Hamilton quickest as pre-season testing ends in Bahrain - MotorSportsTalk

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has finished quickest on the final day of pre-season testing ahead of the 2014 Formula 1 season as the German marque enjoyed another fruitful day in Bahrain.

Hamilton posted the fastest time of 1:33.278 in the final hour of an interrupted day of testing at the Bahrain International Circuit that saw seven drivers cause eight red flags, resulting in the afternoon session being extended by an hour.

Having failed to complete a single lap on Saturday, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull began in better fashion by completing some good mileage early in the morning. However, the German driver then spun into the gravel at the first corner, leaving his team with a small repair job before returning to the track in the afternoon. He ultimately finished in ninth place with 77 laps under his belt.

Hamilton’s closest challenger was Williams’ Valtteri Bottas as the British team enjoyed yet another successful day in Bahrain. The Finn was the pace-setter for large parts of the session, but finished seventh-tenths of a second down on Hamilton’s fastest time. Nevertheless, the signs are very good for Williams in 2014 as the team bounces back from a disastrous 2013 campaign.

Fernando Alonso finished in third place for Ferrari as the top non-Mercedes powered car. The Spaniard was responsible from bringing out one of the red flags after a stoppage, but he eventually rallied to finish just over one second behind Hamilton. Nico Hulkenberg finished behind the Spaniard in fourth place, whilst Jean-Eric Vergne was the fastest Renault-powered driver as he came fifth for Toro Rosso.

Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutierrez shared driving duties for Sauber on Sunday in Bahrain, and were separated by nine-tenths of a second respectively. Max Chilton ran well for Marussia, completing 61 laps and splitting the two Saubers on the timesheets in seventh place.

Kamui Kobayashi completed a great amount of milage for Caterham on the final day, recording over 100 laps. However, he could only finish P11 on the timesheets, only ahead of the stricken Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman was limited to just 32 laps as a fire on his E22 car meant that he failed to come back out after lunch. It also means that Lotus head into the new season without having completed a full race simulation.

Like Lotus, McLaren also packed up early in Bahrain as Jenson Button suffered an engine failure. He finished down in tenth place with just 22 laps to his name (less than any other driver).

With testing now complete, the early signs suggest that it will be a battle between the Mercedes-powered teams and Ferrari at the opening round of the season in Australia.

However, it was apt that the twelfth and final day of testing finished with so many reliability problems – this will be the main theme in the opening few races. With just twelve days to go until practice in Australia, all of the teams have a lot of work to do.

Bahrain Day 4 – Times

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.278 (69 laps)
2. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:33.987 +0.709 (108)
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:34.280 +1.002 (74)
4. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:35.577 +2.299 (74)
5. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:35.701 +2.423 (74)
6. Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:36.476 +3.189 (91)
7. Max Chilton Marussia 1:36.835 +3.557 (61)
8. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:37.303 +4.025 (86)
9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:37.468 +4.190 (77)
10. Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.111 +4.833 (22)
11. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:38.391 +5.113 (106)
12. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:39.302 +6.024 (32)

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Vicki Golden has earned a career worthy of a thousand stories and 805 Beer tells at least one of them, as “Inverted Perspective” premiered March 30 on the company’s website and YouTube channel.

Golden did more to break the glass ceiling in SuperMotocross than she ever thought possible. She knows this because riders have never felt the need to explain any of her accomplishments with the disclaimer, “for a girl”.

At this point in Golden’s career, she’s been the first woman to finish top 10 in AMA Arenacross Lites, the first woman to qualify in the Fast 40 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the first woman to compete in freestyle Moto X competition, earning a bronze medal by doing so.

Her love for moto came from childhood while she watched her dad and brother ride. By seven she was on her bike and making waves throughout Southern California.

Golden, 30, is still madly in love with the sport and has no plans on moving away but her career is already one to talk about. 805 Beer’s film series wanted to do exactly that.

“I’m taken aback by it all,” Golden told NBC Sports about the documentary. “It’s just crazy to see your story, it’s one thing to live your life and battle everything that comes about but it’s another to just sit there and talk about it.”

805 approached Golden about the feature by asking, “Do you even realize that what you do, and your story is special?”

Golden took the question as a blank canvas to map out the highs and lows of her career and life.

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The title “Inverted Perspective” came from a brainstorming session with Dominick Russo and it highlights Golden’s outlook on the sport of SuperMotocross and her life in general.

“My whole life, my whole career was thinking differently and looking at things that shouldn’t be done and aren’t there, while being able to make a place for myself, where no one thought there should be a place,” Golden said. “It’s inspiring someone to think in different ways. It sums up my life.”

*Vicki Golden is not “fast for a girl”; she’s just fast. – 805 Beer*

While Golden is no stranger to the spotlight, this was the first time she’s been fully involved with the storytelling and creation of a feature about herself.

“It’s not like a full new experience,” Golden said. “Obviously, you get your standard questions about your upbringing and accomplishments, but I’ve never really put into perspective things that happened in my past with my dad and putting that to light. Also, certain other things that maybe got overlooked in previous interviews or films. I wanted to touch on these and Dom wanted to create a story. It’s just cool to see it come to light, it’s a nearly impossible thing to tell somebody’s life story in 40 minutes.”

Golden’s father was left paralyzed after an ATV accident, robbing him the opportunity to ride again. This happened a few months before the father-daughter duo was set to compete in the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals when Vicki was 12. While she might have been unable to grasp the severity at the time, it’s something she carries with her. Golden continues to ride in his honor.

Years later, an accident in 2018 nearly sidelined the then 25-year-old Vicki when a freestyle accident almost resulted in the amputation of her lower leg.

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Golden 805 Beer — *Vicki Golden has ridden a variety of disciplines in SuperMotocross, which gives her a unique perspective. – 805 Beer*

“Inverted Perspective” highlights her father’s diligence in helping Vicki continue with her career and the kindness and strength he carried while fighting his own battle.

“My dad was the entire reason that I started riding in the first place,” Golden said. “So, to honor his memory and to honor what we went through and how hard he pushed to keep our dream alive and keep everything going – in that sense then, it was really special to be able to honor him and talk about him.”

The 40-minute feature was filmed entirely in black and white, a stark contrast from the oversaturated world of motocross where the brighter the suit the easier it is for fans to find their rider and follow him in the race. By filming in monochrome Russo and Golden had the chance to focus on the race and track from a different perspective.

“It was cool to be able to film it differently,” Golden said. “It created a challenge in the sense of what was going to be more visually impactful for the film.

“I couldn’t be here without the companies that back me but at the same time, it’s not like the logos or colors disappeared, it’s just different lights shed on different spots. It’s just a cool way to do it and to take color away and still be impactful. When you think of black and white, you think of old school, the OG way of doing things.”

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