Frontstretch Newsletter: Nov. 17, 2023
Volume
XVII, Edition CCVI |
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The Frontstretch Newsletter is presented by Race Face Digital, the ultimate entertainment platform for race fans and collectors to collect, buy, sell and trade digital MP4 collectible racing cards. |
What to Watch: Nov. 17-19 |
- After an opening night of action that will likely go down as a black eye on Formula 1, who is doing the race promotion in Las Vegas, action will resume tonight. Free Practice No. 3 is scheduled for 11:25 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPNU. Qualifying for the Las Vegas Grand Prix is scheduled for 2:55 a.m. ET tonight/early Saturday morning and will air live on ESPN. Coverage of the Las Vegas Grand Prix will start with Formula 1: Grand Prix Sunday at 11:30 p.m. ET Saturday night on ESPN. Race coverage will begin at 12:55 a.m. ET with the formation lap beginning precisely at 1 a.m. ET. Outside of Formula 1, the USAC NOS Energy
Drink Midget National Championship is at Placerville Speedway this weekend for the Hangtown 100. Coverage will stream tonight and tomorrow night at 9 p.m. ET on FLORacing.com. - This weekend is also the 70th Annual Macau Grand Prix. Saturday coverage from Macau, which features the FIA GT World Cup and FIA F3 World Cup qualifying races, starts at 6:40 p.m. ET on Motorsport.tv. Sunday's coverage, which includes the GT and F3 World Cup feature races, starts at 7:20 p.m. ET. |
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| Josh Williams Moving to Kaulig in Xfinity Kaulig Racing announced Thursday that Josh Williams has been hired to drive the No. 11 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time in 2024. |
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| Carlos Sainz Handed Grid Penalty After Las Vegas Manhole Cover
Incident While Charles Leclerc is currently looking good in Las Vegas, Carlos Sainz Jr. is going to feel the fallout from Thursday night's drain cover incident for the rest of the weekend as he has been given a 10-spot grid penalty for taking on a third Energy
Store of the season. |
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| Alex Clubb Running Full ARCA Schedule in 2024 Alex Clubb has revealed to Frontstretch that he intends to run the full 2024 ARCA Menards Series schedule in his own No. 03 Ford. |
Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, Ferrari Media and our own Amy Henderson. Have news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising
lead or tip. |
Around the World in Motorsports: Nov. 16-17 |
- Formula 1 has gotten off to a rather brutal start in Las Vegas. Free Practice No. 1 was abandoned after eight minutes Thursday night after a drain cover came loose and damaged both Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz Jr.'s cars. Sainz was ok after the incident, but his car had significant damage to the floor. We have more on Sainz's issues above. Prior
to the stoppage, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest with a lap at 137.423 mph. He was 2.537 seconds faster than Haas' Nico Hulkenberg. Kevin Magnussen was third in the second Haas, then Max Verstappen and Ocon. Only 15 of the 20 drivers were able to set times and a number of those drivers didn't fully get up to speed before the session was curtailed. A full inspection of
every drain cover and manhole cover resulted in Free Practice No. 2 being delayed over two hours. In addition, the length was expanded from 60 minutes to 90 minutes to make up for the lost time from Free Practice No. 2. That pushed the start of Free Practice No. 2 from 3 a.m. ET to 5:30 a.m. ET. Motorsport.com reported that the session was also held behind closed doors due to shifts for security guards ending. - Once the second session got underway, speeds increased as the track got cleaned off and drivers got more comfortable
with the 3.852-mile street course. At the end of 90 minutes, Leclerc was once again fastest with a lap at 145.564 mph, more than five seconds faster than in the short opening session. Leclerc ended up .517 seconds faster than Sainz, whose chassis floor had been repaired after the meeting with the drain cover. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso was third fastest, then Red Bull's
Sergio Perez and Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas. There were no additional track issues after the fixes were made. |
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