Month: June 2020

Ricciardo back in business for 2020, as ‘cash strapped’ McLaren secures loan

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Brendan Lines June 30 2020

Daniel Ricciardo ‘is excited to go racing again’ as he returns with Renault for the 2020 season re-start in Austria this week, but while Ricciardo’s future looks business as usual with Renault, the uncertainty around the finances of McLaren may for the moment have eased, but it will change the shape of Ricciardo’s future team in 2021.

“I’m raring to go! It’s been a long time since I’ve raced or even competed properly in anything. It’s getting close now and I had a good taste for it with the test in Austria earlier this month. It’s about getting back to business. We’re all so excited to go racing again. We’ll get on with it and give it our all as we know the season is going to be shorter than usual and very fast-paced. We want to get some points on the board, begin the season on the right foot and lay a solid foundation for us to build some good momentum,” Ricciardo said.

Ricciardo will finally turn a wheel in anger in his R.S.20 for the first time this season, in what is a very different world to the one we knew at the cancelled season opener in Australia, just as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the sport’s imposed nine week shutdown.

Though Formula 1 has drastically changed in just that short time, Ricciardo said to The Race his switch to McLaren for 2021 is ‘behind him’ and the focus is now getting Renault back to challenging the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

“I went through it a couple of years ago (leaving Red Bull). Because time has passed since the news, I’ve spoke if not seen some members of the team, it’s really back to business. We’re all excited to get racing again.

“Hopefully we get a chance to finish this strong.

“From my side it’s put behind me, it’s not in my train of thought, and it won’t be until next year. We’ll just get on with it,” he said.

Despite the divorce from Renault, Ricciardo is very much still in favour with Renault Team principal Cyril Abiteboul.

“Daniel will be fully involved in the development process of the car, because with the cars more or less frozen for next year McLaren will have to use their tokens on pure chassis and engine integration, so no performance development there.

“So that will give us the opportunity to work extremely normally with Daniel,” he said.

For now the landscape of Ricciardo’s career looks business as usual with Renault, his future team McLaren, is in the closing stages of securing a $AU268 million loan with the National Bank of Bahrain (NNB) to ease its dwindling cashflow concerns amid the pandemic.

Just north of the A$259 million budget cap written into the sport’s 2021 regulations, the loan is much needed life support for McLaren who cut back its workforce by 1200 staff and reported A$509 million losses in revenue in the first quarter for 2020.

Amid the changes, Ricciardo’s future McLaren Team principal Andreas Siedl says McLaren will adjust the size of its team.

“But our aim is to be the best-sized and most efficient team in the future,” he said.

For the moment Ricciardo’s current boss Cyril Abiteboul says Renault are adapting to its new ‘MO’ in response to the pandemic.

“After the long, enforced break, the 2020 season can get underway. It has been a long journey since Australia: nine weeks shutdown at Enstone and seven weeks at Viry. While taking the necessary measures to protect itself, the Formula 1 community has mobilised to deploy its skills and resources around collective projects to respond to the challenges presented by the epidemic. In parallel, immense work has been done by the FIA, F1 and teams to provide effective responses so that racing can return in a secure environment. We now have to adapt to this new mode of operation but seeing the cars on track is a positive signal of progress on the health front,” he said.

Featured Image: Daniel Ricciardo – Image: Renaultsport.com

Mercedes’ new livery standing up against racism

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Brendan Lines 29 June, 2020

Mercedes have changed its iconic ‘Silver Arrows’ livery for 2020, to an all-black design in what the team says is an effort to ‘fight against racism and all forms of discrimination’ for this week’s restart to Formula 1’s 2020 season in Austria.

With the stage set for a season like no other amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter movement has brought about another profound change in the world we once knew since the Australian Grand Prix in March, Mercedes team members needed ‘new measures and actions in the fight against racism and all forms of discrimination.’

A statement released by the team tonight read:

For 2020, we have chosen to race in an all-black base livery as a public pledge to improve the diversity of our team – and a clear statement that we stand against racism and all forms of discrimination. The call to ‘End Racism’ will feature on the halo of both cars, and the united F1 initiative #WeRaceAsOne will be featured on the mirrors of the W11.

Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Toto Wolff said: “Racism and discrimination have no place in our society, our sport or our team: this is a core belief at Mercedes. But having the right beliefs and the right mindset isn’t enough if we remain silent. We wish to use our voice and our global platform to speak up for respect and equality, and the Silver Arrow will race in black for the entire 2020 season to show our commitment to greater diversity within our team and our sport. We will not shy away from our weaknesses in this area, nor from the progress we must still make; our livery is our public pledge to take positive action. We intend to find and attract the very best talents from the broadest possible range of backgrounds, and to create credible pathways for them to reach our sport, in order to build a stronger and more diverse team in the future. I would also like to use this opportunity to thank our parent company Mercedes-Benz and our family of team partners who have supported and encouraged this initiative,”he said.

The change comes after last week six-time World Champion and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton formed the Hamilton Commission in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering to exploring how motorsport can be used to engage more young people from Black backgrounds with STEM subjects and ultimately employ them in Formula 1 teams or in other engineering sectors.

Lewis Hamilton said: “It’s so important that we seize this moment and use it to educate ourselves whether you are an individual, brand or company to make real meaningful changes when it comes to ensuring equality and inclusivity. I have personally experienced racism in my life and seen my family and friends experience racism, and I am speaking from the heart when I appeal for change. When I spoke to Toto about my hopes for what we could achieve as a team, I said it was so important that we stand united. I would like to say a huge thank you to Toto and the Mercedes Board for taking the time to listen, to talk, and to really understand my experiences and passion, and for making this important statement that we are willing to change and improve as a business. We want to build a legacy that goes beyond sport, and if we can be the leaders and can start building more diversity within our own business, it will send such a strong message and give others the confidence to begin a dialogue about how they can implement change,” he said.

Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas will also be wearing black overalls and adapted helmet livery for the 2020 season.

Bottas concluded: “Formula One is a world that is defined by performance, but it still contains many barriers for people who come from backgrounds that haven’t traditionally been part of the sport. We know that our teams are stronger when they are more representative of the society we are part of, and it is important for us to be united and show our commitment to change. Racism and discrimination have no place in our sport or in our society and I am proud to stand with the team, with Lewis and with Mercedes-Benz in making this important statement,” he said.

Before the end of the 2020 season, Mercedes will announce a Diversity and Inclusion programme that will include but not be limited to: continuing to listen to and raise the awareness of it’s team members; forensic analysis of recruitment and development processes; collaboration with the Formula 1’s key stakeholders to improve accessibility ; and targeted education initiatives to encourage and support talented people from under-represented backgrounds who aspire to reach Formula 1.

Featured Image: mercedesamgf1.com

Supercars leave The Bend and SA motorsport fans in it’s dust

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Brendan Lines June 19, 2020

Today Supercars has released its revised 2020 calendar, omitting OTR The Bend 500 from its date originally slated for September 18th to 20th, after the fatal blow to the state’s flagship motorsport event next to the Adelaide 500, The Bend’s Managing Director Dr. Sam Shahin says Supercars organisers owe South Australia an apology in an open letter penned today.

The omission of The Bend comes as Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said in a statement today, the consequences of the the COVID-19 pandemic lead to circumstances “which are beyond the reasonable control” of Supercars organisers.

Seamer also said the changes to Supercars revised 2020 calendar released today come after weeks of discussions with stakeholders and broadcast partners that settled on ending the season in 2020, rather than 2021.

“With an eye on 2021, teams and broadcast partners have agreed it is in all parties’ best interests commercially and competitively to finish this year’s campaign in December and start the new season in the New Year,” he said.

Shahin’s open letter read:

Supercars have reshuffled the calendar to satisfy their stakeholders and cut costs for teams. Unfortunately South Australia has missed out which is devastating for South Australia, motorsport fans, The Bend and our partners.

It will take a little bit of time to work through what it means commercially for all stakeholders. Event ticket holders will be contacted by Ticketek on how to receive a full refund. The Bend will contact all members and corporate partners regarding next steps in a separate email.

Supercars owe a big apology to South Australia, and the many South Australian businesses and tourism operators that rely on event goers for their livelihoods, particularly at a time when their business has already been devastated by COVID restrictions.

Supercars do what’s best for Supercars. We have endeavoured for years to satisfy the great appetite for motorsport in SA. We’ve answered the calls with the best motorsport facility in the world but it seems the power of the Eastern States yet again wins the day, and SA misses out.

I am greatly disappointed for the greater public of South Australia that have been sold out, sold short of the wonderful spectacle that was to unfold in September. The irrational fear around attendance, broad travel restrictions and spectator attendance is unravelling daily, with every confidence that life is getting back to normal, and quite quickly. It just wasn’t enough.

The Bend answered the far cries of the last 20 years for a world class motorsport facility and a world class motor racing circuit in Australia. South Australians, the wider Australian public and the global community have given unequivocal endorsement for The Bend, culminating in our facility winning Motorsport Facility of the Year in 2019, beating competing nominations from the UK, Germany and the Czech Republic.

Who would have thought that possible when we were ploughing through mud and rock only 2 years ago?! In return, all that was necessary was the meaningful support from the wider motorsport community which has sadly let us down in this instance. Supercars sits at the pinnacle of Australian motorsport and has a responsibility to the sport beyond the short sightedness demonstrated in the decision making shown on this occasion.

The Bend has received international support and endorsement from the FIA, FIM, MotoGP, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (A.C.O) and every reputable organisation that has laid foot on site. Every Australian deserves to be proud of The Bend.

Supercars will need to demonstrate how they can retain the confidence of the South Australian public in the future. South Australia’s rich motorsport history is not being afforded the respect it thoroughly deserves.

The Bend is here to stay. It is our livelihood. We are in the business of motorsport and in that world, respect, honour and reputation is all that matters. We have a contractual agreement with Supercars for 2 more years and we intend on delivering the best events possible.

In the meantime, The Bend confirms that it will continue the quest for national and international events for South Australia, with the impending announcement regarding the return of the Asian Le Mans Series from 2021.

Australia is awash with great categories that still aspire to race at Australia’s best motorsport facility. We will welcome them, we will treat them with respect, and we will ensure that they have a great experience.

Dr. Sam Shahin

Managing Director
The Bend Motorsport Park

With the Adelaide 500 the only Supercars round to be run this year and government funding taken away from the Adelaide Motorsport Festival’s Victoria Park Sprint, there won’t be much top-flight South Australian motorsport events fans can hang their hat on, aside from Club and the Adelaide Rally still scheduled for November 25th and 28th.

Featured Image – The Bend Motorsport Park – Image Red Bull Holden Racing Team

Ollie’s back! hub and travel plans ‘up in the air’ for Port

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Brendan Lines June 19, 2020

Port Adelaide have begun their journey north to the Gold Coast hub for their round three clash with Fremantle, just minutes after reports emerged South Australia will lift border restrictions to travellers from Queensland, Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley says he will take his squad bolstered by returning vice-captain Ollie Wines with the certainty of playing all three games as planned.

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Port Adelaide vice captain Ollie Wines – Image: SEN

Hinkley spoke to the media before boarding the team bus to Adelaide Airport this morning from Alberton.

“I think for us it’s pretty simple, we’re going up there with some certainty in our own minds for three games, and we’re going to go up there to play well in those three games,” he said.

“We’re not going to get distracted by anything other than we’re preparing to play footy, all the other stuff will take care of itself and has done all the way throughout the pandemic.”

The lifting of restrictions means travellers can come into South Australia from Queensland without serving 14 days isolation, potentially leaving the door open for travel back and forth between games for the club.

However it’s unlikely as the AFL has locked away the fixture for rounds three, four and five regardless of the changes on restrictions.

Amid the changes, Port bring in Wines off a promising trial match last weekend as he served his one match suspension for breaching AFL COVID-19 guidelines.

“It was an easy decision for us in the end that he gets to play a game of football and he’s in really good form and he’s our vice captain, so he comes back into the team,” Hinkley said.

Wines will join Port Adelaide’s mid-field along side in-form Connor Rozee, in an effort to gain the edge Hinkley is looking for in the opening minutes of the shortened quarters.

“We think collectively we need to be really sharp at the start of games and we haven’t quite got that right in our first two games this year,” he said.

Where rivals Adelaide are taking a full squad, Hinkley has elected to take a reduced squad of 32 leaving 12 players behind to work on development, a strategy Hinkley says is borrowed from the club’s games played in China with a squad of 26 players.

“We’ve gone over there (China) with a performance based opportunity for us and that’s what we’ve taken into the Gold Coast, we need to go there and play well and win games of AFL football, So we feel like we’ve got people up there ready to play and can help us straight away.” he said.

There’s some good news for the 400 Port fans on the Gold Coast who have continued their pledge to the club, as Metricon Stadium has confirmed a crowd of 300 will be allowed at Sunday’s match, offering a portion of available tickets to Port Adelaide.

Port’s Football Manager hits Victorian Premier’s ‘spin’ for six

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Brendan Lines 18/6/2020

Port Adelaide is making some serious noise during its time at the top of the AFL ladder, overnight the club’s petition to wear the famous ‘Prison Bar’ guernsey raised over 17 000 signatures, buoyed by the support and recent form on the field, General Manager of Football Chris Davies has today hit back at recent criticism toward South Australia from ‘over the border.’

Power speaks out as AFL descends into chaos | Daily Mercury

Port Adelaide Football manager Chris Davies – Image: Daily Telegraph

It’s rare the worlds of football and politics collide, but this morning at Alberton Port Adelaide’s Football manager hit-back at Victorian premier Daniel Andrews saying ’Maybe he’s got some things on his plate to worry about.’

A former South Australian first-class cricketer, Davies hinted perhaps Mr. Andrew’s own political ‘spin’ might not add up to his Victorian compatriots.

“Daniel might be the best spinner to come out of Victoria since Shane Warne, minus the 700 Test and 300 One-Day international wickets,” he said.

Davies went on to highlight the work done by the South Australian government allowing two thousand fans into last week’s Showdown.

“Clearly last week with what our Premier and the South Australian Government was able to do getting two thousand people into the Adelaide Oval was a fantastic thing, let’s hope that footy can continue to bring people back through the turnstiles,” Davies said.

“Victoria has got to carry it’s weight at some point soon.”

But Port Adelaide is firmly focused on the sphere of football as the club now prepares to travel to the Gold Coast hub to join rivals Adelaide and WA opponents West Coast and Fremantle on Friday.

Davies says Port will leave twelve players from its list back in Adelaide.

“We’ll leave twelves players here that will concentrate solely through that period on their development,” he said.

“We’ll have enough coaches and high performance staff, Doctors and those types of people around them to make sure they are well looked after.”

Surprisingly, Ryan Burton will not be one of those players remaining at Alberton, Davies says Burton will complete his rehabilitation from knee surgery on the Gold Coast.

“He’ll (Burton) do his rehab up there, just in the hope if there is potential for him probably in that last game against Brisbane,” he said.

With recent easing of border restrictions coming into effect earlier this week and full opening scheduled for July 20th, Davies is certain it won’t affect the clubs preparations too much, as the future rounds of the 2020 fixture remain pending.

“We’re going to have to remain flexible through this period in order to make sure when borders open up wether they be South Australia or WA that the AFL will capitalise on making sure the fixture fits,” he said.

“There will be no point fixturing the next four or five weeks for our borders to change to the point where Victorian teams can come into South Australia, I think the AFL are doing the right thing.”

The biggest wave coming out of Alberton this morning is the club’s case to the AFL to wear the ‘Prison Bar’ guernsey at all future showdowns.

A campaign that began last night through a petition, as chairman David Koch put forward the club’s position.

“We don’t believe what we are asking for is unreasonable and we look forward to submitting our official proposal to the AFL soon,” he said.

As the number of signatures climbed above 17 000 this morning the club’s case appears to be gaining the traction it needs publicly, Davies says the club’s recent performance leaves nothing on the table in stating its case.

“I think we did the guernsey everything we possibly could on Saturday night, I think it’s the AFL’s decision to make,” he said.

“As we have said over the past couple of weeks it is an important moment for the club to stand up and make sure we present something to the AFL that has them compelled to allow us to wear it in showdowns into the future.”

Jonas’ word on showdown, a hard ‘reset’

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Brendan Lines.   June 9th, 2020

The showdown that has defied a pandemic, as the only AFL game to be played within South Australian borders in the foreseeable future, has seen a build up of anticipation like no other, but Port Adelaide Captain Tom Jonas expects it will be a hard ‘reset’ for the club despite holding down top spot for the AFL’s 2020 season re-start. 

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 Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas – Image: PAFC

“To be honest it doesn’t really stand for much now, it’s basically a reset on the season, besides having little head start on the premiership table that’s as good as round one, going into showdown traditionally form means nothing, and we expect it to be a good showdown,” he said.

As easing of social distancing restrictions still loom potentially allowing fans to attend the Adelaide Oval showdown, the Port captain said it is one of the ‘strangest showdowns.’

“It’ll be up there with the first one at Adelaide Oval with a lot of unknowns surrounding it, but at the end of the day there’s going to be eighteen blokes on the field and there’s going to be a footy to be won,” Jonas said.

Yet Port Adelaide are taking every opportunity of their home ground advantage amid the anticipation.

If fans are allowed to attend this week’s showdown, Port Adelaide would welcome its fans out-number Adelaide fans ‘ten to one.’

But fans or no fans, Port Adelaide will proceed with it’s highly ritualised ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ war-cry as the team dons its Prison Bar guernseys for the occasion Jonas says.

“I think that’s part of the fabric of our home games now and I’d be disappointed if I didn’t hear that before the game it always sends a shiver down the spine,

“It’s part of our ritual and it means a lot to both players an supporters.”

As footage of a heated exchange involving former Port Adelaide tall-man Billy Frampton and his new Adelaide Crows team-mates surfaced over the weekend, Jonas says ‘it’s not unusual.’

“It’s not unusual in our industry, we’re obviously fiercely competitive and Bill has got a little bit of niggle in him, so no surprises something like that might happen at training but we’ve had our own scuffles from time to time, probably nothing that’s escalated to that level.” he said.

For both teams taking a win before travelling to their Gold Coast hub is imperative to prove match fitness and carry much needed form into rounds 3,4 and 5 matches.

“The team that is best prepared and can drive themselves will be the one that comes out on top,

“I think there’s plenty of ammo, we’re going to be saddling up next to the crows for two and a half weeks as of next Thursday , so it would be nice to hold one before going up there,” Jonas said.