Transportes Azkar S.A., an international integrated logistics operator with its headquarters in Spain, and HRT Formula 1 Team have signed a collaboration agreement for the renowned logistics operator to become a collaborator of the renewed team, joining as an Official Supplier for the 2012 season.

With a fleet of three trucks that cover more than 16,000 kilometres on the road to European Grands Prix and that transfer cars and material to the airport, HRT F1 Team’s transport needs are very demanding. Therefore, having a first class national partner, such as Azkar, was a fundamental objective.

Alfonso Hostaled, Azkar CEO: “At Azkar we back sports and national companies that wish to open up overseas and that is why HRT’s project as a Spanish team fits in perfectly with our market strategy. Azkar puts at the disposal of HRT logistics services that meet the challenging demands of Formula 1. On another note, through this association, we look to bring our clients closer to this thrilling sport”.

Luis Pérez-Sala, Team Principal HRT F1 Team: “As a part of the team’s renovation process, we are working on many fronts, all of them being important. There are many aspects besides the car and staff, such as telecommunications and logistics, which are vital for a team to function properly in such a demanding world as is Formula 1. We want to count with first class national partners for this. Azkar is the standout logistics operator and we are very proud to have them as collaborators. In a paddock which is crammed with German and English trucks, to find Spanish trucks aswell is proof that there are national companies with the same capacity as any other company to perform at this demanding level”.

- Ends -

ABOUT AZKAR

AZKAR puts at the disposal of its clients a potent international network for the management of importing and exporting goods, from and to any part of the world. Specifically, in the Iberian peninsula and islands, the company has 87 facilities, with more than 500,000m² built over more than 1 million m²of terrain, a team made up of 5,000 professionals and a fleet of 2,700 trucks.

via: HRT

In the discussion of the Safetycarphase in Valencia and Lewis Hamilton happy Rennschicksal has now Felipe Massa on. The Ferrari driver also sees a need for action. For he does not understand that it could happen that Hamilton, despite his drive-through penalty he received for overtaking the safety car, was able to keep his second place while he himself kept to the rules and was passed to the rear.

Massa had the date on which the safety car after the accident by Mark Webber and Heikki Kovalainen went on the air, but also very unlucky. “At the time when the track was completely under yellow flags, we were already in the last corner. And when I saw the safety car sign, I was already out of the final corner and went out to the start-finish straight” , he describes in his blog on the Ferrari website. “I looked in the mirror and saw that most turned off behind me in the pit lane, as they had seen the sign before the last corner.”
“It was all about moments and we had the great misfortune that we had to spend a long time behind the safety car, as Sebastian Vettel was before the safety car, as it came onto the track and Lewis Hamilton decided to overtake it, though that a rule was broken, “Massa adds. Hamilton was then second, third and Fernando Alonso Massa fourth.
Hamilton was able to maintain his second place, as he held until his drive through penalty was enough time to get a head start to build up corresponding to the rear. Alonso and Massa were, however, as it should be, behind the safety car and were passed by the rear. They drove a lap behind the safety car and could only turn to the pits.

While the two Ferrari drivers completed a double stop, drove all the others, they were already on the box, past them. And also because Massa had to wait, was cleared to Alonso, he lost more time. “I’ve fallen back to 18th place and had pinned the whole race to the checkered flag in the transport,” quarrels of the Brazilians, who at the end of the 13th was.
“I do not want to talk in detail about what happened, because that makes no difference because our race was ruined,” said Massa, but said: “It must be what happened, but a closer look. For It is not normal that a person has committed a dangerous situation on the track a serious rule violations such as overtaking the safety car and is not punished for it practically. ”
“We need to talk about it together and do something to make it to such situations can not see a repeat,” he says. “The team told me that there will be next week a meeting of the Sport Working Group. This is good and a sign that the FIA takes on the matter.”

If that would have been Rennschicksal gracious to him, Massa would certainly be able to enter a top ranking. For with his F10 he was quite satisfied: “If I look at the performance of the car over the weekend look, I must say that the updates have brought in the aerodynamics and the revised exhaust system on the F10 is a good step forward. So that we can to fight with the front seats. Now it is important to continue to develop until the end of the season. “

As predicted by many experts, it managed to Fernando Alonso at the Canadian Grand Prix third place on the podium. The Ferrari driver had the finish 9.214 seconds behind the winner.

“I think that was a good day for us,” the former Formula 1 world champion. “The car was very competitive here in Canada. Today I had a good chance to win, struggled with Lewis. Thanks to a fantastic work we overtook him in the pit lane.”
The Spaniard was relieved, because two weeks ago showed the Italian racing team in Istanbul is a disappointing performance. You could keep up with the competition again. Even a second place was possible, but in the end when lapping Alonso had bad luck when Karun Chandhok was before him, he lost the momentum and Jenson Button was able to use the situation for themselves.
“We lost by a transport position. In terms of the championship but we have made good ground. We were in Turkey, 50 seconds behind McLaren, and here we are fighting for the win. We are moving in the right direction.”

“I think we are fighting back. We are really close. We had some good fights. It was for me a good feeling to return to the position where I can win races, and finally on the podium to stand. ”

(TMS)

Sunday afternoon in Turkey hosted a dramatic seventh round of the 2010 world championship.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, challenged hard by the McLarens, collided whilst running first and second at Istanbul Park, triggering dramatic scenes both trackside and back in the paddock.

After emerging from his stricken RB6, German Vettel twiddled his finger around his ears in disgust, but whilst enraged initially refused to speak to reporters.

“Don’t you throw me around!” a journalist barked at a Red Bull minder as Vettel pushed his way into the Red Bull transporter.

Eventual winner Lewis Hamilton quietly asked Webber about the incident after the race, and the Australian gestured that Vettel had turned sharply to the right whilst alongside him.

Webber, 33, was then fiercely reserved whilst addressing reporters in the FIA press conference, but admitted that he thought Vettel had “turned pretty quickly to the right” before the crash.

In a frantic paddock press scrum, an angry-looking Vettel explained: “It was clear I had the inside and was ahead.  I dived down the left, I had the corner so I was trying to focus on the braking and I lost the car.”

Team boss Christian Horner said he was angry at both drivers.

“What we always ask is that the drivers give each other room,” he said.  “Today, neither yielded.”

BBC commentator Martin Brundle concluded that the young German was “unquestionably” at fault, and McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted he is not sure he would have “cuddled” Vettel when the 22-year-old eventually walked to the pitwall.

But although celebrating a one-two at Red Bull’s expense, there was also controversy on the McLaren pitwall, after Jenson Button and Hamilton tussled for the lead after being told to save fuel and tyres.

Having been captured by live TV images in anxious response to their wheel-to-wheel battle, Whitmarsh admitted the moments had made him “uncomfortable”.

But the outcome of the race, while leaving championship leader Webber five points clear, sees both McLarens close behind, with Vettel dropping 15 points behind.

(GMM)

As the F1 calendar looks set to expand, the sport should consider culling Friday’s 180 hours of free practice.

That is the belief of Williams’ chief executive Adam Parr, who revealed he has proposed to have the traditional race weekend format condensed to just Saturday and Sunday.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone visited the media centre at Istanbul Park on Friday, and smiled broadly when a reporter said he had heard rumours about 24-race calendars in the near future.

But according to Germany’s Motorsport-Magazin.com, the 79-year-old Briton wants F1′s three-day weekend to remain in place.

Parr, however, questions the entertainment value of the current Friday format, and is quoted by The Press Association as suggesting that cutting out Fridays will mean less equipment for the teams to transport.

“I can see the calendar going to 24 over the next two to three years, and I’m not sure whether logistically, with these longer weekends, it will be easy to do,” he said.

Parr said he raised the issue recently in Barcelona, and teams including Ferrari, McLaren and Renault did not baulk at the idea.

(GMM)

Nico Rosberg said he will never again bring his own motor home to Istanbul.

Finland’s Turun Sanomat said the Mercedes driver is the only member of the F1 grid not to be staying in local hotels this weekend.

It means he can avoid the notoriously bad Turkish traffic jams.

But German Rosberg said: “It’s definitely the last time I do it.

“The transporting charges are too high compared to the benefits gained,” he admitted.

(GMM)

Stefano Domenicali has raised the possibility that the ban on spare cars may be overturned.

Fernando Alonso had to sit out qualifying for last weekend’s Monaco grand prix because his chassis was written off in a practice crash.

It meant he started the race from last place in the pitlane.

The availability of complete spare cars was banned a few years ago as a cost-saving measure.

Now, teams may transport spare monocoques to races and build up a new car in the event that one is damaged.  But in Alonso’s situation, there simply was not enough time.

Ferrari team boss Domenicali said he agrees with cutting costs, but argues that in the case of banning spare cars, “you lose value in other ways”.

“You cannot leave the spectators without the possibility of enjoying one of the biggest stars in qualifying,” he is quoted by Spain’s Diario AS newspaper.

“We will discuss it with the other teams to see if we can change it (the rule),” said the Italian

Quoted by Italy’s Tuttosport, Domenicali added: “Nothing has been decided, but I hope it happens soon.”

(GMM)

May 6 (GMM)  The famous and unpronounceable Icelandic volcano could be set to once again disturb the travel plans of the formula one world.

European airports ground to a halt due to the dangerous ash cloud nearly three weeks ago, stranding the sport’s travelling circus in China.

On Wednesday and early on Thursday, it emerged that the ash is threatening to once again drift over the north of Europe, and multiple British airports have already had flights cancelled.

When contacted, the European air traffic agency Eurocontrol admitted that hundreds of other flights across Europe could also be affected.

The Civil Aviation Authority said main airports serving London have not yet been disrupted, but the Icelandic Met Office warns that the volcanic eruptions “will continue at full force in the next days”.

However, the situation is now far less severe for F1, in the wake of the initial ‘flyaway’ segment of the 2010 calendar.

The bulk of the equipment is transported by the teams to European venues by road, even if many of the personnel travel by plane for convenience.

May 6 (GMM)  The impressive motor homes of the Red Bull, Mercedes and Force India teams are absent in the paddock of the first European grand prix of 2010.

After the initial run of overseas or ‘flyaway’ races, the Barcelona event is usually the F1 world’s first annual glimpse of the teams’ imposing temporary paddock buildings.

But in 2010, the Circuit de Catalunya event is followed just one week later by the prestigious Monaco grand prix.

Because there is not enough time to dismantle the huge structures and transport them several hundred kilometres across Europe, Red Bull and Mercedes have taken alternate hospitality units to Spain.

Red Bull’s Barcelona solution is to use its test motor home, while Mercedes will be housed this weekend in one of its DTM buildings.

Switzerland’s Blick newspaper reports that Red Bull’s huge Energy Station is already being erected in the Monaco harbour.

McLaren’s ‘Brand Centre’ is however standing in the Barcelona paddock, but Force India’s refurbished three-storey structure will not be seen in Europe until the Turkish grand prix at the end of the month.

“In the meantime we will use a temporary motor home in Spain and Monaco while the new improved motor home is driven direct to Turkey,” said team manager Andy Stevenson.

The FIA’s rule clarification about adjustable ride-height mechanisms has no impact on Red Bull, boss Christian Horner and designer Adrian Newey insist.
Race winner Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull Racing RB6 Formula One World Championship, Rd 3, Malaysian Grand Prix, Race, Sepang,

Race winner Sebastian Vettel drives into parc ferme after winning the Malaysian GP

Following speculation that the ride-height of the RB6 car is somehow being altered between qualifying and the race, the governing body said last week that such a system would theoretically be a breach of the regulations.

But Horner says the FIA is “completely happy” with the car after detailed inspections, adding that it will be transported to China in an identical mechanical specification to the one raced to first and second places in Malaysia.

And Newey told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport: “We have neither an illegal, automatic system, nor a legal one like Ferrari’s which allows an adjustment at the pitstops.”
Adrian Newey (GBR) Red Bull Racing Chief Technical Officer with with Sebastian Vettel (GER) Red Bull Racing RB6. Formula One World Championship, Rd 2, Australian Grand Prix, Preparations, Albert Park, Melbourne,

Adrian Newey examines the RB6 cockpit with Sebastian Vettel

However, it also emerges that while Horner said recently he would welcome an FIA rule-tweak to legalise a ride-height change between qualifying and the race, Red Bull actually voted against the proposal.

Auto Motor und Sport said a second team also vetoed the rule change.

But the reason for Red Bull’s veto reportedly has nothing to do with a secret system aboard the RB6, but instead the fact that its design is more efficient than its rivals with both high and low ride-heights.

The team’s German driver Sebastian Vettel told Sport Bild magazine: “It is always the case in formula one that the fastest cars are observed closely by the competition.

“There is always speculation and it’s actually a compliment, because it shows that we are feared,” the 22-year-old added.

Private jets no luxury for NASCAR teams

Business travel can be a grind, But for NASCAR drivers and race teams who are on the road for 36 races per year travel is unavoidable.

If these teams had to rely on commercial airline schedules travel would be a nightmare, if not a logistical impossibility. That’s why most of the top tier drivers own private jets, and race teams operate fleets of small aircraft to transport pit crew members and team executives to the racetrack each week.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. owns a LearJet 60, which is the top of the LearJet line, and their largest jet. It’s a business jet that can seat up to 10 passengers.

Thanks to the jet Earnhardt can leave his home in North Carolina and be at the racetrack in Daytona or Texas a couple of hours later — about the time it would take to drive to a major airport and clear security.

NASCAR rookie and former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya also owns a LearJet 60. 2006 champion Jimmie Johnson owns a Learjet 31A, and Jeff Gordon owns a British Aerospace Hawker 800.

Most of the drivers leave the flying to professional pilots, but Mark Martin is a licensed pilot who often pilots his own Cessna Citation. Martin lives in a unique community near Daytona Beach called Spruce Creek. It’s a fly in community with it’s own airport. Residents have aircraft hangars in the yard where most of us have garages. Martin can literally park his jet in the garage.

The race teams operate larger planes to ferry the pit crews and team executives to the track. Roush Racing operates a fleet of planes, including a Boeing 737 and several smaller business jets. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. flies it’s pit crew on an Embraer 120, a mid-size turbo-prop that seats 30 passengers.

While cars have vanity license plates, NASCAR teams have vanity aircraft registration numbers. Dale Jr’s Learjet is N8JR, and Jeff Gordon’s Hawker is N24JG. The corporate Embraer at Dale Earnhardt, Inc. is N500DE.

NASCAR has come to rely on private jet travel so much that many tracks are located right next to airports. Daytona International Speedway is located right next to Daytona Beach International Airport where private jets and commercial flights arrive daily.

While most tracks are not located so close to a major international airport, some tracks have built their own airports. Right next to Atlanta Motor Speedway sits Tara Field, a small general aviation airstrip that sees little traffic until race week, when more than 600 planes descend on this tiny airfield.

However, some tracks are not as convenient, but when that happens expect the NASCAR drivers to come up with a solution. When NASCAR descends on a track like Dover Delaware some drivers like Dale Earnhardt bypass race traffic by flying from the airport to the racetrack in a chartered helicopter, landing directly in he infield.

Some people consider private air travel a luxury, but with the hectic schedule of today’s drivers it is a necessity. Following a Sunday afternoon race a driver can hop on his jet and be home by Sunday night. This means they can meet with the crew chiefs and team owners Monday morning to review the previous race, and develop a strategy for the following race. During the week drivers are often on the jet again, meeting with sponsors, shooting TV commercials, making public appearances, and testing. Without a jet this schedule would be impossible. Most drivers agree that having a private jet gives them one to two days per week of productive time, or just allows an occasional day off.

You can see pictures of these jets at JetJit.com and get more detailed information on each airplane.

See photos of these jets and more at JetJit.com