darren, Author at Octane Photography

Oct 27

by darren in Track 0 comments tags: Bagnaia, Buriram, MotoGP

Bagnaia Pole Lap Buriram 2024

MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia twice smashed the lap record in warm and humid conditions at the Buriram International Circuit on Saturday to take pole for the 2024 Thailand MotoGP.

Oct 26

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: F1, Red Bull, Tsunoda

Honda Helps Yuki Tsunoda twists Red Bull’s arm to test F1 car

Yuki Tsunoda has thanked Honda for pushing Red Bull into giving him a test in their F1 car. Despite being within the Red Bull family since 2021, Tsunoda has rarely been mentioned as a serious candidate to be Max Verstappen’s teammate. This season he outperformed RB teammate Daniel Ricciardo who has now been replaced by Liam Lawson. Yet, Lawson is more regularly touted for the Red Bull drive than Tsunoda. But Honda – the Japanese manufacturer who back Tsunoda and are partners of Red Bull – have interjected to request a test drive. “It’s a very good opportunity,” Tsunoda said to Motorsport. “At least I finally can show a bit of my driving and they just can see how I’m driving. “I think it’s very important. So at least it feels great. Finally, they’re giving me an opportunity. “I don’t know if it still happens or not, but there’s something even I heard from them directly. I try to maximise my opportunity. “Definitely Honda helped me to push that testing. I am very appreciative of them. “Obviously, I was pushing since the first race, as well, even for last year. I was able to show results that I [have] stepped […]

Oct 24

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: MotoGP, Stoner

Casey Stoner Australian Grand Prix crash a result of MotoGP aero

Two-times MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner has blamed downforce aerodynamics for a huge crash at last weekend’s Australian MotoGP race. The incident in question occurred in Saturday’s MotoGP Sprint, when Maverick Vinales passed Marco Bezzecchi on the run into turn one. Vinales edged towards the outside of the track after passing Bezzecchi to take a better line through the first corner, but Bezzecchi then ran into the back of the Aprilia rider under braking and both riders fell. “This is the result of aero,” Stoner commented on an Instagram post from the official MotoGP account. “The wake caused by them at that speed is too much.” Stoner made his opinions on downforce aerodynamics clear also earlier this year when he appeared on the Ducati Diaries podcast with Neil Hodgson. The two-times MotoGP World Champion explained that the aerodynamics, in combination with ride height devices and electronics, work to reduce the quality of racing in MotoGP by increasing grip and therefore reducing the chance for riders to make mistakes. Bezzecchi was awarded a long lap penalty for his role in the incident. One lap after serving it in Sunday’s Grand Prix at turn four, Bezzecchi crashed at the same corner before […]

Oct 20

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: KTM, Miller, MotoGP

Wildlife conspires against Jack Miller

Jack Miller’s Saturday at the 2024 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix was severely hindered by several wildlife strikes in qualifying and the sprint. The KTM rider had to go through the Q1 session on Saturday morning, but couldn’t advance on 16th after a rabbit strike left his RC16 fairing with damage. Then in the sprint, Miller hit a seagull on the opening lap at Turn 1 which left a “gaping hole” on the right side of his front fairing. The dead bird got wedged between the fairing and the brake lever, while the damage to his bike led to a severe drop in straightline speed. The Australian was able to make his way up to eighth despite all of this, before a “nothing crash” ended his race on lap eight of 13. “It could have been a better Saturday,” Miller began. “I had a good start in the Sprint from a not-great qualifying position and tipping into Turn 1 off the start a seagull flew into the front of the bike, which wasn’t ideal. “I tried to do what I could on the first lap to get rid of it but I couldn’t so I focused on the job at hand, […]

Oct 16

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Formula1, Haas, Toyota

Haas for Sale

Haas’ new partnership with Toyota that begins in Austin is a “clear sign” that the American team is “for sale”, says Ralf Schumacher. Haas and Toyota announced on Friday that Toyota Gazoo Racing, the Japanese company’s motorsport competition arm, would become Haas’ official technical partner in a multi-year deal. The deal effectively brings Toyota back to the F1 grid from the next race of 2024, the United States Grand Prix, with Toyota Gazoo president Tomoya Takahashi describing it as “competing” alongside Haas. While the F1 team will benefit from Toyota’s resources in the form of design, technical, and manufacturing services, including using their simulator expertise and wind tunnel, Haas will give Toyota Gazoo access to their F1 team with drivers, engineers and mechanics participating in Haas’ TPC [testing of a previous car] outings. But while the new partnership will have no impact on Haas’ current relationship with Ferrari, who supply the American team with engines and other parts for the car, it is expected to grow in the coming years at Toyota Gazoo personnel will be involved in aerodynamics development. Toyota though, were adamant there’s no background talk about becoming an engine supplier or even running a team, which they […]

Oct 15

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Stanaway, Supercars

Stanaway locked in at PremiAir Racing

Grove Racing outcast Richie Stanaway will remain a full-time Supercars Championship driver in 2025, replacing Tim Slade at PremiAir Racing. Stanaway won the race for the hotly contested PremiAir seat following the Sandown 500. The ink has now dried with team owner Peter Xiberras ready to talk about securing the 32-year-old Kiwi. “There is no doubting Richie is exceptionally talented – you don’t have a CV like his or win the Bathurst 1000 by accident after all – and while he was forced to endure an early exit at Sandown this year, it was clear that he has what it takes, especially when the weather gods are against you,” Xiberras said. “We look forward to having Richie join our team alongside Jimmy Golding and seeing what we can achieve together.” Stanaway and Golding were teammates at Garry Rogers Motorsport in 2019. The former endured rough full-time Supercars seasons at Tickford Racing and GRM before spending three years out of the sport. He returned as a wildcard at Bathurst in 2022 before winning the Great Race with Triple Eight last year. Making a full-time comeback with Grove Racing in 2024, the team decided to cut him loose in favour of Super2 […]

Oct 06

by darren in Crash 0 comments tags: Nascar, Talladega

The Big One at Talladega 2024

The 'Big One' at Talladega strikes with five laps to go after Austin Cindric gets a push from Brad Keselowski involving up to 28 Cup Series cars.

Oct 05

by darren in Crash 0 comments tags: Austria, MotoGP

Terrifying Austrian MotoGP Crash 2020

Terrifying footage of the 2020 Austrian MotoGP crash involving Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli, who came together on the approach to turn 3 at the Spielberg Ring. As a result Morbidelli's bike slid across the grass on the outside of the track before somersaulting multiple times narrowly missing both Yamaha factory riders Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi.

Oct 05

by darren in Crash 0 comments tags: Formula1, Silverstone

Zhou Guanyu Crash Silverstone 2022

Zhou Guanyu's high speed crash after Pierre Gasly and George Russell came together on Lap 1 at Silverstone, the rookie driver’s Alfa Romeo flipping and skidding across the track before being thrown into the barriers beyond the Turn 1 run-off area.

Oct 04

by darren in The Feed 0 comments tags: Evans GP, Macau, Webster

Cooper Webster to make Macau GP debut

The first driver for the 2024 Macau Grand Prix has been confirmed, with Cooper Webster announced at Evans GP. The race, which will be run for Formula Regional cars for the first time and award the category’s World Cup, takes place on November 14-17. Australian outfit Evans GP is one of 11 teams entering cars in junior single-seaters’ most prestigious race. The 21-year-old Webster was GB4 runner-up with the team in 2023, taking five wins, then he romped to the Indian Formula 4 title with eight victories. This year he has made a winning cameo in Australian F4, but done no other car racing. However the Australian already has extensive experience of higher level single-seaters, having raced in S5000 from 2021 to ’23 and taking seven wins from his campaigns in the Australian and Tasman series. S5000 is designed to be a modern interpretation of Formula 5000, a popular Formula 2-rivalling category in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, particularly in Australia, New Zealand and North America. The S5000 car is based around a Formula Regional chassis but utilises V8 power. “I’m really excited to be back with Evans GP for the Macau GP,” said Webster. “My experiences with Evans GP […]