Nico Rosberg has continued his dominant form at the Brazilian Grand Prix by claiming his tenth pole position of the 2014 Formula 1 season at Interlagos today.
After finishing quickest in all three practice sessions, Rosberg managed to find more time when it counted to edge out Mercedes teammate and championship rival Lewis Hamilton by just 0.033 seconds at the end of Q3 on Saturday.
Williams did appear to be in the running for pole, but Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas ultimately had to settle for P3 and P4 in the final standings as Mercedes’ pace proved to be too much once again in Brazil.
Qualifying began in overcast but dry conditions, allowing the drivers to head out on the soft compound tire early on to post their first lap times. Both of the Mercedes drivers opted against taking on the prime tire, with Rosberg and Hamilton exchanging blows on the softs at the top of the timesheets to pull over a full second clear of the rest of the field at one point. Ultimately, it was Rosberg who had the bragging rights at the end of Q1, finishing fastest by one-tenth of a second.
Having initially braved the medium tire, Williams and McLaren soon made the switch to the softs to ensure that they got through to the second session. Felipe Massa managed to run the Mercedes drivers close at the top of the standings with his final lap, but the Lotus duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado were less fortunate as both drivers dropped out in Q1.
Yet again, Q2 was a session that looked set to be dominated by the Mercedes drivers as both Rosberg and Hamilton headed out on fresh soft tires early on, immediately laying down an impressive pace. Continuing his dominance of the sessions, Rosberg soon established a 0.4 second gap to Hamilton, leaving the Briton with plenty to do ahead of Q3.
Both Mercedes drivers opted not to run for a second time in Q2, allowing Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas to split the Silver Arrows in second and third place respectively, throwing Williams’ hat into the ring for the pole position fight. Despite leaving their running late, both Red Bull drivers managed to get into the top ten, leaving Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil and Daniil Kvyat in the dropzone at the end of the session.
At the beginning of Q3 in Brazil, Hamilton and Rosberg were the first two drivers to head out on track and post their first lap times in a bid for pole position. Hamilton managed to produce his fastest lap of the race weekend with his first run, only for Rosberg to go just 0.029 seconds faster, giving the German driver provisional pole.
However, Williams refused to go down quietly. With his first lap, Massa moved to within one-tenth of a second of Rosberg, and with Bottas in fourth place, less than 0.14 seconds separated the top four drivers after the first runs in Q3.
Hamilton looked to have snatched pole position away from his teammate when he went one-tenth of a second faster than Rosberg as the checkered flag fell, only for Rosberg to find an extra 0.033 seconds to take his tenth pole position of the season.
Having both had slow laps, Massa and Bottas opted to pit on their final flyers, leaving them third and fourth for Williams ahead of Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel. Kevin Magnussen qualified seventh, with Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen completing the top ten.
With pole position, Rosberg clinched the FIA Pole Trophy for 2014 and also broke Rubens Barrichello’s record for the fastest pole position lap at Interlagos. However, with the smallest of margins separating him and Hamilton, the stage is set for another thrilling fight between the Silver Arrows in Brazil this weekend.
PALA, California – In his 450 bike debut, Jett Lawrence scored a perfect round at Fox Raceway in Pala, California to win Pro Motocross Round 1. He posted the fastest time in both qualification sessions, won the holeshot in both motos, and scored a pair of wins to take the overall victory and the early points’ lead.Chase Sexton stalked Jett Lawrence throughout Moto 2, but could not find his way past. – Align Media
No one seriously questioned Lawrence’s opportunity to make noise in the 450 class. Few would have been surprised to see him podium in his Pro Motocross National, but Lawrence outperformed all expectations by dominating Moto 1. He entered the weekend with zero points and his eye on 20th in the standings so he would receive an automatic invitation to the inaugural SuperMotocross World Championship (SMX).
He well surpassed expectations.
“It’s awesome,” Lawrence told NBC Sports’ Jason Thomas. “I can finally smile. I’ve been trying to stay serious and not get too excited with emotions coming up – and now I can finally let loose. The second one was a little harder, I couldn’t hear him but I’d look back and I’d still see the red bike. It was like a chess match.”
By the end of the race, Lawrence made up 30 percent of the points he needed to claim 20th and served notice that he will be one of the favorites to win the championship. He closed the gap even further in Moto 2, but the two races had entirely different storylines.
While Lawrence was able to run away from the field in the first race and win with a 10-second advantage, Honda teammate and defending Monster Energy Supercross champion Chase Sexton pressured him for the entire 30 minutes plus two laps that made up Moto 2.
Lawrence is the 16th rider to win in his first Pro Motocross race, the 10th to do so in an opener and second youngest, (behind Rick Johnson, 17 when he won at Hangtown in 1982).
Sexton was within two seconds of Lawrence for the entire moto. He rode a patient race with the realistic expectation that the 450 rookie Lawrence might make a mistake. Lawrence bounced from rut to rut in this race, but would not be forced into losing his focus.
“Toward the finish line area I had some decent lines, I thought maybe, if I could get close enough, I could make a move,” Sexton said. “I tried my hardest; I got close. I made a bit of an attempt with maybe 10 minutes to go and messed up. Jett was obviously riding really good. We were pushing the pace and it was a fun moto. It felt a little like last year.”
With his 1-1 finish and the overall victory, Lawrence remains perfect at Fox Raceway after sweeping Victory Lane in five rounds his 250 career.
Dylan Ferrandis returned to the track after suffering a concussion in the Supercross season in Round 4 in Houston. He attempted to return for the Daytona Supercross race, but another hard crash on Media Day set him on the sideline.
“Earlier this week I was pretty far from a podium position, so got together with the team and we made it happen,” Ferrandis said. “It was very hard. [Aaron Plessinger] was pushing me and I had to dig very deep.”
In a pre-race news conference, he indicated that the best course of action was to get up to speed before he fully sent his bike into the turns. But adrenalin is a wonderful factor and once he got into the pace of the race, he held off charges from Cooper Webb in Moto 1 and Plessinger in Moto 2. Ferrandis’ 3-3 finishes in the two races earned 40 points and puts him back in the conversation to be among the top 20 in the combined SuperMotocross standings.
Plessinger and Webb each ended the day with 34 points. Plessinger won the tiebreaker for fifth overall in the standings. But it was an adventurous afternoon for Plessinger who had to overcome a pair of falls in the first Moto to finish fifth.
Round 1 of the Pro Motocross season marked the return of Webb after he suffered a Supercross series ending concussion in a heat race at Nashville.
“This was a last minute decision,” Webb said. “I sat out last summer and I didn’t want to do that again. Once I got cleared from the doctor, it was game on.”
The battle between Lawrence and Sexton gave Honda a 1-2 finish in this race for the second straight year, but perhaps most importantly, it provided a glimpse of what can be expected during the opening rounds.
I think there is more to come from Chase,” Lawrence said. “He had that crash in practice so it rung his head a bit, but I know it’s going to be a war in the outdoor season. I know there’s going to be times when I’m behind Chase and can’t get around him. It’s going to be an awesome season and I can’t wait to race my teammate.”
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Jett wasn’t the only Lawrence to win Fox Raceway Motocross. Hunter’s win in the 250 class marked the first time in history that brothers won a Motocross National on the same day.
The reigning 250 East Supercross champion scored the overall victory with a third in Moto 1 and a victory in Moto 2. A poor start in the first race forced Lawrence to mount a charge from behind. Riding with discomfort, Lawrence was out of his rhythm early. A spirited battle with Jo Shimoda and Justin Cooper for third through fifth forced him to push through the pain of an injury suffered at the start of the week.
“The start was crucial,” Lawrence said. “I had a massive crash Monday and could barely ride press day for three laps, I was in so much pain. This one goes out to Dr. [Rey Gubernick]. He has magic hands.”
Lawrence’s strong start to Moto 2 put him in a better zone and he pulled an eight-second advantage over the second-place rider.
Haiden Deegan got a taste of the Motocross series last year, but that was all it was: a nibble.
Deegan failed to crack the top 10 in either of two starts and had some questions for himself before the race began. Deegan did not believe there were high expectations placed on him for this race, which is precisely how he described his first Supercross attempt. In that inaugural SX race, he finished fourth and was as surprised as anyone in the field.
Again: The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Deegan surprised himself again by finishing second in only his third Motocross National. He finished sixth in Moto 1 and second in Moto 2, giving him a second-place finish overall.
“I’m actually a little surprised,” Deegan said. “A lot of people said I wouldn’t even be close to this. I guess we’re proving people wrong and that’s what we’ve got to do Second place in my first full season. I’m hyped.”
RJ Hampshire had to overcome a pair of falls in Moto 2 to score the final podium position in the overall standings. – Align Media
RJ Hampshire made a statement in Moto 1. An entirely new discipline allowed Hampshire to grab an early advantage. But then a poor start to Moto 2 provided an entirely different challenge. Two falls on Lap 1 dropped Hampshire to 39th in the running order.
“I didn’t have a great start and got mayhem in that second corner and went down,” Hampshire said. “Picked [myself] up in last and made some really good passes and then going uphill on the [backstretch], someone got out of whack – took me out and I was dead last again. I didn’t really know if I had a shot at the podium, but I was digging really deep.”
It took half of the race to get back into the points in 20th, but Hampshire kept digging. Passing riders one at a time, he climbed to 11th in Moto 2 and salvaged enough points to give him the third position overall.
Maximus Vohland made a statement of his own by holding off a determined Lawrence on the last two laps. Lawrence was able to pressure Vohland when they were slowed by a lapped rider who fell in front of the battle.
Tom Vialle was in a position to take the final overall podium spot with a solid third-place finish in the second moto. He did everything he could, but Hampshire’s determined charge from the back of the pack was capped off with a two-position advance on the final lap to slide onto the final step of the box.
