Buzzin Motor Sport

It has now been confirmed that David Coulthard is retiring from Formula One racing at the end of the season.

In a statement from David Coulthard today, it said,

“I would like to announce today my decision to retire from racing in Formula One at the end of the season.  I will remain actively involved in the sport as a consultant to Red Bull Racing focusing on testing and development of the cars.

I have an open mind as to whether or not I will compete again in the future, in some other form of motorsport, so I am definitely not hanging up my helmet!

My decision to retire was taken earlier in the year and is based on a desire to stop while I am still competitive and enjoying the immense challenge that Grand Prix driving represents.  I also have the desire to look for new challenges within the sport.

The decision to make this announcement at the British GP should be an obvious one for all to understand, as I have achieved two of my thirteen F1 victories at Silverstone and I am a member of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, which hosts this event.

I am proud of my work at Red Bull Racing and will continue to race with the same focus until the last lap in Brazil.  Thereafter I will continue to help the team to develop and move towards their ultimate goal of winning races.”

Former World Champion Ducati rider, Sete Gibernau has completed another successful three day test at Mugello.

The Spanish rider is the possible replacement if rumours are true and Marco Melandri leaves the team, although the Ducati team boss, Livio Suppo, claims he is 99% sure that Melandri will stay with the team until at least the US Grand Prix.

Melandri has been linked to a move to the Kawasaki team, possibly for the injured John Hopkins, and the Japanese team have been supposedly considering a third bike for Marco if he does leave Ducati.

Gibernau tested both this year’s GP8, on which he set his fastest lap during the three days, and also next year’s GP9.

Gibernau said Thursday,

“I want to thank not only Ducati but also all the guys that have supported me here.  Some of them worked with me in 2006 and it was great to find ourselves together again.

I’ve really enjoyed myself today and have had a completely new experience as a rider.  The faster you go, the more obvious it becomes that this bike demands a real physical and mental effort, but when you manage to ride it well, the satisfaction is unique.

“I hope my work has been of use to Filippo, to help understand the differences between the GP8 and GP9.  They are two machines with characteristics typical of Ducati, and the GP9, although new, has great potential.”

And just in case you need a reminder of how good Sete Gibernau was, watch this;

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vn0Cfm-Mvs

It proved to be a difficult and disappointing weekend for the Ten kate Honda team and riders at Misano last week.

After two days of poor qualifying the team were still struggling to find pace with the Honda CBR1000RR, with Carlos Checa qualifying in eleventh place.

Checa had issues with grip on his bike throughout qualifying but as other riders crashed-out at the front of the pack in race one, it enabled him to make progress and saw him finish in fifth position.

The second race was stopped early after a crash left oil on the track as Checa struggled to regain a good position and had dropped to eighteenth place by the end of lap one but somehow managed to pull it back and finish the race in eighth place.

Checa’s team-mates, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Kenan Sofuloglu were also trying to find Superbike race pace on their machines.  Sofuoglu finished the first race in eighteenth place but crashed-out on the first lap on race two.  Kiyonari made a jump start on race one and ended in fourteenth place and on race two made a hesitant start but managed to make thirteenth position at the finish.

Ronald ten Kate, the Team manager said after the race,

“It didn’t take and expert’s opinion to see it was going to be difficult today to get some good results after the poor qualifying.  In the first race we got away with a fifth place after some of the faster guys in the field crashed out.

In the second race Carlos had a difficult situation after an imperfect start.  At the end of the day the damage is not as bad as I thought it would be after qualifying.

We are now going for a test in Vallelunga and will obviously have some work to do to get our bikes on the pace again.  We don’t go out racing to make the numbers and want to be up front again for the next round in Brno.

Sofuoglu and Kiyonari were both in difficult situations from their places on the grid.  It was almost impossible for them to bring some good results back home.  Let’s see if we can turn this around and come back strongly at Brno.”

Leon Camier crashed out on the first corner at Mallory Park last weekend, losing his second position in the British Superbike standings.

Camier on the Airwaves Ducati, started in eleventh place on the grid after a terrible qualifying session, but on the first right-hander, Gerard’s, he got tangled-up with Billy McConnell and shot off across the grass.

Camier said,

“I knew I needed to get a good start to make up for my poor starting position.  I’m not sure what happened at the first corner, all I know is Billy McConnell sat up and hit the front of my bike and that was the end of that.

It was really frustrating because we had found something quite major with the electronics between qualifying and the race.

I have been struggling with the electronics pushing me into slower corners too much.  But in Warm-Up we found something that sorted that and I’m really confident that it’ll work for the rest of the season.

It’s the one major point we’re losing out to Shane Byrne on, so that might give us a better chance to challenge for the second half of the season.”

Leon was unscathed although disappointed with his crash in race one at Mallory Park but finished in eighth place in the second race and said,

“In race two I wanted to get another good start but with the track being a bit wet it was difficult.  My shoulder had started to twinge a bit from my crash and it was a tough race for me but I am pleased I brought it home for some championship points.

We are midway through the season and I am third in the championship, I have a bit of a break now when I will keep training and then get back on it at Oulton Park in a few weeks and hopefully it will go well as it has so far.”

The next round of the British Superbike Championship, takes place on July 20th at Outlon Park.

This weekend will see the Formula One teams and drivers at the Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen will possibly have a new engine for the race after the broken exhaust problem that ended his chance of a win at Magny-Cours.

The engine change to the Ferrari will be without penalties as the new rule states, that each driver is allowed to have one unscheduled change.

The Toyota team will be showing a new livery this weekend, courtesy of their partnership with Warner Bros. Pictures. With the release of ‘The Dark Knight’, a follow-up to the film ‘Batman Begins’, the films artwork will appear on the cars, the drivers overalls and the team’s motor homes.

Also in the paddock will appear the ‘Batmobile’ and the ‘Bat-Pod’ cars with some special media events taking place to add to the excitement. The Batmobile will actually be on track on the Thursday competing against the TF108.

Following the change of plans for the banning of tyre warmers from 2009, Bridgestone has modified its slick tyre compound.

The tyre warmers will remain for now as the drivers and teams expressed their safety fears and the director of Bridgestone motorsport, Hirohide Hamashima said,

“Having tyre warmers is preferable to not having them but we remain confident our tyres would have been suitable and safe without warmers.”