RideLust

Alonso's future is so bright, he has to wear shades. Photo: Morio

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso must be doing something right. His remarkable driving talent aside, Alonso has had the stars align precisely for him in three of the last four races. Even in Japan, where Red Bull Renault’s Sebastian Vettel took both the pole and the victory, Alonso managed to grab a third place finish. The Spaniard has only one DNF to his credit this entire season, and re-affirmed himself as a serious contender for the 2010 F1 Championship by winning a rain soaked, crash filled Korean Grand Prix. McLaren Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished second, followed by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa in third.

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Good news for F1 fans: the FIA has finalized approval of the new Korea International Circuit, meaning that the race will be held as planned on October 24. The venue had been in doubt, as curbing and paving had not been completed as late as last month. An inspection on October 5 confirmed that all work on the track had been completed to the satisfaction of Formula One race director Charlie Whiting, who has agreed to sign off on the track’s approval.

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F1 Track Simulator – Mark Webber at Suzuka

The Japanese Grand Prix is this Sunday, so here’s a quick run of the circuit courtesy of Red Bull Renault’s Mark Webber and the Red Bull F1 simulator. Webber needs to be this consistent in qualifying and in Sunday’s race, as he goes into the weekend leading the driver’s championship by a slim 11 points. The title is still up for grabs between Webber (with 202 points), Fernando Alonso (191 points), Lewis Hamilton (182 points), Sebastian Vettel (181 points) and Jenson Button (177 points).

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Nigel Stepney (l) with Jean Todt at the '05 Italian GP. Photo: Silverarrows

Nigel Stepney could be a character out of a cold war spy novel. First, he’s got the perfect British-sounding name, so you just know that there’s a KGB agent out there waiting to jab him in the leg with a ricin-capsule-tipped umbrella. In this case, however, it’s not the Russians out to get Stepney, it’s the Italians. Stepney, you see, was an F1 engineer for Ferrari before his termination in July of 2007. Prior to his departure, Ferrari alleged, Stepney had been taking home more than just coffee mugs and staplers. Stepney, it seems, had been spying for the McLaren F1 team.

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Are you a fan of Mercedes-Benz and FIA GT3 European Championship racing? If so, you’re in luck: Mercedes-Benz will display the SLS AMG GT3 race car at the 2011 New York Auto Show, but they’ve launched a microsite to promote the car in the interim. The site gives detailed specifics on dimensions and design, but skips the tasty bits like performance and horsepower, since final numbers for the 2011 GT3 season haven’t yet been determined.

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Fernando Alonso, Italian GP Winner. Photo: Morio

There is no race on the F1 calender more important to Ferrari fans than the Italian Grand Prix, and Ferrari turned in a memorable performance at this year’s event. Fernando Alonso started things off on a good note by winning the pole for Sunday’s race. His Ferrari teammate, Felipe Massa was behind him on the grid, in the third starting position.

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Sebastian Vettel, the number 1.5 driver at Red Bull Renault, takes time from his busy schedule to show us F1 fans the quick way around the Monza circuit. This Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix is the 14th race on the 2010 calendar, and only five races remain after Monza.

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Universal Pictures is apparently working on a biography of F1 great Ayrton Senna. The film, titled “Senna”, is due for release late in 2010, although there are no guarantees that it will be released in the U.S. market. In case you’re not current on your F1 history, or in case you don’t follow motorsports, Ayrton Senna da Silva was perhaps the best racing driver of all time. He had an ungodly ability to drive a race car fast in any conditions, and could overcome a car’s weaknesses with superhuman skill. Senna was killed in an accident during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

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As Kurt mentioned yesterday, the first ever European-style RallyCross race to be held in the U.S. took place this past weekend.  Well, I decided to check it out for myself, and on Sunday, I trekked out to the New Jersey Motorsports Park in breathtaking Millville.  I didn’t know what to expect.  I’ve been to stage rallies before and I know the SCCA has off-road autocross that goes by the same name, so I figured it would be something like both, except with multiple cars driving simultaneously and some tarmac in between.  Little did I know I was about to witness a balls out racing spectacle.
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Photo: Benjamin Chia

Lewis Hamilton proved once again that he may be the best wet weather driver in F1 today. Hamilton put his McLaren Mercedes in the lead of Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix in turn one, and never looked back. Mark Webber, driving for Red Bull Renault, finished second and Robert Kubica, driving for Renault, finished third.

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