Joshwells Racing

Fast from being confirmed as the second most-watched sport in the world, Formula One bosses are hoping to reach out to even more fans with the launching of a new £20 million purpose built tourist centre.

After the latest viewing figures came in from sources around the world, Formula One was confirmed as the second most-watched sport on the globe, with almost 1 billion fans tuning in to watch the fortnightly endeavours of Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso. (more…)

NASCAR driver Danica Patrick has said that she is not worried about the comments made by David Gilliland, when he said that Danica should just “shut up and race.” Patrick, though, has said that it is she who is extremely angry with the way Gilliland drove in the recent race. She said that Gilliland was extremely aggressive in the recent Sprint cup series. Speaking ahead of the next cup race, Danica said that Gilliland is unlike any other NASCAR driver she has encountered in the past because he is too aggressive.

She has said that she has never seen Gilliland move over for someone. The attention that Gilliland has been receiving from the media and other NASCAR drivers is what irritates Danica right now. It was Patrick who first came to the war of words with the criticism against Gilliland, who responded by sending out a statement along with the four words through his spokesman. This is the first full season in NASCAR for Danica Patrick. She is currently 25th in the table after having taken part in eight races. Gilliland, meanwhile, is a couple of places below Danica in the 33rd position.

Patrick also failed to comment about any speculation on her personal life, as she recently got divorced from her husband Paul Hospenthal.

“I don’t think he races me like everyone else. I watched him move over and let someone by so, no, I don’t think he does. And that is what makes me mad. He is just getting more attention for this than he deserves,” said Danica Patrick ahead of the next race. He was speaking at the Richmond International Raceway. It is learnt that she is currently going out with cup driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who is six years younger than Danica. Ricky is also a rookie in the sport.

The NASCAR chairman Brian France has said that he wants the sport to always be like the race on Sunday at the Auto Club Speedway. It was one of the most exciting NASCAR races in recent times. However, it was blighted by the injury to Denny Hamlin, who suffered fractures after crashing with his former teammate Joey Logano. As a result of this crash, Hamlin’s participation in the forthcoming races is under a cloud of doubt. Other than this, the Sunday’s race was a great example of how the sport should be in the future according to Brian France.

He has said that the race was extremely tight with several passing opportunities for the competitors. This made for a great spectacle according to France. Joey Logano and Hamlin have been part of a major incident only last week, but the chairman France has said that he does not intend to hold talks with the pair in the hopes of repairing their relationship. He has acknowledged that NASCAR remains as a contact sport and such incidents are bound to happen in the latter stages of the race. The most important thing according to France was that both drivers were extremely competitive.

However, France did confirm that the organising committee is studying the incident involving the drivers. “What I know is when the racing is tighter and there’s more passing, there’s just more excitement and more contact and more things that happen. That’s kind of what NASCAR is all about. Kind of what happened on Sunday was a prototype event for how we would look what a good event ought to look like. They were going at it. It probably didn’t hurt the competitiveness that both drivers didn’t want the other one to win,” said France, who said that SAFER barriers could be installed to prevent such incidents in the future.

NASCAR could be set to welcome Harry Vaulkhard for the upcoming 2013 season according to the latest rumours. Harry Vaulkhard is a champion in the British and world touring car championships. He is now flying to the United States in order to test the 900 bhp NASCAR vehicles in the hope of clinching a move to the sport. He has been recently approached by the squad from MacDonald Motorsport. He revealed recently that he got the opportunity from the team just before Christmas. He has said that it is a great news and he cannot wait to start testing cars for MacDonald Motorsport.

Vaulkhard will be hoping that the test goes smooth. His career has been slowed down by a number of factors including financial difficulties. He rose to fame back in 2007 after winning the SEAT Cupra R series title, while later moving to the British touring car Championships. Even though he has remained with the BTCC on a consistent basis, he had to miss the 2011 season as a result of a lack of seat. He recently signed to raise the European NASCAR series, but had to pull out due to several reliability and financial problems. The 27-year-old has made it no secret of the fact that he would like to get into NASCAR racing.

“It was just before Christmas and I got an email from the team offering me the chance to test in the USA. I have to say it was quite a nice pre-Christmas present! MacDonald Motorsports is a top-end team so it was great news. I’m really looking forward to giving it a go. For a while I’ve been looking at NASCAR as where I want to be. I’ve always felt that it would suit the kind of driver that I am and it’s a series I’ve always loved,” said Vaulkhard.

The Ferrari team boss, Stefano Domenicali has said that he is confident that the star driver Fernando Alonso will be able to bounce back from the disappointment of having lost the title by just three points last season. The Spaniard Fernando Alonso was in contention for the title throughout the last season, but fell just three points short of the eventual winner Vettel on the final day of the season. Alonso managed to finish in the second position in the Brazilian Grand Prix and needed Sebastian Vettel to finish lower than sixth position.

However, the German managed a sixth place finish and won the F1 world championship title. Alonso recently spoke that title is not the only thing that matters because he is extremely happy with the way he competed throughout last season. Alonso was one of the best drivers through to the last season and held the lead in the championship standings for most of the season. Ferrari are expected to bounce back strongly according to the team boss, who is expected to adopt an aggressive strategy for next season. After falling behind Red Bull during the back end of the season, Ferrari recovered strongly to finish the season on a high note. Domenicali expects things to progress from that stage.

“It is not easy when you do such an incredible season to lose in that condition. But the strength of a champion is to make sure that in this break you recharge and once again be the best. If you put yourself in his shoes, he knows and he knew at that stage he would have deserved the championship. Honestly. That’s without putting any negative words on Sebastian – he won and so he deserved that,” said the Ferrari team principal. Ferrari were disappointed not to win the constructors championship.

The current NASCAR leader of the drivers championship, Brad Keselowski has said that he does not feel any pressure of being chased by the pack in the title race. The 28-year-old is currently ahead of the other drivers in the title race. However, his advantage is just seven points compared to the other drivers. Jimmie Johnson, who has won the title five times in the past years. Denny Hamlin has always been a major contender in the NASCAR title race. He is just 20 points behind Brad Keselowski in the table. Despite being chased by such high profile names, Brad Keselowski has said that he is not feeling the pressure at the moment.

He has said that he is not feeling any pressure of being chased the because he knows his limitations and his strong points. He is extremely satisfied with the way the team has performed in the last few races. Brad Keselowski comes into the race this weekend having won the last two, which has helped him establish the slender lead at the top of the table. Martinsville Speedway is going to be difficult to win for Brad Keselowski because Johnson will be on the pole position. Further, Brad Keselowski has not had a better finish than ninth in this Speedway.

“I know in my shoes, I feel good about our situation. I love the way we performed over the last few weekends, really over the Chase. You want to win every race and obviously that hasn’t happened, but that’s not realistic either. But we’ve been fortunate to win two races and be in contention for others. Even when we don’t win, we seem to be able to find a way to not have a disaster out of it,” Keselowski said ahead of the race this weekend in the Martinsville Speedway.