Bridgestone motorsport wrap for 10th June 2008
Kubica takes maiden F1 win
Just 12 months ago, Poland's Robert Kubica finished the Canadian Grand Prix in hospital after surviving a massive accident that virtually disintegrated his BMW Sauber.
Wind the clock forward one year, and he finished this year's race on the top step of the podium after securing his first ever Formula One victory. Even better, the win puts him on top of the championship standings with 42 points, four ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton.
"I'm very happy - winning in Canada where I had the big shunt last season is something amazing," Kubica said.
"The goal was to win a grand prix this season; we've done it and we're leading the championship. I hope the team will give me 100 percent support to try and defend (this lead) until the last race."
Starting from the second row of the grid on the soft-compound Bridgestone Potenza tyres, Kubica held station in the early stages of the race before profiting when early race-leader Lewis Hamilton drove into the back of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari in the pit lane. For his error, the Englishman has been penalised ten grid positions for the next race in France.
While it was a miserable day for the championship's big names, it was near perfect for BMW Sauber with Nick Heidfeld making it a one-two. The German made just one pit-stop to Kubica's two, using a combination of the soft and super-soft Bridgestone rubber around the track, which deteriorated during the race, making tyre strategy even more important.
"Despite the difficult track conditions, tyre performance was good and we did not see any of the issues we experienced here last year. The track breaking-up made matters difficult for drivers, and at turn 10 in particular, we saw a number of mistakes because of this," said
Hirohide Hamashima - Director of Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development.
"Congratulations to Robert Kubica and BMW Sauber on their first win. Bridgestone have a big factory in Poland, and Robert's win today was a very good present for our employees there. It was a fantastic drive, especially at the track where he had such a big accident last year."
David Coulthard took a well-deserved third for Red Bull. He was followed home by Timo Glock (Toyota), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Jarno Trulli (Toyota), Rubens Barrichello (Honda) and Sebastien Vettel (Torro Rosso). Formula One will next be in action on June 20-22 with the Grand Prix du France at Magny Cours, where Bridgestone's medium and soft compound Potenza tyres will be used.
Rossi and Stoner on the podium in Spain
Yamaha's Valentino Rossi and Ducati's Casey Stoner both took podium positions at the Spanish MotoGP race at the Circuit de Catalunya, but it was a home-town hero who took the win.
Spanish Honda rider Dani Pedrosa put in a commanding performance to take the flag and narrow the championship gap to Rossi to just seven points.
Riding on Bridgestone tyres, Rossi and Stoner battled for places throughout the second half of the race. The Italian claimed second place when he snuck past Stoner on the penultimate lap. It was Rossi's sixth consecutive podium on Bridgestone tyres while the Australian's third place represents his fourth trip to the podium this season and also boosted his fourth place in the championship by an additional 16 points.
"I am very happy that Valentino and Casey were able to enjoy a competitive fight for the podium this afternoon," said Tohru Ubukata, Bridgestone Motorsport's Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development.
"Both riders demonstrated a good consistency over the race distance, and were able to set times in the final couple of laps that were just a tenth-of-a-second from their race best. In preparing for this event, we always had consistency and durability at the front of our minds, so in this regard, I think we can be quite satisfied."
The teams now head to Donington for the British Grand Prix on June 20-22.
Tough weekend for Bridgestone-sponsored teams in V8 Supercars
Ford dominated a slippery round of V8 Supercar action at Sandown in Melbourne at the weekend, with Jamie Whincup becoming the first driver to win at two meetings this season.
He took race one and three while teammate Craig Lowndes won the second race. However, it was Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom who profited the most, with his consistency giving him the championship lead.
In fact, it was a tough weekend all ‘round for the two Bridgestone-sponsored Holden teams. Rick Kelly and Paul Dumbrell finished well down the order for the HSV Dealer Team while HRT's Garth Tander could only watch Winterbottom replace him at the top of the title-chase.
The teams now head to Darwin for round six of the championship on July 4-6.