Alonso fastest in first practice for Australian GP - MotorSportsTalk

Fernando Alonso has started the 2014 Formula 1 season in the best possible fashion by finishing fastest during the first practice session for the Australian Grand Prix today.

The Spanish driver managed to see off the challenge of McLaren’s Jenson Button and both Williams drivers to finish on top of the timesheets as Mercedes and Red Bull both encountered problems during the opening session of the season.

Formula 1’s new era got underway in typically sunny conditions in Australia with Alonso being the first driver out on track. He was joined by a number of other drivers for an installation lap, but some had to bide their time, including Sebastian Vettel as Red Bull worked on his car.

However, the session was soon interrupted when Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes came to a halt on track after just five minutes, appearing to confirm the reliability concerns that had been raised throughout the winter. The W05 was craned away a few minutes later, allowing the session to continue after a yellow flag period. The team later confirmed that a sensor shut down the car, and it was not a problem with the power unit.

Despite Red Bull’s problems, Daniel Ricciardo was the first driver to post a lap time, setting an early benchmark of 1:37.290, and he was soon followed by McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen who was around half a second off with his first lap. A number of other drivers came out and posted a lap time inside the first 30 minutes of the session, with Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg trading fastest lap times. As the drivers sought the limit of their cars, a number of mistakes were made. Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat both had sideways moments, whilst Sergio Perez very nearly spun his Force India at turn three.

Thanks to the new rules in 2014, all drivers have an extra set of tires to use in the first half an hour of the session, meaning that there was a great amount of on-track action to kick-start the new era of Formula 1. However, at the end of this period, there was a lull on track as teams took a second to regroup and prepare for the final hour of the session.

Jenson Button and Esteban Gutierrez both looked to set some fast laps at the halfway point during the session, and the British driver managed to move to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1:32.357. After a disastrous 2013 season, McLaren began 2014 in good fashion with Button leading the way. However, Caterham’s year got off to a bad start as both Kamui Kobayashi and Marcus Ericsson were forced to sit out due to problems with the CT-05 car.

With 40 minutes to go, defending world champion Sebastian Vettel finally got out on track for the first time after a lengthy rebuild by the Red Bull team. However, he only completed an installation lap before returning to the pits. At Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso, Russian rookie Daniil Kvyat kicked up some grass after running wide, but he was able to continue. Teammate Jean-Eric Vergne also made a mistake at turn one, lamenting his lack of experience with the new brake-by-wire system over the radio.

Felipe Massa, running in his first official session for Williams, soon began to show his pace by popping up into second place with around 30 minutes remaining. Former teammate Fernando Alonso soon returned to the top of the timesheets though, wrestling P1 away from Button by going half a second quicker than the McLaren. Marussia’s Max Chilton managed to come out and post a lap time in the final half an hour of the session, although he did hit a trolley in his pit box on entry.

Towards the end of the session, the drivers began to focus on their long runs with heavy fuel, meaning that the times remained relatively unchanged. Lotus managed to send its drivers out during the final ten minutes of the session, but Pastor Maldonado suffered a problem with his car that saw him take a trip through the gravel before returning to the pits without any power.

Come the end of the session, none of the drivers could better Alonso’s time, giving Ferrari a great start to the season as its rivals faltered. However, with this being just the first session of the year, it remains to be seen who will be the man to beat come race-day.

Free Practice 2 begins at 1:30am ET and is live on NBCSN and Live Extra.

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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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