 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
|
 |
| Massa participates in Granja Viana 500 race |
|
|
|
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
RIO DE JANEIRO: In the city of Cotia, Sao Paulo, F1 Ferrari driver Felipe Massa took part in the open practice on Monday for the upcoming Granja Viana 500.
The event will be held on December 4 and December 5. Massa took the opportunity to make some minor adjustments on his kart and also to contemplate who he would like to be a part of his team in the event.
“There is no rush. We still have quite a bit of time before the race starts. The track is in bad shape. For this reason, I wanted to get here early and get a good feel of the kart and of the track,” said Massa, who considered his return to pilot a Ferrari race car a huge moral victory.
So far, Massa has only added Brazilian pilots Lucas Di Grassi and Popo Bueno as his teammates.
Di Grassi, who has the high hope of piloting a Formula 1 car in 2010, was also on hand during Monday’s practice.
Di Grassi is expected to receive a definitive answer from team Manor next week.
Massa and his team will hope to pull off an underdog victory against this year’s favorite team headed by Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello, who is the newest member of team Williams, has won the competition in eight out of twelve races.
Barrichello is on vacation in the United States after leaving his kart in the hands of Renato Russo to make any necessary adjustments for the race.
Elsewhere, Bruno Senna has carried a burden of expectation ever since he first stepped into a racing car and it will only grow heavier when he makes his Formula One debut next year.
With a surname like his, it goes with the territory.
“I’ve always had the weight of expectation and demand and pressure on me,” he told Reuters in an interview after returning from a formal presentation in Spain by his new Campos Meta team. “From my first race I have always had TV crews, people giving their opinions about my driving when I had no experience whatsoever, comparing me to three times world champion Ayrton when I was in my first year in Formula Three.
“It’s always been like this. It’s not fair necessarily, but it’s the way that the world is.
“I have to believe in myself, I have to set feasible and reasonable goals. I have had to learn how to do that and now I am pretty confident I can do it.”
Bulgaria’s hopes of hosting a round of the Formula One World Championship have suffered a severe blow after the Bulgarian Motorcycling Federation suspended all activities.
The BMF was behind the plans to secure a slot on the Formula One calendar, even going as far as to hold talks with F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone.
However, a lack of finances have resulted in BMF chief Bogdan Nikolov announcing the suspension of all activities.
“At the end of what was possibly our most successful season ever, we have to suspend all activities and shut down the federation,” crash.net claims Nikolov told the Bulgarian press.
“This federation cannot be sustained by the personal loans that I myself provide. I have to pay off debts and loans from banks, I even sold some of my own personal property to keep operations going.
“To date we have received no assistance this year from the State Agency for Youth and Sports, nor the Sports Ministry, and there is no sign that we will in the future.”
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
