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Very happy that the #7 finally won at Le Mans. So many near misses. Disappointing for Kubica in LMP2. The #51 lads did well to lead almost all the race. With the number of safety cars I had been worried the Corvette would luck into a reversal. A shame about the #52 (why was it renamed from #71??).
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ALBON, FIRST MAGIC IN THE DTM
Nürburgring 22 August 2021
Alex Albon claimed a first ever DTM triumph at the wheel of the AlphaTauri AF Corse 488 GT3 Evo 2020 at the end of Race 2, held today at the Nürburgring. Liam Lawson was less fortunate, his race hampered by two punctures.
Albon got off to a flying start after setting off from pole position, as did Lawson who gained three positions. A collision mid-group triggered a Safety Car entry and, when racing resumed, Lawson put on an excellent spurt, moving up into fourth position, capitalizing on various contacts involving the cars ahead. His team-mate, meanwhile, was managing to carve out a comfortable gap. With Albon breaking away, the Red Bull AF Corse driver moved in behind Juncadella and Wittmann, choosing to make the mandatory stop on lap seven and managing to stay ahead of Godtz who, due to warmer tyres, attacked Lawson, making contact and puncturing the New Zealander's left rear tyre. The #30 Ferrari headed for the pits, imitated on lap nine by Albon, coming back on track ahead of the drivers who had already pitted. A lap later, the Safety Car was re-deployed at the head of the pack to allow debris to be picked up from the track and the removal of stationary cars in positions deemed dangerous by race stewards.
When the race resumed on lap 17, Albon moved up into fourth place, while Lawson, in an attempt to move up the order, tried to attack the cars ahead at the final chicane, but ended up in a collision that caused his 488 GT3 Evo 2020 another puncture, this time to the right rear. Stable-mate Albon, meanwhile, moved up to third overall before passing Nico Mueller to pull into the slipstream of general standings leader Klien, who was still poised to make his stop. The AlphaTauri AF Corse driver took over the leadership from the McLaren driver. Once the pit stops had been completed, Albon found himself almost five seconds ahead of Juncadella, whom the Thai driver kept in check until the chequered flag, thus clinching his maiden DTM win. This marks a second triumph for Ferrari in the German series.
Albon.jpg
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THE YOUNGEST WAS THE BIGGEST AGAIN: LIAM LAWSON CLAIMS SECOND SEASON DTM WIN AT RED BULL RING
Spielberg 4 September 2021.
At 19 years, he is the youngest DTM driver and Liam Lawson is dictating the pace in DTM straight away.
In the ninth DTM race of the season, the New Zealander first claimed his maiden pole position and then emerged as the winner from an entertaining race.
Like in the season opener at Monza already, where he won his first-ever DTM race, the youngest was also the biggest. German Maximilian Götz, driving for the Mercedes-AMG Team HRT, was second at the finish at the 4.326 kilometres long Red Bull Ring, followed by Swiss Philip Ellis with the Mercedes-AMG from the WINWARD team.
( Alexander Albon finished in fourth place in the Alpha Tauri Ferrari )
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LAWSON SEALS STUNNING ENCORE AT SPIELBERG
DTM Spielberg 05 September 2021
Two wins out of two: ahead of the weekend, no one could have imagined a better result for Liam Lawson and the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Red Bull AF Corse.
In the second race, despite 25kg ballast, the nineteen-year-old New Zealander held off Marco Wittmann’s attacks and was first over the finish line with the help of the AF Corse team’s quick pit stop.
After a challenging qualifying session, Albon was unlucky to see a potential podium slip away due to a puncture.
Wait.
With Lawson starting from second and Albon from ninth, the two AF Corse Ferraris made it through the first turn unscathed and, with the Thai driver, tried to quickly climb the standings.
While Lawson shadowed poleman and race leader Marco Wittmann, Albon drove his AlphaTauri 488 GT3 Evo 2020 to eighth after an exciting duel with Glock.
Seven minutes in, Albon pitted together with other drivers, including the BMW man, Abril, Ellis, Buhk and Muth, followed by Lawson a lap later.
In both cases, the AF Corse mechanics were among the fastest to complete the mandatory tyre change, allowing Lawson to return to the virtual lead and Albon to fifth position.
Bad luck.
However, the Thai suffered a puncture that forced him back to the pits, leaving him one lap behind the leader, Nico Müller.
Albon made up the lap with some fast laps and a fine passing move at the Remus Kurve but was still more than a minute and twenty down on the German,
behind who the battle for victory raged between Lawson’s 488 GT3 Evo 2020 and Wittmann’s BMW.
The two set very similar times, but faster than Müller, with a gap of between five and eight tenths.
Lawson passed the Audi driver to move into first on lap 27, taking advantage of the German to create a small margin over Wittmann, who passed Müller a lap later.
In a heartbeat.
However, in another frantic finale, the two-time DTM champion moved back into the Ferrari’s slipstream.
With a black and white flag shown to both drivers, neither had any margin for error,
but the New Zealander again withstood the pressure, sealing his second triumph of the weekend and third of the season.
Chasing.
This result, and sixth place for Kelvin Van der Linde, still leader on 147 points, narrows the gap in the drivers’ standings.
With this weekend’s double triumph, Lawson is back in second position 12 lengths behind the South African,
while Albon, seventeenth at the finish, is sixth on 94.
Lawson.jpg
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Thanks Forza Rosso, nice to know that Ferrari can still win something even if it is under the Red Bull/AF Corse banner, which sounds a bit odd to me!
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You're welcome wisepie !
I'm already getting used to the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri AF Corse Ferrari name.
I read that Helmut Marko is very satisfied with the cooperation with Ferrari and 4 victories is proof enough of that !
Who knows when Hypercar becomes a reality for Ferrari maybe you wan't to run more than 2 cars...
Wouldn't it be great to see 2 red and 2 blue Ferrari's driving all year in the WEC in 2023 , instead of just 2 ?
And at Le Mans wouldn't it be great to see 6 Ferrari factory entries , so drivers like Charles , Carlos , Mick , Max and Liam can also have a go at the Le Mans overall title ?
But that's just me dreaming........
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Nice thought having real factory entry Ferraris in the WEC, preferably in red of course, but I find the RB/AT references quite hard to swallow. It's probably all about the finances but I'd like to see more recognition of the part that AF Corse plays in the running of those teams.Originally Posted by Forza Rosso
You're welcome wisepie !
I'm already getting used to the Red Bull and Alpha Tauri AF Corse Ferrari name.
I read that Helmut Marko is very satisfied with the cooperation with Ferrari and 4 victories is proof enough of that !
Who knows when Hypercar becomes a reality for Ferrari maybe you wan't to run more than 2 cars...
Wouldn't it be great to see 2 red and 2 blue Ferrari's driving all year in the WEC in 2023 , instead of just 2 ?
And at Le Mans wouldn't it be great to see 6 Ferrari factory entries , so drivers like Charles , Carlos , Mick , Max and Liam can also have a go at the Le Mans overall title ?
But that's just me dreaming........
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I think The Ferrari works entry announced a few months ago to enter the HYPERCAR class in 2023 , teaming up with AF-Corse is a good first step of recognition ,
and a reward for all the good work done in the GT series around the world by the teams of AF-Corse.
Ferrari could have gone their own way for the overall victory in the HYPERCAR-Class ,
but instead they opted for a collaboration with AF-Corse , benefitting from their experience and making their semi-works entry a real works-entry !
For Red-Bull using a Ferrari prevents them from constructing their own HYPERCAR saving them a lot of money by not having to develop their own car
( speculating of course that Red-Bull have any interest in entering the HYPERCAR class
Naughty Word Mod
Was always going to AF corse.. I knew about this couple months before the announcement. Were never going to do Ferrari in house hypercar. Just because of the history have with AF. AF Corse is a full independent team, but, with massive backing from Ferrari. Always been said, if Ferrari was going to have a full factory GTE team. Would look alot like AF Corse. Red Bull. Will not go hypercar. They were looking, witg the Aston Martin Valkyrie, who something on that. But that never got off the ground. There is no plans within, next 3 yeaes to see rbr at hypercar.I think The Ferrari works entry announced a few months ago to enter the HYPERCAR class in 2023 , teaming up with AF-Corse is a good first step of recognition ,
and a reward for all the good work done in the GT series around the world by the teams of AF-Corse.
Ferrari could have gone their own way for the overall victory in the HYPERCAR-Class ,
but instead they opted for a collaboration with AF-Corse , benefitting from their experience and making their semi-works entry a real works-entry !
For Red-Bull using a Ferrari prevents them from constructing their own HYPERCAR saving them a lot of money by not having to develop their own car
( speculating of course that Red-Bull have any interest in entering the HYPERCAR class
Af corse pitstops, what can i say. I know many of them very well. Good friends. They some the hardest working crews around. They all self employed. With go where they needed within the af corse stable.. Wherever its, dtm, gt world challenge, wec, elms, imsa, asian le mans series. Ferrari challenge series.
CAVALLINO RAMPANTE PER SEMPRE
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Thanks Rob, know you are best buddies with the AF Corse ragazzi, any inside info is always welcome!
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LAWSON TAKES SECOND ON SUNDAY , AFTER TAKING THIRD ON SATURDAY AND EXTENDS LEAD IN DTM
DTM Assen 19 September 2021
Having moved to the top of the DTM standings after Race-1, Liam Lawson extended his championship lead with second place in Race-2 at Assen. A quick Alex Albon finished fifth.
Aggressive.
The Ferraris started from the second row, attacking Wittmann while the poleman Auer pulled away from the group. Like yesterday, the BMW driver was very determined to protect his position and Lawson, despite getting off to a faster start than his rival, was forced to postpone his attack and was passed by his teammate.
Undercut.
Lawson decided to imitate the strategy that had proved successful in Race-1 by pitting on lap six, one lap ahead of Wittmann and Albon. The New Zealander's undercut proved successful, allowing the Red Bull AF Corse driver to pull alongside the BMW man as he exited the pit lane, taking advantage of warmer tyres to pass him on turn two. With Auer in the virtual lead and Lawson in second, the race was still open, waiting for race leader Kelvin Van der Linde to pit.
Slipstream.
The Audi driver made his mandatory stop on lap 21, returning just a few fractions ahead of Wittmann. In the BMW driver's slipstream and ahead of Maximilian Götz, Albon also tried to chase the South African, but with no luck. At the front, Lawson cut the gap to Auer to just over a second, while Albon was five-tenths down on Van der Linde, who was still battling it out with Wittmann.
Pulling away.
A few seconds from the end of the 55-minute race, Juncadella, in third, stopped his Mercedes at the edge of the track, allowing Wittmann to take his place on the podium. Two laps later, the chequered flag marked Lucas Auer's first win of the season, second place for Liam Lawson's 488 GT3 Evo 2020 and Alex Albon's fifth. With two rounds to go, this result puts the Red Bull AF Corse driver on 175 points, extending his lead to 10 points over Marco Wittmann, 15 over Van der Linde and 20 over Maximilian Götz. Alex Albon is sixth on 104.
Appointments.
With four races still to run, the DTM drivers will be back in action over the weekend of October 1-3 in Hockenheim.
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LAWSON , SECOND AT HOCKENHEIM , MOVES UP IN THE STANDINGS
DTM Hockenheim 03 October 2021
With a consistent yet determined showing, Liam Lawson (Red Bull AF Corse) claimed an excellent runner-up spot in the second race of the DTM weekend at Hockenheim to edge further away at the head of the overall standings.
The driver now holds a 14-point advantage over the nearest second-placed rival in the countdown to the final round of the season.
Alex Albon in the other Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 (AlphaTauri AF Corse) posted sixth place.
High tension start.
Emotions were running high from the get-go, with Liam Lawson third on the grid and Alex Albon, fifth, vying for positions in a tense struggle.
Lawson’s #30 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 got involved in a long, heated duel with Van der Linde.
After plenty of door to door tussling, the New Zealander racer with Red Bull AF Corse was able to get the better of his immediate rival in the general standings.
However, whilst attempting an overtaking manoeuvre, Van der Linde was deemed by race authorities.
Having secured the position, Lawson was able to dictate the pace, in spite of the ballast, breaking away before eventually finishing the race in second place ahead of Maximilian Götz.
An excellent sixth place finish for Alex Albon.
After a delicate, tricky start to the race, the AlphaTauri AF Corse driver gained ground: in addition to a brilliantly swift, efficient pit stop,
Albon was able to stage an intelligent defence in the second half of the race, fending off attacks from his most immediate pursuers,
but whose bid for a higher position was hindered by the heavy success ballast as a result of the Race 1 podium (Albon second and Lawson fourth ).
The standings.
Today's second place in the run-up to the final round of the season, helps Lawson consolidate his leadership in the overall standings:
With one raceweekend and 2 races left to go , the New Zealander driver now holds 206 points compared to the 192 of Van der Linde. Götz follows on 180 points.
In the Team-Standings Red Bull Alphatauri AF Corse now has a lead of 68 points ( 336 to 268 of Team Abt Sportsline ).
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LAWSON , SECOND AT HOCKENHEIM , MOVES UP IN THE STANDINGS
DTM Hockenheim 03 October 2021
With a consistent yet determined showing, Liam Lawson (Red Bull AF Corse) claimed an excellent runner-up spot in the second race of the DTM weekend at Hockenheim to edge further away at the head of the overall standings.
The driver now holds a 14-point advantage over the nearest second-placed rival in the countdown to the final round of the season.
Alex Albon in the other Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 (AlphaTauri AF Corse) posted sixth place.
High tension start.
Emotions were running high from the get-go, with Liam Lawson third on the grid and Alex Albon, fifth, vying for positions in a tense struggle.
Lawsons #30 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 got involved in a long, heated duel with Van der Linde.
After plenty of door to door tussling, the New Zealander racer with Red Bull AF Corse was able to get the better of his immediate rival in the general standings.
However, whilst attempting an overtaking manoeuvre, Van der Linde was deemed by race authorities.
Having secured the position, Lawson was able to dictate the pace, in spite of the ballast, breaking away before eventually finishing the race in second place ahead of Maximilian Götz.
An excellent sixth place finish for Alex Albon.
After a delicate, tricky start to the race, the AlphaTauri AF Corse driver gained ground: in addition to a brilliantly swift, efficient pit stop,
Albon was able to stage an intelligent defence in the second half of the race, fending off attacks from his most immediate pursuers,
but whose bid for a higher position was hindered by the heavy success ballast as a result of the Race 1 podium (Albon second and Lawson fourth ).
The standings.
Today's second place in the run-up to the final round of the season, helps Lawson consolidate his leadership in the overall standings:
With one raceweekend and 2 races left to go , the New Zealander driver now holds 206 points compared to the 192 of Van der Linde. Götz follows on 180 points.
In the Team-Standings Red Bull Alphatauri AF Corse now has a lead of 68 points ( 336 to 268 of Team Abt Sportsline ).
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Good to see Ferrari/AF Corse posting some great results, even if it's weird seeing the cars with Alpha Tauri branding! Thanks for the updates, Forza Rosso.
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Thanks !
Indeed great results in only the first year of cooperation , hope it will continue this way , fingers crossed !
Naughty Word Mod
Nuremberg, 09 October 2021 – The opening race of the final weekend of the 2021 DTM season brought Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse its first title in the series, thanks to Liam Lawson’s third place and Nick Cassidy’s fifth. This important podium brings Lawson, the leader of the provisional standings, closer to the drivers’ title that will be decided tomorrow. We heard from the some of the Ferraristi at the end of the race.
Liam Lawson: “It’s nice to be able to stretch in the standings even though we wanted to collect as many points as possible, and finishing first would have been better.The race was crazy, the start was unbelievable, and I still find it hard to believe that Van der Linde tried to squeeze through because I was going into the turn, but I saw the Audi come in on the inside… I think he felt he had to try everything.From then on, it wasn’t easy. The pit stop went well, and the guys were great as usual.Nick [Cassidy, Ed] was a big help to me when he came out of the pits because Kelvin was recovering really fast.I’m delighted with today’s race.The championship is not decided yet. We need to be focused and have another good qualifying tomorrow.We know we have a good car, but also ballast due to the result, so today it was essential to score points.Tomorrow we will give everything to try to win the title”.
Nick Cassidy: “In the race, I found the pace I didn’t have in qualifying, which didn’t allow me to start where I wanted to. After a while, the front tyre and brake temperatures rose, and it wasn’t easy. I have nothing to prove this weekend other than helping the team win the title”.
Antonello Coletta, Head of Attività Sportive GT: “We are happy to have won a DTM title for the first time at the end of a really interesting season for us.This is a highly spectacular series, and AF Corse has shown that it can step into a new environment with its usual professionalism and competitiveness.We are satisfied with today’s result, but we are ambitious, so we remain focused and motivated to complete a great year with tomorrow’s race”.
Amato Ferrari: “It’s been an exciting season, with one last piece still missing, which we hope to add tomorrow to make it unique. This fantastic programme was created very close to the season’s start. However, since the successful debut on our home circuit, we have shown that the synergy between Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse and Ferrari is competitive and can be rewarding for everyone. We can only be happy to have won the team title even if our efforts focus on the main objective in tomorrow’s race’s, the drivers’ championship with Liam Lawson”.
Naughty Word Mod
Last race for gt world challenge endurance today. 51 iron lynx leading the championship.. Lets hope can do enough today to bring it home. And 93 sky tempesta ferrari is leading pro AM aswell. So, fingers crossed for today
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Good racing so far.
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Actually, cracking weekend of live sport with the IL Lombardia, boxing and motor racing.
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How is that not a penalty for the lambo playing bumper cars with iron lynx #71?
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NORISRING TO FORGET FOR LAWSON AS DTM TITLE SLIPS AWAY
Norisring 10 October 2021
Liam Lawson suffered a bitter conclusion to the last round of the DTM, held today at the Norisring.
Setting off from pole, the Red Bull AF Corse driver saw all his hopes of becoming the German series’ youngest ever champion dashed after a collision at the first turn.
In a move similar to the one made in Race-1, Kelvin Van der Linde collided with Lawson once again, damaging the steering arm and almost pushing him into the wall.
The marshals considered the South African's behaviour only worthy of a five-second penalty, even though the damage to the Ferrari put Lawson out of contention.
Nevertheless, he confirmed his great sportsmanship by completing the race out of respect for the championship without damaging his rivals or provoking extreme situations. Cassidy, held up by his teammate's car in the accident on the first turn, attempted a desperate comeback from the back.
Standing in for Alex Albon, the AlphaTauri AF Corse driver took first place before his obligatory stop on lap 56.
The New Zealander re-entered the track behind Götz's Mercedes in fifth.
After a puncture to the rear left-hand tyre put paid to Kelvin Van der Linde's title chances, the only obstacle between Götz and the title were the cars in between him and first place, all Mercedes. Despite being over twelve seconds down, the German marque's strategy helped Götz to take the lead in just two laps, two minutes from the chequered flag. Cassidy gave it his best shot for top spot but was involved in multiple contacts that forced him to pit with a heavily damaged car.
Cassidy's #23 Ferrari was in thirteenth and Lawson's #30 eighteenth.
With this result, Götz took the title on 230 points, three lengths ahead of Lawson.
Red Bull AF Corse’s nineteen-year-old won the “Junior” title while the Piacenza-based team had already sealed the team title yesterday, with a race to spare.
The season's outcome is bitter for the team, which worked hard in its debut year in the German series.
However, this does not detract from the drivers and team's excellent results, including four wins, 14 podiums and five pole positions, the last of which was secured this morning.
DRIVERS' COMMENTS AFTER RACE 2 AT NORISRING
A disappointing finish cannot erase a DTM debut season that was nonetheless positive.
The honours won include Red Bull AlphaTauri AF Corse’s team title, Liam Lawson's Junior title and four victories for the New Zealander and Alex Albon.
We recorded the drivers’ post-race comments.
Liam Lawson: “I’m obviously very disappointed and gutted for my whole team.
They really deserved this title. To be taken out by the same guy over and over again says it all.
Turn one, lap one of the race – what can you say? I just feel bad for my whole team.”
Nick Cassidy: “Obviously the result today was not perfect, but we tried our best.
After a great performance in qualifying by Liam and me it was great to start at the front.
Unfortunately, some circumstances out of our control didn’t help in the race.
I was really pleased with my drive to come back from half a lap down to P4.
The pace of the car was amazing and I tried my best to fight for the win. In the end it wasn’t meant to be.
Thanks to the team for the opportunity to race here. I had a lot of fun.”
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So disappointing to lose driver's title through no fault of his own, they deserved that driver's title as much as the team title. But it was a great season for the AF Corse-run cars and hopefully this will lead to even greater things in the future with Ferrari back in the sportscar racing big time.
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Especially disappointing when you lose the championship , because a certain Audi driver deliberately drives you off the track !
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Was there any steward's inquiry after the event? I wasn't able to see the race so don't know what happened after the incident.Especially disappointing when you lose the championship , because a certain Audi driver deliberately drives you off the track !
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Van de Linde only got a 5 second penalty because the stewards didn't think the move was deliberate !
3 Days later the South African has apoligized to Liam Lawson after van de Linde got battered in social media.
Here a 5 minute recap of the race :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzHtvxvzVhQ
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Grazie for that Forza Rosso, makes me feel a 5sec penalty was a joke. Team prize went to the right team, though!
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Absolutely !
By the way : I don't think vdL has to worry about getting a Ferrari or Red Bull drive in the ( near ) future....
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I'm currently watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUgt2k6nI48 INDY 8 HOUR | IGTC AND GT WORLD CHALLENGE AMERICA
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What are Ferrari doing today!? Poor decisions and mistakes in the pit lane today.
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Incredible! Ferrari back up to 2nd and 3rd after some fortuitous coming together of other cars!
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