Bianchi impresses once again to make Q2 for Marussia - MotorSportsTalk

Jules Bianchi has impressed behind the wheel of the Marussia MR03 once again in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix today after getting into Q2 for the second year in a row at Spa.

The French youngster qualified 16th on the grid for tomorrow’s race, pushing bigger names such as Nico Hulkenberg and Pastor Maldonado out of the shootout at the first hurdle.

Bianchi also managed to get into Q2 at last year’s race in wet conditions, and it holds a special meaning for him at this circuit given that it was the sight of many victories for his great-uncle, Lucien.

“I’m really happy to make it through to Q2 again, especially as it repeats a good performance here last year,” Bianchi said after the session. “I love this track and it’s also very special to me personally, so it is always a really nice feeling to do well here.

“I was a little surprised that we had such a strong qualifying, simply because the tricky conditions were the same for everyone, yet we have fared better than some of the teams further up the grid, finishing ahead of a Lotus, a Force India and a Sauber.

“I’m really pleased for the team as this is a nice reward for them and I hope we can carry it through to the race now.”

It has been a rather chaotic weekend for Marussia at Spa. On Thursday, the team announced that American driver Alexander Rossi would be replacing Max Chilton for the weekend until the Briton’s contractual issues had been resolved. However, it then performed a u-turn and said that Chilton had been reinstated as of FP2 on Friday. Chilton’s comments have also raised some concerns about the future of the team.

On Saturday at Spa though, Bianchi certainly brought the team some much-needed good news.

You can watch the Belgian Grand Prix live on NBCSN and Live Extra from 7.30am ET tomorrow.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”