DoxCar.CoM:

Block inspired by late McRae

Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block has talked about how Colin McRae inspired him to start rallying.

Block, whose new team made its debut in the World Rally Championship on last week’s Rally Mexico, said he felt an affinity with the 1995 World Rally Champion, who he got to know as a friend and competitor at the X-Games competition in America.

“In the Nineties, I watched as much rallying as I could,” said Block, “and I was definitely a Colin [McRae] fan. McRae was my favourite and one of the main reasons I’m here.

“Colin inspired me in his style, his charisma and what he could do with a car. He was the epitome of what I love about rallying.

“To actually become friends with him and then compete with him in the X-Games, I was truly a lucky, lucky person. He and I had a really good friendship and it was really sad to have him go.

“You remember I did the thing in the ski resort? Well, that was like a week before he died. He called me to ask me all about it and he was so stoked, saying: ‘I can’t wait to see that footage.’ It’s unfortunate that I never got to show that to him.”

Block’s next WRC outing will be Rally Turkey, where he will be chasing a finish without having to use superally, as he did in Mexico.

Despite breaking a wheel on his Ford Focus RS WRC 08 on Saturday morning, Block admitted he was pleased with his pace on the Leon-based event.

“I was running in eighth place on the first day,” he said, “and I was really happy with that. What I did was a novice mistake, and I’ll learn from that. But for the pace, I was really pleased. Just before we went off, after 23 kilometers, we were only six seconds slower than Jari-Matti [Latvala].”

Block was classified 18th in Mexico, after missing eight stages on Saturday and returning under superally regulations on Sunday.

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DoxCar.CoM:

Rahal to drive for Sarah Fisher

Graham Rahal has completed a shock deal with Sarah Fisher Racing for two early season IndyCar races.

The American had been searching for a new drive since the loss of sponsor McDonalds brought his Newman/Haas/Lanigan stint to an end last winter.

Sections of the US media reported late yesterday that he was set to join SFR for the St Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park rounds, and Rahal has now confirmed the deal via his Twitter feed ahead of an official announcement later today.

“I guess the news got out earlier than expected!” Rahal wrote, having earlier promised the revelation of his new team would ’shock everyone’.

“But still, very exciting, and really looking forward to this! Busy day today, and back to SFR for lots of work tomorrow! Really excited about this opportunity.”

Fisher initially established her team for the 2008 Indianapolis 500, and has steadily expanded its programme since then. This year it will field two cars for the first time, with Jay Howard joining Fisher at several events.

Rahal won the St Pete race in 2008, in what was his first IndyCar Series appearance as he had missed the post-merger season opener at Homestead due to a testing crash.

The 21-year-old was seventh in last year’s championship and expected to stay on with Newman/Haas/Lanigan until recently. He had discussions with Dale Coyne Racing earlier in the winter but did not reach agreement with the squad.

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DoxCar.CoM:

Haug calls for patience for new teams

Mercedes boss Norbert Haug has called for patience for the new teams coming into Formula 1 this year, but he admits they will have to make big steps to put on a decent showing.

Teams like Lotus and Virgin have been over five seconds off the pace in testing, while the Spanish HRT squad has not even turned a wheel yet ahead of this weekend’s first race of the season.

Haug said the new teams deserve respect for having managed to be in Bahrain, and reckons they should be given time.

“I think first of all we need to pay respect to these teams,” Haug told reporters in Bahrain on Thursday.

“It just shows it’s not easy to come into Formula 1. This is a very competitive environment and I would say that you can have at least seven to eight teams that are very, very competitive this year.

“It’s not only four teams. A team like Force India has improved a lot. Toro Rosso is still improving, so I think that is better than ever in Formula 1.

“But the new ones that are coming now need to make big steps but we should give them some time. I think it is a very good sign that new teams are coming amid difficult circumstances. It’s not easy for them to find support and sponsorship money.

“I’m sure the worked very hard and my view is that I pay them a lot of respect. And of course they need to improve.”

Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher agreed with Haug, and he believes new teams are good for the sport.

“I think what Norbert said already what you have to see. They give the maximum effort to arrive in Formula 1,” Schumacher said. “It means a lot of dedication and this is much more important to see that people are interested to come into Formula 1.

“And you need to give them time. Everybody needed time when they arrived and I think it’s great to see so much interest from new teams that they risk such a step.”

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DoxCar.CoM:

Fisher happy to hand car to Rahal

Sarah Fisher says she has no qualms about stepping aside for Graham Rahal at the St Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park IndyCar rounds - hailing the 21-year-old American as an “incredible talent.”

Rahal revealed last night that he had secured a two-round deal with Sarah Fisher Racing, having been searching for a new drive following his winter split with Newman/Haas/Lanigan, which was prompted by a sponsor departure.

Fisher had initially planned to drive at St Pete and Barber herself as part of her expanded nine-round 2010 programme with her own team. But the team has now confirmed that Rahal will take Fisher’s #67 car for those events rather than driving the sister #66 entry, which SFR will not field until Jay Howard’s programme commences at Kansas.

Having only contested five road and street course races in her IndyCar career, Fisher said she had no hesitation in recruiting Rahal once it was clear he was on the market.

“We are all very enthusiastic about having Graham in the seat for the two road course races that start off our season,” said Fisher, who will now only race on ovals again this year.

“He has incredible talent. When it was brought to my attention that he was available, I reached out to [main sponsor] Dollar General, who were in full support of our decision to give Graham the opportunity.”

Although SFR has yet to score a top ten finish in its short history, having only entered a limited programme of races since its formation in early 2008, the team is respected in the IndyCar paddock for its professionalism and the quality of its preparation. Rahal is confident that he can impress with the squad.

“Sarah has clearly done an impressive job building Sarah Fisher Racing and I really thank her, the team, and Dollar General for this opportunity,” he said.

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DoxCar.CoM:

Rosberg sure he will match Schumacher

Nico Rosberg is optimistic that he will be able to hold his own against Mercedes team-mate Michael Schumacher this season and says that he is looking forward to proving himself against the seven-times world champion.

Rosberg, who left Williams at the end of last year to join the championship-winning former Brawn outfit, ended the final pre-season Barcelona test with a faster time than Schumacher.

Nevertheless his preparations have been overshadowed by the return of Formula 1’s most successful driver.

Speaking in a Thursday press briefing attended by AUTOSPORT in Bahrain, however, Rosberg indicated that he remained unperturbed by Schumacher’s return and is relishing the challenge of racing against the 41-year-old.

“I’m going into the season very optimistically,” said Rosberg. “I feel very, very comfortable in the car, very confident.

“But at the same time I know it’s going to be as difficult as ever, because obviously I have a rather strong team-mate. So we’ll have to wait and see.

“My motivation is to work with Michael and try to help the team have a strong car, because without a strong car we won’t be able to do anything. And I think until now we’ve done quite well, but we need to keep pushing,” he added. “And as the season goes on it’s important that we get some very strong results.

“Your closest comparison is your team-mate, so my aim this year is too look good compared to my team-mate, of course.”

Rosberg added that he was looking forward to racing a car which he believes will put him in a position to fight at the front.

“For sure I have a lot to gain this year, because it’s the first time I have a very competitive car, hopefully,” he said. “We are not sure yet, but hopefully we’ll have a very competitive car.

“And so I look forward to it, to get some really strong results this year, to be on a level playing field with Michael and things like that.”

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DoxCar.CoM:

Pentus stays on at Fortec

Fortec Motorsport has announced that Estonian racer Sten Pentus will contest a second consecutive season of Formula Renault 3.5 with the team.

With limited previous experience, Pentus gained plaudits in his debut season by finishing second in the opening meeting at Barcelona, on his way to 12th overall in the standings.

Fortec and Mofaz Racing, now Junior Lotus, ended their association in Formula Renault 3.5 over the winter but Richard Dutton’s team will continue in the series under its own banner.

The forthcoming season will be the first year in Tallin driver Pentus’s career where he will have the continuity of working in a known environment.

“The 2009 season was a big step in my career and we really built a great working relationship with Fortec,” said Pentus. “I feel I made real progress on so many fronts. For this reason I am really pleased to be able to continue that relationship with Richard and the whole team.

“I know how much I have learned and improved since this time last year and I am determined to fight for the results we all believe can be achieved.”

Pentus’s team-mate is set to be confirmed following the second collective test at Jerez on 13-14 March. Sergio Canamasas, who tested for Fortec at the opening Formula Renault 3.5 test of the season at Barcelona last week, is set to sample Czech team ISR’s machinery this time.

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DoxCar.CoM:

Zampieri seals Pons FR3.5 deal

Reigning Italian Formula 3 champion and Ferrari Driver Academy protege Daniel Zampieri will contest the 2010 Formula Renault 3.5 season with Pons Racing.

Double world motorcycle champion Sito Pons’s eponymous team claimed four victories in 2009 with Marcos Martinez, and previously carried Lotus Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen to the World Series by Nissan title in 2004.

“I am very pleased to sign with such a leading team in World Series as Pons Racing,” said Zampieri. “The fact that there is a double world champion in the team guarantees that things are done well.

“Together with it being my first year in such a competitive category, means that I really want to demonstrate the potential that I know have, and in this way repay and thank all the support of my sponsors, my family, my team and the Ferrari Driver Academy.”

The manager of the Ferrari Driver Academy, Luca Baldisserri, commented: “In the test that we organised in Jerez, Daniel was one of the fastest, showing strong talent and promise that we think is necessary to investigate in more depth.

“Now that he is part of the Academy, we have a mutual objective to learn as much as possible in order to compete with success and so that Daniel can grow like a true professional driver. For this purpose we elected to enter him in Word Series by Renault 3.5, and I expect to see him to succeed with Pons Racing.”

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DoxCar.CoM:

Kubica: Renault resurgence needs time

Robert Kubica has warned that getting Renault back to the front cannot be achieved overnight as the squad has fallen a long way since its title-winning glory days.

The team was only eighth in last year’s constructors’ championship, and was rocked by the fallout from the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix scandal.

Kubica said that although Renault was winning championships just four years ago, the team was realistic about its current position and not underestimating the task ahead.

“We will need time, we are starting from far behind looking at the end of last year - and I think most of the teams have based their cars on last year’s cars or trying to follow what was the quickest car last year,” he said. “So we will have to make sure that we have got a development programme and we are trying to catch up.

“Everybody in Renault knows that the time of winning the world championship is far behind. We have to be realistic and last year Renault was I think quite disappointing. So we will have to make sure that we do a better job than last year.”

But he was pleased that he was able to acclimatise to the team very rapidly after joining from BMW at the end of 2009.

“From a team perspective I was very happy with what I got from Renault,” Kubica said. “The time needed to integrate and get on well with the team was short. We could straightaway get on with working on getting a feel for the car.

“But testing is a bit different, so for sure in the races there will be a few things that will be new and we’ll have to get used to them.”

The Pole was reluctant to predict where the team stood at this stage.

“I think it’s difficult to judge where we are and where we will be. I really have no idea where we stand,” said Kubica. “Of course we can have some ideas, and we have seen some things in the tests - for example at Jerez we were very good in my opinion, then at Barcelona not so good. So it’s very difficult to see. Also you never know what stage of development the other teams are at.

“I think we need to wait a couple of races to see. But of course a good start to the season will help. In winter testing I think we did achieve most of what we planned to do, so we are ready.”

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DoxCar.CoM:

Alonso not reading much into testing

Fernando Alonso is refusing to get too confident about Ferrari’s title prospects despite its strong performance in winter testing.

Ferrari has been tipped as a title favourite as the 2010 season gets underway in Bahrain this weekend, but although he has declared the Italian team’s car the best he has ever driven, Alonso insisted he could not predict how it would compare to its rivals.

“We are not comparing too much the times in winter or making any predictions for this first race, we are concentrating on our programme, trying to be as good as possible for the first race,” he said.

“I think the four teams, Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari, any of the four teams can be a favourite for this race and the first part of the championship. And teams like Sauber and Force India will have very good races as well.

“We will do our best, we are well prepared but we want to be world champions in November - not March. The goal is to win the championship, this is not easy at all and we need to work very hard for 10 months.”

The double world champion added that he was delighted with how well he had settled in at Ferrari, and felt ready to fight for wins again after two seasons as an underdog with Renault.

“I think every time you change team you need to adapt a little yourself to the new people and the new philosophy of working,” Alonso said.

“It has been a great time so far, I am very comfortable with the team from day one to now, we will go to the first race with a good preparation and ready for the fight.

“I think I am ready to win, every time you arrive at the first race of a championship you have been preparing yourself all winter for this moment, I have been preparing for this moment, so now I feel ready to fight and hopefully we are in a position to do that.”

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DoxCar.CoM:

De la Rosa downplays tyre advantage

Pedro de la Rosa has played down the advantage his Sauber team may have with the use of the tyres ahead of the start of the season.

An analysis carried out by Bridgestone suggested after winter testing that the Sauber C29 is very good at looking after its tyres, something that will be crucial this year, with refuelling banned.

But de la Rosa reckons the conditions during testing have been very different to those the team will face in Bahrain.

“I don’t think the tyre information is that relevant, because we come from winter testing where temperatures were very low, and now we come to the reality,” de la Rosa told reporters in Bahrain.

“So I think the way we use the tyres will change dramatically from the way it was in Barcelona, for example. So we have to be open-minded. We really don’t know where the competitors are.

“We can only judge by what I feel and looking at the data on our car. We are quite happy with the tests that we’ve done.”

The Spanish driver said, however, that his team is determined to push as hard as possible to spring a surprise this weekend.

“We will push. We are here to improve,” he said. “I’m not sure if we will manage it or not, but we have the motivation to do it. But honestly I don’t know where the competitors are.

“I have no idea which teams will be quicker with a 50-degree track temperature. I’m very open-minded and I’ll take it just step by step.”

De la Rosa, returning to racing after seven years as McLaren’s tester, said he was relaxed ahead of the first race of the season.

“It feels good. I’m very happy to be back, to be honest. Relaxed, as well, probably because for me being here is already like I won a grand prix. It’s been a tough winter, long, difficult, so I’m relaxed in that sense.”

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