♦ Charles Leclerc’s win at Spa brings the total number of victories at the Belgian GP for Ferrari to 18, the most of any team.
♦ The death of Anthoine Hubert in an accident during the Formula 2 race was a tragedy that hit Leclerc especially hard because of their close friendship. 5 years earlier, Leclerc also lost his godfather, Jules Bianchi, who died after an accident in the Japanese Grand Prix.
♦ Max Verstappen was knocked out at the start of the race after contact with Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo. However, the Dutchman, currently third in the championship standings, did not blame Raikkonen for the incident which damaged his steering.
♦ After it was clear that Sebastian Vettel was struggling to maintain his pace, the team made the decision that he had to defend Leclerc’s bid for victory, and he followed the team orders.
♦ The tragic death of Anthoine Hubert on Saturday affected the whole F1 community and Daniel Ricciardo revealed that he had almost decided not to race on Sunday.
♦ In the final lap, Sergio Perez and Alexander Albon had a close fight to try to improve their positions which caught the attention of the stewards. However, they did not receive any penalties after the race, the stewards reporting that ‘each driver described it as hard racing and agreed there was potential danger. In view of the explanations and the successful overtaking move, it was considered there should be no further action’.
2019 CHINA ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP Round.2, TIANJIN
This is China’s domestic GT racing endurance championship and Round 2 was run on the V1 Auto World Circuit in Tianjin last weekend. Malaysian GT driver, Melvin Moh in the ABS Project M Racing Team’s #77 AMG GT3 won Race 1 convincingly but sadly didn’t finish in Race 2. Last time out in round 1 in Ningbo, the team won race 1 and placed 3rd in Race 2 so they should be up there in the overall points for the championship.
About the Tianjin V1 Auto World Circuit: Opened in 2018, this is another Hermann Tilke-designed circuit (he also designed many of the F1 tracks around the world, including Sepang) located in Wuqing between Tianjin and Beijing.
It has a novel feature of being able to be extended out onto public roads around the track and thus also offers a ‘street’ layout, apart from its permanent circuit. The other feature of this circuit is its ‘Z’ shaped pitlane which can accommodate the two layouts.
As an International FIA Grade 2 circuit, it can be 4.28 kms long or 3.7 kms as a Grade 3 circuit. The cars run counterclockwise around 15 corners.
2019 24-HOURS & INTERCONTINENTAL GT CHALLENGE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND, SPA (Belgium)
Shanghai and Sepang-based Absolute Racing, Sepang-based Modena Motorsport, China-based Open Road and Taiwan-based HubAuto Corsa teams were the few Asian teams that took part in this prestigious endurance race for GT3 cars.
HubAuto Corsa deserves special mention as they won the previous and opening round of the IGTC in Laguna Seca 8-Hours in March. Unfortunately, a crash just 26 laps into the Spa event meant the #27 Ferrari 488 GT3 was out of contention.
Also significant is that this front-running team in the Intercontinental GT Challenge Championships has 5 Malaysian technicians, the most of all the Asian teams who are running in the Spa 24-Hours.
The event was run at the Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps which is nestled in the Ardennes hills. It consists of fast sweepers, uphill and downhill stretches and parts of it is still on public roads. The original Spa circuit had a reputation for being very fast (average speed of 240 km/h!) and was unforgiving. It was one of the most feared circuits as many drivers and even track marshals lost their lives there.
The present and ‘safer’ circuit is now 7 kms long, compared to 15 kms before. It still has fast stretches where speeds in excess of 330 km/h can be reached. A round of the F1 championship is held there regularly.
Malaysian drivers and technicians head to Korea
We’re into August and this month, our Malaysian GT drivers and race technicians will be in Yeongam, Korea for Round 5 of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia and also for Round 4 of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia.
In the PRO/AM division of Blancpain Asia, Melvin Moh and Singaporean Daniel Au will once again be behind the #55 Craft Bamboo Mercedes AMG GT3, H.H Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahim(Jefri) will be joined by Aussie Shane Van Gisbergen in their #888 Triple Eight Racing AMG GT3 whilst in the PRO category, Weiron Tan will be piloting the Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute Racing #12 Audi R8 LMS GT3.
For the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, Malaysian Afiq Yazid and Japan’s Ochiai in PRO/AM leads the points going into this round in Yeongam. Afiq has been the standout driver in this series in his Japan-based Hojust Racing Team this season. Aylezo Motorsports East Malaysian and gentleman racer Zen Low will also be racing this weekend in the Super Trofeo.
