HRT Formula 1 Team announces the incorporation of Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua to the Spanish team’s young driver development programme.

The formation programme designed by HRT F1 Team for Ma Qing Hua includes professional assessment in his career as a driver, private tests with cars from different categories and simulator tests. If the results of the partnership are satisfactory, Qing Hua could take to the wheel of the F112 at the Formula 1 Young Driver test.

Ma Qing Hua will perform his first official act with HRT Formula 1 Team on Thursday the 12th of April at a press conference previous to the Chinese Grand Prix (13th to 15th of April), which takes place at the Shanghai International Circuit. The details of the press conference will be announced shortly.

The incorporation of Ma Qing Hua to HRT Formula 1 Team’s driver development programme is part of the Spanish team’s strategy in order to serve as a platform for the formation of professionals in the pinnacle of world motorsport. The driver born in Shanghai has been competing in different categories of national and international motorsport for many years. His incorporation to HRT F1 Team’s Driver Development Programme takes place after some simulator tests and a testing session in Cheste (Valencia) at the wheel of a World Series car. The qualities and attitude of Qing Hua convinced Luis Pérez-Sala of his potential to incorporate him to the programme which Dani Clos, HRT F1 Team test driver, is also a part of.

Ma Qing Hua: “I’m very honoured to form a part of the driver development programme at HRT Formula 1 Team since, with work and effort, it will allow me to become the first Chinese Formula 1 driver. It’s a very special moment for me and it’s hard to express how happy I am. I’ve dreamt of becoming a Formula 1 driver since I was very small. I started in the karting world when I was 8 years old and I worked really hard to learn and become quicker every time. After competing in categories such as Formula campus, Formula Renault and F3, I learned a lot about car set-up, technique on circuits and team work to become more professional every time. And now finally my childhood dream has become true thanks to the opportunity that HRT has granted me to become an F1 driver. And even more so this year with all the drivers who are competing, with 6 world champions amongst them. Driving an F1 car will be the most incredible experience and I’m going to work hard to earn it. Thanks to HRT for offering me the chance to show what I’m capable of. And thanks to my family and everyone who has always supported me. This is only the beginning”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal: “We are working so that one of the team’s signs of identity is to serve as a platform to launch young drivers, both nationally and internationally. Ma Qing Hua is one those talents in which we believe and we want to help him in his career so that he can make it to Formula 1. We like his conditions and we want to take part in his formation by incorporating him to the team’s Driver Development Programme so that he can participate in races and private tests, with the objective of him being able to take part in the Formula 1 tests reserved to young drivers. Due to my responsibility in the Circuit de Catalunya young driver programme, I’ve been able to follow his progress and personally assisted some tests he did. I knew he had potential, but I was surprised with his speed, safety, adaptation capacity, attitude and professionalism. All these virtues make us believe that his incorporation to the programme will be very positive and will lead to a fruitful and lasting relationship”.

Profile

Date of Birth: 25th of December 1987
Place of Birth: Shanghai, China
Nationality: Chinese

Ma Qing Hua started racing at the tender age of 8 and won the youth National Karting Championship when he was 12 years old. He continued to race and achieve successful results in karting until 2004, when he entered the Asian Formula Renault Series and won the championship. In 2005 he represented Team China in A1 Grand Prix. From here he would move on to Formula Renault 2.0 NEC, before competing in Formula 3 Spain and Formula 3 Spain “Copa de España”, managing two podiums this season. One year later, the Chinese driver took part in various events of the British Formula 3 International Series. In 2010 he represented Team China for two races in Superleague Formula before moving onto the Chinese Touring Car Championship in 2011 where he came away with the title after four wins and four podiums in the eight-race season.

Career Summary:

2011: Chinese Touring Car Championship: 1st in the Championship (4 wins and 4 podiums)
2010: Superleague Formula: Team China
2009: British Formula 3 International Series: Team West-Tec
2008: Formula 3 Spain, Copa de España F3: Team West-Tec: 7th in the Copa (2 podiums)
2007:Chinese National Karting Championship (Super Group): 1st in the Championship
2006:Formula Renault 2.0 NEC: Team Astromega
2005:A1GP: Team China
2004:Asian Formula Renault Series: 1st in the Championship
Formula Campus Asia Championship: 1st in the Championship
Shanghai Karting Grand Prix (ICA Group): Winner
2003:Chinese National Karting Championship (ICA Group): 6th position
2002:Chinese National Karting Championship: 2nd position
Indian International Karting Championship: 2nd position

Dario Franchitti insists he has no regrets despite never adding success in formula one to his list of career achievements.
The famous Scot, whose wife is the Hollywood actor Ashley Judd, is the cousin of impressive Force India youngster Paul di Resta.

Last week, 38-year-old Franchitti joined his family member at the Jerez test.

The four-time Indycar champion and double Indy 500 winner was asked by Sky Sports if, despite flirting with Jaguar at the beginning of last decade, he regrets not having made it to F1.

“You can live your life thinking ‘I wish I’d done this, I wish I’d done that’,” he answered.

“It would have been great to race in formula one at some point, but when the chances were there I didn’t take them; I didn’t feel that they were better than the opportunities I had in America.”

Added Franchitti: “I made the decisions I made, I’m delighted I won a couple of Indy 500s and the four championships, so I wouldn’t change that for that world.”

For the first time since 1994, the name Senna in Formula 1 start list. The season opener went for Bruno yet resinous. In eight races of the Brazilians saw only twice in 16th the checkered flag. The HRT is not only slow but also difficult to control. Nevertheless, the 26-year-old is happy to be a member in the premier class. Well, must follow the next step.

“Formula 1 is so difficult that one can not imagine. One can only react,” Senna is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport ‘. “In the first two or three races I had severe adjustment problems of the sports cars I’ve driven in the past year, back on formula cars. At a certain point, I got my normal F1 driving style found again.”
The greatest successes celebrated Senna in the British Formula 3, which he finished as joint Ritter (2006), and in the GP2. In the junior formula, which is held under Formula 1, missed the youngster the title in 2008 only just. “I was always one of the top drivers. Therefore, it is now very ugly for me so far to go back. Especially the Überrundetwerden is bad because you can focus fully on your race and not your strategy.”

Talk big, triple world champion Ayrton’s nephew Senna has already beaten around. This includes the announcement that he may be in a better car champion. “What is clear is that easy to say but difficult to put into practice. But I think basically because I have the potential. Whenever I had to take another step, I’ve done.”

May 1 (GMM)  Two of F1′s most powerful figures have appeared in the paddock of the Marrakech street circuit.

The temporary track in Morocco is hosting its second round of the FIA’s World Touring Car Championship this weekend.

The F1 chief executive was shown around by series promoter Marcello Lotti and also event promoter Marrakech Grand Prix chief Aly Horma.

“I have to say that I was impressed by the track and facilities they have built, which are very nice and suit the WTCC well.  My congratulations to the event promoter,” said the 79-year-old Briton.

Also in the north African country this weekend is FIA president Jean Todt.

Last year’s round of the WTCC was the first international car race in Morocco since the 1958 Moroccan grand prix in Casablanca.

Steve McCormick, in About.com Guide commented regarding Greg Biffle, “Even the fastest car can’t drive itself.  Greg Biffle brings an impressive resume to Daytona: 1998 Truck Series Rookie of the Year, 2000 Truck Series Champion, 2001 BGN Rookie of the Year, 2002 Busch Series Champion and the winner of last July’s Daytona race.”

“Take a guy who is a proven restrictor plate winner and put him behind arguably the best engine in the sport and you’ve got a potential pole sitter. Can anyone tell me why sports writers are calling his pole winning run “shocking” and “surprising?”

“His name may not be on the tip of your tongue when you think of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup stars but this pole run shouldn’t have been a surprise to anyone.”

Greg Biffle who was born in December 23rd, 1969, started 7 races in 2002.  His official rookie season was 2003 and he featured a win at the Pepsi 400 in Daytona.  Jamie McMurray beat him for Rookie of the Year honors.

His more outstanding performances have been:

2000 – Craftsman Truck Series Champion.

2002 – Busch Grand National Series Champion.

2003 – Won first NEXTEL Cup Race (July Daytona)

2005 – Finished second in NEXTEL Cup points

Jack Roush picked up Greg Biffle back in the mid 90′s with the idea that with some seasoning he could be great.

Just a few years later Greg rewarded Roush Racing with it’s first NASCAR championship as Greg pushed and shoved his way to the Craftsman Truck Series title. A couple of years after that Greg again came through, this time delivering a Busch Grand National series championship.

Early in his NEXTEL Cup career Greg has proven that he can get the job done. His first victory in NASCAR’s premier division came under the lights in Daytona as Greg won the Pepsi 400 during his 2003 rookie campaign.

There are surely more championships in Greg’s future.  Those stories are still to be written but clearly he knows what it takes to win titles and he is with a top-notch team in the form of Jack Roush.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. says he has noticed a change in culture within the Hendrick Motorsports’ shop area, because the group of his people corresponding to car No. 88 shares with the group with Mark Martin’s car No. 5, and that may be a good omen regarding better performance in 2010.

  From Earnhardt viewpoint, the catalyst for change was Lance McGrew’s appointment as crew chief by the end of the 2009 season.  Last May, McGrew was replaced as interim crew chief by Tony Eury Jr., Earnhardt’s cousin.

  “Even if they achieve minimum progress with regards to performance, and don’t have that bad luck in the races that they had, they will be in conditions to rank for the Chase and have a very, very respectful season.”

  “When he (McGrew) managed to consolidate his position and we were able to move forward knowing that that was how things were.  Yes, everybody somehow combined their minds, faith and trust around that, and we could recover some of the trust and some faith in the team," Earnhardt declared this Friday night at the off-season Thunder Fan Fest that took place in the Daytona International Speedway.

  Some changes with the personnel that works at the shops have elicited more sense of cooperation between the groups of people who are in charge of the two cars.  "When I mentioned the culture, that’s what I was trying to say; I’m referring to both, the cars and the people who is really intertwined between the two groups.  The result is that everybody is working and have faith again in the No. 88.  That’s what I believe has changed a lot," Earnhardt declared.

  Martin, who arrived second behind Jimmie Johnson in the Sprint Cup NASCAR Championship, last year, does not think that Earnhardt’s performance has to improve too much, as long as he can overcome the bad luck that derailed promising performances in many races, last year.  “In other words, they don’t need to give a great jump regarding performance, if only they take that weight off of their shoulders."

  "In many races, they performed better than car no. 5, but nobody really realized it, because they were crashed or something broke. Many things went wrong when they were faster than us with car no.5."

  His team mate, Jeff Gordon thinks that confidence in himself is clue to see a change in Earnhardt, who begins the season after going through a bad patch of 57 races without wins.  "Nothing much is necessary to go off the track," Gordon said. "What I mean to say is that everything becomes competition when you’re in the tracks.  And I know that sometimes it seems as if they are very far behind, but I don’t think they are as much as people think.  I believe that a new beginning is the only thing that’s necessary; a few things.

  "The organization puts so much effort into each car, that the ingredients are certainly there.  I think that, probably what’s missing is more self-confidence.  This happens to everybody.  If the pilot is confident, the crew chief is confident, the people who work in the boxes are confident.  It’s like a waterfall where everything falls from the top.

  "Let’s hope that all the hard work they’re carrying out in the season’s break will help them to start with the right foot and that self-confidence doesn’t decline too early, because once it does it’s difficult to gain it back."

  Earnhardt understands the importance of ranking in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.  In three of the last five seasons, he has been unable to achieve that goal.

 "When he didn’t rank for the Chase... I feel I have let them down," Earnhardt, admitted.  "They help you to fight all year long.  They struggle every week right there, by your side.  They go through a work day while they argue with someone who is criticizing me.  So, they fight their own battles just as I do in the tracks.

  "Therefore, you really feel as if you have disappointed them when you don’t even rank for the Chase.  What I mean to say is… ¡Damn!  One would expect to rank for the Chase.  That is not asking too much from your pilots.  So you feel very bad.

  I think that’s what bothers me most about having a disappointing year."

The great heights and popularity that the NASCAR automobile competition is getting will be fully covered by ESPN and ABC television networks, which have guaranteed the 17 tests for the next season’s broadcasts.

The remaining 41 tests will be broadcast by the National network FOX (14), cable’s TNT (6) and SPD (4), respectively.
The competition will again have among its outstanding pilots the Colombian, Juan Pablo Montoya -who last season finished on 8th place of the championship’s competition-, will begin February 6 with the initial text in the Daytona International Speedway.

But it will not be but until February 21, a week after the Daytona 500 Mile classic race, that the Sprint Cup Series competition will begin at California’s Auto Club Speedway.
Nevertheless, ESPN and ABC will not begin the 17 broadcasts they have programmed until July 25 with the Brickyard 400 test, and will complete them when the season ends with the 10 races that define the NASCAR champion with the Sprint Cup Chase series.  The last one will be the one that will take place at Homestead (Miami), in November 21.

ESPN will broadcast 14 tests, while ABC -the National network from the same business group and which last season broadcast 11-, this year will only broadcast three, and all of them on Saturday night.
ESPN’s broadcast races’ schedules will be: 1:00 PM (18:00 GMT) for the East Coast and 3:00 PM (20:00 GMT) in the West Coast, except for Atlanta’s on September 25, which will begin at 7:30 PM (00:30 GMT).
The three races broadcast by ABC on Saturday nights will be Bristol, Tennessee, (August 21), Richmond, Virginia, (September 11) and Charlotte, North Carolina, (October 16), at 7:30 PM (00:30 GMT).
John Skipper, ESPN Executive Vice-President, stressed in an official press release about the excellent results the network had last year with NASCAR competition’s broadcast.
“All we did last year showed us that ESPN is the best network for NASCAR”, Skipper underlined. For his part, Paul Brooks, NASCAR Media Group’s President, likewise in an official press release, praised all of ESPN’s subscriber base which has special relevance among the young population segment.

“They are wonderful news for our NASCAR competition fans,” said Brooks in the press release.  ”The ESPN subscriber base is of nearly 100 million and the network has a special gift to attract young viewers.”
Brooks recognized that this ESPN reality will allow the NASCAR competition to be viewed more, which will benefit all equally.

Last season, US Jimmy Johnson (6.652 points) won the championship title for fourth consecutive year, being the first to do this in the history of the competition.
Montoya, who fought among the firsts until the last two Sprint Cup Chase tests, finished on eighth position, with 6.252 points and winning 5.270.120 million dollars, in what was his second season in the NASCAR competition.

With all respect to Kyle Busch and his 20 victories covering three series, Jimmie Johnson is still the man. Say what you want about driving for Rick Hendrick’s “evil empire,” how much of a factor Chad Knaus adds to the equation and how the Chase arrange (which I personally still despise) has played to his strengths, Johnson has four very large silver bowls in his possession, all with his name engraved as NASCAR champion. Only three another men in the 60-year history of NASCAR can claim to have won at least four Cup championships:Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon . Think about that for just a present moment. We’re talking three of the excellent drivers ever, and Johnson — who just turned 34 — definitely deserves to be a part of that conversation.

Jarrod Breeze
Kyle Busch did some special things this year, most notably in the Nationwide and Truck series. Fiftysomethings Ron Hornaday and Mark Martin pooh-poohed the age thing. Tony Stewart was successful as an owner/driver. Did you know Jeff Gordon led the Cup Series with 25 top-10s and tied for most top-fives with 16? But at the end of the day, at the end of the season, the matter in NASCAR that matters most is the Cup championship. And that title belongs to Jimmie Johnson, the face of NASCAR in 2009. End of discussion.