German GP Paddock Notebook - Friday - MotorSportsTalk

Friday at Hockenheim was the first chance we got to see the drivers out on track as free practices one and two took place. Once again, the weather was glorious as hot sunshine beat down on the tarmac, making conditions perfect for running.

Rather predictably, Mercedes dominated proceedings once again, securing a one-two finish in both sessions. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg shared top spot, and had a net time of just 0.041 seconds separating them across the two sessions. Be assured that there will be another enthralling battle between the two on CNBC this Sunday from 7:30am ET.

In the paddock, the journalists and team members were doing their best to keep cool, with the ice cream at Lotus proving to be particularly popular. No word if Kimi got around to nabbing one, though…

Here’s the latest paddock round-up from Hockenheim.

SESSION REPORTS

First practice at Hockenheim saw Nico Rosberg make a good start to his home grand prix weekend. The German driver edged out Lewis Hamilton at the top of the timesheets, with Fernando Alonso finishing third.
Hamilton redressed the balance in FP2, though, to finish fastest ahead of Rosberg and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo. Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi had a firey moment, but took inspiration from Taki Inoue to use a fire extinguisher and put out the small blaze on his car.

NEWS FROM THE PADDOCK

Adrian Sutil is not concerned about his future in F1 despite rumors suggesting he could be dropped by Sauber in the future.
Fernando Alonso was also asked about his future, but the Spaniard denies contacting any other teams about a seat, saying it is “not my priority”.
Susie Wolff finally managed to complete some running for Williams, although there was a very early scare during FP1 at Hockenheim.
The hotly-debated FRIC systems have been removed from all of the cars for this weekend’s race.
Will Buxton brings you the latest interviews and analysis from the paddock in Paddock Pass (VIDEO).
Jenson Button is confident that his charge to P4 at the British Grand Prix has lifted spirits at McLaren.
GP2 is celebrating its 200th race this weekend in Germany.
Button and Alonso have shared their thoughts on the championship battle at Mercedes.
In this feature, I look at how Germany’s success on the track and on the soccer field is not too dissimilar.
Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel have both hailed a good day for Red Bull in practice.
Lewis Hamilton isn’t FRIC-ing out despite losing the suspension device from his car.

THOUGHTS FROM THE TRACK

Firstly, I must apologise for yet another FRIC pun. However, it certainly has been a topic of debate at Hockenheim this weekend following the FIA’s decision to ban the system from the cars on the grid.

Most of the drivers we spoke to yesterday said that it would make little to no difference, but both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg appeared to notice a bit more of a detrimental difference today. Red Bull certainly looks to have made a step forwards, but we shouldn’t get too carried away: Mercedes’ long run times are still miles ahead of everyone else.

The battle for the final podium position does appear to be wide open. Red Bull is leading by a nose, but with Ferrari, McLaren and Williams all showing good signs of pace this weekend, we could see quite an interesting battle to be ‘best of the rest’. McLaren has been particularly impressive, running with parts that were due to only arrive in Hungary, and both Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen will be hoping for a solid result this weekend.

Further back, there was yet more disappointment for Caterham. One journalist in the paddock compared its recent form to that of the now-defunct HRT during its final few months of activity. Both Marcus Ericsson and Kamui Kobayashi hit trouble during FP2, with a fire on the latter’s car ending his session early.

The team principals’ press conference was a bit of a mixed bag today. Pirelli’s Paul Hembery said that the test of the 18-inch F1 tires had been a success at Silverstone last week, although he was uneasy about the possibility of a tire war in F1. Christijan Albers made his first appearance as Caterham team principal following a crazy few weeks for the backmarker team, and didn’t show a great deal of confidence in the current driver line-up. That said, it’s difficult to see who could replace either Kobayashi or Ericsson given that Carlos Sainz Jr. has been told to forget about F1 for 2014 and to instead focus on his World Series by Renault campaign.

We’ll be back with more from the paddock tomorrow.

German GP TV Times – Saturday 19th July

Free Practice 3: Live Extra 5am ET
Qualifying: CNBC 8am ET

Follow @LukeSmithF1

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.”

German GP Paddock Notebook – Friday

Vicki Golden and 805 Beer tell a unique story from an Inverted Perspective

Read more about SuperMotocross