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News Archive November 2009

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10/12/2009

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30-11-09

The Volkswagen Racing Cup is celebrating its 10th birthday in fine style - with a new title sponsor for 2010 and a superb provisional calendar for the coming season which includes the championship's first-ever overseas event. The new sponsor is Fuchs Lubricants, the world's largest independent lubricant manufacturer, which plans to use its association with the championship as a platform for increasing awareness of Titan, the company's superior range of automotive lubricants. Fuchs Lubricants UK marketing manager Richard Barrett said: "We have a long and established reputation in many differing motorsport arenas. Our product development has always been closely linked with top level motorsport and this will be more evident in 2010. We have some exiting announcements to make next year and we are thrilled to be title sponsors of such a high calibre championship." Championship director Melissa Wright added: "We are delighted that Fuchs Lubricants is joining the Volkswagen Racing Cup as a partner; the association will be a major benefit to competitors and the championship as a whole. Fuchs Lubricants has exciting plans for the future and we are pleased to be able to support them. We are also very happy that Hankook, the championship's exclusive tyre supplier since 2005, will continue to support the series for a fifth consecutive season." The championship has also revealed an impressive calendar for the coming year, with six UK double-header events supporting the British F3 and British GT Championships, with races at Oulton Park, Snetterton, Rockingham, Donington Park and the Grand Prix circuits at Silverstone and Brands Hatch. There will also be a twin-race event at the legendary Dutch circuit of Zandvoort. "The Volkswagen Racing Cup has never ventured outside Britain before," says Wright, "and we decided it was high time that it did. Zandvoort is a great circuit in a great location and will prove hugely popular with the teams and drivers, I am sure."  Calendar  -  Pic by Jakob Ebrey Photography

Formula 3: One of Britain's brightest single-seater prospects, Oli Webb, has signed with Fortec Motorsports for the 2010 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series. Webb steps up to F3 after two seasons in Formula Renault UK, where he has established himself with Fortec as one of the quickest and most consistent in the field. Oli won two races in 2009 and collected a further eight podium finishes on his way to third in the championship.  He's already pleasing the team with his F3 testing performances: "We have been impressed with how easily young Oliver has adapted to the car," says Fortec's senior race engineer Mick Kouros. "He has been in the top three at all the tests he's attended, and was quickest at a couple of those, particularly the wet-weather ones. We are sure that Oli is going to be among the very fastest in F3 next season." University student Webb said: "I am delighted with how pre-season has gone so far and I am really happy with how I have adapted to the car. The Formula 3 car has a lot more downforce and engine power and the way it drives suits my driving style more than the Formula Renault car did. To have gone so well in the tests is more than I could have hoped for when I am up against guys with a year of experience in the car already. The list of drivers who have done a season or more in British F3 before going on to race at the highest level is pretty incredible and I am determined to join them." Webb's Fortec drive means he will renew his rivalry with James Calado, who beat him to the Formula Renault UK championship runner-up spot. Twenty-year-old Calado will be racing with the Carlin F3 team in 2010. The last British-born champion of British F3 was 2006 winner Mike Conway, who is scheduled to join the Mercedes Grand Prix team, along with Swedish British F3 race winner Marcus Ericsson, at Jerez later this week for F1's young driver test days.     Pic by Jakob Ebrey Photography

Karts: Jordon Lennox-Lamb is onto the final ten in the search to find a potential F1 star, Grand Prix Shootout. Candidates entered come from as far a-field as Brazil, New Zealand and the USA. The final is due to take place in early December, after which the winner will receive a fully-funded drive in the single-seater Formula BMW Europe series in 2010. For Jordon, who does have the budget to make the leap from karts to cars, winning the shootout would place him on track to a career in single-seaters    read more.

LMS: The regulations got the 2010 Le Mans Series season have been released. This year, as usual, new chapters have been written, others modified. To help understand the upcoming season, the  following are the main changes. read more

29-11-09

Formula3: Joey Foster has completed his season in some style by winning the Australian Formnula 3 title today(Sunday) at Sandown. Foster won the opening race from pole and then folloowed that up with a second place finish in the Superprix to take the Championship crown by 7 points. It was Team BRM’s second successive title having won it last year with james Winslow. Mitch Evans meanwhile created his little piece of history by becoming the yoiungest ever winner of the F3 Superprix at just 15.   read report    pic: Dirk Klynsmith / F3A Image

Gianmarco Raimondo, 2008 Formula BMW Americas Rookie Champion, continued his 2010 preparations with a series of Formula 3 tests in Europe. Raimondo recently flew to Magny-Cours for a test with team Alan Racing. The Italian-based team is the only F3 Italia Series team using a Mygale, the remainder riuning with Dallaras. Under wet and cloudy conditions, Raimondo had a successful test and was impressive in his first outing in the Mygale. "Magny Cours was probably one of the best tracks I've ever been on, however it was a shame it rained the whole day," commented Raimondo. "You couldn't truly appreciate the quality of the track and the thrill of some of the highspeed sections. It was still a lot of fun and still very challenging." After this he was off to Italy to test with Team Lucidi on the 5th of November at Mugello before moving to Imola. In the first test Raimondo worked with team engineers to make changes and work through a scheduled series of runs to best evaluate performance and speed. Unfortunately following the Mugello test, GMo took sick with mononucleosis, and was only able to watch at Imola  "I thought the test in Mugello went very well because the team could really see how I drove in basically every condition. Since it rained in the morning then dried up for the afternoon, it made it a challenging day," smiled Raimondo upon his return. "It was even more challenging at the end because I've been fighting a virus and it was finally taking its toll on me. During my last new tire run I was only able to complete four hot laps, although it was enough to set some fast times and impress the team even more. A shame I couldn't keep going on the new tires nevertheless, I accomplished what I was there to do."

Daniel Abt's, this season’s  ADAC Formula Masters Champion will move to the ATS Formula 3 Cup with Volkswagen in  2010. The 16-year-old from Kempten will drive a Volkswagen Dallara for Van Amersfoort Racing, the team which claimed the top-two positions in the championship this season with Laurens Vanthoor and Stef Dusseldorp. Abt joins the brand's motorsport support programme as Volkswagen Junior.  "We are delighted to welcome Daniel into the Volkswagen family," says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. "He has already proved his talent impressively this year by winning the Volkswagen powered ADAC Formula Masters title so convincingly. We now look forward to making the next step in his career together." Daniel Abt recorded a total of eight victories during the season on the way to winning the "star of tomorrow" series at the penultimate race weekend and gathered his first experience of the ATS Formula 3 Cup with a guest start at the finale.

BTCC: Tyre manufacturer Dunlop will return as title sponsor of the MSA British Touring Car Championship from 2010, in a new four-year agreement with the UK's premier motor racing series. Its sister company, HiQ - title sponsor for the past two seasons - will put its name to the BTCC's coveted Teams' Championship also through to the end of 2013 at least. This latest arrangement will extend the BTCC's relationship with the Goodyear-Dunlop group to 11 successive years. Dunlop has been the BTCC's exclusive tyre supplier since 2003 and became title sponsor in 2005, with the nationwide chain of HiQ fast-fit centres taking over for 2008 and 2009.  

28-11-09

Formula 3:  MAT SOFI HAS edged out the most competitive Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship field of the season to take a thrilling pole position for tomorrow’s 22-lap Sandown F3 SuperPrix season-ending race at Sandown Raceway. Joey Foster meanwhile has closed the gap to Tim Macrow  at the top of the Championship table to just 3 points after he took pole position for tomorrow’s first race giving him a bonus point .   read more

Karts: The 2010 Formula Kart Stars Championship will feature twelve rounds over six weekends with drivers in all classes competing in timed qualifying, two heats and a final on each day. “We have planned our 2010 season to ensure we give our drivers the maximum possible track time,” says series director Carolynn Hoy. “As a result the coming year will certainly be a marathon and not a sprint.” Under the new format, drivers can expect to hit the track 48 times during the season with points being accrued in the heats and finals. The best ten of twelve round scores will count towards the final totals. “We believe our new format will enable more drivers to enjoy a positive weekends racing” says Hoy. “Having two full days competitive racing with four sessions per day will certainly keep everyone busy both on and off track.”  calendar

27-11-09

David Brabham’s Celebrity Karting Challenge 2010 at Autosport International on Friday 15 January, primarily in aid of Malaria No More UK, is shaping up to be one of the best yet. Held for the first time in Autosport International’s Live Action Arena, the unique charity kart race is attracting an unrivalled line-up of international motorsport stars to race head-to-head with members of the public on a challenging new circuit at the NEC Birmingham.With the entry list reading like the who’s who in motorsport worldwide, the Celebrity Karting Challenge has become an annual mission for each motorsport formula to prove who boasts the best drivers. British Formula One driver and BBC Radio 5 Live commentator, Anthony Davidson recently confirmed his support of Brabham’s fundraising efforts and commented: "I'm really happy to be able to help out with David's Celebrity Karting Challenge at Autosport International — the race is raising money for a very worthy cause by doing something we all enjoy. It should be a great event and I hope it gets lots of support."  Another long-term supporter of the Celebrity Karting Challenge, is  Allan McNish, who returns for the 2010 battle alongside Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro. Le Mans winners all. McNish said: "I am pleased to be able to support David's charity kart race in aid of Malaria No More UK and I’m really looking forward to the inevitable competition. You can just imagine what the entertainment will be like with a track full of racing stars racing in karts after the long winter break.”  DTM ace Paul di Resta, sportscar star Johnny Mowlem, A1GP team driver Danny Watts and 2009 Star Mazda Champion Adam Christodoulou are just some of the latest celebrities to confirm their support alongside Amanda Stretton, Katherine Legge, Robbie Kerr, Duncan Tappy, Andrew Kirkaldy, Tim Mullen, Linda Playfair, Paul O’Niell, Tom Onslow-Cole and BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year nominee Sarah Moore.  Some of the sport’s most promising future champions are also preparing for battle including Oliver Turvey, Jack Harvey, James Calado and Graham Sharp, while ‘Karting Guru’ Martin Hines will be joined by fellow British Superkart team drivers Thomas Johansson, James O’Reilly and Trevor Roberts. Further karting stars include Jordan Chamberlain, Ben Cooper, Robert Foster-Jones and Jason Parrott.No fewer than 20 teams, each featuring four celebrity and two paying public drivers, will battle for the 2010 Celebrity Karting Challenge. The action starts from 3pm on Friday 15 January at Autosport International, with practice followed by qualifying for one nominated driver from each team. The 90 minute endurance race will take place on a specially constructed kart circuit designed by Apex Circuit Design, specialists in FIA and CIK approved racing facilities, who have devised tracks worldwide including the 5.4km Dubai Autodrome and 1.2km Kartdrome and, most recently, the new French Formula One circuit at Flins-Les-Mureaux near Paris. Members of the public can join the action and race alongside their racing heroes for just £300. The charity entrance fee also includes two entrance tickets to Autosport International, on what is an exclusive trade day. Book your public place now by contacting Bill Williams at bill@racing4charity.com or call 0044 (0)7712 578263. The latest race information can be found at www.racing4charity.com.

Formula 3: He may have been on new tyres when most of the field were on olds, but there was no doubting the simple fact that Mitch Evans was the fastest person on his ‘official’ F3 Championship debut in practice at Sandown on Friday. With all of 20 laps to his name in a F3 car, the 15-year-old runner up in this year’s Australian Formula Ford Championship took to his Team BRM Dallara like a horse to Sandown’s turf and topped both sessions.  Evans was running on brand new Kumho rubber, not having an allocation of previously-used tyres to use in practice as is the norm in the Championship. Team BRM said they thought new rubber was worth six-to-eight tenths at Sandown – but even when that margin is taken into account Evans’ opening laps in Formula 3 were impressive, his times placing him right within the leading contenders within this years championship fight. Behind the flying Kiwi a group of seven to eight cars proved that this years’ F3 SuperPrix grid will be competitive. Just 0.6secs covered 2^nd to 7^th positions in practice one, whilst 1 sec covered second to ninth in the second session, proving that when everyone is on equal rubber tomorrows’ qualifying sessions – the second incorporating the new ‘Quick Six’ session – will be very competitive. Rookie Kristian Lindbom, making his F3 debut with Astuti Motorsport, got only two-thirds through his first ever lap in an F3 car this morning before a fuel pump failed and left him stranded. Astuti teammate Rio Haryanto was another to get minimal track time after his car broke a rear pushrod in the suspension after contact with a kerb at turn one. The recently-crowned Asian Formula BMW champion bounced back brilliantly, however, to finish practice two in third place and prove his potential this weekend. West Aussie rookie Bryce Moore, driving a TanderSport Dallara F304, was similarly impressive and finished fourth in each session.  Fellow F3 debutants Zhang Shan Qi and Li Shi Cong, both graduates of the Asian Formula Renault championship, also acquitted themselves well on their first visit to Australia and their first drive in a F3 car. Practice two was marred by a massive crash by F3 stalwart John Boothman, who crashed at high speed at the back of the circuit on the approach to the Dandenong Road corner. Boothman’s F301 Dallara made heavy contact with the tyre barrier and was flipped into the air and over the fence itself before coming to a rest upright. With an impact estimated at close to 200km/hr, the structural integrity and strength of a modern F3 car was again proved in the crash, with Boothman taken away from the car shaken and bruised, but otherwise OK.

LMS: Jan Charouz, winner of Le Mans Series 2009 has won the FIA Talent of the Year Award, receiving his prize from Jean Todt at the FIA Central European Zone Prize Giving Ceremony in Sveti Stefan in Montenegro last weekend. Charouz, one of the youngest drivers in the Le Mans Series was part of Aston Martin’s winning team along with Tomas Enge and Stefan Mucke where they won  not only the drivers title but the teams and manufacturer’s as well.

WTCC:The 2009 FIA World Touring Car champions were honoured last Sunday in Macau during the traditional party at Fisherman's Wharf. One after another all the major players of the season were called on to the stage to collect their awards. The prize giving ceremony began with the Advan Yokohama trophies. For the second time after 2006 Tom Coronel collected the Independents' Trophy for driver, while SUNRED Engineering's principal Joán Orus received the Teams' Trophy.  The ceremony continued with the Manufacturers' Championship: Ray Mallock for Chevrolet, Mario Theissen for BMW and Jaime Puig for SEAT were awarded with the third, second and first prize respectively.  The evening culminated with the Drivers' Championship awards that went to Augusto Farfus (third), Yvan Muller (second) and to the new champion Gabriele Tarquini.   J

WTCC Review: Recovering from two major crashes on Thursday and Friday, Gabriele Tarquini claimed the 2009 FIA WTCC crown at Macau and in the process set a couple of new records becoming the oldest FIA World Champion ever and scoring the highest number of points for a WTCC season. "Experience is a crucial factor to survive touring car tough racing. So the age is not so important. And I still feel young enough to be competitive," the new champion said.
Consistency was also a factor. Tarquini claimed only three victories against Augusto Farfus' six and Yvan Muller's four, but scored points in 22 races out of 24."WTCC is such a competitive championship that you have to focus on scoring points. In the past I paid scoreless races dearly. So I changed my approach, focusing on qualifying (he took five pole positions this year) and then looking to convert the pole in a win or a podium position in Race 1. Finally I tried to score points in the second race. It worked, but to beat Yvan and Augusto I had to collect 127 points, which is a record. 13 more than Yvan's last year's score!"

Yvan Muller and Augusto Farfus completed the championship podium in second and third position respectively, but they claimed the majority of race victories. The 2008 champion lost the title to his team-mate Tarquini by only four points before moving to Chevrolet for next year. Muller claimed four race wins and collected ten points more than in his winning season, however the incidents in which he was involved at Brands Hatch and Oschersleben cost him valuable points. Farfus established a new WTCC record with six victories in one season (Priaulx and Menu claimed five in 2006 and 2007 respectively). Although he proved to have fully grown up as a top driver, the Brazilian youngster lacked consistency and scored nil or one point in nine races, mainly because of early accidents. In spite of this he fell out of contention only after the first race in Macau and finished third with a gap of 14 points.

SEAT did it again. Like last year the Spanish Manufacturer won both the WTCC titles with its León TDI cars. Gabriele Tarquini dethroned his team mate Yvan Muller and SEAT beat BMW in the Manufacturers' Championship fight. However, if in 2008 SEAT secured both championships at the penultimate event, this year had to wait until the second race in Macau. And the 3-point winning margin (out of the 314 scored) says clearly how close the battle in the Manufacturers' Championship was. BMW won ten of the 24 races, while SEAT won eight, but Jaime Puig's wonder quintet (Tarquini, Muller, Gené, Rydell and Monteiro) was extremely consistent at scoring points. "Winning two championships for the second year was the reward for a fantastic year and I want to thank the whole team for their efforts and their solidarity. The races in Macau have shown that we are a team in which everybody works for everybody," Puig said. BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen echoed: "Congratulations to SEAT and Tarquini on winning both championships. As expected the finale was dramatic, and this was somewhat symbolic of how the season had been for us. The first part of the year was especially difficult for us before we were able to close the gap."

Seven victories and three pole positions were the respectable booty won by the Chevrolet Cruze on its maiden racing season that ended on a high note with Robert Huff's win in Macau's Race 1. Chevrolet Europe's Motorsport Director Eric Nève commented: "We are very happy with what the Cruze has  shown. Moreover it has proven to be the best  car on  street  circuits and grew steadily on all kind of tracks. 2010 is starting now. We are delighted to have Yvan Muller joining our team and preparing a busy work plan for the winter. We really want to be fighting for the title next year!"

The maiden season of LADA as a registered manufacturer ended in the worst possible way at Macau, with Kirill Ladygin's and James Thompson's cars demolished in two massive crashes on Thursday and Friday. However the Russian team showed consistent progress during the year, especially after the new Priora car hit the track and Thompson joined them. Team principal Viktor Shapovalov stated: "This season was full of ups and downs. But our goal at the beginning of the year was to improve and start scoring points by the end of the year. We are completely on schedule as James took two fantastic sixth places at Imola and Jaap was very close to fifth in Oschersleben. Also in Okayama we were heading for fifth and eighth. We know that we still have a long way to go, but we will keep on working hard and I am sure that next year will be very interesting for us."

Tom Coronel clinched the Independents' Trophy for the second time. The Dutchman and his SUNRED petrol-powered SEAT León achieved five race victories, two short of Félix Porteiro's BMW, but scored points in 23 races out of 24. Even more important were the points he collected thanks to the trophy's new regulations that award three points for each point scored in the Drivers' Championship. Coronel collected 45 points in this way, against Porteiro's 30. And this made the difference as the final gap between them was 13 points.  Franz Engstler (2 victories) classified third from Stefano D'Aste (5 victories) who missed the last two races in Macau after his car was damaged during the qualifying. Tom Boardman (winner at Brands Hatch) and Kristian Poulsen completed the top-six. A few other drivers proved to be competitive, although taking part in selected races. Morocco's youngster Mehdi Bennani won his maiden race on his home race track at Marrakech, and so did experienced Frenchman Eric Cayrolle at Pau. A total of 30 drivers scored points, establishing a new record for the Independents' Trophy.

Spain-based SUNRED Engineering clearly emerged as the winner of the Teams' Trophy. The outfit directed by Joán Orus benefitted mainly from Tom Coronel's results, but their second driver Tom Boardman also gave a crucial contribution collecting one race victory at Brands Hatch and several podium results. More points came from the one-off guest drivers who alternated at the wheel of the third SEAT León, like Eric Cayrolle who surprisingly won in Pau or the different winners of the SEAT Eurocup rounds. 2008 champions Proteam Motorsport finished as runners up despite fielding for most of the season only one competitive car for Félix Porteiro, while Liqui Moly Team Engstler completed the podium

Karts: Jenson Button will be paying a special visit to the Karting Show at Autosport International 2010, at the NEC Birmingham, to support the Super One 2009 championship awards presentation on Saturday 16 January. Jenson will present the Super One trophies for the top three drivers across the Cadet, KF1 MSA British Kart Championship, KF2 and KF3 Junior British Kart Championship classes from 3.20pm. An amazing 34 wins from 34 starts crowned Jenson the Super One Cadet Champion back in 1991 before he went on to take the Junior TKM title the following year. Super One Series Marketing Director John Hoyle said: "We're delighted that Jenson has taken time out of his busy schedule to return to his karting roots. We sincerely congratulate Jenson on his fantastic achievements this year. He is a true inspiration to our competitors who will be overjoyed to meet him at the Karting Show at Autosport International."  Fans can join Jenson, Britain’s newest F1 Champion, in celebrating his 2009 season success at Autosport International, on Saturday 16 and Sunday 17 January. Not only will visitors get the chance to see the driver at the NEC-based show but also the machinery that helped him win his title, as the Brawn GP car will be on display along with all of the cars from the 2009 grid. Autosport International will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, 16-17 January 2010. Adult tickets start at £29 per day, with children’s tickets costing from £19. MSA licence holders under 16 qualify for a complimentary weekend day ticket, when accompanied by a paying adult, by booking in advance. To book, visit www.autosport-international.com or call 0844 579 3188 quoting ‘Karting 216’.

26-11-09

Club Racing: A new concept in televised motorsport is to be pioneered in Britain next season, with viewers across Europe set to enjoy a five-hour feast of national racing live from Mallory Park. The Mallory meeting - a pilot event for a planned quartet of live-TV meetings in 2010, ahead of a full season of such meetings the following year - will feature a 16-race programme of 10-minute races for saloons, sports cars and single-seaters with the emphasis squarely on entertainment. "The aim is to provide the most exciting spectacle that British club racing can offer," says event director Magnus Laird, "and to bring back some of the appeal which has been eroded in recent years for spectators, competitors and sponsors alike.  "The combination of full grids, short races and live television, combined with slick organisation and presentation, should prove a winning formula."   Behind the cameras at the Sunday 16 May event will be the technicians of HayFisher, the country's leading motorsport TV production company. The action will be beamed via HayFisher's unique wireless camera system and a satellite uplink truck from rural Leicestershire to the Paris HQ of Motors TV, from where it will be broadcast to homes Europe-wide.Eight championships are scheduled to appear and take part in double-header races at Mallory, including Kent-engined Formula Fords, Caterham Graduates, 2CVs, the Kumho BMW Championship, BARC Dunlop Motorsport News Saloons, BARC Intermarque League, Sports 2000 and the BARC Tin Tops Championship.  Organisers are pegging entry fees for competitors at £300 per car, to include a 10-minute qualifying session and two 10-minute races, with test sessions available at Mallory on the Saturday at just £30 for 25 minutes of track time. All competitors will receive a free DVD of the Motors TV programme and free in-paddock catering is planned.  The Mallory live TV raceday is being designed to appeal not only to armchair viewers and competitors but also to circuit-goers. Paddock entertainment will include between-race autotests against the clock, which all the race winners will be invited to contest, and there will be professional commentary and a 40-metre TV screen broadcasting the action.

Tom Ingram made a positive impression at Brands Hatch recently when he tested in the  new MSA and Autosport-backed Young Guns single-seater  read more    Pic: Jeff Bloxham Photography

Club MSV, MotorSport Vision’s in-house trackday division, has launched a new trackday taster session voucher to give riders and drivers the chance to try their car or bike on track.  Taster session vouchers are only available to novice trackday participants and entitle the recipient to a 20 minute session on track to sample the delights of riding or driving on circuit. The vouchers cost £20 for bikes and £25 for cars and are valid for all five MSV motorsport venues: Brands Hatch in Kent , Oulton Park in Cheshire , Snetterton in Norfolk , Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire and Bedford Autodrome. Visit www.clubmsv.co.uk for more information.

Formula 3 : With just 4 points between Tim Macrow and Joey Foster, this weekend’s final race in the Australian F3 Championship could prove to be an epic as both go for the title. Should Macrow win he  will become only the second person to win two Australian Formula 3 Championships, Paul Stevenson being the other in 1999 – 2000. If Foster takes the the title it will be the first time in history that drivers from outside Australia or New Zealand will have won the Gold Star in consecutive years, Brit James Winslow won it in 2008. read more

Formula Ford: John Martin returned to his roots at Philip Island last weekend to drive his 2005 Spectrum 010b Formula Ford 1600 in the Island Magic meeting.  He then proceeded to drive through the field from 12^th on the grid to take fourth place in the Phillip Island Formula Ford Trophy.  Read report

Formula Ford 2000: The USF2000 National Championship presented by Cooper Tire have released their calendar for 2010, a 12 race schedule starting in March with all but two of the races doubleheaders. The Indy Racing League-sanctioned series kicks off on March 27-28 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida alongside the IZOD IndyCar Series' Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Race 3 is on the oval at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis for the traditional Night Before the 500 program on May 29. Race 4 is another oval, once again with the IZOD IndyCar Series at Iowa Speedway on June 19. Two doubleheaders with the Atlantic and Star Mazda series come next at New Jersey Motorsports Park on June 26-27 and the Autobahn Country Club in Illinois on July 31 and Aug. 1. The series then wraps up its year with doubleheaders supporting the ALMS at Road America in Elkhart Lake on Aug. 21-22 and Road Atlanta in Georgia on Sept. 30-Oct. 1. The latter date is still provisional. "We feel our 2010 schedule offers an exciting mixture of circuits and will showcase our young drivers in front of some very important teams as they strive to make their way up racing's ladder system," said Dan Andersen, chief executive officer of the series. "The bulk of the series will be contested on road courses, but the two ovals and the street course should also provide great learning experiences. We look forward to a terrific year!"  Information on test days will be forthcoming as soon as possible on the series' Web site at usf2000.com.

Trans-Am: SCCA Pro Racing announced five dates for the 2010 SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series calendar. Ten dates are planned for the rejuvenated series' 43rd season. Starting at New Jersey Motorsports Park, the series will headline the May 8 -- 9 weekend. Thereafter, they travel to Mosport International Raceway on May 21 -- 23. Trans-Am will then co-headline the Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend at the Bowmanville, Ontario with SPEED World Challenge. It then heads to Lime Rock Park, July 2 -- 3, for the first time since 2003 before joining up with the NASCAR Camping World Series in Lakeville, Conneticutt on July 2-3. Next up on Sept. 4 -- 5 weekend at Brainerd International Raceway in central Minnesota before finishing the season in Alton, Virginia at VIRginia International Raceway. "We're making great strides with the new Trans-Am Series," SCCA Pro Racing President & CEO Robert Wildberger said. "After a transitional season last year, the series is making progress toward achieving its previous stature by headlining several events in 2010. We're especially excited about the all SCCA Pro Racing weekend at VIR in September. We'll have more details on that front soon." Five more rounds will be announced at a later date to bring the total to 10.

V8 Supercars: Reigning Australian F3 champion James Winslow looks set to make his first appearance in the country's V8 Supercar category after setting the pace at two different rookie test sessions in recent weeks. The Briton, who spent the season racing sportscars and Formula Atlantic in the U.S. returned to his adopted home 'down under' for the winter, and was first invited to try out with Greg Murphy Racing alongside five other V8 hopefuls. Having lapped right on V8 veteran Murphy's pace, he was offered a second outing with Jay Motorsport at Mallala, and again topped the times, leading to the invitation to race in next month's Sydney finale. Moreover, Winslow also came close to matching Bathurst 1000 winner Murphy's target time, after the Kiwi flew in to oversee the test. After taking the aspirants for a guided tour of the circuit from the cockpit of the Commodore, Murphy honed its set-up to establish a benchmark by which the youngsters cold be evaluated, but only Winslow came close. "It was great to get the opportunity to try a V8 Supercar after coming so close last season - and even better to get that chance with a driver of Greg Murphy's calibre," the Briton admitted, "Greg provided us with a few pointers before we went out, but I never expected to get quite so close to his time as I still had to get used to the car, which is a lot different to what I have been driving this season."   The Sydney Telstra 500 takes place over the weekend of 4-6 December

24-11-09

Karts: Jordan King made his KF2 debut recently at Shenington  and came away with a highly creditable fourth place in the final despite some minor issues with his brakes.  “I hadn’t really been too sure what to expect or what we would be able to achieve, to be honest”, he said. “It was a learning curve for the first weekend as we tried various things out, but Stuart(his team Stuart Wright Racing) did a really good job. Hopefully if everything goes right, we can be as quick as anybody and challenging right up at the front”.   Read report

Autosport International: Former Grand Prix driver and BBC commentator Martin Brundle will be entertaining the crowds at Autosport International, held at the NEC Birmingham, 14-17 January 2010, by sharing stories of life behind-the-scenes in the world's most glamorous sport. Martin's illustrious Formula One driving and television careers span 26 years and over 400 Grand Prix. He has driven for many teams including Williams, Benetton, and McLaren whilst racing against Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. He was also victorious with Jaguar at the Le Mans and Daytona 24 Hours races on his way to a World Sportscar title. In 1997 he moved alongside motorsport legend Murray Walker co-commentating to tens of millions of English-speaking F1 fans around the world. Martin will also be joined at the show by his son Alex who has been making his mark in Formula 2. While his father will recount his 2009 season from the world of F1, Alex, who has benefited from his father's hands-on management approach, will share his experiences from his first season in Formula Two, which returned to action this year. Show-goers will get the chance to see Alex get behind-the-wheel in the Live Action Arena during the weekend. Also in attendance will be 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button, former F1 racer Allan McNish, and all the cars from the 2009 World Championship on the F1 Racing Grid.

Formula 2: Promising Belgian racer Benjamin Bailly has joined the list of drivers who will contest the two day F2 winter test in Valencia on 3/4 December. The 19-year-old has been signed up by the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium (RACB) National Team, who have also pledged their support to current Formula Renault 3.5 champion Bertrand Baguette, who will be testing for the Renault F1 Teamin Jerez next month.  Bailly, winner of the Formul'Academy Euro Series in 2009, is looking to move to F2 in 2010 and thanks to the RACB, the teenager will climb into the cockpit of an F2 car for the first time during the Spanish test. "

V de V : Nick Padmore and Jean-Lou Rihon were back in action this weekend at Estoril, Portugal for the final round of the French V de V Championship. The pair drove superbly in the wet conditions to climb through the field from the back end pf the grid to finish in an excellent fourth place.   Read report

World Land Speed Record and Superleague Formula: Even though the curtain came down on the 2009 Superleague Formula by Sonangol season at Jarama earlier this month, the shriek of the series’ bespoke V12 engine won’t remain silent for very long. That’s because the 4.2-litre unit is being readied to help take on one of the greatest technological challenges mankind has yet to attempt – 1000mph on land.  Over the next few months, one of Superleague’s MCT-developed powerplants will be tested by Richard Noble and his Bloodhound SSC team as they prepare to smash the World Land Speed Record. The fact that Superleague’s engine, which produces 750bhp, will only be used to power Bloodhound’s auxiliary systems such as the fuel pump and electrical equipment says much for the scale of this project. The smallest of three engines, it is dwarfed by the rocket and jet motor that will together provide all 42,500lbs of forward thrust. That’s roughly equivalent to the total power of 180 F1 cars!  Development begins with rocket simulation work before the engine is run in conjunction with its counterparts for the first time next month. Although no definite completion date has yet been reached, the team hope to make their first record attempt in 2011 when they will aim to reach Mach 1.4.  The project caps an impressive year for the engine which was nominated as a finalist at the British Engineering Excellence Awards in September. The 2009 Superleague Formula title fight also witnessed the championship’s 18 teams clock up a combined distance of nearly 50,000kms across the season without a single major engine failure recorded. Kevin Lee, MCT’s managing director, said: “At the end of our second year working with the Superleague team, the partnership continues to go from strength to strength. Superleague’s Robin Webb and team have again done an outstanding job of combining the passions of motorsport and football, taking the package to an ever-growing audience. With drivers of the calibre of Sebastien Bourdais moving to the series, the growing stature of the championship is there for all to see. It’s an exciting time for Superleague and we feel privileged to be involved.”  Robin Webb, Competition Director of Superleague Formula, added: “MCT has done a fantastic job delivering a reliable, innovative and high-performance product. The engine is one of Superleague Formula's hallmarks, which has provoked many a positive comment from the established motorsport media. In particular, that evocative exhaust note is very distinctive and one that has helped turn the series into a crowd favourite."

23-11-09

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear today takes on a more prominent and influential role in the training and career development of young open-wheel racers with the announcement of a 2010 schedule that includes events on American Le Mans Series and Indy Racing League weekends as well as the high-profile "Night Before the 500."  Read more

Clio Cup: Scottish saloon car racer Rory Bryant is eyeing a step-up to the ELF Renault Clio Cup in 2010 with multiple title winning team Total Control Racing following on from a successful maiden test run with Lee Brookes’ squad at Silverstone National Circuit last week. Getting behind the wheel of a Renault Clio for the first time on Friday, 20th November, 21-year-old Bryant impressed with his ability, feedback and willingness to learn. With conditions largely wet early on and drying throughout the day, Bryant was able to sample the 2.0-litre Clio with both treaded and slick tyres and produced a performance the team was very happy with. TCR principal Brookes commented: “Rory did ever so well, we were really impressed with his performance. He’d never driven a Clio Cup car before Friday’s test but he listened to everything we told him, he showed ability and his first impressions were as good as anyone. He needs more mileage in the car but from what we saw at Silverstone, he could be a front-runner in Clios.” Based in Dalmeny Village, Edinburgh, Bryant competed in the BRSCC Ford Fiesta Championship in 2009 – finishing fifth overall in his first season while also contesting eight Fiesta races at his local circuit, Knockhill, where he enjoyed a 100 per cent success rate. Reflecting on his Clio Cup outing, Bryant said: “I really enjoyed it, the Clio is a lot different to what I’m used to and it’s a great car to drive. Clios is definitely what I want to do in 2010 and TCR is the only team I want to race with. We’re making good progress with the budget so, hopefully, we can get the remainder sorted out early in the New Year before testing more in February and March.”  pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

British GT: Scottish team ProMotorsport plans to return to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in 2010 with a double-strength attack on the GT4 class. After sitting out this season, Derek Palmer's squad will be back with the Nissan 350Z it last raced in the championship in 2008, as well as another 350Z which is currently in build at the team's Lanark base.Palmer says three of his four drivers are already confirmed, all experienced GT4 hands: Derek Palmer Jr, Rick Pearson and Faithless dance band lead singer Maxi Jazz. "Maxi will not be available for all the rounds but he intends to do most of them," says Palmer Sr. "The new 'short weekend' format of the championship is great for us and the tracks are perfect." Championship promoter SRO Motorsports Group is hoping that the switch to a straight Saturday/Sunday format, with no Friday running, will attract more time-constrained amateur drivers to the championship, particularly in GT4. Last week SRO announced an eight-date, 14-race British GT calendar for 2010, including a season-closing 'into the night' race at Donington Park and a two-hour race on the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone. The calendar has been carefully planned so that no race days clash with other major UK championships, including BTCC events.  pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

FBMW: Will Buller (GBR/Eurointernational) conquered the Guia Circuit on Sunday, winning the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific season finale at the 56th Macau Grand Prix. The dramatic eight-lap race saw Buller finish ahead of teammate Jim Pla (FRA) and the newly crowned Formula BMW Pacific winner Rio Haryanto (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus). Just eight out of the record 23-strong field finished the race, after an incident at Mandarin Bend on Lap 1 forced numerous cars out of the race. The Safety Car was sent out for a lap, but on the restart on lap three, Buller managed to get ahead of Pla and lead for the rest of the race. Haryanto was comfortable in third, although more drivers saw their race end, including 2007 Formula BMW Asia winner Jaafar who hit the barrier at San Francisco Bend. On the last lap, a mistake by Buller at the Melco Hairpin could have spelled out a different result, but Buller recovered and Pla, who finished just four-tenths of a second behind, was unable to take the lead. Buller's win gave his team Eurointernational their 25th Formula BMW victory of the season in 35 races. Finishing fourth was guest driver, Hong Kong's Jim Ka To (Champ Motorsport). Formula BMW Pacific Junior Axcil Jefferies (ZIM/15/Eurasia Motorsport) finished fifth overall in his Macau debut and, though he suffered a puncture as a result of the opening-lap incident, the Rookie Cup runner-up managed a strong finish to his debut racing season.

22-11-09

Macau F3: Edoardo Mortara took a hard-fought victory in the Macau Grand Prix on Sunday after a race-long duel with his Signature team-mate Jean-Karl Vernay.  The Italian starting from third on the grid made a good getaway to pass the the front-row starters of Marcus Ericsson and pole position man Vernay.  The race was then stopped a few moments later when the track was blocked following a multiple-car collision caused when Daniel Ricciardo crashed into the wall at the Solitude Esses and was clipped by a number of other cars.  At the restart, Mortara got away cleanly once again but his advantage was not enough to prevent Vernay getting into his slipstream and overtaking him into Lisboa.  From there, the Signature pair were locked in a very tight battle for the lead , with Vernay looking as though he had done enough as Mortara could not get close enough in the final corners of the lap to get a slipstream down the main straight.  However, coming out of the Melco Hairpin on lap 11, Vernay made a mistake, which allowed Mortara to close up on him and swoop past into the lead going into Lisboa on lap 12. From there, Mortara was able to pull away and take the victory.  “It feels fantastic,” said the delighted Mortara. “So many things are going through my head I don’t know where to start. I feel so emotional. After such a difficult season this year, it is unbelievable. I am proud of this victory.”  Britain’s Sam Bird finished third, having moved up the field from seventh on the grid. He was fifth in the early stages of the race, but took fourth from Ericsson on lap 12. He then moved up another place on the final lap when third place runner Valtteri Bottas slowed with a wheel problem. Ericsson finished fourth, with Bottas fifth.

Manor Motorsport’s Robert Merhi was on for a top sixth finish in today’s (Sunday)  56th Windsor Arch Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix before a spin dropped the Spaniard out of contention. His team-mate,Columbian Carlos Huertas, meanwhile took a promising 12^th place finish  for John Booth;s team.    Read report     Pic - Jakob Ebrey Photograpy

WTCC - Gabriele Tarquini set a couple of new records by winning the WTCC. He is the oldest FIA World Champion and he scored the highest number of points (127) ever for a WTCC season.  The 47-year old Italian eclipsed Juan-Manuel Fangio's record that lasted since 1957, when the Argentine ace claimed his fifth F1 title. Tarquini is the first Italian to win an FIA world championship since Teo Fabi in the 1991 World Sportscars Championship. The two races in Macau were frantic as usual and contained plenty of drama. Chevrolet and BMW shared victories, with Robert Huff in the first race and Augusto Farfus in the second respectively. This was Farfus' sixth win in the season, which also marked a new record for WTCC. But in the  end SEAT took all for the second consecutive year, including the  Manufacturers' Championship with a slim three-point margin ahead of BMW. Tom Coronel completed SEAT's triumph by winning the Independents' Trophy for the second time.  The championship now faces a three-month winter break, before the new season will start in Curitiba, Brazil, on March 7th, 2010.   read report

Yvan Muller will move to Chevrolet for the 2010 WTCC season. The 2008 world champion joins Robert Huff and Alain Menu in the three-car line up and underlines Chevrolet's commitment to the WTCC. Speaking of the move Yvan said, "I am delighted to join Chevrolet. After four successful years with SEAT, I was looking for a new challenge and Chevrolet was my first choice. Having witnessed their growth in the WTCC and knowing RML since my years in the BTCC, I am extremely confident in the potential of the Cruze."  Wayne Brannon, manager of Chevrolet Europe commented: "To be able to secure the services of a world champion such as Yvan Muller is a valuable plus to our WTCC programme. I am convinced that he will contribute a lot to the development of the Cruze."

Karts: Peterborough’ Callum Bowyer, put on an impressive show on his debut in the KF2 class by almost winning at Shenington, in the opening round of the 2009/10 Winter Series. Despite being up against several more experienced KF2 drivers, Callum was closing on the leader when his engine let go with just two laps remaining.    ..read report    pic - Chris Walker/www.kartpix.net

FBMW: Australian Formula BMW Junior, Chris Wootton has been cleared of any major injuries after a massive accident in the Formula BMW Pacific support race at the Macau Grand Prix on Saturday 21 Nov. Whilst in a great deal of pain, doctors have said he has heavy bruising of his wrist after he was rushed to hospital from the accident with a suspected broken wrist. The crash happened on the opening lap of the final race of the 2009 season when Chris was collected by another competitor at 180kph. With no room for movement on the tight Guia circuit, a multi-car pile-up ensued. Such was the damage, Wootton’s Eurasia Motorsport Formula BMW FB02 was rendered a write-off. He was the second fastest of the regular drivers during practice and then in qualifying he placed the Eurasia machine in sixth –the second fastest of the regular FBMW Pacific pilots. Such a bruising encounter was the race, less than half the 22 car field greeted the chequered flag.   “I’m in a bit of pain, but otherwise OK. “I was really hoping to finish the season strongly and it looked good, but what can you do when you ‘race’ with people who drive like that? It’s been the same right throughout the year. Practice and Qualifying were fantastic, I was ecstatic with the pace we showed, the first and third sectors were really good, we were right on pace. The long middle sector, we were a little off the pace and that was the difference between me being further up the grid. We take a lot of encouragement from the year, there were lots of times we showed some good pace. The bad luck we experienced was just something else. It was just one thing after another. Let’s hope that’s my bad year out of the way and we can build from there. My engineer, Greg Wheeler did a fantastic job in often difficult circumstances and so too Mark Goddard and the Eurasia Motorsport team.”

21-11-09

Formula 3 - Jean-Karl vernay won the qualifying race at the Macau GP driving for Signature-Plus. Second, just 0.271 seconds behind was the TOMS  Dallara Toyota of  pole sitter Marcus Ericsson. Third was Edordo Mortara in the second Signature-Plus Dallara VW. British F3 Champion Daniel Ricciardo was sixth ahead of ART Grand Prix driver Sam Bird.

WTCC: Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini have been declared fit to take part in tomorrow's championship-deciding races. Both SEAT sport drivers were involved in a serious crash in qualifying on Friday. After tests at a local hospital and a night's rest the pair were seen by the FIA doctors this afternoon and given the all clear.  Gabriele Tarquini stated: "Physically I feel a bit stiff but fortunately we have had one day to recover so I hope that tomorrow I wake up a little bit better than now. I was optimistic for another pole but ended up in the hospital so you know never know. I couldn't have avoided the accident. It was the track conditions and Yvan stopped just after the cloud of cement dust and I couldn't avoid him. I was on full throttle and hit him at 130kph. The car was destroyed so I thought it was impossible to make the races but the mechanics said not to worry and they repaired it." Yvan Muller said: "I am able to race, I feel well but for some muscular pains. I fold but I don't break. There was doubt about my car but the team did a fantastic job. It was a lot of hours of work but they did it. I'm a bit disappointed because my lap time before the crash was fast but probably too fast! Macau is impossible to predict so I don't like to guess what might happen tomorrow. I don't like to gamble!"

The SEAT Sport team crew worked most of the night to repair Tarquini's and Muller's cars. They finished at 2.00 on Saturday morning, and after some sleep they were back at the track to finish off.  "Gabriele's car was not so bad. It was a head-on impact and we are used to it. On the other hand, Yvan's car had suffered more substantial damage, especially at the rear. We had to take out the roll cage to repair the chassis. But in the end both cars are like new now," SEAT Sport technical director Benoît Bagur explained. The team also changed the engine on Tarquini's car, however the Italian driver will not be penalised because of art. 74 of the Sporting Regulations, that allows engine changes in case of massive accidents.

After Kirill Ladygin destroyed his car during Friday's free practice, the WTCC field has lost another two cars: Stefano D'Aste's BMW and James Thompson's LADA that were damaged beyond repair in the qualifying session after the Briton crashed into D'Aste's stationary car. Thompson would have not raced anyway as he is currently forced to use crutches having suffered from bruises to his feet. "I want to thank the medical staff, because they were very efficient and professional. And I also wish to thank Stefano D'Aste, who stayed with me all the time. I appreciated it a lot especially because after the crash I momentarily lost my sight. Having Stefano with me when I was transported to the hospital was very reassuring," said Thompson.

20-11-09

WTCC: Robert Huff took pole in a dramatic final qualifying session of 2009. Andy Priaulx was second while Augusto Farfus claimed third. Both SEAT title contenders, Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini, had huge crashes in Q2 and will line up seventh and eighth respectively if their cars can be repaired. Q1 - As expected in such a crucial qualifying, the teams hit the track in groups to benefit from slipstreaming. D'Aste was the first to make a mistake and did so after the Solitude Esses. He hit the wall and his car stayed on the track for the remainder of the session. Meanwhile, Yvan Muller had a spell at the top while Huff was also on the pace. Farfus was sitting tenth before he and Priaulx had a hot lap and the Brazilian took eighth and the Briton sixth. A final surge by SEAT saw all five cars in Q2, however Rydell's car suffered engine problems at the end of session and stopped on the track. The session ended in drama as James Thompson smashed into the back of D'Aste's stationary car after which he was taken to hospital for a check-up. Zanardi and Larini both narrowly missed out on Q2. Tom Coronel was the fastest Independent taking 13th on the grid followed by rival Porteiro 14th and local man Couto 16th. Q2 - Within five minutes, two of the championship’s main protagonnists had crashed. Tarquini and Muller were in close contact when they encountered oil left from Thompson's earlier collision which send them spinning. The cars were both too damaged to continue and Muller also went to hospital for checks. Menu, who was behind the SEAT duo, also picked up some damage, although the team tried to repair the Cruze in time he could not set a time. As the night was falling, Huff did a 2:32.141 pushing Priaulx and Farfus to second and third, while Gené took fourth ahead of Monteiro and Müller. Qualifying results remain suspended pending the Data Logging System checks and fuel analysis.

James Thompson, Gabriele Tarquini and Yvan Muller were all sent to Macau hospital for clinical checks after their crashes during today’s qualifying session. All examinations and scans were clear and the three drivers were discharged. They will be checked again by the FIA doctor tomorrow at 17.00 in the circuit’s medical centre to be cleared for racing on Sunday.
Saturday is a day off for the WTCC, as the racing programme is dedicated to the Motorcycling Grand Prix and the first leg of Formula 3 giving the teams time to repair the cars.

Formula Renault: Aaro Vainio, 16 from Finland, the 2009  European Champion and World Championship runner-up in his first season in the Super KF, has embarked on a programme of testing to prepare him for the move up to car racing in 2010, where he'll be driving for French team SG Formula in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. He goes into single-seater racing with an impressive record behind him in kart racing. He enjoyed success with Italian works team Maranello Kart. Aaro is now being managed by Nicolas Todt and will start his Formula Renault 2.0 career racing in this year’s Eurocup series. Stéphane Guérin, SG Formula's team-manager, was impressed with what he saw. "He did his first test laps for us in Nogaro. Then we went to Portimao in Portugal. This circuit is, in my opinion, a fine judge of the abilities of a young driver. In this short time, Aaro has already demonstrated his human qualities. He appears to be well-equipped with the necessary mental and physical qualities. We haven’t been easy on him in terms of miles covered since he arrived. I'm enthusiastic about this project for two reasons. Firstly, the opportunity to work with Nicolas Todt once again. He is extremely thorough in everything he undertakes. The last time we worked together was the tremendous adventure that led to Jules Bainchi being crowned French champion. Secondly, turning a young kart driver into a winner is what SG Formula is all about. The 2010 European season promises to be very open, with the arrival of new cars and relatively few drivers with experience of the class in the field. There is a great opportunity for a talented rookie to make a big impact." Testing will start again in a few days time down in Spain, on the Monteblanco circuit. The 2010 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup season kicks off at Motorland in Aragon next April 17-18.

Formula 3: Jean-Eric Vergne has taken a big step forward after a good season in Formula Renault 2.0 during which he fought at the front in the WEC and Eurocup Championships. Next year, he will race in the British F3 Championship in Red Bull colours for Carlin Motorsport..

Le Mans: 2010 24 Heures du Mans: The official list of the 29 automatically selected entrants  - The Le Mans 24 Hours, the Petit Le Mans, the Le Mans Series in Europe ,the U.S. and Asia plus the winner of the Michelin Green X Challenge make up the races, championships and trophies, which get automatic selection into next year's Le Mans 24 Hours. In applying ACO regulations and taking into account a few special cases (explained in the attached list of the races, series and qualifying trophies), the Automobile Club de l'Ouest has officially selected 29 entrants for the 78th Le Mans 24 Hours on 12th -- 13th June 2010.   read more

19-11-09

Formula 3: The Closest rival to the two drivers fighting for the 2009 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship says that a new qualifying format at the final round will make qualifying play a more critical role than ever in deciding the winner. The grid for the 22-lap SuperPrix season finale’ will be decided with a F1-style knockout system, where the top six cars from Qualifying two will fight out for the Yorkshire investments pole award in their own 10-minute session, dubbed the ‘Quick Six’. AmPro Tools / Astuti Motorsport driver Mathew Sofi says that the new knockout-style qualifying will only increase the pressure on the title contenders during the weekend. “You are going to find at Sandown that we have one of the closest grids of the year, so qualifying will be absolutely critical,” the Sydney driver – a career best third in the championship this year– said. “Sandown is a track where there won’t be much of a margin between a well-driven F304 (National Class) car and the championship class F307s, so coupled with the extra depth next weekend it wouldn’t be impossible to see one of the main contenders missing out of the Quick Six. With the strongest and biggest grid of the year, qualifying up the front will be more important than ever. If one of the contenders slips up in qualifying and misses the Quick Six he could probably throw his championship chances away.”  Sofi has been the closest opposition to current title-leader Tim Macrow and rival Joey Foster this season, and has been the only driver outside of that pair to score a Yorkshire Investments pole award this year. Foster and Macrow have almost split the pole honours evenly in 2009, Macrow witrh 7 just ahead of Foster on 6.  Sofi, a winner at Eastern Creek in July, said that his team was heading into Sandown with nothing but a win on their minds. “We are in the position where we can’t improve our championship position and it would have to be a very bad weekend for us to lose it, so we’re going out to win the biggest race of the year,” he said. “My plan is to get out in front and drive away while the other two battle amongst themselves for the title. I don’t want to be involved in that – as long as I’m in front of them! We have arguably had one of the fastest cars for the last two or three rounds so we’re pretty confident going into a track where no-one has any experience for the past four or five years.”Mat Sofi’s sponsor AmPro Tools has also supported the series as a whole this season, offering up an $880.00, 122-piece Aluminium cased tool set to the AmPro Tools Mechanic of the year winner.The award recipient will be the crew member who has been judged the most deserving of the award via their efforts, dedication, skills and commitment throughout in this years Championship. pic Nathan Wong / F3A Image

Formula Ford: Some of the country's top karters will be among the young drivers sampling the cars and the teams from the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain at a special event at Rockingham next month. The top three from August's MSA 'Kartmasters' British Grand Prix - Mark Litchfield, Jake Ball and Max Goff - will be in action at Rockingham's Formula Ford 'Sampler Day' on 2 December as part of their prize for making the KF2 podium at August's Trent Valley Kart Club-organised event. They will all sample one of the race-winning works Van Diemens prepared by Fluid Motorsport. The Ford-backed championship's annual sampler day provides an opportunity for prospective competitors to meet the teams and to drive the cars. In addition to the Kartmasters winners, a number of invited karting cadets will be attending, along with their parents, for a behind the scenes look at the championship. The karting cadets will also enjoy passenger rides with Formula Ford Festival winner and McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year finalist Chrissy Palmer. Training company fit2race will be holding seminars about how drivers can train and prepare themselves for competition, and what they should be doing through the winter period. fit2race will offer advice on effective training, sports nutrition, sports massage, injury management and event preparation. Also, new championship tyre supplier and title sponsor Dunlop will be on hand to meet and provide technical assistance to drivers and teams, and electronics manufacturer Intercomp Racing Systems will be displaying its latest equipment. The sampler day is open to all drivers aged 16 and over holding at least a kart licence. Prospective participants must register in advance with the championship co-ordinator, Penny Mattocks

WTCC: BMW Team Germany's duo of Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller set the pace in Wednesday's test at Macau. In the first half of the session all drivers were very cautious in getting to know the grip on the track. Tom Coronel was the first to top the time sheet with a lap of 2:35.871, which was then improved by Gabriele Tarquini (2:34.585), Yvan Muller (2:34.281), Müller (2:34.216) and Rickard Rydell (2:33.765).Halfway through the session Farfus and Müller clocked the two fastest laps for good: 2:32.747 for the Brazilian and 2:33.333 for the German. Afterwards, only Robert Huff's Chevrolet managed to close the gap as the Briton completed a lap of 2:33.729 and climbed to third. Championship leaders Tarquini (2:34.069) and Muller (2:34.049) were placed seventh and fifth respectively, while Coronel improved to 2:34.178 and emerged as the fastest of the Independents. James Thompson's best was 2:34.773 putting his LADA Priora in 13th. A few drivers had some moments. Lei Kit Meng went straight at the Lisbõa bend and later spun at Dona Maria but managed to avoid the walls. This was not the case for Stefano D'Aste and Jaap van Lagen who stopped at Matsuya and Fishermen's respectively. 

The FIA WTCC team won the MGP challenge that took place yesterday at Macau's Fisherman's Wharf as promotional act of the racing weekend. Tom Coronel (captain), Tom Boardman, Augusto Farfus, Robert Huff, Tiago Monteiro and Jaap van Lagen made up the six-person crew that defeated three other teams of Formula 3 drivers, bike riders and representatives of the Macau Fisherman's Wharf. The challenge consisted in a course with four obstacles: Heritage (completing a puzzle of famous Macau landmarks), Driving Test (handling a remote-control toy car around a scale map of the Guia circuit), Best Foot Forward (jumping in the squares of a ladder laid out on the ground), Dim Sum (bringing to the finish line two piles of Dim Sum baskets without dropping it).The FIA WTCC completed the challenge with the fastest time from F3 and Bikers, but not without casualties. While crossing the line, Coronel threw the Dim Sum baskets in the air and was hit by one of them, receiving a couple of scratches on his lip and forehead.

Tom Coronel's SUNRED Engineering-run SEAT León will sport a brand new livery in Macau, as the Dutch driver got backing from Hong Kong-based company Noble Group.This is the third different livery for Coronel during the current season, after the orange-and-white of SEAT Netherlands and the dark blue of McGregor's. "I actually have to thank McGregor's and Noble Group, because without them I would have been forced to miss Japan and Macau, losing my chances to win the Independents' title," Coronel said

18-11-09

BTCC: Saloon car racer Alex MacDowall is eyeing a move into the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship in the 2010 season following a successful maiden test at the wheel of a Motorbase Performance BMW 320si E90 at Brands Hatch this week. The Carlisle-based driver, Runner-up in the  2009 ELF Renault Clio Cup, thoroughly enjoyed his first ever taste of a current BTCC car  with Dave Bartrum’s race-winning team on Tuesday, (17th Nov). Lapping competitively and adapting impressively to the rear-wheel drive BMW, the BRDC Rising Star was credited with doing “a great job” by Bartrum. Such was the level of his performance, Alex is now considering moving his graduation to touring cars forward by a year – having originally planned to step-up to the BTCC in 2011. “The test was fantastic and I want to say a big thank you to everyone at Motorbase for helping things go so smoothly”, said Alex, “ The BMW is obviously a completely different car to what I’ve been used to the last couple of years in Renault Clios but I didn’t have any problems adapting to the rear-wheel drive. The increased grip was one of the biggest differences. Jonathan Adam (Motorbase BTCC driver and former ELF Renault Clio Cup Champion), with whom I’ve worked closely this year, set a benchmark time for me to aim for and when we compared data I’d matched what he’d done which was a great boost. We’re considering our options for next year but if we are able to secure the financial backing, it’s possible we could be on the BTCC grid.” Looking to 2010, along with potential openings in touring cars Alex is also considering options in the European SEAT championship or a final season of Clio Cup.  pic: Gary Hawkins

Formula 3: Two young Chinese drivers will take part in the final round of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship – The F3 SuperPrix – at Sandown next week. 18-year-old Zhang Shan Qi (left)and 16-year-old Li Zhi Cong (right) will drive a pair of F304 Dallaras entered by R-Tek Motorsport, the Adelaide based team that ran Jesse Wakeman and Roger I’Anson this year  Both young drivers are part of the PTRS Racing Team, a well known Chinese-based operation that has run cars in Asian Formula Renault, Formula 3 and other series.  Members of the PTRS team will be present at Sandown to work with the R-Tek crew in assisting their young protégés adapt to Formula 3, as both drivers will be making their respective F3 debuts at Sandown. “I am very excited as it’s going to be my first F3 race,” Zhang Shan Qi said. “It is also going to be my first time visiting Australia so I’m very much looking forward to it! I am grateful to have this opportunity to take part in this great event in Australia and also the chance to be able to race with the other drivers from different parts of the world. I will definitely do my best and try to gain as much experience as I can for my future racing career.” Both Shan Qi and Cong have recent experience in Asian Formula Renault, good preparation for the step up to Formula 3.  “Both drivers have got wings and slicks experience which will make the transition easier for them at Sandown. From a team perspective we’re really looking forward to having the two guys join the team,” R-Tek team owner and F3 chairman Ian Richards said. “The Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship has been working hard this year to increase our penetration in the Asian market and the response we have had for Sandown is remarkable. People are seeing Australian Formula 3 as a cost-effective and competitive way to go Formula 3 racing and the Sandown grid will be proof of that.” The Sandown F3 SuperPrix grid will feature seven non-Australian drivers, hailing from the UK, New Zealand, Indonesia and China. Chinese broadcaster CCTV 5 will be showing the event, and the progress of their two countrymen. Sandown will also see the showdown between Tim Macrow and Joey Foster for the CAMS Gold Star award and the Australian Drivers’ Championship title. For Macrow, it will be an opportunity for a second Gold Star whilst Foster seeks his first title. The Sandown F3 SuperPrix is on Sunday, November 29^th. For more information please visit www.formula3.com.au

GP2: As Alexander Rossi prepares for his upcoming BMW/Sauber F1 test in Jerez on December 1-3, he joined the GP2 series in their final 2009 test at Paul Ricard last week(Nov 10-12). Rossi was originally down to drive with DAMS on day one and Piquet GP on day three, however a vacant seat on day two at Piquet gave him sone additional; mileage. For GP2, Bridgestone have created a tyre with similar characteristics to that of F1. This gives the next generation of potential F1 drivers a chance to learn how to maximize the complexities of the tyres, one of  the most critical elements in putting together a quick lap in qualifying. Rossi entered the test with this in mind, knowing it this is a key element to his first F1 outing. With his F1 test only three weeks away. "At this level of motorsport,” stated Rossi, “there is so much that goes into being able to find the maximum of the tyre, as chances are you will only get one lap and one opportunity to string it all together. While many factors play a part in the ultimate lap,including race craft, I believe that fully understanding the tyre is the most important aspect a driver must know. The Bridgestone this week gave me new meaning to the word ‘push'. I am just looking forward to being able to get into the BMW / Sauber and put all the key pieces together.” Rossi’s test on Day 2 was just 0.4secs off the quickest time which placed him P10 in the morning and P14 in the afternoon. On his debut in an F1 car he said, “I know many of the drivers that will be at the Jerez official F1 test", Rossi added. "This will be my first opportunity to introduce myself to Formula One. In motorsports an opportunity of this magnitude has far reaching potential and one I take very seriously. My goals for the test are to put in a fantastic performance while fully absorbing the whole experience. At the same time, however, I feel it is my duty to represent the BMW Sauber F1 team well at their last official test and I plan on delivering an excellent result, one which they can be proud of.”

Formula Renault:  SG Formula came within a whisker of its third Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup team trophy, finishing the 2009 season on the same number of points as the winner! The La Rochelle based team will now begin preparations for it next year and it’s pre-2010 testing.  Read more

Carrera Cup GB:  Next TV dates confirmed for Porsche Carrera Cup GB. The 13th programme on TV of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be broadcast in the Motorsport UK programme on ITV4 at 5pm on Tuesday 24 November, on ITV1 on the night of Thursday 26 November and repeated on ITV4 on the afternoon of Saturday 28 November.  
Motorsport UK will be broadcast as follows:
Tuesday 24 November at 5pm on ITV4
Friday 27 November at 12.30am on ITV1
Saturday 28 November (time tba) on ITV4

17-11-09

V de V – Estoril 6 Hours:  For the fourth year running, Estoril will host the last round of the Série V de V.  The Championships for the  Challenge Endurance Proto may have already been decided but the Endurance GT/Tourisme and VHC Challenges are still up for grabs at the Estoril 6 Hours with local driver Manuel De Mello Breyner attempting to pocket the category B title.  Read preview

FBMW - With a field of 24 of top quality junior single-seater talent, the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific season is set for a grand finale at the Macau this weekend, November 19-22. After a successful debut at the Macau Grand Prix last year, Formula BMW Pacific returns in 2009 for a 10-lap race on the 6.2km track. All the Formula BMW Pacific drivers competing this weekend will hope to one day be invited back to compete in the headlining Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix. Briton Alexander Sims and Japan's Yuji Kunimoto, both of whom competed in the inaugural Formula BMW Pacific race at Macau in 2008 -- where Kunimoto finished fifth -- will return to Macau in this year to contest the unofficial world cup of Formula 3. With the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific Drivers table, Rookie Cup and Team Championship all resolved at last month's races in Okayama, this weekend is expected to be very competitive as both series regulars and guest drivers have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Newly-crowned Champion Rio Haryanto (INA/Questnet Team Qi-Meritus) is the favourite at Macau, the Indonesian earned the 2009 title by taking first-place points in each of the last nine races, a winning streak which began in May. Rookie Cup winner and Championship runner-up Gary Thompson (IRL/E-Rain Racing) is another driver to watch for. Behind him in third is Axcil Jefferies (ZIM/Eurasia Motorsport), runner-up in the Rookie Cup.  Formula BMW Pacific Juniors Chris Wootton (AUS/Eurasia Motorsport) and Steel Guiliana (AUS/Atlantic Racing Team) are both hoping to end their season on a high note. The hard-working Guiliana arrives in Macau having earned his best result of the season, a fifth-place in Japan, while Wootton will have the advantage as one of just six entrants to have experienced the Guia Circuit last year. The series regulars will be challenged by 2009 FBMW Europe Champion Felipe Nasr (BRA/Eurointernational) and his teammates Jim Pla(F) and William Buller(GB). Also on the Eurointernational team is Facu Regalia (ESP), the winner of Rounds 13 and 14 at Japan's Okayama International Circuit last month. Making a welcome return to the region is 2007 Formula BMW Asia series winner Jazeman Jaafar for Raikkonen Robertson Racing. Representing Macau is local racing outfit Asia Racing Team, whose drivers Suriya Bala Kerisnan Thevar (SIN), who will compete on the Guia Circuit for the first time, while Alon Day (ISR) returns for a second year.

Saloons – LMA have stepped down as sponsors of the BRSCC’s Euro Saloon and Sports car Series After 10 years with the Championship. The Series will of course continue and hopefully a new Title sponsor will be forthjcoming for 2010.

Formula Master - Swiss-French driver Yann Zimmer had the possibility to participate in one of the tests of the International Formula Master Series, which took place today, Tuesday, on the Italian circuit of Misano.  Zimmer managed this thanks to  the support of Alain Menu, (who is helping him with advice and contacts in this crucial phase of his racing career), and Chevrolet, in the framework of the agreement existing between the WTCC and IFM, which also includes initiatives to foster new talent.  Zimmer is regarded as one of the most promising formulae drivers in Switzerland and France coming second in the 2009 Formula Academy Euro Series, after winning in 2008 the "Volant ACO".  Yann Zimmer said,  "I am delighted to have had the opportunity of testing an International Formula Master car and grateful to Alain and Chevrolet, who have made this possible. This is the biggest  and most powerful formula car I have driven so far and the experience will be very helpful in planning the future steps of my career. I know Alain Menu as one of the greatest Swiss champions since I was a child, but only got to know him personally a few years ago, when I was racing karts with his son Maxime. Since then, he has been a sort of unofficial coach and I am proud to count on his support and advice." Menu added, "It's great that Yann got this testing opportunity, thanks to IFM and Chevrolet. I have known Yann since a couple of years and I can tell he is a gifted, determined and very professionally-minded young driver. Seeing him, of course, I remember the early stages of my own career, when I was trying to make my way in the highly-competitive world of single-seater formulae with almost no backing at all and being forced to go abroad to try my chance. Yann is in the same situation now and if there is any way I can support him, I will do it, because I really believe in his potential and that he deserves a proper chance in motorsports."

16-11-09

VW Fun Cup - British racing driver Nick Padmore made a stellar appearance in the VW Fun Cup round at Snetterton at the weekend. Sharing with Fun Cup regular, Richard Ince, in the Richmond Racing entry, he won the sprint race and only just missed out on victory with P2 in the 6-hour 'Into the Night' feature race.   read report

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship has revealed an eight-date, 14-race calendar for the 2010 season, the highlights of which are a season-closing 'into the night' race at Donington Park and a two-hour race on the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone. There will also be a return to the former French Grand Prix circuit of Magny-Cours, last visited by British GT in 2006. The championship will kick off with an Easter Saturday/Monday outing at Oulton Park. The championship opener will, like most of British GT's UK dates, be alongside the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series. A full F3 calendar, including that championship's overseas dates, is expected to be finalised soon. All British GT events will in 2010 feature a revised format devised in consultation with the teams. There will be no testing on the Friday - saving teams and drivers a full day at the track - with two one-hour free practice sessions, as well as two 15-minute qualifying sessions, scheduled for the Saturday. All races (either a brace of one-hour events or a two-hour endurance race) will take place on the Sunday. The calendar has been carefully planned so that no races clash with other major UK championships, including BTCC events. "We are very pleased with the provisional dates and the venues," said Bernadette Fitzsimons, General Manager SRO Motorsports Group. "The competitors were adamant that they wanted to retain eight events in total, and that has enabled us to include Knockhill on the provisional calendar, which we are very pleased about because it will give us once again the chance to work with Knockhill's enthusiastic and helpful staff. We are also delighted to be returning to the Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone, which is a particular favourite of the drivers, and are excited to be able to plan an "into the night" race at Donington Park. This is proposed as a two-hour endurance event with refuelling pit stops, and should make for a really dramatic finale to the championship." Other plans already announced for the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT season include the reintroduction of the Cup Class, providing a cost-effective means of competing at the highest level of GT racing in the UK, as well as changes to GT3 to allow all FIA GT3 homologated cars to compete, including those with superseded homologation, and the introduction of an innovative Challenge Cup for amateur drivers. There will be excellent TV coverage on terrestrial TV via Channel 4, with additional coverage on Motors TV across Europe, and online via Channel 4's video-on-demand service 4OD.   calendar

Club Racing: The BRSCC season officially finished on Saturday when the chequered flag came down on the Funcup 6 hour race at 6.22pm. For the record, the race was won by the Happy Racing team, consisting of Jason Porter & Max Hunter.  During the eight month season the BRSCC and their six regional Centres have run more than 40 race meetings at 11 different circuits. Meetings have ranged from international events such as the FIA GT’s at Silverstone through to a ‘clubbie’ at Pembrey. The BRSCC would like to thank all the competitors, officials and above all, the marshals who have contributed to the season. Planning has already started for the 2010 season and dates will be announced as soon as possible. The next major event on the BRSCC calendar is the Autosport Show (see below) where they will have a prominent stand displaying cars from many of their championships.

The BRSCC was greatly saddened to hear the news earlier this month of the death of former Chief Executive, Grant Stewart, who passed away suddenly on Saturday 31st October. Grant joined the BRSCC as Chief Executive in February 1999 from the Scottish Motor Racing Club. During his five year tenure he was instrumental in the introduction of both the PowerTour and the SuperClub packages. BRSCC Chairman, Bernard Cottrell said “Everyone at the Club was shocked to hear of Grant’s untimely death at such a young age of just 44. Our deepest condolences go to Grant’s family and friends and particularly his mother Jem.”

Want to get involved in the Caterham Roadsport or Caterham Superlight series but unsure if you’d like making the move to one of these open-top categories? Well you can experience the exhilaration of the Caterham Seven at Autosport International in January. Held at the NEC in Birmingham on 14-17 January, the Caterham Drive Experience will give show-goers a jaw-dropping spin around a specially constructed indoor drift course. Expert drivers will be on-hand to demonstrate exactly what the cars can do: and with the ability to accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.8 seconds, it is sure to be a thrilling ride!  Located in Hall 4 next to the Live Action Arena, the Caterham Drive Experience will provide motorsport enthusiasts with all the sounds and smells that come with the excitement of racing the lightweight sportscar. And that’s not the only action visitors will get to trial. Show-goers can get behind-the-wheel themselves at the karting track or virtually in the Mobil 1 Grand Prix simulator. Designed by drivers for drivers, the racing simulator is a full-size replica of a 2009 Grand Prix car, providing what is dubbed as the most realistic off-track racing experience. Why not see if your skills match up to those of F1 champion Jenson Button?

Another BRSCC championship will also be impressing the crowds at Autosport International – the incredibly successful Ford Fiesta Championship has been signed up by the show organisers to play one of the starring roles in the Live Action Arena. Cars from all three classes of the Competition Car Insurance backed championship will present a series of demonstration races on what is the UK ’s largest indoor racetrack and undoubtedly one of the highlights of the show. Situated within the largest hall of the NEC, the track with a 4700-seat grandstand allows vision on an array of motor racing action plus record-breaking stunts and celebrity appearances. The 50 minute show will have spectators on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

MOTORSPORT SAFETY FUND CHRISTMAS CARD - Few cars stir the blood of rally enthusiasts quite like Lancia's iconic Stratos, and the subject of the Motorsport Safety Fund's 2009 charity Christmas card will certainly rekindle memories of these mid-engined monsters barking their way through the forests of the RAC rallies of the '70s.The card's front cover features "Stratos in Dalby", a painting by Gary Milburn of Italian ace Sandro Munari opposite-locking his way through the famous Yorkshire forest stage during the 1974 event, on which he won his class and finished third overall. It is hard to imagine anybody with better credentials for such a depiction - Gary was born and still lives in Yorkshire . He is also a dyed-in-the-wool rally marshal, with no fewer than 25 consecutive RAC Rallies to his name. The card can be viewed at MOTORSPORT SAFETY FUND. Further examples of his art can be found at http://www.autoart-uk.com.The cards are priced at £6.50 for 10 (including envelopes, postage and packing); they are available from: Motorsport Safety Fund, Penny Farthing, Heythrop, Chipping Norton OX7 5TW. 

Formula Ford - ACT’s Daniel Reynolds recent Australian Formula Vee National Series win at Tasmania’s Baskerville Circuit in his Borland Racing Developments built Sabre chassis has been acknowledged by the factory, who have offered Daniel a test drive of one of their Fiesta powered Spectrum Formula Ford racers. The test will take place in the near future at Winton Motor Raceway near Benalla in rural Victoria.  Mike Borland, designer of the Sabre Formula Vee and Spectrum Formula Ford chassis said, “Daniel has done a fantastic job in both the NSW State Championship and the Formula Vee National Series in 2009. We wanted to recognise his achievements with an opportunity to sample a Formula Ford and look forward to seeing his results aboard the 2010 Sabre 02 Formula Vee 1600 next season.”  “I was very surprised to get a phone call with the offer to drive a Spectrum Formula Ford,” said Daniel. “It’s great that the factory are watching what young drivers do in their cars and will reward you for doing well. I would like to thank Mike and BRD for giving me this chance,” he added.  As the name suggests, the Sabre 02 is the second generation Formula Vee built by BRD and has been developed specifically for the 1600 class. The new car draws on the experience and success of the factory’s Formula Ford program and will utilise the same main panel as the Spectrum, making its proud heritage instantly recognisable. Testing in the prototype has yielded impressive lap times in the hands of experienced and novice drivers, indicating that results for the Sabre will be strong in 2010. Six cars are under construction at BRD’s Braeside factory for customers eager to get on track. 

The Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain will be throwing open its doors to prospective competitors next month. The Ford-backed championship's successful annual 'sampler day' will be held at the Rockingham circuit, providing a vital  opportunity for prospective competitors to meet the teams and to drive the cars. More than 50 drivers attended the event last season and Sam Roach, of championship promoter RacingLine, hopes for a similar number at this year's event, to be held on Wednesday 2nd December: "We are laying on an open circuit for all the 2009 British Formula Ford teams - as well as prospective teams - and it's their opportunity to showcase themselves. We are also inviting competitors to register to attend so that they can meet the teams and sample a modern Formula Ford chassis." The sampler day is open to all drivers aged 16 and over holding at least a kart licence. Prospective participants must register in advance with the championship co-ordinator, Penny Mattocks, email: p.mattocks@racingline.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  -  "We aim to make it an info rmal yet extremely valuable exercise," added Roach. "In addition to the test drives, we will be able to provide all the championship info rmation which competitors, teams and sponsors require to enable them to make their plans." The newly crowned Formula Ford Champion of Great Britain, James Cole, and championship runner-up Josef Newgarden will be at the event also to claim their valuable prizes - Formula 3 tests with T-Sport, the team which this year propelled Formula Ford graduates Wayne Boyd and Adriano Buzaid to race victories in their maiden British F3 seasons.

FMBW - The ‘Las Vegas of the East’ – Macau – beckons for Australian Formula BMW Junior, Chris Wootton, where he will take on the final event of the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific season as part of the Macau Grand Prix this weekend. With just a solitary FBMW Pacific race in the Macau program,Wootton is aiming to use his experience around the 6.2 kilometre street circuit to his advantage. During practice and qualifying runs, getting the maximum track time and avoiding incident will prove critical, as will starting as close as possible to the front of the grid. The Macau circuit sees the Formula BMW competitors hit their highest top speed of the year – bouncing off the rev limiter at some 230 kilometres an hour – with Armco and concrete barriers mere inches either side. Wootton is hoping for a great finish to a year that has shown a great deal of promise, from recording a podium, a pole and a lap record in Sepang, to some fighting drives in the face of adversity. At the previous event of Formula BMW Pacific at Okayama in Japan, Chris was involved in one of the closest ‘near misses’ in motorsport history, being spun in front of the entire field at near on 200 kilometres an hour. It was an absolute miracle that the other competitors got past him, leaving the Australian without so much as a scratch on his racecar.

British Superbikes - Tickets for the 2010 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship are now on sale and once again MotorSport Vision circuits will host six of the twelve rounds, including two triple-header events. The Brands Hatch Indy circuit will host the season opener on Easter weekend (3/4/5 April), whilst the first visit to Oulton Park will take place on the May Bank Holiday weekend (1/2/3 May), before the championship heads to Snetterton for one of the fastest races of the year in July. The Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit date remains in August (6/7/8 August), with the first triple-header. The championship then moves on to the August Bank Holiday bonanza at Cadwell Park on 28/29/30 August, before the season finale takes place at Oulton Park on 8/9/10 October.  The 2010 season is already gearing up to be an epic, with former World and British champion Neil Hodgson making his much-anticipated return to the BSB paddock after signing for the Motorpoint Yamaha team last week. Other riders already confirmed include crowd favourites Yukio Kagayama and Tommy Hill at Worx Crescent Suzuki.The new season also marks the introduction of the new Evolution class so fans can expect some frantic fairing-bashing racing when BSB returns to the track for the first time in 2010. For a limited time period, tickets for all BSB events at Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Snetterton and Cadwell Park are on sale at the same price as 2009. Adult tickets are available from £23, with free entry for children aged 12 and under.   calendar

15-11-09

Formula 3 : The Sandown F3 Superprix is set to be a melting pot of international talent following the conformation that 16-year-old Indonesian Formula BMW star Rio Haryanto will return to the Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship this November. Haryanto, from Central Java in Indonesia, raced a National Class Dallara at Queensland Raceway in August this year is set to take to the wheel of an Astuti Motorsport F307 Dallara. Already crowned the Formula BMW Pacific champion (with one round to spare), Haryanto will join drivers from Australia, New Zealand and the UK for F3s toughest race of the year – an event that will double as a title showdown between Tim Macrow and Joey Foster. “It is fantastic that the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship can attract a champion driver from Asia like Rio,” Astuti Motorsport team owner Sam Astuti said. “It shows the progress the series is making and the reputation it now has internationally. The field at Sandown will be first-class and we can’t wait for what should be a fantastic SuperPrix race.” Driving a PHR Scuderia F304 Dallara, Haryanto scored a National Class pole position at Queensland Raceway and finished just behind class champion Tom Tweedie in the first race. “As a team we were impressed with Rio’s performances at Queensland in the National Class car,” Astuti said.  “By the end of the weekend he was just as fast as the class benchmark and not far off the outright cars too. We are looking forward to seeing what he can do in the outright car at Sandown and I would say, based on his pace and successes in Asia so far this year, he will be very competitive. Haryanto will be partner Sydney driver Mat Sofi, at Astuti Motorsport, giving the team two cars for the first time this season. The Sandown F3 SuperPrix will be contested between November 27 – 29, alongside the final round of the 2009 Shannons Nationals.  pic: F3A / Klynsmith Image

Formula Atlantic: The 37th season of the Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda will once again take North America's longest-running open-wheel driver development series to classic road racing facilities throughout North America. "With another strong schedule for 2010, the Atlantic Championship will once again be the top open-wheel training ground in North America," said Atlantic Championship President Ben Johnston. "We've got a great mix of facilities lined up for next year. We are again grateful to the American Le Mans Series for sharing their stage with us for a majority of our weekends in 2010, as well as to all of our terrific promoters for welcoming us back to their facilities." Read more

Star Mazda: Autotecnica will enter the 2010 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear. Three Star Mazda cars have arrived at Autotecnica's 2,500 square foot racing facility. One drover is already confirmed and will soon be announced by the team. Team Manager Enrico Diano states, "Rigorous testing will begin in late December in Florida and will continue into 2010 as part of our development and full driver training package. Winning is our expertise and we will push hard right out of the box to be competitive. We've always set the example with our first-class operations and services and look forward to continuing this in the Star Mazda series with our new clientele." Autotecnica will also field multiple F2000 cars to create a development ladder within the team with another driver already confirmed. More details regarding this program will follow in the next few weeks.

GP3 - Status Grand Prix has finalised an agreement with F1 designer and technical director Gary Anderson to continue as the team's Technical Consultant as it enters the newly launched GP3 Series. Status Grand Prix which won the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport this year running the A1 Team Ireland entry, is one of 10 teams to be selected to compete in the GP3 championship.  Anderson, whose association with Status GP goes back three years, said: "GP3 is a new challenge for everyone, with a new car and new tyres. A team of Status GP's calibre, with its A1GP success, will be very competitive. I look forward to an interesting season." Working with Anderson at the helm of Status Grand Prix's race team will be Simon Cayzer, who worked for Jordan Grand Prix and managed the Piquet Sports team in the GP2 Series before joining Status GP in 2007. Status shareholders Mark Gallagher, David Kennedy and John Hynes are delighted to be challenging for another international championship title, and are joined in this by the team's majority shareholder, Canadian Teddy Yip.  "We are thrilled to be taking part in this fantastic new series," said Yip. "GP3 will be fiercely competitive and is designed to give young drivers a great chance to progress their careers towards F1. We believe Status GP can provide the ideal environment for them to do just that." The team-ownership exploits of Yip, 27, are following in the footsteps of his father, Teddy Yip Sr, whose Theodore Racing team competed in Formula One from 1977 to 1983

14-11-09

WTCC: Gabriele Tarquini, Yvan Muller and Augusto Farfus are the only three in contention for the WTCC Drivers' Championship. Altogether they have won 12 out of the 22 races so far and in Macau they will face each other on equal weight. In fact, according to the calculation that took into account the lap times set in the three previous events (Oschersleben, Imola and Okayama), the SEAT León TDI and the BMW 320si cars will receive the maximum 40kg ballast. The Chevrolet Cruze's ballast is reduced from +30 to +10kg, while Alessandro Zanardi's BMW 320si (equipped with a sequential gearbox), the LADA Priora and the petrol-powered SEAT León will have 20kg deducted from the minimum weight.

 

Compensation weights Macau
+ 40 kg           BMW 320si, SEAT León TDI
+ 10 kg           Chevrolet Cruze LT
- 20 kg            BMW 320si Zanardi, LADA Priora, SEAT León TFSI 

Both, the Drivers' and Manufacturers' world titles are still at stake in the final meeting at Macau.SEAT leads BMW by three points in the Manufacturers' Championship, a  slim margin that promises two exciting races. In the Drivers' Championship the gap is even smaller between SEAT Sport team-mates Gabriele Tarquini (the current leader) and Yvan Muller (the reigning champion). BMW team Germany's Augusto Farfus can still have a shot at the crown, as he lies third, 13 points behind Tarquini.

WHAT IF. Gabriele Tarquini wins the title: - at 47 he would become the oldest ever FIA World Champion, one year older than Juan-Manuel Fangio when he won his fifth Formula One title in 1957 and two years older than Derek Bell when he won the 1986 World Sportscars Championship;
- he would be the first Italian to become World Champion in circuit racing, 18 years after Teo Fabi in the 1991 World Sportscars Championship;
- he would become the eighth Italian automobile World Champion after Nino Farina and Alberto Ascari (F1), Mauro Baldi and Teo Fabi (Sportscars), Roberto Ravaglia (Touring Cars), Sandro Munari and Miki Biasion (Rally).

Yvan Muller wins the title:
- he would be the third Frenchman to win back to back FIA World Championships after Alain Prost (F1 - 1985 and 1986) and Sébastien Loeb (WRC - from 2004 to 2009).

Augusto Farfus wins the title:
- he would be the first Brazilian World Champion in motor sport, 18 years after Ayrton Senna in the 1991 Formula One Championship;
- he would be the fifth Brazilian automobile World Champion after Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna (F1) and Raul Boesel (Sportscars).

Liqui Moly Team Engstler will run three additional BMW 320SI cars for local drivers at Macau. Alongside regulars Franz Engstler - who is fighting for a podium position in the Independents' Trophy - and Kristian Poulsen, the German outfit will field Henry Ho(pictured), Liu Lic Ka and Joseph Rosa Merszei.  Ho, 27 and three times winner of the Macau Touring Car Championship, has already raced with the team, in the previous event at Okayama scoring one point in the Independents' Trophy by finishing eighth in Race 1. Both Liu Lic Ka (38 ) and Joe Merszei (35) are facing their maiden WTCC appearance. The former is also a regular in the Macau Touring Cars, while the latter has mostly driven singleseaters in the Malaysian Formula Campus and the Asian F2000, Formula V6, Formula Renault and Formula 3 series.

Japanes driver Takayuki Aoki will make his return to WTCC and the Wiechers-Sport team for the event in Macau.  Aoki made his first WTCC appearance last year, when he raced in the three final race meetings at the wheel of a Wiechers-Sport BMW 320si. His best results were two fourth places in the Independents' Race 1 at Monza and Okayama. This year he joins the team's regular Stefano D'Aste and will face among the others his fellow countryman Nobuteru Taniguchi who drives a BMW car run by Proteam Motorsport.

13-11-09

FBMW - Singapore’s Suriya Bala Kerisnan Thevar will be driving in next week's world famous Macau Grand Prix, after agreeing a one-off deal to drive for top Macau Formula BMW outfit, Asia Racing Team (ART Motorsports). This will be Suriya's first ever drive in the highly prestigious Macau Grand Prix–one of the biggest Formula BMW races of the year. The Macau event has become a classic, race that all drivers in single seaters want to win above all others, thanks to the street circuit's technical nature and unforgiving reputation. Speaking about the event, the Singaporean said, “I have no expectations for this weekend as it’s going to be my second race in the Formula BMW Pacific series, and it’s a Street Race once again. However, my strategy for the weekend is simple. I must learn the track well and use what I have learnt till now in the last race of the year. I’m just looking forward to the first and only practice of the weekend. It’s going to be a tough race for me but I am confident because I have a wonderful team to work with.” Team Manager Philippe Descombes, who has been coaching Suriya since the beginning of the year, added “We know Suriya very well from his Asian Formula Renault outings and Singapore GP – Formula BMW race. We accomplished two days of prolific testing in Zhuhai, China, and we made some good progress with him. Suriya’s physical condition is much better than it was at the time of Singapore GP. Definitely Macau GP will be another very important experience for him to prepare the 2010 season.”

Formula Ford - To congratulate Jesse Fenech on winning the 2009 Victorian State FF1600 Championship in a Spectrum 010b, Borland Racing Developments has made available to him one of their Fiesta powered Spectrum 011 cars for the Island Magic race on 21-22 November. Jesse won the Victorian title driving Luke Ellery’s Spectrum 010b, the car in which Luke won the six round 2008 Victorian State Series. John Ellery (Luke’s father) maintained and ran the Spectrum 010b for Jesse during this year and, keeping the ties with the Ellery family, Jesse will use the Spectrum 011c from Luke’s 2009 AFFC campaign. John will again oversee the spanner duties for the Island Magic, with support from the Borland Racing Developments crew. “We’re very pleased to be able to give Jesse an opportunity to run a Fiesta powered Spectrum at Phillip Island,” said BRD’s Mike Borland. “One of the more rewarding aspects of our business is the chance to assist young drivers, engineers and mechanics in their careers. Jesse thoroughly deserves this chance and I’m sure he will make the most of it,” he added. Jesse has had a stellar debut season in FF1600, scoring 8 wins and 2 second places from 11 starts. Add to that 4 out of 4 pole positions and you can see why the factory wanted to recognise his efforts with the use of a National specification Spectrum for Island Magic! The BRD team congratulates Jesse on an outstanding year of racing and wishes him success in his future motor racing endeavours.

Karts - The inaugural Easykart Open Championship - or ‘E Plate’ as it has been christened - takes place at Clay Pigeon Raceway this Sunday (15 November). This new addition to the domestic Easykart series is a direct response to a campaign calling for a classic, winner-takes-all format race. Series promoter John Vigor says, “We have quite a lively discussion board on www.easykart.co.uk and we had a great many notices from our competitors on there, asking for such an event. As the season progressed, more and more drivers wanted an extra race in the calendar and we’ve responded to those calls.”   Easykart importer, Andy Cox of ACR adds, “We’ve had an encouraging entry, especially when you consider the E Plate is taking place so late in the racing year and no-one knows what to expect really. It’s a quality field in each of the classes (Cadet, Junior and the two Senior classes – Heavy and Light) and Clay always produces exciting racing.” In Cadets, regular front-runners Ronan Mackenzie and Will Stowell are favourites to make the running, although Jordan Sanders shouldn’t be ruled out of giving them a run for their money.An impressive Junior entry will certainly produce some action with Patrick Lay and Brad Fairhurst resuming their season-long battle. In the Senior classes former World Finals winner and UK champion, Barnaby Pittingale will be hard pressed in Heavy by William Smith, Tim Hill and Mark Lawrence. Pittingale is always fast around Clay, as is Smith – so expect a battle royal between them. With champion Terry Langley absent, the quality of the Light category is in no way diminished. The newly-crowned Heavy champion, Kieran McCullough has fulfilled his promise to switch category and will make his Light debut this weekend. Fast and fired-up he will certainly be but can the ebullient Londoner match the pace of Owen Jenman, Adrian Crockett and Jack Sales?  The action starts from 10am at Clay Pigeon Raceway, Wardon Hill, between Dorchester and Yeovil.

GP2 Series rookie Will Bratt capped off this week’s official test at Paul Ricard with a superb front-running effort on Thursday, 12th November, the Briton posting the fifth fastest time in the morning before improving to fourth in the afternoon. The Party Poker Racing-supported driver completed just shy of 200 laps over the course of the three-day test and made good progress along the way. Steering his Renault-powered Dallara to a quickest lap of 1m12.675 secs in the  morning, just 0.159 secs shy of the session’s best, the 21-year-old  went on to do a 1m12.835 in the afternoon to end the  final session in fourth.  Will commented: “I’m pretty happy with how the Paul Ricard test has gone for us, it’s just a shame we weren’t able to hook the sectors up today as we should have been faster. Finishing in the top five this morning and fourth this afternoon is great but it could have been better still. Even so, we’ve made very good progress and it’s been a fantastic way to end a phenomenal year.” The steps made by Will this week, working with the Scuderia Coloni engineers, have truly put the icing on the cake for 2009 – a year in which the BRDC Rising Star matched academic success, a degree in History from Oxford, with championship victory in Euroseries 3000. With the test the final GP2 run of the year, there is now  a l12 week break until the GP2 Asia Series resumes at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 5-6 February 2010. pic GP2 Series Media Service

Formula 3 - Menasheh Idafar underlined his excellent progress at the wheel of a National Class Formula 3 car with another rewarding test outing at Snetterton on Thursday,(12th Nov). Getting this week’s run off to a great start yesterday, the 18-year-old T-Sport driver continued his impressive form and performed strongly in wet and dry conditions to end the day with an unofficially-timed best lap of 1m02.2 seconds. Lapping competitively in the wet early on, the Formula Renault graduate was equally strong in the dry although he wasn’t able to extract as much time as he would have liked from his new tyres. Even so, he improved by 0.3secs on his previous best of the day. He said: “It was wet to begin today and things went really well. I did have a small ‘off’ at the Bomb Hole when I went too close to the edge of the track but it was ok, the car made light impact with the barrier but there was only minor damage to the end plate of the rear wing. In the dry we were good again, the team has done a great job for me the last two days – I’ve really enjoyed it.”

The FIA WTCC concludes at Macau, on Sunday 22 November and it could be the most hotly-contested race of the season with both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles still up for grabs. BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus won round 22 in Okayama making the Drivers’ Championship a three-way battle between current leader Gabriele Tarquini, his SEAT team-mate Yvan Muller and Farfus. The top two are split by just two points, with Farfus 13 points behind Tarquini. His win has helped put BMW three points behind SEAT in the Manufacturers’ Championship.  In the YOKOHAMA Independents’ Trophy, SUNRED Engineering’s Tom Coronel and Proteam Motorsport’s Félix Porteiro will go head-to-head. Although Dutchman Coronel has a strong lead, double points are on offer for the trophy in Macau, as well as bonus points for finishing in the top eight in the overall classification.  Yokohama’s Technical Consultant Ian Beveridge said, “Due to the narrow track and abrasive surface, Macau can prove a problem for some series. However, the tyres that  Yokohama supplies the WTCC are designed to cope with the harsh conditions associated with street circuits, which allows the cars to race as usual, meaning there will be plenty of action!”

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Formula Renault: 2009 Asian Formula Renault series Team Champions’ Asia Racing Team is heading into the final round of the AFR Championship season at Zhuhai International Circuit. Angola’s Luis Sa Silva won the previous race at Zhuhai and moved into the lead in the championship. He now holds a 3 point lead with two races to go. Speaking about the upcoming event, Sa Silva said, “After I regained the lead in the last race I want to keep it at all costs. I can’t afford to lose the opportunity to write my name in the history of Angolan and African motorsports. We gathered good data from the last meeting. I’m relax and confident and I know if I driver what I can the title shouldn’t run away from me”. After two podium finishes last time out at Zhuhai in October his team-mate  Luca Ferigutti will be again supporting him an eyeing a place on the podium: “I'm making progress in the car and I feel much more comfortable than in the beginning of the season. We will have to do our best for the next race and I am going to fight very, very hard. My main goal for the upcoming weekend will be to finish on the podium again and to help my teammate to clinch the drivers’ title.” . The final 2 races in the  AFR Championship will be held on Sunday, November 15.

RaceCar Live  - Budding Jenson Buttons can take their first step towards a motor racing career at RaceCar Live - Brands Hatch’s final event this season - next weekend (21/22 November). RaceCar Live is a unique live motorsport event aimed at current and potential racing drivers, featuring a packed programme of testing, passenger rides, demonstrations and exhibitions.Major racecar  manufacturers and motorsport clubs will be on-hand to showcase their 2010 vehicles and offer advice to new and existing competitors.  Over 50 organisations will be exhibiting including the Trofeo Abarth 500 GB, the MG Car Club, Saxmax and the BMW Racing Drivers Club. Many of the exhibiting vehicles will be available for test drives and potential racers can take their ARDS racing licence test during the weekend. A Caterham slalom and drift school will also take place, plus there will be arrive-and-drive karting sessions organised by Buckmore Park For non-drivers, RaceCar Live will feature the chance to experience a flying passenger lap around the Indy circuit in the hands of a professional driver. There will also be rally car demonstrations and hot rides on Brands Hatch’s purpose-built rally course. Other highlights include a free display area for anybody selling a racecar, an ‘education zone’ with advice on careers in motorsport, medicals for new and current drivers and entry level karting demonstrations from the Honda Cadets, TKM and Rotax Max seniors and juniors. Tickets for RaceCar Live are available from £12 per day for adults and £8 for concessions. Entry is free for children under five years old. For more information call 0870 950 9000 or visit www.brandshatch.co.uk.

International Formula Master: IFM Champion Fabio Leimer claimed his championship prize on Wednesday, a day testing with GP2 Series team Dams at Paul Ricard in France. The young Swiss was rewarded with the test after winning the IFM title where him won seven races in 2009. Dams Managing Director Eric Boullier, said: "Today's results didn't show Fabio's real talent. We had a technical problem on the car, which didn't help him get to the top of the timesheet. The whole team really appreciated working with Fabio though and the results he has produced in Jerez and the GP2 Asia Series show how competitive Formula Master drivers are and how ready they are to fight at the top of the GP2 category." Jenzer Motorsport graduate Leimer added: "Working with the team today was very good; we had some issues with finding the right set-up, which unfortunately showed in the lap times but they never gave up. We kept trying all day and from an engineering point of view it was absolutely great to work with them." IFM drivers Josef Kral, Alexander Rossi and Vladimir Arabadzhiev were also present, as well as 2007 Champion Jerome D'Ambrosio, with the GP2 Series' winter testing concluding tomorrow.

Formula 3 hopeful Menasheh Idafar rejoined leading British F3 International Series squad T-Sport at Snetterton on Wednesday, (11th Nov), for the first of two days of testing at the Norfolk track. Having sealed third position in the 2009 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship last weekend at Rockingham, the 18-year-old was back in action in a F3 car and impressed the Brackley team with his pace. Six weeks since his last outing in one of T-Sport’s National Class Dallaras, Menasheh re-adapted well to the F3 driving style and ended the day with a best lap of 1m01.9 seconds. This was just 0.2secs away from the time produced by Championship Class runner Gabriel Dias, last year’s National Class runner-up. The track was extremely busy throughout with a mixture of F3, Formula Renault and Formula Ford cars taking part in the general test and, as such, it was difficult for any driver to string together a run of consistent laps. Nonetheless, Menasheh was very happy and satisfied with his performance. “It’s been a very good day”, said the British-born Bahraini, “At the beginning I had to get back into the style of driving the F3 car, after racing a Formula Renault for the last two weekends, but as I did more laps and gained more confidence it became very comfortable and I could push.”

GP2 - Reigning Euroseries 3000 Champion Will Bratt produced a good performance during official GP2 Series testing at Paul Ricard yesterday(Wed), to end the outing fourth fastest on combined times – a mere 0.1secs shy of the best lap of the day. Driving for his regular GP2 Asia Series team, Party Poker Racing.com Scuderia Coloni, he posted a quickest lap of 1m12.465 seconds at the Le Castellet track during the second of two sessions to end the run just 0.049 seconds outside Luiz Razia’s pace-setting time. Taking into account the times from the morning session too, he ended the day only a 0.1secs away from James Jakes’ fastest lap of all. Reflecting on the run, Will said: “Everything went well this afternoon, to end the day inside the top four was good – that’s where we expect to be and where we know we should be. We made a few small adjustments to the car after the morning session, eliminated a bit of under-steer, and I was able to get the most from the tyres. It’s incredibly competitive so we’re very pleased.” Switching from his regular Party Poker Racing.com backed GP2 Asia car to one of the Scuderia Coloni team’s main series Renault-powered Dallaras, Will ended the opening day on Tuesday, (10th Nov), with the 12th fastest time of 1m13.303 seconds.  Will added: “Hopefully we can be competitive again on the final day of testing tomorrow. It’ll be tough as there are some very fast, experienced drivers but we know what we’re capable of. If we get everything right, as we did this afternoon, we should be quick.”

Formula Ford - John Martin will return to the team that launched his car racing career when he joins Borland Racing Developments to drive his 2005 Spectrum 010b Formula Ford 1600 at the Island Magic race meeting at Philip Island on November 21-22. Fresh from the final Superleague Formula race at Jarama Martin sees the Magic meeting as an opportunity to get back to racing purely for fun. “I’ve always been very serious about my motor racing, but obviously that’s gone up a few notches over the last few years,” John said. “This all came together when Paul (Zsidy) was in the UK recently and we were joking about flying my old car over do the Festival and the Walter Hayes (major UK FF1600 races). That didn’t happen, but the Island Magic fits really well into our schedule, so we thought let’s have some fun!” he added.  John’s time with his 2005 car saw him win the Victorian State Championship, become runner up to his team mate Paul Laskazeski in the NSW State Championship and take pole and win the Formula Ford Cup at the A1GP meeting at Eastern Creek. In all, John and his Spectrum 010b secured 20 race wins, 30 podium finishes and 8 pole positions from 42 race starts. John then went on to win the 2006 Australian Formula Ford Championship aboard a Spectrum 011 and had his first International victory at Brands Hatch in both his and the car’s UK debut.“I have great memories of racing Formula Ford in my Spectrums with Borland Racing Developments. I love the Island, so I can’t wait to get down there and see how rusty I am!” John said.

The Formula BMW Pacific title has been decided with Rio Haryanto (ID) from Questnet Team Qi-Meritus  taking the crown after he scored maximum points in both races in Okayama. The 16-year-old finished both races  in second behind Eurointernational guest driver Facundo Regalia (ES). However, with no points going to guest drivers, Haryanto's two second-place finishes gave him an insurmountable lead over second placed Gary Thompson as series heads for Macau later this month. Thompson meanwhile has secured the  "Rookie of the Year" title and second overall. The Questnet Team Qi-Meritus secured victory in the "Team Trophy".

Star Mazda - Conor Daly just returned from Europe where he completed 3 tests in three different cars in two different countries. On October 30th he completed his fifth day of Formula Renault testing with the Douglas Driver Development team. On November 2nd he moved to Silverstone and a F3 Dallara on the Grand Prix Circuit, courtesy of Swedish owned Performance Racing who run in German F3. On November 6th he was off to Europe and a Formula Master rookie test at the Hungaroring driving for AR Motorsport. In Hungary Conor ended up third fastest: "These test days have been a great experience for me. I was curious as to what an F3 car would feel like and to sample one on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit was a great feeling. The Formula Master car was the best racing car I have ever driven. It looked great, sounded great and went great. To watch the Grand Prix on television and then drive through the same corners is pretty cool"....said Conor. He is now planning to return to Estoril in Portugal at the end of November to test with the British Formula Renault team, CR Scuderia Racing.

LMS : SPEEDY RACING TEAM SEBAH will take the team’s LMP1 Lola-Aston Martin to the Estoril  circuit in Portugal, on the 13th and 14th of November, to evaluate new Dunlop tyres. Regular team driver, Andrea BELICCHI, will drive the team's LMP1 Lola-Aston Martin during the two days of the test. At the same time, the team’s LMP2 Lola-Judd will run with a number of Swiss drivers to provide them with the opportunity to test in an LMS race winning LMP2 prototype Cyndie ALLEMANN, Rahel FREY, Natacha GACHNANG, Mathias BECHE and Jonathan HIRSCHI will be able to gain LMP2 experience with the car that finished second at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours and won the 1000 km of Silverstone. SPEEDY RACING TEAM SEBAH will unveil details of their 2010 race programme once the Le Mans Series calendar is confirmed.

arts : The 2009 racing season is coming to an end with everyone is off to Las Vegas next week for the SKUSA SuperNationals. Mike Vincec, the 2008 Stars of Karting ICC National Champion, is looking forward to finishing off what has been a rather quiet year, with a strong performance for Pserra Racing in the SuperPro class. After securing the ICC National Championship last year, Mike received a scholarship to compete in the Skip Barber National Championship. He started the season in Sebring last March and continued through some disappointing races but pulled out of the final races as he prepared to once again attend the European Karting Championships and also concentrate on a run at joining Team Canada for the Rotax World Final. The return to Europe came courtesy of a mid-season switch to Pserra Racing and it would be to run under the Birel factory tent.  “When Pserra Racing approached us with the opportunity to help build the team and get back into competition in Europe, we jumped at the chance” commented Vincec. “There was some restructuring at my current team with the focus shifting away from international competition, and I had reached a point where stepping back was not an option. Peter Serravalle offered us a great package. Pserra Racing was very focused on what we could do across the US and at FIA events. The time was right for a change and I can't thank Peter enough for the opportunity and support he has given me.” Running a program limited only by the schedule, Vincec first tackled the ASN Canadian Nationals where he just missed the podium in Senior Rotax finishing fourth. Not the result he might have hoped for, but not bad considering the change to a new team and chassis.  Mike and the team learned more about setup and working together at the CIKFIA event in Sarno, Italy where they ran in the KZ1 class. They will now put those lessons into practice at the SKUSA SuperNationals taking place in Las Vegas, November 18-22 at the Rio Suites Hotel and Casino.  Following the event in Las Vegas, Vincec and Pserra Racing will concentrate on doing some extensive testing over the winter and also participate in the Florida Winter Tour.  Pic Chris Walker - Kartpix.net 

Le Mans 24 Hours victor and American Le Mans Series Champion, David Brabham has confirmed that he will once again host an exclusive free workshop for karters at the Karting Show at Autosport International 2010, held at the NEC Birmingham. Brabham, who runs the Brabham Performance Clinic and the MSA’s British Race Elite programme, will share the fundamentals a driver must master in order to progress in their chosen motorsport career, in a special workshop at 10.30am on Saturday 16 January. The special session is timed to coincide with the attendance of young drivers from the Formula Kart Stars and Super One national kart championships, who will be in attendance at Autosport International to receive their 2009 awards.  “Through my Brabham Performance Clinic and role for the MSA’s British Race Elite initiative, I work with many young drivers. Whatever your age, the principles behind building a winning mentality to take you to the top of the sport are the same,” commented Brabham. “At the Brabham Performance Clinic, we highlight the areas that can impact on performance and concentrate on a driver’s self-awareness. About how you conduct yourself and how that influences others around you. I hope the workshop will help a small group of drivers to understand themselves more, to help them to go on and achieve whatever they want to in life.” The free Karting Workshop is available for 25 karters, who must be MSA licence holders aged between 12 and 17 years. To book your place, visit www.thekartingshow.co.uk and complete the online form. Workshop participants must have a valid ticket for Autosport International on Saturday.

Superleague Formula: The all-new Superleague Formula by Sonangol video game was released last weekend to coincide with the title showdown between Liverpool and Tottenham at Jarama. The full PC format version, which can be downloaded from the Superleague Formula website, offers football fans the chance to race as their favourite club with all 18 teams competing in the 2009 campaign faithfully recreated. Developers ISI have also reproduced the six circuits that make up this season’s calendar using their all-new track-specific terrain data file system which offers a level of realism like never before. The Game is also fully tuneable, meaning players can make minute adjustments in-race using all of the steering wheel-based buttons available to real-life racing drivers. On top of that, wannabe champions can upgrade and develop their single seater over the course of the season to gain that extra title-winning edge over their rivals.  Alongside the traditional Championship, Single Race and Test modes sits a comprehensive online racing community allowing supporters to challenge rivals in real time from around the world. Indeed, ISI has built an all-new multiplayer engine specifically for this game permitting additional AI opponents to be added to any race, and chat facility which offers gamers the chance to heap pressure on fellow players.  To try a demo or purchase Superleague Formula 2009: The Game, click here.

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Formula Renault: Rockingham provided the setting for the first UK test of the new Formula Renault 2.0 race car. Former Formula Renault UK Champion Duncan Tappy, who took 10 victories during his 2007 winning season, was tasked with piloting the new 2.0-litre car which makes its competitive debut at the start of the 2010 Michelin Formula Renault UK Championship. Tappy completed a handful of laps around the 1.94-mile International circuit before returning to the pits to pass on his feedback to watching teams and drivers.  The new car replaces the current Tatuus-built model and features a new chassis, seven-speed sequential gearbox, and a 2.0-litre, 16v normally-aspirated F4R832 engine. The car is currently being built at the Renaultsport factory in Dieppe, France, with the first deliveries expected before the end of the year. Commenting after the test Tappy said: “I last tested the outgoing car in 2008 which meant I had something fresh to compare the new car too. My first impressions are that it is a much more together, more stable car which I believe drivers will find more enjoyable and ultimately more rewarding to drive. The car lends itself to more of an F3 driving style and at high speeds you can really feel the aerodynamics working. The paddle-shift gearbox is also very easy to use with smooth changes both up and down. Overall I have to say it’s a better all-round package.” 

Silverstone has unveiled details of its brand new Stowe Complex – a unique collection of customer focused test track facilities, hospitality units and pit garages.  Due for completion by March 2010, Stowe Complex will spearhead Silverstone’s growing reputation as a venue for product and experiential programmes for automotive manufacturers and associated corporate brands. The focal point of the centre will be a new multi-surface 1.15 mile fully-licensed race track. Purpose-designed, the circuit can be used to demonstrate chassis control systems like ESP and ABS on modern vehicles. Alongside a split braking area, Stowe Complex will be home to a three-lane irrigated wet handling pad boasting different levels of grip from sheet ice to standard wet tarmac.  Away from the track, two new hospitality buildings have been constructed, the first group will serve the new Stowe Complex and the second the existing Southern Circuit. Stowe Complex is the first phase of a £7m track development programme that will also see additional configurations to the existing Grand Prix circuit to cater for the arrival of MotoGP (17-20 June 2010). The new extensions mean Silverstone will have 5 different track configurations.Richard Phillips, managing director of Silverstone Circuits, explained: “The state of the art Stowe Complex will further enhance our offering to manufacturers, corporations and brands involved in motor sport, as well as support the growth of Silverstone’s role at the centre of Motor Sport Alley”

Britcar : The coverage of the Britcar 500 is being shown in a 1 hour program on the Sky Sports networks on the following times:
11th November 18:00 Sky Sports Extra
11th November 22:00 Sky Sports Extra
12th November 01:00 Sky Sports 3
12th November 12:00 Sky Sports Extra
12th November 15:00 Sky Sports Extra

Autosport International, Europe's largest motorsport show, is helping children's charity, Make-A-Wish Foundation(R) UK, grant magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. Autosport International, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, will welcome F1 World Champion and charity patron Jenson Button to the show on 14-17 January at the NEC in Birmingham. The show has partnered with the charity and will help raise funds to support its important work. With over 20,000 children in the UK living with a life-threatening illness at any one time, the charity's work is never ending. This year, around 1,000 children will turn to Make-A-Wish to have their special wish granted. Having a wish come true can provide memories for the whole family that will last a lifetime, whether the child's wish is to be a princess or a racing driver for a day, meet a favourite celebrity or just enjoy some special time away from home with their family. Neil Jones, Chief Executive of Make-A-Wish said, "Make-A-Wish is absolutely delighted to have been chosen as the charity partner of Autosport International. Our wishes are all about thrills, excitement and magic; something I'm sure visitors to the show will be able to relate to. We believe a wish can transform a child's life and are constantly seeking support to continue granting wishes to some of the most deserving children imaginable. I would like to say a huge thank you to Autosport International and its visitors for all their kind support."  Make-A-Wish receives no government funding or lottery grants, relying on the generous donations of the public, and that's why every donation really counts. If you would like more information, please visit www.make-a-wish.org.uk or telephone: 01276 40 50 80.

Legends from the annals of the Le Mans 24 Hours are joining forces to support David Brabham’s annual Racing4Charity Celebrity Karting Challenge, held within Autosport International at the NEC Birmingham on Friday 15 January. Five-times Le Mans winner Derek Bell will join 2009 winner as Race Director for the Celebrity Karting Challenge.  There he will preside over the racing antics of some of the sport’s best drivers at the event staged in the Live Action Arena for the first tim. e Malaria No More UK will be the principal beneficiary charity after Brabham was recently confirmed as Special Ambassador for the cause. Joining Bell and Brabham will be Le Mans Winner Guy Smith and Audi Sport duo Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro have already announced their intention to support the event. Marino Franchitti is also confirmed alongside fellow ALMS drivers Paul Drayson, Johnny Cocker and Rob Bell.  Aside from the Le Mans contingent, the Celebrity Karting Challenge is also attracting stars of the sport to form teams of four celebrity and two paying public drivers. Martin Hines — the triple FIA World Superkart champion is confirmed alongside Robin Liddell, Gordon Sheddon, Tim Harvey, Matt Neal, Louise Goodman, Bradley Ellis and Ollie Hancock, to name a few. The event is also attracting celebrities from outside the sport, such as Neil Primrose, drummer from the band Travis. “To have Derek Bell presiding over the Celebrity Karting Challenge is a real privilege and the level of support from high profile racing drivers from across the sport has been staggering,” said Brabham. “With a great new TV package also secured, I hope this year’s race will raise valuable awareness of the work of Malaria No More UK and help raise vital funds for the charity.” Raising £92,000 in the previous two years alone, the 2010 event promises to eclipse all others in aid of Malaria No More UK. Members of the public have the rare chance to race alongside the stars for £300. The charity entrance fee also includes two entrance tickets to Autosport International, on trade day. Book your public place now by contacting Bill Williams at bill@racing4charity.com or call 0044 (0)7712 578263. The latest race information can be found at www.racing4charity.com where you can also pay for your public place or donate via Paypal.

FIA GT Championship -  Richard Westbrook clinched the FIA GT2 title in a 911 GT3 RSR  with victory at the eighth and final round in Zolder in October. Westbrook and Porsche works driver Emmanuel Collard had won the first two races in their 911 GT3 RSR fielded by the Belgian Prospeed team and held the lead until the seventh round. At the finale, the Briton shared the cockpit with Porsche-Junior Marco Holzer, who delivered a faultless drive. Collard shared the 911 with Porsche-Junior Martin Ragginger, a came in sixth ending the season third in the Championship

Italian GT Championship: Francisco Cruz-Martins has won the Campionato Italiano Gran Turismo at the final race weekend. Fifth place in the first race at Monza (Oct. 17 - 18) was enough for Portugal's Francisco Cruz-Martins to win the championship's top class with Autorlando Sport's 911 GT3 RSR. Team honours went to Autorlando Sport. Cruz-Martins shared the cockpit with Porsche works driver Sascha Maassen at all rounds with the exception of one race at Mugello.

Spanish GT Championship:  Jesus Diez and Antonio Castro are GTS champions with four wins and five further podiums from twelve races. Diez and Castro driving a 911 GT3 Cup S completed  their season in the Campeonato de Espana GT on the Circuito do Algarve last weekend(Nov. 7 - 8) by winning the title.

Asian Le Mans Series:  Christian Bakkerud and Oliver Jarvis have regained their third position in the first of the two rounds of the new Asian Le Mans Series at Okyama (Japan). A time penalty had been given to the Team Kolles which, however, was scrapped after five hours of discussions. This means Oliver Jarvis has clinched a podium result at his first ever sports car race with the Audi R10 TDI.  

Other News: Car enthusiast Sue Mason proved that losing your sight does not mean sacrificing your dreams. On Tuesday(10 Nov) she fulfilled her lifetime ambition to experience a flying lap of Brands Hatch. Gravesend resident Sue - who suffers from optic neuritis - started losing her sight 11 years ago and has been totally blind for the past four years. The 51-year-old always harboured dreams of a high speed trip around her local circuit, but it took the help of local Kent Association for the Blind (KAB) volunteer John Franklin to turn her wish into a reality. After hearing Sue's ambition, John contacted Brands Hatch and the Kent circuit arranged a flying passenger ride in one of its BMW M3 driving experience vehicles - capable of 0-60mph in just four seconds - driven by chief instructor Gary Palmer . Sue Mason said: "I just can't thank John enough for setting this up. I only mentioned to him that my ambition when I could see was to drive around Brands Hatch; I never expected anything to come of it! The passenger ride was fantastic, I've never travelled that fast in a car before and I loved all the dips and bends in the circuit. Gary is a brilliant driver - I could really feel myself being pulled into my seat going through Paddock Hill Bend. I'm really grateful to everyone involved in setting up the passenger ride today.  Although losing my sight was a slow process, it was still a shock and without the KAB I would not have coped. I would never have done anything as exciting as this!"  RaceMaster and M3 Master driving experiences, featuring the BMW M3, are now available at Brands Hatch. Limited edition Christmas vouchers are now on sale for just £149. For more information call 0870 950 9000 or visit www.msvdrivinggift.com.

Last weekend, Frank Biela celebrated what may well have been the most unusual victory in his motorsport career. Together with two motorsport journalists the Audi driver won the mini-24-hour race on the Nurburgring -- an endurance race for true-to-detail, scale 1:24 slot cars. The winning car covered the record distance of 7,924 laps on the six-lane Sudschleife -- which equates to a distance of almost 320 kilometers.

10-11-09

Carrera Cup GB  - IN2Racing is looking for a pro racer to run alongside Paul Hogarth in the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Team boss Nick Dudfield is keen to sign a potential race winner as the team grows to running two or three cars. "We want to become established as one of the leading teams in the Carrera Cup and this is a platform for 2011 and beyond," said Dudfield. "We are committed to the Carrera Cup for the long term." Hogarth has already confirmed his return in 2010 after a superb season in 2009. He battled for the pro-am2 title right until the final race and won the category three times on his way to the runner-up position. Dudfield is building an experienced team of race engineers for the team and wants to raise the team's profile. "This is a team built around customer satisfaction and we are keen to talk to drivers about 2010 and beyond. We're putting the right personnel in place to benefit all of our drivers." In the late 1980s Dudfield was a successful kart racer and competed against drivers like Dario Franchitti and Guy Smith. He then raced in Formula Vauxhall Junior and later won the 2003 Radical SR3 title with IN2Racing. More recently, the team has campaigned Porsches in the Carrera Cup and a Porsche 911GT3RSR in the Le Mans Series and at Sebring.The team operates from a 5000sq ft purpose built facility near Stratford-on-Avon and Dudfield can be contacted on 07768 548774.

GTs - In spite of the joint efforts of Benoît Tréluyer and his team-mate Satoshi Motoyama, team Motul-Autech wasn’t able to retain its Super GT 500 title last weekend. In the final round at Motegi, they ended up falling to their opponents, literally under a barrage of blows, finishing fourth and third respectively in the championship.  Read report

Karts - Sheffield’s Russ Danzey has received recognition in being selected as one of just seven young prodigies for a feature entitled ‘South Yorkshire’s Got Talent’. Going under the subheading of ‘Tomorrow’s Superstars Unveiled’ Russ, 15,  has proved himself as one of the very brightest young prospects in Karts finishing inside the top three in Formula Kart Stars (FKS).  “‘South Yorkshire’s Got Talent’ is run by the husband of one of the teachers at my school, and because she was quite interested in what I do – as well as the fact that I keep up with my schoolwork despite missing days for practice and testing – she decided to put me forward for it,” he revealed. “The first I ever heard about it was when I got a ‘phone call saying I had been nominated, and that they wanted me to go for a photo shoot!  Seven people were chosen in total, from all walks of life – a boxer, a gymnast, a rock band, a businesswoman... I got to meet some really interesting people. You are always so busy concentrating on your own thing that you don’t really get much chance to see what’s going on outside your world.”  The second-youngest of the seven stars, Russ admitted that for all of his on-track success, this latest recognition was quite something, it certainly can’t do his career prospects much harm either.

SUBARU v MITSUBISHI - Two of the major names in motorsport will go head to head on the race track in the UK next year as Evo challenges Impreza on track. With the regulations set to keep the racing close, competitive and affordable, running 34mm restrictors , a min weight and max rim size ,any model can participate, even current tarmac rally cars. Cars are also available to buy ready to race, build your own or arrive and drive race hire.  Why not join what promises to be the biggest thing in club racing, as Evo challenges Impreza on track. 14 Races over 7 weekends. Contact Steve 01646601908 or Subarucup.co.uk & Evocup.co.uk

DTM – The rumour mill has been working overtime recently with reports coming out of Germany that David Coulthard is interested in coming out of retirement to race a Mercedes-Benz in the DTM.  The Scot was at the final round held at Hockenheim last month and German reports stated he said the cars are difficult to drive, but they are great and look great as well. DTM chief Hans Werner Aufrecht is quoted as saying he would like to see Coulthard in a DTM car.

Formula Renault – Albert Costa and the Epsilon Euskadi team both became Formula Renault West European Cup Champions at Portimao in Portugal. After Costa won both races over the weekend he added the WEC title to his Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup title won last month, while his team, Epsilon Euskadi, won the teams' championship. Arthur Pic took the Rookie award. Read report

LMS - Honda America's motorsport department, JAS Motorsport is planning to contest the Le Mans Series with one or two ACURA ARX-01b LMP2 sportscars in 2010, including the Le Mans 24 Hours.  After success in touring cars and rallying this is a new challenge for JAS Motorsport in endurance racing, where the Le Mans 24 Hours represents the technical and sporting pinnacle that attracts massive public and media interest. The ACURA LMP2, developed by HPD at Santa Clarita with technical cooperation from Wirth Research, has been the most successful sportscar in its class since its first appearance in the 2007 American Le Mans Series. In 2009 the ACURA has dominated the American Le Mans Series by winning eight of the 10 events. The team’s first target is to finalise the necessary budget before the end of the year.

09-11-09

Formula Renault Winter Series  - Harry Tincknell's second and third places  at Rockingham on Saturday sealed the 2009 Formula Renault Winter Series for the 18 year-old CRS Racing driver. Fortec Motorsport’s Tom Blomqvist won both races setting the fastest laps in both as he dominated the proceedings.   Read reports

Manor Competition drivers Menasheh Idafar and Thomas Hylkema ended the 2009 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship at Rockingham on Saturday, 7th November, split by a mere two points in the standings – Middle Eastern racer Idafar just edging the battle to finish the series third overall. read report

The Hitech Junior Team continued its run of success with two podiums for Nick Yelloly and Marlon Stockinger in the final rounds of the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Winter Cup at Rockingham on Saturday. Yelloly’s results, coupled with those from Snetterton, makes him runner-up in the series, while for Stockinger, a maiden podium finish elevated him to fifth overall    read report

Hillspeed‘s  2009 Winter Championship ended on a high at Rockingham on Saturday, 7th November, when Joseph Reilly finished the four-round series as the highest placed single-seater rookie after ninth and eleventh place finishes in the final two rounds, the latter coming despite starting from the pit-lane…read report

Nick Yelloly became the Championship runner-up in the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Winter Cup Series at Rockingham this weekend. The 18 year-old driving for the Hitech Junior Team, added a podium finish and fourth place on Saturday to become ‘Vice Champ’ in the four-race series. “I’m really happy to have got second in the Winter Cup, I wasn’t expecting it after the season we’d had so to finish right up there with two podiums and two additional top six positions from four rounds is pretty good,” said Nick.  “It sets us up well for next season and I should start as one of the favourites for the main championship.”  In Saturday morning’s qualifying session the Montpelier Group-backed driver posted the third and fourth quickest times to give him a second row start for the two races. Race one got underway at lunchtime on Saturday and a poor getaway from pole-sitter Harry Tincknell allowed Nick to get the jump, surging ahead and following his team-mate Marlon Stockinger past. As the pack filed into the hairpin, Nick lost third to Tincknell but minutes later the safety car was deployed following an incident. After the race restarted Nick briefly lost a place to Thomas Hylkema. However he was in no mood to relinquish a possible podium and retook the place at the hairpin, before closing down the gap to third-placed Tincknell. Race two later that afternoon saw Nick get the jump on his team-mate Stockinger, to slot into third at the end of the opening lap. However the race was short-lived after a collision brought out the safety car and the red flag. The restart held over 7 laps saw Nick made another good start to maintain third and over the course of the race, his second podium finish enough to give him the vice-championship.

ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup  - Total Control Racing’s Daniel Lloyd secured the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup with Michelin title by a margin of just one point in a thrilling final round at Northamptonshire’s Rockingham Motor Speedway on Saturday, 7th November. The 17-year-old who finished 11th in the 2009 season took two second places over the weekend but it was the two bonus points awarded for setting the fastest lap of the race which was key to him finishing one point ahead of team-mate Sam Tordoff. read reports

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia  - Rodolfo Avila finished in fourth place twice in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia races at the Shanghai International Circuit (China) this Sunday.  Read report

Superleague Formula  - Hitech‘s final races in this year’s Superleague Formula by Sonangol at Jarama saw their  Liverpool FC car driven by Adrian Valles take the 2009 Championship with two good finishes on Sunday. FC Midtjylland’s Kasper Anderson ended his year with a podium finish, while FC Porto and Tristan Gommendy jumped to fifth in the overall standings.  Read report

Karts - Jordan King, who has ended his maiden campaign of European competition - and 'rookie' season at KF3 level - firmly inside the top ten and as second-best placed Brit in the fiercely-disputed WSK International Series. What's more, the 15-year-old took a victory and two further podium finishes along the way.  read report

Following a superb end to Callum Bowyer’s ‘rookie’ season at KF3 – yielding a long-awaited and thoroughly well-deserved last round victory and the honour of claiming the number four spot in the country – exciting young Peterborough kart driver Callum Bowyer is ready to take things to the next level.  “It went very well from mid-season onwards,” he summarised of his 2009 challenge. “We changed team and kart to run with Chris Rogers, and after that it all started to come together as the hard work paid off. In the last round we didn’t just win – we dominated all weekend. That was a really good way to end the season, and it meant we left KF3 on a real high. So after a second year in KF3 was ruled out by Callum’s size and weight  the decision was taken to step things up a gear and graduate to the more powerful KF2 class. “We started chatting about KF2 mid-season, but I just had to do everything I could to stay focussed on the task in-hand right to the end, and then we could start talking about it properly.   I’m going to be one of the younger and smaller drivers in KF2 up against older, bigger lads given that you can race in the class from 15 and there is no age limit, but it should be a really good experience, especially getting to compete in Europe.” In the meantime, there is the 2009/10 Winter Series, in which Callum will make his KF3 bow. After testing at both Shenington – scene of the curtain-raiser this coming weekend – and PF International,  he unofficially broke the lap record at the former first time out on his new mount, shaving 0.08secs off the previous benchmark. With the added incentive of the Winter Series results helping to determine the winner of the coveted ‘0’ Plate to-boot, the omens are encouraging to say the least.  “I’m feeling quite confident for Shenington. We were quick there in testing, and though I’ve obviously still got a lot of learning to do as it will probably be only my third time out, I’m really excited about it! We’re not going to set the world on fire in the first round, but I think we can be there or thereabouts and knocking on the door.”

08-11-09

Clio Winter Cup -  Total Control Racing took the first two places of the 2009 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup with Daniel Lloyd taking the titel by a single point from his team-mate Sam Tordorf at Rockingham on Saturday. Tordorf came away witht a 2win in the second race but Lloyd took the title courtesy of two seconds and a fastest lap to claim the crown..read report

Daniel Lloyd’s Clio Cup title is his first and it came in oly his second full season of car racing. “It’s fantastic to win the Winter Cup, I’m over the moon”, said Daniel, “This weekend’s results show what we’ll be capable of in 2010 if we can raise the budget to be back in Clios. We had a lot of bad luck in the main championship but this is a great end to the year and a good springboard for next season.”   Read report

Superleague Formula - Liverpool have won the 2009 Superleague Formula by Sonangol title in the season finale at Jarama after a safe fourth place in the second race. Liverpool's only rival for the title was Spurs and their driver  Craig Dolby gave it his best taking a superb second place in race 2 from 15th on the grid but it wasn't enough to stop Adrian Valles and Liverpool sealing the Chammpionship. Race 1 was  won by Anderlecht’s Yelmer Buurman as was the six-car, five-lap Super Final.  Galatasaray took their first ever Superleague win thanks  Ho-Pin Tung in race 2.   read reports

Formula Renault UK Winter Championship  - Rising single-seater racer Menasheh Idafar claimed a brace of battling top six finishes at a bitterly cold Rockingham on Saturday, 7th November, to secure an excellent third place overall in the final standings of the 2009 Formula Renault UK Winter Championship. read report

07-11-09

Formula Ford - The quest for the next Jenson Button will take on a new emphasis in 2010, with a raft of changes planned to enhance the Scholarship division of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain.The Scholarship class winner next year will win the free use for the 2011 season of a Van Diemen chassis and Scholar-prepared engine, as well as free race entries, to put them in pole position for a full-strength bid for outright championship honours. "We want young drivers to look at Formula Ford as a two-year programme," says Sam Roach of championship promoter RacingLine, "and that is why we are enhancing several elements of the Scholarship class, starting with the champion's prize. A quick young driver coming into the championship in 2010, perhaps straight from karting, can now enter the Scholarship with the knowledge that, if they are good enough, they will have a truly competitive car and engine for a full title campaign in 2011, as well as a solid boost to their budget." Points-scoring in the main championship and Scholarship divisions will be completely separate in Formula Ford in 2010; drivers will nominate themselves at the start of the season as eligible for either one or the other. There will be trophies for the top three in each class in every race, and separate podium ceremonies. Scholarship racers will be distinguished by number panels with yellow backgrounds, and TV coverage of the class will be increased, with additional focus on battles for the Scholarship lead.As in previous seasons, the Scholarship class will be open only to drivers with minimal prior single-seater experience pic R Pascal 11/56 Motorsport

Superleague Formula  - Sevilla’s Sebastien Bourdais took his first Superleague Formula by Sonangol pole position in qualifying at Jarama, but the title race was blown wide open as both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur failed to make it out of the group stages.Spurs, who trailed their Premier League rivals by 49 points heading into this weekend’s final round of the 2009 season, missed out on a place in the knockout stages of qualifying by just two one hundredths of a second, meaning driver Craig Dolby will start Sunday’s first race in tenth. Liverpool driver Adrian Valles will be even further back on the 18-car grid after finishing seventh, two places behind Dolby, in qualifying Group B. The Spaniard was clearly disgruntled when he felt his best lap was ruined after he was caught up behind Anderlecht’s Yelmer Buurman. He will start race 1 from 14th.  Read full report

Formula Master - Sweden's Philip Forsman set the fastest time in today's International Formula Master test in Hungary, driving for AR Motorsport. The Formula Renault graduate set his best time in 1:45.900 on a drying track, following overnight downpours. Driving for Jenzer Motorsport, Nico Muller was second fastest, posting a quickest lap of 1:47.100, ahead of team-mate Gary Thompson. The Irish 17-year-old, currently ranked second in Formula BMW Pacific, completed his best lap in 1:47.500.Brazilian Cesar Ramos claimed this morning's fastest time in 2:05.799, whilst his best time overall of 1:48.100 ranked him fourth. Iris Project pair Mikkel Mac and Phillippe Frommenwiler were fifth and sixth respectively with times of 1:48.900 and 1:49.200. In the first of a two-day test at the Hungaroring in Hungary was topped by 17-year-old Swiss Nico Muller, who posted a quickest time of 1:37.713.  read more

The Avon Tyres British GT Championship is sizing up to offer a vintage season in 2010, with MTECH Racing the latest squad to confirm its plans - and its race- and championship-winning ambitions. MTECH was the first team to score a UK race victory with the new Ferrari 430 Scuderia, at Silverstone in August courtesy of drivers Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron. Both men will be returning to the Staffordshire-based team and its Ferrari with the aim of further race victories next season. MTECH hopes to run a second GT3 car as well as one or two in the new GT Cup category. "We can confirm that Matt will be doing a complete season with us next year," says team boss Mike Edmonds, "and obviously we are very pleased about that and we think it puts us potentially in a championship-winning position, not least because we have now ironed out a lot of the early-season gremlins we had this year. "We are also very hopeful of running a second Scuderia; we are in very deep discussions with two drivers about this already and hopefully we can soon make an announcement confirming this. We also talking to two drivers very keen to run their cars in the Cup class, so it's all happening." MTECH Racing is just returned from a successful foray to the Catalunya GT Open races at Barcelona, in which Griffin and Cameron scored a notable GTS category win.MTECH's news comes hot on the heels of an announcement from Chad Racing that it will be upping its entry in the championship in 2010 to a brace of Ferrari 430 Scuderias, and news from Team Modena that it plans to be back on the grid with its brace of Lamborghini Gallardos. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

V8 Utes - Almost half the field of the 2009 Yokohama V8 Ute Racing Series - protected by Armor All are gearing up to compete on their local streets in the final round of the Series at the inaugural Sydney Telstra 500 Event, 4 - 6 December. Sydney drivers include; Jack Elsegood, Layton Crambrook, George Miedecke, Andrew Fisher, Colin and Ben Dunn, Denis Cribbin, Gary MacDonald, Scott Jennings, Ben Kavich, Steve Hodges, Nandi Kiss, Warren Millet, and George Elliot. Elsegood is currently leading the Series ahead of 2008 Champion Crambrook and they are sure to battle it out to the end. The former NRL player, Elsegood has been close to winning in the past and would love to take the Series in front of a home crowd. University of Western Sydney Student, George Miedecke is also in contention for the title currently in fifth position just ahead of Jesus All About Life Racings, Andrew Fisher who will once again be doing double duty but this time in the V8 Supercar Development Series. Colin Dunn and Denis Cribbin have recently purchased a V8 Ute franchise from Stephen Robinson and Dunn is looking forward to driving against son Ben. "We've been taking it in turns driving this year but I thought it would be good to give Ben the whole drive next year to see how he goes in the Series. It's been a while since we've raced against each other but it will be great as the whole family will be there," said Dunn. Cribbin will also get a drive at Homebush in car #85, which was recently rolled by Allan Letcher at Bathurst. Williams Race Tech, Team Manager Wayne Williams has been working overtime to get the car ready in time., Ben Kavich has also been working hard on repairing the damage to his V8 Ute from Bathurst and will be racing against fellow New South Welshman teammate, Scott Jennings who has just had one of his best ever results at Bathurst with a Pole start in Race 2. Good mates, Steve Hodges and Nandi Kiss love racing in front of a home crowd. Hodges is excited to have the family come watch.

Autosport International - Multiple Le Mans 24 Hours winner Allan McNish is the latest big-name driver confirmed at Autosport International, held at the NEC, Birmingham, 14-17 January 2010. The show will provide visitors with a rare opportunity to meet the Scottish ace as his position as a factory driver in Audi's hugely successful sports car programme ensures that much of his racing takes place on foreign soil. As well as meeting and greeting fans, Allan will look back at the 2009 season, which saw Audi launch the new R15 TDi to take on Peugeot in the battle for sports car supremacy. After helping Audi win on the car's debut at Sebring back in March, McNish also secured podium finishes at both Le Mans and Petit Le Mans over the course of the year. Celebrating its 20th year in 2010, Autosport International gives fans the chance to meet their favourite drivers in person, with McNish joining Formula One World Champion Jenson Button.

WTCC - The clock is ticking for the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship. In less than two weeks the competitors will hit the track for the last two races of the season. For the fifth consecutive year the final and deciding act will be staged on Macau's 6.1-km Guia street circuit. On Sunday 22nd November two 9 lap races will decide 2009 World Champion. Three men are still in contention for the  crown: Gabriele Tarquini, Yvan Muller and Augusto Farfus. SEAT Sport's Tarquini leads with a two-point margin ahead of his team-mate Muller, the reigning champion. As for Farfus of BMW Team Germany, he lies third, 13 points behind Tarquini. The Manufacturers' Championship is also at stake with SEAT - the 2008 winner - leading BMW by three points only.  In the previous five appearances of Super 2000 cars at Macau, including the 2004 Guia Race, BMW has won six races out of ten against Chevrolet's three victories (including Huff's and Menu's in 2008) and Alfa Romeo's one. SEAT still has to break its duck on the Guia circuit. Jörg Müller, the only man to have won both the Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix and the Guia Race, claimed three of BMW's six victories. 

Macau motorsport hero André Couto will join the SUNRED Engineering team for the WTCC final on his home racetrack. He will be at the wheel of the team's third SEAT León car, alongside regulars Tom Coronel and Tom Boardman. Couto, who won the 2000 F3 Macau Grand Prix and took pole position in the 2003 Macau Guia race with an N.technology Alfa Romeo 147, has become a regular competitor in the WTCC final at Macau. He took part in the 2005 and 2007 events with N.technology Alfa Romeo 156 cars; in 2006 he drove for SEAT Sport and last year again for N.technology at the wheel of a Honda Accord. His best result so far has been a seventh position in 2006 Race 2 with a SEAT León. Couto tested the SUNRED car in Okayama at the beginning of this week.

The fight for the Independents' Trophy title seems restricted to Tom Coronel of SUNRED Engineering and Félix Porteiro of Proteam Motorsport. By winning pole position and the first race in Okayama and being third in the second race, Coronel stretched his lead by just one point, as the young Spaniard collected two second places in Japan.  The Dutchman's advantage before the final meeting in Macau is 30 points, but with double points and possible bonuses for scoring in the overall classification still to be awarded, anything is still possible. Stefano D'Aste (Wiechers-Sport) and Franz Engstler (Liqui Moly Team) are out of contention and will focus on the battle for the third position, as they are split by five points only.

05-11-09

Clio Cup - Renault Sport UK have announced a host of changes to the 2010 ELF Renault Clio Cup with Michelin designed to make the series both more rewarding and more cost-effective to teams and drivers alike.  read more

GP2 - Alexander Rossi made a good start to his GP2 career this past weekend in Abu Dhabi while. driving for Ocean Racing Technology. Finishing both races in the points Alexander brought his car home in fourth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday.  Read report

The 2009 South African National Formula Vee Championship, goes down to the wire, at the Zwartkops Raceway Pretoria West, on Saturday (7 Nov) with three drivers still in contention for the title. Three times National Champion Alan Holm goes into the event, as favourite, leading on points and having done it all before. However any sort of mechanical failure or on track incident, could see his dream of becoming the first driver to win a fourth National Title, go down the drain. Up against him, will be 15 year old Chad Van Beurden who could also write another chapter in the category's history, by becoming the youngest South African National Formula Vee Champion, eclipsing Etienne Van Der Linde who took the 1994 title, at the age of sixteen. The third driver, still in contention, is Trevor Bland but an accident in a Polo Cup car, at the recent Kyalami Wesbank Super Series event, sees him in a race against time, to be fit for Saturday. If Bland cannot compete, it opens the door for both Jaco Schiks and Courtney Steenveld to demote him from a top three Championship finish. Also up for grabs on Saturday, is the 2009 Formula Vee Association Club Championship, which Gareth Jackson and Paul Venter will fight over, winner takes all! 

Bathurst 12 Hours - Armor All, Australia's leading car care provider has this week signed on to be the major partner of the Bathurst 12 Hour Showroom Enduro to be held at Mount Panorama, February 12-14, 2010.  The Event, which grows in popularity every year is shaping up to be one of the best ever with a stream of new cars being built, more teams entering and plenty of great racing for the supporters that head to the hill every year for the enduro classic, a fact Paul Blair, Marketing Manager of Armor All said he was looking forward to seeing next February. "The Bathurst 12 Hour has proven over the last 3 years that it's a hit with fans and competitors alike; and for us to be able to get on board while the Event is growing is an exciting prospect," he said. "These cars are very much production based, literally what are sitting in the garages and driveways around Australia, they are the cars that our customers drive and use our products on, so it's a very natural link. This Event is going to get bigger and better in the future, and we see our involvement stretching far beyond the 2010 Event."

Superleague Formula - The 2009 Superleague Formula by Sonangol title will be decided in Jarama this weekend when Liverpool’s Adrian Valles and Tottenham’s Craig Dolby go head-to-head for the crown. The pair have been locked together at the top of the league in a fierce battle all season long with Valles having sat atop the standings since the opening weekend at Magny-Cours back in June where he won the first race and lucrative Super Final. Dolby meantime had to wait until the second round at Zolder before recording his first victory of 2009. Now, after five rounds and 13 races, it’s the Spaniard who heads the Briton by 49 points going into the final weekend where only one can be crowned champion. And both men are talking up their chances ahead of this Sunday’s showdown.  Full story

SEAT Supercopa - Freddy Nordstrom finished the final race of the 2009 SEAT Supercopa Championship held in Barcelona, in a points scoring position after a tough debut season. As usual the weekend consisted of 3 races, 2 sprint races on Saturday and a longer feature race on Sunday. The toughest qualifying session of the season saw the 37 car SEAT Supercopa class produce the closest times of the year. In fact less than a second covered places 6 to 26 on the grid! Freddy was in the thick of it, qualifying 20th. In the first of the weekend’s races Freddy was hit hard, causing severe damage to the car’s diffuser and rear floor scrapping on the ground. Somehow he battled on to finish a very credible 17th. With no repairs allowed before the immediate start of race 2, Freddy continued to battle with his car showing the scars of race one! Again he put a strong race given the circumstances to finish 19th. The Advent Motorsport team worked hard before the third race of the weekend to repair the car. In the feature race Freddy was in storming mood working his way up to 13th, which proved lucky as it scored Freddy his first points of the season. “It has been a tough season” said Freddy afterwards. “The series and all the circuits were new to me. The grids are always full and many of the competitors have been in the series for several years, plus a number of Eurocup drivers visit selected rounds. It has been a tough learning curve, there’s been more than a few bumps and scrapes, but I’m already looking forward to next year and hopefully some more Eurocup action. My race in the Eurocup at Brands Hatch this year, in which I finished both races in the top six, has been a real highlight”.

04-11-09

Formula Ford - Dunlop tyres will be providing the grip and the name as title sponsor to the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain next season, it is announced today. New Formula Ford radial tyres in both slick and wet are currently under development by Dunlop and will be adopted in Britain in 2010. Dunlop has a long and rich British motorsport heritage, and has supplied tyres to many series during Formula Ford's 43-year history. For years it sponsored a Star of Tomorrow championship, among whose winners were Paul Warwick and David Coulthard. "Formula Ford teams will soon start the new-tyre testing programme," said Sam Roach, of Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship promoter RacingLine, "and we expect that they and their drivers will be very pleased with the results of Dunlop's hard work. We are sorry to be separating from Avon, whose products have served Formula Ford superbly for many seasons, and we are pleased that Avon will maintain a connection through its continued supply of tyres for the Kent-engined 'classic' Formula Fords." Dunlop’s Motorsport Manager, Michael Butler said; "Dunlop is hrilled to renew its association with Formula Ford.The championship has a long history of producing top-level drivers and we look forward to working with the stars of the future once again. We have developed a new tyre that uses our latest construction and compound technology and we aim for this to be a major enhancement to a massively popular formula. Mike Norton, Motorsport Manager Ford of Europe added, “We are looking forward immensely to working with Dunlop in 2010, and are sure that the product and service will be exemplary. We can confirm that the championship will once again be supporting the British Formula 3 and British GT Championships next season, and that we see this alignment of championships as being a natural fit for Formula Ford for the foreseeable future."

Karts - The Tony Kart Junior Racing Team is celebrating back-to-back WSK KF2 championship victories plus they also clinched the Euro Cup for teams in the KF2 and KF3 categories.   Read report

Superleague Formula - Sebastien Bourdais has been on the podium for the last four races and should start favourite for this weekend’s final round of the Superleague Formula in his Sevilla squad's home race at Jarama.  All the pressure and attention will be on the Championship contenders Liverpool and Tottenham as they fight it out for the ultimate prize leaving the Spaniard free to concentrate on simply wining the races…read more.  

British GT  - Ferrari team Chad Racing is to field a double-strength squad in the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship, with - says team boss Piers Masarati - the focus very much on race wins and, hopefully, championship victory. Following a successful season in 2009 with a single Ferrari 430 for Chris Hyman and Paul Warren, Chad is to expand its stable to three cars for 2010, all of them to the latest GT3 Scuderia specification.  "We will race two cars in the UK and one in Europe," says Masarati. "We take delivery of a brand new chassis next week, testing begins soon, and we have three of the four drivers signed already for British GT. It's great to have our plans so well advanced so far ahead of the new season, and that bodes well for our prospects. We will be gunning for the championship and race wins in 2010, that's for sure with the driver line-up we have."  Chad Racing's new machine will be shaken down soon and the team has engaged a top test driver to optimise set up. "We will also be having a new hospitality unit at each event," adds Masarati, "and the whole team will receive new branding, including the cars. We plan to announce the driver line-up shortly." Chad is one of several new and returning teams to have underlined their commitment to British GT in recent weeks. Championship promoter SRO Motorsports Group is pressing ahead with plans to revitalise the championship, with a new class structure designed to increase the number of eligible cars and new marketing initiatives to help boost grid sizes. The new championship calendar will be revealed soon.

03-11-09

Cadwell Park is swapping horsepower for gravity power this month, as the circuit will welcome skateboarders, soapbox racers and BMX cyclists from across Europe for the annual Gravity Racing Festival on Sunday 15 November. The popular event - where local, national and international teams compete against the clock in a variety of gravity-powered machinery - was originally scheduled to take place in February, but heavy snowfall meant the festival was postponed until the end of the season. Highlights include a competition for go-kart style soapbox racers, in which three machines will go head-to-head at a time. The winning entrant's time will be recorded, and the overall fastest three soapbox racers will do battle in a 'winner takes all' final run. Teams that have already signed up to compete in the soapbox racer contest include men's and women's entries from the MG Car Club, along with a group of students from Yarborough School in Lincoln . Gravity Racing Festival organiser Geoff Burton said: “This is the third year we’ve held the Gravity Racing Festival and the sport continues to grow in popularity, particularly in the current climate as running a soapbox racer is cheap and environmentally friendly.“The festival always attracts a strong level of entries as Cadwell Park is a huge draw, and this year we’ve got 30 soapbox racers competing. The fact we’re running them three at a time should make this a great event for spectators and I’m sure the whole day will provide plenty of entertainment.” There will also be a gravity bike contest – featuring BMX machinery with no pedals! – and a trio of skateboarding events including a slalom time trial and a spectacular downhill street luge.
Entry to the Cadwell Park Gravity Racing Festival on Sunday 15 November costs £5 per car. For more information call 0870 950 9000 or visit www.cadwellpark.co.uk or www.appleheadgravitysport.com.

Donington Park’s owner Tom Wheatcroft has died aged 87. He passed away on Saturday morning at home with his family. Wheatcroft will be best remembered for bringing Donington Park, which he bought for £100,000 in 1971 and returning racing to the Leicestershire venue. His dream was always to hold a Formula One race there and this was realised in 1993 when Donington hosted the 1993 European grand prix. The race is remembered as one of the best in history, as Aryton Senna triumphed in the wet. A book of condolence has been opened at The Donington Park Museum.

The F2000 Championship Series, the official development series for USF1, has announced it’s 2010 seven-weekend, 14-race schedule, running from April until September. The series will open its 2010 championship season at Virginia International Raceway ending in September at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Read report

Saloons - Bahraini youngster Ezra Idafar produced a tremendous performance on his competitive debut in the Chevrolet Supercars ME Championship at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi over the weekend, the 17-year-old securing a double podium finish in the SC06 ‘Development Class’.  On the same weekend as his older brother Menasheh took his maiden Formula Renault UK podium finish during round two of the 2009 Winter Championship in Britain, Ezra earned two pole position starts in his class in the Chevrolet Supercars before mounting two excellent comeback drives to claim a second place finish on Saturday, 31st October, and a third place result on Sunday, 1st November.   Read report

ETCC - The FIA European Touring Car Cup will change format from next year, switching from a one-off event at the end of the season to a four-event series. The new format has been approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, as well as the 2010 calendar.

2010 FIA European Touring Car Cup – calendar

28 March Portugal

6 June Germany

11 July Austria

17 October Italy

The names of the tracks will be announced during the FIA WTCC event in Macau. Each meeting will include two 50km races, for a total of eight rounds awarding points. The cars eligible to take part will remain the same that are currently accepted: Super 2000, Super 1600 and Super Production. A 400,000 euro prize money will be awarded to the competitors. “A series of four events will help to cover the whole European territory, making it easier for the teams to take part in all or selected events. The aim is also to strengthen the ties between the National  Championships that adopt the FIA technical regulations,” KSO General Manager Marcello Lotti explained.  Five editions of the FIA European Touring Car Cup were held from 2005.

FBMW - Australian Formula BMW Junior, Chris Wootton has had everything bar the kitchen sink thrown at him during the penultimate event of the Formula BMW Pacific season at Okayama in Japan, but has fought back and recorded some decent results. After qualifying fifth his first race was ruined after Chris was taken off by his team-mate Axcil Jefferies on the opening lap. Once the field had gone by he was able to rejoin the track but by then of course a good finish was out of then question.  Chris fought his way back through the field to ninth which wasn’t too bad all things considered. In race 2, held in the wet on Sunday, Chris soon found himself up to third before he had a brief off dropping him back down the field. Re-joining near the back he once again put in a good recovery driver to finish eighth.   “Once again a pretty frustrating weekend” said Chris, “I felt probably the best that I have done all year. I worked hard before this race in the gym and I could feel the benefit of it straight away. I was pretty aggressive in working my way back through the field and by the end of the race was starting to enjoy it. I wish I didn’t have to do it though. The Eurasia Motorsport team and my engineer, Greg Wheeler dealt with the situation fabulously and they made it a lot easier than it otherwise would have been. Today, we were tracking for a podium finish, but I just got crossed up and went off track. It was really wet, almost typhoon like conditions they were saying, which made it very difficult to stay on the track. On top of that, visibility was very ordinary. “No excuses though, the podium was there, but it wasn’t to be.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia - Rodolfo Avila is heading for one more tough challenge this year as Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) racing action will resume after one month break at the Shanghai International Circuit, China. The highlight of the 6th round of the series will be the new colours of Asia Racing Team’s Porsche 997 GT3 Cup that will change from green and white to The Venetian Macao’s black and golden.  Speaking about the weekend ahead, Avila said, “I know the track very well from the time I drove formula cars in Asia. In April’s race I was one of the quickest drivers but I don’t believe my opponents will make my life easier. I would like to win as it would be the best present I could give to The Venetian Macao for their vital support in the end of this year. Without their support probably I would not be able to finish this season.” Avila is currently 4th in championship just 5 points behind the last year Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion. Team Race Engineer Duarte Alves added, “After the good performance he had shown in the previous Shanghai round we are looking forward podium positions. He has more experience with the car now, and we have collected important data from the previous races. Of course we would like to win and we'll be pushing really hard from the first practice session to make that possible. Sincerely I believe in a good weekend, especially after half season where Rodolfo adapted very well to the Porsche Cup driving style and grew up as a GT driver”.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB  - The twelfth programme in the dedicated television coverage of the 2009 Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be broadcast in the Motorsport UK programme on ITV4 at 5pm on Tuesday 10 November, on ITV1 on the night of Thursday 12 November and repeated on ITV4 on the afternoon of Saturday 14 November. Round 18 of the season at Rockingham will feature in the next programme. 
Motorsport UK will be broadcast as follows:
Tuesday 10 November at 5pm on ITV4
Friday 13 November at 12.25am on ITV1
Saturday 14 November (time tba) on ITV4 . Motorsport UK can also be watched at itv.com and is available for viewing for 28 days after the initial broadcast date.

Superleague Formula - Adrian Valles heads to the final Superleague Formula by Sonangol round of the season in Jarama this weekend with the personal backing of Liverpool FC’s star names after visiting Anfield yesterday. Following Tottenham Hotspur title rival Craig Dolby’s guest appearance at White Hart Lane at the end of October, Valles travelled to Merseyside to see the players in action at Melwood Training Ground. Once finished, some of the club’s Spanish contingent, including manager Rafa Benitez, star striker Fernando Torres and goalkeeper Pepe Reina, not to mention club captain and England International Steven Gerrard, took time out to discuss this weekend’s upcoming title showdown before personally passing on their best wishes. From there it was on to Anfield, Liverpool’s historic home ground and one of the most famous stadiums in world football. First stop was the home dressing room before following in the footsteps of some of the game’s most revered players by reaching up and touching the lucky “This is Anfield” motif that greets teams before emerging from the tunnel and on to the pitch. Liverpool’s manager Rafa Benitez added: “It was great that Adrian could join us on Monday and see Anfield for himself. I know the players were looking forward to meeting him as most have an interest in cars and have been following Liverpool's progress in Superleague Formula all season. On behalf of the entire club, I would like to pass on the best of luck to Adrian and the team.”

Formula Renault -  Solihull racing driver Nick Yelloly secured his first podium finish with second place in the opening round of the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault Winter Series Cup at Snetterton. The 18 year-old, in just his fourth year since first testing a 100cc TKM kart, catapulted into second off the line as the pack filed into the first corner and was never pressured as he went on to take second at the flag. In Saturday morning’s wet qualifying session however, things didn’t quite go as planned the youngster struggling, nevertheless a third row start for the first of two races proved to be enough. An earlier attempt to hold the race was abandoned after a multi-car accident blocked the track on lap six.  In that Nick had made a superb start and was up into third place but the restart was even better. A lightening getaway off the line, allowed him to push the race leader hard into the first corner.  However the wet track conditions proved decisive in the results, with the leader, unaffected by spray, able to pull away at the front. Nick though drove a strong race to pull away from third place to take a well-earned runner-up spot at the end of the 15 lap race. Race two again saw another strong start from Nick, moving him up four places before he went wide loosing positions in the process.  A steady run plus a great overtaking move on the penultimate lap saw him move up to sixth which he held to the flag.

Karts - The original ‘Karting Guru’, Martin Hines has confirmed that ZipKart, arguably the most successful kart manufacturer and race team of the last 40 years, will make a welcome return to the Karting Show at Autosport International, 14-17 January 2010 at the NEC Birmingham. Unquestionably, Hines helped to put karting on the worldwide map, the triple FIA World Superkart and multiple FIA European and British champion invented the indoor karting concept, allowing the sport to reach out to the public masses in the 1980s. He also created the popular McLaren Mercedes Champions of the Future national karting series, which today is known as Formula Kart Stars.  Hines has almost single-handedly developed the careers of many of today’s top racing stars such as Lewis Hamilton, David Coulthard, Anthony Davidson, Gary Paffett, Luke Hines and Jason Plato. Over the last four decades, ZipKart (based in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire) has become synonymous with success and for creating the next generation of motorsport stars. Autosport International 2010 will also see the karting icon get behind the wheel for charity as Hines has also kindly pledged his support to race in David Brabham’s Celebrity Karting Challenge. Taking place on Friday 15 January, Brabham’s annual Racing4Charity event will be hosted from the Show’s Live Action Arena for the first time, offering the chance for members of the public to race alongside some of the best racers in the world. Autosport International will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, 16-17 January 2010. Adult tickets start at £29 per day, with children’s tickets costing from £19. MSA licence holders under 16 qualify for a complimentary weekend day ticket, when accompanied by a paying adult, by booking in advance. To book visit www.autosport-international.com or call 0844 579 3188 quoting ‘Karting 216’. For further ticket information and to keep up-to-date with the latest Karting Show at Autosport International news and information visit www.thekartingshow.com

02-11-09

Formula Ford - Team USA Scholarship have done it again, winning the Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone this time with 16-year old Connor de Phillippi .Just as Conor Daly did in 2008 this year young American  de Phillippi took the victory despite pressure from expereicned Form ula Fordsters Robert Barrable and Felix Fisher. De Phillippi started well getting ahead of both Barrable and Felix Fisher before he lost out after a small mistake at Luffield letting both past. However he kept his cool and was soon back on terms and into the lead once again where he stayed winning from Barrable with Fisher third. 

The MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain will be throwing open its doors to prospective competitors next month. The Ford-backed championship's successful annual  sampler day' will be held at Rockingham, providing a vital opportunity for prospective competitors to meet the teams and to drive the cars.More than 50 drivers attended the event last season and Sam Roach, of championship promoter RacingLine, hopes for a similar number at this year's event, to be held on 2 December: "We are laying on an open circuit for all the 2009 British Formula Ford teams - as well as prospective teams - and it's their opportunity to showcase themselves. We are also inviting competitors to register to attend so that they can meet the teams and sample a modern Formula Ford chassis." The sampler day is open to all drivers aged 16 and over holding at least a kart licence. Prospective participants must register in advance with the championship co-ordinator, Penny Mattocks .  "We aim to make it an informal yet extremely valuable exercise," added Roach. "In addition to the test drives, we will be able to provide all the championship information which competitors, teams and sponsors require to enable them to make their plans." The newly crowned Formula Ford Champion of Great Britain, James Cole, and championship runner-up Josef Newgarden will be at the event also to claim their valuable prizes - Formula 3 tests with T-Sport, the team which this year propelled Formula Ford graduates Wayne Boyd and Adriano Buzaid to race victories in their maiden British F3 seasons.

upercup - British racer Richard Westbrook claimed a podium finish for Team SAS during the Porsche Supercup races supporting the F1 World Championship finale in Abu Dhabi (31 October/1 November). As the team joined the Supercup for the first time, Westbrook finished third in the final race of the season while team mate James Sutton capped his weekend with a top ten finish in the opening race. Team SAS, which is operated by British team Red Line Racing, fielded two cars at the Yas Marina track as a build-up towards a full Supercup campaign and entered cars for Westbrook and Sutton. Both drivers are former Porsche Carrera Cup GB champions, Westbrook having won the title in 2004 and Sutton in 2007. "I'm absolutely delighted to come away with a podium," said Westbrook. "Everyone in Team SAS and Red Line Racing can be very proud of themselves for their first race in the Supercup. To be two-tenths off the top pace is very good, because the Supercup is one of the toughest championships in the world." To make it an excellent weekend for graduates from the Carrera Cup GB, Nick Tandy scored a superb second place overall in the opening race. He made his Porsche debut at the wheel of the Carrera Cup GB VIP car in August 2008. Meanwhile, former Carrera Cup GB champion Damien Faulkner took fourth place in the second race to finish sixth in the final standings and Richard Williams was tenth in the final race to secure eighth in the Supercup standings

Formula Renault Winter Cup - Formula Renault UK team Manor Competition kicked-off it’s 2009 Winter Championship at Snetterton on Saturday, 31st October with drivers Thomas Hylkema and Menasheh Idafar both getting on the podium. Dutchman Hylkema picked up two excellent third place finishes while Idafar was fourth in the opening race followed by second in race 2. Their team-mate David Macdonald also put in a  couple of solid performances earning a sixth and a fourth place respectively in the two rounds.   read report

Formula Renault UK rookie Joseph Reilly made a solid start to his car racing career at Snetterton on Saturday, 31st October, with a brace of points scoring results for Hillspeed during the opening two rounds of the four race Winter Championship. Read report

Hitech Junior Team's Nick Yelloly scored a superb maiden podium finish in the opening rounds of the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Winter Cup series at Snetterton this weekend. The race also marked a strong performance by Marlon Stockinger, the 18 year-old making up four places on the opening lap to finish in a season-best fifth place.    Read report

Formula Two – 2009 Champion Andy Soucek took a pair of dominant victories in Barcelona.  On Saturday he won the opening race on  his native soil after a great start to jump pole-sitter Robert Wickens. The Canadian fell to fourth after he was passed by Mikhail Aleshin and French debutant Tristan Vautier before he dropped out altogether on lap 5 when his car stopped out on track. By the end Soucek had a 4.389s lead over Aleshin while Vautier held on for third despite intense pressure from Julien Jousse. In race 2 on Sunday Soucek won once again after another superb start over Wickens.  Nicola De Marco also got by the Canadian who this time held on for third despite coming under pressure from Kazim Vasiliauskas.   read reports

FBMW - Rio Haryanto driving for Questnet Team Qi-Meritus, was crowned the 2009 Formula BMW Pacific champion after the young Indonesian finished second in Round 14 at the Okayama International Circuiton Sunday. Guest driver Eurointernational’s Facu Regalia  took a second consecutive lights-to-flag victory, finishing 21.681 seconds ahead of Haryanto and James Kovacic in a wet 12-lap race.  The 2009 Formula BMW Pacific team championship and Rookie Cup were also decided in Okayama, with Questnet Team Qi-Meritus taking the team honours and Gary Thompson (IRL/17/E-Rain Racing) winning the Rookie Cup. On Saturday Regalia took a comfortable lights-to-flag victory ahead of Haryanto while Gary Thompson was third.

Asian LMS - OAK Racing

01-11-09

Formula Renault UK Winter Cup - Harry Tincknell took an early lead at the halfway stage of the 2009 Michelin Formula Renault UK Winter Cup series with two dominate victories at a rain-soaked Snetterton circuit on Saturday, 31st October. The reigning Graduate Cup champion who recently turned 18, secured two lights-to-flag victories in rounds one and two at the 1.9520-mile Norfolk circuit to take an early lead in the series. The weekend also saw maiden podium finishes for Manor Competition’s Menasheh Idafar with second in round one along with team-mate Thomas Hylkema (NED) who picked two third places. Hitech Junior Team’s Nick Yelloly also enjoyed his first visit to the podium with second place in round two. Meanwhile newcomer Matthew Draper secured the honours in the BARC category racing in his Antel Motorsport car.  Read report

GP2 Asia Series - Debutant Will Bratt produced a good drive in the opening round of the GP2 Asia season in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, 31st October, taking solid 12 place finish. Having had problems in qualifying, he started from 23rd on the grid for his maiden GP2 race but dealt with the the Yas Marina Circuit well to finish just 6 seconds off Party Poker Racing.com Scuderia Coloni team-mate Roldan Rodriguez. In today’s race (Sunday) he retired with brake failure eight laps from the flag. Running well in the middle of the pack fighting for 13th with reigning International Formula Master Champion Fabio Leimer and French World Series by Renault graduate Charles Pic> as the three cars headed onto the back straight Will’s car became an uncontrollable after his front-left brake disc exploded resulting in contact with Leimer putting him out on the spot     read reports

WTCC - In adverse weather conditions, with heavy rain soaking the racetrack, BMW drivers performed a miracle and scored two 1-2 finishes at Okayama in the penutilmate event of the season. Andy Priaulx claimed victory in Race 1, from Jörg Müller, while Augusto Farfus won the second race ahead of Priaulx. Aquaplaning was threat which hung over the drivers' heads all day. And many did make a few mistakes, including championship leader Gabriele Tarquini (who went wide twice at the start of both races) and Farfus (who salvaged his hopes to be champion with a recovery to eight in Race 1). The fights for both the world titles are wide open with just the final race meeting at Macau remaining. Tarquini's lead has been cut to just 2 points ahead of his team-mate Yvan Muller, while Farfus is 13 points behind. In the Manufacturers' Championship SEAT and BMW are split by 3 points. Macau on November 22nd, for rounds 23 and 24 is the last event of then year.

Asian Le Mans Series - Aston Martin Racing claimed a superb victory in the second round of the Asian Le Mans Series in Okayama, Japan. The 007 Aston Martin LMP1 ran perfectly for the duration of the 3 hour race with drivers Stefan Mücke and Harold Primat working in perfect harmony alongside their pit-crew at Aston Martin Racing. Saturday’s race was almost the same but with one major difference. Despite leading most of the race the team were forced to make 2 pit-stops in the closing stages to fix cracked louvers on the front wings of the car which dropped them to a very frustrated fourth at the flag. Read reports

Formula Renault Winter Cup - Menasheh Idafar produced the drive of his career during the opening weekend of Winter Championship action at Snetterton on Saturday to secure his maiden category podium finish with a superb second place in round two of the series. In atrocious conditions at the 1.95-mile track, the Manor Competition driver was in great form. In qualifying yesterday morning he secured two front row starts for rounds one and two of the winter series, his best ever performance in a full UK-specification Formula Renault. The first race was abandoned and postponed until the end of the day’s action due to a couple of incidents in very wet conditions and at the time of the cessation, the British-born Bahraini was in second place. When the encounter was re-started, Menasheh wasn’t able to get away from the grid as well as he had previously and slipped to fifth place on the opening lap. Mounting a spirited fightback, he took fourth position from Dino Zamparelli at the Esses on lap two and remained there to the chequered flag on lap 15 a mere seven 10ths of a second behind Dutch team-mate Thomas Hylkema.  In Round two the Gulf Computer Services and Ortolan supported driver made a good getaway from second on the grid to hold his place behind poleman Harry Tincknell, Menasheh then pulled well clear of Hylkema as the race progressed and was starting started to catch the race leader during the closing stages.   Read reports

V de V   -  In the last V de V event of 2009 at Magny-Cours for the Championnat de France Endurance VHC and the Challenge Funyo the titles of both were settled along with the hotly disputed Challenge Endurance Proto series. However the  Challenge Endurance VHC and the Challenge Endurance Championships will have to wait until their last race at Estoril in November to find their respective champions.   Race report

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