Newey vs Schumacher vs Mawson in MRF title-decider

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The first Formula E race of 2017 took place in Argentina but the third race of the 2016-17 season produced a familiar result.

Elsewhere five drivers went into the final round of the MRF Challenge with a shot at the title – and the outcome was victory for someone with a very famous surname.

MRF Challenge

Races 13-16: Madras Motor Race Track

Five drivers entered the last round of the MRF Challenge with a mathematical chance of the championship but the key protagonists were points leader Joey Mawson, Adrian Newey’s son Harrison and Mick Schumacher, son of Michael. Manuel Maldonado, cousin of ex-Williams and Lotus racer Pastor Maldonado, was also in the field.

Newey won the opening race from pole position with Schumacher second and championship leader Mawson down in fifth. But victory plus fastest lap in race two restored some of the advantage Mawson had lost. Newey could only manage fourth in the second race while Schumacher, who was edged wide by his rival on lap one, took seventh.

Race three set up a title-deciding finale, but retirement for Schumacher finished off his fading championship hopes. Newey won again from pole while Mawson came fourth and took a 12-point lead in the final race.

With pole position for the final race Mawson looked in good shape. And though Newey immediately passed Schumacher for second at the start he appeared too preoccupied with keeping his rival behind than chasing down the championship leader.

But at the end of lap 10 it all went wrong for Mawson who slipped behind Newey and Schumacher. Newey duly claimed the final win of the season and also took the fastest lap. That meant he and Mawson ended the season tied on 277 points, meaning Newey claimed the championship by virtue of his seven wins to Mawson’s three.

Formula E

Race 3: Buenos Aires

Buemi won again in Formula E
Remarkably Lucas di Grassi’s pole position at the Puerto Madero street circuit in Buenos Aires was his first ever in Formula E. But he was unable to convert it into victory as the reigning champion made it three wins out of three at the start of the 2016-17 season.

A strong start from di Grassi saw him maintain the lead while second-placed Jean-Eric Vergne successfully held on to second place. Within just a handful of laps later Vergne wrestled the lead from di Grassi.

Sebastien Buemi was also bearing down on the pair of them and passed Di Grassi for second three corners later. He set about applying pressure to Vergne who he easily passed for the lead on lap six.

From then on Buemi never looked back, only managing his energy towards the end and allowing Vergne to close, but never enough to challenge. Behind, di Grassi temporarily lost out to Oliver Turvey and Nicolas Prost but recovered his third place by the chequered flag.

Over to you

Do you think anyone can stop Sebastien Buemi in Formula E this season? And of the young drivers in the MRF challenge a good number – including Mawson, Newey, Schumacher, Ralf Aron and Dan Ticktum – showed potential. Who are you keeping an eye on?

What racing action did you watch last weekend? Let us know in the comments.

Next weekend’s racing

The following series are in action next weekend:

  • NASCAR Cup race 1: Daytona

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15 comments on “Newey vs Schumacher vs Mawson in MRF title-decider”

  1. Kalle Rovanperä won his first Finnish Rally Championship race this weekend. This is remarkable result when you consider that Rovanperä is only 16 years old and it was first time he attended championship race in Finland. Not to mention that he lost half a minute after puncture on third stage. Future WDC material if everything goes well.

    Onboard footage from SS4 on which one he was 15 seconds faster than anyone else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9otiWfmXrQ

    1. @anatoli68 Very interesting – had never heard of him, thanks for that!

    2. What an amazing drive , couldn’t believe it was by a 16 year old. Thanks for sharing.

    3. No problem at all. This might go a bit off topic but I may as well share some more interesting things about this guy.

      – First of all he got the racing in his genes. His father, Harri Rovanperä, raced over a decade in rallying winning one race and having several podium finishes.

      – Kalle has dominated Latvian rally scene for past two years winning the championship both years. He’s been racing there since it’s not required to have a driver license to participate.

      – Last weekend he was able to do the rally with the special permit given by the Finnish motorsport association. They saw the talent and wanted to give him a change to show it. This meant that Rovanperä was able to drive the actual stages but as soon as he crossed the line he had to let his co-driver to take the wheel. He couldn’t even drive when taking the notes for upcoming stages, so this gave an advantage to other drivers as well.

      – Last December he finished second in Memorial Bettega stadium race, beating the drivers like Neuville on the way.

      I’m always been huge fan of F1 and don’t follow that much of rallying. However, it’s always nice to see when young talents starts to get good results, no matter what their category or sport is. It feels good that there is something to look forward when the old guys eventually retires. Hopefully Rovanperä is able to do something similar to Verstappen in coming years.

  2. I like Joey Mawson’s consistency. He looks the goods. Newey and Mini Schuie have speed too. Both are lined up for euro F3. But no word on Mawson. I hope he progresses. He’s the next best placed Aussie on the way to F1!

  3. Newey edging infront of Schumacher… Just awesome.

  4. Anatolie68, awesome video of that 16 year old! That kid has balls of steel man, Rally is a series I’m going to pay attention to all year, thanks!

  5. You should have used the title “Shuey v Newey”..

    1. Shoey Vs Newey, Vs “that other guy” who doesn’t have a famous dad. For the record, Newey was in his second year in MRF and he finished on equal points with “That other guy”. Only on countback could it be decided. Mick Schumacher was in there too although somewhere back there in 3rd or whatever.
      If I was to bet whether Mick Schumacher, Harry Newey or “That other guy” were to make it to F1, I certainly wouldn’t bet on “That other guy”.
      “That other Guy” is Joey Mawson. He doesn’t have a famous dad, but he is quick. In his first year in MRT, he beat the biggest names in the lower level of motorsport. It was Newey’s second year. “That other guy” is a rising talent with a lot of skill. But who cares about that. I mean, it is Mick Schumacher and Harry Newey. Their dad’s are freaking cool right? They deserve a spot in F1 over the peasants of the world like “That other Guy”.
      I hear that Newey and Schumacher have good seats line up next year in top teams in upper formulas. But “That other guy”. Well, who cares what he is doing! He only has skill, but he has no name to go with it so he deserves nothing!

      For the record. His name is Joey Mawson. His previous results speak volumes over Schumacher and Newey. In that MRT contest, he was clearly the driver with the highest talent. His first year experience of the circuits let him down and Newey in his second year in MRT beat him by the finest of margins.

      In the 2016 ADAC F4 comp: “That other Guy” : finished 1st. Mick Schumacher : 2nd. Harry Newey : 16th. For the record, it was Mick Schumachers second year in this comp. He finished 10th in his first year. “That other guy”. He finished 1st in his first year against Schumacher who was in his second year.

      “That other guy”. Well he is worth supporting. But I can’t remember his name because it isn’t catchy like those other famous ones.

      1. @mickharrold a bit overly dramatic there. ‘Sons of’ drawing more attention is nothing new, it can be a shame for those that aren’t directly in the spotlight, but most drivers that are really worth it progress into higher leagues. I’m sure Mawson will get his shot. His only disadvantage at this point seems to be that he’s rather old already with regards to the series he’s in.

        Some factual errors in your post: Mawson wasn’t in his first year in ADAC F4, that was last year, so took the title in his second. Also, Newey didn’t compete in the 2016 ADAC F4 series.

        1. MattDS : Sorry, I am still getting my years a little mixed up. This is 2017 and not 2016! So you are right on one front. 2016 was Mawson’s second year in ADAC. Not his first as I had stated.
          2015 : Mawson 3rd, Schumacher 10th (in the same team in their first year). Newey finished 17th.
          2016 : Mawson 1st, Schumacher 2nd.
          So I am sorry, but I am slightly wrong here. However the outcome is still the same. Mawson beat the big names.

          You are right that Newey didn’t compete in ADAC F4 2016. He moved to MRF in 2015/16 a year before Mick Schumacher and Mawson did. Yet it went to the wire with Newey and Mawson in 2016/17.

          You say Mawson is old. Yeah, at 20 he is. But that is what it takes when you come from somewhere outside Europe and you also don’t have a powerful or rich (or both) dad. You have to earn you time before you can get to those series in Europe. Max Verstappen didn’t get into F1 on talent alone. Yeah, he is awesome, but that only half the picture. So if you are going to bring up age, Schumacher is 17 and Newey is 18. With names like theirs, what the heck are they doing in the lower grades with Mawson. Shouldn’t they be knocking on the door of F1 by now? Mawson has to earn his stripes and find his way to Europe, but these guys don’t and they are only 2 years younger than him.

          If you think I am wrong, then why is all the commentary about the Newey Vs Schumacher contest. Mawson was better than both of them and until today, I bet no-one knew his name. It isn’t mentioned in any news posts. Yet everyone knows who the other 2 are. Yeah, he is 2 years older than them in the same series. Can you seriously tell me that that is because of his lack of talent? Or is it because of their names and his lack of one? I am going for the later one here since he beat them both.

          1. Hey mate I have no doubt “that other guy” is better than these lucky two…. It’s just the shuey vs Newey was the F1 storyline from the 90s early 2000s…

  6. Never thought I’d read about my home country’s MRF racing on this blog. Nice article !

  7. The quality of racing is really impressive in MRF Challenge. There are some very talented drivers and hopefully they will feature in F1 soon. A collection of four short sprints over the weekend rather than one long GP is also interesting.

  8. Not entirely sure if this has a place here, but the BBC are reporting on the race between Devbots 1 and 2 at Buenos Aires.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39027477
    For those outside the UK, the article leads with-

    A landmark race between two driverless electric cars has ended badly for one of the contestants.
    The unfortunate Devbot vehicle crashed out of the Roborace competition after misjudging a corner while travelling at high speed.
    The incident occurred ahead of the start of the latest Formula E electric car race in Buenos Aires.
    The other vehicle managed to complete the course after achieving a top speed of 186km/h (116mph).
    “One of the cars was trying to perform a manoeuvre, and it went really full-throttle and took the corner quite sharply and caught the edge of the barrier,” Roborace’s chief marketing officer Justin Cooke told the BBC.

    It goes on to describe how the surviving vehicle was able to avoid hitting a stray dog that wandered onto the course a little later.
    And –

    Roborace’s chief executive Denis Sverdlov will reveal more details about his company’s plans, at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona next week.
    The company then intends to show off its tech again at the next Formula E race, in Mexico City on 1 April.

    They’re coming . . .

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