Formula One winner Heikki Kovalainen joins JBXE to partner Hedda Hosås

 

Former Formula One winner Heikki Kovalainen has signed for JBXE to drive alongside Hedda Hosås for Extreme E Season 3.

After finishing third in Season 1, Jenson Button’s outfit dropped to ninth in the standings last term – despite securing a podium finish in NEOM Island X Prix I. JBXE will be aiming to bounce back with their new driver line-up in 2023 with their Nordic duo behind the wheel.


Jenson Button, Team Owner of JBXE, said: "Delighted to be announcing Heikki as our new male driver and also to have Hedda continue with the team! To bring such an established name from the world of motorsport and someone I had the pleasure of racing against in Formula One is brilliant for the team and the series.

“Following his move into the world of rally, it was a no brainer for the team to approach him and I’m over the moon he’s agreed to join the team and equally delighted to be keeping Hedda after she has continued to make great progress in the car, she fully deserves her place."


Kovalainen secured his single career victory at the 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix, becoming the 100th driver to win a Formula One race. The 41-year-old becomes the fourth F1 name to enter Extreme E as he joins team owners Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button, with whom he is all too familiar.

In his early career, the Finn finished runner-up in the Formula One junior series, GP2, behind Rosberg, while he was a team-mate to Hamilton when competing for McLaren in Formula One during 2008 and 2009 – claiming his sole victory and pole position for the team which now also contests in Extreme E.


Kovalainen raced in Formula One from 2007 to 2013, where as well as McLaren, the Finn represented Renault, Team Lotus, Caterham and Lotus F1 Team, securing four podiums in total.

Following his success in Formula One, Kovalainen switched to the Japanese Super GT series in 2015, winning the championship a year later before changing lanes to take on the world of off-road motorsport full-time.

Driving for JBXE this season will not be Kovalainen’s first outing in off-road racing. That moment came when Kovalainen competed in the Race of Champions (ROC), a feat he would take on five times between 2004 and 2010. His debut saw Kovalainen overcome motorsport legends David Coulthard, Jean Alesi, Michael Schumacher and Sébastien Loeb on his way to victory at his very first attempt. The Finn also won the ROC Nations Cup with Marcus Grönholm in 2006.

Kovalainen's first foray into rallying in Japan came in 2016 and has since competed in the Japan Rally Championship, where he dominated the JN-2 class championship to clinch the title with a round to spare, the Japan Super Rally Series and made his World Rally Championship debut at last year’s Rally Japan in a WRC2 car.

Extreme E’s marks Kovalainen’s latest venture in off-road racing but first time in an all-electric championship, as he teams up with Hosås to take on some of the most challenging environments in motorsport.

Heikki Kovalainen, JBXE, said: "I'm really excited to join JBXE in the Extreme E series in Saudi Arabia! It's a great championship with great teams and drivers so I'm looking forward to competing with them. 


“It'll be something new again in my career. After my Formula One stint I've done GTs as well as some rallying and I'm always looking for new challenges and looking forward to giving this a try. It'll be a steep learning curve no doubt but I'm up for it and hopefully we'll get up to speed quickly.”

Hosås’ early career comprised largely of motocross competition before making the transition to rallycross. More recently, she has been competing in the Norwegian Rallycross Championship and made a guest appearance in the Danish championship in 2021.

Hedda Hosås, JBXE, said: "Super excited to be driving again for my second season with JBXE in Extreme E. To have the support and expertise of both Jenson and Heikki, two ex Formula One drivers, will help me to continue my development as a driver.


Currently a Veloce Racing Development Driver, Hosås has competed in Extreme E for JBXE since the double-header in Sardinia last term. Hosås made her series debut at the opening round of Season 2 last year, stepping in for the injured Christine GZ at Veloce Racing in Saudi Arabia, before switching to Jenson Button’s outfit at the next round.

The Norwegian teamed up with Kevin Hansen in the number 22 car and the Scandinavian duo raced to third place in the NEOM Island X Prix I, marking the podium on her debut for JBXE.

 

2023.03.03. 14:15, Petra

Artic Lapland rally 2023 - photos

Lehet, hogy egy kép erről: 2 ember és álló emberek

2023.01.17. 13:23, Petra

SGT 2015 - 2021

2021.11.30. 11:18, Petra

MOTEGI - PHOTOS

2021.11.12. 11:02, Petra

Race GT500: Come-from-Behind Win on the Final Lap

The MOTEGI GT 300km RACE, Round 7 of the 2021 AUTOBACS SUPER GT Series took place on the afternoon of November 7 (Sun.) at Twin Ring Motegi (one lap 4,801m x 63 laps) in Tochigi Prefecture. In the GT500 class, the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi) pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory in the final lap of the race to score their second straight win of the series. In the GT300 class, the No. 21 Hitotsuyama Audi R8 LMS (Shintaro Kawabata/Takuro Shinohara) came from a 5th- position start to claim victory.

 

■Matsushita jumps ahead with fantastic start in CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R

 Twin Ring Motegi circuit enjoyed the same warm conditions and clear autumn skies as the previous day’s qualifying. The race’s Formation Lap was started at 1:00 in the afternoon. In the pre-noon warm-up run, the No. 17 Astemo NSX-GT (Koudai Tsukakoshi/Bertrand Baguette) suffered damage to its rear end when hit from behind by a GT300 car, but repairs were completed with spare parts in time for it to start as scheduled from eighth position on the grid. Also, due to the fact that the cumulative Driving Moral Hazard Prevention score of driver Hiroki Otsu of the No. 64 Modulo NSX-GT scheduled to start from the 11th grid position had reach the violation limit of six, he was penalized by having his team’s starting position was moved back four places to the very end of the GT500 class grid.

 

 At the start of the race, the pole position-sitting No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra managed to keep its lead. But during the opening lap, the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Nobuharu Matsushita) that had jumped up from a 4th-position grid start moved in on No. 19’s tail. Holding 3rd and 4th positions respectively came No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Nirei Fukuzumi) and the No. 16 Red Bull MOTUL MUGEN NSX-GT. Meanwhile, the No. 24 Realize corporation ADVAN GT-R that had started from the 2nd grid spot found itself back in 5th position. After this, through the early stages of the race the top three cars ran on ahead with a roughly 1-sec. gap between each of them and gradually opened up a lead over the second group from 4th position back.

 On the 9th lap of the race, a GT300 car ran off the track, and to solve the problem an FCY (Full course yellow) was declared from the 10th lap. Then on the 14th lap of the race, there was another accident as two GT300 cars collided with each other and ran off the track, thus brining on a second FCY. Helped perhaps by this confusion, car No. 12 was able to close in on the tail of the leading car No. 19. With this momentum, No. 12 successfully overtook No. 19 on the 21st lap to take the lead.

 As the race approached the mid-way point on the 22nd lap, the leading No. 12 was the first to make its routine pit stop. At the same time, car No. 8 running in 3rd place also made its pit stop, while the next lap saw No. 19 returned to the pit. After that all of the GT500 cars finished their routine pit stops by the 31st lap.

 

 

■The latter stages see a fierce, prolonged battle between Hiramine in car No. 12 and Nojiri in No. 8

 At this point, the No. 12 (Kazuki Hiramine) was back in the lead, followed by Tomoki Nojiri in car No. 8 about 3 seconds behind. Behind them came car No. 19 in 3rd place. During the middle stages of the race, No. 12 gradually opened up its lead over No. 8, and it looked as if it might run on that way to the win.

 However, from just after the 40th lap or so, the margin between the two cars began to narrow, and with 14 laps remaining in the race that margin was down to less than one second. In the final stages of the race, the pace of Nojiri in car No. 8 was a bit faster, so it became a question of whether Hiramine in No. 12 could hold off this attack and maintain his lead to the finish. Before the final lap of the race, Nojiri was able to pull even on the inside of car No. 12, but each time Hiramine was able to block him successfully with no mistakes.

 Then, as the two entered the main straight on the final lap, car No. 12 began to run out of gas. There was no way that Nojiri in car No. 8 could miss this opportunity. The speed of car No. 12 dropped drastically after the third corner, allowing No. 8 to pass it in an instant and go on to reach the goal first. As for Hiramine in No. 12, he used every means possible to preserve his remaining gas and make it across the finish line. But, before he could cross the goal line, he was passed on the main straight by car No. 19, which had close what at one point had been a 20-sec. gap from the leader. With this, No. 12 finished the race in 3rd place.

 

 The win went to the No. 8 ARTA NSX-GT (Tomoki Nojiri/Nirei Fukuzumi), giving the team its second consecutive win after the one in the previous round at AUTOPOLIS. With these results, the No. 8 pair moved to within five points of the ranking leader, Naoki Yamamoto of the No. 1 team, as the two teams enter the final round of the series at Fuji Speedway. As with Round 4 at Motegi, the No. 19 WedsSport ADVAN GR Supra (Yuji Kunimoto/Ritomo Miyata) finished 2nd. Third place went to the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R (Kazuki Hiramine/Nobuharu Matsushita), which despite failing to win this race will still have a shot at the season title in the final round of the series.

 Although the No. 1 STANLEY NSX-GT (Naoki Yamamoto/Tadasuke Makino) failed to win any series points this time by finishing 12th, the team will still go into the final round as the ranking leader. A total of six teams will join No. 1 in the final battle for the title in the last round.

 

2021.11.12. 10:32, Petra
Elejére | Újabbak | Régebbiek | Végére |
 

 

 
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