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FIA prize-giving in Rwanda set to go ahead despite Marburg virus outbreak

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


The FIA still plans to go ahead with its annual Prize Gala in Rwanda in December, despite the World Health Organization (WHO) advising against travel to the country because of a Marburg virus outbreak.

The governing body is hosting its annual celebratory extravaganza in Kigali on 13 December to hand out this year’s FIA awards as well as celebrate its own 120th anniversary.

The event sees FIA championship winners officially given their trophies, and an appearance each year is mandatory for Formula 1’s victors.

Lewis Hamilton was famously fined for missing the 2021 event in the wake of the Abu Dhabi season finale controversy.

But the FIA’s organisation of this year’s Prize Gala, which attracts delegates and guests from all around the world, could face some logistical challenges with Rwanda at the centre of a virus outbreak.

Late last month, the Rwanda Ministry of Health declared the nation’s first confirmed cases of the Marburg virus disease (MVD).

FIA flag

FIA flag

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

The latest figures published on 8 October show there are now 58 confirmed cases in the country and 13 deaths. This is one of the biggest ever confirmed outbreaks of the disease.

The government of Rwanda is working with the WHO to co-ordinate a response.

An WHO statement last updated on 30 September stated: “WHO assesses the risk of this outbreak as very high at the national level, high at the regional level, and low at the global level. Investigations are ongoing to determine the full extent of the outbreak and this risk assessment will be updated as more information is received.”

While measures are being put in place in Rwanda to limit the spread of the disease, it added: “Based on the current risk assessment, WHO advises against any travel and trade restrictions with Rwanda.”

The WHO has however drawn short of a total travel ban, with the UK Foreign Office advice urging travellers to avoid close contact with symptomatic people. Rwanda’s main tourist attractions are operating as normal.

The FIA is also in contact with government agencies to keep an eye on developments, but says that plans for the Gala are not impacted at the moment.

Max Verstappen, FIA Formula One World Champion, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President

Max Verstappen, FIA Formula One World Champion, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, FIA President

Photo by: FIA

An FIA spokesman said: “We are monitoring the situation closely in collaboration with the Ministry of Health in Rwanda. At present, we are proceeding as planned.”

Marburg virus, which is clinically similar to Ebola, can cause fatal haemorrhagic fever, and has a fatality rate as high as 88%. There is currently no available treatment, but healthcare workers are being given a trial vaccine.

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People are initially infected after coming into contact with the Rousettus bat, but it spreads between humans through direct contact — including blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with contaminated surfaces and materials, such as bedding and clothing.

To prevent the disease being spread internationally, passengers departing Rwanda have now been asked to fill out a screening questionnaire to report any symptoms. Anyone who has been in contact with a confirmed case is required to be quarantined for at least 21 days and until they are symptom-free.



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How a hidden revolution has improved GT racing

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


Quibbles over Balance of Performance and accusations of sandbagging have been a near-constant feature of GT racing in recent times. Openly discussing the BoP isn’t permitted under the World Endurance Championship’s sporting regulations, but that’s not the only reason for grumbles being notably reduced this year as LMGT3 replaced GTE Am.

MagCanica is the FIA’s current supplier of torque meter sensors, which have been utilised since the outset of the Hypercar class in 2021 and have now migrated into the GT realm. Measuring torque from the driveshaft, they allow for live monitoring of power outputs so any spikes beyond what is allocated in the BoP are visible to the FIA and co-legislator Automobile Club de l’Ouest in real time. This is enforced by penalties, as seen with Toyota’s #8 Le Mans Hypercar at Spa in May.

Previously, efforts to achieve parity involved working with engine maps on the dyno, but the difficulty of covering all possible atmospheric conditions meant it was “more or less impossible to be very accurate”, according to the FIA’s chief technical and safety officer Xavier Mestelan Pinon. With the torque sensors, by contrast, he maintains it’s “the best way to have the right accuracy”.

By the same token, it eradicates any gains that can be made from sandbagging. Manufacturers can have no recourse to ask for BoP tweaks when the FIA can see exactly what power figures they are achieving.

“The crucial thing is to ensure you’re on your power target all the time, without going over and getting a penalty and without being under and being slow,” says Aston Martin Racing head of performance Gus Beteli. “To be always on top of it and get the best performance without getting a penalty, is challenging. The FIA will look at that data and see if you’re reaching the power or not. If you’re not reaching the power [limit], you’re slower.”

Efforts to get the sensors fully calibrated haven’t been the work of a moment. A process Beteli describes as “not easy” has been taxing even for manufacturers that can draw on prior expertise from Hypercar.

Torque sensors mounted on the driveshafts are now mandatory in the WEC's LMGT3 class

Torque sensors mounted on the driveshafts are now mandatory in the WEC’s LMGT3 class

Photo by: FIA

As well as leaning on sister GM brand Cadillac’s LMDh programme, Corvette already had experience of torque sensors from its C8.R GTE car, permitted to race in modified form against GT3 cars in the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTD Pro class with them installed. Ben Johnson, technical director of the Pratt Miller organisation that builds the Corvette Z06 GT3.R, says it was “still a learning curve, they’re very sensitive to the car that they’re on, how it takes the kerbs, how the engine reacts”.

But with more mileage, the slope has levelled out. For Johnson, efforts to “push it as far as you can, then bring it back to where you’re confident it’s going to be legal” have been finetuned to the point that, by Le Mans, Corvette was “confident to race from Test Day onwards”. Now a degree of maturity has been reached, manufacturers recognise that the greater accuracy and transparency resulting from torque sensors — with the FIA understood to have increased its headcount to manage and operate them — represents a step forward.

“It’s been a lot better than what it used to be in the past,” Beteli says. “Credit to the FIA and ACO, they’re doing a very good job with how they’re managing the performance and the data. We have meetings after every race to discuss.”

In years to come, the embrace of torque sensors could be regarded as an important development working for the good of a discipline that shows no signs of ceasing its upward trajectory

Mestelan Pinon describes torque sensors as “a very important tool” for not only upholding the BoP but also by controlling power output, disincentivising expenditure on new developments to keep costs controlled. “Clearly in WEC, it’s to avoid [manufacturers deciding] to develop a crazy technology regarding the internal combustion engine,” he says.

This purpose is served not only in the WEC, Mestelan Pinon points out: “We are working with Formula E, Formula 1 of course, in the very near future in cross country also” for Ultimate group entrants in the World Rally-Raid Championship. Adoption into the World Rally Championship from 2027 is also “on the table”.

However, although costs for WEC entrants are mitigated by no longer needing to submit to engine performance tests during the homologation process, he acknowledges that torque sensors are too expensive to be considered for grassroots series and reckons “honestly we don’t need that” outside professional championships.

Beteli agrees: “It’s an expensive piece of technology, not only buying the sensor and the driveshaft and all the development that goes into it. But as the technology evolves if you can get the price down so it’s accessible for everyone, it would be a benefit for sure.”

Torque sensors are likely to appear in more series too

Torque sensors are likely to appear in more series too

Photo by: FIA

While cost remains a barrier to wider use, as Mestelan Pinon admits “it’s not something which is really cheap”, steps have been made on reliability. Software developed since the 2023 Algarve WEC round, when a sensor failure on the #7 Toyota forced it into a pitstop for repairs, would result in a different outcome from a repeat scenario. “In each situation we have something to manage it to be sure that we don’t ask a car to stop,” says Mestelan Pinon.

For the time being, its impact is largely hidden from view, and Mestelan Pinon recognises that a large majority of fans simply want to see a fight between drivers. “A lot of them don’t care” how it is achieved, he says, which fits a desire for technology “to be in the back office and not on the front office”. But in years to come, the embrace of torque sensors could be regarded as an important development working for the good of a discipline that shows no signs of ceasing its upward trajectory.

“It may operate behind the scenes,” says Johnson, “but the fans and all the stakeholders then get the benefit of much closer racing, which is good for the sport and everybody involved.”

Its impact may not be seen, but WEC manufacturers have welcomed the introduction of torque sensors into LMGT3

Its impact may not be seen, but WEC manufacturers have welcomed the introduction of torque sensors into LMGT3

Photo by: Shameem Fahath



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What to look out for at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


One of the highlights of the annual motorsport calendar is upon us, as the great and good of Formula 1, sportscar racing, rallying and more descends on West Sussex for a four-day celebration of the cars and stars that make racing special.

As ever, the Goodwood Festival of Speed will be a spectacle not to be missed. Here’s what to look out for at this year’s event.

1. Horseless to hybrid; pioneers to the present

The Le Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR of 1999 will make a welcome return

The Le Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR of 1999 will make a welcome return

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

The pursuit of performance over 130 years of motorsport provides a vast canvas upon which the Duke of Richmond & Gordon’s team has painted toothsome portraits across five epochs to the present. The contrasts in each window are staggering.

Pioneers of Propulsion features an 1893 Salvesen Steam Wagonette presaging such pacy delights as Darracq 200bhp and Fiat S76 ‘Beast of Turin’, Sunbeam 350bhp, Bugatti T35, Alfa Romeo P3 and Napier-Railton and Auto Unions. Don’t miss the wacky French Leyat Helica.    

Progression of Power focuses on the 1950s and 1960s, spanning BRM V16, Maserati 250F, shark-nose Ferrari 156s, Honda RA272 (driven by RB F1’s Yuki Tsunoda), Lotus-Cosworth 49 and whistling gas turbine Howmet TX sportscar and Lotus 56B, the latter with marque founder Colin Chapman’s son Clive and grandson Magnus up.

Evolution of Revolution showcases Lancia Stratos, Le Mans-winning Matra-Simca 670C, Porsche 936/77 and Alpine-Renault A442B, plus F1 Renault RS10 and Audi Quattro rally cars as the sizzling turbo era advanced. Innovation Unleashed stars McLaren F1 GTR, Audi R8C, BMW V12 LMR and Ferrari 333 SP Le Mans icons, while the Future of Speed showcases the 2022 hill-record-shattering McMurtry Speirling, manufacturer specials and the driverless Indy Autonomous Challenge.  

2. Verstappen tops roster of sporting superstars 

Reigning F1 world champion Verstappen will be reunited with the RB16B in which he won his first title in 2021

Reigning F1 world champion Verstappen will be reunited with the RB16B in which he won his first title in 2021

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

World champions have coloured the Festival’s history since 1993. But to have the reigning Formula 1 title holder in attendance – in this case triple champion Max Verstappen – is unprecedented. Currently third in the all-time rankings with 61 GP victories, the 2024 points leader will wow onlookers on Sunday in a 2021 Red Bull Racing-Honda RB16B.

Superstars pepper the entry as ever. NASCAR legend Richard Petty, with 200 stock car wins on his slate, left a huge impression in 2004. At 87 ‘The King’ is back with son Kyle and the bewinged 1970 Plymouth Superbird.

Emerson Fittipaldi, 77, is the earliest F1 world champion in action. Fifty years after he secured his second crown in three years, ‘Emmo’ is reunited with his 1974 Brazilian and Belgian GP-winning McLaren M23-5. Fellow champs Damon Hill and Kimi Raikkonen line up too.

Double world endurance champion and six-time Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx, 79, represents the sportscar speciality, piloting a Porsche 936/77. Swedish rallymeister Stig Blomqvist, 77, commemorates the 40th anniversary of his 1984 WRC victory in an Audi Quattro, and flying Finn Kalle Rovanpera, 23 – champion of 2022-23, fresh from winning Rally Poland from the subs’ bench – exercises a Toyota Yaris Gazoo Racing.

3. Red Bull 20 reunites alumni for RB17 launch

Original Red Bull drivers from 2005 Klien and Coulthard will be on hand to mark the team's 20 years in F1

Original Red Bull drivers from 2005 Klien and Coulthard will be on hand to mark the team’s 20 years in F1

Photo by: Mark Capilitan

That Red Bull Racing has been in F1 for almost 20 years – snaring seven drivers’ world championships, through Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, and six constructors’ titles – is an extraordinary record for the team that debuted in 2005.

Almost as telling is that the Austrian-founded energy drink offshoot’s equipe is the ninth longest-serving in F1 history, having surpassed BRM, which spanned three decades, and with Minardi’s and Ligier’s totals set to be swallowed next season.

To celebrate its 20th term in F1, Oracle Red Bull Racing has corralled 18 cars spanning the RB1 of 2005 to last year’s RB19 for inspection in the Cathedral Paddock, showcasing Cosworth, Ferrari, Renault and Honda powerplants.

Seven are set to hit the hill, with Christian Klien (RB1), Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo, team chief Christian Horner and David Coulthard in Vettel-era RB6-9 of 2010-13, and current team-mates Verstappen and Sergio Perez in RB16B and RB19 of 2021 and 2022 respectively.

On Friday the wraps will come off design guru Adrian Newey’s two-seat RB17 Hypercar. Powered by a hybrid engine developing more than 1100bhp, a run of only 50 of these technical tours de force will be made by Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

4. Wattie leads Niki Lauda tribute

Watson (left) raced alongside Lauda at Brabham and latterly at McLaren

Watson (left) raced alongside Lauda at Brabham and latterly at McLaren

Photo by: Ercole Colombo

Technically gifted and versatile, three-time F1 world champion Niki Lauda’s career is showcased in a colourful tribute led by Brabham and McLaren team-mate John Watson. BRM’s sleek P160 and P180 and the lumpen March 721X masked the Austrian’s potential initially, but stellar subsequent stints with Ferrari, Brabham and ultimately McLaren bore bountiful fruit.

Wattie drives Niki’s 1978 Swedish GP-winning Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46B ‘fan car’ for period team owner and F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone. Sonorous Ford Cologne Capri RS3100 and BMW 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ provide contrasting V6 and straight-six soundtracks.

5. WRC legends attack forest stage

Current WRC aces including Rovanpera and Neuville will tackle the forest rally stage

Current WRC aces including Rovanpera and Neuville will tackle the forest rally stage

Photo by: Gary Hawkins

Double world rally champion Kalle Rovanpera (2024 Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid) and five-time runner-up Thierry Neuville (2021 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) in the house will delight fans on the Forest Rally Stage originated by Hannu Mikkola. Neuville scored his 20th WRC win in Monte Carlo this year and will star in the contemporary class. A sensational range of machinery from Alpine A110 through Group B legends – Audi Quattro, Ford RS200 Evo, Lancia 037 and Delta S4, MG Metro 6R4, Peugeot 205 T16s and Porsche 911 – to Subarus, Mitsubishi, Ford Escort RS Cosworth and Focuses make it a must-see.   

6. Sorcerers and apprentices showcase F1 teams

Bruno Senna will drive the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 in which his uncle Ayrton won his first world title in 1988

Bruno Senna will drive the McLaren-Honda MP4/4 in which his uncle Ayrton won his first world title in 1988

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

Formula 1 up the garden path has long been an FoS fan favourite, and the team personnel enjoy putting on a show too, often giving their development programme’s young guns a weekend to remember. 

Alongside Red Bull, McLaren and Williams are strongly represented. Half a century on from his world championship with the Woking team, Emerson Fittipaldi (M23-5) will be joined by Bruno Senna in a magnificently svelte Honda-powered MP4/4, in which uncle Ayrton won the first of his three titles in 1988.

Current Williams racers Alexander Albon and Logan Sargeant sample Cosworth DFV-engined FW08-2, a sister to Keke Rosberg’s 1982 turbo hordes-vanquishing championship winners. Teenaged American F1 Academy racer Lia Block and team principal James Vowles will share it.

Rising star Ollie Bearman, 19, who finished seventh in March’s Saudi Arabian GP for Ferrari as substitute for Carlos Sainz to become the youngest Briton to score F1 world championship points, is to saddle the Prancing Horse’s 2017 SF70H with FoS veteran Marc Gene.

Alpine is also supporting the event with Australian protege Jack Doohan and Germany’s Sophia Florsch taking turns in a 2012 E20. Dane Frederik Vesti drives a 2021 Mercedes in the marque’s set.

7. Sunday shootout to crown king of the hill 

Pastrana will be out to thrill in his Subaru GL Wagon during Sunday's timed shootout

Pastrana will be out to thrill in his Subaru GL Wagon during Sunday’s timed shootout

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

Speed hillclimbs traditionally climax with a run-off to determine which car-and-driver combo can ascend the course quickest against the clock. As a made-for-TV spectacle, Goodwood’s FoS offering has morphed from a pure racing car contest to become a showcase for technology on the 1.1-mile course.

The writing was on the wall for Nick Heidfeld’s outright record of 41.60s, set in a McLaren-Mercedes MP4/13 in 1999, when Frenchman Romain Dumas piloted Volkwagen’s electric I.D. R to 43.86s in 2018 and 42.32s in 2019. When Max Chilton unleashed a 39.08s in an electric McMurtry Speirling prototype in 2023, spectators could barely believe what they had witnessed.

This year’s combatants range from Mark Walker’s 1905 Darracq 200HP Land Speed Record car to the F5000 Eagle-Chevrolet FA74 of Michael Lyons and Joe Twyman’s F1 March 741. BTCC leader Jake Hill (Nissan Skyline GT-R R32) and Le Mans winner Andy Wallace (Bugatti Bolide) will excel.

But watch for the 862bhp Subaru GL Family Wagon Huckster and WRX Airslayer of Travis Pastrana and Scott Speed, the Bridan twins’ sensational Porsche-based Oilstainlab Half11 and the Alpine A110 Pikes Peak to provide the spectacle.

8. Mercedes’ 130 years in racing

The rumbling Sauber-Mercedes C9 of Group C vintage is usually a crowd-pleaser at Goodwood

The rumbling Sauber-Mercedes C9 of Group C vintage is usually a crowd-pleaser at Goodwood

Photo by: JEP

Since the dawn of motor racing in the 1890s to Lewis Hamilton’s British GP victory last weekend, Mercedes has been at the forefront of competition. Its 130-year odyssey is celebrated at Goodwood by a pageant bookended by a 1907 GP car to the current AMG GT3 racers.

Karl Wendlinger drives a 100-year-old Mercedes-Benz Targa Florio, and examples of the W25, W125, W196 and W196 streamliner hark back to the Silver Arrows. Kenneth Acheson pilots his own 1989 Sauber C9 and Nic Minassian a Sauber C11 alongside David Clark’s C-Class DTM car and Frederik Vesti in a 2021 Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance. 

9. Seventy-five years of grand prix motorcycling

Fans of two-wheeled motorsport will be treated to the sight of past legends including two-time MotoGP champion Stoner in action

Fans of two-wheeled motorsport will be treated to the sight of past legends including two-time MotoGP champion Stoner in action

Photo by: MotoGP

Motorcycle racing has been part of the FoS since its debut in 1993. When Valentino Rossi embraced the 2015 event, the Italian megastar’s following was of almost papal magnitude.

The late seven-time world GP champion John Surtees (1934-2017) was an inspirational godfather to the two-wheeled aces who attended Goodwood events, and they continue to entertain appreciative sell-out audiences as the event celebrates a landmark anniversary.

The inimitable 15-time champion Giacomo Agostini, who at 82 turns back the years every time he straddles an MV Agusta, heads this year’s crop. The Italian is joined by Americans Randy Mamola, Kenny Roberts (Senior and Junior) and ‘Fast Freddie’ Spencer, Australians Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner, and Belgium’s Didier de Radigues.

Home-grown heroes Davey Todd (fresh from his maiden Isle of Man TT victory), Michael Dunlop and Peter Hickman (who both added to their gold tallies last month), John McGuinness, Jeremy McWilliams, Mick Grant and Steve Parrish guarantee fireworks. Watch too for sidecar world champions Todd Ellis/Emmanuelle Clement, who won legions of fans in winning April’s awesome Goodwood Members’ Meeting shootout.

10. Joest and Shadow family reunions

Joest's remarkable history at Le Mans will be among the numerous celebrations

Joest’s remarkable history at Le Mans will be among the numerous celebrations

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

Reinhold Joest’s team’s fabulous Le Mans history is traced from the 935J of 1980 through Group C 956 and 962 to WSC-95, then to Audis, bisected by a Bentley Speed 8. Le Mans winners Stefan Johansson, Dindo Capello, Emanuele Pirro, Benoit Treluyer and David Brabham are among the celebrants.

Building on the superb gathering of Don Nichols’s Shadow Can-Am cars corralled by super-collector Jim Bartel and Era Motorsport’s Kyle Tilley at April’s Members’ Meeting, the monsters are back, joined by F1 stablemates. Hans-Joachim Stuck reunites with a 1978 DN9 in a set spanning Tony Southgate’s DN1 stunner to a DN11.

After causing a stir at the Members' Meeting, Shadows will be out in force again at the FOS

After causing a stir at the Members’ Meeting, Shadows will be out in force again at the FOS

Photo by: Jeff Bloxham / Motorsport Images



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FIA clubs recommend legal action over Ben Sulayem accusations

Опубликовано от ASPPA IMAGES ANO


In the wake of Ben Sulayem having been cleared of wrongdoing in an investigation relating to allegations of interference in two Formula 1 races last year, a selection of member clubs have issued a strongly-worded letter of support backing him.

Clearly designed to quell any talk of an internal move against Ben Sulayem in the short term, a letter signed by more than 30 representatives of FIA member clubs and sports federations from the Americas has shown emphatic support for him.

And there is a clear message that they are unhappy about recent allegations made against Ben Sulayem, who was investigated after a whistleblower suggested he had interfered with a stewards’ decision at last year’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and also overstepped the mark in signing off the safety certificate of the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix.

In the letter, published on the FIA website, the clubs state that they “recommend that the FIA initiate legal action against those who, without cause, slander the FIA and its leadership.”

This comes after the clubs felt that various reports of the situation surrounding Ben Sulayem were deliberately aimed at trying to hurt the FIA.

The clubs stated: “That accusations of impropriety and unethical practices propagated by some members of the print and digital media were intended for the sole purpose of causing harm to the FIA and its leadership, particularly the President.”

The clubs also fully endorse the findings of the FIA, which cleared Ben Sulayem of acting improperly following a 30-day investigation by the FIA Compliance officer and its six-person Ethics Committee that included interviews with 11 witnesses.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA

Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

The letter said that: “The resolution of the Ethics Committee ratifies that the President of the FIA, Mr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, acted honourably, transparently and independently.

“That the selection of the FIA President is enshrined in the FIA Statutes and is the sole purview of its voting members and is not impacted by those from outside the organization who attempt, for their own self-interest, to intervene.”

It added: “We endorse and ratify our vote of confidence in support of Mr. Mohammed Ben Sulayem, for his stewardship of the FIA and his progress to fulfilling his commitment to transform the FIA in an ethical and transparent manner in order to better serve its members.”

The letter is signed by 34 member clubs and sports federations of the Americas, including representatives of Colombia, Canada, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, Guatemala, Uruguay, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil,  Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Chile, Belize, Paraguay, Honduras, Argentina, Chile, El Salvador, Bolivia, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Haiti, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua.

The list also interestingly includes the signature of Fabiana Ecclestone, the vice president of South America for Sports who is also wife of former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

She has emerged as a potential future presidential candidate, and potentially as early as the next election in 2025 depending on whether or not Ben Sulayem opts to seek a mandate for a second term in charge.



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