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Archive April 2010
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08/05/2010
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30-04-10
 Formula
3: Menasheh Idafar got
the second race weekend of his Cooper Tires British Formula 3
International Series career off to a great start at
Silverstone’s Arena Grand Prix Circuit today, Friday, 30th
April, after emerging as the quickest National Class runner.
During the second of today’s pair of sessions, easily the
quicker of the two outings, the T-Sport racer lapped with a
time of 1m55.127s to head the National Class entry – and
Virgin Racing F1 Team test driver – Luiz Razia by 1.4 seconds.
Current National Class Championship points leader James Cole was
a further half a second shy. In session one, Menasheh made a
solid start to the day with a best time of 1m57.109s which at
that point placed him as the top National Class competitor by
four 10ths of a second. The 19-year-old commented: “It’s not
been a bad start to the weekend at all and we should have been
quicker really as I lost about half a second on my fastest lap.
The wind this afternoon caused some understeer but overall I’m
happy with how everything has gone. It’s always good to be
fastest in class, hopefully we can go as well over the next two
days!” pic Jakob Ebrey photography
GTs: Lucas Ordoñez
will contest the full 2010 European GT4 Cup in a Nissan
370Z GT4 car. The Spanish driver was the winner of
PlayStation® and Nissan’s first GT Academy competition in 2008.
He went on to drive in the Dubai International 24 Hour Race
alongside Johnny Herbert as his prize, with his impressive
performance earning him a full season’s drive in the 2009
European GT4 Cup. Racing alongside British driver Alex Buncombe,
the pair finished a close second in the drivers’ championship
but managed to secure the teams’ title for the PlayStation
Nissan Team, run by RJN Motorsport. Today (Friday) he lined
up again at Silverstone to practice for the start of the
European GT4 Cup series. For the opening race, Lucas will be
back in the 2009 350Z car he shared with Buncombe while RJN
Motorsport complete the build of his 2010 370Z GT4 car. He will,
however, run in the distinctive new yellow livery of the
PlayStation Nissan Team. Another difference is that Lucas will
drive on his own in 2010, while Buncombe partners this
year’s winner of GT Academy, 21-year-old Frenchman Jordan
Tresson in a yellow 370Z.
 Avon
Tyres British GT
Championship leader Matt Griffin says he can't wait to
get on track at Knockhill next weekend (8/9 May) for rounds
three and four of the series - even though he and his MTECH
Racing team-mate Duncan Cameron know only too well that the
Scottish circuit is one which can bite.
Read more
 Ginetta
G50 Cup : Frank Wrathall is the man to beat in the
Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup
as the teams head to Brands Hatch this weekend. Wrathall’s Team
Dynojet car has proved to be the fleetest so far this season
with Frank bagging two wins at Rockingham last time out. He
heads to the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit with a lead of 18
points in the championship over Carl Breeze (TCR). Breeze was
another winner at Rockingham and worked hard to keep Wrathall
behind him and will be one to watch this weekend. Opposition to
the top two in the championship comes from Tom Sharp (IDL) who
lies third in the standings after a consistent start to his
championship campaign. His overall pace isn’t on a par with
Wrathall’s or that of Breeze but Sharp is experienced in these
cars and knows how to keep out of trouble. The Hetherington
brothers have shown well this season and Benji lies fourth,
brother Freddie 11th. If Hetherington Snr can find a shade more
speed he will be a big threat to the top two in the
championship, while Breeze’s TCR team-mate Joachim Ritter will
be one to watch as the Danish-born driver gets faster all the
time. Another improver is Adam Morgan in the second Dynojet car
in his maiden Ginetta G50 season, while Chris Dittman and
Stephen Tyldesley have shown impressive pace, too. The
unofficial coupe des dames is headed by Rachel Green although
the former Caterham champion has been pushed hard by former
Formula Renault racer Alice Powell who has looked impressive in
her first season in sports car racing. pic Jakob Ebrey photography
Ginetta Jnrs: Goudhurst’s
Jake Hill heads the Ginetta Junior Championship as the teams
head to his local circuit, Brands Hatch, for rounds five and six
this weekend. Hill arrives at his home track with a slender
seven-point lead over Tom Ingram, both of them having been race
winners this season. Hill took a win at each of Thruxton and
Rockingham while Ingram won at Thruxton in the season-opener
after Hill made an error. The third winner of the season is Tom
Howard who scored victory in the first Rockingham race but Tom
is a distant sixth in the championship. He needs a consistent
weekend to score well and haul himself back into contention.
Reigning champion Sarah Moore hasn’t adapted to the new G40 as
she did the original G20 and is a lowly 11th in the championship
although Sarah will be keen to return to form at the scene of
her 2009 title success. Her mantle of quickest girl has slipped
to Louise Richardson who has been mighty in the first four races
to lie third in the standings behind Hill and Ingram.The other
half of the Moore family, Sarah’s brother David, is fifth and is
capable of running at the front although a coming-together
between him and Sarah at Rockingham didn’t win him any friends.
Alex Austin needs a shade more pace to match that of the
front-runners but should use his experience to good effect here,
while Seb Morris has done an impressive job in his first season
in car racing. The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit is not for
the faint-hearted but expect Morris to be in the mix this
weekend.
Formula Ford:
Ryan Simpson managed to fend of a flock of fast Queenslanders
to set the early pace in Round 2 of the Genuine Ford Parts
Australian Formula Ford Championship at Queensland Raceway
today(Friday). The Parramatta Smash Repairs Mygale driver
finished the day’s final practice session marginally ahead of
championship leader Chaz Mostert and teammates Nick Foster and
Geoff Uhrhane. Read
more
 FIA
GT: ICSport CEO Christian Bouas
announced a new partnership recently that will see ICSport,
Veritas, Emblem Racing,Oliver Pla, the reigning LMS LMP2
Champion, as well as all the drivers of ICSport, come together.
It was during the Top Marques Monaco supercar show, on the 15th
of April, that all four entities formed a partnership which will
be initially centred on Olivier with the Veritas’ road and race
car. The German car manufacturer has the ambition of entering
the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011 with the Veritas RSIII
Coupé which will be launched at the Nürburgring July 9-11. To
achieve this goal they will rely on the platform that ICSport
will provide them, especially their drivers. Founded in the
middle of last century, Veritas is a prestigious car
manufacturer, associated with elegance and motorsport. It was
back in 1947 that the company took its first national title at
Hockenheim. Today, Veritas is based at the Nürburgring, and it
is here that the project will start on July 9 when the first
meeting of members from ICSport, Emblem Racing and Veritas will
take place. A program for a World Tour will include the
presentation of cars and the organization of the three partner
companies and two days of testing with ICSport. course. “World
Tour Calendar will begin on 9-11 July at the Nürburgring
followed by 1-3 Sept Silverstone, 23-24 Sept Marbella inSpain,
14-16 Oct Abu Dhabi , Nov (TBC) Sepang and 28-30 Nov Ice track
in Finland
 Formula Renault UK: Kieren Clark had
his first race in the Formula Renault UK’s new car last weekend
at Rockingham and despite limited time in the car prior to the
race he brought it home in 17th and 14th
place in the two races.
Read report
 Karts:
Tom Harvey was cruelly denied a well deserved victory in the
second round of the 2010 Super 1 Series at Larkhall in Scotland
when he was ‘punted off’ in the closing stages of the final.
Nevertheless he clearly demonstrated his title credentials by
closing to within three points of the championship lead.
Read report
Silverstone
Circuits Limited, and its owner the British Racing
Drivers’ Club (BRDC), unveiled and
launched the new Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on Thursday. His
Royal Highness the Duke of York, KG, UK Special Representative
for International Trade and Investment, formally cut the ribbon
to open a major new section of track that represents the first
stage of a multi-million pound investment in the Home of British
Motor Racing. As part of the launch ceremony, His Royal Highness
helped to inaugurate the new 3.66 mile circuit in the passenger
seat of the Santander two-seat Grand Prix car driven by former
World Champion, and President of the BRDC, Damon Hill OBE.
On track at the same time were David Coulthard, driving a Red
Bull Formula One car, and the motorcycling father-and- son
combination of Ron and Leon Haslam, representing the worlds of
MotoGP and World Superbikes. During the ceremony, His Royal
Highness the Duke of York was invited by Damon Hill to become an
honorary member of the BRDC and commented: “I am very pleased
to accept the honorarymembership from the BRDC, but perhaps not
qualified to do so. I am here because high performance
engineering is a major contributor to the United Kingdom
economy and that engineering prowess is regularly on display in
the highest level of motor sport that takes place at Silvertsone.
I am delighted to be here. The future, I hope, continues to be
rosy, not only for Silverstone and motor sport, but for the UK’s
high performance engineering sector.”
29-04-10
 Fiesta
Championship: Another solid weekend
for the NSR / Kempster Ford team with John Findlay taking two
more top ten finishes with the pace to run at the front. His
second race was spoiled by a troublesome gearbox, but John left
the circuit reasonably satisfied with his weekend’s efforts. Ian
Fletcher was out for the first time this year in the team’;s
second car and picked up a ninth and an eighth place finish in
the two races. The team’s third driver James Byrne struggled due
to a lack of testing however; but he will take the lesson
forward for the next rounds at Cadwell Park on 5th / 6th June.
Read report
The European Late Model Series
was back in action
with the first of this season’s long races, the CAMSO
Cup. Sixteen cars would start the first of the day’s three
races, with Rodger Twikler taking his first debut win.. Race two
saw 2009 Champion Gary Ellis take the laurels but it was Jean
Vasseur who claims the CAMSO cup.
Read report
 FIA
GT: After Abu Dhabi, HEXIS AMR
headed to Silverstone for this weekend’s second leg of the FIA
GT1 World Championship. As Jean-Denis Delétraz has withdrawn for
personal and professional reasons, Thomas Accary will take his
place alongside Frédéric Makowiecki’ . Silverstone will also
mark the start of the FIA GT3 European Championship, fwhere
HEXIS AMR have entered two cars. Frédéric Makowiecki and Manu
Rodrigues will drive the DBRS9 #1 while the DBRS9 #2 will be
tamed by Thomas Accary and Luc Paillard, who has just signed
with the team. pic V Images
 BTCC:
Following on from a luckless outing at Rockingham last weekend,
Alex MacDowall
aims to deliver at least three points finishes at Brands Hatch
this Sunday, 2nd May, during the latest installment of the 2010
Dunlop MSA BTCC. In only his second ever BTCC qualifying session
at Rockingham he set third fastest time, after that Alex’s
weekend dipped somewhat when all three races resulted in
difficulties. An erroneous tyre choice for the rain-affected
fourth round of the season meant the Silverline Chevrolet racer
could do nothing to avoid a slip down the order to an eventual
finish of 12th place. After matching that result in round five,
he was unceremoniously shunted out of round six.“Rockingham was
disappointing in the end but we proved how quick we can be
during qualifying and that’s the level of performance we’re
aiming for again this weekend”, said the 19-year-old, “The team
has done a fantastic job for me so far, it’s a real privilege to
be racing the Chevrolet Cruze in the BTCC, and I’m sure we’ll be
strong at Brands Hatch.” Graduating to the UK’s biggest motor
racing series after a successful tenure in the one-make ELF
Renault Clio Cup, the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising
Star has certainly turned heads in the BTCC since signing to
partner ex-champion Jason Plato in the RML-run Silverline
Chevrolet squad. At the 2.3-mile Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit
in 2009, Alex rounded-off his final year of Clio Cup racing with
a win and a second place during the two races. With proven
ability at the world famous Kent track, his aim will be to
convert that experience into three top performances this Sunday.
 Superleague
Formula: CJ Motorsport have called upon Franck Perera
to drive the Flamengo
car in the Superleague Formula by Sonangol round at Assen,
Netherlands, on May 14th to 16th. It will be a return to the
Series where he raced AS Roma at Estoril in 2008. Perera
brings with him a wealth of experience including Formula Renault
2.0 in 2003 and F3 Euro Series in 2006. In 2007 he was in
Atlantics in the U.S. taking 3 wins. He then moved to the Champ
Cars, sadly, Champ Car’s days were numbered and he finished 6th
in their last ever race. CJ Motorsport Director Serge
Celebidachi: “Franck is an exceptional talent and he has proven
in the past what he is capable of in a Superleague Formula car,
or in any car for that matter! Duncan Tappy did a really good
job for us at Silverstone and put Flamengo on the podium, so he
will be back for sure in future rounds. In the meantime, he will
support Franck from the sidelines, as will Bruce Jouanny, in the
true spirit of what we are doing” Franck Perera: “I’m really
happy to be back. I have raced in many different Championships
and I have to say that this is one of my favourites. I even
turned down a drive in IRL to be available for Superleague
Formula. The car is seriously good, the driver line-up is really
competitive, the fans are amazing and the whole team behind the
Superleague do an amazing job.”
.jpg) Karts:
Jordan King looked odds-on for victory
after setting pole position in the second round of the 2010
Super 1 Series at Larkhall only for an engine failure to deny
him in the first final. However this set the scene for a charge
up through the field from the back of the grid in the second.
Read report
 FBMW:
Facu Regalia left the last Formula BMW Europe test session
of the winter pleased with the development of his car and
expects to be among the fastest in the first race of the year at
Circuit de Catalunya in less than two weeks. This week test was
different from the earlier ones as the drivers had just one day
on track rather than the usual two. Facu Regalia ended the test
satisfied with his Eifelland Racing car’s set-up. “With old
tyres we had some problems with the front end, but, when we put
on the car new rubber, we made some modifications in the Mygale
that worked very well, something that makes me very pleased”, he
explained. “The lap times were meaningless. There was so much
traffic on track, something that made very hard to get a clear
lap. When I was on new tyres I found many cars in my flying lap
and I had to overtake them, something that cost me a second.
However, I made a lap time similar to my teammate”. Regalia’s
next drive will be in Spain fro the opening round on May 7-9.
Porsche Carrera Cup GB:
The first TV coverage of the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup
GB will be broadcast in the Motorsport UK programme on ITV4 at
5pm on Tuesday 4 May, on ITV1 on the night of Sunday 9 May and
will also be repeated on ITV4 on Saturday 8 May.
Motorsport UK will be broadcast as follows: Tuesday 4 May at 5pm
on ITV4, Saturday 8 May at 10.25 on ITV4 and Monday 10 May at
2am (approx) on ITV1. Motorsport UK can also be watched at
itv.com and is available for viewing for 28 days after the
initial broadcast date
28-04-10
 Grand-Am:
The Doran team with drivers Memo Gidley and Dion Von Moltke,
turned their race around with the help of some yellow flags in
the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal
Cask No. 16. After suffering tyre problems in the #77
McDonalds/PR Newswire Daytona Prototype in the Bosch
Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway the pair came
back from a lap down to take eighth at the flag. Needless to say
Gidley then headed for the airport to catch a rplane to
California and his Jetski race in the DJSA Outlaw series.
Read report.
Formula 3:
F1 test driver Luiz Razia is the latest driver
to join the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series.
The 21-year-old Brazilian will make his debut this weekend (1/2
May) at Silverstone at the wheel of a Motul Team West-Tec
Dallara in the National class. Razia's inclusion boosts to 26
the grid for rounds four, five and six of the championship. Also
on the Silverstone roster is Taiwanese racer Kevin Chen, who
will partner Adderly Fong in the Sino Vision Racing team, and
Indonesian Rio Haryanto, who will make his debut for CF Racing
with Manor. Three invitation class cars from ART Grand Prix are
joining the pack also. Motul Team West-Tec's John Miller said of
Razia's signing: "It's purely a one-off race outing at the
moment, although Luiz has a continuing test programme with us.
He is taking the opportunity to learn the new Silverstone Arena
circuit. "The car was competitive at Silverstone in the recent
test [when it was driven by Swede Marcus Ericsson, another
driver learning the track] and we think Luiz ought to go well.
Hopefully we will see the car out on a regular basis with
another driver soon."Razia's National class opposition at
Silverstone comprises the two T-Sport Dallara-Mugen Hondas of
Menasheh Idafar and James Cole. Razia was South American F3
Champion in 2006 and has gone on to claim race victories in GP2.
He is the test and reserve driver for new F1 team Virgin Racing.
 Formula
2:
Will Bratt makes his first ever visit to the Marrakech street
circuit in Morocco this weekend, 1st/2nd May, when the
second event of the 2010 FIA Formula 2 Championship gets
underway. Making a strong debut a fortnight ago at Silverstone
Grand Prix Circuit, the 22-year-old is currently fifth in the
standings but is actually tied on points with fourth placed Dean
Stoneman. Marrakech is the only street circuit visited by the
Formula 2 Championship and its inclusion on the 2010 calendar
marks the first ever visit of F2 to Morocco. Rounds three and
four of the season also see F2 join the FIA World Touring Car
Championship for the first time this year. The 2.82-mile circuit
is situated in the Agdal district of the North African country
and is certainly unique, featuring several long straights which
should promote plenty of slip-streaming opportunities into the
tight chicanes and notorious final corner hairpin. “I’m really
looking forward to this weekend’s event, it’s always good to go
to a new track and with none of the drivers having raced an F2
car there before we should all be on a pretty level playing
field”, said Will. “At Silverstone we made a decent start to the
season, I wasn’t completely happy with our pace but we scored
some good points, especially considering the limited testing I
had before the event. In Marrakech it’ll be very important to
get as much track time as possible during the Friday practice
sessions to set ourselves up well for qualifying.”
 The
FFSA V de V
championship were at Mugello in April
and first to see the chequered flag was Ferrari No 1 of Anthony
Beltoise and Thierry Perrier! Second came the Lichtner-Hoyer/Eckert/Seefried
driven Porsche 997 Cup car who put in a fantastic performance,
fighting their way up to second. Third went to the Lamborghini
Gallardo of Giroix/Valentini/Fatien , which took victory in
GTV2. After them came Baudinière and Proust’s number 48 Porsche
996 RSR and the number 65 Porsche 997 Cup S driven by
Martinet/Tremblay/Champeau. In the Proto Endurance Challenge the
leader for three quarters of the race was Rosier and Guillet-Arnaud
whose well-deserved victory slipped away due to technical
issues. The race was won by reigning champions Mondolot and
Zollinger, ahead of their surprising Palmyr teammates, Menahem
and Faggionato Read
report
 Karts: Callum Bowyer turned
around his weekend,
despite tyre issues, in the second round of the 2010 national
Super 1 Series at Larkhall. to come away with a third and a
fourth place,, results that keep him in the hunt for the
title. Read report
 Kevin
Susilo has this year made his debuit in European Karting
and now this young Indonesian, who races in the KF2 category,
knows his DR-Parilla kart very well. His goal is to reach the
top as quickly as possible. In order to do that, he will benefit
from the advice of Italian Danilo Rossi, who was five times
karting Word Champion. Rossi recently launched his own brand of
karts, DR, which Kevin drives.. “I know that the team is doing
the maximum for me and this pushes me to do likewise”, Kevin
pointed out. “But I have just made my debut in KF2 and this is
not the easiest category. Many drivers are more or less on the
same level. One or two tenths plus or minus can make you gain or
lose many places. You cannot relax, ever, and you always have to
try and go as fast as possible. The same is true in the pack.
There is always a rival who puts you under pressure. It’s an
excellent school of life, though. For the time being, I keep
improving and I have demonstrated that I can beat drivers more
experienced that I am. I am going to continue like that” Kevin
Susilo does not lack determination and has already shown well on
several occasions.In March, at the Andrea Margutti Trophy in
Castelletto di Branduzzo, a circuit South of Milan, he reached
the final phase and demonstrated how better he is in the rain.
The following week, he did even better in Lonato, at the second
round of the WSK. After a clean race during the qualifying
heats, where he landed three times in the top 10, he finished
14th out of 84. ”I was immensely pleased with this result and it
was a great disappointment to be forced to abandon the pre-final
and then the final. I had a real chance to re-enter the top 10”.
. Next he is off to Germany and the Wackersdorf circuit, for the
debut of the European KF2 Championship
 Described
in the pre-race press release as the ‘Shanghai of the North,’
last weekend’s second round of the Easykart UK Championship at
Teesside Autodrome certainly matched its Chinese counterpart’s
recent Grand Prix for excitement, drama - and of course, rain.
Admittedly the downpour was brief, but it served to ratchet up
the tension in the heats before holding off for the finals. Read
report
Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup : Maciek
Steinhof (Poland) decided the first race of the world debut
of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup with innovative bio natural gas
power in his favour. After eleven laps at the Hockenheimring the
last champion of the ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup prevailed against
junior driver and pole-sitter Kris Heidorn (Germany) and ex-F1
driver Martin Brundle (GB). At the thrilling inaugural race
featuring the first ever use of a push-to-pass system in a
touring car one-make cup the other Legend Cup entrants made
their mark as well with Frank Biela (Germany) seventh, the
two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz (Spain) twelfth and
former F1 driver Jacques Laffite (France) 17th,
Jetta TDI Cup
: Ryan Ellis managed a perfect start into the Jetta TDI Cup
season. The experienced campaigner won both rounds of the
American "touring car school" at the Virginia International
Raceway and thus took over command in the championship. The
runner-up by a narrow margin in both races was the Mexican Juan
Pablo Sierra Lendle. In Saturday's race AJ Nealey completed the
podium; on Sunday Jake Thompson was third.
Skip Barber
: Pigot and Dorrbecker Take Skip Barber National wins
in rounds 5 and 6
at VIR after two great races that saw battles for the lead go
down to the last laps. Several drivers came into the race
weekend with struggles behind the scenes to overcome. In a Skip
Barber Regional Finale race in Sebring two weeks ago, Dennis
Trebing broke a bone in his hand and entered the race weekend
with a temporary cast. The cast did little to impede his
performance, placing in the top five for both lapping sessions,
the practice session, and both qualifying sessions. English
drivers Daniel Lloyd and Isaac Lyons were stranded overseas due
to the Icelandic volcano ash still in the European skies. Daniel
Lloyd and his father managed to book flights to America, only to
almost miss their flight due to a traffic accident. Isaac Lyons
made it to the track in time for the first qualifying session,
only to have the airlines lose his luggage (which was eventually
found). Despite the loss of track time and the less than ideal
travel schedule Lyons qualified in the sixth position for round
five. Race report
27-04-10
 Porsche
Carrera Cup GB:
Brands Hatch GP Circuit is the setting for rounds five and six
of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this weekend (1/2 May), with a
capacity 28-car field set to do battle at the track. Coming
straight after Rockingham, the attraction of racing on the Grand
Prix circuit has drawn a 28-car field set to top the previous
record of 27 911GT3 Cup cars. With four wins from four races so
far, Tim Harvey has seized the early advantage during a stunning
run of form, but Michael Caine has taken the fight to Harvey
every time out and is determined to stop Harvey winning again at
Brands. In the two Rockingham races, less than a second split
the pair after nearly half an hour of racing and Caine knows
that he has the pace to beat Harvey, particularly if he can
qualify on pole. However, this is far from a two-horse race as a
gaggle of young racers are shaping up to challenge them as the
season develops. Notable are the three drivers from Team Parker
Racing, Euan Hankey, Glynn Geddie and Stephen Jelley. Hankey has
claimed 3 podium finishes from 4 races, while Geddie took a big
step forward at Rockingham to bag his first podium of the season
as Jelley chased him home. Other challengers in the pro category
include Tom Bradshaw, Charlie Bateman and Michael Meadows. In
the pro-am1 category, Ollie Jackson has made a superb start to
the season with three wins from four races, but he faces several
contenders, led by Tony Gilham. Newcomers Jonas Gelzinis ,Ahmad
Al Harthy and Archie Hamilton all add to the quality in pro-am1.
Once again, Gelzinis will have to learn the track during
Friday's two test sessions, but his pace over the early races
shows that the 22-year old Lithuanian is a fast learner.
Meanwhile, in pro-am2, the top four drivers are proving very
evenly matched. Mark Hazell and Glenn McMenamin have both won
this season, while Steve Parish is moving ever closer to the top
of the podium. Arriving at Brands, Hazell has a single-point
lead over Parish in the points' table, with McMenamin chasing
hard after a classy victory in round four at Rockingham. George
Brewster (is right there too, while teenager George Richardsonis
getting quicker with every race.
 Tim
Harvey will bid to extend his unbeaten run in the Porsche
Carrera Cup GB when the championship continues this weekend
(1/2 May) at Brands Hatch. Harvey, lead driver for Red Line
Racing, has won all four races to date to take an early 12-point
lead in the championship and reckons he's never had such a good
start to a racing season during his 28-year career. "Without a
doubt it's the best start to a season I've ever had," said the
Oxford-based racer. "It's been almost the perfect start. Apart
from the point for fastest lap in three races, I've got a
maximum score. It may look easy from a results point of view,
but it isn’t easy and we've worked very hard. But that makes it
even more satisfying." Harvey is the most successful driver in
the eight-year history of the Carrera Cup GB and has now
contested 128 Carrera Cup races, winning 28 of them and taking a
podium finish in another 63. "Winning is infectious and you get
used to it," said Harvey. "I'll try and keep it going as long as
I can. I'm very comfortable in the car and I'm very happy with
my driving this year; I think it’s better than it has been for a
while. It's rare that I start the season at this level and it
does make a difference. I done quite a lot of competition on two
wheels over the winter, as I usually do, but I think I've come
into the season sharper and fitter."Now comes one of his
favourite tracks, the stunning Grand Prix circuit at Brands
Hatch. "Brands Hatch GP is a wonderful circuit and a real
favourite of mine," said Harvey. "I grew up around Brands and
I've stood all round the circuit as a small boy in shorts
watching racing from as young as five years old. I had my first
ever race there in 1983 and it is my motor racing home."
 British
GT: Local interest will be running
high at Knockhill next month (May 8/9) when the Avon Tyres
British GT Championship roars north of the border for the third
and fourth rounds of the 2010 season. For not only is the
championship's G4 class headed by Fife driver Rory Butcher,
several Scottish racers are planning to join their countryman on
the grid. They include Aberdeen father-and-son team Jim and
Glynn Geddie, who will make their British GT debuts at the wheel
of a Team Parker Racing 997-type Porsche in the GT Cup division
of the series. They will go head to head against Edinburgh-born
Porsche driver John Gaw and his team-mate Phil Dryburgh, another
Scot. For Geddie Junior, this season is a toe-in-the-water
campaign ahead of a planned assault on the top-level GT3 class
of British GT in 2011. "We are here this year to learn about
British GT," says 19-year-old Glynn, "and hopefully next year we
will be back with the latest GT3 Porsche and challenging for the
championship." BRDC 'Rising Star' Geddie is dovetailing his
British GT campaign with an assault on the UK Porsche Carrera
Cup; last year he won that championship's Pro-Am 1 division,
claiming two class victories at Knockhill along the way. Their
big challenge at Knockhill will be to dislodge the GT Cup class
machine of Gaw and Dryburgh from its class leading position.
Their Porsche, fielded by Production Glassfibre with Kinfaun
Racing, was on superb form in Easter's opening rounds at Oulton
Park, finishing 11th and eighth overall in respective races. For
Butcher - also known as 'Rory the Racing Driver' - the Knockhill
rounds are a real home match(his dad owns the track!), and a
chance for him to show the sort of form which netted the
23-year-old the Scottish Formula Ford Championship crown last
year. At Oulton, Butcher and his driving partner Benjamin Harvey
scored a class win and a second-place finish in their
prestigecarleasing.co.uk with ABG KTM X-Bow, and they tie for
the overall class lead with Cheshire-based Speedworks Motorsport
Ginetta crew Christian Dick and Jamie Stanley. "Oulton was a
great result for all of us," said Rory, "and hopefully we can
use a bit of local knowledge to our advantage at Knockhill."
Championship manager Benjamin Franassovici is hopeful that some
more Scottish drivers will be lured to the Knockhill grid: "We
have a lot of interest in the GT Cup class from Scottish teams,
so I am hopeful there will be some strong competition there."
 BTCC:
Brands Hatch is gearing up for an almighty battle when the
Dunlop MSA
BTCC arrives at the circuit this May Bank Holiday weekend (1/2
May) for 3races on the Grand Prix circuit. The Bank Holiday
showdown marks the BTCC’s return to the circuit following a
thrilling 2009 season finale, in which Chevrolet’s Jason Plato
became only the second driver in history to win all three races
in one day – edging out Tom Chilton’s Ford Focus in the closest
race finish in BTCC history! Fans’ favourite Plato returns in
2010 with a factory-backed Chevrolet Cruze and is a strong
contender for victory after setting the quickest time around the
Indy circuit in pre-season testing. However, with seven
different manufacturers on the grid including a pair of factory
supported Honda Civics for former champion Matt Neal and BTCC
race winner Gordon Shedden, competition will be incredibly tight
when the series reaches Brands Hatch. Among the front-runners
this Bank Holiday are local hopes Airwaves BMW, who are based
down the road from Brands Hatch in Wrotham. The squad is on
flying form after scoring their first ever 1-2 finish in the
season opener at Thruxton with drivers Mat Jackson and Steven
Kane. There will also be strong challenges from Team Aon Ford
Focus duo Tom Chilton and Tom Onslow-Cole, and WSR BMW’s Rob
Collard – who is currently locked in a war of words with Matt
Neal after the pair were involved in a controversial clash
during the opening round.
 Shaun
Hollamby – Bringing the VW Golf back into the BTCC after two
decades.
Former Brands Hatch instructor Shaun Hollamby and his
Thurrock-based AmD Milltek Racing team made history in 2010 when
they brought the Volkswagen Golf back into the BTCC after an
absence of more than twenty years. Although Hollamby considers
this season a ‘learning’ year as the team works on increasing
the car’s reliability and performance, the Golf has already
attracted a cult following among BTCC fans.
Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship ‘new boy’ Alex
MacDowall came away from Rockingham on Sunday, 25th April, rather battered
after three bruising races left him with two 12th
places finishes and a retirement after he hit by Dave Pinkey’s
Vectra in the final race.
Read report
Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship
leader Scott Malvern
says he will be fighting fit for the Knockhill rounds, held on
8/9 May, despite injuring his ankle in a freak paddock accident.
Malvern was literally swept away with an awning by a
mini-tornado at the Whilton Mill kart track last week. The gust
swept him and the awning clear over a van and about 20ft in the
air; fortunately Scott landed on his feet. "We had finished
putting up the awning and I was standing inside it, finishing
off, and suddenly there was what my brother describes as a mini
cyclone," said Scott. "It picked the awning up and me with it.
It went up and over the van and took me about 50ft down the
road. I hit someone else's van as I came down, which slowed me
down a bit, and I landed on my feet. I am unbelievably lucky to
be honest because I dropped from quite a height." Scott was
taken to hospital for checks and advised that had he landed on
any part of his body other than his feet he could have been
seriously injured. He suffered a bruised ankle and feet but is
recuperating quickly. Read
more
FBMW: Facu Regalia
will be at Spa-Francorchamps tomorrow, Wednesday for his
last Formula BMW pre-season test. The test session
wasoriginally scheduled for April 13th and 14th, but a problem
in the Blanchimont tunnel meant that the session had to be
postponed. Regalia will now get the chance to run his car at one
of the most famous circuits in the world. “I want to use this
test session to prepare the race that will be held in this
circuit at the end of August. Besides, I intend to put the car
in good shape for the Montmeló weekend, where I expect to arrive
in good form to start the season”, he said.
 Formula
3:
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs finished top rookie in just his third
Formula 3 race when he took fifth place in the first of two F3
Euroseries races at Hockenheim on Sunday. The 19 year-old
finished seventh in the second race despite spin when fighting
for sixth.
Read
report
Chris Gilmour, the 2008 F3 National Class champion and 2004
outright runner-up, will return to the outright class at the
Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit next week behind the wheel of
a recently-purchased, ex-Fortec Racing Dallara F307 Mercedes
racer. The car, taken to Australia by Queensland sports car
racer Steve Morcombe, is an ex Greg and Leo Mansell machine from
British F3 before being imported to Australia in 2008. Gilmour
Racing, headed by Chris’ father Errol, purchased the car
recently and has spent until now thoroughly preparing the car
for its return to the track next weekend.
read more
--and-SWilli.jpg) Formula
Renault UK:
Manor Competition’s Will Stevens took his third podium
finish of the 2010 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship at
Rockingham over the weekend. Coupled with his fifth place in
Round 3, Will heads for Brands Hatch this weekend third in the
points. His team-mate Lewis Williamson, followed Stevens in
both races to come away with sixth and fourth leaving him in
fourth spot in the championship.
Read report
Atech Grand Prix’s Tamás Pál Kiss
has moved into the lead of the Michelin Formula Renault UK
Championship points table after the Hungarian took victory and
second place in the two rounds at Rockingham. Swiss Filipino
Marlon Stockinger took his first FR podium, narrowly missing out
on a second in race two but Briton Nick Yelloly was denied a
podium finish when he was sidelined with a clutch problem.
Read report
 Asia
Racing Team’s Sandy Stuvik from Thailand and Hong Kong’s Luca
Ferigutti
shared the spoils in the opening Formula Renault 2.0
Championship races at Zhuhai last weekend. It was Stovik’s
debut in single seaters and he not only won but took pole
position as well .
read report
Ginetta Jnrs:
Tom Ingram kept himself in contention in the 2010 Ginetta Junior
Championship with a piair of fourth places after a consitent
display at Rockingham over the weekend. He could just as easily
ended up on the podium in race 2 but a coming together with
Louise Richardson late in the race resulted in a 1 place penalty
for Ingram dropping him from third to fourth.
Read report.
26-04-10
 Formula
Renault UK:
Atech GP’sTama’s Pa’l Kiss has hit the top pf the Championship
table
in Formula Renault UK after taking a win and a second place at
Rockingham this weekend. Harry Tincknell repeated the feat by
winning and finishing second as well. Marlon Stockinger secures
his maiden podium with a third palce in Round 3. Meanwhile Alex
Lynn continued to dominate the Graduate Cup with two more wins
making that 4 wins from 4 starts.
Read report
Rockingham pix: Jakob Ebrey Photography
 Elf
Renault Clio Cup:
It was double lights-to-flag wins for Inverness racer Dave
Newsham at Rockinghan over the weekend in the Elf Renault
Clio Cup.TCR’s Mike Robinson makes also picked up a couple of
podium finishes whilst James Colburn made his first visit to
the podium. Read report
F2000:
Daniel Erickson’s supporters
have the chance to win a Formula Ford track day, a Ferrari road
tour and a Snowy Mountains holiday – but they have to act
quickly. The three prizes are part of the Sydney driver’s latest
fundraising campaign to help him continue racing in the American
F2000 Championship Series. Each draw has only 100 $20 tickets,
and about half of them are already sold. Returning to the USA is
a matter of ‘unfinished business’ for Erickson, who stunned the
F2000 Championship Series regulars by almost winning the first
two rounds at Virginia International Raceway on April 9-10. He
qualified on pole position, finished second by 0.213s after mis-timing
his first ever rolling race start in Round 1, and led all the
way in Round 2 until a loose spark plug lead less than three
laps from the finish dropped him to 10th place. he third and
fourth F2000 Championship Series rounds are at Road Atlanta on
May 6-8. “Even though it was my first F2000 race meeting, on a
circuit I hadn’t seen until the Thursday test day, I’m still
disappointed at missing out on those two wins,” Erickson said.
“Now I’m determined to show everyone that Virginia wasn’t a
fluke.” Erickson isn’t daunted by the prospect of racing yet
again on an unfamiliar track. “I’m used to racing on circuits
for the first time, having done it most of last year in British
Formula Ford,” he said. “Road Atlanta would be another new
experience, but unlike at Virginia I’d be familiar with the
car!”
 Porsche
Carrera Cup GB: Redline Racing’s
Ahmad Al Harthy had another strong outing in 2010 Porsche
Carrera Cup GB Championship at Rockingham over the past weekend
picking up two fourth place finishes in the Pro-Am 1 Class. It
could have been even better but for an unfortunate ‘off’ in race
two when Ahmad was inadvertently ‘tagged’, probably cost him a
podium finish. Read
report
Team Parker Racing’s Euan
Hankey and Glynn Geddie both scored podium finishes in the second round of the Porsche
Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham Motor Speedway. Somerset man Hankey
and Scotsman Geddie each took a third place from the two races,
while Leicester racer Stephen Jelley claimed a fourth, the best
result yet of his short Carrera Cup career. Read
report
 Formula 3: Alexander Sims Euro F3 season
took a blip at the weekend when he was forced into retirement in
Round 3 after a first lap accident eliminated him form the
race. This non-finish meant he would start race two from the
back of the grid and although he put in a scintillating drive to
move up to sixth, mechanical gremlins intervened dropping him to
eighth at the flag.
Read report
 Ginetta
Jnrs:
Tollbar Racing’s Jake Hill moved back
to the top
of the 2010 Ginetta Junior Championship points table at
Rockingham in Northamptonshire yesterday afternoon, (Sunday),
thanks to a dominant victory in Round four.
Read report
Team Parker Racing endured a tough weekend in the Ginetta Junior
Championship
at Rockingham, but Chris Swanwick and Adam Bonham both battled
to a pair of top-10 finishes in each race. Swanwick took a
seventh and an eighth place while Bonham scored a seventh and a
10th. Novice Finlay Ratcliffe drove the team’s other car to 18th
position in both races, running lap times just off the pace of
the top 10.
read report
Ginetta G50 Cup:
Total Control Racing’s Carl Breeze and
Dynojet’s Frank Wrathall took a win apiece during the fifth
and sixth rounds of the 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup at
Rockingham on Sunday,. Wrathall ‘s win takes him well clear in
the points while Breeze ‘s victory was his first since the
middle of last year. Read
report
 Carl
Breeze made a welcome return to the top step of the Michelin
Ginetta G50
Cup podium for Total Control Racing during the fifth round of
the 2010 season on Sunday and backed the result up with an
excellent second place in round six later in the day. One of the
team’s ELF Renault Clio Cup driver s, Mike Robinson enjoyed the
best weekend of his career with a brace of podium finishes to
move into the top three in the championship ahead of team-mate
Sam Tordoff. Read report
 SEAT
Supercopa:
Last weekend (16-18th April) saw Freddy Nordström make the trip to Valencia
for round one of the Spanish SEAT Supercopa Championship. Having
enjoyed a successful pre-season test at Brands Hatch just one
week before, Freddy was eager to get back behind the wheel.
Read report
BTCC:
Matt Neal and Jason Plato shared the spoils in Sunday’s
Dunlop MSA British
Touring Car Championship rounds at Rockingham. Neal won both
races one and three in his Honda Racing Team Honda Civic but
Plato, the winner of race two in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze,
now leads the points from Neal as the Championship heads for
Brands Hatch next weekend. Neal, was suitably delighted with his
wins, his first double victory since 2006. All in all it was a
good day for him and his team, winning race 1 by a comfortable
margin over his team-mate Gordon Shedden to give the Honda
Racing Team a 1-2 result. Plato was satisfied with his days work
but says his team needs to keep pushing development of its Cruze.
His victory in race two was the 54th of his BTCC career and also
the first for Chevrolet's Cruze model in the championship,
although he only just managed it after a determined late charge
from Robert Collard's WSR BMW. Elsewhere the Sunshine.co.uk with
Tech-Speed Motorsport team claimed second with Paul O'Neill
behind Neal in race three. Airwaves BMW driver Steven Kane took
third-place finishes in races two and three elevating him to
third behind Plato and Neal in the title race. Chevrolet/RML
retains its lead in the Manufacturer/Constructor table as does
Airwaves BMW in the HiQ Teams' Championship. Airwaves has also
taken over at the top of the Independent Teams' standings from
Sunshine.co.uk.
 Formula
Renault 3.5 Two points finishes made for a
bright start to Nelson Panciatici’s Formula Renault 3.5
Series season at Motorland Aragon on a weekend where just
staying on the circuit was a task that proved impossible for
most. read report
DTM:
Garry Parfett won the opening round of the DTM at Hockenhjeim leading a
Mercedes 1,2,3 4 over the line behind him came Mercedes
teammates: Bruno Spengler, Jamie Green and Paul di Resta, only
2.251 seconds separating the fourth-placed di Resta from the
winner. Mike Rockenfeller was the first Audi home in fifth.
Auto GP:
Vladimir Arabadzhiev won
the second AutoGP race at Brnot with Adrian Zaugg second just
0.5secs behind. Zaugg,s tatring from pole was beaten away at the
start by Arabadzhiev who then held the lead throughout. Luca
Filippi won the first ever Auto GP race, the chose an early
pit-stop on lap 4 and with a clear track put in some wquick
times to regain the elad as the rem,ainming runners all made
their pit-stops. Edoardo Piscopo and Fabio Onidi completed the
podium
25-04-10
 Porsche
Carrera Cup GB:
Archie Hamilton, 19, from Basingstoke,
continued to make made progress in his second Porsche GB event.
Although his first podium eluded him, he made real progress in
his bid to emulate his Le Mans winning grandfather’s sportscar
success. Qualifying went well with two runs on new tyres and
after studying data from practice Archie was well prepared. On
his first outing he did a 1:21.8, improving to a 1:21.4 on his
second run. Race one was frenetic with a record 27 car grid
heading into the first corner. Archie made a good start and was
fighting with Glynn Geddie for seventh place, when he tried the
outside line but ended up getting pushed wide onto the grass and
losing four places. After getting back on track he was then held
back by a slower car which try as he might he couldn’t pass and
get back up with the pack ahead. Despite this Archie took the
chequered flag fifth in class and just one place from a top ten
finish. The second race was more of a challenge with a first lap
spin on coolant putting him at the back of the field. Undaunted,
Archie put in a good recovery driver despite steering damage
incurred when he came into contact with another car during the
first lap incident. Lap by lap Archie moved up the leader board,
and although his car was unable to replicate his earlier pace he
gained 15 places to finish 10th overall and fifth in class.
Archie Hamilton: “Overall it’s been a positive weekend. I’ve
notched up another two race finishes. I know I can qualify well
now. I’ve learnt more about how to use the traffic to my
advantage and how to stay out of trouble. I’m definitely going
to Brands Hatch with more confidence. I know I can be quick and
have made progress so I’m happy.”
Tim Harvey completed a perfect start to his season by making
it four wins in a row in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at
Rockingham today (Sunday 25 April) in round four of the
championship. Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) completed a
perfect weekend with a second pro-am1 victory from Tony Gilham
(Collins Redesign Racing), while Glenn McMenamin (Red Line
Racing) clinched pro-am2 glory from Steve Parish (Addison Lee
Motorbase). Jackson took the 'driver of the weekend' award,
while Motorbase Performance was confirmed as the 'team of the
weekend'. read
report
Ginetta G50 Cup:
Dynojet’s Frank Wrathall extended his lead
in the 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup with an assured victory
during the fourth round of the season at Rockingham on Saturday
(24th April). Read report
Rockingham pix: Jakob Ebrey Photography
 Ginetta
Jnrs:
TJ Motorsport pairing Tom Howard and Louise Richardson
locked out a stunning one-two result during the third round of
the Ginetta Junior Championship at Rockingham this afternoon,
Saturday, 24th April, following a thoroughly entertaining and
enthralling eight-lap encounter.
Read report
Clios:
Total Control Racing enjoyed a fantastic start to the second
event of its 2010 motorsport campaign at Rockingham
on, Saturday, 24th April, with podium success in both the ELF
Renault Clio Cup and Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup.Celebrating a
highly impressive double-rostrum finish for Sam Tordoff and Mike
Robinson during round three of the all-action Clios, the
Wednesbury team also tasted podium glory in round four of
Ginetta G50 with a strong second place finish for seasoned
campaigner Carl Breeze. Read report
 Grand-Am:
Burt Frisselle brought the Pacific Mobile No. 61 Ford Riley
across the line in second place for the Bosch Engineering 250 at
Virginia International Raceway. This is AIM Autosport's first
podium in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by
Crown Royal Cask No. 16 since taking a third-place finish at
Infineon Raceway in August 2008 and Burt's first podium in the
series since 2004. Read
report
.jpg) Karts:
Jack Hawksworth, the only British driver competing in
round three of the 2010 WSK Euro Series around a circuit at
which he had anticipated he and his team might struggle, Zuera
in Spain, Jack performed brilliantly to take two excellent fifth
place finishes from 25th after qualifying.
Read report pic
Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net
Jay Goodwin challenged the leaders
in his latest national outing of 2010 in the Super 1 Series at
Rowrah in Cumbria - all he needs now is for a little luck.
Read report
Tim Harvey completed a hat-trick of early season wins in
the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham on Saturday (24 April)
in he third round of the championship. Harvey led from the start
and fended off the challenge of Michael Caine to extend his
championship lead.Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase) scored
an emphatic pro-am1 victory from Tony Gilham (Collins Redesign
Racing), while Mark Hazell (JHR) made it a hat-trick of wins in
pro-am2 from Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase).
Read report
24-04-10
 Porsche
Carrera Cup GB: Tim Harvey claimed a double
pole position in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during
qualifying at Rockingham today (Saturday 24 April) for rounds
three and four of the championship. Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee
Motorbase - pictured)) headed pro-am1 with a mighty
performance that put him in the top four overall for both races,
while Mark Hazell (JHR) and Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase)
shared the top times in pro-am2. Harvey (Red Line Racing) went
straight out of the blocks onto pole for the opening race with a
lap that was nearly four-tenths of a second clear of the rest of
the 27-car pack. "Four-tenths on Michael Caine is quite a nice
gap," said Harvey. "The set-up is working really well." Harvey
then turned in a second best lap that was strong enough to
secure pole position for race two.Caine (Motorbase Performance)
will start both races from second on the grid, despite a big
scare when he clipped the wall on the exit of the flat out Turn
One. "My first run was ruined by a red flag and then I clipped
the wall and knocked the tracking out," said Caine. Third
fastest for the opening race was a tremendous result for
Jackson. "I got the most out of the tyres and I'm well chuffed
with that," said Jackson, who topped pro-am1 for both races.
Stephen Jelley (Team Parker Racing) set fourth and third best
times. Carrera Cup Scholarship driver Euan Hankey (Team Parker
Racing) and Tom Bradshaw (JHR) were fifth and sixth fastest for
both races. Archie Hamilton (Red Line Racing) was well inside
the top 10 overall and second in pro-am1 to Jackson for both
races. Another great effort from Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing)
put him third in pro-am1 on his first visit to Rockingham, while
Tony Gilham (Collins ReDesign Racing) was fourth in pro-am1 for
the opening race from his first flying lap, but then spun into
the gravel on his second flying lap. That means he will start
the second race from the back of the grid.It was very close in
pro-am2 as Hazell and Parish each claimed a pole position. For
the opening race, Hazell was just five-thousandths of a second
ahead of Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing), with Parish third.
However, for the second race, Parish heads McMenamin and Hazell.
 Star
Mazda:
In preparation for the upcoming oval test at ORP Team
Apex drivers Jorge Goncalvez and Joao Horto
got the opportunity to test in a Ford Focus Midget owned by
Steve Lewis of Nine Racing. The test was conducted at the
Indianapolis Speedrome were some of auto racing's greatest
drivers have raced including A.J. Foyt, Darrell Waltrip, Michael
Waltrip,John Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Lloyd Ruby, Gary
Bettenhausen, Mel Kenyon, Bobby Allision and Tony Stewart.On
hand for the test were Team Apex Technical Director Louis
D’Agostino and Driver Coach Rod MacLeod along with Nine Racing
Team Manager Glenn Martin and USAC Midget Champion Billy Wease. “Both
drivers quickly adapted to the new feel of a front engine car
and started to clip off excellent lap times here at the
Speedrome facility,” said Glenn Martin , Nine Racing Team
Manager. “We were able to secure past Speedrome USAC Midget
Champion Billy Wease to help instruct the drivers on the
technical aspects of turning left and getting quickly up to
speed. It was a fun experience for them and they learned fast.”
“I was very impressed with both drivers as they adapted
extremely well to the oval and the different handling
characteristics of a midget” said Rod MacLeod.Both drivers are
looking for forward to the upcoming official Star Mazda test at
O’Rielly Raceway Park on May 5th and 6th.
Formula Renault
Arthur Pic confirmed that he is a serious title contender
in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Championship by qualifying on
the front row and on pole for the first rounds of the 2010
season. On Saturday and Sunday, the Tech 1 Racing driver was
involved in a fierce battle for victory but came away with
nothing.. read report
23-04-10
Porsche Carrera Cup GB:
Michael Caine ended Friday’s test top of the time
sheets in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham ahead of
this weekend’s races. Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee Motorbase)
headed pro-am1, while Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) topped
pro-am2. Caine (Motorbase Performance) set the best lap of the
day during the morning session as the teams acclimatised to a
revised compound of Michelin slick tyre. "It's a good start to
the weekend for the team," said Caine. "But I thought there was
more time to come from everybody." Second fastest was Stephen
Jelley (Team Parker Racing), who ran strongly at the scene of
his two BTCC victories in 2009. Third fastest was Tim Harvey
(Red Line Racing), who spent much of the day working on set-up
to match the new tyre compound. Euan Hankey (Team Parker
Racing), Tom Bradshaw (JHR) and Glynn Geddie (Team Parker
Racing) packed out the top six, and all were confident of
increasing their pace in qualifying. Bradshaw was on a better
lap when a red flag interrupted his run. Seventh fastest overall
and top of pro-am1 was Jackson, but his major rival Tony Gilham
(Collins Redesign Racing) was only a tenth of a second slower,
with pro category racer Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing)
splitting them on the final testing times. Third in pro-am1,
with another strong performance was Jonas Gelzinis (Juta
Racing), while Archie Hamilton and Ahmad Al Harthy were fourth
and fifth for Red Line Racing.In pro-am2, Glenn McMenamin (Red
Line Racing) set the pace with an impressive 15th place overall.
His excellent pace left him nine-tenths of a second ahead of
double Thruxton winner Mark Hazell (JHR), with Steve Parish
(Addison Lee Motorbase), George Richardson (Motorbase
Performance), George Brewster (Celtic Speed) and Richard Denny
(Parr Motorsport) all close on time for what promises to be
another fine pro-am2 contest.
 The
Juta Racing team completed a 26-hour over-land trek from
Lithuania
to get to Rockingham for this weekend's Porsche Carrera Cup GB
races when all flights were cancelled last week. With European
flights in turmoil following the eruption of the Icelandic
volcano, the Lithuanian team had no choice but to do the journey
by road to ensure that they arrived at Rockingham in time for
Friday's test session. Neither driver had even seen Rockingham
before, so they needed to learn the Northamptonshire track in
testing.With the team truck based in the UK for the season, a
five-man crew, including racer Jonas Gelzinis, drove across
Europe in a mini bus. They left in the early hours of Wednesday
morning and the 1400-mile drive from Lithuania took them through
Poland, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France to arrive in the UK
at 7am on Thursday."We took it in turns to do the driving and
get a little sleep," said team manager Audrius Gelzinis. "It was
a good journey and we arrived on schedule." They will now stay
in the UK until after the Brands Hatch races next weekend,
before some of the crew will fly home and two of the mechanics
drive the mini bus back to Lithuania.
 Porsche
Carrera Cup GB : Ahmad Al Harthy has secured support of highly prestigious
partner Oman Air for his 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB
Championship campaign. As part of the agreement, the Muscat
based driver – who achieved two podium finishes on his debut in
the championship three weeks ago – will act as an ambassador for
Oman Air and will also receive continued support throughout 2010
from Oman’s Ministry of Sports Affairs. Breaking new ground
throughout his motor racing career, the 28-year-old is the first
Arab driver to compete in Porsche Carrera Cup GB and prior to
this year’s switch to sportscar racing he was the first Omani to
compete in single-seater competition. “It truly is an
incredible privilege for me to be an ambassador for Oman Air and
the Ministry of Sports Affairs – their support is absolutely
essential and I aim to achieve as much success as possible for
my country in Porsche Carrera Cup GB this year”, said Ahmad. “I
am so proud to be able to fly the flag for Oman in such a
prestigious and competitive category. The UK is the true centre
of world motorsport, so achieving good results in Porsche
Carrera Cup GB is very important to the development of my racing
career. I want to take this opportunity to thank Oman Air and
the Ministry of Sports Affairs for their vital support.” Based
at Muscat International Airport, Oman Air is the national
carrier of the Sultanate of Oman and is the flagship company of
the country’s civil aviation sector. Renowned for its excellence
in service, outstanding hospitality and exceptional safety
record, Oman Air is at the forefront of global aviation. Ahmad
is back in action this weekend, 24th/25th April at Rockingham.
pic Jakob Ebrey Photography
For all the latest news visit
www.ahmadalharthy.com
 Formula
Renault:
Asia Racing Team's Formula Renault 2.0 team is heading to the
Zhuhai
circuit in China this week, for the first race of the 2010
season the non-championship "AFR Championship Spring Race".
Thailand's duo Sandy Stuvik and Tin Sritrai will be making their
single seaters debut this weekend, while Hong Kong's Luca
Ferigutti makes a return to the series he raced last season. It
was at Zhuhai that Asia Racing Team's Luis Sa Silva clinched the
eighth victory for the team in 2009. After that weekend in
October 2009, where he took two podiums, Luca Ferigutti, will
be again eyeing a top three finish. The Switzerland native will
lead the ART attack at the team's home track. The white and
red-brown #27 car will be again sponsored by Dubey and
Schaldenbrand Watches and MagicGoal. Tin Sritrai, crowned double
Asian Karting Open champion last season, moves up to cars in
2010 and is looking for a successful first single seater
appearance this weekend. Sandy Stuvik, 15, is one of the most
promising drivers in Asia. Stuvik has been winning everything
there was in go-karts on the way up, and he has excelled in
Thailand's tin-tops last year. The Formula Renault winter
testing times tells us Stuvik will be aiming high for his single
seater baptism. The first event of the season kicks off with
Free Practice on Saturday 23 April. Saturday 24 April features
the Qualifying in the morning and the Race 1 after lunch. The
second 10-lap race will take place on Sunday 25 April.
GT Academy : Jordan Tresson has been announced
as the winner of GT Academy 2010.
The 21-year-old Frenchman completed a short head-to-head test
today on Silverstone’s new Grand Prix circuit against friend and
rival Luca Lorenzini. The pair drove five flying laps each in
the 420bhp Nissan 370Z GT4 race car that Tresson will now
campaign in the 2010 European GT Cup series. Since the pair made
it through the various stages of the competition they have had
an intensive six-week period where they have racied at various
UK club races each weekend to qualify for an International C
Race Licence. Both obtained their licences last weekend and
headed to Silverstone for the test session to decide who would
win the ultimate prize. First up was Lorenzini, and drama as he
went off the track at Woodcote corner. Jordan then delivered a
series of quick laps that left the decision clear- cut for
PlayStation Nissan Team boss Bob Neville. “I never imagined I
would end up here when I was on my PlayStation back in
December,” enthused Tresson, an automotive engineering
student from Villers La Montagne in Northern France. “This is
amazing. Racing a full season in the GT4 class is an incredible
opportunity thanks to Nissan and PlayStation. I wanted to
believe it was possible and I know I did a good job last weekend
at Snetterton, but you never know. At the moment I just feel
like my body is here but my mind is not! This has always been my
dream.” Jordan’s first race in the European GT4 Cup is at
Silverstone on 2 May.
 Karts:
In KF just like in KZ, Energy karts
have collected a long series of victories at the latest
international meetings, both in Italy and in Spain. The Italian
chassis has proven to be very effective and has allowed drivers
from the Energy Corse Team to make it onto the podium at all
kind of circuits in variable weather conditions.
read report
This weekend (24/25 April), Easykart heads to Teesside
for one of the most popular races on the calendar. Featuring a
combination of fast straights, tight corners and two,
enormous-radius bends (one of which is semi-banked) it is
reminiscent of the Shanghai GP circuit and last year produced
great racing and physically punished those who weren’t in
tip-top shape. Read more
.jpg) Evolution
Racing kart pilot Harry Crawley,
has, after just two meetings at Junior Max level in the Super 1
Series, established himself as the leading class 'rookie' and a
genuine title contender in one of the toughest championship in
Britain. Read report
 FIA
GT: The FIA GT1 World Championship became
reality on the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit.
French team HEXIS AMR got their GT season underway by putting
one of their Aston Martin DB9s front row at the end of the
qualifying practice but sadly neither car made it to the finish
of the race. Read report.
AutoGP: It was a really intense day in
Brno for the debut of the Auto GP season, with the teams on
track for three hours of testing to prepare themselves for this
weekend. Team and drivers took full advantage from this chance
to get acquainted with the cars and with the track, using the
first session as a "toe in the water". After three hours,
Edoardo Piscopo was the man of the day with the best time of
1'43"141. The italian driver topped sessions two and three,
keeping at bay Giorgio Pantano. The SuperNova driver was very
careful in the first two session, but he was able to push when
it was needed, in the last minutes of the last session with new
tyres, he was just 3 hudredths away from Piscopo's time. Duncan
Tappy was third, after topping the first session in the morning.
With third the Brit completed a good day for DAMS. Behind him
was Fabio Onidi, just 0.002 behind and 0.3 ahead of Jan Charouz.
After the Charouz-Gravity Racing driver, the pack was very
compact, with Grubmüller, Filippi, Leal, Reid, Tambay and Zaugg
all incredibly close.
 The
FIA WTCC
is about to resume after a one month break
following the cancellation of the second event of the season
that was due to take place at Puebla, Mexico, on April 21st.The
3rd and 4th rounds of the season will be held on May 1st in
Morocco, on Marrakech's street circuit that will host the
championship for the second consecutive time. The 4.5-km
racetrack traced out in the hotel district of Agdal, which lies
only a few chilometres South of the Medina, Marrakech's
historical centre, has been slightly modified compared to last
year. This has made it possible to get the Grade 2 FIA
homologation in order to host the FIA Formula 2 Championship
that will complete the weekend's programme.In 2009 the WTCC Race
of Morocco brought back international racing to North Africa
fifty years after the last Formula One Moroccan Grand Prix was
held at Casablanca in 1958.Those races marked the first
successes for the new Chevrolet Cruze car. After claiming pole
position on Saturday, Rob Huff won the first race from the SEAT
cars of Gabriele Tarquini and Jordi Gené.In the second race
Nicola Larini scored Chevrolet's second victory of the day,
crossing the line with a slim margin on Yvan Muller's SEAT and
Huff.
200 guests from several countries attended yesterday, the WTCC
presentation
organized by Eurosport in collaboration with Motorsport-Total.com.
The event was held in Germany, at the Munich Marriott Hotel.
After the opening speech delivered by Bernd Daubenmerkl, CEO of
Eurosport Media GmbH, KSO General Manager Marcello Lotti said:
"The 2010 season has just started, but we are already working
for the future. We are in negotiations with a number of
Manufacturers who are interested in joining the championship
over the next two years. We are aiming to expand to new
countries like Argentina, Indonesia and China. And last but not
least we are willing to open the door as soon as possible to new
eco-friendly technologies like natural gas and hybrid. I am very
much looking forward to the next months, as we intend to lay the
foundations for the future of WTCC."Among the many guests who
enjoyed the Marrakech-style dinner after the interviews and
debates, were the Manufacturers representatives: Eric Nève of
Chevrolet, Mario Theissen of BMW Motorsport and Joán Orus of
SEAT Customers Technologies.
22-04-10
 The
2010 Star Mazda Championship
presented by Goodyear season-opener at the 12
Hours of Sebring gets a double premier airing this weekend on
HDnet. The 1-hour high-definition broadcast, sponsored by
VISITFLORIDA, will air at 5:00 pm (ET) Saturday, April 24 and
again at Noon (ET) on Sunday, April 25. HDnet reaches
approximately 17 million homes in the U.S. The first race of the
new season features 23 drivers battling wheel-to-whee. Thanks
to the partnership between MAZDASPEED and VISITFLORIDA (the
state's official tourism development corporation), select races
of the 2010 Star Mazda Championship Presented By Goodyear will
be televised, including four LIVE HD broadcasts. The five race
weekends and seven races that constitute the VISITFLORIDA Cup
include: Sebring March 19, New Jersey Motorsports Park,
June 26-27 (Doubleheader), Autobahn Country Club, July 31-August
1 (Doubleheader), Mosport I August 28, and Road Atlanta, October
1. The New Jersey and Autobahn doubleheaders will be live .
InCountry is the lead syndication affiliate for telecasts who
will air all shows, nationally, beginning approximately 30 days
after each race. Each race will have multiple rebroadcasts.
InCountry's key is channel 344 on BASIC DirecTV and channel 230
on Dish Network. Star Mazda Championship races will also be
broadcast internationally. Schedule information can be found at
www.MazdaRacing.tv.
 Grand-Am:
Just over a week ago, the Doran Team with drivers Memo Gidley
and Dion VonMoltke,
drove the #77 McDonalds car to have its best finish in five
years, crossing the line fourth at the Porsche 250 at Barber
Motorsports Park. “Last week’s race at Barber was great for the
Doran Team,” said Gidley. “There is nothing like a good finish
to pump everybody up. I am very happy and proud of everybody
that is part of the McDonalds effort.” Because of that finish
and its consistent runs so far this year, the #77 McDonalds car
now heads to the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by
Crown Royal Cask No. 16 series race, the Bosch Engineering 250
at Virginia International Raceway tied for fifth in the team
standings. “The best thing about the last finish is that it was
no fluke,” said Gidley. “We were strong at Barber previous
years, just as we were strong at VIR last year. I am excited to
hit the track and think we are going to have another great
weekend.” After Saturdays race, Gidley, is once again grabbing a
red-eye flight back to CA so that he can make round #2 of the
DJSA Outlaw Jet Ski Series race at Camp Far West in Wheatland,
CA. “People thought I was crazy to race the double last
weekend, so I thought I would do it again!” said Gidley. “I
will admit, with all the travel and lack of sleep, it was
grueling. But grueling is what makes you stronger and I like
the challenge.” Gidley, who is the 2009 DJSA Super 800 class
champion, was bumped up to the Super 850 Expert Class this year
and finished fourth in the last race. “Fourth place in my last
race at Salt Springs was awesome because of the super rough
water and much stiffer competition,” said Gidley. “I have been
training really hard and have high expectations for myself this
year in the DJSA Championship…I’m excited to hit the next race
and show what I can do!” This weekend’s GRAND-AM Rolex Sports
Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 Bosch
Engineering 250 is Saturday April 24th at Virginia International
Raceway. The race kicks off at 12:00 Saturday with full coverage
on Speed starting at 2:00 pm EST.
Karts:
CRG and Maxter had the starring role in Spain on the
Zuera circuit for the third round of the WSK Euro Series
2010. On Sunday afternoon victories for Michelle Gatting in KF2
and Max Verstappen in KF3 saw both move into contention for
titles. Read report
 Tom
Fawcett
dominated last weekend's 2nd round of the British Super 1
championship at Rowrah, winning back-to-back final and taking
the series lead into the bargain.
Read report
Pic: Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net
Silverstone
will be celebrating the first event to be held on its new Grand
Prix Circuit
by opening up the track to cyclists over the Silverstone
Supercar race weekend (30 April / 01 May / 02 May). Cycling the
circuit will be free of charge to all holders of a Silverstone
Supercar qualifying, race day or weekend ticket. Anyone without
an event ticket can join the cycle ride at a cost of just £5,
payable either in advance or on the day. Access to the Grand
Prix Circuit for cyclists is available throughout the weekend at
the following times: 18:30 - 20:00hrs on Friday 30
April; 18:30 - 20:00hrs on Saturday 01 May; and at 18:30 -
20:00hrs on Sunday 02 May. For further information, or to book
Silverstone Supercar or cycle ride tickets, visit
www.silverstone.co.uk
or call 0844 3728 260.
Masters Series:
The Entry Form for the Oldtimer Grand Prix at Nurburgring
is now available to download on line from the Masters Website.
Taking place over the weekend of August 13-15, the Oldtimer Grand
Prix is one of the longest running and biggest historic events
in Europe . You can book your grid slots from today into one or
more of the following Masters races at the Oldtimer Grand Prix
in mid-August: Grand Prix Masters, two races each as usual,
World Sportscar Masters, two 30 minute races on the GP circuit,
There is also an additional Masters race for 2010 - a 40 minute
race with pit stop, for the Gentleman Drivers pre-66 GT cars on
the GP circuit on the Sunday Appendix K pre-66 GT and Touring
cars – The Masters Series has reserved places for Masters
members – run on the long Nordschleife circuit in the AvD
Historic Marathon, 210 minutes on the Friday.
www.TheMastersSeries.com
 Fiesta
Championship:
Mountune Performance have joined with the Kempster Ford/Nick
Sanderson Racing team as 'Technical Partners'.
Mountune will aid The Team’s th technical aspects of the Duratec
racing engine, and provide insights into race engine set-up. As
Mountune have an illustrious history with Ford in motorsport -
they supplied the Sierra RS500 BTCC engines that won Robb
Gravett his title and developed the original Focus RS WRC engine
that powered Colin McRae in 1999 and 2000. Their latest project
is the design, build and development of the LPG-powered BTCC
Team Aon Ford Focus ST's of Tom Chilton and Tom Onslow-Cole.
Speaking from the Kempster Ford/Nick Sanderson Racing Team
headquarters in Heywood, UK Operations Director, Ian Fletcher
said: 'I am extremely happy and excited to be able to say that
Mountune Performance have agreed to join The Team as Technical
Partners. Mountune's experience with Ford race engines, and the
2.0 Duratec unit in particular, will prove invaluable as we
progress through the season. This announcement is the
culmination of many months of meetings and discussions, not to
mention the navigation of several rather large hurdles that were
put in our way! We are now ready to begin our partnership this
weekend at Snetterton.' Mountune Performance will also be
providing the recently developed Ford Approved 350 BHP upgrade
to the team Focus RS. Kemster Ford’s drivers, ST19 James Byrne,
ST33 John Findlay and ST44 Ian Fletcher are back in action this
coming weekend at Snetterton.
 Formula
Ford: This weekend’s round
of the Queensland Racing Drivers Championship at Queensland
Raceway will provide a form guide for Round 2 of the Genuine
Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship, with 12
national series drivers set to compete.
The event will feature many of the
front-runners in this year’s championship including Round 1
podium finishers Chaz Mostert, Nick Foster and Ryan Simpson,
while Ash Walsh, Nathan Morcom, Adam Graham, Ben Jurczak, Andre
Borell, Geoff Uhrhane and Jon Mills will also compete. National
Series rookies Shae Davies and Zac Shonberger will use the event
to prepare for their debut.
read more
Sepang International Circuit
has announced the appointment of Motorsport Asia Limited
(MAL) as series organiser of the Malaysian Super Series 2010.
read more
Skip Barber.
 As
the drivers of the 2010 BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National
Presented by Mazda head north from Sebring to Virginia
International Raceway for Round 5 and 6 of the season, Mother
Nature could have a bigger than expected affect on this
weekend's results. After supporting the ALMS at the 12 Hours of
Sebring, the Skip Barber National is part of a full weekend of
racing at VIR, featuring the Bosch Engineering 250 for the Grand
Am Rolex Sports car Series. MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development
driver Spencer Pigot looks to defend his championship lead from
the likes of Dennis Trebing, the first two-time winner this
season, first-time winner at Sebring Isaac Lyons and recently
crowned Southern Race Series champ Ashley Freiberg. Three to
watch this weekend include Ashley Freiberg , the first woman to
win an overall Skip Barber Race Series championship at the
recent Southern Race Series finale at Sebring. Nick
Andries returns to Skip Barber after a one-off Star Mazda race
in his hometown of St. Petersburg, hoping to capitalize on his
experience as he resumes his quest for the 2010 title. Another
driver making progress is Scott Anderson. Anderson, the 2009
SCCA Rocky Mountain Division National Spec Racer Ford Champion
and Rookie of the Year, has shown steady progress this season as
he learns both the tracks and the cars. Two other to watch this
weekend, assuming they make it, are Irishman Isaac Lyons and
Englishman Daniel Lloyd, second and eighth in points
respectively. Both being based in Europe, the air traffic chaos
caused by the ash cloud from the volcano in Iceland may
determine whether or not they make it to the track or not.
 SEAT:
Duarte Félix da Costa aiming for Seat Eurocup title.
Runner up in the 2009 Portuguese Touring Car Championship, the
24 year old driver together with Sowhat – Management, has
decided to sign with Zengo Dension Team for the Seat Leon
Eurocup, a series he raced in back in 2008. 2008. “After a very
positive year racing in Portugal, coming back to race in
International series was part of my plans and the proposal of
Zengo Dension Team was undeniable, plus the fact that they are
2009 Eurocup Champions which gives me confidence to fight for
wins. I’m very motivated to attack the title together with Zengo”,
he said. The series starts on 23 May at Monza and has six
double race weekends. Da Costa will also race at Portimao in
July in the Supercopa: “The most important thing at the moment
is the relation with the team, I have been recently at Budapest
on the workshop and I was very impressed with Zengo, and I felt
that they are very confident and enthusiastic about the new
season and that gives me even more confidence. I know the level
of this series is very high but the spirit is the same between
me and the team, win mentality.”, concluded the touring car race
winner. Zengo Dension Team will be involved with three cars. The
Hungarian Team owned by Zoltan Zengo joined the WTCC this year
with Norbert Michelisz in a Seat Leon TDI.
 FBMW:
The Formula BMW test at Zandvoort presented Facu
Regalia with an unforeseen problem in the shape of an engine
blowing in the day’s first hour. Despite this he came away
reasonably happy. he Spanish-Argentinean tested on both Tuesday
and Wednesday at the Dutch circuit but the aforementioned
mechanical problems restricted the Eifelland Racing driver from
as many laps as he would have liked. A productive first day saw
him set sixth best lap, even although he had some difficulties
twith his new tyres. On Wednesday more mechanical glitches put
his plans on hold as the problems kept on coming. To start with
his handling was all awry forcing him back to the pits where a
bent suspension arm was diagnosed. This fixed he was back out on
track,. “I’m not happy with the times, but the car’s handling is
at the best level. When we put new tires, a car broke its engine
leaving the track full of oil, and I couldn’t take advantage of
them. Though, with all these circumstances, the team felicitated
me, because with old tyres I was always among the five fastest
drivers and I was faster than my team-mates”, underlined Facu
after completing the second day of testing.
 Formula
3: Silverstone’s brand new Arena Grand Prix Circuit
configuration
proved to be a very happy hunting ground for Formula 3 rookie
Menasheh Idafar on Wednesday, 21st April – the National Class
runner ending the official test seventh fastest overall on
combined times.Performing consistently throughout the three
sessions, the T-Sport racer recorded a best of 1m54.239
(115.52mph) during the final period to conclude the outing some
2.5 secs ahead of National Class points leader James Cole.
Starting the day very well indeed with a time of 1m55.857
seconds (113.91mph) to go 10th fastest overall, the 19-year-old
improved by six 10ths of a second in session two with a lap of
1m55.245 seconds (114.52mph). As high as third quickest on the
timesheets during the final period, where with 14 laps he
completed the fewest of any of the competitors in session three,
Menasheh ended the run a highly creditable sixth fastest.
Rounding out the day seventh overall, he certainly prepared well
for the next three Cooper Tires British F3 International Series
races with a dominant National Class showing.“I’m really happy
with today’s performance, the whole test went well and to finish
the last session in the top six overall was really good”, said
the British-born Bahraini, “It was important to have a good test
before the Silverstone races but to be as strong as we have
today was great. It was good to drive the new Arena track for
the first time, I like it and I hope we can have some success
there.”
21-04-10
 Formula
3:
Japanese driver Daisuke Nakajima set the pace
in testing today (Wednesday) on the new Silverstone Arena Grand
Prix circuit, the Raikkonen Robertson racer lapping the
Northamptonshire track - which is set to get its race
christening from the Cooper Tires British Formula 3
International Series next weekend (1/2 May) - a tenth quicker
than his nearest rival, championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne.
Read more
Formula Renault BARC:
Mitchell Hale has shot to the top
of the Formula Renault BARC Championship standings after a
sensational win in the opening round at Brands Hatch last
weekend. Hale, 16 years old, backed up his win in the first race
with a third place in race two. “It was good fun,” he said. “I
always knew we were going to be quite quick because we were
fastest in the official test before the race meeting. But I also
knew that qualifying is very hard in Formula Renault and that
overtaking is very difficult.”That is particularly the case on
the Brands Hatch Indy circuit, but Hale made some superb
overtaking moves. In the first race, he qualified second but
took the lead with a brave manoeuvre at Paddock Hill. “The guy
in front made a mistake at the previous corner and was defending
into Paddock,” said Mitchell. “But I just moved further to the
inside and dived in front – I’m pretty sure I had two wheels on
the grass!” Hale qualified on pole position for race two, but
due to tyre rubber being put down on the circuit from other
races he had too much grip off the startline and stalled. That
put him well down the order, but he pulled off even more
overtaking moves to take third place. “I overtook three cars and
someone else went out with a mechanical problem, so that was
great for me. I was really fast and catching the leading two. I
literally caught them on the last lap but ran out of time to
make any more moves.” Hale was delighted with his maiden
weekend in single-seater racing cars. “I like the cars a lot
more than the Ginetta Junior sportscar I raced last year.
They’ve got more power and far more grip, and that suits my
driving style quite a bit better because it’s closer to karting,
where I raced before last year.”
 AutoGP:
The opening round of the inaugural Auto GP campaign
will be live on Motors TV this weekend after the Channel tied up
an exclusive deal with the new championship.The announcement
comes hot on the heels of news that the cable and satellite
motorsport-specialists have become the home of live FIA GT3 and
International GT Open coverage, joining an impressive live bill
which also includes the FIM World Motocross and British
Rallycross championships, selected ALMS and V8 Supercar races as
well as the groundbreaking Motors TV Live Race Day club
motorsport events. All six of this season’s Auto GP rounds will
be broadcast in full on Motors TV with at least one of Sunday’s
races scheduled to be live, while the other will be replayed
as-live later in the afternoon. In some cases, both races will
be live. The championship enters its first season under the Auto
GP banner in 2010 after being known as Euroseries 3000 for the
past four years. Using first generation A1GP single seaters, the
low-cost formula is intended to allow up-and-coming racers a
chance to test their skills against more experienced rivals.
This season features the likes of Duncan Tappy and Adrian Tambay,
who will pit their wits against ex-F1 and IndyCar driver Giorgio
Pantano, Jan Charouz, Alvaro Parente and former Euroseries 3000
champion Luca Filippi. Competition will be fierce with each
aiming to claim a share of the €200,000 prize fund available at
each round. The opening round of this season’s Auto GP
championship comes from Brno in the Czech Republic this Sunday
(April 25). Race one is live on Motors TV at 10am with the
second delayed but in full at 4pm.
 Trofeo
Abarth 500:
Thames’ driver Cassey Watson managed to pull out the stops
and drive around a fever and her competitors to finish a highly
creditable 9th on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit last
weekend in the second round of the Zing Trofeo Abarth 500 GB
series. The 18-year-old, who was suffering from a fever prior to
the race, qualified 13th, then put in a great performance to
finish both races in 9th position whilst fending off the chasing
pack. Watson set the second fastest lap during Saturday’s
qualifying on cold tyres, before eventually slipping back down
the grid no helped by her illness and it’s effects. However she
was pleased that she was able to finish the session.“My sponsors
pay to see the car on track, and my team work extremely hard to
make sure the car is at it’s best, so I personally wanted to do
my best for them - both during qualifying and during the races”
explained Watson. “I was really looking forward to racing again
at Silverstone, so it’s frustrating that I wasn’t feeling 100
per cent. However, I view the experience in a positive way on
the basis that it has given me more track time in the car.
What’s more, there’s five weeks ‘til the next race meeting at
Cadwell Park, so it gives me the chance to learn more about the
car between now and then,” she added.Stefan Hodgetts, driving
his first race in the Trofeo Abarth 500 GB, set the fastest lap
of 2:10.830 to claim the top step of the podium for Saturday’s
race, while Ben Winrow won on Sunday.
FPA:
Maxime Jousse tops FPA test day,
the Frenchman edging out Aaron Steele and Nigel Moore at
Snetterton. Jousse set the pace during the official Formula
Palmer Audi pre-season test yesterday, in the overboost enabled
session at the end of the day. His time of 1:05.440s was enough
to edge out Aaron Steele by just 0.020s. Ginetta-backed racer
Nigel Moore completed the top three order as he continued to
improve with every session. Matt Bell and Jordan Williams set
identical lap times in fourth and fifth, with Jordan setting the
fastest non-boost time of the entire day. The young Briton was
the quickest driver overall ahead of the final 30 minutes of
running, but his flying overboost lap was ruined after he was
baulked by a slowing car. Howard Fuller's morning pace was good
enough for sixth at the finish, ahead of Spaniard Ramon Piñeiro.
Ash Davies jumped several places up the timesheet in the closing
stages, with the Welshman grabbing eighth in the final few
minutes. Melroy Heemskerk hailed his test experience as a 'good
learning curve' after he ended the day in ninth, ahead of
Italian Giuseppe Cipriani. Vincent Beltoise and James Thorp
completed the order. The top ten drivers were separated by less
than a second.
The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge makes it’s debut race appearance at
Virginia International Raceway
for round three of the 2010 championship this weekend. A road
racing fan favourite, the Bosh Engineering 250 event will also
feature the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and a host of
support events including the Mustang series on Sunday afternoon.
The 2010 Mustang Challenge season kicked off in March at
Homestead Miami with a 2 races that saw Jason von Kluge win two
from two to gain an early edge in the standings. But the battle
for the Miller Cup trophy is far from over with a 8 rounds
remaining. Colorado's Dan Aweida, who had an outstanding
race-long battle with George Winkler at Homestead, scored 3rd
and 4th in the opening rounds to go second in the points
entering the VIR weekend. And just four points back from Aweida
is Tony Buffomante, with Pratt Cole and George Winkler tied for
points behind him. The 3.27-mile natural terrain circuit outside
of Danville, Virginia features a little bit of everything for
the Mustang Challenge racers. The circuit in rural Virginia is a
challenge that the drivers relish with corners that reward
patience (Oak Tree) and bravery ("Climbing Esses" and "Roller
Coaster") in equal measure. "I've run at VIR before and I think
it's a really fun track," said von Kluge ahead of the weekend.
"Homestead was a perfect weekend for me, and hopefully I can do
the same thing again at VIR. I just can't wait to get back there
and see how it goes."
 Karts:
In Spain, at the third round of the WSK Euro Series, Beitske
Visser overcame the difficulties inherent in this sport to
climb on the podium again.
Read report
Indycar:
Hunter-Reay prevailed in the breakneck Toyota Grand Prix of Long
Beach
- a race slowed by a lone full-course caution holding off Justin
Wilson by 5.6031 seconds to give Andretti Autosport its first
victory since 2008 at Richmond (Tony Kanaan). "It was the most
fun I had in a race car because it was handling so well," said
Hunter-Reay, who is the first American to win at Long Beach
since Andretti in 2002. "My mom is out there today. She passed
along recently and this race is for her. Over the last couple of
laps I said 'This is for you, Mom.'" Said Andretti: "I love this
place. It's where I got my first win as a driver (1986) and
where I got my first win as a sole owner." Hunter-Reay became
the first American driver to win an IZOD IndyCar Series race
since he won in July 2008 at Watkins Glen, which was his first
career victory. Will Power, the championship points leader and
pole sitter, finished third in the 85-lap race on the
1.968-mile, 11-turn circuit. He heads to the Road Runner Turbo
Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway on May 1 having extended his lead to
42 points over teammate Helio Castroneves (130). Hunter-Reay is
third (129) and Wilson is fourth (125).
20-04-10
 GT
Cup:
Silverstone hosted the opening two rounds of the GT Cup
last weekend and Sarah Bennett-Baggs was out in the Adrian Flux
BMW Z4 M Coupe in Class 3. In the opening race she finish 4th in
Class while in race 2 a couple of spins, one on somebody else’s
oil, saw her finish in 8th after leading her class
early on. Read report
Saloons:
Peter Davies’ Caterham made it two wins out of three,
as the CNC Heads Sport Saloon Championship made its annual trip
to Mallory Park. It was far from easy however as Simon Allaway’s
Esprit threw away a growing lead with a late spin at Shaws
Hairpin. Read
report
 Formula
Renault:
BRDC Rising Star, Kieren Clark
has announced a last minute entry into this weekend’s Formula
Renault UK race, 24-25 April at Rockingham. Kieren will again be
racing with Loughborough based Scorpio Motorsport, the team that
took him to last year’s 2009 BARC Formula Renault Championship.
“I’m delighted to be able to be in this weekends race, having
missed out on the first rounds at Thruxton” said Kieren. “It has
all come together very late, and at this stage it’s only for
this weekend, but we are discussing the rest of the season with
quite a few people, so hopefully we can demonstrate what we can
do at Rockingham and encourage other organisations to come and
work with us. It will be the first time I’ve driven the car
seriously, it’s a new lighter and more powerful car, with much
more aerodynamic grip than the previous year’s car. It’s also
equipped with a seven speed sequential gearbox, so that will be
fun. It will put me at a bit of a disadvantage to the guys with
testing, and the first races under their belt, but that gives me
something to aim at.”
Grand-Am:
Check out Memo Gidley’s stunning drive at the start of this
year’s Rolex Daytona 24 Hour
race a few weeks ago. Overcoming treacherous rain conditions,
and even a broken windscreen wiper, Gidley proved why he is one
of the top drivers in the series by bclimbing from 11th to 1st
in less than 8 laps against a top quality field of drivers.
Ride on board and see Gidley came out on top.
CLICK HERE FOR THE AMAZING
VIDEO!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd6hBD506MU
 FBMW:
Facu Regalia and Eifelland Racing
will be at Zandvoort this week where he will have his last
Formula BMW pre-season test. The beginning of the season is fast
approaching and the young Spanish-Argentinean driver will be
fine tuning the car over the next 2 days at the Dutch circuit.
Just before he began his trip to the Dutch circuit Facu said “I
left Silverstone very happy with the set-up we achieved in the
second day of testing”. To Zandvoort the eighteen years old
driver goal is clear: “I want to take advantage of these two
last days, as the weather forecast says it will be two good
days. Besides, Zandvoort it is the type of circuit that I enjoy,
very technical and without traps that allow the drivers to
improve their times”. The season gets underway at the Circuit de
Catalunya on May 7-9 as part of the support package for the
Spanish GP.
 Karts:
Nyck De Vries was in Spain
at the Zuera circuit, near Saragossa racing in the Super FK
category of the WSK Euro Series and took his third second place
of the Championship.
Read report
Silverstone has secured the Red Bull Pro
Nationals motocross championships,
the Red Bull X-Fighters Jams and trials legend Dougie Lampkinas
part of its entertainment package for the MotoGP 2010 AirAsia
British Grand Prix on 18-20 June. Silverstone will host the
fourth round of the 2010 Red Bull Pro Nationals on a specially
designed track. Four races, along with practice and qualifying
sessions will provide plenty of off-road action when Valentino
Rossi and co. aren’t tackling the new 3.666 mile Grand Prix
Circuit. The Red Bull X-Fighters will also be performing six
spectacular ‘X-Jam’ freestyle motocross shows during the MotoGP
weekend. The London show of the X-Fighters 2009 World Tour sold
out in just two hours, and with a number of the world’s leading
FMX riders set to feature at Silverstone, their high-flying
acrobatic displays are guaranteed to be just as popular. The
Silverstone crowd will also see stunt shows from the Dougie
Lampkin MBE. The 12-time Trials World Champion is renowned for
his skills and tricks on two wheels and will be making a number
of appearances. Advance tickets start from just £15. For
further information, or to purchase tickets, visit
www.silverstone.co.uk, or call 0844 3750 500.
19-04-10
 Formula
3:
Alexandre Imperatori
made a strong start to his 2010 Japanese F3 campaign at Suzuka
last weekend after scoring a podium finish for the Toda Racing
team in what was the partnership’s first foray into the premier
C-Class. Read report
Formula Renault BARC:
Successful opening rounds of 2010 Protyre Formula Renault BARC
Championship at sun-soaked Brands Hatch. Mitchell Hale secured
his maiden win along with podium to lead drivers’ standings
while Euan Hankey claimed victory in thrilling round two.read
report
Hillspeed’s James Theodore got his 2010 Protyre Formula Renault
BARC
Championship campaign off to a bittersweet start at Brands Hatch
Indy Circuit over the weekend, 17th/18th April, after being
robbed of two potential race victories
read report
Eurocup Formula Renault:
Dutch teenager Daniël De Jong helped MP Motorsport make an
excellent start to the 2010 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season
at the Motorland Aragon circuit in Alcañiz, Spain, over the
weekend, 17th/18th April, by securing his maiden podium finish
during a rain-affected first round of the year. read
report
 SMRC
Classics:
Stan Bernard got the Scottish Motor Racing Clubs’s Show on the
road
on Sunday at Knockhill by winning the first race of 2010. In wet
and cold conditions the Scottish Classic and Sports Saloons
kicked off the new season with a full grid of 26 cars. Bernard
looked on course for a second win in race two until Andrew Smith
got by in the closing stages.
Read report
SMRC Fiesta Championship:
 Veteran
racing driver Ian Forrest made a triumphant return to the
Scottish XR2
Championship on Sunday 18 April winning the XR2 class in the
opening round. Starting in wet conditions from pole, Forrest was
led into the first corner by Tim Sleigh after thye latter made a
better start. Behind Forrest was Wayne MacCauley then Peter
Cruickshank followed by the rest of the pack.Lap 2 and Forrest
was into the lead and away. Sleigh tried hard to stay with the
former Touring car racer and he did indeed close in as the got
amongst the traffic late on but Forrest was not to be denied and
took the win. Sleigh was followed home in third by MacCauley,
the three cars separated by just 0.5secs at the flag! The race
was won by Rory Bryant driving a Fiesta ST, who despite the ST
cars starting 10 seconds behind the main grid of XR2’s, managed
to overhaul the entire field by lap 7, thanks in part, to the
wet weather. Second, also in a ST was Andrew Allan, some 8
seconds adrift of the winner, while Geraint Jones was third and
Tony Galloway was Fourth. Forrest was fifth on the road, the
first of the XR2s with Sleigh sixth. Race two, this time in the
dry, didn’t go quite so well for the ex-BTCC man. Both Sleigh
and MacCauley swamped him at the start while Peter Cruickshank
also made a great getaway, moving up from fifth to challenge
Forrest for third.By lap three Cruickshank had demoted Forrest
and set off after the two leaders who by this time were a couple
of seconds up the road. For the remaining laps the leading cars
remain pretty static, although MacCauley hounded Sleigh for the
full ten laps he couldn’t get by, eventually crossing the line
0.114 secs behind the winner. Cruickshank kept third, still 2
seconds off the front while Forrest brough his car home fourth,
8 seconds off the pace. Chris Phillip was fifth with Dave
Collville and Martin Buchan sixth and seventh. Bryant won the
ST battle once again, finishing in 13th on the road,
followed by Andrew Allan and Geraint Jones.
Legends: In the Grattan and Hynds Legends
Championship at Knockhill Ross Mickel looked the ‘Man most
likely’ in the first two heats only loosing out on the later
stages. In then first race he was passed with two laps remaining
by Ben Mason while in the second he was denied by Colin Atkinson
and Graham Gauld with just a lpa to run. The final saw Mason
comeout on top from Atkinson and David Hunter.
 Clio
Cup:
Former single-seater racer James Dixon will make the switch to
the 2010 ELF Renault Clio Cup
at Rockingham this weekend, 24th/25th April, after agreeing a
deal with Total Control Racing. The team, which already fields
a brace of Clios on the BTCC support package for Sam Tordoff and
Mike Robinson, is delighted to have agreed terms with Dixon who
will have his first run with the team during a brief test at
Mallory Park this Wednesday. “We’re obviously very pleased to
have signed James, he was quick in Formula Renault and we’re
sure he’ll be a strong addition to the team alongside Sam and
Mike”, said TCR team principal Lee Brookes, “It’s great for us
to be back up to three cars and we’re all looking forward to
fighting for some good results at Rockingham this weekend.”
Dixon, who works as a race instructor for the MotorSport Vision
group commented: “I’m really looking forward to making my
tin-top debut in Clios next weekend and I’m very thankful to
have the opportunity of racing with such an established and
professional team as TCR. It’s going to be a big new learning
curve for me but I want to take full advantage of the
opportunity and apply what I have learned in single-seaters.
I’ve no doubt Rockingham will be a tough weekend as Clios is so
competitive but I can’t wait to get started – it’s great to be
back racing.”
Graham Mulholland, 36, from Derbyshire,
will race alongside Darren Wilson at 20Ten Racing in the Clio
Cup. The 2 new drivers now see the grid size increase to 17
ahead of this weekend. Former 750MC Stock Hatch racer
Mulholland, who finished fourth in the series last year, said:
“I know Darren Wilson and Simon Hunt at 20Ten Racing from my
Stock Hatch days and they invited me to take a test at Mallory
Park. It went really well and before I knew it I was racing at
Rockingham! This year will be a steep learning curve for me as
I’ve never raced on slick tyres before or used a sequential
gearbox but I’m really looking forward to it.” Championship
Promoter Simon North added: “We’re delighted to have two new
drivers join us in the TOCA paddock and after two thrilling
races at Thruxton we’re looking forward to more of the same at
Rockingham.”
Indylights: In Firestone Indy
Lights, James Hinchcliffe led all 45 laps in the Grand Prix
of Long Beach to score his first career victory in the series.
Hinchcliffe held off Charlie Kimball by .8370 secs. Series
points leader J.K. Vernay finished third. Hinchcliffe held off
Kimball on three restarts over the last 14 laps of the race to
ensure victory. Sebastian Saavedra came fourth. Tonis Kasemets
finished sixth in his first Firestone Indy Lights start while
Rookie Philip Major finished a career-best seventh. His previous
best was 10th at Barber. Hincliffe said: "It feels like it has
been a long time coming. We had a couple of close calls last
season, and starting from the pole in St. Pete didn't work out
for us. All weekend long, the Team Moore Racing car was great,
and I owe a huge thank you to all of the boys. To get a first
win out of the way and another pole is huge. Basically, it was a
perfect weekend for us, and to do it here in Long Beach, at one
of the staple events on the IndyCar Series calendar, is
phenomenal. Congrats to Charlie and J.K., as well. They had a
great race. We had a really good rhythm and pace, and then I
kept seeing those yellows come out, but we had a great car on
the restarts. Today was about not making mistakes, and it was
great to have the pole for today's race. Today's win was also a
relief. There was a lot of pressure last year to win a race and
we didn't get that done, so that weighed heavily on my mind all
through the offseason. It was a huge relief and hopefully the
first of many."
Formula Renault: After his win on
Saturday in the first race, Kevin Korjus (Koiranen Bros
Motorsport) drove to victory again in Eurocup Formula Renault
2.0 at the Motorland Aragon circuit. Following an eventful race,
the Estonian crossed the finish line ahead of Hugo Valente (Tech
1 Racing) and Bart Hylkema (Koiranen Bros Motorsport). Korjus
leaves Spain as the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship
leader. Read
report
Formula 2: Philipp Eng
resisted a spirited challenge by Jolyon Palmer to clinch his first victory of 2010
in the Formula 2 Championshiop at Silverstone. The Austrian
crossed the line just 0.8 seconds ahead. Palmer has taken his
maiden win in Formula Two in the opening race with a
lights-to-flag victory. Read reports.
 Will
Bratt picked up a sixth and a fifth on the
weekend’s two F2 races at Silverstone. Sunday, 18th April.
Read report
Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography
GP3:
Oliver Oakes has joined Atech CRS for
the new GP3 Series which will support F1 starting at the
Circuit de Catalunya on May 8/9. Oakes, aged 22, joins the team
after a successful test at the Catalunya track, near Barcelona,
earlier this month. He had offers from several GP3 teams before
opting for Atech CRS, which is a joint venture between the
successful British Atech GP and CRS Racing squads. Oakes’s
career in cars had unfortunately stalled. He was one of a group
of Red Bull junior drivers to be victims of a cull of the team’s
young-driver programme, and his comeback British Formula 3
campaign with Carlin Motorsport in 2009 was aborted due to
contractual difficulties. Since last autumn, Oakes has been
taken on by the new Accelerate Driver Development management
group, run by motorsport experts Graeme Glew, John Byfield and
Kieren Crawley, a trio with a combined total of more than 70
years’ experience in the sport. “We have spent the past couple
of months negotiating and testing with GP3 teams,” said Oakes.
“Last week at the Barcelona test I felt both me and the Atech
team made a lot of progress, so this is the team I will be
relaunching my racing career with!” Atech team principal David
Hayle added: “We have been chasing Oliver for some time to drive
with our team, and last week in Barcelona we made some good
progress with him. He has had a lot of bad luck in the past
couple of years, so we are expecting him to be up there in what
will prove to be an extremely competitive championship.”
 Heritage
GT:
The father and son team of Grahame and Oliver Bryant were
victorious
in the HGTCC Sunday enduro race on Silverstone’s GP circuit.
They won in fine style despite a determined challenge from John
Dickson in his orange Ram Cobra starting from the back of the
grid. Read report
The Cooper Tires British F3
 grid
is set to gain another talented young British driver next
month when Alexander Sims joins the field for the championship's
Silverstone rounds. The 22-year-old, currently riding high in
the F3 Euro Series, will make his British F3 debut as part of a
three-car squad entered by French-based team ART Grand Prix.
Another additional driver hoping to be at Silverstone on 1/2 May
is Taiwanese pilot Kevin Chen, who is scheduled to join Chinese
driver Adderly Fong in the Sino Vision Racing team but who is
currently grounded in China and will almost certainly miss
Wednesday's vital Silverstone test session. Sims, who won the
second round of the F3 Euro Series at Le Castellet earlier this
month to take second in the standings, is thrilled to be adding
the Silverstone races to his schedule: "I'm extremely excited.
It's a chance to try something new and will be a real challenge
both for myself and for the team." Sims will be the third TEAM
UK driver, alongside Carlin's James Calado and Fortec's Oli
Webb, on the British F3 grid. Sims' ART team-mates at
Silverstone will be Mexico's Esteban Gutierrez and Frenchman Jim
Pla.Another Frenchman, Jean-Eric Vergne, leads the Cooper Tires
British Formula 3 International Series thanks to his twin
early-April wins at Oulton Park for the Carlin team.As for Chen,
it's a nervous time for him and for Sino Vision team boss Chris
Churchill: "We have signed Kevin for selected races, but of
course he is stuck in China. He was due to join us at the test
on Wednesday at Silverstone but we just don't know when he will
be able to get here."
Porsche:
James Sutton, the 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup GB
champion, will race in the Carrera Cup Italia this season in
a deal that he hopes will also take in two or three rounds of
the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup. Having only concluded the deal
today (Monday 19 April), James now faces the prospect of driving
to Italy in time for this weekend's opening race at Misano. With
no flights operating at present, Sutton has managed to book a
channel ferry crossing for Tuesday night and will then drive 952
miles through Wednesday and Thursday to be at Misano in time for
the race weekend. "It’s very competitive out there, but the
package is good for me," said Sutton. "We all want to make a
really good job of the Italian series and do as well as we can
in the Supercup races and then hopefully progress into the
Supercup full time in 2011." He will race with the team from
Centro Porsche Padova."There is the possibility of doing two or
three Supercup races this year, depending on how the sponsor
feels we are progressing and with a bit of luck, if I can
persuade them, that will include Silverstone. The Supercup is
still my target and I believe that is the ambition for the team
as well. That has been my aim since the start of 2007 when I
first raced in Carrera Cup GB."Sutton, who raced with team at
Monza at the end of 2009, says that racing in Italy brings its
own challenges. "The language is a problem as my Italian is
shocking at the moment," he said. "Learning the circuits is
another big challenge as I’ve really kept my career to Britain
so far. It’s taken me outside my comfort zone a little bit, and
I’m finding that side of it so enjoyable. The heat is another
issue to cope with. In the Italian summer it’s going to be
similar to the Abu Dhabi Supercup race I did last November."The
17-race schedule includes eight double-header meetings and a
50-minute race at Imola. "That will be a another new challenge
for me," said Sutton.
18-04-10
 SMRC:Charlie
Shaw dominated the opening 2 races of the SMRC's Sports and
Saloon Car Championship at Knockhill today(Sunday). Starting
the first race from pole position the Ford Focus driver simply
drove away from the opposition in the wet, pulling out over 10
seconds on second placed Peter Taddei’s Fiesta ZT by lap 4.
Colin Simpson’s Marcos Mantis had held third early on just ahead
of Aaron Ellington’s Caterham R500, before a spin at the foot of
Duffus Dip on lap 5 dropped the Mantis down the field. Ellington
then moved into third before he too went off at the hairpin late
on handing the final podium position to Robert Drummond’s Escort
Cosworth. Shaw continued on his merry way eventually winning by
33 seconds from Taddei. Race two saw more of the same, although
Taddei did lead the opening lap after getting the jump on Shaw
at the start. Run this time in the dry, Shaw again made short
work of the opposition passing Taddie by lap 2 and winning
comfortably once again. Taddie kept second as before but he was
kept in sight by Garry Watson’s Westfield in third, so he
couldn’t afford any slip-ups. Fourth went to Simpson with
Drummond fifth.
 ALMS:
David Brabham, defending American Le Mans Series champion,
returned to the top of the 2010 points table after an epic
battle on the streets of Long Beach, California, delivered
Highcroft Racing’s first outright win at the historic street
circuit and the honours for the inaugural outing of the newly
combined LMP class.
Read report
Aston Martin took its third consecutive podium of 2010
at the 36th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach crossing the
line in second place. Drivers Adrian Fernández (MX) and Harold
Primat (CH) drove on the limit throughout the 100 minute dash,
in a race that was plagued with yellow flags and a brush with
the tyre wall. Aston Martin Racing, normally conditioned to
compete in long endurance epics, ran the 007 car with maximum
down-force to cope with the incredibly tight bends at the 1.968
mile tree-lined circuit. Read
report
FIA GT:
Official Aston Martin customer teams, Hexis Racing AMR
and Young Driver AMR,
came away from the first round of the new FIA GT World
Championship in Abu Dhabi with a great deal of experience after
a difficult pair of one hour races.
Read report
17-04-10
 SMRC
Classics:
Classics racing returns to Knockhill tomorrow(Sunday)this
season. With a tremendous variety of cars and several new
competitors. Entries are up to 35 so far which compares very
well with the same meeting last year when there was 25. Another
12 are also looking to join later in the season! With so many
cars the Championship could split after May, with Classes A & B
and C & D running separate races. In Class A Harry Simpson is
tipped to bring in a Davrian while new racer, Ian Daltry is
joining in an Alfa Sud. Strong Class A contender last year,
Colin Beveridge will sadly miss the opening meeting due to
engine failure at the last Test. Class B sees Tim Reid entered
in his new Marcos GT and John Marshall is expected to join in a
Mk2 Escort. Another new entrant will be ex Rally driver David
Scott in a Porsche 924. Joining Class C is Ray Boyd in a 3
litre Porsche 911 and Mario Ferrari with, appropriately, a
Ferrari 308 GTB/M coming in at the May meeting. Russell paterson
will return with a 3.5 or 3.6 litre Morgan +8 while Grant
Allan’s Porsche 911 has been re-built with a more powerful race
engine. Finally in Class D there will be V8 competition from
four 3.9 litre Triumph TR8’s, including race newcomer and ex
rally man Shonny Paterson, challenging Andy Smith’s Morgan.
Sportscar racer Warren Dunbar will be joining the Classics in a
Jaguar XJS in Tom Walkinshaw livery while Derek Hastings is
hoping to come back to the championship with a Porsche 928 in
May as is Roy Smith with a 5 litre Pirhana Capri. Entry List
http://www.smrc-uk.com/competitors/classics/classics.php
British GT:
The Craig Wilkins/Aaron Scott GT3 Racing Viper
is set to return to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship fray
at Knockhill next month following a successful shakedown test at
Silverstone today (Fri). The car was badly damaged in a
high-speed qualifying shunt at Oulton Park and had to miss the
championship's opening rounds. It's fully restored to heath now,
says Wilkins: "The Viper is all back in one piece. We need one
strategic part to arrive from the USA, which we hope will be
here in time, and Knockhill will be the start of our season. I
expect you'll find that my fastest qualifying time will be set
on my last lap; I'll be extremely sheepish, because I fully
intend the car to start both races, that's for sure. "The damage
could have been a lot worse. It wouldn't have been wise to race
it at Oulton Park until we had fully investigated all the
components which could have been damaged. It had had a big
impact. The Viper was running fine today and we are all happy."
Knockhill's rain-affected eighth round of the 2009 Avon Tyres
British GT Championship brought Wilkins and Scott their second
race win of the season, following that which they scored at Spa-Francorchamps
in the Kingsbury Jig and Tool-backed Viper.Wilkins and Scott
were not the only Oulton Park casualties: reigning champions
David and Godfrey Jones also left Cheshire point-less after
mishaps with their Preci-Spark Ascari in both the first and the
second round. They too are hoping to get their seasons back on
track in Scotland.The championship is led by MTECH pairing Matt
Griffin and Duncan Cameron thanks to their twin Oulton wins;
there's a four-way tie for the lead in the G4 class between
Speedworks Motorsport Ginetta pairing Christian Dick/Jamie
Stanley and ABG/prestigecarleasing.co.uk KTM X-Bow drivers Rory
Butcher and Benjamin Harvey. Knockhill's third and fourth rounds
of the championship are scheduled for 9 May.
 ALMS:
Long Beach, Aston Martin Racing put in a stunning
performance
on the first day of the Grand Prix of Long Beach being the
quickest car in the first practice session and qualifying on
pole position from a field of 36 cars for tomorrow’s second
round of the American Le Mans Series. Drivers Adrian Fernandez (MX)
and Harold Primat (CH) are competing in their third race this
year with Aston Martin Racing. In the morning practice,
Fernandez (MX) posted the fastest lap in 1m15.112s, a full
1.370s faster than the second placed LMP1 car. In qualifying,
amongst a comparative field of petrol-powered cars, Fernandez
posted the quickest lap time of 1m13.213s in the Lowe’s
sponsored 007 car, 0.072 seconds ahead of the second-placed LMP1
car. In a session that was red flagged once and with plenty of
traffic to cope with, the team strategically chose their time
for a quick lap. As the pit lane went green close to the end of
the session and with a quick exit from the pits, Fernandez was
able to negotiate the 1.968 mile circuit free of traffic. Team
Principal, George Howard Chappell said: “We’re obviously very
pleased with pole position, it was a tough challenge from the
second placed car but Adrian did a super job and the Michelin
tyres were fantastic.” Fernandez said:” It’s awesome to qualify
on pole and especially at Long Beach as I have a lot of friends
here and this place means so much to me. It’s my first time here
with the Aston Martin team and we knew that it would be tough
against the LMP2s. I was right on the limit with my quickest
lap. We have a tough challenge tomorrow but I hope we can make
it our first win of the year.” Primat said: “The car felt good
straight away but the track is quite bumpy as it is a street
circuit, so we are pleased with this result. We made some minor
modifications in the second practice and I think we have a good
and reliable car for tomorrow’s race.”
Carrera Cup GB:
A 27-car field will line-up at Rockingham
over the weekend of 24/25 April for rounds three and four of the
Porsche Carrera Cup GB. With at least eight potential race
winners and great battles for the pro-am1 and pro-am2 categories
in prospect, it should be a great weekend of racing at the
challenging Speedway. The fact that Tim Harvey (Red Line Racing)
emerged with a double victory in the opening weekend of the
season at Thruxton came as no surprise. The changeable weather
and the unique high-speed challenge of the Hampshire track
played into the hands of the most experienced driver in the
championship and he duly delivered a faultless performance. In
the opening race, Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) made it
a one-two for the old guard, but it was the pace of championship
newcomer Euan Hankey (Team Parker Racing) that was the big story
of the second race.In his first weekend of racing out of a
single-seater, Hankey was mighty as he harried Harvey all the
way to the flag. "If that’s the pace that Euan has at this stage
of the season, it’s going to be hard work,” said Harvey on the
podium. Clearly Hankey, one of the Carrera Cup GB Scholarship
winners for 2010, is going to be a big force to be reckoned
with. Caine is always in the hunt for race wins while Tom
Bradshaw showed strong pace at Thruxton with the JHR squad.
Added to the strong pro category are Scholarship racer Michael
Meadows (Red Line Racing), former BTCC winner Stephen Jelley
(Team Parker Racing) and Charles Bateman (Motorbase
Performance), while Glynn Geddie (Team Parker Racing) has lots
of natural talent and will be eager to put a fairly frustrating
Thruxton weekend firmly behind him. The competition continues in
the pro-am1 and pro-am2 categories. Ollie Jackson (Addison Lee
Motorbase) and Tony Gilham (ReDesign Racing) are the two most
experienced drivers in pro-am1 and they took a win apiece in
Hampshire. However, two drivers new to the Carrera Cup really
made their mark with podium finishes at Thruxton. Ahmad Al
Harthy (Red Line Racing) from Oman has good UK experience from
Formula Renault, but has now switched to the Carrera Cup and
impressed everyone with his pace over the opening weekend of the
season. Meanwhile, Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) from Lithuania
has never seen any of the UK tracks, but made very rapid
progress at Thruxton. In Pro-am2 Mark Hazell (JHR) had the dream
start to the season with a double win, but twice he had to deal
with a big challenge from Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase).
Glenn McMenamin (Red Line Racing) and George Brewster (Celtic
Speed) were right there as well, while young George Richardson (Motorbase
Performance), Paul Hogarth (IN2Racing) and Bob Lyons (Celtic
Speed) add still further to the front runners in pro-am2.
.jpg) Karts:
To think that Luke Whitworth has only been karting for a
handful of months is quite extraordinary. Extraordinary, that
is, given that on his British debut in Formula Kart Stars (FKS),
the young Rotherham driver twice finished inside the top 15 up
against a whole host of far more experienced adversaries. pic:
Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net,
read report
19-year old Jack Hawksworth shone through the spray when
the heavens opened in the prestigious CIK-FIA European
Championship curtain-raiser at Sarno in Italy recently, to
charge through the field from 13th on the grid to a superb
second place at the chequered flag, in so doing keeping himself
firmly in the hunt for one of the greatest prizes in
international karting.
Read report
16-04-10
 Other
News:
Cadwell Park has carried out resurfacing work at Hairpin and
Park Corner approach as part of circuit owner MotorSport
Vision's ongoing development of track facilities for competitors
and trackday participants. More than two hundred tonnes of
Prixmat surface material, well known for its high performance
friction surface qualities, has been laid over three thousand
square metres of track surface at two key sections of the
circuit: the approach to Park Corner and the Hairpin bend on the
Woodland circuit configuration. The resurfacing work, which was
completed in one day by a 15-strong crew, follows a major
development project at Cadwell Park earlier this year to extend
the run-off area along an 80 metre stretch of Barn Corner. The
combination of the increased run-off area and smoother track
surface will offer Cadwell Park 's riders and drivers an even
greater level of protection, whether they are competing at the
Louth venue or taking part in a car or bike trackday.Cadwell
Park circuit manager Jon Rush said: "In addition to the Barn
Corner run-off extension work, this resurfacing project is the
latest part of our ongoing track maintenance and improvement
programme. We've got one of the busiest race calendars in
Cadwell Park 's history this year and the circuit is now looking
better than ever." For information on 2010 events at Cadwell
Park call 0870 950 9000 or visit
www.cadwellpark.co.uk.
I ndylights:
Two weeks after his victory in the streets of St Petersburg,
Frenchman J.K. Vernay
dominated both qualifying and the race on the verdant Barber
Motorsports Park circuit in Alabama. The driver from
Villeurbanne has now opened up a big lead in the Firestone Indy
Lights Championship.
Read more
 WTCC:
Three Moroccan drivers will join the FIA WTCC event at
Marrakech, in addition to their fellow countryman and
championship regular Mehdi Bennani.Thanks to the support of the
Fédèration Royale Marocaine de Sport Automobile (FRMSA), Ismaïl
Sbaï, Youssaf El Marnissi and Larbi Tadlaoui will compete under
the banner of "Morocco Team" at the wheel of three identical
Chevrolet Lacetti cars run by the Swiss outfit Maurer
Motorsport.The three drivers are very popular with local fans.
Last year Sbaï (29-year old from Tanger) and El Marnissi (34
from Al Hoseima) teamed up to give Morocco the Legends Cars
World Championship. Together with Tadlaoui (33 from Casablanca)
they also claimed the National Racing Championship for Clubs.
For the second consecutive year the Moroccan National Tourist
Office (MNTO)
will be the Event Presenting Partner of the WTCC Race of
Morocco.As title sponsor, the Moroccan tourism organisation will
benefit from premium visibility on TV, on-site and on the
internet. In addition to being incorporated in the event's logo,
the MNTO brand will also appear on banners around the circuit,
the press conference and podium backdrops, the grid girls'
outfits and the license plates of all WTCC cars."We are proud to
renew our support to the WTCC Race of Morocco. The quality of
this world-scale event's organisation and its major media
exposure reveal the capacity of Morocco to take up huge
challenges, requiring an impressive commitment in terms of human
resources and logistics. The event brings an unprecedented
economic and touristic opportunity, especially concerning jobs
creation and the promotion of Morocco as an attractive
destination. Once again, the city of Marrakech demonstrates its
capability to offer a wide range of tourism facilities and
high-quality welcoming to the visitors, to host big
international events and to position itself as a key touristic
destination," said Hamid Addou, Managing Director of the
Moroccan National Tourist Office."This cooperation will enable
the Moroccan National Tourist Office to benefit from the WTCC's
powerful multimedia platform, on-air, online and through event
sponsorship and will contribute to positioning Morocco as a
highly sought-after tourist destination. We are even more
pleased to have MNTO return to the WTCC in 2010 as they are a
long standing partner of the Eurosport Group," stated Jacques
Raynaud, Vice-Chairman of Eurosport Group and Eurosport Events.
AutoGP:
Duncan Tappy will race for DAMS alongside Edoardo Piscopo in
AutoGP. The French team choosing experienced drivers for its
line-up with a view to getting good results from the very first
event. Auto GP’s Enzo Coloni: "We are happy to have a British
driver in our championship, and most importantly that he's a
very talented one. Duncan already showed what he is capable of,
and we're sure that he has found the right package with DAMS and
Auto GP. He already knows the car, and there's no doubt that he
will be very fast straight out of the box". Duncan Tappy: "I'm
very excited about racing in Auto GP and to be with such a great
team as DAMS is a fantastic opportunity. I loved my time in the
car with A1 Team GB and can't wait to get on track at Brno. The
main thing for me is to have a full racing season ahead if me,
which hasn't been the case for the last two years. I am
confident that the certainty and continuity will translate into
success on track and I want to give another big thank you to my
management company CJ Motorsport for making it happen, as well
as to Mr Driot and everyone at DAMS and Enzo Coloni at Auto GP
for welcoming me into their Championship".
SuperNova officially confirmed its line-up for the 2010
championship,
it’s cars will be driven by Giorgio Pantano and Jonny Reid.
Jonny Reid, from New Zealand, has been one of the best A1 GP
drivers, racing in the series from 2005 to 2008. In three
seasons, racing with Team New Zealand, he got 7 wins and was
runner-up in 06/07 and 07/08. Jonny has a good relationship with
SuperNova, who ran the Team New Zealand car. Giorgio Pantano:
"I'm really happy to be racing with SuperNova. They are a top
team, and I know them well because we raced together in GP2. I
chose Auto GP because I think that this was a great idea from
Coloni. In this days, finding huge budgets is something
difficult, so having the chance to earn money thanks to the
results on track is something interesting for all the drivers. I
think that Auto GP can be watched from two different sides: for
a young driver is a good possibility to gain some experience,
because you can really learn a lot driving such a car at this
high level. For an experienced driver like me, it's a great
chance to race as a Pro thanks to the prize money". Jonny Reid:
"I'm stoked to be racing for Super Nova in Auto GP. I'm looking
forward to racing on the brilliant European circuits that make
up the calendar. I have fond memories of winning in Brno with A1
Team New Zealand, which was engineered by David Sears
Motorsport. I'm excited for the strong and competitive season
ahead".
Nurburgring 24 hours:
Team BMW Motorsport
is just one month away from the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring,
.Nordschleife. On Wednesday a press conference in Cologne marked
the beginning of the countdown to this classic event. With 18
overall victories to its name, BMW will have two BMW M3 GT2 race
cars charged with continuing the brand's success in this
endurance race. BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen says:
"This race is very special. The Nordschleife is probably the
most challenging circuit in the world. It cast a spell on me
back in my youth. This made it all the more satisfying to win
there many years down the line. The fans are fantastic and
create a unique atmosphere. Only those who can cope with the
changing conditions and avoid the pitfalls can be successful at
this classic." The experienced team, under the leadership of
Team Manager, Charly Lamm, is looking forward to returning to
the Eifel Mountains. "ADAC Nordrhein has established a true
festival of motorsport at the Nurburgring," he says. "The race
track is simply sensational, and the event is very popular with
the fans. It is great to be involved again." BMW can count on a
strong team of drivers. Jorg Muller (DE), Augusto Farfus (BR),
Uwe Alzen (DE) and Pedro Lamy (PT) will alternate at the wheel
of the no. 25 BMW M3 GT2. The second GT sports car, will be
driven by Dirk Werner (DE), Dirk Muller (DE), Andy Priaulx (GB)
and Dirk Adorf (DE). The 24-hour race at the Nurburgring will
get underway at 15:00hrs (CEST) on 15th May 2010.
15-04-10
Grand-Am:
Doran Racing had their best result in five years
this past weekend with the #77 McDonalds car in round #3 of the
GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask
No. 16. On Saturday during the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports
Park in Birmingham, Alabama drivers memo Gidley and Dion
VonMoltke brought the car homein fourth place. After that
Gidley flew to Salt Springs Reservoir at Copperopolis, CA for
the DJSA Jet Ski Series race #1 on Sunday where he would end up
fourth overall in the Super 850 Expert class final.
Read report
 LMS:
While awaiting the arrival of the new Norma-Judd, Pegasus Racing
entered its Courage-AER in the Le Castellet 8 Hours, the opening
round of the 2010 Le Mans Series. Iits three drivers Julien
Schell, Jean-Christophe Metz and Frédéric Da Rocha collected the
points that went with seventh place in the LM P2.
Read report
Club Racing:
With the 2010 season just a couple of weeks old
it has been a promising start for several BRSCC championships.
The
Bookatrack.com
Caterham Superlight R300 Championship got the ball rolling at
the BRSCC organised Superleague Formula meeting at Silverstone
over Easter weekend with a grid of over 30 cars. Back at the
same circuit a week later Caterham Roadsports (A & B), Caterham
Supersports, Euro Saloons and Formula Jedi all provided
encouraging entry lists in the late twenties/early thirties,
while at our Northern Centre Cadwell Park meeting on the same
weekend Mighty Minis produced 24 starters, many of whom were
making their racing debuts. Also out for the first time last
weekend was the BRSCC run Ma5da MX-5 Championship who raced at
the Brands Hatch MGCC meeting. They carried on where they left
off last season with a very impressive entry of 57 MX-5’s. This
required the cars to be split into 3 groups of 19, with two
groups running in each race creating a 38 car grid. Start as you
mean to go on!
Richard Egger Insurance, the associate sponsors of the BRSCC’s
Avon Tyres Formula Ford 1600 Southern Championship,
has announced that they will now be known as REIS with immediate
effect. General Manager Phil Barnard explained the rationale
behind the new identity, “With Richard Egger now retired we
wanted to show that it’s very much business as usual – the same
knowledgeable team, the same excellent service but a new era so
it’s the perfect time to change the name to REIS. We are also
delighted to continue to support the BRSCC’s Formula Ford
Southern Championship in addition to our backing for a wide
range of club motorsport across all disciplines.”
The BRSCC has retained its two hospitality suites at Brands
Hatch for the new season
and these are available for rental at all meetings. Both suites
are on the first floor of the Brabham Stewart Centre and
overlook Paddock Hill bend. The suites are equipped with a
refrigerator, a microwave oven, a fan, a full set of
crockery/glassware and offers excellent views of the Indy
circuit. Both suites are also equipped with a 42" Plasma TV
with a feed to the official timing screens. The plasma has full
connectivity so it can also be used to play presentations from a
lap-top or computer games. The suites also have the race
commentary 'piped' in. The suites are easily accessible from the
paddock/pits and provide an ideal way of entertaining current or
potential sponsors, or family and friends. Exclusive use of a
suite comes with 28 tickets and 14 car park passes for each day.
For pricing & further info rmation please contact Dominic
Ostrowski on 01732 783141 or
dominic@brscc.co.uk
The 2010 OSS Championship,
which started at the Silverstone BRSCC Midland Centre
meeting on the 10th April, has announced the signing of Itchy
Feet as title sponsor for the new season. Itchy Feet are the UK
’s premier American Motorhome dealer and announcing the
partnership CEO Eric Randal said “We are delighted to have our
name associated with this dynamic championship”. OSS
co-ordinator Alan Jenkins added “The involvement of such a
quality sponsor and the addition of some prize money can only
help raise the profile of the Championship. Myself and my fellow
organiser Steve Griffiths are delighted to welcome Itchy Feet
aboard”. After a very encouraging first season as a series OSS
has been granted championship status by the MSA for 2010. More
than 53 competitors took part in the series last year so OSS
will be looking to build on that initial success this
campaign. More info rmation about the American Motorhomes
imported by Itchy Feet click here
ITCHY FEET
A new book is currently
being researched, covering the life of John Willment
(1928-1997) and JWA (John Willment Automobiles) as well as many
other projects in which John was involved. The book project
enjoys the full backing and consent of the Willment family.Many
well known drivers raced and enjoyed success in JWA prepared
cars. The list is almost a "who's who" of 60's racing - such
luminaries as David Hobbs, Jacky Ickx, Brian Redman, Jackie
Oliver, Frank Gardner and twice F1 World Champion, Graham Hill,
to name but a few. Further information on John Willment's many
and varied activities is sought to ensure that the book
accurately reflects the life of a gifted and very talented
engineer. Any past or current owners of Willment cars, former
team members, drivers, colleagues and officials who were
involved with John or JWA are invited to submit any relevant
stories, anecdotes or photos for possible inclusion in the book.
Photos will of course be returned. In the first instance,
please contact JWA.Racing@Hotmail.com
The BRSCC’s
Annual General Meeting
for end 2009 takes place on Tuesday 20th April, starting at 8pm.
The venue is the Holiday Inn- Rugby- Northampton, M1 Jct 18,
Crick, Northants NN6 7XR.
 Mazda
X5: A family from Maidenhead, Berkshire, are in pole position for the
Guinness Book of Records
after competing together in last weekend’s Mazda X5 race meeting
at Brands Hatch (10/11 April). For 21-year-old Chloe Edwards,
her sister Jade (20), and their grandfather Jim Edwards senior,
63, not only was the race meeting a family affair, it is also
reported to be the first time that three separate generations of
the same family have competed in the same one-make race event.
With over 90 cars and 112 drivers registered for this year’s
championship, the 2010 Mazda MX5 series is already over
subscribed, and is the largest one make, single class
championship in the UK. Up against a strong field of experienced
drivers, Chloe Edwards topped the family leader-board to to
record very creditable 8th, 10th and 12th place finishes from
the three races. Sister Jade was less fortunate however,
picking up a puncture in one race and a collision with another
car in a second of her three races. Meanwhile Jim Edwards
senior, who is at least 35 years older than many of his rivals,
finished in a very respectable 10th, 12th and 17th..
Commenting on this momentous family occasion, Chloe Edwards
said: “There’s not many people that get the opportunity to race
against their father, let alone their sister and grandfather in
the same race. I can even remember sitting at the dinner table
was I was just four years old listening to my Dad [Jim Edwards]
and Grandfather talk about racing cars, so to actually race
against one of them 17 years on is quite something. What’s more,
to finish 8th out of a tough field of 32 drivers – and having
only sat in the car twice before the race – it fills me with
confidence going into the next race meeting at Snetterton later
this month,” added Chloe. With her father Jim Edwards also
registered to the series, Chloe confirmed that there’s a
possibility of having three family generations on the track at
the same time later in the season, one for the media and any
prospective sponsors to sign up to.
GP3: The chequered flag has dropped on the final pre-season test at
Barcelona,
and in a last minute push MW Arden snatched the top spot from
ART Grand Prix. So far the test at Circuit de Catalunya has been
dominated by ART's Esteban Gutierrez, until the final session
that is. Danish driver Michael Christensen went quickest in the
afternoon with a 1:37.716 for MW Arden, just 0.05secs ahead of
Gutierrez. Renger van der Zande was third for RSC Mucke
Motorsport with a 1:37.913 while just behind in fourth was
Carlin driver Dean Smith(see below). Fifth was the second MW
Arden car of Miki Monras, just behind Smith with a 1:37.926.
Eight different teams covered the top ten places, with Status
GP's Daniel Morad sixth, followed by Pal Varhaug for Jenzer
Motorsport. Morad's teammate Robert Wickens was 8th ahead of
Manor driver James Jakes. Rounding out the top ten was Ollie
Oakes take Atech CRS GP's first top ten finish. Julian Rouse,
Team Manager MW Arden: "It's obviously really positive for us to
finish the last test so competitively, especially as the first
event is back here so shortly. ART have been so competitive, so
it feels good to finally go quicker than them at a circuit on
the GP3 calendar." GP3 will be back on track in Barcelona for
the opening round of the Series on May 08th -- 09th.
 Dean
Smith overcame seriously limited track time on the final day of
GP3 Series pre-season testing
at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday,(14th April), to set
fourth fastest time during the last session of the two-day test.
Marking only his second outing in his Carlin-prepared car, the
Racing Steps Foundation and Tomax-backed driver delivered an
extremely impressive account of himself with a 1m37.918 seconds
– just 0.2 seconds shy of the best of the session. Although his
preparations were hindered by a major electrical problem, Dean
managed to end the two days an excellent sixth fastest overall
on combined times.“Considering the amount of time we lost with
the electrical problem, I’m really pleased with our pace and I’m
sure we’ll be at the sharp end of things when the championship
gets underway”, said the Wolverhampton racer, “Carlin did a
fantastic job to get to the bottom of the problem and although
we only ran for about the last hour and a half yesterday
afternoon, we were really quick. I know where we could have
gained the extra couple of 10ths of a second we needed to be
fastest so that’s important. We’re definitely moving forward
each time we’re out in the car, I’m pushing as hard as I can and
so is the team. We’ve all gelled really well and although GP3 is
packed with fast drivers and great teams, I’m confident we have
what it takes to be consistently strong.” On day one of the
Barcelona test, Tuesday, 13th April, the track was damp during
the morning which gave Dean his first experience of GP3 in wet
conditions. Emerging as the best of the rookies, he posted the
fifth fastest time of 1m38.925 seconds. Edging closer to the
outright pace during session two, he improved to a lap of
1m38.016 seconds – less than 0.1 seconds away from second
position.
 Formula
Renault:
Thomas Hylkema heads to Rockingham Circuit next weekend, 24th/25th April, hoping to challenge for his
first podium finish of the year during the second event of the
2010 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship. After two
incident-packed races at Thruxton a fortnight ago, the
21-year-old is currently equal 10th in the standings but he’s
aiming much higher at Rockingham – the venue of his best main
championship finish in 2009. The Manor Competition racer was
comfortably on the pace at Thruxton, lapping fifth fastest
during the round two qualifying session, and only two luckless
races prevented him from scoring more heavily at the
season-opener. Thomas is confident that with his ever-improving
speed, will result in a strong outing next weekend. “I am quite
confident looking ahead to Rockingham, we’re back at a track for
the first time where we actually tested the new car pre-season
and my aim is to equal the best pace I showed at Thruxton”, said
the Delft-based driver, “If I am able to do that, and we don’t
have any bad luck, then I’m hopeful we can convert that pace
into a podium. I like the heavy braking at Rockingham but it’s a
track where you’re not really able to build too much momentum –
unlike Thruxton. It’s very hard to set-up the car well, you have
to compromise for the twisty middle section and the fast
corners, but I know the team will do a great job.Thomas added:
“Last year at Rockingham we were really strong and I took my
best finish of the season with a very competitive top six
result. I know we can be quick there again this year and the top
three is definitely my aim. If I can equal my pace from last
year, I’ll be happy, but I want a podium and that’s what I’ll be
pushing for.”
 BTCC:
Alex MacDowall is aiming high for the second event of the 2010 Dunlop MSA
British Touring Car Championship at Rockingham on 24th/25th April, with a maiden podium
finish squarely in his sights. Although only debuting in the
BTCC a fortnight ago at Thruxton, he produced a tremendous
performance for the ‘works’ Silverline Chevrolet team. Off the
back of an excellent set of results during his debut – three
points scoring finishes with a best of sixth, the BRDC Rising
Star feels his Chevrolet Cruze should be every bit as
competitive at Rockingham’s 1.94-mile Circuit. “I’m really
looking forward to Rockingham, the Chevy should go well there as
we’ve got a strong engine for the fast, oval turns and I think
the car will be well balanced through the infield so we should
have a good overall package”, said the 19-year-old. The aim for
my debut at Thruxton was to get three points finishes from the
three races. We did that, so now I’m aiming higher. I really do
think a podium is realistic, and it is the team’s local track,
so that’s what I’ll be pushing for.” Alex team RML won at
Rockingham last year with Jason Plato. “The team has done well
at Rockingham in the past and I’m sure the package will be
strong again”, added Alex, “Silverline Chevrolet has done a
fantastic job for me so far, I’m getting more and more
comfortable with the car and learning with every lap. If I can
improve on my Thruxton results I’ll be really happy.”
14-04-10
 Charity:
Paul Mace is supporting the Young Hearts Charity this season
through his racing programme in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.
Mace, boss of the GT Marques team, will contest the pro-am2
category in selected races alongside the team's lead car in the
hands of Alex Martin. The charity is very significant to Mace
and his wife Leanda, from Tylers Green in Buckinghamshire, as
their second son Luke needed heart surgery when he just a few
days old. Now, Luke is a healthy three-year old, but the
experience left Mace keen to support the fund-raising work of
the charity. "I'm helping to raise awareness of the charity
through my racing this season," said Mace, who ran his car in
its new livery in the opening weekend of the season at Thruxton
over Easter. Unfortunately, an accident sidelined him in the
opening race while leading the pro-am2 category.Young Hearts,
which is run by volunteers, was set up by parents of heart
children to offer a listening ear and to make a difference in
the life of a heart child and their family. The charity, which
is centred on the John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital at Oxford,
provides advice, support and information, as well as funds to
purchase equipment and arranges social events for the children
and their families. Heart disease affects one in 100 children
and is the most common abnormality. Some children may never need
surgery; some one operation and others may need several. More
details about the charity are available at
www.younghearts.co.uk
 Kirkwood
Hospice is to benefit from the support of Huddersfield-based
racing driver Daniel Lloyd,
the 18-year-old having pledged to donate a proportion of any
winnings accrued on track during the course of 2010 to the
registered charity. Competing in the American-based BF
Goodrich/Skip Barber National Championship presented by Mazda
this season, Daniel has already made an excellent start and is
currently equal eighth in the driver standings. Ahead of the
third event at Virginia International Raceway later this month,
Daniel will not just be aiming for his first podium, he will
have the added incentive of trying to secure the best results
possible to benefit the hospice. “Kirkwood Hospice does an
unbelievable job in my local area for people suffering from
awful illnesses and I feel it’s important to do my bit to help
boost awareness of the work the hospice does and to also try and
raise as much money as I can through my racing”, said Daniel,
“None of us know when we, or our family and friends, might need
the help and support of a hospice – the service Kirkwood
provides is absolutely essential.” The Huddersfield based
hospice provides vital, specialist care for people across the
Kirklees area who are living with life-threatening illnesses
such as cancer, late-stage heart failure and severe lung
disease. Fully respecting the wishes and needs of each
individual, Kirkwood’s aim is to help its patients achieve the
very best quality of life possible. Alongside treatment for the
physical symptoms of any given illness, the hospice also offers
emotional and spiritual support and families, friends and carers
are offered further assistance and help during the period of a
patient’s illness and in bereavement. During the coming year
alone, Kirkwood Hospice needs to raise almost £3.5 million from
voluntary sources to help achieve the £4million annual
operational budget required – just 20 per cent of the total
amount is covered by local Primary Care Trusts. It is thanks to
the efforts of local fundraisers and the generosity of donors
that Kirkwood Hospice is able to continue to provide its
services, free of charge, to the people of Kirklees. For more
information regarding the charity and the vital work it does,
please visit
www.kirkwoodhospice.co.uk
V de
V :
After the opening round at Jarama in March, the V de V Series
is off to the superb Italian track at Mugello for two
six-hour races, the V de V Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme and
the V de V Mugello 6-Hours. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and
Mosler, some of the world’s leading GT constructors occupy the
first four places prior to Mugello. Christophe Bourret and
Pascal Gibon won the opening event in their Porsche 997 RSR
read more
 ALMS: David Brabham is ready to do battle on the streets of Long Beach,
California, this weekend for Round 2 of the American Le Mans
Series. Currently second in the title standings, the reigning
LMP1 champion has his sights on victory and closing the
four-point deficit to return Highcroft Racing to the top of the
table.With the challenging Long Beach street circuit ranking
among Brabham’s favourite tracks, Brabham is looking forward to
stepping up to the championship fight with teammate Simon
Pagenaud. Sebring proved an impressive first outing for Brabham
and the new Highcroft Racing driver line-up, where the team
dominated practice and qualifying only to lose their five lap
class lead due to a small electrical fire. Their ability to
swiftly recover and salvage points for second place could well
prove a decisive factor as the 2010 season unfolds.“With the new
LMP category and rules, we won’t know until after Long Beach how
close the class adjustments will make the cars,” said Brabham.
“It’s the first race of its kind, so we have to go through the
motions and see how things work out. We’ll have better
comparisons of our competitors after this weekend and I’m sure,
if there is still a big gap between cars, the Series will
address that to ensure we can have some good close racing.”
Armed with the Honda Performance Development factory-backed
ARX-01c for 2010, Brabham already has sound knowledge of the car
from its evolution of the ARX-01b, the chassis in which he took
a breathtaking first class and LMP2 victory for Highcroft Racing
in 2008, narrowly missing out on the category title. “I really
like street circuits and Long Beach has a fantastic history —
it’s one of my favourite places to go and tracks to drive. The
town’s people really get behind the event, which makes the
atmosphere so much better. It’s just a great place to race.”
Brabham will be taking time out of his Long Beach schedule on
Thursday, April 15, to share with troubled teens his personal
Quick Tips on Winning in Life, at Los Angeles’ Vista Del Mar
Child and Family Services Center. Within his role with Racers
Who Care, Brabham will be supporting children and teens with
psychological and emotional impairments.
Mini
Challenge:
Reigning Mini Challenge Champion Luke Caudle
just fell short of a hat-trick of wins in the opening rounds at
Rockingham, when Chris Panayiotou clinched his maiden victory in
the final race last weekend.
Read report
 Karts: A place on the front row at one of the top European karting
Championships
was an excellent start for Beitske Visser at Sarno in Italy.
Racing in the KZ2 category (125cc gearbox engines) she took
second at the end of March in Lonato in the WSK Euro Series.
Last Weekend she tackled the International Circuit of Naples, in
Sarno setting the best time in practice. She followed this up in
qualifying with second fastest time. "Knowing that I would start
from the first row in the qualifying heats, with so many drivers
(75), well ... that was great. But I also knew that I'd have
more pressure on me. Then I found myself in front of the lights,
with no reference point ahead of me! But it was a good feeling".
Beitske concluded the heats, winning one, before rain began to
fall just before the final and her podium dreams slipped away.
"I like driving in the rain, but it got really difficult in
Sarno because grip conditions changed too fast. I felt at ease
at the beginning of race 1, but the track dried and my
adjustments were no longer suitable. In race 2, we changed our
rain tyres with the slick ones, by the track grip was not the
same as in the morning. The chassis was more difficult to drive,
so I focussed on maintaining my place". But Beitske did collect
her first points, thanks to her 11th and 13th places. "I have a
good pace going and I have gathered more experience" she
concluded.
 GT:
A new world challenge for HEXIS AMR - 6 manufacturers, 10
events, 12 independent teams, 24 fast cars, 1 winner. On April
16th and 17th a new chapter in motorsport history will begin,
the first FIA GT1 World Championship. The first race at the Yas
Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, about 5,000 kilometres from the
HEXIS AMR headquarters. HEXIS AMR, the only French team, will
line up two Aston Martin DBR9s with four French-speaking
drivers: The #9 for Frédéric Makowiecki (F) and Jean-Denis
Delétraz (CH) and #10 for Clivio Piccione (MON) and Jonathan
Hirschi (CH). Races will be broadcasted in live on
www.gt1live.tv
 ALMS:
Robertson Racing travels to Long Beach, California, this
weekend for round two of the 2010 American Le Mans Series
presented by Tequila Patron hoping to build upon a
character-testing weekend at the season-opening 12 Hours of
Sebring three weeks ago. The Atlanta-based squad’s unique Ford
GT – very much a fan favourite of the GT2 class – will be
threaded between Long Beach’s concrete wall-lined city streets
by David Robertson and David Murry, the two drivers who finished
ninth there last season. Meanwhile, the team’s third driver,
Andrea Robertson, skips this one hour 40 minute race owing to
its short duration but will be back for Laguna Seca’s six hour
enduro next month. The past three weeks has seen the Roush
V8-powered GT stripped and rebuilt for Long Beach. Andrew “H”
Smith, Team Manager: “12 hours around Sebring beats up most
stuff and although we haven’t stripped the car down to its bare
shell, all four corners and the engine transmission have been
fully serviced and made ready to go again. As Long Beach is a
street circuit, there won’t be much room for error. There’s also
very little time to do much prep work which is the biggest
issue. But we have been there twice before with the car so we’ll
have a reasonably well sorted set-up.” David Robertson, team
owner and driver: “The enthusiasm and excitement I feel for this
race comes from the fantastic history of street circuit racing
at Long Beach going back to the days of F1 and all that has
taken place there since. The fans’ enthusiasm is contagious and
they are also very knowledgeable. I enjoy getting a visit from
them in the paddock. Long Beach is a real challenge due to its
narrow track with concrete walls all around it. It is a
balancing act – you must push as hard as you can but you know
you cannot make a mistake or you will be out of the race. If you
go off there is no way you’re going to be continuing. But you
can't be too careful else you’ll be too slow.” The race gets
underway on Saturday, April 17 at 4.40pmace.
 F2000:
A loose spark plug lead has cost Daniel Erickson victory
in the second round of the American F2000 Championship Series.
The 22 year-old Sydney driver was leading comfortably with less
than three laps remaining at Virginia International Raceway when
his Van Diemen suddenly went onto three cylinders. After that,
Erickson was literally powerless to stop his pursuers catching
and passing the ailing race car. He finished 10th
while the race was won by American Cole Morgan. Despite his
disappointment he said that many positives had come from his
flying visit to the F2000 Championship Series.“Of course I was
gutted to lose what looked like a certain win today, but more
importantly I’ve proved to myself – and hopefully to others –
that I’m capable of winning in a highly competitive
‘development’ openwheel formula. I started both races from pole
position, set a new qualifying lap record, finished second in
the first race by half a car-length after mis-timing my first
ever rolling race start, and had the second race won until a
spark plug lead came loose. That's in a formula and on a circuit
that I’d never seen, let alone driven, until the Thursday before
the race meeting, and against drivers with considerable
experience in F2000 and at Virginia International Raceway.After
this weekend and my successful Formula Star Mazda test last
December, I have no doubt that I could fight for the F2000
Championship Series title – or any other ‘development’ openwheel
championship.” Erickson said that he learned a valuable lesson
from being outjumped at the start of Saturday’s race. “In the
first race I waited until the starter waved the green flag,
which is what we’d been told to do at the drivers’ briefing, but
by then the guys around me were already into it.Obviously
'waved' means different things to different people! Today I
jumped on the throttle as soon as I saw the green flag, and
didn’t give the others a chance to pass me into the first
corner. I drove the first few laps as hard as I could to open a
couple of seconds’ lead, and then kept the pressure on to
maintain the gap. Everything went smoothly until lap 12, when
the engine made a terrible noise as I went up the hill before
Turn 10.At first I thought there must be a serious engine
problem, and I was ready to pull off the track straight away or
into the pits at the end of the lap. But it was only a loose
spark plug lead, so the engine kept going on three cylinders.”
Erickson said that coming so close to winning both races has
given him extra motivation to contest further rounds of the 2010
F2000 Championship Series. “I know now that I can take it up to
anyone in this year’s F2000 Championship Series. “I just hope
that I can come back to America for the remaining rounds,
because there’s some ‘unfinished business’ to take care of,” he
said. Erickson will take in the IndyCar and Indy Lights rounds
at Long Beach next weekend before returning to Australia to
continue his efforts to secure funding for his 2010 racing
program.
13-04-10
 GT
Cup: This weekend sees the opening rounds of the GT Cup Championship at
Silverstone.
Where thanks to long term sponsors Adrian Flux Insurance
Services Sarah Bennett-Baggs will be out contesting her BMW Z4 M
Coupe in Class 3 for the first of the 16 round series. Sarah
makes a return to the series in the car she competed the last
few rounds of 2009 in, but sporting a new bright livery and
under the new 2010 Championship rules she will be in Class 3.
The car has been subjected to an extensive winter rebuild by
Butler Motorsport, the managing team who will be fielding a
three car line-up including a BMW E46 in Class 2 driven by James
McAllister and a BMW GTR M3 V8 driven by Don Grice. "I am really
looking forward to the races, more than ever, the feel of the
new car is amazing, Butler Motorsport have done a fantastic job
over the winter and have transformed it into a little BMW racing
bullet" Sarah The GT Cup starts this Saturday with practice at
Silverstone GP circuit with a 50 car line-up over 3 classes.
Races are 25 minutes long at 14.30pm and 17.35pm on Sunday.
Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup:
Experience and a well sorted car saw Adrian Churchill
collect a winning hattrick, in the opening rounds of this years
Dunlop Sport Maxx Cup at Rockingham. Jordan Tresson and Luca
Lorenzini kept him honest in their Nissan 370Z’s, the former
following him home in the first race,1.6 seconds behind while
the latter was second in race 2 and 3 .7 and 1.6 seconds back
respectively Read
report
The
BRSCC Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship
in
association with Arrowpak International
got underway at
a warm Silverstone last weekend. Round 1 of the Championship
saw Tony Soper start the season with two race wins while Class
wins went to for Kevin Wendt, Peter Challis, Paul Horton, James
May, Gary Whitehead (x2) and Brett Walter (x2). All this leaves
Soper and Walter as the early leaders in the championship.
Read report
Formula Vee: The Execuline Motor Insurance Formula Vee Championship
was in action at Zwartkops last weekend and it was Symm Grobler
who won the opening encounter by just 0.184 of a second, ahead
of Peter Hills and Jannie Geyser Snr . The second heat saw
victory go to Zaahir Essa, from Grobler and Trevor Bland but not
until Peter Hills had gone off after he was momentarily blinded
by the sun. read report
 LMS:
Phil Quaife made an immediate impression on his debut in the
Le Mans Series as he helped CRS Racing clinch a fine fourth
place GT2-class finish in the opening round of the 2010 season
at Paul Ricard. Read report
Formula 2: Jolyon Palmer ensured he ended the final pre-season test of 2010 at the
top
of the timesheets after a series of blistering laps in the
closing stages of the day. Palmer's late surge meant fellow
Briton Dean Stoneman had to settle for second spot, with Johan
Jokinen and Philipp Eng close behind. The result completes an
impressive pre-season for Palmer, who also topped the morning
session today and the first day of testing at Snetterton. Times
quickly tumbled in the final session as the overboost facility -
which gives drivers an extra 55bhp for six second spells - was
actuated, and several drivers occupied the top spot as the
session progressed. At the midpoint it appeared Philipp Eng had
done enough to clinch the fastest lap, the Austrian setting a
1:37.198s. In the final ten minutes Eng dropped to fourth,
however, as Palmer, Stoneman and Jokinen all managed to trump
his initial benchmark. Behind Eng, a trio of British drivers
accounted for fifth through to seventh as Will Bratt, Tom
Gladdis and Jack Clarke ensured all five Britons finished inside
the top seven. Bratt posted his fastest time, a 1:37.313s, on
his final tour of the circuit, pipping Gladdis to fifth spot by
just over 0.02secs, whilst Clarke edged out Nicola De Marco by
just 0.024s to claim seventh. Behind De Marco, Russia's Sergey
Afanasiev and Romanian Mihai Marinescu completed the top ten.
Armaan Ebrahim finished 11th, missing out on a top ten berth by
just two thousandths of a second - the narrowest gap in the
entire field. Jolyon Palmer said: "It has been another really
good day and this one is probably more important being as we
have an event here at the weekend. Having topped three of the
four sessions today, I am certainly more confident this year and
I am pushing a lot harder. I really want to win this weekend now
and I think it's possible. Prior to pre-season I would have been
happy getting a few podiums but now I feel I can aim higher than
that."
 Charity: As part of the FIRST NATIONAL CHARITY BALL held in March at The Coal
Exchange,
20 year old european saloon car racer Nick Jones offered, as an
auction prize, hot-laps around Llandow Race Circuit in his
Belgium Renaul-Sport Clio Cup car and a classic D-Type Jaguar Le
Mans racer to four lucky people. Simon Dolley from Ponprennau in
Cardiff and three of his work mates joined Nick and Helen Lloyd,
from The Alzheimers Society, on Saturday 10th April for a day to
remember. Everyone had a great time. Simon and his friends were
amazed at the speed the Clio had, not just down the streights
but through the cormers as well. All came away realising the
skill needed to drive a race car at speed. "I wasn't pushing it
either" said Nick. "I was probably using about 80% of the cars
potential". "What a buz" and "He didn't even slow down for the
corners" were just some of the comments. Due to a small oil leak
if was unsafe to other racers to take the D-Type on the circuit.
But Nick didn't dissapoint. Between sessions on the track, he
took Simon and is mates "for a quick spin" on the road (all
within the speed limited of course). Nick said "I am very
pleased to have been able to help The Alzheimer's Society in
this small way". "The work they do is so important in gaining an
understanding of this condition and in supporting sufferers and
carers" he added.
 LMS: Andrea Belicchi, Jean-Christophe Boullion and Guy Smith took their
Rebellion Racing
Lola-Rebellion onto the podium in the LMS * hour race at Paul
Ricard on Sunday. The sister car driven by Nicolas Prost and
Neel Jani finished in 11th place overall and 7th in the LMP1
class. Read report
Formula 2: BRDC Rising Star Will Bratt produced a strong performance
during official FIA Formula 2 testing at Silverstone on Monday,
12th April, to end the outing fifth fastest overall. Just four
days away from the season curtain-raiser at the 3.2-mile
Northamptonshire track, Will’s debut,, the Banbury racer
continued to acclimatise to his Audi-engined Williams JPH1B with
a best of 1m37.313s with his final lap of the day. Will started
the test strongly with a top five lap of 1m38.119 s in the
morning, just 0.4s shy of the quickest times. Running in fourth
as the second session neared its conclusion, he slipped to fifth
during the closing seconds when Jack Clarke nipped ahead. During
lunch, the F2 mechanics identified a problem with the turbo
charger on Will’s car, caused by a cracked manifold. The
replacement meant he missed a large chunk of the 90-minute
session and was only able to complete a handful of laps. “I’m
reasonably happy with the way today has gone, it was unfortunate
we had the problem with the cracked manifold but the mechanics
did a great job to sort that out for me”, said Will, “To be in
the top five for the majority of the day was good. Obviously I’d
have liked to be quickest, but I’m fairly satisfied with the
performance. We did have some problems with understeer
throughout the morning but by the end of the day we’d managed to
pretty much eliminate that. There’s still plenty to learn about
the F2 car, hopefully we’ll make more progress over the weekend
and make a strong start to the championship.” The first race of
the weekend is timetabled to take place at 11.35 on Sunday, 18th
April, with the second at 15.35.
 Star
Mazda: Movie stars and race cars are pretty much the norm for the Long Beach
Grand Prix…
except this time its drivers from the Star Mazda Championship
presented by Goodyear up on screen, and the graduation of Star
Mazda standout, Joel Miller, to the ranks of Indy Lights with
the Andersen Racing team. Driven To Race, showing at the Art
Theatre of Long Beach (2025 E. 4th St. / 562-438-5435) on
Thursday, April 15 at 2:00 pm and again at 9:00 pm, is a
feature-length documentary film that follows eight ambitious
young male and female drivers from around the world (including
Joel Miller) as they compete in the Star Mazda Championship.
Read more
Radical UK Cup:
Phil Keen and Derek Johnston shared the victory spoils in a dramatic UK season opener in the Radical UK Cup at
Rockingham. The races were held in most perfect weather
conditions saw Keen beat Johnston to the flag in race 1 by just
over two tenths of a second . Racce 2 saw Johnston go one better
and take a more comfortable win over the SR8 of Roger Bromiley/Shaun
Balfe with 10 seconds in hand.
Read report
Radical Club Cup:
Darren Luke showed a clean pair of heels to his rivals,
with two lights to flag victories in the opening Radical Club
Cup rounds at Rockingham. Jomathan Wright provided the main
opposition finishing second on both occasions.
Read report
Autosport Young Guns:
Finnish karting ace Leopold Ringbom
had the honour of taking victory in the inaugural Young Guns
race at Rockingham, after misfortune struck leader Josh Webster
as he was about to start his seventh lap.
Read report
GT
Asia:
This past weekend of 10th-11thApril, marked the beginning of
the GT3 Asia and the GT4 Asia Cup 2010 season, when drivers
and teams from the two series turned up at the Sepang
International Circuit for a joint preliminary test session.
Read more
 Karts:
Jay Goodwin was one of the potential leading contenders in
the 2010 curtain-raiser for Formula Kart Stars (FKS and if
circumstances ultimately contrived to deny him the results his
pace so clearly deserved, his potential suggested there will be
considerable cause for cheer over the balance of the campaign.
Read report
12-04-10
Porsche Racing:
Brands Hatch hosted the opening rounds of the 2010 Porsche Club
Championship on Saturday April 10th, and the Kent circuit
witnessed two exciting races that saw 2007 champion Mark McAleer
start the season with a pair of outright wins. Read
report
Jim Geddie
claimed victory in the opening two rounds of the Porsche GT3 Cup
Challenge,
the long-time Porsche supporter winning the inaugural races in
the new series at Brands Hatch on Saturday 10th April. The Scot
used his pace and experience to stay clear of the field, with
Stephen Ritchie putting on a strong display on his race debut to
take second in both races. Peter Smallwood claimed both Class
Two victories in his 996 GT3 Cup. Read
report
 F2000: Cole Morgan beat Remy Audette to the line as he
took advantage
of Daniel Erickson’s misfiring engine to win his first F2000
race since 2007 when he won the Championship title. Aussie
Erickson had led from pole, pulling out a two second lead while
Morgan and Audette battled over second. However with just 3 of
the 14 laps left to run the Zetec engine in Erickson’s car
picked up a misfire dropping him way down to tenth handinmg the
victory to Morgan. Fabio Orsolon was third with Saturday’s
winner Victor Carbone fourth. Read
report
 Grand-Am:
The Pacific Mobile No 61 Ford Riley of AIM Autosport may
have only finished eighth in the Porsche 250 at Barber
Motorsports Park. However the team aren’t disappointed as the
performance was there and but for a blown tyre when fighting for
fourth place they could have been on the podium. To top it all
the Pacific Mobile No 61 Ford Riley led sixteen laps and was
amongst fastest cars on the circuit, reasons to be cheerful!
Read report.
LMS:
The Strakka Racing trio of Jonny Kane, Nick Leventis and
Danny Watts took the honours in LMP2 with a superb win at
the opening round of the 2010 Le Mans Series. The team’s Honda
Performance Development (HPD) ARX-01c led from pole to the flag
at the inaugural Paul Ricard 8 Hours on Sunday taking fastest
lap in the process. Read report.
 Adrian
Fernández (MX), Stefan Mücke (DE) and Harold Primat (CH) drove their Aston Martin 009 LMP1 over the line in second in the LMS
eight hour race at Paul Ricard on Sunday. It was the team’s
second successive podium this year clearly demonstrating the V12
car’s pace, reliability and durability. Read
report
T he
new Le Mans Series season has started on a very positive note
for RML AD Group,
with a first round podium in the Paul Ricard 8 Hours for Mike
Newton, Thomas Erdos, Andy Wallace and the team’s Lola B08/80
HPD. Read report
The latest
development of the Audi R15 TDI
has won its
race debut at Le Castellet. This latest version of Audi’s diesel
racing car ran the entire distance without a hitch and after
eight hours Dindo Capello and Allan McNish held a five-lap lead
over the Lola-Aston Martin of defending champion Stefan Mucke,
Harold Primat and Adrian Fernandez. The race has been flawless
for the German team, as Allan McNish explained: "This is very
special because this is the first victory of a new car I think
we equaled the record -- with the R8, the R10 and the R15 we
took the victory at the very first race. We had good grip and
the car was nice to drive. The race was tough because we didn't
test so much."
JMW
Motorsport’s
Aston Martin
GT2 driven by Rob Bell and Darren Turner didn’t have an easy
time at Paul Ricard. Their race ended prematurely when the fuel
pump packed up but before then they did show that the pace of
their Aston Martin V8 Vantage was there and it bodes well for
thje future read report
pic
Peter May /
Dailysportscar
 OAK
Racing Team Mazda France
enjoyed an excellent start to its 2010 season at the
opening round of the Le Mans Series; the 8 Heures du Castellet.
The Magny-Cours-based team ran at the front of the LMP2 field
for much of the race with the #35 Pescarolo-Judd of Guillaume
Moreau and Richard Hein, finishing a superb second on the same
lap as the winning car. Meanwhile, the #24 machine of Matthieu
Lahaye and Jacques Nicolet just missed out on a podium place,
finishing fourth and on the same lap as RML’s third placed Lola
coupe. Read report
Indylights: J.K. Vernay, starting from the pole in the No. 7 Lucas Slick Mist/Sam Schmidt Motorsports
car, held off Charlie Kimball by 1.1542 seconds to win the
inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on the 2.38-mile Barber
Motorsports Park. Vernay, who won the season opener on the
temporary St. Petersburg street circuit two weeks earlier, takes
a 33-point lead over Kimball in the Firestone Indy Lights
championship standings heading to Long Beach. Kimball, driving
the No. 26 Levemir FlexPen car for AFS Racing/Andretti Autosport,
recorded a career best finish. Sebastian Saavedra was third with
Martin Plowman. Vernay - "I was trying to take care of my tires
early in the race and at the end, I was able to push and the car
was still very good at the end of the race. Everybody did a
great job and I'm very happy. We tried some small changes for
the race. It was warmer than this morning. We had to take care
of the tyres, the engine and the chassis. My engineer did a
great job with the setup and the crew did a great job. I
couldn't be happier. Charlie Kimball) was in front before the
start line and that's why he let me overtake him on the second
lap Charlie was really fair and it was very good race." Charlie
Kimball: "I'm happy points wise. Points mean prizes at the end
of the year and the NO. 26 Levemir FlexPen car ran great. It
bodes well for next week at Long Beach. I came off the brakes
going full throttle and it came out of the corner as I expected
it to. When (Vernay) went, I don't know if he lifted or dragged
the brake, but he fell behind pretty early. I can see why (the
officials) up top would say that, but it was a good, clean
start. I will have to talk to the officials and see what they
saw up top." The 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season continues
April 18 with the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on the streets
of Long Beach, Calif.
Indycar:
Helio Castroneves won for the first time
on a road/street course race since August 2008, taking
the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy
Credit Union at Barber Motorsports Park. The three-time
Indianapolis 500 winner inherited the lead when Marco Andretti
had to pit for fuel eight laps from the end of the 90-lap race.
Castroneves held off Scott Dixon by .5703 of a second, then
thanked the spectators for attending the inaugural Indy Grand
Prix of Alabama with his trademark celebratory fence climb in
Turn 9. Dario Franchitti, the reigning IZOD IndyCar Series
champion, finished third. Castroneves also denied teammate Will
Power of a series-record third consecutive victory to start the
season. Power, the polesitter who had to pit for the final time
on Lap 63 (dropping him to seventh), moved back to fourth and
retains the championship points lead by 32 over Castroneves
(104). Franchitti is third (94) as the series heads to the
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18.
 Protyre
Formula Renault BARC
Championship team Hillspeed
has signed Alice Powell to race with the squad during the 2010
season alongside James Theodore. The 17-year-old made her
single-seater debut in the Michelin Formula Renault UK
Championship last year with Manor Competition. During that first
season, Powell secured a pair of top 10 finishes and was sixth
overall in the Graduate Cup class. Eyeing a switch to the more
cost-effective Formula Renault BARC Championship for 2010,
Powell has opted to join category front-runners Hillspeed after
a pair of successful test outings, the latest last Friday, 9th
April at Silverstone. As part of the deal the car will be
engineered by Sarah Shaw, co-owner of Manor Competition. Highly
respected throughout national single-seater racing, Shaw has a
superb record of success in Formula Renault BARC having
previously engineered Hywel Lloyd and Richard Singleton to
championship glory. She also took Dean Smith to the 2009 Formula
Renault UK title. Hillspeed team principal Richard Ollerenshaw
commented: “Obviously, we’re delighted to have Alice on board
alongside James (Theodore) for the 2010 season, it’s an
excellent line-up and we’re sure they’ll work very well
together. In the UK championship last year, Alice proved what a
highly capable driver she is. She has a very good chance indeed
of doing well in BARC this season. Powell said: “Hopefully it’s
going to be a good season. I’m delighted to have signed with
Hillspeed and to have a quick team-mate like James (Theodore) is
great. What makes everything even better is to have Sarah (Shaw)
from Manor Competition linking-up with the team to engineer my
car – it can only help boost my chances.”
 Formula
3:
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs got his 2010 season off to a good start
with a storming drive through the field from 11th to sixth in
the opening round of the 2010 Formula 3 Euroseries at Paul
Ricard this weekend. The Tonbridge racer, along with his
Motopark Academy team-mates, was penalised for an engine change
between qualifying and the race, dropping him down the grid.
Despite that, the 19 year-old, making his debut in the series,
drove a superb race gaining three places on the opening lap.
Later in the race Valtteri Bottas was awarded a drive through
penalty elevating Adrian to seventh.Over the closing laps Adrian
closed up to Jim Pla and a superb slipstreaming move on the
final lap allowed him to surge ahead and into sixth place which
he held to the flag. The weekend’s second race featured a
reverse grid and saw Adrian line up third. A fantastic getaway
allowed him to get the jump off the line, entering the first
corner in second place. However his progress was short-lived as
over the course of the remaining laps as he slipped to ninth at
the flag. “It was an eventful opening event particularly on a
circuit that is unknown to me and the team,” said Adrian. “We
struggled for pace all weekend and the team worked hard to try
and resolve it. And I’m sure we’ll be back on pace next time out
in Hockenheim. “But to get sixth on my debut in F3 isn’t bad.
To be the quickest of the Motopark drivers is also a good result
for me personally and I’m confident of being able to improve on
sixth place next time out.”
11-04-10
F2000: Australian rookie Daniel
Erickson made it two VIR poles, setting a time during qualifying for race two of the F2000 weekend at
VIR that no-one else could get near. The 22-year old broke the
lap record yesterday and was 0.3s slower today, but 0.4s up on
Remy Audette in second. For Erickson, it will be another rolling
start. In race one, having never done a rolling start, Erickson
fell victim to Victor Carbone, who went on to win his first race
by two-tenths over the Australian.“I
have to give credit to the team, they’ve done a great job,”
commented Erickson, who is driving for Primus Racing and adds
three additional bonus points towards the national title. “As
far as the star tthis time around, I’ll have to do it right.”
Audette, second in the #21 Audette Racing Van Diemen. “It was an
odd session because I kept coming up on slower cars,” Audette
said. “The car was good and we missed one additional quick lap
at the end because we thought the checkered flag was
out.”Yesterday’s winner Carbone will start third next to
Jonathan Scarallo in the R-Sport entry. 2007 Champion Cole
Morgan and Fabio Orsolon will be on row three.Rounding out the
top ten were Phil Lombardi, Tim Kautz, Tim Minor and Tom Fatur.
A last-second deal put 22-year old Chris Keller in the #83 Van
Diemen for the day. It was Keller’s first time ever in an F2000
car, and first time at VIR in three years. He ended up in a
respectful 23rd out of the 33 car grid, and found three seconds
compared to yesterday’s times. “It’s tough rebuilding a car
overnight,” Keller commented. “We didn’t even have time to put a
setup on it, so now it’s time to make a couple real adjustments
before the race.”
 LMS: In a thrilling first half of the first ever Le Mans Series race at
Castellet,
the Aston Martin 009 LMP1 car is currently running in second
position. Official Aston Martin Racing partner Signature
Plus continues in fifth overall. In a spectacular start by
Stefan Mücke (GER) who left the grid from third place; a battle
between the two front running diesels ensued. Stefan quickly
negotiating past both front runners by turn three, stormed into
the lead holding it for the following two laps before
predictably settling into third. The advantage of the factory
diesels was clear on the long Mistral straight. After 40 minutes
a puncture forced Mücke into the pits placing the car in fifth
as it returned to the race. He fought his way back up to third
and as the second placed diesel had a longer than expected pit
stop, Mücke ended his 1h40 stint handing over to Adrian
Fernández (MX) in second position. Fernández had a trouble free
1h40 stint holding second place handing over to Harold Primat
(CH) who is currently driving the 009 car which has now
completed 126 laps. Mücke said: “I had great grip right from the
beginning allowing me to get off the grid quickly. A couple of
mistakes by the lead cars allowed me to pass them both letting
me lead the race for a time. The speed differentiation on the
straight returned me to third. The car has been running really
well and I’m really looking forward to my second stint.”
Fernández said: “It’s slippery out there and there is a lot of
pick-up on the tyres, but we maintained good speed despite a
demanding drive. The main aim was to stay ahead of the
competition.” The JMW Motorsport Vantage GT2 experienced a
minor electrical fault and retired after 65 laps, but showed
exceptionally good pace in their debut race. The 8 Heures du
Castellet will conclude at 19:00 (CET) on Sunday 11th April
2010. Live timing will be available from
www.lemans-series.com and live race coverage with Radio Le
Mans at
www.radiolemans.com.
Karts:
Tom Harvey took a superb second national victory in the MSA
Cadet class in the opening meeting of the 2010 Formula Kart
Stars (FKS) Championship at Rowrah in Cumbria - a result that
puts him second in the points and establishes him as a potential
title contender this year.
Read report .
 F2000: Victor Carbone led every lap at VIR on his way to taking his first
career F2000 Series victory
over Australian rookie Daniel Erickson by two-tenths of a
second. Carbone, driving for Alegra Motorsports in his second
F2000 season, timed his start beautifully from the outside of
the front row, taking advantage of pole sitter Erickson, who had
never done a rolling start before. Erickson would fall back to
third, only to reel the Brazilian in from 1.8 seconds away as
the two ran nose-to-tail for the closing laps in a thrilling
start to the 2010 F2000 Season. Read
report
A last second
deal has put 2008 Formula Ford National Champion Chris Keller in a Van Diemen for Sunday’s F2000 race at VIR. The
22-year old from New Jersey will pilot the #83 entry usually
driven by Masters Class competitor Charles Finelli, who has
given the opportunity to the young hopeful. Keller is most
remembered for his daring last lap pass in the final corner to
win the Run-Offs at Topeka in a Swift DB-6. “Everything about
this weekend has been kind of last minute,” said Keller. “To
drive on Sunday last minute is going to interesting. It’s going
to be my first session ever in that race car, and it’s going to
be qualifying, and it’s my first time at VIR in three years. “
The entry is supported by Amato Construction, Finelli’s race
team – Fat Boy Racing and Williams Racing Developments.
 Formula 3: Alexander Sims got his 2010 Formula 3 Euroseries title campaign
off to a winning start at Paul Ricard in the south of France
over the weekend by claiming a dominant race victory during the
second round of the season this morning, Sunday, 11th April.
Read report
 Tom Tweedie
came away from the Tasmanian F3 Superprix with the Championship lead in the Australian F3 Championship
after taking his second victory of the weekend after a superb
RACE at Symmons Plains. Read
report
 LMS:
The 2010 Le Mans Series season is off to the best possible
start for Strakka Racing, with an emphatic class pole from
Danny Watts in the team’s HPD ARX-01c. His impressive
performance came after three sessions of free practice during
which the Strakka entry dominated LMP2, and this was reflected
in a pole time of 1:44.989 that was more than two seconds clear
of the field.  “I’m absolutely delighted for everyone at Strakka, and all the other
people associated with the project,” said Piers Phillips, Team
Manager. “This is the team’s reward for six months of hard work,
not only by the personnel at Strakka, but also for all those
involved in the development of the car, including HPD (Honda
Performance Development), Wirth Research and Michelin. It’s the
perfect start to the year.” Danny had just three laps in which
to meet the expectations of everyone watching from the team
garage, but he managed it in one. “I knew I had only a small
window of opportunity, so it was important to get a clear lap
right from the start,” he admitted. The timing was perfect, and
having held back in the pitlane until the session was eight
minutes gone, he emerged into a traffic-free period and was able
to make his first flyer count. “I was surprised when I saw the
lap time, but the grip level the car gave from the Michelin
tyres was absolutely fantastic. The car does everything you ask
of it, and more. Having a car that performs as well as this just
makes the job so much easier.”
 As the Aston
Martin Racing Team races in the 8 Heures du Castellet this
afternoon(Sunday 11 April), Harold Primat
(CH) talks
through a lap of Paul Ricard: “You accelerate up the pit
straight and then you’re straight into hard braking and down to
third gear for the left-right chicane called Verriere. You need
to mind the kerbs and get on the power as early as you can while
you exit the right-hander. “After a short straight you brake
deep into the corner for the next right-hander, which is
followed by quite a long left. It’s all rather tight in this
part of the circuit, but it’s about to get a lot tighter as then
you’re into the first hairpin, which we take in first gear.
“It’s a quick trip up to through the gears, exiting in second or
third, because then we go to what is one of the most crucial
corners of the track: l’Ecole. You need a good drive off there
in order to launch yourself onto the Mistral straight: I
normally short shift to fourth heading into this corner in order
to have good stability as I accelerate out of it. So we’re onto
the legendary Mistral straight where, depending on our set-up,
we’ll be hitting a top speed of somewhere between 300 and 320
kph. That’s actually a bit slower than the speeds we will reach
on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans , but it’s the closest we
come to it. At the end of the straight, we come to Signes: my
favourite part of the circuit but a place where you have to be
incredibly careful. We keep it in sixth, but lift at the end of
the straight before putting the power back on again, to really
drive the car round the corner. You need to ensure that your car
is as stable as possible round here, as if you bottom out too
much that can be enough to make you go off. Following a short
straight you brake hard into the double Beausset right-hander,
which you take in fourth gear. This is a big stop, as you’ve
been in sixth for so long at this point, and it’s also a very
tricky corner as it tightens all the way, forcing you to apply
more and more steering lock. You can really feel the G-forces at
work and it helps to have some padding on the left side of your
headrest! After the Beausset corner there is quite a technical
section of track where you really have to get the car to flow
properly. Coming out of the Bendor corner it’s fine to use a bit
of the kerb, you sweep through a long right-hander in fourth
gear, and then it’s down to third or second for La Tour.
Finally, we have the Virage du Pont at the end of the lap:
another tight hairpin that is extremely important as it sets you
up for the start-finish straight. You have to approach the
Virage du Pont as far to the left as possible, in order to open
out the corner, but in our car it’s very hard to see the apex
because of the sidepods. Do all this exactly right for the next
eight hours, and then you’ll have some idea what the 8 Heures du
Castellet will be like for us!”
RML AD Group’s
Thomas Erdos set a best of 1:47.491 in qualifying for today’s Paul Ricard 8 Hours to claim fourth on the LMP2
grid for Round 1 of the 2010 Le Mans Series. The result fell a
little short of the team’s hopes and expectations after quicker
times in practice, but ahead of the longest race yet scheduled
for the Series, being on the second row is likely to be of small
consequence. “We are a little surprised not to be quicker,”
conceded Phil Barker, Team Manager at RML, “but at the end of
the day, we’re right behind pole, and in the grand scheme of an
eight hour race, ten metres on the grid is neither here nor
there. The greater concern is what happens after those lights go
out and the race starts.” Having been second or third in the
faster practice sessions, the indications were strong that the
team could hope for a similar result in qualifying. In the end,
however, Brazilian Thomas Erdos had been unable to replicate his
earlier pace. “The balance of the car had changed just enough
since the previous practice session to prevent Tommy from
getting the best out of the car,” explained Barker. “He also had
difficulties with traffic, and it just wasn’t meant to be.”
10-04-10
 LMS:
Three Aston Martins qualified at the sun soaked Paul Ricard
Circuit in France with the 009 LMP1 car securing third
position. Official Aston Martin Racing Partner, Team Signature
Racing qualified in eighth with the JMW Vantage GT2 achieving
5th in class. The 009 Aston Martin ran without trouble with the
team strategically choosing their time for a quick lap. Stefan
Mücke (DE) who piloted the 009 found himself in traffic
initially, but shortly before the chequered flag, posted a
1m42.354 lap only 0.722s behind the second-placed diesel car.
Mücke said “I am pleased with this result. I had a bit of
traffic on the first timed lap, but had a clearer run nearer the
end. We will only make minor modifications to the car now before
the race – it feels very good at the moment.” The 8 Heures du
Castellet will get underway at 11:00 (CET) on Sunday 11th April
2010. Live timing will be available from
www.lemans-series.com and live race coverage with Radio Le
Mans at
www.radiolemans.com.
Qualifying
Positions
|
Pos. |
Car No. |
Class |
Drivers |
Time |
Make |
|
1 |
4 |
LMP1 |
Panis/Lapierre/Sarrazin |
1m41.195s |
Peugeot |
|
2 |
7 |
LMP1 |
Capello/McNish |
1m41.632s |
Audi |
|
3 |
009 |
LMP1 |
Fernández/Primat/Mücke |
1m42.354s |
Aston
Martin |
|
4 |
6 |
LMP1 |
Ayari/Duval/Andre
|
1m42.685s |
Oreca |
|
5 |
13 |
LMP1 |
Belicchi/Boullion/Smith |
1m43.435s |
Lola |
 Rebellion
Racing starting from the third row of the grid.
Jean-Christophe Boullion and Neel Jani secured 5th and 6th place
on the starting grid for tomorrow's 8 hours of Le Castellet
race.Leaving the pits 8 minutes prior to the end of the session,
Jean-Christophe set his quickest time on his third flying lap.
Jean-Christophe Boullion, "I think I got the maximum out of my
car. There were a couple of very small mistakes, but they didn’t
cost me much time, I lapped faster than I expected before the
session began. I wouldn’t have been able to catch the car in
front of me. I had a clear track and achieved a quick « almost
perfect » lap. My grid position reflects the car's pace at this
stage. " Neel Jani ventured out on track earlier in the session
and encountered some traffic on his early laps. He nevertheless
put in a great performance to secure the 6th place on the grid
alongside his teammate Jean-Christophe Boullion. Neel Jani: "We
did not find the same balance in the car that we had this
morning. I could not push as hard as I wanted and some LMP2 cars
made me lose some time during my early laps. I am a bit
disappointed by the result of the qualifying session. We will
continue our setup work during tomorrow's warm-up. We have a
good card to play in tomorrow's race. " The start of the race
will be on Sunday, April 11 at 11 AM for 8 hours of racing with
a scheduled finish at 7 PM.
 F2000: Australian rookie Daniel Erickson took pole
for today’s F2000 race at VIR with a new track record at
1:54.496, three tenths up on the rest of the field. It was only
Erickson’s third day in his Primus Racing Van Diemen/Zetec. The
former British Formula Ford driver waited until the very last
second to bump Brazilian Victor Carbone off the pole.
Read more
Karts:
Ash Hand produced one of the best performances to make it a
superb double victory in the opening meeting on the 2010 Formula
Kart Stars (FKS) calendar at Rowrah.
Read report
 Formula
3:
Tom Tweedie won his first ever Australian F3 race with a
superb drive at Symmons Plains in Tasmania.
Starting from third on the grid, Tweedie moved up to second on
the opening lap when poleman Ben Barker went wide at the hairpin
and stopped. Tweedie then homed in on leader Andrew Waite,
passing him late in the race to take his debut victory.
Read report
 F2000: 2007 F2000 Champion Cole Morgan se the fastest lap during practice for the opening rounds of
the 2010 F2000 Championship Series at Virginia International
Raceway yesterday(Friday). His time of 1:55.6 to top the time
was just under a tenth of a second faster tyhan second placed
Daniel Erikson. Remy Audette(pictured) and his Alegra
Motorsports teammates Fabio Orsolon and Victor Carbone were next
up. Read more
LMS:
 As
the Aston Martin Racing Team prepares for the 8 Hours of
Castellet in the south of France ready for Sunday’s endurance
special, works drivers Adrian Fernández (MX), Stefan Mücke (DE)
and Harold Primat (CH) answer questions about the upcoming
race: read Q & A
Other News: N.Technology have unveiled a new division called N.Technology
Iberia driving skills as well as budding racing drivers
looking for professional training. N.Technology Iberia will also
use its Algarve Motor Park location for corporate activities
such as launches, including car, motorbikes and other products.
A dedicated Customer Service team will deal with servicing
historic cars and motorsport activities for N.Technology
clients. A Tuning branch will also be developed, focusing on
restyling and customising private cars. Additionally,
N.Technology Iberia's commitments are set to include the
organisation and promotion of the Portuguese Racing Weekend as
well as the management of various karting activities. Further
on, they will focus on partnering manufacturing clients in
testing and development programmes for vehicles within Europe.
Mauro Sipsz, N.Technology "It's a great opportunity for our
Group. I am sure that the agreement will be fruitful for all the
parts involved and I really want to thank Autodromo do Algarve,
Municipality of Portimao as well as our Portuguese partners. In
this moment we are concentrating on the Porsche Panamera S
project; we are more than ready to finalise further agreements
in the future."
09-04-10
LMS: Three Aston Martins will contest the 8 Hours of Castellet this weekend,
10-11 April at the opening round of the Le Mans Series.The Aston
Martin Racing 009 LMP1 car will be driven by Adrian Fernández (MX),
Stefan Mücke (DE) and Harold Primat (CH), while Signature
Racing’s LMP1 Aston Martin will be driven by Pierre Ragues (FRA),
Franck Mailleux (FRA) and Vanina Ickx (BEL). In the GT2 class,
JMW Motorsport will compete a Vantage GT2 with drivers Darren
turner (GBR) and Robert Bell (GBR). Official Aston Martin Racing
Teams Signature Racing and JMW motorsport will be racing their
new Aston Martins competitively for the first time at the
inaugural eight-hour race at the Paul Ricard circuit in France .
It is an important warm-up for all the three teams who will be
contesting the Le Mans 24 Hours, which takes place from 12-13
June. Paul Ricard will always have a very special place in Aston
Martin Racing’s history, as in March 2009 it was where the
team’s LMP1 car ran for the first time. More recently, Aston
Martin Racing took part in the pre-season Le Mans Series test
there last month, together with Aston Martin’s Official Partner
teams. The circuit was also a test venue for Aston Martin when
it campaigned the DBR9 to GT1 class victory at Le Mans in 2007
and 2008. Although it can be arranged into 167 different
possible configurations, the most famous part of the Le
Castellet track is its 1.8-kilometre Mistral straight, making it
the perfect place for Aston Martin Racing to prepare for the
flat-out demands of the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans .The 8
Heures du Castellet will get underway at 11:00 (CET) on Sunday
11th April 2010. Live timing will be available from
www.lemans-series.com and live race coverage with Radio Le
Mans at
www.radiolemans.com.
-po.jpg) Karts:
James
Singleton overcame numerous problems
in his heat races to charge up the order from 44th in the
intermediate rankings to a superb seventh-place finish in the
opening round of the 2010 Euro Max Rotax Challenge at Salbris in
France - taking the chequered flag ahead of the reigning World
and British Champions into the bargain! Pic:
Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net
Read report
 F
Renault: Official pre-season testing for the 2010 Protyre Formula Renault BARC
Championship
saw Fortec Motorsport’s Mitchell Hale top the timesheets on
Silverstone’s National circuit on Thursday, 8th April. The
16-year-old former Ginetta Junior racer posted a best overall
time of 55.571s (106.17mph ) during the test – 0.192s ahead of
nearest rival and team-mate Joseph Reilly. Hillspeed’s James
Theodore, returning for his second season, went third quickest
overall with SWB Motorsport’s Luke Wright and 17-year-old Alice
Powell, who raced in the National-level Formula Renault UK
series last year, rounding off the top five. In glorious
sunshine, 16 drivers took to the 1.64-mile circuit for the
morning session. Hale, Reilly and Powell all posted strong times
early on as did 18-year-old Theodore. Hale eventually went
quickest for the morning but the session also saw good times
from Josh Webster, running with Fortec Motorsport, and Antel
Motorsport’s Matthew Parry. After lunch Hale, Reilly, Theodore,
Wright and Powell all went to the top of the timesheets with
Webster and Parry again looking quick. The second session also
saw Anglo Motorsport’s Kasper Krogh (Denmark) set quick times
along with returning driver Kourosh Khani racing with Welch
Motorsport. The session though belonged to Hale who set the
fastest time of the day on new tyres on his 28th of 41 laps run.
Commenting on his performance, Hale said: “I’m really pleased
with how things have gone as we’ve been quick all day. Fortec
Motorsport have done a great job with setting up the car and it
also helps having a quick team-mate in Joseph Reilly, along with
my coach Danny Buxton passing on his experience.” The opening
rounds of the 2010 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship
take place at Kent’s Brands Hatch Indy circuit on 17th/18th
April.
WTCC: Last Monday at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, reigning WTCC Independent
champion Tom Coronel launched his autobiography entitled "20 years to the limit".
The book, written with the assistance of Dutch journalists Coo
Dijkman and Rick Winkelmann, tells of Coronel's first twenty
years in motorsport, from the 1990 Easter Monday Trophy at
Zandvoort, when he made his debut in the Dutch Citroën AX GT
Cup, until last year's victory in the FIA WTCC's Independents'
Trophy.
The
Marriott hotel group has renewed its sponsorship agreement
with the FIA World Touring Car Championship for 2010, with an
option for 2011. The deal, first signed in 2007, will see
Marriott continue as Official Hotel Partner of the WTCC and
receive increased visibility as part of this endorsement,
including event title sponsorship of the Race of the UK at
Brands Hatch (18 July). As part of this year's package, the
brand "Courtyard by Marriott" - one of Marriott's largest brands
will get sponsorship visibility during the first half of the
season, while the Marriott umbrella brand will be predominantly
displayed in the second half of 2010.Jacques Raynaud,
Vice-Chairman of Eurosport Group and Eurosport Events, said:
"Marriott has been a faithful series partner of the WTCC for the
past three years and we are very excited about continuing our
relationship with such a prestigious group. With the WTCC, we
are able to provide our partners with a unique 360°
multi-territory communication and marketing platform and we look
forward to generating even more brand leadership recognition for
Marriott and its brands."
 F2000: The opening day for the 2010 F2000 season at VIR
saw five test sessions, with 30 cars on track practicing for
this weekend’s two races. Some 35 cars are expected for the
first race with new drivers, teams, returning drivers swapping
places all making it an interesting day for the paddock. The
F2000 Championship Series at VIR gets underway with official
practice today, Friday, with qualifying and racing on both
Saturday and Sunday read more
 Karts: 3MKEvents organised the first SWS (SodiWSeries) Grand Final in Paris
on the RKC circuit. With drivers from 12 countries taking part
the event was a great success helped by some great
performances,the latest karts, an international group of
drivers and a good atmosphere. Christopher Lefevre, the winner
of the SWS final, commented: “There was a lot of pressure,
especially during the final race, because all participants were
more or less on the same level. The pace was very high during
both days of racing, you had to remain focussed every single
minute, it was closely fought. SODI RX 250 is a wonderful kart,
both powerful and effective. I had already raced competitively,
but the SWS formula suits me perfectly because it is not
expensive, it is fair and I can go on with my studies”. Gildas
Mérian, Sodikart’s president,added, ”We are very satisfied. We
now have an open future for SWS after the success of season 1
and of its grand final. We have created the first real
connection between the world of leisure karting and the world of
races. That’s really the formula we lacked to make competition
accessible: a full season, with many races, costs little more
than 1,000 €. We have proven that high-level karting can go hand
in hand with leisure. Our success is founded on cooperation
with partner circuits, which implemented a win-win formula for
everybody! We hope that in 2010, over 10,000 drivers from all
over the world will enter the event, thereby transforming the
SWS into the greatest event in the history of karting”. Many
drivers from all over the world gathered in Cormeilles to see
the SWS in action and they were not disappointed. Nobody doubts
that many more will join the SWS in 2010. “With the SWS, our
relationship with customers has completely changed”, explains a
German SWS kartdrome manager. “They are very motivated, they
want to attend all the races and they are determined to do well
in world standings. Now, there is a real competition spirit in
leisure karting and that gives us much more work. During the
final race, I felt more like a team manager than a track owner.
Drivers in our circuit are already talking about next edition…
What an extraordinary loyalty driver!”
08-04-10
 Historics: British racers Martin Stretton and Matthew Watts
top the entry
for the opening two rounds of the 2010 Historic Formula 2
Championship at Hockenheim over the weekend of 17/18 April.
Defending champion Stretton has stepped up to a 2-litre March
742, having won the 2009 title in his 1600cc March 712. Watts ,
meanwhile, continues with his ex-Norman Dickson March 772 having
won races regularly through the 2009 season. The F2 Trophy will
be contested over a schedule of 12 races at six major historic
race meetings. All six tracks on the calendar have a period
Formula 2 history, including Brands Hatch GP, which hosts the
British rounds on 3/4 July. As before, the F2 championship
caters for both 1600cc and 2-litre Formula 2 and Formula
Atlantic cars produced from 1967 to 1978. The 22-car field
includes drivers from seven countries and six manufacturers,
with nine 2-litre cars and 13 1600cc cars. New to F2 will be
Historic F1 racers Richard Meins (March 762) and Peter Wuensch
in the ex-Eddie Cheever Ralt RT1. Peter Meyrick (March 782) is
another leading contender, while Japanese racer Katsu Kubota
(March 712) tops the 1600cc field. "This is a great start to the
F2 season," said Grahame White of the Historic Sports Car Club,
the managers of the championship. "It is very encouraging to
have a 22-car entry for Hockenheim with a number of new drivers
and new driver and car combinations."For more details about the
HSCC, please visit www.hscc.org.uk
 DTM:
BBC F1 commentator David Coulthard will step back behind the
wheel of a racing car again in 2010 after confirming that he
will compete in the DTM German Touring Car Championship, which
makes its only UK visit to Brands Hatch on 3/4/5 September.
Coulthard, who retired from Formula One in 2008, notched up
thirteen Grand Prix victories during his fifteen year career in
the world championship and he also holds the record as the
British driver with the highest number of F1 points to his
name.'DC' will race a 2008 spec Mercedes, joining three fellow
Scot Paul di Resta who will run latest 2010 machinery. Coulthard
said: “I have always enjoyed the exciting DTM races, both as a
TV viewer and at the race tracks, and I am sure that I will feel
the same now as a driver. I am, of course, aware of the fact
that racing within this competitive field will be very
challenging in the beginning. However, I am a racer who looks
forward to the competition. I particularly look forward to
returning to racing with my long-time friends at Mercedes-Benz
and I am proud to be at the same time an ambassador for ‘Wings
for Life’, the spinal cord research foundation of Red Bull.”
Tickets for the DTM at Brands Hatch on 3-5 September cost from
£24 for adults, with free entry for children aged 12 and under.
For more information call 0870 950 9000 or visit
www.brandshatch.co.uk.
 Formula
Ford:
A grid of 27 cars from six different chassis manufacturers,
drivers from 11 nations
and close race action with winning margins measured in
hundredths - those are the statistics from the opening rounds of
the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain which
underline the healthy state of the country's favourite single-seater
series. Oulton Park's Easter trio of races were the first for
the Ford championship's new Dunlop radial tyre, and the results
were spectacular: in the first round, Jamun Racing's new signing
Scott Pye shattered the circuit's two-year-old lap record by in
excess of half a second. Scott Malvern, championship leader and
the round two victor for Cliff Dempsey Racing, praised the new
tyre: "The best thing about them, I think, is that they don't
really go off too much; there's not a big drop-off - they stay
consistent from as soon as you scrub them in all the way to the
end of 100 laps and there's no loss of performance. That helps
keep costs down too." Championship manager Sam Roach, of
RacingLine, was delighted by all aspects of the opening meeting
of the Formula Ford season. "To see 27 cars arrive at Oulton to
qualify at the start of the fourth season of the Duratec
engine-era Formula Ford was a real pleasure," he said. "That's
four more cars than we had at the start of 2009 and six more
than in 2007 and '08. Two of the three races were won by margins
of less than 12 hundredths of a second, with five different
drivers from different five teams, driving four different sorts
of chassis, taking podium finishes - it doesn't come any closer
or more competitive than that, and it all bodes fantastically
well for a vintage season." The thrilling opening rounds can be
seen on Motors TV from next Saturday, 17 April, and will be
aired on Channel 4 also, on Sunday 25 April. The championship's
next rounds are at Knockhill on 8/9 May.
Pic:
Jakob Ebrey Photography
 Formula
2:
Will Bratt made a good start to his FIA Formula 2 Championship
career at Snetterton
this week during the official test on his maiden run at the
wheel of the Williams JPH1B car. The 21-year-old, who moves into
F2 after contesting the recent GP2 Asia Series, enjoyed his
debut and is happy with the progress made at the Norfolk track.
Marking the first official test of 2010, Will produced a
consistently showing on Tuesday and Wednesday,6-7th April, and
ended with a best lap of 59.230 seconds – just 0.7secs shy of
the outright pace. On day one, he was second fastest during the
last session and on day two, he was second again in the
rain-affected final run. Will’s performance was all the more
pleasing as his did most of his running on a single set of
tyres. In addition, he chose not to utilise the ‘overboost’
facility when it became available – which provides drivers with
an additional 55bhp – during the wet final session on Wednesday
but still managed to be second fastest in session. “I’m pretty
happy with our first test in the F2, I enjoyed it and I think we
laid some good foundations over the last couple of days which we
can build on at Silverstone next week”, he said. “Unfortunately
we didn’t have chance to benefit from our final new tyre run as
it started raining just as I got out on track but I’m happy with
our pace, especially considering we ran on the same set of tyres
for the majority of the test and didn’t use the boost when it
was available in the last session.” Will added: “F2 is certainly
shaping up to be very competitive this year and I’m delighted to
be part of such a fantastic championship. Jonathan Palmer and
Williams have done a terrific job, the car is great and very
enjoyable to drive. To race in F2 this year is absolutely the
right decision at this point in my career.”
Pic:
James Bearne Photography
 FBMW:
Facu Regalia ended the latest Formula BMW Europe test at
Silverstone the fastest driver in his team, Eifelland Racing.
The Spanish-Argentinean driver spent much of the two days
carrying out set-up work with on eye on the start of the
championship at Circuit de Catalunya in less than a month. The
eighteen year old was happy with the developments made which had
improved the handling. “I leave Silverstone with confidence. The
car is much better, be it in the qualifying set-up or in the
race set-up. The car is efficient and competitive, something
that leaves me confident for the season.”, said Facu, adding,
“We still have one more test to do, which will help us to evolve
a little more. I’m very happy with way we have been evaluating
the car”. ON Wednesday he was the tenth quickest. “We are still
working in the car’s set-up and we didn’t go for a time. In my
best lap I made a small error that cost me some time and, which
prevented me to be among the fastest”. Besides, the timesheet
wasn’t very reliable: “Some drivers used at Becketts a line
outside the track to do their times and I, as all the drivers of
the team, decided to drive within the circuit limits so we could
prepare in the best way the Silverstone weekend”. The next test
is at Zandvoort on April 20-21st.
 GP3:
Dean Smith is to graduate to the GP3 Series this year
after signing a deal with British team Carlin. In an agreement
which only began to materialise within the last couple of weeks,
the 22-year-old becomes Carlin’s first driver for the inaugural
season of GP3, which will run alongside GP2, as support to the
FIA Formula One World Championship in Europe. Dean’s move has
been made possible thanks to financial backing from the Racing
Steps Foundation and driver management company Tomax. “This deal
is an absolute dream come true for me”, said an elated Dean,
“Even though I won Formula Renault UK last year, and then the
McLaren Award, we were struggling to put together a race deal
for this season. Then we got the call from Carlin a couple of
weeks ago and everything has now fallen into place which is
incredible. None of this would have been possible at all without
the Racing Steps Foundation, Tomax, Carlin and the support of
RSF ambassador John Surtees so I am hugely grateful to all of
them for giving me such an amazing, potentially career-changing
opportunity. It’s going to be a very tough season as there are
some extremely talented teams and drivers on the grid for the
first season of GP3 but I know Carlin will give me a very
competitive package and I’m looking forward to working with the
team this year. It’s an exciting prospect to be involved in a
brand new championship, especially on the F1 support package, so
I intend to make the most of it.” Dean made his GP3 test debut
with Trevor Carlin’s team last week at Paul Ricard, producing an
excellent performance during his maiden run. Posting the 11th
quickest time on the first morning, Dean improved to eighth
fastest on the final afternoon. pic:
GP3 Media Service/LAT
 Clio
Cup: YourRacingCar.com (YRC) and their Elf Renault Clio Cup car were in action at Thruxton last weekend along with their
dedicated ‘fan-followers’ and driver Fulvio Mussi. After
problems in qualifying Fulvio drove well to make up six places
in the first race and finish fifth. In race 2 he took five
places on the first lap before an over-enthusiastic attack on
the fastest corner of the track sent him and his YRC Clio across
the grass and through an advertising hoarding!. This resulted in
an unscheduled pit stop to remove debris, although he did return
to the fray albeit well down the field. Pic:
Mark Gledhill
Read report.
Karts: The opening two rounds of the revamped Formula Kart Stars Championship
took place in atypical Easter weather at Rowrah last weekend
with rain restricted to Friday and Saturday morning and the sun
even making an appearance on Sunday. One hundred and twenty
entries across four classes were treated to extended races and,
for the first time, sector times thanks to the latest
innovations from Supersport Timing and Championship sponsors Tag
Heuer. Read report
GTs:
Silverstone is
preparing to host its first major international event on the new
Grand Prix Circuit
in just over three weeks time. Featuring the FIA
GT1 World Championship, Silverstone’s Supercar weekend on 1-2
May, will christen the new section of tarmac. As the finishing
touches are being made to the new track layout (3.666 miles in
length), British driver Darren Turner, who drives for the GT1
Young Driver AMR team and lives a short distance from
Silverstone, comments, “I think all of the drivers will be
looking forward to trying out the new curves at Silverstone! A
lot of thought has gone into the design of the layout and it’s
great for GT1 World that we will be the first major championship
to sample the new Silverstone. “As a British driver I know
Silverstone like the back of my hand so it will be interesting
to experience the new section; working out the lines and its
subtleties and how it flows into the rest of the track. Aston
Martin is historically very strong at Silverstone. Although we
have new regulations and a new championship I hope the package
remains competitive and we can get a good result.” This is the
fans’ first chance to get a glimpse of the new Arena Complex,
which is the main feature of Silverstone’s new Grand Prix
Circuit. In addition to the FIA GT1 cars, the event will also
feature the FIA GT3 European Championship, GT4 European Cup, and
the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series. All
categories will be racing on both days (1-2 May), with the FIA
GT1 World Championship holding a qualifying race on
Saturday afternoon and its Championship race on Sunday. All
tickets to the event include
access to grandstand seating, free parking, a wealth of off-
track entertainment and free entry for children aged 15 and
under(if accompanied by an Adult). Advance tickets to the
Silverstone Supercar event start from as little as £10. For
further information, or to book tickets, visit www.silverstone.co.uk
or call 0844 3728 260. * Entry for children aged 15 year
and under is free of charge.
 Truck
Racing: Brands Hatch will host the mightiest racing
machines on its 2010 calendar when the family-oriented Truck Superprix rolls into the West
Kingsdown circuit next weekend (17/18 April). Headlining this
festival of truck racing action will be the five tonne
powerhouses of the British Truck Racing Championship, which
boast 1000bhp and are capable of reaching speeds of up to 100mph
– lapping the Indy circuit in under one minute.British Truck
Racing has produced one of the country’s most successful club
motorsport talents, as reigning champion Stuart Oliver has nine
national titles to his name – more than Michael Schumacher in
Formula One – and will be continuing his campaign for an
unprecedented tenth trophy in 2010.There will also be plenty of
local support for brothers Graham and Steven Powell, who will be
competing alongside Oliver in the headline event. Graham, who
lives in Aylesford, currently leads the Class B standings after
clinching double victory in the season opener at Pembrey two
weeks ago, whilst Steven – who also competes in Class B and
scored a podium finish at Pembrey - runs a busy transport café
in West Kingsdown. As well as the British Truck Racing
Championship, there will be support races including NASCAR-style
Pickup Trucks, Legends Cars and the Dunlop Motorsport News
Saloon Car Championship, featuring successful West Kingsdown
racer Rod Birley. Tickets for the Brands Hatch Truck
Superprix on 17/18 April cost from £17
for adults, with free entry for
children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0870 950
9000 or visit
www.brandshatch.co.uk.
07-04-10
The
F2000 Championship
Series heads to VIRginia International Raceway
this weekend for the opening rounds of the 2010 championship.
More than 30 cars are entered for the double-race weekend
representing four different chassis manufacturers and two
different engine configurations. A field of young hopefuls and
established veterans make up an ultra competitive grid.
Read more
Fiesta
Championship:
Nick Sanderson Racing (NSR) got their Competition Car Insurance
Fiesta Championship
season underway recently at Lydden Hill but unfortunately
without their star driver. NSR Director, Nick Sanderson, is
currently working in Vietnam and so the team rented one of its
NSR/Kempster Ford Fiesta STs to James Byrne who would partner
regular driver John Findlay. It turned out to be an an
encouraging start for Findlay who picked up an eighth and a
sixth place finish while James performed very well in his first
outing in the car taking sixth in race 1 and eleventh in race 2.
The team’s other driver, Ian Fletcher, who was unable to make
this meeting due to work commitments, will return for his 2010
debut at Snetterton.
Read report
 FF1600: Ben Norton’s defence of his Castle Combe FF1600 title got off to the
perfect start.
After Ben qualified on pole he then set the fastest race lap as
he romped to an 11.6 second victory in the 12 lap race. This
year Ben is once again driving the Wiltshire College Spectrum
011, aboard which he secured the 2009 Championship. He is joined
in the College team by rookie Oliver White. A third Spectrum 011
joins the Combe FF1600 ranks this year, with Kevin Mills Racing
fielding an entry for Steven Jensen. The Spectrum trio signalled
themselves as pacesetters, with Ben and Oliver claiming the
front row and Steven securing 5th in qualifying. With Ben’s
lights to flag win being the highlight, the opening race of the
season saw Oliver unfortunately involved in an incident which
resulted in a DNF, whilst Steven opened his season with a strong
5th place. Borland Racing Developments congratulates the three
drivers and their respective teams on a strong start to what
promises to be another successful season for the Spectrum
chassis at Castle Combe.
 The
2010 European Late Model Series got underway with a bang at Warneton Speedway on Easter
Weekend, with new cars, new drivers, and some extremely close
racing. After a hard weekend of racing, including delays due to
rain, Jean Vasseur, Kelvin Hassell, Shane Brereton, Jos Jansen
and Xavier Vandermeersch all took turns on the top step of the
the podium. Read
report Pic
by Teuf Teuf Team.
 Super
GT 500:
Benoit Treluyer,
the 2008 Super GT champion, didn’t even have a chance to get his
overalls wet
with perspiration at Okayama last weekend after co-driver
Satoshi Motoyama, having started seventh, was pushed off the
track with just 15 laps gone. “Satoshi was maintaining a good
rhythm at the beginning of the race when, suddenly, he was
squeezed by a competitor who was trying to overtake him” said
Benoit. “They touched. It is a shame as had we made progress
with the set-up and it would have been interesting to see how
the tyres could perform. That’s it, this is motor racing!”
read report
 FBMW: Facu Regalia completed his first day of testing yesterday(Tuesday)
in Formula BMW at Silverstone and was satisfied with the
results. He now hope to use these to be amongst the fastest
drivers in the second day of testing today. Facu Regalia worked
on setting up the car with his team Eifelland Racing, with one
eye on the opening round of the FBMW Europe series at the
Circuit de Catalunya on May 7-8. In the morning, all the drivers
had the opportunity to do a race simulation and Regalia was no
exception, setting seventh fastest lap, the fastest of the
Eifelland Racing drivers. At the end of the day, Facu said: “I
would prefer to be nearer the top. However, we used just one set
of tires, and the others teams used up to three. Besides, in my
flying lap there were a red flag and, when I went to the track
again, the tires’ temperature drop off and lost grip”. However,
the Spanish-Argentinean youngster had some positive reflexions
from his first day at Silverstone: “I think that, if it doesn’t
rain tomorrow, the tyres that I didn’t use today can help me to
reach the top positions. I want to find that half a second that
is escaping from me and we, me and the team, are working
flat-out to find it”.
Richard Bradley
(18/SIN/Eurasia Motorsport) rounded off a perfect Formula BMW
Pacific debut
weekend on Sunday taking a second pole-to-flag victory at the
Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix. The rookie crossed the
line with an impressive margin of almost four seconds, and set
the fastest lap of the race on the way. Colombian teenager Oscar
Tunjo (Meritus) put in a superb performance during what was a
thrilling 10-lap race, getting by Guest driver Spaniard Carlos
Sainz Jr (15/Eurointernational) on lap 9 to claim 2nd. Behind
him though, an epic, last-lap battle for 3rd was taking place
between Formula BMW Pacific Junior and Bradley's Eurasia
Motorsport team mate Kotaro Sakurai (15/PHI), and Sainz Jr, with
the Japanese racer diving past the Red Bull Junior on the final
turn before the flag. Bradley also scored an emphatic win in the
opening round with a faultless run from pole to chequered flag.
The UK-born Singapore driver got a superb start off the line and
never looked back, building up a comfortable lead at the front
and controlling the race for the full 10 laps. Carlos Sainz
Junior also didn't put a wheel wrong on the way to second place
in his first Formula BMW race. Malaysia's Fahmi Ilyas
(18/MAS/E-Rain Racing), who made a last-minute team switch on
Friday and finished 3rd in the Rookie Cup last year, took the
final podium place. With a perfect score of two pole positions
and two victories, Bradley, now dubbed 'The Dominator' by his
team, tops the table with a 12 points over Tunjo. Zimbabwean
Axcil Jefferies (15/Motaworld Racing) is third.
Porsche:
The new Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge has its opening rounds at
Brands Hatch this weekend, the Kent circuit seeing the first
two races in the exciting new series run by the Porsche Club GB
and providing a home for any racing Porsche GT3. The traditional
home of the dramatic 400bhp-plus GT3 Porsches has been the
Porsche Carrera Cup, and the GT3 Cup Challenge is designed to
complement that series and cater for GT3s past and present that
have been eligible for that series. Class One features the very
latest 997 GT3s, with Carrera Cup racer Paul Hogarth, first
driver to win in a 997 GT3 in a Porsche Club race, facing stiff
opposition, including the always aggressive and competitive Jim
Geddie. Other 997 are out in the hands of Bertie Carruthers,
Stephen Ritchie and Thomas Boettcher. Class Two is the for the
older 996 GT3s, with notable entries from Stephen Doyle and
Peter Smallwood, the latter having made his race debut with the
club in his 996 at Silverstone last October, and now intending
to complete his first full season of motorsport. The GT3 Cup
Challenge is a Porsche Concept used in nine other locations,
with the UK joined by regions Japan , Eastern Europe, and
Scandinavia in starting up their series in 2010. The UK is only
one of four locations world-wide to feature the both Carrera Cup
and GT3 Cup Challenge running in tandem, the two UK series
complementing each other and where possible offering Carrera Cup
drivers the opportunity to sample circuits in the GT3 Cup
Challenge prior to the Carrera Cup rounds there taking
place.Qualifying for the opening rounds is at 10.35 on Saturday
April 10th, with the two races scheduled for 14.15 and 17.20.
Brands Hatch is
the venue for the opening two rounds of the 2010 Porsche Club Championship this coming Saturday, April 10th, with a
host of former overall and class champions on show. Reigning
champion Jeremy Clark makes his Class One debut after taking
both the 2008 and 2009 outright titles, but faces former
champions Mark McAleer and Tom Segrue, as well as past Class One
champion Pete Morris in what is a well-subscribed and
competitive top class. Clark is on an unbeaten run of class
victories stretching back to May 2008, but for the first time
finds himself in a 968 CS, as opposed to the 944s he has raced
until now, and chasing outright victory at the front of the
field. Competition will be tough, with regular 968 drivers such
as McAleer determined to stamp their authority on the class from
the start. The bumper Class One entry is dominated by the
well-sorted front-engined 968s, but other Porsche models will be
in the mix, with Kevin Harrison and Marcus Carniel always in the
thick of the action in their 964 C2s. Harrison is always quick
off the line, as he demonstrated at Brands last year by leading
into the first corner from the second row of the grid, the rear-engined
Porsches always string at the start of the races. Others to
watch for will be former Class One champion Pete Morris, back
for the season in his distinctively liveried 968, and also
Porsche Club returnee Mark Sumpter, back in the 911 Carrera he
raced with the club back in 1994.Class Two belongs to the 944
S2s, the model with which Clark had so much success in 2009,
with Chris Dyer and Cieran Brewer heading the entry.In a busy
day’s racing, the Porsche Club runners qualify at 09.45, with
two races on the Brands hatch ‘Indy’ circuit scheduled for 12.15
and 15.55.
Bill Fulton has
been given a boost for his first ever race in the Porsche GT3
Cup
Challenge Australia Series Presented by Mission Foods in
Tasmania this week. The Launceston businessman has purchased the
vehicle that won the Carrera Cup Asia title last year and will
use it on his racing debut in the Porsche series at Symmons
Plains in the Shannons Nationals on April 9-11. Fulton said. "I
haven't had a lot of running in the car at Symmons Plains - I've
probably only done about 20 laps - so we are looking for a
consistent weekend without any problems and get some laps under
my belt." Fulton is an experienced competitor, having raced a
700-plus horsepower Nissan in the local Targa GT Championship
recently as well as occasional forays into Production Car and
one-make racing. Fulton added. "I'm looking forward to putting
up a good showing at the weekend. We might then do another round
later in the year before looking to 2011. It (the GT3 Cup
Challenge) looks to be a great series." Porsche GT3 Cup
Challenge competitors will be seeking dry conditions next
weekend following a torrentially wet first round at Bathurst in
February. Leading the 16-car field across Bass Straight will be
the reigning Champ, Matt Kinglsey, who will be looking to make
up for lost ground after a lap one crash with Sven Burchartz
that saw him leave the mountain with zero points. 2008-winner
Burchartz also failed to score at Bathurst but has had success
in a Porsche GT3 Cup Car at Symmons plains in the past, winning
the 2008-round en-route to his title victory. Along with Fulton,
two other drivers will make their series debut at Symmons
Plains. South Australian Gary Dann will step behind the wheel of
his Type-997 GT3 Cup Car whilst added international flavour will
be welcomed in the form of Dutch-Chinese driver Danny Cho, who
will join Yuey Tan in a two-car McElrea Motorsport squad.
Meanwhile, Queenslander Ray Angus will likely return to his
existing Type-996 mount for the Tasmanian round after his newer
model car was damaged at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne
recently. Angus will add spice to the Porsche 'race within a
race', looking to mix it up with fellow 996-class drivers Terry
Knight and Indiran Padayachee.
06-04-10
 Abarth
500:
Thames’ driver Cassey Watson helped make history at Oulton
Park over the Easter weekend, when she took part in the
first ever Abarth 500 race series in the UK. The highly
anticipated series, which runs with British F3 and British GT,
saw 18-year-old Watson qualify 10th of the grid (5th row) on
Saturday (3 April) in a time of 2:01.403 on Saturday. Leading
the pack was former Clio Cup champion Ben Winrow, who notched up
a best time of 1: 56.394. Despite her limited testing, Cassey
was quick to demonstrate her talent in the first race (round 1)
by clawing back six places to fourth position on lap 3. Sadly
however, she finished eighth, but with clear signs that both
driver and car have more to give, which bodes well for the rest
of the season. “When you look at the drivers who have registered
for the GB series, it’s clear to see just how competitive this
series will be,” explained Watson.“Overall, I thought there were
a lot of positives to take from Saturday’s race, particularly as
it’s only the fourth time I have been out in the car, and the
first real opportunity I have been able to drive in dry
conditions. I’m pleased that I managed to record a best time of
2:00.320, which is over a second faster than my best qualifying
lap time. But I know that I have more to give and, with a bit
more testing and tweaking to the car, I feel that there’s good
scope to make up the additional couple of seconds over the
course of the next race meetings at both Silverstone (17/18
April) and Cadwell Park (22/23 May) to place me in sight of the
leading pack,” added Watson. On Monday, tyre problems caused by
the hard chicanes at Oulton Park dropped Watson to 10th place at
the flag, despite holding sixth place for some of the race after
qualifying 8th on the grid. Advent Motorsport driver Gareth
Howell won both inaugural rounds of the Zing Trofeo Abarth 500
GB to currently top the driver championship.
 VW
Racing Cup:
Didge Dziurzynski opened his account in the 2010 VW Racing
Cup in fine style yesterday (Monday) at Oulton Park, driving
his West End Precision Golf GTI to a win, a second place and a
new lap record. Thanks to these the 26-year-old from Bournemouth
now leads the Fuchs Lubricants-backed championship by 10 points
from the winner of the second race at Oulton Park, Derby-based
Golf GTI pilot Peter Felix.
Read report
 British
GT:
It was a superb start to the Avon Tyres British GT
Championship season at Oulton Park for the MTECH Racing
team, whose drivers Duncan Cameron and Matt Griffin guided their
Ferrari 430 Scuderia to a brace of victories over the Rosso
Verde Ferrari of Allan Simonsen and Hector Lester. And in the
two action-filled races, there were G4 class wins for Speedworks
Motorsport's Ginetta, driven by Christian Dick and Jamie
Stanley, and for the Prestige/ABG KTM X-Bow of championship
debutants Rory Butcher and Benjamin Harvey.
Read report
The Speedworks
Motorsport Ginetta G50 was victorious at Oulton Park on Easter
Monday,
in the opening round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.
Driven by team owner Christian Dick and Jamie Stanley the
Northwich-based car led the opening race of the season with
Stanley behind the wheel chased by the KTM X Bow of Ben
Harvey/Rory Butcher. The lighter KTM, running to international
Supersport regulations, was ideally suited to the fast corners
at Oulton Park but the Ginetta had greater power and a
fascinating duel developed in the second stint. Stanley handed
over to Dick who inherited a healthy advantage but Butcher in
the KTM hacked away at the deficit and sneaked past for the
lead. Dick was in determined mood and retook the KTM and spent
the final laps making the G50 as wide as possible to score
victory. After a fierce fight the two cars crossed the line just
0.436 sec apart. Two more G50s scored points with the Century
Motorsport car of Vibe Smed/Nathan Freke fourth and Joe Osborne/Osman
Yusuf (Joe Osborne Racing) fifth. Danish girl Smed started in
Freke’s car, the former Porsche racer having her first race in a
Ginetta and turned in a steady opening stint before Freke took
over. The eigning Ginetta G50 champion had missed qualifying as
he was at Thruxton running cars in the one-make G50 Cup but was
quickly into the groove as he moved the car back into
contention. Osborne took over from Yusuf but was handicapped by
a stop-go penalty of one second as the team hadn’t served the
regulation pit stop time. That dropped a furious Joe to fifth in
class.Race two was another Ginetta/KTM duel as Dick and Butcher
went head to head in the opening stint but the fleet X Bow
pulled out a gap despite an oily track surface. That left
Stanley with over 20 seconds to pull back in his stint but it
proved too great a deficit and the Fox-backed car finished
second in class with Jamie and Christian ending the weekend as
joint championship leaders. Nathan Freke suffered problems with
an oil leak and retired while a steady drive from Osman Yusuf
brought Joe Osborne’s car home fourth in class, reigning
European GT4 champion Osborne having enjoyed a great dice with
Freke early in the race.
 Formula
Ford:
Scott Malvern won the second round of the Dunlop MSA Formula
Ford Championship of Great Britain today at Oulton Park to
accelerate into the championship lead, with Scott Pye stealing
the show in round three to clinch his second win of the weekend.
Read report
 Star
Mazda: In partnership with Team Apex, FAZZT Race Team have announced that
Maryeve Dufault
will drive in 3 Star Mazda Series events in the 2010 season.
Maryeve will begin her season testing a Midget for the first
oval Star Mazda test at O'Reilly Raceway Park on May 5-6 and
then run the ‘Night Before the 500’ on May 29 at O'Reilly
Raceway Park. Following that will be Iowa Speedway with IRL on
June 20 and Trois-Rivieres on August 15. "Interest in helping
Maryeve get her racing career moving forward is very high, and
we are pleased to have put together the Star Mazda tests and
races that coincide with the IndyCar Series as well as a
Canadian event," explained team COO Jim Freudenberg. "Our
sponsorship plans for Maryeve came together quite quickly and we
are excited to announce she will be joining Team Apex Racing to
run her car for this three race program. We will be announcing
her sponsors in the coming weeks." Maryeve, from Quebec, has an
racing experience in karting, Formula Jim Russell, Skip Barber,
Formula BMW, Star Mazda and a stint testing in F3 in the UK. "I
am really excited to get back in the race car again and I am so
grateful for the support of the FAZZT Race Team in putting this
program together," said Maryeve. "I've had experience in the
Star Mazda Series and with sponsor support I am looking forward
to having a competitive ride and a good opportunity to hone my
racing skills. I got the chance to watch the team in action
today, and they look very professional and they seem to have an
experienced group supporting the drivers." Team Apex Technical
Director Louis D’Agostino said, “we are extremely excited and
flattered that Fazzt has chosen Team Apex to assist them in the
development of Maryeve and look forward to her first test”
 Grand-Am: First stop this weekend for Memo Gidley is the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports
Car Series
presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 series race, the Porsche
250 Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Second stop the DJSA Jet Ski Series race #1 at Salt Springs
Reservoir Sunday at Copperopolis, California. Memo and new
co-driver Dion VonMoltke, and the Doran Racing Team head to
Barber Motorsports Park after two past years of what if’s in the
Porsche 250 event. The 2008 race saw the Doran team as one of
the fastest cars in practice, only to suffer an engine fire
halfway through the race. Last year, Memo qualified the
McDonalds car fourth, but a bad pit call saw the #77 car go down
a lap early. Gidley then drove the car at the end of the race,
passing every car in the field to get a lap back, setting second
fastest race lap in the process. Sadly he ran out of laps before
he rea\ched a podium finish! “We have had two years at Barber
where we absolutely had the car to win the race,” said Gidley.
“Unfortunately, being fast is only one detail of what it takes
to win a race. We really need to have a mistake free race to
give us a shot at the end and that’s our mindset going in to
this weekend.” Gidley and Dion have one race driving together.
“Dion showed at Homestead that he has really good speed in the
car,” said Gidley. “And what I like about him even more is that
he is really motivated about preparing himself to drive. Every
time I call him he is either going or coming from the gym and
I’m excited by that commitment and can’t wait to see what we can
do together at Barber.” After Saturdays race in Alabama, Gidley
will then drive to Atlanta to catch a flight to California for
the season opening DJSA Outlaw Jet Ski series race. “I had a
great year and won the DJSA Championship in the Super 800 class
last year and one of my rewards from the series was to bump me
up to a faster class! But frankly, having stiffer competition
just motivates me even more to be the best I can be.”
 Formula
3: Cooper Tires British Formula 3 racer Menasheh Idafar secured his
National second class victory
in as many races at Oulton Park on Easter Monday, 5th April, but
any hopes of a hat-trick of wins were dashed when he was forced
to retire in the final round.
Read report
Leading drivers in round two of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers
Championship
will be looking to capitalise on an unexpected potential bonus
points haul at Symmons Plains this weekend. The series heads
across Bass Straight with the two leading drivers in the Gold
Star points’ battle – Mitch Evans and Ben Crighton not down to
race. The situation should allow drivers like Ben Barker (Team
BRM Dallara F307) and Tom Tweedie (Team Tom Supporters Club
F304) to get ‘one up’ on their competition before they return at
Phillip Island in May. Whilst work commitments will keep Ben
Crighton in New Zealand, Wakefield Park winner Mitch Evans is
utilising a School break to test with a leading team in Europe.
The 15-year-old was forced to juggle his School holiday with the
overseas testing opportunity, and it unfortunately clashed with
the Symmons Plains. His car will still be on the grid however
with fellow Toyota Racing Series frontrunner Andrew Waite, from
Auckland, who will make his F3 debut at the event. Waite
finished fourth in the 2009/10 TRS championship and tied with
Evans for second place in the final round held recently at the
Taupo Circuit. He also has some experience of Australian racing
having contested several Australian Formula Ford Championship
races in 2008-9. Evans will be back at Phillip Island on May
1-2. Evans leads the series on 46 points from Crighton on 35.
Tom Tweedie is third on 28 with Ben Barker fourth, 24 points.
The addition of Waite to the field, along with the young Tassie
driver Josh Burdon and Queensland charger John Margo adds
further depth to the field set to help celebrate the 50th
anniversary of racing at Symmons Plains.
 GP3
Series returned to the South France and Paul Ricard for a second official
test this past week. With two days of testing planned plus an
additional 30 minute qualifying shootout after the morning
session on the second day to allocate the race numbers for the
2010 season. On Day 1 Rossi was second quickest, 0.01s behind
his teammate Gutierrez. On Day 2, Twenty six drivers took part
in the qualifying shootout and it was Rossi who earned the top
spot and the number 1 for his Dallara Renault and numbers 2 and
3 for ART Grand Prix. Searching for clear laps on a traffic
filled lap, Rossi would not be denied the top spot, posting a
lap 0.4s quicker than his nearest rival and the only driver to
break the 1m19s, with a time of 1:19.927. Alexander Rossi:
"Having the opportunity to drive for ART makes my job as a
racing driver that much easier. At the end of each test we are
able to look back at an exponential curve in terms of improving
the car and driving styles. From the moment that I began working
with this team it has been all about maximizing opportunities to
achieve victories and at this point, I feel that we are on the
right track. There is always more to find, but day by day we are
checking the boxes and this gives me incredible confidence for
the season." Returning to the circuit Thursday
afternoon,Alexander battled it out with teammate Esteban
Gutierrez to retain the number one position, with Rossi posting
a time of 1:20.784 and Gutierrez a close 2nd at 1:20.873. Rossi:
"Esteban and I have been competitors for quite some time and we
have a lot of experience racing each other. He is quick and has
the same equipment, so he is most definitely my closest my
competitor this year and this has been proved at the last two
tests. We push each other very hard on and off track, but are
still able to have a good relationship inside the team. The
atmosphere within ART is really good right now and I look
forward to building on this at the next test in Barcelona."
The brand-new
GP3 Series will join the Motors TV programme schedule in 2010 as the ‘High Speed Television’ channel plans to
screen two-hour highlights after each round of the single-seater
series. Using Dallara chassis and Renault powerplants, the
one-make formula will remain loyal to the principles of
performance, cost-control, entertainment, safety and preparation
that have made GP2 such a huge success. The eight-round, 16-race
inaugural season will feature seven events supporting F1’s
European-based Grands Prix, including races at the Valencia
Street Circuit, Silverstone, Spa and Monza. Motors TV, Europe’s
only TV channel solely dedicated to motorsport, can be found on
Sky Channel 413, Virgin Media 545 in the UK. GP3 Series –
Round 1 at Barcelona – Monday 17 May at 9.15pm.
 LMS:
OAK Racing Team Mazda France finished its preparations for the start of
the season with two test days at Magny-Cours only a few days before the opening
round of the Le Mans Series at Paul Ricard HTTT on 11 April. The
test was a first opportunity to try out the team’s two LMP2
cars’ new aerodynamic evolutions, the fruit of the development
work undertaken and tested in the wind tunnel this winter in
partnership with the design office of Pescarolo Sport. These
have a double objective. First to get the car to conform to the
new 2010 rear bodywork regulations and second, to explore new
avenues to find additional downforce and reduce drag. François
Sicard, Team Manager: “Once again the weather conditions at both
test days didn’t allow us to work as planned on the aerodynamic
set-up, but the short periods of time we had on a dry track have
nevertheless confirmed the efficiency of the various evolutions
we have made. The three drivers that attended, Guillaume Moreau,
Matthieu Lahaye and Jacques Nicolet, drove the prototypes one
after the other and came out of the cockpit with similar
feedback and great enthusiasm, even before the engineers had
started to really work on the set-up. In fact the car has gained
a lot of downforce, which gives the front wheels more grip and
more driveability. Even though the Magny-Cours circuit does not
have the same characteristics as Paul Ricard, the two test days
have been a good rehearsal, but, in the three free practice
sessions, it will be necessary to make sure we enter qualifying
in good shape, find the right balance and a good straight line
speed on the Mistral straight. We have done everything we could
during the winter to start the season as we finished it in 2009
in Okayama. We have chosen the best ingredients and we have
prepared them the best we can. Our package is excellent:
Pescarolo chassis which has proven their reliability, Judd
engines which are well known and proven within the industry,
Dunlop tyres whose performance and fine tuning with our LMP2
cars is developing and improving with our partnership and fast
and enthusiastic drivers! We can be confident, but we will know
during this first eight-hour race if we have worked well.”
 Fresh
from a podium finish at the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida last
month, Aston Martin works driver Harold Primat
is targeting a strong start to his European season next weekend
as he heads for the Paul Ricard 8 Hours. Primat shared an Aston
Martin LMP1 prototype with Adrian Fernandez and Stefan Mucke at
the ALMS opener in Florida and will again team-up with the
Mexican and the German for the first round of the European-based
Le Mans Series. A strong field at Paul Ricard will including a
works Audi R15 TDI and a Team Oreca-run Peugeot 908 HDi, but
after a hugely encouraging performance at Sebring, Primat heads
to the south of France in confident mood. “It was a very
positive sign that the car was extremely reliable in Sebring,”
Harold said. “It is a credit to the team that we had a
trouble-free race, because that is an impressive achievement at
an event that is so hard on the car. We will approach the Paul
Ricard race in exactly the same way. This event is eight hours
long, so reliability could well be a key factor in the final
result and, after how well the team and the car performed in
Sebring, I think that plays in our favour. Sebring was a key
part of our preparations for Le Mans, and that continues at Paul
Ricard. Our objective is to continue working on reliability and
developing the car and the tyres ahead of the 24 Hours in June.”
One aspect of the race will be dealing with traffic as a 41-car
grid descends on the circuit. “There are two long straights at
Paul Ricard which will help with slower traffic, but there are
also some tighter, twisty sections, that will be an important
challenge during the race as I can foresee the prototypes
getting trapped behind the GT cars at those parts of the track
and losing a lot of time. Managing traffic is a major part of
sportscar racing and that will be no different in this race.
Adrian, Stefan and I are all working well together and we also
have a great relationship with our engineers, so we will push as
hard as we can to get the best possible result for the team and
continue our important preparations for Le Mans.”
 Carrera
Cup GB:
Euan Hankey became the first Porsche Carrera Cup GB
Scholarship winner to feature on the overall race podium when he
took a third and then a superb second place in the opening two
rounds of the championship at Thruxton on Sunday (4 April). The
23-year old from Taunton is racing for Team Parker Racing and
has marked himself as a fresh new contender for the Carrera Cup
GB after battling with standard setters Tim Harvey and Michael
Caine during the first two races of the year. In round two,
Hankey split Harvey and Caine and pushed Harvey all the way to
the flag. "It's going to get harder and harder," said Harvey of
the prospects of battling with Hankey over the balance of the
season's 20 races. "Euan was all over me in the second race and
certainly kept me honest. It was a fantastic weekend and I'm
absolutely over the moon," said Hankey as he reflected on his
first two races away from single-seaters. "I never thought this
would happen in my first weekend in the Carrera Cup and my first
races in a GT car. I wouldn't be here today with the Carrera Cup
Scholarship. Porsche has given me so much support." Hankey said
that racing the 911GT3 Cup car around the Hampshire track
presented a big challenge. "I've thoroughly enjoyed driving the
car and it is seriously tough," he said. "It's very hot in there
and I can't imagine what it will be like in the summer. The
older guys are going to take some beating because I was really
pushing. I got some muscle pump-up in my right arm over the last
four laps and I had to change gear with my left hand, which
wasn't ideal. By then I wasn't focusing on getting ahead of Tim;
I was concentrating on keeping Michael behind me. So I'm
planning to get a bit fitter." Now, Hankey is looking ahead to
rounds three and four at Rockingham (24/25 April). "Hopefully I
can keep on learning and go one better in the next round," he
said.
05-04-10
 F2000: While the F2000 Championship Series has become a home for aspiring
drivers
looking towards the top tiers of open wheel racing, it has also
become one of the most competitive playing fields in the country
for veteran drivers. For 2010, Masters Class drivers have
flocked to the series to race against one another and some of
the best up-and-coming talent in a field of more than 30
open-wheel cars representing multiple chassis and engine
combinations. Read more
 Formula
3 :
Following Jean-Eric Vergne’s first-round victory in
the Cooper Tires British F3 International Series, Carlin's
French driver gave his title aspirations some credence with a
second win today at Oulton Park in round three. To complete his
team Carlin Motorsport's weekend, one of the team's rookie
racers, Rupert Svendsen-Cook, won round two.
Read report
-
The MG Trophy Championship
kicks off its 2010 season at Brands Hatch on the 11th April with two races both of which have . Theopening rounds are sponsored by
2009 champion Chris Bray’s vehicle bodywork repair business,
Finishline UK and Chris will be returning to defend his
title against most of the 2009 runners to defend his title.
Championship Co-ordinator Pete Macwaters is pleased to
announce that the championship will be supporting the ‘Help
for Heroes’ charity and all the cars will be displaying
‘Heroes’ stickers all season. The club also has 9 new
drivers ..read more
 BTCC:
Silverline Chevrolet’s Alex MacDowall made an excellent start to the his Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship
career at Thruxton. The Carlisle teenager finished all three of
the opening rounds taking a seventh, sixth and ninth places
respectively. Read report
Fabrizio
Giovanardi won two of the three races in the Dunlop MSA British
Touring Car Championship opener at Thruxton yesterday(Sunday).
The third race was a debut victory for Steven Kane in the
Airwaves BMW. The first race was predictably drama-packed with
the two Honda Civics of pole-sitter Gordon Shedden and Matthew
Neal challenging hard during the early laps. The two Honda
Racing Team cars both suffered tyre deflations before
mid-distance, Neal limping to the pits,eventually finishing 12th
while Shedden's Civic left the circuit at more than 125mph,
hitting the trackside barriers. This handed second place to
Jason Plato in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze while Mat Jackson
completed the podium places in third for Airwaves BMW. Giovanardi
then made it two wins out of two with a dominant victory from
pole in the second race ahead of Plato who made the most of his
front row starting position to take second at the start. Paul
O'Neill (Sunshine.co.uk) led the chase in the early laps but he
was caught and passed by Neal's Honda Civic in the closing
stages. Neal then mounted a challenge on Plato, the pair
clashing(predictably!)at the Club Chicane, Plato spinning
back to fourth position behind a delighted O'Neill, while Neal
grabbed second spot. Race three saw the top nine finishers from
race two starting in reverse order. Rob Collard (WSR BMW) led
away from pole position chased by the two Airwaves BMWs of
Steven Kane and Jackson with Neal hot on their heels. The Honda
racer was quickly by Jackson and, at the end of lap six, tried
an even more audacious move around the outside of both Kane and
Collard at the Club Chicane. Contact seemed inevitable - the
Civic struck the leading BMW, destroying the hopes of both
drivers. This controversial incident left Kane and Jackson clear
to score an emotional one-two victory for Airwaves BMW with
Plato fending off late challenges from first Giovanardi and then
Shedden to complete the podium.
 Clio
Cup: JHR Development’s Lee Pattison and Team Pyro’s Dave Newsham
took a win a piece during the opening rounds of the 2010 ELF
Renault Clio Cup with Michelin at Thruxton on 3rd/4th April.
Racing in his third season, 35-year-old Pattison picked up his
first win in the series since 2008 in round two. Dave Newsham,
who finished fifth in 2009, scored a lights-to-flag victory in
Saturday’s opener to move top of the points table thanks to a
fourth place in round two. The weekend also saw winners in the
championship’s two new classes – the Graduate Cup for drivers
aged under 23 and the NGK Masters Cup for those aged over 35.
Sam Tordoff (pictured) and Newsham picked up the
respective honours in round one with Jake Packun and Pattison
enjoying the silverware in the second round of the 20-race
season. Read report
All Thruxton
pics Jakob
Ebrey Photography
Ginetta G50 and Clio Cup
: Carl Breeze got his Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup season up an
running at Thruxton with his first podium finish to add to his fifth
spot on Saturday. This coupled with another third place in the
final round on Sunday, places him third in the Championship. His
team made Sam Tordorf, running in the ELF Renault Clio Cup also
took two podiums. The Leeds-based racer, embarking on only his
second season of car racing added a third place yesterday(Sunday)
to his second on Saturday. read report
Rob Huff
delivered two more memorable race performances during the second and third rounds of the 2010 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup
at Thruxton in Hampshire today, Sunday, 4th April, to make it
three wins from three starts. read
report
 Ginetta
Jnrs: Tom Ingram achieved his break-through car
racing victory at Thruxton in the Ginetta Junior
Championship. After securing his drive with Hillspeed at the
last hour, Tom went on to fight back from an early spin in his
opening race to take his and Hillspeed’s first win in the series
..read report
Ingram's team-mate at Hillspeed, Seb Morris, making his
car racing debut, came away from Thruxton with a very
respectable 12th and 14th place finish.
read more
Jake Hill
took a largely unchallenged first win of 2010 during the
second round of the Ginetta Junior Championship at Thruxton
earlier today, Sunday, 4th April, and in doing so also moved to
the top of the driver standings.
read report
Team Parker
Racing made a strong showing on it’s debut in the Ginetta
Juniors with Chris Swanwick taking second place at Thruxton.
Swanwick, Adam Bonham and Finlay Ratcliffe all drove for the
team on its first move into the series, for 14 to 17-year-old
drivers. Read
report
 Formula
Renault UK: Manor
Competition’s Will Stevens
moved to the top of the championship standings after two
impressive performances including a race win during the opening
rounds of the 2010 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship at
Thruxton on 3rd/4th April. The Surrey teenager, now in his
second season, took a lights-to-flag victory during Sunday’s
round two followed by a second place in the weekend’s earlier
opening round which marked the competitive debut of the New
Formula Renault 2.0 car.Atech GP’s Tama’s Pa’l Kiss meanwhile
was the winner of Saturday’s round one in which the Hungarian
battled through the rain, and the field, to claim his maiden
victory. The weekend also saw podiums for Steven's Manor
team-mate Lewis Williamson who took second in round two while
CRS Racing’s Harry Tincknell enjoyed a double podium with two
third places ..read
report
Atech Grand
Prix won the opening round of the Michelin Formula Renault UK
Championship at Thruxton with Tamás Pál Kiss taking his and
the team’s maiden Formula Renault victory. Nick Yelloly made
another of his lightening starts to move up into sixth from
tenth while Marlon Stockinger rounded out the top ten to also
gain valuable championship points.
read report
Thomas
Hylkema made his first start in the Formula Renault UK
Championship and qualified an excellent fifth for Round 2 after
loosing out to the weather in the first session. He ran up with
the leaders until a couple of incidents dropped him down the
field but he showed enough to mark him out as a potential
front-runner in the future..
read report
 Superleague
Formula: Craig Dolby continued his winning
ways in Superleague Formula on Sunday by following up his
win in the morning with an excellent fourth in race 2, from 17th
on the grid. He completed his weekend later in the day by
winning in the Super Final and the
€100,000
prize. read report
Alvaro Parente
was one of the main contenders in the Superleague Formula by
Sonangol’s first round, leaving Silverstone with his team
Futebol Clube do Porto, in second place in the Championship
table. read report
 The
Atech Grand Prix-managed AC Milan car of Yelmer Buurman came home second in the opening round of the Superleague Formula by
Sonangol at Silverstone on Sunday. The flying Dutchman was
denied the chance of a repeat in race two however when the
clutch bleed hose burst ending his race. There was frustration
also for reigning champions Liverpool FC as James Walker spun
out of third place in the opening round which ended his race.
The Jerseyman lined up on pole position for the reversed grid-
race two but was forced to retire while lying second with a loss
of drive following the mandatory pit stop. The weekend had
started well for the Silverstone-based team with both cars
easily qualifying through to the quarter finals on Saturday. In
the semi finals the Liverpool FC car went head-to-head with FC
Porto, the English club narrowly missing out on a potential
front row start, eventually lining up third. Despite the
set-back on its home track, the David Hayle-led team, which
clinched the title last season for Liverpool with Adrian Valles,
remains positive and confident ahead of the next rounds of the
championship, at Assen next month. “It was a disappointing end
to the weekend after such a positive start,” said David Hayle.
“Both James and Yelmer are very quick and able drivers and they
showed their pace through practice and qualifying and into the
races. Unfortunately apart from Yelmer’s second place the
results were not there today and we must look to the next rounds
to get our championship bid back on track.”
 Carrera
Cup GB:
Tim Harvey did the double on Sunday in the Porshce Carrera
Cup GB at Thruxton, winning both . races. Ollie Jackson
claimed the pro-am1 spoils, with Mark Hazell taking two wins in
pro-am2. read
report
Oman’s Ahmad Al
Harthy made a truly sensational debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton on Sudnay 4th
April. After qualifying second in class (Pro-am 1) he finished
second in his first ever sportscar race and behind experienced
race Tony Gilham. He then followed this up with an excellent
third in race 2. read
report
Team Parker
Racing’s Porsche Carrera Cup GB rookie Euan Hankey made a superb start to his Sportscar career at Thruxton. The Carrera Cup
Scholarship winner picked up a second and a third place on
Sunday and missed out on a race win behind experienced racer Tim
Harvey by less than a second. Read
report
SPEED: Drivers Club take their second win of the season at Silverstone
to add to their victory two weeks ago in the opening round
of the European VdeV Championship at Jarama. Simon Dolan and his
coach, Drivers Club founder Sam Hancock were victorious in the
UK SPEED Series. read
report
04-04-10
Superleague Formula:
Craig Dolby won the opening race of the weekend this
morning for Spurs after (Sunday) taking the lead from fourth on
the grid on the opening lap. Passing Porto's Alvaro Parente,
Liverpool's James Walker and pole man Max Wissel, driving for FC
Basle, he swiftly opened up a 12 second lead by lap 6, winning
comfortably. read report
 Ginettas:
Tom Ingram made a superb start in the Ginetta Junior
Championship scoring both his and his team, Hiispeed’s ,
first ever victory in the category at Thruxton yesterday,
Saturday, 3rd April. After only securing the drive with the team
recently Ingram showed he has what it takes claiming the first
win for as the brand new Ginetta G40 car.
Read report
pic Jakob Ebrey photography
Danbury’s
George Murrells
scored victory in the opening Ginetta Challenge race of
the season although just one of the two races was run, the
second being declared null and void after an early red flag.
Read report
 World
Touring Car Championship race winner Rob Huff
made a huge impact on the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup at Thruxton
on Saturday, 3rd April, by taking a clear race victory during
the first round of the 2010 season at the wheel of the Dynojet-prepared
‘guest car’. Read report
pic Jakob Ebrey photography
 Clio
Cup: Total Control Racing’s Sam Tordoff came within just 0.395 seconds of
winning the opening round of the 2010 ELF Renault Clio Cup
at Thruxton in Hampshire today, Saturday, 3rd April, the
20-year-old racer taking an excellent second place finish in
tricky, damp conditions. Read report
pic Jakob Ebrey photography
Formula Ford:
Australia's Scott Pye made a superb start to his Dunlop MSA
Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain campaign with victory
from pole position on his debut at Oulton Park on Saturday.
Second was Scott Malvern 5 seconds behind while third went to
Dan Cammish Read report
 Formula
3:
Menasheh Idafar made the perfect start to his Formula 3 career at Oulton Park in Cheshire today, Saturday, 3rd April, by
taking National Class victory during the opening round of the
2010 Cooper Tires British F3 International Championship. Read
report pic Jakob Ebrey photography
Superleague Formula:
FC Basel opened the 2010 Superleague Formula by Sonangol season with a giant killing-performance at Silverstone as
the 12-times Swiss League champions took pole position for the
first of Sunday’s three races at the British circuit. Max Wissel,
was in impressive form during the one-lap knockout stages of
qualifying, using his wet weather-prowess to good effect to beat
Lyon, Tottenham Hotspur and FC Porto to net the club’s first
ever Superleague Formula pole. In the quarter finals he
defeated Lyon’s Sebastien Bourdais, who had been fastest of
everyone in the groups, then knocked out home favourite Craig
Dolby of Spurs in the semis before beating FC Porto’s Alvaro
Parente to pole in the final. Parente will start tomorrow’s race
on the outside of the front row. The second row will be an
all-Premier League affair after strong performances by Tottenham
and Liverpool. Last year’s championship runner-up, Dolby, was
his usual spectacular self for Spurs in the quarter finals as he
beat fellow Brit Duncan Tappy in the Flamengo car, while
Liverpool’s new signing, James Walker, made an impressive debut
for the Anfield club to survive a tough qualifying group and
then come from behind to beat Sevilla’s Marcos Martinez in his
quarter final. Spanish driver Martínez can be proud of his
series’ debut after a strong display in the group stages to
leave him sixth on the grid alongside Tappy in fifth, but
Bourdais wasn’t as happy after his quarter final defeat to Wissel,
particularly as his time of 1:34.432 was fastest of all in the
groups. He will start tomorrow’s race on the outside of row
four, alongside the other losing quarter finalist, AC Milan. The
depth of quality on the 2010 grid was highlighted in the group
stages of qualifying as ex-Formula One drivers Robert Doornbos
(Corinthians),
Narain Karthikeyan (PSV Eindhoven) and Franck Montagny
(Bordeaux) all went out. Davide Rigon, who returns to
Superleague Formula this season after helping Chinese club
Beijing Guoan to the inaugural title in 2008, also failed to go
through, ending the Group B session in the gravel trap at Abbey
as he pushed to make the cut when the first drops of rain began
to fall. Pics Dennis Goodwin
Alvaro Parente
was in great shape in the qualifying
of the 2010
Superleague Formula by Sonangol’s first round putting the
Futebol Clube do Porto’s single-seater in an excellent second
place. The qualifying session started on a dry track and it
these conditions that the Portuguese driver was the fastest in
his group. With the rain falling, he beat Yelmer Buurman, in the
quarter-final, and James Walker, in the semi-final, meeting Max
Wissel in the final. It looked like Parente could beat the FC
Basel driver, being faster in the first sector, but a small
mistake in the second prevented him tfrom snatching pole.
British GT:
A battle is in store in Easter Monday's Oulton Park opening
rounds of the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship, with
reigning champions David and Godfrey Jones and their Preci-Spark
Ascari set to start round one from the pole and the Rosso Verde
Ferrari 430 Scuderia of Allan Simonsen and Hector Lester on top
spot for round two. Read
more
03-04-10
Formula3: Jean-Eric Vergne made a dream start to his Cooper Tires British F3
International Series
career at Oulton Park,today(Saturday), the Frenchman dominating
qualifying and the opening race of the Easter weekend. The
19-year-old Carlin pilot led round one all the way from the
pole, through a safety car interlude, and on to a 3.5-second
victory over local hero Oli Webb.
Read report
Carrera Cup GB:
Tim Harvey got his Porsche Carrera Cup GB season off to a
perfect start with a double pole in qualifying at Thruxton today (Saturday
3 April). However, Tom Bradshaw and Michael Caine were right
with the 2008 champion during a wet qualifying. In pro-am1,
Ollie Jackson also bagged a double pole, while in pro-am2 Pace
twice topped the grid sheets. Rain just before the start of
qualifying sent everyone out on wet tyres and many of the best
times were set in the early laps. Initially, Bradshaw (JHR) held
pole, but a big push by Harvey (Red Line Racing) grabbed the
place by six-thousandths of a second. It was nearly as close for
the grid for race two, decided by their second best laps, where
Harvey was 26-hundredths of a second faster than Bradshaw. In
both races, Michael Caine (Motorbase Performance) and Euan
Hankey (Team Parker Racing) completed the top four grid
positions. "It was tight," admitted Harvey. "I knocked the front
splitter off on the first run and I was concerned about missing
the best of the conditions. It's good that the grid is so close,
but it's going to be a guess on set-up if the races are dry."
For Bradshaw, it was his best Carrera Cup qualifying performance
to date. "That's better," said Bradshaw. "It was that greasy
that slicks were never an option." However, over the second half
of the session, many drivers tried slicks rather than carrying
on with wets. The slick times were well adrift of the best times
on wet tyres. Caine had started the session on worn wets and
suggested that had been the wrong call for the best of the track
conditions. "It probably should have been new wets," he said
later. But with the top 10 for race one covered by six-tenths of
a second, the top of the grid is extremely evenly matched.
Another great battle is in prospect in pro-am1, where Jackson
(Addison Lee Motorbase) claimed pole for both races from the
impressive newcomer Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line Racing). "I'm a
bit disappointed not to be further up overall," said Jackson,
while Al Harthy continued his good progress as he gained more
experience of the car. "I needed to repeat my performance from
testing and I did," said the Oman racer. A tremendous
performance to take third in pro-am1 for both races came from
Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing), who belied his very limited
experience of Thruxton to get faster and faster through the
session. Archie Hamilton (Red Line Racing) and Tony Gilham (ReDesign
PHB Racing) completed the top five in pro-am1.Another
double pole came in pro-am2 as Mace (GT Marques) headed the
category. "I could see that the rain was easing, so I came in,
cooled the tyres and went again," said Mace of the run that took
him to both poles. Leading the chase of Mace was a closely
matched trio comprising George Richardson (Motorbase
Performance), Steve Parish (Addison Lee Motorbase) and Glenn
McMenamin (Red Line Racing). "I'm over the moon with that," said
teenager Richardson. "It's coming together every time I get in
the car."
 Superleague
Formula by Sonangol
2010 kicked off in anger at Silverstone yesterday
as the opening free practice sessions of the new season got
underway. And it was AS Roma’s Julien Jousse who had the honour
of drawing the new campaign’s first blood after recording the
fastest time during a second session that included the day’s
only dry running. The Frenchman lapped Silverstone’s Grand Prix
Circuit in 1m36.819s to see off Sevilla’s new Spanish signing
Marcos Martinez by 0.254sec. The championship’s newest club
Bordeaux celebrated its debut with the third fastest time,
although their ex-F1 driver Franck Montagny ended the session
nearly two seconds slower than countryman Jousse. Max Wissel was
next up for FC Basel, ahead of Olympique Lyonnais’ winter
signing Sebastien Bourdais, local favourite Craig Dolby and
Tottenham Hotspur, PSV Eindhoven’s Narain Karthikeyan and FC
Porto’s Alvaro Parente.Chris van der Drift (Olympiacos) and
Tristan Gommendy (Galatasaray) completed the top ten with
reigning champions Liverpool finishing 11th courtesy of their
Superleague Formula newcomer James Walker. The morning session
saw Dolby go fastest, although his 1m46.585s effort in damp
conditions was nearly ten seconds shy of Jousse’s lunchtime
pace. Afternoon practice meanwhile turned into a total washout
after a heavy downpour put paid to any meaningful track time.
Two drivers confident enough to try their luck however were
Jousse and Corinthians’ Robert Doornbos, although both ended up
undamaged in the gravel trap.Qualifying begins today at 14.15
local time ahead of Sunday’s two 45 minute races and five-lap
Super Final. The action is live on ESPNon Sunday, Race 1: 11.10
- Race 2: 14.10 - Race 3: 15.10 - pic
Dennis Goodwin
Carrera Cup GB:
Tim Harvey ended the day on top of the time sheets in the
Porsche Carrera Cup GB during testing at Thruxton on Friday for
the opening two races of the season. Ahmad Al Harthy (Red Line
Racing) headed pro-am1, while Thruxton newcomer George Brewster
(Celtic Speed) topped pro-am2. On a rain-hit day, Harvey (Red
Line Racing) was on the pace at the right moment as three laps
at the start of the second session was the day's only dry window
for the 25-strong Carrera Cup field. "I was trying to do a race
run," said Harvey as rain swept across the Hampshire track once
more. "But the car feels good in the wet and the dry. There's
more grip at Thruxton than anywhere else when it rains."The
first test session was abandoned due to standing water after
heavy rain, but a revised timetable allowed two 30-minute
sessions later in the afternoon. With the track still wet but
drying, the revised first session delivered representative times
as Caine and Harvey used their experience to set the pace, with
Caine ahead by one-thousandth of a second. "The car was fine; we
did a limited amount of running as the track was changing all
the time," said Caine. However, the three dry laps in the
afternoon would decide the time sheets and Caine didn't set a
time before the rain arrived. Instead, second overall was
Michael Meadows (Red Line Racing). "We were at the front of the
queue for the session and got the extra lap in," said Meadows.
"But there was rain on the screen from the start." Glynn Geddie
(Team Parker Racing) was third in the dry running. In pro-am1,
Ollie Jackson set the first session pace for Addison Lee
Motorbase, lapping a quarter of a second faster than Tony Gilham
(ReDesign PHB Racing). "I'm quite happy with that; I'm glad the
standing water was gone," said Jackson. But it was Al Harthy who
jumped ahead in the early laps of the second session as he drove
his Porsche at Thruxton for the first time. "I pushed from the
start; I had to find out how the car was in the dry," said the
Oman racer. In pro-am2, Mark Hazell (JHR) set a cracking pace to
head the wet times from Paul Mace (GT Marques) and Steve Parish
(Motorbase Performance). "The wet is a great leveler," said
Hazell, after using his experience of Thruxton to good effect.
In the second session, Brewster jumped to the top of the
category in the brief dry spell. He had missed the re-arranged
first session, so his pro-am2 leading time came from his first
three laps of Thruxton. "I've never been here before, and
there's a bit more to go it it's dry." Glenn McMenamin (Red Line
Racing) was second in the final positions.
FBMW:
Next week Facu Regalia will be at Silverstone for the
third pre-season test of 2010 for Formula BMW Europe. After the
diabolical weather(snow!) at Monza and illness at Montmeló, the
youngster wants some good results in Britian. The
Hispano-Argentinean driver arrives in the UK looking for plenty
of track time in his Eifelland Racing prepared machine. “In the
last few days with the guys from the team and I have been
preparing me physically so I can be at Silverstone at my best
shape”, said Facu. “After the snow that cancelled the second
day of testing at Monza and the health problems that prevented
me to be in the track in the first day of the Barcelona test, I
want that, at Silverstone, everything goes according to plan”.
One positive for Regalia from Spain, where despite not managing
many miles, he was among the fastest. “It wouldn’t be strange if
it rains in one of the test days, but I hope that we can end the
week with set-up program almost done, because BMW suspended the
Spa-Francorchamp test after the known problems with a tunnel”,
concluded the Eifelland Racing driver.
02-04-10
 GP3:
McLaren Autosport BRDC Award Winner Dean Smith
delivered an impressive performance on his GP3 Series test debut
in France this week after joining British team Carlin for a two
day outing at the 3.85km Paul Ricard HTTT Circuit. The
22-year-old, from Wolverhampton, made an immediate impact during
the first day of the test on Wednesday, 31st March, by emerging
as the fastest rookie driver from the morning run. Posting a
best lap of 1m21.764s, he ended the opening session a very
promising 11th quickest. Although only completing seven laps in
the afternoon due to an electrical problem Dean hit back
strongly on Thursday. Setting 12th fastest time of 1m20.962s in
the morning, an effort which proved to be his best of the whole
test, he went on to set a 1m21.118s during the final afternoon.
Concluding the last session inside the top eight, Dean was only
just over 0.3s shy of the pace. “For my first time out in a GP3
car, to be on the edge of the top 10 during the first session
and then top eight out of 29 drivers during the final afternoon
isn’t too bad at all – I’m quite pleased with how everything’s
gone in all honesty”, commented Dean, “Considering we missed the
first afternoon with the electrical fault, I think we can all be
happy with the progress we made and what we achieved. The GP3
car has a huge amount of grip, much more aerodynamic grip than a
Formula 3 car and it’s much quicker through the corners. I
really enjoyed working with Carlin over the last couple of days
and I know we definitely had the capability to be in the top
four.” Dean is yet to reveal his plans for 2010 but GP3 is a
highly attractive option should he secure a race deal.
Pic:
GP3 Media Service/LAT.
 WTCC: Following the cancellation of the season's second event in Mexico the
FIA WTCC is looking forward to resuming in Marrakech on May 2nd.This
will be the second time the championship has visited Morocco
with its fast 4.5-km circuit winding along the boulevards of the
Agdal hotel district, in the Southern outskirts of
Marrakech.Compared to last year, when it was inaugurated,
bringing international auto racing back to Morocco after
half-a-century, the racetrack has been slightly modified. The
two chicanes on the long Avenue Mohammed VI straight have been
redesigned to make them faster and safer.
The Chevrolet
Cruze racing car
that takes part in the FIA World Touring Car Championship is
currently being exhibited for the first time to the USA
public.The white-and-blue machine is placed in the centre of the
stage of the Chevrolet stand at the New York International
Autoshow that opened on Thursday, April 2nd at the Jacob Javits
Convention Center on the 11th Avenue, Manhattan. The show will
go on until Sunday, April 11th. The exhibition of the WTCC Cruze
is part of the promotional actions organised for the launch of
the Chevrolet's saloon to the American market.
.jpg) Karts:
Tom Harvey warmed up in perfect fashion
for the beginning of his 2010 Formula Kart Stars (FKS) challenge
at Rowrah this weekend, by triumphing against the odds at
Whilton Mill. Read report
pics Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net
Beitske Visser
from Holland
has just celebrated her 15th birthday and is already at a high
level in International karting. She is now in the KZ2 category
with powerful 125cc gearbox engines. “On track, I do not think
much about the fact that I am a girl. My goal is to win, so I
have to beat all the other drivers, whoever they are”. Her
international season started on 7 March, at the WSK Euro Series
round held in Southern Italy at the Andrea Margutti in
Castelletto di Branduzzo, against many KZ2 specialists. In timed
qualifying she claimed pole position. “Unfortunately, I had to
abandon the final race and that spoiled my weekend”, she
regretted. But Beitske Visser did not brood over her
disappointment for long and went to the second meeting of the
WSK Euro Series with her motivation increased at Lonato. Her
progress in qualifying allowed he to achieved a first result
with third in the KZ2 pre-final. She also set the fastest lap
and took a place in the final race! “In Holland, in Belgium or
at the Rotax Winter Cup, I have already had a chance to climb on
the podium. But to do it again at this level, well, it is even
more rewarding. I am very happy with this second place and I
would like to thank the Intrepid official team and Tec’Sav for
the work done so far. It is very encouraging for the future”.
01-04-10
 Skip
Barber:
Daniel
Lloyd has a new sponsorship agreement with leading UK postal
operator TNT Post – part of global giant TNT Group. The
Huddersfield 18-year-old, who is currently competing in America
in the BF Goodrich/Skip Barber National Championship presented
by Mazda, will carry TNT Post branding on his race car and crash
helmet throughout the 2010 season as part of the deal.
Confirming the agreement, managing director of TNT Post in the
North, Andy Goddard, commented: “We are very happy to support
such a bright, young sporting talent. Daniel has already proven
he is one of the UK’s top young racing drivers so we’re
delighted to help support his first season of racing in America.
TNT Post is known for its quality of service and efficiency,
leading us to a shared goal with Daniel: to be the best.”
Speaking on his new deal Daniel said: “I’m obviously delighted
to be involved with TNT Post and I want to thank it for the
support. I’m very proud to have such a fantastic brand
associated with my racing this season and I aim to deliver as
much success as I possibly can throughout the course of the
year.”
 Formula
Renault: MP Motorsport’s Daniël De Jong produced his most impressive performance
of the 2010 pre-season during Formula Renault 2.0 NEC testing at
Hockenheim this week, the Dutchman leading the way during four
of the 10 track sessions and never finishing outside the top
eight. During two days he set a best lap of 1m38.605s on Monday,
29th March, to lead the way by almost 0.4s from his closest
rival, experienced Formula Renault competitor Luciano Bacheta.On
Tuesday De Jong went quickest with a 1m38.633s to follow on from
a series of consistent front-running performances during Eurocup
Formula Renault 2.0 testing in recent weeks. Team-mate
Karl-Oscar Liiv recorded the 13th fastest time of 1m40.242s on
the opening day, just 0.2s outside the top 10, the Estonian was
13th again on Tuesday, albeit with an improved lap of 1m39.321.
MP Motorsport’s Finnish rookie Kalle Kulmanen, meanwhile, had a
mixed outing at Hockenheim after being unable to run on day two
due to illness. On Monday though, he produced a solid time of
1m41.562. Speaking on his performance De Jong said: “I’m very
happy, it was great to be first on day one. During my new tyre
run on Tuesday I was blocked, for sure I think I could have been
fastest again on the second day. Hockenheim is a great circuit,
the stadium is a nice part and I think it’s a good place for
racing with lots of slip-streaming and overtaking
opportunities.All through practice in Eurocup and NEC we’ve been
in the top 10 while last year I was battling to be in the top 20
so I’ve improved for sure. If we can start the season in the top
10 and then fight for the top five and, hopefully, the podium,
I’ll be happy.”
 MP
Motorsport consistently competitive in Spain and France.
During
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 testing at the Motorland Aragon
facility in Alcañiz, Spain, last week, De Jong was again inside
the top six and headed the timing screens on day one with a best
lap of 1m57.591. Improving by 0.6s during the second day, he
posted an overall quickest time of 1m56.942 and ended the test
ninth fastest on combined times. Liiv(pictured left) and
Kulmanen progressed well at Motorland and gained good
experience, the former lapping in a very competitive 1m57.699.
Kulmanen produced a best effort of 1m58.392 during the final
session on day two, the 18-year-old rookie continuing his steep
learning curve. Magny-Cours in France was the venue for testing
the week prior and De Jong led the way for MP Motorsport with
the seventh fastest time overall, a lap of 1m37.471. Liiv was
just half a second shy of his team-mate, the 16-year-old lapping
with a time of 1m37.926, while Kulmanen produced a quickest lap
of 1m39.70. Rounds one and two of the 2010 Eurocup Formula
Renault 2.0 Championship will take place just over two weeks
from now, 17th/18th April, at Motorland Aragon in Spain.
 Superleague
Formula:
Alvaro Parente is at Silverstone for the opening round of the
2010 Superleague Formula by Sonangol
this weekend
with his team Futebol Clube do Porto. “Yesterday, I had the
first contact with the team, something that allowed me to meet
the mechanics and the engineers. Today, I’m doing the seat and
preparing tomorrow’s test”, said Parente. With a long season
ahead, the Portuguese driver is excited to defend his home club.
Futebol Clube do Porto, though he knows that his opponents will
give him a hard time. “I’m very motivated and eager to race
again, after some showings in the GP2 Asia series. This car is
completely different from the GP2’s and, with the actual
line-up, I foresee an interesting and disputed championship. It
will be good to meet again old opponents and ex-Formula 1
drivers”, he said. He knows Silverstone well and will begin
testing today(Thursday), working to adapt his single-seater to
his style. “This is a track that I enjoy and where I raced many
times. Tomorrow, we will to develop the car so that it can
handle the way I like during the weekend. The championship is
very long, it has twelve events, and my goal is to be champion”.
GP3:
Canadian Robert Wickens has set his sights on becoming the first
GP3 Series champion after signing with Status Grand Prix. "GP3 is a
very good fit for me because we're at F1 Grands Prix and it'll
be a great way to highlight myself and show I'm ready to step to
F1 in 2011," said Wickens, who was runner-up in the FIA Formula
2 Championship in 2009. Wickens drove with Status GP in the
inaugural series test at Paul Ricard with the 280hp
Renault-powered Dallara earlier this month, and confirmed that
it was the right way to go for him and his sponsors, which
include Canadian surf and skateboard clothing manufacturer
Sitka. "Having driven the GP3 car with Status it made me even
more eager to find the necessary funding to participate," said
Wickens. "It's been a big effort by many people in Canada, and
I'm also very grateful to Status GP for showing faith in me.
Together we're targeting nothing less than the championship."
The move sees him re-united with Silverstone-based Status GP,
which ran Wickens in the A1 Team Canada entry during the 2007-08
A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, when he became the series'
youngest ever winner on the Durban street circuit. "
Wickens and his Status GP team mate Daniel Morad
filled two positions in the top 6 in testing at the Paul Ricard
HTTT circuit in southern France on Wednesday, the team
successfully worked through a series of set-up programmes, as
its three Renault-powered Dallara cars covering over 1000
kilometres before new Pirelli tyres were bolted on at the end of
the day to set a quick time. Wickens ended the day fourth
fastest overall while Morad had been in the top five until he
was knocked down to sixth overall in the dying moments of the
day, but the GMH Motorsport-supported driver was encouraged with
his time of 1m21.2s that indicated his potential for the season
ahead. Third Status driver Ivan Lukashevich, who is a part of
the Marussia Motors Driver Development programme, continued his
progress in adapting to the 280bhp car, going half a second
quicker than he did in the previous test at Paul Ricard, despite
a radiator problem curtailing his fastest run on new tyres at
the end of the day.
Karts:
CRG continued it’s excellent start to the season
at the second meeting of the WSK Euro Series, in Lonato. Once
again achieving a high level of competitiveness in both KF and
KZ. Max Verstappen in KF3, Norman Nato and Jonathan Thonon in
KZ1 showed off Maxter's colours on the podium, while Michelle
Gatting missed out on a podium by a hair's breadth in KF2.
read report
 Anthony
Abbasse's Sodi chassis literally dominated KZ1 in Lonato at the second meeting of the WSK Euro Series. From practice
to the final race, Sodi gave its top driver the best possible
package. With a Sodi BV chassis perfectly adapted to every track
condition and a TM engine at the top, Anthony was able to focus
solely on his race performance and produce a great victory ..read
report
Strawberry
Racing began the defence of it's Euro Max crowns in fine style with a 1-2 in senior Max and 1st and 3rd in the junior
category, at Salbris last weekend
full report
Indylights
rookie J.K. Vernay took his first win in the series
on his debut at the street circuit of St. Petersburg,
Florida last Sunday. In the opening race of this year’s
Championship the weather had a big part to play with rain
soaking the track at the start while all the drivers were still
on slicks . Just keeping the car in the straight line was a
challenge and Vernay’s team-mate James Winslow even lost control
on the parade lap, although he did recover to finsish seventh.
After the start, which saw a considerable amount of’carnage, the
race was stopped allowing everyone to switch to wet tyre. At the
restart Vernay took the lead and was never headed, dominating
the remainder of the event, leading 31 of 35 laps. The victory
for Vernay was the fourth for his team Sam Schmidt Motorsports
in St. Petersburg, and their 31st overall. Read
report
 Formula
Ford:
Rookie Ben Jurczak,16, of Forest Lake in Queensland,
displayed pace well beyond his experience at the first round of
the 2010 Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford
Championship, supporting the QANTAS Australian Grand Prix. In
only his 3rd CAMS racing event, Ben qualified in 10th position
for race one last Saturday afternoon. As the race unfolded, Ben
kept moving forward and was soon up to 5th place. Unfortunately
he got caught out under brakes and found himself beached in one
of the gravel traps, ending his race with a couple of laps to
go. Ben explained “I got a good run on the guys in front of me
and thought I might be able to make a pass into the next corner.
As I pulled out to pass, I noticed we were coming into a yellow
flag area, which means I can’t overtake and there could be
something on track. When I got on the brakes, I was on the dirty
part of the track and locked up; it was as simple as that. I
didn’t want to take anyone else out or hit the wall, so I was
able to keep it straight and run off into the gravel trap. We’ve
got no damage to the car, which is great!” Ben’s engineer Mike
Borland was impressed with the rookie’s performance. “Ben’s pace
all weekend has been fantastic. It’s a real shame for him not
have finished the race, but even then he showed great presence
of mind and car control to avoid contact,” he said.Ben heads to
his home state when the next round rolls into Queensland
Raceway. “I started my kart racing career at Willowbank, so I’ve
spent lots of weekends racing karts a few hundred metres from
the circuit. Like most tracks this year though, I’ve never
driven on the car racing circuit, so we’ll see how we go!” he
enthused.
 Ash
Walsh was pleased to come away from the opening round of the
2010 Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship,
held at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit, just nine points off
the leader. He explains “We knew this would be our toughest
round of the season for a number of reasons, including the fact
that our strongest challengers for the championship all raced at
the GP last year.” The weekend started very well, with Walsh
setting the 2nd fastest time in the only practice session. Ash
ended qualifying in 9th position after a difficult 20 minute
session. “Starting the first lap of quali, I found myself
leading a bunch of cars and didn’t want to simply drag them
around in my slipstream. Unfortunately, by the time I found some
clear track space, the best of the new tyres was used. But we’re
in the top ten and we can race from there,” said an upbeat
Walsh.The team discussed some setup changes for the race and Ash
was able to make his way through the field, running as high as
3rd in the opening laps and fighting in a pack of three cars for
most of the race. It was the most entertaining dice in the field
and as a result, featured strongly as part of the Channel Ten
telecast. Ash took a hard fought 4th to bank a good haul of
points to start his season. “That was a tough race!” he said
afterwards. “The car is quick but this track is surprisingly
bumpy, especially in the braking areas. I don’t think we were as
strong there; but 4th is a great start and we can fine tune the
setup for race two.” The small changes made for the final race
seemed to work well and Ash was eagerly looking for a way past a
very defensive competitor in the first two laps. The race was
then red flagged and abandoned when Ash’s team mate Caleb Rayner
crashed heavily after receiving contact from another car. “The
changes we made were good. We were really strong under brakes
and I’m sure we would have been able to move forward. But they
had to stop the race to attend to Caleb; that was a big hit and
it is a relief to hear that he is ok,” Ash commented. “Overall
I’m happy with the weekend,” said Walsh. “The car is straight
and we’re in a good position with points. I’m looking forward to
the next round, which is my home track at Queensland Raceway.”
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