Bruno Senna will make his Formula One race return in Belgium this weekend, replacing Nick Heidfeld to partner Vitaly Petrov at Renault. It will be Senna’s first Grand Prix start since his final appearance for HRT in Abu Dhabi last November. “Lotus Renault GP can confirm that Bruno Senna has been nominated to race alongside Vitaly Petrov at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix and at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks later,” Renault explained in a statement released on Thursday.
“The team’s present intention is to give Bruno the opportunity to race for the rest of the season. Senna started his career in British Formula Three in 2005 before moving to GP2 in 2007. By 2008 he was fighting for the GP2 series title, narrowly missing out on winning the championship in the final race to finish runner-up. “I am delighted that Lotus Renault GP has offered me the opportunity to become their race driver,” said Senna. I’ve gained a lot of experience thanks to the time spent with the team this season, and the opportunities I’ve had of driving in Jerez, Duxford and recently in Budapest have whet my appetite to become a successful driver for Lotus Renault GP. I am really thrilled and motivated to be getting in the car to race in F1 again, especially with such a big team. Renault team principal Eric Boullier added: “We are happy to provide Bruno with the chance to begin racing with Lotus Renault GP, starting at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.
Red Bull have revealed that Hollywood legend Tom Cruise recently tried out one of their Formula One cars in a specially organised test in the United States. Cruise took a break from his current film project, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, to get behind the wheel at the Willow Springs circuit in California.
Cruise’s instructor for the seven-hour session was Formula One veteran David Coulthard. They began by lapping the track together in a road car before Coulthard helped Cruise familiarise himself with the F1 machine, which was supported by a 12-person crew flown in from Red Bull’s UK factory.
After a total of 24 laps, with time out between track stints to compare his telemetry to Coulthard’s, Cruise cut his initial lap time by an impressive 11 seconds and reached a top speed of 181 mph, just 4 mph short of Coulthard.
"Tom's the real deal,” Coulthard told Red Bull’s website. “I was surprised that he picked it up so quickly and is such an accomplished driver. His recall was incredible considering how complicated driving an F1 car is. He's a guy who really pushes the envelope in real life. This day was not green screened. He thoroughly impressed me."
Cruise, a long-time motorsport fan, has driven several competition cars over the years, but this was his first F1 experience. Formula One returns to his homeland next year with a race at the all-new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas
Feld Motor Sports announced today that Dianna Dahlgren of Los Angeles, Calif., who served as Miss Supercross for the 2011 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship season, will return as Miss Supercross for the 2012 season, which kicks off January 7 at Anaheim’s Angel Stadium.
Dahlgren enters her second year as Miss Supercross, where she represents the sport of supercross through a variety of promotional opportunities, including on and off-track reporting and interacting with fans. Dahlgren will also accompany the world’s fastest riders atop the podium at the closing of each race.
“I am so excited to be appointed as Miss Supercross for a second year,” said Dahlgren. “I feel blessed to be given this opportunity again and I can't wait to be back at the races! The fans of supercross are one of a kind, and I enjoy being around them. Special thanks go out to Feld Motor Sports for making this a dream come true!”
While balancing her day-to-day Miss Supercross duties, Dahlgren is also an active competitor in the bikini division of the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB), which is the highest form of competitive bodybuilding in the world. Throughout her career, Dahlgren has one professional IFBB victory under her belt, as well as three victories in the amateur ranks.
Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso were the focus of attention in the Czech Republic and they aim to be the reference once again at the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix, the twelfth round of the MotoGP Championship.
Casey Stoner took a major step forward in the fight for the title by turning a difficult weekend into a convincing victory that places him 32 points clear at the top of the standings. His record at Indy is not so convincing having only raced there twice (missing the 2009 race due to health checks), taking fourth in 2008 and crashing out of the race last year, after a positive weekend - so this is a good opportunity to settle his score with this track and try to win twice this year in America after having already done so at Laguna Seca.
Andrea Dovizioso is enjoying his best season since his arrival in MotoGP and wants to keep up this momentum. He loves racing in America and is full of confidence after scoring his fifth podium of the year at Brno. Dani Pedrosa will be aiming to finish the job he was unable to complete in the last race, crashing
out after such a good weekend, and return on top at a track where he won at in 2010. Casey Stoner:
"In the past seasons the track at Indy has been extremely bumpy and also slightly dangerous so I'm looking forward to going there and riding the new surface. It will also be nice to ride the Honda there, as it took a lot of work to get the set up right on the Ducati at such a peculiar circuit. I've only ridden the circuit in 2008 and 2010 and we were pretty competitive there last year, but then I lost the front in the race, so it will be good to get there, test the new surface and get to work on the set up on my RC212V.” Andrea Dovizioso:
“We arrive in Indy after a podium finish in Brno and I hope we can continue this momentum. The Indianapolis racetrack is a typical American venue with great facilities and huge grandstands, the track is not particularly interesting but all in all it’s a very nice event. This year the track has been resurfaced in some parts so for sure it will be much more fun to ride as in the past it was very bumpy and there were different kind of asphalts. Last year in the practice and qualifying sessions we were fast but we struggled in the race, finishing fifth. I’m confident we can be competitive again this year, we are very motivated and focused.”
Dani Pedrosa:
"I'm heading to Indianapolis and really looking forward to the race. Last year we had a good race there and I hope I can repeat this again. The asphalt has changed, so we will have to adapt to the new surface, check how the tyres are working there and look for the best race setup possible. Physically I'm improving little by little; already in Brno I felt better than in the past months, so I hope I can be in good shape for the race. Obviously the last race result was very disappointing for me and my team after such a good weekend, but we take the positive things from it and move forward.”
Bruno Senna will make his Formula One race return in Belgium this weekend, replacing Nick Heidfeld to partner Vitaly Petrov at Renault. It will be Senna’s first Grand Prix start since his final appearance for HRT in Abu Dhabi last November. “Lotus Renault GP can confirm that Bruno Senna has been nominated to race alongside Vitaly Petrov at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix and at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks later,” Renault explained in a statement released on Thursday.
