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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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The Grid.co.uk the national & club motor racing website - est1998 |
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News Archive JUNE 2009 mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk 12/07/2009 IF RACE REPORTS LINKS REMOVED - FOLLOW 'Reports' LINK ON THE GRID above 30-06-09 Club Racing
In the BRS
Recovery Ford XR Challenge at Silverstone Laurence Kilby’s Mitsubishi Evo ended the open ing lap in the LMA Euro Sports and Saloons 4 seconds clear of the pack at Silverstone on Saturday. He eventually won by more than 30 seconds, breaking the lap record in the process. More of the same was expected on Sunday however after 16 laps he hit problems and visibly slowed allowing the chasing pack to catch up. First Benji Hetherington (Ginetta G50) went by, going on to win the race in the process. Then Andy Harvey’s Impreza followed by Peter Challis in his Primera came past before, finally, David Jarman also caught him on the last, relegating Kilby to 5th at the Flag. Read report F2000 Its the crown jewel event of the F2000 season this weekend as the F2000 Championship Series shares the circuit with the Indy Cars on Independence Day. With the usual 35 car grid and all the drivers trying to show off their skills to the Indy Car teams and drivers, it should be once heck of a day, as they say…read more
DTM Jamie Green won the DTM race at the Norisring at the weekend ahead of Bruno Spengler giving Mercedes a 1.2 finish. In all there were five Mercedes C-Class cars within the first seven positions. Jamie Green drove the 2008 Junge Sterne AMG Mercedes C-Class to victory in the 2009 DTM's third round at Nuremberg's Norisring. After 80 laps with three lead changes during the final four, Green,who had started seventh on the grid, won just 1.3sec ahead of Bruno Spengler in the 2009 car. Thus both drivers repeated last year's finish; Green drove the same car as in 2008. It was the seventh consecutive race win for Mercedes-Benz at the Norisring, the ninth since 2000. Mattias Ekstrom clinched third. For Audi ahead of his teammate Timo Scheider who kept his lead of the DTM standings. Gary Paffett, Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class, winner of the previous race at the Lausitzring, came home fifth ahead of Ralf Schumacher (Trilux AMG Mercedes C-Class) who achieved his best DTM result so far. Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class), who had been relegated to 15th on the grid following a breach of the parc ferme rules, ended up seventh.Susie Stoddart (TV Spielfilm AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home 10th. Indycars Scott Dixon won the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond International Raceway by 0.3109 of a second over his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dario Franchitti. The victory - Dixon's third of the season and second at Richmond - was the 19th of Dixon's IndyCar career, the same number as Sam Hornish for the most in series history. Graham Rahal finished third - his best oval finish - in the No. 02 McDonald's entry for Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. Hideki Mutoh, who led the first laps of his IndyCar Series career, finished fourth in the No. 27 Formula Dream car and Andretti Green Racing teammate Danica Patrick was fifth. Franchitti, who earned a bonus point for winning the PEAK Performance Pole Award, now leads the championship onm 2709 points , one more than Dixon. Ryan Briscoe, the leader before the weekend’s race, had his first DNF since July 2008 to fall 26 points behind. His Team Penske teammate, Helio Castroneves, also crashed exiting Turn 2,is fourth with 225 points as the series heads to Watkins Glen, the first of three consecutive road/street races. Touring Cars James Thompson stayed in front in the Danish Touringcar Championship with a fine win at Jyllandsringen. Thompson led his Honda team-mate Per Poulsen over the line for a Honda 1-2. …read report 29-06-09 Club Racing – SMRC Knockhill
Rory Bryant
(right pic Richard Pascal) In the Scottish Legends Ross Marshall won the final after a close race with Scott Hynds came to an end on lap 5 of 10 when the latter went off handing Marshall the lead which, despite the attentions of Frank Hynds, he held to the flag winning by 0.893secs. Behind the leading pair was Lance Gauld in third with Tony Caig fourth. Marshall and Frank Hynds had disputed both of the earlier heats , the second going to Marshall after a restart by the slenderest of margins, just 0.030 secs. Frank had won the first rrace in the Morning beating his rival by just over 6 seconds. Club Racing – BARC Snetterton
The BARC had
the Classic Touring Cars out at Snetterton over the weekend and Tony Crudgington got the proceedings underway on
Saturday with a win in the Autoglym Post Historic Touring Cars.
Driving a Dolimite Sprint Crudgington beat Mark Osborne’s
Mitsubishi Starion by 2.551 secs. Third was John Wright in an
Eesort RS2000.
The Classic
Clubmans were out at Snetterton
alongside the Classic Saloons and Peter Harper did the double
winning on both Saturday and Sunday in his Mallock MK18. Second
and third each time was Steve Chaplin and Malcolm Jackson
respectively. Chaplin’s Phantom P79 just 1.420 behind on
Saturday and only 0.668 on Sunday. In the Hammerite Group 1
Touring cars
The Dunlop
Clubmans Cup races were shared between Barry Webb on Saturday
and Ian Crombie
on Sunday. Crombie followed Webb home 4.4 seconds behind in race
1 while Webb was 6 secs behind Crombie on Sunday. Jonathan Hair
completed the podium in Saturday’s race while Nigel Corry did
the honours on Sunday.
Masters Historic Racing has announced an extra race date for this summer, with a one-day event planned for Donington Park on Sunday August 23, which will include some new initiatives for the leading promoter of historic racing. Masters’ Series Director Christopher Tate said: “With this being the last season of racing on Donington’s present track layout, there has been a high demand for another chance to race the best historic sports, saloons and GT cars on the much-loved existing circuit layout.” The event will feature an experimental “Interserie Revival” race for the types of cars raced in that early 1970s series, alongside the other slick-tyred sports prototypes of 2 and 3-litres. Masters regular racer and well-known preparer, Richard Dodkins is putting together a complete class of the Interserie/CanAm cars, for a special one-off invitation race. The WSM race will include a special Lola Challenge Trophy, for invited WSM and SRM specification Lolas, whilst the Saloon cars will have two separate 45 minute races with a pit stop, combining the Under 2 litre Pre-66 cars with the Oldies but Goldies on one grid; and then the Over 2 litre cars with other invited saloons, will form the second race Masters is providing a busy one-day programme with morning qualifying sessions, followed by an afternoon of action organised by Masters Racing Club. Formula Nippon
Two weeks
after his accident at Le Mans gearbox problems hit Benoît
Tréluyer
at Fuji this weekend iin the Formula Nippon Series. The
Frenchman spent several laps in the pitds as his mechanics tried
to fix a problem wit his paddle shift. He did eventrually rejoin
the race but by then it was too late too pick up any points..read
report Tobias Hegewald won both the Formula 2 Races at Spa over the weekend. He took his first win in the category on Saturday ahead of Andy Soucek and Milos Pavlovic, although Soucek was later given a penalty by the stewards for cutting a corner which dropped him to fourth behind Julien Jousse. Hegewaldf’s second win on Sunday was a superb lights-to-flag victory, the German crossing the lines with 7 secs over second placed Soucek Robert Wickens third. Read reports Formula 3
Formula Renault
Kieren Clark kept his winning momentum going in the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the Formula Renault BARC championship at Snetterton this weekend. The Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team driver taking 2 wins to make it 3 wins from 3 starts this season..read report. Ahmad Al Harthy overcame illness at the weekend to go third equal in the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship at Snetterton. Hillspeed’s Omani racer picked up a good third place on Sunday morning before following that up with fourth in the afternoon..read report F3000
ALMS Le Mans 24 Hours 2009 race winner David Brabham was at Coopers Square shopping centre in Burton upon Trent on Saturday 27 June. The Patrón Highcroft LMP1 ALMS leader introduced a selection of the first ever official merchandise range endorsed by the Brabham family ahead of the collection’s full launch at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 3-5 July. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Sir Jack Brabham’s first Formula One World Championship title in 1959 and the merchandise range has been created in honour of the occasion. Hundreds of Coopers Square shoppers seized the opportunity to meet David, and be to buy memorabilia. “I have had a great day at Coopers Square,” said David. “This event was a good opportunity for me to meet my home country fans, which I don’t often get the chance to do as I mainly race in America. Although I have been to the nearby Donington Park circuit on many occasions, I haven’t been to Burton before so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was certainly given a warm welcome by the local people while some visitors had travelled quite a way to visit Coopers Square this weekend. It was great to speak to fans who were actually at Le Mans two weeks ago watching my 24 Hours race victory with Team Peugeot Total, and I always enjoy it when people share their memories of my Dad’s phenomenal racing career.” The full Sir Jack Brabham collection will be available online shortly at www.f1tools.com
WTCC Yokohama will supply the control tyre for the next three seasons of the FIA World Touring Car Championship: 2010, 2011 and 2012. The Japan-based manufacturer has been WTCC official tyre supplier since the 2006 season. 28-06-09 Formula Ford
Formula 3
Manor Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi put in another good performance in rounds 4 and 5 of the F3 Euroseries at the Norisring. The Spaniard finished the first race in fifth and the second in eighth after a mistake dropped him down the leader board. However he still managed to come away from the event fourth in the driver’s championship ..read report Formula 3000
Karts Jay Goodwin, returned to the podium in his latest outing at Shenington to banish a run of bad luck at both national and club level. Given that he is just 12, which iis a lot younger than most of his opposition in the Mini Max class, his performance was certainly a noteworthy one.,read report 27-06-09 LMS
Peter Hardman has confirmed that he is planning to sell Strakka Racing to an undisclosed buyer. Having achieved his ambition of getting the team to Le Mans within 5 years this year, where they finished 21st, Hardman said, “I am very happy knowing that the sale of Strakka will allow the team to continue to grow and my fantastic staff to do the same,” said Peter. “I am very grateful to all the team members for their hard work, dedication and loyalty over the last few seasons, and especially with regard to our achievements in LMP1 this year.” ..read more Formula Renault Since the start of the season, Motopark Academy's Antonio Felix da Costa and Epsilon Euskadi's Albert Costa have taken it in turns to lead the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0's overall standings on a regular basis. Silverstone marks the season's halfway point, with just two points separating the Portuguese and Spanish drivers. Will the head-to-head battle for first place continue at Silverstone? Briton Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (Motopark Academy) will be one driver to watch closely, as he will be trying harder than ever. Of course when Costa finishes a race he's always on the podium and very often in first place, with three wins and one third place to date the statistics speak for themselves. But two meetings without points have cost the Spaniard dear and thanks to his extraordinary consistency, Antonio Felix da Costa has now pulled ahead. Always in the points, Antonio Felix da Costa has set foot on the podium four times, his worst result a sixth place. Except that the Portuguese is still looking for his first win so winning at Silverstone would be the best way for him to shore up his lead. He must also contend with his teammates, in particular Adrian Quaife-Hobbs. Fourth in the points, the British driver returns to his favourite track spurred on by his second position in Hungary. Motopark Academy's Marco Sorensen, winner at the Hungaroring, and Kevin Magnussen are equally in within a serious chance of winning. Third in the point SG Formula's Miki Monras is only ten points ahead of teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, who currently lies sixth. Winner of the first race in Hungary, Vergne will need to keep up his good form to catch up the leaders. Jenzer Motorsport's Nicolas Müller and IQuick Valencia's Patrick Kronenberger also need to build on their past performances. New drivers swelling the ranks at Silverstone are Finland's Matias Laine, who joins Motopark Academy, will be making his debut in the series, as will Estonian Karl Oscar Liiv, driving for MP Motorsport. Formula 3
Indycars Dario Franchitti, who won six days ago at Iowa Speedway, earned the PEAK Performance Pole Award presented by Advance Auto Parts at another short track. Richmond International Raceway. The Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver set a four-lap average of 167.315 mph on the 0.75-mile track. His teammate Scott Dixon was second fastest on 166.638 mph while Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves (165.931) and Ryan Briscoe (165.749) were third and fourth repectively. Graham Rahal will start fifth with Raphael Matos sixth and E.J. Viso seventh. 26-06-09 Porsche Carrera Cup Winners in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be celebrated in style over the balance of the 2009 season following the announcement of a partnership between the championship and Piper-Heidsieck Champagne. The Carrera Cup GB, which is the fastest one-make race category in Britain and a key support event to the British Touring Car Championship, is enjoying a superb season in 2009, with big grids, great racing and fierce competition across three categories. Now, the successful drivers will be presented with Piper-Heidsieck Champagne during the traditional end of race podium celebrations.Established in 1785, Piper-Heidsieck is one of the world's finest brands and is based in the Champagne region of France. Since 2009 Champagne Piper-Heidsieck is distributed by First Drinks Brands - the UK number one premium spirit company.To mark the new partnership between two globally recognised brands, the end of season champion in the Carrera Cup GB will be presented with a jereboam of Champagne, which is equivalent to four standard bottles of Champagne.
The third
programme in the TV coverage of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB
will be broadcast in the Motorsport UK programme on ITV1 on
Thursday night ( 2 July) and repeated on ITV4 on the Saturday 4
July. The one hour Motorsport UK programmes cover all of the
Carrera Cup GB action this year. Rounds five and six of the
season at Donington Park will feature in the next programme. VW Racing Cup
WTCC
The 13th and
14th rounds of the FIA WTCC The SEAT León Tdi and Chevrolet Cruze LT cars will benefit from a reduction of the compensation weight for the next WTCC event of the season in Porto. According to the calculations that takes account of the lap times from the three previous events (Pau, Valencia and Brno) BMW remains fastest and will therefore get the maximum 40kg ballast. At the same time SEAT’s turbodiesel machines will run on the minimum weight(1170 kg). Diego Puyo will take part in the next WTCC races at Porto as the winner of the SEAT León Eurocup’s second event last Sunday at Brno. The 25 year-old Spaniard completed the first race in fifth before winning the second. As a result Puyo will take the wheel of SUNRED Engineering’s third SEAT León at Porto, succeeding Tim Coronel who drove it at Brno. “I’m really excited, because my dream is to take part in the whole WTCC season next year. I know that is going to be difficult, and this is why I don’t have any goal in mind other than gaining experience. I have the advantage to know the SUNRED team very well, as they run my car in the Eurocup,” said Puyo. The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved the calendar for the 2010 World Touring Car Championship. The series will visit two new venues: Zolder and Algarve. The former hosted a meeting of the FIA ETCC back in 2001, will replace the French round of Pau. As for the new Portuguese racetrack, it will receive the championship for the first time, stepping in for Porto. Other changes are the dates swapped between Italy and Spain (the name of the Italian venue will be announced soon) and the move of the Czech event to August 1st.Otehrwise the season is basically the same with the two opening events in Brazil and Mexico, followed by Marrakech, 7 meetings in Europe and the finals pair in Japan and Macau. Formula Reanult
Michelin Formula Renault UK team Manor Competition completed two positive days of official testing at Snetterton this week but the focus now is for the squad to continue its 2009 title push at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit next weekend, 4th/5th July. The team’s leading runner, Dean Smith was the fastest on the opening day with a 1m04.879 seconds which he set in the fourth and final session. Topping session two, the Wolverhampton driver was also in the top six in both of the afternoon runs…read more
Derbyshire single-seater race team Hillspeed enjoyed the test at Snetterton with Menasheh Idafar (pictured
right)
Jeffrey to make FR BARC debut with Hillspeed this weekend. Young karting driver Alexander Jeffrey will make his single-seater debut at Snetterton this weekend after agreeing a Formula Renault BARC Championship race deal with Hillspeed. The 2007 Scottish Formula Blue Karting Champion was actually a finalist last year in a three-driver shoot-out for the prestigious Racing Steps Foundation programme. Although he just missed out to reigning UK Formula Ford Champion Wayne Boyd. “We’re delighted to have a fourth car out there in the BARC championship this weekend”, added Ollerenshaw, “It’s great to have Alex on-board and we’re looking forward to working with him on his car racing debut. It’ll be a big challenge but we’re sure he’ll do a good job and progress throughout the course of the event.” Al Harthy is currently third in the Formula Renault BARC driver standings on 25 points after his podium finish at Oulton Park in Cheshire five weeks ago while Ellis Harkins is 12th in the standings and James Theodore is 18th place, the latter unfortunately involved in an accident during round one. Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship testing came to a conclusion at Snetterton on Thursday, 25th June, with Menasheh Idafar once again setting competitive times. Lapping with a best time of 1m05.133s (107.88mph), set during the opening session, the 18-year-old Gulf Computer Services and Ortolan backed driver ended day two just 0.5secs shy of the outright pace and only 0.2secs outside the top 10. Best of all on combined times over the full two days, Menasheh was sixth quickest with a 1m04.681s on Wednesday. Speaking yesterday, Hillspeed’s Richard Ollerenshaw said: “The aim today was to build on the great work we did on Wednesday and Menasheh was in very good form again. To be sixth fastest overall after two intense days is an exceptional effort and bodes very well for us ahead of the next two rounds of the season.” Next up is the World Series by Renault meeting on the Silverstone GP Circuit for Rounds 11 and 12 of the Championship. Renault pics Jakaob Ebrey photography Formula Ford The Pacific F2000 Series presented by Terminal Velocity Processing opens the second half of the season at Infineon Raceway in California this weekend. The series has revised it’s schedule for the rest of the season forgoing the long haul to Miller Motorsport Park in July and the event at Portland. In place of these the series will be go to Infineon Raceway this weekend(June 27- 28) and Laguna Seca on September 12-13. The final event will again be held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16-18. Just 22 points separate the top four contenders for the title with Robert Podlesni on156 pts holding a slim 7 point lead over Scott Rarick with149. Both Podlesni; DFR Van Diemen and Rarick; PR1 Van Diemen have one win each. Podlesni is the 2006 Champion while Rarick is the 2004 Formula Ford National Champion so each is accustomed to the pressures necessary to win a championship. Eleven points behind Rarick in third is Max Hyatt with two wins this season. His title hopes took a downturn when he was involved in a crash with teammate and the fourth title contender, Shaun Modisette in the last event. Modisette who has the other two victories this year admitted that incident may have hurt his title hopes but acknowledged that being able to drop his worst result would help. In fifth place, 55 points back is Peter Hastrup who has performed consistently this season and leads the Masters Class. With six races to go the battle for the title could go to the wire. 25-06-09
GTs
The GT4 class battle in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Snetterton could see Yorkshireman Jody Firth put the championship title virtually beyond the reach of any his rivals. Firth now has a clear solo championship lead as his regular co-pilot, 17-year-old Nigel Moore, was away making history as the youngest-ever British driver at Le Mans earlier this month when he might otherwise have been driving the Team WFR Ginetta at Knockhill. There was a new GT4 class victor last time out in the shape of Stark Racing duo Ian Stinton and Paul Marsh. Stinton returns solo to the fray at Snetterton with his Ginetta, hoping for a repeat win. Classics
Masters
Historic Racing have an extra race date for this summer, a one day only ‘noisy’ event at Donington Park, set for
Sunday August 23rd. With this being the last season of racing
on Donington’s present layout, prior to the new circuit for the
2010 British Grand Prix, there has been quite some demand from
Masters’ members for another chance to race sports, saloons and
GT cars on the existing track. The Masters are now arranging a
one day programme; with morning qualifying sessions, followed by
an afternoon of action for the big World Sports cars, for the
Gentleman Drivers GT grid and also for the Pre-66 Saloons,
Clios The new Clio Cup race car was out testing at Snetterton yesterday 24th June with an updated bodykit based on the road-going Clio Renaultsport 200. TCR’s Alex MacDowall,set the fastest time with a 1min 17.912s (90.19mph average). One notable absentee was championship leader Phil Glew….read more
Goodwood Festival of Speed The 2009 Festival of Speed is next weekend at Goodwood, 3-5 July and will celebrate the true motor sport heroes that went the extra mile in the pursuit of victory. Motor racing legends and modern day stars are expected to line up at the celebrated 1.16 mile hillclimb, in a tribute to great feats of endurance in competition. The selection of machinery at the 2009 Festival of Speed is expected to feature a sensational gathering of the world’s finest competition cars and motorcycles, each present to help an epic story of spellbinding performance. Admission to the Festival of Speed is strictly by advance ticket only. To order tickets, please contact the Goodwood Ticket Hotline on +44 1243 755055, email bookings@goodwood.co.uk; or visit the online ticket section at the www.goodwood.co.uk/fos/ website. Australian racing driver Chris Wootton is coming to Europe to visit the HQ of the BMW Sauber F1 Team in Switzerland and attend the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Brisbane based racer departs this weekend for Hinwil and a behind the scenes tour of the BMW Sauber F1 Team factory as part of his status as a Formula BMW Junior. “It’s a magnificent opportunity to be even closer to the F1 scene,” Chris said. “We’ll be taken into areas of the F1 operation that the general public wouldn’t normally get to see. Whilst it is exciting, ultimately that’s where I want my career to take me, so I consider it a step along the way.” Following on from the BMW Sauber F1 factory tour, Chris will head for the Goodwood Festival of Speed. “I wasn’t born when many of the cars that are at Goodwood were attacking the race circuits of the world, but I have a strong appreciation for the history of the sport,” the 20-year-old explained. “The Goodwood Festival of Speed is just one of those events you have to visit at least once in your life.” Wootton says aside from the ‘sightseeing aspect’, the trip has a serious business element and will largely focus around scoping opportunities for the future. “ Whilst there, we’ll certainly be evaluating what’s happening in the UK first hand and come back armed with a bit more knowledge. Goodwood, in particular, will give us the opportunity to speak with a lot of people. It’s the epicentre of the motorsport world that weekend. From what I’ve heard, everyone’s fairly relaxed and gets caught up in the spirit of the event, as there isn’t the pressure of a normal race weekend.” Upon returning from Europe, Chris will prepare for the next event in Formula BMW Pacific. “Sentul is going to be a huge test for us. It’s the first time this year Formula BMW Pacific is at a track other than Sepang,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of ground to make up from the last event. Again it will feature four races, so there are plenty of chances to get our Championship back on track.” Karts
Formula Renault
Formula Renault
UK racer Menasheh Idafar
Formula 3
McLaren Autosport Award finalist Aaron Steele will make his F3 debut at Snetterton next weekend (Sunday, July 5), driving for Litespeed F3. Following a shakedown test at Snetterton on Tuesday, 20-year-old Steele will race in rounds nine and ten of the Cooper Tires British F3 Championship. Steele said: "The team worked through the night to make sure the car was ready for the test and there are so many positives going forward. From the little running I had, I felt confident with the car. It was enjoyable to drive, although I need more time to establish exactly what it can achieve." Nino Judge, Litespeed F3 team principal, commented: "Aaron Steele is an extremely talented young driver who has the potential to go all the way to Formula 1. This is not just because of his proven technical understanding and racing ability; he also has the right temperament -- he's ambitious but not egotistical, which makes him a marketable driver." Steele will line-up alongside Brazilian driver Victor Correa in the National Class. Dutch racing driver Carlo van Dam has left the Kolles & Heinz Union team. Van Dam, who won the German F3 series in 2007 and the Japanese F3 title the following year was racing with the new Kolles & Heinz Union outfit in this year's F3 Euroseries. Team owner Werner Heinz: "So far, our team has unfortunately been unable to provide a driver who has won two championships with the support he deserves. For Carlo, I believe it is better to race for a more experienced team, as we do not want to be in the way of his career." Carlo van Dam: "This has of course been an important and thoroughly considered decision. I am happy that we have found a solution which is in the best interest of both parties." Kolles & Heinz Union performed disappointingly to date and decided earlier this month to skip the Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort in an attempt to improve its cars' performance prior to the official Euroseries test last week at Magny-Cours in France. After this test and further discussions with the team, Carlo decided to leave Kolles & Heinz Union and is now considering the options that other teams can offer in several racing categories. Formula Vee Jaco Schriks now leads the 2009 South African National Formula Vee Championship having wojn the first race of last weekend at Zwartkops. He followed this up with a second place in heat 2 behind Chad Van Beurden who took his first win in the category. ..read report Britcar Glynn Geddie will be at Spa this weekend, making a one-off appearance in the Britcar Euro Race. The 19 year old will partner his father, Jim, in their white Team Apex Tubulars Porsche 996 GT3 Cup car in Class 3. The 2009 Britcar series, in which Geddie Sr. is competing full time this year with regular partner Aaron Scott, makes its only visit to a track outside England at this weekend's Spa Euro Race, supporting the FIA Formula Two Championship, Euro F3, and International GT Open. "This is the first time my Dad and I have raced at Spa", added Geddie Jr. "We've been there before but not to race. It's renowned for being one of the most demanding race tracks in the world and has just about everything a race track can offer - slow corners, fast corners, long, fast straights, elevation changes - so setup and tactics are going to be crucial to the final outcome of the race. It's been a long time since my Dad and I raced together so I'm looking forward to getting behind the wheel this weekend." Formula Masters
WTCC The WTCC will celebrate it’s 100th race since the series was launched in 2005 at the second race in Porto, on July 5th. "We are delighted to celebrate this 100th race, which marks a milestone in the history of our championship. We would like to associate to this jubilee date all partners, sponsors, circuit promoters as well as media who have supported our series since 2005. Special tribute shall be paid to the manufacturers, teams and drivers who provide close battles at each race meeting, offering the fans spectacular and action-packed shows," Marcello Lotti, Managing Director of KSO said. Three out of the four current manufacturers wre there 4 years ago at Monza on April 10th, 2005, BMW, Chevrolet and SEAT (LADA only joined the championship this year), while 10 out of this year's 28 drivers have taken part in all the events from Monza 2005 to Porto 2009. A1GP The Season Five Calendar for A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has been approved by the FIA at this week’s World Motorsport Council Meeting. Ten dates have been submitted, starting with the Nitro SuperGP in Australia on 22-25 October. “We are in a totally different position to most series as we straddle two calendar years. This makes announcing a calendar with all its dates and venues more challenging. However, we are well advanced with all our Season Five contracts, and for those we have yet to make public have plans to announce them with events in the specific countries,” said A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira. The two races announced to date are completely new events in the Gold Coast and Assen, Nitro SuperGP General Manager Greg Hooton said he looked forward to hosting the A1GP on the streets of Surfers Paradise come October. “It is fantastic to be the first event of the 2009/2010 A1GP season, and everyone here is looking forward to hosting the World Cup of Motorsport on the Gold Coast,” said Hooton. A1GP will race alongside the Australian V8 Supercars at the event. Other News Silverstone Holdings Limited (SHL) the business which manages the Silverstone Circuit and Estate, is delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Williams and Stephen Morris as Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect. The BRDC, as the sole shareholder of SHL has committed to building a strong and independent board to control and manage Silverstone. This is part of a plan to build a world-leading motor racing and leisure facility, as well as making Silverstone a focal point for high technology engineering in Britain. Neil England, Chairman of Silverstone Holdings Limited, said, “I am delighted to welcome Peter and Stephen to our team at Silverstone. We have an ambitious growth plan involving significant investment into a newly diversified business. They both have excellent track records in creating profitable growth and a wealth of relevant business experience.” 24-06-09
Formula 2 Julien Jousse was racing in the new FIA Formula 2 championship last weekend at Brno in the Czech Repuliic. As the only representative from France he did his country proud by coming hime fifth in race and second in race 2 to go third in the points table. ..read report Club Racing
Chris Holmes put in a superb performance at Brands Hatch at the weekend in the Formula 4 Championship. After mechanical problems has sidelined him in the opening race he started the second from a lowly 18th on the grid. Despite this he stormed through the field to take a brilliant victory…read report Alastair Chalmers was back in the Performance N Economy Chip Tuning Sports/Saloon Car Championship last weekend at Oulton Park winning comfortably. It did take two starts as the first attempt was red flagged when David Rawlins spun his Vectra and the ensuing chaos eliminated 7 of the 31 starters and partially blocked the track. Chalmers was now to denied however and despite falling behind Robert Spencer’s Lococsaki at the off he got back in front by lap two to pull out a 12 second lead by the flag. Read report Sportscars Le Mans 24 Hours winner David Brabham will attend the 2009 Goodwood Festival of Speed, 3-5 July, where he will be reunited with the race winning Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. Attending the event in celebration of the 50th anniversary of his father Sir Jack’s first Formula One World Championship title, the sportscar driver will also drive a 1959 Cooper Climax T51 up Goodwood Hill and introduce the 50th anniversary merchandise collection. A regular stalwart of the prestigious Goodwood event, Brabham returns to the 2009 Festival of Speed just weeks after clinching outright victory at Le Mans at his 16th attempt. Brabham said: “This is an important year for the entire Brabham family and what a year it’s turning out to be for me. I can’t think of a better way to follow my memorable Le Mans victory than driving the Team Peugeot Total car on the historic hillclimb. Equally as moving will be the chance to drive a Formula One car from my father’s era of racing, a 1959 Cooper T51 entered by Michael Delaney — the sister car to my father’s 1959 Monaco Grand Prix winning car. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and I know my father is disappointed that he cannot be here to see it himself.” Commenting on David Brabham’s participation at Goodwood, Festival of Speed founder the Earl of March said: “I am really thrilled to have the Le Mans-winning Peugeot 908 HDi FAP here at Goodwood, and have David reunited with the car just weeks after his victory in this year’s 24 hour race. It is also great that David achieved this fabulous victory in his father Jack’s anniversary year.” The full Sir Jack Brabham range is available online at www.f1tools.com,
Rally The Brazil based Sertões International Rally begins today and it is one of the biggest and most challenging off-road competitions in the world, second only to the Dakar. The 2009 event marks the rally’s 17th year and is also sees a revitalized route that takes in seven states over ten days of competition covering 5036 kms, The rally leaves from Goiania (Goias), with crews expected to arrive in Natal (Rio Grande do Norte) on Friday 3 July. The route takes in Sertão, one of the most isolated areas of the Brazilian backlands. For the first time since 2001, the event will cover more 2888km of timed special stages, with172 competitors in 117 vehicles. This is broken down into 57 motorcycles, 46 cars, seven trucks and seven quads. The event starts 10.30pm today in Goiania, which is followed by a Super Stage an hour later.It then runs for 10 days until 3 July. The history of Sertões began in 1991 when the architect Chico Maraes organised Rally São Francisco, the first rally competition exclusively for bikes. It took place along the Riberao Preto and Sao Paulo countryside and headed to the beaches of Maceio, northwest of the country. The first edition of the Rally dos Sertões took place two years later in 1993, with the start in the Campos do Jordao mountain region in Sao Paulo state, and the finish at the beaches of Natal in Rio Grande do Norte state. Star Mazda JDC MotorSports' first oval race in three years proved to be a success on Saturday as the Team Championship leaders in the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear had two of its drivers standing on the podium after 100 laps. Adam Christodoulou regained the championship lead with a runner-up result, while Alex Ardoin finished a close third. Caio Lara was a strong eighth at the flag, ahead of Joel Miller in 14th and Gustavo Linares in 20th. Qualifying was cancelled due to rain, as a result, the combined practice times were used to set the grid, placing Lara in sixth, Ardoin in 10th, Miller in 11th, Christodoulou in 12th and Linares in 19th. In the race an early caution bunched the field up and after the restart Christodoulou and Ardoin emerged from a hectic multi-car fight in turn one in second and third place. Running nose-to-tail over the course of the final few laps, the duo held their positions, giving JDC MotorSports two podium finishes in the first series oval race since 2006. Lara, extending his run of top-10 finishes in every race thus far, crossed the stripe in eight, while Miller fell back to 14th at the checkered flag. Linares was classified 20th at the stripe. 23-06-09 Formula Ford/F3
F3 TESTING
TIMES SNETTERTON 23/6/2009 AM / PM times
Formula Renault Antonio Felix da Costa took two wins at Oschersleben in the Formula Renault 2.0 North European Cup after he had been quickest in all practice sessions including qualifying first for race one, his first pole position. The 17 year old driver dominated the first race from the start to the flag while in the second race, after starting 8th he made a great start to move up to second straightaway. He then got by the leader on the first lap to pull away and finish 8 seconds up on his team mate Marco Sorensen. "The team did a fantastic job this weekend. We dominated the whole weekend and it was fantastic to get 2 wins, especially this year with the reverse grid for the first eight of race 1. On the first race I just control my opponents without takings any risks, actually my lap times were consistent and fast. On the second race, I started really well and when I arrived to first corner I was already on second place. I think they all got a lot of whellspin and I managed to not have it. It was fantastic this race, on the first 8 laps I pushed a lot and opened a gap of 8 seconds. After I just control and brought the car to the end. I would like to thank my sponsors, my engineer and all the team for the fantastic car they gave me this weekend." Other News Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton joined a host of British motor sport luminaries and F1 drivers on Sunday evening at Silverstone’s post-race Grand Prix Party, the circuit’s traditional finale to the Formula 1 Santander British Grand Prix. The Party, free to all ticket holders, took place on a purpose built giant stage in the centre of the circuit. A record-equalling 20,000 fans stayed behind to continue the post- race celebrations. TV broadcaster Tony Jardine hosted the evening’s entertainment and was joined on stage by several F1 drivers and some of Britains elder statemen from the sport. All received a heroes welcome, with the biggest cheer of the day reserved for Jenson Button. Speaking after the race about Silverstone and the future of the British Grand Prix, Button commented, “We’ve all spoken without saying a word. The last couple of races have not had many people, so to come here and see all these spectators…we don’t need to say anything. This Grand Prix is the most spectacular in F1. Monaco is special, but it is nothing like this. There has to be a GP here next year.” more 22-06-09 Porsche Rene Rast celebrated his first victory of the season in the Porsche Supercup at Silverstone. The defending German Carrera Cup champion started the race from pole position, dropped back during the race, before fighting back and retaking the lead with a breathtaking manoeuvre on the penultimate lap. The former Polo Cup champion now holds fourth position in the overall standings.
Formula V6 Asia
GTs
Phil Quaife was also left disappointed in the FIA GT3 European Championship races at Oschersleben. After engine problmes in practice he had to watch as his car was punted of in the first race before he could even get behind the wheel while in race two he and his team mate Robert Hisson did get to the finish albeit in down in 18th..read report Sam Yau increased his Championship lead in the latest round of the GT3 Asia Series after a hard battle throughout the race withTunku Hammam at Sepang on Sunday. In GT4 Dilantha Malagamuwa drove through the field from the back of the grid to claim victory…read report Chris Niarchos took his second Citation Cup victory of 2009 on Sunday with a fourth place finish in the FIA GT race at Oschersleben. The No.56 Ferrari of Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell had to settle for sixth place after struggling with visibility problems for much of the race.
F3000
Indycars Dario Franchitti won the latest rouind of the Indycar Champiuonship at Iowa Speedway. It was his second win of the season and his second at the track, his won for the first time back in 2007. The Scot won the Iowa Corn Indy 250 by 5.0132 seconds over Ryan Briscoe and was quick to hand the credit to his Target Chip Ganassi Racing crew, who had given him a fast turned around during his pit stop on Lap 196 of 250. Franchitti had trailed Briscoe by less than a second when the stops began but led by more than a second when they were over. As the drivers worked through lapped traffic over the final 50 laps, Franchitti was able to build his lead to a comfortable margin. His second victory of the season moved him just three points shy of Briscoe, who remains the IndyCar Series points leader. For the third consecutive race, Briscoe led the most laps but finished second. Andretti Green Racing's Hideki Mutoh finished third, one spot lower than his career-best finish at the track last year, and Panther Racing's Dan Wheldon finished fourth as the top four finishers came from different teams. Helio Castroneves, who started on the pole based on entrant points after qualifying was cancelled due to water seepage on the track, finished seventh. He made contact with Scott Dixon early in the race, forcing both cars to pit for repairs. Dixon finished fifth. The race had four cautions in the first 55 laps but finished with stints of 56 and 127 consecutive green-flag laps. Indylights Ana Beatriz earned her second career Firestone Indy Lights victory, passing Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate Wade Cunningham with nine laps to go in the Miller Lite 100. Cunningham, who finished second at Iowa in 2007 after leading 105 of 115 laps, passed pole sitter J.R. Hildebrand for the lead on Lap 4 and led the next 103 laps. He and Beatriz caught up to Sebastian Saavedra on the backstretch on Lap 107, and Beatriz was able to get past on the high side while Cunningham was forced to slow. The night was a success for team owner Sam Schmidt as his drivers recorded the first 1-2-3 finish by teammates in series history. James Hinchcliffe was third. A1GP
Saloons Paul Bowman is to enter the European Late Model Series in the number #39 car promoting the Ambulance Services Benevolent Fund, a charity that provides help and support to serving and retired members of the NHS Ambulance services. ASBF press officer Stephen Evans “We are delighted that Paul has made this gesture to help raise the profile of the Ambulance Services Benevolent Fund, and look forward to seeing the car race.” After a recent test in Revolution’s #99 car and following the acquisition of the former #97 Late Model from Tony Hurdle (his new team mate) Bowman will be running the as part of the Revolution Racing who will provide the preparation and support for the #39 Car. His first outing will be the 27th/ 28th June at Lydden Hill on the Saturday with a dash over to Warneton on the Sunday. Timmy Megenbier was the winner of the fourth race of the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup at Mid-Ohio. Megenbier started the 17 lap race at Mid-Ohio from third on the grid before pushing Joey Atterbury and Andy Lee down to second and third places respectively. Megenbier had already won the previous race at Salt Lake City. 21-06-09 Porsche
WTCC The BMW Team Italy-Spain won both the WTCC races at Brno, proving once again that they are the outfit to beat when the series visits the Czech Republic. Figures say it all, with four victories out of the six latest WTCC races on the Masaryk circuit. Alessandro Zanardi encored his Race 1 success from last year, while his young Spanish team-mate, Sergio Hernández picked up the honours in the second, his first WTCC victory. BMW’s double win was not as rewarding as the German manufacturer hoped in terms of championship points. The team’s best-placed drivers - Augusto Farfus and Andy Priaulx - collected only one point (Priaulx in Race 2), which enabled SEAT Sport's Yvan Muller to further stretch his lead margin: 10 points ahead of Gabriele Tarquini, with Farfus a further two points behind. As a consolation BMW cut the gap from SEAT to 8 points in the Manufacturers' Championship. Félix Porteiro, of Proteam Motorsport, dominated the Independents' field, scoring a massive 44 points over the weekend and building a 26-point lead in the Trophy. GP2
Formula Master
V6 Asia
Asia GT Sam Yau claimed a brilliant victory in Round 7 of the Asia GT3 Championship to move to the top of the points table in an action packed race at Sepang on Saturday. It was the Team Machine driver ‘s first win of the year after coming close with second place on three previous occasions. ..read report
The latest instalment of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at the Milwaukee Mile produced another great fight and another winner, Anders Krohn. Poleman Richard Kent and Conor Daly were early retirements after a coming together at the start leaving the door open for Krohn, Irishman Peter Dempsey, Adam Christoloudou and Alex Ardoijn t bettle it out over the 100 laps. In the end Krohn triumphed with Christoloudou second, Ardoin third, Dempsey fourth while Canadian Chris Cumming won the Expert Series. Read report Formula Ford Nick Percat continued with his almost total domination of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship winning all three races of the thrisd round at Hidden Valley near Darwin..read report
WTCC BMW cars will occupy the front row for tomorrow's first WTCC race in Brno as Augusto Farfus claimed first and Andy Priaulx second. With a time of 2:09.590 the Brazilian took his third pole position of the season. Alessandro Zanardi secured third place ahead of Chevrolet's Nicola Larini. Rickard Rydell and Gabriele Tarquini were the only SEAT drivers to enter Q2 and they will line up fifth and sixth on the grid. Q1 - It looked as though Jörg Müller's opening gambit of 2:10.424 would equate to the fastest time but on the final lap Andy Priaulx beat it by a massive eight tenths of a second. SEAT Sport also had a surge in the dying minutes to ensure their presence in Q2. Gabriele Tarquini and Rickard Rydell made the top ten for the Spanish marque but in doing so knocked off team-mate Tiago Monteiro. Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller also narrowly missed the cut in 12th and 13th places. Alain Menu and Nicola Larini progressed to Q2 for Chevrolet but despite putting in his best lap at the end, Robert Huff could only manage the 14th best time. Félix Porteiro snuck into the top ten, being the only Independent driver to do so. Q2 - With the majority of the cars venturing onto the track late in the session it was all to play for in the final minute. In fact, with the exception of Jörg Müller, all the drivers' best times came from their last lap, and in most cases in was their only flying lap. Priaulx took provisional pole but Farfus bettered it by just four hundredths of a second. Zanardi, who has a very strong record at the Brno track, was 0.272 shy of pole position. Larini, Rydell and Tarquini ensured BMW did not dominate further than the top three. Jörg Müller will line up seventh ahead of Alain Menu, Sergio Hernández and Félix Porteiro. 20-06-09 Formula Ford Nick Percat has won the first race of the weekend in the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin. Second was his Sonic teammate Mitch Evans who had led initially before he was taken by Percat after several laps. It was Percat’s eighteenth Australian Formula Ford win, which means he has eclipsed Steven Richards ‘ record of most race wins in Australian Formula Ford. ..read report Formula Masters
Star Mazda
Three of the drivers in this weekend's NASCAR events at the Milwaukee Mile are graduates of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear – also competing here this weekend for the first time since 2006. All three competed in Star Mazda in 2004 when McDowell won the championship with a dominant performance of seven wins and six pole positions. He graduated from Star Mazda to the Grand-Am Daytona Prototype series and Champ Car, moving over to stock cars in 2007 in the ARCA RE/MAX series. He was Rookie of the Year and runner-up in the championship and moved from directly to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Michael Waltrip Racing. He currently drives the #47 Daugherty Racing / Tom's Snacks Toyota and is 11th in the championship. Brad Coleman was also in the 2004 Star Mazda season and was the youngest driver ever to receive a professional open-wheel racing license, at age 14 in 2002. At age 16, he, Colin Braun and Adrian Carrio joined to race the No. 16 Team16 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the 24 Hours of Daytona race. He graduated to the ARCA RE/MAX series in 2006 and made his first Busch Series start the same week he graduated from high school. Coleman currently drives the #20 Toyota Camry in the NASCAR Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing. Colin Braun, made history as the youngest Daytona Prototype driver at 17 and in 2006 became the youngest winner of a major race in North American with his win at the Brumos Porsche 250 in Daytona. In 2007, Braun signed a driver development contract with Roush Fenway Racing and made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Gateway International Raceway and in 2008 became the full-time driver of the #6 Con-Way Ford F-150 in the Camping World Truck Series. On June 13, 2009, he scored his first career Truck Series win at Michigan. Other News Ashley Force Hood and Patrick Long will be guests Monday, June 22, on www.racefanradio.com’s On Track On Radio, a weekly motor racing program hosted by Tim Tuttle and Roger Hughes from noon to 1 p.m. EDT. “We‘re thrilled to have two of the brightest young stars in American racing on our program,” Tuttle said. Force Hood became the first woman to win a NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing national event at Atlanta Dragway in 2007. Force Hood, driver of the Castrol GTX Ford Mustang, added a second triumph in March at the NHRA Spring Nationals at Houston and has been to five final rounds this season including the most recent event at Englishtown, N.J. Force Hood is second in the points, trailing Tony Pedregon, 818-798. Long is the only American Porsche factory driver, a distinction he has held since 2003, and has won the classics of Sports Car racing. He co-drove to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2004 and 2007, the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2009, the Sebring 12-Hour in 2005 and has a long list of additional wins in Grand-Am and American Le Mans Sports Cars. He’s the championship leader in ALMS GT2 this season with co-driver Joerg Bergmeister, who have won the past three races. On Track On Radio is in its fifth week on www.racefanradio.com. Tuttle has been covering motor racing for over 30 years and currently is a columnist for SI.com, a contributing writer for NASCAR Scene and a contributing editor for Road & Track. Hughes has been a broadcaster, track executive and series organizer for 30 years. Colin Braun, the winner of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Michigan, and NASCAR Sprint Cup journalist Dustin Long of Landmark Newspapers (Greensboro, N.C., News & Record, Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk, Va., and Roanoke, Va., Times) were guests last week. The program can be heard through www.racefanradio.com’s On Demand feature.
GP2 Alvaro Parente finished qualifying for the first GP2 race of the British Grand Prix and, will start from the third place of the grid today(Saturday). Qualifying was very close but Parente was up among the front runners in the morning’s practice session finishing fifth . His Ocean Racing Technology’s car was performing well and despite traffic spoiling his his run with the first set of tyres,on the second he set third fastest time, less than a tenth down to Alberto Valerio in second. “The car is very well balanced, is very fast in the fast corners, which is very important in this circuit. In the slower corners it’s harder, but that’s the way to be fast at Silverstone. This result is very important for me and for the team, after all the problems that we had along this season and I’m very pleased to start from a good place of the grid”. His expectations for the race are high, “I feel very well and motivated and that leaves me confident that we can achieve a podium position tomorrow. Of course that the win is the main goal for any driver, and I think we can fight for it, but we have to be careful so we can guarantee a good result”. Take a look on how he Parente managed to do a lap good enough for third of the first GP2 race grid. 19-06-09 Formula Ford
After a brief
hiatus at Symmons Plains, Sonic Racing's Nick Percat was back at the top of the time sheets in today's(Friday)
Formula Ford practice sessions at Darwin's Hidden Valley
Raceway. Percat did a convincing lap 0.6 secs quicker than his
nearest rival, Factory Enterprises racer Chaz Mostert.(pictured
below) Percat's fastest lap was 1:12.29 seconds. "I'm
surprised we managed to quicker this afternoon," he said.
"There's obviously a lot more heat around this afternoon and I
would have thought our tyres would have suffered as a result but
they held out," he added. "I'm really happy with the setup I'm
running at the moment so I don't think we'll do much in the way
of changes between now and qualifying ... I'll just rely on some
fresh rubber for more speed tomorrow."Looking for answers to
explain the time gap to Percat, Mostert was left scratching his
head. "I feel like I'm pushing it to the limit but the times
just aren't reflecting that," a dejected Mostert said. "Six
tenths is a lot of time to make up ... I'm really not sure where
we're losing the time at the moment but am confident we can make
some positive changes before tomorrow's qualifying session."
Third quickest was New Zealander Richie Stanaway, Races two and three of round four of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship will be telecast LIVE from Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin this weekend on the Seven Network. Please check your local guides. Eastern states telecast times: SATURDAY Race 1 LIVE 1400 – 1430 - SUNDAY Race 2 LIVE 1230 - 1300 Clios
Carrera Cup GB - With a seven-week gap in the schedule for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, three key players in the championship are taking the opportunity of the mid-season break to get married. First down the isle will be current pro-am1 championship leader Robert Lawson, who will marry Charlotte on 27 June. After a honeymoon in Italy, Robert will be back on the family farm in Yorkshire to prepare for the harvest as well as rounds 11 and 12 of the season at Snetterton on 1/2 August. Next to tie the knot will be Team Parker Racing boss Stuart Parker, who will marry Sam Jameson on Friday 10 July in Warwickshire. "We'll have a very short honeymoon, as I've got to go to Indonesia the following weekend to work with Tim Sugden in Carrera Cup Asia," said Parker. The best man for Parker's wedding will be former Carrera Cup champion Barry Horne, who won the title in 2003 with Parker's team. Now working on race weekends as a driver coach and mentor for TPR, Barry will repay the best man role as he previously had Stuart as best man for his own wedding. Third will be when Red Line Racing boss Simon Leonard marries Amy Brown on Saturday 18 July in Yorkshire. Everyone involved in the Carrera Cup GB sends best wishes for the future to all three couples and will expect to see them refreshed and ready for the second half of the season when the championship resumes at Snetterton. Le Mans The Aston Martin LMP1 car, which finished fourth overall as the fastest petrol-powered car at the Le Mans 24 Hours on the 14 June, will be on display at the British Grand Prix this weekend. The car will be outside the BRDCb building at Silverstone from June 19-21, as a tribute to Aston Martin's achievement on the 50th anniversary of their1959 Le Mans win. The 007 car, which did not encounter any mechanical problems in what is widely acknowledged as the toughest race in the world, will also be present at the Goodwood Festival of Speed from July 3-5. Aston Martin Racing's, Darren Turner, will drive the car up the hill climb course at Goodwood. After their appearance at Silverstone, Aston Martin Racing will head to the Nurburgring next week to test for the German round of the Le Mans Series on the 22-23 August. The third round of the LMS, the Algarve 1000 kilometres, is a night race that takes place on the Portimao circuit in Portugal over the weekend of August 1-2.
Julien Jousse made an excellent debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours. He and his team mates Yann Clairay and Xavier Maassen took their Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette to second place in the LM GT1 category. Just ot round off the weekend Pierre Fillon, vice-president of the ACO, awarded Julien the Jean Rondeau prize for being the most talented, courageous and tenacious French rookie…read report David Brabham, the winner of the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours, will make his first public appearance following his race victory in France with a special visit to Coopers Square shopping centre, Burton upon Trent, UK, on Saturday 27 June. The international sportscar driver is coming to town to celebrate his recent success with fans and launch the merchandise collection celebrating his father, Sir Jack’s 50th anniversary of his first Formula One World Championship title. David Brabham will be appearing in the Main Square throughout the day to meet fans and sign autographs while introducing the Jack Brabham 50th anniversary collection, items from which will be available to buy on Saturday and Sunday. Pride of place in the Main Square from Friday 26 June will be a stunning classic Formula One car, a Brabham BT11a Coventry Climax. Sir Jack Brabham drove the car to victory at its first race, the Rand Grand Prix in December 1965. The car went on to enjoy an illustrious career before Jon Fairley, from Huddersfield, purchased it earlier this year. Karts Jack Hawksworth, produced a simply stunning performance in the latest meeting of the WSK International Series at Genk in Belgium. He looked to be heading for potential victory in the grand final until he was caught out by the treacherous conditions whilst closing on leader (and defending champion and world champion) Marco Ardigo…read report Jordan King produced an exceptional performance from the very back of the pack to a third place podium finish in the latest round of the hotly-fought WSK International Series at Genk. Read report
Formula Vee The 2009 South African National Formula Vee Championship reaches the half way mark at the Zwartkops, West of Pretoria, on Saturday 20th June. With twenty two races, the event includes Regional Championship Races, for Nashua Mobile Historic Saloon Cars and Trans Am Cars, Nashua Mobile Historic Sports and GT Cars, 250cc Super Karts and Formula Ford Kent, along with Club Championship races, for Formula Libre/FormulaM, Legends 9Hour pre 1966 Production Cars, Paul Naidoo Presentations Silvercup, Goldwagen/Motoeuro Superhatch, Alfa Trofeo and Justbiketyre/"Z" Thunderbikes. The National Formula Vee Championship is very close with the top three, Alan Holm, Courtney Steenveld and Jaco Schriks separated by one point followed by Trevor Bland in fourth only 4 points behind. Reigning Champion Dennis Johns has not entered the or the Zwartkops event but is still within striking distance as is 15 year old Chad Van Beurden. Another potential front-runner is ex- Champion Peter Hills, making his first appearance of the year.Not far behind the lead bunch are Ben Pienaar, Jannie Geyser Jnr, Jannie Geyser Snr and Gareth Jackson. Newcomer Luca Canderle will be hoping to race this time, after he ran the bearings of his motor in the morning warm up, at East London and making his motor racing debut at Zwartkops will be Mile Stewart. Formula 3 Majorspeed.com driver Philip Major has joined Carlin Motorsport for the remainder of the 2009 British F3 International Series. "I have been given a fantastic opportunity to race for Carlin Motorsport," a very excited Major said. "I am really looking forward to racing with the team." Major, who ran in British F3 last year as a rookie is looking forward to getting back into action in the series. "It was tough sitting out at the start of the year, but now, I am even hungrier to get back to racing. With the championship nearly half over, we are clearly focused on winning races." Martin Stone of Carlin Motorsport is happy to have Major on board for the rest of the season. "We are delighted that Philip has joined with us for the rest of the season. We watched him last year and we're sure he'll do very well this year with us," Stone said.
WTCC
The FIA WTCC live timing will make a radical step forward at this weekend’s event in Brno. The new live timing system, developed by MST, the championship’s official timekeepers, will be sporting a more user-friendly look while continuing to cover all sessions and races. The new interface uses different colours to provide information such as sector times, overall improvements (purple), personal improvements (green), pit stops (red) and yellow flag conditions (yellow). It is also much quicker, and provides changes nearly in real time, while the previous system was refreshed every 10/15 seconds. The WTCC live timing is accessible from the www.fiawtcc.com and www.mstworld.com websites at the following URL address: http://www.mstworld.com/timing/livetiming.htm?series=wtcc
This weekend,
twin brothers Tim and Tom Coronel will be both racing SEAT León
cars
in the FIA WTCC meeting at Brno. Tom is a regular competitor in
the championship and Tim won his participation because of his
results at Valencia, in the SEAT León Eurocup. “Racing together
is a very special thing for us, we are really looking forward to
it”, Tim and Tom Coronel said on the eve of the event. Last
weekend, Tom raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours: “It was fantastic,
but now, I am really eager to go for it at Brno. At Valencia, I
won the independents’ class for the first time this season and I
am now also leading the points’ standings in this trophy. The
characteristics of the Czech track aren’t ideal for us, but of
course, I will do my utmost. Competing in one race together with
Tim is just great!” GP2
Star Mazda
The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is at Milwaukee Mile this weekend the first of two oval tracks on the 2009 Star Mazda Calendar (the second is at Iowa Speedway on July 10). In Star Mazda pre-race testing at the Milwaukee Mile last month, the fastest lap was turned by the youngest rookie in the series, 16 year-old Michael Furfari. Driving the #13 Juncos Racing / Furfari Paving Mazda, student from Toronto turned a fast lap of 27.548 (130.681 mph). Drivers to watch include Venezuelan racer Jorge Goncalvez (#72) who turned the second fastest time in testing, and third-fastest Richard Kent (#33) who won last weekend at New Jersey. The other major contender is Adam Christodoulou (#11), winner of two races so far this year and he turned the fastest lap in testing on the Iowa Speedway. Tin Tops At Mid Ohio this weekend the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge has a 40 minutes sprint for it’s 20 nearly identical Ford Mustang FR500S machines, and it should be close. Racing alongside Grand-Am and the KONI Sports Car Challenge races there will be plenty of action this weekend for the EMCO Gears Classic, an event comes hard on the heels of the Mosport round where Tony Buffomante take his debut Mustang Challenge victory with Andrew Caddell recovering from a first lap spin to finish in second ahead of Jason von Kluge. Drivers to watch include the aforementioned Caddell plus Ted Anthony Jr.,who was involved in the first-lap spin at Mosport after the pair started on the front row. Pratt Cole feels he’s back in the mix and looking for a podium after getting his Mustang FR500S fully on song, and Jason von Kluge will look to ride the momentum from two podiums in the last three races. Karl Thomson will return to action in the No. 00 "Media Car," and is focused on improving on his strong sixth-place debut result at Mosport. Buffomante liked the view from the top of the podium and will no doubt be want to see it again! Other news MSC Organization official statement re their entry to F1. With much regrets, taking into consideration the highly questionnable process conducted by the FIA, which is affected by many irregularities, and the uncertainties regarding the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, the MSC board decided last night to withdraw its application, as Team N.Technology, under the new regulations allowing entry of 'capped budget' teams.MSC believes that through its wrong actions and objectionable management methods, the FIA severely hurt MSC's efforts to become a new team and undermined the Formula One sport, taken as a whole. MSC shall consider making a new application when the Formula One environment is stabilised and the conditions are met for a transparent and loyal contest, ensuring visibility and predictability to the candidate teams.MSC wishes to renew its warm acknowledgements to the sponsors, technical and business partners who support its efforts to become a new independent Formula One team. 17-06-09 Le Mans
Strakka Racing went the distance in an impressive debut run in the Le Mans 24 Hours last weekend, covering a total of 4430 kilometres from start to finish after Nick Leventis took the chequered flag in 21st place, 14th in LMP1. Co-driven by Peter Hardman and Danny Watts, the team’s Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S had been one of the fastest petrol-powered cars in the race, and battled hard amongst the front-runners for several hours before three minor mechanical problems put them on the back foot. Despite this, they rallied repeatedly, and the te am exhibited great professionalism, determination and spirit as they fought to keep the car in with a chance.read report Formula Ford
Australian Formula Ford drivers Jon Mills and Andre Borell will join up with Marcus Marshall’s IntaRacing V8 Supercar outfit for the Hidden Valley round on June 19-21. The only two Van Diemen’s in the Formula Ford field will make the trip to Hidden Valley in the IntaRacing V8 Supercar transporter. Andre explains how the situation came about “Jon’s F3 car is the one Marcus drove and put on pole at Indy in 2004, so that’s the connection. It works well for us, as the IntaRacing team are based on the Gold Coast, just up the highway from where we are based. Marcus is a very successful ex-Formula Ford star too, so maybe we can get some tips off him on how to get these Van Diemen’s up there!” Jon Mills missed the previous round at Symonns Plains due to other commitments, whilst Andre Borell had his strongest showing this year with a best finish of 11th. Ginettas
Formula Renault Hitech Jnr were in action at Croft last weekend in the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship. In the first race Pál Kiss drove a steady race from 21st to 12th while Nick Yelloly came in 17th. The team’s other drivers Jordan Oakes, Marlon Stockinger and Hitech-assisted Ollie Hancock all retired, primarily due to accident damage. Race 2 saw Stockinger into the pits for a new front wing before he continued a lap mdown. Hancock brought his car home 12th followed by Oakes in 14th. Yelloly was 16th with Pal Kiss finishing up 18th after a spin ..read report Le Mans
Superleague The opening round of the 2009 Superleague Formula will be at Magny-Cours on 28 June and it will see the introduction of a new race format. As before there will be two 45-minute races, the second with a reverse starting grid taken from the results of the first. However there will now be a third race for the top three finishers from the first two races. This 6 car 'shoot-out' will decide the overall 'Weekend Winner'. No additional points will be awarded but the final results will determine the distribution of each 333,000 euro prize fund. The new format will run at four of this season's six race meetings, Magny Cours, Donington, Estoril and Jarama. There will be a 'Weekend Winner' at both Zolder and Monza but it will go to the club scoring the most championship points in the two races. .Superleague Formula has also confirmed that 17 soccer clubs will be represented on this year's grid. Three new clubs - Olympique Lyonnais, FC Midtjylland and Sporting Clube de Portugal - are replacing Al-Ain, Beijing Guoan FC, Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla FC in the final 2009 line-up. GTs The CRS Racing team will be in Oschersleben in Germany this weekend for five races. As well as two FIA GT3 races and the main FIA GT event, CRS' leading Formula Renault driver, Harry Tincknell, will be racing in two rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Championship. Oschersleben was a good race for the team last year, ending with a podium for Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell. A repeat performance this year would be just the ticket as the pair suffered a rather lacklustre Adria.. Kirkaldy has had pole position twice before at Oschersleben so he has high hopes for a good race. In the No.55 GT2 Ferrari Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen will be gunning for top finish, and another Citation Cup victory for Niarchos. The two FIA GT3 races will be as competitive as ever and the CRS GT3 drivers will no doubt get stuck right in. Klaas Hummel had quite a dramatic initiation into the world of GT racing at Adria when he was hit by another car and pushed off the track in race one, and then raced in the dark for the first time in race two. He and Chris Goodwin will race the No.55 GT3 Ferrari this weekend and will be aiming to be top Ferrari in both races. Phil Quaife and Robert Hissom will be hoping for a bit more luck this time around as Adria ended in two retirements for the No.56 duo. Race two was the heartbreaker as Phil had qualified in third place and was running well before he was forced to retire FBMW Formula BMW Europe will be at Silverstone this weekend supporting the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The driver leading the series is Brazilian Felipe Nasr, driving for Eurointernational, with the leading Brit, looking to make a name for himself in front of his home crowd, is Jack Harvey of Fortec Motorsport. Last weekend was a dream for Rookie driver Harvey when he claimed his first pole and win of the season in Zandvoort. With four rounds behind them Nasr has two wins, one in Barcelona and one in Zandvoort, and two second places. There will be four other British drivers alongside Harvey, they are William Buller (Fortec Motorsport), Kazeem Manzur (Josef Kaufmann Racing), Ollie Milroy (Motaworld Racing Europe Ltd) and Rupert Svensden-Cook (Raikkonen Robertson Racing). There will also be a guest driver at this race with Gary Thompson from Ireland a third entry for Raikkonen Robertson Racing. He is currently racing in Formula BMW Pacific where he is leading the series after the first six rounds. WTCC Tyre manufacturer Yokohama is supplying ADVAN racing tyres to four different manufacturers in this year’s WTCC: BMW, SEAT, LADA and Chevrolet. Each produce very different cars in terms of design and set-up and of the four only BMW is running rear-wheel drive. (the rest are all front-wheel drive). On 21 June, the WTCC is at Brno in the Czech Republic, for rounds 11 and 12, where marques will deal with the track’s demands differently. With the front wheels of the SEATs, LADAs and Chevrolets coping with steering, acceleration and braking, tyre wear on these cars is often more rapid than the BMWs, which find that front and rear tyres wear at a similar rate. However, due to this, towards the end of a race and particularly in wet conditions, BMWs can experience decreased grip. "In terms of tyre wear, the BMW is considerably more balanced than the front-wheel drive cars, where the rear tyres are underused," said Ian Beveridge, Yokohama Technical Consultant. "Through regular monitoring we've learned that reducing the negative camber of the suspension set-up helps to even the wear of the front-wheel drive cars and equalise performance between each of the manufacturers." Yokohama's experience over the last four years has taught the company a lot about how the tyres behave, and as a result Yokohama can optimise the ADVAN tyres, no matter the weather or car layout. The WTCC have launched of a new Japanese-language website ( www.fiawtcc.jp ) for the WTCC's Japanese fans, media and partners. Like the official English-language FIA WTCC website, www.fiawtcc.jp offers the Japanese public the opportunity to learn about the series and its history, about drivers and manufacturers, and to follow the entire championship as its moves closer to the Race of Japan, scheduled in November. "We are very pleased to launch the first phase of this new website with all the championship's latest news translated into Japanese. This new site offers us more direct, interactive communication with our fans in Japan," said Marcello Lotti, KSO Managing Director. "It also allows us to share our championship's international expansion as one of the most spectacular and fastest growing motorsports series worldwide." The first appearance of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in Japan last year turned out to a great success with an attendance of 28,000 spectators (in spite of winterlike weather) and with two breathtaking races with plenty of overtaking and tangles. The WTCC is at the Okayama circuit on Nov 1st, while Japanese fans can follow the whole 2009 season live on Gaora Sports Channel. Visit the new WTCC Japanese-language website at www.fiawtcc.jp and read the interview with Akinori Tokieda, Yokohama's General Motorsports Manager. Karts
Ed Brand scored a brace of victories at Buckmore Park circuit in Kent last weekend (13/14 June) to move him up from fifth position into the lead of the British Super 1 Kart Championship with just three rounds left to run..read report From this weekend (20/21 June), Buckmore Park Karting Ltd will take over the Brands Hatch Kart Circuit to introduce a brand new selection of adult and childrens' karting events. The circuit, which is a mini replica of the full size Brands Hatch Indy configuration, is situated behind the Kentagon restaurant opposite Paddock Hill Bend. The track is 280 metres long and already proves a popular attraction for race-goers and corporate guests. Buckmore boss Bill Sisley said: "This is an exciting new development. We wish to expand the karting activities available to include karting for all ages between 8 and 80 - including arrive'n'drive for youngsters aged 10 and over on race weekends and exclusive children's parties for 8 to 16-year-olds. To complement our existing Bambino kart school at Buckmore Park we will be introducing an introductory Bambino kart school at Brands Hatch Kart Circuit for 6 and 7-year-olds. We have purchased a new fleet of British built Biz karts which will be ideal for both arrive'n'drive and corporate use." Jonathan Palmer, Chief Executive of MSV, added: "At MSV we have always encouraged youngsters to get involved in motorsport, and this initiative ties in perfectly with that commitment. Bill Sisley has done an incredible job making Buckmore Park one of the finest kart facilities in the UK , and we are delighted that he will also be operating the mini Brands Hatch Kart Circuit from late June. The track has always been a popular feature, and I look forward to seeing it develop and evolve under Buckmore Park 's guidance."The mini kart track will be open every weekend in line with the Brands Hatch race event calendar. For more information on karting at Brands Hatch call 0845 603 7964 or visit www.buckmorepark.co.uk. Other News
The Lola F1 Team has withdrawn its application to enter Formula One™. They have today advised the FIA of the decision to withdraw their application to enter the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship. Significant financial investment has been made in producing its 2010 contender and the FIA had requested that the Lola F1 Team remain in a state of readiness for a possible future entry. Lola F1 Team has thanked the FIA for giving its application to enter the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship serious consideration. 16-06-09 Club Racing
Ben Demetriou
was the winner of both races in the Porsche Club Championship Bentley Drivers Club 60th Anniversary, Silverstone 8-9 August. The Master will host various invitation races with plenty of track time for those owning one or more cars. The paddock will be full of cars ranging from the vintage and Edwardian periods to the 2003 Le Mans winning Bentley Speed 8 which will be demonstrated on Sunday afternoon. Masters have a 45 minute race on Saturday for pre-66 GTs (Cloth Cap & XK Challenge) and a 45 minute race on Sunday for pre-66 Saloons (Top Hat & Oldies But Goldies). Over the two days there are also races for Bentley, Morgan, AC, MG, AMOC and Sunbeam including an Allcomers scratch race and an Allcomers handicap race. All cars would be welcome for the Allcomers Scratch and Handicap races, from a Sierra Cosworth to a Caterham to an MGB and Mini Cooper. The only stipulation for eligibility is that your lap time in the dry must be quicker than 1m20s. The Bentley Scratch races are for 1930s-1950s Bentleys however ‘non-Bentleys’ may apply to join Race 2 on Sunday with say a 50s sports car that would fit in well. Acceptance for this race is at the BDC’s discretion so please contact Martin Greenslade direct. Race entries should be made with the specific series co-ordinator and any additional membership fees will be waived provided that you are a member of one of the series at the meeting to allow crossover. Further details are in the BDC Supplementary Regulations found on the Masters website in the ‘Event Information’ section. Dame Kelly Holmes was a guest of the Fun Cup on Saturday during the BRSCC’s Brands Hatch meeting. The Olympic double gold medallist teamed up for the day with the Nightingale Racing entry of Stuart Ramsay, Peter Flynn and Michael Lockyer who support the former athletes Legacy Trust. Dame Kelly carried out the grid draw, joined in the grid walk, waved the Chequered Flag and presented trophies, including an award for third in the petrol-engined class for Nightingale Racing. Seemingly bitten by the motorsport bug on her first visit to a race meeting, Kelly expressed a desire to get behind the wheel so look out for Kelly lining up on the grid at a BRSCC race meeting soon. The full meeting results can be found at: BRANDS HATCH RESULTS The BRSCC Northern Centre ran their second and last meeting of the season at Cadwell Park last Saturday. Cadwell differs from most BRSCC events in that they use a different timing company - SMART Timing. All the details of Saturday’s meeting, including qualification times, grid line-up, race results and individual lapcharts can be found at www.smart-timing.co.uk and www.mylaps.com MSV has asked the BRSCC to forward a request to all competitors and teams to please make sure that your equipment, tools & litter are removed from the paddock & pits when you leave the circuit at the end of each meeting. It would no doubt be appreciated by the other circuits that we use if this could also be observed at all race meetings. Le Mans
Ginettas
Formula Renault The CRS Formula Renault team came away from Croft with more points but no podiums after a hard weekend of racing. After Oulton Park, Josh Scott was pleased to get his 2009 campaign back on track with two top eight finishes. The Australian recently commented that the Formula Renault Championship is more competitive than ever this year so he knows that every point is going to count. Harry Tincknell didn't fare as well as he did at Oulton Park two weeks ago but he did finish 11th and 9th and he is still riding high in the Graduate Cup standings. Harry is taking part in two Formula Renault races at Oschersleben this weekend. Lewis Williamson was the best CRS performer in qualifying with two brilliant fifth places. Unfortunately he was unable to turn these into podium finishes, especially in race two when he received a penalty for a grid infringement. Nonetheless Lewis showed that the speed is there so he will be back on the podium soon. Matias Laine is another CRS driver who mastered qualifying, taking two top six grid positions at Croft. Like Lewis though he was unable to convert these to podiums and came home 12th and 10th in the two races. Also making progress in qualifying is Michael Lyons, who took 15th and 14th positions on Saturday. He improved to 13th in race one but dropped to 22nd in race two. CRS' GT Team Manager, Malcolm Swetnam, was at Croft this weekend and managed to sign up Josh and Harry to the CRS Weather Watch job at the Spa 24 Hours next month. For those of you who remember Jeremy Metcalfe and Michael Meadows doing this last year you will know what the lads have let themselves in for! It's a definite advantage at Spa to have spotters on the hill and it's a great experience for the young drivers to see the work that goes into an event like the Spa 24 Hours. Formula Master
Formula Renault 3.5 Pasquale DiSabatino, driving for RC Motortsport took his first win in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at the Hungaroring on Sunday. Marco Barba (International Draco Racing) and Julian Leal (Prema Powerteam) completed the top three. This leaves Marcos Martinez top of the standings on equal points with Bertrand Baguette, this in spite of the former retiring in the race. In the first race of the weekend Fairuz Fauzy also took his maiden win in the category ahead of Marco Barba and Bertrand Baguette..read report Bertrand Baguette came away from the latest Rounds of the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship as joint leader. Bertrand however found the weekend a bit frustrating as he could have been leading the title chase on his own if things had worked out differently. After coming second in the first race in Hungary he was leading the second race when a safety car period worked against him. When it came out all the drivers who had already stopped gained an advantage over the rest, the latter included Bertrand who suddenly found himself back in sixth after his stop, which unfortunately is where he finished..read report Karts
Other news
15-05-09 Clio Cup
Andrew Herron produced one of the best drives of his career at Croft in North Yorkshire yesterday, Sunday, 14th June, to stay third in the Elf Clio Cup title race. A problem in qualifying, which resulted in Andrew clipping a kerb and causing some heavy front-end damage, forced him to start round 9 from 15th place on the grid. However it got worse in the race when he ended up in a gravel trap at Tower bend early on and although he tried to continue his car was too b dly damaged to continue. Sunday was better though and despite starting from 16th he managed to haul his car up to seventh at the flag. .read report Daniel Lloyd had a mountain to climb at Croft yesterday after he was the victim of a first corner accident in the second race of the weekend in the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup . Lloyd was knocked into a spin onto the infield at Hawthorn right at the start dropping him back to 20th from his nionth place grid position. He did m ount a recovery,m eventually finishing in 14th but it could have been much more ...read report Formula Ford
Rounds seven, eight and nine of the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain were held at Knockhill over the weekend. From the first practice session on Thursday, the Kevin Mills Racing Spectrums set the pace with the fastest times and all three cars in the top five..read more Ginettas
Nathan Freke keeps on racking up the wins and with them the points. After another win, his sixth, in Sunday’s first race of the Ginetta G50 Cup, he now leads the Championship by 52 points fromFrank Wrathall. Then latter moved up the standings after he won yesterday’s second race in the wet taking the second spot in the table from Carl Breeze. Breeze had a day to forget. In the first race of the day he went out after clipping a tyre stack at the Jim Clark Esses, the resulting damage also prevented him starting round 14...read report
Total Control Racing’s ELF Renault Clio Cup racer Alex MacDowall posted another podium finish during round 10 of the season at Croft on Sunday while his team-mate Mike Robinson was also in good form once again. Meanwhile the team’s Ginetta G500 Challenger Carl Breeze wasn’t so lucky. Entering round 13 (we said it was unlucky!) the TCR driver clipped a tyre stack at the Jim Clark Esses, sustaining damage to the car . Although he walked away unscathed his car was out for the day meaning he was out of both Sunday’s races , dropping him to third in the points..read reports VW Cup
Porsche Robert Lawson had a perfect day at his home track, Croft yesterday with two more Pro-Am1 class wins in his Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship season to increase his lead in the Championship table. He was also named the Porsche Carrera Cup GB ‘Driver of the Weekend’. Read report
Macau
motor racing driving Rodolfo Avila
Formula Renault
Dean Smith claimed win number four at Croft yestersday in round 10 of the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship. Added to the second place he picked up on Saturday he is n ow jjust 19 points from the top of the Championship standings...read report
David McDonald, driving for Manor Competition, once again did an impressed job in the the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship over the weekend. In the second race on Sunday he finished a highly creditable seventh, sadly Saturday hadn’t gone as well as he suffered a broken front wing early in the race which lost him the chance of a good result. His team mate Dean Smith did have a good time however winning once and taking second behind James Caldao in the other. Read report Hillspeed’s two Formula Renault UK drivers, Lee Dwyer and Menasheh Idafar had mixed results at Croft over the weekend. In Saturday’s ninth round Dwyer’s race ended as soon as it bagan when he got tangled up in a multi-car accident on the opening lap. He ended up spinning into the barrier and had to be taken to the circuit medical centre with concussion. His team-mate Idafar also endure an off and a spin in round 9 but he did at least finish the race. On Sunday he improved to finish in 17th . Dwyer, now recovered from his ordeal on Saturday had a better race on Sunday finishing 13th after a battle with reigning Formula Renault BARC Champion Ollie Hancock ..read report Finnish Daniel Aho won at his home track in Alastaro taking his first win in his Formula Renault 2.0 NEC career and the Championship lead. In the first race Jimmy Eriksson made a perfect to lead his team-mate Bart Hylkemam, the two Motopark drivers then simply drove away to a team 1-2 ..read report After starting from pole, Motopark Academy’s Marco Sorensen took victory for the first time in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 at the Hungaroring. The Danish driver led his team-mate Adrian Quaife-Hobbs and Albert Costa of Epsilon Euskadi across the line. With sixth Antonio Felix de Costa (Motopark Academy) stays on top of the points standings just two points ahead of Albert Costa. The first race of the weekend went to Jean-Eric Vergne (SG Formula). After getting off to an excellent start, the French driver produced the perfect race to pull off his first win in Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, ahead of Nathanael Berthon (Epsilon Euskadi) and Miki Monras (SG Formula). Read report Star Mazda
Le Mans Oak racing have got onto the Le Mans podium for the second year in succession. The team came third in the LMP2 class at the Le Mans 24 Hours with Jacques Nicolet, Richard Hein and Jean-François Yvon driving their #24 Pescarolo-Mazda.. It was a great result for the French team who have worked very hard all year alongside their partners Mazda USA, Mazda France and Dunlop…read report Formula 3 Manor Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi put in a good performance at the Tango Masters of Formula 3 race at Zandvoort o Sunday, (4th June) after he was punted up the rear at start forcing him wide in the first corner. Having dropped to 16th from 3rd on the grid the young Spaniard mounted a great comeback driver to tenth, with a damaged car to boot!..read report Atlantic Twenty-year-old Swiss racer Simona De Silvestro went into the lead in the 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda after winning hers second race of the season in Sunday's second race of the Mazda Formula X presented by Cooper Tires weekend doubleheader at New Jersey Motorsports Park. In the first race on Saturday Jonathan Summerton returned to Victory Circle for the first time since last August and brought Genoa Racing its first Atlantic win since 1994 at New Jersey Motorsports Park ..read report Current Atlantic Champion Markus Niemela finished P4 in the second of two events this weekend at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. The young Finn, who qualified third, found himself pushed off the road again at the start. Then he had to struggle with an ill-handling car for much of the race until he and his Newman-Wachs guys got the situation sorted out. Once the changes were completed in the late stages of the race, Niemela proceeded to produce faster and faster times until he set fastest lap of the race at a 1:11:987. Unfortunately, however, he as only able to secure P4 as he ran out of laps at the end. "Although I got pushed into the dirt at the start again and the recovery dropped me back, it still feels good to finish up-front, but I really wanted a podium. After I recovered from the off, the car was really terrible, but my guys continued to work on it and in the end the car was really fast. By then, however, I really couldn't do much more than P4, but setting fast lap is still a great accomplishment given how we struggled early. In the end we have some points, my guys are clicking, and we're on the championship's radar again, so watch out!" BTCC Colin Turkington and Fabrizio Giovanardi shared the wins in Sunday's three HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship races at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire. Turkington won the opening two races and, heading into the mid-season break, has taken over the championship lead - and comfortably so - from Matt Neal who suffered a tough day which ended in controversy in a clash with old foe Jason Plato. Read report A1GP A1GP World Cup of Motorsport fans have chosen their winners from the 2008/09 season. After a series of accolades were put up for grabs on the series’ website, A1GP.com, fans from across the globe voted to decide who they thought should be rewarded in four special categories...read more 14-06-09 Le Mans
Aston Martin have brought the LMP1 car home in fourth place at Le Mans today(Sunday), the first petrol engine car over the line. It was Aston Martin’s 007 car, driven by Jan Charouz (CZ), Tomas Enge (CZ) and Stefan Mücke (DE), that showed mechanical reliability, with only a puncture and a minor issue with the headlights getting in the way of its progress to the chequered flag. Fifty years on from Aston Martin’s victory in the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours, the team has exceeded all expectations with Aston Martin Racing fulfilling its mission of being the first petrol car home read report F2000
British GT The Avon Tyres British GT Championship has a new leading driver pairing this weekend after two superb races at Knockhill. The new men on top are twin brothers David and Godfrey Jones, who scored the Team Preci-Spark Ascari's first legitimate British GT race victory on Saturday. Sunday’s race was won by the ABG Viper with Aaron Scott and Craig Wilkins driving….read report . Porsche Carrera Cup
Team Park racing’s Tim Bridgman picked up a deserved win at Croft today(Sunday) in round nine of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Bridgman led from the field away at the start from pole, holding off an early challenge of James Sutton, who had snatched second from Michael Caine. Robert Lawson won pro-am1 and George Brewster took the pro-am2 victory on his debut…read report Le Mans
As the Le Mans 24 Hours moves into its final three hours, the 007 Aston Martin LMP1 car is holding fourth place and has set a good pace to close the gap to the third-placed diesel car. Tomas Enge is currently in the lead Aston Martin with Stefan Mucke due to take over just after midday. The 007 is the fastest petrol car on track setting a best lap time of 3:26.632 and is also the highest-placed petrol car overall – with a four-lap cushion over its nearest rival. The 008 car has recovered from its earlier dramas and Anthony Davidson is currently at the wheel in 13th place overall. Rain is still an outside threat although current conditions are warm and sunny. The Aston Martin Racing 009 car of Stuart Hall (GB), Peter Kox (NL) and Harold Primat (CH) retired during the 18th hour when it spun off and hit a barrier at turn 17, the entry to the famous Porsche curves, whilst Primat was driving.Primat, who was uninjured, said: “It was a shock but I feel absolutely fine. I am not exactly sure what happened, but together with the team we are trying to work it out.”
F2000
Star Mazda
Atlantic Markus Niemela finished P4 in the first of two AtlanticChampionship events this weekend at the New Jersey Motorsports Park. The young Finn, who qualified fourth, had problems with traffic all day which caused him some frustration. "It feels nice to finish up-front, but I am not too happy with the end result. I would have been faster but overtaking at this track is really difficult and I blew my only chance to overtake Garcia heading into turn one at the start. The car is not bad and we don't have to do any major changes for tomorrow, but the start will be critical again. If I can get off the line quickly we'll be fine tomorrow." Ginettas
Aaron Williamson won the latest round of the 2009 Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance at Croft on Saturday (June 13), his third win in the last four races. Second was Josh Cook with Chris Swanwick third. The Ginetta Junior competitors return to action today, Sunday, 14th June, with the 10th round of the campaign. Leading commercial station ITV4 will broadcast the race live across the UK on Freeview channel 28, cable channel 117 and digital satellite channel 120. Swanwick will start on pole position once again and will be aiming to try and seal his first ever victory. Hill is also on the front row in second place, with Ingram third, Williamson fourth, Cook fifth and Jake Rattenbury rounding out the top six starters.read report Clio Cup
Total Control Rracing’s Alex MacDowall took his first ever ELF Renault Clio Cup ‘clean sweep’ during round nine of the season at Croft on Saturday, 13th June, with a pole, fastest lap and the win. Alongside the Clios TCR's Carl Breeze back racing in the Ginetta G50s, after his accident at Oulton Park two weeks ago finished an excellent second. TCR’s are back on track today with the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup and the 10th round of the ELF Renault Clio Cup. The first Ginetta race and the Clio Cup encounter are both set to be screened live on Freeview, cable and digital satellite channel ITV4. For round 10 of the Clio Cup, MacDowall will start from pole position with Robinson third on the grid, Lloyd ninth and Tordoff 11th. For round 13 of the G50 Cup, Breeze is second on the grid with Mussi third and Ritter 11th…read report Formula Renault
Karts Jordan King, who following a qualifying mix-up that left him at the very back of the grid, superbly fought his way through to a podium finish in his latest national Super 1 Series outing at Rowrah in Cumbria, in so doing keeping him firmly in contention for the British KF3 title….read report 13-06-09 Porsche Three drivers from the Porsche Carrera Cup GB will race at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next weekend (20/21 June) as invited racers in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup race. Carrera Cup GB contenders Tim Harvey and James Sutton will race with Red Line Racing, while Aaron Scott will drive the car of Tommy Dreelan for Celtic Speed. All three cars will be entered under the wing of Porsche Cars GB in the British round of the international series.Harvey and Sutton, both former Carrera Cup champions, have contested the race before, but it is a new venture for Scott. "This is the third time in a row I've done the Supercup race at Silverstone," said Sutton. "It is always such a big occasion and it always seems to help me raise my game. You're better equipped for the Carrera Cup after doing a Supercup race. There is a real art to racing in the Supercup and it is certainly something I'm looking towards for the future." SAS International will back Sutton's car. Harvey, meanwhile, will enjoy support from Nationwide Crash Repairs, Interactive Worldwide, Loctite, RMA and Hi-Tech. "It's great to race at Silverstone in front of the home crowd and the BRDC," said Harvey. "It could be the last Grand Prix at Silverstone for a while, so I just hope we have a glorious weekend.This is a great opportunity for me to step up to the Porsche Supercup," said Scott. "I'd like to thank Porsche Cars GB, Tommy Dreelan and Celtic Speed for making it possible. It will be a steep learning curve, but I'm looking forward to racing at Silverstone, as it's a circuit I really like." The Porsche Mobil1 Supercup race will run on Sunday morning ahead of the Grand Prix. Star Mazda
Making their debut at Le Mans, Strakka Racing are happy to come out of qualifying as the quickest of the independent teams. Danny Watts drove the fourth-fastest time of the petrol-powered LMP1 prototypes in the Strakka Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S, stopping the clock at 3:29.798 ..read more What's a lap of Le Mans like in an LMP1 car? Aston Martin Racing’s Tomas Enge tells it like it is …read on Grand-Am The Racers Edge team with drivers Dane Cameron and Bryce Miller did not have an east time at Watkins Glen last weekend in Grand-Am’s Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. The car was quick and the team worked well, it was the mechanical gremlins that put paid to any chance of a podium finish..read.report Atlantic Atlantic Championship contender Markus Niemela produced a significant wet session qualifying result for this weekend’s Mazda Formula X Atlantic feature event. After running in the top-3 much of the session Niemela finally popped up to P1, but subsequently found himself in traffic he couldn't overcome in the session's later stages. "Today was my pole but I couldn't close the deal," Markus said. "The car was really good, and I was getting faster throughout the session. But I got hung up in traffic and couldn't get a clear lap at the end. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry and the car is very good, so I believe that we'll be able to generate a good result"
Chris Miller and JDC Motorsports led the way at Mosport in the opening rounds of practice for this weekend's F2000 races, posting a best time of 1:22.054. Miller, who sits a solid third in the standings, won the second race of the season over Matthew Inge and is hoping to build upon two podium finishes at Lime Rock a few weeks ago. Read more
12-06-09 Porsche The stage is set for rounds nine and ten of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB after official testing at Croft on Friday 12 June with James Sutton topping the times. But with just over a quarter of a second covering the top three times, it's going to be very close. It was even closer in the pro-am1 category as Glynn Geddie headed Robert Lawson by one-thousandth of a second. Not to be out-done, the pro-am2 racers were also very closely matched as George Brewster headed Paul Hogarth by less than a fifth of a second. Sutton (Red Line Racing) has always been very strong at Croft and in the afternoon test session he lapped seven-tenths of a second inside his two year-old lap record to head the time sheets. "I really like Croft," said Sutton. "I had two poles and two wins here in 2007," he added as he set the pace for locally-based Red Line Racing. Snapping at Sutton's heels were Tim Bridgman and Tim Harvey with the latter lleading the title race by just two points from Bridgman. Tom) turned in a good performance to end the day fourth fastest, just ahead of the battling pro-am1 racers Geddie and Lawson. Michael Caine ended the day seventh, but will surely be right in the battle for pole when it really matters on Saturday afternoon. Wrapping up the top ten times were pro-am1 contenders Derek Pierce and Tony Gilham, who were split by Lewis Hopkins. Brewster (Celtic Speed) made his 2009 Carrera Cup debut in style to head pro-am2, but Hogarth (IN2Racing) was right behind and with Bob Lyons (Celtic Speed) firmly in contention, the pro-am2 contest should be another highlight of the races. Formula Renault
Indycars Danica Patrick could be joining Chip Ganassi Racing next year, according to the 'rumour mill' The American has been linked with a switch to NASCAR, but with her contract at Andretti Green Racing due to expire at the end of this season, Patrick is said to be interested in running a third car at Ganassi alongside reigning champion Scott Dixon and the 2007 champ Dario Franchitti. Club Racing
Tickets cost from £13 for adults, with free entry for children aged 12 and under. For more information call 0870 950 9000 or visit www.cadwellpark.co.uk. After its first successful experience in 2008 with two six-hour races, the FFSA V de V Series makes a return to the Lausitz EuroSpeedway. Enjoyed by competitors first time aound, the 4.5 km track in the centre of the tri-oval will host a rich field for this exceptional event, with two 8-hour races. ..read more F2000
Le Mans The flag will fall to start the 2009 race at 3pm local time on Saturday (13 June). Tune into live online radio coverage at www.radiolemans.com. For further information on the Le Mans 24 Hours, including live timing and full results, visit www.lemans.org You can also visit JMW Motorsport’s TV coverage section for details on television broadcasts over the weekend. JMW Motorsport will be putting up periodic updates via Twitter so be sure to add @JMWmotorsport. If you are out and about and need the important newsflashes direct to your mobile simply JMWSPORT2U to 63336 subscribe to our text updates. It only costs 98p to subscribe, and thereafter 25p a text.
OAK Racing used Thursday’s qualifying session to continue its work in preparing its pair of LMP2 Pescarolo-Mazda prototypes for the Le Mans 24 Hours, which starts on Saturday 13 June at 3pm local time…read more
Tiago Monteiro and Tom Coronel face a busy weekend as they are in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Monteiro will share an Oreca 01 AIM prototype with Brazilian youngster Bruno Senna and Stéphane Ortelli from Monaco. The car, run by the Team Oreca Matmut AIM is in LMP1 up against the likes of Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin. Immediately before heading to Le Mans the team spent three days of testing at the Paul Ricard circuit: "It was useful to gain confidence. Driving at 300 kmh at night is not easy and requires specific practice. It is demanding but gives you a unique feeling. We know we won't be on par with the diesel cars and our aim is to take the chequered flag with both cars. It is a realistic aim on my come back to Le Mans," Monteiro commented. Coronel will race in LMGT2 at the wheel of a Spyker C8 for the Snoras Spyker Squadron. His team mates will be his fellow Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen and Járek Jánis from the Czech Republic. Coronel has already raced the Spyker at the Spa 1000 Km this year where he and Peter Dumbreck were fourth in LMGT2. The Crans Montana in Switzerland will continue its partnership with Aston Martin works driver Harold Primat in 2009. The Swiss-based racing driver, who won the petrol-class of the Le Mans 24 Hours last year, has been an ambassador of the resort for the past two seasons and will continue that role during a 2009 campaign which promises to be his most exciting yet. Primat is racing in LMP1 for Aston Martin Racing in the LMS and of course this weekend’s Le Mans 24 Hours. Crans Montana, which is situated in the heart of the Swiss Alps, has not only Ski slopes but Golf Courses as well as first class accommodation and facilities. It has hosted the Omega European Masters, the Tour de Suisse as well as the Ski World Cup and Caprices Festival. “I’m very happy that this mutually beneficial relationship will continue this year,” said Harold. “Each year I spend a lot of time at Crans Montana as a key part of my physical preparation for the new season. It’s a beautiful location and has massive potential to host training camps for all kinds of sporting disciplines due to the resort’s fantastic outdoor activities.” Star Mazda
Atlantic The 2009 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season springs back into action this weekend with two races on New Jersey Motorsports Park's Thunderbolt Raceway on Saturday and Sunday. Sitting at the head of the points with 36 is 2008 Star Mazda champion John Edwards of Cincinnati. The 18-year-old driver of the No.36 Newman Wachs Racing machine has scored podium results in both races so far, including a win at Sebring. Five point behind is Simona De Silvestro in the no78 Team Stargate Worlds car, winner of the last round of the series from the pole. Her team-mate is Frankie Muniz, who was fourth last time out. . Leading the way for the Genoa Racing is Belgian rookie Frederic Vervisch who has a pair of podiums from the first two starts of his Atlantic career. Vervisch leads the Rookie of the Year t standings by 17 points (30-13) over British racer James Winslow, who will make his first start for Genoa this weekend. Winslow finished eighth in each of his first two Atlantic starts with Conquest Racing at Sebring and Jensen MotorSport at Miller. The third member of the team is Jonathan Summerton, who is fourth in the championship standings. Finnish racer Markus Niemela heads to New Jersey looking to get his season back on track after a tough start to the season. He will driver as teammate to Edwards with Newman Wachs Racing. When the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda swings back into action at New Jersey Motorsports Park this weekend, it will do so with a new Official Timekeeper, as officials Bernard Richards Manufacture (BRM) and the Atlantic Championship today announced that the French watchmaker has joined forces with the series. "BRM watches are among the finest timepieces in the world, and we are delighted to welcome BRM to the Atlantic Championship," said Atlantic Championship President Ben Johnston. "BRM has a close association with motorsports in Europe, and we are honored that the company chose Atlantic for its first foray into American motorsports. BRM is certainly a brand that fits well with the Atlantic lifestyle." Skip Barber Brett Smrz takes part in Rounds Five and Six of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National and Rounds Three and Four of Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup this weekend (June 13-14) at New Jersey Motorsports Park. A title contender in both series, Smrz has already visited victory lane in Skip Barber competition and cracked the top-five twice in MX-5 Cup action this season. While Smrz is used to doing double duty, the upcoming event at New Jersey Motorsports Park will be a true test of stamina and skill. Not only will he be running both cars at the same event, but be on-track four times each day. Behind the wheel of his Wagner Racing Products/In Touch Physical Therapy backed Skip Barber car, Smrz enters the third event of the season as one of the main drivers to beat. The left leg amputee, the result of a freak trampoline accident in 2007, has steadily got quicker at each event, winning in Round Three at Virginia International Raceway. When combined with a fourth place finish in Round Four, Smrz currently lies third in the championship fight. Saloons
F3 Esteban Manuel Gutierrez will face a brand new challenge this weekend, when he starts his first Masters of Formula 3. The young driver will race at Zaandvoort in Holland where a total of 43 drivers will see action alongside the Mexican, who is currently racing for the French team ART Grand Prix, in the Formula 3 Euroseries 2009. The importance of this event is such that dozens of young drivers from all over the world come together with the objective of showing their abilities behind the wheel. On Saturday, Esteban and the rest of the drivers will have a practice session and qualifying, and on Sunday the race of 25 laps or 60 minutes."This weekend is going to be very interesting as around 43 drivers are registered and it will be a different event format, compared to the F3 Euroseries. I don't know the track but I know that it's very fast.This is going to be good training as the more fast curves, the more "G" forces the car generates and this will help me to train my body in that aspect. Although the results have not been so great recently I'm going to keep giving my best with a lot of motivation and a positive mentality", assured Esteban Gutierrez. WTCC The 11h and 12h rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place next week at Brno's Masaryk Circuit. This is a traditional meeting for the championship, as Brno hosted the European Touring Car Championship from 2002 to 2004, and then the World Touring Car Championship from 2006. BMW has eight victories from twelve races with Alfa Romeo (Fabrizio Giovanardi's double win in 2002), Chevrolet (Robert Huff won Race 2 in 2006) and SEAT last year, breaking the German cars' supremacy. In 2008 BMW Team Italy-Spain's Alessandro Zanardi was on pole and dominated the first race. The second race, one of the most exciting in WTCC, saw Gabriele Tarquini resist Zanardì's attempt to achieve a double by a narrow margin in his SEAT León TDI. Their battle was one of the highlights of last season. Other news
The Lola Group acknowledges receipt of the communication from
the FIA
announcing the preliminary entry list for the 2010 FIA Formula
One World Championship. The Lola F1 Team is not currently listed
as an entrant, but will continue to remain in
discussion with the FIA as a potential new entry until
the extended deadline of 19 June, 2009." 11-06-09
Club Racing Porsches Oulton Park Hosts rounds seven and eight this Saturday of the 2009 Porsche Club Championship with title battle already fierce. At the front of the field Ben Demetriou and Mark McAleer have taken three wins each in their 968s, but reigning champion Jez Clark is still undefeated in Class Two and heads the points table. Class One is numerically the biggest category, with Demetriou and McAleer being chased hard by their class rivals. With a win apiece at Donington in April, the pair have since taken turns to dominate, Demetriou holding off McAleer in both races on Anglesey , while McAleer was the man to beat at Brands Hatch. If the front-engined 968s have been doing the winning, the rear-engined cars are quick off the line, and at Brands Hatch Kevin Harrison’s 964 set the early pace. Also becoming a threat are the new 993 C2s, Gary Duckman and Scott Kavanagh running in the top ten at Brands and Duckman taking the first podium for the new model. Clark has been the man to beat in Class Two, stepping up to a 944 S2 after winning the title from Class Three last season. He is fast in qualifying and finished in the top ten more than once on the way to a 100% winning record in the class.Class Three has seen Anthony Oliver and Mary Taylor battling for class supremacy. One aspiring single-seater racer will win a test session in the guest car of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB when the inaugural Ian Taylor Trophy Race for Formula Ford 1600 is held at Thruxton on Sunday 28 June. The race winner will get to sample the 420bhp Porsche 911GT3 Cup car in an end-of-season test session, thanks to the strong links between the Carrera Cup GB and the Porsche Driving Experience Centre at Silverstone. The race will honour the memory of Ian Taylor, who raced FF1600 at Thruxton in the late 1960s and early 1970s before climbing further up the single-seater ladder during a very successful career. His son James is the manager of the Porsche Driving Experience Centre and did some FF1600 racing himself in the early stages of his racing career. "From a family perspective, we are very flattered that this is going to happen," said James Taylor. "We are honoured to be thought of in this way and to have a race named in dad's memory. We're going to be there to present the awards." The race winner will have the unforgettable experience of testing the Carrera Cup car and Taylor says it is a fantastic prize. "It's a chance for a young racer to sample the 911GT3 Cup car, which is a great award for the first Ian Taylor Trophy Race." Le Mans
Formula Ford Josef Newgarden will head for Scotland for the first time this weekend to take part in Rounds Seven, Eight and Nine of the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain. For the American, the tripleheader at the Knockhill will present another opportunity to steer his Joe Tandy Racing car to victory and build on his fourth place in the championship. The third event of the series will mark the lone stop "North of the Border" for the drivers and teams and it will be first-ever visit to the track by Newgarden. With the goal of winning the titl and honouring the passing of team owner Joe Tandy, it is expected the No. 21 Robo-Pong/Racer of Tomorrow Ltd/Joe Tandy Racing Mygale SJ08 Premier Power car will be one of the cars to watch in Scotland. "I'm looking forward to racing in Scotland for the first time," stated Newgarden. "The goal is to continue building on our early season momentum and score some more victories. I know the JTR guys will give me a great car, so I'm sure we will be in the hunt for top honours right from the get go."
Atlantic Star Mazda After spending time in England and testing in New Jersey, Mazdaspeed driver Conor Daly is ready or his next challenge at this weekend's Mazda Formula X at New Jersey Motorsports Park located in scenic Millville NJ. "Star Mazda is such a great series and the races so far have been action packed, Now that we have a new TV package on HDNet, New Jersey Motorsports Park should make for great television!" This is the first of two Mazda-centric weekends – including the Autobahn Grand Prix Presented by Mazda at the Autobahn Country Club on July 25 – 26 – that will be broadcast live on HDnet. Both weekends will feature a Mazda triple-header with races on both Saturday and Sunday. Also racing is the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered By Mazda and the SCCA Pro Racing Playboy Mazda MX-5 Cup. The broadcast team will be led by veteran commentator Rick Benjamin and legendary race-driver Elliott Forbes Robinson. HDNet is a network that is original, thinks independently and delivers unique content and provocative, authentic programming that appeals to men of all ages, delivered in true high definition. Launched in 2001 by Mark Cuban and General Manager Philip Garvin, the HDNet networks are available on AT&T, Charter Communications, Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Insight, Mediacom, Verizon and more than 40 NCTC cable affiliate companies. To receive HDNet information via email simply go to www.hd.net/listpage David Ostella returns to New Jersey Motorsports Park this weekend for Rounds four and five of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. As the feature event at the track, the Star Mazda drivers will enjoy a good amount of track time on a layout Ostella enjoyed last year. "I was at New Jersey Motorsports Park last season when the track was brand new," Ostella said prior to his departure Wednesday. "The track was awesome, even though it was still surrounded by dirt at the time, but hopefully that's gone and the people are ready for an incredible Mazda show. I'm so excited about having so much track time this weekend," Ostella said of the weekend lineup. "It gives me more time to learn the track and a doubleheader just makes it that much more exciting. I just can't wait to get trackside and get things underway." JDC MotorSports resumes its 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear campaign this weekend with the first doubleheader of the season at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Overall points leader Adam Christodoulou and Masters Series leader Michael Guasch will be joined by Joel Miller, Alex Ardoin, Caio Lara, Gustavo Linares and team co-owner Gerry Kraut. For Christodoulou, the start to his campaign has been superb. In addition to being among the fastest drivers in every session so far, he has won two out of three races. Joel Miller is sure to be a contender for top spot this weekend. He is currently lies third in the championship and took a pole and a podium at the track last year. Ardoin is another JDC MotorSports driver having enjoyed previous success at NJMP. Currently fourth in the title chase, he finished second in race two of the 2008 doubleheader, and will be seeking to build on his three top-10 finishes this year. Unlike his teammates, Lara enters the with no fond memories of last year having finished outside of the top-10 in both races. However he has had a strong start in 2009 with two top-five results. Venezuelan Linares, having contested his first series race in Round Three in Utah, returns to the cockpit for his first visit to the track. Guasch will see NJMP as an opportunity to resume his winning ways in the Masters Series class. He already 10-point lead in the series having won the opening two events, before finishing second in class at Utah. Making it a JDC MotorSports one-two in the Masters Series title fight, Kraut makes his first visit to the Millville, N.J., race facility second in the standings. the Minnesota driver looking for his first 2009 race win. Karts
Callum Bowyer put in a good display in the latest round of the hotly-fought national Super 1 Series at Rowrah coming away with a fine fourth place finish..read report Other news Triple Formula One World Champion Sir Jack Brabham and the Brabham family today confirmed that it has been necessary to commence legal action against Brabham Grand Prix Limited following Formtech’s application to enter the FIA Formula One World Championship in 2010 in that name. The Brabham family have made numerous approaches to Formtech with proposals to amicably resolve the situation. In the absence of any response from the team, the family has been left with no alternative but to issue the relevant proceedings to protect the family name, irrespective of whether Formtech is granted an entry by the FIA on Friday 12 June. The Brabham name has always been the property of the family and it is sad that once again steps have to be taken to protect it. 10-06-09 Club Racing
'Classic Car Live' is on this weekend at Mondello Park. The event shows off the best of Irelands classic cars, classic car clubs and Classic and Vintage Race cars both on and off track. Backing comes from Ireland’s only Classic Car Magazine 'Irish Vintage Scene'. The show is a mixture of the traditional classic car display and trade stand event and track sessions, parade laps and classic and vintage race car demonstrations. The centrepiece will be a celebration of fifty years of the Mini with more than 200 expected to turn up Also celebrating an anniversary at the show will be the Ford Capri which is 40 this year. Race action will be provided by the Historic Racing Car Association (HRCA) with a class fort 60s-70s machinery and one for pre 55s. Admission to the event is EUR10.00 for adults with under 16's admitted free. Le Mans
Porsche Glynn Geddie heads to the Croft circuit in Yorkshire this weekend for Rounds 9 and 10 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. After a troublesome time at Oulton Park last time out, Geddie is lying third with 62 points in the Pro-Am 1 standings, behind Robert Lawson and Tony Gilham who are running first and second respectively. "We need to get our season back on the right path", admits Apex Tubulars-sponsored Geddie. "We had a mixed weekend at Donington and a terrible two races at Oulton which we cannot afford to repeat. We're sitting third in Pro-Am 1 at the moment knowing that we went into Donington last month leading, but I'm confident we can turn this around and pull it back - the season is by no means over." Karts
Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship team Manor Competition will offer a prize test drive in one of its single-seater cars to the champion of this year’s Super 1 B4/Renault MSA Formula KF1 British Karting Championship.The multiple title winning team, which has been home to past karting superstars such as Lewis Hamilton, Paul Di Resta, Oliver Jarvis and Alexander Sims, will provide a full day of running to the 2009 British KF1 Champion as the Nottinghamshire squad strives to build an even stronger link to the grass roots of the sport. “This is something we’ve wanted to do for quite a while”, said team principal Tony Shaw, “Manor is keen to forge an even closer link with the young drivers coming out of karting and with KF1 being the pinnacle of the sport, we felt it made sense for us to offer a prize test to the British champion. Sarah (Shaw – Manor Competition co-owner and race engineer) and I appreciate the important role karting plays in the career of a young driver and Formula Renault UK is undoubtedly the best proving ground for drivers when they are ready to progress into cars. We’re looking forward to seeing who will win the championship this year and to working with them during the fully-funded test drive. We’d also like to express our thanks to Super 1 promoter Neil Hann and series director John Hoyle for welcoming the prize.” The Super 1 MSA British KF1 Karting Championship is the premier category in the country which is contested by drivers 16 years-of-age and over. Four events remain this season and entries for the KF1 series are still being accepted with a free tyre allocation offer from series backer Dunlop also available. For more information, please visit www.s1series.co.uk Next on the KF1 calendar is a visit to Whilton Mill, Northamptonshire, in early July followed by a trip to Nutts Corner in Northern Ireland towards the end of August. Round six is scheduled to take place in mid September at Larkhall in Scotland with the championship finale at Fulbeck, near Grantham, on 17th/18th October. 09-06-09 Aston Martin’s preparations for the start of the 77th Le Mans 24 Hours, the manufacturer’s first in the LMP1 category, are well underway after the three Gulf-liveried Aston Martin Racing cars passed through technical scrutineering on Tuesday morning. For Aston Martin, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours has a special significance as it marks the 50th anniversary of the company’s last overall win at La Sarthe in 1959. Since then, Aston Martin Racing has claimed victory in the GT1 category at Le Mans for the last two years, but the challenge in 2009 will be bigger than ever. ..read more Club Racing – 750 MC( Anglesey pics by Paul Williams)
The 750MC were
in action over the weekend at Anglesey and Andrew Minnett and
Chris Holmes shared the spoils in the Formula 4 Championship.
Minett
won the first race beating Holmes by just 0.38secs, both in Van
Diemans. Meanwhile Jonathan Weston-Taylor came third in his
Mygale, In the second race on Sunday, Holmes came out on top
beating Robbie Watts into second after Watts had led the first 8
laps. Holmes then took over to win by 0.88secs whilst behind
Watts was Chris Hodgen in third. In the MR2 Championship Zac
Chapman and Mark Jessop
In the Saxmax
Championship
Oliver White and Patrick Fletcher
The Golf GTI’s saw Nick Porter win the first of their two races, beating Simon Hill by only 0.378secs. Craig Roberts was third 2.93 secs off the winner. In race 2 Luke Schlewitz was the victor with 9 seconds in hand over John Mawdsley. Andy Knowlton was third less than a second behind Mawdsley. The 750MC’s Stock Hatches had their usual big entry requiring a heat and a final on each day. On Saturday if you weren’t driving a Saxo you weren’t ‘at the races’. Robbie Boon triumphed in the Heat over Andrew Thorpe before Josh Cook won the final from Jake Farndon by 2.83 secs followed by Ryan Bensley. On Sunday Cook completed his double in the second Final of the weekend beating the Peugeot 106 of Jeff Humphries by 2.83 secs with Bensley third once again. Earlier on in the Heat Martin Ward had beaten Joe McMillan by 3.27secs while Pip Hammond was third in a Nova.
In Formula Vee
Sam Oliveira
The 750 formula races were both won by Roger Rowe and his Centaur, although he had a fight on his hands in the first, winning by just over a second from Dave Robson’s SDAR/83. Bill Rutter completed the podium in third place driving a Darvi MK5B. Race 2 saw Rowe totally dominate winning by 18 secs from Roibson with Peter Bove third Andrew Spencer and Chris Davison had two terrific battles in the BARC Westfields series at Brands hatch last weekend. Spencer won the first but only after a race long battle and then only by 0,218secs. N Rce two the [pair went at it hammer and tongs again until on lap 12 Spencer’s car started emitting smoke signalling his race was done. This left Davidson out front all alone allowing him tom ‘coast’ to the finish 20 secs up on his nearest pursuers..read report. Round three of the 2009 LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship, got lucky at the weekend at Donington. A late decision to run both races on the Saturday rather than Sunday turned out quite well after heavy rain caused Sunday’s programme to be abandoned! The races were won by Simon Deaton and Andy Harvey but class victories for Peter Challis, who took two, and Brett Walter left the latter still leading the championship from Harvey and Challis ..read report F2000
AIM Autosport were at Watkins Glen last weekend for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen . They qualified their No. 61 Ford Riley on the front row last year and won the sprint race at the Glen last August so they were hoping for more of the same. However racing doesn't work like that unfortunately as they suffered mechanical problems dropping them down the field to finish that put the car out of contention for the win and the team had to settle for eleventh. ..read report Formula Renault The CRS Racing team will be at Croft this weekend for rounds nine and ten of the 2009 Formula Renault UK Championship. After a near-win at Oulton Park, Harry Tincknell is fully fired up and looking for his first Formula Renault race victory. Matias Laine and Mick Lyons will be looking to continue the improved competitiveness they showed at Oulton, whilst Josh Scott and Lewis Williamson will focus on putting Oulton behind them and returning to form at Croft. One face missing from the CRS Formula Renault team at Croft will be Andrew Kirkaldy. The Team Director is doing a spot of moonlighting this weekend, racing a Ferrari 430 at Le Mans for the JMW Motorsport team, alongside Rob Bell and Tim Sugden. There will be plenty of cross-channel phone calls this weekend as he keeps up to date with progress at Croft. 08-06-09 Star Mazda The 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear resumes this weekend with a double-header in the Mazda Formula X event at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Heading up the field is Championship leader JDC Motorsports’ Adam Christodoulou with two wins and 119 points, Hard on his heels is Peter Dempsey, winner of the second round at Virginia International Raceway. The AI Autosport driver is 5 behind on 114 …read more Clubsport Ben Jackson left Brands Hatch wondering when his luck is going to change. After leading both races in the Radical UK Cup , late appearances by the Safety Car cost him more than just time. In fac they probably cost him two wins. Derek Johnston/Stuart Moseley and Terrence Woodward/Ross Kaiser took the victories along with Colin Noble and Phil Abbott/Ross Edwards who won the Supersports class…read report Clios
GT’s
F3 It was a resounding success for Volkswagen in the third round of the ATS Formula 3 Cup at Hockenheim. Stef Dusseldorp (NL) and Laurens Vanthoor (B), both driving Dallara Volkswagen cars won a race a-piece. In the first race pole sitter Rafael Suzuki was struck by major misfortune and retired after a collision. Dusseldorp and Vanthoor benefited from the incident and clinched an uncontested one-two victory for Van Amersfoort Racing. In the second race Vanthoor defended his leading position from start to finish, while Dusseldorp came third and Suzuki fourth. In the overall standings Vanthoor (51 points) and Dusseldorp (44 points) are at the top Formula Renault Nathanael Berthon driving for Epsilon Euskadi scored his maiden victory in the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. His team-mate, Spaniard Albert Costa consolidate4d his lead in the Championmship by winning the second race, his fifth of the season…read report Other series In the first race of the ADAC Formula Masters powered by Volkswagen at Hockenheim Klaus Bachler clinched his second win of the season. The 18-year-old Austrian from the champion team URD Rennsport won from Burkhard Maring (D) and Rene Binder (A). In race 2 Daniel Abt (D) was triumphant for the fourth time this season, in front of Bachler and Adrian Campfield (GB). In the championship Abt is leading with 112 points ahead of Campfield (105) and Bachler (101). Kosie Weyers was the winner of the fourth race weekend of the Volkswagen Polo Cup South Africa at East London. After the first round Devin Robertson and Brennon Green joined him on the podium. In the second race all drivers benefited from the fact that pole sitter Bryan Morgan was unable to start due to a technical problem. Weyers was victorious again, while Mathew Hodges and Miguel Pasqualli came behind him, celebrating positions two and three. Formula Volkswagen South Africa had a turbulent start in the first of two races at East London. Shortly after the lights Simon Moss and Gordon Connelly collided. Moss retired while Connelly continued the race only to have a run-in with Christiano Morgado shortly afterwards. The result a red flag. |After it was re-started Jimmy Auby won with a commanding twelve-second lead in front of series rookie Tschops Sipuka and Paulo da Cunha. The winner of the second round was Wesleigh Orr. Christiano Morgado and Jayde Kruger took places two and three. 07-06-09 Formula3
Nick Tandy, who finished eighth in yesterday's Hockenheim race, has been excluded from the results for a technical infringement. It was found that some tyre debris thrown up from the track had lodged in the air restrictor of his JTR Mygale-Mercedes, causing damage to the restrictor, potentially enhancing the car's performance.
Karts Current Atlantic Champion Markus Niemela is helping to organize and promote an innovative street-circuit karting round September 5-6 in Rauma Finland. The two-day event, run in 125cc Vortex TAG four-stroke karts, will offer corporate team sessions Saturday, including team qualifying, leading to semifinal heats, followed by the day's final event. Sunday will offer a celebrity race with several famous Finns including F1, WRC Rally drivers, plus a host of music and entertainment celebrities. The 500 meter circuit will be run in the middle of Rauma and travels along the shoreline, and through a tunnel beneath two restaurants affording diners with an amazing motorsports lifestyle experience. According to Markus, "...the race track is like a mini-Monaco." The event is being co-organized by Mika Metsamaki, and will be organized around a festival concept, not just the racing alone. Early ticket interest projects a two-day audience of 3000 according to Niemela and Metsamaki, which is significant since Rauma's daily population is only 36,550. "I've always wanted to do a street race with karts and finally there's a chance to do it, so I'm really looking forward to driving there, probably in both classes!" 06-06-09 Formula Renault Manor Competition will head to Croft next weekend in 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship, aiming to continue their recent good form which has seen them win three out the last four races.....read more VW CUP
GT's
The Knockhill GT4 battle in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship is certain to be absorbing also, not least because the dominant Ginetta G50 chassis is likely to face some serious opposition in the shape of the KTM X-BOW, which is set to move up to the class if last-minute tyre testing goes to plan. Should all go well, ABG Motorsport plans to field one of the striking sports cars for Marcus Clutton and Phil Keen. The class will have a different look to it also because points leader Nigel Moore, 17, will be off making history at Le Mans as the youngest-ever British competitor. His driving partner, Jody Firth, plans to handle the Team WFR Ginetta G50 on his own next weekend and, given the part he played in the team's wins at Oulton, Spa and Rockingham, he is certain to be a contender for class victory. Firth's chief rival will be the Ginetta shared by Hunter Abbott and Gary Simms, which has won the class twice already this season and which will be poised to profit should double-stinting Jody show any weariness at the wheel. A third Ginetta will be in action for Ian Stinton, who is to be co-driven by Ginetta G20 championship race-winner Paul Marsh. Le Mans Fifty years ago, American racing legend Carroll Shelby formed one half of the Le Mans-winning Aston Martin DBR1 team, together with Englishman Roy Salvadori. In his own words, Shelby describes the historic experience that he defines as the highlight of his racing career...read full story Karts
Historics Last year, the first Masters Classic GP at Magny Cours was an event much enjoyed by all who joined in. The circuit itself proved a challenge, with some great weather and the meeting had all the nice relaxed atmosphere of a private meeting, as well as all the attractions of the Burgundy countryside, food and wine! So, with all that in mind, the Masters are aiming for more of the same next month, July 11/12, at the Magny Cours circuit A full selection of Masters categories are being catered for; F1 cars 1966 to 1985, races for 3 eras of sports cars (SRM, WSM & Proto 70s) and Touring cars (OBG, Top Hat & Touring 70s); a special 2½ hour extravaganza for our pre-66 GT ‘Gentleman Drivers’! No-one else is offering such extensive track time at a European GP circuit at such reasonable entry fees. Plus, now as an extra, the circuit and the FFSA have added a 50 lapper for Allcomers later on Sunday; on top of the previously announced races for F Ford Historique and for the Group 1 saloons. In summary, get your entry forms in now – it’s an event not to miss – join the Mastersn France on July 11/12. ROC A1GP drivers Clivio Piccione and Filipe Albuquerque have been selected to represent their nations as the first regional heat gets underway this weekend ahead of the Race of Champions World Final which will take place inside the Bird’s Nest stadium in Beijing this November. Race of Champions South Europe will see teams from Portugal, Spain, Monaco and Italy compete this weekend (6-7 June) for a coveted spot in this year’s final. With an increasing number of teams wanting to enter the event, Race of Champions organisers have introduced a qualifying round for the first time this season which will take place at the Estádio do Dragão, Portugal. An asphalt course will be built inside the FC Porto soccer team’s stadium with the weekend kicking off tomorrow with ROC Portugal. Seven Portuguese racers, including Filipe Albuquerque, rally ace Bruno Magalhaes and off-road champion Carlos Sousa, will take part in a knock out competition that will decide which three drivers will compete alongside production World Rally Championship leader Armindo Araújo, when Portugal takes on Spain in Sunday’s ROC Iberia. The Spanish squad will be made up of double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz, Citroën WRC star Dani Sordo, 2008 British Formula Three champion Jaime Alguersuari and Spanish rally star Sergio Vallejo - in Sunday’s ROC Iberia. The fastest unseeded driver from both Portugal and Spain will then compete alongside predesignated team captains Sainz and Araújo, as the Iberian teams battle Italy and Monaco in the Race of Champions South Europe on Sunday. Clivio Piccione has been invited to represent the Principality of Monaco alongside five-time Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro and will battle it out against the Iberian teams and Italy, represented by double WRC champion Miki Biasion and WRC star Gigi Galli, for a chance to compete in China at the end of the year. Last year, five times World Rally (WRC) champion Sebastien Loeb won the event with Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel joining forces to retain The Race of Champions Nations Cup for Team Germany. 05-06-09 Clio Cup Daniel Lloyd produced a satisfying double top 10 finish on his debut outing with ELF Renault Clio Cup team Total Control Racing at Oulton Park last weekend, Daniel Lloyd can’t wait to return to the driving seat at Croft on 13th/14th June. Croft, near Darlington in the North East of England, is a track which holds great memories for the 17-year-old after he won his first ever car race there last year in the Ginetta Junior Championship. Now, for the fifth event of his maiden season in the Clio Cup, Daniel is aiming to consolidate his coveted top 10 placing in the title race and add another good helping of points. “Oulton Park was a fantastic weekend for us, it was my first with TCR and to finish in eighth place during the Saturday race and then seventh in Sunday’s televised race was as good a start with the team as we could have hoped for”, said Daniel. “We were confident we’d made the right decision after Donington to join TCR and if we can do the same at Croft as we did at Oulton Park, I’ll be really happy. We’re so impressed with the way Lee (Brookes) runs the team and Croft is a circuit where TCR has done really well in the past so I’m hoping we can take another couple of top 10 finishes.” Le Mans
Allan McNish has a worldwide popularity that few drivers in the ALMS and endurance racing as a whole - can match. But the Scot offered a tribute during his Le Mans preparation to one of his competitors over the years in the American Le Mans Series: Intersport Racing's Jon Field. "What he can do with that car is a bit worrying!" exclaimed McNish, who has competed head-to-head against Field in the American Le Mans Series for more than a decade. "Jon, I have to say, is the only man I know who can dive down to the inside of Turn 1 at Salt Lake City and lead the race for so long. He's the only man I know who can break his neck a week before Sebring and still turn up. He's the only man who can be as fast or quicker than an Audi and it absolutely keeps us on our toes on lap one, two three or four. I have a lot of fun with Jon and it's great to see that he's still fighting in there." McNish said he became the No. 1 member of Field's fan club at the start of the 2008 Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Salt Lake City. Field went from eighth at the green flag to second at Turn 1 in Intersport's AER-powered Lola prototype. He led after the second lap, passing two diesel-powered Audi R10 TDIs in the process and held the point for several laps. David Brabham, two-time Le Mans GT1 winner, is aiming for his third consecutive class victory in the Le Mans 24 Hours, 12-14 June 2009. Brabham makes his return to LMP1 at the 8.4 mile Circuit de la Sarthe for first time since 2003, presenting the opportunity to capture his first win in the category at the wheel of the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. After winning the GT1 class with Aston Martin Racing for the past two years, Brabham returns to LMP1 as part of Peugeot’s three-team assault on the race honours after finishing second for the past two years. “The Le Mans 24 Hours is one of the highlights of my season and racing this fantastic event with the Peugeot team will be a great experience,” said Brabham, a seasoned race veteran dating back to 1992. “We head to Le Mans with a lot more confidence, armed with banks of information gained from the Spa 1000 kilometres and the additional test at Paul Ricard where it was great to get more mileage in the Peugeot in the 30-hour endurance simulation. I’ve been focussed on gathering as much information as possible for Le Mans, in the way that the car works, the traction control, and the tyres, gleaning every bit of data to ensure that I am well on top of things when I get to Le Mans. Now my aim is to go and get the job done. I’ve won the GT1 class with Aston Martin Racing for the last two years, so it would be wonderful to make it three in a row and I head to France with every intention of achieving that dream.” The flag will fall to start the 2009 race battle at 3pm on Saturday 13 June. Tune into live online radio coverage at www.radiolemans.com Karts
Formula BMW In Formula BMW Americas, Giancarlo Vilarinho (BR) once again proved that he is the man to beat at the "Miller Motorsports Park" in Tooele. He started from pole position three times at the "East Course", and in each race he held his position to the end of the race. The Eurointernational driver has now won the last five Formula BMW Americas races. The seventh and final race of the weekend was an extremely close. While Vilarinho was able to pull 0.327 seconds ahead of rival and team-mate Gabby Chaves, the American once again had to fend off Formula BMW Junior Gianmarco Raimondo (Autotecnica) who had harried him in the two previous races. A hard-fought battle saw Chaves ultimately celebrate second place, although he almost threw it away following a safety car period. At the restart Chaves touched the rear end of Vilarinho's car, but fortunately ther was no damage and they both continued. Raimondo finished third, joining Vilarinho and Chaves on the podium. Despite Vilarinho's dominance, the top of the Drivers' Championship has the Brazilian leading on 119 points with his team-mate Chaves just five points behind. Raimondo lies third on 71 points. Formula BMW Europe gets underway with wins for Christensen and Nasr. The first two races of the season, at the Spanish Grand Prix, saw Danish Formula BMW Junior and "Rookie of the Year 2008" Michael Christensen (Muecke Motorsport) claimed his first ever victory in Formula BMW in the first race. He was joined on the podium by Eurointernational driver Felipe Nasr (BR) and Jazeman Jaafar (MY, Eifelland Racing). "The race was great for me," said Christensen. "I made a good start and after that I made a move on Nasr and then didn't see much of him afterwards. I just tried to do as good a race as possible without any mistakes. It was a perfect race for me." Nasr's victory in the second race was also his first in Formula BMW Europe. "Now I am completely happy," he said. "It has been an amazing weekend for me and the team, a great start." Second and third places went to Christensen and local boy Daniel Juncadella (ES, Eurointernational). V8 Utes V8 Ute Rookies slug out V8 Supercar Test Drive Opportunity. With engine troubles, technical issues and a run of rookie bad-luck, the 2009 Racer Industries Rookie of the year title has become a close battle in the Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series and the title could land in anyone's hands. After the first round of the Series at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide, Paul Williams was looking untouchable with a 27 points lead heading into Round Two. Not far behind on 41 points was Select TV’s, Gary Carson who stepped up his game at Winton Raceway closing up to just 11 points behind Williams. Round Three at Symmons Plains was a tough weekend for Williams with radiator issues forcing retirement from Race 1 leaving him 24th overall for the weekend, while Wollongong's Gary Carson finished 14th which moved him to the top of the Rookie leader-board,1 5 points ahead of Williams heading into Round 4, the Series halfway point. Third on the leader-board is newcomer Matt Holt who has been driving the Warren Millet Wake-up Holden BF, whilst Millet recovers from illness. Now in contention for the Rookie title, he has confirmed that his years of racing production cars and preparing Millets Ute have proven useful on the track. Fourth is Jason Gomersall and his iseek Rookie team were unfortunate to have been excluded from the Winton round due to an engine infringement and will have a lot of catching up to do over the next round. The Rookies are in action at Hidden Valley, Darwin in Round Four on 19 – 21st June. WTCC
Compensation
weights Brno
Tim Coronel is
the first driver of the season to be awarded WTCC participation thanks to his results in the SEAT León Eurocup. The
37-year old Dutchman was classified third and fourth in the two
races of the series' opening meeting that took place last week
in Valencia and won participation in the next WTCC event, on
June 21st at Brno. Alain Menu will take part in three events of Argentina's TC2000 Championship, at the wheel of a Vectra run by the Chevrolet Elaion team. The TC2000 includes in its calendar three long distance events that, besides awarding points for the championship itself, count towards a new trophy named "Copa Endurance". In these three events - the 200 km of Termas de Río Hondo (14th June), the 200 km of Buenos Aires (16th August) and the 200 km of Potrero de los Funes (29th November) - Alain Menu will share driving duties with Guillermo Ortelli, while the second Chevrolet Elaion's Vectra will be in the hands of Christian Ledesma and Juan Ignacio Cáceres. Menu is not new to the TC2000, as he already joined Chevrolet's Argentinean team in five editions of the 200 km of Buenos Aires, winning in 2006 together with Matías Rossi and finishing on the podium on three other occasions. 04-06-09 Le Mans The 77th Le Mans 24 Hours marks a milestone in the history of Aston Martin as the iconic sports car manufacturer celebrates the 50th anniversary of its first win at Le Mans. As will be the case in 2009, Aston Martin entered three factory cars in the 1959 race: for Stirling Moss/Jack Fairman, Roy Salvadori/Carroll Shelby and Paul Frère /Maurice Trintignant. ..read more Porsche Just two points split the leading contenders in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB heading for rounds nine and ten at Croft (13/14 June) as defending champion Tim Harvey battles to fend off the chasing pack, headed by Tim Bridgman. ..read more
Formula 3 Australian F3 is going back to Queensland Raceway this year after Formula 3 Australia officials modified the schedule for the second half of 2009. This came about after the cancellation of the Symmons Plains Shannons Nationals Round due to another category pulling out leaving the whole event unviable this year. Formula 3 Australia then received an invitation from Queensland Raceway which will allowed them to hold Round six of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship for the CAMS Gold Star at the Ipswich circuit on August 21 – 23 alongside the V8 Supercars…read more. Star Mazda After a successful one race sponsorship deal with Adam Christodoulou, Molecule Labs president, and JDC Motorsports teammate, Michael Guasch have announced that they will extend their partnership with the Star Mazda Championship points leader for the remainder of the 2009 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. "Working with Adam as a teammate and fellow series competitor this year I have been very impressed with the work ethic, dedication and talent of this young driver," Guasch explained. "He is the real deal and I am proud that Molecule Labs will be his first sponsor from the United States as he races towards the championship." Starting at the Round Four and Round Five double header weekend at New Jersey Motorsport Park on June 12 -14th Christodoulou's #11 JDC Motorsports Pro Formula Mazda will sport a similar car design to Guasch who is currently leading the Master Class in the # 91 Molecule Labs / JDC Motorsports entry. "I am obviously happy that Molecule is coming onboard with my program, Mike is a great teammate and Molecule is an awesome product", said Christodoulou, the 2008 U.K. Formula Renault Champion. "It is so hard these days to find companies which are willing to support young drivers and I am looking forward to working with Molecule and Mike to help building the Molecule brand here in the US as well back home in Europe." IFM
Indycar A.J. Foyt Racing and Team 3G are changing drivers for the June 6 Indycar race, the Bombardier Learjet 550k at Texas Motor Speedway. A.J. Foyt IV returns as driver of the No. 14 ABC Supply entry for A.J. Foyt Racing. He began his IndyCar Series career with 47 starts with the team from 2003-05 and recently competed in the Indianapolis 500 with the team. Foyt IV is the second driver to replace injured Vitor Meira. Paul Tracy did the job at Milwaukee. Team 3G is bringing in Jaques Lazier, a veteran of 50 IndyCar Series races, to replace Stanton Barrett in the No. 98 machine. Both changes are only for one race at this point. Also at Texas, Conquest Racing will return to the grid with driver Alex Tagliani after missing the race at Milwaukee. Tagliani will contest his fourth race of the season after he finished 10th at St. Petersburg and Long Beach and 11th at Indianapolis. Danica Patrick heads to Texas Motor Speedway as the only IndyCar Series driver riding a streak of four consecutive top-five finishes. The streak has come on a diverse set of circuits that makes the IndyCar Series so challenging. Patrick finished fourth on the streets of Long Beach (after starting 22nd), fifth on the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway, third on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway and fifth on the short 1-mile oval at Milwaukee. She is now fourth in points, just 22 behind series leader Scott Dixon, and one spot behind her career-best points position of third, which she reached after her victory at Twin Ring Motegi last year. "I had a strong car all weekend, so I'm happy with the top-five finish," Patrick said after the race at Milwaukee. "We have been really consistent so far this year, and that's what's important when you are working towards the championship." Grand-Am, Sports cars, LMS, etc
Patrick Dempsey will return to Watkins Glen for the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen on Saturday, June 6th. Dempsey, who is best known for his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd on the hit TV drama Grey's Anatomy, also competes in the Rolex Sports Car Series. Slated as a co-driver in the No. 40 Mazda RX-8 for Dempsey Racing with Joe Foster, the team will hope to improve on their 36th--place finishing position from the 2008 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen event. This race will mark Dempsey's second appearance at ‘the Glen’. Bruno Junqueira, is set to join Mark Wilkins and Burt Frisselle in the No. 61 AIM Autosport Ford Riley as a co-driver for the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. The 2002 Indy 500 pole-sitter, and three-time Champ Car World Series runner-up, will make his Rolex Sports Car Series debut in a Daytona Prototype at The Glen. However, the race will not be his first start at the legendary road course. Last year, he recorded a season best finish of 6th in the Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen while competing in IndyCar.
Other news Sir Jack Brabham and the Brabham family have expressed their surprise at the recent news reporting that an entry has been submitted for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship by Formtech with the intention of operating as Brabham Grand Prix Limited. The family would like to make it clear that they are in no way involved with Brabham Grand Prix Limited and received no consultation regarding the company’s plans to resurrect their historic name in Formula One. The family is taking legal advice and will take necessary steps to protect their name, reputation and its goodwill. Karts Mini Max front-runner Jack Barlow added the Brazilian Cup to his already impressive haul of trophies this season at Whilton Mill, last Sunday...read more Junior Max star Ed Brand took a superb third place in the latest round of the European Rotax Max series at Busca in northern Italy last Sunday (31 May)…read report 03-06-09 Former World Superbike racer Aaron Slight will return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Croft over the weekend of 13/14 June to race the VIP car, six years after his last appearance in the championship. The New Zealand racer was Australian Superbike Champion in 1991 before spending most of the 1990s racing World Superbikes, scoring 13 race wins and finishing in the championship top three on five occasions. He also won the Suzuka Eight-Hour race three times in a row during his long and successful career on two-wheels. In 2001 he made the switch to racing cars and competed in the British Touring Car Championship and then selected GT races, including racing in the Carrera Cup VIP car at Thruxton in May 2003. On his Porsche debut he scored an overall podium finish at the challenging Hampshire track. Now, Slight will return to the Carrera Cup GB for the pair of races at Croft, where he is sure to be a big draw for the enthusiastic north-eastern crowd during the British Touring Car Championship meeting. In January this year, Aaron raced in the Carrera Cup New Zealand, driving in the latest specification 911GT3 Cup car in the support races at the A1 GP event. "I finished fourth in my sprint race and finished on the podium in both the endurance races. It was fantastic fun to be racing again," said Slight. "I felt at home in the car and was really pleased to be using the sequential gearbox as that was my biggest problem last time I drove the Cup car." The next rounds of the Competition Car Insurance Ford Fiesta Championship are at Brands Hatch on June 13th/14th. Nick Sanderson and his team of Class C Fiesta STs will be running in a separate race since there is a record Ford Fiesta entry to date of 44 cars which should, at the very least, be interesting! Provisional timetable is as follows – On Saturday the Fiesta Championship Class A & B Race 1 is at 5.00. The Class C Race1 is at 6.05. On Sunday Class A & B: Race 2 is at 2.45 with Class C’s second race directly afterwards at 3.15 - 3. All races are 20 minutes duration SMRC
In the Scottish Sports and Saloons Championship Charlie Shaw did the double at Knockhill winning both races. In the opener he nipped by his team-mate Andrew Gallacher on the last lap to snatch the victory before taking a lights to flag win in the second..read report BTCC All-new technical regulations that will drastically reduce costs but also further increase the spectacle of the British Touring Car Championship by moving to bigger and more powerful turbo-charged cars have been revealed. The 'Next Generation Touring Car' (NGTC) regulations will come into force in 2011 and will slash car and engine budgets for teams by some 50 per cent. This will largely be achieved by switching to more durable two-litre turbo engines and the standardising of major components such as sub-frames, gearboxes, suspension and brakes. Furthermore, the NGTC regulations will be based around larger 'family-sized' front-wheel drive cars. Notably, the NGTC engines will utilise many standard-production internal components and be fitted with a controlled-specification turbo, wastegate, intercooler and ECU (Electronic Control Unit) to reduce both development costs and opportunities for technical infringements. Teams not wishing to undertake their own engine development programme will have the option of using a TOCA-developed (unbranded) NGTC engine that will be equal in performance. It is anticipated that engines should last an entire season without rebuild, thus greatly further reducing costs. read more Formula 3
SG Formula's Henkie Waldschmidt made significant progress in the latest installment of the F3 Euro Series at the Lausitzring.The Dutchman not only kept pace with the leading runners but he also set the fastest lap in Sunday's race as well on the Sunday. Just to complete his weekend he finished in the points as well..read report Ginettas, Sportscars, etc Tom Ingram had a great start to his weekend at Oulton Park in the Ginetta Junior Championship. He stuck his car on pole for both races! Sadly it all went downhill after that. Early in the first race on Saturday he got involved in someone else's accident and ended up with a wrecked car. To make matters worse he is already struggling to find adequate funds to keep his season going and now has a massive repair bill!. Somehow he managed to get the car repaired in time for race two on Sunday and then proceeded to bring it home in a fine seventh, this in spite of everything. Pretty good going Tom!. read report
Other news Silverstone is anticipating that the 2009 FORMULA 1 SANTANDER BRITISH GRAND PRIX, taking place on 19-21 June, will be one of the biggest Grands Prix in the history of the circuit. With Jenson Button currently leading the Drivers’ World Championship and Lewis Hamilton returning as World Champion, the atmosphere and the support shown by the British fans is guaranteed to be awe-inspiring. The last ever British Grand Prix at Silverstone promises to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year. Headlining the timetable of off-track entertainment will be the ever-popular Grand Prix Party, which has become synonymous with the British Grand Prix as the ultimate post-race party for drivers and fans alike. The on-stage line-up currently includes a host of past and present F1 legends ranging from Britain’s latest star driver, Jenson Button, to former World Champions, Sir Jackie Stewart OBE and Damon Hill OBE. Topping the bill this year in terms of live music will be the highly acclaimed ‘Counterfeit Stones’.In celebration of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone is also displaying a unique photographic exhibition. Pictures from three of the UK’s leading photographic agencies – LAT Photographic, Getty Images and Sutton Images – will be brought together to represent some of the most iconic British Grand Prix moments at Silverstone, with images ranging from the 1950’sto 2008. As well as F1, there will be GP2. Formula BMW, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and the Silverstone Historic Saloon Car Challenge. A limited number of Individual day tickets are still available and can be purchased from £49 for the Friday, while the last remaining three-day grandstand seats are still on sale from as little as £219. For further information, or to book tickets, visit www.silverstone.co.uk or call 08704 588 300 New team for F1 2010 - Name of the Team: N.Technology - Angelo Codignoni and Mauro Sipsz, representing MSC Organization Ltd, in partnership with their financial advisor Jean-Pierre Morel and supported by their technical and sporting staff headed by Monica Bregoli, Andrea Adamo and Alessandro Alunni Bravi, confirm that on 23 May 2009 MSC Organization Ltd - license no. 227308, issued by Royal Automobil Club Motor Sports Association - submitted to the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile the application to compete in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship 02-06-09 Masters Historic Racing is forming a new marketing alliance with Ocean Independence, the European leaders in historic racing, to co-promote the second Masters Classic GP, to be held at the traditional home of the French Grand Prix, Magny Cours, near Nevers, on July 10th-12th 2009. World leaders in the yacht chartering industry, and prominent in all areas of the SuperYacht business, Ocean Independence has offices in London, Zurich, Monaco, Dubai and New York, as well as 11 other key locations worldwide, from Florida to Mumbai. The second Masters Classic GP at Magny Cours provides races for many cars from the 1950s to the 1980s, ranging from historic 1960s saloon cars, to the ultra-rapid Formula One 3-litre cars of the 1970s, running on wide slicks, with big aerodynamic wings. These will be supported by races for ex-Le Mans cars of the 1970s, and by classic GT cars of the 1960s and a wide array of other single seaters and sports cars. Masters Series Director Christopher Tate said: “We are delighted that Ocean Independence has decided to make their first venture into the fast-growing sport of historic motor racing with us. We look forward to a productive working relationship with Nick Dean, Tim Clark and the whole team from Ocean, as they look to grow international awareness of their skills in another top class, skills-driven, enthusiast-led leisure activity, which shares many characteristics with our own market of classic and historic racing cars. We hope that they find the Magny Cours venture an exciting start with Masters Historic racing, and that we can look forward to a long term and mutually satisfactory relationship.” Nick Dean, Managing Director of Ocean Independence, said: “Ocean Independence is constantly seeking unique and relevant marketing partnerships both to compliment our brand and to reflect the service, dedication and experience-led advice which we offer to our clients. Our aim is to form respectful, long-term business and social relationships within the same bespoke arena and we are very excited to be working with Christopher and his team at The Masters Classic at Magny Cours in July.”
Russell Paterson,
Formula Reanult Hillspeed’s Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship team had a tough weekend at Oulton park With drivers Menasheh Idafar and Lee Dwyer qualifying 22nd and 23rd respectively they did well to finish the first race in 17th and 18th place. In round eight, Idafar got involced in an incident on the 3rd lap which put him into the barrier and retirement. Dwyer climbed to 15th at the flag, sixth in the Graduate Cup..read report Sports, GTs, Porsches, Ginetta Strakka Racing completed a final shakedown test of the team's Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S LMP1 prototype at Snetterton on Monday 1st June ahead of departure for France and this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours...read more
Single-seater racer Richard Singleton showed excellent form when he joined the Porsche Carrera Cup GB to race the guest car at Oulton Park over the weekend (30/31 May). Singleton was racing for the weekend as a reward for being one of the six finalists in the 2009 Carrera Cup GB Scholarship and had never raced anything other than a kart or a single-seater before. The North Wales racer finished eighth in the opening race despite being elbowed back to 15th place at the start and qualified a tremendous sixth fastest for the second race. Unfortunately, his second race ended early after a knock at the Island Hairpin damaged the car's rear suspension. "I've learnt so much this weekend; it's been a great experience," said Singleton, who is currently sidelined from racing by lack of funds. "I wanted to be in the top five in the second race and I know I had the pace to do that. I got quicker every time I got in the car and it's opened my eyes about career options for the future."
Ryan Hooker and co-driver Derrick Collins took their third top ten finish in three races at the latest round of the VdeV Championship at Val De Vienne, France,driving a Norma prototype. A slight temperature issue in the car’s engine compromised their weekend, though some quick thinking from the able Norma UK team ensured they were on track and able to finish the 3 hour race which was held in blistering sunshine. Having qualified in 11th, Derrick started the race, his first in VdeV Championship. As a newcomer to the series Derrick put in an able first stint, though like many of the competitors he had a couple of hiccups on a circuit that Ryan summed up as ‘fiddly but fun’! Ryan raced the final 1 hour 35 minutes and despite concerns over rising temperatures, he was able to put in competitive times and move to 10th at the flag and collecting more points, Ryan was pleased they were able to cement the finish. “We had some minor niggles” said Ryan afterwards, “but thankfully the team made some quick thinking changes to prevent any major problems!” Ryan’s next race is at the end of June in the 8 hours race of Lausitz in Germany. “Lausitz is going to be a great challenge” says Ryan looking forward to the longest race of the VdeV Season
The Sepang circuit in Malaysia is the destination for the Aston Martin Asia Cup’s third and fourth rounds on 4-6thth June 2009. After opening the season with a pair of races at the Chinese Grand Prix, the Aston Martin series will support the Sepang 1000km race this weekend. Taking part will be Round One winner Dilantha Malagamuwa (Sri Lanka) in his Dilango Racing Aston Martin N24, who will be eager to repeat his victory. He will have stiff opposition from Round Two winner Mark Williamson (Australia) in the ConcordEnergy Racing car. Indeed Singaporean based ConcordEnergy Racing will be sporting a trio of cars this weekend with Mark joined by fellow Australian Simon Waters and England’s Ryan Marsden.Flying the flag for Malaysia, and no stranger to the AMAC podium, Tunku Hammam will be looking to give the home crowd something to cheer about along with fellow Malaysian drivers Dato Azman Yahya and JP Chin. ThunderAsia Racing’s Mel Choo (Singapore) will also be eager to recreate his AMAC win at Sepang in 2008. Hong Kong’s Eric Cheung is set to continue the great strides he made in China whilst the series also welcomes back two drivers who took part in selected rounds in 2008 – France’s Jean-Marc Merlin and Australia’s Peter Boylan. The series can be followed at www.astonmartin-asiacup.com Guillaume Moreau will share the OAK Racing, Team Mazda France LMP2 Pescarolo-Mazda with Matthieu Lahaye and Karim Ajlani at the Le Mans 24 Hours, in his third race at La Sarthe. The Frenchman who in the last couple of years has raced in both LMS and World Series by Renault boasts a large number of podiums and victories on his CV. This includes 2008 Le Mans Series GT1 class title with Luc Alphand Aventures, as well as a fifth place at the 2008 Le Mans. “I always had the intention to come back to racing prototypes, even though I didn’t think I would stop racing GTs so soon as things have gone really well,” said Guillaume. “I would like to thank Jacques Nicolet and François Sicard for allowing me to join OAK Racing. The Le Mans 24 Hours was paramount to my sporting programme this year. I think together we are really capable of doing well.” OAK Racing Team Manager François Sicard said “We are delighted to welcome Guillaume Moreau to the team. His background and character fit perfectly with what we want in the #35 car: talent, the enthusiasm of youth and a raw speed that is coupled with solid maturity. This cocktail has, until now, worked quite well for us.”
 IFM - Hitech Junior Team’s Kasper Andersen took the team’s maiden International Formula Masters victory in round four at Valencia over the weekend. The Danish driver passed pole sitter Nicolas Maulini and his Hitech team-mate Alexander Rossi at the start and led all the way to the flag for his third IFM race victory..read report F2- Robert Wickens won both took races at Valencia in the new FIA Formula Two Championship over the weekend, the first F2 races for 25 years . On Sunday in race two the Canadian beat Italian Mirko Bortolotti into second, with Philipp Eng third. In the opening race he led Carlos Iaconelli in second and Kazim Vasiliauskas third…read report,. Other news - Since A1GP World Cup of Motorsport have now completed the first season in a 5-year deal with Ferrari, the man who has overseen this, John Travis, A1GP Technical Director, talks about the challenge that helped produce A1GP’s most exciting season of racing to date.read more
01-06-09
Tribute to Joe Tandy. The Rockingham pit lane fell silent yesterday as the cast and crew of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series, the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain and associated series observed a one-minute tribute to Joe Tandy, the JTR team chief who was killed in a road accident two weeks ago. More than 100 people surrounded the JTR pit garages to show their support and respect for the Tandy family, Joe's friends and JTR team members. Joe's family said: "Joe, Marilyn and Nick would like to thank everyone for the overwhelming kindness and support we have received. It is comforting to know that Joe was so highly thought of." (pic Peter Davey) Formula Ford
J F3 Manor Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi finished in the points in both races in the Formula 3 Euroseries meeting held at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany over the weekend, ..read report GTs
Two dramatic
rounds of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship Gregor Fisken and Dan Brown have taken their second successive victory in the Momo-backed Rollcentre Mosler MT900 in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship yesterday (Sunday) at Rockingham..read report Porsche Mark McAleer took two outright and Class One wins as the Porsche Club Championship runners raced under a bright Brands Hatch sun, but reigning champion Jeremy Clark took a brace of Class Two victories and remains unbeaten this year and still clear at the top of the points table. Gary Duckman gave the new 993 C2 model its first podium in the series, while Class Three wins were shared by Mark Taylor and Anthony Oliver…read report Paul McLean and Peter Fairbairn won the first Porsche Open one-hour race of the season at Brand Hatch on Saturday May 30th, leading home the field by over a lap with series newcomer Alex Martin taking second ahead of Class Two winners Zubin Randeria and Richard Chamberlain. Mike Johnson won a close battle to take Class Three…read report
Ginettas Round 11 of the 2009 Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup was postponed yesterday(Sunday) at Oulton Park, after an unavoidable accident involving Carl Breeze and Chairman’s Cup contender Mark Proctor. Both were safely removed from their cars and taken to hospital, On Saturday Nathan Freke continued winning streak with his fourth straight race victory. During this, the 10th round of the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup, TCR’s championship leader Carl Breeze salvaged a fourth place finish after a spin halfway through the race dropped him out of contention for the win. Read report Aaron Williamson claimed a another victory in the Ginetta Junior Championship with Henderson Insurance yesterday afternoon (Sunday) at Oulton Park. Sarah kept her title bid well on course with yet another podium. On Saturday Tockwith Motorsport locked out the top three places with Alex Austin’s first win of the season from 10th on the grid!..read reports Formula Nippon Benoit Tréluyer made it three podiums from three rounds in the 2009 Formula Nippon championship when he finish second at Motegi over the weekend, thereby extending his lead in the points table …read report AFOS The Formula V6 Asia season opener during the Asian Festival of Speed at the Sepang International Circuit this weekend was definitely Hamad Al Fardan’s. The 21-year-old Bahraini, not only bagged the Sprint race on Saturday but made it a sweet double as he took the Grand race win on Sunday…read reports
Chin Tzer Jinn took the starring role in the Asian Touring Car Series at the Asian Festival of Speed as he sealed a double win at Sepang over the weekend…read reports Clios
Andrew Herron returned to the to third in the ELF Renault Clio Cup points table at Oulton Park over the weekend with affine fourth on Saturday. On Sunday he was not so lucky, picking up a puncture early on which eventually saw him hit the barriers at Druids. However a red flag saw him classified on the count back leaving him fourth in the points..read report Alex MacDowall produced a breakthrough performance at Oulton Park Island Circuit in Cheshire this afternoon, Saturday, 30th May, by claiming his first ever ELF Renault Clio Cup race victory to the delight of his Total Control Racing team...read report Daniel Lloyd came away from Oulton Park this weekend with his biggest haul of points so far this year in the ELF Renault Clio Cup. The Clio rookie picked up n eighth place on Satuyrday before following it up with a seventh on Sunday to move into ninth place in the points table. Read report VW
Formula Renault
Dean Smith dominated at Oulton Park in the Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship this weekend. Not only did he win both races, once from pole, he also set a new lap record and moved to third place in the standings ..read report Michelin Formula Renault UK team Manor Competition had a great weekend at Oulton park winning both races to move to third in the Entrants Championship. Read report Gulf Computer Services and Ortolan backed racer Menasheh Idafar had a bittersweet experience at Oulton over the weekend after bouncing back from a difficult run in qualifying to secure a fighting top 15 comeback drive in the seventh round of the season. Read report BTCC Colin Turkington and James Thompson shared the victories in Sunday's three HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship races held at Oulton Park. But it is Matt Neal who continues to lead the Drivers' standings, albeit by the greatly reduced margin of just two points, from Turkington as the championship heads to the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire for its fifth round of 2009 on Sunday 14 June. ..report
The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily shared by 11/56 MotorSport or any of theGrid team
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Chris
yarwood won the Sports 2000 Endurance event at Silverstone
Simon Robinson, 
The
Mighty Mini’s had a pair of races over the weekend and Chris
Morgan won the opener from Ian Slark by 0,288 secs with James
Lyford third mere hundredths of a second behind. Lyford took a
turn on the top step of the podium in the second race winning
from Lousie Inch by 0-678secs with Matt Pinny third only 0.024
secs behind Inch. ( all Silverstone pics Dennis Good)
Porsche
Adam
Bernard upheld the family tradition at Knockhill with a fine win
claimed the first overall victory for a Fiesta ST 
On
Sunday Brian Stevens Jag XJ12(left - pic Paul Williams)
took the win from Osborne by 7 secs while Stephen Primmett
completed the podium in his Escort. In the Track and Race
Pre 93 Touring car Championship Craig Jamieson and Roger
Stanford shared the spoils. Jamieson won Saturday’s race at
the wheel of his Sierra Cosworth from Stanford’s BMW 2002 by
1.902 secs. On Sunday the positions were reversed and Stanford
took the win by a mere 0.024secs. Andrew Busby was third on both
occasions in his M3.
you needed a Capri on Saturday, Mark Fowler (right coming
togther with McGloughlin on Sunday - pic PaulWilliams)
taking his to second place on Saturday behind the winning car
of Jim McLoughlin, just 3 seconds separating the two while Brain
Stevens Jag was third, a long way behind the leading pair. On
Sunday however Steven’s was back up front, winning by 1.861 secs
from the BMW 3.0 CSL of William Jenkins with Tim Scott-Andrews
third in a Rover Vitesse. 
The
Classic Thunder races saw Joss Ronchetti (pictured left -
pic Paul Williams)back in the winners circle on Saturday
driving a Sunbeam Lotus followed by Piers Grange’s Sierra XR8
while Andy Williams came third in his Sierra Sapphire.
Ronchetti repeated the feat on Sunday ahead of Craig Ranier’s
Ford Escort and Andy Davies M3.
Tandersport’s
Ben Crighton 
Apotex
Scorpio’s Kieren Clark 
Will
Bratt’s PartyPokerRacing.it Euroseries 3000 Championship
Liverpool
FC came out on top in the new "Weekend Winner" contest of the
2009 Superleague Formula
Andrew
Cheshire made a storming come back to Scottish Formula Ford
today(Sunday) with a win and a third place. Rory Butcher,
the man who has made winning a habit in the Scottish
Championship won the second race. In between we had a red flag
and total chaos at the restart..
Joey
Foster and Tim Macrow once again dominated the proceedings
Britain
Formula
3 Australian Drivers championship leaders Joey Foster and Tim
Macrow
With
five different winners this season already the Hankook-backed
Volkswagen Racing Cup
James
Thompson returns to the WTCC with LADA
will take place next week on Porto's Circuito da Boavista. This
is the second visit the championship pays to this racetrack that
winds along the streets of the Portuguese city and was revived
in 2005, half-a-century since it hosted the Portuguese Formula 1
Grand Prix. In 2007 - on WTCC's first visit - Chevrolet and BMW
shared the glory. In the first race Alain Menu led home a trio
of Chevrolet Lacetti cars, followed by team mates Robert Huff
and Nicola Larini. The second race saw a BMW double, with Andy
Priaulx emerging as the winner ahead of Jörg Müller. Next week
the WTCC competitors will benefit from a 30 minute test session
on Friday to re-discover the track; the only major change to the
layout that was used two years ago concerns the infamous paddock
chicane, which has been completely redrawn.
Official
testing in the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship
and
Formula Renault BARC front-runner Ahmad Al Harthy both making
the most of their track time. Idafar stunned the Michelin
Formula Renault UK regulars with second fastest time overall
with a 1m04.681s (108.64mph). The Formula Renault UK were
joined at Snetterton yesterday by some cars from the Formula
Renault BARC Championship which will race at the track this
weekend. Omani driver Ahmad Al Harthy was there for Hillspeed
taking the opportunity to get in some mileage ahead of the
second event of the 2009 campaign. The 27-year-old’s best time
of 1m08.014 sec (103.31mph) during the second of the day’s
sessions and was the fastest of the drivers running with BARC-specification
settings during both the morning and afternoon. At least three
of his chief rivals did post quicker times but it’s believed
they were achieved by running without the regulation engine
restrictor in their cars.Reflecting on the two-day test, team
principal Richard Ollerenshaw said: “Menasheh was exceptional on
the first day and to end the two days sixth fastest on combined
timings is a major confidence boost for him ahead of the
Silverstone GP races a week from now. Ahmad did a superb job
too, especially considering how hot it was out there. We
ploughed on with our preparations for this weekend’s BARC races
and were very pleased with the outcome. Some of the drivers did
appear to be running without the engine restrictor so that did
blur the timesheets a little but Ahmad’s pace was very strong
throughout the day and where we expected it to be.”
P
orsche
Carrera Cup GB scholars keep on training
The
Avon Tyres British GT Championship will be at Snetterton in
Norfolk next weekend
all
organised and run by Masters Racing Club. The day will also
include an experimental race, the “Interserie Revival” for the
types of cars which raced in that early 1970s series, alongside
other slick-tyred sports prototypes of 2 and 3 litres. Masters
regular racer and well-known ‘big car preparer’, Richard Dodkins
has been invited to put together a complete class of the
Interserie/CanAm type of cars, for this special one-off
invitation race. The World Sportscars have been strong
throughout 2009 and there should be another epic battle over the
40-minute race – 2 drivers allowed! The Saloon cars will be
divided into 2 separate 45 minute races each, combining first
the Under 2 litre Pre-66 Top Hat cars with the Oldies but
Goldies for one race; and then the Over 2 litre Pre-66 cars with
other invited Group 1 saloons, to form the second saloon race.
The Gentlemen Drivers will all enjoy a 90 minute race, to the
full 2009 regulations. In this race, the Sports Endurance 1950s
prototypes will be in as usual to compete in their Lotus and
Lolas, against the mighty Cobras and E Types. 
Callum
Bowyer, British Kart Champion in the 2008
produced
his most competitive performance of the year at Snetterton on
Wednesday, (24 June), ending the opening day of official testing
with the second fastest time overall. Returning to action in
very relaxed and confident mood, the 18-year-old lapped the
1.95-mile track faster than he ever has before with an effort of
1m04.681 seconds (108.92mph) in the fourth of the day’s
sessions. This left him just 0.169 secs off the top of the
timesheets. The Hillspeed driver now hopes to continue his great
form during the second day of testing at Snetterton today.
After some fine tuning in the early sessions Menasheh was happy
with the feel of his car in session three, where he moved into
the top 10 with the ninth fastest time of 1m05.312 secs. Then
on new tyres in session four, the Ortolan and Gulf Computer
Services backed teenager then produced his stunning 1m04.681
second lap. “We’re absolutely delighted with today’s performance
from Menasheh”, commented Hillspeed team principal Richard
Ollerenshaw, “He arrived at Snetterton very relaxed and focused
and the end result of a great day of hard work is that he
produced the second fastest time – a fantastic effort. We took
things gradually this morning as we had to bed-in the new engine
and after working on set-up and then fine-tuning that, we took
new tyres in the last session and Menasheh did the best time he
has ever managed at Snetterton. It was a superb effort and
stands us in good stead for the second day tomorrow.”
Cooper
Tires British F3 Championship leader Daniel Ricciardo
ISR
Racing ‘s Alexander Rossi won Round 6
Hitech
Racing's Walter Grubmüller
Joey
Foster
James
Sutton was one of the stars of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup race
Hamad
Al Fardan took his fourth win of the 2009 season
Having
qualified on pole, Benoît Tréluyer and Satoshi Motoyama’s
Will
Bratt will be at Magny-Cours in France
One
of the key elements of any race strategy is the pit stop
Alvaro
Parente made a fantastic recover in the second GP2
ISR's
Alexander Rossi claimed an historic first win today(Sunday)
Star
Mazda
GP2
- Alvaro Parente wasn’t lucky in the GP2 race at Silverstone
on Saturday
Jenzer
Motorsport's Fabio Leimer
Juncos
Racing has signed Irish driver Peter Dempsey
The
Wiltshire College racing team are in a commanding lead in the
Castle Combe Racing Club FF1600 
fresh from his maiden Australian Championship win at Symmons
Plains is relishing the technical Darwin circuit. "Obviously I'd
like to be a bit quicker but it's such a great track to drive
you can easily forget you're out there to do a job!" the Team
BRM driver quipped. "I'm still learning the track as it's my
first time here and there's a few improvements we can make to
our suspension settings before tomorrow so I'm sure I can go
quicker as the weekend goes on ... Tasmania was a real
confidence booster for the team so now we just have to find the
speed we enjoyed there and I'm sure we can repeat that
performance." Percat's teammates Mitch Evans and Geoff Uhrhane
rounded out the top five and will no doubt be sneaking a look at
their comrade's data to see if there's a way they can haul in
the championship leader tomorrow
ELF
Renault Clio Cup rookie Daniel Lloyd
Yann
Clairay and team-mates Xavier Maassen and Julien Jousse
Tony
Kart Junior Team’s Ben Cooper
ISR's
Alexander Rossi recorded the quickest lap for International
Formula Master's
A
few of the WTCC drivers went back to school today
At
the weekend, Alvaro Parente will race in the fourth round of the
GP2 Series
Mazdaspeed
driver Conor Daly
The
Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship
Fulvio
Mussi is still in sixth place in the Michelin Ginetta G50 Cup
Apart
from a small hiccough early on Sunday morning the RML Lola
B08/96 had run superbly
Swiss
Sports car team Speedy Racing Sabah
Luke
Varley led his team-mate Joseph Reilly
A
Formula One fan is expected to snap up the never registered
vehicle number plate
The
latest rounds of the Competition Car Insurance Ford Fiesta
Championship
Benoit
Tréluyer survives massive accident at Le Mans. 
Harold
Primat had a tough time at Le Mans
Tom
Ingram
This
weekend's International Formula Master rounds six and seven in
Brno
Memo
Gidley came home third in the final of 
There
is a Father’s Day showcase of raw horsepower in the Dolphin
Shopping Centre in Poole
Team
Pyro’s Phil Glew and Total Control Racing’s Alex MacDowall
took a win and a second place apiece during rounds nine and 10
of the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup with Michelin at North
Yorkshire’s Croft circuit on 13th/14th June. 
Alex
MacDowall is starting to put Elf Renault Clio Cup Championship
leader Phil Glew under some pressure after the former took
his second win of the year at Croft on Saturday. ON Sudnay he
came home second behind Glew after a closely fought race where
he finished just a few tenths of a second behind the winner.
McDowall is now just 34 point behind in the title chase
The
latest edition of the MSA British Formula Ford Championship
Jake
Hill got his first Ginetta Junior victory
Dominic
Petit took a second win of the year in the Ginetta G20
Championship at Knockhill. Mark Davies won tthe opening race
after Petit, who was leading was poenalised with a drive-trough
penalty for cutting the corners dropping him to sixth at the
flag...
Reigning
Volkswagen Racing Cup champion Joe Fulbrook
is
all set for the next race in the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
season at the Zhuhai International Circuit. For Avila this is
almost his home circuit being just over the border from Macau
and lso the track where he started made his first steps in car
racing. Last year he came 2nd in Asian GT Series’ March Race at
the track. Avila said, “I'm looking forward to this weekend. I
can say Zhuhai is my second-home. The circuit is right on the
other side of Macau’s border and my team’s workshop is there.
It's always special to get the chance to race in front of my
family, friends and sponsors when there is a big event like
this. " At 22 he is the youngest driver in the field and is 3rd
in the championship with one pole and two podium finishes at
Shanghai. “I think we are definitely prepared for the Zhuhai
race. We will just go into this race like we have the others,
and take it one session at a time. Hopefully, we can bring home
the best overall result so far. I know the track very well but
all my opponents raced here before in Porsche Carrera Cup. As
its very important to finish every race due to the current
points system, I won’t take unnecessary risks but I’ll do my
best”, said Avila. Despite hsi good start to the season, Avila
is still short on budget. “The situation hasn’t changed from the
previous races and my budget is not complete yet. I don’t know
what is going to happen after this race. We have been doing a
massive effort to honour our sponsorship agreements. BNU,
RPmacau, Fat Siu Lau, Sujika Crafts and PAL Asiaconsult believed
in this project from the beginning and I want to payback. We
definitely did the right choice to move to these series as the
exposure has been above our expectations”, concluded the Asia
SuperCar Challenge 2008 champion. 
Manor
Competition’s Dean Smith moved closer to the top of the 2009
Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship table after another
win and a second place from rounds nine and 10 at Croft over the
weekend. The 21-year-old from Wolverhampton is already looking
like a champion and it shouldn’t be too long before he takes his
place at the top of the table Fortec Motorsport’s Oli Webb
leads the title chase by virtue of some consistent finishing, he
picked up two third places at Croft, but Smith is only 19 point
behind now. James Calado won the weekend’s first race with a
lights-to-flag victorybefore he retired in the second with
mechanical problems.
Menasheh
Idafar ‘s latest race
Richard
Kent has done it again in Star Mazda
David Brabham,
Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz have won the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours
Matthew Inge
James Sutton
overcame wet conditions at Croft
Strakka
Racing is being put through the mill in the 77th running of the
Le Mans 24 Hours
Strakka
Racing has been delighted to extend a welcome this weekend to
His Royal Highness Prince Michael of Kent
Chris
Miller got around polesitter Remy Audette
Conor
Daly’s domination of the Star Mazda double header weekend
Nathan
Freke 
Menasheh
Idafar came back after a spin in Round 9 of the Michelin Formula
Renault UK
Mazdaspeed
driver Conor Daly
F2000
Menasheh Idafar
Cadwell
Park will go back to a bygone era when the Vintage Sports-Car
Club (VSCC)
Caitlin
Johnston led the way in the opening practice session for rounds five and
six of the 2009 F2000 season at Mosport this morning. The Canadian,
who calls Mosport her home track, was on scrub tires and posted a time
of 1:22.672, about a tenth and a half up on second place Chris Miller...
Aston
Martin Racing’s three LMP1 cars will start this weekend’s Le
Mans 24 Hours
Dunlop
Art Car Competition Competition
David
Brabham is fully focussed on his 16th Le Mans
Michael Furfari
Freddy
Nordstrom continues to make headway in the SEAT Supercopa
Championship in Spain with a 14th and 15th
place finish in the triple header event at Jarama last weekend.
Considering most of the 34 car field already knew the track,
Nordstrom, on his debut, produced a creditable performance..
Michael
Rowan finally got his just desserts at Knockhill at the end of
May. 
The
three Aston Martin’s
Strawberry
Racing enjoyed a good weekend in Italy at the end of May in the
OAK
Racing is at the Le Mans 24 Hours
Luke
Wright made the most of his new deal with Dean Panrucker’s
Millennium Motorsport
(pictured right) monopolised then podium. Chapman
winning on Saturday from Jessop by 4 secs before the pair
swapped positions in the second race, Jessop winning by 2.59
secs.
The
Locost races at Anglesey
(pictured
right)
The
RGB races at Anglesey saw Derek Jones
(right)won
race 1 in his Sheane, crossing then line 3.4 secs up on John
Hughes Scarab Mk5. He was followed by Paul Smith in a Dominator
01, 4 seconds further back in third. Sunday’s race saw Hughes
turn the tables on Oliveira, the former winning by a mere 0.92
secs from Martin Farmer while Oliveira had to make do with
third. 
The
F2000 Series will be at Mosport in Canada
Currently
third overall in the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup championship,
Andrew Herron
Sri
Lanka’s Dilantha Malagamuwa
Marcus
Ericsson scored a his second straight victory in the Cooper
Tires British Formula 3 International Series on Saturday at
Hockenheim. The Raikkonen Robertson Racing driver made a great
start from the second row to snatch the lead at the start from
pole-sitter Renger van der Zande and the other front row starter
Daniel Ricciardo.
It's
been four years since the first and last visit to Knockhill by
the Volkswagen Racing Cup
Chad
Racing has signed Argentinian José Manuel Balbiani to
partner regular driver Chris Hyman at the wheel of its Ferrari
430 next weekend (13/14 June) at Knockhill, and team boss Piers
Masarati is looking for a good result in rounds seven and eight
of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship..
Luke
Wright has left the Strawberry Racing and Tony Kart Junior teams
to forge a new relationship with Dean Panrucker’s Millennium
Motorsport and renew his association with Mark Berryman at
JRP. Panrucker is widely acclaimed as one of karting’s top
driver coaches and has been responsible for the successes of
many drivers. Speaking about his shock move, Luke said, “I’m
excited to be working with Dean. His reputation is second to
none and already, we have begun to work well together. He’s very
encouraging and inspiring and I’m looking forward to working
with him at home.” He added, “I would like to thank Paul Spencer
and the rest of the Tony Kart Junior and Strawberry teams. I
enjoyed my time with them enormously and we have parted on good
terms. They are terrific outfits, but I think I needed a little
more one to one coaching before I could really do myself, and
them, justice.” Panrucker – who won the KF3 British Open and
Super 1 Championships last year with Carl Stirling – commented,
“I’m looking forward to working with Luke. He’s a great lad and
I hope we will have a lot of success together.” Luke will also
renew his partnership with Mark Berryman at JRP – with whom he
enjoyed several successes in 2008 - when he competes in Europe.
Luke’s first race with Millennium will be at the challenging
Rowrah circuit in Cumbria, this weekend (6/7 June). 
RML AD Group
Jack
Hawksworth
The
three leading makes in the WTCC
SEAT
Sport's Jordi Gené (centre in picture right) will join
1997 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve
Rounds
three and four of the International Formula Masters Championship
Hexis
Racing AMR-entered Vantage returns to GT2 action. 
Frenchman
Benoit Treluyer
David
Headen won both rounds of the Northern Sports and Saloons
.
On the next lap Simpson made another mistake and spun at the
hairpin allowing Headen to get away to take an easy win.
Simpson then spun once again the very next lap before he put in
a superb recovery drive getting his car to within 3.7 seconds of
Headen at the flag. Third was Morrison once again ahead of
Bryan Healey’s Sylva Riot and the M3 of Michael Cutt, the latter
having had a race long battle with first Morrison and the
Healey, loosing out to both by the flag.
(pics Richard Pascal 11/56 Motorsport)
Aston
Martin’s debut in the LMP1 class at Le Mans this year
coincides with a number of rule changes, posing another
challenge to the British team as it gears up for the race at the
La Sarthe circuit on the 13-14 June. Aston Martin Racing will
enter three Gulf-liveried LMP1 prototypes, powered by the same
production-derived V12 engine that has given the Aston Martin
DBR9 victory in the GT1 class at the 24 Hours for the last two
years. However, diesel-powered cars have recently dominated the
LMP1 category – winning the race for the past three years. A
number of changes have been introduced to try to bring the
petrol cars closer to their diesel equivalents but Aston Martin
will still have a mountain to climb. With speeds at the circuit
getting quicker year on year, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest –
which organises the race – is also aiming to slow all the cars
down, with a target lap time on the eight-mile track of around
three and a half minutes. The pit stop procedure has also been
significantly altered in order to reduce tyre consumption and
ensure that fewer mechanics are working in the pit lane. From
this year, only two mechanics at any one time will be permitted
to change tyres on the car using just one wheel gun – which can
only take place once refuelling is complete. When the tyre
changes are over, the wheel mechanics have to return inside the
garage and only then can four more mechanics carry out any
further maintenance. The car will not be allowed to leave its
pit stand until all the mechanics are back inside the garage.
This will make pit stops considerably longer and encourages
teams to limit the use of tyres. There will be a maximum noise
limit of 112 decibels and post-race scrutineering will also
become stricter, with harsh penalties for competitors missing
any parts of bodywork or car structure at the finish. Some even
more far-reaching changes are set to be introduced for the Le
Mans 24 Hours in 2010, allowing homologation of hybrid
technology cars, encouraging further use of hybrid technology
such as KERS and reducing carbon emissions. Aston Martin Racing
Team Principal George Howard-Chappell commented: “The changes to
the pit stop rules mean that the emphasis has switched to
getting more out of a set of tyres, making it a good idea to do
an extra stint on each set if you can. That obviously impacts on
the whole tyre wear aspect of the car. In the end these new
rules just provide another set of numbers to compute: they don’t
make a fundamental difference to the unique challenge of the
race.”
SMRC
- Rory Butcher continued his winning ways at Knockhill
on Sunday
driving
a Morgan Plus 8, emerged the victor in both SMRC Classic Sports
and Saloons
This
year’s Le Mans 24 Hours will have additional significance for
Strakka Racing. It is exactly 50 years since Aston Martin
won the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hours outright with an Aston Martin
DBR1, and Strakka Racing is fortunate in having the
responsibility of racing that same car in historic events to
this day. In last weekend’s Silverstone AMOC St. John Horsfall
meeting, Nick Leventis took another memorable win for the DBR1,
but it will be Peter Hardman who heads out onto the Sarthe
circuit on Saturday morning to participate in the Legends
support race. “The Aston will also be taking part in the
Driver’s Parade on Friday evening,” explained Peter. “It will be
one of three cars from the Collection participating in the
Legends race, including a Ferrari 206 and 246 Dino. It should be
a very emotional occasion.” If 1959 was a 'classic year',
then Peter believes 2009 could be another. “I think this is
going to be a fabulous Le Mans 24 Hours, especially in LMP1,” he
says. “There’s going to be such an intense battle for the
overall lead between Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin. We’re under
no illusion about where we stand in all this, and we’ll be
content to let the big boys fight it out while we follow on
behind and, just maybe, pick up the pieces. There are 50 other
cars on the track and we’ll be doing our own thing, running our
own race, and hope to be there at the flag when it matters.” The
77th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours begins with Free Practice
on the evening of Wednesday 10th June, followed by Qualifying on
Thursday between 7:00pm and midnight, with the race itself
starting at 15:00 on Saturday June 13th
Your
Racing Car.com driver Fulvio Mussi got back into the
action at Oulton Park in the Ginetta G50 Cup at the weekend
.Total Control Racing having repaired his badly damaged car from
the previous round. In the first G50 race of the weekend Mussi
took a solid his sixth place despite some jostling during the
race. .
Liz
Halliday will return to the Le Mans 24 Hours this season after
rejoining Eurosport’s commentary team
Rolex
Grand-Am series star and Memo Gidley
Jack
Goff put in an excellent drive in the MG Trophy
osef
Newgarden extended his championship leads in the MSA Formula
Ford
at Rockingham this weekend brought not only a new race victor to
the series in the shape of the Barwell Motorsport Ginetta G50Z
but also another new championship leader, 17-year-old Mosler
driver Dan Brown returning to the top of the points table after
a GT3 class-winning performance on Sunday afternoon. 
JHR
Developments driver Robert Lawson was the star of the Pro-Am 1
class
On
form Mok Weng Sun
Total
Control Racing’s Alex MacDowall
Second
year ELF Renault Clio Cup racer Mike Robinson
Herbie
the Beetle and his long-serving driver Steve Chaplin finally
made it on to the top step of the Volkswagen Racing Cup podium
yesterday (Sunday) at Rockingham, and for good measure they won
both of the day's races..
Dean
Smith