WATCH LIVE: FP1 for the Japanese Grand Prix - MotorSportsTalk

Amid concerns about the approach of typhoon Phanfone and a possible rescheduling of the race weekend, the first free practice for the Japanese Grand Prix is going ahead as planned on Friday morning at Suzuka.

You can watch the complete session live on Live Extra from 9pm ET on Thursday evening.

CLICK HERE to watch via live stream.

The first session in Japan will give us a first idea of how the pecking order may shape up this weekend at one of F1’s most famed and infamous circuits, but most of the attention will be paid to our two championship protagonists: Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton retook the lead of the drivers’ championship in Singapore after winning his seventh race of the season as Rosberg was forced to retire due to an electrical issue on his Mercedes car. With five races to go, the gap stands at just three points, meaning that there is plenty to play for in the final quarter of the 2014 season.

Mercedes can clinch the constructors’ championship at Suzuka this weekend by outscoring nearest-rivals Red Bull, and it would be the first for the German marque. During its last heyday in the ’50s, there was no championship for the teams, with it only coming into existence three years after Mercedes withdrew from F1 in 1955.

However, Sebastian Vettel will be hoping to continue his good form at Suzuka in a bid to put the Silver Arrows’ celebrations on hold. In five races at Suzuka, Vettel has won four and finished third on the only other occasion (in 2011, when P3 was all he needed to win the world title). He will be keen to keep this form up during FP1 today.

There are two driver changes for the first session in Japan:

Max Verstappen is the most notable runner in FP1. At the tender age of 17 and three days, he will smash the record for being the youngest driver to take part in an F1 race weekend session as part of his preparation for a full-time role with Toro Rosso in 2014. Jean-Eric Vergne will step aside before returning to the seat for FP2.
Roberto Merhi will replace Kamui Kobayashi for FP1 at Caterham. The Japanese driver will get a first chance to head out in front of his home fans in FP2 (live on NBCSN from 1am).

Will Stevens was due to make his first appearance on an F1 race weekend in FP1 for Marussia. However, as his paperwork did not clear in time, the team will run with its regular drivers.

You can watch the full session live on Live Extra from 9pm ET on Thursday night. CLICK HERE to watch via live stream.

Please note that there will be no commentary from the NBCSN team for this session, but it will instead purely be the FOM world feed.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross