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Formula 1 Postpones More Races

March 19, 2020 by ponycargirl Leave a Comment

PRESS RELEASE: In view of the continued global spread of COVID-19 and after ongoing discussions with the FIA and the three promoters it has today been confirmed that the Formula 1 Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2020, Formula 1 Gran Premio De España 2020 and Formula 1 Grand Prix De Monaco 2020 will be postponed.

Due to the ongoing and fluid nature of the COVID-19 situation globally, Formula 1, the FIA and the three promoters have taken these decisions in order to ensure the health and safety of the travelling staff, championship participants and fans, which remains our primary concern.

Formula 1 and the FIA continue to work closely with affected promoters and local authorities to monitor the situation and take the appropriate amount of time to study the viability of potential alternative dates for each Grand Prix later in the year should the situation improve.

Formula 1 and the FIA expect to begin the 2020 Championship season as soon as it’s safe to do so after May and will continue to regularly monitor the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

UPDATE: Monaco is now CANCELLED. From the F1 website:
“In a statement the ACO said: “The current situation concerning the worldwide pandemic and its unknown path of evolution, the lack of understanding as to the impact on the FIA F1 World Championship 2020, the uncertainty with regards to the participation of the teams, the consequences with regards to the differing measures of confinement as taken by various governments worldwide, the multi-border restrictions for accessing the Principality of Monaco, the pressure on all implicated businesses, their dedicated staff who are unable to undertake the necessary installations, the availability of the indispensable workforce and volunteers (more than 1500) required for the success of the event means that the situation is no longer tenable.”

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Thoughts on the Monte Carlo tragedy

January 20, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Joaquim Santos’ Ford RS200 enters the crowd at Rally de Portugal in 1986. Photographer unknown.

By its very nature, rally is the most pure form of motorsport. Real, production based cars being driven at their limits on real roads.

Road racing enthusiasts may argue that there is no door to door competition, but there is a rawness and honesty to rally that just can’t be found in other forms of the sport.

With that rawness comes an inherent aspect of risk. Risk that applies to pretty much every aspect of the sport, from competitors to support workers to spectators.

The pinnacle of the sport, the World Rally Championship, takes place for the most part, in Europe, where the fans are rabid for the sport. So much so that they often put themselves in insanely dangerous positions. Perhaps the most infamous incident occurred during the first stage of the 1986 Rally de Portugal, when Portugese driver Joaquim Santos got loose in his factory backed Ford RS200. The apex of the turn was crowded with fans, thirty one of whom were injured, while three died. This incident was one of several that, when combined, led to the death of Group B.

By now, you have likely read that a spectator was killed yesterday on the first stage of the Rallye Monte Carlo, when Hyundai factory driver Hayden Paddon’s factory Hyundai entry went wide on a turn and hit the rock face on driver’s right. At some point during the impact, the spectator was also hit and thrown up the hillside, and then rolled down beside the point where the car came to rest.

There has been some debate in this house over my use of the word stupid to describe the person, while still not knowing the fate of the individual. I believe I was called insensitive. “What the guy did was stupid, you can’t call the guy stupid.” Meanwhile, stories around the web continue to say that the person was a photographer. I’ll tell ya, as a photographer, if the guy was a photographer, I would be even more critical.

Every time some guy who somehow scams his way into getting photo credentials for a motorsport event and then gets caught (or worse) doing something stupid because he didn’t really understand the requirements of the gig, it makes my life as a motorsport photographer that much more difficult. Every time one of those guys gets hurt, it hurts everyone else involved. It hurts the sport.

Stupid hurts the sport.

This guy was not a photographer. He was not wearing a photo vest. He was a guy with a GoPro. I have been told firsthand by a trusted source that he was not part of the video crews working the corner. No, the 50 year old Spaniard was an overzealous fan who repeatedly ignored requests from corner workers and urging from other spectators to move away from the area. He had positioned himself at the exit of a fast, slippery corner, with a rock wall behind him. A spot with no place to go if things went pear shaped.

The guy made a choice to put himself in harms’ way. His foolish choice cost him his life. Worse than that, Haydon Paddon now has to live with knowing that he killed a man during a competition. A firefighter has to live with the memory of giving CPR to a dead man for 20 minutes while waiting for an ambulance, because it was not his place to “call the time”.

Worse, the sport will suffer because there are already those who feel the cars are too fast, just like they did thirty years ago.

The real photographers and videographers will likely have to jump through even more hoops in the future, because of one guy.

One guy who was stupid.

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Day 2 update from Monte Carlo

January 20, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

 

Day one at the 2017 Rallye Monte Carlo began with tragedy, as an errant spectator was killed when hit by Hayden Padden’s crashing Hyundai. Padden has been withdrawn from the event.

The driver’s Hyundai team mate, Thierry Neuville, however is leading the rally at the mid point of stage 6.

Our great Canadian hope, Ian Crerar and Pat Levesque are doing us proud, having moved up from their starting spot of 69th overall to 59th. That puts the #113 Peugeot in 10th spot in the R4 class.

Crerar has been taking some time out to shoot some Facebook live clips along the way, including this one from the finish of stage 5, where the driver talks about the fan installed “gotchas” that teams are having to navigate.

image credit: WRC

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2017 WRC season kicks of in Monte Carlo with live stream and a Canadian competitor

January 19, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Rally fans have been more excited than usual for the start of the new WRC season since Red Bull announced that they would be live streaming every round of the series. For North American fans who are used to seeing little or no coverage outside of clips on social media, this is huge.

Canadian fans have an extra reason to be excited, as “one of us” is competing in the first round, the Rallye Monte Carlo, which begins this evening. Long time racer/rally driver Ian Crerar and co-driver Pat Levesque are checking off one of my own bucket list items by taking on the historic event. This is Crerar’s Clearwater Design Racing’s second event in the WRC, having scored a podium finish in Corsica in 2016. The duo are once again driving a Peugeot 208 R2 in the RC4 category.

Clearwater Design Racing’s view from above the clouds during recce


This year’s Monte Carlo is more than 85 per cent new and promises to be grueling. 382 km of stages are book ended by an exhausting 1,029 km of transit sections.

Live streaming begins at 4 pm tomorrow, here.

Be sure to follow Clearwater Design Racing as they post photos and Facebook live updates.

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Monaco valet crashes Lamborghini

May 6, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

lambo

Another week, another supercar smoked by a car jockey. This time, the scene is a hotel in Monaco and the victimized machine is a Lamborghini Aventador. It would appear that after successfully backing the bull into a parking spot, the valet gave the throttle a blip, presumably to hear it snort. The only problem was that the semi-automatic seven speed was in gear. The car leaped ahead, right into a Toyota Rav4.
[Read more…]

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Shutter Speed: Two in a row

May 1, 2012 by Allan De La Plante Leave a Comment

After the drama in Zolder everyone packed up, lock, stock and barrel and moved to the shores of the Mediterranean…Monaco. Long known as the crown jewel of Grand Prix racing and a serious favourite of the drivers and spectators alike, Monaco remains a very narrow, dangerous circuit that would not pass the required safety standards now in force in Formula One. It is like Kitsbuhel in downhill racing. It is iconic and will continue to be run.

It was felt the turbo-charged cars would be ineffective on the slow, twisting streets of both Monaco and Long Beach. Gilles proved them very wrong by putting the 126C on the front row with Nelson Piquet in his Brabham on the pole. Pironi had a more difficult time taming the powerful Ferrari and sat seventeenth on the grid.
[Read more…]

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Talk about a red flag situation!

November 9, 2010 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

The F1 guys aren’t the only ones who get to race hard in the Principality of Monaco. The kart racers get their chance too and often they are more aggressive than the big boys.

On October 17, the KF3 Final race was on a wet track. It seems that one section was a bit more wet than others.

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Thunderball Rally to run London to Monaco and back

May 5, 2008 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

tball.jpg

If you’ve ever wanted to get involved in a Gumball style road rally but can’t find your way into the scene, now may be your chance. The folks at Thunderball Rally are planning what looks like a classic event in September 2008. Fantastic cars. A fantastic route. Costumes! That’s right, for a whopping 50 pounds, one can dress up like Dom Delouise and cruise from London through the French Alps, down the Stelvio pass and in to Monaco! That’s a darn sight cheaper than some of the other, more infamous events.

For more info or to register visit the Thunderball Rally home page

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Monaco pays tribute to the late great Ayrton Senna

May 22, 2007 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

senna.jpg

Ayrton Senna will always be considered one of the finest drivers ever to compete in Formula 1. In fact he stood upon the top spot of the podium at Monaco, the crown jewel of F1, no fewer than 6 times. The 2007 edition of the famed Monaco event takes place this coming weekend and marks the twentieth anniversary of Senna’s first win on the historic circuit. There is a whole host of events planned to celebrate the occasion.

Full press release by Celia Sankar of Monaco Revue after the break
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2007 Jim Clark Memorial Award Goes to TV Host

May 22, 2007 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

jcmemorial_ap.jpg

Named for the legendary Scottish driver, the Jim Clark Memorial Award is awarded annually to a Scottish citizen who has made a difference to motor racing. The 2007 recipient is TV host Lee McKenzie. 28 year old Lee has been chasing her journalistic dreams since the ripe old age of 15 and has covered F1, DTM, Porsche Supercup and currently is traveling with A1GP. She even got her WRC co-driver’s license and has competed in several WRC rounds, proving that she can put her knowledge of the sport to good use inside the car as well as on screen.

Ford Media release after the break
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