On Wednesday the organizers of the first ERDF Masters Kart presented the prototype of the electric kart that participants will drive.
Most of the photos are taken by Nicolas Maraval.
The GP2 Series has just held a two day test at the Jerez de la Frontera circuit in Spain, with Fabio Leimer coming out on top of the time sheet. This was the first of three sessions for GP2 runners as well as a few drivers moving up from GP3. 27 cars were on track and the Swiss driver’s best time in his Racing Engineering car was a 1.26.701. All drivers were using the hard compound Pirelli P Zero tyre throughout the test.
Yesterday, Englishman James Calado was at the wheel of the Lotus ART car and today it was Jules Bianchi’s turn, setting the seventh fastest time in the morning (1.27.125) before being quickest in the afternoon (1.27.651) completing a total of 59 laps. The Ferrari Driver Academy youngster had never driven this track before but he soon got to grips with it, improving throughout. The next test is in Barcelona on 19 and 20 October, before the Formula 1 Young Driver Test at Abu Dhabi in November.
Source: Ferrari
The provisional line-up has been issued for the Felipe Massa-organised Go-Kart Champs event in Brazil. The action will be taking place on the weekend of 2-4 December, with no less than seven Formula 1 drivers attending.
Massa will be joined at the Arena Sapiens in Florianópolis by a selection of recognisable faces, not least fellow South Americans Rubens Barrichello, Bruno Senna and Pastor Maldonado plus Adrian Sutil, Jaime Alguersuari, Vitantonio Liuzzi and 2010 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.
The provisional entry list for the Go-Kart Champs event is as follows:
1 Felipe Massa (Formula 1)
2 Rubens Barrichello (Formula 1)
3 Bruno Senna (Formula 1)
4 Lucas di Grassi (Formula 1)
5 Vitantonio Liuzzi (Formula 1)
6 Jaime Alguersuari (Formula 1)
7 Pastor Maldonado (Formula 1)
8 Adrian Sutil (Formula 1)
9 Jules Bianchi (GP2)
10 Jorge Lorenzo (MotoGP)
11 Tony Kanaan (IndyCar)
12 Hélio Castroneves (IndyCar)
13 Bia Figueiredo (IndyCar)
14 Vítor Meira (IndyCar)
15 Pietro Fittipaldi (LLM-Nascar)
16 João Paulo Oliveira (GT Series)
17 Cacá Bueno (Brazilian Stock Car-Trofeo Linea)
18 Popó Bueno (Brazilian Stock Car-Trofeo Linea)
19 Christian Fittipaldi (Trofeo Linea)
20 Marcos Gomes (Brazilian Stock Car-Trofeo Linea)
21 Leonardo Nienkötter (Trofeo Linea)
22 Antonio Pizzonia (Brazilian Stock Car)
23 Ricardo Zonta (Brazilian Stock Car)
24 Xandinho Negrão (Brazilian Stock Car-GT3 Brazil)
25 Max Wilson (Brazilian Stock Car)
26 Luciano Burti (Brazilian Stock Car)
27 Allam Khodair (Brazilian Stock Car-Trofeo Linea)
Stefano Domenicali has refused to rule out finding a place at Ferrari for another driver in 2013.
Fernando Alonso is signed up long beyond next season, but his current teammate Felipe Massa will be out of contract at the end of 2012.
At the front of the queue are the two drivers heading up Ferrari’s so-called driver ‘academy’: French GP2 driver Jules Bianchi and 2011 Sauber rookie Sergio Perez.
Asked about Ferrari’s driver plans for Bianchi and Perez in 2013, Domenicali said in Singapore: “For 2013? Ah yes. Bianchi is a great talent and he had a positive season in GP2 but he needs to grow and gain experience next season. I cannot say now where he will be,” the Italian told Spanish sports daily Marca, “but for sure we want to invest because we believe in him.”
“As for Sergio, he has a contract with Sauber and he also has to grow. It is best not to put any goals at this time. May both of them have a good 2012,” added Domenicali.
Meanwhile, the Italian was asked how much he worries about the rumours Flavio Briatore is waiting in the wings to be the next Ferrari team principal. Making a circular motion with his fingers, he said: “Zero!”
Jules participated at Amber Lounge Fashion show yesterday and you can find more pictures from Singapore GP in the gallery. Updated with Sunday photos.
