Alonso fastest in first practice for Chinese GP - MotorSportsTalk

Fernando Alonso finished fastest in today’s first practice session for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix as Ferrari began life after Stefano Domenicali in good fashion.

The Spanish driver finished over three-tenths of a second clear of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg as the Silver Arrows opted to limit their running in order to save some tires. Daniel Ricciardo was the leading Red Bull in third place, whilst Lewis Hamilton suffered a problem on his car late on that meant he could only finish down in eighth place.

Practice began in cool and dry conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit on Friday morning, but the heat was immediately on at Ferrari as the team had to repair the steering rack on Kimi Raikkonen’s car, costing him precious track time. The arrival of new team principal Marco Mattiacci in the garage also turned a few heads as the Italian remained behind his dark sunglasses, but it did not have an immediate impact as the Finn was unable to post a time during the session.

Out on track, Pastor Maldonado spun his Lotus early on after taking his eyes off the road mid-corner to make an adjustment on his steering wheel. However, the Venezuelan was able to recover and get his car going again.

With the new rules giving teams a free set of tires to use during the first 30 minutes of FP1, most of the teams got their drivers out early to post a lap time during this part of the session. Unsurprisingly, Mercedes once again set the pace as Nico Rosberg was the quickest driver in the first set of runs, but the team’s one-two streak from Bahrain was interrupted to begin with by Fernando Alonso, who sat in second place ahead of Lewis Hamilton after the first runs.

A low track temperature forced most teams to sit in the pits for some time after the first 30 minutes of the session. Lotus did send out Romain Grosjean for a long run in order to gather some data given the teams problematic start to the season. Daniil Kvyat’s inexperience showed when he ran wide at the tricky first corner and spun his rear wheels into the gravel. However, he managed to keep the engine running and get the car going again, although another spin late on would have given the Russian driver some food for thought.

With 40 minutes to go, most of the teams headed back out on track to complete some more running. Fernando Alonso was able to top Rosberg’s time and moved into P1 by over one second, and Daniel Ricciardo followed suit to go P2. The Mercedes drivers opted not to head out for another run alongside the other teams, with Hamilton instead completing an outlap before heading back to the pits.

In the final 20 minutes, the focus shifted to race simulations and long runs, meaning that the times remained largely unchanged. Rosberg did wind up his Mercedes to post a quick lap and jump up into second place, but he could not continue the team’s series of first place finishes from Bahrain. This meant that Alonso – who won last year’s race in Shanghai – began his weekend in the best possible fashion, and gave Mattiacci something to smile about on his first day on the job.

Be sure to tune into second practice live on on NBCSN from 2am ET.

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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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