#11 Kessel Racing Ferrari Leads Gulf 12 Hours, Four on Lead Lap

The Gulf 12 Hours has reached the two-hour and 15-minute intermission and other than a first-lap, first corner incident, it was a pretty kosher six-hours. 

The #11 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Davide Rigon, Michael Broniszewski and Giacomo Piccini leads the race and led 98 of 153 laps completed in the first half of the race. The Kessel Racing entry finished a minute and ten seconds ahead of the #2 Black Falcon Mercedes of Yelmer Buurman, Abdulaziz Al Faisal and Hubert Haupt. Another 27 seconds back was the #1 Black Falcon Mercedes of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Maro Engel and Khaled Al Qubaisi. The pole-sitting #44 Oman Racing Team Aston Martin is the final car on the lead lap. The Vantage GT3 of Jonny Adam, Darren Turner and Ahmad Al Harthy finished a minute and 51 seconds back of the Kessel Racing Ferrari. 

Three laps down and rounding out the top five is the top Pro-Am entry, the #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Francesco Castellacci, Thomas Flohr and Andrea Rizzoli. The top gentlemen entry was the #65 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Alexis de Bernardi, Loris Capirossi and Nicola Cadei and they finished ten seconds back of the #51 Ferrari in sixth. The #55 AF Corse Ferrari of Jack Gerber, Marco Cioci and Ilya Melnikov finished seventh, 32 seconds out of fifth and the #99 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Marco Zanuttini, Michael Lyons and Vadim Gitlin finished eight, 44 seconds out of fifth. 

The #10 Equipe Verschuur Renault Sport R.S. 01 of Jerome Naveaux, Miguel Ramos, Filipe Barreiros and Jean-Pierre Lequeux finished ninth after completing 149 laps. The #25 FF Corse Ferrari of Johnny Mowlem, Ivor Dunbar and Charlie Hollings rounded out the top ten and completed 148 laps. 

The #20 MRS GT-Racing Porsche 991 Cup of Charlie Espenlaub, Charlie Putnam and Xavier Maassen leads the Cup class and are 11th overall after completing 144 laps. They lead the class by a lap.

The lone Code 60 occurred right at the start of the race when the #55 AF Corse Ferrari made contact with the #88 Dragon Racing Ferrari of Alex Kapadia in turn one and forced Kapadia into the #87 GDL Racing Porsche of Mario Cordoni. The Code 60 lasted just over 33 minutes. The #88 Ferrari completed 64 laps but ended up retiring. The #87 GDL Racing Porsche is still running but is last overall and have completed 61 laps. The #88 Dragon Racing Ferrari was the lone retirement from the first half of the race. 

The final half of the Gulf 12 Hours will begin at 5:45 p.m. local time (9:45 a.m. ET). 

Twin 12-Hour Endurance Race Weekend Preview

There are two, 12-hour endurance races that feature GT3 stacked grids this weekend and not only does it test the strength and global reach of the GT3 regulations but it gives us a wonderful last hooray to the 2015 motorsports season in the middle of December.

Gulf 12 Hours
The fifth edition of the unique Gulf 12 Hours will be run on Friday from the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Nineteen cars are entered, 12 in the GT3-class, five in the 991 Cup class, one Renault RS01 and one Wolf GB08.

Three-quarters of the GT3 field are Ferrari 458 Italias and last year's winners, AF Corse return with three of them. The #50 Ferrari will be driven by Francisco Guedes, Alexander Moiseev and Ricardo Ragazzi. Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellachi and Andrea Rizzoli will make up the #51 Ferrari. Marco Cioci returns and will be joined by Jack Gerber and Ilya Melnikov in the #55 Ferrari.

Davide Rigon won last year's race driving for AF Corse with Stephan Wyatt and Michele Rugolo. Rigon will be in one of three Ferraris entered by Kessel Racing and his co-drivers will be Giacomo Piccini and Michel Broniszewski in the #11 Ferrari. Loris Capirossi makes his Gulf 12 Hours debut driving for Kessel Racing. Nicola Cadei and Alexis De Bernardi will be the MotoGP champions' co-drivers in the #65 Ferrari. Marco Zanuttini, Michael Lyons and Vadim Gitlin will be in the #99 Kessel Racing entry.

Black Pearl Racing by Rinaldi's #38 Ferrari will be driven by Pierre Kaffer, Steve Parrow and Alexander Volz.

Johnny Mowlem, Charlie Hollings and Ivor Dunbar will drive the #25 FF Corse Ferrari.

The #88 Ferrari has been entered by Dragon Racing and their three drivers are Frédéric Fatien, John Harsthorne and Alex Kapadia.

Black Falcon entered two Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3s with Jeroen Bleekemolen, Maro Engel and Khaled Al Qubaisi sharing the #1 Mercedes and Hubert Haupt, Yelmer Buurman and Abdulaziz Al Faisal in the #2 Mercedes. Haubt, Buurman and Al Faisal won the Dubai 24 Hour back in January with Oliver Webb.

The lone Aston Martin in the race will be #44 Motorbase Performance Oman Racing Team Vantage GT3 of Darren Turner, Jonny Adam and Ahmad Al Harthy.

Two of the 991 Cup class cars features American drivers. The #20 MRS GT-Racing Porsche features Charles Espenlaub and Charles Putman and Dutch driver Xavier Maassen. The #67 GDL Racing entry will see Jim Michaelian partner with Bashar Mardini and Roberto Rayneri. The Wolf GB08 of Avelon Formula will be driven by Angelo Negro, Philipp Protte, Amro Al Hamad and Sam Taheri.

The Gulf 12 Hours has retained its unique two 6-hour race format. The first half of the event will start at 9:30 a.m. local time (12:30 a.m. ET) and run six hours. A two-hour and fifteen-minute intermission will take place with the final six-hour leg beginning at 5:45 p.m. local time. (8:45 a.m. ET).

Sepang 12 Hours
On Saturday, the 16th running of the Sepang 12 Hours will take place at the Sepang International Circuit. Two-dozen cars are entered, 13 of which are in the GT3 class and unlike the Gulf 12 Hours, there are six manufactures represented in the class.

Clearwater Racing has won two consecutive Sepang 12 Hours and driver Mok Weng Sun will try to make it three consecutive Sepang 12 Hours victories and he could set the record for most Sepang 12 Hours victories if he get his fourth. Gianmaria Bruni returns to Sepang looking for his second consecutive victory in the event. James Calado and Matt Griffin have been called in to round out the line-up in the #1 Ferrari 458 Italia.

There are three other Ferraris entered. The #11 Singha Motorsport Team entry will be shared by Davide Rizzo, Piti Bhirom Bhakdi, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Carlo van Dam. Naza Nexus Racing has entered the #27 Ferrari and Adrian Henry D Silva, Joshua Lee Hunt and Dominic Ang Ding Xiong are the drivers. The French Sport Garage will have Georges Cabanne, Jean Paul Buffin, Romain Brandela and Gerald Tan Wee Jun pilot the #42 Ferrari.

Bentley has entered two factory cars. The #8 Continental GT3 will features 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series champions Maximilian Buhk, Andy Soucek and Maxime Soulet. Steven Kane, Guy Smith and the other half of the 2015 BSS championship winning pair, Vincent Abril are the drivers for the #9 Bentley.

Audi has entered four R8 LMSs. The #15 Audi Hong Kong Powered by Phoneix Racing Asia entry has Marchy Lee, Shaun Thong and Alex Yoong listed as their drivers. Phoenix Racing has also entered the #16 Audi for Niki Mayr-Meinhof, Nicki Thiim and Markus Winkelhock. The Blancpain GT Series regular Belgian Audi Club Team WRT has two cars entered. The #17 features Stéphane Ortelli, Laurens Vanthoors, who is returning to competition for the first time since suffering injuries in the penultimate round of the BSS at Misano. Stuart Leonard rounds out the #17's driver line-up. The #150 Audi will be driven by Enzo Ide, Christopher Mies and Christopher Haase.

Asian Le Mans Series regulars Team AAI has entered a Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3. Han Chen Chen, Hirki Yoshimoto, Nobuteru Taniguchi and Tatsuya Tanigawa will pilot the #35 Mercedes.

AMAC Motorsport has entered the #51 Porsche 997 GT3 R for Warren Luff, James Winslow and Andrew MacPherson.

Hiroshi Hamaguchi, Andrew Watson, Andrea Caldarelli and Álvaro Parente will drive the #55 McLaren 650s GT3 for FFF Racing Team by ACM.

Seven entries make up the GTC class. Notable entries are the #23 Giti/Top Speed Lamborghini Super Trofeo Huracán of Yuan Bo, James Munro, Afriq Yazid and Martin Rump, the #26 B-Quick Racing Audi R8 LMS Cup V10 of Henk Kiks, Daniel Bilski and Peter Kox, the #33 CPK Racing Porsche 911 Carrera Cup of William Wang Wooi Meng, YS Lim and John Martin and the #777 Team NZ Motorsports Porsche 997 Cup will be driven by Will Bamber, John Curran, Graeme Dowsett and Alif Mohamed Hamden.

Every single winner of the Sepang 12 Hours has featured an Asian driver. Porsche has the most victories in the event with four. Audi, Bentley and McLaren have all yet to win the Sepang 12 Hours.

The race begins at noon local time on Saturday (11:00 p.m. ET Friday) and ends when the clock strikes midnight on Sunday morning (11:00 a.m. ET Saturday).

Over/Unders
1. Over or Under: 3.5 Ferraris in the top five at the end of the first half of the Gulf 12 Hours?
2. Over or Under: 6.5 cars completing 300 laps in the Sepang 12 Hours?

Last Week's Over/Unders
1. Over: Mark Winterbottom won the V8 Supercars championship by 238 points over Craig Lowndes.
2. Under: Only one of the Ginetta LMP3 cars raced and it completed only 163 of 690 laps.

Predictions
1. AF Corse gets one car on the Gulf 12 Hours podium but does not win the race.
2. Two Audis finish on the overall podium at Sepang.

Last Week's Predictions
1. A manufacture that isn't Holden or Ford wins at least one race at Homebush (Wrong. Holden swept the weekend).
2. Rain will prevent the winner of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill from completing 700 laps (Correct. The #45 Flying Lizard Motorsport Audi completed 690 laps and it did rain).
Overall: 1/2 Running Tally: 36.5/68

Musings From the Weekend: It Has Only Been A Week But...

December isn't the most active time in the motorsports season but there was a championship decided in Sydney and there was an endurance race in Northern California. However, there has been a lot of news coming from a series that has not raced since August. That's right. We are talking IndyCar boys and girls. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

It Has Only Been A Week But...
IndyCar has had a December to remember.

I was starting to get worried.

Prior to Thanksgiving, the news broke that Sage Karam and Chip Ganassi Racing had parted ways. It was the worst timing for that kind of news. You never want bad news to break before a holiday. You want that time with family to be special and having bad news like that be so recent, it is difficult to have a good time.

Then came the news that KV Racing is strongly considering not running a second car if they can't find a good partner for Sébastien Bourdais. To be honest, this is just code for saying "we need the funding." However, KV is probably looking for a better second driver after having Sebastián Saavedra and Stefano Coletti be Bourdais' teammates. To be fair to Coletti, he was a rookie in 2015 and was going to majority of the tracks for the first time. You can't hold a driver to their rookie season being the end-all be-all. They need at least a second season maybe even a third to firmly grasp IndyCar.

With those two seats in question, the IndyCar grid appeared to be shrinking. The series did a good job average over two dozen cars per race in 2015 and IndyCar should shoot for that grid size, if not shoot for 26 cars at each race because there are so many drivers interested in IndyCar. Twenty-two cars is not a bad grid size (it's bigger than the Formula One grid) but that's not enough for IndyCar.

Then December began and the whole picture was turned upset down (at least it appears that way).

Mikhail Aleshin appears to be set to return to IndyCar full-time in 2016 for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports after having his 2014 season end early after suffering injuries prior to the Fontana race and returned for the Sonoma season finale this past August and finished ninth.

December 3rd came and around lunchtime, the rumor came out that Conor Daly is working on a ride in 2016 with Dale Coyne Racing. Around dinnertime, Sage Karam sent out this tweet:

Very very very positive day. Great phone calls!

— Sage Karam (@SageKaram) December 3, 2015

And less than an hour later, news broke that in a partnership between Australian Brett Murray and KV Racing will provide Matthew Brabham with a ride to attempt to make the 100th Indianapolis 500 next May as well as the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in the PIRTEK Team Murray entry.

To top it off, on Friday, the reports came out that Sage Karam and Ganassi are still working on a ride for next year.

If you think IndyCar races are unpredictable, the IndyCar offseason is even more bonkers. It's been quiet since August but the doors have been blown open in the last few days. This could all end up as eggs in our faces come March. We have seen plenty of rides announced fall apart. Remember when Chase Austin signed with AJ Foyt Racing to attempt the Indianapolis 500 and remember when Jay Howard signed to attempt to make the 99th Indianapolis 500 in a second car for Bryan Herta Autosport? Remember when it appeared that Alexander Rossi was going to be driving for Dale Coyne Racing in 2015? None of those happen and while I don't want to see Brabham's deal fall apart or Daly end up without a full-time ride again or Aleshin's money end up being blocked because of U.S. sanctions with Russia (although I wouldn't rule it out), I am going to stay alert and not act like it is a definite until the cars roll out on track in the season opener from St. Petersburg (or in Brabham's case, Indianapolis).

I think the fourth Ganassi seat is a stretch but I think the second KV seat could be a perfect landing spot for Sage Karam. He has some money and he has experience in IndyCar. Would he be able to collaborate with Bourdais and help him out? Probably not but he is fast and while KV has been burned by young drivers the last few seasons, Karam could be the driver to buck that trend.

Another landing spot I was thinking about for Karam was Andretti Autosport. He has history with the team, he has history with the family and the fourth Andretti Autosport appeared to be set for Justin Wilson before his accident at Pocono. Andretti already has one young, quick driver in Carlos Muñoz but Karam could be a positive addition for that team. The fourth Andretti seat has been quiet since the death of Wilson. There is still a lot of time until the start of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season but right now Andretti appears to be set for three cars next year.

Just like recent IndyCar offseasons, there are more drivers looking for a ride than seats available. Jack Harvey has been working on a ride and he was strongly linked to a promotion within SPM to IndyCar but with Aleshin swiping that seat, Harvey's IndyCar future is now in doubt. Spencer Pigot has three races on his slate for 2016 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing but we all know he isn't going to settle for three races. He is going to want a full-time ride. Max Chilton is interested in IndyCar. Stefan Wilson is working on an Indianapolis 500 ride. Surely there is at least one or two drivers in Europe that are considering coming across the pond.

Neither AJ Foyt Racing seat has been announced. You never know with Dale Coyne Racing. I can't see Bryan Herta Autosport expanding to two cars and I can't see SPM going to three. The Brabham deal is intriguing for the Indianapolis 500. Since Team Murray has a partnership with KV Racing, does that mean the Jonathan Byrd's Racing partnership will not continue into 2016? KV ran four cars at Indianapolis in 2014 but could that entry have a partnership with another team in 2016? Add to the list of planned Indianapolis 500 one-offs Grace Autosport with Katherine Legge set to be the driver. There is the pie-in-the-sky Marotti Racing, that dreams of competing in May. If Ganassi doesn't have a fourth car full-time it appears likely that they will have a fourth car at Indianapolis for Ryan Briscoe, who will be competing for the factory Ford GT program in IMSA next year. Pippa Mann will likely continue to work with Dale Coyne Racing. If Andretti doesn't have a fourth car full-time, they will have one at Indianapolis. CFH Racing ran a third car for JR Hildebrand last year and that worked out pretty well. Foyt ran a third car last year even though they said they wouldn't. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing could return, Lazier Partners Racing could return, SPM could run a one-off and with the 100th Indianapolis 500 on the horizon, perhaps there will be an abundance of entries that we haven't seen since the days right after reunification.

Once again, there is a lot of time until St. Petersburg and a hell of a lot more until the Indianapolis 500. Today, things look peachy. A month from now, the sky could be falling and IndyCar could be a wounded duck heading for a crash-landing with planet earth. But for today, let's be positive. Let's believe that 2016 will be special. Let's believe something great is upon us.

Champion From the Weekend
Mark Winterbottom won the V8 Supercars championship, his first career title.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about what happened Saturday from Sydney but did you know...

Shane Van Gisbergen won the V8 Supercars finale from Homebush Street Circuit. It is the third consecutive season Van Gisbergen has won the final race of the season.

The #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS of Johannes van Overbeek, Darren Law, Guy Cosmo, Tomonobu Fuji and Thomas Sadler won the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.

Other class winners from the 25 Hours of Thunderhill:
ESR class: #69 Gryphon Racing Praga of Joseph Barone, Danny van Dongen, Paul Blickman and Ari Straus.
E0: #30 El Diablo BMW of James Clay, Lance Boicelli, Cameron Evans, Dale Sievwrig, James Colborn and Charles Postins.
E1: #0 Grip Racing BMW of Tristan Littlehale, Joseph DePillo, Mark Mitchell, Harold Petit and David DePillo.
E2: #34 RDR Mazda RX-8: Joel Miller, Lee Pappageorge, Dennis Holloway and Jeremy Barnes.
E3: #40 RAmotorsport40 Mazda Miata of Dion Johnson, Richard Lucquet, David Geringer and Doug Clark.
NP01: #6 CLP Motorsports NP01 of Tyler McQuarie, Jeremy Croiset, Tom Dyer, Marc Miller and Pat O'Keefe.

Coming Up This Weekend
The Gulf 12 Hours will be Friday from Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
The Sepang 12 Hours will be Saturday from Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.

Winterbottom Wraps Up First Title Day Early

The 36th race of the 2015 V8 Supercars season will be a dead-rubber as Ford's Mark Winterbottom clinched the title in Saturday's second race from the Homebush Street Circuit.

The Prodrive Racing Australia driver started on pole position in race one of the weekend and championship rival Craig Lowndes started last. Winterbottom slipped back a few positions while the outgoing champion Jamie Whincup jumped from fifth to first and extended his streak of podium finishes to seven. Whincup held off the #97 Holden of Shane Van Gisbergen by just over a second for the victory. Brad Jones Racing's Jason Bright finished third, his first podium since the third race at Sydney Motorsports Park. James Courtney made it a sweep of the top four for Holden with Winterbottom rounding out the top five.

Lowndes was only able to go from 25th to 15th in race one, allowing Winterbottom to add 25 points to his championship total before race two of the weekend.

For race two, Whincup started on pole position with David Reynolds in second and Van Gisbergen in third. Winterbottom would start fourth with Courtney and Volvo driver Scott McLaughlin rounding out row three. DJR Team Penske's Scott Pye and Tim Walkinshaw Racing's Lee Holdsworth started on row four ahead of Lowndes and Bright.

Whincup would dominate race two with Reynolds staying in tow. Whincup now has 97 career V8SC victories and has won five of the last eight races entering Sunday's season finale. Reynolds' second place finish in race 35 of the season has clinched him third in the championship, his best championship position in his five-year V8SC career. This is the best championship finish for a Rod Nash Racing entry. Winterbottom finished third and clinched his first career championship. It was his first podium since finishing second at Bathurst. Courtney finished fourth for the second consecutive race and McLaughlin rounded out the top five.

Van Gisbergen finished sixth with Lowndes finishing seventh. Nissan Motorsports Rick Kelly finished eighth with Pye and Holdsworth rounding out the top ten.

Winterbottom is the first Ford driver to win the V8 Supercars championship since 2010 when James Courtney won the title for Dick Johnson Racing. It is also the first title for a Prodrive Racing Australia driver.

While Winterbottom has wrapped up the drivers' title the teams' championship currently is in the grasp of Red Bull Racing Australia entering the final race of 2015. The partnership of Lowndes and Whincup has scored 5,450 points to Prodrive Racing Australia's 5,434 points. Red Bull Racing Australia has won five consecutive teams' championship. The last time a Ford team won the teams' championship was 2008 when Red Bull Racing Australia (under the branding of Triple Eight Race Engineering) beat Ford Performance Racing (now known as Prodrive Racing Australia) by 55 points.

The final race of the V8 Supercars season will be 74 laps, 250 kilometers in length. Shane Van Gisbergen has won the final round of the season the last two years. It will be his final race for Tekno Autosport before moving to Red Bull Racing Australia in 2016.

Friday Finales: Homebush and Thunderhill

It might be the first weekend of December but the motorsport season is not over and there are two events taking place and a championship to be decided. One driver goes for his first title while another is looking for his first championship in 16 years. Meanwhile, a slew of stars get together for an endurance race in Southern California.

Homebush
Two drivers enter the V8 Supercars season finale from Homebush Street Circuit in Sydney Olympic Park with a shot at the 2015 championship.

Mark Winterbottom enters with the title within his grasp. The Prodrive Racing Australia Ford driver leads Red Bull Racing Australia Holden's Craig Lowndes by 179 points with 300 points left on the table. Winterbottom has nine victories and 15 podiums from the first 33 races but has not stood on the podium since finishing second to Lowndes in the Bathurst 1000. Lowndes has six victories; including two at the most recent round at Phillip Island. Lowndes has finished on the podium in the last four races and has 16 podiums total.

Since Bathurst, Winterbottom has finished outside the top ten in three of eight races, while Lowndes has finished in the top four in seven of eight races with a retirement in the second race from Pukekhohe Park Raceway being the lone blemish on his résumé in the last six weeks.

Winterbottom has finished in the top five of the championship every year since he joined what was Ford Performance Racing in 2006. He finished second to Jamie Whincup in the 2006 championship and has finished third in the championship five times, including last year. Lowndes is a three-time championship but his last title came in 1999. Since his last title, Lowndes has finished runner-up in the championship five times, three times to his teammate Whincup. Lowndes' first championship in 1996 is the only time he has won the title and the Bathurst 1000 in the same year.

Both drivers have won on the Homebush Street Circuit. Lowndes has two victories and Winterbottom has one. The two drivers split the 2011 races with Lowndes winning race one of the Sydney 500 weekend in 2012. Holden has won the last five races on the Homebush Street Circuit and nine of 13 races. Ford has won the other four races.

25 Hours of Thunderhill
The final major endurance race of the year in the United States takes place this weekend. The 14th running of 25 Hours of Thunderhill features an Indianapolis 500 winner, a NASCAR Cup champion and some of the best from American sports car racing. This race will feature a new edition to the grid: LMP3 machinery.

The #17 Davidson Racing Norma BMW won last year's race and Brian Frisselle, Kyle Marcelli and Randy Pobst are entered in the #17 Norma. However, standing in the team's way of another win in the event will be three Ginetta LMP3s of Ryno Racing. The #5 Ginetta will have Randy Carpenter, Ryan Carpenter and George Kurtz behind the wheel. Those three are also entered in the #8 Ginetta alongside Colin Braun and Ethan Stone. Randy Carpenter and Stone are also entered the #20 Ginetta.

Al Unser, Jr. will return in the #52 JFC Racing Wolf-GB08MJ-K20 alongside Miles Jackson, Todd Harris and Ryan Eversley. ONE Motorsports has entered two Radical SR3s. John Shafer and John Falb are entered in both the #63 and #67 Radicals with Todd Slusher entered in the #63 and Sean Rayhall entered in the #67. All the entries above are entered in the ESR class.

Davidson Racing has a car entered in the ES class. The #16 DR Eagle will be driven by Alex Lloyd, Brad Frisselle, Dion von Moltke and Brandon Kraus. The #3 Team Quick Racing Products Superlite SLC will feature Mike Skeen, Darrell Anderson, Chris Durbin and Kurt Rezzetano. Other ES class entries to keep an eye on are the #06 Stammer, Inc./Bavarian Performance BMW M3 of Jeffrey Stammer, Derek Welch, Eddie Nakato and Matt Crandall and Flying Lizard Motorsports has entered an Audi R8 LMS for Johannes van Overbeek, Guy Cosmo, Darren Law and Tomonobu Fujii.

Mazda has entered four Global MX-5 Cup cars in the E0 class. The #07 Mazda will be shared by Ken Saward, John Stott, Jeronimo Esteve and Stevan McAllen. In the #55 Mazda will be Taz Harvey, Richard Fisher and Randy Miller. Camden Jones, Mike Allen, Ben Robertaccio and Michael Brockman will drive the #56 Mazda and Robert DeVaux, Liam Dwyer and Nathan Edmonds will be in the #70 Mazda. CA Sport has entered two Nissan 370Zs. The #15 will be shared by Ric Shaw, Philip Alexander, Stephan Borness and Dave Cox and the #33 will be driven by Ray Mason, Lara Tallamn, Carl Rydqvist, Vesko Kozarov and Byron Smith. Another E0 class to keep an eye on is the #61 RoadShagger Racing BMW M3 of Gavin Ernstone, Jon Morley, Thomas Merrill and Kurt Busch.

Over/Unders
1. Over or Under: 100.5 points separating the V8 Supercars champion and second?
2. Over or Under: 1.5 Ginetta finishing at least 75% of the race winner's lap total?

Last Week's Over/Unders
1. Over: Eight points separated the top two in the GP3 championship.
2. Under: One South American scored points in Abu Dhabi. Felipe Massa finished eighth.
3. Over: One victory for Stoffel Vandoorne in Abu Dhabi.
4. Over: Two podiums for not Citroën drivers. Hugo Valente in a Chevrolet and Nobert Michelisz in a Honda.

Predictions
1. A manufacture that isn't Holden or Ford wins at least one race at Homebush.
2. Rain will prevent the winner of the 25 Hours of Thunderhill from completing 700 laps.

Last Week's Predictions
1. Esteban Ocon takes the GP3 championship and wins a race this weekend (Correct and Wrong. Ocon won the title but did not win a race).
2. There are at least two changes in championship position after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Wrong. One change. Kimi Räikkönen jumped Valtteri Bottas).
3. Stoffel Vandoorne leaves Bahrain as the sole all-time leader in GP2 victories (Correct. He won race one).
4. Mehdi Bennani finishes in the top ten of the WTCC standings (Correct. He finished eighth).
Overall: 2.5/4 Running Tally: 35.5/67

2015 Formula One Predictions: Revisited

The final predictions to revisit come from the world of Formula One. The season ended Sunday under the lights from Abu Dhabi and now it's time to go back and see what was predicted last December. There were some terrible predictions and there were a few good ones. Take a look for yourself.

1. Mercedes Stays in Control
Correct! Lewis Hamilton won ten races. Nico Rosberg won six. For the second consecutive season, Mercedes won all but three races. They won 18 of 19 pole positions. The Constructors' Championship was locked up in Russia. Hamilton clinched the World Drivers' Championship in the United States. They had twelve 1-2 finishes and put two cars on the podium 15 times. There were moments when we all wondered if the team was losing it's grasp (Malaysia, Singapore) but they rebounded each time.

2. Daniel Ricciardo and Williams Give Mercedes a Little More Run For Their Money
Wrong! Ferrari jumped both Red Bull and Williams and Sebastian Vettel won three races and the lone pole position not to go to Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finished fourth and fifth in the championship and Ricciardo dropped to seventh with Daniil Kvyat jumping him in the championship by finishing sixth. We all know about Red Bull's saga with Renault. The fact that each Red Bull driver had a runner-up finish (both to Vettel) is impressive enough. Neither Williams driver scored a runner-up finish. Williams wasn't able to build on their 2014 success. Bottas and Massa each had a good season but did not improve.

3. Fernando Alonso Finishes Ahead of Sebastian Vettel
Wrong! This was the dumbest prediction of them all. McLaren was smoked. I thought the turmoil at Ferrari would spill over to 2015 and Vettel would struggle and I thought the McLaren was bound to come around and be competitive by the middle of the season. Neither happened. Vettel won his second start with Ferrari. Alonso called the Honda engine a GP2 engine. 

4. There Will Not Be 20 Cars on the Grid in Australia
Correct! Neither Manor made it to the grid but just to add a cherry on top to the prediction, Valtteri Bottas missed the race due to a back injury suffered in qualifying, Kevin Magnussen's engine went sour before making it to the grid, ending the Dane's substitution role in place of a concussed Fernando Alonso and Daniil Kvyat had a gearbox issue on the grid. Only 15 cars started the race. 

5. There Will Not Be 21 Races in 2015
Correct! The Korean Grand Prix didn't happen and the German Grand Prix fell apart. Nineteen rounds. Formula One will go for 21 in 2016 as Germany is set to return with the race at Hockenheim and the European Grand Prix returns as Azerbaijan is set to host its first Formula One race. However, with the future of the United States Grand Prix in doubt, 21 races might not happen in 2016 either. 

6. Neither Toro Rosso Driver Scores More Than 22 Points
Wrong! Max Verstappen scored 49 points by himself. Carlos Sainz, Jr. managed only 18 points. Verstappen was impressive this year. Two fourth-place finishes, he scored in six consecutive races at one point and he also stepped on some toes along the way. Toro Rosso got it right at the start of the season while the senior team, championship winning Red Bull Racing, struggled. No one saw that coming. 

7. Sauber Scores at Least One Point
Correct! They scored 14 points in the first race alone with Felipe Nasr getting 10 points and Marcus Ericsson picking up four. Nasr ended his rookie season with 27 points and Ericsson only picked up nine but the team beat McLaren in the Constructors' Championship. Nasr had a respectable season but we didn't hear much from Ericsson and the Swede will be entering his third season next year. He will need to start showing better results.

8. At Least One Lotus Driver Finishes Ahead of a Force India Driver
Wrong! Sergio Pérez and Nico Hülkenberg finished ninth and tenth in the championship and Romain Grosjean finished 11th, seven points behind the German. Pérez had a much better season than I expected. Hülkenberg started well but after he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he leveled off and dipped somewhat in performance. Grosjean had a good season and took a surprise podium in Belgium after Sebastian Vettel suffered a tire failure on the final lap. 

9. Virtual Safety Car is Used At Least Nine Times in 2015
Wrong! I counted seven and if I stayed with my original gut instinct to say six, I would have been correct. Formula One seem hesitant to use VSC. They tried it at Monaco and then started using it for extended periods at Silverstone. It was used in Hungary, Belgium, Singapore and the United States twice. I think it went really well and I expect VSC to become more of a norm in 2016. 

10. A Team on the 2015 Grid Announces Their Intention to Leave F1 or is Sold Prior to the end of the Calendar Year
Correct... kind of. Renault signed a letter of intent to buy a controlling stake of Lotus F1 on September 30th. It hasn't gone through yet but I am counting it.

11. A Team Principal and/or Technical Director is Fired During the Season
Uh... technically no but Manor's team principal John Booth and technical director Graeme Lowdon announced their resignation in Mexico City citing difference with team owner Stephen Fitzpatrick. They weren't "fired" but their resignations seem to have come before they could be sacked.

12. We Hear Rumors of at Least Two Countries that Have Never Hosted F1 Before, Getting a Race in the Near Future
Wrong! We heard about Qatar at the start of the calendar year but haven't heard much since. I wonder if it is because the uncertain future of Formula One, as it appears to be up for sale.

Five-for-twelve. Definitely could have done better.

Musings From the Weekend: Driver-Constructor Conflict

November slips on its coat and prepares to walk out the door while December makes its way up the driveway with a bag of goodies in store. We are 11/12ths of the way through 2015. One month to go and there are very few series still competing. Formula One put the bow on its 2015 season, as did its support series and the World Touring Car Championship did the same. The next few weeks will see a race here and a race there as the wait for Christmas and the countdown to the New Year is underway. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.

Driver-Constructor Conflict
Watching Friday practice from Abu Dhabi and the NBCSN broadcasters were talking about the Brazilian Grand Prix and how Lewis Hamilton wanted to get off strategy to try and beat his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg. However, the Mercedes drivers have the same race strategist and both drivers were kept on the same strategy. Rosberg went on to win while Hamilton finished second.

The Mexican and Brazilian Grands Prix were not great races at all. In fact, I would say they were boring. I don't normally say a race is boring. I think there are plenty of things going on that can kept a race interesting even if the leader has ran away from the field but I just felt both races lack great battles anywhere on track.

Leigh Diffey brought up that in IndyCar you have multi-car teams and each driver has their own strategist and the races are great. I have little faith in the FIA, especially with Jean Todt in charge, but the easiest thing to do would be to make a rule that each driver must have their own strategist. The only problem is hierarchy of a Formula One team will make sure everyone is on the same page, even if strategists are designated to specific drivers.

How can Formula One overcome the hierarchy to improve racing? The one issue is the Constructors' Championship. Though Mercedes clinched the title many races ago, the team still wants their cars to come home one-two. Switching Hamilton's strategy could have caused him to jump Rosberg or it could have set him further back and dropped him to third. The team had no incentive to change strategies, as it was set for the best result possible by keeping the strategy the same. IndyCar doesn't have this problem because the only title that matters is the drivers' title. However, Formula One can't just abandon the Constructors' Championship, as it is too ingrained into the system of Formula One by deciding what each team gets paid each year.

I have been thinking about a few ways this conflict between the two titles could be alleviated:

1. Split the season and have half of the rounds count toward the Constructors' Championship and half toward the World Drivers' Championship.

2. Have a Constructors' Championship race on Saturday with a World Drivers' Championship race on Sunday.

3. Similar to the first option, have half the races on the schedule count toward both championship with one quarter only toward the Constructors' Championship and another quarter count only toward the World Drivers' Championship.

4. Have a separate points scoring system for the Constructors' Championship and have only the best finishing car from each team count toward the Constructors' Championship.

Here are problems with each option:

1. How do you decide which race counts toward which and would fans feel cheated if their grand prix was counting only toward the Constructors' Championship? I think we all like the Constructors' Championship but it is not the reason why we all tune in. We watch for the drivers. The drama is just different. People don't care if the constructors' title goes down to the final race but they do care about the drivers' title.

2. I think this option is the most intriguing but it would really water down the record books. Think about it. 38-40 races a year. Michael Schumacher's record for most grand prix victories would be surpassed by many drivers simply because there would be more races in a year than every before. The Constructors' Championship races could get their own section of the record book and be separate from grand prix victories. My idea would be to reduce qualifying to one, 15-minute session followed by a race that would last for 45 minutes.  It would give the fans more action and than the results from the race could be combined with the results from qualifying and averaged to set the grid for Sunday. For example, if a driver wins pole position but finishes fifth, that driver's average score would be 3 but if a driver starts and finishes second and the winner of the Saturday race started third, those drivers' scores would be 1 and 2 respectively and they would start first and second ahead of fastest qualifier.

3. Just like the first option, how would you decide what races would count to which championship and how do you convince fans that the Constructors' Championship-only race is just as exciting and worth the same price for a ticket of a World Drivers' Championship-only race?

4. I think this is the most doable but it really doesn't really solve the problem. Let's say the separate Constructors' Championship points system only paid the top five teams and it went 25-12-6-3-1, what incentive would there be to put Hamilton on another strategy? Sure, it wouldn't matter if he finished second or third because the second best team would still get 12 points but I don't think it would be worth it to a team to change it up.

I am sure there is a way to overcome these issues. I don't think the entire makeup of a grand prix weekend has to be altered and a simple rule change could produce better racing but I don't believe the powers in charge will make any changes anytime soon.

Champion From the Weekend
Esteban Ocon won GP3 Series championship with a fourth and third in Abu Dhabi.

Winners From the Weekend
You know about what happened in Qatar but did you know...

Nico Rosberg won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Stoffel Vandoorne won the GP2 Feature Race from Abu Dhabi. The sprint race was abandoned after a first lap accident involving four cars damaged the barriers that could not be repaired in enough time to finish the race before the Formula One race. It was the first abandoned race in GP2 history.

Marvin Kirchöfer and Álex Palou split the GP3 races at Yas Marina. It was Palou's first career GP3 victory.

Coming Up This Weekend
V8 Supercars season finale takes place on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park.
The 25 Hours of Thunderhill.