Raikkonen Given Penalty

Kimi Raikkonen has been given a three-place grid penalty for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix. 
The Finn was expected to line up 7th on the grid, but has now been dragged back to 10th after being deemed to have blocked Nico Rosberg in the final session of today's Qualifying. 
Despite claims from the team that their man was suffering from hydraulic-issues, the FIA stood by Rosberg's view that he was indeed blocked. The move means Raikkonen will have to fight through the top ten if he is to repeat his race victory in last weekends Australian Grand Prix.

10 Minutes With: Jack Goff

The month of March is a big one for Motorsport. One of excitement, build-up, and anxiety among fans, teams, media and drivers alike. It was no surprise then, that British Touring Car Championship newcomer Jack Goff is raring and ready to go. I caught up with Jack during this weeks BTCC Media Day at Donington Park. With a new car, team, championship and challenge, 2013 is staring him down the barrel:

"Yeah im really excited. Me and Tony Gilham (team boss of Team HARD) started to discuss joining the BTCC throughout last season. Tony gave us a really good deal and opportunity to do Touring Cars this year with Team HARD."

This season will see Team HARD embark on the commendable journey of fielding a four-car team, with two brand-new, in-house designed Volkswagen Passat CC's, and two Vauxhall Insignia's. Goff, along with fellow debutant James Cole, will field an Insignia under the banner of RCIB Insurance Racing. Despite the size of the task, Goff is highly optimistic about this seasons hopes:
"The Vauxhall Insignia is new, remoulded, and reshaped for 2013. Both the Vauxhall and the Volkswagen have similar dimensions, which stack up very well on paper and should on the track! The level of detail and hard work that has gone into the cars is simply amazing. It's been done perfectly, it's a shame we couldn't bring the car today (Team HARD's quartet of cars were still being built and  absent from Media Day), but there's no need to rush perfection."

Jack's progression through the ranks of British Motorsport to one of the pinnacle classes, began in typical fashion. Following the stereotypical yet successful karting years that many professional race drivers endure, Jack found himself ready to leap into the world of gears, headlights and dashboards in 2008:
"I started karting when I was six-years old, in 1996. I then started out car racing in the MG Trophy. I actually won my first race here at Donington park and never really looked back!"

With three impressive years racing an MG ZR 190, Jack found himself signing a contract to race for Team Pyro in the 2010 Renault Clio Cup UK; a series that to this day, has put the High Wickham-resident on the radar. I ask Goff whether in hindsight, 2010 came too soon?
" Certainly, looking back I was far too gung-ho in 2010 and '11! In fact, one of my only real regrets is that in those two years I should have really settled down. In 2011, I should have won the Championship."
Fortunes soon changed however. In 2012, Jack lifted his Clio-curse and stormed to the title, following the realisation that the gung-ho attitude needed toning down: "In 2012 we finished every single race by being more consistent. I think my win at Oulton Park in 2011 was really the race that set the rhythm for my title last season."

With past mistakes, lessons, performances and raised eyebrows all propelling the 22-year old into the BTCC, Jack comes across as a man absolutely ready to go wheel-to-wheel with some of the sports most prolific characters, in a series that few would argue he isn't worthy of.
"I grew-up watching the likes of (Jason) Plato and (Matt) Neal, and now im racing with them! It's a dream come true, but it always seemed like the natural step for me. If you don't aim high, you're kidding yourself. Always push for more."

You can keep up-to-date with Jack's progress this season by following him on Twitter: @jgmotorsport

Nissan to Enter WTCC in 2014?

With Citroen all but confirmed to be entering the World Touring Car Championship in 2014, could Japanese manufacturer Nissan be ready to follow suit? 
Earlier this week reports began to circulate that Nissan Chief Carlos Ghosen is due to make an announcement regarding the future of the marque's Motorsport-division, Nismo. In the same forty-eight hours came the news from Touring Car specialists RML, that they were due to announce their plans for the foreseeable future within the 'next two weeks.' 
The team successfully recorded their third consecutive driver and team championship titles in 2012, but were left in the doldrums at the end of last season after Chevrolet brought it's factory programme to an end. 
Should their be any substance to my suspected link between Nissan and RML, then the partnership would surely be with a a view to enter the 2014 WTCC championship, with rule-changes allowing machines to be more powerful and more aerodynamically efficient. Such changes bring the series' closer to Nismo's current interests the Nissan's homeland, where the division runs a number of heavily race-modified Nissan GTR's in the Super GT series. 
RML and Nissan last worked together between 1997 and 1999, when the latter successfully contracted RML to run it's British Touring Car Championship assault with a pair of Nissan Primera's. 
With success in the past, and a promising WTCC future, many & me will be hoping that these two stalwarts are about to launch each other back into the motorsport limelight.

Reading Lewis Hamilton.

I wonder, I wonder if Hamilton has pondered an acting career recently... 
With two reasonably faultless test sessions behind him at the wheel of his new Mercedes W04, both of which displayed at least a hint of raw pace, the former champ comes across as a man truly and utterly downbeat and despondent, almost beyond belief. Take, for example, the featured interview with Sky Sports F1's Craig Slater: http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/video/24068/8517047
It's common knowledge that drivers and teams tend to 'sandbag' during pre-season testing, but comments from Hamilton such as "we'll be fighting for points" and completely writing off ALREADY any title or race-win hopes, seem to me and many others im sure, to be stretching the limits of 'playing down expectation'. 
But hey, Formula One is all about pushing boundaries, right?

Should Sutil be Sat?

Today (Thursday 14th January), it has emerged that erstwhile Sahara Force India driver Adrian Sutil, has returned to his former teams factory for a seat-fitting. While it remains unclear whether or not the fitting puts the German in pole-position for the final seat on the 2013 F1 grid, it will, and has, undoubtedly raised many eyebrows.
As is common knowledge now throughout the F1 fraternity, justice is a word not particularly understood within the sport. You only have to consider for example, the prolific names who have found themselves heading for the sports exit-door in recent history; Heikki Kovalainen, Timo Glock, Jamie Alguersuari, Nick Heidfeld, to name but a few. All incredibly talented drivers with a proven speed-credentials in Motorsports' pinnacle class, yet sidelined through above all else, a lack of funding.
Of course, it's not the funding that has caused a stir with the Sutil-Situation, it's strangely enough, his criminal record. Should a man previously convicted of GBH really be given a second chance in the Sport? Many will say no, of course he shouldn't. Formula One in the grand scheme of things, maintains a clean-cut image, with the intense level of sponsorship and role-model occupation of it's drivers, being essential to the very cornerstone of the sport. So with Sutil's tainted reputation, it's a surprise to many that Force India team boss Vijay Mallya is at least considering giving the German a second chance, whether it be merely a pre-season test next week in Barcalona, or a season-long drive back in the big-time.
Now back to the issue of funding... despite not being the do-all and end-all in this conundrum, it does still play a colossal part. As in Sutil's first impressive spell in Formula One, he carries with him significant backing from sponsors such as Medion, Einstein & Newton, and Capri-Sonne, resulting in a sufficient level of pennies to fuel Sutil in Formula One. Dig a little further, and it comes to stand that Mallya's own wealth is somewhat in danger, with his primary buisness interest, Kingfisher Airlines on the brink of folding. Sutil's backing might not only be sufficient for himself, but also a safety net for the team as a whole, one must feel.
Sutil's main rival for the race-seat is Jules Bianchi; a man who himself carries a strong argument warranting him the drive. Having already tested the all-new VJM06, and carrying backing from the juggernaut that is Ferrari, Bianchi is far from an ugly option for Force India. Having displayed raw pace in numerous 2012 Friday test-sessions, the Frenchman is embedded within the team set-up, which must be seen as an important factor considering the lack of time between now and the first race in Melbourne, just over a month away.
With so many variables at play, it's easy to see why the final driver-announcement for 2013 has become a somewhat saga. A man who much Mallya in terms of giving the nod/guidance to fast men, Peter Coe (Seb Coe's father and trainer), once said that one of the biggest factors in being successful in sport, is 'managing the variables'surrounding the event itself. I hope for the teams sake, that such variables don't begin to underpin a successful and well-loved operation, such as Sahara Force India.