Kvyat finally turns 20 after fine start to 2014 season

By Apr 26, 2014, 10:00 AM EDT
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Toro Rosso’s workers must be sick of birthday cake this week. After Jean-Eric Vergne celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday, teammate Daniil Kvyat has his turn to wear the party hat today as he turns the ripe old age of 20.

That’s right, 20. The Russian rookie has made a lightening start to his Formula 1 career despite being a teenager, having been born in 1994. He is the youngest driver on the grid, and at the opening round of the season in Australia broke Sebastian Vettel’s record for being the youngest ever driver to score points in Formula 1.

However, 2014 has not been a year where experience is everything. The new regulations have in fact perplexed some of the older drivers who have not been used to driving without blown exhausts or with brake-by-wire systems. Therefore, the rookies – Kvyat, Kevin Magnussen and Marcus Ericsson – have not been at as much of a disadvantage as the class of 2013 was.

And the results have proven exactly that. The class of 2013 saw five new rookies join the grid: Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton, Valtteri Bottas, Giedo van der Garde and Esteban Gutierrez. They amassed 10 points in total, coming from just two separate scores (Gutierrez scored 6 in Japan, Bottas scored 4 in Austin). It was by no means a vintage year for rookies.

Of course, Bottas has since then proven himself, scoring 24 points in just four races so far this season. We must also bear in mind that Bianchi, Chilton and van der Garde were not driving cars that were really capable of scoring points.

However, Kvyat and Magnussen have already done a lot in 2014. At the opening race of the season, Magnussen qualified in fourth place and eventually brought his car home in third, which then became second upon Daniel Ricciardo’s disqualification. He then picked up another two points at the Malaysian Grand Prix, but has since failed to score.

Kvyat may have only scored four points so far this season, but he has finished in the top 10 on three occasions, with the anomaly coming in Bahrain where he finished 11th.

The Russian youngster has made a great start to his Formula 1 career, especially given the Toro Rosso STR9’s pace in the dry which leaves much to be desired.

Kvyat celebrated his birthday by being a special guest at yesterday’s Serie A soccer match between AS Roma and AC Milan. He did the equivalent of swapping shirts with Italian footballer and Roma captain Francesco Totti, giving the veteran player one of his race suits in exchange for the #10 Giallorossi jersey.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).