Archive for category: Championships

After the good results achieved at the 6H of Shanghai, Davide Rigon will be behind the wheel of the 8Star Motorsport’s Ferrari 458 GTE, to contest the last round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, to take place this week end at the Sakhir circuit, in Bahrein.

The Vicenza-born driver, who is at the Scuderia Ferrari’s disposal, will take part in the World Endurance  Championship for the fourth time, after taking the second place on his debut race at Interlagos, the fourth place at Fuji and sealing a win in China. His aim is to take part in the whole 2014 FIA WEC Championship season Mark Webber will also take part in. In the 6H of Bahrein, Davide will make his talent available to the Scuderia to aim for winning the GTE AM title. Thanks to the success he scored in Shanghai, there is only a 5-point-gap between the team and standing’s peak. Everything will be played throughout the race’s 6 hours “It was great to win in Shanghai. It was my first win in this championship; in 2008 I won the FIA GT Championship’s 24H of Spa at the wheel of the F430. I feel very comfortable with the car and the team. I’ll do my best even in Sakhir, to help the team win the title, as it happened with Andrea in the GT Open.”

The Vicenza-born driver will return to Bahrein four years after finishing third at the wheel of the GP2 Dallara “I took the third place in the GP2 Championship in 2009. I hope to achieve better results. I would like to take part in the Championship next season. It’s a pleasure to drive a GT2 car” says the Minardi Management’s driver.

With the event which took place at the Barcelona circuit, Bhai Tech Racing, the racing division of the Mestrino-based Advanced Vehicle Science Centre, which was inaugurated more than one year ago by Pastor Maldonado, won the first International GT Open Championship’s title with the two McLaren MP4-12C. Along with the teams’ title, the squad’s driver Giorgio Pantano also won the drivers title. The Padua-born driver who made his debut in a GT Championship, kept all his rivals behind: “It’s not bad to win the teams and drivers title the first time you take part in a GT Championship. It was a new experience for us and for our engineers”, comments Bhai Tech’s President Mr. Ferdinando Bada “we made some mistakes, but we were good at improving race by race. The overall win we took in Monza was the peak of our racing season, along with the last few laps at Montmelò. We really deserved to win.”

It was a big success also for the “virtual simulation”. You have a state of the art driving simulator and software inside your headquarter. How much does virtual simulation get close to reality?

Around 95%.This percentage comes from a comparison between all the data we gathered from the GP2 Dallara.

The Driving Simulator allows you to make indoor tests, without having to move to the track, so you save money and time and give drivers the opportunity to practice those tracks they will race on and the staff has the opportunity to undertake some development tests. How much money does a team save?

 We save up to one quarter if we compare an on-track test and a test using the driving simulator. Another advantage is that you can practice whenever you want, refine details such as braking and undertake set-up tests. All that is done on track can be also done using the driving simulator and the modeling software. Some drivers told us that, after a three-four days training session using our simulator, their on-track performances in a very demanding Championship such as GP2, improved significantly.

Talking about GP2, this year you’ve been engaged in this Championship alongside the Racing Engineering Team

 As Bhai Tech, we’ve offered a technical support to the Race Engineering Team. We’ve provided the team with simulation training and on-track assistance by employing our engineers. We’ve been very satisfied with the results, as the team won the GP2 title. That is another big success to be added to the two GT Open titles.

What are your plans for the 2014 racing season?

We have two options at the moment: GT Open and FIA GT. We should have our plan defined in about one month, as we’re waiting for a confirmation from one of our most important sponsors. The FIA GT Championship would be our main choice, as it’s a kind of technical championship, but obviously, we want to pay attention to our sponsors’ needs.

The world economic situation is not that good now. What’s the main problem a racing team or companies like yours have to deal with now?

The whole world is undergoing a serious financial crisis, so there is a lack of resources to support Sport in general, not only Motorsport. Nowadays even nonprofessional sport activities have trouble finding financial support  – small football teams who bring happiness to local communities, don’t even manage to find 10-15000 euros to support the season – let alone Motorsport, whose financial needs are much higher.

To be honest, you would expect institutions to pay more attention to a field which involves many employees; more than 150.000 people are employed in the motorsport field. Some legislative bills introduced by the government when Monti was the prime minister, have further reduced the possibility for companies to support Sport financially, and so the amount of financial resources to be devoted to sport has significantly decreased.

The Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre has celebrated its first anniversary this year. What are your goals for the upcoming years?

Our main goal is to cooperate side by side with car companies. It’s clear that you have to prove who you are and what you’re able to do. We’re still very young, but we’re progressing so much. We’re successfully cooperating with the F.1 McLaren. It’s our most important partner from a technological point of view. Probably next year our “F.1 Family” will further expand. I am confident in that.

In the past you took part in the F.3000 and in the GP2 Championships with your own team.  You scored wins and won titles. Is there a chance that you compete in a Formula Championship again?

We don’t rule out any possibility. We should have our program defined in about one month, and then we’ll be ready to make our announcements. The Formula “chapter” isn’t closed, for sure.

….What drove you to leave Formula and focus on GT Competition?

Nothing in particular, just the will to meet new challenges. After dealing with Formula cars for such a long time, I decided to focus on covered-wheels, as I find them so exciting. Even if we’re not involved in Formula competitions as a team, we continue to work on single-seaters through our driving simulator, which is a very useful device, as it gives a driver the opportunity to progress. In a demanding championship such as the GP2, the time gap is within few thousands of a second. This is the reason why details can really make a difference. Through driving simulation we can analyze a driver’s behavior, understand his mistakes and help him progress.

 

The International GT Open Championship’s finale couldn’t be better for the Bhai Tech Racing Team, who got the better over rivals at the Barcelona circuit by winning the GTS title, bringing home the first cup.

The Mestrino-based Advanced Vehicle Science Centre’s racing team, who made his debut in the International GT Open Championship and in the GT competitions this year, has constantly improved his performances time after time, delivering excellent races, such as in Monza, where the team took his first win overall, at the Nuerburgring, where the team sealed two wins and at Silverstone, McLaren’s hometown, where Bhai Tech Racing delivered a successful race again. It was a seven months long season, competed through 16 races and hard fought until the last two corners in the Catalan challenge’s second round. It was a heart-taking finale, which made everyone hold his breath. Giorgio Pantano took the drivers’ title and completed a perfect week end for the Italian team. The Padua-born champion, who made his debut in the GT competition this year and paired off with the Portuguese driver Alvaro Parente, launched the crucial attack by making a spectacular manoeuvre in the last few laps, taking the third place overall. Luiz Razia and Chris Van Der Drift, who were at the wheel of the second McLaren MP4-12C, finished fifth, giving the English constructor the second place in the Championship.

“It’s a win to be shared with the staff and the drivers. A particular thanks to the owners who made all the needed resources available to us and McLaren. We’re proud to have paid them off with this important result”, says the Engineer Mr. Costa, “It was a very intense week end, rich in emotions. It was also a very intense season which ended only in the last corners. We’ve always been aware of our potential and we’ve never let misfortune get us down. Races and championships end only after the chequeredflag is deployed on Sunday. Even after Saturday’s race we continued to work only relying on our resources, we never looked to anyone else. We were constantly among the fastest on track. Giorgio did a good job; during his stint he bridged the gap to get the title, making excellent manoeuvres. Alvaro Parente completed the puzzle. He knows the car very well, so he gave his precious contribution. Luiz and Chris helped the team to reach this important goal”, says the technical director.

“I’m really happy. It was an excellent result achieved at the end of a very intense week end. Taking the title at the last two corners is something indescribable, especially because it was my first season in a GT competition. Congrats to the team on an excellent job!” comments Giorgio Pantano.

Bhai Tech’s victory means also a great success for the virtual race simulation. In addition to on-track testing, the team also worked hard inside the Bhai Tech headquarter’s simulation suite which hosts the driving simulator facility. It’s a full-motion 6-DOF facility, which is fully immersive with a 8 m 210° diameter curved screen, five off-board projectors, two rear view visuals and a modeling software. This is a clear proof of how much this technology is important not only for Formula 1. See you in the 2014!

A little more than one month after taking the first and historic double win overall at the very fast and historic circuit of Monza, Bhai Tech Racing is ready to compete in the International GT Open’s  final race to take place at Barcelona this week end.

The Mestrino based Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre’s racing team, whose director is Mr. Roberto Costa the engineer, will contest the Championship’s last round on the 4.655 m-long-Catalan racetrack as the GTS and drivers Championships’ leader, position achieved after taking a win at Nuerburgring, Silverstone, Monza and getting some good placing. Considering the slight point gap which separates all teams, the last round at Montmelò will be a 120 min.-final-challenge, divided into 2 races which are scheduled for Saturday (at 4 p.m.) and one race which is scheduled for Sunday (at midday).

“According to our first results, we would have never expected to race in Spain as the Championship leaders, fighting for the title. We’ve developed so much over the last few months and made use of all our energies. We’ll try to get the last pieces to complete the puzzle”, says Roberto Costa “In the year of our debut in the Championship, it’s great to be fighting for the title in the drivers and teams championship. I like the Montmelò racetrack very much. I drove many successful races there. It’s ten years since I took the first pole position along with Giorgio Pantano in the F.3000 Championship. I hope we’ll manage to keep on pursuing this direction and finish this season successfully”, comments the technical director.

It’s a special event also for the drivers fighting for the title and the top three “Our main goal is to win the teams’ championship, but of course, we’ll do our best to help Giorgio winning the drivers’ championship and help Luiz and Chris finishing in the top three. It will be our first racing experience at Montmelò behind the wheel of this car, so we’ll be well concentrated on the race. We’ve worked hard over these weeks in order to get ready to compete.”

The two 60’-free-practice sessions will take place on Friday. The two qualifying sessions to set the starting grid order will take place on Saturday at 9 a.m. and 11.55 a.m. The 70’ first race will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday, while the 50’ final race is scheduled for Sunday at midday.

Davide Rigon will write a new chapter of his racing career in the world of GT, by taking part in the 6 hours of Fuji, which is the FIA World Endurance Championship’s sixth event to take place in the week end of October 20th.

After a fabulous win scored in the International GT Open Championship’s penultimate event at Monza circuit, the Veneto-born driver, who contributed to Villorba Corse and Andrea Montermini’s title achievement on the Italian track and is at the Scuderia Ferrari’s disposal for sports and technical development activities, will take part in the GT competition at the wheel of the 8Star Team’s Ferrari 458 GT2 again. It will be Rigon’s second participation in the WEC Championship, after finishing second at Interlagos on his debut event.

It will be the first time for Davide to race at the 4563-m-long-Japanese circuit which is located on the slopes of Mount Fuji. The Italian driver will race alongside the team managed by AF Corse and will share the driving with Enzo Potolicchio and Rui Aguas, again. The goal is to achieve another important result: “I’ll fly to Japan next Wednesday and it will be my first race on the Fuji track. I’m really happy to race alongside 8Star Motorsport Team and share the driving with Enzo and Rui with whom I get along very well”, said the Minardi Management’s driver.

“It will be my second participation in the FIA WEC and I hope to manage to achieve the same good result I achieved in Brazil. The Ferrari 458 is really a great car and I’ve felt comfortable with it since the first few miles. It will be so important to drive as many km as possible to discover the track’s secrets. I’m really happy with this chance. The Championship I’m going to take part in is one of the most important Championships in the GT Endurance scene and competing at the wheel of a Ferrari makes it even more special”, ended Davide Rigon.

Mission accomplished for Bhai Tech Racing. On the Monza track, where the seventh and last but one International GT Open Championship’s event took place last week end, the Italian team reached the goal it reserved before. In fact, the team’s four drivers Giorgio Pantano, Rafael Suzuki, Van Der Drift and Luiz Razia took revenge of the Spa-Francorchamps’s grim racing week end by becoming the Championship’s leaders again.

The Mestrino-based team, which is managed by the engineer Mr. Roberto Costa, sealed its first win overall, thanks to Pantano/Suzuki’s win in race-1, ahead of their teammates Razia/Van Der Drift. After scoring a win in the GTS class at the Nurburgring and Silverstone, the Bhai Tech Advanced Vehicle Science Centre’s racing team scored another win on the domestic track, bringing the number of wins to four in the year of the debut in the International Championship.

Despite the track’s layout and the weather conditions were not so much compatible with the two McLarens MP4-12C’s technical features, the Bhai Tech’s four drivers fought to recover several positions, driving brightly and avoiding all dangers caused by wet soil.

During the Saturday afternoon’s race Giorgio Pantano, after taking an excellent start from the second row, soon managed to take the lead, giving way to a more performing Ferrari GTS and to the Esta Motorsport’s Ferrari 458 GT3 only when he had to pit. After a perfect pit-stop, Suzuki took control of the car and soon jumped up to the top of the standing. Van Der Drift’s recovery was fabulous, too. The New Zealander driver got the top 5 before passing the baton to Luiz Razia who finished first. The Italian team got the two most important steps of the podium at Monza.

Race-2 was run under the rain, which caused problems for the English car, so, 24 hours after driving a successful race, the car #65 finished seventh in the overall standing. A tyre’s puncture forced Luiz Razia to withdraw. The Brazilian driver started from the second row and set the second best chrono in the GTS class “It was an exciting week end. Our goal in Monza was to score as many points as possible to take the lead of the standing again and so it was. All guys were fabulous, both the drivers and the mechanics made perfect pit-stops. They scored the first win in the overall standing”, said the technical director Mr. Costa, “Unfortunately rain caused some problems for us. We’re working to improve our performances on wet soil. Our strategy was perfect and we developed our entire program. Unfortunately a tyre’s puncture caused by a collision, forced Razia to withdraw and stop the car on the Lesmo corner.  I’d like to compliment the Monza circuit’s commissioners as they proved to be the best once again, unlike it happened at Spa”, commented Roberto Costa, “the strategy chosen for Rafael and Giorgio was a good one and it allowed us to recover several positions even in race-2. Rafael was very good at avoiding problems caused by heavy rain and Giorgio, once tyres were brought to temperature, brought the recovery to completion by finishing seventh. We don’t have anything to complain about. We leave Monza as GTS standing’s leaders. We also took the first and seventh place in the drivers’ standing. We’ll play everything at Barcelona.”

Let’s listen to the four drivers’ statements: ““In Saturday race, we achieved the first goal of the week end, which was scoring as many points as possible. It was an important race for the championship, we had a very good pace and we were able to open a good gap. It was also a special victory because it is the home race for us”, said Rafael Suzuki, “It was a tough day because of the rain that started exactly at the time of the race. Our car doesn’t have the best performance in these conditions, and we had to pay an extra handicap of 15 seconds in the pit stop, it was harder to get in the points. But we go to the final round in Barcelona depending only of our efforts, and we will work hard to achieve our goal.” His teammate Giorgio Pantano has the same opinion: “It’s exciting to win at Monza, everything was perfect. We regained the standing’s top position which we share with Bontempelli, this was our main goal. Unfortunately we know our limits on wet soil, but we’re already focused on the Barcelona race for the final challenge. We’ll test the car’s last upgrades during the collective test session to take place before the racing week end”, ends Giorgio.

“In race – 1 Chris took a good start and the pit stop was also very important for this result. We count a bit on luck because others had problems, but it was good to complete a well done job and be on the podium at Monza is always special”, said Luiz Razia, “Unfortunately we had to abandon the race because of a flat tire. It was a shame, because I believe that even having to pay extra 10 seconds in the pits, we could have scored points, but let’s think forward, because we still have two races”, said Van Der Drift and Razia.