'Proton hanya mahu promosi Lotus'

Oleh: AIZAWATI AHMAD
sukan@utusan.com.my

Syed Zainal Abidin (dari kiri) memberi penerangan kepada Eric Boullier, Vitaly Petrov dan Bruno Senna pada sesi lawatan pasukan Lotus-Renault di Pusat Kemerlangan Proton Shah Alam, semalam. - Utusan/ASWAD YAHYA

SHAH ALAM - Pengarah Urusan Kumpulan Proton Holdings Berhad, Datuk Seri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir berkata, penglibatan syarikat pembuat kereta nasional itu dalam Formula Satu (F1) merupakan strategi pemasaran bagi mempromosi jenama kereta sport, Lotus pada peringkat antarabangsa.

Malah, katanya Proton tidak berhasrat untuk menceburi sukan pemotoran itu secara langsung, sebaliknya hanya mahu mengembangkan jenama Lotus semata-mata.

"Kami tidak pernah kata bahawa kami sebuah syarikat Malaysia mahu terbabit dalam F1. Ia hanya melibatkan Lotus dan sudah tentu sebagai pemegang saham, Proton yang merupakan sebuah syarikat nasional, secara tidak langsung turut mengaitkan nama Malaysia dalam usahasama ini," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian selepas lawatan pasukan Lotus-Renault ke Pusat Kecemerlangan Proton di sini, semalam.

Turut serta pada lawatan itu ialah Pengarah Urusan dan Prinsipal Pasukan, Eric Boullier, pemandu Lotus-Renault, Vitaly Petrov, pemandu simpanan, Bruno Senna serta duta jenama Lotus yang juga legenda F1, Jean Alesi.

Menurut Syed Zainal Abidin, pihaknya lebih selesa penglibatan Lotus dalam F1 dapat dilakukan secara sistematik dan tersusun.

Jelasnya, sungguhpun Lotus merupakan jenama yang terkemuka, syarikat masih memerlukan strategi pemasaran yang berkesan bagi mempromosi lima kereta baru yang akan dipasarkan.

"Kami perlu memulakan perjalanan ini untuk mempromosi jenama kelima-lima kenderaan baru kami yang bakal berada di pasaran.

"Jadi, ini merupakan keputusan yang lebih bersangkut-paut dengan hal ehwal perniagaan kerana kami yakin F1 mampu memperkenalkan jenama Lotus. Langkah yang sama dilakukan Ferarri dan Mercedes," ujarnya.

Sementara itu, Boullier yang menjawab mengenai ketiadaan Nick Heidfeld pada lawatan tersebut berkata, pemandu Jerman itu tidak sihat dan memerlukan rehat yang cukup untuk perlumbaan Ahad ini.

Mengenai perlumbaan di Sepang, Petrov lebih senang merendah diri sambil menyifatkan perlumbaan di Sepang amat sukar.

"Sepang sebuah litar yang hebat, sukar untuk meramal apa yang akan berlaku, namun kami berada pada kedudukan yang mantap dan akan cuba menyaingi pasukan lain,'' katanya.

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Sistem KERS: Red Bull buat keputusan hari ini

SEPANG - Pasukan Red Bull Racing akan membuat keputusan sama ada akan menggunakan sistem pendorong kuasa KERS semasa sesi latihan hari ini, setelah tidak menggunakannya pada pembukaan musim baru perlumbaan Formula 1 di Melbourne.

Pengurus Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner berkata, sistem tersebut akan diuji esok bagi menentukan strategi yang akan diguna pada perlumbaan Ahad ini.

''Keadaan sirkit di Melbourne berbeza dengan Sepang. Di sini, sirkitnya memiliki lebih banyak laluan lurus yang memerlukan daya pecutan yang kuat.

''Kita akan uji dan buat keputusan esok,'' katanya kepada wartawan Malaysia semasa ditemui pada majlis pengumuman pemasaran kereta jenama Infinity ke Malaysia di Litar F1 Sepang, semalam. Infinity adalah penaja Red Bull Racing.

Red Bull telah mengejutkan penggemar sukan tersebut apabila tidak menggunakan sistem KERS pada perlumbaan Grand Prix Melbourne tetapi pelumbanya, Sebastian Vettel masih mampu mencatatkan kemenangan selesa.

Vettel memenangi perlumbaan tersebut dan berada 0.8 saat di hadapan pesaingnya, Lewis Hamilton dari pasukan McLaren. Seorang lagi pelumba Red Bull, Mark Webber bagaimanapun, menamatkan perlumbaan di tangga kelima.

Difahamkan, Red Bull menghadapi masalah dengan sistem yang berasaskan bateri berat semasa sesi latihan dan memilih untuk menggunakan pendorong kelajuan tidak selanjar (intermittent) bagi mencapai keseimbangan di sekitar sikirt jalanan Albert Park.

Horner berkata, cabaran lain bagi dua pelumba Red Bull itu ialah suhu dan cuaca yang panas tetapi Sepang sememangnya telah diketahui sedemikian.

''Para pelumba telah datang awal dari Australia bagi membiasakan diri dengan cuaca panas. Berdasarkan ramalan kaji cuaca yang kami terima, terdapat kemungkinan 35 peratus akan hujan bermula pukul 4 petang Ahad ini.

''Apa pun keadaan, kami bersedia termasuk dengan tayar Pirelli yang didapati memberi prestasi lebih baik daripada yang dijangkakan semasa di Australia,'' katanya.

Tayar Pirelli tersebut kata Horner, yang mengandungi kandungan serupa yang akan diguna pada Grand Prix Malaysia Ahad ini walaupun cuaca dan keadaan sirkit akan memberi cabaran baru kepada prestasi tayar.

Menurutnya, kedua-dua pelumba Red Bull dalam keadaan yang sihat dan bakal memberi persembahan terbaik untuk memastikan matlamat dicapai iaitu mengungguli kedudukan satu dan dua.

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KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel will go into Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix as a heavy favourite, buoyed by a comprehensive season-opening victory in Melbourne a fortnight ago to kick off his world title defense.

Chasing a fourth consecutive win spanning the end of last season and the start of this one, the 23-year-old German could also have the added bonus of the KERS system power boost that the team opted against using at Albert Park.

Red Bull are expected to make a final decision whether to use the kinetic energy recovery system after Friday practice but with Vettel so dominant in Melbourne, his biggest danger is likely to be the notoriously volatile Malaysian climate.

Vettel stormed to victory around the demanding Sepang circuit a year ago, his cause aided by McLaren and Ferrari's woeful misjudgement of the conditions during qualifying that left them at the back of the grid on race day.

In 2009, Jenson Button, then driving for Brawn GP, won a rain-affected race that was halted by downpours after just 31 of the scheduled 56 laps and half points were awarded for the first time since 1991.

"Malaysia is the first real track we go to, as Australia is a semi-street circuit," Vettel said. "It's hot and rains everyday, but the question is when and how much? It will be a tricky one."

Rain is forecast throughout the race weekend and with the new Pirelli tyres expected to degrade quicker than they did at Melbourne in the sweltering Malaysian temperatures, team tactics will play a huge role on Sunday's outcome.

Vettel's Australian team mate Mark Webber had a disappointing home grand prix, finishing down in fifth after starting third on the grid, but Red Bull are hoping changes made to his car will see him run closer to the other RB7.

"In the sort of post mortem on the event, we found a few things on Mark's car, a few things set-up-wise, that certainly wouldn't have helped Mark, and all those elements have been changed for Malaysia," team principal Christian Horner said.

McLaren enjoyed something of a renaissance in Melbourne with 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton claiming a surprise second place after the team rejigged the car following a disappointing pre-season of testing in Spain.

Pecking order

Hamilton was delighted to finish 22.3 seconds adrift of Vettel in a car that had suffered considerable damage to its undertray in the final session and the Briton expects a truer picture of the championship pecking order to emerge this week.

"After the pace we showed in Melbourne, I think we can have another good race in Malaysia," Hamilton said. "Albert Park is a great track, but a circuit like Sepang is where the differences between the cars will start to become clearer.

"I'm really looking forward to using KERS Hybrid and the DRS (adjustable rear wing) too... the rapid change of direction you experience when the car is really in the groove is phenomenal around here."

The biggest disappointments in Melbourne were Ferrari and Mercedes. Both had promised much in pre-season testing but the Italians were let down by poor qualifying pace while neither of the German cars finished the race following early collisions.

Double world champion Fernando Alonso is far more optimistic of a better showing by Ferrari in Malaysia but remains wary of how much impact the weather will have over the weekend.

"We know we have to improve our performance level, but we are equally aware that in the end, the race result was not such a disaster," the Spaniard said of his fourth place finish in Australia.

"We will have a few minor updates on the car, but nothing very significant. I believe we must stay concentrated on our own work and try to understand how to get all the potential out of the (car) and I'm sure there's plenty to come.

"The fact that the weather can change so quickly here makes the preparation work for the various phases of work on track more stressful."

Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher expects Mercedes to be in a "fighting mood" for the second round after lasting just 19 laps in Australia, the German believing it was far too early to write him off.

"There is absolutely no doubt we want to do better than in the opening race, which was a disappointment for all of us," the 42-year-old said.

"We clearly see that as a challenge and it is much too early to write us off. Everybody in the team remains positive and is in a fighting mood. So I expect a better weekend for us to come; a weekend we can build on." — Reuters

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SEPANG, April 8 — Formula One's introduction of adjustable rear wings was intended to make overtaking easier and drivers agree this weekend's Malaysia Grand Prix will be the perfect venue to test its effectiveness.

The season-opener in Melbourne was highlighted by a prolonged battle for track position between Ferrari's Felipe Massa and McLaren's Jenson Button, but the short straights at Albert Park did little to suggest racing was more competitive.

Sepang, however, has two very long straights and with the Drag Reduction System (DRS) detection zone fixed yesterday on the final corner before the home straight, opportunities to overtake will be far more frequent than witnessed in Australia.

In the DRS detection zone, drivers must be within one second of the rival ahead of them to get the wing activated. In that area, drivers open a flap to gain more overtaking speed before it automatically closes when the brakes are deployed.

"I got pretty close to (Ferrari's) Fernando Alonso a few times in Australia and only once with (McLaren's) Lewis Hamilton on lap three," Red Bull's Mark Webber, who finished fifth, told reporters yesterday.

"Fernando was someone I expected to put more pressure on.

"But it was a characteristic of the corner onto the start-finish... it was too quick. And the entry to Turn One, even if you got close, it was easy for the guy to manipulate the line for you, and give you a different trajectory into the corner.

"Here will be a completely different story. If it doesn't work here I don't know where it will work. You have a slow corner to open the lap, a slow corner at the braking point, and Heathrow airport in between as well in terms of options, so it should work."

Button, who was handed a drive-through penalty in Melbourne after passing Massa illegally, enjoyed his battle against the Brazilian but expects Sepang to be a far better circuit to employ the DRS.

"It was frustrating but when you look at it now, it looks like a good race, I would say. But even with the DRS it is still very tricky to overtake at a place like Melbourne with such short straights," the Briton said.

"Sepang is one of those circuits where you can really have a good tussle as corners flow into each other," he added.

"I think with the DRS system it is going to make overtaking a lot easier than it was in Melbourne. Maybe it will be a little too easy, as I think being within a second before the last corner, even without DRS, you can have a good chance of overtaking." — Reuters

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REPUBLIKA.CO.ID,SEPANG - Mark Webber, pebalap Red Bull Racing, yakin kejadian seri GP Australia tidak akan terulang di seri GP Malaysia pada Ahad (10/4) mendatang. Webber mengaku sudah melupakan kejadian GP Australia pekan lalu.

Webber hanya mampu finis posisi kelima pada seri GP Australia di Sirkuit Albert Park, Melbourne, pekan lalu. Dia tertinggal 38,171 detik dari rekan setimnya, Sebastian Vettel, yang keluar sebagai juaranya dengan catatan waktu 1:29:30,259.

Namun selepas balapan, ada isu yang menyebutkan bahwa Webber mendapat spesifikasi mobil yang membuatnya tidak bisa bersaing dengan Vettel secara fair. Vettel sebaliknya mendapat spesifikasi khusus yang membuat mobilnya lebih kencang dari mobil Webber.

Meskipun enggan untuk menjelaskan tentang apa yang sesungguhnya terjadi di Melbourne, Webber memastikan persaingan GP Malaysia akan berlangsung lebih baik.

''Beberapa isu muncul setelah balapan yang sama sekali tidak membantu memperbaiki situasi,'' kata Webber. ''Kami tidak akan masuk ke dalam isu tersebut. Saya tidak akan membuat makan dari apa yang terjadi di Melbourne. Jadi, mari kita bicara tentang Malaysia.''

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REPUBLIKA.CO.ID,BERLIN - Seorang petinju wanita tak terkalahkan dari Jerman ditembak di kamar gantinya oleh ayah tirinya sebelum pertarungan perebutan gelar. Ayah tirinya itu meninggalkannya dalam kondisi luka-luka pada lutut dan kaki tangannya.

Rola El-Halabi, nama petinju wanita tersebut, ditembak dari jarak dekat oleh ayah tirinya yang pernah menjadi manajernya. Luka-luka tembak tersebut tidak mengancam jiwanya, tetapi bisa membahayakan kariernya.

El-Halabi saat itu sedang menunggu pertarungan lawan Irma Balijagic Adler dari Bosnia untuk memperebutkan gelar IBF kelas ringan yang kosong.  Ayah tirinya (44) tiba-tiba masuk ke ruang ganti dan menembak Rola.

Dia juga menembak dua penjaga keamanan sebelum dia akhirnya ditangkap. Polisi Berlin menyebutkan ketiga korban dilarikan ke rumah sakit untuk operasi.

Surat kabar Bild mengidentifikasi pria bersenjata itu sebagai Roy El-Halabi. Bild juga melaporkan bahwa 800 penonton langsung dievakuasi dari arena.

"Ayah bergegas ke ruangan," cerita Rola El-Halabi. "Dia mengancam kami dengan pistol di tangannya dan berteriak ''Semua keluar!''. Dia kemudian menembak tangan saya dari jarak tiga meter. Aku menangis dan berteriak."

Bild melaporkan bahwa El-Halabi berpisah dari ayah tirinya sebagai seorang manajer pada Januari. "Ketika punya masalah, saya dapat berbicara dengan dia tentang apa saja, kecuali tentang cowok," kata El-Halabi. "Itu tabu." El-Halabi memiliki rekor 11-0 dengan enam kemenangan KO.

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