This ‘mid-strength’ CLA250 Sport 4matic is a quirky niche-carver, plugging a gap between the humble CLA200 and the herculean CLA45 AMG while sharing much of its oily make-up with the A250 Sport.
It’s good, but at $64,900 – $14,500 more than the handy A-Class – it would want to be.
Two other critical numbers are 155kW and 350Nm – modest outputs for such big coin. Yep, you’d want to really like its Honey-I-Shrunk-The-CLS styling. But unlike the front-drive A-Class, the CLA, in ‘250’ trim, is currently all-wheel drive only.
Crucially, the CLA strikes the same neat balance that makes the A-Class a sweetie; it’s a keen performer that’s comfortable to live with. There’s plenty of fizz while foregoing the 45’s manic nature and spine-fusing ride, but at 6.5sec 0-100km/h – two seconds slower – it’s nowhere near as quick either.
The 60kg-heavier CLA 4matic is only 0.1sec swifter to 100 than the front-driven 250 Sport and, frankly, the benefits of the front-drive-bias system, which engages the rear axle in 100ms on demand, seem, on initial impression, to be equally negligible when punted through corners.
The CLA points accurately, its grip levels handy rather than heroic. And while the AMG-developed dynamic package – 15mm lower, more aggressive front geometry, thicker anti-roll bars – helps it hustle through apexes at decent pace, an understeer-to-neutral balance is inevitable.
There are no torque vectoring smarts, and once the rear multi-clutch system fires a maximum of 50 per cent of torque rearward, you’re left with a safe, swift and predictable device, but not a terribly playful one.
Ride comfort is generally nice and disciplined, though a little choppy on poor surfaces. Road noise is apparent but far from annoying. In fact, the CLA is a pleasant place to clock up long distances. The turbocharged 2.0-litre and seven-speed dual-clutch marriage is sweet in Sport or Manual drive modes; a little too lazy in Comfort and Eco.
The cabin area is suitably sporty and well-appointed though you’d be hard pressed to find improved richness over the A-Class version, which kind of typifies the package as a whole.
For the price – particularly price-to-performance quotient – the middle-weight CLA should be a little more special beyond its exterior, especially with more affordable and quicker German all-wheel drive heroes, such as the Audi S3 and VW Golf R, now available.
Specs Engine 1991cc inline-4, DOHC, 16v, turbo Power 155kW @ 5500rpm Torque 350Nm @ 1200-4000rpm 0-100km/h 6.5sec (claimed) Weight 1540kg Price $64,900
3/5
ALMOST half a century after it last won a grand prix constructor’s title, the Brabham name may once again grace a bespoke race car – but this time, you could be a part owner.
Project Brabham, announced today by Sir Jack Brabham’s son David, aims to resurrect the motor sport dynasty’s name to take on the FIA World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
However, the cash needed to carry the team will come from crowdfunding – mums and dads, and anyone else with an interest in rebuilding the Brabham name – via a public appeal for support, and under the new team’s charter, all its race-honed knowledge will be laid before anyone who wants to see it – and add to it.
And if things work well, it could even spell the Brabham name’s return to formula one.
“Brabham aims to return to the track in the FIA World Endurance Championship next season with a three-year LMP2 program,” a release from the British-based team said.
“In year four, the marque will finally return as a constructor by way of LMP1, with firm intentions of winning the only world title for sportscars and the greatest endurance race on earth, the Le Mans 24 Hours.
“Series such as the FIA Formula E Championship could also be a consideration while Brabham hopes to one-day return to Formula One,” it said.
For as little as $2, those keen to buy a stake in the dream will have access to an online portal that will allow them to “engage with Brabham on a new level, to live, breathe and learn through the highs and lows of creating, managing and sustaining a professional racing team”.
That includes a voice in collaborative team decisions, with Brabham seeking input on everything from its investor search, driver selection process and building its premises to the first car build, test and race.
It has an educational role, too, with a portal allowing users to develop the team’s racing technology, as well as learning about race engineering via online modules.
“I am a big believer in the power of collective thinking and see many advantages in this model that will help Brabham become a winning team once again, but in a new and inspiring way,” David Brabham said in a statement announcing the project.
“Who knows where that could lead? Back to Formula One, I hope.
“It will stretch people’s thinking, but I believe the time is right for a change and I am excited at what opportunities lie ahead,” he said.
The team has five weeks to attract enough investors to kick-start the project.
MERCEDES-BENZ has revealed its first images of the AMG C63 due on sale in Australia next year.
Mercedes-AMG has revealed the red-hot C63 S sedan that stumps up
BMW M3 crushing mighty maximums – 375kW and 700Nm – from its twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8. Making its debut in the metal at next week’s Paris motor show, Mercedes Australia has already confirmed that it will take exclusively the S model instead of a slightly less bonkers version of the C63, which offers a less powerful 350kW and 650Nm that would still put the M3 and M4’s 317kW in the shade.
In great news for wagon lovers, the wilder engine will also shoehorn under the bonnet of a C63 S Estate due for launch in Europe in April.
Mercedes-AMG’s performance numbers are stunning, running a claimed 4.0sec 0-100km/h sprint for the S sedan, and only 4.1sec for the S Estate. The less powerful versions are naturally a little slower … by 0.1sec.
Crucially, Mercedes-AMG makes it clear there will differences between the hand-built-at-Affalterbach V8 for the C63 and the closely related engine for the company’s forthcoming GT. The sedan and wagon will use the version codenamed M177, while the heart of the two-seat sports car will beat with a variant of the twin-turbo V8 incorporating changes sufficient to earn its own codename, M178.
The pre-show C63 tech-tease does answer some important questions on what Mercedes-AMG has done to make these rear-drive torque-monsters manageable. The 700Nm S models are equipped with an electronic locking differential, which the go-fast factory claims provides “faster and more finely tuned control, thus pushing the physical limits of the driving envelope even higher”. The standard 350kW/650Nm C63 will have a purely mechanical limited-slip differential.
While the regular C63 will wear standard 18-inch wheels, the S will have a standard 19-inch wheel and tyre package, plus a fourth mode – Race – for its seven-speed auto. AMG says the Speedshift MCT transmission has been extensively redeveloped for the C63, and now shifts gears faster than ever.
The options list will include some tempting items. AMG Ride Control adds three-stage adjustable dampers to the suspension, already much modified for duty in the C63. There’s also a “Performance” exhaust system for both C63 and C63 S, with three switchable flaps instead of the standard system’s one.
The C63’s predecessor was AMG’s best-selling model, racking up 40,000 buyers globally during its lifetime, and the new C63 should continue in the same vein.
One thing it won’t have, though, is the same name.
“We are marking the beginning of a new era with the new nomenclature,” says AMG chief Tobias Moers. “The successor to the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, which has been incredibly successful worldwide, will now be called the Mercedes-AMG C63.”
The new-name C63 is scheduled to arrive in Australia months later than Europe, in mid 2015. A Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman confirmed the S sedan would arrive first, adding that decisions on also importing the S estate and the regular 350kW C63 models were yet to be made.
Australia is one of Mercedes-Benz’s strongest global markets for AMG. Last year, one in every 10 Benz-badged models rolling out of showrooms also featured an AMG badge.
It’s been five years since Jaguar has graced us with an XJR, but now it’s back, and an altogether more serious proposition.
It marks the first time the badge has appeared on the X351-generation XJ and, just as the current car’s styling betrays the pipe-and-slippers image of XJs past in favour of Ian Callum’s fresh, modern design, this time around the XJR has quite a bit more animal to it than the soft, if swift, cruisers of old.
Having the ultimate 405kW/680Nm spec of Jaguar’s 5.0-litre supercharged V8 under the bonnet plays a big part in this personality shift. Allied to ZF’s sweet-shifting eight-speed automatic, it’s fast enough to make full throttle feel like a real achievement. The punch is instantaneous, the power seemingly endless, and the noise both cultured and savage at the same time, like James Bond in a street fight.
On cold tyres or wet roads, rear grip is alarmingly limited, the XJR slithering around like Steven Bradbury. With the tyres up to temperature, traction is strong, though with this much grunt sideways movement is only a flex of the right foot away.
Jaguar’s chief chassis guru, Mike Cross, is renowned as one of the world’s most accomplished oversteer practitioners and his influence is apparent in the smooth way the rear tyres let go.
Even with the stiffer, sportier ‘Dynamic Mode’ engaged, the XJR remains relatively soft in its set-up and light in its controls. This requires a period of acclimatisation: drive smoothly and accurately and you’ll be rewarded; try and manhandle the car and it’ll fight back accordingly like its feline namesake.
At the very edge of the handling envelope some cracks start to appear – such as the steering shimmying in your hands over mid-corner bumps – but it’s possibly excusable given how few of these cars will be driven to their limit.
Ride quality is generally calm and supple, though continued small bumps or harsh impacts can send a ripple through the bodyshell. It lacks the bank-vault solidity of its German rivals, which spoils the beatific calm somewhat.
Is it a by-product of the XJ’s all-aluminium construction? I’m not sure, but heavy use of the lightweight material keeps the British limo’s weight to a relatively lithe 1876kg, virtually identical to the smaller XFR-S with which it shares its engine.
What the XJR has in spades is charm, which for once isn’t a synonym for ‘not very good’. It’s not as supremely polished as an S-Class, but it’s much more fun; it’s not as fast as an Audi S8, but nor is it as clinical, and it’s a far better effort than the new Maserati Quattroporte GTS. The Panamera GTS just shades it in terms of pure ability, but there’s something about the XJR that gets under your skin.
Specs Engine 5000cc V8, DOHC, 32v, supercharger Power 405kW @ 6500rpm Torque 680Nm @ 2500-5500rpm Weight 1876kg 0-100km/h 4.6sec (claimed) Price $298,000
3.5/5
Too many SUVs? No such thing if you listen to a car industry obsessed with high-riding soft-roaders that look the business but will traverse little more than some half-flattened road kill.
Yet the boss of Nissan Australia, Richard Emery, has broken ranks with the current logic that all SUVs are good for profits and suggested the Japanese maker may cull some of its off-road and soft-road models.
Emery listed the compact and boldly styled Juke as the most likely to get the chop, while the two-pronged Patrol line-up will face a natural death by the end of 2016.
Even the swoopy Murano could be on the endangered SUV list as Nissan re-evaluates its seven-strong SUV line-up.
“We do have too many models, there’s no doubt about that,” said Emery more broadly about the Nissan range, citing an imminent culling of variants within some model ranges, including the Pulsar.
But Emery pointed specifically to SUV models that in the longer term may be exiled.
“We’re one of the few Nissan markets in the world … that has Juke, Qashqai, X-Trail, Pathfinder, Murano, Y61 and Y62,” he said. “It may well be that we’re forced to choose between some of them, even though we might be able to mount a case for all of them.”
Emery pointed to the twin-pronged Patrol line-up – comprising the 16-year-old Y61 that’s sold to those who tow and those who go off-road and the newer Y62 that’s for those who dream of going off-road – as an obvious place to start.
“You don’t need Y61 and Y62 in an ideal world, so there’s one down,” he said.
“The next decision we’ll have to make is probably sometime this year about the next Murano. Current Murano runs out later next year.”
Emery said the Murano’s distinctive design and loyal customer base could be enough to give it a stay of execution and that he wanted to keep it on the books (the next generation model was previewed as the Resonance concept in 2013).
But he hinted there was crossover between it and the now softer Pathfinder with which it shares some mechanicals.
“My preference would be that you have a [single] product around Murano and Pathfinder that’s both petrol and diesel,” said Emery.
But Emery named the quirky Juke as the SUV most likely to be placed in front of the firing squad.
“That probably is the one car that is questionable,” he said. “The car comes out of Europe, so it’s expensive to make.”
But he said it provided some sexier relief to the staid Pulsar and created “a little bit of interest into that four-cylinder hatchback [market]” as well as “a little bit of niche difference in terms of how the car is styled”.
Emery said Australia would get the facelift of the current Juke, due in 2015, but that an all-new generation Juke – due about 2018 – was less solid than a NSW parliamentarian.
He said the Juke was currently soaking up the under-supply of Qashqais but that “if we can get the sort of Qashqai volumes that we want … and if we’ve established Qashqai strongly enough, you’d question whether you’d continue with Juke, but that decision is two or three years away”.
With all this talk of potential model cuts Emery also has his eyes on new models, even if they put pressure on existing models.
A mooted SUV version of the Navara – which was essentially what previous Pathfinders have been – could deliver the rugged ability and towing capability that would be lost with the Y61 Patrol.
“Hopefully there will be an opportunity for us for an SUV-based off Navara.”
And he reaffirmed that SUVs would continue to be an important part of Nissan’s future locally.
“We’ve got quite a reputation for having a strong SUV line-up and we don’t want to walk away from that.”
Then, of course, there’s the apparent anti-logic of ditching an SUV in an era when makers as diverse as Mazda, BMW, Lamborghini and Bentley are rushing to fill niches within niches of high riding wagons.
But Emery is not convinced the decisions to bring in some SUVs have been made rationally.
“That’s been a lot of kneejerk decisions by local car industry people that grab everything they possibly can to pick up their market share.”
The German retail arm of Mercedes-Benz has let slip images and details about the upcoming C63 AMG, due to make its public debut at the Paris Motor Show next week.
Except it’s not the C63 AMG anymore; following the convention established by the new AMG GT supercar, Merc’s new tyre-fryer will be known as the Mercedes-AMG C63, recognising the high-performance division’s increasing importance. Poor Karl Benz.
Enough waffle, let’s talk numbers. Like the GT, the C63 will feature AMG’s new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 in two states of tune, but we’ll only need to worry about the most potent version Down Under.
Mercedes Australia has confirmed that – initially at least – it will only be bringing in the ‘S’ version, which develops a thumping 375kW/700Nm, up 2kW and a whopping 90Nm over even the final-run C63 507.
With the move to forced induction, official fuel numbers have improved spectacularly, with the claimed figure expected to be around the 8.0L/100km mark. Not that we expect too many owners to be achieving that.
Thankfully, while its thirst has shrunk, its vocal ability hasn’t, judging by the below video featuring C63 test mules hammering around the ’Ring. AMG boss Tobias Moers has confirmed that there will be no aural trickery involved – that soundtrack is pure mechanical V8.
Further down the chain, a seven-speed automatic (expected to be a carryover transmission until Merc’s new nine-speed is engineered to handle the torque) will feed power to an electronically-controlled rear diff.
Mercedes is incredibly bullish about the capabilities of the new C63, with one insider stating it will blow the competition away with traction never before seen in a rear-wheel drive car. Fighting words.
Weight has dropped by 90kg, and the claimed 0-100km/h time is a supercar-like 4.0sec. Top speed remains limited to 250km/h, though we’d surprised if a higher top speed wasn’t available as an option.
Adaptive dampers feature for the first time, as does electrically-assisted power steering. The settings for each, as well as throttle response, gearbox ferocity and exhaust note, can be tweaked using the new AMG Dynamic Select system.
In good news for breeders, a wagon version of the new C63 will closely follow the sedan, with all the goodies but a 90kg weight penalty. Seems a small price to pay for something that looks so damn cool. We’ll have ours in white with black five-spoke 19s please.
It goes without saying that we’re salivating in anticipation of Merc’s new hot rod, and we’ll be lining up a comparison test with the BMW M3 as soon as it hits our shores.
Watch video of the new C63 spied testing on the Nürburgring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OPJ33z24Yw
You’re looking at the first official pictures of the 2015 Audi TT Roadster ahead of its debut at the Paris motor show and only weeks after Wheels first drove of the all-new Audi TT Coupe.
Like the fixed-roof version, the third-generation TT Roadster joins a small niche of two-seater soft-tops as varied as the new Mazda MX-5, Peugeot RCZ, Porsche Boxster and even the Jaguar F-Type Convertible. Built in the VW Group’s do-it-all MQB platform that underpins everything from Golf to Skoda Octavia, the aluminium-intensive TT Roadster makes the biggest fashion statement of a car that’s built its reputation on design rather the outright driving experience. Still the more potent TTS will whip from 0-100km/h in a scant 4.9sec.The fashion is taken care of with TT head designer Dany Garand’s sharp, crisp lines that are a huge departure from the curves of the original TT. Yet it transfers to the convertible much more convincingly than the coupe, headed by the the Audi signature single-frame grille and those evil-eyebrow LED headlights.
Its profile is stull unmistakably TT, yet it’s shorter (21mm), 10mm narrower and there’s more room inside, thanks to the 37mm longer wheelbase. At the rear, along with LED tail-lights, there’s an active spoiler that activates at an illegal-in-Oz 120km/h to keep the TT’s curvaceous rump on the ground, something your local highway patrol may be briefed on…With the fabric roof up, the TT Roadster has a commendable Cd of 0.30, but if you’re travelling at 50km/h or less, you can have it perform its Z-shape fold in ten seconds. The entire roof mechanism weighs 39kg, three kegs less than before, with Audi engineers focused on reducing its weight for the car’s centre of gravity and handling balance.
Its clever packaging means that it does not intrude on the 280-litre boot space, which is 25-litres less than the coupe’s boot. Second steel reinforcements in the aluminium A-pillars as well as changes to the rear box section for the rollover protection system see the Roadster weight more than the Coupe, but the entry-level car’s 1320kg is only 90kg more than the equivalent hard-top’s mass.
Inside, there’s the new ‘Audi Virtual Cockpit’, a stunning instrument display that sees the entire cluster used as a 12.3-inch TFT screen to show sat-nav, infotainment and for the more potent TTS Roadster, a third sports display.
The TT Roadster will be powered by the coupe’s 169kW 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, with the 228kW version reserved for the TTS. The base car can be optioned with quattro all-wheel drive, which is standard on the TTS. There’s also a 135kW 2.0-litre diesel unit on offer, while transmissions are six-speed manual or S tronic six-speed dual-clutcher. A seven-speed dual-clutch transmission will arrive in the yet-to-be-announced TT RS flagship.
The weight saving and more efficient engines see fuel economy improve to 4.3L/100km for the diesel, with a 6.0L/100km claim for the entry-level 2.0 TFSI.
In the Coupe, the manual and S tonic transmissions will be priced identically in the $77k (estimated) base car when it arrives in February, with the Roadster expected to cost around $81k when it arrives in mid-2015.
The Audi TT Roadster goes on sale in Australia in late 2015.
MOTOR mingles with some of the world’s wildest racecars: Bentley Continental GT3, McLaren 12C GT3, Ferrari 458 GT3 and more. Live from the final round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at the Nurburgring.
Expectation can be a dangerous thing. It brings with it the pressure to succeed and the possibility of failure. When it comes to cars, a sure-fire way of generating plenty of the ‘E’ word is asking almost half a million dollars for the privilege. Add in 95 years of provenance as one of the world’s leading premium marques and you’ve got one hell of a promise to fulfil.
It’s a relief, then, to report that Bentley’s new Continental V8 S does exactly what it says on the box, offering supreme comfort with a sporting bent. It’s a somewhat unique proposition, a cut above similarly-powered coupes like the BMW M6 and less overtly sporting than offerings from Maserati or Aston Martin. A Ferrari or Lambo? Far too brash. The new Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG Coupe? A formidable rival, but perhaps a touch Teutonic.
Landing in Australia at $405,600 for the coupe GT and $446,000 for the convertible GTC, the S asks for around $25,000 more than the standard V8 models yet undercuts its W12-powered sibling by a mere $3K. Why offer two separate yet similar models at virtually identical prices?
The answer is character, the difference between the two never more apparent than when the V8 S GT emits a loud whoompf on start-up. Even without the retina-searing Monaco Yellow paint job, one of two signature colours for the V8 S (the other being that worn by the GTC, Kingfisher Blue), prospective Continental owners who wish to remain discreet would be best advised to investigate the more subdued W12.
Introduced in 2013, the Audi-derived 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 produces 389kW/680Nm in S form, up 16kW/20Nm over the regular V8. It has plenty of high-tech features like direct-injection, turbochargers mounted within the vee of the engine to improve response and variable displacement to shut down four cylinders on a cruise, but thankfully the noise it produces is resolutely old school.
Hushed to a whisper on light throttle openings, sink the pedal into the deep pile carpet and the ZF eight-speed auto drops as many as five gears and a thunderous roar escapes the twin ‘figure of eight’ tail pipes.
Bentley claims 0-100km/h in 4.5sec for the coupe (4.7sec for the heavier convertible), which is perhaps a little ambitious, but it feels much faster than you’d expect from something weighing 2220kg. The convertible struggles a little out of slower corners, as even 680Nm takes a while to motivate 2395kg.
True speed freaks will no doubt still crave the giddying rush that only the 467kW/820Nm GT Speed can provide, but you’d have to be truly addicted to acceleration to forgo the V8 soundtrack.
Weighing as much as a Range Rover Sport, you’d forgive the big Bentley for being a bit continental in its handling characteristics, but it’s nothing of the sort. You’re really only conscious of its weight when you go in a bit hot, at which point you become very conscious of it very quickly. That and when the pungent aroma of brakes makes you acutely aware that the enormous composite rotors (420mm front; 356mm rear) are working very hard indeed.
Part of the solution has been to stiffen the GT’s chassis, with spring rates increased 45 per cent front and 33 per cent rear, 70 per cent stiffer bushes, a 54 per cent stiffer rear anti-roll bar, and a 10mm drop in ride height. This stiffness has not come at the expense of ride quality, as even on optional 21-inch wheels both cars smother bumps superbly, at least with the four-stage adjustable dampers set in either of the softer two settings. Such is the combination of comfort and control, the two stiffer settings seem redundant.
Though the V8 is 25kg lighter in the nose than the W12, weight distribution in the Coupe is still an unfavourable 57.5:42.5 front-to-rear (the convertible is slightly better balanced at 55.7:44.3) so it’s the front that inevitably gives up first in tight corners. But we can’t imagine too many owners are going to be flinging their Bentley around winding mountain passes, and as the corners open out the Continental comes into its own. It’s beautifully balanced and the rear-biased all-wheel drive system provides plenty of grip and confidence.
While there’s no doubt a diet wouldn’t go astray, the crew from Crewe are adamant weight is one of a Bentley’s defining characteristics, and there is a certain appeal to driving something that feels so substantial. The steering is weighty, the brake pedal firm and the bodyshell feels to have the integrity of an underground bank vault. Bentley claims the GTC is the world’s most torsionally rigid convertible, though back-to-back with the GT it does suffer a little over high-frequency bumps.
It also isn’t quite as capable in the bends as its hard-top sibling, but it does offer the driver better access to the bellowing exhaust and passers-by the chance to enjoy the beautifully crafted interior. Too often cars like this are let down by parts-bin fittings, but the Bentley’s cockpit feels special enough to almost make you forget the infotainment screen comes from a $40K Volkswagen.
Each of our test cars has a very different interior treatment, though what they share is an eye-watering optional extras list. The Coupe’s carbon-fibre centre console comes as part of the $36,965 ‘Extended Sports’ package, which also includes those composite brakes and the should-be-standard sports exhaust.
Then there’s the ‘Mulliner Driving Specification’, which adds those 21s, Bentley emblems in the headrests and diamond-quilted hide for $16,916; the premium Naim audio system adds $15K, the look-at-me paint job $11K and contrasting interior stitching another $4K. The total? $502,055 plus on-roads.
The classier, more subdued GTC is equally stacked to the hilt for a final ask of $544,810. Should equipment like massage seats, adaptive cruise control and a rear view camera be standard at this price point? Probably, but it’s difficult to imagine many customers haggling over a couple of grand. The full lists can be found on our website if you’re really curious.
For those that prefer their luxury coupes to be of the more wafting variety, the more raucous V8 S may be a step too far, but for our money it perfectly encapsulates what a Bentley should be: very fast and very comfortable but with a slightly rough edge. It’s like a character out of a Guy Ritchie movie, the automotive equivalent of a well-dressed gentleman who is hard as nails underneath the Saville Row suit. And we didn’t expect that.
Bentley Continental GT V8 S Engine: 3993cc V8, DOHC, 32v, twin-turbo Power: 389kW @ 6000rpm Torque: 680Nm @ 1700rpm Weight: 2220kg 0-100km/h: 4.5sec (claimed) Top Speed: 309km/h Price: $405,600
Score: 4/5
Bentley Continental GTC V8 S Engine: 3993cc V8, DOHC, 32v, twin-turbo Power: 389kW @ 6000rpm Torque: 680Nm @ 1700rpm Weight: 2395kg 0-100km/h: 4.7sec (claimed) Top Speed: 308km/h Price: $446,000
Score: 3.5/5
F1: Lewis charges to Singapore win and title lead
DISASTER struck the championship leader Nico Rosberg while his Mercedes AMG team-mate Lewis Hamilton raced to a fighting win under bright lights at a steamy 2014 Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday.
Rosberg, who enjoyed a useful 22-point advantage before the race, was forced to retire on lap 13 after a steering column wiring loom failure. The malfunction was first detected on the laps to the grid at the spectacular Marina Bay Street Circuit and ultimately left him stuck in neutral at his first pit stop.
For the fifth time in his Formula One career, Hamilton showed his dominance of a weekend with a clean sweep of pole position, fastest lap and the race win. He now leads the title race by three points.
When the lights went out, Hamilton tore off to secure an excellent buffer before a safety-car intervention brought the pursuers back on to his tail. But he again put a 26sec gap into Red Bull Racing pair Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso before making his final tyre stop, rejoining behind Vettel, the reigning world champ.
The Mercedes driver took less than a lap to reclaim the lead and thereafter was well in command to the flag.
Vettel and Ricciardo managed their tyre wear well enough to stay ahead of the equally rubber-impaired Alonso to claim the other podium places.
It was Vettel’s best result of the year, and Ricciardo nailed yet another podium, despite being compromised by intermittent battery issues.
Perth’s finest, who again out-qualified his four-time world champion team-mate to start third, lost out to Vettel and Alonso in the usual madness in the opening few seconds of what he regards as his second “home” race, Singapore being only 500km further from Perth than Melbourne.
Alonso cut the first chicane and had to give back a position to Vettel, but Ricciardo was not so lucky.
RBR team principal Christian Horner was not convinced that Alonso shouldn’t have been forced to also cede a position to Ricciardo after the Ferrari driver’s inventive pass. “After an interesting start, Fernando had to give back the position to Sebastian, but unfortunately not Daniel also.”
This and the pace car later meant the team was all about strategy on the fly.
“We went onto the soft tyre at the first stop; by the time we got to the second, Fernando had got the undercut on us, so we went onto the different tyre to change the strategy,” said Horner.
“Then the pace car came out and we were in a horrible situation of having to decide if the tyre could make it to the end. But the drivers did an incredible job today and got the cars to the finish on what must have been minimal rubber by the end.
“Second and third is a great team performance, especially with the double pit stop [both cars stopping on the same lap] during the race, which was done in an exceptional time.”
Ricciardo suggested the Singapore GP was “solid” for the team. But not as strong as it might have been.
“We were really close to the Mercedes in qualifying and we expected the race pace to be a bit faster today, to be honest,” Ricciardo said after the race.
“We weren’t quick enough in the first stint and we had a few other issues going on, with brakes and some power issues that were coming and going.”
Renault’s Thierry Salvi didn’t shy away from Ricciardo’s powerpack problems: “Daniel had reliability issues with his power unit and had to manage the energy management in very tricky situations. He again proved his ability to stay calm and focused, even in difficult situations, and stayed very quick. Once again reliability is the key point and we suffered this weekend.”
Then some optimism from the Renault man: “The car has the potential to win and we need to work harder to deliver it in the final races of the season.”
Ricciardo, too, remains hopeful of better things to come at the next GP: “Suzuka is in two weeks and that’s another track we can be optimistic for, so I’m looking forward to that.”
WRC: Rally Australia must finish in Sydney
AFTER praising Australia’s world rally championship event for its slick organisation, spectator-friendly vantage points and roads that the competing drivers really like, co-driver turned commentator Luis Moya says the event would be even better if it finished in Sydney.
“Everyone loves this rally, but it is too far from big population centres,” said Moya, who called the notes for dual world champ Carlos Sainz in 24 WRC events the Spaniards won together.
Moya, now a popular commentator for European television as well as an ambassador for the Volkswagen WRC team, believes a big finish to Rally Australia in the nation’s biggest city would bring it to greater attention from media and curious Sydneysiders.
NASCAR: Logano wins chaotic Chase race
JOEY Logano raced way on the restart to win a chaotic finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, advancing to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.
Logano stayed out of strife through a total of 15 cautions at the Sylvania 300, but had the speed at the end to go away with a pivotal win.
Logano’s win after Team Penske team-mate Brad Keselowski’s success in the opening Chase race is an ominous show of strength by the mega-bucks outfit just months out from a V8 Supercar debut in Australia.
But before Penske gets its V8 Supercar campaign up and running, its focus is on winning the 2014 Sprint Cup championship with one of its two gun drivers.
Four drivers will be eliminated after every third race, and a win guarantees an automatic berth into the next round. Logano and Keselowski have both advanced.
Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Aric Almirola are in the bottom four of the 16-driver field and at risk of getting cut at Dover next week.
Though ineligible to win the title, the four dropped drivers will continue to race until the end of the season.
Having missed the race for the Chase, Marcos Ambrose is merely making up the numbers in his final NASCAR season. At New Hampshire, he drove the Richard Petty Ford to 24th.
