Cheetah speeds to red-hot victory in Chile
THE MOTORSPORT LAP/ The Santiago leg of the 2018 Formula E championship took place this past weekend, and Bentley is going to Pikes Peak
As part of the 2018 race calendar, Santiago in Chile hosted the fourth round of the Formula E championship — the E- Prix if you will — where JeanEric Vergne (Techeetah) clinched victory, even after being fined for modification of his safety harness, which was against FIA rules.
He was chased by Andre Lotterer (Techeetah) and Sebastien Buemi (Renault e.dams).
While there might not be any engine noise emanating from the cars, the relevance of the series is growing in stature as this continues to be a test bed for many participating battery and vehicle manufacturers to further develop the technology for use in future road cars. The next race will take place in Mexico City, Mexico on March 3.
The 12 Hours of Bathurst, Australia also took place over the weekend, which prematurely came to an end when Bryce Fullwood (Marc Focus) and Ash Walsh (Audi) crashed at the Sulman Park section of the track, which saw the race stopped 20 minutes before the finish. Walsh’s car was struck — in a secondary crash — by John Martin (Mercedes-Benz).
That meant the race win inadvertently went to the team of Frijns, Leonard and Vanthoor (Audi), followed by the team of Habul, Vautier, Whincup and Marcello (Mercedes-Benz) in second. The Porsche of Pappas, Bleekemolen, Stolz and Lieb rounded off the podium.
Petter Solberg finished second on his fourth appearance at the Race of Champions. The Norwegian, 2014 and 2015 World Rallycross Champion and 2003 World Rally Champion, made it through to the final of the showdown between the world’s top racers in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, where his push for the title was eventually stopped by David Coulthard.
Solberg had previously won all the races in the main event. The final, which was run in a best-of-three format, was decided in race two, after Solberg had been narrowly beaten by former Formula 1 star Coulthard in race one.
“Congratulations to David on his second win, having previously won in 2014,” said Solberg. “This was my first time in the final of the Race of Champions, and I really wanted to win. In the end, I came up just short. It was fun to compete against all those motorsport greats.”
The semifinal saw Solberg beat his PSRX team-mate and reigning World Rallycross Champion in the Volkswagen Polo GTI Supercar Johan Kristoffersson. Coulthard defeated ninetime Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen in the second semifinal.
Strange but intriguing news to come from the motorsport fraternity is that Bentley Motors will compete in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for the first time on June 24 with a version of its Bentayga.
The 448kW, W12-powered Bentayga will tackle the almost 20km long Colorado Springs hill climb with record-breaking ambitions, aiming to navigate the 156 corners of ascending asphalt quicker than any SUV before. A car is being prepared by Bentley’s motorsport department at the company’s headquarters in Crewe, England.
“The Bentayga has set the luxury SUV benchmark with its combination of bespoke British craftsmanship, performance and grand touring ability. We hope to set another benchmark at the 2018 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb,” says South African Brian Gush, Bentley’s director of motorsport.