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Day: 22 October 2021

Young racers sought for new E-Karting Championship

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/10/2021

Formula 1 hotshot Charles Leclerc is backing fellow Monegasque racer Clivio Piccione in a new eco-friendly electric karting championship for up-and-coming racing talent.
The Monaco eKart Championship has gone from concept to reality as fast as a Ferrari goes from zero to 60.
Former race car driver Clivio Piccione, who has run an electric kart track in Monaco for the past decade, along with his collaborators, had a vision of widening the scope and visibility of the all-electric kart to a larger audience and to inspire new talent.
The idea combines a competition aspect with social education via the environmental aspect. This race would be the first 100% electric kart championship ever to be held and could pave the way for bigger interlinked events. It is planned to launch in Monaco by August 2022.
The competition is not gender-specific and the focus is on the racers, not the equipment, allowing talented drivers from all income ranges to participate equally with the same karts provided by the event.
The partnership with Charles Leclerc came about through the Ferrari driver’s love of karting. He started his career in this milieu and still finds great pleasure in participating. Piccione says the link to both the Principality and to the sport is an important one, commenting to Monaco Matin, “We want to play the Monaco card 100% with this partnership with Charles Leclerc. This brand will ensure the entire championship with the same engines, settings and tires for all competitors.”
The races will be held in four categories, starting with EK4 Baby aimed at budding racers aged five to seven in 4kw karts. Next up will be the seven to 11-year-olds in the EK3 Mini/Cadet class racing in 7kw karts, followed by the EK2 Junior’s aged 11 to 14 in 18kw karts. Finally, there is the 25kw kart racers, the over 14’s, in the EK1 Senior class.
Naturally, great racing and learning how to be a gracious competitor are a huge part of the concept, but equally so is the educational aspect with regard to the ecological impact, in line with the philosophy of the Principality.
“We want to train and educate young people in the practice of electric karting in relation to this new mode of consumption. We want to establish these strong values ​​of daily life,” said Piccione.
There are six championship races scheduled for 2022. Three will be in the Principality, one in Menton, one in Nice, one in Menton, aand one in Italy.
Race organisers will be talent scouting in all categories, save the EK4’s, starting next month and one lucky driver will be given total financial aid.
Winners of the championship will be given sponsorship for the following season, adding an extra sweetener to the pot.
In total, €147,000 will be up for grabs for three winners.
 
 
Photo by Julien Pradas / JP Photography
 
 

AS Monaco snatch late victory in Europa League classic

by: Luke Entwistle
22/10/2021

AS Monaco grabbed an unlikely victory in dramatic circumstances against PSV Eindhoven, thanks to a last-gasp winner. Having survived a second-half PSV onslaught at the Philips Stadion, Sofianne Diop was perfectly placed to slot home the winner with only minutes remaining, and secure a valuable three points.
The tie started slowly with neither side capable of mustering even a half-chance. That changed on the 20-minute mark when Ciao Henrique, in a seemingly innocuous position, picked up the ball and floated a perfectly-weighted, defence-splitting ball towards Boadu. The former Eredivisie striker Boadu, without needing to break stride or take a touch, expertly slotted the ball through Drommel’s legs to open the scoring.
AS Monaco proceeded to dominate the remainder of the half, and would have been disappointed not to have gone into half-time further ahead. Boadu, having already opened his account for the night, twice dithered on the ball, allowing defenders to get back and make goal-saving challenges when he had been played through on goal.
A reinvigorated PSV, unrecognisable to the side that had been so passive in the first-half, sought to make ASM rue their missed chances early in the second. Nübel was forced into a string of fine saves early on, the most notable of which coming from a fierce Vinicius strike, which seemed destined for the bottom corner.
The warning signs were not heeded, and PSV’s incessant pressure paid off in the 59th minute – Gakpo rifling in a long-distance strike that seemingly beat Nübel for pace to level the score.
PSV, not satisfied with the point, continued their bombardment of the ASM goal, and should have converted one of their high-quality chances. The most gilt-edged chance fell to the substitute Vertessen, who blazed high and wide when unpressured only a few yards out.
Going into the closing stages, ASM would have been happy to share the points, having been under the cosh for the entire second-half. It was however ASM, who secured an unlikely victory, against the run of play. Ciao Henrique was once again the provider, flashing a ball across the face of goal for Diop to tuck-in and take all 3 points.
The 2-1 win in Eindhoven is enough to keep Nico Kovac’s top of their Europa League group, and firmly on course for qualification for the group stages.
Post-match, Nico Kovac admitted that he thought his side were lucky to come away with the win. “In the second-half, we had more problems because we didn’t play the way we had in the first-half, we were too passive and that is why we were under pressure… we are a bit lucky to win this match, but to be honest, I’ll happily take the 3 points.”
ASM have a tight turnaround, as they host Montpellier on Sunday afternoon.
 
 
Photo source: AS Monaco Football Club
 
 
 

Results are in on largest ever F1 study

by: Stephanie Horsman
22/10/2021

Formula 1’s ‘digital first’ strategy has successfully driven up the popularity of the sport, engaging a new generation of racing fans and pulling in more female supporters.  
Formula 1, Neilson Sports and Motorsport Network came together for the mother of all fan reviews, revealing the results of the Motorsport Network F1 Global Fan Survey on Thursday 21st October.
Conducted in 15 languages across the motorsport.com platform, they got an incredible 167,000 replies from fans, the largest response known to date.
The survey disclosed that Formula 1 is considered “the pinnacle of motorsport” by fans globally. The sport is also seeing a more diverse and developing fan base since the last survey in 2017. This year’s review saw the youngest average age ever, 32-years-old, down four years from the former study.
The ladies also had a bigger presence, nearly doubling their participation to 18.3%, up from 10% in 2017, and student responses increased to 26%, up from 18% in the last survey.
Fan favourites in terms of locales are Monaco, Monza, Spa, and Silverstone.
“The results show that F1 is in excellent health, certainly the best I have known it in my 30-year career in the sport,” said the President of Motorsport Network James Allen. “F1 struggled in the past to attract younger fans and particularly the female fan base and this survey speaks volumes about how the new management’s digital first approach and the funnel effect of projects like Netflix ‘Drive to Survive’ are engaging a new generation of passionate F1 fans. Thanks to the internet and social media, anyone anywhere today can become a fan.”
The sport is attracting more interest from the US, India, China and Mexico than five years ago, while McLaren has experienced a renaissance and is now the most popular team, followed by Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Max Verstappen is the overall most popular driver. Lando Norris is second most popular and highest-ranked amongst women. Lewis Hamilton rounds out the top three and is unsurprisingly the highest-ranked in his native United Kingdom.
Fans also said the sport was exciting, competitive, entertaining, expensive and technological. This is the first time that competitive and entertaining have appeared in the top five adjectives used to describe F1, and more than two-thirds of those asked think F1 exceeds expectations with regard to “pioneering technology”.
Fans, 55% of them, believe F1 should take the lead in pursuing the development of sustainable fuel sources as a matter of course. Two-thirds were aware of F1’s plans to introduce 100% sustainable fuels by 2025.
 
 
Photo of the Spanish Grand Prix 2021 credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Office