a tendency to provide drama, with the most famous race coming in 2008. After Nelson Piquet Jr. intentionally speared his Renault into the wall, Felipe Massa ended up dragging his fuel hose down the pit lane whilst Fernando Alonso jumped from P15 to win the race comfortably thanks to his team’s trickery. Every race held in Singapore has seen a safety car, and the high rate of attrition does allow for the midfield runners to fight their way into the top ten. As a result, this week’s MST predictions become all the more difficult…

Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno)

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton. The 2009 Singapore winner has traditionally done well here even if his results haven’t shown it. Mercedes of course thrived on the only other street circuit this year in Monaco, and it will be interesting to see whether they can match it with the different construction tires here compared to earlier in the season.

Surprising finish: Jean-Eric Vergne. Starred at Monaco and can do similarly if his car makes the finish. He’s been a frequent retirement this season. 

Most to prove: Force India. Early season promise and results have faded since the Pirelli construction change. Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta posted a double points-scoring result at Monaco and need a similarly good weekend here.

Christopher Estrada (@estradawriting)

Race winner: Lewis Hamilton. The Monaco-esque nature of the Marina Bay street circuit could play well for the Mercedes camp. And after losing out on a potential win last year here thanks to a gearbox failure, expect Hamilton to be on top form.

Surprising finish: Felipe Massa. Massa’s moving on from Ferrari at season’s end and has declared that he’s in it for himself, not for teammate Fernando Alonso. The Brazilian will be bent on showing that he’s still got it, and that could make him quite intriguing to watch.

Most to prove: Paul di Resta. di Resta has gone scoreless in the last four events after gaining points in seven of the first eight. Fortunately for him, he comes to a circuit that saw him claim his career-best result last year, a fourth-place finish.

Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1)

Race winner: Sebastian Vettel. As boring as this prediction may be, it’s hard to see Seb not making it three wins in a row in Singapore. His form of late has been relentless and his affinity for this circuit makes a Red Bull win all the more likely.

Surprising finish: Charles Pic. Putting my neck on the line here… but if there are a high number of retirements and Caterham’s drivers keep their noses clean, we could see them overhaul Marussia in the constructors’ championship. P12 or higher required.

Most to prove: Romain Grosjean. Following Raikkonen’s departure, RoGro now has to prove to Lotus that he is worth keeping instead of taking on Felipe Massa and/or Nico Hulkenberg in his place. A good showing in Singapore would do the Frenchman a lot of good.

Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)

Race winner: Kimi Raikkonen. The Lotus hasn’t just been stronger on high-downforce tracks, it’s also been the car to beat in warmer conditions. Singapore will be a case of both, so although Raikkonen is yet to post a top-five finish here, I’m backing him to win.

Surprising finish: Pastor Maldonado. He planted the Williams second on the grid last year and produced one of his best drives in the race. If the Williams is good enough to get within range of the midfield, it could be one of his better weekends.

Most to prove: Felipe Massa. For the first time in a long while, Massa is racing for himself. Not only has he said he won’t be supporting Alonso, but he’s got to prove he’s quick enough to deserve a seat with a top team. Over to you Mr Massa.

Heart of Racing program aims to elevate new generation of women to star in sports cars

By Mar 29, 2023, 12:00 PM EDT
women sports cars
Mike Levitt/LAT Images/Heart of Racing
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(Editor’s note: This story on the Heart of Racing sports cars shootout for women is one in an occasional Motorsports Talk series focusing on women in racing during March, which is Women’s History Month.)

Heart of Racing driver and team manager Ian James says his daughter, Gabby, isn’t so interested in auto racing. But she is interested (as a New York-based journalist) in writing about the sport’s efforts and growth in gender equality

It’s a topic that also was brought up by James’ wife, Kim.

“They’re always saying, ‘Hey, you manage all these guys, and you help them, so why not a woman?’ ” Ian James told NBC Sports. “And I feel like there are a lot of women that haven’t had a fair crack at it in sports car racing.

“Our whole DNA at Heart of Racing is we give people opportunities in all types of situations where there’s been crew personnel or drivers. And I felt like we hadn’t really addressed the female driver situation. I felt like there was a void to give somebody a chance to really prove themselves.”

During the offseason, the team took a major step toward remedying that.

Heart of Racing held its first female driver shootout last November at the APEX Motor Club in Phoenix, Arizona, to select two women who will co-drive an Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the SRO SprintX Championship.

The season will begin this weekend at Sonoma Raceway with Hannah Grisham and Rianna O’Meara-Hunt behind the wheel. The team also picked a third driver, 17-year-old Annie Rhule, for a 2023 testing program.

The Phoenix audition included 10 finalists who were selected from 130 applicants to the program, which has been fully underwritten by Heart of Racing’s sponsors.

“We didn’t want it to be someone who just comes from a socio-economic background that could afford to do it on their own course,” James said. “We can pick on pure talent. We’re committed to three years to do this and see if we can find the right person. I’m very hopeful.”

So is Grisham, a Southern California native who has been racing since she was 6 in go-karts and since has won championships in Mazda and Miata ladder series. She has several victories in the World Racing League GP2 (an amateur sports car endurance series). The last two years, Grisham has worked as a test driver for the Pirelli tire company (she lives near Pirelli’s U.S. headquarters in Rome, Georgia, and tests about 30 times a year).

Starting with the Sonoma during SprintX event weekends (which feature races Saturday and Sunday), she will split the Heart of Racing car with O’Meara-Hunt (a New Zealand native she got to know at the shootout).

“It’s huge; the biggest opportunity I’ve had in this sport,” Grisham, 23, told NBC Sports. “Now it’s up to me to perform how I know I can. But I’m super lucky to be with such an amazing team and have a good teammate. The Heart of Racing has a family vibe and energy to it that’s really amazing. It’s super exciting. It’s hard to put into words.”

Grisham is hopeful that a strong performance eventually could lead to a full-time ride with Heart of Racing. The team has full-time entries in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and won the GTD category of the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona with the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 piloted by James, Darren Turner, Roman DeAngelis and Marco Sorensen.

James said “there’s no guarantee” of placement in an IMSA entry for Grisham and O’Meara-Hunt, but “if they prove themselves, we’ll continue to help them throughout their career and our team. The GT3 program is an obvious home for that. If they get the opportunity and don’t quite make it, we’ll be looking for the next two. The next three years, we’ll cycle through drivers until we find the right one.”

Grisham described the two-day shootout as a friendly but intense environment. After a day of getting acclimated to their cars, drivers qualified on new tires the second day and then did two 25-minute stints to simulate a race.

“Everyone was super nice,” she said. “Once everyone gets in the car, it’s a different level. A different switch gets turned on. Everyone was super nice; everyone was quick. I feel we had an adequate amount of seat time, which is definitely helpful.

“It’s always cool to meet more women in the sport because there’s not too many of us, even though there’s more and more. It’s always cool to meet really talented women, especially there were so many from all over the world.”

IMSA has celebrated female champions and race winners, notably Katherine Legge (who is running GTD full time this season with Sheena Monk for Gradient Racing). The field at Sebring and Daytona also included the Iron Dames Lamborghini (a female-dominated team).

James believes “a breakout female driver will be competing with the best of them” in the next five years as gender barriers slowly recede in motorsports.

“It’s been a male-dominated sport,” James said. “It’s still a very minute number of women drivers compared to the guys. I’m sure back in the day there were physical hurdles about it that were judged. But now the cars are not very physical to drive, and it’s more about technique and mental strength and stuff like that, and there’s no reason a girl shouldn’t do just as well as a guy. What we’re just trying to achieve is that there isn’t an obvious barrier to saying ‘Hey, I can’t hire a guy or a girl.’ We just want to put girls in front of people and our own program that are legitimate choices going forward for people.”

“There’s been some really good female drivers, but a lot of them just haven’t been able to sustain it, and a lot of that comes from sponsorship. I think (with the shootout), there’s no pressure of raising money and worrying about crash damage. We’ve taken care of all that so they can really focus on the job at hand.”

Funding always has been a hurdle for Grisham, who caught the racing bug from her father, Tom, an off-road driver who raced the Baja 1000 several times.

“I don’t come from a lot of money by any means,” she said. “So since a young age, I’ve always had to find sponsorships and get people to help me, whether it was buying tires, paying for entry fees, paying for the shipment of a car to an actual race. Literally knocking on doors of people or businesses in my town. So yeah, it’s definitely something I’ve always struggled with and held me back because the sport revolves so much around money. So again to get this opportunity is insane.”

Grisham credits racing pioneer Lyn St. James (an Indy 500 veteran and sports car champion) as a role model who has helped propel her career. She was hooked by the sights, smells and sounds of racing but also its competitive fire.

“There’s a zone you get in, that subconscious state of mind when you’re driving. It’s like addictive almost. I love it. Also I’m just a very competitive person as I think most race car drivers are.

“For sure I want to stay with the Heart of Racing. Obviously, I’m still getting to know everyone, but it’s a super family vibe. That’s how I grew up in the sport with just my dad and I wrenching on the cars. That’s what I love about this sport is all the amazing people you meet. And I think this is one of the most promising teams in this country. For sure, I want to learn as much as I can from them and hopefully continue. I feel so lucky and grateful to be one of those chosen.”