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Norris: Hard tyre felt like “garbage” in Spanish F1 GP practice – F1

McLaren Formula 1 driver Lando Norris says Pirelli’s hard compound tyres felt like “garbage” in Spanish Grand Prix free practice, and felt “like I had more grip on the wets”.

Due to the global COVID-19 crisis, the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona was moved form its usual May date to the middle of August, traditionally the hottest period of the year in Catalonia.

To prepare for the extra heat and the fact that the 2020 generation of F1 cars is the fastest in history, Pirelli went conservative with its range of tyres and brought the C1, C2 and C3 compounds to Barcelona.

Those tyres are the same selection used in the British Grand Prix and one step harder than the tyre selection that spiced up last weekend’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

According to Norris, the hardest C1 compound was so hard it was barely useable during Friday practice.

“Garbage. I

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F1 Italian GP: Hamilton heads Monza second practice from Bottas – F1

Lewis Hamilton topped second practice for Formula 1’s 2020 Italian Grand Prix at Monza ahead of Valtteri Bottas, while Daniel Ricciardo lost third to a track limits violation.

Ricciardo’s loss for running too wide at the exit of the Parabolica meant Lando Norris finished third despite missing much of the middle part of the session as McLaren investigated a possible power unit problem, ahead of Pierre Gasly and Max Verstappen.

Under cloudless skies at Monza – where ever more Ferrari banners were being unfurled in the empty main grandstand opposite the team’s garage during FP2 – the second 90-minute session got off to a low-key start before Kimi Raikkonen emerged in his Alfa Romeo.

The 2007 world champion, who at one stage in the early running held a wild snap of oversteer as he exited the second, set the initial benchmark at 1m22.959s on the medium rubber, before he was

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Gasly: “No idea” where AlphaTauri Italian GP practice pace came from – F1

AlphaTauri Formula 1 driver Pierre Gasly says he has “no idea” where the team’s pace came from after impressing in practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

Gasly was sixth fastest in the morning session before moving up two spots in the afternoon as the fastest Honda-powered driver, even ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

His team-mate Daniil Kyvat also showed flashes of speed, taking fourth in FP1 before slipping to seventh in the quicker afternoon session.

“It’s been the best Friday by far since the start of the season,” said Gasly. “I think we were sixth this morning, fourth this afternoon. So I must say that the feeling in the car was good. I could push, I managed to put some good laps, and I felt quite comfortable.

“So a positive Friday for us. Unfortunately, we had a small issue with the damper at the end during the long run.

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O’Ward leads Power in practice

In the only practice session for this weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – two races of 250 laps each – the rookies and first-time entrants in an IndyCar at the 1.25-mile oval got half an hour in which O’Ward turned 13 laps to set a 177.072mph lap to head Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh’s Alex Palou.

“We put a lot of very valuable work in that session,” O’Ward said. “We did everything we wanted to do to prepare for tomorrow’s qualifying and race. There’s so many little things that go into it that make a perfect race, so we

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Ticktum misses Spa F2 practice but second COVID-19 test comes back negative – F2

Dan Ticktum was forced to miss Formula 2 practice at Spa on Friday after returning an inconclusive result for COVID-19, but has since been cleared of contracting the virus.

DAMS F2 driver Ticktum was absent from the 45-minute practice session at Spa on Friday afternoon, leaving the team running a single car for Juri Vips.

F2 confirmed in a short statement on social media during the session that Williams Formula 1 junior driver Ticktum was absent due to an inconclusive COVID-19 test result.

“Following an inconclusive COVID-19 test result DAMS F2 driver Dan Ticktum will not take part in today’s practice while he awaits the result of a re-test,” the statement read.

It left Ticktum on the sidelines for F2 practice, but the British driver will return to the track for qualifying after returning a negative result on a re-test.

“We can confirm that DAMS F2 driver Dan Ticktum’s re-test

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Spa-Francorchamps F2: Shwartzman leads practice at Spa – F2

Robert Shwartzman set the pace in practice for the Formula 2 round at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, leading Red Bull-Honda junior Yuki Tsunoda.

The 45-minute session was red-flagged almost as soon as it began, as HWA Racelab driver Giuliano Alesi crashed his car at the exit of pitlane while attempting to warm up his tyres.

When practice resumed with 36 minutes left on the clock, Mick Schumacher went to the top of the timesheets with a time of 1m59.171s, only for team-mate Shwartzman to displace him seconds later with a 1m58.874s flyer.

Shwartzman managed to go even quicker still with a 1m58.233s, while Carlin’s Tsunoda and Hitech’s Nikita Mazepin slotted into second and third, both two-tenths of a second down on the Prema driver.

Schumacher managed to improve on his previous time but still dropped to seventh, behind MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich, the second Carlin of Jehan Daruvala and Campos driver

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As planned, final Indy 500 practice ‘uncomfortable’ for Marco Andretti

Indy 500 pole-sitter Marco Andretti gritted through his Carb Day in a thoroughly unenjoyable final practice Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Which was precisely the plan for the Andretti Autosport driver.

After leading the speed charts for the past three days at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (including Fast Friday and two days of qualifying), Andretti’s No. 98 Dallara-Honda team worked to ensure they knew which setup adjustments to avoid making during Sunday’s 104th Indy 500.

THE 104TH INDY 500: How to watch Sunday’s race on NBC

‘A MASTERPIECE’: Marco Andretti loves his car for the Indy 500

“Today the goal was to put myself in the most uncomfortable circumstances possible because we’re not planning on leading 200 laps,” Andretti told hosts Mike Tirico and Danica Patrick in an NBCSN interview after the two-hour session. “That would be beautiful. But we know there’s going to be a state of adversity

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Indy 500 final practice Pato O’Ward is fastest on Carb Day

Pato O’Ward became the first Chevrolet driver atop the speed chart at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, pacing Friday’s final Carb Day practice for the 104th Indy 500.

O’Ward’s No. 5 Dallara-Chevrolet recorded a 225.355 mph lap to lead the two-hour session, which was an hour longer than the traditional final Carb Day warmup. Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Dallara-Honda was second at 224.646 mph, followed by Alexander Rossi (224.599) and Takuma Sato (224.580).

Oliver Askew, O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren SP teammate, was next at 224.128, giving Chevrolet two cars in the top five after Hondas had led the previous six practice sessions on the 2.5-mile oval and took eight of the top nine spots in qualifying.

FINAL SPEEDS: Click here for Carb Day practice results

THE 104TH INDY 500: How to watch Sunday’s race on NBC

“It’s just been really important to try to get the best car we can

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O’Ward leads Dixon in Indy 500 Carb Day final practice – IndyCar

Pato O’Ward put his Arrow McLaren SP at the top of the speed charts in the last on-track session before the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500.

In the final track time ahead of this weekend’s Indy 500, O’Ward, classified as a rookie at Indy after failing to qualify for the race in 2019, was the only driver to break the 225mph barrier and the 40 seconds barrier, with his 11th lap of 84 resulting in 225.355mph.

That put him 0.7mph ahead of the best effort from Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner for Chip Ganassi Racing, while two more former winners in Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato were third and fourth fastest.

Oliver Askew, another rookie, was fifth in the second Arrow McLaren SP entry ahead of Zach Veach for Andretti Autosport who said yesterday that his car was feeling comfortable in traffic and duly proved it today.

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Zarco to miss Friday MotoGP Styrian GP practice without medical test – MotoGP

Avintia Ducati’s Johann Zarco will miss Friday’s opening two practice sessions for MotoGP’s Styrian Grand Prix having not met the requirements to undergo the mandatory medical test before the weekend.

Zarco was involved in a 200mph crash with the Petronas Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli at Turn 3 of the Red Bull Ring last week, with his Ducati hitting the barrier and vaulting over the track.

Morbidelli’s bike meanwhile slid back onto the track and nearly avoided the factory Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales.

Although it was initially understood that all riders escaped serious injury during a nasty crash at Turn 3 at the Red Bull Ring last weekend, it subsequently emerged that Zarco fractured the scaphoid in his right wrist.

The French rider had his wrist operated on Wednesday in Italy and travelled back to Spielberg on Thursday for the second of the two MotoGP races in Austria.

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