MOTORSPORT: Green light for F1 'halo', or is it?

The button has been pressed this week on the 'halo' as new cockpit protection for Formula 1 drivers next year, although support for it is far from universal.

The world governing body of motorsport, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), made the announcement on the halo after a meeting of the F1 Strategy Group in Geneva, just days after Sebastian Vettel tried an alternative, called the Shield, on his Ferrari in Friday practice at the British Grand Prix.

The Strategy Group comprises representatives of the FIA, F1's commercial rights holder Liberty Media and the top six teams, with the other four teams now allowed 'observers' at its meetings.

Britain's Autosport has reported that nine of the 10 teams opposed the 'halo' in Geneva, but that the FIA was intent on pushing ahead with its introduction.

It had been intended to introduce it this season but that was postponed for a year while research continued.

Even now it's not certain until the FIA's World Motor Sport Council ticks off on it.

Australia's F1 driver Daniel Ricciardo has said he supports any form of protection that may save a life, or lives, although his Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner is particularly opposed to the 'halo' - a hoop above the driver fixed to a pillar protruding from the front of the windscreen.

The FIA has wanted more cockpit protection for drivers of open-wheel, single-seater racing cars in the wake of the deaths in recent years of F1 driver Jules Bianchi, Henry Surtees, son of now-late two and four-wheel world champion John Surtees, and IndyCar racers Justin Wilson and Dan Wheldon.

However, a concern about all the options studied has been the potential difficulty in a driver getting out of the cockpit, or being extricated, after a crash like that at Melbourne's Albert Park in last year's Australian GP when Fernando Alonso's McLaren-Honda ended upside down.

The Shield that Vettel tried at Silverstone for just one lap last Friday was an enlarged windscreen, a variation of a concept developed earlier by Red Bull and generally regarded as more attractive than the 'halo'.

However, Vettel complained after just one lap that the Shield made him "dizzy".

Red Bull's Horner wanted to wait at least another year on any device.
But after the Geneva meeting the FIA said: "Following the unanimous agreement of the Strategy Group, in July 2016, to introduce additional frontal protection for F1 and the repeated support from the drivers, the FIA confirms the introduction of the halo for 2018.

“With the support of the teams, certain features of its design will be further enhanced. Having developed and evaluated a large number of devices over the past five years, it had become clear that the halo presents the best overall safety performance."

French driver Romain Grosjean, of the American team Haas, has been the most vocal opponent of the moves for greater cockpit protection.

"We don't need anything," Grosjean said.

"I'm against the halo or shield or whatever -- it's not F1.

"I tried the halo last year. I hated it. It made me sick."

A director of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, Grosjean said: "We are up for better safety, but it's not up to us to come up with a solution or say we want this or that. The drivers are very divided (on cockpit safety)."

Toyota swaps Corolla for Yaris in ARC

Toyota Australia's emerging rally star Harry Bates will switch from a Corolla to a Yaris for the Australian Rally Championship, despite the fact it will not import Europe's new hot hatch version of the recently facelifted light-car.

Neal Bates Motorsport (NBM) is building the Yaris to AP4 regulations at its Canberra-based motorsport facility.

Compared with the S2000 Corolla that Bates jr had raced so far this year, in compliance with the category rules the 300hp/224kW-plus Yaris will be turbocharged instead of naturally aspirated and offer more suspension travel and a lower centre of gravity.

Apart from a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, the Yaris AP4 racer will incorporate a six-speed sequential gearbox, all-wheel drive, MacPherson strut suspension with MCA dampers all round, 300mm AP Racing rotors with four-pot callipers, Speedline gravel 15x7.0-inch wheels, Motec M150 power management system and C125 display/logger and a minimum weight of 1230kg.

"Having a new rally car will be amazing -- I expect it to be faster than the current car," said Bates, who is leading this year's championship by three points.

"Even so, I have a steep learning curve with the new car, so I'm not expecting to jump in and be up to speed right off the bat.

"However, by Rally Australia in November, I'd expect to be in a good position to fight for the championship in the new car.

"At the end of the day, I have full faith in the team from Neal Bates Motorsport. Dad and his team have always built amazing cars and this one will be no exception."

Bates has impressed in his short rally career, winning the Future Star Award in 2015 from the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport.

Last year he and co-driver John McCarthy placed third in the championship in their Toyota Genuine Parts S2000 Corolla.

This year, on his way to leading the championship, he became the youngest winning driver in ARC history by taking out Victoria's Eureka Rally in March.

He followed up with a dominant performance in his 'home' rally in Canberra, winning seven of the 13 completed stages.

Neal Bates describes the Yaris project, which is the latest in a long series of rally cars he has built, as a "labour of love -- and stress".

"The Yaris will be a very exciting car. I think Harry has done exceptionally well in the S2000, which is a 10-year-old car. The Yaris will be at a higher level; it bodes very well for the future."

During the 1990s, Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor developed and ran a succession of World Rally Championship (WRC)-spec Celica GT-Fours, before switching to the Corolla WRC in 1997.

In conjunction with Toyota Australia, Bates developed a Corolla Group N (Prototype) that made its full-time debut in 2003 and led to two drivers' championships and two manufacturers' titles.

NBM, which is also an integral part of the Toyota 86 Racing Series, developed the Corolla S2000 alongside the Corolla Group N (P), before the team switched to running two Corolla S2000s in 2008. Despite the new equipment, Bates claimed his fourth drivers' crown and Toyota its third manufacturers' title.

Toyota Australia marked the brand's return to the WRC this year by signing on as a leading sponsor of the final round, Rally Australia, which takes place around Coffs Harbour in November.

Mazda calls in Joest for American campaign

Mazda has aborted its prototype sports car program in North America, but it will be back next year in association with the world's best outfit in that form of the sport - Germany's Joest Racing.

Mazda has severed ties with Florida-based SpeedSource Race Engineering and sent its RT24 cars to Europe, where Joest will develop and test them before returning them to the US for next year.

Joest will establish a base at Atlanta and run the cars - which have been uncompetitive in the new era of American sports car racing against the dominant Cadillac and Mazda's Japanese rival Nissan - for the season starting at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January.

Another rival next year will be Roger Penske's team representing Honda with a pair of Acura ARX-05s.

Joest has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans 16 times, including 13 years this century with Audi before its pullout from the World Endurance Championship.

Mazda motorsports director John Doonan described Joest as "the undisputed greatest of all time".

Aussie trio 'in camp' with Lamborghini

Three Australians have recently taken part in Lamborghini's Young Drivers Program at Imola in Italy.

They were eligible because they compete in Lamborghini Super Trofeo series -- Ben Gersekowski and Richard Goddard in Asia and Morgan Haber in Europe.

Among the activities at Imola were qualifying and race simulations, tyre testing and data analysis in Huracan Super Trofeos under the eyes of Lambo's factory race team.

The Australians were among 23 young drivers in that program, while another 22 -- mainly Italians, but no Australians -- from major GT championships around the world took part in a similar program with Huracan GT3s.

Another 'camp' for both groups is scheduled for October.