Archive for 2019-06-16

It was on this day in 1993 that we lost one of the most charismatic figures ever to have raced in Formula 1 - the very talented James Hunt.

Born on August 29, 1947, the son of a London stockbroker was by all accounts a handful from the start - wilful, self-confident, hyperactive, contrary and persistently rebellious.

He was tall, handsome and gifted at sports from an early age - tennis and squash were his early favourites. Then on his 18th birthday he went to Silverstone to watch a motor race, and he was hooked.

He wasn't an immediate success behind the wheel - an early Formula Ford race ended up with the car sinking in a lake. He only survived because he wasn't wearing any seatbelts (non-mandatory at the time) because he couldn't afford them in his self-financed entry.

Things changed and he came to the attention of the Hesketh Racing team, which put him on the path to Formula 1. Despite his reputation for putting more effort into drinking champagne than he did out on the track, Hunt had a breakthrough success when he beat Niki Lauda's Ferrari to win the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix.

Hesketh exited F1 after that and Hunt replaced Emerson Fittipaldi at McLaren. It would prove to be one of the all-time classic seasons of F1: Hunt emerged world champion by a whisker at the final race of the season at Fuji in horrendous conditions.

Hunt quit racing in 1979 but had a second career in motorsports as a commentator for the BBC alongside Murray Walker.

Hunt didn't take it very seriously, but the initially acrimonious partnership turned to one of real warmth and mutual respect and is still remembered as one of the highpoints of F1 media coverage.

Despite having lost much of his money in failed business ventures, Hunt had probably rarely been happier in his life than he was on the evening of June 15, 1993. He was celebrating at home in Wimbledon, South London having just got engaged for the third time (to Helen).

Later that night, apparently without warning, Hunt died of a massive heart attack. He was just 45 years old.

Qualifying for the second stop of the 2019 Red Bull Air Race season delivered drama in Kazan, Russia on Saturday, as French pilot Mika Brageot clocked a track record and won Qualifying for the first time in his World Championship career. Defending titleholder Martin Šonka of the Czech Republic was second, while another Frenchman, François Le Vot, edged out Japan’s Yoshihide Muroya for the third-best time.

Kazan, Russia

Air Racing insiders have expected a tough battle at the sport’s third race in front of the Kazan Kremlin: the difference among the podium finishers last year was just 0.181s. But Saturday’s Qualifying exceeded all expectations, as Brageot, who is in only his third World Championship season, flew eighth in the 14 pilot field and came up with a time of 1:01.431. Japan’s Muroya had been on a streak, winning Qualifying and the race at the season opener in Abu Dhabi, then topping every Free Practice timesheet since arriving in Kazan. But on Saturday, the Japanese pilot finished his best Qualifying run more than half a second behind Brageot, while Šonka got close, but not close enough, to the young Frenchman at 1:01.583. Le Vot was 0.405 behind his compatriot.

Brageot also clinched his career-first DHL Fastest Lap Award for producing the fastest single lap among all the two-lap Qualifying runs. At the season finale in September, the pilot with the most awards will be presented with the 2019 DHL Fastest Lap trophy. Brageot is tied with Japan’s Yoshihide Muroya at one award each.

A rule change in 2019 awards World Championship points to the top three finishers in Qualifying. After the results on Saturday, second-overall Šonka has moved within four points of his Japanese rival Muroya, who clings to the top with 28 points.

The 2016 World Champion Matthias Dolderer of Germany will not race in Kazan after a pylon hit in Qualifying saw his raceplane damaged and unable to be repaired in time for Race Day. The German competitor was on his second lap of his second run when he hit the single pylon at the end of the Chicane. As part of the integrated safety design, the pylon burst upon contact with the wing, but the hit was relatively hard, with clear damage to the wingtip. While Dolderer returned safely to the Race Airport, the Edge 540 V3 requires an extensive check to assess the situation fully.

Qualifying determines the head-to-head matchups for the opening round on Race Day this Sunday, 16 June:

As the fastest Qualifier, Brageot is slated to face the slowest, which was Dolderer. Although Dolderer will not race on Sunday, Brageot will still fly in the opening Round of 14, aiming to set the best time possible to secure an advantageous matchup in the Round of 8.

Šonka will be challenged by Juan Velarde of Spain, who made the Final 4 in Kazan last year.

Le Vot goes up against Kirby Chambliss of the USA. Team Chambliss has never finished off the podium in Kazan, but seem to be struggling in Russia this year.

Muroya will take on Ben Murphy, the British pilot in his second World Championship season.

Another highly anticipated showdown is Matt Hall (AUS) vs Michael Goulian (USA).

Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) will face Petr Kopfstein (CZE).

Pete McLeod (CAN) will fly against Cristian Bolton (CHI).

QUOTE:

Mika Brageot (FRA): “After flying the track and all the suspense watching everyone fly after me, now it’s back to the flying. I will keep applying the tactics we put together for this race. We knew what what we had to do, and we planned to go full force. It’s quite a good feeling to win Qualifying for the first time ever and take three World Championship points. We will keep our focus, but of course this is a boost for the team and for our race tomorrow.”

Results Master Class Qualifying, Kazan 2019: 1. Mika Brageot (FRA) 1:01.431, 2. Martin Šonka (CZE) 1:01.583, 3. François Le Vot (FRA) 1:01.836, 4. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN)1:01.944, 5. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 1:02.509, 6. Michael Goulian(USA) 1:02.919, 7. Cristian Bolton (CHI) 1:03.092, 8. Pete McLeod (CAN) 1:03.267, 9. Matt Hall (AUS) 1:03.342, 10. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 1:03.467, 11. Ben Murphy (GBR) 1:03.868, 12. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 1:04.625, 13. Juan Velarde(ESP) 1:04.736, 14. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 1:05.360

World Championship standings after Qualifying, Kazan 2019: 1. Yoshihide Muroya (JPN) 28 points, 2. Martin Šonka (CZE) 24 pts, 3. Michael Goulian (USA) 21 pts, 4. Nicolas Ivanoff (FRA) 18 pts, 5. Mika Brageot (FRA) 15 pts, 6. Matt Hall (AUS) 14 pts, 7. Juan Velarde (ESP) 13 pts, 8. Kirby Chambliss (USA) 11 pts, 9. Pete McLeod (CAN) 5 pts, 10. Petr Kopfstein (CZE) 4 pts, 11. Matthias Dolderer (GER) 3 pts, 12. François Le Vot (FRA) 3 pts, 13. Ben Murphy (GBR) 1 pt, 14. Cristian Bolton (CHI) 0

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