Monday Pit Stop #11
On track, the main events in the world of motorsport last weekend were the two Formula E races at Misano – a first for the all-electric series – while on the special stages, the European Rally Championship got underway in Hungary.
But let's start with a smaller event that formed the second round of the British Rally Championship, which was contested by one of the biggest names in motorsport in the world. Jos Verstappen, former grand prix driver and the father of Max, made his gravel rally debut at the Severn Valley Stages, driving a Pirelli-equipped Skoda Fabia.
“It was really difficult, but I enjoyed it: we hadn't even really tested on this type of gravel before, just a sandy surface in the south of France,” said Verstappen, who finished an excellent eighth overall . “It was incredibly foggy during the first stages. Fortunately, the notes we had were good, but we had to build it up because we had never driven here before. It was a completely new challenge, totally different than what I am used to. But we went for it, and it was great.”
Last weekend also marked the second round of the Italian Rally Championship at the Piemonte Rally, with Giandomenico Basso claiming the first win for the Toyota Yaris Rally 2 on asphalt. With Stephane Lefebvre finishing second in a Citroen and Simone Campedelli finishing third in his Skoda, it was an all-Pirelli podium.
The other big news in rallying was the return of European Rally Championship, with Italy's Simone Tempestini claiming a first ERC win, again driving a Skoda. The former Junior WRC champion completed the opening leg just 6.3 seconds behind the overnight leader, then was handed a lead of more than seven seconds when Martiņ Sesks crashed out two stages from home in his Toyota, which he had to maintain over the event-deciding Power Stage.
Formula E hosted a pair of strategic races at Misano, using a shortened version of the famous MotoGP layout. Energy management was crucial throughout the action-packed races, with Nissan's Oliver Rowland winning the first race after Porsche driver Antonio Felix da Costa was disqualified for running an illegal component. It was redemption for Porsche the following day when their other driver Pascal Wehrlein won the race, meaning that he now shares the championship lead with Andretti's Jake Dennis. Jaguar is at the head of the teams' standings.
In more news from Italy, renowned Formula 2 team Prema has confirmed that it will take part in next year's Indycar championship with a two-car team based out of a facility in Indiana. There's no news about potential sponsors or drivers as of yet, but Prema team principal Rene Rosin described it as “the culmination of a dream” for the Italian squad, which has racked up six titles in Formula 2 and Formula 3 in the last five years.
And another new facility has just opened in Silverstone; this time to house Andretti's Formula 1 project, despite the team not having yet had the project rubber-stamped by F1's promoter.
