F1: Congratulations Vettel! (and that from a Ferrari fan)

Sebastian Vettel is 4 times worldchampion and equals Alain Prost. And that at just 26 years old!

Don't get me wrong, I'm still no fan of Vettel. I never have and (unless he comes to Ferrari) I probably never will. But I have to admit something has changed in the way I look at the Red Bull driver. In 2010 I could still say "He was just lucky, he didn't really deserve this title." but now...four times worldchampion. That's a bit more than just luck!

Sebastian Vettel is a fantastic driver. You just can't deny that! Not everybody becomes four times worldchampion.Vettel sure has won my respect this year. 10 victories, 7 poles and 6 fastest laps in 16 races. That's pretty impressive. You can like or hate him but you got to respect him. It's just stupid to say his success is all thanks to Adrian Newey and his designs. Of course Newey's cars are great but a great car isn't everything. At Red Bull they now have the perfect combination; a great car and a great driver. It's a simple as that.

So today, let's congratulate Vettel, because he has achieved something unbelievable. "Records are always made to be broken, no matter how great they are." Vettel broke a lot of records in his career already, and I'm pretty sure more will follow. And one day, another driver will be jumping out of his car saying "I can't believe I just broke Vettel's record!!" That's the way it goes. But for today, congratulations on your fourth worldchampionship, Fingerboy!

Catya Leroux

MotoGP: CIAO #58: Two years without Marco Simoncelli...

It has almost been two whole years.. two years since we lost one of the biggest talents of the MotoGP world; Marco "Super Sic" Simoncelli...

Marco Simoncelli was just at the start of his career. A week before his death, he achieved his best ever result in MotoGP by finishing second at Phillip Island. No one then realized that it would be his last race. I still remember the day as if it was yesterday. October 23 2011, the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang. Marco started fifth and had a good start, but only two laps into the race it all went terribly wrong.. Marco fell and Colin Edwards, who was riding behind him, couldn't avoid him anymore. (Even now, two years after it happened, I can still see the crash happening..)  It was a horrible crash, but at that point the thought "he could be dead!" wasn't popping in my head. No, we, MotoGP fans, got used to riders falling, it happens every single race. They fall and the get back up and jump back on their bike. That's the way it goes! But not on October 23... Marco didn't get up and he didn't jump back on his bike..

I remember I then waited for news, news saying "Marco Simoncelli survived horrible crash" but that news didn't come. Marco didn't survive the crash and died at just 24 years old. That day, October 23 2011, the MotoGP world changed and the lives of many people all around the world changed. Marco was a very popular rider, people just loved the friendly Italian with his curly hair and his big smile. People loved his aggressive racing style and it seems the more his fellow racers got annoyed (or was it just scared?) by him, the more the fans started to love him. And Marco loved his fans, he wasn't the arrogant champion, no, he made time for the fans who came to support him. And that made us love him even more! But more than anything, Marco loved racing. And that's what every Simoncelli fan will tell you, "at least he died doing what he loves most." 

I can tell you one thing, our Super Sic will never be forgotten. He will race on in the hearts of everyone who loved him. We loved him, on and next to the track. We will always be his fans. Fellow Super Sic fans, don't cry on October 23 because that's not what he would have wanted, he wants us to smile, to enjoy life, to make our dreams come true, to love, just like he did. Live life to the fullest. Race your life! So put on the #58 cap, shirt, pin,.. Wednesday and smile! Smile for Super Sic! 

Catya Leroux

"Life is the sport of the brave people" 

----- Marco Simoncelli -----

 

F1: Maria de Villota, a strong woman in a men's world

"I have motorsport in my DNA and there is no way I can stay away from that world" 

Yesterday morning when I heard Maria de Villota was found dead, I was in shock. This can't be true...  I admired de Villota a lot and I'm pretty sure many female Formula 1 fans did. She was a woman fighting her way up in a sport dominated by men. She proved women deserve a place in the car as well and also have what it takes to race. She was an inspiration to all of us...

I just still can't  believe it.. She had that terrible accident where she lost her eye and that changed her life completely. People told her she would never race again but she was determined to get back in the car. She had come way too far to quit now. That's courage we can only admire. She learned to accept that she lost her eye and started training her other eye. She also wrote a book about her life after the accident, so just when everything was going better, tragedy strikes...

 Maria, you were a role model to many of us and you'll be missed very much.. And I want to thank you for everything you did. You probably never realized what you mean to many people. You have been going through hell, but still you kept smiling and never gave up on your dreams. You were a huge inspiration and taught us great things. May you rest in peace..

"Even now that I only have one eye, maybe I see more things than before. 

My life was completely against the clock, a fight against the stopwatch."

Even now that I only have one eye, maybe I see more things than before. My life was completely against the clock, a fight against the stopwatch.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/mariadevil498728.html#48s6rXR8CIzVt7Ay.99

Even now that I only have one eye, maybe I see more things than before. My life was completely against the clock, a fight against the stopwatch.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/maria_de_villota.html#PlOXfXQSLFSxP6FW.99

Even now that I only have one eye, maybe I see more things than before. My life was completely against the clock, a fight against the stopwatch.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/maria_de_villota.html#PlOXfXQSLFSxP6FW.99

Cycling: Who still cares about "The Armstrong Lie"?!

Today the trailer of a new documentary about Lance Armstrong was released. Lance Armstrong would "open up" in this documentary and reveal the truth about his Tour victories. But who cares?! I think most people are getting enough of all this Armstrong show. I sure am! Lance cheated, got caught years after and he confessed. Isn't it time to let it go and just move on?

I always supported Lance Armstrong and I still do. And for me, Lance has been punished enough. He doesn't need some movies about his life. This documentary is just the start because Hollywood is producing several more movies about him. Don't think the movie makers will put up a nice image of him. Of course not, they will focus on the liar, the bully and the arrogant cheater he was. The movies will be full of scenes where we see Lance doping himself and being an absolute jerk! That's the easy way for the producers. It's much easier to just see the "bad side" of Lance and to see all the things he did wrong. But only few people will still see ( and remember) the good things Lance did. Starting Livestrong to name one. And I'm pretty sure no movie will focuss on the good things. Too bad... That's why this documentaries and movies annoy me, because it isn't the truth either! It is only the negative side about the truth.

On top of that, people are saying Lance destroyed cycling and that cyclists now suffer from the "Armstrong heritage". Maybe that's true. Maybe we can't believe cyclists anymore, we can't believe that they can get these extraordinary results AND be clean. And maybe that is Lance Armstrong's fault. Or maybe we're just blaiming Armstrong for everything. I think it's time to leave Lance Armstrong in the past. Cycling moved on and so should everyone else. I'm not saying Lance should be forgotten, no,  I'm just saying we should close the chapter of Lance Armstrong.

Catya Leroux

F1: Ferrari 2014: The Iceman vs The Samurai

Kimi Räikkönen is back at Ferrari!

Well, to be honest I have to say that I didn't saw that comming. I didn't expect Ferrari to take the risk of putting the two worldchampions together in 2014. But I'm delighted that they did! My beloving team has not taking a lot of risks the last couple of years. La Scuderia Ferrari is a team build on tradition, on history and we hold on to some of the rules of our founder: Enzo Ferrari. And that can be a good thing, but when you look back and see that our last worldtitel has been in 2007 (yes, won by a certain Kimi Räikkönen) everybody will agree that it hasn't worked perfectly the last couple of years. So it's time for a change, to take a risk and that's exactly what Ferrari did.

The big question is how Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen will get along. Both of them are great drivers and great personalities. Kimi "The Iceman" is something special, that's the least you can say! Kimi does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. He's just in F1 for the racing and couldn't care less for everything around it. Press conferences and all media activities are a nightmare for him and he isn't shy to let everybody know. We can be sure that his return to Ferrari isn't an emotional one. (Kimi and emotions?! Come on!). He returns to Ferrari because he thinks they will give him a car good enough to win. And for the money of course!

Fernando Alonso on the other hand drives with his heart. For the last couple of years Ferrari didn't gave him the car he deserves. But still he managed to get more out of the car than what's actually in it. And to keep motivating the team to keep pushing to the very end. Alonso always refers to the samurais and is a true fighter. As long as a worldtitle is still possible, he will keep fighting. To motivate a team and as teamplayer there is no better on the grid than Fernando.

So two strong characters and fenomenal drivers. But together in one team? Will it be an "explosive combination" as Schumacher says? Yes, probably it will. That's what happends when you put two topdrivers together. But at the same time it could be a dreamteam. From history we learned that two strong teammates can push each other. And two strong, consistent drivers might bring the Constructor's Worldtitle back to Maranello. And that's still the dream at Ferrari! So just leave them alone cause Kimi knows what he's doing! :)

Catya Leroux

MotoGP: #93 a dirty rider? No, a true rider!

Marc Marquez has been getting a lot of criticism lately for his move on his teammate Dani Pedrosa Sunday in Aragon. It wasn't the first risky overtake of #93 and I'm sure it won't be the  last. People are labelling him as a "dirty rider" and saying he's taking too many unnecessary risks. To be honest, I don't understand all this criticism. Marquez is 20 years old, it's his first year in MotoGP and he's doing an astonishing job! 6 race victories, 7 poles, 13 podiums and leader in the championship. Not bad for a rookie, right?!

But yes, Marquez his racing style is dangerous. And that's still quite an understatement! But it's MotoGP so  it is dangerous, for all the riders. Marquez goes for the smallest, sometimes even non-existing gap to overtake his rivals. That made me think of a quote of F1-legend Ayrton Senna "If you no longer go for a gap that exist, you are no longer a racer". Marquez is a true racer, when he's on his bike he doesn't think about what could go wrong or isn't calculating if his second place would be enough for the worldtitle. The only thing he thinks about when racing is overtaking everyone who's in front of him and winning every race he can. And for me that's the way it should be! That's the mentality of a true racer for me. Maybe it won't gain him as much points as when he would "think" while riding but that's not what Marquez is like.

And in my opinion it's good for the fans and the sport that Marquez isn't a "thinker". Would the fans be happier to see a race without overtakes because every rider is just thinking about the world title and is happy with his place. Is that what we want?! You can love Marquez or hate him but you can't deny that he's contributing a lot to MotoGP. So from my point of view, trying to calm Marc down would be a very stupid thing to do. Marc isn't the crash kid he used to be in Moto2, he has grown a lot since then and everybody better watch out cause he's still growing. Marquez is just at the start of his carreer and I truly believe he still has a lot to show us. So watch and learn from him, cause this kid is something special!

Catya Leroux