that’s it Max Verstappen he is in unbeatable mode and in the best moment of his sports career at the wheel of the Red Bull R19 no one doubts. He has six wins out of a possible eight and leads the standings by 69 points ahead of teammate Pérez. But this is Japan Yuki Tsunoda, pilot of the younger brother Alpha Tauri, who found a weak point on Tuesday in the Dutchman on four wheels: he lost in the ‘Mega Trucks’.
Yuki Tsunoda, who has yet to make his debut podium finish in F1, faces off against two-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen in “Mega Trucks,” competing in his first off-road race on the Erzberg iron mine 45 minutes from the Red Bull Ring , a competition called the (Un)Serious Race Series sponsored by Red Bull.
In the series, Scuderia AlphaTauri and Oracle Red Bull Racing face off in unique cars and venues, and Tsunoda emerges as the man to beat. During the week of the Miami Grand Prix in May he had beaten Australian Daniel Ricciardo in a mini jet ski race.
As a warm-up for this week’s Austrian Grand Prix, the pair competed in a 10-foot-tall, 16-foot-long, 500 horsepower mega truck capable of crushing cars with ease. The chosen site is the Erzberg mine, known as the ‘Iron Giant’, which defies gravity and hosts the annual Red Bull Erzbergrodeo.
Mimicking the layout of the Red Bull Ring, the mega truck track featured three main sections: ‘The Car Yard’, ‘The Swimming Pool’ and ‘The Big Drift’. Max was the driver who lost qualifying. A grueling final sector put him in pole position, three seconds ahead of Yuki.
“I’ve never really done anything offroad. I’ve driven my father’s rally car, but it was more on tarmac,” Max admitted. “Honestly, the approach to my qualifying lap was to survive! It was a lot of fun,” he smiled.
In the race, Yuki rocketed from second position, took the lead at the first turn and never looked back. In contrast, Max has nothing but bad luck, his truck suffers a misfire and he can only follow Yuki to the finish line.
“Max did an amazing lap in qualifying, he was three seconds behind me. I thought, ‘Okay, maybe I need to push the throttle more,'” Yuki recalled of his approach to the race.
“I got a good start and used my momentum to the finish. Unfortunately he had a little misfire…well I actually put water in his engine, but don’t tell anyone!” Yuki teased. “That strategy worked, and I want to defend my first place in the first Unserious Race Series with Daniel.”
Verstappen praised his Mega Truck experience, comparing it to other adventures in Swamp Buggies, Reverse Racing and Caravan Racing, among others.
“The good thing is that we always do these kinds of crazy things that other teams don’t do. So, for being part of the team for so long, we’ve done so many different, weird and crazy things. This is another one on the list .”
With his first off-road racing experience complete, the focus is once again on Formula 1 and the Red Bull Ring. “I have very good memories of the race in Austria. We have won quite a few times, which is the most important thing in our home circuit. The good thing is that there are many grandstands and you can almost see the whole track. So the whole atmosphere is great ,” explained Versteappen.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
