Contents: The Hanoi Street Circuit, which was built to host the 2020 Vietnam Grand Prix before the event was canceled, finally hosted its first races yesterday
In short
Vietnam’s abandoned F1 circuit hosts first racing action
The Hanoi circuit was supposed to be a 5.6 kilometer circuit through a mixture of city streets and a permanent sequence of corners in the final sector. However, the inaugural race in 2020 was canceled due to the pandemic and then unable to return to the schedule following a series of issues, including the arrest of Hanoi People’s Committee Chairman Duc Chung, who was closely involved in the running of the race.
Construction of the permanent section of track has been completed but has remained unused. That is until Honda Vietnam held its Honda Thanks Day New Year celebration event at the venue yesterday. A series of motorcycle races were held around an abbreviated version of the circuit, with the first corner intersecting the S-turns in what would have been the third sector of the grand prix circuit.
Ekstrom ahead of Loeb at the start of the Dakar Rally
Former DTM champion Mattias Ekstrom will have first choice of his starting position for the opening main stage of the 2023 Dakar Rally after setting the fastest time in the car class during the prologue stage in Saudi Arabia yesterday .
Ekstrom was fastest in the 13km prologue, a second quicker than nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb. Defending World Rally Raid champion and 2022 Dakar winner Nasser Al-Attiyah finished fourth, with Carlos Sainz Snr taking sixth on the stage.
The first real stage will take place today with a 367 km loop that passes through the city of Yanbu.
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Connections
Interesting motorsport links:
Coulthard unsure of Red Bull’s chances of kick-starting F1 era of dominance (Mirror)
“Looks like if Ferrari gets their reliability and operational mistakes under control then they’re there. The transition to what these cars are going to be next year will be a lot easier. Mercedes clearly have a fast car and look like they’re going to be there. When Mercedes came in at the start of the hybrid era they had such a pace advantage they really unleashed a big power unit and that allowed them to run more dirty downforce – the car didn’t have needed to be so efficient in the beginning because they could just push their way through.”
F1 in Africa: South Africa’s own F1 Championship (BBC)
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The story behind Alex Albon’s support of Wat Sakraeo orphanage (Williams)
“While Alex’s connection to the country is obvious – he races under the Thai flag – there is another connection, through his former Williams Racing team principal, Jost Capito. Jost’s brother, Volker Capito , has lived in Bangkok since the early 2000s, and has made it his mission to help the children of the Wat Sakraeo orphanage by founding the Iceman Charity. Alex took the opportunity to visit the orphanage that thousands of children call home to see Volker’s hard work for himself.
No. 1 of 2022: Power Charts Steady Course to Second Title (IndyCar)
“The No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet driver has only won one race this year – June 5 at Detroit – but he always seemed to be in the frame. He opened the season with five straight finishes among the top four and finished outside the top six just four times in 17 races.Power ended the season with a pair of podiums to edge teammate Josef Newgarden by 16 points in the final standings.But proof of his consistency was the fact that “There were no blemishes. He completed every lap of every race. He called it ‘playing the long game.’
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