Red Bull buoyed by impressive Hungary practice pace - MotorSportsTalk

Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat were both buoyed with their practice pace in Hungary on Friday as Red Bull emerged as the second-fastest team.

One year on from Ricciardo’s stunning victory at the Hungaroring, Red Bull entered the weekend with low expectations after a difficult first half of the 2015 season.

However, both Kvyat and Ricciardo displayed an impressive pace in FP2 to finish second and third respectively ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and both Ferrari drivers.

Kvyat believes that the high downforce and low power nature of the Hungaroring suits the RB11 car, and is hopeful of translating this into a good qualifying result on Saturday.

“It was a good day for us today,” Kvyat said. “The car performed well.

“However it’s only Friday and we have to keep pushing so that we turn that into a good result in qualifying tomorrow.

“Both our cars looked competitive, straight-line speed is less important here and that suits us.”

Ricciardo’s day was cut short after he suffered an engine failure towards the end of FP2, but the Australian remained upbeat after finishing third in the final timesheets.

“The car felt good today,” Ricciardo said. “The balance is better and it’s an easier car to drive than in recent races.

“We didn’t make any big changes, just a few minor things that seem to be working well. This track suits us, as it’s less of a power circuit. It’s quite a bumpy track but we seem to be doing okay.

“We were using an old engine so we won’t have any penalties for that.”

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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.

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