POLE POSITION

Hamilton’s reaction to Monaco will define 2015 CURSES DON’T HAVE AN EFFECT ON HUMAN ENDEAVOUR unless the victim buys into them. But, metaphorically speaking, Lewis Hamilton must feel as if the streets of Monte Carlo have got something against him after what happened on Sunday.

On the one hand, they encapsulate everything he loves about driving. Its close walls demand absolute precision, punish mistakes and ask a driver to dance a fine line between triumph and disaster. Hamilton had the Monaco GP completely under control, but was undone by a strategic blunder for which the pitwall was to blame. How he reacts to this disappointment will be crucial in dictating the path this championship battle takes. Hamilton appears to have become far more robust since the team backed him following the Spa collision with Nico Rosberg. But this is the biggest disappointment he has encountered since then.

Based on the past 18 months, a Rosberg driving at 100 per cent isn’t quite good enough to beat a Hamilton at 100 per cent over a season. So for Hamilton, the reaction is simple: don’t react. He needs to accept that things go wrong and push on. It sounds simple. But in elite sport, it’s not easy when the mind is involved.

EDD STRAW EDITOR edd.straw@haymarket.com

@eddstrawF1

COVER STORY

“I’m aware I got lucky, very lucky. Probably the luckiest I’ve ever been” Rosberg p14

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CONTENTS

May 28 2015 – vol 220 no 9

Cover images: Batchelor/XPB; Levitt/LAT

PIT & PADDOCK 6 THIS WEEK IN F1 9 LAWRENCE BARRETTO: IN THE PADDOCK 10 THIS WEEK IN MOTORSPORT 13 KARUN CHANDHOK: RACER’S EYE FEATURES AND REPORTS

MONACO GP

RACE REPORT

ROSBERG LUCKS IN TO HOME HAT-TRICK A tactical blunder by Mercedes spoiled runaway leader Lewis Hamilton’s day, allowing his team-mate to secure a third straight win in Monaco. BEN ANDERSON explains what happened

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14 MONACO GRAND PRIX: REPORTS,

NEWS, RESULTS AND TECH 34 WHAT CUSTOMER CARS MEAN FOR F1 36 MONTOYA WINS INDIANAPOLIS 500 42 VANDOORNE SCORES AGAIN IN GP2 44 JAAFAR BREAKS RENAU LT 3.5 DUCK 46 DI GRASSI LOSES FORMULA E WIN 48 LATVALA OPENS 2015 WRC ACCOUNT

WORLD RALLYCROSS LYDDEN

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Solberg’s masterclass too much for Ekstrom

A blend of extravagant driving and slick tactics left the points leader on top. By HAL RIDGE

THE TERM ‘FLAT OUT’ BELONGS TO NORWEGIAN star Petter Solberg and his flamboyant driving style, which is adored by all who watch him in the World Rallycross Championship. While Solberg’s approach is fast, that isn’t always enough to win events, especially when his driving style isn’t easy on his tyres. That’s why Solberg’s victory in the fourth round of the series at Lydden Hill, the Motorsport News World RX of Great Britain, was all the more impressive.

His second win of the year and fourth podium in succession were not only thanks to his ability behind the wheel of his Citroen DS 3, but also a brilliant tactical move by his team, saving the best set of tyres until the final stages of the event. That might sound simple, but World RX drivers are limited to eight tyres a round, so to make it through the four qualifying-heat races on one set in order to save a fresh set of boots for the final two races is a big ask.

Solberg’s cause was significantly helped by setting a pair of blistering times on day one of the event to lead overnight. That allowed him to overcome a fuel-pump issue while leading in heat three and the use of worn tyres in heat four to still top the intermediate classification. It was in the semi-final where Solberg really pushed hard, winning the first knockout race to qualify on pole position for the final, while DTM star Mattias Ekstrom claimed victory in the second semi-final in his Audi to join Solberg on the front row.

Second-row starter Andreas Bakkerud made the best start, but the Fiesta driver got covered off by Ekstrom, who headed straight into the joker

52 AUTOSPORT.COM MAY 28 2015

Ekstrom just missed out section, followed by Bakkerud and former British Rally champion Guy Wilks. While Ekstrom elected to get his extra-route joker out of the way early, Solberg, who started on the inside, led Johan Kristoffersson and Reinis Nitiss through the standard route on the inside of Chessons Drift.

Solberg initially thought he had the gap pegged, but Ekstrom started to reel him in, requiring Solberg to have a big push before taking his joker on the final lap, retuning to the exit of Chessons just ahead of Ekstrom to secure his seventh World RX victory, despite suffering a late puncture.

Kristoffersson also took his joker on the final lap and returned to the main route between Ekstrom and Bakkerud, who had jumped teammate Nitiss for fourth.

“The first day was absolutely fantastic,” said

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championship leader Solberg. “Then I had a little bit of trouble in the third heat. In the final it was a big fight. I was getting the split times from the team; the gap [to Ekstrom] was four seconds, then 4.2, so I thought, ‘Ah, I have this under control’. Then the next lap it was 3.9, then 3.8 and 3.7. Then I really had to get the speed going so I pushed like mad on the last lap to get it back to four seconds again. I was a little bit over the limit with the puncture at the end, but it was a great weekend.” Wilks, the highest-placed British driver, had a disappointing final, which came to an early end when he picked up a puncture on the first lap. He impressed on his rallycross debut, especially considering the Mini RX is still in the early stages of its development programme.

“If someone had said before the event that

Solberg celebrates in customary flamboyant style

RACE CENTRE

World RX Lydden Hill (GB) May 23-24

Crowds flocked to Lydden for UK round

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Round 4/13

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I thought, ‘I have this under control’. Then the next lap it was 3.9s, then 3.8s and 3.7s. So I pushed like mad on the last lap to get it back again. I was a little bit over the limit…

RESULTS

1 PETTER SOLBERG Citroen DS 3

2 MATTIAS EKSTROM Audi S1

3 JOHAN KRISTOFFERSSON VW Polo

4 ANDREAS BAKKERUD Ford Fiesta

5 REINIS NITISS Ford Fiesta

6 GUY WILKS Mini RX

Fastest lap Solberg 42.641s Pole Solberg

6 laps

4m25.064s

+0.341s

+2.628s

+2.876s

+4.234s

-4 laps

SEMI-FINAL ONE

1 PETTER SOLBERG Citroen DS 3

2 JOHAN KRISTOFFERSSON VW Polo

3 REINIS NITISS Ford Fiesta

4 TIMMY HANSEN Peugeot 208

5 TORD LINNERUD VW Polo

6 ROBIN LARSSON Audi A1

Fastest lap Solberg 43.583s Pole Solberg

6 laps

4m30.381s

+1.280s

+3.145s

+3.380s

+6.819s

+11.361s

SEMI-FINAL TWO

1 MATTIAS EKSTROM Audi S1

2 ANDREAS BAKKERUD Ford Fiesta

3 GUY WILKS Mini RX

4 DAVY JEANNEY Peugeot 208

5 ANDREW JORDAN Peugeot 208

6 MANFRED STOHL Ford Fiesta

Fastest lap Ekstrom 42.962s Pole Ekstrom

6 laps

4m27.300s

+3.417s

+4.000s

+4.822s

+5.289s

+24.470s

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

1 SOLBERG

112

2 KRISTOFFERSSON 83 3 BAKKERUD 77

4 HANSEN

5 NITISS

6 EKSTROM

63

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TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

1 OLSBERGS MSE 138 2 SDRX 132 3 VOLKSWAGEN

TEAM SWEDEN 110

4 PEUGEOT-HANSEN 110 5 MARKLUND

MOTORSPORT 106 6 EKS 76

Solberg, at the back of this train, leads the points

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Petter Solberg on his late push to get the gap he needed over Mattias Ekstrom to take his joker lap and win we were going to get to the final, I wouldn’t have believed them,” said Wilks. “I think we did a really good job and we’ve proven to a few people that you don’t need the biggest engine in the paddock to do well. I just wish I could have finished that final, even if it had been last. Rallycross is great fun. I’m absolutely keen to do more of this.”

Former British Touring Car champion Andrew Jordan headed to the event hoping for a repeat of his 2014 podium finish, but it wasn’t to be. Tenth at the end of day one, Jordan set the fastest time overall in heat three and made the cut for the semis in a comfortable sixth overall.

At the start of his semi-final, Jordan ran second to Ekstrom but was passed by Bakkerud at Devil’s Elbow. Taking his joker on the last lap, Jordan returned to the main circuit in fifth, behind

Peugeot-Hansen team-mate Davy Jeanney.

“On the first day we got caught in traffic a bit, then the third heat was really good,” said Jordan. “To win my own race was cool, but to be fastest overall was mega. I was chuffed with that.

“Obviously I wanted to get into the final but I’m pretty sure I got as much out of the weekend as I could. I’d love to do more, and I’d love to do Holjes [Sweden]. But we’ll have to see. I’ll mention it to the powers that be and see what happens.”

Alx Danielsson, the 2006 Formula Renault 3.5 champion, had his best run to date in the opening stages, despite a broken damper in the first heat. His luck came to an end before the remaining heats on day two: he rolled his Munnich Motorsport Audi S3 at the first corner during morning warm-up and was out.

TOURING CAR

1 FREDRIK SALSTEN (Citroen DS 3)

6 laps

4m51.924s

2 BEN-PHILIP GUNDERSEN (Ford Fiesta) +2.590s 3 CAMILLA ANTONSEN (Ford Fiesta) +3.247s 4 DANIEL LUNDH (Volvo C30) +4.026s 5 MAGDA ANDERSSON (Ford Fiesta) +4.843s 6 ANDERS BRATEN (Ford Fiesta) +5.384s Fastest lap Salsten 46.769s Pole Salsten

RX LITES (ALL RX LITES)

1 KEVIN HANSEN

2 KEVIN ERIKSSON

3 THOMAS BRYNTESSON

4 OLIVER ERIKSSON

5 TOBIAS BRINK

6 SIMON OLOFSSON

Fastest lap Hansen 46.060s Pole Eriksson

6 laps

4m49.361s

+0.781s

+4.086s

+4.878s

+6.162s

-1 lap

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52 WORLD RALLYCROSS: LYDDEN HILL 54 BLANCPAIN ENDURANCE: SILVERSTONE 56 INTERNATIONAL RESULTS ROUND-UP 58 FORMULA RENAU LT NEC; TCR; NASCAR CLUB AUTOSPORT 73 PORSCHE AND AUDI BOOST BRITISH GT 74 COVENTRY RING ROAD SPRINT REVEALED 76 NATIONAL REPORTS 84 NATIONAL RESULTS ROUND-UP THE BACK STRAIGHT 86 THIS WEEK 88 FROM THE SOFA 90 TOP 10 PORSCHE 956/962 LIVERIES

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