Monday 16th February 2015

Motorsport on Monday: 16/2/2015

More WRC WTF, and how things are looking up for Dean Stoneman

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How would you be feeling today if you were Volkswagen Motorsport WRC driver Andreas Mikkelsen? Yesterday, you went into the final stage of one of the most exciting Rally Sweden WRC events in years with a three-second lead over your World Champion team-mate Sebastien Ogier. All you had to do was keep it clean and quick through the Varmullsasen power stage.

Mikkelsen and many others lost time in snow

But then you hit a snow bank, lost around 40 seconds and had your maiden win snatched away from you. You lost second to Hyundai Motorsport's Thierry Neuville as well, who you'd previously overhauled with some quick driving. From first to third, all because of a damn snow bank. Can you imagine?

It could be worse. You could be Jari-Matti Latvala, who was up with Ogier earlier in the rally, only to hit a snow bank and lose 12 minutes on Friday. He finished 12th. Citroen's Kris Meeke also hit a snow bank on Friday, almost recovering to sixth but finally being pipped by Ford driver Elfyn Evans.

The only consolation for Mikkelsen was that he was only in line for a shot at a win because Ogier, yes, hit a snow bank and lost 40 seconds on Friday. Oh, and that you weren't Robert Kubica, who broke a propshaft on Friday then was penalised for running too much turbo boost, dropping him down to 20th. No doubt he hit a snow bank along the way too.

Sweden a great watch. If you were there...

A Swedish thriller, then. Should've made for great live viewing, then? Of course not. We all know the issues with TV and WRC, so this is instead a grumble about those casual fans who may have heard about the excitement and fancied tuning in via, say, a tablet or a smartphone. What's out there for them? On the surface, I found, very little.

I searched in the Apple store for official WRC apps: no joy. I tried the official website, to see if there was something obvious there: at a glance, nothing. I asked on Twitter if anyone had any tips: even this was inconclusive. The closest I got to TV coverage was edited highlights from, I think, the day before. As there was no commentary, it was hard to tell.

I purposefully went in blind because, well, that's what the casual fan will do too. And even though I was showing willing to follow what seemed to be an exciting sport, I drew a blank. How many times must we ask you to sort it out, WRC?

Stoneman's return continues with Red Bull

Red Bull for Stoneman
Motor racing's greatest comeback continues. 24-year-old Dean Stoneman was a Brit on the up. In 2010, he won the Formula Two championship, securing him a test in a Williams F1 car: he jumped in and was fifth fastest. With a drive already secured in Formula Renault 3.5 alongside one Daniel Ricciardo, he was well and truly on the up.

Then, in 2011, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

This shattering news took racing off the agenda for while he recovered. But then, in 2013, the comeback began. He entered the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship; he won both races on his debut weekend. He'd have been in the running for the title but for a points-accrued two-race ban.

He progressed to GP3 in late 2013, finishing second in the series last year. And now, that debut in Formula Renault 3.5 is back on, with the crack DAMS team - and, last week, it was even confirmed he now has the backing of the Red Bull Junior Team. And we all know the track record of some drivers there - F1's Carlos Sainz Jr, for example

Stoneman is certainly one to watch. Now, with the backing of Red Bull - and access to things such as the F1 simulator and the steely backing of Helmut Marko, his career could remarkably be back on track into F1.

Oliver Turvey another Brit name to watch

Hollywood directors may already be looking at the story with interest.

Turvey on top
Another under-the-radar British driver to get a breakthrough deal for 2015 is McLaren test and development driver Oliver Turvey. After a frustrating season with the Delta Millennium ORECA P2 team last year - and just one race at Le Mans - he's secured a full time drive with the Dome Honda team in Japanese Super GT.

A very canny move, which Turvey apparently initiated via McLaren, and which may just put his plan to race LMP1 back on the cards. Should, of course, Honda decide to run such a campaign...

[Pics: LAT]

[GWADD]

You didn't search very hard !

The final stage was on BT sport LIVE and there is a WRC APP that streams all the stages live, at least on Android....

Don't do Fruit Products.....