Aston Martin has got to the bottom of its troubled Brazilian Grand Prix that left Lance Stroll out on the formation lap and Fernando Alonso battling extreme bouncing.

The Silverstone-based team endured a hugely challenging race afternoon at Interlagos as Stroll spun into the wall on the formation lap after his rears unexpectedly locked, before he managed to beach himself in the gravel.

Then Alonso struggled throughout with similar rear locking issues plus excessive porpoising that left him struggling with back pain at the end, but he was determined to push on and see the chequered flag.

Speaking on the team radio at the time, Alonso, who finished 14th, admitted that something unusual was happening. “This bouncing is not normal,” he said.

With no immediate explanation for what happened on both cars, Aston Martin has spent some time since returning to its factory trying to get a better comprehension of the factors at play.

It now suspects that the problems on both cars were triggered by a super nervous rear-end characteristic that had been introduced as a result of car changes made following the qualifying crashes the team suffered on Sunday morning.

Both Stroll and Alonso had hit the barriers in the wet qualifying session, damaging the Suzuka-concept specification floors the team had intended to run for the Interlagos event.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24, crashes out

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

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With no spares of that specification available, Aston Martin had to revert to a previous floor version – which was the one it first introduced at the Hungarian GP.

Normally teams cannot change specs between qualifying and the race, as that is a breach of parc ferme regulations and mandates a pitlane start.

However, things are different on a sprint race weekend when allowances are made if there is a shortage of spare parts.

Article 40.4 says at sprint weekends teams can change specification if they can “demonstrate there is a shortage of parts, and provided that the replacement part is of a specification that has been previously used in a qualifying session or a race”.

It was this rule that Mercedes used at the United States GP to allow George Russell to go back to an older specification of floor following his qualifying crash.

The complication for Aston Martin, however, was that the change of floor had to be made without it being able to alter the mechanical set-up around it – as suspension settings are totally fixed in parc ferme.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Images

So on a weekend where teams were battling the problems of excessive bumps on the Interlagos track, plus tricky weather conditions, the end result was a car whose aero platform and mechanical settings did not match up.

Speaking about what Aston Martin has found out since Brazil, team principal Mike Krack thinks a combination of elements came together to leave both its drivers with a car that was ultra nervous.

“It was clear that both drivers were battling a car that was incredibly difficult to drive during Sunday’s race,” he said. “Our post-weekend analysis has highlighted several factors that explain this.

“Following both car’s accidents in qualifying, we had to replace a lot of components with a different specification due to availabilities at the end of a triple-header. This is allowed by the Sprint Event regulations, and you declare your shortages and replacement options to the FIA before the event.

“[But] you aren’t allowed to change the mechanical set-up of the cars. This meant we could neither check nor adjust the set-up of the cars, which negatively affected aerodynamic behaviour and performance.

“Add in treacherous wet conditions, along with an incredibly bumpy track, and you begin to understand that both drivers had the odds stacked against them.

“Both cars were highly susceptible to wheel-locking, and we can see in the data that this is what caused the issues for both Lance and Fernando.”

Aston Martin has been experimenting with its floor choices in recent races, with an upgrade it delivered for Austin not delivering the step forward hoped for.

It reverted to the Suzuka spec from Mexico, and may commit to the Budapest version for the next high-speed races in Las Vegas and Qatar.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood shot a 10-under-par 62 to equal the course record and lead by one shot after the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship.

Dane Thorbjorn Olesen and American Johannes Veerman share second place, with English trio Tyrrell Hatton, Paul Waring and Laurie Canter and Italian Francesco Laporta one stroke further back.

Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre went round in seven under, England’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Matthew Jordan six under and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy five under.

Fleetwood said: “When you shoot a 62, obviously everything is going to have gone very, very well.”

McIlroy needs to finish in the top two at Yas Links to win a sixth Race to Dubai title, before the final event of the European Tour season at the World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.

McIlroy, who has spent three weeks in a studio hitting balls at a screen with a modified swing, said his performance on day one of the tournament “felt OK”.

“I probably wasn’t as imaginative out there – I was hitting very straight shots.”

ONE Championship creates more depth in its big January event by adding the return of champion Fabricio Andrade.

At ONE 170 on Jan. 24 at Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, Andrade (9-2) will defend his bantamweight (145 pounds) title for the first time against a familiar opponent, Won Il Kwon. The promotion directly confirmed the news of the matchup with MMA Junkie.

The event is an Asian primetime card starting at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Andrade achieved his crowning moment by defeating John Lineker at ONE on Prime Video 7 in February 2023. Lineker’s corner stopped the fight after the conclusion of Round 4 due to damage to their fighter’s eye.

Since his big moment, Andrade, 27, has only appeared once in a kickboxing bout against Jonathan Haggerty. It was an attempt to become a two-sport champion in ONE, but things did not go his way as he was stopped in the second round. Now, he’s geared up for his return to MMA competition and will look to defend his title for the first time against Kwon (14-4), who he previously faced and finished.

The first meeting took place at ONE Championship 158 in June 2022. Andrade finished the fight with a liver kick in the first round, which led to back-to-back appearances against Lineker.

Kwon has not lost since. The 29-year-old South Korean fighter has gone on a tear, finishing three consecutive opponents. His most recent appearance was a second-round ground and pounding of Shinechagtga Zoltsetseg in January, which has set up his title opportunity.

With the addition, the ONE 170 lineup includes:

• Fabricio Andrade vs. Won Il Kwon – for bantamweight title
• Tawanchai PK Saenchai vs. Superbon Banchamek – for muay Thai lightweight title
• Superlek Kiatmoo9 vs. Nico Carrillo – for muay Thai featherweight title
• Saeksan Or Kwanmuang vs. Soe Lin Oo
• Suriyanlek Por Yenying vs. Thant Zin

In the final part of his prize package, 2023 Autosport Young Driver of the Year Award Winner and Rodin F3 driver Joseph Loake heads to Silverstone to test the Aston Martin AMR22 F1 Car.

Narrated and presented by Motorsport Engineer Blake Hinsey, we gets a behind-the-scenes look at how Aston Martin conducts a track test for a new driver, as well as insight from Joseph and his family on the emotional journey climbing the ladder of junior motorsport, and the thrill of driving an F1 car for the first time.

#f1 #josephloake #astonmartin

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Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season is almost here! But before FOX Sports lead NFL analyst Tom Brady heads back to Tampa Bay for a massive NFC battle between the Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers, it’s time for the GOAT to unveil his latest power rankings! A surprising team enters Brady’s list for the first time, while one NFC squad separates itself from the pack after a huge Week 9 win.

Check out his latest Top 5 and full analysis here:

Tom Brady’s Week 9 Power Rankings | DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE

Here’s who the GOAT has ranked as his Top 5 teams entering a massive Week 10!

Week 9 result: Defeated New York Giants 27-22

Brady’s thoughts: “Coming in at No. 5 this week and making their debut in my power rankings, the Washington Commanders. Led by rookie QB Jayden Daniels — he doesn’t look like a rookie to me — Washington’s won three straight and seven of their last eight. That’s insane. 

“Hats off to Coach [Dan] Quinn. You’ve done an incredible job this year as head coach. The team, they’ve had more wins this year than they did last year, and that’s their best start in almost 30 years. They’ll try to stay undefeated at home this season when the Steelers make the trip to D.C. this week.”

Wide receiver Terry McLaurin and quarterback Jayden Daniels have formed a potent duo for the Commanders in Daniels’ first NFL season. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

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Week 9 result: Defeated Denver Broncos 41-10

Brady’s thoughts: “Hard to believe they’re No. 4 and not higher. There’s some other good teams up there. They had a tough loss to the Browns, but they bounced back and got a huge win over Denver. Lamar was ridiculous, a perfect QB rating against a top-three defense.

“Derrick Henry  — again unstoppable. He’s already over 1,000 yards halfway through the season. The Ravens also have the league’s No. 1 ranked run defense. Man, that’s just a tough football team. But they’ve got a huge test on Thursday against [Joe] Burrow and the Bengals.”

The combination of Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson in Baltimore’s backfield is everything Ravens fans had hoped for when Henry arrived in the offseason. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

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Week 9 result: Defeated Miami Dolphins 30-27

Brady’s thoughts: “They pulled out a wild win against the Dolphins in the fourth quarter. Tyler Bass hit a 61-yarder for the win. It wasn’t the Bills’ cleanest game of the year, but Josh Allen came up clutch with three touchdowns in the second half. That’s four straight for Buffalo. But don’t overlook the Colts this week with the Chiefs looming in Week 11.”

Josh Allen led the Bills to a comeback victory over the Dolphins to keep Buffalo in the driver’s seat in the AFC East. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

Week 9 result: Defeated Green Bay Packers 24-14

Brady’s thoughts: “There were plenty of doubters as they played their first outdoor game of the year. But that rainstorm at Lambeau, it didn’t slow them down. Jared Goff is in the zone. He’s completing an NFL record 83% of his passes the last six weeks. David Montgomery, Jahmyr Gibbs — they killed it on the ground with 138 combined rush yards. And I’ve got to show a lot of love to Aaron Glenn. That Lions D is allowing 19 points per game since losing Aidan Hutchinson.

“Detroit looks to win its seventh straight game this week against C.J. Stroud and the Texans in Houston. That’s a great matchup.”

A rainy day in Green Bay was no match for Jared Goff and the juggernaut Lions on Sunday. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Week 9 result: Defeated Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-24 (OT)

Brady’s thoughts: “If you’re undefeated, you better believe you’re going to stay at the top of my power rankings. At No. 1, the Kansas City Chiefs. They continue to find ways to win close games. They’ve got that championship DNA. Patrick Mahomes had three touchdowns, didn’t turn the ball over, and they had a new addition. DeAndre Hopkins is already looking like a great fit in this offense. He had two touchdowns.

“Looking all the way back to last year, that’s 14 straight wins for the Chiefs. Sean Payton, you’ve got a challenge against them this Sunday when it’s Broncos-Chiefs. Let’s see if the Chiefs can stay undefeated.

Patrick Mahomes and the still-undefeated Chiefs continue to loom large over the rest of the NFL. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

“There’s a great set of games coming up this weekend. Let’s see who tops the power rankings next week.”

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A GOFUNDMEPAGE has been launched for a former jockey who is in critical condition after his two daughters ran out of money for hospital bills.

Tony Ives, 71, who rode multiple horses for the late Queen during his two years as stable jockey for Ian Balding, was one of the top Flat jockeys during the 1970s and 80s.

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He famously won the 1985 Arlington Million – a world-famous race in its day – aboard Teleprompter, and won the 1987 Irish 1,000 Guineas on Forest Flower.

He also rode for Lester Piggot for two years when the former jock started his training career.

Later in his career Ives moved to Hong Kong and remained in South East Asia. He now lives in Thailand where he has been hospitalised after developing a blood infection in the last week.

David Harrison launched the gofundmepage when it became clear the family could no longer afford the hospital costs.

Harrison said: “Tony was transferred to ICU at Overbrook Hospital, Chiang Rai where he spent the night in a critical condition with high fever and a blood infection.

“This morning his condition has stabilized and his fever is down. The hospital expect him to be moved out of ICU later today. His two daughters Tatier 16, Taya 19 and grandchild Tilin (6 months old) are by his bedside.

“I’m calling on Tony’s friends now as we are in urgent need of money for his medical bills,

“Unfortunately his two daughters have run out of money after paying over a week of hospital bills, the local hotels they will stay in are now very kindly covered by Mrs Phamee.

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“The hospital have just called with an update on costs, ICU already about 59,000 Baht (£1,350) and we expect with private room, nursing costs etc will total around 5,000 Baht (£120) a day expected for roughly 14 days.

“We are looking to raise around £3,000 for Tony’s past and upcoming medical bills. Any donation to help Tony would be greatly appreciated.

“Thankyou to all the medical staff at the hospital for their ongoing treatment of our friend Tony.”

The fund has already passed its target having reached over £7,000.

There are several big names amongst the donators including Frankie Dettori, William Buick who gave £3,000 and ‘The Piggott Family’ who donated £1,000.

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