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News Archive  August 2011

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06/09/2011

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31-08-11

DTM: Both Audi and Mercedes-Benz will be fighting hard to be the king of Brands Hatch this weekend (2-4 September) as the DTM championship battle intensifies. Mercedes-Benz’s Bruno Spengler holds a seven point advantage over Audi’s Martin Tomczyk but the Canadian lost a bigger lead last year when Britain’s recent F1 graduate Paul Di Resta went on to take the 2010 crown. Indeed Spengler will be leaving no stone unturned in his quest for the title this year. Read more

Star Mazda: This weekend top drivers from six different countries will be showing their skills in the concrete canyons of the brand-new Grand Prix of Baltimore street circuit.  There are four race winners in the field this weekend, including championship points leader Tristan Vautier of Grenoble, France with three wins in the #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda – including last-weekend's race at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma.  Vautier has finished every race of the season in the top-5, scored four poles and is driving for a team that has won the Star Mazda series championship several times. Also high on the list is Californian Connor De Phillippi, second in the championship with three wins in the #11 Team Pelfrey / Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors Mazda.  He has won two of the three street circuit races on the schedule so far this season, so if there's a list of leading contenders going into this weekend, he's on it.  Read preview

Intersteps: Patryk Szczerbinski became the first driver to take a hattrick of wins in the Intersteps Championship this season, taking all three wins in changeable conditions at Brands Hatch with his Falcon Motorsport run car. Read report

Saloons: Josh Cook came within a whisker of taking a hat-trick of victories at Brands Hatch in the BARC Production Touring Car Trophy last weekend. His Renault Megane came out on top in the first and last races of the weekend, but had to surrender the advantage in the second race when a temperature sensor caused an intermittent power loss. This left the way open for a three way battle for the win between Liam MacMillan’s SEAT, Gary Duckman’s SEAT and Adrian Churchill’s Astra. The fomer  eventually took the flag by less than a second from Duckman.  Read report

V de V: Following two trips to Spain, the FFSA V De V Championships return to the Paul Ricard circuit, this weekend. This year the Funyo series won’t be making the trip, but the other Sprint series – the single seaters – will undoubtedly provide some great action. In the various Endurance series the GT/Touring cars will be there in numbers, over forty cars entered so far! The first half of the Proto season finished on a cliff-hanger with a fierce battle for the title that doesn’t look like ending anytime soon while the Historic Challenge and French Championship should also have a few surprises in store over the weekend.  Read preview

BTCC: Gordon Shedden will arrive at his home circuit of Knockhill this weekend (3-4 Sept) knowing he’s now the most successful Scottish driver in terms of race wins to contest the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Fife racer Shedden’s latest victory, achieved at Snetterton in early August, was the 18th of his career – one more than John Cleland who won the BTCC title twice in 1989 and 1995. Other Scottish greats to have tasted race victory in the BTCC since its inception in 1958 include Anthony Reid (15 wins), David Leslie and Tom Walkinshaw (9) and, Champion in 1964, Jim Clark (8). Shedden, from Dalgety Bay, will go into his home event second in the points in the BTCC.  Read more

Honda Racing Team stars Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden both think that this weekend’s rounds of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill in Scotland will prove to be a happy hunting ground for points.  Neal will be battling through the pain barrier at Knockhill after fracturing a bone in his hand in a martial arts exam three weeks ago. “I am sure that once the adrenaline kicks in, I will be as competitive as usual despite what has happened to my hand,” said Neal, who has already won five times this year.“Knockhill is a tight and twisty circuit and that means you need a strong chassis, which is certainly one of the strong points of our Civic. We have worked hard on the handling of the car all season and we knew it would reap rewards when we get to demanding circuits like this one.”   For Gordon ‘Flash’ Shedden, this weekend’s meeting is one of his favourites of the season. The Fife man works at the circuit as its commercial director as his day job and he is relishing the chance to put on a good show for the home fans.Shedden has won three times so far this season and is second in the points.

FIA Action for Road Safety : Schuberth GmbH, helmet supplier to Formula One drivers Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa, has become an official partner of the FIA Action for Road Safety campaign. At the Belgian Grand Prix the cooperation agreement was announced by FIA President Jean Todt and Schuberth CEO Marcel Lejeune. President Todt praised Schuberth, describing the company as an excellent partner for the Action for Road Safety campaign. “Schuberth brings innovations from the F1 racetrack into serial production for motorcycle helmets. Its technology transfer is exemplary. The Schuberth presence in F1 is also an outstanding platform for raising awareness among young people around the world that they should never climb onto a motorcycle without a helmet."  Action for Road Safety is the FIA’s response and leading contribution to the challenges raised by the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety, the aim of which is to prevent five million road deaths and countless serious injuries over the next ten years. The campaign is particularly concentrated in the developing world, where 90 per cent of all fatal road traffic accidents occur, many of which involve motorcyclists and open-cockpit vehicle drivers riding and driving without a helmet. The campaign will raise awareness of the dangers associated with not wearing a helmet and support initiatives to improve education and provide better road safety training. Schuberth will be an active participant in this education process but will also share with the FIA its theoretical knowledge and practical research in the highly specialised field of protective headgear design. Additionally, it will donate helmets styled with the Action for Road Safety logo. These will be showcased by the FIA and supplied to partners and FIA member clubs to promote the campaign. The Belgian Grand Prix also marked the 20th anniversary of Michael Schumacher’s first F1 race. At Spa-Francorchamps the seven-times World Champion and road safety ambassador was presented by Schuberth with a commemorative golden helmet. The German manufacturer, Schumacher’s exclusive supplier for the last decade, has also donated a gold-plated replica of this commemorative helmet to the Action for Road Safety campaign. 

30-08-11

Porsche Club Championship : Mark Sumpter kept his 2011 Porsche Club Championship title challenge on track with two wins as the series made its annual visit to Castle Combe in Wiltshire, Mark McAleer runner up on each occasion. Pete Morris was third in race one with Mark Koeberle taking his first podium position with third in the second race of the Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. Having arrived at Castle Combe tied on points with Sumpter for the overall title, Class Two pace setter Chris Dyer also bagged a brace of wins, but with only three other rivals in class slipped behind Sumpter in the championship chase with just three races now remaining in the season finale at Silverstone.  Read report

Scottish Motorsport Festival: Formula One World Championship titles, Indianapolis 500 victories, Le Mans 24 Hours wins, World Rally Championship crowns... the small nation of Scotland has left an indelible mark on the motor sport world over the decades and it continues to do so today. To celebrate this long-running success and to look to the future, the Motor Sports Association, the sport’s UK governing body, has created the ‘Scottish Motorsport Festival’, a week of events (1-9 October 2011) book-ended by the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally and the RACMSA Rally of Scotland (7-9 Oct), two of the country’s premier sporting events.  Read more

Scirocco R Cup : Volkswagen have confirmed VIP guest drivers for this Saturday's DTM-supporting Scirocco R Cup race at Brands Hatch. Last year, Johnny Herbert, Mark Blundell, Martin Brundle and Derek Bell joined a grid of championship hopefuls, providing extra spice to an entertaining race and this year will be no different! Herbert and Blundell return to action this weekend and will be joined by Fifth Gear's Tiff Needell. Multiple British Rally Champion Mark Higgins switches to circuit racing after a recent appearance at Oulton Park with the Legends series. Nicolas Hamilton, brother of 2008 F1 World Champion Lewis, is currently competing in his debut season of racing in the Renault Clio Cup, picking up many fans not just for his results but also his tenacity in the face of adversity. He broadens his experience this weekend with a guest drive and will be joined by father Anthony. Hamilton senior may be better known as patriarch of the racing clan but in addition to managing 2010 DTM champion Paul Di Resta, will be looking forward to experiencing a race first-hand. The role-reversal may well be completed by Lewis watching from the pitlane! Meanwhile there is the serious business of a championship and British hopes are strong, with Daniel Lloyd currently lying second, less than a win separating him from leader Mateusz Lisowski. The 19-year old is competing in the series for the first time. "I'm really looking forward to the weekend, it's fantastic to be back racing at home", he said, "I want to go out there and win, that's my focus for the rest of the season - just try and win every race. Even though it is only my first year in the R-Cup I will be disappointed if I don't win the championship, that's my goal but it is going to be very tough. All things considered though I think we've had a really fantastic year and I'm loving every minute of it." The cars are all powered by 2-litre turbocharged engines running on bio-natural gas and each driver has a push-to-pass boost facility that they can use 15 times. A special display on the side of the car shows how many uses of this remain, adding to the entertainment already guaranteed by this impressive line-up.

The Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup is building up for a superb end to its maiden season, as the teams head north of the border to Knockhill this weekend. The first season catering for the new G55 model alongside the G50, has been a huge success. Tom Sharp dominated the early part of the season but has been away from the winner’s circle since April, despite winning the opening six races of the year and looking as though he would be the man to beat. Instead, a host of drivers has stepped forward to take wins and of them, it is the experienced Carl Breeze (TCR) who heads the title race. Breeze has been around the TOCA paddock for over a decade and isn’t short of experience. He heads the title race by 31 points approaching Knockhill, with his main opposition tied for second. Sharp and fellow race-winner Adam Morgan have been busy scoring points as often as possible and are less than a race win behind in the championship. Morgan (Ciceley Racing) won at Thruxton and again at Snetterton and is rapidly establishing himself as a major threat thanks to his consistency. Sharp, though, is determined to put his season back on track. It has been a difficult situation for former Ginetta junior racer Tom: to go from being unbeatable to unable to get a win. There is optimism in the IDL camp, though, as he certainly hasn’t given up and is a hard-charger when he needs to be. Behind the top three comes reigning Ginetta Challenge Champion George Murrells (Optimum Motorsport) who has enjoyed an impressive season having stepped up from the 1800cc G20 model and Nathan Freke (Century Motorsport) who has been another race winner. Indeed, Freke is a threat to Breeze for the title: if he keeps winning, he is taking point away from Breeze and preventing him from opening up a big gap in the championship. Extra spice this weekend will come from the inclusion of Scottish sports car ace Marino Franchitti who will be eager to score a win on home ground. The ALMS star hasn’t raced here for 10 years but is delighted to be able to be racing back home. The existing G50 model has its own class and has delivered plenty of action. Tom Ingram (Plans Motorsport) leads the championship by the slenderest of margins – just one point separates him from Jody Fannin (Team Pyro) in a fight that looks set to go down to the wire. Behind them, Aaron Williamson (FML) is in the mix as well and will be a candidate for a win here.This weekend could mark a turning point in the championship, as everything is up for grabs. It’s all to play for.

Ginetta Challenge: Rockingham is the venue for this weekend’s Ginetta Challenge races with Sean Huyton and Mark Davies fighting for the title. This year’s Challenge has been an absolute cracker and is far from resolved.  For 2011, an increased number of G40s takes on the earlier G20 model and both championships have delivered some tremendous action. The G40s tend to do the overall winning and Sean Huyton and Mark Davies have taken three wins apiece. Huyton heads the championship by 26 points from Davies, but that is less than a race win and anything could happen in a double-header weekend like this. Huyton (Academy Motorsport) has proved to be impressive on cold tyres off the start and that could be crucial around the daunting, banked Turn 1 on the opening lap. Davies (Optimum Motorsport) has returned to the Ginetta Challenge that he own in 2009 in a G20. The East Yorkshireman won the opener at Oulton Park but has had a few scrapes as well as his three wins. If he can avoid trouble this weekend he will be a major threat to Huyton both on-track and for points. Former Caterham champion Clive Richards has bagged a brace of wins in his Colards Motorsport-run car and will be a major factor this weekend, too, while Mike Robinson has made the step up from Renault Clios and won on the road at Brands Hatch – only to cop a penalty for exceeding the track limits. He’ll be looking to finally secure a win, while Richard Sykes (HHC Motorsport) has been quick all season but has been denied a chance to stand on the top step of the podium. So far…    The G20 class has been even more competitive where privateer Stuart Pearson is just eight points ahead of Gary Simms (Optimum Motorsport). Simms has taken more win, four to the two of Pearson, and these two have established themselves as the drivers to beat in the class. Expect another double dose of drama between the pair at Rockingham.

Ginetta Juniors : Seb Morris is the man to beat in the Ginetta Junior Championship as the series heads to Knockhill. Watch a race and you forget that you are watching teenagers, not yet old enough to drive on the road. When it comes to exciting racing and brave overtaking, there is nothing quite like it! It is also the perfect training ground for tomorrow’s stars. Seb Morris (Hillspeed) has been in great form this season. He’s had nine wins, four on the bounce at the start of the season and leads by a margin of 114 points from George Gamble (TJ Motorsport), who beat him to the line at Thruxton. These two are proving to be hard to beat, but they are not invincible: take Charlie Robertson (HHC Motorsport) as an example. The 14-year-old won at Croft and came close to a victory at Snetterton, and has proved to be an impressive newcomer in his maiden season of car racing. This weekend is a home race for Robertson as his family hails from Scotland and he has been a multiple Scottish karting champion. He goes to school in Surrey these days, but is very proud of his Scottish ancestry. Robertson lies just five points behind Gamble and may well be able to overhaul him this weekend, while William Foster is looming large in their mirrors. Add into the mix Jake Giddings (FML), Tom Howard (Tollbar Racing with WIRED) and Max Coates, plus Patrick McClughan (HHC Motorsport) and Struan Moore (Hillspeed) and there are plenty of drivers all capable of grabbing a top six finish this weekend. Declan Jones will be one to watch as well, having shown increased pace in recent races and he will be a front-runner around the Fife circuit in his Kelvin Jones Motorsport-run car. The 1800cc pocket rockets have delivered excellent racing all season and the twisty nature of Knockhill will prove who the star drivers are. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

Aston Martin GT4 Challenge : Clean sweep - pole position and solo race win for Dan de Zille in round 8 of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge at Brands on Saturday 27 August. Read report

Formula Renault: British racer Jordan King took MP Motorsport back onto the podium during the latest round of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup at Most in the Czech Republic on Sunday, 28th August, while Estonia’s Karl-Oscar Liiv came tantalisingly close to doubling up for the Dutch team. Without doubt the best weekend of 2011 so far for the front-running Formula Renault squad, King and Liiv proved to be a match for the championship leading Red Bull Junior drivers throughout while team-mate Alexey Chuklin continued his impressive rise up the ranks.  Pic Chris Schotanus/Essay Produkties   Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : Knockhill Circuit in Scotland, one of the most unique race tracks on the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB calendar, will provide the latest challenge for Oman Air Racing Team driver Ahmad Al Harthy this coming weekend and he’s aiming for nothing less than two Pro-Am 1 podiums. Heading to the tight and twisty 1.3-mile Fife circuit third in the Pro-Am 1 class points, Ahmad has high hopes of a front-running performance at a track he thoroughly enjoyed during his debut season in the championship in 2010. Securing a top three Pro-Am 1 finish last year, having been forced to battle his way back through the field following a spin due to coolant on the track surface, the Muscat-based driver proved how quickly he’s able to get up-to-speed when visiting a new venue. Knockhill is always unpredictable, especially as it has its own micro-climate which can bring swift changes in weather! Throughout his career though, and somewhat surprisingly considering he was born and continues to live in the baking hot Middle East, Ahmad has long been a wet-weather specialist. So, with a full year of experience now under his belt in his Oman Air, Nawras, National Bank of Oman, Brand Oman, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs and Oman Ministry of Tourism-sponsored car, the 29-year-old is confident he can challenge for two podiums at least on his return to Scotland. “I’m feeling confident we can go well at Knockhill, last year we climbed the podium after having to fight our way back through in the second race of the weekend so I know we have the pace there to challenge hard”, said Ahmad, “I enjoy the circuit, there’s always a great crowd there, and it’s the sort of place where you never quite know what the weather will bring so that’s an exciting challenge.”

FIA GT1 World Championship : A month after the two French HEXIS AMR Aston Martin DBRS9s saw the flag in the Spa 24 Hours, the team’s cars were racing in the French round of the Blancpain Endurance Series on the Magny-Cours circuit. Fred Makowiecki, Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser came home fifth overall in the no.4 car, but no. 3 was badly damaged in an accident after a brake disc shattered when it was in front of its sister car. read report

It's been six weeks since the last round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship, but with a double GT-R victory in France, Nissan will be heading to Ordos International Circuit this weekend in high spirits for the first of two back-to-back races in China. The last round at Paul Ricard in mid-July saw a dominant performance from German duo Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr, who won both of the weekend's races from lights to flag in the no.23 JRM Racing Nissan GT-R, whilst the no.21 Sumo Power GT of David Brabham and Jamie Campbell-Walter clinched fourth place after making up seven grid positions during the course of the Championship Race. Ordos marks the first time that a GT1 race car series will be hosted in China, and comes a week before Round nine takes place at Beijing's Goldenport Park circuit. Located in Inner Mongolia, in the North-West of China, Ordos International Circuit was completed in September 2010 and is the first independently Chinese designed circuit to be constructed to FIA standards. At 3.75km (2.3 miles), the track is shorter than Paul Ricard, but with four more corners (18 to Paul Ricard's 14).The circuit is uniquely laid out in the shape of a horse, an ancient and very important symbol of Mongolian culture, and is very short, tight and twisty by nature, something that on paper shouldn't be suited to the GT-R's high centre of gravity. However, having defied pre-weekend expectations by gaining a Championship Race third place the last time a race was held a relatively slow circuit (the no.21 Sumo Power GT at Navarra, round 6), the eight Nissan drivers across the JRM and Sumo Power GT teams will know that anything is possible. Speaking ahead of the race, David Brabham, driver of the no.21 Sumo Power GT alongside Jamie Campbell-Walter, said: "The Sumo Power GT team is now really showing its potential having secured some good results in recent races, so we are all looking forward to a strong end to the season. Ordos is a new track for me, but then again most of the tracks this year have been, and just like those others we'll be approaching the race with no fear. We just need to focus race-by-race and see where we end up, but we go into the weekend confident." Michael Krumm added: "I think Ordos will be a challenge due to the nature of the circuit and how it suits the GT-R in comparison to other cars, and, on a more individual level for Lucas and I, because we will be carrying a massive 60kg of success ballast due to our wins at Paul Ricard. It will be tough for sure, but it's up to us to rise to the challenge - the target must be to try and stop the championship from being decided before the last race in Argentina, because we know we'll have a real chance of success there at the San Luis circuit."

GP2: Jolyon Palmer produced one of his best performances of his maiden GP2 season at the  weekend at Spa to end a frustrating weekend on a high.The 20-year-old from Southwater had suffered mixed fortunes during the first half of the weekend at the world famous Belgium circuit but managed to turn things around during the 18-lap Sprint Race. Starting from the back of the grid the Brit, who races for the Arden International team, showed tremendous pace and overtaking prowess to finish an encouraging 14th – making up an impressive eight places along the way. What’s more, Jolyon’s race pace was around half a second quicker than several of the front runners ahead of him. Previously in the weekend, Jolyon had been forced to retire from the opening GP2 Feature Race after his engine ingested water causing him to lose power and grind to a halt. This compromised his grid position for the shorter Sprint Race. Commenting on his weekend Jolyon said: "After the disappointment of race one, Sunday’s race went well. I started 20th and lost a place or two at the start but then I got my head down and made a number of passes. The car was really good and the tyres didn't go off at all and so my pace was good right until the end. It is a better end to what was a difficult weekend and hopefully we can improve again for Monza and finish the season on a high.” Jolyon is next in action on 9-11 September at Italy 's Monza circuit

29-08-11

GP3: In what should have been a double podium-winning weekend, Adrian Quaife-Hobbs left Spa-Francorchamps with fourth place in his pocket and fifth in the GP3 Series points with two rounds remaining. The BRDC Rising Star from Tonbridge, Kent, had been in a podium finishing position in both races, running third in Saturday’s race, but claiming fourth at the flag, and second on Sunday before a mechanical issue put him out.  Read report

Atech CRS GP continued to demonstrate its improved pace with Nick Yelloly posting the fifth fastest time in qualifying for the opening GP3 Series opening race in Spa. On Sunday, overcoming ever-changing weather conditions typical of the Belgian circuit, Marlon Stockinger drove a storming race from the back of the grid to finish tenth, while Zoel Amberg also recovered well from retirement in race one to finish 12th just ahead of Yelloly. Read report

Blancpain Endurance Series : It goes without saying that this 2011 season has been good for Maxime Martin. With two victories in the FIA GT1 World Championship, the Rookie of the Year at Le Mans and pole-position in the 24 Hours of Spa. Now the young Brussels-based driver, together with his team mates Bas Leinders and Markus Palttala, has added a well deserved win in the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series 2011 at Magny-Cours on Saturday.  Read report

Team GT3 Portugal claimed their second second podium of the year this weekend at Magny Cours. Duarte Felix da Costa , Lourenço Beirão da Veiga and Ricardo Bravo in the Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 were the best Portuguese drivers at the end of the race finishing 3rd in the Pro-Am class and 9th overall. They are now only 6 points off third place in the championship, with one race remaining.  read report

GP2: Venezuelan Rodolfo Gonzalez returned to action last weekend in the latest races in the GP2 championship at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium. The historic track 400m up in the Ardennes forest is a driver’s favourite but is also prone to mixed weather, which is what happened last weekend.   pic-  Chris Roberts/WiderViewPhoto.com  read report

Porsche Supercup: Isaac Tutumlu had a hard weekend in the Porsche Supercup at Spa-Francorchamps where rain played a major role. However, Tutumlu still put in a good performance at the wheel of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.  During free practice on Friday, Tutumlu suffered an accident after just two laps when he was in sitting the middle of timesheets. “It was a shame, but I had no chance. My car suffered with oversteer at Pouhon, and I lost control. At the beginning I could control it but then I ran on the grass and I crashed. Anyway, I realized this new Porsche is very good, and it is a step forward for us. For sure I could have improved my time”, Tutumlu explained afterwards. On Saturday, Tutumlu approached qualifying in a confident mood. “I took it easy with my first set of tires, because the track was wet again, and I was trying to avoid a mistake. When we used the second one, I was more aggressive, but then I had a problem at Eau Rouge, losing almost one second, and six tenths more at Pouhon. When I was improving my lap times, yellow flags were waved and I had to abort it. Anyway my main target is to gain experience and confidence for tomorrow´s race”. For the race Attempto Racing´s driver made a good start and he overtook several rivals. Before damage to a front tyre induced understeer. The tyre later suffered a puncture and Tutumlu had to pit. “I had a good race pace, at least to try to finish in top-ten, but the puncture prevented me from doing so. I set good lap times, despite difficult conditions. Now we have to study this weekend and to improve for Italy”, Tutumlu said after the race where he finished in P22. The next date for Tutumlu in Porsche Supercup is scheduled in September, at Monza, where German singlemaker championship will celebrate a new race.

Formula 3: Bart Hylkema has high hopes for the final three race meetings of the 2011 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series which kick-off with a visit to Rockingham this coming weekend.Having graduated to the headline International Class just before the start of the second half of the season, prior to which he had dominated the Rookie division, the F3 newcomer has taken no time to assert himself as a front-runner. For these last 3 events Bart is keen to string together a series of consistent top 10 finishes starting at Rockingham. On his International Class debut at Paul Ricard the T-Sport driver secured a top eight result in the final race of the weekend and at Spa last time out, in atrocious conditions, Bart starred in qualifying with eighth and fifth fastest. In race conditions Bart was rapid again but was shunted out of the opening encounter by one of the drivers from the accompanying FIA Formula 3 International Trophy. Meaning a back row start for race two, the Dutchman scythed his way through into 15th position in terms of the British F3 runners and in race three he posted a weekend’s best of 12th place. “I’m really looking forward to Rockingham, we’ve tested there quite a bit so I know the track and I’m confident we can continue the great progress we’ve made since stepping-up to the A Class”, said the first year Formula 3 racer, “At Paul Ricard and Spa we showed that we have what it takes to be very competitive at the sharp end.We definitely made the right decision to move up mid-season into the A Class, as I’ve said before I want to race against the best competition I can. There’s still much more to learn for me, and more performance to be found, but I think next weekend’s races should be good for us. As always I’ll be pushing as hard as possible – if we can take three consistent top 10 finishes I’ll be very happy.”

Formula Renault BARC: Hector Hurst is feeling confident of a strong performance as he heads to local circuit Thruxton on September 3rd for the latest rounds of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship. The Scorpio Motorsport driver is hoping to put two weekends of disappointment behind him and enjoy some real success around the high-speed circuit as the season heads towards its conclusion.  Last time out at Croft, Hurst had a hugely frustrating weekend. The opening race saw the 19 year old all set to have his best result of the season in fourth, when on the final lap impact from behind spun him round and dropped him to ninth, the damage from that incident then hampering him in the second race. Despite the disappointing results, Hurst was back where he belonged, batting at front of the grid, so took plenty of positives from North Yorkshire. “I was pleased and disappointed, but staying positive, I was very pleased because we made a real step forward. The couple of races before that we’d lost quite a lot of our form, so it was good to be back where we should be pace wise and challenging for podiums. It’s just a shame it had to end the way it did, but that was just one race and there’s a lot more in your career, so it’s good to be moving forwards all the time. Croft should be something really solid to build on heading to Thruxton.” Hurst now heads to Thruxton hoping to use his Croft form as a foundation for some impressive performances, however the Boldre Estates Ltd and Seahorse International Sailing Magazine backed driver goes into the meeting with not much experience of the track.  “It’s quite hard to say how good we’ll be at Thruxton, as there’s such limited running there because of the local noise regulations, but I think we’ve done the two days there that everyone else has done. It’s quite an interesting circuit and quite unique in that you only have to brake twice in a lap. It’s obviously quite fast and I can remember that our pace was quite good there, so hopefully that combined with our good strong form from Croft means it could be a really good weekend.” Hurst heads into the final four races hoping to put in a really strong finish to a season full of misfortune.  “We’ve got four races left on tracks that should be nothing other than great for us. All the bits of the puzzles are coming together really well now and we’ve got all the ingredients to build on to get stronger and stronger. We’ve done a lot of learning this year, every bit of bad luck that a driver has in his career has happened to myself and the team over the past three or four races, so we can’t possibly have anymore of that. I think there’s no reason we can’t have a couple of really good weekends to finish off the season and propel us into the winter.”

28-08-11

Formula 3: Gary Thompson scored his fifth Japanese F3 National Class podium of the season on a tough weekend at the Okayama circuit. The Aviation Display and Cebu Pacific Air-backed driver was left wondering what might have been after suffering a crash on his second fast lap of qualifying two that would rule him out of the remainder of the session. The accident would also cost him a set of brand new tyres, which were damaged in the crash, a loss that would prove costly come Sunday. read report

Star Mazda: French racer Tristan Vautier has become the second triple-race winner of the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear season with a victory from the pole – his fourth of the season -- in Round 9 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. Vautier, Driving the #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda, Vautier led every lap to finish 9.690-seconds ahead of Connor De Phillippi driving the #11 Team Pelfrey / Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors Mazda. The race was very close,  Vautier and De Phillippi battled the entire 30 laps with no more than a second or two separating them until the last lap when De Phillippi spun in the chicane on the back of the track, he did however have enough of a gap to the third placed car of Nick Andries to keep the runner-up spot.  pic Eric McCombs © Star Mazda Championship  read report

The Formula BMW Talent Cup held a three-day rehearsal on the Portimão circuit for the grand final at Oschersleben next month. As well as gaining experience in five race heats, of which Stefan Wackerbauer (Germany) won four, the young drivers aged 14 to 17 familiarised themselves with the procedures that will be followed at official racing events. “Learning the regulations is an important aspect for racing drivers,” said Wackerbauer, “and to summarise the rest of my weekend, I am very happy with my four wins – leaving aside my spin in the fourth heat.” The prize for the fastest race laps in qualifying likewise went to the 15-year-old. Alongside Wackerbauer, both Maximilian Günther (Germany) and Max Edelhoff (Germany) proved to be on excellent form. Günther, who emerged as the winner of the fourth heat as well as taking three second-place finishes, was optimistic about Oschersleben: “Despite my not-so-good qualifying results I still managed to mix it up at the front in all the races. I’m looking forward to the grand final, because in the end I was neck-and-neck with Stefan.” Edelhoff consistently finished in the top three in each heat, while Lassi Halminen of Finland and Swiss driver Darius Oskoui each claimed two podium finishes as well.During a seminar, DMSB representative and DTM Race Director Sven Stoppe talked about the regulations governing circuit racing, showing video examples of critical race situations. “For example, the drivers have to know exactly what to do if they don’t get away properly at the start,” said Stoppe. “The better our command of the rules, the better we can respond to complex situations during the race,” summed up 14-year-old Oskoui. Any junior talent series also brings unusual phenomena with it. Prince Max zu Schaumburg-Lippe (Switzerland) and Airidas Siaurys (Lithuania) have both grown six centimetres since the start of the season, and the two 14-year-olds had new seats fitted in Portimão. “You don’t notice yourself that you’re growing, but suddenly my trousers were getting too short,” says Siaurys, laughing. There are now just three weeks to go before the grand final held against the backdrop of the DTM in Oschersleben (15-18.Sept). For the race winner, BMW Motorsport will finance a season in the ATS Formula 3 Cup.

With the FIA’s Action for Road Safety campaign gathering place, the Auto Club of the Czech Republic (Autoklub České Republiky) is the latest organisation to go public with its support for the initiative.The FIA would like each member club to contribute to the campaign by working to address specific local issues: in the Czech Republic a cause of particular concern is the frequency of accidents involving inexperienced drivers. Beginner drivers are responsible for 17 per cent of accidents, while motorcyclists with fewer than two years’ experience account for more than a third of accidents involving bikes.With this is mind the Autoklub has set out a strategy involving initiatives it will carry out and lobbying activity it hopes will lead to changes in Czech law. Announcing its plan of action, it lists its five key tasks as:

 - Lobbying and preparing proposals tasked to improve the quality of laws applied to road traffic, and also to the quality of driving schools.

 - Making mandatory the completion of advanced driver courses for beginners.

 - Increasing cooperation with, and support for, driver-training organisationsmproving the standard of driving school instructors.

 - Launching a social/modern media campaign to raise awareness of road safety, particularly among young drivers and riders.

 - Czech stars on two and four wheels have agreed to be the faces of the campaign, with Skoda factory rally driver Jan Kopecký joined by kart racer  Lucie Panáčková and World Superbike’s Jakub Smrž.
Action for Road Safety is the FIA’s response and contribution to the challenges raised by the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety, the aim of which is to prevent five million road deaths and countless serious injuries over the next ten years. Attending Auto Club of the Czech Republic’s launch event for the campaign FIA President Jean Todt said: "On a typical day 3,500 people die on the world’s roads. These victims are most often the younger members of society. Road fatalities have become the main cause of death among young people aged between 15-29. In 2010, road accidents resulted in the deaths of 1.3 million people worldwide and injuries to nearly 50 million more. Both the human cost and the economic and social consequences of this sad reality are simply unacceptable."

27-08-11

Star Mazda: French racer Tristan Vautier, the current points leader in the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear, set the quick time in both of Friday’s practice sessions for Round 9 at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Vautier, who has won two races so far this season, stepped up the pace from his 2nd-fast time in Series testing earlier this week to record a 1:28.878 in the #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda. Second was Brazilian driver João Victor Horto, who turned a lap of 1:28.901 in the #7 Juncos Racing / Programa Leilões Mazda. Horto, who like Vautier, is in his second-season of  Star Mazda racing and won his first race in Round 6 at Mosport. Read more

Formulec’s EF01 made its fourth official outing in as many months last weekend following appearances at Berlin’s Michelin Bibendum Challenge in May, the ‘Looking to the future’ parade at the famous Le Mans 24 Hours race in June, and the Bavaria City Racing event held in Moscow in July.  Last Sunday (August 21) Rotterdam played host to its latest demonstration where the EF01 joined an extraordinary variety of famous cars, including the Formula 1 machinery of Ferrari and Mercedes. In the hands of Alexandre Prémat, the 100% electric Formulec EF01 single-seater made several runs over the superb four-kilometre-long layout situated at the heart of the city centre in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators, some of which had travelled from far and wide in order to attend this now traditional event. This was in fact the seventh edition of the Rotterdam Bavaria City Racing roadshow which was well planned thanks to faultless organisation.  Saturday night saw the EF01 displayed in front of the city’s Town Hall where guests of the gala dinner, including former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan, were welcomed. Like previous appearances, Formulec used the opportunity to strengthen links with its local partners who are keen to see the organisation of a 100% electric single-seater event in the Netherlands, a country at the forefront of implementing clean energy sources. On its subsequent return to France this week, the EF01 continued its test and development programme which is currently focused on optimising tyres for the specific requirements of an electric drivetrain. The EF01 will make its next public appearance at the Frankfurt Motorshow during the second half of September. For more information on Formulec visit www.formulec.org

26-08-11

BRDC: Following Thursday’s (25 August) Annual General Meeting (AGM), the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) have elected  Derek Warwick as BRDC President. Warwick, whose motor racing career includes 11 seasons and 147 starts in Formula One, wins in the Le Mans 24 hours and the World Sportscar Championship, and three seasons in the British Touring Car Championship, has taken over the role from Damon Hill OBE. read more

VW Racing Cup: Double champion Joe Fulbrook says he’s not given up yet on hopes of reclaiming his Volkswagen Racing Cup crown, despite the recent run of form in the FUCHS Lubricants-backed series which has seen reigning champion Steve Chaplin take the initiative. Fulbrook hopes that new suspension modifications to his Warranty Direct Racing Bora Turbo will give him an edge when the championship resumes at Rockingham next weekend (3/4 Sept), but the 2008 and ’09 title winner does not underestimate the size of his task. “Steve is driving really well,” says Fulbrook, “and clearly has hit something of a sweet spot with his Beetle. We can’t hope to match his pace in a straight line but we are still working on the Bora, improving it all the time, and I’m hoping that we can be nearer him at Rockingham. We’re giving it 100 per cent.”  pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read more

GT: The Aston Martin Owners Club visits Brands Hatch this coming Saturday 27th August, for round 8 of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge. Where Dan de Zille will be driving the no.12 car for Nicholas Mee Racing for the duration of the 90-minute race. The Aston Martin GT4 racing has been close all season, with the Vantage Racing pairing of Tom Black and Alan Bonner taking their first win at Oulton Park earlier this month. Dan will also need to watch out for the Generation AMR duo of Mark Poole and Richard Abra, winners of the opening round back in April. Dan has already graced the top step of the GT4 Challenge podium three times this season driving alongside Karsten le Blanc however this is his debut driving solo. Qualifying starts at 9.40 am on Saturday and the 90-minute race starts at 14.20pm. Other cars in the line–up for the days programme include Pre-War Team Challenge, Pre 66 and 60 Series and the AMOC Intermarque. Dan commented "I’m really looking forward to racing the Aston Martin this weekend, its going to be close racing round Brands Indy circuit for 90 minutes and it will be hard work. The race precedes my races in the Dunlop Formula Ford Championship here on 3-4 September, which will be a totally different racing experience.”

The seventh round of the GT4 Challenge of Great Britain will take place this weekend at Brands Hatch on Saturday 27 August. In only its second year the one-make, factory-backed Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain has already visited some spectacular circuits and seen exhilarating action, firmly cementing itself as one of the highest calibre single-marque racing events. The cars, which are closely based on the road-going V8 Vantage and V8 Vantage S models, are an ideal first step on the GT racing ladder. Throughout the season there has been a closely fought battle at the top between regulars Vantage Racing and Nicholas Mee Racing, however throughout the pack the competition has been strong. The final two rounds will decide which team will have achieved the most success in 2011. The Aston Martin GT4 Challenge of Great Britain has so far visited: Silverstone, Snetterton, Donington, Spa Francorchamps, and Oulton Park The close yet fair competition, camaraderie amongst the participants and the shared passion for the Aston Martin Vantage raced by all, make the GT4 Challenge of Great Britain a truly unique experience. Brands Hatch offers a world-class arena for teams and spectators alike.  Racing on the ‘Indy’ circuit drivers will enjoy the likes of ‘Brabham straight’ and ‘Graham Hill bend’ whilst spectators will enjoy an amphitheatre style view of almost the entire circuit.Practice and qualifying begin at 09:40 and are due to conclude at 10:10 with the race beginning at 14:20.  For those wishing to make a day of it, Brands Hatch will also be playing host to the AMOC race meeting featuring cars from throughout Aston Martin’s illustrious history.After this weekend, the Challenge will head to the final round at Dijon Prenois, France on the 10th and 11th of September.

LMS: Having recovered from the injuries he sustained at Spa-Francorchamps in May Matthieu Lahaye will be back behind the wheel of the #15 OAK Racing LMP1 for the 6 Hours of Silverstone. The team will also welcome a new face at the British circuit, with Olivier Pla joining the #24 LMP1 crew alongside Jacques Nicolet and Alexandre Prémat. The latter returns to the team following his impressive performance at last month’s 6 Hours of Imola. After an encouraging showing at Italian venue Imola OAK Racing is now preparing for the 6 Hours of Silverstone, which takes place on 11 September. The team is currently in Barcelona for two days of testing. They will use their time at the Spanish track to confirm the modifications implemented after Imola and focus on set-up work ahead of Silverstone. Read more

Goodwood: Exceptional cars and extraordinary aircraft are a regular treat at the annual Goodwood Revival, being held this year from 16-18 September.  However, trains are a far less common sight at the world’s most authentic historic motor sport meeting; until now!  In just three weeks time, trains will be very much in evidence as a trio of blushing brides walk down the aisle in full period wedding dress at the ‘St. Charles Chapel of Love,’ as  Goodwood stages three mock weddings from the 1948-1966 Revival era. A gaggle of Goodwood’s GAG Actors will be playing their parts in the wedding ceremonies and receptions at the main Revival pedestrian entrance gate, as a series of brides and grooms attempt to tie the knot, with mixed degrees of success! The Revival wedding party characters will form part of the 80-strong troop of GAG (Goodwood Actors Guild) actors and actresses, all carefully selected to add a sense of theatre to the Revival, following an exhaustive round of auditions.  These actors all become members of GAG, set up specifically to add to the authentic atmosphere of the Revival. The Goodwood Revival gives a chance for all visitors to revel in the romance of motor racing as it used to be. The lovingly restored Goodwood Motor Circuit is unchanged from its heyday, and great lengths are taken to ensure that everything on the site is exactly as it was.  All Goodwood staff and GAG members dress in appropriate period clothing from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and each year the vast majority of competitors and spectators get into the effervescent Goodwood spirit by dressing the part, considering it all part of the fun. All around the Goodwood Motor Circuit site, there are many actors, role-playing and acting out scenes from a bygone era.  Spivs selling nylons and watches from beneath their coats; Mods and Rockers hanging out and dancing, then being ‘moved on’ by the local bobbies; comedic workmen preparing to dig a hole in the most inappropriate place; iconic figures, Butlin’s Redcoats, and even the Dad’s Army Home Guard are all to be found at the Revival. Other GAG members act as airline captains, with a string of adoring air hostesses in tow, whilst reporters and photographers chase the playboy set for the latest scoop, oblivious to the ‘happy campers’ munching on their Scotch eggs and tea cakes beside their 1950s caravans. There’s sure to be much more fun in store over the three fabulous days of the Goodwood Revival this year.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: With the title battle very finely balanced between three drivers, Knockhill comes next in the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB (3/4 September) and the Scottish track, with its unpredictable weather, is famed for shaking up championship contests. A field of 25 450bhp 911 GT3 Cup cars will contest a pair of races for the Carrera Cup and with Stephen Jelley, Michael Meadows and James Sutton split by just 12 points, it really is wide open with eight races still to run. The last two races, at Snetterton a month ago, really shook up the order as Sutton (SAS/Redline) had a torrid weekend and saw his seven-point lead evaporate as Jelley (Parker with Juta) stormed to a double win to take over the points’ lead for the first time since April. Meanwhile, to compound Sutton’s woes, he was bundled back to third in the standings by his team mate Meadows. But Knockhill is famed for throwing up surprises as the Fife track is notoriously challenging. Qualifying is incredibly important at a track where overtaking in such equal cars is very difficult. Add in the often fickle and changeable weather, and it is a heady cocktail for rounds 12 and 13 of the 19-race season. The competition for a leading grid slot will be intense and at Snetterton the top 13 cars were covered by less than a second; it is likely to be even closer at Knockhill. However, this is far from being a three-horse race and Euan Hankey (Parker with Juta) stands out as the driver best placed to join the title battle. Knockhill should suit his attacking style and Euan will be determined to close the gap to the current championship top three. Meanwhile, rising stars Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing), Richard Plant (Team Parker Racing) and Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline) have all shown podium pace and Plant will be buoyed by a fine third place at Snetterton. Michael Caine (Nationwide/Motorbase) has a strong record at Knockhill and should be close to the front pace. If the weather is changing, Caine is famed for making bold tyre choices at the Scottish track. Another major contender will be reigning Australian Formula 3 champion Ben Barker (Parr Motorsport), who drove a superb debut weekend at Snetterton to take a third place. He has won at Knockhill before in Formula Ford, so the 20-year old is eager to get another strong result before returning to his programme in the Carrera Cup Australia. In Pro-Am1, Lithuanian racer Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) has extended his lead over Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) to 48 points. Barring a complete disaster, Gelzinis will be Pro-Am1 champion but Scottish ace Butcher will be ever more determined to beat the Lithuanian at his home track. Also racing on home ground will be Derek Pierce (Dextra/JD Pierce by Parker) and he will be targeting another Pro-Am1 podium.
The Pro-Am2 contest is shaping up to be a battle between George Brewster (Celtic Speed) and Keith Webster (Redline Racing) and it is Brewster who has the home advantage at Knockhill. Other strong Pro-Am2 runners are Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance) and Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport), while championship newcomer Rytis Garbaravicius (Juta Racing) joins the Pro-Am2 grid for the Knockhill weekend.

DTM: The first weekend in September at Brands Hatch marks the start of the final sprint for the lead of the DTM for Audi. Martin Tomczyk is aiming to reduce the gap to Championship leader Bruno Spengler.  The 29-year-old German from Audi Sport Team Phoenix knows how to do that at Brands Hatch,, having taken top spot on the 1.929- kilometre on a previous occasion. Mathematically, with a seven-point gap to Bruno Spengler, the Audi factory driver would only have to finish as the runner-up to regain the lead - assuming the Canadian scores no points at Brands Hatch. But Tomczyk is not the only Audi driver who still has hopes of clinching the title. The two-time DTM Champion Timo Scheider from Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline is in third place. Theoretically, as many as six Audi drivers still have title chances.
Scheider, too, has very fond memories of Brands Hatch. On the way to his first DTM title in 2008 he managed a victory at the DTM's UK round, and in the past two years he has been on the podium.  Mattias Ekström is another Brands Hatch winner in Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline's driver squad. In 2006 the Swede was the first winner of a DTM race at Brands and with a  commanding victory at the Nürburgring in the last round Ekström showed that he has not lost any of his skills. So Audi is traveling to the UK with a good chance of victory score in the duel against Mercedes-Benz. Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "After a short summer break we're traveling to Brands Hatch. Our performance has always been pretty good there but in the past two years we weren't able to convert this into victories. Now we're aiming to achieve a good result with the momentum we had before the summer break. I'm looking toward this race with optimism." 

Audi Sport’s Oliver Jarvis heads to his one and only “home” DTM at Brands Hatch on Sunday 4 September aiming to kick-start what has been a frustrating season so far. Jarvis has been an Audi factory driver since 2008 and lies eighth in the championship with three races remaining after race around Brands Hatch “Indy” circuit. Having posted 12th, eighth and sixth place finishes in the corresponding Brands DTM races, Jarvis this year sets his sights on a rostrum finish on “home” soil in his Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline A4 DTM.“My aim going to Brands is to fight for a podium,” confirmed Jarvis. “Brands Hatch is one of my favourite tracks and of course having the added advantage of ‘home’ support always helps.Last year we were very quick and it would have been possible to score a podium but unfortunately I suffered damage at Turn 1 on the opening lap when I was hit by Ralf Schumacher which then hampered my race pace.”  Oliver continued: “The first six races have been a mixture of emotions. We simply lacked pace in the first two races and I was not comfortable with the balance of the car. Before the third race, we had a test and made a big step forward and since then, I have been consistently quick. “I scored a podium in Austria and then at Lausitzring, was one of the quickest Audi's and had it not been for our strategy not playing out totally to plan, would have again been on the podium. At the Norisring, I was one of the fastest cars all weekend but unfortunately contact in the race put me out of points contention. In the most recent race at the Nurburgring, I was the first car to take the checkered flag on a drying track in qualifying.While everyone else improved on their last laps, I dropped from 10th to 15th. That was disappointing. In the first and second stints of the race I had some good battles. But we started too far down the grid to achieve a top result so had to be content with 10th place.”

Formula Renault: Howard Fuller continued his 2011 campaign with an eye catching performance and two class wins on his debut outing in the Formula Renault NEC series at Zandvoort in Holland on the 13/14 August. Competing in Formula Renault BARC in the UK this season, Howard made the most of a mid-summer break in the series by contesting a round of the North European Cup at the former Dutch Grand Prix venue. Read report

WTCC: Rounds 17 and 18 of the FIA WTCC take place at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo next week and it will once again mark the end of the European season. The 4km circuit does not seem to suit any particular car, as Manufacturers shared honours in the previous years. SEAT scored four victories on its home soil, BMW and Alfa Romeo won three apiece, while Chevrolet claimed two wins (with the Lacetti). Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro had won last year's races with the SEAT León TDi, now replaced by the SUNRED León 1.6T. The Spanish car has shown  significant progress in the latest events and could benefit from support of the local fans to win its first race. The same applies to the two young Spaniards who are fighting for the Yokohama Trophy. Both Javier Villa in the Proteam Racing BMW 320 TC and SUNRED's Pepe Oriola are set to put in strong performance in Valencia.

The championship resumes in Valencia after a one month Summer break following the previous race meeting at Oschersleben, where Yvan Muller (Chevrolet) and Franz Engstler (BMW) claimed one victory apiece. Although restricted to the Chevrolet men, the fight for the Drivers' Championship is set to be exciting. Rob Huff leads the standings since the season kicked off in Brazil, however Muller consistently eroded his team-mate's margin to a slim six-point gap, while Alain Menu still has theoretical chances, lying 69 points behind Huff.  Taking into account the trend of the latest five events that saw Muller cutting Huff's advantage by 30 points, a change of leadership is not out of the frame.

For the next WTCC event at Valencia, Robert Dahlgren's Volvo C30 will not benefit from a weight reduction, just like the BMW 320 TC and SUNRED SR León 1.6T cars. According to the calculation based on the lap times set in the three previous events the Chevrolet Cruze remains the reference car and will be carrying again 40 kilos ballast. The 0.7-second gap between the Cruze and the other cars equates to a difference of 40 kilos, meaning that BMW 320 TC, SUNRED and Volvo will run on their minimum weight: 1170 kg for the rear-wheel-drive, 1150 for the front-wheel-drive. On the occasion of the previous event at Oschersleben, Volvo benefited from a reduction of 10 kilos, while the only model allowed to a weight reduction in Valencia will be the BMW 320si (- 20kg).

Compensation weight Valencia
+ 40 kg Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
± 0 kg BMW 320 TC, SUNRED SR León 1.6T, Volvo C30 Drive
- 20 kg BMW 320si

Last weekend Yvan Muller and a bunch of his friends took part in the Le Mans 24-hour cycling race. The Team Yvan Muller completed 186 laps of the Bugatti circuit during the 24 hours, that equated to 778 km and they were classified in 232nd position out of 382 teams.
"We were obviously extremely proud for having finished such a tough trial. It was a great experience and I was happy to share it with some friends of mine who are real amateurs, just like me," said Muller.

Tomorrow Gabriele Tarquini will be racing again for the Polestar Volvo team in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. After a disappointing maiden appearance at Karskoga, Sweden, where the Italian driver finished the races in 11th and 13th position, Tarquini is keen to do much better on the Danish track of Jyllandsringen. "I have gained a lot of experience of the C30 that is going to be useful. The Volvo is a strong car and the pace in the race was really competitive," said Tarquini. Among his competitors, Tarquini will find Fabrizio Giovanardi, his former team-mate in the Alfa Romeo WTCC team. Giovanardi will be racing in a Hartmann Racing Honda Accord, the same car the drove to win the FIA European Tourig Car Cup two months ago at Salzburg.

25-08-11

Formula Renault BARC: Only four races remain in the fight to be crowned 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Champion and ahead of next weekend’s penultimate event of the season at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire, just six points separate the top three in the driver standings. Rounds 9 & 10 of the campaign, which will both take place on Saturday, 3rd September are going to be absolutely crucial in determining who will head to the season finale at Silverstone in mid-October in the box seat. After, by far, his best outing of the season last time out at Croft with a victory and second place finish, Antel Motorsport’s Dino Zamparelli currently leads by a single point from double race winner Josh Webster. While Zamparelli’s title aspirations were significantly boosted during Formula Renault BARC’s annual visit to the North East, Webster’s weren’t helped at all after a highly unfortunate non-finish during the first of the two encounters – triggered after first corner contact between his Fortec Motorsport team-mates Kieran Vernon and Archie Hamilton. Third in the championship is another two-time winner, James Thorp, and a strong Thruxton weekend will be essential for the MTech Lite racer as he is one of the few who will be affected by the category’s ‘drop-score’ ruling come the end of the campaign.  While the other title contenders all have zero points to drop, as things currently stand Thorp must subtract 11 points at least from his eventual total due to the fact he cannot drop the exclusion he received from round six at Oulton Park. Quite clearly, this could have a major bearing on his final championship placing and two consistently strong results next weekend are a must. Scorpio Motorsport’s Kourosh Khani has produced a tremendous run of late and after securing his first podium in round four at Brands Hatch, he made headlines as the first ever Iranian to win a Formula Renault race during round six at Oulton Park. Ahead of the visit to Thruxton he is fourth in the driver standings, 23 points adrift of Zamparelli. Hamilton and Vernon complete the championship top six, just two and three points behind Khani respectively, and while the top three of Zamparelli, Webster and Thorp do have something of an advantage their immediate pursuers are all capable of podium success next weekend. Protyre Formula Renault BARC rookie Zaamin Jaffer (Dubai) leads the next group which includes series veteran Steven Durrant, Howard Fuller and impressive car racing newcomer Matt Mason. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup : Brands Hatch Indy Circuit welcomes the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup for its annual British round next Saturday, 3rd September, where category race winner and title contender Daniel Lloyd will be aiming for a big result on home soil. Round seven of the 10 race series is without any doubt the most important event of the year for Huddersfield’s finest. As the only British driver in the DTM-supporting championship he’s hoping for plenty of home support as he bids to close the gap to current series leader Mateusz Lisowski who at present has an advantage of 47 points.Daniel’s first season of action in Europe has been a major success so far with one win, two other podiums and a pole position. Considering Brands Hatch will be the first circuit on the calendar which the 19-year-old has prior race experience of, his efforts to date have been all the more impressive. “I’m really looking forward to next weekend, it’s fantastic to be back racing at home”, he said, “I want to go out there and win, that’s my focus for the rest of the season – just try and win every race as the points gap to Mateusz is quite big. I’m preparing as hard as I can, in the gym and with the guys at iZone Performance, to make sure I’m on top form for my home race. “There will be a lot of pressure on at Brands and loads to do out of the car as well as we’ll have 75 guests there on raceday. I’m determined to try and have our best weekend yet as without the amazing support of my sponsors – especially Andy Goddard at TNT Post, Chris Brooks at TSD, Justin from The Print Academy and the guys from Balreed and Propack – I wouldn’t be racing at all.”  One of the most enjoyable facets of the VW Scirocco R-Cup for Daniel is the incredibly level playing field and the parity between cars. “The Scirocco is a great car, I’m having a fantastic time this season racing it and one of the best and most important things is that all of the cars are exactly the same”, he added, “There are loads of one-make championships out there but this one really is down to your own performance and ability. The guys at Volkswagen Motorsport do an amazing job, it’s great being able to work with them. Even though it is only my first year in the R-Cup I will be disappointed if I don’t win the championship, that’s my goal but it is going to be very tough. All things considered though I think we’ve had a really fantastic year and I’m loving every minute of it.”

BTCC: Knockhill is the next destination for Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing over the weekend of 3/4 September in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. Rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the 30-race season will run at the spectacular three-dimensional Scottish track, which always delivers tremendous race action in front of a huge crowd and with Knockhill’s reputation for rapidly changing weather, it is often one of the most exciting weekends of the season.After a trying weekend at Snetterton last time out, Andrew and his Pirtek Racing team mate Jeff Smith are confident of being in the thick of the action once more when the BTCC circus sets up in Scotland. Detailed work by the team after Snetterton revealed an engine mapping issue was costing them time and Andrew is determined to chase another podium finish at a track that he enjoys.As the team’s head north, Andrew is currently sixth overall in the drivers’ championship, while he is third in the independents’ driver standings. Pirtek Racing lies third in the independents’ team championship, so there is everything to play for over the final four weekends of the BTCC season.“We want to hit the ground running in Scotland,” said Andrew. “Normally we go well at Knockhill. The races there are very hectic and you need to be very controlled and not get involved in things. At Knockhill you’ve got to qualify near the front. If you can qualify well and get a good solid race one, it sets you up for the other two races,” he said.However, Andrew is also aware that qualifying outside the top six or eight brings more problems when the races start, particularly at a track where the cars are so closely matched and overtaking is never easy. “If you don’t qualify near the front you do see a difference in the driving standards,” he warned.

Alex MacDowall is looking forward to next weekend’s visit to Knockhill as much as any, believing the Fife track offers one of his best chances yet of securing his maiden Dunlop MSA BTCC victory.The annual visit to Scotland is one of the most important events of the season for the Carlisle driver – in actual fact, it’s very much a ‘home’ race meeting with the MacDowall family originally hailing from Ayrshire.During his debut season in the BTCC last year, Alex starred at Knockhill by taking his second career pole position in touring cars and also setting a new qualifying lap record for the 1.3-mile circuit. In the first of the weekend’s three races, he went on to secure second place and fastest lap. Had he not been jumped at the start by the Honda of Gordon Shedden, Alex certainly had the speed to claim his maiden BTCC win. So far this year he has  two podiums to his credit and he arrives in Scotland seventh in the championship. Enjoying his best weekend of 2011 last time out at Snetterton, bagging 26 points, the Silverline Chevrolet driver maintains high hopes of pushing for a top five championship finish. Three more consistently strong results at Knockhill will be key to achieving that goal. Alex’s quest should also be helped now the advantage held throughout the season by the turbo-charged cars has been largely leveled out. “Last year was great so we know the car will be good around Knockhill”, he said, “We had a test at Donington last Thursday which went really well – me and Jason (Plato) were both there so we got through a lot of set-up changes. Qualifying will be more crucial than ever next weekend with so few places to overtake at Knockhill. I know I can go a step further than last year and achieve my first win, the track suits my driving style and the Chevrolet Cruze is the best handling chassis in the field so it’s pole or bust! I’m seventh in the championship but it’s still quite tight behind so I need another good points scoring weekend to give me a safe gap.”

Dave Newsham is hopeful of joining fellow Scot Gordon Shedden on the BTCC podium at his home circuit of Knockhill. Newsham, from Inverness, will arrive at the circuit off the back of his most competitive showing to date. Three weeks ago at Snetterton he finished all three races on the day inside the top ten and even briefly tasted the lead in one of them. Now he’s back home and feeling confident about his chances at Knockhill.  And while Fife racer Shedden, who drives for the high-profile factory Honda Racing Team and is currently in the running for the BTCC crown, is expected to shine on home ground, Newsham is also hopeful of giving Knockhill’s trackside crowd another name to cheer. “It was only my third event with the team but Snetterton showed just how much the car and I have gelled. I’d say we are now genuinely showing mid-top ten pace. Gordon’s been in the BTCC for five years now and is always the big name when the BTCC comes to Scotland, but I was ahead of him in one of the races at Snetterton for a while. I don’t think I got the results I merited there either so I’m going to Knockhill pretty fired up. I really want to be on the podium and believe that the SEAT, given its past results there, is capable of it.” Although he originally hails from the North West of England, Newsham very much considers himself to be Scottish and takes great pride in the fact that it was at Knockhill last year where he won the Renault Clio Cup drivers’ title before his graduation to the BTCC for 2011.

Porsche Supercup : Isaac Tutumlu travels to Belgium this weekend for the next round of the Porsche Supercup at Spa-Francorchamps. The 26 year old Spanish driver of Kurdish origin will be driving a new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at the venue. “Barzani Racing Team and I are using a new Porsche lined up by Attempto Racing, and not the previously used from MRS and which was a 2010 car. I am looking forward to Belgian meeting, because this new car will be more competitive. After the problems which we had during free practice sessions in Monaco and Hungary, I think this change is for the better. Attempto Racing is very experienced team, because they know how to win both Porsche Supercup and German Supercup”, Tutumlu explained, adding “we´d like to test before Spa-Francorchamps, but we couldn´t find a date. Anyway after this race, we will set a date for a test day previous to Monza or Abu Dhabi. We want to approach the end in a good shape. Spa-Francorchamps, is a track “which I know from 2009, when I competed in Porsche Supercup that year. It´s a fantastic track, and I really love it. Spa is a very difficult circuit, because it´s really long and its corners are a real challenge for any driver. Your attitude plays an important role to set a good lap time. I will try my best and my aim is to get a good result for Barzani Racing Team, and surely this new car is a good tool for it”. . The race is on Sunday at 11.45, just before the Belgian Grand Prix.

Karts: British motorsport could be on the verge of losing one of its most talented and successful rising stars with the news Junior Rotax kart racer Jessica Hawkins may well have competed for the final time – the 16-year-old’s limited funding having completely dried-up following this past weekend’s action. Despite a sensational performance last Sunday, 21st August, at Genk in Belgium where she won the latest round of the BNL Karting Series, the Farnham driver now faces an uncertain future and as things currently stand her hugely successful European outing is likely to have been her last ever.  Read report

Luke Whitworth might have been frustrated in his ambitions when the Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship travelled to Genk in Belgium, but the talented young Rotherham racer certainly rebounded in style with the second victory of his career just a week later at Shenington.   read report

Fresh from his Formula Kart Stars top 10 finish at Genk, Belgium, Sam Brabham has secured sponsorship from Arbuthnot Latham, an independent, high quality and personalised banking and wealth management service, ahead of the penultimate series rounds taking place on 3-4 September at Whilton Mill, near Daventry, Northamptonshire. The Formula Kart Stars 2011 debutant has impressed all season with his constant progress up through the Junior Max field. Achieving every target he has set to date, Sam broke into the hallowed top 10 of one of the UK’s most closely fought junior karting categories at his first international race meeting earlier this month. Joining the Brabham brand, Arbuthnot Latham’s valuable support is confirmed in perfect time for the Formula Kart Stars season crescendo, with just two double-header race meetings remaining. Arbuthnot Latham & Co is the London-based private inclusive banking and wealth management arm of Arbuthnot Banking Group PLC, providing three core services of Private Banking, Wealth Planning and Investment Management. Sam now heads into the penultimate Stars series rounds at Whilton Mill armed with a double confidence boost. Having proved his top 10 talent and secured new sponsor backing, his sights are set on delivering another impressive performance and climbing further up the Junior Max field.

The second round of the 2011 RetroRacer Championship took place at a sun blessed Llandow in South Wales where more than 60 drivers took to the technically and physically demanding 1050-metre circuit for a day that saw some extremely close racing. Pic Ed McDonough     read report

Star Mazda: At this weekend's Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, Round 9 of the 11-race season, Star Mazda Championship drivers from eight different countries will battle it out. There are four race winners in the field this weekend, including championship points leader Tristan Vautier (two wins in the #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda), Connor De Phillippi (three wins / 2nd in the championship driving the #11 Team Pelfrey / Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors Mazda), J.V. Horto (one win / 4th in championship driving the #7 Juncos Racing / Programa Leilões Mazda) and Sage Karam (two wins / 5th in championship driving the #88 Andretti Autosport / MAZDASPEED / Comfort Revolution Mazda). In the Expert Series, a race-within-a-race for drivers 30 and older, points leader J.W. Roberts has four in-class victories racing the #65 Team GDT / General Data Tech Mazda, Walt Bowlin has one in his #23 AIM Autosport / Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery Mazda and Larry Pegram has two in the #72 AIM Autosport / Tampa Bay Jaw Surgery / Foremost Insurance Mazda.  Read more

Formula Ford: Following the successful supporting races at the Zandvoort Masters of Formula 3 event in the Netherlands earlier this month, the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain joins the bill for another headline European event next weekend (3/4 September). This time Brands Hatch in Kent is the venue for the Ford-backed championship for Duratec-powered cars, with Britain’s best-supported junior single-seater category sharing the limelight with the DTM, the German touring car championship. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  read more

Borland Racing Developments Pty Ltd has signed up Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing as the exclusive North American and Canadian distributor of its Spectrum racing car chassis. BRD Managing Director, Mike Borland, said the decision to partner with brothers Dominic and Nicholas Cape was an easy one after working with them recently for the US debut of the Spectrum F1600 at Mid Ohio. “Having seen the professional way that Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing goes about every facet of their business, we knew these were the guys we wanted to represent our products in North America,” said Borland. “Everything from their headquarters to their transporter and trackside presentation is absolutely first class. We know they will work hard and they will have the full support of the factory as we find equally professional teams and owner/drivers who want to experience for themselves the performance they saw at Mid Ohio.” On debut, the Spectrum 012b driven by rookie Australian Mitch Martin scored two 2nd place finishes and the lap record. Given that the car had completed just two test days in Australia and hadn’t turned a wheel in the US prior to the first practice at Mid Ohio, the potential of the Spectrum is unquestionable.Speaking for Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing, Dominic Cape said, “We couldn’t be happier than to be representing Spectrum. We’ve been in the motor racing game for a long time and were blown away by the quality of the Spectrum. The engineering is spot on, but more impressive is that it is a very easy car to work on and maintain. We had only ever seen photos of the car before it arrived in our factory, yet we had no problem at all in assembling it! Customers will enjoy a car that is not only the fastest thing out there, but also the easiest and most economical to own and run.”

Ginetta Juniors : With eight races remaining in the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship there is still a very long way to go before the title is decided, but current points leader Seb Morris is aiming to edge that bit closer to the crown at Knockhill next weekend, 3rd/4th September. Ahead of rounds 13 and 14, the Marford driver has nine wins to his credit, 10 podiums in total from the first 12 races, and is a massive 114 points clear at the top of the championship table. In addition to his race success, the Liberty Properties and Legat Owen-backed youngster has notched up half a dozen pole positions and six fastest race laps. Knockhill is a unique challenge and at just 1.3 miles in length is one of the shortest tracks on the calendar. As always Seb will be aiming to challenge for pole position and to win both races but he’s realistic enough to know, as the second half of the season gathers momentum, consistent finishes are the key requirement to sealing the championship title.“I’ve worked really hard so far to stretch out as much of a points lead as possible to try and reduce the pressure in the championship”, said The King’s School, Chester pupil, “We’ve got a good lead so that’s boosted me to try and go for more wins without worrying too much. If we can take a couple of good finishes at Knockhill it’ll be great, but my real aim is to go there and fight for wins. Knockhill is the most unique track on the calendar, I like it as it brings out a lot of skill unlike some other tracks where you can maybe run wide a lot and not get into too much trouble. It’s a technical circuit and completely different to anywhere else I’ve raced. We were quite quick there last year so hopefully this time around we’ll have a successful weekend.”

FIA: During May, when the FIA launched Action for Road Safety outside the Federation’s headquarters in Paris, the clear intention was to see a worldwide mobilisation of sporting clubs and mobility members. Three months on it’s right to say that the campaign has reached the ends of the earth, with Australia become the latest country to begin work on a project to cut road deaths and injuries. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) and the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), together with V8 Supercars Australia have joined forces to inform and educate, using an innovative, interactive Facebook game, titled V8 Supercars Heroes Challenge. The game is intended to promote road safety by raising awareness of the basic checks that a V8 team performs before a track session– checks that are equally useful for a road car. The mini-game challenges players to select their team – Ford or Holden – and perform a series of car-related safety tasks as fast as possible, mentored by drivers Garth Tander and Shane Van Gisbergen. The leader board will keep track of who is achieving the best times. Participants can also invite their Facebook friends to challenge times with prizes up for grabs.
The campaign was formally launched at the eighth road of the V8 Supercar Championship Series, the Ipswich 300, held over the weekend of 19-21 August, with the Facebook page prominently displays the FIA’s Action for Road Safety logo. CAMS and RACQ are actively encouraging their members to help spread the road safety message by raising awareness in Australia’s state governments, communities, schools and workplaces by pledging a personal commitment to be safe on the roads. They invite every FIA member club to encourage people to visit the V8 Supercars Heroes Challenge Facebook page at www.facebook.com/V8SCHeroesChallenge to show their support. Action for Road Safety is the FIA’s response to the challenges raised by the United Nations’ Decade of Action on Road Safety – an overarching campaign intended to prevent five million road deaths and countless injuries in the next ten years. The FIA will task its member clubs from both the sporting and mobility wings of the Federation to carry out ambitious projects to educate, train and raise awareness of road safety issues as part of its commitment to fully support the UN Decade of Action with all the resources at its disposal.

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Blancpain Endurance Series : Team GT3 Portugal will be back on track this weekend for the 4th round of the Blancpain Endurance Series at Magny Cours, France. The Portuguese trio are currently 5th on the PRO-AM Class in their Lamborghini Gallardo LP60. Their aim is to finish on the podium and keep fighting for the championship. After an interval of one month from the Spa 24 Hours, the first ever 100% Portuguese team to compete in an International GT Championship have high ambitions and a very good  team spirit for the weekend: “August was a good month to rest with my family. Now I am totally focused on this weekend race and I am very motivated to fight for the top positions on the pro-am class. I know the competition is very strong but I also know that me Ricardo and Lourenço are very consistent and strong team so we have to think on finishing on the podium this weekend”, said Da Costa. Both Ricardo Bravo and Duarte Felix da Costa have never been to Magny Cours but this shouldn’t be a problem as Ricardo explained: “I only know Magny Cours from television watching F1 but both me and Duarte have been on the simulator to help our knowledge. On the other hand we can quickly adapt to new circuits as was proven in Spain , when we finished on the podium at Navarra that was unknown for us”. With a different format than the normal weekends both qualifying and race will take place on Saturday. The whole race will be broadcast at Motors TV on Saturday 17:00.

FIA: The International Judo Federation (IJF) has pledged it support to the FIA’s Action for Road Safety campaign during a ceremony in Paris attended by FIA President Jean Todt and IJF President Marius Vizer. Both were participating at the IJF’s 60th Anniversary Gala Dinner at the Opéra Garnier on Sunday August 21st, where Jean Todt was guest of honour at the function which was also the inaugural event for the World Judo Championships taking place in Paris this week. The Gala Dinner was attened by the top judo athletes as well as all the senior administrators of the sport. Alongside them were also a number of prestigious sporting and Olympic names such Nadia Comaneci, Ilie Năstase and Lothar Matthäus. Jean Todt spoke of the blossoming cooperation between the two federations: “Inside your Federation, you already have a Judo for Peace commission as well as a Judo for Children commission, you will now have Judo for a Better Behaviour on the Roads working group. The values of your sport can help us all to build a safer world. I am happy that I had the opportunity to meet the judo family tonight and I am looking forward to working with you in the future".

Karts: Strawberry Racing has pulled off a coup by signing both Junior and Senior Rotax front-runners Rob Holland and Ash Hand. ‘They’ve joined us with immediate effect,’ said Strawberry Racing Team Manager Warwick Ringham. ‘We threw both in at the deep end by getting them to test with us last weekend (20/21 August). It was their first opportunity to try our equipment and for us to evaluate their strengths. I’m very pleased and excited at the opportunity to work with Ash and Rob.’ Holland currently lies 7th overall in the Super One Junior Max rankings, and with two rounds remaining Ringham says the emphasis will be on settling Rob into the team, rather than challenging for outright wins. ‘I want him to use the PFi and Three Sisters races to explore some of the ideas we have about improving his driving. Strawberry has certain techniques and methods, so I’d like to see him adjusting his style and trying these. If he does that, I’m confident he can improve on his points position.’ After starting the season brightly and taking a double podium at Shenington in the second round, Ash has struggled to maintain his early form. Warwick is confident that his latest signing will waste little time in bouncing back. ‘I felt we needed to strengthen the squad for what’s left of this season and of course to create a depth of quality for next year. Ash is an excellent driver and will bat round at the front of the field.’ He added: ‘I’m more than aware that Jack Barlow and Ed Brand are leading the points in their respective classes, but this is not about team orders. There are none - the lads are free to race each other. However, they all know what we want – ideally, a Strawberry one, two, three every time – and you don’t achieve that by knocking one another off. But yes, the fresh addition of Rob and Ash to our line-up will bolster our title push in Junior and Senior Max.’   Holland and Hand will make their Strawberry Racing competition debuts at the penultimate Super One round at PFi on 17/18 September.

Rallycross: Westhoughton-based racer Tony Lynch will hope to bounce back from a difficult weekend last time out in Belgium when the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship returns to Lydden Hill this weekend for the fifth round of the season. Tony was forced to retire from the final at the Maasmechelen circuit after being caught up in an accident on the opening lap and has now dropped to third in the Suzuki Swift Sport Rallycross standings; 17 points behind defending champion Dave Bellerby.With his Lucas Oils Team Geriatric car having undergone extensive work since the Belgian race weekend to repair the damage sustained, Tony now returns to Lydden Hill hoping to repeat the victory he secured earlier in the year. Having taken victory in the season opener at the Kent venue, Tony makes the long trip from Lancashire for the Bank Holiday meeting aware that nothing less than a maximum score will do as he looks to close the gap to Bellerby in the title race. “I won at Lydden Hill at the start of the year and I know I can do it again this weekend,” Tony said. “After the weekend we had in Belgium, I’ve just got to focus on my own race and not worry about what others are doing. I think there are 18 cars this weekend so its going to be important to get to the front and keep out of trouble.The boys have worked really hard on the car since we returned from Belgium and have put in a lot of hours to make sure it looks like new as we get ready for the second half of the year.With the championship standings as they are, we just have to go out to win every time – it’s no good settling for second or third. We need Dave to have a touch of bad luck like we’ve had ourselves, but we won’t give up fighting as we try to close the gap and keep the title fight alive.” 

GP3: With just two events left in the 2011 GP3 Series, category rookie Thomas Hylkema is aiming for a strong end to his maiden campaign in the FIA Formula One World Championship feeder class – beginning with a successful outing at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, 27th/28th August. The Tech 1 Racing driver has shown a good rate of improvement since his competitive debut. “I’m hoping to be much more relaxed and more self-assured going into the Spa weekend”, said the Delft-based driver, “I do know the track, I did one Formula Renault race there in 2008, but I haven’t been around Spa since then. I’m feeling quite curious how everything will work out, what the car will be like and how the weather will be – as always there will be a lot of factors to consider.It’s good to have had some time off since the last two rounds as it’s given me a good chance to look at how things have gone so far and where improvements can be made. Of course, it’d be nice to have some consistent weather so I can try and make as much progress as possible but you never know what it will be like at Spa. For us, the perfect conditions will be to have three fully dry days.” In terms of highlights so far this year, the Dutchman’s best result came at the Nurburgring during round nine when he delivered a tremendous drive from the back of the grid to claim an 18th place finish. This coming weekend’s action will mark only his fifth event of the year and with the championship finale taking place at Monza in Italy just under three weeks from now, Thomas is keen to put together a consistently strong conclusion to what has been a condensed 2011 campaign. “Since Valencia we haven’t really had consistent weather so that has meant we haven’t been able to focus on a particular direction sometimes as I try to improve”, he added, “That has been a little bit frustrating for our first year in GP3 but hopefully we can have some consistency at Spa and then at Monza to end the season very positively.”

Formula Renault Series 3.5 leading rookie Alexander Rossi achieved his sixth podium finish of the season to close a near perfect weekend of racing at Silverstone, UK, with a third and a second podium placed finish in race one and two respectively. However, the party mood was marred when his Fortec Motorsports team were disqualified late on Sunday afternoon for a ‘technical infringement’ on both cars (Rossi and Ramos) – denying Alexander 18 valuable points for his Championship contention. pic Dennis Goodwin read report

The meeting in Silverstone was one of the greatest disappointments of the season for Nelson Panciatici and his  KMP Racing  team. Everything was set to go, especially after the recent trials in Magny-Cours during which Nelson had improved to a higher level of performance.Right from the first free practice, the car choked up and the times were never there. The entire KMP team never admitted defeat and Nelson tried as hard as he could to qualify well.Disappointed with 17th and 21st in the two qualifying sessions, both a long way from  their usual levels of performance. His team-mate,, Anton Nebylitskiy, also ran into the similar difficulties.The results of both races were nothing to write home about either, the first one saw a retirement  because of a fuel injection problem while an anonymous 17th place in the second said it all! Read report

Sportscars: Perry Waddams was in action in his TVR at Rockingham last weekend and after taking pole in qualifying he came away with two fifth place finishes after some frenetic racing.  Read report

European GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough’s bid to make the jump from PlayStation® gamer to real racing driver took a massive step forward on Sunday when he contested a round of the Nippon Challenge national series at the UK’s Rockingham Circuit. The 19-year-old from Cardiff had an almost faultless day in the Nissan 370Z taking pole position and dominant wins in both races and recording the fastest lap of race one in the process. Jann’s American counterpart, Bryan Heitkotter, completed an excellent weekend for the PlayStation® Nissan Team taking second on the grid, second place in both races and the second fastest lap. The weekend marked a double celebration for the two Gran Turismo®5-gamers-turned-racing-drivers as they have now secured enough ‘signatures’ to qualify for an ‘International C’ race licence. The licence is required for the GT Academy winners to achieve their goal of competing in a Nissan 370Z GT4 car in the prestigious Dubai 24 Hour race in January, 2012 – the ultimate prize of the competition that saw over 90,000 gamers enter the European version. Despite holding first and second on the grid in both races, the GT Academy drivers were passed by some fast starters. But they quickly fought back and by the end of lap one on both occasions were one and two not headed again. “That was one of the best weekend’s so far,” said an excited Jann. “Being on the podium and getting a couple of great trophies is fantastic. It was a bit hairy in parts during the races, but I am really pleased with how I drove.”  Bob Neville, the experienced PlayStation Nissan Team boss, was extremely pleased with both the speed and maturity of his two drivers: “This was an excellent performance by both Jann and Bryan,” he enthused. “They had to lap people and pick their way through traffic while keeping an eye on the faster guys chasing them. There were a few signs of contact on the cars after the first race and so I had a word with them and there was no repeat in race two – fast and 100% safe. “After a short break for the guys we are going to see how they get on in the GT4 car next month. The switch from the modified road car to a full-on race car will be a big test for them, but on the evidence so far I am feeling confident.”

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GP2: British driver Jolyon Palmer says he’s looking forward to this weekend’s GP2 races at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit and hopes to end his run of bad luck with a maiden points finish. The 20-year-old from Southwater, who is racing in his first season of the F1 feeder-series, will join the rest of the packed field from 26-28 August for rounds 15 and 16 at the world famous Belgian circuit. Last time out at the Hungaroring, Jolyon endured mixed fortunes yet remained on course for a top 10 finish during a frantic second race until a spin in the final stages ended a promising performance in tricky conditions. Jolyon is now keen to move on from this and secure his first GP2 points finish at the 7.004km Spa-Francorchamps track. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s rounds Jolyon said: “I’m really looking forward to Spa. It’s one of the best tracks in the world with some legendary corners. I have won at the track before and ran well there in F2 so I’m feeling confident and will be hoping for a points finish, especially after our recent bad luck.”  pic GP2/LAT

Karts: Formula Kart Stars hit the track to start the second half of the 2011 season following a two-month summer break at the 1360-metre Genk circuit in Belgium.Although the plush Belgian circuit is hosting a round of the World Championships in September the weather certainly wasn’t world class with rain affecting the racing on Saturday and Sunday. There were six different winners in the six finals held over the weekend and in all three classes the championship standings are still finely poised although the weekend was marred by a serious crash for Junior Rotax driver Nick Arthur that left the 15-year old in hospital with a punctured lung.  Read report

Fulbeck is rated as one of the best tracks in the country and this weekend hosts the penultimate round of the Easykart UK series - which should make for some spectacular racing. No one driver is assured of a title, albeit that current Junior Champion Toby Sowery and reigning Heavy number one Barnaby Pittingale will both need to experience striking reversals of fortune if they are to give their rivals fresh hope. Sam Faulkner and Matthew Round-Garrido will duke it out in Cadet and in Light. Everything is still to play for.  Read more

Grand-Am: AIM Autosport’s BMW-Riley DP car sponsored by GAMMA88 finished seventh in Saturday’s Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. At the beginning of the event, on Thursday, the car was at the low end of the time sheets, but the crew spared no effort in transforming it over two days into a responsive race car that the drivers enjoyed racing. Unfortunately, it did not have the speed in the race to achieve the podium finish the team had targeted.  Photo: Mark Jackson/AIM Autosport   Read report

Formula Renault UK 2.0 Championship racer Alice Powell starred for the Manor Competition team at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 21st August, with two strong race performances – the highlight being a superb drive into the top six from 12th on the grid during the opening encounter.Forming part of the annual ‘World Series by Renault’ festival at the Northamptonshire venue, the 13th and 14th rounds of the season did prove to be challenging for the New Ollerton-based team with a series of unfortunate issues hampering the squad’s progress. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography   Read report

 Jordan King found himself out-of-luck once again as the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship visited Silverstone –  a broken wing mirror left him unable to defend in race 1 and a rival pushed him off onto the grass in race 2 dropping him to the rear of the pack, thus ruining any chance of coming away with a podium finish. read report

This weekend’s round 13 &14 of the Formula Renault UK 2.0 championship event at Silverstone circuit was one of high expectations, promises and heartache for Atech Reid GP. Race one saw Tio Ellinas cross the line in 4th but he was promoted to 3rd taking the final step on the podium, the team’s best result of the weekend. Oscar King meanwhile was on a mission in race one, charging through the field to cross the line in 7th. Dan Wells rounded out the top ten whilst clutch issues saw Jack Hawksworth fall back from 8th to finish the race in 12th.The lack of pace and problems from race one carried over into the second. Starting from the front row Tio lost one place in the first turn. As the race progressed the Cypriot driver held his own until mechanical issues hampered any potential progress eventually crossing the finish line in in 5th place. Jack got a brilliant start off the line and moved up to 5th position but as the race progressed lost rear grip and fell back to 7th.  Read report

Paul Loup Chatin stepped on to the podium for the first time in the second race with third place in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship at Silverstone. A result which moves him to 9th in the points. The Silverstone meeting started well for Chatin who was 6th overall in the first qualifing session before crossing the line in 5th place.  His performance is meeting expectations and the work he and his TECH 1 team have accomplished since the beginning of the year is beginning to bear fruit. Paul Loup then launched into his second qualifiers full of confidence and scored an excellent 5th which put him in an ideal position for the second race. He then had an excellent start and found himself 3rd at the end of the first lap. Paul Loup was then content to follow the two leaders in order to guarantee his first podium place in the Eurocup!  Paul Loup Chatin: “I’ve been waiting for this podium for a while, so even if I was a little bit faster than the two leaders, I would have had to take some risks to overtake them and I didn’t want to compromise my opportunity. The whole team and I have worked hard since the beginning of the season and I hope that we can be even better in a few weeks in Castellet. The goal now is to keep pushing in this direction and pull off a victory by the end of the season.”  The “Euroformula Volants”’ performances have been closely followed by Laurent Fradon, the Director of the Euroformula School School: “Paul Loup has been “flirting” with the EUROCUP podium for a while and this weekend he crystallised his potential. He is an excellent ambassador for our “VOLANT” which has its final selections this September and October on the La Chatre circuit. Paul Loup is now ready for victory and  why not in the next race? He is certainly capable of it.”

22-08-11

Saloons: Danny Keenan’s MK Indy returned to winning ways in the CNC Heads Sports and Saloons Championship on Oulton Park’s Fosters circuit, but he was forced to work hard for his win by ex Champion Robert Spencer’s Locosaki. Read report

Formula Jedi: Arcadius Sports’ Nathan Wright has extended his lead in the Formula Jedi Club Class at Rockingham over the weekend after securing two wins despite the largest grid seen in the class so far in 2011. Despite many problems with the car during the Friday test and having to switch cars for the races, Nathan has now won the last four races in his class and has extended his lead in the championship to fifty points with two races remaining at Anglesey on 24-25th September and Silverstone on 22nd October. The Woodley based driver will also be testing in the BARC Formula Renault during August which he hopes to secure a drive in for 2012.

Formula 3: Aaron Steele completed a clean sweep as he took 2 pole positions, 2 wins and 2 fastest laps in front of his home crowd at Brands Hatch this weekend. Rochester-based Steele's dominance this weekend in the MSV F3 cup means he collects full points for the Sunoco GRAND-AM 200 Challenge giving him the best possible chance to top the points table and gain the opportunity to take part in the support event at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona event which takes place at the legendary Daytona International Speedway circuit in Florida. Talking about the weekend Steele said: "Another great day to finish off another perfect win and maximum points towards the Sunoco challenge! Building up an advantage at the moment is key to maintaining a lead in the event of a car failure In the future," said Steele who knows all too well about mechanical failure after fuel pump problems robbed him of potential points at Donington Park earlier this year. "Two more poles, wins and fastest laps will go nicely towards the Sunoco GRAND-AM 200 Challenge, not a bad way to earn them driving around the amazing Brands Hatch GP circuit on one of the best days of August." The MSV F3 cup heads west for the Next round as it makes a visit to Wales. "Next stop Anglesey, and the teams’ home race. I'm sure they will be looking forward to that a lot! As long as the weather good, I will be too, although it is in Wales..." pic Mike Lambert/Gridshots.com

New Generation Formula 3 cars will be eligible to compete in the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship from the 2012 season onwards. With Formula 3 cars manufactured in three to four year model cycles, Australian Formula 3 has traditionally run at least one ‘generation’ behind European series to contain costs and allow for availability of vehicles ex-Europe. Currently the 2005-2007 generation vehicles are the latest eligible in Australia, with 1999-2004-specification vehicles making up the National class. That status-quo will remain in 2012; however Formula 3 Management has elected to allow a phased introduction of 2008-generation vehicles into the championship beginning on January 1 next year – one year earlier than planned.  pic Nathan Wong / speedshots.com.au  Read more

GT: Maxime Martin was back in action in the FIA GT3 European Championship with the French entered LMP Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9 this weekend on the Slovakia Ring, in Bratislava. A track completely new track to the majority of competitors. “ A well set out circuit, Maxime admitted. It’s varied, with various slow sections as also some fast ones, but over and above all a major hillock where the cars take off! During the briefing the Clerk of the Course even advised us to ease off prior to taking it on, because a mere two weeks earlier a GT had landed up on its roof right there! Guaranteed sensations that’s for sure. “  read report

Three weeks after winning the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps, Audi Sport customer racing has yet another milestone to announce in the company’s customer racing programme: the 100th win for the Audi R8 LMS by Hitotsuyama Racing in the GT3 Asia Series at Suzuka. The GT3 sportscar was unveiled at the Essen Motor Show at the end of 2008. It is the first racing sportscar in AUDI AG history developed specifically for customer teams. In 2009, within the framework of a test programme, the first races were contested by teams closely associated with Audi Sport. Delivery to customers started in March 2010. In the meantime 41 examples of the mid-engine sportscar are racing in 18 championships worldwide.  “Everybody who was and are still involved in this project can be proud of the success of the R8 LMS,” explains Werner Frowein, who in his function as Managing Director of quattro GmbH is also responsible for customer racing activities since January 1, 2011. “The Audi R8 is a fascinating sportscar. For me personally the R8 LMS is currently the most beautiful race car in the world.” Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing, adds: “You shouldn’t forget that we are only at the very beginning of our customer racing activities. The positive record of the R8 LMS is all the more gratifying. And on top of this because the V10 engine from the production R8 remains almost unchanged for racing purposes and has a very long service life as a consequence. This is exactly what customer sport needs because the running costs are kept low in the process.” For example, the winning car in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (chassis number 218) had already completed the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring beforehand – with the same engine. Up to 20,000 kilometres are possible before the V10 power plant producing up to 520 hp must be rebuilt – a clear and strong plus point for Audi customers.“High service life, maintenance friendly and forgiving handling characteristics suitable for amateur drivers were on the specification sheet to start,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, under whose leadership the R8 LMS was developed. “I think we managed this exceptionally well.” The Audi R8 LMS cost 298,000 Euro (net). Audi Sport customer racing guarantees worldwide spare parts supply via the Audi groups logistic department and is on location at the most important European races with technicians and service trucks.Furthermore, the Audi race experience offers Audi customers the unique possibility of achieving a racing license and booking cost-effective races with the R8 LMS around the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

World Series by Renault: 120,000 people flocked to the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on 20th/21st August to enjoy an exhilarating weekend of free motorsport action as the World Series by Renault returned to the renowned venue. Motorsport fans from across the country passed through Silverstone’s gates for the two-day event, including 75,000 on Sunday alone, firmly placing World Series by Renault as the UK’s second largest motorsport meeting behind the British Grand Prix. World Series by Renault, making its fourth visit to the Northamptonshire circuit, treated visitors to some of the best international and national racing plus high-speed, tyre-smoking demonstrations from the Lotus Renault F1 Grand Prix car with Romain Grosjean and Jan Charouz as well as a host of family entertainment and off-track activities.  In addition, the free event gave open paddock access to the fans, including a pit lane walkabout, enabling them to get up close to the teams and drivers competing on the 3.67-mile circuit. In between the action-packed racing, thousands of spectators took advantage of the free off-track entertainment. Guests took test drives in the Clio Renaultsport 200 and Mégane Renaultsport 250 on a special test track while visitors could also experience first-hand how Renault’s safety features operate in an exhilarating passenger ride. On track, top international and national racing action filled much of the programme with the headline Formula Renault 3.5 Series. With two pole positions and two race wins, Carlin’s Robert Wickens enjoyed the perfect weekend. The Canadian’s double success means he leaves the UK with a solid lead at the top of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship standings. It also secures a first Team title for Carlin boss Trevor Carlin and his UK team – a victory they fittingly celebrated on home soil.  The Eurocup Mégane Trophy also thrilled crowds with fantastic wheel-to-wheel racing. After securing a tenth pole position and a ninth victory of the season, Stefano Comini was duly reward by winning the Eurocup Megane Trophy 2011 title at Silverstone. The success is made all the more remarkable by the fact that there are still four races of the season remaining. The Formula Renault UK Championship enjoyed two action-packed races over the weekend. For the national-level drivers in the series it was a rare opportunity to compete on the esteemed Silverstone Grand Prix circuit and in front of packed grandstands. Alex Lynn took both wins in the Formula Renault UK – which boasts Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton among its former champions. pics Dennis Goodwin

The new Formula Renault 3.5. Teams and drivers were introduced to Renault Sport Technologies’ brand new single-seater on Saturday at Silverstone, while the British public caught their first glimpse of the car on Sunday morning. They heard the roar of its new V8 530 bhp engine for the first time in an on-track demonstration by Romain Grosjean. The new Formula Renault 3.5 will make its competitive debut next season in the World Series by Renault.The newest version of the single-seater – developed by Renault Sport Technologies and its various technical partners – promises to take the series to a whole new level. The new car is more powerful than its predecessor and boasts a number of cutting-edge features, whilst complying with the latest safety regulations and fitting comfortably within season budgets. It shares even more common features with a Formula One car, making it the ideal vehicle in which to prepare drivers for the unparalleled demands of F1 competition. The new Dallara chassis is an evolution of the current frame with radically different front and rear wings and cockpit. Overall, compared with the current model, around 70 per cent of the new Formula Renault 3.5’s parts are brand new. The new car’s two main innovative features are its Drag Reduction System (DRS) and the absence of a battery and starter. Like the DRS system used in Formula One, drivers simply press a button on the steering wheel to increase the airflow through the rear wing and reduce the level of downforce, giving their car a straight-line speed boost. In addition to its new, Zytek Engineering-developed V8 530 bhp engine, the new Formula Renault 3.5 features a new gearbox, a pneumatic clutch control and a state-of-the-art electronic system. It also boasts cutting-edge carbon brakes and new tyres specially developed by Michelin. The new car is 50 bhp more powerful and 15 kg lighter than the current model, despite the discipline’s latest, more stringent safety measures. It also features anti-intrusion panels and a considerably improved power-to-weight ratio – all comfortably within season budgets. The new car went through its development phase in June, July and August, and was tested on several European circuits. Romain Grosjean and Andy Soucek were just two of the drivers who took the wheel in the tests, and the new car quickly set some impressive lap times. The new Formula Renault 3.5 has already proven to be 2.6 seconds quicker than the pole time set at the Motorland Aragón meeting earlier in 2011.

Clio Cup: Scuderia Vittoria’s Luke Wright utterly dominated the AirAsia Renault Clio UK Cup and Dutch Clio Cup head-to-head in front of a massive crowd at the Silverstone World Series by Renault meeting.Wiltshire teenager Wright crushed his opposition in testing on Friday to lap 0.648 seconds clear of the field. On Saturday he qualified on pole position for both races, going fastest by an enormous 0.736secs and setting a time good enough for pole on every single flying lap he completed. He lost the lead of both races due to pole position being on the disadvantageous outside line at Silverstone, but retook first place on the opening lap in both races before romping home to victory, by 4.2secs on Saturday and by 2.2secs on Sunday. For good measure, he set fastest lap in both races, which represented his first two wins in Clios. Read report

Formula Renault : British racer Will Stevens took his eighth points-scoring finish in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship with ninth place in race two at Silverstone today. Despite suffering from understeer the Oxshott, Surrey, ace posted the fourth fastest time in his qualifying group and headed into the race hoping to repeat the form that took him to his sixth podium finish of the year yesterday.  Read report

Volkswagen Racing Cup : A new team with pupil power is set to join the Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants for the rest of the championship season. Lunar Racing will make its debut in the series at Rockingham next month (3/4 Sep) with a Mk IV Golf GTI prepared for the track with the help of schoolkids.  The Corby-based squad uses motorsport as a platform to help 14-18-year-olds from schools in Northamptonshire, Rutland and Cambridgeshire achieve GCSE-level qualifications in motor vehicle repairs and engineering. Cars built by Lunar’s juniors have previously contested single-seater series, MG Car Club saloon events and, last year, the Fiat Abarth series. “Since the demise of the Fiat championship we’ve been looking for a suitable series,” said team boss Paul Kneeshaw, “and the Volkswagen Racing Cup ticks all the right boxes in terms of the level of professionalism of the teams and the engineering of the cars. We are really looking forward to it.” The team’s Golf has been converted from a donated road car into a championship compliant racer by students over the last five months, and is on schedule for its Rockingham debut. Who will give the car its track baptism has yet to be finalised: “We work with a number of different drivers,” says Kneeshaw, “and a final decision has yet to be made.” Lunar hopes to expand to run a two-car team in the Volkswagen Racing Cup in 2012.Championship manager Melissa Wright welcomed the new team: “We are over the moon to see Lunar Racing joining the championship. It is a great initiative for grass-roots motorsport and I know that the other competitors will be pleased to see the team and to offer them all the help they can.“It is great also that Lunar has chosen an older-model Golf for the project, which adds further to the diversity of the grid, something for which the championship is justly famous.”

The Porsche Club Championship makes its annual Bank Holiday visit to Castle Combe on Monday August 29th, with title challengers Mark Sumpter and Chris Dyer locked together on points and each out to win their class and keep the pressure on. The two races round the rapid Wiltshire circuit could be pivotal in settling this year’s title, with just one meeting remaining after Combe. Sumpter won the opening four rounds in his Porsche 911, the oldest car in the field, and was back to winning ways at Oulton Park earlier this month in round 12. That weekend also saw his first non-finish, and even though Sumpter holds a handy lead in the Class One points, his class rivals are keen to score wins to keep their own points hopes alive. Second in the Class One points is Ben Demetriou, a consistent front runner and former class champion who is still chasing his first win of 2011. Pete Morris won the first race at Oulton, his second win of 2011, but then destroyed his car in a race stopping incident in the second round there, though he hopes to be back out in a new 968 CS at Combe. Another front runner will be former champion Mark McAleer, tied for fourth in the class points with Paul Follett, the latter denied his first podium finish at Oulton on the very last lap. Miles Maserati took his debut win in the series at Thruxton in June, while newcomer John McCullagh won the opening wet race at Rockingham in July, and both could feature at Combe on a circuit that in the past has provided some classic Porsche Club Championship races. Reigning champion Dyer heads the Class Two points and matched Sumpter’s points tally with two good finishes at Oulton. Quick and consistent in his Strasse run 944 S2, Dyer has his eyes on holding onto the championship and the number one race number, and usually finishes well inside the top ten overall in the races.

Other News: Pensioner Rita Turner realised a lifetime ambition on Friday 19 August, when she completed her first laps of the Brands Hatch circuit. However her means of transport was a little unconventional, as she took to the track in a mobility scooter! 79-year old Rita is no stranger to the motoring world, as the Farningham resident worked as a bus driver, regularly covering the route from Swanley to West Kingsdown that passes the circuit. She always dreamed of lapping the track in her bus and despite retirement and a back injury, finally took to the tarmac along with cyclists from the Swanley and North Downs Lions Club on their annual "Bike around Brands" sponsored ride. After completing her first lap Rita commented: "It's quite a thrill! The scooter handles well and it's everything I hoped it would be, the weather's fine and I can't believe I'm finally on Brands Hatch. It's given me a wonderful feeling of belonging"  Swanley and North Downs Lions Club is part of Lions Clubs International, the world's largest service organisation, with 1.35 million members in 206 countries. In the 12 months leading up to June this year they have raised £12,000 for EllenorLions Hospices, a service for adults living in Dartford, Gravesham, Swanley and surrounding villages. They also run a children and young people's service, chYps, which extends further afield. Every week they provide hospice care in the family home for 300 adults and 80 children and each year 250 people receive in-hospice care. Colin McRobert, Event Organiser for Swanley and North Downs Lions Club said, " Rita completed 6 laps of the 1.2 mile Indy circuit before the somewhat chilly evening weather caused her to give up. The sponsor money raised by Rita and the other riders will be over £4,000. The Lion's share will be donated to EllenorLions Hospices and the balance retained by the Club to help others in need. "Of those who took part," he continued, "76 were under 14 years of age and 108 had ridden in previous years. Lions Club President Peter Lampkin, and the members, are indebted to the regular supporters, those new to the event and to Jonathan Palmer, of MotorSport Vision, and his team at Brands Hatch, for their assistance in running this important annual fund raiser."

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MSV F3 Cup: Aaron Steele had the perfect start to his race weekend at Brands Hatch on Saturday after securing pole position and another win. The Rochester-based racer dominated qualifying and despite not getting a clear lap took pole position by 3 seconds!. "It was great to be out on the Grand prix circuit once again" said Steele. "I haven't driven on it for a while, but it soon sunk back in and I was straight back on it in qualifying!  There was a lot of traffic and going into it I knew this was always going to be an issue as we are racing this weekend with Monoposto. I just stayed out and hoped for that clear lap; I managed to get a mostly clear lap and wound up about 3 seconds clear of anybody, which is more than enough comfort zone", explained Steele. With such a big gap to second place Steele was confident that he could gain a comfortable victory. “Sure enough I got a good start and cleared off, setting about building up a lead. At the end of lap 1 a safety car was called out for a stranded car off on the startline, we followed that for two laps. This took a considerable chunk of time out of the 15 minute race, and when the safety car eventually came in there was only around 8 minutes left of the race. At the restart I got a massive jump on a sleeping Matt Draper, so I had no worries about anyone attempting to pass me, then once again I set about building my lead, which in the few short laps I had I managed to build up to a healthy 15 seconds. The only negative was that quite a few of the novice drivers I began to lap were not very observant with the blue flags and I definitely surprised a few! Not to mention a few extremely unnecessarily close encounters i had to endure."  The result sees Steele move up in the Sunoco Grand-Am Challenge moving him 1 step closer to a drive in the supporting race at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona 2012.

GT Asia: The Audi claimed a perfect weekend in a not so perfect weather at the Suzuka Circuit after claiming a second win in the GT Asia Series Round 8 on on Sunday. Driving the Audi R8 LMS GT3, Hiroshi Hamaguchi also set the fastest lap of the day with 2:25.714 on a wet track. In the season’s first wet race, Hamaguchi once again used his knowledge of the circuit to his advantage, finishing the race with a comfortable 55.891 second gap. The GT4 Asia was won by Ryan Marsden, who for the first time claimed a pole to flag win while Nigel Farmer, driving a Ginetta G50 won the race in the dry on Saturday. The CS Class was won by Naoki Furuya.  Read report

Formula Ford: Cameron Waters has become the first repeat winner in the Australian Formula Ford Championship this season after taking victory in round four at Queensland Raceway today. The Linde Mygale driver took victory in the final race of the weekend and once again proved that consistency counts as the other round contenders came to blows on the final lap of the weekend.Matt Brabham came second for the round ahead of Nick Foster, who was forced to fight back from 17th to second in the final race, but it was Waters who stared and extended his championship lead in the process.  Read report

Formula Renault: Will Stevens took his sixth podium finish of 2011 with third place in the opening Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship race at Silverstone on Saturday. The 20 year-old Surrey racer got up to second on lap three and had race victory in his sights two laps from home, but eventually had to settle for third.    read report

The Formula BMW Talent Cup drivers gathered at Silverstone to take part in another training programme as racing drivers. As well as mental training, a fitness test and comprehensive media coaching, the greatest challenge lay in improving their racing style in the driving simulator. “I learnt an incredible range of strategies that will be really helpful in the future,” said 16-year-old Finn Lassi Halminen in summary of his simulator session. Unlike other driving simulators, the “iZone” is able to track the driver’s eye movements by means of special camera glasses. The optical pinpointing of circuit characteristics combined with the activities in the race car provides feedback on whether a driver’s timing could be optimised. “Each young racing talent must first learn that you have to drive with much more foresight,” explains Andy Priaulx, who was on hand at Silverstone to offer guidance and assistance to the drivers. “In the simulator they can practise improving their track orientation before adapting their driving style accordingly,” continues the three-time WTCC champion and forthcoming BMW DTM driver.  The participants also had the opportunity to prepare themselves in the simulator for the forthcoming circuits of Portimão (Portugal) and Oschersleben (Germany). Portimão next weekend will host the “dress rehearsal” for the grand final of the series in Oschersleben in September. The winner of the final event will be granted a season in the ATS Formula 3 Cup financed by BMW Motorsport.  In the fitness retest, the young drivers showed that their already fairly high fitness levels at the outset had improved during the course of the season. “Fitness has always been an important issue for me,” says Maximilian Günther (Germany). “Now I’ve been able to give it another boost through running, cycling and weight training, as shown by my fitness results.” Media training took place on location at Radio Silverstone. As well as being taught how to deal correctly with microphones and the special nature of radio interviews, the drivers worked on ways of better navigating their way around the media world. After their flight home on Monday morning, it was time to pack their bags again: on Thursday all the drivers will be back on a plane heading to the race event in Portugal.

Karts: Josh White significantly increased his championship lead during rounds seven and eight of the 2011 British Formula Kart Stars (FKS) series at Genk in Belgium recently. Josh, who went into the latest FKS fixture leading the MiniMax class for 11-16 year-olds by 29 points, put in a strong and consistent performance throughout the two days of competition. Indeed in the end he outscored all three of his now closest rivals - and will head into the final two events at Whilton Mill and Ellough Park next month with 1116 points on the board and a 61-point cushion, more than doubled that which he enjoyed prior to Genk.  Read report

20-08-11

Grand-Am: AIM Autosport’s BMW-Riley sponsored by GAMMA88 will start sixth in tomorrow’s Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Driver Burt Frisselle drove the car during this afternoon’s qualifying session and, in a close battle that saw fourth to seventh span 0.06s, set a time of 1m 34.436s on the 2.709-mile (4.360-km)-long circuit to secure the third-row starting spot. Burt actually held fifth until a late flyer by the 2 car undercut his time by one-thousandth of a second. At an average speed of 103.269 mph (166.195 km/h), Burt’s lap marked AIM Autosport’s fastest lap of the event so far as the team has gradually pulled the car up to speed. The qualifying run was also notable as AIM’s GAMMA88 car was the top qualifying BMW-powered entry, pipping Memo Rojas in the 01 car by just 0.033s. Given the number of successful races AIM has run at this track, it would not be a surprise to see the GAMMA88 car on the podium tomorrow. The team’s engineers are honing in on a race setup to provide long tire life and that, in combination with a fuel-saving strategy, has the team is looking forward to tomorrow’s 11:15am start. “I’m really encouraged by how far we’ve come,” said Burt after qualifying. “When we started this weekend, the car really wasn’t where any of us wanted it to be, but Ian and the crew put their heads in it and came up with some big improvements. To out qualify the 01 car is particularly nice as they run the same package as us. There’s still a little more speed in the car and we’ll drive a hard race tomorrow.  Burt’s co-driver, Mark Wilkins remarked, “Unbelievably close qualifying. Burt drove a great lap to get the car right in the mix for tomorrow's race. The AIM guys all worked hard, completing numerous changes to improve the car. I want to thank GAMMA88 and Telus for their continued support and I can't wait for a competitive race tomorrow!" Tomorrow’s Montreal 200 is scheduled to get the green flag at 11:15am. Live coverage will be presented by MRN. SPEED will broadcast delayed television coverage at 7pm.   Pic Mark Jackson/AIM Autosport
 

GT Asia:  The Audi R8 LMS GT3 driven by Hiroshi Hamaguchi takes pole for the GT Asia Series Rounds 7 & 8. Guest driver, Hamaguchi set a blistering pace, more than two seconds ahead of Championship leader, Mok Weng Sun at Suzuka today. Hamaguchi clocked 2:05.929 in the first Qualifying and 2:04.748 in the second to claim both pole positions for the weekend. “I definitely have a good advantage. Knowing the track and I think its competitive and an interesting series. I am happy that I can race here” said the Hitotsuyama Racing driver. “On the straight, it is not too fast in my car so I have got to push myself and I don’t know how the long distance will be but I’ve got to keep my mirrors and pay attention to the other drivers”.  Setting the second fastest time in both sessions is the Ferrari F458 GT3 driven by Mok of Team Clearwater Racing. “I am happy to be back in Japan . I am happy with my time and its my first time here”. “It is probably one of the most difficult circuits I have ever driven on. I didn’t expect to get pole and Hamaguchi san is an excellent driver, he is very quick. He knows the circuit very well. I am carrying a bit more ballast too.  “I’ve got a one second gap to Eddie and Dilantha, so it looks good for the race, forty minutes so I am going to keep it together” ended Mok. Lining up on second row for Round 7 will be the Lamborghini LP560 of Dilantha Malagamuwa and the Porsche 997 GT3 R of Eddie Yau. Malagamuwa clocked 2:08.408, just two hundredth of a second faster than Yau. Meanwhile the duo will switch positions for Round 8 when Yau set 2:008.115. Hisamori Hayashi claimed the fastest time for the GTM class in Direction Racing’s Porsche 997 Cup 3.8 when he set 2:09.855 in the first qualifying session and 2:10.459 in the second session. Concord Absolute Racing drivers in their Aston Martin N24’s claimed the fastest time for the GT4 Asia class with Mark Williamson, who will partner Simon Waters this weekend, setting a fastest time of 2:21.995. Teammate, Ryan Marsden made up for a not so smooth first qualifying session to set the fastest time amongst the GT4 drivers in the second session. “First pole of the season was good. The car is set up well and its been driving okay so it was nice”.  It will be an interesting race weekend with unpredictable weather so far. It rained earlier in the morning making the track a little damp at the start of the session, the sun has come out and it looks to be good weather for the race later this afternoon. Speaking on the changeable weather, Hamaguchi is comfortable either way “I do think its going to rain and if it does I am okay. My car is quite heavy so it does not have a good acceleration, so when it rains it doesn’t really matter” said Hamaguchi after the Qualifying session. Round 7 race will be held on Saturday, 20th August 2011 at 2.20pm local time with Round 8, on Sunday at 11.40am. The GT Asia Series is visiting the circuit during the Autobacs Super GT Round 5 in conjunction with the 40th International Pokka GT Summer Special this weekend. The GT Asia Series will then head to Autopolis International Circuit in support of the Autobacs Super GT Round 7 on 30th September to 2nd October 2011.

Formula Ford: Nick Foster dominated proceedings on Saturday at Queensland Raceway

19-08-11

MG Trophy: The last time the MG Trophy cars were at Donington was in 2009 for the season opener where young Jack Goff stunned the field with a win, a second place, driver of race one and overall driver of the  day. Jack has since gone on to race in the Clio Cup and has already taken two podiums this season. Trophy co-ordinator Pete Macwaters is convinced that his championship is the proving ground for budding tin top racers to see if they’ve got what it takes to compete at higher levels of racing.  Macwaters is expecting 18 starters at Donington for the two MG Trophy races both sponsored by Luffield MG boss David Wood, who will have a rare outing in his TechSpeed prepared LE 500. Macwaters went on to say “David has once again stepped in to support us for the second time this year, this is David’s local track and we welcome him and his guests as the MG Trophy Championship returns to Donington after a year lay off.” Joining Wood will be another TechSpeed built LE 500 out for the first time in the hands of ex Trophy driver Mark Humphrey who has done the occasional Trophy race when time has allowed. “It’ll be good to see two more LE 500’s on the grid joining Paul Luti following his win at Croft in July” said Macwaters. “A well sorted 500 in the right hands is a potential winner, Mark will only have done a limited amount of shakedown work at Mallory in his new car, but it will be interesting to see how he gets on.” The current leader in the championship is still Oliver Barnard in his ZR 160 closely followed by 2009 champion Chris Bray (ZR 190) and 2010 champion Paul Streather in the ex Jack Goff ZR 190. “Oliver may have to miss the last two rounds at Knockhill as his wife is expecting their first child so it’s all still to play for” said Macwaters.

Formula Ford: Mygale driver Cameron Waters is the man to beat following practice for Round 4 of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Queensland Raceway today.The championship leader topped both sessions and appeared confident after his recent round win at Eastern Creek to finish ahead of Sonic Motor Racing Services teammate Nick Foster. "I'm really happy with how practice went today, we managed to improve the car across the two sessions and we definitely saw a lot of improvements, which will help in qualifying and the race tomorrow," Waters said. "It looks simple on paper with only six corners, but the bumps really make Queensland Raceway a big challenge and it's difficult to get a clean lap. I think we'll change a few things overnight to try and find some more time, but things are looking good at this early stage." Second place man Foster started the day slowly, posting only the ninth fastest time in the opening session, but some excellent driving late in session two saw him go within a whisker of Waters' time.  "We really struggled this morning, but the changes we made between practice one and two really made some big gains in terms of time. We focused on getting a good set up for qualifying tomorrow, so hopefully that will pay off," Foster said."The times are incredibly close throughout the field, so any small error can mean the difference between starting at the front or in the mid-pack. I won here last year and I'm feeling confident after the last round at Eastern Creek, so I'm sure we can have a good weekend."  Queensland local Jordan Lloyd was third fastest ahead of Matt Brabham, who is making his second appearance this season. The round two victor is focused on year 12 this year, but a competitive weekend could see him climb right up the championship ladder.   "It feels great to be back in the national series and racing against the best drivers and obviously the last round I did couldnt have gone much better, so I'm excited about having another strong weekend," Brabham said."I know the track really well and I've got my family here supporting me, so there is no reason why I can't battle at the front with Cam [Waters] and Nick [Foster]."   Liam Sager was the fastest of the Spectrum chassis in fifth, ahead of CAMS Rising Star Jack LeBrocq and Shae Davies, while Andre Borell, Caleb Rayner and round one winner Tom Williamson rounded out the top 10.   Round 4 of the championship continues with qualifying and race one tomorrow at Queensland Raceway.   Practice times

BTCC: There are little more than two weeks to go before Scotland hosts its round of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill on 3-4 September.  The BTCC’s  arrival at the venue looks set to attract a bigger and even more enthusiastic trackside crowd than before. The reason is Fife’s Gordon Shedden who is better placed to win the BTCC crown than any Scottish driver for more than a decade. Shedden will go into his home round second in the standings after an extraordinary piece of precision driving – two weeks ago while rounding a corner at Snetterton he deliberately drove his Honda Civic into a barrier to remove its mangled front wing. It meant he avoided having to make a costly pit stop for repairs and instead was able to go on and score more valuable points. Earlier in the day, in the second of three races, he’d taken his third win of the season to briefly lead the BTCC table for the first time in his career. Now three more races await him and he’ll start them just 8 points adrift of the leader, Airwaves Ford Focus driver Mat Jackson and, crucially, ahead of his own Honda team-mate Matt Neal. ‘Flash’ is clearly hoping that at Knockhill he can move back to the top and stay there to go on and become the first Scottish driver since John Cleland in 1995 to lift the BTCC crown.  Shedden commented: “The move at Snetterton was very risky – I don’t know if I could do that again if I was given another 100 attempts! But I had nothing to lose and it paid off and although Mat Jackson won the race and slipped ahead of me in the championship it means I’m just that little bit closer to him. Racing in the BTCC in front of my home crowd is always awesome but this year it’s going to be even more special. I’m in the strongest position I’ve ever been in and doing the business at Knockhill and leaving with the championship lead is of course the dream scenario. The gap to Jackson is only eight points – there are 15 for a win and three races on the day so there’s a lot to play for. This is also the most competitive season I can remember in the BTCC with so many different drivers and different types of cars capable of challenging for a place on the podium. I’ve driven thousands of laps around Knockhill but it counts for zero – the drivers at this level are into the groove with any track within five laps. I’ve got a great car in the Honda Civic and a great team in the Honda Racing Team but we will all have to be at the top of our game on Knockhill weekend to keep our championship challenge going.”

In addition to Shedden, the trackside spectators will have another ‘local’ to cheer on in the BTCC’s three races at Knockhill (Sun 4 Sept), namely Dave Newsham. The Inverness racer will be making his first appearance in front of his home crowd as a BTCC driver after winning last year’s Renault Clio Cup title. Newsham will arrive at Knockhill off the back of his best showing to date – he was in the points in all three races at Snetterton, even leading one of them briefly in his Special Tuning Racing SEAT Leon.

Meanwhile Knockhill’s big BTCC race weekend will feature 11 more races for the supporting Ginetta Junior, Ginetta GT Supercup and Porsche Carrera Cup categories as well as the guesting Scottish Classic Sports and Saloons and Mini Cooper Cup championships. Race day (4 Sept) tickets cost £25 in advance and can be booked right up to the eve of the event (Fri 2 Sept). To book or for details of other ticketing options including discounts on weekend passes and concessions visit the www.knockhill.com website or call the circuit on 01383 723337. Admission for children aged 12 and under is FREE all weekend.

Historics: Croft Circuit can confirm that its retro motor sport-themed festival, Nostalgia, will continue for a third consecutive year in 2012 after it defied bad weather to successfully run the event for a second time. The Historic Sports Car Club, whose race programme forms the backbone to the event, has already requested a date for next year after again being left impressed by the North Yorkshire circuit during its recent 2011 Nostalgia weekend (6-7 August). Heavy rain on the Saturday threatened to disrupt the event but 16 races were still run thanks to the tireless efforts of the HSCC, circuit staff and marshals. Grahame White, the HSCC’s Chief Executive, commented: “We were hugely impressed by the enormous effort that the team at Croft put in – their co-operation plus that of the marshals and our drivers meant we still got through the whole programme which was quite amazing. Furthermore Croft is a very popular venue with our competitors – the circuit is a real challenge for them and there’s also a very friendly reception all weekend-long. The huge line-up of entertainment off track from classic cars and military vehicles is also superb and means nobody is ever left waiting for something to happen. It is just a hugely enjoyable weekend, in fact one of the highlights of our calendar, and we very much want to return for a third Nostalgia weekend in 2012.”  In total some 240 drivers signed on for competition during 2011’s Nostalgia weekend with more than 250 racing cars dating from the Forties through to the early Eighties in action for the crowds. In addition more than 400 classic cars plus 100 World War Two military vehicles were on display while numerous side shows themed around music, fashion and living history from the Forties-Seventies added to the value-for-money-entertainment for the public..

Karts: Beitske Visser recently had the opportunity to make her debut in car racing at the Dutch Supercar Challenge, on 5, 6 and 7 August 2011, at the circuit of Assen. Without any previous experience in the category - not even with her l car , Attack Praga R4 GT1,  - this promising Dutch karter crossed the finish line as winner after an hour  long race, and it was only a gearbox problem stopped her taking another victory the following day. Read report

Ryan Anderton has kept himself firmly in the hunt for the British crown in the 2011 Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship with a brace of podium finishes at Genk in Belgium.  read report

Super One Rotax Series points-leaders and Kartmasters Champions Strawberry Racing has a small selection of factory-prepared chassis and complete karts for sale. Suitable for all Rotax and KF classes, the Tony Kart EVRR is acknowledged to be one of the easiest chassis to drive and set up. Strawberry has a limited number for sale - at just £1,700, plus VAT, each. They have been maintained regardless of cost, and are just four meetings old. Complete karts are also available and come complete with Cream Racing Engines-prepared Rotax motors (available for Mini, Junior and Senior Max). Each is priced at £3,300, plus VAT.  Four Rotax powerplants, with just three hours total running time and maintained by Cream Racing Engines, are offered, in either short or complete form. For details and prices, please call Warwick Ringham on 0114 269 6215 / 0114 288 9933. Further information about the above offers, OTK products, the Tony Kart EVRR and Cream Racing Engines’ services can be found at www.strawberryracing.co.uk.

WTCC: David Sigacev will make his WTCC debut at Valencia.The young Russian will be at the wheel of Engstler Motorsport's third BMW 320 TC car, run under the banner of DeTeam KK Motorsport, the same that was driven by Marchy Lee earlier this season. Sigacev, who was born 22 years ago in Moscow, lives in Germany where he is developing a promising racing career. He won the DMV Karting Championship at the age of 15 and then moved to Formula Renault and the Porsche Carrera Cup.  This season he is competing in the ADAC GT Master at the wheel of a Mercedes SLS AMG.

The results of the last two WTCC races at Oschersleben on July 31st, will be soon declared final by the FIA, following the technical checks of two Chevrolet engines. After the second German race, the FIA Technical Delegate Manuel Leal had sealed the 1.6-litre turbo engines of Rob Huff's and Darryl O'Young's cars, which meant that race results remained provisional pending technical cheks. Days ago Leal completed all technical checks at the RML factory in the UK and found both engines in compliance with the technical regulations. Now the results just need to be confirmed by the Stewards.

Current WTCC point leader Rob Huff and his team-mate Alain Menu will take part in the Buenos Aires 200 Km this weekend. Huff and Menu have joined the Equipo Oficial Chevrolet at the wheel of Cruze cars they will share with regular drivers Agustín Canapino and Christian Ledesma respectively. Menu who won the Argentine race for Chevrolet in 2006 said: "Since 2004 I only missed this race once. I like it very much and I thank Chevrolet Argentina for inviting me to compete once again. The WTCC and TC2000 Cruze are very similar in terms of concept performance, though the Argentine car has a more racing look. I am confident because we have a good package and we can fight to win this race."

Seven-time World Rally Champion Sébastian Loeb drove the Chevrolet Cruze WTCC at Rockingham last week. It was a private event that Loeb attended following an invitation from his friend and fellow World Champion Yvan Muller. The idea stemmed last year when Yvan competed in the WRC Rally of Alsace and both friends shared and compared impressions about their respective race disciplines and cars. A holding statement from Chevrolet explained: "Chevrolet and RML were glad to cooperate in materializing the invitation made by Yvan to Sébastian to try his Cruze. However what happened cannot, in any way, be interpreted as a short term expression of a professional interest by any of the parties involved." Yvan Muller attended the drive and set reference laps to give Loeb the best out of this day at the wheel of the Cruze WTCC.  

Britcar: Mazda UK has entered three MX-5s into the Britcar 24hr race at Silverstone on 1 October. The three Mazdas will be taking on rivals SEAT, BMW, Lotus and Ginetta on the Silverstone GP circuit. Two of the cars are production race cars based on the Mazda MX-5 2.0i Soft-top Sport Tech alongside the world’s fastest and lightest Mazda MX-5, the MX-5 GT car. This is the fourth time that Mazda UK has entered the Britcar 24hr race, previously with the rotary‑engined Mazda RX-8 in 2005 and 2006 and two Mazda MX-5 production cars in 2010.  The three race prepared Mazda MX-5s will be relying on their handling and light weight to reduce pit time through fewer tyre changes and frugal fuel consumption, while maximising track time.  Currently, the 850kg Mazda MX-5 GT ranks fifth overall in the championship and third in class, while the Mazda MX-5 production race car, which is essentially a standard MX-5 with safety modifications, is fourth in class and eighth overall.  Over the 24 hour race each car will be driven by a team of four drivers. The line-up for the MX-5 GT race car see regular drivers Mark Ticehurst and motoring journalist Owen Mildenhall joined by Le Mans veteran and ex F1 driver Mike Wilds. The first of the two production MX-5 race cars will be driven by a team of four journalists: freelance journalists Andrew Frankel and Jethro Bovingdon, Ben Anderson from Autosport and Matthew Prior from Autocar.

Driving the second production MX-5 race car at Silverstone will be a team raising the profile of British Armed Forces Charities in motorsport. These include The Not Forgotten Association – one of the 2011 chosen charities for the RAF Typhoon Display Team, of which Mazda is the 2011 vehicle sponsor, Help for Heroes, the 'Soldiers’ Charity' - the Army Benevolent Fund, Forces Children's Trust and Scotty's Little Soldiers. Leading this team will be Major James Cameron of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (2RTR) based at Tidworth in Wiltshire. James has just returned from Afghanistan where he commanded the Warthog Group - Task Force Helmand's independent armoured Squadron. He is joined by Brigadier Mike Hickson, the Director of the Royal Logistic Corps. Mike is a keen racer, campaigning in single seaters as well as racing classics, most recently at Silverstone and Le Mans. Former Royal Signals Sergeant Will Browning is the third driver, a keen racer and drifter from Bath who is now a Metropolitan Police Officer in the London Borough of Hackney. Completing the line up is TV presenter and racer Tony Jardine, an ardent supporter of Forces Charities and himself the son of a Royal Navy pilot. The Forces MX-5 will be supported in the pit garage by soldiers from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment including some who are recovering from injuries sustained while on operations in Afghanistan.

18-08-11

Star Mazda : The teams and drivers of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear – representing eight countries - took their first laps around the 2.52-mile, 12-turn road course at Infineon Raceway since 2005, the last time the series raced here. Setting the quickest time in the second session of the one-day official series test was Sage Karam, who did a lap of 1:29.381 in the #88 Andretti Autosport / MAZDASPEED / Comfort Revolution Mazda. Karam has scored two wins so far this season and is 5th in the championship points. Less than 0.2secs slower was current championship points leader Tristan Vautier of France, with a 1:29.572 in his #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda. Vautier has also won two races this season. Turning the 3rd-quickest  time was Brazilian João Victor Horto, a second-season Star Mazda driver who scored his first-ever series victory in Round 6 at Mosport. He did a 1:29.668 in the #7 Juncos Racing / Programa Leilões Mazda. Read more

Grand-Am: AIM Autosport’s GRAND-AM Daytona Prototype team has arrived in Montreal for Saturday’s Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Fresh off an impressive effort last weekend at Watkins Glen where their BMW-Riley sponsored by GAMMA88 led almost a quarter of the race and finished fourth, the team is looking forward to bolstering its successful record in Montreal with a top-three finish. The team has participated in a limited number of races this season and the breaks between events have felt painfully long. This time, however, team members had just two days at home in Toronto before getting back on the road. As at Watkins Glen, AIM has enjoyed a bright history at Montreal with it’s crowning achievement coming in 2008 when its Daytona Prototype won what remains the closest finish in series history, a three-wide thriller that AIM snatched by 0.064s. That 2008 win came thanks to excellent fuel economy as did last week’s result. It will be difficult to complete this weekend’s race with just one pitstop, but AIM’s engineering team of Ian Willis and Jeff Lohman are looking at all the scenarios that will get the GAMMA88 car to another great result using a fuel-saving strategy. AIM is welcomes the addition of Sarafina as an associate sponsor. Sarafina—whose logo first appeared on the car last weekend—produces a line of quality, frozen pizzas made with healthy, natural ingredients. "Montreal is a vibrant city where you can feel the energy and excitement that the race brings,” said driver, Mark Wilkins. “The festivities downtown draw huge crowds and the grandstands are always full. Coming off of a strong race at Watkins Glen, we will build on the momentum, put on a great show and do our best to get back on the podium for our home fans." His co-driver Burt Frisselle  added, “I'm excited to be racing in Canada for the only Canadian team in the series. Montreal has been a strong track for AIM Autosport and I‘m sure the GAMMA88 car will be be strong again after finishing fourth last week. I can't wait to get the weekend going and go for another great result for GAMMA88.”  The Montreal 200 weekend opens with practice sessions on Thursday afternoon. Practice and qualifying is schedule for Friday and the race is set to start on Saturday at 11am. Live coverage will be presented by MRN and SPEED will broadcast delayed coverage at 7pm. Pic : Tom Cinnamon

Sportscars: Down the hill past the old pits, building speed, take the curb on the left and launch yourself into Eau Rouge at over 130mph, one of the most challenging series of corners in motor racing, the Mazda MX-5 GT took them all. Turn right, foot fully planted on the loud pedal, jink left, let the car drift and then onto the Kemmel straight.  Foot flat in sixth, horizon approaching fast, brake from 150mph, dive right, then left, seatbelts straining against the lateral g-forces through Les Combes chicane and launch into the next section of track down towards the Bruxelles hairpin.Nestling in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, Spa Francorchamps is one of the greatest race circuits in the World and favours the brave with its high speed corners, blind crests, long straights and changeable weather.  The Formula One circus arrives in town for the weekend of the 26th August for the Belgian Grand Prix, but what is it like to drive this iconic circuit? The Mazda Jota team raced at the circuit in June with the MX-5 GT and to see what it is like to drive the circuit from a driver’s point of view go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYquCSHJ58Y to follow Mazda’s race driver Mark Ticehurst talk through a lap of Spa in the Mazda MX-5 GT race car.

Club Racing: The BRSCC  Midland Centre are back at Rockingham this weekend for the second of what is now three ‘club’ meetings scheduled at the Corby Speedway this season. There are 18 races on the two-day timetable including Mighty Minis, Euro Saloons, TVR Tuscan Challenge and Formula Jedi with ‘guest’ appearances from Pickups, the Nippon Challenge, the MR2 Series & the Quaife Intermarque League. The timetable, final instructions and race entry list can be found at ROCKINGHAM

Motorsport specialist television station Motors TV will broadcast the second of three shows featuring action from othe BRSCC Brands Hatch meeting in June. The show concentrates on the Caterham Academy Group 2 & Alfa Romeo championships as well as the TVR Challenge. The 30 minute show will be repeated on Thursday and again on Saturday. The final programme, to be broadcast towards the end of the month, will feature the Super Mighty Minis & the Dunlop Motorsport News Saloons. 

As a track fanatic from a young age Adam Walker, the winner of a recent Racelogic survey ran in conjunction with the BRSCC, is delighted to be the new owner of a Video VBOX Lite system worth almost £1,000. Currently racing in the Championship Class of the highly competitive Formula Jedi Championship, the born-and-bred Yorkshire man now has high hopes he can use the video enhanced data logging system to work his way up the championship rankings. “Hopefully my new Video VBOX Lite will enable me to improve my racing performance by providing me with a chance to analyse where I am losing/gaining time on track, find the best braking points and choose the optimum racing lines,” said Adam. “I’ve only ever used one video capturing device in my car but I wasn’t impressed; from what I’ve seen the Video VBOX is considerably better and should allow me to capture some amazing footage and help me to move up the championship too. I hope to have the Video VBOX system installed and in full use by Saturday’s race at Rockingham.” Racelogic are going to follow Adam’s progress throughout the Formula Jedi series posting his videos on their YOU TUBE CHANNEL

The BRSCC has launched its own channel on You Tube. The channel currently features races from the BRSCC South Eastern Centre meeting at Brands Hatch on 11/12th June. This includes the two Caterham Academy races, the Alfashop Alfa Romeo race, the Mighty & Super Mighty Minis races and the Dunlop TVR Challenge race. These races were all covered by Sky Sports’ Racemax show & Motors TV recently but the You Tube channel gives viewers the opportunity to watch both extended race action and interviews. To view the BRSCC You Tube channel click BRSCC YOU TUBE

Ahead of the game as ever, the Motorsport Safety Fund now has its annual Christmas card available for sale. This year the Fund has selected 'Blue Thunder', John Ketchell's dramatic depiction of Emilio Materassi's Bugatti T35C, en route to victory in the 1927 Targa Florio, for their 2011 charity Christmas card. Ketchell admits to being enthralled by cars since he was a child; he is the proud owner of a 440bhp replica Ford GT40. He still lives in Preston, Lancashire , where he trained in the 1960s and then worked as a professional illustrator, before becoming a full-time artist. The cards are priced at £6.50 for 10, including envelopes, postage and packing; they are available from: Motorsport Safety Fund, Penny Farthing, Heythrop, Chipping Norton OX7 5TW. An image of the card can be found here MOTORSPORT SAFETY FUND CHRISTMAS CARD

Karts: James Singleton was right on form around Belgian circuit Genk when the Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship paid a visit last weekend, as he stormed to his fifth victory of the 2011 campaign to race clear at the top of the title standings.   Pic  Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net  Read report

Samuel Oram-Jones put in a cracking performance and took victory during rounds seven and eight of the 2011 British Formula Kart Stars (FKS) series at Genk in Belgium last weekend. Sammy, who competes in the MiniMax class for 11-16 year-olds was convinced he was going to be quick and he didn’t disappoint.   Pic  Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net   Read report

Formula Ford: The BRSCC, founders of the Formula Ford Festival, are holding a celebratory dinner on the Saturday night of this year’s event (15th October 2011) to mark the 40th anniversary of the iconic meeting. The Club sincerely hopes that many of those who in some way, shape or form have raced, supported and enthused about ‘THE FESTIVAL’ will attend and join in the fun evening to be staged in the MSV Centre at Brands Hatch. Club Chairman Bernard Cottrell said, “Despite the clash with the Korean GP we are optimistic that many of our previous ‘Festival’ winners will be able to attend. We hope that ‘old and new’ teams, competitors, mechanics, ‘gofers’, marshals and spectators will regard this as a must for their diaries and combine it with a stay overnight and a day at the races on the Sunday to see who will become the 40th Formula Ford Festival winner. It will be an International dinner initiated no doubt by the traditional invasion from Ireland , coupled with our many in Europe, America and the Southern hemisphere.” Tables of 10 priced at just £350 or individual tickets at £35 and are now available from the BRSCC HQ. The dinner will start at 8pm and as it will be at the end of the first day of the Festival the dress code will be relaxed to smart casual/teamwear. To book tickets call 01732 783141 or email dominic@brscc.co.uk

Dubliner Cormac O’Neill secured the inaugural Avon Tyres Formula Ford 1600cc Triple Crown title at Brands Hatch last Sunday. Cormac scored a 3rd and 4th place finish in the double header and that was just enough to overhaul pre meeting leader Oliver White who came home 4th & 5th. Both races were won by young Chris Middlehurst. For a full report on the Brands Hatch meeting click click BRANDS HATCH REPORT

Mallory Park will once again host the annual running of the Edwina Overend Memorial Trophy race at the BRSCC meeting at the Leicestershire track on Sunday 18th September. This race for Formula Ford 1600’s commemorates the work done by the late Managing Director of the circuit in bringing motorsport back to the venue in the early 80’s. The race entry fee is just £195 and the entry form can be found here EDWINA MEMORIAL ENTRY FORM

GT: As McLaren GT prepares to enter two cars in the Blancpain Endurance Series race at Magny Cours on 27 August 2011, the new GT race car manufacturer is announcing that the first 20 MP4-12C GT3 race cars available to purchase for racing in 2012 are now sold. Like the 12C road car on which the 12C GT3 race car is based, demand has outstripped supply.  Production of the 12C GT3  has been deliberately limited, as McLaren GT plans to develop close relationships and provide ongoing engineering support to its customers racing in 2012 and beyond.  This limited production run of race cars will be distributed among private owners and race teams for racing in Europe next year. Read more

17-08-11

Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit will echo to the sound of V8 engines once again when the GT Trophy Endurance Series headlines the MSVR GP Weekend on 20/21 August. Spectacular Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and BMWs will populate the grid for a fascinating and gruelling three hour endurance race around the Brands Hatch Grand Prix, which will test drivers’ skill to the limit. The sleek Ferrari 458 of Rob Barff and Leon Price has been the star of the field so far this season with victories at Snetterton and Oulton Park , but there will be a whole host of drivers eager to add their names to the winners' list for 2011. Joining the Ferrari 458 on the grid will be two Lamborghinis, one of which driven by former SEAT British Touring Car star James Pickford. There will also be a rare appearance from a race going Ferrari F40, courtesy of Simpson Motorsport. With three hours of racing around the famous Grand Prix circuit, an unpredictable on track battle is on the cards. While the GT Trophy cars will provide the main attraction, the single-seaters of the MSVR run F3 Cup, Monoposto Championship and the Champion of Brands will provide wheel-to-wheel action around the 2.3 mile Grand Prix circuit. The F3 Cup is set to produce is biggest grid of the season so far, and local man Aaron Steele will be aiming to continue his impressive form in the series. The Monoposto Championship will see a mix of single seaters of all shapes and sizes including Formula Renaults and other variants battling around the track. Edge of the seat racing will be produced by the Formula Fords of the Champion of Brands with 22 drivers ready to battle it out in the final round of 2011. The series has witnessed some epic battles around Brands Hatch this year, producing three different winners in the shape of Josh Barnett, Jordan Skinner and most recently Craig Currie. Huge grids will be expected in the MK2 Golf GTI Championship as the title battle heats up with only three rounds of the season remaining. Class 1 runner Guy Stevens holds a narrow one point lead over James Bark ahead of yet another intriguing battle at the Kent venue. Volkswagen will also be represented in the VAG Trophy, which caters for pre 2006 machinery from Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda. The SEAT Leon of Daniel Rose leads the championship. Iconic touring cars from the past will also tackle the GP circuit when the Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge embarks on its penultimate round of 2011. The Lotus Sunbeam of Joss Ronchetti and Julian Westwood and the Chevrolet of Boysie Thurtle shared the victories last time out on the Brands Hatch Indy circuit. Also providing thrilling tin top race action will be the Dunlop Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship and the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship. Darren Blys’ Nissan Skyline leads the Motorsport News Saloon Car Championship but Brands Hatch specialist and West Kingsdown resident Rod Birley will be looking to claw his way back into the title race in his World Rally Championship spec Ford Escort.The battle for the BRSCC Alfa Romeo Championship is even closer with just 10 points separating the top four drivers. Emma Karwacki currently leads the standings just a point ahead of Neil Smith in his 156 touring car.
Tickets for the MSVR GP Weekend at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit on 20/21 August are available priced at £13 for adults with free admission for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0843 453 9000.

Aaron Steele is looking forward to getting back behind the wheel this weekend as the MSV F3 Cup heads to his home track of Brands Hatch once again, this time on the Grand Prix circuit. Last time out Steele dominated the weekend and almost completed another clean sweep after securing two pole positions. Unfortunately after leading the race he along with a number of other competitors exited the circuit after a backmarker dropped some oil. Steele would take the win in flawless style for the second race of the weekend. Looking ahead to this weekend Steele said: "I am really excited about getting to drive on the Grand Prix circuit at Brands hatch and it can't come soon enough for me! I have raced on it several times before but there’s always something very special about it with its amazing history. Not to mention the chance to race on it due to many restrictions is very limited, adding to the specialness of it.”  Along with the excitement of the full circuit Steele is also looking forward to racing in front of his home crowd again. “Appearing in front of my home crowd, at a circuit I regularly work at as an instructor will be great; my plan for the weekend is just to focus on getting more of those extremely important Sunoco Challenge points and increasing my lead. You never know what’s round the corner and a few car failures could drop me right down the leader board, like what happened after the Donington park rounds.” Steele will be watching the weather forecast with interest this week following the downpours that almost threatened to wash away the race weekend last time out. “I’m hoping for a drier weekend after last time where it was a bit of a washout. Being August is that too much to ask of the British summer weather? I hope not..."

Britcar: Snetterton was the venue for last weekends penultimate round of the Britcar GTN Championship where Sarah Bennett-Baggs and Team mate Jensen Lunn were contesting the Adrian Flux sponsored no.57 BMW E46 M3. read report

Formula Ford: As the EuroCup Tour came to an end in Zandvoort over the weekend so did Dan de Zille’s hopes of a EuroCup podium. Race 1, in difficult conditions early on Saturday morning, saw Dan suffer with his rear brakes locking up, causing Dan to spin off at Tarzan. He rejoined the race but only for it to happen again on the final lap putting him out of the running altogether. Weather conditions deteriorated for Race 2 in the afternoon with the Safety car out on lap 3 to enable the marshals to collect various beached cars from around the circuit. Dan meanwhile found himself running in seventh when a last lap dive from Slaghekke as he tried to out-brake McBride left the former in the gravel at Tarzan, moving Dan up to finish 6th. Overnight rain soaked the track for Race 3 on the Sunday morning with the local Dutch runners using older wet tyres in the hope the track would dry. They were proved right as by lap 5 the Dutch appeared to have an edge leaving the British contingent struggling on overheated wets. Dan had a great start battling with Cook and Slaghekke in the early stages before handling issues dropped him back to finish in the early teens overall but 7th amongst the British runners.  Read full report

Karts: Sam Brabham rose to the challenge of competing in his inaugural international kart meeting at Genk, in Belgium, with his best Formula Kart Stars result of ninth place securing his first top 10 finish in the Junior Max category. The 16 year-old drew on experience gained throughout his debut Formula Kart Stars season to deliver his best performance to date. Despite an incident packed event that pushed his perseverance and determination to the limit, Sam kept bouncing back with the threat of making it through the fierce mid-field and into the hallowed top 10. Pic  Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net   read report

Formula Renault: Will Stevens will be aiming to return to winning ways and the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup podium on home soil as the premier single-seater series holds its only UK round of the season at Silverstone on August, 20-21. The 20 year-old has been on fine form this year, opening his debut Formula Renault Eurocup account with his first race win at the Spanish circuit of Motorland Aragón in April. He has also claimed three pole positions and a trio of podiums in the series so far this season, including a pair of second-place finishes at Spa Francorchamps. Despite a challenging time at the last Hungaroring rounds, Stevens lies fourth in the championship 61 points behind the leader. With six races remaining and 150 points still up for grabs the Fortec Motorsport driver has everything to play for. Stevens is primed in preparation for his big home race. His second Formula Renault UK guest appearance of the year at Snetterton earlier this month added another second-place finish to his season tally after taking the same result at Brands Hatch at the beginning of the year. “I’m really looking forward to Silverstone this weekend and hopefully it will see a return to form and the podium,” said Stevens. “We had a very positive outing last time at Snetterton in the domestic series and learnt a lot so I’ll be looking to improve on that performance in front of my home crowd.When you’re competing in a European series, it’s always a boost to race at your home event and I'm excited now to be racing on the new Silverstone layout. Following the strong start to the season in Eurocup, and with five combined podium finishes this season, nothing less than another podium will do. The competition in the Eurocup is fierce and I suspect we'll be joined by some of the British series regulars which will increase the opposition. However if we can get a good set-up on Friday ahead of Saturday's first qualifying, I'm optimistic we can get another strong finish."

Mumbai-born racer Zaamin Jaffer delivered an impressively strong account of himself at Zandvoort in The Netherlands over the weekend, 13th/14th August, with a double class podium on his debut in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. The 21-year-old, who is in his first season of ‘slicks and wings’ racing, seized the chance to gain some additional experience during the summer break from his regular commitments in the UK-based Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship and starred at Zandvoort with two excellent drives. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  read report

Sports 2000: David Pittard has continued his impressive transition into sports car racing with another class win and P2 overall in Sports 2000, again in a new car and in his first ever hour long endurance race. Having completed a late deal to drive for race car manufacture MCR alongside regular driver Peter Williams, Pittard headed to the Wiltshire circuit of Castle Combe on the Thursday before the race hoping to gain some pre race testing.  Read report

GT: European GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough and his American counterpart, Bryan Heitkotter, are now one race weekend away from gaining their International race licences after a metronomic performance in the Britcar Dunlop Production GTN championship race at the newly-refurbished Snetterton circuit. After a string of podiums, including a second in class at the previous Britcar race at Castle Combe, the Britcar organisers promoted the PlayStation® Nissan Team 370Z to the Production GTN Class 1. Competing against ‘winged’ BMWs and Ginettas, the pair rose to the challenge of the competitive class by 26th overall in what proved to be a fast and frantic session.Bryan Heitkotter started the race and put in a prodigious stint before handing the car over to Jann, who demonstrated his ever improving race craft by battling against the more experienced field and overtaking a number of cars.coming home  in 17th place (eighth in class). Mardenborough said: “It was wicked to race on the new Snetterton. The tight infield is a lot of fun. It was a real experience racing in the GTN Class 1 and Bryan and I knew we needed to be more consistent than ever to put in a decent result. It was a really satisfying race as we were the underdogs in the class and had to work really hard for a decent result.” Two race finishes in next weekend’s (20 & 21 August) Nippon Challenge at the Rockingham Circuit will see the pair gain all the required signatures on their National A licence to be upgraded to an International licence. With it, the two latest winners of Nissan and PlayStation’s innovative competition to turn a Gran Turismo® gamer into a pro racing driver will get considerably closer to competing in the 2012 Dubai 24 Hour endurance race in a full race-spec 370Z GT4 car.

Chevron Racing Cars rising star racer, Jordan Witt, 20, survived a massive 110mph, 30g crash in his Chevron GR8 GT at Redgate corner at Donington Park last weekend – but, thankfully, walked away unscathed, proving what a safe and strong car the compact GR8 race car is, even in such a high speed racing incident.The weekend was going perfectly for Chevron and Jordan Witt with the diminutive GR8 GT qualifying for its first pole position in the GT Cup, in dry conditions, despite the extra 60kg of ballast the car was carrying from its Brands Hatch win last time out, again beating the Ferrari 430’s, Porsche GT3’s and other supercars.Then, at the start of the first race disaster struck, when Jordan was  caught in an incident involving a Ferrari 430 driven by Gary Eastwood at Redgate. Jordan said: “Most unfortunately after getting into pole position, Gary Eastwood in his Ferrari 430 made contact with me, just after the start line before the first corner at ‘Redgate.’ The high-speed impact plunged me backwards into the inner circuit concrete wall. It was quite a shock. The impact data from the in-car telemetry systems shows the car was at 110mph and pulling 30g when I hit the wall. The crash energy was so high, it broke the wall in three places and sent me bouncing back across the track in front of other cars, into the outside gravel. Very fortunately, I got out with no injuries apart from a minor one to my elbow. Most sadly, the race car is a mess, but it is our intention to be back out racing at the next British GT race at Rockingham on 03/04 September.”  Eastwood was black flagged by the Clerk of the Course and after three laps came into the pits and was removed from the race. His race licence was later endorsed.Chevron’s Managing Director, Helen Bashford-Malkie said: “Obviously, it was most disappointing when Jordan had got the Chevron onto its first pole in the GT Cup and we were all very worried that he was going to be OK after such a big crash. But we were very pleased the Clerk of the Course saw fit to address such a serious accident in such a prompt and efficient manner. And, on the positive side, we were extremely pleased with how safe and secure the GR8 is in such a massive impact. Whilst the car may have looked a complete mess after hitting the wall at 110mph, and having been hit by the heavier Ferrari 458, the safety cell remained perfectly intact and our roll cage protected Jordan perfectly. I’ve seen much lesser crashes result in far more serious personal injuries in my time racing, and we are all glad Jordan is OK.”“We are focusing now on re-building the GR8 for the next round at Rockingham, just a few days away, and hope to continue our run of success with the new, exciting GR8 race car – which is getting some great results against established names and racers. Jordan is a superb driver and we are very confident the Chevron GR8 will continue its run of success, just a few months since we launched the new race car,” Helen added.

Other News: On Monday 5 September 2011, star of Formula 1™ - David Coulthard will be using all his skill from 14 years of Grand Prix racing to power a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG to victory in what is set to be a dramatic virtual v. reality race. Coulthard will compete in real time, in the same car, on the same track against opponents racing on Gran Turismo®5 - the latest evolution of the most successful and realistic PlayStation®3 (PS3™) driving game of all time. A competition prize draw has been launched to find his challengers.24 prize-draw winners will enter a qualifying round at Mercedes-Benz World in Weybridge, Surrey, during an exclusive event day.  This will include the chance to experience the real and awesome 6.3 litre V8 powered Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG on the brand centre’s unique Handling Circuits.  Those who set the top six qualifying times on Gran Turismo 5 will compete against Coulthard, and the clock, in the final race that afternoon. To give Coulthard and his potential opponents a fair chance at glory, the track will remain a mystery until the day.  The final showdown is guaranteed to be a dramatic 15 minute race, where the gamer to set the fastest lap will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix on 27 November. The big race can be viewed live online with live pre-race coverage from ex Formula 1™ driver Martin Brundle on race day at 3pm at www.mercedesliverace.co.uk.  Racers with the dream of competing against the 13 times Grand Prix winner can enter the prize draw at www.mercedesliverace.co.uk.  Prize draw entries close at 5pm on the 22nd August 2011.  Entrants must hold a full UK driving licence and be available to take part in the race day event at Mercedes-Benz World on 5 September. Full terms and conditions apply. Owners of the Gran Turismo 5 game who do not win the prize draw will be able to test their own driving skills against 13-time Formula 1™ winner Coulthard when details of the track and car set-up are revealed on the day. With over six million copies of the game having been sold since its November launch, the event could become the world’s biggest ever race. 

16-08-11

GT: With an emphatic class win and 4th place finish recently in an International GT Open race at Brands Hatch to buoy them, and their STP AF Corse Ferrari F458 very much on song, Britain’s young sports car duo, Daniel Brown and Glynn Geddie, are confident of maintaining their form at the Slovakia Ring GT3 Championship race meeting this coming weekend, August 20/21.It’s been a season of frustration for the young pairing in GT3 so far this year, with a series of mechanical issues blighting their progress.When the car has been performing correctly, their speed and racecraft has been proved emphatically, as at Brands Hatch, and at the British round of the GT3 series at Silverstone, when Brown was shaping up for a podium position only to suffer disappointment as the car failed to restart at the routine handover to Geddie. Brown commented: “The new Slovakia Ring race circuit is an unknown quantity but it has some interesting features and should suit us and the car. I’m looking forward to it, and to Glynn and I maintaining our good form from our last race.” With Francesco Castellaci / Federico Leo leading the GT3 Drivers Championship in the other AF Corse Ferrari F458 team car, hopes are high for a successful weekend all round.

Britcar: The Mazda MX-5 production race car finished third in class in round seven of the Britcar Dunlop Production GTN Championship  at the Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday (15 August). After qualifying seventh in class on Saturday, the Mazda MX-5 driven by Mike Wilds fought its way to first in class in the first half of the race. At the halfway point Wilds handed over to Piers Ward, Senior Road Test Editor of BBC Top Gear Magazine, to complete the final hour of the race to give the car its second podium of the season. Also competing was the MX-5 GT race car - driven by Mark Ticehurst, Mazda works driver and Owen Mildenhall. Despite a misfire during qualifying, the Jota Sport team resolved the fault and on race day climbed to fifth in class before a drive shaft issue forced retirement. “Despite the new Snetterton 300 circuit lending itself to the faster cars on track, we had a great result on Sunday, which is testament to the drivers and the handling and reliability for which the MX-5 is renowned,” commented Graeme Fudge, PR Director, Mazda UK. The next race is the Britcar 24hr at Silverstone Circuit on 1-2 October 2011.

Formula 3: At Zandvoort in The Netherlands, Swede Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport) scored the biggest success of his motorsport career to date by winning the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3. After 25 laps he crossed the line over five seconds ahead of Marco Wittmann (Signature). For Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam), ninth place was enough to secure an early title in the new FIA Formula 3 International Trophy. At the start Spanish pole-sitter Merhi collided with his compatriot Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam), forcing the latter out. Felix Rosenqvist then took the lead followed by Marco Wittmann (Signature) and Kevin Magnussen (Carlin). In the following 25 laps, the Mücke driver continuously extended his lead over Wittmann, eventually taking the first Masters victory for his team since 2003 (when Mücke Motorsport won with Christian Klien). Rosenqvist’s Dutch team-mate Nigel Melker (Mücke Motorsport) ended up fourth. Felix Rosenqvist: “Winning the Masters is great. Of course, I benefited from Roberto Merhi and Daniel Juncadella crashing, but I would rather have beaten them on the track. After the start, I was able to pull a gap on the drivers behind me and control the race.”  Marco Wittmann: “We were lacking the speed to keep up with Felix. We had problems during the last three race weekends and we weren’t able to compete for victory. Now, we have to analyse and work hard.”

Intersteps: The Thruxton rounds of the Intersteps championship were a double edged sword for title contender James Peace. On the plus side, the reigning TKM karting champion made the breakthrough with his first ever race win in cars on Saturday.   But the joy of that merely masked the minus side – his major backer had pulled out just days before, leaving him running on a virtually non-existent budget.He eased the pain with another victory on Sunday morning before he crashed back down to earth, quite literally, when he mounted the rear of Ed Jones’ car during the final race on Sunday afternoon. Patryk Szczerbinski claimed the spoils in that one chased home by Jake Dennis who took his third runner-up slot of the weekend to maintain his spot at the top of the points table.   Read report

Radical UK Cup: With one eye on the Dunlop Radical UK Cup title, it was a more cautious approach by the Marks Electrical duo of Mark Smithson and Stuart Moseley at Donington Park.In race 1 they secured second in class and fifth overall and third in class in race two. That is But there until they were given a 30 second penalty for an alleged yellow flag incident. The penalty dropped them one place behind Lindop, but kept the chase for the title firmly on track. Read report

There were both celebrations and disappointments at Donington Park, on a busy weekend for the 360 Racing squad. Terrence Woodward was re-united with Ross Kaiser after going solo at Brands Hatch and the duo proved victorious in the first of the weekends races. Read report

Mini Challenge: Two wins out of three in the Mini Challenge at Donington Park were enough to give Luke Caudle the lead in the championship, but once again his first hat-trick of victories continues to elude him. Chris Knox took the third race win after a hard fight with Sam Osborne, Knox crossing the line just 0.3secs ahead at the flag.  Read report

Endurance Racing: For his thirty years of motorsport, Christophe Bouchut shares a double aim with his team, Level 5 Motorsports, to win the LMP2 title in both the American Le Mans Series and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. He will aim for victory during the five meetings, on three continents, which make up the rest of his 2011 season.pic eric Fabre  Read more

Formula Renault: Shahaan Engineer’s preparations for his entry into Formula Renault took a major leap forward when he exceeded all expectations during his maiden Fortec test. Having stepped out of a successful karting career to concentrate on single-seater’s, the 15-year old Indian had travelled to Oulton Park to put more mileage under his belt. Having switched to the crack Fortec squad, Engineer wasted little time in settling into his new environment and impressing Team Manager Steve Lynch: “Shahaan was set a benchmark of achieving one of our 2011 championship drivers’ best lap time. Almost immediately he was able to match it, before going on to better it by over a tenth of a second, which was a fantastic achievement.”  Read more

Formula Ford: Borland Racing Developments has announced a new initiative which will see Velocity Management Group take on an agency for the sales and marketing of the company’s Spectrum Formula Ford chassis. BRD managing director, Michael Borland, says the move reflects the growth of the business and underpins planned future expansion. “We’ve been able to build a really strong business over more than 20 years. The growth, particularly in the last decade, has seen our current administrative resources stretched. One of the key areas in which we pride ourselves is the delivery of industry leading, consistently outstanding customer service,” said Borland. He added, “In order to maintain our standards, we reviewed the various operational areas and determined that an agency agreement with Velocity Management Group for the sales and marketing was the ideal solution. Chris Jewell (Velocity Group managing director) has a long association with motor racing and was of great assistance in the early years of the Spectrum brand. His organisation brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in motorsport sales and marketing, which we are sure will play a pivotal role in the growth of BRD into its next ten years.” This added resource will provide the scope for Paul Zsidy to focus on maintaining the levels of customer service as well as continuing the development of new projects, both domestically and internationally.

15-08-11

Formula Renault: Zandvoort in The Netherlands hosted the latest rain-affected instalment of Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup action over the weekend, 13th/14th August, with local team MP Motorsport delivering great pace and almost securing a deserved podium finish.Alongside regular drivers Karl-Oscar Liiv and Alexey Chuklin, Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship competitor Jordan King returned to the Dutch team’s ranks for another outing in Europe as he continues to expand his experience and all three youngsters produced impressive performances. Pic: Chris Schotanus/Essay Produkties read report

Jordan King displayed some Dutch courage of his own with a gritty performance in the Formula Renault Northern European Cup at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, but circumstances conspired to keep the talented Warwickshire racer off the podium.  Read report

Reigning Protyre Formula Renault BARC champion squad Hillspeed is eyeing a potential expansion into the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup for 2012 after a successful debut at Zandvoort over the weekend, 13th/14th August, during the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3 support event. Pic: Chris Schotanus/Essay Produkties read report

Radical Club Cup: James Abbott took another step towards the Radical Clubmans Cup title, with a double win at Donington Park. He didn’t have it all his own way however, as debutant Martin Brooks had the majority of the lead until fortunes turned against him.   read report

Radical UK Cup : The victory spoils were shared in the Dunlop Radical Cup over the weekend at Donington Park, with Terrence Woodward reunited with Ross Kaiser, after going solo at Brands Hatch taking victory in race one, before a delighted Manhal Allos reigned supreme in the second. read report

Bradley Ellis recorded a solid points haul over his closest championship rivals during the Dunlop Radical UK Cup Donington Park rounds. The Hinckley resident overcame challenges in the penultimate season races at his newly-adopted home track to record 10th and seventh place finishes in the fiercely competitive Supersport category.After a rare DNF last time out at Brands Hatch, hopes were high for Ellis and teammate Andy Cummings to recover championship points at Donington Park and the Supreme Racing duo didn’t disappoint. Pic Oliver Read  Read report

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge: Karl Leonard and Oly Mortimer took the GT3 wins at Oulton Park on Saturday, August 13th, former Porsche Carrera Cup racer Leonard returning to racing after a break and holding off series regular Mortimer in race one. The tables were turned later in the afternoon, Mortimer blasting past at the start to take his eighth win, Graeme Mundy taking second.   Read report

Porsche Club: Pete Morris and Marcus Carniel claimed the class wins in the first of the two Porsche Club Championship rounds at Oulton ParK on Saturday, August 13th, but both were eliminated in a double car destroying incident that saw race two stopped, the pair escaping with just minor injuries. Pre-Oulton championship leader Mark Sumpter then won race two, having had his first non-finish of the year in race one, with title rival Chris Dyer taking Class Two – keeping the pair close in the title chase.   Read report

Grand-Am: AIM Autosport celebrated a fourth-place finish for its BMW-Riley sponsored by GAMMA88 yesterday evening thanks to a clever race strategy and car setup that conserved fuel and tires. AIM’s driving team of Burt Frisselle and Mark Wilkins worked hard to deliver all that was asked of them by Chief Engineer Ian Willis.  read report

Karts: Gaby Weyer made history in the 2011 edition of Kartmasters at PF International – by storming to victory for Prima Racing, and in so doing becoming the first female competitor ever to triumph at the event. Pic  Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net    read report

It has taken Rory Cuff a little while to find his feet at KF3 level in 2011, but a brilliantly opportunistic podium finish in the annual Kartmasters meeting at PF International shows he has finally arrived!  Read report

Last Sunday’s event (7 August) - styled as the British Grand Prix of karting - is one of the highlights of the national calendar and a ‘GP’ number plate is one that every driver wants. Not surprising then that the competition is fierce, aided and abetted by the winner-takes-all nature of the meeting.  Read report

The 2011 Silverstone Classic (22-24 July) broke many records, but the biggest accolade for the event comes after Guinness World Records confirmed that a new record was set for the ‘largest parade of Jaguar cars’ when 767 Jaguar E-types took part in a special parade lap of the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. On-track, a total of 1104 race car entries and a crowd of 80,000 across the weekend ensured that the Silverstone Classic proudly lived up to its claim of being the 'the world's biggest classic motor racing festival'. But that was only part of the story for this event, as thousands of classic cars packed into the Silverstone infield to be part of the celebration of automotive heritage. The event was the major celebration of the 50th birthday of the Jaguar E-type, first produced in 1961. More than 1000 E-types were on site and the vast majority of these took to the Grand Prix circuit on Saturday for a unique parade. Although in excess of 800 E-types took to the famous grand prix track, the record of 767 is based on the number of participating cars meeting the strict record verification criteria. Among the parade were some very special examples of the E-type. These included famous E-types with registration numbers 9600 HP, 77 RW and 848 CRY as well as the Lindner/Nocker low-drag racer. 9600 HP is the oldest surviving E-type and the only 1960 prototype in existence. It was the original launch car, the 150 mph road test car and the subject of the book ‘The Most Famous Car in the World’. 77 RW is the earliest surviving production roadster and an original press car. 848 CRY was the twelfth roadster produced and the most active racing E-type in 1961; it also appeared in the film ‘The Italian Job’. The Lindner/Nocker low-drag lightweight racer was one of the 12 original Lightweight E-types, raced in 1963/64 by Peter Lindner and Peter Nocker and the subject of a famous recent restoration.
"The whole Silverstone Classic weekend set many new records, both on and off the track," said event director Nick Wigley. “The icing on the cake is to have achieved a new Guinness World Record for the number of Jaguars on parade. It was an incredible sight to see so many examples of the beautiful and iconic E-type four abreast stretching all around the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.”

Porsche Carrera Cup GB:  The next programme in the dedicated television coverage of the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be broadcast in the Motorsport UK programme during the afternoon of Tuesday 16 August on ITV4, on ITV1 on the night of Sunday 21 August and will also be shown on ITV4 on Saturday 20 August.The Motorsport UK series, which features hour-long programmes, is covering all of the Carrera Cup GB action again this season. Round 10 of the season at Snetterton, the opening race of the day, will feature in this programme.
Motorsport UK will be broadcast as follows:
Tuesday 16 August at 4.55pm on ITV4
Saturday 20 August at 8.55am on ITV4
Monday 21 August at 2am on ITV1

14-08-11

GT: VIP Petfoods Racing has led a Porsche clean-sweep of the 9-1/2-hour endurance race at Hampton Downs Motorsport Park, New Zealand. What was originally intended to be a 12-hour race lost almost a fifth of its duration after early-morning fog blanketed the 2.8km North Island circuit. When the event finally got underway at 9.30am, two and a half hours after the scheduled start time, Australians Klark and Tony Quinn and New Zealander Stefan Webling dominated proceedings in the VIP Petfoods 997 RSR.  Read report

Formula 3: This weekend’s fourth round of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship has reminded people that Chris Gilmour is still a force to be reckoned with, as the Queenslander not only broke a seven-year winless streak but dominated proceedings to sweep the weekend.  Gilmour won both races on Sunday at Morgan Park to rocket to the top of the championship standings with three rounds to go. After taking the first race yesterday, Gilmour won Sunday’s second ‘sprint’ this morning but not after fending off second-placed Bryce Moore and John Magro all race long in a tense battle. The feature race was no easier mission, the bright red All Properties Group Dallara again fending off Magro all race to win again and take his first ever round clean sweep. Pic: Nathan Wong / speedshots.com.au   Read report

Formula Ford: Dutch team Provily Racing scored a home track 1-2-3 today(Sunday) in the final race of the three Zandvoort Formula Ford EuroCup rounds, with Scott Malvern claiming a lucky fourth overall to score maximum points in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain.While local hero Joey van Splunteren scored a popular race victory in front of a massive Zandvoort crowd gathered for the Masters of Formula 3 event, Malvern was the most thankful man on the podium, for he feared he might not finish due to a mystery misfire which beset his Jamun Racing Mygale.Though he led the opening laps from pole position, Malvern was in trouble from the outset and was powerless to prevent van Splunteren from seizing control of the race. His fourth-place finish - added to the twin wins he scored yesterday - was enough to earn Malvern the Formula Ford EuroCup champion’s title for Zandvoort, to add to those already won by him at Brands Hatch, Spa-Francorchamps and Zolder.pics Jakob Ebrey photography  Read report

13-08-11

ALMS: Round six of this season’s American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron comes from Road America next weekend (August 19-20) where Robertson Racing are eyeing their most competitive outing of the campaign to date. The 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin has barely changed since hosting its first race way back in 1955 and has subsequently gone on to become America’s most revered road course. That it is also one of the fastest should play into the hands of Robertson Racing whose self-developed Ford GT is well suited to the high-speed layout which will this season host a four-hour endurance race. While the Braselton, GA-based outfit has made significant progress at every circuit visited so far in 2011, it is at Road America in particular where the #04 driver combination of David Murry and Anthony Lazzaro should be at their most potent so far. And having regularly troubled the wealth of factory machinery contesting the Series’ GT class this year, hopes are high of once more fighting for a top-five finish. On the other side of the garage Melanie Snow again joins regular driver Andrea Robertson in the #40 car after surviving the deluge on debut at Mid-Ohio last time out. The all-female crew also has the potential to spring a surprise with Snow picking up the GT Challenge class victory at Road America in 2009. Team Manager Andrew ‘H’ Smith: “We’re optimistic of having a good run at Road America next weekend. At the start of the season I’d have bet on it being our strongest showing of the campaign, but after the Lime Rock podium perhaps that’s a bit ambitious! Because of the circuit’s high-speed nature and Ford’s power, our #04 car should be in the mix for a top-five finish, while Andrea and Melanie will continue to build on their partnership. “It’s a really busy part of the season with so many races packed into such a short period. The guys have worked so hard to turn around the cars following the torrential rain at Mid-Ohio, especially as both needed some essential new parts.” See how Robertson Racing fares at Road America with www.ESPN3.com’s live race coverage on Saturday August 20 from 2.45pm (CT). ABC’s television re-run begins at 4.30pm (ET) the following day. Meanwhile European viewers can tune into Motors TV’s live coverage which kicks off at 9.45pm (CET) on Saturday.   pic Richard Prince Photography

Formula 3: Chris Gilmour has returned to the winners list in the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship for the first time in seven years after a dramatic 12-lap sprint race today at Morgan Park, Queensland. It had been 86 races since Gilmour’s last outright race win at Mallala in September, 2004, but the Brisbane real estate agent was able to use his customarily good start to jump pole sitter John Magro on the run to turn one and take a lead he would never lose, brining his #17 Gilmour Racing / Racecarparts.com.au Dallara home for a triumphant victory.   Pic: Nathan Wong / speedshots.com.au   read race report

Grand-Am: Burt Frisselle qualified AIM Autosport’s BMW-Riley sponsored by GAMMA88 for a seventh place start in today’s Canadian Tire 200 at Watkins Glen International. Burt’s time of 1m 07.169s translates to an average speed of 131.311 MPH (211.325 km/h) around the 2.45-mile (3.94 km) long track. Although the team was somewhat disappointed with the result, the mood was buoyed by faster times set earlier in the day and a productive final practice session. Although much of the qualifying difficulty was likely the result of the Continental tires not working well with the rubber used by the NASCAR series running here this weekend—the only time the stock cars were on track today was immediately before the Rolex Series qualifying session—the team was still a little baffled. It is hoped that data gleaned from the one-hour practice session that ended the day will provide a nugget of information to help create a fast setup for the race. “We’ve worked hard to catch up after missing some races, said Burt. “I’m disappointed that my qualifying time was slower than my practice time. That’s unusual. We’ve got some more work to do, but I anticipate that we’ll have a great car for the race.” Chief Engineer and Team Principal, Ian Willis (pictured) said, “We’ve got some more work to do. We may have gone out a little to early in the qualifying session and not got the most out of the tires and the track, but we’re not completely sure why we were slower than in practice... actually, we’re a little surprised. It’s not insurmountable. We just have to see where we’re at and figure out the setup for tomorrow.” The Canadian Tire 200, round ten in the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, is scheduled to begin at 6pm ET. Coverage of the two-hour race will be broadcast live on SPEED and MRN. Pic: Mark Jackson/AIM Autosport

12-08-11

Formula Ford: After almost a year out of the cockpit, Daniel Erickson will return to the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Queensland Raceway on August 19-21. Erickson will drive the Bosch Batteries Spectrum 012 for Borland Racing Developments, the team that nurtured the young Sydneysider’s career between go-karts and 'wings and slicks' openwheelers.He drove BRD-built Spectrums to successive Rookie of the Year titles in the NSW and Australian Formula Ford Championships in 2007-08, and was the highest placed British Formula Ford debutant in the 2009 MSA Formula Ford Championship. His last race meeting was in September 2010, when he won the final race of the American F2000 Championship Series at Mid-Ohio to clinch the Rookie of the Year title and third overall in the series, despite missing four of the 14 rounds. Erickson, a former CAMS and AMSF Rising Star, will take over the car previously driven in the AFFC by Jesse Fenech. The vacancy occurred when Fenech lost a secondary sponsor, preventing him from completing the season.Although Erickson is happy to be racing again, he has no illusions about the task ahead. “I’m glad to be getting back into a racing car, especially the Bosch Batteries Spectrum because Borland Racing Developments and Bosch are great supporters of Australian junior development motor racing,” he said.“But challenging the frontrunners at Queensland Raceway won’t be easy. It’s been nearly a year since my last F2000 race, and close to two years since I last competed in Formula Ford, so it will take time to get used to racing a car with treaded tyres and no downforce again.And the competition in the Australian Formula Ford Championship is always tough – no-one will do me any favours just because I haven’t been racing this year! All I can do is my best, and try to put the Bosch Batteries Spectrum as close to the front as possible.”  BRD’s Paul Zsidy had mixed emotions about the mid-season driver change. “We’re very disappointed for Jesse Fenech,” he said. “Jesse has done a terrific job in this year’s Australian Formula Ford hampionship, and was the leading rookie when he had to withdraw purely for financial reasons. “But we have to deliver to our commercial agreements, and we’re delighted to welcome Daniel Erickson back to our team.”

Other News: Omani motor racing star Ahmad Al Harthy swapped his Porsche Carrera Cup car for the open waters of the Isle of Wight this week after being invited by Oman Sail to join its Extreme 40s sailing team as part of world-famous Cowes Week. No sooner had Ahmad concluded the latest round of Porsche Carrera Cup GB action at Snetterton 300 Circuit in East Anglia last Sunday, 7th August, he travelled south to Cowes to join-up with the Oman Air-backed Oman Sail crew. Becoming the ‘fifth man’, and adding some unique flavour to proceedings by wearing his race suit and crash helmet, the 29-year-old relished the chance to be part of the UK round of the Extreme Sailing Series, the fifth of nine legs on the 2011 calendar which began back in February in Oman. Muscat-born Ahmad, a sporting ambassador for Oman Air and a keen watersport enthusiast away from the track, thoroughly enjoyed every minute spent on the sea and had a fantastic time helping to promote Oman Air and his home nation as a whole at the hugely popular regatta.“I’m so grateful to the crew of the Oman Air boat for allowing me to be their ‘fifth man’ at Cowes, it was an amazing experience and a very proud moment for me”, he said, “Cowes Week is a renowned world-class event and it’s been a dream come true being part of it.  “Sailing, like motorsport, is growing in popularity all the time back home so being involved in this event has been incredibly important to promote the tourism and business opportunities which exist in Oman. It was a lot of fun supporting the Oman Sail guys before they went out to race, I wish them the best of luck for the remainder of the Extreme Sailing Series.”

Historics: Marking an incredible half-century since the E-type was launched, Jaguar will take part in the Oldtimer Grand Prix held at the Nürburgring, Germany.  Former Jaguar Chief Test Driver Norman Dewis set off for the event from the Jaguar Heritage Museum in Coventry to take part in one of Europe’s most recognised historic racing festivals. The Oldtimer Grand Prix runs from August 12 – 14 attracting over 60,000 visitors. Now in its 39th year, the eventhosts 10 races on the Grand Prix track with 600 driver entries spanning 20 nationalities.  Jaguar will display some of its most prized E-types includingthe original 1961 Geneva show car and one of the last models to roll off the production line in 1975. A further 34 examples will take part in the penultimate round of the E-type Challenge on the Grand Prix circuit with one 20-minute race taking place on Saturday and Sunday. Norman Dewis said: "I raced a D-Type at the Oldtimer Grand Prix in the 1950s. This year is the 15th time I have been with Jaguar and it's a fantastic event. I'll be kept busy this weekend with some presentations to clubs, commentating and maybe a demonstration run. I just hope the renowned Nürburgring fog stays away."

Among the many attractions and special tributes taking place at this year’s Goodwood Revival (16-18 September), Goodwood will pay homage to Lord March’s grandfather – Freddie March, the Ninth Duke of Richmond – on the 80th anniversary of his historic win for the Works MG racing team in the famous Brooklands Double Twelve race of 1931.The Ninth Duke was an accomplished racing driver, taking many victories for both the MG and Austin works teams at Brooklands in the 1930s, before going on to establish the celebrated Goodwood Motor Circuit in 1948, the scene of Britain’s first post-War public motor racing event, and now home to the Goodwood Revival. Goodwood will mark the 80th anniversary of Freddie March’s important 1931 race win with the MG team of five cars that he created, by staging an authentic recreation of the MG team’s Brooklands paddock at the Revival, including a line-up of supercharged racing MG C-type Midgets from the early 1930s.  At least six authentic racing MG C-types will be on display at the 2011 Revival, including two Midgets that competed in the Brooklands Double Twelve endurance race.  A total of 13 C-types were entered in the Double Twelve in May 1931, with the MGs securing the coveted team trophy, as well as the top five places, with Freddie March taking the chequered flag.

Karts: It was unanimously agreed that the Comer Cadet class grand final in the 2011 edition of Kartmasters was the race of the day at PF International – and not only did Dan Zelos play a leading role in it, he also came away with a brace of trophies for his performance.Kartmasters is the blue riband event on the British karting calendar, in which everybody wants to shine. Having enjoyed little good fortune in his two previous appearances, Dan Zelos headed to PFi full of confidence. Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net,  Read report

George Russell once again proved himself to be the class of the field in the prestigious annual Kartmasters meeting at PF International, but the talented young Wisbech racer designs on glory were cruelly undone just as he had been on-track to seal a momentous triumph. Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: Jody Fannin rounded off an excellent couple of days at Snetterton with a third podium of the weekend to add to his pole position and he now finds himself just 1 point off the Ginetta G50 championship lead . pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  read report

VLN: Peugeot RCZ Team Nokia is certainly enjoying a season of success in the Nürgurgring-based VLN race series. The sixth race of the 10 round championship (July 30) saw the pair of Kumho-shod 207 Coupes once more finish 1^st and 2^nd in class, while simultaneously dominating the diesel category; which they’ve made their own since the beginning of the season. As usual, the equipe’s white car (No. 545) was the star. Driven by the well practised trio of Michael Bohrer, Stéphane Cailliet and Jürgen Nett, it achieved pole position for the class in qualifying (courtesy of wet weather Kumho tyres) and was the first of the two Peugeots to cross the finish line in the race. In Caillet’s capable hands, it even achieved a new fastest lap of 9:41.946 minutes for the model around the daunting 12.9 mile course. Firmer suspension and improved steering evidently helped bring about the improvement.The delighted team manager, Timo Frings, was also quick to praise the achievement of the three Frenchmen aboard his black car, none of whom had previously competed at the Nürburgring and who had suffered a turbocharger problem in qualifying – they took the chequered flag two laps behind their team-mates. The next round of the series is a six hour race on August 27.Commented Kumho’s European Motorsport Manager Steve Thompson, “It is very rewarding to see the 207 RCZs winning time after time, and the team’s cars working so well on our tyres whatever the conditions. We wish them all the very best for the remaining four rounds of the championship.”

Formula Renault: Things may not have run entirely like clockwork for Jack Hawksworth in the sixth outing of the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship at Snetterton, but the talented young Bradford racer  claimed his fourth podium finish of the season to repay his new sponsor’s faith in him.  Read report

11-08-11

Silverstone: The next step in securing the future of Silverstone Circuit was taken today(Thursday) with the submission of a comprehensive outline planning application to Aylesbury Vale District Council and South Northants District Council. The application conforms with the Silverstone Development Brief, issued February 2009, and comprises of:  read more

Formula Ford: Australia's future motor racing stars will head north next weekend for round four of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Queensland Raceway, as the series returns to the V8 Supercar support program. The last round at Eastern Creek in New South Wales produced another first time winner with Cameron Waters taking the top spot on the podium. The victory extended his championship lead and he now sits ahead of teammate and pre-season championship favourite Nick Foster. After a slow start to the season, Foster is hoping that a return to Queensland Raceway, where he was victorious in 2010, will signal a return to form. "It's no secret that the start of the year has been disappointing for us, but finally getting a race win and some decent points at Eastern Creek has really given me some confidence for the rest of the season," Foster said."It was a long time coming to get back to the front of the field and I'm hoping I can keep that going this weekend at Queensland Raceway. Last year I won my first round and took the lead in the championship at the event. I think Cam is a little too far in front at this stage to overhaul him next weekend, but if I can take some points off him and close the gap, then I think it will be an exciting end to the year." Third in the championship is Tom Williamson, who bounced back at Eastern Creek after a disappointing round at Winton. The winner on the streets of Adelaide switched teams recently and is enjoying his new found confidence. "I think Eastern Creek really restored a lot of the confidence I lost at Winton and proved that I can be a contender this season. I'm really comfortable at Minda Motorsport, so now I can just focus on staying at the front each weekend and the rest will take care of itself," Williamson said."I'm looking forward to racing this weekend and I'm positive we'll be competitive as soon as the car rolls of the truck, but it will be a tough weekend with plenty of fast guys right at the front." Eight Queenslanders will compete in the event, including round two winner Matt Brabham and former Australian Formula Ford driver Andre Borell, while Adam Graham has withdrawn from the event after a funding shortfall. In total 18 drivers will make up the gird for the fourth round of the series. The Australian Formula Ford Championship will take to the track for the first time on Friday morning ahead of races on Saturday and Sunday.

Grand-Am: After missing two races since their outing at Road America in June, AIM Autosport’s Daytona Prototype team is excited to be racing at this weekend’s Watkins Glen 200 at Watkins Glen International in New York. Thanks to continued sponsorship from GAMMA88, the team will be entering at least two more races this season, Watkins Glen on Saturday and Montréal one week later. Despite competing in only about half of this year’s races, AIM has managed to field a competitively quick car, but two fourth-place finishes amid several disappointing finishes has left the team short on points. Returning to Watkins Glen, a great track that’s fairly close to home and where AIM has won in the past, has the team in an enthusiastic state. The AIM Autosport BMW-Riley sponsored by GAMMA88 is undergoing final preparation before being shipped out on Wednesday. On the way to Watkins Glen, the car will be displayed at the Go Canada Go Rally being hosted by Team CMS at 3 West Sports Bar & Grill in Fort Erie from 4–8pm on August 10. Driver Mark Wilkins will be on hand to chat with fans and sign autographs. “I am very excited to be back in the AIM autosport GAMMA88 car,” said driver, Burt Frisselle. “It’s wonderful to return to action at a ‘The Glen’ where AIM has a history of success! Mark and I have been training hard and we’re focused on getting the best result we can. We know it will be a challenge, but history has proven that Ian and the crew will give us a car to fight at the front.” Burt’s co-driver Mark Wilkins added, "I'm excited to be getting back behind the wheel of the GAMMA88 machine,” said. “It was a long July without racing and now we have two in a row! We have been successful at both Watkins Glen and Montreal in the past and I'm confident we will do well.” The Watkins Glen 200, round ten in the 2011 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, gets underway on Friday with practice and qualifying sessions. The two-hour race is scheduled to begin at 6pm ET.

Karts: In front of a huge crowd and visiting personnel from McLaren, Jack Barlow won one of British karting’s most important events last Sunday (7 August), Kartmasters – the British Grand Prix of karting. Pic Chris Walker/Kartpix  Read report

Strawberry Racing’s Ed Brand claimed his maiden Kartmaster crown with a lights-to-flag victory at PFi last Sunday (7 August). After years of trying, Ed Brand finally claimed his first ‘GP’ plate at the internationally-renowned event. It was also a late birthday present for him, as he celebrated his 17th birthday, whilst preparing for a weekend that started well and just got better.   Pic Chris Walker/Kartpix  Read report

Silverstone based iZone Driver Performance has launched the iZone Karting Academy which will be run in association with Cadet kart championship winning team Fusion Motorsport. The iZone Academy will give kart drivers of all ages the chance to benefit from expert tuition at iZone’s state of the art facilities, with courses for every level of karting, from beginners to championship contenders. The course has been established with the sole aim of demonstrating how much laptime can be found by improving a driver’s skill level and personal performance rather than spending thousands of pounds on equipment. Split into six half day sessions running during school half terms and holidays, the course will accommodate a maximum of 40 drivers who will be divided into groups based on age and level of experience. The best six drivers will be chosen on merit for a practical assessment at Whilton Mill, with further detailed instruction and demonstrations on how to implement their new found techniques. Following the assessment, one driver will be chosen to receive support from Elite Driver Management to continue their training and assist in guiding their racing career. The Academy programme has been developed with Fusion Motorsport’s Dan Hazlewood, utilising his experience from racing himself and running cadet kart teams for eight years in which he has secured major championships every season.John Pratt, iZone’s Performance Director:  “It is now a recognised fact that good habits on track need to be developed from a karter’s early stages and the iZone Karting Academy will teach kart drivers of all levels of experience the ‘core’ skills that will carry them through their entire motorsport careers. We have put together a cost effective programme that fits in with school holidays and that hones skills on and off track which will make a real difference in performance to a driver at any level. There is never a shortage of young karters with talent and we aim to give Academy pupils the skills that set them apart from the rest.”

Ginetta Jnrs: HHC Motorsport came away from the new Snetterton 300 circuit with points and podium finishes in the Ginetta Junior Championship at the weekend. Once again, 14-year-old Charlie Robertson starred by taking pole position for the opening race and by scoring the extra bonus point for the fastest race lap. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

DTM: The DTM returns to Brands Hatch this September (2/3/4), with it’s spectacular touring cars and a host of the drivers, including former F1 winner and BBC Commentator David Coulthard. The last two years have seen victory from Paul Di Resta who went on to win the 2010 championship. This success catapulted him into Formula One with Force India, where he is being tipped for great things in the future. However there are plenty of British drivers aiming to follow in his footsteps, all of whom will be competing at this event. Chief amongst these is Gary Paffett. who is the series’ most successful active driver, having 17 wins, the 2005 title and podium finishes in a third of his races. A recently-signed multi-year deal with Mercedes has secured his future in the DTM, a role that he combines with testing commitments for F1 team McLaren. Multiple racewinner Jamie Green preceded Lewis Hamilton and Di Resta as F3 Euro Series Champion in 2004 is another frontrunner in the series for Mercedes, taking his maiden victory at Brands Hatch in 2006. Green is currently the highest-placed Briton in the standings with 24 points. Audi’s Oliver Jarvis is still hunting for his first win in the series but has already stood on the podium this year.  Scotland’s Susie Stoddart is one of two female drivers in the series, and is competing in her sixth season for Mercedes. Having secured her first points in the championship last year, she will be aiming for a strong finish in her home race. Fellow Scot David Coulthard needs little introduction. The inaugural winner of the McLaren Autosport Award, Coulthard enjoyed a 14-year career in F1, retaining a good relationship with Mercedes. He entered the DTM in 2010 and has started to pick up his first points. The 40-yea, the F1 commentator will be keen to impress this time round. All five will need to fight hard against title favourites Bruno Spengler and Martin Tomczyk, the Mercedes and Audi rivals sitting just seven points apart. Also lining up on the grid will be former Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller and F1 race winner Ralf Schumacher. The DTM is supported by the Volkswagen Scirocco R Cup and Racecar Euroseries joining domestic series’ Formula Ford, Lotus Cup UK and the Elise Trophy.Tickets for the DTM at Brands Hatch are available in advance from £25 for adults, with free entry for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0843 453 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk

09-08-11

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Regular Avon Tyres British GT racer Freddy Nordström made his debut in something new over the weekend, as he switched his Lotus Evora for a Porsche Carrera Cup machine. A summer break from his Lotus Sport UK commitments presented the youngster with the opportunity to contest the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship on the new Snetterton 300 circuit this weekend (6-7th August). Joining the GT Marques outfit for the weekend, Freddy battled through an eventful outing for what was his first racing experience in the impressive car. Read report

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge : Graeme Mundy heads the ‘Driver of the Year’ points as the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge visits Oulton Park in Cheshire this Saturday, August 13th, just eight points clear of closest rival Oly Mortimer, the latter in a rich vein of form having won the previous four races. The long lap at Oulton should let the 400BHP GT3s really stretch their legs, the series providing a racing home for the Porsche GT3s formerly eligible for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB and similar series across the world. Mundy and Mortimer were closely matched in the most recent race at Rockingham in July, and Mundy will be eager to stay ahead after the two 25-minute races at Oulton. Mortimer has been in recovery mode since a non-finish at Croft in April dented his title charge, but the young Scot has made good use of his quick starts in the races since to stay clear and score maximum points. Steven Liquorish sits third in the points, his black 997 GT3 moving closer to the lead pace as Liquorish gets to grips with the potent car. Joining the series this weekend will be former Carrera Cup GB runner Karl Leonard, the Irish racer out in a Team Parker 997 GT3 and providing a useful benchmark for the regular runners. Another racer making his 2011 debut with the series is Gary Marsh, who will run in Class Two in a 996 GT3 Cup, having claimed second overall in one of the races at his last outing in the series at Silverstone in October 2010.

BTCC: Silverline Chevrolet ace Alex MacDowall made a welcome return to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship podium at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, with a terrific second place finish during the first of the event’s three races – his fourth career BTCC rostrum visit. Finishing just a couple of seconds behind reigning champion team-mate Jason Plato to mark a superb one-two finish for the RML-run squad, Alex’s fantastic result was backed up with consistently strong points finishes in the day’s two other outings – fourth in race two and fifth in race three. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Ginetta Jnrs: Ginetta Junior Championship team Hillspeed enjoyed a tremendously strong outing at Snetterton 300 Circuit over the weekend, 6th/7th August, with runaway points leader Seb Morris taking another pair of wins and rookie team-mate Struan Moore bagging the first podium of his car racing career. Hillspeed also ran an additional G40 at the Norfolk track for car racing debutant William Palmer, the 14-year-old son of MotorSport Vision chief Jonathan and younger brother of GP2 Series racer Jolyon. With very little preparation time ahead of the event, Palmer chalked-up two race finishes with a best of 14th place in the opener.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Finesse Motorsport enjoyed podium success at Snetterton over the weekend, competing in the Ginetta Junior Championship and the Ginetta Supercup. Upwell based 16 year old Jake Giddings. stormed too third place in round eleven of the junior championship, with a mature and measured drive which impressed his driver coach, former British Touring Car front runner  Jonathan Adam. In round twelve Jake took the lead in the first corner of the revised 2.97 mile Norfolk circuit until the second lap when he was passed by championship leader Seb Morris.
Whilst trying to retake the lead two laps later Giddings was forced off the circuit at the high speed Esses corner causing him to spin. Jake did recover to regained several places in the final laps to finish a creditable fifth place and moved to seventh in the championship with eight rounds left to run.
In the Ginetta Supercup 19 year old Aaron Williamson took two third places from three races to maintain third place in the G50 section and put him within touching distance of the top spot with some of his favourite circuits coming up next month. Finesse Motorsport also debued a new driver, Fergus Walkinshaw in the Ginetta Supercup at Snetterton. This was the first outing for the newly built G55 that arrived at Snetterton in the early hours of Friday morning. Walkinshaw, the son of former the late Arrows Formula One and Jaguar Le Mans winning team boss Tom, was so impressed by the professional, competitive and friendly nature of the team that he decided after only originally having a deal for the three Snetterton rounds, that he will continue the remainder of the season with Finesse read reports

Formula 3: Having already won the 16th season round of the Formula 3 Euro Series in the morning, Roberto Merhi driving for the Prema Powerteam also came home first in the second race of the weekend. In a slight drizzle at the 3.629 kilometres long Nürburgring sprint circuit, the Spaniard was 2.319 seconds faster than Felix Rosenqvist of Mücke Motorsport, the Swede taking his second podium finish of the day. Third place went to Laurens Vanthoor (Signature). It was Mehri’s seventh win of the season extending his lead in th4e Championship. Merhi started from eighth place on the grid, but already was second after the opening lap. He then fought hard for the the lead with Nigel Melker (Mücke Motorsport) until the Dutch rookie was given a drive-through penalty for a jump start. Like Merhi and Melker, Felix Rosenqvist had a good start, after taking third on lap one which, after the penalty for his team-mate Melker, became second. Polesitter Kimiya Sato (Motopark) wasn’t able to benefit from his good grid position, running into the gravel trap at the first corner before dropping back to finish fifth. Merhi;s victory in the first race came ahead of his Spanish compatriot and team-mate Daniel Juncadella while Rosenqvist ended up third. Juncadella had lead early on before Merhi overtook him on the opening lap to take an undisputed victory. After two victories for his team-mate Roberto Merhi,  Juncadella secured himself first place in the third race of the weekend, the Spaniard crossing the line 0.865 seconds ahead of  Merhi. Melker, leader in the Formula 3 Euro Series’ rookie championship class, rounded out the podium. In the drivers’ standings, Merhi has extended his lead to 64 points ahead of Juncadella, who took over runner-up position. Marco Wittmann (Signature) dropped back to third.

Karts: Junior Rotax kart racing driver Jessica Hawkins produced one of the best performances of her young career at PF International Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, by finishing runner-up in the 2011 MSA Kartmasters British Kart Grand Prix.Despite having to compete on a shoestring budget due to a lack of funding, the 16-year-old from Farnham in Hampshire defeated some of the globe’s most heavily funded and talented drivers including Japan’s Ukyo Sasahara – the 2009 World Champion and current European Champion.  pics Kartpix.net/Chris Walker       Read report

DTM: After his pole position on Saturday, Mattias Ekström (Audi), went on to win the DTM race at the Nürburgring. After 49 laps in the sixth round, the Swede crossed the finish line as the winner with a 5.5 seconds lead over Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz). Third place went to Mike Rockenfeller (Audi). Behind Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk (both Audi), Jamie Green (Mercedes-Benz) ended up sixth. Edoardo Mortara (Audi) and Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz) rounded out the point-scoring positions. In the drivers’ standings, Spengler leads with 47 points from Martin Tomczyk (40 points) and Timo Scheider (29 points).  Read report

Formula Renault: Alice Powell secured her maiden Graduate Cup success of the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship season at Snetterton on Sunday, 7th August – a day which also nearly brought Manor Competition its first outright victory of 2011. Jordan King, who has also been dovetailing his campaign with selected outings in the FIA Formula 2 Championship of late, secured pole position for round 11 at the newly configured 2.97-mile track and didn’t put a wheel wrong in the race itself as he looked certain to take a debut victory. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

Jordan King took a giant leap forward at Snetterton in the sixth round of the 2011 Formula Renault UK Championship, despite being denied the breakthrough triumph he deserved. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography  Read report

World Series by Renault : A limited number of free tickets are now available for the thrilling World Series by Renault weekend of motorsport action, which takes place at Silverstone on Saturday and Sunday, 20th and 21st August. Commenting on the news, Renault UK Managing Director, Thierry Sybord, said: “World Series by Renault at Silverstone is quite simply the best free motorsport-themed day out a family can have and although we received an enormous demand for tickets again this year with requests for 100,000 so far, we kept some back to make sure people were not disappointed closer to the time of the event.” The free of charge event is the only place in the UK where you can see a modern day Formula One car in action without paying a penny. And for the first time in the six-year history of World Series by Renault, there will be three live demonstrations on the full Grand Prix circuit on each day. On track there is the Formula Renault 3.5 single-seaters and a full programme of supporting races includes the Mégane Trophy, the Clio Cup and Formula Renault 2.0.In another first this year, there is also the chance to get behind the wheel yourself with Renault’s incredible Hot Laps experience in a Mégane Renaultsport 250 Cup. For just £35, subject to terms and conditions, you can revel in six laps of Silverstone’s Stowe behind the wheel and feel the power and performance of the 149mph, 2.0-litre Mégane. Among the many other attractions is a Formula One Pit Stop Challenge. Children and grown-ups alike can enjoy a range of activities including giant inflatables and dodgems. There are also realistic racing simulators to race friends and family on.Not to be missed is the ESperience, a white-knuckle free passenger ride with a professional instructor, demonstrating how both ESC (electronic stability control) and ABS (anti-lock braking system) can save lives.  Go to the following website to reserve up to four free tickets per household:
http://www.worldseriesbyrenault.fr/en/calendar/silverstone

08-08-11

ALMS: The FALKEN Porsche 911 GT3 RSR achieved the first GT class win for Porsche in the fifth race of the 2011 ALMS season. FALKEN drivers Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers emerge victorious at the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) by virtue of their superior driving skills and perfect choice of tyres.Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers are the new ALMS ‘rain masters’ after a storming finish at the Mid Ohio round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). After a very mixed practice and qualifying, they kept their nerve in the rain-drenched fifth ALMS round at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge to bring home the first victory for FALKEN and Porsche in the 2011 season. “We weren’t that happy with our practice and qualifying performance,” according to FALKEN driver Bryan Sellers, “but the FALKEN crew worked hard to improve the car, and we seemed to be faster the longer the race went.” Wolf Henzler recounts the critical moments: “When it started to rain, I still had good grip with the slicks, and didn’t want to lose the track position. The team called me in to change, and I disagreed with their decision. Finally, they called me and we changed to rain tyres. Then the racing line started to dry and I was really upset.” Henzler’s request to go back to slicks was ignored in favour of the crew’s strategy: “Then it rained really hard and, of course, the team was right. On the last lap, all the guys spinning were taking the inside line, but I found grip on the outside line and passed all those cars. FALKEN had tested in the rain at Mid-Ohio, but Bryan had done all the testing. Still we had confidence in the rain tyres and they helped us win.”

Robertson Racing were delighted to see both of its Ford GTs merely make it to the finish at Mid-Ohio last weekend as torrential rain ensured the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron’s fifth round of 2011 was a nerve-racking affair.But although the Braselton, (GA)-based outfit were relieved to come home unscathed seventh and 14th in the GT class, it was a case of what might have been, especially for the #04 machine.The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington isn’t one that has traditionally favoured the iconic Ford, but the team were in confident mood after testing on Tuesday when new signing Melanie Snow got to grips with the #40 all-female-crewed car she would share with Andrea Robertson for the first time.  read report

Formula 3: Facu Regalia had another tough race at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday in the second race of the weekend in the Italian Formula 3 championship. The Argentinean driver starting from fifth on the grid made a superb getaway to take third just after first corner. Sadly was suffering from a lack of straight line speed. “My car lacked top speed on straights. I made a good start, because I gained two places at the beginning. My car was good, so I pushed hard during early stages of the race. But it was almost impossible to retain my place on podium for a long time. We have to know what happened today, and why we lacked too much speed compared to the opponents. I tried to overtake Brandon Maisano, but when I went out of his slipstream, my 6th gear rev limiter turned on too soon. It was frustrating”, Regalia explained. After running in third early on Regalia was overtaken by first Maxime Jousse and then another three drivers go past by the end of the race.  “I was the fastest in the middle sector, the hardest one for a driver and technically complicated, but in both fast sectors I struggled”, Regalia said. The Italian Formula 3 championship now has a summer break before fifth meeting at Adria on 3th-4th September. “I hope better results there. It was frustrating not to be on the podium in Belgium, because I think it was a realistic aim. I will keep working as hard as possible, and the second half of the season should be a little better”, said young Argentinean.

A dominant performance helped Gary Thompson become the first Irish driver to ever win a round of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship last weekend following his National Class victory at Motegi. Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Stephen Jelley made it a perfect weekend in East Anglia when he won round 11 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton on Sunday,( 7 August) to make it a double victory in a very important weekend for his title bid. Michael Meadows again chased Jelley home as they both moved ahead of erstwhile championship leader James Sutton, and Jelley now has an 11-point lead in the table. Jonas Gelzinis doubled up in Pro-Am1, while Pro-Am2 was only decided at the final corner when Keith Webster dived ahead of Yucel Ozbek. Read report

Team Parker Racing’s Stephen Jelley took a double win in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton on Sunday to propel himself back into the lead of the championship. The Leicester driver, a former British Touring Car Championship race winner, stormed into the lead at the fourth corner of the opening lap of race one, and was never headed thereafter in either of the day’s two races.  Read report

21-year-old racing driver Richard Plant produced the best performance of his short Porsche Carrera Cup GB career so far by scoring a sensational maiden podium at Snetterton  on Sunday.   read report

Ahmad Al Harthy maintained his top three position in the Pro-Am 1 Class standings of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, despite being barged out of potential podium finishes in both of the weekend’s races.Frustratingly for the 29-year-old the resumption of the 2011 season didn’t bear fruit in terms of strong points finishes, through no fault of his own, but his pace throughout the weekend was superb at the wheel of his Oman Air Racing Team car. Read report

Dunlop Radical UK Cup : Bradley Ellis will be aiming to bounce back to podium form on August 13-14 in the penultimate double header rounds, 11 and 12, of the Dunlop Radical UK Cup at Donington Park. Drive shaft failure on his Supreme Racing Radical SR3 put paid to Ellis’ podium perfect run at Brands Hatch in early July resulting in his only non-finish of the season. Despite that misfortune the 24 year-old still lies sixth in the Radical UK Cup title battle, even though he has only competed in select series races as he supports Andy Cummings in his debut Radical season. The sweeping Donington Park circuit has previously been a happy hunting ground for the sportscar racer. In 2007 Ellis got his British GT Championship campaign off to a flying start, second place and his first podium of the season laid the foundations for a stellar season en route to the coveted sportscar title. The Supreme Racing duo head to the next Radical rounds equipped with a new Radical SR3. Although delivered the day before Brands Hatch, Ellis had only 10 laps in Friday practice to develop the car. With more testing time planned to fine-tune their chariot before Donington Park qualifying, hopes are high to maximise their championship and podium potential.Although the 2011 season is rapidly drawing to a close, Ellis hasn’t lost sight of scoring his first Radical win with his new racing partner. Ellis commented: “We had a tough time at Brands Hatch but that’s behind us now and we’re fully focused on making up for lost points in the penultimate rounds of the season. I’m looking forward to taking the new Supreme Racing Radical SR3 to Donington Park. It’s important that we get more time in the new car as although it felt pretty good at Brands Hatch, especially considering we only had 10 laps of testing, we need to be able to perfect the race set-up.If we can get the car nicely balanced I hope we can again aim for Supreme Racing’s first Radical win. We certainly need a good result after our recent non finish while a podium would also mean a lot as Donington is now my adopted home track, as I moved from Croydon to Hinckley earlier this year. It should be a good weekend.”

Star Mazda: California racer Connor De Phillippi, who already has two wins to his credit so far this season, became the first three-race winner of the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear season with his victory in Sunday's Round 8 at the 42nd annual GP3R at Trois-Rivières. De Phillippi, who finished 5th on Saturday, took the lead two thirds of the way through the race in his #11 Team Pelfrey / Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors Mazda and, by the time he crossed the line he had a 3.4-second gap on his Team Pelfrey teammate Nick Andries, who finished 2^nd.  Read report

Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship: Jason Plato, Gordon Shedden and Mat Jackson were the winners of Sunday’s three highly-charged Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at the new Snetterton 300 circuit while erstwhile points leader Matt Neal suffered an event to forget. It is Warwickshire racer Jackson who has left the Norfolk venue as the new championship leader as the title race heads to second-placed Shedden’s home circuit of Knockhill, Fife in four weeks’ time (Sunday 4 September).  Read report

The BTCC looks set for a thrilling second half of the season, after a huge points haul at Snetterton put the Silverline Chevrolet team, and Jason Plato, right back in the mix after a frustrating start to the season. It began with an eventful qualifying session where Plato set the fastest time with minutes to go, but the main story of the afternoon was a dramatic fire that engulfed the front of Alex MacDowall’s car after a fuel leak. The Cumbrian was pulled free from the car and the fire quickly doused by the RML team, yet despite missing much of the qualifying session he’d still start Race One from third position. The qualifying positions were critical in the day’s first race, with Plato’s Chevrolet Cruze surviving an early tangle with Matt Neal’s Honda to reveal a clear track. With Neal out of contention, MacDowall did a superb job defending second position from Honda’s Gordon Shedden, meaning Plato was left clear to take his fifth victory of the season, as well as setting the lap record for the new Snetterton 300 circuit with the fastest lap of the day. Going into Race Two, the two Cruzes were at the front of the grid, but both were pushed wide after contact in the first bend, allowing Gordon Shedden’s Honda to push its way through. Plato and MacDowall came out of the incident in fourth and fifth positions respectively, but both managed to pass Frank Wrathall’s Toyota Avensis to finish a solid third and fourth overall, with Plato once again on the podium. The BTCC’s reverse-grid formula made for an interesting start to Race Three – Plato and MacDowall began the race in fifth and sixth positions, but battled their way through the field in what was arguably the day’s most exciting race. Plato spent much of the race tussling with Dave Newsham’s SEAT, using every inch of the track to finally squeeze his way through to take third, while another sterling performance from Alex MacDowall saw him come in fifth. Plato wasn’t the only Chevrolet driver on the podium. Privateer Paul O’Neill, at the wheel of the Tech-Speed racing Cruze, was also a beneficiary of the reverse grid system, scoring his best ever finish of the season in second overall.

Honda Racing Team duo Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden suffered a weekend of mixed fortunes in the sixth meeting of the 2011 Dunlop MSA BTCC at Snetterton. Shedden took his third victory of the season in race two in his turbocharged Honda Civic to keep himself in the title fight. Neal faced a huge fight back after being pushed off the track in the opening race. He recovered to take fourth in the third race of the weekend but has slipped from the lead of the points table to third place. Shedden’s results mean he has leapfrogged Neal to claim second spot in the race for the crown. ‘Flash’ Gordon was delighted with his victory and third place which turned up the heat on the title contenders. “The championship has been so competitive this season that it is vital that you keep racking up the finishes,” said ‘Sheds’. “You can’t afford to drop behind, so coming away from this weekend with 30 points has been perfect. It is a shame that Matt had his problems, because otherwise we could have been first and second in the standings. After finishing third in the first race, I thought a victory might be on the cards in race two and I just concentrated on hitting the front as soon as I could. When the chance came at the second corner, I just grabbed it and it was pretty comfortable thereafter. The Civic has an excellent chassis and that meant that even though I had 27kgs of success ballast, I was still able to draw away as I pleased.” For Neal, the three races produced only a single fourth place finish after he was involved in a first corner collision with rival Jason Plato in race one. Plato was later reprimanded for his part in the crash. Neal explained: “I made a brilliant start from fourth place on the grid and was alongside Jason, who was in the lead, going into the first turn and he just hit my car from behind. I spun across the track at 120mph, which was pretty scary and I am thankful no one else touched me.” That meant Neal finished outside the points and a puncture also thwarted his chances in race two. A storming comeback in the third encounter netted fourth place, but it was a weekend to forget in most respects. I am angry because my chances were spoiled by an avoidable incident in race one which also put me at the back for race two, so that was two big points scoring opportunities gone,” explained Neal. “I was happy to get back to fourth in race three but when you consider what we should have been able to achieve here, I am annoyed. Still, there are plenty of races to go and we will work extremely hard to make up the ground we have lost here.”

It was a tough weekend for Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing when the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season resumed at Snetterton over the weekend (6/7 August). Andrew’s Vauxhall Vectra struggled for pace all weekend and he came away with only a single top ten finish to show for his efforts.  Read report

Toyota independent team Dynojet Racing is today celebrating a milestone result in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship – a fantastic fourth-place finish, and independent class victory, for Frank Wrathall and his Avensis. Frank put in a stunning drive in the first of the day’s Snetterton rounds to secure his dramatic result and to open the second half of the BTCC season with a bang. read report

Formula Renault: Atech Reid GP drivers took race one by storm at the brand new Snetteron 300 circuit on Sunday. Starting from the second and third rows on the gird, Tio Ellinas and Jack Hawksworth secured Atech Reid GP’s first 1-2 of the season after a thrilling debut on the new layout. Race two provided no shortage of overtaking with all Atech Reid GP drivers fighting hard for track position. After encountering electrical problems on Saturday and being unable to set a qualifying time, Jack Hawksworth was charging through the pack from last spot on the grid. Overtaking three cars on the first lap Jack ran wide of the exit of turn seven, clipping a safety barrier and  ending his race weekend. Dan Wells and Oscar King were in the thick of the action during race two. Dan made headway to finish the race in 11th , while after a drive up to 6th position mid-race tyre trouble once again saw Oscar run wide to finish the race in 13th position.  Read full report

Will Stevens netted his fifth podium finish of the season with second place in round 12 of the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship at Snetterton on Sunday. Taking a break from the Eurocup to make a guest appearance in the domestic series, Will had proved the pace-setter from the start, fastest in Friday’s opening practice session and first qualifying, and second fastest in qualifying two. Read report

Formula BMW Talent Cup. At Spain’s Monteblanco circuit, the 13 drivers in the Formula BMW Talent Cup ticked off a total of four heats in temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius with the tarmac hitting 68 degrees. On Sunday, 15-year-old Stefan Wackerbauer (Germany) took three wins, with 14 year old Maximilian Günther (Germany) securing the fourth victory.  In the first heat, Günther managed to outpace Darius Oskoui (Switzerland) and Lassi Halminen (Finland). Following a drive-through penalty for a false start, Wackerbauer had to make do with a fourth-placed finish. The second heat saw Wackerbauer beating Liam Venter (South Africa) and Oskoui, while in the third he relegated Oskoui and Venter to runners-up in that order. In the fourth and final heat it was Wackerbauer again who was first to cross the finish line, this time ahead of Oskoui and Max Edelhoff (Germany). He also took home the voucher presented by travel partner Airlink for the fastest lap in Qualifying. “With two poles, three wins and plenty of good duels it was a great weekend from my point of view. I’m very satisfied and once again I learnt a great deal,” said Wackerbauer .  Heats 2 and 4 were based on the reversed grid principle, whereby the top six from the respective previous heat line up in reverse order. “That meant I was able to start from pole twice,” explained 15-year-old Edelhoff. “The pressure from behind forces you to learn how to sort out the right strategy for the race.” Despite the extreme heat, the drivers – with an age range of 14 to 17 – showed great discipline in completing the four heats on Sunday. BMW works driver and chief instructor Dirk Adorf was duly impressed: “Monteblanco is a technically challenging circuit on which the drivers, together with their data engineers, developed different set-ups. It was impressive to see how competent the feedback of the participants proved to be.”

Ginetta Jnrs: Seb Morris, the dominant leader of the Ginetta Junior Championship, increased his advantage at the top of the driver standings to 120 points at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, having returned to winning ways during rounds 11 and 12 of the campaign.Following something of a blip last time out at Croft in North Yorkshire where he failed to get onto the podium, normal service was resumed for the Hillspeed driver with two more victories taking his tally for the year to nine – a magnificent total of 10 rostrum visits from 12 races.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Phototgraphy     Read reports

Seb Morris got the second half of the Ginetta Junior Championship season off to a near-perfect start at Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk over the weekend, 6th/7th August, with two hard-fought victories in rounds 11 and 12 boosting his lead in the driver standings to an amazing 120 points. Chalking up his eighth and ninth victories of the season, the 15-year-old’s return to the top step of the podium marked his fourth winning double of the year – similar success having come at Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Oulton Park. .  Pic Jakob Ebrey Phototgraphy     Read reports

Charlie Robertson consolidated his coveted top three placing in the Ginetta Junior Championship standings at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, by securing his fifth podium of the year in round 11 and backing the result up with a very hard-fought fourth place in round 12.Realistically, the talented 14-year-old could well have departed Norfolk with two more wins to add to his maiden success at Croft in North Yorkshire last time out. The opening race, in particular, was a close affair and Whyteleafe-based Charlie almost pipped points leader Seb Morris on the line. Pic Jakob Ebrey Phototgraphy     Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup : Adam Morgan recorded his second race win of the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, to move into equal second place in the championship standings with early-season dominator Tom Sharp.Profiting from a first corner tangle between ‘reverse grid’ pole-sitter Colin White and Lee Pattison, the Ciceley Racing driver soaked up immense pressure from Sharp in his IDL-run car but Morgan had enough in hand throughout.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Phototgraphy     Read report

Kidderminster’s Nathan Freke was again back behind the wheel of his The Player.co.uk/Century Motorsport Ginetta G55 competing at Snetterton. This was in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup which supports the British Touring Car Championship. pics Chris Roberts/Widerviewphoto.com  read report

Total Control Racing’s Carl Breeze consolidated his lead in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at Snetterton 300 Circuit on Sunday, 7th August, with fourth place in round 17 of the season – for AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK front-runner James Dixon(pictured left) though, the event ended in disappointment.  Pic Jakob Ebrey Phototgraphy     Read report

The Total 24 Hours of Spa is Europe’s second most famous and World’s second oldest endurance event. The 63rd edition was HEXIS AMR’s maiden twice-around-the-clock race. The team managed by Philippe Dumas went on to bring its pair of Aston Martins to the finish line, in valuable 8th and 15th positions, far ahead of the other DBRS9s entered. The n°4 car was still a potential podium finisher with two and a half hours to go, after running within the Top 4 for more than ten hours.  Read race report

DTM: In front of 86,500 spectators over the weekend, Mattias Ekström in an Audi A4 of Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline was in a class of his own at the Nürburgring. From the pole position the Swede achieved an advantage of 5.533 seconds over the Championship leader, Bruno Spengler, and celebrated his 15th DTM victory. It’s been 441 days since Ekström last won a DTM race back in Valencia at the end of May 2010. “That was a very long time,” said the Swede after his triumph at the Nürburgring. “This success feels incredibly good. I’m very happy for the team that suffered a great deal of misfortune in the first half of the season. This weekend Audi Sport and Abt were right on the mark. All I had to do was drive ...”  Right up to the end of the race the Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline was heading for a 1-2 until  on the penultimate lap Mike Rockenfeller, running in second under pressure from Bruno Spengler, locked the wheels of his A4 into turn one. “I was having problems with grip on the rear wheels and changed the brake balance,” explained Rockenfeller. “But that’s not meant to be an excuse. I’m sorry for the team – something like this simply mustn’t happen on the penultimate lap.” Fourth and fifth went to Timo Scheider and Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) who switched positions in a duel on the 20th lap. Runner-up in title chase, Tomczyk, had started well from seventh on the grid but was hit by Mercedes driver Jamie Green on lap one damaging the front end of his Audi. Tomczyk never-the-less managed to secure fifth place. “Overall, it was a great team performance,” said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. “Mattias Ekström and his A4 DTM were in a league of their own this weekend. And Team Abt showed perfect pit stops. It’s a shame that Martin Tomczyk lost a few points. But we’re happy that after the body contact with Jamie Green on lap one he was able to even finish the race.”

Clio Cup: James Dixon secured his fourth victory of the AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK season at Snetterton in Norfolk over the weekend, 6th/7th August, with a fantastic performance from fifth on the grid during round 11 of the 16 race campaign. Delivering an assured drive under huge pressure throughout Saturday afternoon’s encounter, the 21-year-old didn’t put a wheel wrong as he brilliantly moved back to the top of the championship standings with a seven-point cushion.Less than 24 hours later though, in round 12, unfortunate contact at the first corner resulted in damaged steering and a bitterly disappointing non-finish. .  Pic Jakob Ebrey Phototgraphy     Read report

07-08-11

Formula Nippon: Alexandre Imperatori produced a stirring comeback drive in round four of Formula Nippon at Motegi, Japan on Sundaybefore demonstrating his battling qualities to hold on for a solid 11th place finish.  Read report

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup : Daniel Lloyd delivered another superb performance in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup on  Saturday, 6th August, with a tremendous drive to second place – the third podium of his debut season in the category – on his first ever outing at Germany’s Nurburgring.Not only did the round six result provide yet more silverware for the Huddersfield’s racer’s trophy cabinet, it also means the 19-year-old is now up to second place in the championship standings having pulled 14 points clear of Ola Nilsson.  Pic Volkswagen Motorsport .read report

The JK Racing Asia Series Rounds 11-14 scheduled to be held at Guangdong International Circuit this 12-14 August weekend has been cancelled. Motorsport Asia made the announcement to the teams yesterday afternoon after making a decision to cancel the race due to a typhoon that caused delays in the shipment of cars and equipment en-route from Indonesia . “The shipment of the JK Racing Asia Series containers was delayed by a typhoon, so we decided to cancel the event and although we could have tried to push it, we have all experienced standing in the Paddock waiting for the containers to arrive at the last minute in China previously and we felt that it was better to look for another option than to try to run a condensed or reduced programme” said David Sonenscher, CEO of Motorsport Asia. The ship, which was scheduled to arrive on Sunday (today) had to take shelter in the Philippines and has yet to arrive in Hong Kong . “After the ship docked in Hong Kong, the transhipment of containers to Guangdong would only have been completed by the Friday or even Saturday of the race week, which meant that there was no way to conduct the programme we had planned. I spoke to all the Team’s Principals yesterday and we unanimously agreed that we had no choice but to replace the race weekend in Guangdong ” he continued. ”I have quite a few options on the table already and to be honest, some of them look far better and more exciting, so who knows, this may be a blessing in disguise. I am weighing them all up and then I will meet with the Teams early this week to finalise it. We will announce the new date and venue very soon”.  The JK Racing Asia Series will continue with the Singapore event held during the Formula 1 at the Marina Bay Circuit on the 23rd to 25th September 2011

Ginetta GT Supercup: Total Control Racing’s Carl Breeze increased his lead in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at the new Snetterton 300 Circuit on Saturday, 6th August, with victory during round 15 and second place to 2009 Champion Nathan Freke in round 16.Norfolk-based Breeze boosted his advantage in the championship to 35 points thanks to a pair of very strong results on home soil while arch-rival Freke continued his mid-season upturn with his fourth victory from the last seven races at the wheel of his theplayer.co.uk/Century Motorsport G55.pic Jakob Ebrey Photography;  Read report

Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup star Carl Breeze and AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK ace James Dixon each won for Total Control Racing at Snetterton 300 Circuit this afternoon, Saturday, 6th August, to head into Sunday’s action at the Norfolk track leading their respective championships. While local racer Breeze, from Kings Lynn, increased the Ginetta GT points lead he seized at Croft last time out with victory during round 15 and second place in round 16, Clio Cup runner Dixon went back to the top of the title race in the Renault series with his fourth win of the year in round 11.  Read report

Formula 3: Facu Regalia finished in sixth place on Saturday in the first race of Italian Formula 3 championship at Spa-Francorchamps. Regalia, starting from fourth on the grid had to endure a severe storm which nearly flooded the famous Belgian track. “The race began later than scheduled, and it meant that work time on the starting grid was cut. I asked for a higher downforce set-up, but my mechanics didn´t have time for. After I didn´t make my best start, and now we have to study if my car suffered any kind of clutch problem. I lost five places, so I was ninth”, Regalia explained. However “during first lap, I managed to recover three places, being placed sixth then. My car suffered from understeer, and I had to fight hard to be on track. But then, when the track became dryer, my lap times improved. At the end I was one of the fastest drivers. Anyway my sixth place isn´t bad under the circumstancesr”, the 19 year old  said.

Star Mazda: Tristan Vautier of Grenoble, France has scored his second victory of the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear season in Race 1 / Round 7 of a double-header at the 42nd annual GP3R at Trois-Rivières. Vautier started from the pole in his #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda and will start from the pole again in tomorrow's Race 2 / Round 8 by virtue of having set the fastest lap of the race today. Vautier's other victory, also from the pole, came in Round 2 at Barber Motorsports Park and he has maintained his lead in the championship with a quartet of top-5 finishes in Rounds 3 – 6. Vautier joins Connor De Phillippi and Sage Karam on the list of drivers with two wins so far this season. Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Stephen Jelley scored a hugely important victory in a superb round 10 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton on Sunday, 7 August. After 14 laps of the Snetterton 300 circuit, little more than two seconds split the top five cars and victory for Jelley put him to the head of the title race.Michael Meadows and impressive championship newcomer Ben Barker completed the overall podium, while the action continued all the way down the 25-car field. Jonas Gelzinis took Pro-Am1 as a fierce battle raged over second place, while Keith Webster beat George Brewster by less than half a second in Pro-Am2 after both had spins. Read report

Jonas Gelzinis is the latest Porsche Carrera Cup GB racer to benefit from Michelin’s on-going support of the championship by winning a set of tyres this weekend at Snetterton (6/7 August). Gelzinis, racing for Juta Racing, arrived at Snetterton with a 34-point lead in the Pro-Am1 category, which is his prime aim for the 2011 season. The Lithuanian racer commutes to Britain for each round of the championship and races for the team headed by his father Audrius. Having been the control tyre supplier for the Carrera Cup GB since the championship was created in 2003, Michelin is once more supporting the teams and drivers with the award of a complete set of slick racing tyres at each event. Before the start of testing, a name is drawn from a hat to receive the tyres, with a value of more than £1000.

Porsche Club Championship: Mark Sumpter holds a handsome lead in the points as the 2011 Porsche Club Championship heads to Oulton Park, Cheshire, but it is rivals who have been doing the winning in recent races and they will be determined to peg back his score once more this coming Saturday, August 13th. None of his major challengers have been able to score more than one win, a record they will all be determined to put right at Oulton Park . Sumpter took his Paragon Porsche 911 to victory in the opening four rounds and was never off the podium in the following events, the 968 of Pete Morris that breaking his run of wins at Donington in May, and the always competitive Morris will be eager to take another win at Oulton. Mark McAleer took his first win in his new for 2011 968 CS at Rockingham last month, and in the dry it should be the 968s that provide the closest opposition to Sumpter – his 911 the lightest car in Class One and working well on a damp track. Other race winners have been Miles Maserati and Richard Lambert at Thruxton, while rookie John McCullagh won the opening wet race at Rcokingham ahead of Sumpter – all of whom could be challenging hard at Oulton. Second in the points by sheer pace and consistency is Ben Demetriou, who showed his race craft with two drives through the field at Rockingham. Reigning champion Chris Dyer heads the Class Two points. Quick and consistent in his Strasse run 944 S2, Dyer usually works his way up the overall order as the races progress and is just 12-points behind Sumpter in the overall title chase.

05-08-11

The GT Asia Series will for the first time, end the season as part of the illustrious 58th Macau Grand Prix 2011. In the past, the Series has been a part of the event, but only as an invitational race. This year the invitation extended to the GT Asia Series will be to end the 2011 season with a Championship round being held as part of the Mac au Grand Prix. “We are honoured to be extended this invitation from the Mac au GP and we are happy that they have recognised the Series in this way. We would also like to extend our thank you to the Supercar Club Hong Kong for all their hard work and their great cooperation with the Mac au GP organizers this past three years” said David Sonenscher, CEO of Motorsport Asia. The GT Asia Series Round 11 will be integrated into the Mac au GT Cup held during the 58th Mac au Grand Prix 2011 in Asia’s Monaco - the Guia International Circuit. The street circuit is a 6.2km clockwise track, set in the middle of busy Mac au .The race format will mainly remain the same, with two qualifying sessions being held and drives having to compete in a 40-minute race, which is roughly 20-laps.“The MGP organisers have also confirmed they will be a part of the ‘GT Annual Presentation Party’ to present the trophies and awards to the GT Asia Series 2011 winning drivers and teams” added Paul Yao, CEO of Supercar Club Hong Kong, co organiser of the GT Asia Series. The Mac au GT Cup Qualifying 1 will be held on Friday, 18th November, Qualifying 2 on Saturday, 19th November while the race itself will be held on Sunday, 20th November 2011.

Goodwood Revival: In just six weeks time, the finest collection of significant and authentic racing Jaguar E-types ever assembled will gather at the 2011 Goodwood Revival (16-18 September) for an exceptionalFordwater Trophy race. To mark the 50th anniversary of the most iconic of British sport cars, as an exclusive race for 2011, Goodwood’s Fordwater Trophy will feature a grid exclusively made up of Jaguar E-types of a type that raced up to 1966.  The race will be a 45-minute two-driver race, with driver changes in the pits between 15 and 30 minutes. The Fordwater Trophy will feature an extraordinary mix of historically-significant competition E-types, including six of the 12 lightweights still in existence racing, plus three more of the surviving cars present on static display.  With significant racing E-type low drag coupés, roadsters and fixed head coupés also competing, the race promises to make for an intriguing spectacle and a fitting tribute to Britain’s most popular sports car and its special relationship with Goodwood. An exceptional line-up of top drivers will campaign the Jaguars, including ex-F1 stars Gerhard Berger, Jackie Oliver, Jochen Mass, Adrian Newey, Desiré Wilson and Tiff Needell, touring car legends Andy Priaulx, John Cleland and Anthony Reid, ex-Jaguar Le Mans winner Andy Wallace and actor and comedian Rowan Atkinson.

ILMC: Britain is preparing to host the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and Le Mans Series at the 2011 Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone in what promises to be a spectacular weekend of entertainment on September 9th to 11th.Not only will the event see 45 sports prototype and GT cars from Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola, Lotus, Peugeot, Porsche and others but it also marks the 35th anniversary of the most prestigious sports car race in Britain. Read more

Star Mazda: Gary Rodrigues, founder and President of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear and M. François Bordeleau, Chief Executive Officer of the Grand Prix de Trois-Riviéres have announced a three-year contract extension that will see the series competing at the GP3R until 2014. "The GP3R has become a favourite event among Star Mazda Championship teams and drivers and we're delighted to extend our relationship into the future," said Rodrigues.  "Everyone likes to come here because the fans are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and because the entire city of Trois-Riviéres gets into the spirit of the event.  But having a good time is not our sole motive; the GP3R circuit is a highly-technical challenge for our drivers, and the off-track demands on the drivers, the media, the crowds and the busy schedule are perfect training for young drivers on their way up to IndyCar.   It fits perfectly with our mission to provide our drivers with the comprehensive, well-rounded education required to make a successful career at the top levels of motorsports."  The Star Mazda Championship has been a fan favourite at Trois-Riviéres since 2005 when the race was won by Luis Schiavo.  Subsequent winners have included Matt Varsha (2006), Ron White (2007), Peter Dempsey (2008) and Alex Ardoin (2009-2010).  It has also served as a training ground for the next generation of Canadian open-wheel racers such as Mikael Grenier, the Stoneham, Quebec native who competed in Star Mazda at the GP3R in 2009 and 2010, and will be driving the #22 Moore Racing / Xtreme Coil Drilling car in the first-ever Firestone Indy Lights race at Trois-Riviéres on Sunday.  "The Star Mazda Championship race is always intensely competitive and is one of the highlights of the GP3R weekend, even more so this year because there is a race on both Saturday and Sunday," says Bordeleau.  "The Trois-Riviéres fans feel a special connection with open-wheel racing because they have seen so many top young drivers race here on their way to IndyCar and Formula One, and the Star Mazda Championship has proved over its twenty-one year history that the young drivers you see here this year you'll see racing at Indy and Daytona in a few years.  We are proud to be part of that history and look forward to seeing the next generation of stars racing in Star Mazda at the GP3R." The Grand Prix began in 1967 when members of the Club Autosport Mauricien (CAM), decided to organize a race in the streets of the city.  Inspired by the famed Monaco Grand Prix, Mr. Jean E. Ryan, Leon Dufour and Yves Girard, plus a committee of about thirty people, organized and that has now become one of the most unique motorsports events in North America.  The GP3R, as it has come to be known, is the site for Rounds 7 & 8 of the 11-race Star Mazda Championship schedule for 2011; it is one of three street circuits on the schedule, and the only weekend to host a double-header.

Siroccos R-Cup : Ahead of Round Six of the Scirocco R-Cup at the Nürburgring this weekend, 5-6 August, Volkswagen Motorsport has launched an exciting new live-streaming application, ‘R-Cup mobile’, which allows motorsport fans to catch every wheel-to-wheel battle throughout the season, no matter where they are. Highlighting the championship’s reputation as the most innovative one-make cup in motorsport, fans around the world can now keep up to speed with events as they happen through the course of the race weekends and, for the first time, watch each round live through their iPhone or iPod touch.  In addition, the app includes news about the series, tracks and drivers as well as photos, videos, results and the latest points standings. As a DTM partner series, the Scirocco R-Cup continues at the Nürburgring ahead of the UK round at Brands Hatch next month.  Joining the line-up of regular ‘Junior’ and ‘Pro’ racers on the grid will be German rally racers Uwe Nittel and Niki Schelle as well as two junior rally stars, Christian Riedemann and Hans Weijs Jnr who will contest the ADAC Rallye Deutschland later this month as Volkswagen Motorsport continue preparations ahead of the Polo R WRC making its debut in the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2013. The latest update of the ‘R-Cup mobile’ app is available to download from Apple’s app store or direct from www.volkswagen-motorsport.com/R-Cup_iPhone.

Touring Cars: WTCC driver Tarquine teams up with Tommy Rustad at Karlskoga on August 13.Following James Thompson's departure from the team earlier this week, Volvo and Polestar have signed  Gabriele Tarquini to drive for the Volvo Polestar Green Racing team in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship for the next two races. "We are very happy to have Tarquini on board. On top of his previous track record with Formula 1, titles in BTCC, ETCC and WTCC, what has impressed us is how good of a job he is doing in the WTCC this year. We look forward to apply his talent in STCC now and hope he will be able to score important points for us in the STCC team championship" says Christian Dahl, Team Manager for Volvo Polestar Racing. Gabriele Tarquini will drive the Volvo C30 DRIVe race car, the same car that Robert Dahlgren drives for Volvo Polestar in the WTCC, but with a naturally aspirated engine and powered by bio ethanol E85. Volvo Polestar are reigning STCC team champions and won also both the STCC team and driver championship the year before last with this car and with driver Tommy Rustad. However, Volvo Polestar is very keen to keep expectations at a realistic level. "Tarquini will drive the two races at Karlskoga and Jyllandsringen, the two worst tracks for front wheel drive cars on the calendar and where a top-five result is an achievement. On the other hand, these extreme circumstances are ideal to test how quick and well Tarquini and Volvo Polestar can align as a team, which is of obvious interest as our motorsport program may evolve" says Derek Crabb, Executive Director for Motorsport at Volvo Cars.As the clock ticks for Karlskoga, Gabriele Tarquini is preparing for the job with a few days of vacation. "I really look forward to this. I have raced closely against Volvo Polestar and the C30 in the WTCC this year so I know I am joining a highly professional team with a very good car and serious ambitions. Also, I have raced most types of racing cars and for several different brands in many different international and national championships, but both Volvo and the STCC will be two firsts for me. I am very excited" says Gabriele Tarquini.

04-08-11

Formula Ford: Next weekend’s (13/14 August) Zandvoort Formula Ford races are not only the last of the summer 2011 EuroCup rounds but they also mark the beginning of the second half of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain One driver figures large in each of the two Duratec-powered series - Scott Malvern - and the Essex-based 22-year-old is hoping that the Dutch seaside circuit will see him reign again over his EuroCup rivals and also collect further valuable points in his quest for the British championship title.Jamun Racing Mygale driver Scott is on a nine-race unbroken winning streak in the Dunlop MSA series, which has helped put him 52 points clear in the standings, and he has additionally taken the EuroCup honours at all three meetings held so far - at Brands Hatch, Spa-Francorchamps and Zolder.Malvern’s chief opposition may come from within his own team - Zandvoort is home circuit for 19-year-old Jeroen Slaghekke and both he and one of Jamun’s Australian drivers, Nick McBride, were winners there when the team dropped into the Dutch Formula Ford Championship in early July to make a Zandvoort recce.  Read more

The third round of the 2011 Australian Formula Ford Championship was recently held at Eastern Creek Raceway in Sydney. Catch all the action as Australia's future stars take to the track over three races in their first visit to New South Wales in three years this Sunday on SBS ONE. at 12:30pm EST (check your local guides) in Speedweek. The Australian Formula Ford Championship hits the track again on August 19-21, for Round 4 of the series at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich.

GT: Aston Martin Racing will host the 6th round of the GT4 Challenge of Great Britain at the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire on the 6th of August. The series, which is based around the V8 Vantage road car, provides competitors with a first step onto the GT racing ladder. Practice and qualifying commence at 09:00 and the 90 minute race starts at 13:45.  During the day, Oulton Park will also be playing host to the Aston Martin Owners Club (AMOC) race meeting featuring customers’ cars from throughout Aston Martin’s illustrious history. Both the last two races, held at Spa Francorchamps last month, were won by the number 12 car of Nicholas Mee Racing with drivers Karsten le Blanc and Dan de Zillle at the wheel. With only three rounds remaining Oulton Park plays host to a critical race in the series before action heads to Brands Hatch on the 27 August before concluding at Dijon Prenois on the 10-11 September.

Karts: In less than 10 days, at the end of July, the Zuera circuit delivered a series of podiums, victories and titles to the Energy team, both at the WSK Euro Series and at the CIK-FIA European KF2-KF3 Championships. Considering the many other triumphs gleaned since the start of the year, Energy Corse is definitely the one of most effective teams in 2011, since none of the others can boast a similar list of achievements at international level in half a season.   Read more

He had been threatening to do so for some time but the bad luck that seemed to dog Luke Whitworth this season in the Super 1 Series only served to make cracking the top ten at Buckmore Park all the sweeter. Luke headed to Buckmore aiming to move up from the 24th spot in the national Junior Max class into the top 20, and he was quietly optimistic about his chances.          Read report 

For CRG, the WSK Euro Series ended in Spain with a title for Max Verstappen in KF3, an excellent performance by Mirko Torsellini in KZ and a podium for Felice Tiene in KF1. Despite the competitive racing at international level, the list of achievements of the Italian chassis and of Maxter engines continues to grow l year after year. In parallel with these successes, CRG is already thinking ahead, to the preparation of next world meetings and to the homologation of new chassis. Read report                                         

Formula 3: Facu Regalia heads for Spa this weekend for the fourth round of the next Italian Formula 3 championship. The Team Ghinzan driver is looking forward to racing at the Ardennes track in the only event in the Chmpionship held outside Italy. “Spa-Fracorchamps is a venue long awaited for me. It´s one of my favorite tracks, really fast, it has a good number of challenging corners and gradient changes. I am very confident, because I made a good test session there in June and I was again the fastest man on the track during collective test held at Adria”. Also, his Dallara-FPT is more suitable for his driving style, Regalia says: “we solved my car´s understeer. We made a good job during last test day, and both my team and I were encouraged after my podium at Imola. We want to keep improving”. Track activities begin on Friday 5 August with two free practice sessions and qualifying. The first race is on Saturday at 16.20 and second on Sunday at 10.20.

03-08-11

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear moves on to one of the most important events on the schedule this weekend – the double-header at the 42nd annual GP3R at Trois-Rivières. The event presents both great challenges and great opportunities with two races and two chances to score points.  There is also the unique qualifying format that will see drivers qualify for Saturday’s race on Friday, with their fastest lap during that race being used to determine their starting position for Sunday. Mosport winner, Brazilian racer João Victor Horto.  will be carrying the momentum of his first-ever Star Mazda Championship win into this weekend, along with the expertise of his 2010 Championship winning Juncos Racing team. Read more

LMS: MG is returning to international motorsport in a move which could see them taking part in the world’s most famous endurance race. MG Motor UK has teamed up with Team RLR, which runs an MG Lola EX265 sports prototype in the Le Mans Series.  Next year the Bolton-based team hopes to take part in the Le Mans 24-hour race and will use this season to gain experience. The next round of the 2011 Le Mans Series takes place at Silverstone on September 11 when the MG Lola, carrying the famous MG octagon logo, will race for six hours in the LMP2 class. News of MG’s return to international racing was announced recently when Team RLR and the MG Lola visited MG Motor UK’s factory at MG Birmingham. NickReynolds, Team RLR team principal, said: “We have one of the best prepared teams in the Le Mans Series, and the support from MG will ensure that we can be even more competitive both on and off the track throughout the 2011 Le Mans Series season and beyond.The deal is a great fit for both parties due to the heritage and provenance of the MG Lola EX265, and we are excited to be working closely with such a famous and much loved car manufacturer.  We look forward to repaying MG for its confidence in us by providing many exciting moments for the company and its huge number of followers in the races ahead.” Guy Jones, MG Motor UK Sales and Marketing Director, said: “MG is delighted to be supporting Team RLR and the MG Lola EX265. The MG brand is synonymous with motorsport and with the new MG6 GT and Magnette models now in the market place we need to raise the profile of the brand. Supporting team RLR with the MG Lola in the exciting, high profile, Le Mans endurance series is a perfect fit for the brand and the team.” MG Lola EX265 was part of a squad of endurance racing cars which were successful between 2003 and 2008; including two class wins in the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 2005 and 2006.

BTCC: Honda Racing Team drivers Matt Neal and Gordon ‘Flash’ Shedden are eager to continue their dominant form as the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship blasts back into life at Snetterton in Norfolk this weekend. The Civic duo are first and third in the drivers’ points standings at the halfway point of the year and are aiming to stretch further away from the competitive field over the remaining 15 rounds. Both drivers took part in a test session at Donington Park recently to check out revisions to the two-litre turbocharged machine and say they are keen to get back into the heat of battle. Neal explains: “Our Civic is one of the best handling cars on the grid, but you can always keep refining things and that is what we did at the test. We were chipping away at the suspension settings trying to find an extra edge. Although there has been a seven-week break in the championship, our team never stands still in the quest to make the Civic even stronger.” A rule change from the championship bosses will peg back Neal’s and Shedden’s cars and force them to run with less turbo boost pressure this weekend but Neal says that the homework done by the team should keep the car at the front.  “We have yet again been held back for doing a good job so far this year, which seems unfair,” said Neal. “But we can only make sure that we have the handling and the speed to overcome this handicap. I am confident that we will perform.” The Snetterton circuit has been completely remodelled since last season and now features a new three-mile configuration with a demanding infield section. ‘Flash’ Gordon says that the challenge will be ramped up for everyone. “It is like going to a totally new track,” says Flash. “It has new sections that are twisty, but there are still the long straights and they will play into our hands. My prime target is to cut the gap to Matt at the top of the points standings. The championship has been so tight and competitive this season and we have already seen that it can alter dramatically over the course of any given weekend. If I can leave Snetterton having narrowed the gap to Matt and made Honda one-two in the drivers’ points, then I will be happy.”

Karts: Beitske Visser' s experience in the WSK Euro Series this year has been very positive. During the four round Series, she raced against the best drivers in the world and was often amongst the fastest on the track. This was the case in Spain at the end of July, where she made it through to two finals picking up a 4th and 6th place finishes, leaving her 9th in the KZ1 Championship.   Read report

Formula Renault: Having already taken advantage of Formula Renault UK’s long mid-summer break to try his hand at Formula Two, car racing rookie Jordan King’s latest adventure saw him travel to Germany to pitch himself against many of the finest junior single-seater competitors in Europe. Pic Essay Produkties   Read report

Formula 4: Jordan Perroy moves from karts to single-seaters this year, in the French F4 Championship. With this in mind he has spent a year preparing with the Euroformula Driving School TCD (Training and Competition Department), under the wing of Joel de Miguel. Success has eluded Jordan for the last two racing weekends,notably at  Spa.  The youngster started the meeting well with 10^th place in free practice, despite using old tyres from the Val de Vienne. Equipped with new tyres for the qualifiers, Jordan showed his skill and placed himself  9th and 7th on the grid for races 1 and 2, only 0.3secs off pole. Unfortunately in the first race, an electrical problem at the start saw drop from 7th to 13th  place losing precious points in the championship. His only consolation was a good lap time! For the second race the Ardennes weather intervened, and Jordan holding 7th for a long time, succumbed to pressure and a lack of experience in the rain finishing 13^th once more. Jordan, supported by the Regional Committee for the Ile-de-France and the Rosny Karting Club, was nevertheless satisfied with his weekend: “I took great pleasure in driving on this mythical track. I found my bearings pretty quickly and kept up with the top 10 but success was just out of my grasp in the first race. In the second race, I found it difficult to master the track in the rain especially when conditions got worse. I feel like I’ve improved at every finish and that’s my objective this year.” Laurent Fradon, Director of Euroformula also had a positive take on Jordan’s performance : “We’ve followed Jordan since his first single-seater race, he has passed many important milestones. He is among the promising young drivers in his category today and he should be able to step up on the podium soon. He’s quick, serious and hard working and we’re confident in his future.”

Formula 3: This weekend’s fourth round of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship at Twin Ring Motegi offers Gary Thompson a chance to re-ignite his National Class title challenge as the season passes its halfway point. After starting the 2011 campaign strongly with a string of podium finishes, the highly rated young Irishman endured a frustrating round at Fuji last time out where the unexpectedly hot conditions hindered his SGC by KCMG Dallara-Toyota’s set-up. But Thompson, supported in his title bid by Aviation Display and Cebu Pacific Air, doesn’t expect a repeat of those problems at Motegi, which was badly affected by the devastating earthquake that hit the county in March and led to the entire circuit being resurfaced. But despite the track’s alterations, Thompson is hopeful of going one better than his second place finish there last season in what turned out to be the best result of the Dubliner’s 2010 campaign. Conditions are expected to be largely the same at Motegi as they were in Fuji three weeks ago where the team worked hard to improve the car throughout the weekend. But while their similar characteristics will see a number of settings carried over, Thompson is well aware that further improvement is needed if he’s to extract the maximum from qualifying at a circuit offering few passing opportunities.  Gary Thompson: “Motegi’s a circuit I’ve always enjoyed racing at so it will be interesting to see how the changes have affected it. I’m hopeful the team have taken a step forward with the car. We’re expecting similar conditions there as we encountered at Fuji where the team worked hard to improve the car over the weekend. “It’s important to stress how significant this weekend is for me and the championship. We’re already at the halfway stage of the season so it’s imperative that we don’t have another round like Fuji. On paper the results weren’t too bad but I need to be up there fighting for wins if we’re to close the gap in the standings. That makes qualifying especially important so we avoid losing time fighting our way through the field as has happened a few times this year. I’m feeling confident though.” Thompson currently lies fourth in the standings and 28 points adrift of the championship lead. But with a maximum of 24 available this weekend alone, there remain plenty of chances to reduce the gap

02-08-11

Ginetta Junior : After a mid-season break, motor racing’s fastest students are back in the classroom as the Ginetta Junior Championship kicks off its second half of the season at Snetterton this weekend. Watch the racing typified by the Ginetta Junior Championship and you forget that the drivers are aged between 14 and 17. The racing is fast, frantic and provides a tremendous training ground for the stars of tomorrow, and with everyone in the same type of car, the onus is on the driver. Seb Morris (Hillspeed) heads the title race after a superb start to the season, which began with four wins on the trot. He won again at Thruxton (having narrowly lost out to George Gamble in the first race) and then took two more wins at Oulton Park. At Croft, though, he suffered his worst weekend of the season with neither race heading his way. Instead, George Gamble (TJ Motorsport) won the opener and impressive 14-year-old Charlie Robertson made a piece of history by becoming the youngest winner of a race in the UK as he took the chequered flag in race two. That leaves seven-times race-winner Morris ahead in the title race but he is under pressure as Gamble has narrowed the margin: 318 points plays 230. Gamble will be one to watch on the new Snetterton 300 as he has adapted well to new circuits in his maiden season of car racing and he will be a thorn in the side of second year racer Morris.Robertson, driving for HHC Motorsport, impressed at Donington back in April and was in fine form at Croft. If he can maintain the speed, and keep out of trouble, he should take more wins before the end of the season, while William Foster (Tockwith Motorsport) is another to watch enjoying a solid season. Other front-runners are Tom Howard (Tollbar Racing with WIRED), Max Coates and reigning Irish Champion Niall Murray (Beacon Racing), while former Rallycrosser Brad Bailey (TJ Motorsport) and the fast-improving Patrick McClughan (HHC Motorsport) should be in the mix as well. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography; 

Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup : What started as a championship dominated by Tom Sharp, the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup is now headed by Carl Breeze as the action heads to the Snetterton 300 this weekend.  If a week is a long time in politics, a weekend is a very long time in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, especially when there are three races on offer. This year’s championship has provided some excellent racing and the pendulum has swung in favour of the experienced Carl Breeze (TCR). Breeze, a mainstay of the championship, has been a regular race winner in the original G50 series and has now turned his focus on taking the 2011 crown. It started with points finishes rather than wins, but things changed at Thruxton when he won two out of the three races as title-race leader Tom Sharp struggled with tyre wear. Breeze took another win at Oulton Park and a further victory at Croft as Sharp’s season started to unravel: six wins in a row gave him a superb start to the season but then Thruxton proved to be a turning point. Sharps’ style seemed to wear his tyres quicker than other drivers’ rubber and he struggled to stay in the leading pack. Then, at Oulton Park, Tom struggled for pace in race one and just scrabbled into the top six in a wet race two. That didn’t help his points tally. Then at Croft, Sharp’s weekend started badly. He changed tyres during qualifying and put on a non-permitted set. That caused his times (on those tyres) to be disallowed and he started from 11th on the grid. Then he was black-flagged for an out-of-position start and finished just 13th. A day later, he tangled with Stefan Hodgetts and went off the road… The net result is that Sharp is 13 points behind and needs to turn around his season this weekend. But there is tough opposition as Nathan Freke, Stefan Hodgetts, Tim Harvey and Adam Morgan have all been winners this season and there are three wide-open races on the new Snetterton 300 this weekend. In the G50 class, Tom Ingram heads Jody Fannin by 42 points, but Aaron Williamson and Jake Hill have proved their pace and will be in the mix as well, while brother-and-sister Andy and Louise Richardson are out to see who is best in their sibling rivalry. New for the G50 class this weekend will be Josh Fielding (JHR) who is Junior racer Sennan’s older brother while Phil Broad returns to Ginetta racing in one of Century Motorsport’s G55. It all adds up to another all-action weekend.pic Jakob Ebrey Photography; 

Formula Reanult BARC: Car racing rookie Callum Bowyer reckons a podium finish between now and the end of the season is not out of the question in the 2011 Formula Renault BARC Championship, after producing a superb performance in his latest outing at Croft. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography;    Read report 

Clio Cup UK : Following a lengthy seven week summer break, AirAsia Renault Clio Cup UK will return next weekend, 6th/7th August, at Snetterton 300 Circuit and championship contender James Dixon is aiming for a clean sweep of pole positions and race wins. James, who has his sights set on graduating to the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in 2012 if the required funding can be secured, has been a title threat from the off in Clio Cup this year – only his second season of saloon car competition. Driving for the Total Control Racing team, the 21-year-old has led the championship on a couple of occasions with three victories to his credit so far.  Having been fast and a double podium finisher at Snetterton during the track’s previous guise last year, the ABP Heating, Weidmuller and The Art of Decorating-sponsored racer is confident he can challenge for even better results on the newly configured ‘300 Circuit’ next weekend. “Looking back at last year, we had a pretty awesome result at Snetterton with one pole and two second places”, said James, “Obviously we’ll be on the new circuit this time but I’ve had a test there and we were pretty quick so I’m looking forward to it. We need to go for two wins to get back to the top of the championship. Hopefully we’ll be able to fight for the double pole and two wins at Snetterton, that’s what I’m aiming for.”  While the immediate goal is Snetterton success and, ultimately, the Clio Cup title, James has one eye on next year and he’s currently working very hard to try and secure the budget to enable him to step up to the BTCC. Clio Cup has long been a main feeder category for touring cars and James knows graduation to the UK’s premier championship next year is key to his career development. He added: “I want to be in the BTCC without any doubt at all next year, that’s where we have to be and we’re working really hard to sort that out and try and get the budget we need – it’s a big task though. The priority is to win Clios but a move to the BTCC next year is what we need to do.”  In other news, James is delighted to be able to confirm his involvement in the non-championship ‘Cross Channel Challenge’ for Clio Cup competitors from across Europe which will take place at the World Series by Renault at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit on 20th/21st August.

Auto GP newcomer MP Motorsport almost achieved its maiden podium in only its second outing in the championship at Oschersleben in Germany over the weekend, 30th/31st July – a busy event for the Dutch team in which it also contested the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup races. Daniël De Jong, who debuted with the Oudenbosch squad in Auto GP a couple of weeks ago at Donington Park in the UK, produced a fantastic performance in very difficult conditions during the second encounter, coming within just a couple of laps of finishing in second position.  Formula Renault: First year single-seater racer Jordan King impressed MP Motorsport on his debut outing with the team during the Oschersleben rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup, the British driver achieving a top six finish in the second of the weekend’s two races.  pics AutoGP    Read MP Motorsport race reports

Britcar: Sarah Bennett-Baggs was back out with Jensen Lunn in her Adrian Flux sponsored BMW E46 M3 at a sunny Castle Combe last weekend, testing out their brand new freshly rebuilt engine. With the car running well the duo had high hopes of scoring a top step result, but it wasn't to be. Jensen got pushed off the circuit during warm-up losing the front splitter, closely followed by Sarah having a blow-out at Camp, resulting is a dramatic sideways slide, narrowly missing the pit wall. The team set about building a new splitter and the car was back out in time for Qualifying but a prop shaft vibration curbed their performance and it was decided to park the car after just 3 laps each. They still qualified 2nd in class (7 in class). After qualifying the team set about a nationwide search to find the vital part causing the vibration. Frantic Ebay searches, parts departments and breakers yards were called, even a request out to the Pistonheads forum all proved to no avail and on Sunday at 1pm, Jensen and Sarah had to take to the track with the broken parts still in place and hope for the best!  Read full report

Formula 3 Cars will race for the first time at Mount Panorama as part of the 2012 Bathurst Motor Festival, Formula 3 Management and Event officials have announced today. The return of international specification ‘wings and slicks’ open wheelers to Mount Panorama for the first time in over thirty years will ensure the Bathurst Motor Festival will receive international exposure next year, with overseas drivers already plotting to tackle the Mountain. Formula 3 Management has received several enquiries from international drivers keen to experience the mystique of Bathurst in a Formula 3 car. The Event will form part of the 2012 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship and is set to be a marquee race for the category’s continuing efforts to grow and develop locally. As part of the Bathurst Motor Festival, Formula 3 cars will contest three, 10-lap races totalling nearly 180 competitive kilometres of racing across the April 6-8 Event next year.  Read more

Karts: The Ellough Park circuit in Beccles has announced several extra days of testing for all Formula Kart Stars drivers ahead the final two rounds of the 2011 Championship on September 24th-25th. Having taken the tough decision to cancel the remainder of the Beccles and District Kart Club season, the circuit has taken steps to ensure that those days have been re-allocated to give all FKS drivers extra time to prepare for the Championship’s second visit to the circuit.As a result the following full days (10:00-17:00 hours) are available for testing: August 15th, 19th, 24th and September 9th, 11th, 12th, and 13th. In addition to those dates, part day testing (10:00-12:00 hours) are available in conjunction with Ellough’s non-MSA race meetings on August 20th and September 10th. Ellough Park managing director Richard Lock said that it was a hard decision to have to cancel their monthly MSA club meetings but that the circuit was well in advance in making preparations to exceed the 2010 event, which was widely regarded as the best meeting of the year.“It’s sad to see the club having to take this course of action,” stated Lock. “But Ellough Park is looking forward to welcoming back FKS and to making the last two rounds of the 2011 Championship as fantastic and well run as last year. We have arranged several test days to give everyone opportunities to visit and test before the FKS meeting and competitors should contact Ellough Park on 01502 717718 or at enquiries@elloughparkraceway.co.uk for any additional information.”  pic: Chris Walker/kartpix.net

Nyck De Vries (Zanardi-Parilla) added another title to his list of triumphs last weekend in Spain by winning the WSK KF1 Championship. After the four rounds of the WSK Euro Series, the Dutch karter concluded the event with a comfortable lead in the KF1 Championship after claiming another victory during the final meeting at Zuera, Spain  read report

The annual Shenington Revival meeting is one of the biggest showcases of the year for the burgeoning British Historic Kart Club and this year’s edition proved no exception with more than 100 karts from the period 1959-1982 on display and many taking to the track in anger in a series of fast paced displays. Held in conjunction with the Shenington Superprix, the Revival also hosts the BHKC’s Concours awards and welcomes numerous special guests from karting past and present. Notable attendees in 2011 included Barlotti kart builder Jack Barlow’s three daughters, who presented the award for the best Barlotti chassis on behalf of their late father and the family of Graham Starr, who invented the Starr 100cc engine. Former British team member Biff Harris, 1984 Karting World Cup winner Bill Longden, Rouse braking system creator Ivan Rouse, renowned karting clerk Peter Klaassen were also present as were David Button, Phil Parker and Les Jones, whose experiences in karting date back to its very beginnings in the UK. In addition to the karts, notable 1970’s and 1980’s engine builder Adrian Game had a number of rare and unusual 100cc engines on display.Despite some decidedly testing weather the extremely diverse Class I (Direct Drive) and Class IV (Gearbox) machines drew plenty of interest from spectators and modern day racers alike. No less than 30 different manufacturers were represented with the number of different chassis models and engines even greater. From familiar names such as Zip, Barlotti, Buckler, Deavinson and TKM, who were all well represented to the less well-known creations that hark back to the days of the real karting innovators. Largely forgotten marques such as Vacquand, Skeeta, Art Kart, Gazelle, Taifun, Dale and Keg Kart all had their successes in period and their current owners, several of whom had a hand in designing and building them originally. Among the karts that caught the eye of the judging panel were Joe Nolan in his twin engine JLO powered 1963 Fastakart, Peter Brinkworth in his Class II award winning 1963 Fox with twin McCulloch engines and the 1963 Italkart with twin Komet K12 engines driven by Tony Brinkworth. Chris Arnold’s newly restored 1967 Techno GT/ BM 100cc kart, the 1980 DAP WTR/DAP T70 of Robert Haynes and Billy Baker’s 1972 Barlotti//Komet K77 also impressed the judges in their first appearances at the Revival.

VLN: Against a very strong field, the FALKEN Motorsports team once again proved its ability in the 34th RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen, part of the VLN Endurance Racing Championship. FALKEN’s Porsche 997 GT3 R ultimately achieved the fastest overall lap time of 8:21.781 minutes and finished eighth overall. Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : Three drivers covered by 11 points and with 10 races to run; the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB is wide open as the second half of the season kicks off at Snetterton this coming weekend.  It has been six weeks since the ninth round, an incredible race within the Porsche Carrera World Cup on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. Now, it’s back to more familiar surroundings for the start of a 10-race burst over the next two and a half months. Coming to the newly re-developed Snetterton, James Sutton (SAS/Redline) has the title lead despite a torrid time in Germany when he slid off on the opening lap of the race in treacherous conditions. Second place among the British contingent at the Nurburgring for Stephen Jelley (Parker with Juta) gave him the chance to close down Sutton’s lead and the margin is now just seven points. The weekend offers 44 points, so it is very close. But then Michael Meadows (SAS/Redline) is only four points down on Jelley and is ready to win again is what is proving to be a cracking season for Meadows.  Despite a massive accident at the Nurburgring, Euan Hankey (Parker with Juta) is still well in contention, while rising stars like Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing), Richard Plant (Team Parker Racing) and Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline) are all chasing a place on the podium. Local ace Michael Caine (Nationwide/Motorbase) is ready to win again after a trying start to the season. His season turned a real corner at Oulton Park when he challenged Sutton, Jelley and Meadows and there is nowhere better for the Newmarket racer to score his first win of 2011 than here at his home track. Joining Caine in the Motorbase squad is series newcomer Kieran Vernon. New on the grid this weekend will be reigning Australian Formula 3 champion Ben Barker (Parr Motorsport). The 20-year old, originally from Cambridge, is racing in the Australian Carrera Cup this season and is taking advantage of a gap in the Australian calendar to sample the Carrera Cup GB. 
In Pro-Am1, Lithuanian racer Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) has a handy lead over Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) and Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline). Al Harthy has gone well in recent testing at Snetterton, while Butcher was awesome on a wet track at Oulton Park and the Nurburgring. However, with a 34-point lead, Gelzinis will be very hard to catch. Dextra/JD Pierce by Parker team mates Derek Pierce and Alex Martin both had great races in Germany and will be keen to carry that form forward to Snetterton. New in Pro-Am1 this weekend will be Freddy Nordstrom with GT Marques.
The Pro-Am2 contest is wide open as Andrew Shelley (Redline Racing) has a small margin over George Brewster (Celtic Speed), Keith Webster (Redline Racing) and Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport). Only 16 points cover the top four right now, so it is all to play for and Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance) is also likely to be right in thick of another pair of entertaining Pro-Am2 battles.

Spa 24 Hours: Scottish racing outfit Ecurie Ecosse made a successful return to international sportscar racing at the weekend with a top-ten class finish in the Total 24 Hours of Spa. The team was thoroughly satisfied with Sunday’s result where they saw their driver’s, Alasdair McCaig, Andrew Smith, Joe Twyman and Oliver Bryant, keep out of bother to bring the #79 Aston Martin DBRS9 over the line ninth in the Pro-Am class and 20th overall. Read report

Phil Quaife produced an impressive performance to just miss out on a top-ten class finish at the Total 24 Hours of Spa last weekend where McLaren’s all-new MP4-12C was making its twice-around-the-clock race debut.The 25-year-old Kent racer, who shared the #60 VonRyan Racing-run GT3-spec McLaren race car with regular Le Mans Series team-mate Adam Christodoulou as well as Glynn Geddie and Roger Wills, overcame changeable conditions throughout the Belgian event to finish 11th in the Pro-Am class and 25th overall. read report

GP3: Adrian Quaife-Hobbs returned to the podium in Hungary this weekend, after a stunning opening lap in race one saw him storm from ninth on the grid to finish third. The 20 year-old backed that up with a strong tenth in race two, recovering from a slow getaway off the line, which had dropped him to dead last. Read report 

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Formula Ford: Ken Thirwall took a hat-trick of victories at Knockhill on Sunday, winning both rounds of the SMRC Scottish Championship and the David Leslie Trophy race at the end of the day. Both Championship rounds saw Thirwall lead from lights to flag followed on both occasions by Alastair Dow and Stuart Thorburn. In the David Leslie Trophy race he  was followed home by Scott Fraser in second, just 2.4 seconds behind while Jordan Growkowski was third. pic Richard Pascal 11/56 Motorsport

Classic Saloons: John Marshall did the double in Class A & B of the SMRC Classic Sports and Saloons at Knockhill on Sunday. Driving his Mk 1 Escort he cruised the first race doing just enough to keep his son Robert’s behind him for the duration of the race. Robert meanwhile had to keep a close eye on his mirrors for part of the race as Derek Hastings, driving a Caterham, kept in close company with him for the early laps, dropping back later on with a slightly 'off' sounding engine.  Olly Ross’s Lotus Elan was fourth after he passed Jimmy Crow’s Escort late in the race, the latter also lost out to Richard Merrell in an Alfa Giulia GT on the final tour to finally finish sixth. In the second race Marshall got the hammer down early on leaving the rest of the field for ‘dead’. He eventually finished 21 seconds ahead of Robert’s Mk 2 Escort while Jimmy Crow came in third a further 5 seconds up the road.  Later on in the day the Marshall father and son combination also won the 2 driver Endurance race, crossing the line almost a minute clear of the second placed Escort of Jimmy Crow and Tom Wilson. pic Richard Pascal 11/56 Motorsport

In the Class C & D race Andrew Smith claimed two wins in his Morgan although Stan Bernard wasn’t far behind. In the first race Bernard was second just 1.25 secs behind, but only after Barry Riddell’s Triumph TR8 retired on lap 9 of 12 leaving Stan’s 911 to claim the runner-up spot. Third went to Raymond Boyd’s Porsche 911 with Steven Cumming fourth in yet another 911. The second race saw much of the same, although on this occasion Bernard held second throughout the 12 laps and was never challenged. Shonny Paterson in his TR8 came third making up for his early retirement in race 1 while Raymond Boyd was fourth.   pic Richard Pascal 11/56 Motorsport

Spa 24 Hours: Audi Sport Team WRT overcame the strongest competition during the 63rd running of the 24 hours of Spa. The two DTM stars Mattias Ekström (Sweden) and Timo Scheider (Germany) and the Belgian endurance specialist Greg Franchi shared driving duties in the victorious mid-engine sportscar.  Read report

After one of the most gruelling ‘Total 24 Hours of Spa’ for many years, the RJN Motorsport Nissan 370Z of Jordan Tresson, Alex Buncombe and Chris Ward crossed the line as the GT4 race winner.  This marks the first international victory for a GT Academy winner and indeed for the production class Nissan 370Z.  The race got off to a good start yesterday afternoon with RJN regular Alex Buncombe at the wheel of the 370Z.  Qualifying was also Alex’s job this weekend and he did it perfectly, sticking the Nissan on pole position in the GT4 class, ahead of stiff competition from Lotus, BMW and Aston Martin. The race itself was full of dramas but that is the nature of endurance racing. If you can deal with the problems and keep your focus, you are well on your way to success. The Nissan 370Z held the lead for the first three hours of the race but the Lotus took the lead when a damper problem required a visit to the pits. A couple of hours later a rear puncture further delayed the Nissan but the fight-back was well and truly on. After a very long, dark night the Nissan surfaced from some heavy rain in second place and then at around 0800hrs the lead Lotus retired out on the track. The Nissan breezed into the lead and never looked back, taking a comfortable win after 24 hours of hard racing. The final position for the Nissan 370Z was 22^nd overall from a field of over 60 cars.  The 2011 Total 24 Hours of Spa will be remembered as the race where the Nissan 370Z mixed it with the big guns and came out at the top of the class.

The development programme for the new McLaren MP4-12C GT3 saw McLaren GT enter three cars into the Total 24 Hours of Spa over  the weekend.  Impressive lap times, successful integration of a future McLaren GT customer into the team at Spa, and the safety of McLaren GT driver and Project Manager Andrew Kirkaldy following a high speed incident, mark out a positive result for McLaren GT in its debut 24 hour endurance race. Car 60, which ran in partnership with future McLaren customer team VonRyan Racing, finished on its debut in the hands of drivers Phil Quaife, Adam Christodoulou, Glynn Geddie and Roger Wills.   At the hands of Christodoulou, the 12C GT3 achieved an outstanding lap time of 2:23.214.Chris Goodwin, McLaren GT executive and McLaren Automotive Chief Test Driver said: “The performance of the 12C GT3 and its drivers in car 60 was equally pleasing.  Feedback from the team’s engineers and drivers indicates that the 12C GT3 is meeting its reliability and driveability targets.”  Early in the race Kirkaldy’s number 59 car was hit by a competitor, forcing him into the wall at turn 1 with Kirkaldy cleared of any serious injury at a nearby hospital following a precautionary scan. Kirkaldy said: “I was obviously disappointed that one of our cars was forced out of the race so early.  Our performance has been strong in development tests and our debut race at Spa in the British GT Championship showed the car is technically reliable. I’ve had the opportunity to review the incident and the impact was clearly significant.  If anything positive can be drawn, it’s that we are delighted to be using the 12C road car’s carbon ‘MonoCell’ chassis in our race car.  It proved here that it is an incredibly robust safety cell for the driver. Just a few hours after the incident I was back at the circuit with the team.” Car number 58, the third car in the McLaren GT line-up retired following small fire, Driver Tim Mullen walking away unharmed. The cause of the incident will be investigated once the car returns to the UK. McLaren GT plans to enter the Blancpain Endurance Series races at Magny-Cours and Silverstone later this year, prior to delivering 20 new MP4-12C GT3 cars to private teams for racing in 2012.

Super GT: Last weekend’s fourth Super GT round of 2011 at Sugo, in the Miyagi district which was badly affected by Japan’s recent earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster, was understandably of particular significance to the championship and Benoît Tréluyer whose race was marred by tyre issues.  Read report

Formula Renault: Atech Reid GP drivers Tio Ellinas and Oscar King have finished their weekend racing in Germany with solid results. Both drivers held their own in race two although Oscar King fell back from the fourth row to finish the race in 10th, there is an air of optimism in the team as they head into the next round of the UK Formula Renault 2.0 Championship next weekend at Snetterton.  Read report

Formula 3: Having already won the first FIA Formula 3 International Trophy race at Spa-Francorchamps, Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam) also claimed victory in the second. At the finish he had a margin of 23 seconds over Marco Wittmann (Signature). William Buller (Fortec Motorsport) was third with Laurens Vanthoor (Signature) fourth. The two wins  mean that Merhi has further extended his points’ lead in the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy. Spaniard Merhi dominated qualifying and the two FIA Formula 3 International Trophy races almost at will. In the second race, the points’ leader in both the Formula 3 Euro Series and the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy led all the way from lights to flag. Wittmann, currently second in the Formula 3 Euro Series,. Followed the elader for a couple of laps with his team-mate Laurens Vanthoor close behind him, but the Belgian, who had started ninth, eventually lost third place to Buller. Roberto Merhi : “Great, I have scored my fourth win in the fifth round of the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy. My start was good, I already was able to gain a margin on the first few metres and extend it lap after lap. It was an almost perfect weekend.” Marco Wittmann “We were too slow, we couldn’t keep up with Roberto. Especially in the second sector, he was much quicker than me. Now, we have to find the reason for that.”

Bart Hylkema continued his great progress in the headline class of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium over the weekend, a season-best qualifying effort in tricky, damp conditions and fantastic race pace coming as a real boost for the Dutch driver.Running in support of the Total Spa 24 Hours endurance race, the F3 encounters took place a day earlier than would normally be the case on Friday, 29th July, and Saturday, 30th July, and the addition of drivers from the FIA Formula 3 International Trophy meant the grid increased to a total of 28 cars. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography;       Read report

ALMS: This season’s American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron continues apace this weekend (August 5/6) with Robertson Racing Lexington-bound for the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge. Round five– the third in just five weeks – brings with it a significant change in the Braselton-based team’s camp as co-owner and long-time driver David Robertson steps back from behind the #40 Ford GT’s wheel in favour of Melanie Snow. The former GT3 Challenge Gold Cup champion and 1999 12 Hours of Sebring class winner will make her first main series GT start for 12 years at the 2.4-mile, 15-turn Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course alongside fellow female racer Andrea Robertson. Snow is no stranger to Mid-Ohio having clinched the GT Challenge class honours there in 2009. And after spending the majority of her career racing Porsches, she will hope to utilise that previous experience of the circuit when testing the Ford for the first time on Tuesday ahead of Friday’s free practice and qualifying sessions.  Meanwhile Robertson Racing’s #04 entry, again shared by David Murry and Anthony Lazzaro, will be looking to bounce back from a slightly frustrating result at Mosport just over a week ago where the pair eventually came home seventh after leading their class.With no ALMS duties to attend to last weekend, the team made the trip to Waterford Hills in Michigan where home favourites David and Andrea celebrated their recent Le Mans 24 Hours podium. Both Robertson Racing Ford GTs were on display and also completed a number of demonstration laps before spending Monday in transit to Mid-Ohio. Team Manager Andrew ‘H’ Smith: “There’s a real buzz around the crew following Melanie’s arrival and we can’t wait to see how she goes on Tuesday at the test. We’ve added a smaller seat to the #40 car which should also help Andrea who will be showing Mel the ropes. This latest development is really exciting as it moves the programme forward by creating a fresh interest in the team. But while two female drivers sharing the car certainly helps with promotion, it’s important to stress that Mel has earned this chance following her success over a number of years. It’s not something that happens too often in motorsport so to be able to offer such an opportunity is very rewarding.”

GP2: Rodolfo Gonzalez didn’t have a good weekend at the Hungaroring in the GP2 Series.  Starting Race 1 on Saturday afternoon from 25^th on the grid, the Venezuelan missed the inevitable accident at the first corner to climb up to fifth palce before his first tyre stop. Sadly he was later  adjudged to have overtaken Leal under yellow flag and was served a drive through penalty. To make matters worse he had to retire a few laps later with a gearbox problem. This would mean he would start from almost the back of the field for race 2 on Sunday morning.  From the start Gonzalez was soon up to 12th before coming in the change from his wet weather tyres to slicks. This happened just before the first of several safety cars as cars were spinning off all round the track. After the final safety car, and now back on wet weather tyres, Gonzalez moved up to 9th place at the back of the lead train where he remained until; the flag. Pic Chris Roberts/WiderViewPhoto  Read report

British GP2 driver Jolyon Palmer narrowly missed out on a top 10 finish on his debut visit to the Hungaroring last weekend in the closely fought rounds 13 and 14. The 20-year-old from Southwater, racing in his first season of the F1 feeder series, battled changeable weather conditions during the weekend’s second race to work his way up from 22nd on the grid into an impressive 10th place – making up 12 positions along the way. But in slippery conditions, the Brit unfortunately spun at Turn 4 on the penultimate lap, ending what had been a promising debut at the 4.138km Budapest track. After a hard fought finish in the weekend’s earlier Feature Race, Jolyon is now keen to turn his attentions to the next rounds at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium which take place on 26-28 August. “The weekend’s first race was a tough one,” said Jolyon, who drives for Arden International. "We pitted early and then struggled with a lot of tyre wear. In the end I had to pit for a second time and confusion in the stop cost us a lot of time.“In the second race I started on slicks in the hope that the damp track would dry out but we were too slow in the slippery conditions. The track got relatively dry but then it started raining again so I had to pit for wets, which was a good move. I got myself up to the top 10 but then I made a mistake at Turn 4 near the end and spun out. I'm hopeful of better pace next time out at Spa though." The weekend also saw Jolyon being interviewed live during the BBC’s build-up coverage to the Grand Prix where he spoke about his debut season so far and how he’s already secured two top 10 finishes.

Historics: An entry of some 250 historic race cars has been received for the 18-race programme at this coming weekend’s (6-7 August) Nostalgia event at the Croft. Race organiser, the Historic Sports Car Club, has also confirmed entries for its Formula Junior single-seater category and Guards Trophy race for GT and sport-racing cars are at maximum capacity with 30-plus grids guaranteed for both. Furthermore, the event’s charm – a heady mix of motoring, motor racing and lifestyle themed from the 40s through to the  70s  attracts large numbers of public dressed in period style – has also drawn competitors from as far afield as Belgium, Finland, France, Germany and Sweden. They will of course have to beat a number of local racers all eager to shine in front of their home crowd – among them 18-year-old James Buckton from Harrogate in his historic Elden Formula Ford, York’s Robert Rook and Selby’s Jim Clark in their Ford Lotus Cortinas, fellow saloon car racer Andy Yool from Barrow-in-Furness in his Ford Anglia, Workington’s Robert Gates in his evocative E-type Jaguar and Whitley Bay’s Richard Evans in his sensational March Formula 2 car. There's also 'adopted local' Nick Fleming from Upper Largo, Fife in his stunning Chevron B8 sportscar. Evans will be among the favourites to win one of the two headline trophies up for grabs – the Derek Bell Trophy which consists of races on both Saturday and Sunday for historic Formula 5000 and Formula 2 cars. Fleming meanwhile will be chasing honours in the sister headline-grabbing Guards Trophy, a 40-minute race on Saturday. Indeed, off-track the line-up of entertainment is staggering. Getting a bird’s eye view of the Croft Circuit will be pilots of Spitfire and Hurricane WWII fighter planes that will provide thrilling aerial displays on the Saturday – replaced on Sunday by a Jet Provost from the Seventies. On the ground, taking centre stage will be a classic car show – organised by the Teesside Yesteryear Motor Club. In addition, a huge array of WWII military vehicles will be on show. Tickets for Croft’s Nostalgia weekend are priced: £12 Saturday; £15 Sunday or £22 for a weekend pass. Admission for children aged 15 and under is FREE all weekend. Car parking is also free. More information is available from the Croft Circuit office on 01325 721815 or website www.croftcircuit.co.uk.

Ginetta Jnrs: Seven weeks since the Ginetta Junior Championship was last in action, Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk hosts the resumption of the 2011 season this weekend, 6th/7th August, and points leader Seb Morris will be aiming to get the second half of the campaign off to a winning start. Arriving at the newly configured track an extremely comfortable 88 points clear of his closest rival, the 15-year-old from Marford, near Wrexham, has enjoyed a fantastic year to date with seven wins from 10 races and new lap records at Thruxton, Oulton Park and Donington Park. Everything hasn’t been all plain sailing though for the Hillspeed driver, particularly during the last two rounds at Croft where Seb had to battle through from low grid slots following problems in qualifying. Even so, he displayed great tenacity fighting his way through to fourth and fifth place results  to ensure he closed out the first half of the season with another substantial haul of points.  “I definitely want to be back on the top step of the podium”, he said, “We need to regain the flow we had in the first four events of the season and try and start winning races again to keep increasing our championship lead. It’s been good having a big break since Croft, I learnt a lot there and if that turns out to be our worst weekend of the season we won’t have done too badly at all.” He added: “The new circuit looks really challenging and because it’s a very long track we won’t have many laps at all in the practice sessions. We really could have done with a full day of testing, but it’s the same for everyone so we’ll do our best to get up to speed quickly. I’ve had a look at some videos on You Tube to get some knowledge, hopefully that will be beneficial.”

TVR Challenge: Perry Waddams, team principal and driver of Car 77, tells the story of his weekend at Donington Park in the TVR Challenge last month. There he pickjed up an excellent third place and sadly his first retirnmment of the season.  Read report

BTCC: With racing about to resume, Alan Gow, the man in charge of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, has given his thoughts on the season so far.  Teams and drivers are coming to the end of a lengthy seven-week summer break and making final preparations for the start of the second half of their season, at the Snetterton this coming weekend (6-7 August). Five different drivers in four different makes of car racing for four different teams have shared the wins in the season’s opening 15 races. But 2011 is much more than just another season of close racing – it’s marked the beginning of a transitional period for the championship with the introduction of cars built to the BTCC’s new Next Generation Touring Car technical regulations. So with half the season gone and having had the past six weeks to reflect on the 2011 form guide, the timing was perfect for the championship’s official website btcc.net to put a long list of questions to BTCC Series Director Gow. This is what the no-nonsense Aussie had to say…  pic Chris Roberts/WiderviewPhoto   read more

Toyota’s independent racers Frank Wrathall and Tony Hughes are raring to go as the Dunlop MSA BTCC blasts back into action this weekend. There’s been little rest for the Dynojet Racing and Speedworks Motorsport teams during the long break since the last rounds of the series; they have been hard at work in conjunction with the creator of the BTCC Avensis, GPR Motorsport, preparing, making and testing revisions to their cars aimed at further enhancing the new racer’s promising performances. Wrathall hopes the developments will provide a big boost at Snetterton and enable him to better the 12th-place race finish he scored last time out, at Croft in June. “I think the changes we have made will result in some big improvements,” said the 24-year-old from Preston, Lancashire. “We have been developing the geometry of the Avensis, putting a lot of effort into trying to find the sweet spots… Hopefully that will pay off and be visible to everyone at the next round. We’ve developed a new exhaust system, which we hope will not only improve performance but also ease of working on the car, while retaining the great sound of the Avensis. The new Toyota engine was really strong at Croft, a match for anything out there, so I am hopeful for a good set of results at Snetterton. Hopefully I can do the Avensis justice.”  Speedworks Motorsport boss Christian Dick has been busy too, not just in the workshop but also behind the wheel: both he and GPR Motorsport’s chief development driver Kelvin Burt have tested the Hughes Avensis following extensive revisions to the set-up. “We’ve been busy doing lots of bits – things that we have not had the time to attend to during the early part of the season because of the hectic race schedule,” said Christian. “We have made good progress and made a big step forward, but the developments have put us into a new ball park with the set-up, and we have not had as much circuit time as we would have liked to evaluate things.” Stockport-based driver Tony Hughes will go behind the wheel of his revised Avensis for the first time this week. Another variable in the Snetterton mix is the complete revision of the Norfolk circuit since last year: while the track retains some parts of its original, it has been improved with a lengthy, twisting infield.  Neither Wrathall nor Hughes has any race experience of the new layout; both men will sample it for the first time at a track day mid-week.

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