The Grid

News Archive September 2011

mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk

04/10/2011

IF RACE REPORTS LINKS REMOVED - FOLLOW 'Reports' LINK ON THE GRID above

29-09-11

Ginetta GT Supercup: Production Touring Car driver Gary Duckam will drive with Beacon Racing in this weekends Ginetta GT Supercup at Brands Hatch in the G50 class. Duckman normally races in the Dunlop Production Touring cars in a SEAT Leon and is third in the Championship.

Petit Le Mans: For the second time this year, Rebellion Racing will race in the USA at Petit Le Mans, the 6th round of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, and finale of the American Le Mans Series.The team made its debut in the USA at the 12 hours of Sebring in March this year, completing that race in 6th place on the debut of the Lola-Toyota car. The Swiss team will race for the first time at Road Atlanta with even higher expectations as they arrive on the back of a strong successful trend in Europe.Rebellion Racing won two of the last three Le Mans Series events and won both the LMP1 Manufactuers’ Championship for Lola-Toyota and the LMP1 Teams’ Championship last Sunday in Estoril (Portugal). The team was not able to take any rest after last weekend’s Le Mans Series finale in Portugal, with the crew and drivers arriving on Monday evening in Atlanta directly from Lisbon. Bart Hayden, Rebellion Racing Team Manager: “ It is always a real pleasure to come racing in the USA. We are facing strong competition, but in a very pleasant atmosphere. We are targeting the LMP1 petrol (unofficial) win here at Petit Le Mans, and are looking to score good points to strengthen our position in the ILMC LMP1 Teams’ Classification. REBELLION Racing is hoping to finish in third place in the ILMC behind the Peugeot and Audi factory teams and that would mean a lot for us as a private team after our win in the LMS LMP1 Teams’ Championship.”

BTCC: A record-equalling 29-car grid is set to contest this weekend’s Dunlop MSA BTCC round at Brands Hatch. The 888 Racing with Collins Contractors team has this morning announced that Oliver Jackson will race its second Vauxhall Vectra for the season’s final two rounds at Brands Hatch and Silverstone (15-16 Oct). Jackson has competed in a variety of GT and sportscar categories, tested 888’s Vectra at Brands earlier this week. Meanwhile, at just 17 years of age Chris Swanwick will also make his BTCC debut this weekend in a second Rob Austin Racing Audi A4 – taking the number of cars entered for the event to 29. Only once since the BTCC’s switch in 1991 to an all two-litre formula have numbers been so high – which was the supporting race at the British F1 Grand Prix in 1993 at Silverstone. Notably, Swanwick’s arrival means the grid will include five of the latest Next Generation Touring Car type machines, the two Audis, two Toyota Avensis (Dynojet and Speedworks) and one Proton Gen-2 (Welch Automotive).In recent rounds Rob Austin’s Audi and Frank Wrathall’s Dynojet Toyota have come to the fore with top three qualifying positions, fastest laps and podium finishes. Already the factory Honda Racing Team, with its new Civic model, plus the 888 and Pirtek Racing squads have confirmed they will be making the switch to full NGTC-specification cars in 2012. Heading to Brands Hatch this weekend seven drivers can still win the 2011 BTCC title. Honda Racing team-mates Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden are currently tied for the lead followed by Jason Plato (Silverline Chevrolet Cruze), Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing Ford Focus), James Nash (888/Collins Vectra), Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Vectra) and Robert Collard (WSR BMW). Some 102 points cover them with a possible maximum of 104 still up for grabs – 52 apiece from Brands Hatch’s three races and then Silverstone’s ‘triple-header’ title showdown in a fortnight.

Wrotham’s Airwaves Racing gave recent signing Michael Caine the chance to sample a few laps of the Brands Hatch circuit on Wednesday, ahead of this weekend’s crucial BTCC event. However his form of transport was a little unconventional, as the car was supplied by team sponsor Addison Lee, better known for providing taxi cabs! Caine made his BTCC race debut at the previous round at Rockingham, scoring points in the event, and is looking forward to a successful weekend at Brands Hatch on 1/2 October. He joins regulars Liam Griffin and Mat Jackson, and the latter will be aiming to pick up vital wins for his championship campaign this weekend, after being dogged by recent misfortune. Success would represent Airwaves Racing's first championship success and a good performance at their home circuit would set them up perfectly for the final round a fortnight later. As befits a taxi driver, Caine took a passenger around the famous corners and dips of the Brands Hatch circuit from in the Addison Lee Ford Galaxy, which can usually be found taking fare payers home from shops or restaurants. Stuart Ilsley of Rainham, Kent, won a competition to take part in the ride. “It was very exciting,” he said. “Tom - my son - is 9 and he’s looking forward to coming down here on Sunday for the race; it will be a really good day. I’m looking forward to enjoying the event and looking out for my taxi driver again!”Caine, enjoying his role as cabbie, remarked: “any amount of track time is pretty decent track time but whilst the Galaxy is from the same manufacturer, the Focus is just a little bit better! Looking ahead to this weekend, Caine added, “the excitement was at Rockingham and now we’ve got to do a job,” he continued. “So Brands is going to be good for the Airwaves Focus. It’s Airwaves Racing’s back garden, so we’ve got a right to come and play, and hopefully we can have some good results. Mat can get some better luck and me and Liam can have some fun.”

GP2: Team Lotus has confirmed that Alexander Rossi, lead driver in the AirAsia Team Lotus Driver Development Programme and race-winner in the 2011 World Series By Renault, will be taking part in the upcoming GP2 tests in Jerez and Barcelona with the Formula One team's GP2 counterparts Caterham Team AirAsia. Alexander is a key driver in the Anglo/Malaysian's squad's roster of future talent and recently spent the Singaporean Grand Prix with Team Lotus to further his experience of motorsport's highest level. The announcement that Team Lotus is supporting his participation in second day of the test in Jerez today and both days in Barcelona (19th / 20th October) will give the young American the chance to step up to GP2. Having just returned from Singapore Alexander said: "I would like to thank Tony, Kamarudin, SM Nasarudin and Riad Asmat for giving me this opportunity with Caterham Team AirAsia. I am very excited about working with a team who I have seen progress throughout the 2011 GP2 season from literally nothing to a race winning squad who mirror the professionalism, passion and commitment their colleagues in Team Lotus bring to work every day, and I will do my best to absorb as much as I can and repay the faith the Team Lotus shareholders have show in me by doing the best job I possible can over the four days on track." Riad Asmat, Caterham Team AirAsia Team Principal: "One of the key objectives for Tony, Din and Nasa when they set up Caterham Team AirAsia was to provide young talent from across the motorsport spectrum the chance to develop and gain experience on their way to competing at the highest levels of global motorsport. Whether it is aviation, music, the automotive industry or Formula One, our shareholders have always passionately believed in giving young people the chance to explore their potential and Alexander is a very good example of how this plan is working in motorsport - he has performed brilliantly in the 2011 World Series by Renault so it is only fitting that we help him further his understanding of how it works at the very top, and we can do that now by giving him the chance to step up to the GP2 with us at the forthcoming tests."

V de V: The V de V series were in action last weekend at Nogaro and the 4-hour GT/Touring race proved electrifying from start to finish. Avoiding all problems and running a superbly managed race, Anthony Pons and Richard Balandras came out the winners. The super-quick crew of Grégory Fargier and Fabien Thuner were the winners in their first outing together in the Proto Endurance race while the VHC race was won at a canter by the Dutoya brothers in an Elva. The Funyo races went to Nicolas Cannard Daniel Harout dominating in the single seaters at his home circuit, with the exception of race 2 where Nicolas Pironneau got the upper hand. pics Hugues Laroche Read reports

Euroformula Volant: Just one month away from the final of the Euroformula Volant 2011, and who will be the successor to last year’s award winner, Paul Loup Chatin? The award is a 60,000 euro bursary to be put towards a discipline of their choice in agreement with the directors of the school. Such is the demand that Euroformula have added two new selection dates, the semi-finalists will be named in early October. The final will then take place on November 7 on the La Châtre circuit in front of a jury made up of motorsport celebrities and Euroformula partners (ALRIC, RALF TECH and P1 Racewear) and journalists.Drivers wishing to take part in the last selections can still sig up. To take part in the 2011 selections, the students cannot have won any Volants or been classed in any single-seater, prototype or bucket-seat championship in the three previous years. A financial contribution of € 1,490 is required to take part plus an additional € 990 if they make it to the semi-finals. Eight to twelve drivers will be selected to take part in the semi-final and the top 5 will battle it on the La Châtre circuit.Laurent Fradon, Director of Euroformuila Volant: “The role of a driving school, beyond the training courses and other activities linked to single-seaters, is to spot new talent and help them get started in motorsport. Our objective is to perpetuate the Euroformula VolantVolantin France because there aren’t any others anymore. We want it to become the unmissable event for all drivers who want to start in single-seater racing. This will give the “Volant” another dimension and more means to support even more students.” For more information and to sign up contact@euroformula.com

Karts: Strawberry Racing’s Junior and Senior Max drivers enjoyed a successful Rotax Cup at Three Sisters last Sunday (25 Sept), with five of their seven drivers on the podium.Junior star Jack Barlow repeated his 2010 success with a dominant performance, whilst his team-mate Rob Holland was in the hunt throughout the 12 lap final and was pleased to secure 3rd place. read report

Jack Barlow, the 2009 Formula Kart Stars Mini Max Champion, added a further title to his already impressive list of wins so far this season, with success in last Sunday’s (25 September) Rotax Cup. The Adidas, Arai and Superdry-supported driver beat a quality field at Three Sisters near Wigan, to retain the trophy he won last year. Read report

Formula 3 : Fresh from taking his third podium of the 2011 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Donington Park last weekend, Menasheh Idafar posted the 11th quickest lap in testing at Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit today, Wednesday, 28th September – the last officially timed run of the season. Just a week and a half away from the final race meeting of the current campaign at the 3.66-mile Northamptonshire track, the 20-year-old concluded today’s three sessions fairly satisfied with the outcome where he attained a quickest time of 1m55.699 seconds (113.89mph). Lapping in 1m56.873 seconds during the opening run, he then improved to 1m56.387 seconds in the midday session before finding an extra seven 10ths of a second in the third and final outing. Almost hoisting Menasheh into the overall top 10, his fastest lap of the day placed him 1.2 seconds shy of Kevin Magnussen’s outright best on combined times. In terms of the third session alone, the T-Sport driver was seventh for that run – 0.8 seconds adrift of 2011 British F3 Champion Felipe Nasr. “I was pretty happy with the last session, seventh wasn’t bad”, said the Dallara-Volkswagen racer, “I had too much oversteer in the beginning but we got that sorted out for the last run. We started too much on the back-foot I guess but caught up well considering that.”

Facu Regalia heads for Mugello this weekend and the latest rounds in the Italian Formula 3 championship. Speaking about the forthcoming event Regalia said: “I am very motivated for different reasons. First one It´s my maiden second place at Vallelunga two weeks ago, and the other hand I set fastest lap during collective testing held at Mugello recently. My family is supporting me this weekend in Italy, and it means a morale boost too because I want offer them a good result”. We can´t be overconfident. We have to try our best to beat teams like Lucidi or Prema, both teams proved their good shape days ago at Mugello. I am ready for Mugello, both physically and mentally, and I can´t wait to start. I would like to think all our previous bad luck is over. There are four races until the end of the season, and my aim is to achieve as good results as possible”.

British GT: An eventful weekend at Donington Park in Leicestershire saw Freddy Nordström extend his 2011 Avon Tyres British GT title bid towards the final round of the year. Despite being unable to take the chequered flag after mechanical problems, Freddy and his co-driver Leyton Clark had completed enough of the race to still be classified in fifth place. Therefore the duo were able to continue their legacy as the only GT4 driver pairing to have scored at every round so far this season. Read report

Formula Renault : Atech Reid GP have signed of Australian driver Geoff Uhrhane. The 20 year old will be competing with the Welsh based team at this weekend’s round 9 of the CERTINA Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship at Brands Hatch.After an encouraging test with the team at Pembrey circuit earlier this month Geoff will use the Brands Hatch event to further familiarise himself with the car in light to compete the forthcoming Formula Renault 2.0 UK Finals as well as the full championship season with the team in 2012.“The team were pleased with the progress Geoff made over the test day at Pembrey.” Anthony Reid stated. “He will be a promising edition to the team.” David Hayle added, “It will be a really interesting test to see just where Geoff stands against seasoned Formula Renault 2.0 drivers. I am sure he will surprise a few people!” David added. Geoff moved to the UK earlier this year to further his career in motorsport and has been competing in the British Formula Ford Championship. The youngster has claimed 2 race wins, 11 podiums and 5 pole-positions this season and currently sits 6th in the Formula Ford championship standings. “I am really looking forward to driving this weekend.” Geoff stated. “It was nice to jump into a car with so much grip after driving the Formula Ford all year!”

Formula Renault BARC: Fortec Motorsport will field a capacity four-car squad for the grand finale of the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship at Silverstone National Circuit next month, 15th/16th October, with the news the team has agreed a deal with multiple race winner James Theodore.The Daventry squad, which will go into the last two races of the season bidding for the title with team regular Josh Webster will bolster its presence as Theodore fills the car recently vacated by Kieran Vernon – the latter having switched to sportscar racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship. Unable to acquire a full budget for the 2011 motor racing season, 19-year-old Theodore has been a frustrated spectator for the majority of the year. He did make an appearance in Formula Renault BARC back in May at Oulton Park, driving for MTech Lite, but since then the Oxford Brookes student has once more been on the sidelines. Now with funding in place for the season finale at Silverstone – where the series will run as support to the BTCC along with live television coverage – Theodore is aiming to remind everyone of the pace and ability which took him to three race wins and third in the championship in 2010. He said: “We’ve had a lot of the teams getting in touch to see what we were planning to do but with Kieran concentrating on Porsche, and so his car coming available with Fortec, this is a really good opportunity for us. They’ve been at the top all season so I’ve got no worries or concerns the car will be good. I’ll have a test the Wednesday before the race weekend to blow the cobwebs off. “It’ll be good to be back racing in the championship, I’ve really missed it and it has been quite a while since the Oulton Park run. I’ve stayed in touch with the teams and done some driver coaching to try and keep in the game – I can’t wait to get back out there on track though.” Steve Lynch, team manager of Fortec’s Protyre Formula Renault BARC squad, added: “Obviously we’re really pleased to have James joining us for the last two rounds at Silverstone. He’s proved in the past he can win and run at the front consistently so we’re hopeful he’ll have a couple of good results and score some good points.” Theodore will join Fortec’s existing line-up of Webster, Archie Hamilton and Spain’s Victor Jimenez.

28-09-11

Petit Le Mans, the penultimate round of this year’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, sees OAK Racing enter three OAK-Pescarolo prototypes (two in LMP1 and one LMP2) resplendent in the iconic orange and blue racing livery of Gulf Oil International. The team travels to Road Atlanta in the US hoping to continue its recent good form following third and fifth place overall finishes for the #24 and #15 LMP1 entries respectively at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, as well as the #35’s LMP2 class ILMC victory. In preparation for the classic 1000-mile/10-hour race this Saturday (October 1), OAK Racing has spent the past two days attending a private test session at the circuit. The programme included two principle objectives: First, the team’s nine drivers had to refamiliarise themselves with Road Atlanta’s demanding layout which includes a number of challenging corners and blind bends, most notably the feared ‘Turn1’. The team then turned to set-up work and endurance tyre testing. Despite the hot or wet conditions present throughout both days, all objectives were achieved while each car’s performance also appears promising. Read more

After a welcome win at Laguna Seca two weeks ago, Aston Martin Racing will return to the track this weekend in the final round of the American Le Mans Series: The ten hours of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.Factory drivers, Adrian Fernandez (MEX), Stefan Mücke (D) and Harold Primat (CH) will be taking the wheel of the DBR1-2 V12-powered LMP1 racer on the famous 2.54 mile circuit. The race will be very different to Laguna Seca due to a strong entry of faster diesel powered cars; however the team aim to be competitive within the unofficial petrol class.Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell said: “We enter the final race for the American Le Mans Series in good spirits after our win at Laguna. It will be a very different race for us with the diesels back, but once again I am confident we’ll put on a strong show for our sponsors and fans. “The testing last weekend has gone well and we are confident of our set-up for the race week.” Stefan Mücke, who drove the DBR1-2 across the line at Laguna, said: “After such a fantastic race on the west coast, I am hoping we can run as well in Atlanta. The car felt as good as it ever did last time round, and if we can continue to make the successful set-up changes required for the track at Petit Le Mans, then I think we’re on for a great weekend.” Live coverage will be shown on ESPN 3 while European fans can tune into Eurosport for the race’s opening 60 minutes and final three hours live from 5.30pm CET and midnight. Aston Martin updates can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/astonmartinracing and on twitter: www.twitter.com/amr_official

Robertson Racing will be hoping to make home advantage count at Road Atlanta this weekend as theALMS pitches camp but a stone’s throw from their Braselton headquarters for the final round of this season’s championship. The Petit Le Mans event this year sees one of the team’s self-developed Ford GTs (#40) entered for Andrea Robertson and David Murry with whom the team scored a famous Le Mans 24 Hours podium finish earlier this season, as well as experienced GT driver Melanie Snow. Murry in particular is something of a Road Atlanta specialist, picking up the class pole position there in 2009 despite facing stiff competition from the wealth of manufacturer-backed teams. Robertson Racing has been hard at work testing over the past two days at the 2.54-mile, 12-turn circuit in preparation for this weekend’s season finale ahead of first official practice on Thursday. Andrew ‘H’ Smith, Team Manager: “It’s good to be back racing at our home circuit which logistically is certainly the most convenient of the season! The two days of testing we’ve run so far have gone well, with Andrea lapping faster than she has here before and Melanie continuing to familiarise herself with the Ford at what is a very demanding circuit. We know this weekend will be tough with so many more GTs on the grid thanks to the additional ILMC entries taking part. While the team has shown in the past that it can be quick at Road Atlanta, repeating our previous performances looks like a tall order. David has a lot of experience in the Ford here though so you never know.”

BTCC: Frank Wrathall and the Dynojet Racing team are hoping to continue their run of good results this weekend at Brands Hatch, which has brought the squad’s ‘Next Generation Touring Car’ Toyota Avensis to the brink of a race victory in the Dunlop MSA BTCC. The Kent track’s trio of races will also see the return to competition of Tony Hughes with the Speedworks Motorsport-prepared Avensis.Last time out, at Rockingham, the Dynojet team’s perseverance and dedication paid off with a second and a third-place finish, taking Wrathall’s run of consecutive podium finishes to four. For good measure, the team took home a new BTCC lap record for Rockingham. On Sunday they face the challenge of the 2.3-mile Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. It’s a track which 24-year-old Frank believes should be good for his turbocharged Toyota: “I think a good chunk of it will suit us; the Toyota should come into its own on the fast parts of the Grand Prix loop; possibly the only weak spot might be up the hill from Surtees, where the extra weight we carry could be a disadvantage.I went well at Brands Hatch last year in the Ginetta, and it’s one of my favourite circuits, so I am looking forward to the challenge.”Having racked up two Independents class wins, a second and three thirds in the last five races, paddock talk has inevitably turned to predicting whether they can claim the maiden race win for an NGTC car. Wrathall says he has mixed feelings about the pressure this brings: “To have come so close, if we now don’t get a win we will perhaps be disappointed… But in the bigger picture, getting on to the podium in our first BTCC season, finishing second and setting fastest laps is more than we ever imagined possible. It’s a strange situation to be in. If you had asked us our realistic target at the beginning of the year, we would have said a top-10 finish by the end of the season. We are way beyond that already…” Meanwhile, after missing the Knockhill and Rockingham races, Stockport’s Tony Hughes is to return to the fray at Brands with a Toyota which has, says Speedworks boss Christian Dick, been transformed by recent modifications.“Now that it features some of the latest modifications we have made a big step forward with the Avensis,” he said. “We have had some good testing time with the car, Tony is a lot more comfortable with its handling and hopefully this weekend we can be closer to the action and enjoy the racing.”It was at Brands Hatch in April, on the Indy circuit layout, that Hughes and his Toyota scored the first-ever race finishes for an NGTC machine.

The use of a Zircotec ceramic coating in Team Dynojet’s BTCC Avensis has enabled its engineers to solve underbonnet heat issues and improve performance and reliability to deliver a string of podiums. Race engine developers X CTech R have selected Zircotec’s ThermoHold® based thermal barrier to deliver close to a 37 percent drop in underbonnet temperatures notably protecting the gearbox from the effects of heat. New for 2011, the NGTC-spec Avensis uses a road-derived Toyota 2000 cc engine. Modifications by the engine developer X CTech R push output from 140bhp to around 300bhp, requiring careful packaging and heat management to increase reliability. “The Toyota 3ZR engine is a lightweight, compact package which we have optimised to ensure delivery of the required performance and durability,” says X CTech R technical director Mark Faulkner. Crucial to this was the introduction mid way through the season of Zircotec’s thermal barrier coating. “Our lightweight and very thin coating provides excellent thermal protection even in tight packaging spaces such as a touring car engine bay,” adds Zircotec’s sales director Peter Whyman. The ceramic coating was assessed on the engine dyno and also in the car with back to back comparisons showing that performance gains were also achieved. “On the dyno the ceramic coated exhaust gave an improvement in turbocharger response, as more energy was retained within the exhaust rather than radiated as heat,” adds Faulkner. “In vehicle, a significant reduction in underbonnet temperatures was achieved with the Zircotec coated exhaust. This contributes to reduced air intake temperatures, releasing more power.” With this specification of engine to be adopted by all BTCC runners in 2013, Zircotec is hopeful its coatings will become as widespread in touring cars as they are in Formula One, where nearly all the teams use its coatings technology to solve heat, reliability and performance issues.

Formula Ford: Daniel Erickson delivered a resounding victory in the opening Formula Ford race at Phillip Island last weekend. Daniel started the race in his Bosch Batteries Spectrum 012 from his 8th place qualifying result, but made steady progress through the pack before taking the lead on the penultimate tour. A 6th and a 7th in the final races saw him 4th for the round; just two points away from a podium result. “That was intense,” said an elated Erickson after the race win. “The Bosch Batteries Spectrum was fantastic today. We had a messy qualifying session and missed the window when the tyres were at their best. We knew our race pace would be strong and it is great to get the win. My rivals all tested here just before the meeting, but work commitments prevented me from getting there. I’m sure if we had the benefit of the test day, we would have been a real chance for the round win.” The flowing Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit is renowned for outstanding Formula Ford races, due to the aerodynamic tow that the pack provides to following cars. All three races at the weekend were perfect examples of this, and Daniel finished race three in 7th position, barely eight car lengths from the winner! “This is what Formula Ford racing is all about,” Daniel commented. “We’ve had three awesome races, where the final results saw just a couple of seconds covering the top six or eight finishers! Each race was won by a different driver and the guy that won the round didn’t win a race. I had so much fun out there and want to thank Bosch Batteries, my family and the team at Borland Racing Developments for the opportunity.” Daniel’s next races are at the Surfers Paradise V8 Supercar event on 21-23 October.

Sports Cars : Team Furious TVR were in action a couple of weeks ago at Silverstone. Perry Waddams , driving car no 60 qualified back in 21^st but after a strong performance in very difficult conditions he finished in ninth. Read Perry’s report

Saloons: The final two races of the CNC Heads North West Sports/Saloon Car Championship at Oulton Park, delivered thrills and spills as it took four attempts to get the double-header completed. The big winners were Paul Dobson who clinched his fourth championship in five years, the first driver in the 27 year history of the championship to do so, and Garry Watson who bagged an impressive double win. Read report

Karts: Josh White successfully secured the 2011 British Formula Kart Stars (FKS) series MiniMax title during rounds eleven and twelve at Ellough Park in Suffolk last weekend.Josh, who went into the final FKS meeting of the year, with a very comfortable 64-point cushion in the MiniMax class for 11-16 year-olds, began by topping the times in first official practice on the Saturday. Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net Read report

Fresh from clinching 3rd in the Euro Max Challenge at Angerville in France just days earlier, Ed and his Strawberry Racing colleagues returned home seeking to wrap up the Ginetta Super One Rotax Championship at PFi (17/18 September). With the incoming talents of Ash Hand and Andy King, plus a collection of title rivals – including his other team-mate Jack Marshall - Ed was far from assured of taking the title easily, but responded in the style of a true champion. He won both his qualifying heats to take pole position for Sunday’s first final, with King and Hand completing row two and Marshall sitting on P5. When he crossed the finishing line well clear of the field, he had already done enough to put the Championship to bed, whilst Andy, Jack and and Ash finished in 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively. read report

Jay Goodwin illustrated just how far he has come during the course of his ‘rookie’ campaign at Junior Rotax level in 2011 in the penultimate outing of the Super 1 Series – by tallying his best national result of the season to-date at PF International. Read report

Beitske Visser did not wait long to win again. Indeed, she finished the WSK Master Series in beauty by conquering the two KZ1 finals on the new Italian circuit of Viterbo. The Dutchwoman did not have an easy task against a bunch of very determined opponents, but in the end she got the upper hand, as champions do. The experience gained over the last few months at the highest level in international karting continues to be extremely valuable. Read report

27-09-11

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge: Oly Mortimer heads the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge GB Driver of the Year standings heading into the season closing Silverstone triple-header this weekend, the Scot holding the advantage over Graeme Mundy. The duo might not have it all their own way on the Silverstone GP circuit, as the experienced Nick Whale joins Class One for this meeting, and the ex-Carrera Cup racer should provide a stern test for the regulars. Mortimer has been setting the pace but a non-finish early in the season handed Graeme Mundy the points advantage and Mortimer has driven hard to finally take the lead again, claiming seven of the ten rounds to date. Mundy has been right with him in recent races, and would love to end his season with a win at a circuit that should let the GT3s really stretch their legs. Steven Liquorish has been another Class One regular in his distinctive black 997 GT3, and should be chasing a GT3 podium place, while 2010 Driver of the Year Pete Smallwood returns after missing August’s Oulton Park rounds. Bolstering the Class Two field will be British GT team manager and experienced racer Piers Masarati, while two other drivers making their 2011 Class Two debut will be Dave Fissenden, who contested the Silverstone rounds in 2010, and Mark Cowne, the latter making his race debut at the weekend in a Paragon run 996 GT3 Cup.
Driver of the Year Standings:
Oly Mortimer 945
Graeme Mundy 930
Steve Liquorish 845
Yucel Ozbek 428

Porsche Club Championship: It is a Silverstone showdown this weekend for the Porsche Club Championship runners, with the title to be settled over the three races on the Grand Prix circuit. Class one pace setter Mark Sumpter heads 2010 champion and Class Two leader Chris Dyer by just six points, and with 20 points for a race win plus end of season bonus points, it is still all to play for the title contenders. Sumpter hit the ground running at the start of the season in his Paragon 911 Carrera, winning the first four rounds in the oldest car in the field, and in both races at Castle Combe in August. His Class One rivals haven’t been letting him have all his own way, Pete Morris broke Sumpter’s run with a win at Donington Park in May, but destroyed his 968 CS at Oulton Park in early August and was out in another chassis at Combe. Second in the Club points is Mark McAleer, who chased Sumpter all the way at Castle Combe. Out in a new 968 CS this season, McAleer has got his car sorted and is always on the front-engined pace, so will be eager to end his season on a high, but is just one point clear of Morris. Fourth in the Class One is Paul Follett, who has been a consistent finisher but is still chasing is first podium finish, just missing out on a top-three finish several times. Other to watch for are Thruxton winners Miles Maserati and Richard Lambert in a 968 CS and 964 C2, Richard Ellis, rapid in his 993 C32, the newest and most powerful Porsche model in the field, and Dave Botterill in one of the distinctive Strasse liveried cars. Reigning Champion Dyer heads Class Two, having taken ten class wins from the 14 races to date. He claimed the title at the Silverstone finale last season and would love to repeat his feat, Dyer often this season outpacing his class rivals and getting his 944 S2 well up the top ten overall. Class rivalry should come from Tim Barber and Paul Seagrave – while the class is boosted by Stuart Ings out in a Boxter and Ross, son of Pete, Morris in another 944 S2.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Irishman Karl Leonard will contest the final four races in this season’s Porsche Carrera Cup GB with Parr Motorsport, starting at Brands Hatch this weekend. Karl, the younger of the Leonard brothers, is no stranger to the Carrera Cup GB paddock, having successfully competed in the championship in 2008 and 2009. Despite only contesting some of the races in 2009, he finished sixth in Pro-Am2. In his Carrera Cup GB career, Karl has won Pro-Am2 five times and even scored an overall podium finish.“I’m glad to be running with Parr and I’m excited to see what we can do in the car over the remaining four races of the season,” said Leonard. The drive is made possible by backing from Ticket Friends, TileGo and long time supporter Naas Court Hotel. Karl is getting his first taste of the latest 911 GT3 Cup car during testing at Brands Hatch today (Tuesday 27 September). The day will prepare him for his season debut at the weekend. Team boss Paul Robe said: “We’re happy to see Karl in the car and optimistic that together we can realise a good result.” There should be two Leonards on the 25-car Carrera Cup grid at Brands Hatch this weekend, as Michael is scheduled to return to the series with Team Parker Racing.

Ginetta Jnrs: Seb Morris is edging closer to the Ginetta Junior crown as the championship heads to Brands Hatch this weekend. Morris has notched up an amazing season, as he has bagged 11 wins from a consistent season. Eleven wins are impressive in themselves, as is his ability to score, and score well, in every race of the season. Heading into this weekend’s races, he has a 131-point advantage, but he isn’t thinking about the title just yet. “We’re getting closer and closer to sealing the championship and it could happen at Brands”, says The King’s School, Chester pupil, “But until it’s properly in the bag we’re not taking anything at all for granted. We’ll be working with the same approach we have all year: get the best set-up we can with the car, focus on qualifying as high up the order as we can and then put together two strong races.” On overall scores, the 15-year-old’s closest challenger is Charlie Robertson some 131 points adrift but when the category’s double drop score ruling comes into play Seb’s attention turns to George Gamble who moves up into the runner-up position, within 105 points of the Hillspeed star. Between them, these three have locked out the wins but there are plenty of other drivers eager to prove their ability before the season closes. Of those to look for this weekend, Max Coates is hunting down William Foster for fourth in the championship, while Niall Murray (Beacon Racing) and Sennan Fielding (TJ Motorsport) have both shown impressive pace of late. So, too, has team-hopper Myles Collins, now at HHC Motorsport, Patrick McClughan (who had a season-nest of seventh at Rockingham) and Sennan Fielding, while Hillspeed’s William Palmer, son of MSV owner Jonathan, will be eager to go well on home soil.

Ginetta GT Supercup: The Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup is set for a thrilling weekend at Brands Hatch as Tom Sharp and Carl Breeze fight it out for the crown. With races at Brands and Silverstone still to run, Tom Sharp (IDL) heads title rival Carl Breeze (TCR) by just five points in the G55 category – and the championship fight looks set to go down to the wire. The pendulum has swung away from Sharp in favour of Breeze and then back again. Sharp won the opening six races on the bounce but has only won once more and that was at Knockhill last month. Breeze has notched up four wins but has a couple of zeros next to his name, whereas Sharp has only had one non-finish. Truly, the title fight is wide open between these two and the results at Brands are going to be vital to the outcome of the championship. But what complicates matters is the level of competition. Sharp and Breeze are after the title but they need wins, but the on-track fight isn’t just confined to them. If they can’t win, they need as many points as possible. With Nathan Freke (Century Motorsport), Adam Morgan (Ciceley Racing) and George Murrells (Optimum Motorsport) all having won races this year, the list of potential winners is an impressive one.In the G50 class, Tom Ingram’s advantage is a clearer one as his Plans Motorsport-run car has a 42-point cushion over Jody Fannin (Team Pyro), but the class has provided cracking racing all year and Aaron Williamson FML), Jake Hill (Tollbar Racing with WIRED) and the brother-and-sister Richardsons, Andy and Louise, will be in the mix as well.

ILMC: The sixth round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, Petit Le Mans - Road Atlanta, is an unusual, complex, spectacular and fast race. Team Peugeot Total will compete in this event for the fourth time with the chance of securing a second consecutive manufacturer's title. Up against some very tough opponents and in a series which goes from strength to strength with every round, Peugeot will need to score 13 points to secure the title ahead of November’s final round in China. The cars are very close to one another in terms of performance, but the determination of the team during pit stops and the dogged determination of the drivers in their on-track battles provide ample evidence of the high standards on offer during this 2011 season, with a very tough rival. Team Peugeot Total has collected a series of race wins and points since the start of the season and hopes to go all the way by picking up the 13 points it needs to win the final Intercontinental Le Mans Cup before the series becomes the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2012. “We are having a great season,” reiterates Olivier Quesnel, Peugeot Sport Director. “It is worth underlining the exemplary reliability of our cars so far, because the only mechanical repairs that have been carried out during the races were only due to racing incidents. The Peugeot 908s have made it to the end of every race they have taken part in, and that is one of the keys to our success. We now lead the Manufacturers' and Teams’ standings, with two rounds to go. We hope to keep our momentum going and demonstrate in the USA and especially in China the full potential of the Peugeot cars and the team. We have a clear goal: win the championship and win races.”

Ginetta GT Supercup: Former touring car star Patrick Watts will join Total Control Racing’s Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup team this weekend, 1st/2nd October, as a guest entry in the penultimate round of the championship at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit. Piloting the car previously raced this year by his former BTCC sparring partner Tim Harvey, and more recently by sportscar ace Marino Franchitti, Watts will have his first taste of the Ginetta G55 during pre-event testing this coming Friday, 30th September. Competing alongside the Wednesbury squad’s title contender Carl Breeze for the three Brands Hatch races, the Kent 54-year-old is looking forward to sampling the powerful 370bhp, V6 engined Ginetta – not least because the weekend’s racing will mark Watts’ first outing on slick tyres for 10 years! Since last competing in the BTCC back in the late-nineties with the Esso Ultron Team Peugeot works entry, Watts has mainly raced in the ranks of historic competition. “It’s a great opportunity given to me by TCR and Ginetta but having not raced anything with slicks on for 10 years, I’m looking forward to driving the 2011 Ginetta G55 – which could be different to my 1950 Allard J2!”, said Watts.“I hope to be in the top 10 but I’m sure there are some good drivers out there. To be honest, I’ve no idea what the cars look like and I’ve never seen one of the races but I will ‘You Tube’ Ginetta before the weekend!” Intriguingly, Watts' arrival at TCR will reunite him with team principal Lee Brookes who raced to the Independents Championship crown in the BTCC in 1996 at the wheel of a Toyota Carina before then campaigning an ex-works Peugeot 406 the following season. Brookes added: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Patrick to the team and although the Ginetta will be something completely different for him to get used to, we’re sure he’ll get up to speed quickly. It’s been a long time since he was on the BTCC package so it’ll be great to see him out there again, we’re really looking forward to working with him.” Brands Hatch’s trio of Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup encounters will be extremely important for TCR with Breeze needing three consistently strong finishes to consolidate his championship push ahead of the season finale at Silverstone in mid-October. As it stands, Breeze is second in the standings on total scores with four race wins and 10 other podiums to his credit.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : Omani Ahmad Al Harthy will compete in aid of the Sultanate’s National Association for Cancer Awareness during the final two events of the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship – starting this coming weekend at Brands Hatch.Choosing to use the profile generated by his involvement in motor racing to help promote the work undertaken by the charity, the 30-year-old will feature the National Association for Cancer Awareness logo on the visor of his crash helmet – both at Brands and two weeks later at Silverstone. Ahmad’s involvement with the charitable organisation comes as part of the build-up for the eighth annual NACA ‘Walkathon’ which will take place in the Al Khuwair area of Oman on Tuesday, 25th October. “It really is a great honour to help promote such an incredible organisation as the NACA”, said the Muscat-born driver, “The importance of cancer awareness cannot be underestimated and if we’re able to help raise the profile through our racing, I’ll be absolutely delighted. The Breast Cancer Walk next month is a very important event in Oman, it’s a great privilege to support that.” Established in 2004, the National Association for Cancer Awareness was the first patient advocacy group in Oman. Inaugurated with the aim of raising public awareness of all types of cancer through the promotion of early diagnosis from self-examination, the NACA also works through community programmes which run hand-in-hand with local and national healthcare providers. Ms Yuthar Al Rawahy, the founder and chairperson of the NACA, is herself a survivor of cancer so has as much understanding as anyone regarding the huge importance of education and awareness. From offering support and comfort for others in a similar situation, Yuthar’s tireless work has now enabled the NACA to become one of Oman’s most important and highly regarded charitable associations.

Star Mazda: Hours after concluding the 10-weekend, 11-race 2011 season on September 18 with a win from the pole at Mazda Raceway by Team Pelfrey driver Connor De Philliippi – and a 5th-place finish by JDC Motorsports driver Tristan Vautier that clinched the series championship -- the drivers, teams, crew and officials of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear gathered at the Clement Monterey Intercontinental Hotel in Monterey, California for the 2011 awards banquet. With a prize fund valued at more than $1,130,000 for the top-15 drivers in the series, plus 'Rookie of the Year,' the top-3 finishers in the Expert Series, the top-3 finishers in the Team Championship and five special 'awards of merit, it’s a wonder that drivers aren’t queuing up to enter next years Championship! Read more

Britcar 24 Hours: Kent F3 racer Aaron Steele heads in to the Silverstone this weekend with the chance to secure victory in the Sunoco Grand-AM 200 Challenge in the penultimate rounds of the MSV F3 Cup. Supporting the Britcar 24 hour race the F3 Cup racers are presented with the rare opportunity to race on the full Silverstone Arena Grand Prix circuit. "Getting to drive round the full Arena GP circuit in my Formula 3 car is going to be amazing. I previously tested a mini challenge car there and loved the layout." Said Steele ahead of the race. "It's going to be a big challenge though without any testing prior to the weekend and the huge grids expected. Organisers have told me it could be the biggest ever starting field of single seaters, which they were trying to get into the guinness book of world records." With such a large field it'll be an extra challenge for Steele to secure top spot in qualifying. "Finding space on track with 54 cars circulating could be hard, so I'm going to need some extra luck to get those poles." As supporting role to the 24 hour race the schedule is different to a usual weekend and will see the F3 cup race on Friday."With it being the same weekend as the Britcar 24 hours, the timetable is slightly different with a race for the first time in my life on a Friday! I'm also hoping to pick up a drive in the race as I will be there with all my race equipment ready and raring to go, so if any teams need a quick young driver to partner somebody I'm available."

Formula Renault : Prior to his latest appearance in the 2011 Formula Renault Northern European Cup (NEC) at Monza, Jordan King had stated that he wanted ‘another podium before the season is out’. Courtesy of a sublime effort around one of the most the worlds most famous racetracks, he came away with a hat-trick of them. Read report

Karts: Sam Brabham concluded his Formula Kart Stars debut season with a roller coaster weekend at Ellough Park, on September 24&25, his first and only non finish of the year mixed with consistent mid-field results and a top 11th place finish. Although the final series rounds at the 1065 metre purpose built Suffolk circuit did not deliver the results he had hoped for, the 17 year-old once again showed promise with three results on the cusp of the top 10 to seal his first national level season in the Junior Max category.Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net Read report

James Singleton had one principal objective in the penultimate meeting of the 2011 Super 1 Series calendar at PF International – to overhaul his team-mate and move up into the top three in the national title standings. It was an objective that he accomplished with commendable ease.James headed to Lincolnshire circuit PF sitting fourth in the Junior Rotax class points table and on a high off the back of clinching the Formula Kart Stars (FKS) laurels at Whilton Mill read report

iZone launches Gym facility - As part of its commitment to creating the leading circuit and kart driver training centre in Europe, iZone has opened a gym at its Silverstone base and joined forces with leading motorsport fitness company VOTwo. The aim is to bring the three core skills of driving technique, mind management and fitness together under one roof, working to one philosophy. This will enable drivers to more easily find and understand their Peak Performance State in all these three critical areas and to unlock their hidden speed. Currently drivers use separate driver, mental and physical coaches with potentially different and conflicting philosophies; iZone can now bring these three areas together under one ethos so that skills development can be better structured and co-ordinated and therefore far more effective and rapid.The new training environment not only includes much of the functional training equipment that is found in conventional gyms but is also tailored to meeting the specific physical requirements for motor racing. There are also specially designed pieces of equipment for neck and reaction training. iZone is the first facility to offer combined simulator and physical training to better equip drivers for their role on track. The gym is available for iZone customers and sessions are conducted with a VOTwo instructor. Drivers can opt for full physical assessments in addition to training sessions. VOTwo can also provide motorsport specific physical testing, training, heat acclimation, MSA medicals and nutritional support.

British GT: A battling final stint ultimately helped Tim Bridgman seal second place in the penultimate round of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Donington Park on Sunday even though he was left slightly disappointed to miss out on a second victory of the year.Although he and Trackspeed team-mate Gregor Fisken had seen their title chances end at the previous round through mechanical failure, the pair returned to the rostrum in Leicestershire following a polished performance, tinged with bad luck, during the three-hour enduro into dusk. read more

26-09-11

British GT: Gregor Fisken notched up his third Avon Tyres British GT Championship podium finish of the season on Sunday after he and the Trackspeed team mastered tricky changeable conditions at Donington Park.The Scot, who had seen his championship chances disappear after a mechanical problem ruled him out of the previous Rockingham round, reminded everyone that the #2 Porsche remains a threat regardless following he and co-driver Tim Bridgman’s second place at the Leicestershire venue.But it could have been so much better without a bizarre incident that undid much of their early good work. read report

Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup front-runners MP Motorsport enjoyed a tremendous outing at Monza in Italy over the weekend, 24th/25th September, with British star Jordan King taking a hat-trick of podium finishes during the category’s final race meeting of 2011. Marking the championship’s first ever visit to the world-famous track, the event was also successful for the Dutch team’s other drivers Karl-Oscar Liiv and Alexey Chuklin. Estonian youngster Liiv scored fifth and sixth place finishes in the first and third races while Russian driver Chuklin starred in race two with a sensational top six – his best performance of the season so far. Pic Chris Schotanus/Essay Produkties Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : With just four points separating the top three drivers in the title battle, the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB moves to the fabulous Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch (1/2 October) for rounds 16 and 17 of the 19-race season. A field of 25 911 GT3 Cup cars will line up at the Kent track and while Stephen Jelley, Michael Meadows and James Sutton battle for the overall title, the contests in Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2 will be every bit as competitive. Adding further spice at the head of the field is Porsche Supercup ace Nick Tandy, who takes over the Nationwide/Motorbase car previously raced by Michael Caine. Four drivers are in the hunt for the overall title although Rockingham double winner Euan Hankey (Parker with Juta) remains the outsider after a couple of non-finishes earlier in the season. Michael Meadows and James Sutton (SAS/Redline) and Stephen Jelley (Parker with Juta) are incredibly closely matched and they now face the stunning challenge of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. With dropped scores factored in, there are just four points between the top three drivers. Meanwhile, Hankey has no scores to drop, but really needs the top three to hit trouble for him to move into contention. Hankey is going all out for more race wins, while the other three must try and race for championship points.
However, this is certainly not just about four drivers as a gaggle of young chargers are all chasing their first Carrera Cup victory. Richard Plant and Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing), Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline) and Kieran Vernon (Nationwide/Motorbase) are all pitching for a place on the overall podium and they do not have the championship to consider. With a 71 point lead, Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) is looking very strong to win the Pro-Am1 title and should be crowned at Brands. The Lithuanian racer could settle it in the opening race if he finishes within four points of Rory Butcher. However, the battle for second in Pro-Am1 is far less clear as Butcher (Celtic Speed), Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) and Derek Pierce (Dextra/JD Pierce by Parker) are all well in contention. In Pro-Am2, where drivers count their best seven weekends, it is almost as close as for the overall title and George Brewster (Celtic Speed) and Keith Webster (Red Line Racing) are the key title contenders. With dropped scores factored in, they are as close as a single point. Meanwhile Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance), Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport) and Tommy Dreelan (Celtic Speed) are all chasing and double Rockingham winner Yucel Ozbek (Redline Racing) is currently on great form.

LMS: Greaves Motorsport continued its run of success with a podium finish in the final round of the 2011 Le Mans Series, that took place today at the Estoril track, just outside of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. Race report

Saturday 24th September 2011 proved a day of mixed emotions for Greaves Motorsport driver, Karim Ojjeh. The team headed the field during Qualifying to take pole position. The point scored for this achievement meant that Karim and his co-driver for the season, Tom Kimber-Smith, were 2011 Le Mans Series LMP 2 Drivers’ Champions. Greaves Motorsport also took the honours in the LMP 2 Team’s Classification. However, at the same time Karim Ojjeh decided to announce his retirement from prototype racing, so it was a bittersweet moment during the celebration of this fantastic achievement. Reflecting on his decision Karim said, “2011 has been the highlight of my motorsport career, with a class win at Le Mans, LMS victories at Le Castellet, Imola and Silverstone and now the driver’s title in the 2011 Le Mans Series.I have had good years in 2005 and 2007 with a pair of wins in each season but nothing matches 2011.”I would like to thank the team as I could not win as an individual, only as part of a team. The guys (Jamie, Ian, Andy, Steve, Tony, Cheeky, Mark, Martin, Gavin, Sell, Mick, Alan, Erick and especially Phil) have done a fantastic job and the whole team has really developed during the season into a top line outfit that would stand comparison with anyone.” A big thank you also is due to my co-drivers, Tom Kimber-Smith and Olivier Lombard, who have not put a foot wrong during the whole year. Obviously I also owe a huge debt to Tim, Jacob and Wendy and, of course, last, but not least, my Mother, Renate.I foresee Greaves Motorsport really taking their performance to the next level in 2012 and am proud to have been part of that story.”

Saloons: With Gary Duckman suffering a disastrous weekend at Croft with his Seat Leon, Adrian Churchill sealed the Production Touring Car Trophy with third place in the second of the weekends races before going on to win the third and final race. Josh Cook was the victor of the first two races in his Renauklt Megane but it was Churchill’s day. Read report

Intersteps: Jake Dennis arrived at Croft with the championship lead and so it was his title to lose. But the 16 year old former Junior World Karting Champion, not only took the crown but came away with two wins from the weekends three races. Read report

Formula Ford: Jamun Racing’s Scott Malvern is the 2011 Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain title winner after taking yet another race victory, his 17th of the year, on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit on Sunday afternoon.Sealing the prestigious crown in perfect style with his second race win of the weekend at the 2.5-mile East Midlands track, the 22-year-old is Jamun’s seventh successive champion. As during Saturday’s victory, the Mygale driver led from lights to flag and is now in a position to claim a remarkable total of 20 wins for the year if he can ace all three encounters during the season finale at Silverstone in a fortnight. . pic Dennis Goodwin Read report

Caterhams: Pole-Win-Win is a rare feat in the competitive Caterham Motorsport series, but SPY supported drivers Ian Payne and Paul Wilson both managed exactly that this weekend (24/25th Sept). Payne dominated in the Supersport championship at Anglesey, while at Donington Park (F3/GT) Wilson prevailed in the R300 races. A first and richly deserved R300 podium for Flick Haigh completed a fantastic weekend for the SPY team.Both driver's weekend's followed an almost identical pattern of pole by under a tenth, comfortable first race win, and closely contested second, many miles but only a matter of minutes apart. Read report

The Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants is set to go down to the wire at Silverstone in two weeks after the unpredictable British weather played an integral role in rounds 11 and 12 of the championship today on the Donington Park Grand Prix circuit. There was action aplenty throughout the field - at 24 cars the largest of the season - as the drivers contended with treacherous track conditions.The 2008 and ’09 champion, Joe Fulbrook, got the best of things in Saturday’s dry qualifying session at the wheel of his Warranty Direct Racing Bora Turbo, but it was Golf men Aaron Mason and James Walker who claimed the victory laurels, denying championship leader Steve Chaplin the opportunity to settle the title fight two weeks early. Chaplin and his ‘Herbie’-liveried Beetle RSI head for the Silverstone showdown with a 32-point lead and with three rivals in with a chance of denying him. pic Dennis Goodwin Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Nick Tandy, one of the most successful drivers in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup and the Carrera Cup Germany, will join the Motorbase Performance team for the final four races in the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB, starting at Brands Hatch this weekend. Tandy was runner-up in the 2010 Supercup and currently lies fifth in this year’s Supercup and is leading the Carrera Cup Germany. He will take a 12-point lead to the final round of the German series at Hockenheim the weekend after contesting the final two Carrera Cup GB races at Silverstone on 15/16 October. Team boss David Bartrum explained the situation. “With Michael Caine moving to the BTCC, we had a Carrera Cup seat vacant. What better way to fill it than with such a quality driver? He’s absolutely current with the car,” said Bartrum. “We want to show the strength of Motorbase over the last four Carrera Cup GB races.” Tandy jumped at the chance to race in Britain. “I’m looking forward to racing back where I started my Porsche career,” said Tandy, who made his Porsche debut in the Carrera Cup GB VIP car at Silverstone in 2008. “It will be really good to race in my home country again. I’ve raced just about every weekend of the season, but only once in the UK so far.” With the Carrera Cup GB title race very finely balanced with four races to run, Tandy is aware that there is a lot at stake for the title contenders. “I don’t want to get involved in the title fight, but I want to get the best results that we can. In motor racing you can never guarantee your results!” Tandy will test with Motorbase for the first time at Brands Hatch tomorrow (Tuesday 27 September) and then run in official testing on Friday ahead of the weekend’s pair of races at the track.

Next TV dates for Porsche Carrera Cup GB - The next programme on the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be broadcast in the Motorsport UK programme during the afternoon of Tuesday 27 September on ITV4, on ITV1 on the night of Sunday 2 October and will also be shown on ITV4 on Saturday 1 October. The Motorsport UK series, which features hour-long programmes, is covering all of the Carrera Cup GB action again this season. Round 13 of the season at Knockhill will feature in this programme.Motorsport UK will be broadcast as follows:
Tuesday 27 September at 5pm on ITV4
Saturday 1 October at 9.35am on ITV4
Monday 3 October at 2.55am on ITV1

LMS: Jean-Christophe Boullion and Andrea Belicchi with the Lola-Toyota #13 finished second at the last round of the Le Mans Series championship in Estoril after a sprint race of 6 hours. With this result, Rebellion Racing wins the 2011 LMP1 Teams’ Le Mans Series championship. Jean-Christophe Boullion and Andrea Belicchi are vice-champion of the 2011 LMP1 Drivers’ Le Mans Series championship.Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani with the Lola-Toyota #12 have widely contributed to the success of the team all season long, the two drivers of the Lola-Toyota #12 faced a more difficult race in Estoril.Due to reduced oil pressure in the gear box, car #12 had to stop more than an hour for repairs, just half an hour after the start of the race. Finishing the race in 3rd position of the LMP1 classification, the two drivers never gave up, sucessively setting the fastest laptimes of the race (the fastest by Neel Jani on their Lap 96 with a time of 1'30''702).For the last Le Mans Series championship with the most powerful prototypes,Rebellion Racing won two of the three trophies to win in the LMP1 category the Manufacturers’ Championship for Lola-Toyota and Teams Championship as well. read full report

Phil Quaife helped CRS Racing celebrate their final Le Mans Series appearance in fairytale fashion thanks to a hard-fought first GTE-Am podium finish at Sunday’s season finale in Estoril. The Kent racer’s second position alongside regular team-mates Adam Christodoulou and Klaas Hummel at the former Portuguese Grand Prix venue was the result of impeccable team work behind the wheel of their Ferrari 430 throughout the six-hour race. Read report

Formula 3: Gary Thompson brought the curtain down on his Japanese Formula 3 season with another National Class podium finish at Sportsland Sugo last weekend before experiencing a day of frustration and bad luck on Sunday. Read report

Recently crowned 2011 Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series Champion Felipe Nasr had one of his toughest events of the season at a drama-filled Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 24th/25th September. Read report

Bart Hylkema encountered a character building race debut at Donington Park Grand Circuit over the weekend, 24th/25th September, with a rain-affected event producing a best finish of 14th position for the Dutchman during round 25 of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series.Despite some unfortunate contact at the beginning of the second outing, round 26, which resulted in retirement to the pits, another finish in the third and final race meant Bart departed Donington in a positive frame of mind ahead of the championship finale in two weeks’ time. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Menasheh Idafar produced a memorable drive in a rain-affected 26th round of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit on Sunday, 25th September, to brilliantly secure his third podium finish of 2011.Lining-up on the sixth row of the grid in 11th position, the always entertaining British-born Bahraini delivered a sensational performance in the first of the day’s two races to scythe his way through the order and finish within just 0.182 seconds of equaling his previous F3 career-best of second place. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Ginetta Challenge: Gary Simms guided his Ginetta G20 to an outright win at Donington Park, yesterday, in the Ginetta Challenge while Mark Davies took two G40 class wins to move himself into the lead of the championship. Read report

HHC Motorsport’s Ginetta Challenge drivers had a mixed weekend in challenging weather conditions at Donington Park, but newcomer William Burns took the team’s best result of the weekend with sixth in race one. Burns qualified sixth for the opening race and raced well in the leading group against more experienced drivers to score a fine sixth place finish. Behind him, team-mates Richard Sykes and Rick Parfitt had a lot of work to do as they hadn’t been marshalled to parc ferme after qualifying and hence were penalised and started at the back of the grid. Sykes turned in a storming opening lap to be ninth over the line, while Parfitt rocketed up the order as well, mirroring his ability to overtake in the wet as he did at Rockingham three weeks earlier. Ninth and 11th was the end result for the two cars, having overtaken 16 cars each. Problems befell all of the squad in race two, which was run in awful conditions. Richard slithered off the road on lap three, and a broken CV joint stopped Rick mid-race. William did his best to adapt to the wet road on his slick tyres but after a few scares, wisely settled for a finish and took 16th place.

ALMS: Allan McNish is hoping for an upturn in fortune when he returns to a previous happy and successful hunting ground in Road Atlanta and the annual Petit Le Mans race which marks the American début of the Audi R18 TDI. The Dumfries-born racer bids for his fifth and Audi’s 10th victory in the annual 1,000-mile race on Saturday (1 Oct) – the penultimate round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. McNish has endured a difficult season to date having posted a third (Spa), two fourths (Sebring & Imola) plus a seventh (Silverstone) from the previous five races. The double Le Mans 24 Hour race winner is partnered by Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Dindo Capello (Italy) in what is the third longest race of the ILMC that concludes in China in November. “Some of my most memorable races and wins have been at Petit with Dindo,” reflects McNish. “Like in 2007 when we won by just 0.923 seconds after 1,000-miles of racing! “Then in 2008 we came out on top of a fierce battle with Peugeot to win by less than five seconds.” Allan continued: “It is good the three of us are back as a team. The last time was at Le Mans in June but of course Tom and Dindo unfortunately didn’t get to race after my accident. So in effect Petit is only the second time the three of us have raced the R18 TDI together – the last time being at Spa in May.”Meanwhile Kristensen, who has won once from only four previous Petit starts, spent last weekend (18 Sep) winning the Royal Automobile Club TT Celebration race at the Goodwood Revival meeting.Capello, already a five-time Petit winner, has dovetailed his sports-prototype commitments contesting the Italian GT Championship in which he has scored one win and five runners-up placings in a GT3 class Audi R8 LMS. “I’m looking forward to Petit very much,” continued Allan who arrives in Atlanta today (23 Sep) and begins testing on Sunday. “I was there at the first-ever running in 1998 and have enjoyed all my races there ever since. It has a real carnival atmosphere with around 120,000 fans in attendance while the circuit is beautiful – fast and one that you as a driver can attack. That said, having seen the level of competitiveness between ourselves [Audi] and our major competition [Peugeot] in the previous five races, everything points towards another ultra-close contest so the fans are in for another cracker.” A second Audi Sport Team Joest R18 TDI is entered for Timo Bernhard (D)/ Marcel Fässler (CH)/Romain Dumas (F). The 14th running of the Petit Le Mans is likely to see a capacity 53-car grid with organisers having received 60 entries.

25-09-11

JK Racing Asia Series : Afiq Ikhwan claimed his sixth straight win today during Round 12 of the JK Racing Asia Series at Marina Bay Circuit during the 2011 Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. The 19-year-old crossed the finish line completing nine laps in 27m:10.178 seconds in an action packed race. Two Safety Car periods interrupted the race, the first at Lap 2 when Akash Nandy hit the wall and had to be cleared up. The second Safety Car Period was called after Iran Ilyas, who was trying to make a move on seventh placed Calvin Seibl, touched and both suffered front wing damage. For Ikhwan, despite the interrupted race, he managed to stay focused on the race and claimed his second pole to flag win in Singapore. read report

Formula 3: Menasheh Idafar delivered one of his best performances of the season at Donington Park Grand Prix Circuit this afternoon, Saturday, 24th September, during round 25 of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series – although a deserved top seven finish became 11th post-race due to a penalty. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

24-09-11

Formula Ford: Scott Malvern continued his inexorable march towards the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain title at Donington Park this afternoon, claiming his 16th victory of the British season for the Jamun Racing team. Malvern led all the way from pole position to chequered flag despite race-long pressure from his team-mate Nick McBride, who was just 2.8s adrift of the champion elect at the line. It was another copybook performance from Malvern, who is on target to clinch the Formula Ford crown at Donington tomorrow. read report

LMS: Neel Jani has taken pole position for tomorrow's 6 hours of Estoril, putting the #12 Lola-Toyota in the first position with the time of 1'30''118. It's the 5th pole position in 5 LMS races for Nicolas Prost and Jani in their Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota.Pole also gives them a point in the LMS LMP1 Drivers' classification while the team extend their lead in the Teams' classification to 3 points.Jean-Christophe Boullion was third in the teams second car with a 1'30''792. The race starts at 13h00 tomorrow, Sunday.

JK Racing Asia Series : Afiq Ikhwan claimed his fifth win during the Round 11 JK Racing Asia Series at Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore today. The Malaysian driver claimed an incident filled pole to flag win in front of the 2011 Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix crowd. The Meritus.GP driver welled up when his National anthem came on during the ceremony “I am so happy to hear Negaraku being played”. “I am so happy. Five wins back to back. The car was really good, everything was perfect and I would like to thank my team and sponsor Petronas for this.“We will keep on pushing until the end of the season” said Ikhwan during the post race press conference. He has now closed the gap to Championship leader reducing it further to a 28 point gap. On having to follow the Safety Car for a large part of the race, “It was not like racing. There were two Safety Car periods which disrupted me a bit but I kept my focus on driving a consistent pace to finish the race” ended Ikhwan. Lucas Auer of Eurointernational climbed from tenth place to finish an incident filled race in second, just ahead of Malaysian driver Nabil Jeffri in third. “I had a really good start and a really good first lap and could overtake many cars. I am really happy with the result although I am concerned about Aaron. I hope he is okay. “I had a good car thanks to the team and they did a great job” said Auer. The race was marred by two Safety Car periods, the first after an incident at turn 6 on lap 3 when Auer tried to make a move on Aaron Chang from the inside of the turn. Auer’s front touched Chang’s rear tyre causing Chang’s car to flip and go sideways into the wall. “I was on the side of Aaron when he closed. My front touched his rear side wheel and he flipped. I am really sorry for that. I hope he is okay” said Auer of the incident. Chang of Eurasia Motorsport came out of the car and was kept for observation in the Medical Centre for two hours. For Jeffri, this is his second time at the Marina Bay Circuit and he is happy to finally have a podium here. “It was a good race for me having a podium in Singapore is really good. “I was here last year and was really close to a podium but this year I am really glad with the podium even though it is the third spot” ended Jeffri with a smile. Almost immediately after the Safety Car pulled in, Indian driver Raj Bharath oversteered at turn five and got caught in the barrier causing a second Safety Car period. “I oversteered and it was far too late to control and get back on track so I crashed at Turn 5. “I am okay, I hurt my finger a bit but its okay. Maybe if the car is okay I will be back to race tomorrow” said a dejected Bharath after the race. The race ended on lap 9, with the Safety Car pulling in to allow the drivers to cross the chequered flag.

Ginetta GT Supercup : Tom Sharp went to Rockingham leading the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup championship, and after a weekend that didn’t quiet work out, came away still holding that lead going into the next round at Brands Hatch.A difficult qualifying session resulted in Sharp having to start an unexpectedly low 5th place for the first 30-minute race on Saturday afternoon. A fairly uneventful opening race saw Sharp move one place forward to finish 4th behind all three championship rivals. The Second race on Sunday, however, saw the first pit stop race. All competitors had to make a mandatory stop in the pit lane, during the 30 min race, for a 2 tyre change. Sharp made the best start to the race moving past Carl Breeze and Adam Morgan to move into second and incredibly by the end of lap two Sharp made a move for the lead, overtaking Nathan Freke around the banking, and quickly made his escape into the lead and brought his IDL back car into the pit lane on lap eight with a healthy advantage over the second place car. An abnormally long pit stop for Sharp dropped him right down the order into 12th place at the end. As Sharp commented at the end of the weekend “Obviously the weekend didn’t go to plan and for the gearbox to fail in qualifying meant we got off on the wrong foot. In race 1 we were fast but had to control the pace to conserve the tyres for the final race, and the extended pit stop caused the engine to overheat and loose power in the second half of the race.”

Karts: Not all the races are alike for the CRG Racing Team! Two weeks after a new victory by Jonathan Thonon at the World Cup for KZ1 and seven podiums in Belgium, disappointment became the prevailing feeling in Italy. On the circuit of Sarno, Max Verstappen felt his world crumbling around him after a race accident deprived him of a possible victory in KF3. As for Felice Tiene, he also experienced a big disappointment at the World KF1 Championship. read report

23-09-11

JK Racing Asia Series : Afiq Ikhwan takes pole for Round 11 of the JK Racing Asia Series (formerly known as Formula BMW) this weekend during the 2011 Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix. The Series is visiting Marina Bay, Singapore for the fourth time and this weekend will see Rounds 11 & 12 take place. The 2:21.715 set by Ikhwan also broke the 2008 Qualifying lap record of 2:21.843 set by Doru Sechelariu of Mahara. “I am happy and for the team too for securing the pole position. We became stronger after the Sepang races and we did Sentul and are stronger now.“We have a really good car. I am looking forward to the races this weekend” said Ikhwan after the session. Despite setting the second fastest time of the day, Nabil Jeffri was not happy with the result of the session. “I didn’t maximise my qualifying because I went out with someone else in front of me and I only got the fastest time lap on my last lap of the session. It was not supposed to be and I’m quite disappointed with myself” said the Petronas Mofaz Racing driver. Lining up third will be Jeffri’s teammate, Irfan Ilyas who was happy with the outcome of the session. “Qualifying went great for me because I ended up third on the grid. I like the track and its really amazing seeing the spectators watching from behind the wall. It motivates me to go faster and faster”.The session was marred by two red flags, the first was after an incident between Eurointernational’s Lucas Auer and Meritus.GP’s Akash Nandy that caused damage to Auer’s front and Nandy’s rear wings. “Instead of coming in immediately into the pit, he continued and the front wing went under him and he couldn’t turn into the chicane so he went into the wall. It’s a little mistake made by a young driver but we have to regroup and look forward to the next two races” said Eurointernational’s Team Principal, Antonio Ferrari of Auer’s incident.The team is still in high spirits and are confident of retaining their lead in the Championship. “Two race to go, we have a fast car and a fast driver. I would like to be more in front but you get what you get” ended Ferrari.

Britcar 24 Hours: A four-man team of Toyota enthusiasts is planning to mount a giant-killing assault on the UK’s toughest race, the Britcar 24 Hours, using a supercharged Toyota MR2 Roadster. Not only are they hoping for top honours in their class, but also have their sights set on a top-20 overall finish in the 1/2 October Silverstone enduro. It’s the third time that Team Rogue Racing has entered an MR2 in the Britcar 24 Hours; last year the squad’s tenacity was underlined by an against-the-odds race finish. Now Patrick Mortell, Simon Aris, Alric Kitson and Lee McKee are hoping that substantial performance modifications and support from Toyota GB will help bring success.“The MR2 is fitted with a 3.5-litre V6 engine, a unit which is more used to delivering sufficient power to pull along a Lexus, so it’s quite a proposition in an MR2 weighing around 1100 kg – particularly when we add a supercharger to boost power output to 350-400 bhp,” said team leader Mortell. In Class 3 of the race, the Toyota is up against some race-proven performance models, including GT4 cars from Aston Martin, Ginetta and Lotus, as well as several BMW M3s and a GT3 Porsche. Nonetheless, Mortell is “quietly confident” that a good finish is on the cards: “I would like to think that so long as we don’t have any unforeseen problems the overall top 20 is a realistic opportunity, and with it a good finish in class.” The four drivers all started their competitive careers in the MR2 Championship; two of them are flying from their homes at opposite ends of the globe to compete – Aris from Texas and McKee from Kuala Lumpur. In addition to support from Toyota, as part of their campaign to support British Motorsport, Team Rogue Racing has several other blue-chip backers, including Microsoft, which is using the event to publicise its forthcoming Forza Motorsport 4 Xbox game, and Alpinestars. “Our Alpinestars race suits will carry Forza branding,” adds Mortell, “and Microsoft will be demonstrating the new game to spectators in the paddock.” Emagine Productions will be filming a documentary about the team’s campaign. Following daylight and night qualifying sessions, the 24-hour race will get underway at Silverstone at 4pm on Saturday 1 October. A field of around 70 cars is anticipated.

Ginetta Jnrs: Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit hosts the penultimate two rounds of the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship next weekend, 1st/2nd October, where Seb Morris will be aiming to seal his second car racing title with at least two races to spare. All year, the Marford teenager has been the driver to beat and has led the way since the opening two rounds which also took place at Brands Hatch – albeit on the shorter Indy Circuit. Racking up win after win, Seb’s total now stands at 11 victories for the season and should he attain a 12th success in the first of next weekend’s two races he does have a chance of wrapping up the title there and then. On overall scores, the 15-year-old’s closest challenger is Charlie Robertson some 131 points adrift but when the category’s double ‘drop score’ ruling comes into play Seb’s attention turns to George Gamble who moves up into the runner-up position, within 105 points of the Hillspeed star. But even though there are just two events remaining on the championship calendar, there are still a massive 148 points up for grabs to any one driver – meaning Seb can’t, and won’t, rest on his laurels as anything at all could happen at Brands Hatch. “We’re getting closer and closer to sealing the championship and it could happen at Brands”, said Seb, “But until it’s properly in the bag we’re not taking anything at all for granted, we’ll be working with the same approach we have all year – get the best set-up we can with the car, focus on qualifying as high up the order as we can and then put together two strong races.It has been an incredible season”, he added, “The team has worked really hard and hopefully all of our hard work will pay off at Brands Hatch next weekend.”

Ginetta GT Supercup: Fergus Walkinshaw will make his Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit debut on October 1&2 as the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup heads to the Kent circuit. Following his impressive form at Rockingham where a stellar charge from the back of the grid equalled his best result so far with fifth in class, Walkinshaw will join former Ginetta G50 champions Century Motorsport for the final two race weekends of the Ginetta GT Supercup season. The Oxford Brookes University automotive engineering student will join seasoned Ginetta racer, 2009 G50 Champion and Team Principal team-mate Nathan Freke. Tackling the historic 2.65 mile Grand Prix circuit for the first time, Walkinshaw will be looking to make the most out of mid-week testing to get to grips with learning the track and continue the development of his self-built sportscar under the Century Motorsport awning.The introduction of a new harder Michelin tyre compound for Saturday qualifying promises to make things even more interesting but the 20 year-old will take everything in his stride in his bid to climb the result sheets and score his first class podium before the season end. Walkinshaw commented: “The penultimate series rounds at Brands Hatch should be pretty exciting. I’m really looking forward to my first race weekend with Century Motorsport as they have such a strong Ginetta pedigree.The Brands Hatch Indy circuit isn’t one of my favourites but I haven’t raced on the Grand Prix layout before, so that will be a new challenge I hope to enjoy. We have some good testing time scheduled in before the race which will be invaluable in helping set up the car. However, come qualifying we’ll be running on a completely new tyre compound without any previous track time, so that could throw up a few surprises throughout the field.“I’m hoping for a bit of a change in fortune as I’d actually like to be able to finish all three races for the first time this season. I can’t quite believe my misfortune so far and circumstances beyond my control. They say bad luck comes in threes, so with my first three race weekends complete I hope I can now move on and get some good results in every race.”

LMS: Rebellion Racing is heading to Portugal for the 6 Hours of Estoril, the finale of the 2011 Le Mans Series. After making Lola-Toyota the winners of the LMS LMP1 Manufacturers’ Championship with a second win in a row at the 6 Hours of Silverstone earlier this month, the Swiss team have two other titles to potentially win at the final LMS round. For the team, their target is to win both the LMP1 Teams’ and LMP1 Drivers’ championships. Rebellion Racing is leading the LMP1 Teams’ Championship by 2 points from the Pescarolo Team prior to this weekend’s final round. In the LMP1 Drivers’ classification, Andrea Belicchi and Jean-Christophe Boullion are currently in the runner-up position just a single point behind the trio of Pescarolo (car #16) drivers. The race strategy for #13 Lola-Toyota duo Andrea Belicchi and Jean-Christophe Boullion is quite simple, they will have no other choice than to win in front of the #16 Pescarolo-Judd squad to win the LMP1 Drivers’ championship. With a ten point deficit over the leaders, Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost in the team’s sister car, #12 Lola-Toyota, are not mathematically out of the chase for the LMS LMP1 Drivers’ crown, but they would need to win the race with the sister car #13 and #16 Pescarolo both retiring in order to win the championship. For the LMP1 Teams’ championship, Rebellion need to clinch the pole position to score one more point in order to target as a minimum a second place finish in the race to win the title.Bart Hayden, Team Manager : “We are in a strong position to potentially win both the LMS LMP1 Teams’ and LMP1 Drivers’ Championships at the 6 Hours of Estoril event. Those championship titles are our main target for this season, especially as this year is the last of the Le Mans Series with LMP1 cars. The most powerfull and impressive Le Mans Prototypes will be not be allowed to compete in the LMS next year with the new 2012 sporting regulations. As Sebah Racing, when my father Hugh was at the helm, this team twice won the LMS GT2 Teams’ Championship (in 2004 and 2005) and the LMS GT2 Drivers’ championship in 2005. Now, as Rebellion Racing we want to win in LMP1 before leaving a series that has been a really important part of our story over the past decade. The team will continue in LMP1 next year, but it is too soon to say what exactly our racing programme will be. “

Before the begining of the serious business, the Rebellion Racing drivers are showing a focused but relaxed attitude. Even though the Portuguese last round of Le Mans Series will decide the Drivers and Teams championship classifications, the Team's four drivers seem to be approaching this last meeting as any other. Nicolas Prost, driver of the Lola-Toyota #12: “Now, for the end of the LMS championship, we are not the master of our destiny. We are in an outsider position and anything can happen. We will focus all our attention on the pole position and on our race. And we will see.” Neel Jani, driver of the Lola-Toyota #12: “ For us, it's ‘easy’ we ‘just ‘have to take the pole... and win the race ! This season, we took some good poles and spent a lot of time at the top of several races. But we havn't finished every time. So we have to lead and finish the race. But, lots of things can happen..” Andrea Belicchi, driver of the Lola-Toyota #13: “The race is so long that it is always difficult to predict how it will turn out. I'm just happy to be here, in Estoril, to have a chance to win the title, it's closer than ever before. As usual, I'll do my best to win. But as you know, we race for an endurance race and anything can happen ! “ Jean-Christophe Boullion, driver of the Lola-Toyota #13: “The final round of the LMS championship is this week-end. Nevertheless, we have to approach this meeting like we do every meeting. During each race, we try to be the first, in front of our other competitors. This time, it will be the same thing. Because whatever the way you look at the situation, the best way to win the championship is to win the race ! “

BTCC: In just over a week the nation’s premier motor racing championship, the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship, rolls into the South East for the penultimate round of 2011 at the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit (1-2 Oct). The fixture represents the last opportunity for drivers to ensure they are still in with a chance of winning the biggest prize in UK motor sport prior to the championship’s ‘Finals Day’ a fortnight later at Silverstone (15-16 Oct). Furthermore, this ‘crunch’ event takes place on a circuit that the BTCC has historically considered to be its spiritual home – it was at Brands Hatch that the championship’s first race was held back in 1958. Honda Racing team-mates, Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, will arrive at Brands tying for the championship lead in their turbocharged Civics. Jason Plato is their nearest challenger in third in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze – he has 25 points to make up on the pair if he is to retain his crown. With a maximum of 104 points (52 each from Brands Hatch and Silverstone) still up for grabs, though, he’s still right in the title chase and sure to be in the thick of the action.Mathematically seven drivers can still win the title, the other four being Mat Jackson (Airwaves Racing Ford Focus), James Nash (888 Racing with Collins Contractors Vauxhall Vectra), Andrew Jordan (Pirtek Racing Vauxhall Vectra) and Robert Collard (WSR BMW 320si). Jackson in particular will be hoping to still be in the frame leaving Brands – not just because it is his Wrotham-based team’s home circuit but because just two rounds ago he was leading the championship. Failure to score in any of the last six races has demonstrated how quickly fortunes can change in the BTCC and as a result he is now a distant fourth in the standings. In addition, Jackson and the Airwaves outfit have also lost their respective leads in the Independent Drivers and Teams championships to Nash and 888/Collins.It is anticipated that the entry list for Brands Hatch’s will nudge a near-record 28 cars with no fewer than ten different manufacturers – Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Ford, Honda, Proton, SEAT, Toyota, Vauxhall and VW –being represented. In total the public will be treated to Ginetta Junior, Ginetta GT Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup, Formula Renault UK and Renault Clio Cup championships.

Andrew Jordan believes that the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit will be good for Pirtek Racing in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship during the penultimate weekend of the season (1/2 October). Rounds 25, 26 and 27 of the 30-race season will run on the Grand Prix circuit at the Kent track and Andrew is optimistic of a good showing at a track that favours the most talented drivers. The Brands Hatch GP track is a true drivers’ challenge as it rises and falls through a series of fast corners and it is one of Andrew’s favourite tracks. Heading to Kent, Andrew lies sixth overall in the BTCC drivers’ standings and third in the Independents’ category. Meanwhile, his Pirtek Racing team mate Jeff Smith is also looking for a strong weekend after showing good pace last time out at Rockingham. “I enjoy driving at Brands a lot,” said Andrew. “The Grand Prix circuit is a proper drivers’ circuit and going through the trees on the Grand Prix loop is quite a challenge; you always get the feeling of speed through there because the trees are so close. You need to get a good balance in the car. We went well there last year and I’ll be very surprised if we are not strong at Brands this time around.” Andrew reckons that Brands Hatch will play to the strengths of his Vauxhall Vectra. “I think we’ll be pretty strong at Brands and I’ll be disappointed if we’re not,” he said. “The fast, flowing corners suit the Vectra and I normally go well there. So I’ll go to Brands quite positive that it will be a good weekend. Out of the final three tracks this season of Rockingham, Brands and Silverstone, Brands should be our strongest track.”

Alex MacDowall says next weekend’s three BTCC races at Brands will mark the final chance this year for him to try and challenge for his maiden BTCC victory. The penultimate event of the season should be a very strong one for the Carlisle racer with the fast corners of the 2.43-mile Grand Prix configuration suiting his driving style and the superb chassis and handling of his Chevrolet Cruze.Alex has gone particularly well at Brands Hatch in the past, taking his debut BTCC podium there last year and also winning on the GP track in the Renault Clio Cup support category in 2009, so he’s sure the circuit can provide his best touring car outing so far just over a week from now.“I think Brands Hatch GP should be our best track yet”, said the Silverline Chevrolet driver, “The GP loop requires a very stable chassis which is good on high speed corners and that’s one of the Cruze’s strong points. I’ve gone well at the track previously too – I out-qualified Jason (Plato) last year and won there in Clio Cup, so it’s a place I enjoy and a track where I know we’re quick.I’ve got to have a high scoring weekend at Brands because Silverstone (venue of the BTCC season finale on 15th/16th October) will be the worst track for us. This is my last chance for a win this year and I don’t want to get left behind, I need to get that monkey off my back. I’m going to Brands Hatch aiming for pole position and at least one win.”

Formula Ford: The sixth round of the 2011 Australian Formula Ford Championship was recently held at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. Catch all the action as Australia's future stars take to the track over three races that produced three different winners this Saturday on 7mate. In one of the most competitive rounds to date, will the CAMS Rising Stars continue to challenge series leader Cameron Waters? 24 September, 2011 at 12:30pm AEST (check your local guides) on 7mate.The Australian Formula Ford Championship hits the track again on October 21-23, for round seven of the series on the streets of Surfers Paradise in Queensland.

Spectrum Racing Cars is proud to announce a new driver development experience for young racing drivers and prospective Formula Ford competitors. „Spectrum Racing Cars - Island Formula‟ is a comprehensive two-day driver development program to be held from Wednesday, November 30 to Thursday, December 1 at the internationally renowned Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria. Island Formula will allow up to 12 young racing drivers the opportunity to experience over 150 kilometres of testing in a Duratec Formula Ford on one of Australia‟s fastest and most exhilarating racing circuits. In addition to the on-track driving component, Island Formula will see all drivers involved in detailed workshop sessions, with established driver manager and industry figure Chris Jewell in attendance to expose participants to the finer points of making a professional career in motor racing. Participants will drive current Spectrum Formula Ford chassis prepared by championship-winning teams, Borland Racing Developments (BRD) and Synergy Motorsport. Experienced Formula Ford engineers and mechanics will also offer participants an insight into the technical side of the sport, including car set-up and understanding data acquisition. Michael Borland, Managing Director and Founder of Spectrum Racing Cars, “Spectrum is proud to continue its commitment to developing young racing drivers through Formula Ford. Mark Winterbottom, Jason Bright and Jason Bargwanna all raced Spectrums in the Australian Formula Ford Championship, as did last year‟s champion, Chaz Mostert with Synergy Motorsport.Island Formula is unique as an all-encompassing driver development experience and the only program of its kind to be held on the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.“No other program offers drivers the opportunity to experience driving a Formula Ford at a circuit with such a high average lap speed. Phillip Island also conforms with international track safety standards, making it one of the safest circuits where we can conduct a program of this nature.”

Petit Le Mans: In June Audi celebrated its tenth victory with the R18 TDI at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Likewise, on October 1st, Audi Sport Team Joest is aiming for the brand’s tenth triumph at the U.S. counterpart, the "Petit Le Mans" at Road Atlanta. From 2000 to 2005 the Audi R8 was unbeatable over the 1000 miles, while in 2006, 2007 and 2008 the Audi R10 TDI triumphed. Now after defeats in the past two years with the R15 TDI, Audi plans to return to victory lane with the R18 TDI. Audi Sport Team Joest is fielding two vehicles at the event, each with three drivers. Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fässler, who have been forming a driver team in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) since Imola, will be joined Romain Dumas. Joining Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish will be Dindo Capello - the most successful driver of the American classic with a track record of five overall victories (2000, 2002, 2006-8). Last year the Italian became the victim of a strange incident. While he was leading the race an insert in his helmet that is prescribed by the regulations came loose and caused the fireproof balaclava to slip over his eyes. The unscheduled pit stop cost Audi a possible victory. Minute details could also be crucial this year. With 56 teams having submitted entries, the track at Road Atlanta will be pretty packed, with numerous overtaking manoeuvres posing a risk of contact. After third place at Imola and second place at Silverstone there is just one goal for Audi at the U.S. classic on October 1st: victory. Therefore, Audi Sport Team Joest will already be testing this weekend at Road Atlanta in order to set up the R18 TDI as perfectly as possible and not leave anything to chance. Tens of thousands of spectators lining the track at Road Atlanta will be watching the two R18 TDI cars with their whispering V6 TDI engines. Since its inaugural round in 1998, "Petit Le Mans" has evolved into one of North America’s biggest racing events that is meanwhile attracting more than 100,000 fans. Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "I’m personally very much looking forward to Road Atlanta. I like this race track and think it’s one of the nicest circuits for the sports prototypes. It’s a track on which Audi has celebrated major successes before. And after Imola, where things didn’t go so well for us, we were fully competitive again, most recently at Silverstone. But there our good work went unrewarded. I’m hoping that we’ll be showing a good performance with the R18 TDI in America and achieve victory. At the same time, I’ll be in permanent phone and e-mail contact with Valencia where Martin Tomczyk might be able to clinch the DTM title early for Audi - it’ll be an important, exciting and busy weekend for Audi Sport."

Following the fine showing of the team’s three prototypes at the recent 6 Hours of Silverstone, where the #24 LMP1 car finished third behind Peugeot and Audi, OAK Racing is delighted to announce that the forthcoming ILMC round at Road Atlanta in America will see the launch of its customer LMP2 programme. Read more

DTM: Martin Tomczyk is travelling to the penultimate race of the season at Valencia (October 2) as Championship leader with a nine-point advantage over his nearest rival Bruno Spengler (Mercedes). If Tomczyk scores two more points than Spengler he would be Champion - and the first one in the history of the series at the wheel of a year-old car, as Tomczyk’s Schaeffler Audi A4 DTM has been in use for four years. In 2008 it was the car in which Mattias Ekström raced for Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline and in which he clinched three victories in that season. In 2009 Audi Sport Team Phoenix took over the vehicle which was then driven by Mike Rockenfeller for two years and could now help Martin Tomczyk to achieve the biggest success in his career. The track record of the season so far speaks in favour of the 29-year-old as well. He is the only driver to have finished all eight races in the points. Three of them he won, at six events he mounted the podium, and not once did he finish below fifth place. His team, Audi Sport Team Phoenix, has fond memories of the Spanish race track as well. Alexandre Prémat finished third last year, Mike Rockenfeller took sixth place. From a purely mathematical perspective, Mattias Ekström still has title chance as well. The Swede won two of the last three races and is travelling to Valencia as last year’s winner. By clinching two victories Ekström could still become champion if Tomczyk scored only one point at the last two races. But that is not what the Swede is wishing for with respect to Tomczyk. Ekström and Tomczyk have been team-mates for many years and are also personal friends. Mattias Ekström would be happy, too, to see a DTM champion named Tomczyk.

WTCC: The location of the penultimate event of the 2011 World Touring Car Championship has been moved from Zhaoqing to Shanghai; the date remains the same, November 6. The first WTCC Race of China will also feature the final round of the China Touring Car Championship that has joined in this last minute change of venue. WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti explained: "After everything had been arranged for racing at the Guangdong International Circuit, a couple of weeks ago we were told by the promoter of the China Touring Car Championship that it was not possible to carry on with the event as scheduled. For the time being, we are unable to share further details about the reasons for the cancellation. However we wish to thank the CTCC promoter for having managed to salvage the event by moving it to Shanghai." It has not been decided yet whether the event will be hosted by the Shanghai International Circuit, home of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix, or the Tianma International Circuit, a regular venue for CTCC.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the calendar of the 2012 WTCC. The main change is the concentration of all overseas events in the second part of the season, in order to reduce the transportation costs. As for the venues, besides the inclusion of an event in the USA at the Infineon Raceway in California, are the return of the Marrakech's street race and the addition of the Salzburgring that will receive WTCC's first ever visit to Austria. Calendar

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has also approved a number of changes proposed by the Touring Car Commision to the WTCC sporting regulations that will become effective in the 2012 season. The main changes concern qualifying session and starting grid systems.
QUALIFYING POINTS - In order to reward the fastest drivers in qualifying, points will be awarded to the top-five classified in Q2: 5 points to the 1st, 4 to the 2nd, 3, 2, 1.
GRID FOR RACE 2 - The starting grid for Race 2 will be determined by the results of Q2, with the ten fastest drivers in reverse order.
12 DRIVERS TO Q2 - To prevent drivers from trying to achieve a good starting position on the grid for the second race by qualifying 10th or 9th, twelve drivers will be admitted to Q2 but only the ten fastest will be reversed.

Once again André Couto will take part in the WTCC finale at Macau. This will mark the sixth appearance of the local hero in the Guia Race that traditionally ends the World Championship's season. Couto will be at the wheel of a SUNRED León 1.6T car, run by the SUNRED Engineering team. In the previous years he drove Alfa Romeo, Honda and SEAT cars, claiming his best results in 2008 with a seventh place. Already victorious in the 2000 Macau Grand Prix, Couto is aiming to become the first F3 winner capable to clinch a WTCC triumph on the Guia street circuit.

Michel Nykjær returns to the Scandinavian Touring Car Cup this weekend for the series' finale at Mantorp Park.The Dane will drive once again the third Chevrolet Cruze run by Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden, alongside the team's regular drivers Rickard Rydell and Viktor Hallrup.
Nykjær's mission is supporting Rydell in the title fight; on the eve of the final race meeting Rydell lies only two points behind Volkswagen's Fredrik Ekblom."I hope I can be competitive straight away and find that tenth of a second that I needed to be at the front in the previous event at Ring Knutstorp. The battle for the championship is tough. Ekblom's team will run four cars, but I am aiming for some clean racing without denting the car and hope Rickard will be crowned champion," Nykjær said.

GP2: Jolyon Palmer will take part in both days of the official GP2 testing at Jerez in Spain next week with leading teams iSport and Barwa Addax. The 20-year-old moved to GP2 for 2011 with Arden, as one of just a few rookies, and put in some promising performances. At Jerez, Jolyon will undertake the first days testing on Wednesday 28 September with the iSport squad, before moving to Barwa Addax on the Thursday. Palmer, who finished second in the 2010 FIA Formula Two championship, is looking forward to the opportunity: "Moving to GP2 was clearly a big challenge and everyone knows how difficult it is for first year drivers with the limited track time. However, Arden was a great team to be with in my first season and I have learnt a huge amount. I was pleased to put in some encouraging drives but now I'm ready to step up my performance and I'm confident I can be very competitive in 2012, when I hope to continue in GP2. I am excited to be testing for both iSport, clearly a top team and frequent podium visitor, and Addax who won this year's GP2 teams' championship. I have a great chance to develop, learn and prove my potential and am I grateful to both teams for providing the opportunity to join them."Official GP2 testing takes place on 28/29 September in Jerez, Spain, with full coverage on Jolyon's website and Facebook page.

22-09-11

JK Racing Asia Series : After a two month break, the JK Racing Asia Series will resume at the 2011 Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix this weekend. The Series will be part of the night race scheduled for 23-25 September at the 5.073km Marina Bay Circuit. It’s the halfway mark for JK Racing Asia Series in its first year and with 120 point still up for grabs, its still an open battle for the drivers. The Formula 1 weekend will also be a time when all the drivers want to prove that they are the ones to watch, making it an interesting weekend to anticipate. Two drivers will rejoin the Series in Singapore , Atlantic Racing Team will field Dylan Young and Calvin Seibl for the weekend. They will rejoin a highly competitive group of young drivers, currently led by Championship leader, Austrian Lucas Auer. Everyone is anticipating an outstanding battle between him and recent uadruple race winner, Afiq Ikhwan. The duo already claimed multiple wins each and had a battle on track in Indonesia last July. There are 30 points on offer this weekend and with Auer in the lead by 34 points, this could easily diminish if he is not careful. The recent announcement that the Championship winner will get a GP2 test with Caterham Team AirAsia will only enhance their determination to win the Title. Right behind them is Nabil Jeffri who had a troubled outing in Sentul, managing one podium finish over the four-race weekend and collecting just enough points to remain third in the Title chase. He has a 26-points lead over Petronas Mofaz Racing teammate, Irfan Ilyas. Ilyas has now fully recovered from a knee injury that caused him to be unable to brake properly during the Round 7 race, which left him in the wall and forced him to miss Round 8. He will be heading to Singapore ready to make up some points to pull himself back up the ladder. Only two other drivers have been on the podium so far this season - the Series’ youngest driver, Meritus.GP’s Akash Nandy who is in seventh and Petronas Mofaz Racing’s Freddie Ang in ninth. Ahead of them on the leaderboard are two drivers hungry for a podium finish. Australian Duvashen Padayachee has so far finished two races in fourth and four times in fifth, placing him fifth in the points table, whilst Petronas Mofaz Racing’s Hiqmar Danial, who is currently sixth, will head to Singapore fresh from his stint at the Malaysian 12-hour endurance race. Meanwhile, Padayachee’s Eurasia Motorsport teammates, Aaron Chang, Pasin Lathouras and Natasha Seatter have all had a mixed season so far and along with troubled Meritus.GP racing driver, Raj Bharath, they have all got a lot to prove in Singapore .

Formula 3: Dallara-Volkswagen driver Menasheh Idafar got his preparations for this weekend’s Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series races at Donington Park off to a trouble-free start today, , during official testing at the East Midlands venue. In this morning’s opening 55-minute session, the 20-year-old posted a best lap of 1m24.906 seconds (105.46mph) in his T-Sport machine to go 14th on the timesheets and 0.4 seconds shy of the top 10.Session two this afternoon, which took place in dry conditions like the first, delivered improvements for each of the 21 drivers and Menasheh was able to slice 0.9 seconds off his morning best with a lap of 1m24.062 seconds (106.52mph) to move up to 13th quickest. Although edging the British-born Bahraini a 10th of a second nearer the overall top 10 for the day, he did end the test disappointed not to be further up the order. Now, he’ll be working hard with the team engineers to find more pace ahead of qualifying and the first race of the weekend which takes place on Saturday, 24th September. “Overall it was an ok day but we’re not where we wanted to be”, said Menasheh, “We’re going to look through all of the data to see where we can make some improvements with the car and see where I’m losing time. Hopefully we can make some good changes before qualifying on Saturday.” Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

Air Asia Clio Cup : Jack Goff became a serious title contender after a double victory at Rockingham in rounds 13 &14 of the Air Asia Clio Cup. After Jack qualified on pole for both rounds he was in the ideal position to close the gap on the top 4 in the championship. In the opening encounter Jack made a good start and concentrated on opening a gap to the rest of the field. Over the next few laps he managed just that but a safety car period lost his advantage in an instant. At the restart Jack realised that he had taken the best out of his tyres, so he decided to slow the pace down for a few laps to try and conserver them. With 5 laps to go he then pushed hard and again opened up a small gap. His team mate Josh Files kept the pressure on in 2nd place but Jack made sure that he didn't make any mistakes and took the win. This result was a not just great for Jack but Team Pyro as well who claimed a podium lockout, with Aron Smith following Files home in thrid. On Sunday Jack’s confidence was high and he made another good start alongside James Colburn who took the outside going round the first corner slipping in behind James Dixon. In the opening laps Jack again got his head down and pushed to make a break. He may have made it look easy but it was far from easy inside the car as Jack couldn’t make a single mistake, in Clios, as soon as you make a mistake the rest of the pack will be back on your bumper. Jack concentrated and counted down the laps in what seemed like an endurance race, but after the 14 laps he had took the flag with 5 seconds in hand. The two wins will give Jack a huge boost as he heads into the last 2 races of the season, just 26 points off the championship lead. Next its Brands Hatch and one objective: to win both races and get 2 fastest laps. Jack would like to say a massive thank you to Team Pyro and all at the JG Team for making this weekend possible.

Rallycross: Westhoughton-based racer Tony Lynch has moved back into second place in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship standings following the penultimate round of the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship season at Knockhill. Pic Tim Whittington read report

LMS: The Strasbourg-based team Pegasus Racing scored its third win of the season in Formula Le Mans in the Silverstone 6 Hours, the fourth round of the 2011 Le Mans Series. Mirco Schultis, Patrick Simon and Julien Schell have a 100% record in podium finishes this year and have won the drivers’ title. They still have to bag the teams’ crown because two other entrants are still in contention as the Series heads to Portugal for the final round. Read report

Formula Renault: First pole position and first victory in the Eurocup, first pole positions and two victories in the ALPS Championship, Paul Loup Chatin took nearly all the prizes on the Castellet circuit.It was also the first time the World Series by Renault raced at the Provencal course and its success was assured with nearly 50,000 spectators.Right from the first free practices, Paul Loup Chatin was in the leading positions as he prepared for the qualifying sessions. His rise in the ranks since the championship started again was confirmed when he took pole positionwhich then became his first victory in the opeing race of the Eurocup! Chatin: “I got to pole position in my group and it also happened to be the best time overall! I had a good start in the race and then I was happy to keep a good pace without making any mistakes and cross the line as the winner in front of both Redbull drivers! My car was really well balanced and the whole TECH 1 team did some great work. I know well that the next racing weekend will be more difficult but I will keep working in the same spirit with the whole team.” The next day, Chatin, the “Euroformula Volant” had less success in the second qualifying session. He was caught out by the rain in the last laps and only managed 10th. In the race it wasn’t much better after he found himself down in 13th place before finishing in 8th. He did however make up for it in the ALPS Championship where he dominated in the wet and the dry. “I was very satisfied with my ALPS weekend where I am first in the provisional general ranking thanks to my two victories,” said Paul Loup, “I will be in Spa to try and win this championship which I am leading by two small points.”Paul Loup’s target now is to finish fifth in the Eurocup which is just four points away. Laurent Fradon, the Director of Euroformula says: “Paul Loup is actually in sparkling form and I don’t doubt for one second that he cannot reach his end of season objectives. We are very satisfied with his performance which demonstrates the level of our training methods. The objective of the Euroformula Volant is to help young drivers get the best possible start in motorsport, that’s what we did with Paul Loup before his TECH 1 team took over and brought him to where he is now. We will all be behind him to give him support during his next races!” The next race is on 1-2 October at Spa-Francorchamps tfor the last leg of the ALPS. One week later its the final of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 at Barcelona.

The odds might have been stacked against him during the latest round of the 2011 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Thruxton, but Callum Bowyer refused to be intimidated by a litany of troubles and his reward was his third-best single-seater result to-date.Callum’s sole prior experience of the ultra-quick Hampshire circuit had come during pre-season testing – and in wet conditions. “I felt quite optimistic,” asserted the talented young Peterborough speed demon, “because although we hadn’t had many days in the car at that stage, the test had gone pretty well, and we’re that much further into the season now, too. I immediately loved the speed of it – Thruxton is just so incredibly fast, and you need to have a lot of confidence in the car round there. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography read report

Next year’s National Motorsport Week (30 June-8 July) will feature the two most popular events on the UK motor sport calendar: the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Santander British Grand Prix at Silverstone.The British Grand Prix date – 6-8 July 2012 – was confirmed last month by the FIA, the governing body for world motor sport, while The Earl of March, patron of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, has just announced that the Festival of Speed is provisionally scheduled for the weekend of 29 June-1 July. National Motorsport Week is jointly organised by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) and the Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) to celebrate the on-going success of British competitors, teams and companies as well as drawing attention to less well-publicised parts of the sport in order to generate increased participation. “We couldn’t have hoped for a better platform from which to promote UK motor sport,” says Colin Hilton, MSA Chief Executive. “Between them the Festival of Speed and British Grand Prix attract more than 300,000 fans and millions more followers via television and other media. While these two high profile events will help us to put the spotlight on the UK’s world-leading achievements, it’s essential that we maximise the opportunity to engage with more people and encourage them to get involved. Whether it’s as a competitor at grass roots level, an active member of a local motor club, or a trackside volunteer – motor sport has so much to offer. There are lots of opportunities in so many different disciplines for those inspired and excited by these major events – and that’s what National Motorsport Week is all about.” National Motorsport Week 2012 will build on the many accomplishments of this year’s initiative. For more information: www.gomotorsport.net or www.nationalmotorsportweek.co.uk

21-09-11

GP3: Adrian Quaife-Hobbs will undertake his third Formula One test at the wheel of the Marussia Virgin Racing F1 team’s MVR-02 car in Abu Dhabi in November. The 20 year-old will complete the opening day’s F1 rookie tests immediately following the Grand Prix, which takes place on 3 November, as reward for his performance in the 2011 GP3 Series. Quaife-Hobbs has already successfully tested twice for the John Booth-led F1 team, carrying out aero-testing at Idiado Proving Ground in Spain where he completed around 150kms and then at RAF Cottesmore where he clocked up over 200kms at the Leicestershire airforce base.Now, as the most successful driver in the team’s sister GP3 Marussia Manor Racing team, Quaife-Hobbs from Tonbridge, Kent will take to the track on which he successfully completed a GP2 session last year, to complete his first proper F1 circuit test. “I’m very excited about the prospect of driving the MVR-02 again following my two aero tests and welcome the chance to drive around a proper circuit,” said Adrian. “In Idiado and RAF Cottesmore, it was purely straight-line testing, which was a fantastic opportunity to be part of the team’s ongoing development, but now it will be proper testing and I can’t wait.I finished the season as top Manor GP3 driver and it’s nice to have your results recognised in this way. Previously I was helping the team to carry out development work, but now it will be more about them testing me. However, after a successful performance in the last two tests, I feel confident that I can continue to improve as I get more used to the car, and hopefully produce some reasonable lap times.” With the 2011 GP3 Series now over, following the F1 test Quaife-Hobbs will carry out a full testing programme over the coming months in a variety of cars as the BRDC Rising Star evaluates his options for the 2012 season.

Scirocco R-Cup: With a pole position and two podium finishes at the weekend’s races in Oschersleben, Polish driver Mateusz Lisowski has claimed the 2011 Scirocco R-Cup title in style with one round still remaining. The 21-year old claimed pole for the first race of the weekend, before driving from lights to flag to secure his fourth victory of the campaign. A third place in race 2, finishing behind Aditya Patel and Junior champion Moritz Oestreich, marked an impressive ninth consecutive podium finish for Lisowski. The sole British driver on the grid, 19-year old Daniel Lloyd, continued to impress during his rookie season claiming sixth and fifth places respectively. These strong results mean that Lloyd is still in contention for second place in the championship going in to the final round. Lizowski’s championship victory follows Kris Heidorn who won the inaugural Junior and overall titles in 2010. The 2011 Scirocco R-Cup season concludes with Round 10 which takes place at Hockenheim, Germany over the weekend 21-23 October.

Karts: The pinnacle of Easykart racing across the globe is just a matter of weeks away now - but whilst the prospect of the World Finals at Castelletto is exciting enough, who earns the right to go is far from settled. This year the Easykart UK franchise has been awarded ten places per class – Cadet, Junior, Light and Heavy – and will certainly field its largest, and arguably most talented, squad yet - but who will travel to Italy with the title of ‘Champion’ has yet to be decided in three of the four categories. These questions will be answered at Llandow this Sunday (24 September) in what could be billed as karting’s own Battle of Britain. Read preview

With the forty nine-strong field split into two groups for timed qualifying, Barlow - debuting Adidas’ brand new ‘Kart XLT’ shoes, seen for the very first time in the UK - emerged on top with the fastest time overall, earning pole position for his two heats. In the first race, he was pipped to the chequered flag by his Strawberry Racing team-mate Rob Holland, but won the following encounter in convincing fashion to take P1 on the grid for the first of Sunday’s two points-scoring finals. Pic Graham Smith/TSR productions read report

As he builds up towards the resumption of national hostilities, Jay Goodwin could have done far worse than the charge he produced to scythe his way through the field from virtually the back of the pack to a podium finish at PF International. Read report

Nathan Harrison has celebrated arguably the greatest success of his burgeoning karting career to-date in concluding the 2011 Euro Rotax Challenge second in Europe – and now he has his sights firmly set on going one spot better still on home turf in the national Super 1 Series. Read report

In an increasingly hard-fought and unpredictable World KF1 Championship, Nyck De Vries (Zanardi-Parilla) is sparing no efforts to take home as many victories, podiums and points as possible at each race. During the fourth round 2011 held at Sarno (Italy), the Dutch karter added two victories to his list of achievements. read report

Ed Brand left his rivals simply vying to be first of the runners-up after back-to-back victories ensured that the Strawberry Racing star won the Ginetta Super One Rotax championship with a round to spare. Pic Graham Smith/TSR productions read report

The winner of the JK Racing Asia Series 2011 season will receive a GP2 test in the Caterham Team AirAsia GP2 car. The test will take place during the official GP2 pre-season tests in 2012, at a date and venue to be announced later. “I am very happy to be able to announce this award which comes about through our collaboration with AirAsia. This will be a great opportunity for one of the young aspiring future Formula 1 stars, currently racing in our JK Racing Asia Series,” said David Sonenscher , CEO of Motorsport Asia. “The whole purpose of the JK Racing Asia Series is to provide a platform to develop young talent out of Karting and towards their goal of Formula 1. A test with one of the leading GP2 Teams, which is just one step from Formula 1, will not only provide further motivation for them to secure the JK Racing Asia Title, but will also give them an opportunity to understand what will be expected from them in their future careers. I am very grateful to Tony Fernandes for putting this together as an added bonus to AirAsia’s involvement in the JK Racing Asia Series” concluded Sonenscher. “At AirAsia we believe in making dreams a reality, and our extensive involvement in motorsports, from our Driver’s Development Program with Team Lotus and Team Lotus itself, amongst others, allows us to continually be a part of the growth of our youth as they pursue their future. To be able to offer this unique and exciting prize to the champion of the Series is an absolute pleasure, and we look forward to catching some of the upcoming races in Singapore and India ,” said Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Richard Plant produced arguably his best performance of his Porsche Carrera Cup GB rookie season so far, scoring a fourth place finish on his Rockingham debut after battling his way forward from sixth on the grid. He followed that up with another top six finish in race two, continuing a record of being one of only three drivers to score points in every race this season. Plant had already equalled his highest ever starting position after securing third on the grid for race two, but admitted to not getting the absolute best from his first set of tyres to claim sixth in the grid order for the opening race. Having shown impressive pace throughout the weekend it was always hoped that Plant could mix it with the championship challengers during the races, and so it proved in the first contest on Sunday. read report

Formula Renault: For Jordan King, it was very much a case of making the best out of a bad situation as the Formula Renault UK Championship visited Rockingham for its eighth meeting of 2011 – but a gritty effort has nonetheless seen the young Warwickshire car racing rookie close in on sixth spot in the drivers’ standings.Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: To witness his double victory in the Ginetta GT Supercup at Rockingham, it seems hard to believe that Tom Ingram had never triumphed there before – but in proving himself to be the class of the field once more in the eighth outing of the 2011 campaign, the talented young High Wycombe racer has further strengthened his grip on the crown. read report

BTCC: The chase for the 2011 BTCC crown continues at Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit in Kent in a week and a half’s time (Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 October) with the penultimate three races of the season.Honda Racing team-mates, Worcestershire’s Matt Neal and Fife’s Gordon Shedden, will arrive there tying for the championship lead in their Civics with factory Silverline Chevrolet Cruze rival Jason Plato, from Oxford, their nearest rival, 25 points adrift.However, there is a possible maximum of 52 points available from Brands Hatch and a further 52 on offer in the season’s final three races at British Formula 1 Grand Prix venue Silverstone, Northants (Sat 15 & Sun 16 Oct). In fact the top seven in the standings can, mathematically, still become BTCC Champion in 2011 so it’s all to play for…

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship has issued its provisional race dates for 2012.Next season’s calendar will again include ten ‘rounds’, each featuring three races. The provisional dates are: calendar

enault 3.5: Nelson Panciatici was in action in the Renault 3.5 Series at Paul Ricard at the weekend. With all his family trackside he had hoped to make the podium, Sadly a lowly grid spot for race one meant he was already on the back foot, however an excellent performance in the race did yield a point for 10^th place. His second race would again feature a climb through the field although this time it was caused by a puncture at the start. Read report

Goodwood Revival: Over capacity 138,000 enthusiasts and vintage fashion fans flocked to last weekend’s Goodwood Revival, which by common consent was deemed the best yet. The vast majority of the spectators came dressed in their finest 1940s, 1950s and 1960s fashions, with tweed jackets and pleated skirts abounding in the early autumn sunshine, and occasional rain. On the track a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio - 100 years after this birth - saw a grid of cars associated with his career, including three Mercedes-Benz racers, plus two Chevrolets brought over from Argentina specifically for the Revival. A handful of drivers that knew and raced with Fangio were also on hand. Additionally, Goodwood staged its largest ever Revival vehicle parade with 100 British-built Fords lapping the circuit as this popular marque celebrated its centenary in the UK. The 75th anniversary of the Spitfire aircraft was marked with a fitting and emotional tribute as 10 of these iconic machines took to the skies over Goodwood, with others on the ground, as Lord March paid tribute and the RAF Choir sang. The quality of motor racing was exceptional throughout the Revival with many races and plenty of thrills along the way. Highlights included Saturday’s Fordwater Trophy, which this year was a Jaguar E-type race to mark the 50th anniversary of this legendary sports car. The 1964 semi-lightweight E-type of Jon Minshaw and Martin Stretton took the chequered flag.The St Mary’s Trophy for 1960s saloon cars saw Richard Shaw take a brilliant overall win with track victory in Sunday’s second installment of this two-part race in the 1965 BMW 1800 TiSA. Tom Kristensen and Kenny Brack took an emphatic win in the rain in the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy Celebration race for GT cars aboard Daniela Ellerbrock’s Shelby Daytona Cobra. Duncan Fitchett and Jeremy McWilliams may have finished only fourth in the second part of the Barry Sheene Memorial Trophy motorcycle race but they were always going to win overall on aggregate after a brilliant showing in the Part One Saturday race. The 1934 Hawker Fury Mk 1 was voted the Freddie March Spirit of Aviation pre-1966 aircraft concours d’elegance winner by a panel of distinguished judges, whilst a stunning dual-tone 1937 Bugatti Type 57SC Atalante – owned by William Ainscough - was the public’s choice for ‘the most beautiful car in the world’ in the Earls Court concours d’elegance out of 10,000 entries, with the 1961 Jaguar E-type roadster coming second.In all, the 2011 Goodwood Revival was a huge success, with Revival-goers already talking with excitement and anticipation about next year’s event.

Croft Circuit this weekend (24-25 September) sets the scene for the title-deciding rounds of the Darlington & District Motor Club’s Northern Sports & Saloon Car Championship.In excess of 70 competitors could be out for their season finale at the circuit. The NSSCC’s title showdown headlines a packed programme of 19 races over weekend which is being run at Croft by the BARC. Six other series are also in action including: Dunlop Production Touring Cars, Scottish Legends, Intersteps single-seaters, Mini Miglias, Mini Se7ens and Austin Healeys. On the track ork’s Mike Cutt is almost certain to become the NSSCC’s new 2011 Champion thanks to his domination of Class B this season which has seen him achieve wins every time out in his BMW. Martin Lightfoot (Stockton-on-Tees), the runaway leader in Class E3 in his Striker kit car, and Cutt’s closest Class B rival Ken Hall (Middlesborough), in his MG Metro 6R4, can still pip him but require minor miracles. Several of the nine class titles up for grabs also remain wide open. Notably, outgoing 2010 Champion Paul Moss (Darlington) can’t rest easy just yet in Class D. While he’s been on winning form of late in his Citroen Saxo, Peter Dixon and Simon Gibson – both in Hondas and both from Bishop Auckland – are within striking distance. In addition, David Cox (Darlington) and Richard Ralston (Harrogate) will go into the event just six points apart at the top of Class C in their Peugeot 205GTi and Renault Clio respectively with more than 40 points still on offer. Meanwhile Terry Wright, DDMC Chairman, commented: “Croft is a fitting venue to end our season which has been one of our most successful to date. We’ve worked hard to build numbers and there is now a great buzz and camaraderie among the members. It’s very sociable and that leads to a lot of respect and good, clean racing out on the race track.Nor is the paddock male-dominated – it is full of families who all help out one another if there’s a problem. We’ve made every weekend a ‘double-header’ to keep the number of events down and keep costs sensible by motor sport standards – our calendar still includes seven fixtures at four very challenging circuits. The bottom line is value for money and making it fun for our competitors, the circuit officials and marshals and the public who come to watch us.”

Formula BMW Talent Cup : 15-year-old Stefan Wackerbauer (Landshut/Germany) was the first to cross the finish line at the Oschersleben in the grand final of the Formula BMW Talent Cup on Sunday. The young racing driver from Bavaria relegated Maximilian Günther (Rettenberg/Germany) and Lukas Schreier (Donauwörth/Germany) to second and third places. “It’s an unbelievable moment for me,” said an overjoyed Wackerbauer. “I’ve been hoping for this win all season. Now my dream has come true.” The special bonus that comes with this success in the final is that BMW Motorsport will finance Wackerbauer’s next stage on the way to a career in professional motor racing. Despite not winning, the second-placed finisher was also beaming: “After the good results of the past months, I’m very happy with second place,” said Günther, just 14 years young. “I took a really professional approach to preparing myself, but unfortunately it didn’t work out in the end. Naturally I congratulate Stefan on his outstanding achievement. Today he was simply the better driver.” Schreier was the third to see the chequered flag: “I’ll never forget the fantastic feeling as I drove across the finish line. I had goosebumps all over. The spectators on the stands, the professional setting – absolutely brilliant.” Watched by BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, the 13 junior drivers did themselves proud out on the track. After polesetter Wackerbauer and Günther cleared some space between themselves and the pack, the focus turned to the battle for third place. After a successful passing manoeuvre by Schreier, Kevin Jörg (Switzerland) had to settle for fourth place, which he was forced to defend against a threat from Darius Oskoui (Switzerland). “I’m really proud of the way all the drivers have progressed over the entire season,” summarised Marquardt after the prizes were awarded. “We have witnessed a tremendous final and can justifiably say that our Formula BMW Talent Cup programme is working.” Preparations for the next Formula BMW Talent Cup are already in full swing and, after the first two test sessions, numerous drivers have already applied for the 15 available places. From 21 to 22 November the shootout for the coming season will take place in Valencia. The winner will be granted free participation in the Formula BMW Talent Cup 2012.

20-09-11

LMS: With back to back wins at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on 11th September and Imola in July, Rebellion Racing have scored enough points to secure victory in the Le Mans Series Manufacturers’ Championship for Lola-Toyota with one race still to go. Rebellion Racing's Lola-Toyota cars feature chassis technology from Lola and a 3.4litre petrol engine supplied by Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), the Toyota RV8KLM. This win for Lola-Toyota has been achieved less than 12 months since the team’s Lola-Toyota test car completed its first evaluation tests in Spain and Portugal. The team secured two wins, at Imola and Silverstone, and five podium finishes in just eight Le Mans Series starts this season including the unofficial LMP1 petrol classification at Le Mans, with sixth place overall. The team will be in action again this week at Estoril in Portugal for the finale of the Le Mans Series, with the target of winning both the Teams’ and Drivers’ championships. Alexandre Pesci, Team Principal: "I am very pleased for all the Rebellion Racing members and fans to achieve such an incredible result.Winning the Manufacturers' Championship in the first year of our relationship with TMG, and also for the last year of LMP1 cars in the Le Mans Series, is a great reward for all parties involved.I am extremely happy for what Bart and the whole team have achieved this year thanks to their dedication, professionalism and efforts. I am sure that Hugh would be proud of them. I would like also to thank the drivers; Nico, Neel, Jean-Christophe and Andrea for the wonderful job they have done this year in the LMS. Now we have to stay focused on the last leg of the LMS where Teams’ and Drivers’ titles are still to be settled and battling against the immense Pescarolo team is no small job".

Ginetta Challenge: Donington Park plays host to the Ginetta Challenge this weekend with just one point splitting the top two in the G40 class and the same narrow margin between the top two G20 drivers.Sean Huyton (Academy Motorsport) heads the G40 battle by just one point from former champion Mark Davies (Optimum Motorsport), while Stuart Pearson is just one point up on the Optimum-run car of Gary Simms in the G20 division.Huyton has taken three wins this season, but hasn’t won since mid-May, instead concentrating on scoring points, which he has achieved in every round. However, with four wins to his name, Mark Davies is now his main opposition and the Yorkshireman is in fine form having taken victory in the most recent round at Rockingham. Their fight will be a highlight of the weekend, but there are plenty of other drivers all in with a chance of a race win.Take Clive Richards (Colards Motorsport), for example. The former Caterham champion is a three-times winner this season and is only 30 points behind Huyton so he could yet take the title, while Ryan Ratcliffe (Piranha Motorsport) and Mike Robinson (TCR) have proved to be podium finishers this season and could take points away from the championship’s top three. Indeed, Robinson won on the road at Brands Hatch in June only to be penalised for exceeding the track limits so he is keener than anyone to take an overdue victory.The G20 class is another fascinating affair: Stuart Pearson’s two wins put him a point ahead of four-times winner Gary Simms, but the recent return to the championship of Dominic Pettit has added extra spice. Pettit’s winning streak has taken points away from Pearson and Simms and they will need to outscore him, as much as each other, this weekend. Add in the ultra-consistent Matt Flowers and there will be great racing provided by the G20 class.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : 2010 Porsche Club Championship champion Chris Dyer tasted the fruits of his success at Rockingham last weekend, as he took part in the two rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Driving a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car, Chris took fourth place in his class in both races, leading his class for much of race two, and his time in the hot seat has made him ever more determined to defend his title at the end of the month. “It was a tremendous experience,” said Dyer, whose car was run by the crack Parr Motorsport team. “I tested the car at the circuit on the Friday and was able to get quicker each time I went out in it. The team were unbelievable, they really looked after me and helped me no end, even advising me who would start slowly around me on the grid. “I got fourth in the first race, and they were encouraging me to go one better in Sunday afternoon’s event, but soon after the start I was leading the class. I was racing people who’ve been out in these cars all season, and I made two silly mistakes that dropped me down the order, but I’m really pleased how the weekend went.” Dyer is currently six points off the 2011 Porsche Club Championship lead with just one race meeting remaining, three races on the full Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on Friday September 30th and Saturday October 1st. Driving a Porsche 944 S2 in Class Two of the series, with backing from Leeds-based Porsche specialists Strasse, his employers, Dyer has set the class pace all year and knows what he needs to do to claim the title once more.“We’re going to Silverstone knowing exactly what we have to do,” explains Dyer, “I just have to win the class in all three races and see what happens. There are a lot of points up for grabs and anything can happen in three races.”

Renault 3.5: On the penultimate weekend of the 2011 World Series by Renault season, American driver Alexander Rossi Fortec Motorsports FR 3.5 driver, Alexander Rossi stormed to victory after a dominating performance in race two at Paul Ricard, Le Castellet , France for round eight of the World Series by Renault FR3.5 championship.read report

Comtec Racing’s Daniël De Jong enjoyed his best outing yet in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series at Paul Ricard in France over the weekend, 17th/18th September – the Dutch teenager starring with the eighth fastest time in a rain-affected second qualifying session before racing to a great top 12 result. read report

The biggest grid of the Volkswagen Racing Cup season is expected at the Donington Park next weekend (24/25 September), with 26 cars scheduled to appear for what promises to be a crucial pair of races for those with aspirations towards the championship title. Four drivers new to the FUCHS Lubricants-backed series are expected at Donington, and two old hands are slated to return with their race-winning cars to add even further diversity to the field, which will see four different models of Golf GTI in action. The championship returnees are brothers Alex and Didge Dziurzynski, who have been out of action so far this season. The lure of Donington, where Alex raced his Corrado to victory in 2008 and where Didge was a double winner in ’09, proved too great for them, however. Dziurzynski minor will race his trusty Mk II Golf GTI, the oldest car in the field. “We are both looking forward to getting down to some action,” said Didge. “Neither of us has raced all year and nor have the cars, so it will be a bit of a challenge and we’ll have to see what we can come up with.” The four newcomers expected at Donington are Midlands-based drivers Stewart Lines and Chris Levett, car-racing novice Chris Jones, who is a former British motocross team rider, and former SaxMax and T-Cars racer Cassey Watson.Lines will race the newest Golf on the grid, the Mk VI GTI prepared by Volkswagen Racing UK and driven previously by Nick Beaumont. Chris Jones has no car-racing experience but plenty of Volkswagen Racing Cup knowledge - he’s one of the technicians behind the race-winning successes of the Beetle RSI of championship leader Steve Chaplin; he will race the Jetta Sport prepared by Volkswagen Racing UK. Truck racer Levett will step into a DSG gearbox-equipped SlideSports Mk V Golf. Watson will meanwhile give the new Lunar Racing Mk IV Golf its slightly delayed competitive debut; Dominic Pettit had been due to drive the car for its maiden run earlier this month at Rockingham until technical gremlins intervened to prevent it. Twenty-year-old Watson will be the second female on the Volkswagen Racing Cup grid this season, joining podium finisher Zoe Wenham, 17. Reigning champion Chaplin is very much the man in the driving seat of the Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants, having won four times already this season with his ‘Herbie’ Beetle, including three of the last four races, at Zandvoort and Rockingham. But a Beetle hasn’t won at Donington since 2002, and last year - albeit on the National circuit - the Golf GTI of Aaron Mason was in unstoppable form, so Chaplin may have to be content with a points-gathering exercise. He has a mathematical chance of clinching the championship at Donington, but the title fight looks more likely to go down to the wire at Silverstone in October. Double champion Joe Fulbrook raced to victory at Donington in his Bora Turbo in 2007 while Nottinghamshire’s James Walker, the other man still in with a shout of the title, will be revved up for a good result for KPM Racing at his home circuit. James’s truck-racing champ dad, Richard, will be in action also in a sister Mk V Golf. Nottinghamshire’s other representative at Donington will be former Renault 5GT Turbo Champion Mark Howard. Others from the top 10 due in action are (Golf drivers all) Steve Wood, Peter Lettinga, Thomas Wilson, Tim Snaylam and Simon Andrews. The Caddy Van Racer of Simon Elliott will bring to 10 the number of different Volkswagen models represented.

Formula 3: Facu Regalia came away from Vallelunga with a good second place in the latest round of the Italian F3 Championship. After set up problems on Friday, Regalia claimed a podium finish during Sunday’s race despite a bad start to the weekend on Saturday. Then he had qualified in sixth but Lost four places at the start before becoming involved in a collision.. In race 2 it all went so much better. The Team Ghinzani driver made a good start and overtook Víctor Guerin before having a look at poleman Brando Maisano.”I noticed how good my start was today when I overtook Guerin. Nearly it worked too with Maisano, but he blocked me. I continue trying during first bends but I didn´t get it. Then, his race pace was a little faster and Maisano went away. I crossed the finish line second, a very good result for me after my podium at Imola. It means my best result in Formula 3 too”, Regalia explained. However, he wasn´t completely satisfied because “my car continues suffering from understeer, and it got worse over time”.

Gary Thompson is hoping to bring down the curtain on his Japanese Formula 3 season in style at Sportsland Sugo this weekend (September 24/25) as the championship plays host to its final three races of 2011. The up-and-coming single-seater star, who was recently named Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Month for August following his victory at Motegi, is looking forward to his return to Sugo, one of the most demanding circuits on the Japanese F3 calendar.After a typhoon ended his chances of reeling in the National Class points lead at Suzuka at the beginning of September, Thompson’s focus has now switched to ending his season on a high note. Gary Thompson: “Sugo is definitely one of my favourite and strongest circuits of the year. The end of the lap is just so fast with very little run-off, so quite old school in its construction really. In terms of out-and-out pace it was where I probably produced my best performance of 2010. I certainly had the speed to win the second race but as overtaking can be difficult due to the circuit’s fast nature I had to settle for the podium. It’s since been resurfaced following the earthquake earlier this year which I’ve heard has made the track bumpier.” It’s unsurprising then that Thompson has identified qualifying as the significant session this weekend.“Overall, throughout the year, our race pace has been excellent. As there are three races this weekend it would be nice to start on the offensive by really nailing a timed lap in qualifying so that we’re at least starting on the front row. With so little time between Sunday’s two races it will also be important to keep our noses clean, which is obviously helped by starting further up the grid. The championship isn’t going to re-schedule the washed out Suzuka round so I won’t be part of the title race this weekend. Even so, it would be great to end the year on a high and remind a few people of what I am capable of.”

BTCC: Silverline Chevrolet’s Alex MacDowall endured a massively difficult time of things during the latest three rounds of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship action at Rockingham on Sunday, 18th September – major contact in two of the races leading to his first non-scoring weekend of 2011. Read report

AirAsia Renault Clip Cup UK title contender James Dixon raced back into second position in the championship at Rockingham in Northamptonshire on Sunday, 18th September, thanks to his seventh podium of 2011.Moving the 21-year-old from Kent to within just three points of the series lead, the result could prove to be crucial to his chances of claiming his first car racing championship with the final event of the season set to take place on home soil at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit a fortnight from now. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

F2000: Nathan Morcom remains in contention for the F2000 Championship Series Rookie of the Year title after two seventh placings in a wild day’s racing at Lime Rock Park. The Sydney teenager kept his cool despite problems on and off the 2.4km (1.5-mile) Connecticut racetrack in the 11th and 12th rounds of the American ‘development’ openwheeler series. He had to battle severe understeer throughout the first race after his Rondo Van Diemen’s front wing was damaged in a first corner pile-up.In the second race, he flew through the field from a back row start until a loose front wing halted his Rondo Van Diemen’s progress. Despite his Lime Rock Park tribulations, Morcom retained sixth place in the overall pointscore and third in the rookie standings. Read report

Formula Renault : British racer Will Stevens left France after consolidating his fourth place in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship despite a tricky race two in trying conditions at the challenging Paul Ricard HTTT circuit in France on Sunday. Although individual sector times in the wet 15 minute qualifying session showed great pace for the 20 year-old, Stevens was unable to string together the perfect lap in the tricky conditions, winding up seventh in his group. Starting the race from row seven, Stevens made a great getaway to pass two cars on the opening lap. Thereafter, the BRDC Rising Star struggled to move up the order on a track on which it is notoriously difficult to overtake, particularly in the fiercely competitive single-seater formula. At the flag, the former multiple karting champion crossed the line in 13th place, but remains fourth in the championship standings.Stevens commented; “It was a bit disappointing to start so far down the grid after the great pace we had on Saturday and qualifying second. Our sector times were good, but in the limited time on the new tyres particularly in the tricky conditions, we just couldn’t put it all together. In the race I made a good start and made up two places into the first corner. But it’s pretty hard to overtake here and I just didn’t have the pace in the later stages of the race. We’re not really sure why so between now and the next two rounds, we’ll need to look into that. It was a difficult way to end the weekend after the strong start we had but I’m fourth in the championship, and still able to get third, which will be the aim in the final rounds in Spain.”

Ginetta Jnrs: Declan Jones sent out a clear warning of his future potential during rounds fifteen and sixteen of the 2011 Ginetta Junior Championship at Rockingham last weekend.Declan, who has graduated to the Ginetta Junior Championship for 14-17 year-olds this season and who switched to running under the Westbourne Motorsport-banner at the Corby-based circuit, made his mark almost immediately. Indeed despite having never seen the track before until Friday, he used the day to quickly get to grips with the layout and in free practice on Saturday headed the times until being bumped to third right near the end. read report

Ginetta Junior Championship front-runner Charlie Robertson enjoyed a fantastic conclusion to the eighth race meeting of the year at Rockingham in Northamptonshire on Sunday, 18th September, by taking the second victory of his debut campaign during round 16 of the season. read report

Endurance Racing: In tough conditions at the 12-hour Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race at Sepang the Audi R8 LMS proved its endurance yet again. After the Bathurst 12 Hours, the Spa 24 Hours and Zolder 24 Hours the fourth endurance race victory of the Audi R8 LMS was practically within reach. However, a tyre failure thwarted the victory of Team WRT (Belgian Audi Club) by a very narrow margin. In the heat of the night: At peak temperatures of 35 degrees centigrade technical problems in the field were the rule, but no so in the case of the Audi R8 LMS. However, car number 1 was out of luck!. A tyre failure at the left rear required an additional pit stop just a few minutes before the end. After 12 hours of driving and 1,779.303 kilometres Frank Biela/Marcel Fässler/Marco Werner had to admit defeat by 70.489 seconds. The second car of the WRT team had a chance of a podium for a long time as well. Up to the race’s midpoint Seiji Ara/Darryl O’Young/Alex Yoong were running in second as the best Audi drivers. When the car was about to lap a tail-ender shortly before the end of the seventh hour another car failed to notice the white-blue Audi heavily hit it, breaking a swivel mount which required the whole front left suspension to be changed. After loosing 15 laps the Asian trio resumed the race and ultimately took fifth place. Almost at the same time the third Audi R8 LMS in the field suffered a setback as well. Alexandre Imperatori/Jeffrey Lee/Aaron Lim in the car of the customer team Pauian Archiland absolute racing were running in sixth place. They lost more than 90 minutes due to clutch failure since the module did not withstand an accidental start in second gear after a pit stop. In the end the trio still improved to finish in the top ten.

19-09-11

DTM: Audi, Audi, Audi - only 14 days after the one-two-three triumph in the rain battle at Brands Hatch the brand with the four rings again took the whole podium at a DTM race in similarly difficult conditions. At Oschersleben, Mattias Ekström (Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline) triumphed in front of Championship leader Martin Tomczyk (Audi Sport Team Phoenix) and rookie Edoardo Mortara (Audi Sport Team Rosberg) read report

F1600: Art Foster came through to win his first F1600 Formula F Championship Series race at his home track in a Van Diemen/Ford. Foster, a long time racer, found the top step of the podium after an epic yet high-attrition battle among the leaders. Ryan Leach was a career best second in the Spectrum/Honda and Colin Thompson tied his career best finish in third in a Swift/Honda. pic Valet Read report

F2000: After losing valuable points in the Championship earlier in the day with a DNF at Lime Rock, Chris Livengood bounced back, winning for the second time this year. The sophomore F2000 driver did exactly what he needed to take the fight to the final rounds of the season at Watkins Glen – take points away from Remy Audette, who finished second ahead of Tim Paul. Livengood started on the outside pole and ran second to Audette early before passing the Canadian and stretching the gap for his third F2000 Series win. Local favorite Paul followed; his best career finished to date. In the first race of the weekend Remy Audette again narrowly avoided first turn melee and won his fifth race of 2011. Tim Minor followed in second, putting in the comeback drive of the year, coming from dead last on the restart. Alegra Motorsports’ Angel Benitez notched his best result of 2011, completing the podium. pic Valet Read report

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup : Britain’s Daniel Lloyd produced a sensational wet-weather performance during round nine of the 2011 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup at Oschersleben in Germany on Sunday, 18th September – but all to no avail after being punted out of the lead with less than two laps remaining. Recovering to finish in fifth position, to add to the top six result he achieved in the dry eighth round on Saturday, the Huddersfield driver concluded the penultimate weekend of the championship fourth in the driver standings. read report

The JK Racing Asia Series will head to Buddh International Circuit on the 25th – 27th November 2011 for a four round 2011 Season finale. The event, will replace the Guangdong event scheduled for July, which was cancelled due to a typhoon. The event will be held one month after the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, which was originally scheduled to be the season finale.“Immediately after the cancellation of the Guangdong event, we had several immediate options for dates and venues. There were various time slot conflicts, shipping issues and issues on the availability of the circuits that we had to contend with, before finally coming up with this solution, especially as we had a four-race programme to replace”.“The 2011 JK Racing Asia Series will now end at a later date than we had planned, but it will coincide with the Season finale of JK Tyre & Industries’ National Race Series. “This change in dates has actually turned out to be a good thing. We are now part of the JK Tyre National Racing Season Finale and will be giving our Teams and drivers the opportunity to undertake a significant amount of running on the latest state of the art Formula 1 circuit, which will be far more relevant to them in their future careers than what we had planned originally.“Bringing the Region’s leading single-seater Series together with the leading National motorsport event in India will take the event to another level. Knowing JK as I do, I am sure that they will put on a spectacular event with plenty of activities and promotions. Ending the first year of the Series will be fantastic” said Sonenscher. The next rounds of the JK Racing Asia Series 2011 Season will be held in Singapore at the 2011 Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix event at the Marina Bay Circuit on the 23rd to 25th September 2011.

BTCC: Jason Plato, Gordon Shedden and, for the first time in his career, James Nash shared the victories in yesterday’s (Sun 18 Sept) three Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship races at Rockingham. Leaving the Northamptonshire venue, Scotsman Shedden and his Honda team-mate, Worcestershire’s Matt Neal, are dramatically tied for the championship lead as the BTCC now heads to the world-famous Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit for the penultimate three races of its nail-biting 2011 season on 1-2 October. pic Dennis Goodwin Read report

Star Mazda: Leading the entire way from the pole, Team Pelfrey racer Connor De Phillippi, of San Clemente, CA, won his fourth race of the season driving the #11 Team Pelfrey / Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors Mazda in the 2011 Star Mazda Championship season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. JCD Motorsports driver Tristan Vautier, of Grenoble, France, who led the championship since the first of his four victories - in Round 2 at Barber Motorsports Park - finished 5th in the #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda, scoring enough points to win the 2011 championship and the Mazda Road to Indy scholarship to race in the 2012 Indy Lights series. Read report

Superleague Formula Series has relocated its operations headquarters to Silverstone in the UK. After coordinating its first four seasons of competition from Barcelona, the nations cup series has moved to the home of British motorsport from where the remainder of this season’s championship and forthcoming 2012 campaign will be directed.Located at the heart of Britain’s ‘Motorsport Valley’, Silverstone Business Park offers Superleague Formula the ideal environment in which to expand its global appeal further afield. Robin Webb, Competitions Director: “Superleague Formula’s internal make-up has changed a great deal since the championship began in 2008. After four seasons of competition it was decided that basing our operations at Silverstone’s burgeoning Business Park, which boasts a growing number of specialised industry leaders, could only be good for the series moving forward. Operating out of Silverstone also brings the championship closer to a number of its suppliers, which I hope will help strengthen existing partnerships and open doors to new ones. As someone brought up on a diet of British motor racing, it’s a place that is particularly close to my heart.”

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : Euan Hankey completed a perfect weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham on Sunday 18 September, with his second race victory in the space of a little over three hours.In a second race full of superb racing and fierce contests, Jonas Gelzinis completed a Pro-Am1 double and Yucel Ozbek took his second Pro-Am2 win of the day and his fighting performance earned the Turkish racer the ‘driver of the weekend’ award. Parker with Juta took the ‘team of the weekend’ award. Read race reports

Ginetta Jnrs: Rapid teenager Charlie Robertson, the youngest driver on the entire Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship support package, brilliantly raced to the second win of his rookie year at Rockingham today, Sunday, 18th September, to climb into second position in the points standings.pic Jakob Ebrey Photography read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: Optimum Motorsport’s George Murrells secured his maiden Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup victory at Rockingham’s International Super Sportscar Circuit today, Sunday, 18th September, with an excellent performance during the championship’s first ever ‘pit-stop’ race.Breaking new ground in the one-make category, round 22 of the season featured mandatory wheel change stops as a precursor to the upcoming Ginetta GT Winter Cup and the Optimum squad did by far the best job of turning around their Ginetta G55 with a sensational effort.Pitting from third position on track at the end of lap 11, Murrells posted a series of strong laps after rejoining the action and the 2010 Ginetta Challenge Champion grabbed the lead from Nathan Freke three laps before the finish. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography read report

Formula Ford: Cameron Waters took his third round win of the season, despite not taking a victory during round six of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Phillip Island on Sunday. The Linde Mygale driver enjoyed a consistent weekend, recording finishes of third and two second places to extend his championship lead with only two rounds remaining. Read report

LMS: RML AD Group have withdrawn from the final round of the 2011 Le Mans Series in Portugal, scheduled for September 25th.A clean run from co-drivers Thomas Erdos, Mike Newton and Ben Collins took the RML AD Group Honda Performance Development HPD ARX-01d to fourth place in last weekend’s Silverstone 6 Hours. By doing so, the team recorded its best result of the season, matching fourth in class at June’s Le Mans 24 Hours. However, this fell short of the high expectations set by the defending Le Mans Series LMP2 title-holders, and failed to meet the hopes and aspirations of the team’s principal sponsor, AD Group. “RML and our sponsors, AD Group, have taken the balanced decision not to compete at Estoril,” said Phil Barker, Team Manager at RML. “After considering our results and the team’s current championship position, we are of a mind to secure our resources and focus our efforts on preparations for 2012. Concentrating those resources at this stage of the year will set us on a firm footing for launching a competitive campaign in the new season.”

ALMS: Aston Martin has won the annual Laguna Seca American Le Mans Series Race. Under sunny skies, in a race dominated by yellow flags, the team ran faultlessly for 6 hours to take the top spot on the podium. Drivers Adrian Fernandez (MEX), Stefan Mücke (D) and Harold Primat (CH) drove the Aston Martin DBR1-2 consistently in the top three, and in the final hour remained dominant in first position. Official partner team Muscle Milk Racing was also running perfectly in the top three until lap 146 when a fuel pump problem brought the car back into the garage for an hour. The car went on to finish the race crossing the line fifth in class.In qualifying the day before, Fernandez put in a 1:14.621 lap in the factory entered Lowes-sponsored DBR1-2, which successfully gained the team third on the grid.Klaus Graf (D) qualified the V12 powered Aston Martin LMP1 machine of Official Partner Team, Muscle Milk Racing achieving a time of 1:15.564 which earned them fourth on the grid.Mücke started the race and within five laps he’d moved up to second position after a smart overtaking manoeuvre. By the seventh lap he was leading the race and making good progress. The remaining five hours, the blue and orange Gulf Oil liveried DBR1-2 stayed in the top three throughout. Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, George Howard Chappell said: “I am obviously extremely pleased with the result. It is a great shame to see the Muscle Milk car drop out when it did, as we could have been on for an Aston 1-2, but nevertheless we have an Aston Martin victory which is fantastic. “I am delighted for the team who have achieved this result on our return to the States after a difficult year – they’ve all worked hard for this, so it is a just reward.” Mücke who brought the Aston Martin DBR1-2 across the finish line said: “It’s a great result for us all; the team did a perfect job, as did the drivers. “Nobody made a mistake and she [the car] was fast today. It’s our first win in the American Le Mans Series, and the race started well, but then we had contact twice and after that, we never thought we could win. I am really happy and thanks to everybody.” Primat said: “This is an absolutely fantastic result for the whole team. It is a great feeling to be standing back on the top step of the podium and the whole team should be proud of today’s result. Everyone has worked extremely hard to keep improving the car step by step and today’s victory is testimony to all that effort.”

16-09-11

Club Sport: The BRSCC has two meeting on its agenda this weekend – a two day meeting on the Snetterton 300 run by our East Anglian Centre and our annual visit to Mallory Park for a Midland Centre meeting on Sunday. With rounds now running out as we move into the final part of the season there is a good chance that a few titles will be decided at each circuit. For a full preview of the Snetterton meeting click SNETTERTON, while the preview of Sunday’s Mallory meeting can be found here MALLORY PARK

Racing at Mallory Park on Sunday will be Mighty Minis campaigner Caroline Gilbert. Caroline recently had a 1:43 scale Corgi Lledo model of her Mighty Mini accepted into the National Trust collection at the Museum of Childhood, Sudbury Hall, Derbyshire. Accepting the superb scale replica of the Corporate Risk Systems Limited sponsored car for the National Trust, Sue Fraser, Collections Assistant said “Thank you so much for kindly donating the limited edition Mini Cooper. At the moment, we are not in theory accepting objects into the collection as we have an embargo in place for 2011, but we have decided to make an exception in this case, as it comes with such an interesting background.” Just 1001 of these cars were produced in 2006 for Corporate Risk Systems Limited to commemorate the Ladies Championship won by driver Caroline in 2005 and 2006. They have gone on to become extremely collectible by Corgi and model car enthusiasts. Stephen Asbury from CRS says he has heard of instances where they have changed hands for hundreds of pounds on auction sites. He said that as there were now just a small number left in the company’s goody cupboard, that he had been pleased to donate one to the National Trust.

Formula Ford: Championship leader Cameron Waters set the early pace at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island, taking pole position for round six of the series. After looking competitive throughout both practice sessions, the Mygale driver produced a quick early lap that was never headed, earning himself one valuable championship point. CAMS Rising Star drivers Jack LeBrocq(pictured) and Trent Harrison will start second and third respectively for race one tomorrow, but they will need to overcome Waters if they have hopes of victory. Read more

Scott Malvern’s record-breaking Formula Ford season is set to be capped next weekend (24/25 September) at Donington Park, where the 22-year-old from Essex should - unforeseen problems aside - be able to secure the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain title.No race-winning heroics are required from Jamun Racing Mygale pilot Malvern to clinch the crown: Scott needs to complete the three-race Donington weekend with at least 93 points in hand over his remaining title rivals, and his current advantage is 96. He is in line to become Jamun’s seventh consecutive Formula Ford champion. read more

The BRSCC Formula Ford Festival is now just four weeks away and is starting to take shape with some very interesting entries coming in. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Festival and the milestone will be marked with a celebratory dinner at Brands hatch on the Saturday night of the Festival (15th October). Many famous names from the past have already confirmed their attendance so it should prove to be a very special night. If you would like to join them a booking form can be found here along with entry forms for the Duratec, Kent & Zetec categories of the Festival.

Veteran John Loebell turned back the clock at Oulton Park at the beginning of September winning the Avon Tyres Formula Ford Pre90 Northern title and also the Champion of Oulton crown. The Medinasport boss hasn’t competed regularly for many years, but with all his customers running in the Post 89 category this season, he decided to take the opportunity to compete himself in Pre 90 – and what a great job he has done! You can read a full report on the meeting where John sealed the title HERE.

Karts: A new karting event backed by Motorsport News will give young British karters the opportunity to compete against some of the best drivers in motorsport. The Henry Surtees Trophy will take place at Buckmore Park on Thursday, October 20, and is seeking to attract drivers from all classes of motorsport who are aged 16 and over. The event, organised by former F1 world champion John Surtees, will provide the top six drivers with some of the best prizes ever offered at a UK kart meeting. Entry for the meeting will cost £500 and will showcase a broad spectrum of motorsport talent. Drivers from single-seater formulas, touring and sportscar classes will share the track in the all-comers event. Drivers must hold an MSA licence or be a member of Club 100. There will be a maximum entry of 140 drivers. Surtees, who set up the Henry Surtees Foundation in memory of his son, said: “Our event is there to give racers at varying levels of their development the chance to come together on similar karts at one of the most testing and exciting kart circuits in the country.The prizes are career enhancing, as will be the experience of competing against some of the best drivers in Britain. It will be competitive, and there will be some great racing on show. It should be enjoyable for all involved.” Drivers wanting to take part in the event should call 01634 201 562. Henry Surtees was killed while taking part in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch in 2009. All money from the event will go towards the Henry Surtees Foundation, which assists people with brain or physical injuries caused by accident. To find out more about the charity visit www.henrysurteesfoundation.com

As has been widely reported Martin Hines sadly passed away at the end of last month. BRSCC Chairman Bernard Cottrell said "I am deeply saddened to hear that Martin has passed away, it really is tragic news. Martin was not only a good friend to the Club but also a personal friend of mine so I was delighted to announce him as the winner of the BRSCC John Nicol Trophy at our 2008 Awards Dinner. Martin will be sorely missed by the world of motorsport and on behalf of the Club I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Tina, Tuesday & Luke.” A tribute to Martin can be found here MARTIN HINES - THE STUFF OF LEGENDS

Star Mazda: Juncos Racing driver João Victor Horto, winner of Round 6 at Mosport, was quickest in both Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear promoter test sessions today at Mazda Raceway. His quickest lap – and everyone's quickest lap for that matter -- came in the afternoon session, a 1:21.198, in the #7 Juncos Racing / Programa Leilões Mazda. Second-quick was Horto's Juncos Racing teammate, Gustavo Menezes, with a 1:21.387 in the #28 Juncos Racing / Truecar / Safety Park Mazda, followed by championship points leader Tristan Vautier with a 1:21.585 in his #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda. Rounding out the top-5 were Connor De Phillippi, the only driver standing between Vautier and the championship, with a 1:21.634 in the #11 Team Pelfrey / Justice Brothers Products / Trademark Garage Floors Mazda, and Team GDT driver Patrick McKenna, who has endured a most difficult partial season since his promising 4th-place finish in the season-opener at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He turned a 1:21.802 in the #33 Team GDT / Motorsport Ireland / Irish Sports Council / General Data Tech Mazda. Read more

WTCC: Hapag-Lloyd's vessel San Francisco Express weighed anchor Monday from Valencia's harbour with twenty-three WTCC racing cars and the relevant spare parts on board. The cargo ship is due to dock in Singapore on September 27. The operation - organized by DHL, WTCC official logistics partner, with support from Hapag-Lloyd - kicked off on Sunday, September 4, in the paddock of Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo, immediately after the championship's Spanish event. Cars and spare parts were loaded on twenty-three highcube containers and then trucked to the harbour. The total weight to be shipped was 115 tons. After the arrival in Singapore the containers will be loaded on another vessel, the NYK Venus that is due to leave on September 30 and dock on October 10 in Nagoya's harbour, from where the containers will be trucked to Suzuka circuit that is about 70 km away and will host the WTCC 19th and 20th round on October 23.

WTCC drivers Alain Menu and Rob Huff paid a visit to the Chevrolet stand at the 64th International Motor Show at Frankfurt, on the event's media day. Huff and Menu posed for pictures with the WTCC Chevrolet Cruze champion car that is proudly exhibited, alongside the Corvette that won the GTE Pro class at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The two racing cars fill a central spot of the stand that celebrates the American brand's one hundred years of activity and Wayne Brannon, President and Managing Director of Chevrolet Europe, proudly called Huff and Menu to the stage to share the applauses when he referred during his speech to the 2011 WTCC Manufacturers title secured a few days ago in Valencia.

While waiting to fly to Japan for the next WTCC event, Rob Huff will compete this weekend in the St. Mary's Trophy at the historic Goodwood Revival in a 1963 Mini Cooper S. "The Goodwood Revival is an iconic race meeting and it's something I've always been keen to do," explained Huff. "I've been invited along for the past four years, but unfortunately it's always clashed with the WTCC. I'm very excited to finally have the opportunity to compete, especially in a classic British car like the Mini."

15-09-11

Rallycross: Westhoughton-based racer Tony Lynch heads to Scotland this weekend for the latest round of the Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship eager to bring a run of recent bad luck to an end. Tony and his team – Lucas Oils Team Geriatric – make the trip north to Knockhill sitting third in the Swift Sport Rallycross Championship standings after incidents in the previous two rounds at Maasmechelen and Lydden Hill severely dented his title hopes. Having been forced to retire from the Belgian final after being caught up in someone else’s accident at the start, Tony had hoped to bounce back last time out at Lydden Hill only to be turned into a spin at the start of the final by rival Richard Norman. That incident caused a puncture that left Tony stranded on the circuit before the race was red-flagged, with the restart then being carried out before Tony’s team had had time to replace the punctured tyre. Classified last in the final as a result, Tony elected to appeal against the incidents on the opening lap – which came after similar contact with Norman in Belgium – meaning the result of the Lydden final hasn’t yet been confirmed. Provisionally therefore, Tony goes into this weekend currently two points behind Adam Clark in the fight for second in the championship standings, with the decision to cancel the penultimate round of the year at Mallory Park next month having all but ended his hopes of catching runaway points leader Dave Bellerby. “As it stands, I’m third in the championship going into this weekend,” he said, “and with the current situation, my only goal is to go out there and win. I’m not sure yet what the outcome on my appeal against what happened at Lydden Hill will be but the incident there, and the fact that the round at Mallory Park has had to be cancelled, means my chances of catching Dave for the title are now slim. “However, that doesn’t change my approach as we head to Scotland. My aim is to score the maximum points possible to make sure that, at the very least, I end the season in second place and victory in the final two rounds would be the perfect way to reward the boys in the team for their hard work and the sponsors who have backed us all year.”

The F2000 Championship Series takes over Connecticut’s “Bull Ring,” Lime Rock Park, this weekend, for rounds 11 and 12 of the 2011 season along with the F1600 Formula F Championship Series and the NASCAR Modifieds. Remy Audette is coming off his fourth win of the year in a drama-filled race at Mosport, and leads the championship following a seven-week break heading into the 1.53-mile seven-turn road course. Audette returns to Lime Rock for the first time since 2009, when the Canadian scored his first ever F2000 victory. This year, the F2000 Series has seen the emergence of Audette Racing as a dominant force. Ten races into the season, the No. 21 Van Diemen has strongly finished all of them, with a worst result of seventh, and four wins.Pics Dennis Valet read more

F1600: With four races to go, coming off a 10-week break since Mid-Ohio, the inaugural battle for the F1600 Formula F Championship Series crown is heating up heading into the doubleheader weekend at Lime Rock Park. Tim Kautz leads the way, with two wins and strong finishes in his Piper/Ford, but Lime Rock will pose challenges for the Championship leader with a host of local experts and young guns expected to challenge for the wins. Twenty-eight cars are entered. Kautz leads in the points race, with the lowest two points drops figured in, by 22 points over Bill Valet(Pictured left), with another 17 points back to Jim Goughary, and then two more points back to John Robinson. Pics Dennis Valet Read more

Formula 3: Facu Regalia will be at Vallelunga near Rome this weekend for the Italian Formula 3 championship. Just before he left Regalia said, “Vallelunga is a track which I like it. We had a good speed there during pre-season testings and again we were in good shape during collective testing hosted in September 6th. We have six races and three meetings to go, and sooner or later our luck has to change. We had bad luck and it avoided us to achieve good results besides our podium at Imola”, 19 years old driver is very motivated because “I have a good feeling, because our tests there were always good. On Friday we have a race simulation during free practice sessions. I hope it goes OK and our experience will be valuable. Our set of fresh tyres which we saved during collective testing day will play an important role. Sincerely, I am expecting a free problems Saturday too, and I aspire to fight for pole position. I will be visited by my grandfather who is coming from Argentina. My family there is really important for me and my motivation is the maximum to achieve good results”.

FIA GT1: HEXIS AMR was on the podium in Ordos and it looked like the team was going to score its third victory of the season in the rain in Peking. But with only six minutes to go to the chequered flag, the team’s hopes were brutally dashed. The French squad still has a chance of winning the world title in Argentina where it will go for bust on the circuit where it made its mark on the grand touring scene in 2010. read report

ILMC: Larbre Competition's perfect podium run in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup ended at last weekend's Six Hours of Silverstone when the team missed out on third place in the GTE Am class by just a few seconds following 162 laps of racing. However the result did bring the French squad a good haul of points and maintains their strong advantage at the top of the ILMC championship standings. pic V-Images read report

Karts: Dan Zelos proved to his rivals that he is ‘out there to win’ at national level now, after producing a scintillating performance when the Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship visited Whilton Mill.Dan travelled to the Northants circuit sitting eighth in FKS’ MSA British Cadet class standings, buoyed by having received the prestigious ‘Martin Plowman Fired-Up Award’ in the previous outing at Genk in Belgium. Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net read report

Superleague Formula Series’ two scheduled rounds in Brazil this October will no longer go ahead after the championship received news from circuit bosses that Goiânia will not be ready to host its event.Goiânia had been expected to hold the third round of the nations cup series on 8/9 October but the FIA-sanctioned championship has since been notified that the planned resurfacing of its 2.37-mile layout will not be completed in time.With time now too short to arrange a replacement venue, Superleague Formula has taken the difficult decision to cancel both its 2011 South American dates, the second of which was scheduled to take place on October 15/16.Competitions Director Robin Webb: “Unfortunately time has run out for us to commit to transporting the cars and equipment across the Atlantic. For a European-based operation it is simply too much of a risk to send everything there without being wholly confident Goiânia is ready to hold a race. It’s also unfair on our teams and drivers who have understandably been seeking our assurances on this matter. I know our colleagues in Brazil are as frustrated as I am but realistically there was no other satisfactory decision we could consider. I want to make it clear however that this has in no way affected the chances of hosting a race next season.”

The 2011 Goodwood Revival gets underway tomorrow and this hugely popular historic motor racing event has sold out on Saturday and Sunday, with no general admission tickets remaining for these days. A few tickets are still available for Friday race practice, however, strictly on a first come, first served basis. The seat-specific covered grandstands sold out two months ago, with only a few tickets for ‘roving’ grandstand access remaining. All camping slots were snapped-up weeks ago, as was hospitality. All the stalls in the Revival Market retail area were sold by late March this year, so the popularity of the Goodwood Revival is unquestionably growing! With a record Revival attendance last year, this Spring the event’s founder Lord March announced the bold decision to cap advanced ticket sales for this year to ensure the event remains a comfortable and enjoyable experience for all Revival visitors, without too much crowding. The huge early demand for the Revival will ensure that those lucky enough to have tickets are set for a truly enjoyable and memorable weekend.

BTCC: The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship is set to boast its biggest grid in 17 years in its latest round at the Rockingham this weekend. Michael Caine, previously a front-runner in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, will make his BTCC debut in a third Ford Focus for the Airwaves Racing team that is fighting for the outright and Independent titles with its lead driver Mat Jackson.Caine’s arrival means 27 drivers are expected to contest the three races this weekend. Not since 1994 has the entry for a BTCC event during the championship’s two-litre era that began in 1991 been as high and only once has it been bigger (British F1 GP support race in 93).Furthermore, with just nine out of 30 races to go this season – three at Rockingham, three at Brands Hatch (1-2 Oct) and three on ‘Finals Day’ at Silverstone (15-16 Oct) – 13 drivers can still mathematically become Champion. Honda Racing pair Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal lead the way in their Civics, separated by just one point. They are followed by Jackson and reigning Champion Jason Plato in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze. Vauxhall Vectra rivals, 888 Racing with Collins Contractors’ James Nash and Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan are in the hunt as well. Rockingham is a home event for both Newport Pagnell’s Nash and Rugby’s Jordan and also preparation expert RML that runs Plato’s Chevrolet from its factory in nearby Wellingborough. Similarly for Jordan’s team-mate Jeff Smith, also from Wellingborough, and hard trying Bedford racer Chris James in his small ES Racing.com team’s Chevrolet. At the front, though, all eyes are on Scotsman Shedden to see if, in these final three events, he can overcome team-mate and past double Champion Neal and lift the first BTCC crown of his career. Fresh from attending the launch of Honda’s new Civic road car with Neal at this week’s Frankfurt Motor Show, Shedden said: “Sure, we’re getting to the business end of the season but, for me, it’s business as usual – I need to keep scoring the big points. Settling for three safe results at Rockingham would be suicidal because the others would eat me up in no time.With the championship in mind some people’s tactics on and off the track might change. I know from last year, when I came close to the title, that this is the hardest championship to win and that if you want to win it you have to be hard enough to put up with all sorts of games.” In addition to this Sunday’s three headline BTCC races, also in high-speed action will be the supporting Ginetta Junior, Ginetta GT Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup, Formula Renault and Renault Clio Cup championships.

With just three rounds of the 2011 Dunlop MSA BTCC remaining, Wrotham-based Airwaves Racing have stepped up their efforts to help driver Mat Jackson lift the crown by adding a third car to their squad. Joining title challenger Mat Jackson and team mate Liam Griffin will be Michael Caine from their sister Porsche Carrera Cup team, Motorbase Performance. Caine is aiming to compete in the final three events, which includes the penultimate round on the Brands Hatch GP circuit next month (1/2 October). Caine has raced with the team for six seasons in the Porsche championship, finishing as runner-up in 2008 and 2010. Prior to that he has raced in the British GT series and at Le Mans. Airwaves Racing had been rumoured to be fielding a third car for much of the season and Caine’s bid for the drive gathered momentum after a demonstration run in the BTCC car against the world’s fastest ice cream van at Snetterton early last month. A test at Brands Hatch last week paved the way for his debut in the series this weekend at Rockingham, and he will play an important part in the team’s challenge on local soil at Brands Hatch. “It’s an opportunity that I thought would never ever arise and I’m delighted,” Caine said. “I just hope that I can deliver the results that the team deserve and support Mat with his challenge for the Championship, and in my little way, hopefully enjoy it!” Meanwhile the BTCC-supporting Air Asia Renault Clio Cup final rounds take place at Brands Hatch and Maidstone ’s James Dixon remains in contention for the title but he’ll have to overcome Banstead’s Paul Rivett. The profile of the series for touring car hopefuls has been boosted by the inclusion of F1 champion Lewis Hamilton’s brother Nicolas, who is competing in his debut season of racing.There’s also likely to be local success for Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup contenders Jake Hill from Goudhurst and South Godstone ’s Jody Fannin. Both race in the G50 class and Jody has a good chance of taking the lead in the standings at Brands Hatch.

14-09-11

ALMS: Aston Martin Racing will be back on US soil to compete in their first American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race of the year at Laguna Seca on 17 and 18 September. The team will be making the trans-Atlantic trip from Silverstone, UK where they competed in the fifth round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup race only the weekend before. Returning to the Mazda Raceway, factory drivers Adrian Fernandez (MX), Stefan Mücke (D) and Harold Primat (CH) will be piloting the Lowes sponsored DBR1-2 on the famous circuit featuring one of the most challenging corners of the American Le Mans Series: The Corkscrew. The six hour race which starts in daylight and ends in darkness will push the drivers to the limit as the sun sets over Monterey. The familiar blue and orange Gulf Oil liveried factory DBR1-2 will be joined by official partner team Muscle Milk who are currently second in the championship only 24 points behind the leading team. The Muscle Milk Aston Martin LMP1 will be driven by Lucas Luhr (D) and Klaus Graf (D). Aston Martin Racing Team Principal, George Howard-Chappell said: “I am delighted to be returning to the U.S. to compete in the final rounds of the ALMS. We have had considerable success there in the past, and we’ll be aiming to put in a strong performance in front of our US fans and sponsors. Laguna Seca is not necessarily ideal for a LMP1 car, owing to its tight and twisting corners, but we will be making setup changes during free practice to find the optimum balance for the circuit.” Adrian Fernandez who will be racing in front of his home crowd in the 007 car said: “I am really looking forward to racing in the U.S. again and seeing a lot of friends and fans in the ALMS paddock. Laguna Seca is one of my favorite tracks. We will have some tough competition on the grid with the other teams having had many races under their belt, but I am confident we can deliver a good result. The fans love the sound of the V12, and we look forward to putting on a good show.”

Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship star Ahmad Al Harthy heads to Rockingham this weekend, 17th/18th September, bidding for another podium-filled event off the back of a superb double rostrum finish at Knockhill in Scotland less than two weeks ago.Producing fantastic pace and tremendous racecraft at the challenging Fife track to consolidate third place in the Pro-Am 1 points standings, the 30-year-old Oman Air Racing Team driver now intends to add to his tally of eight podiums for the year during rounds 14 and 15 of the season at Rockingham. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the East Midlands track always provides great action and the International Super Sports Car Circuit configuration which will be utilised this weekend offers a unique test for competitors. With the high speeds of the famous oval banking at Turn One leading into the demanding and twisty infield section, before a return onto the oval at Turn Four, the mixture of foot-to-the-floor bravery and technical skill is something Ahmad is seriously relishing.“Rockingham is a great circuit with a good mix of challenges so I’m really looking forward to being back there in a few days”, said the Oman Air, Nawras, National Bank of Oman, Brand Oman, Oman Ministry of Sports Affairs and Oman Ministry of Tourism-supported driver, “We came close to being on the podium last year so I’m aiming for nothing less than that this time around. “So far the season has been going really well for us, the team is doing a great job and I feel I’m driving better than ever. My main aim is to keep hold of third place in the Pro-Am 1 championship but I’ll be pushing as hard as ever to try and close the gap to second position this weekend.” pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

GT Cup: Chevron young gun, Jordan Witt, 20 – back from his terrifying 110mph, 30g shunt at Donington, in his freshly re-built GR8 GT – took pole position in qualifying and led both races from start to finish, even with the extra 60Kg ballast on board. He took the chequered flag and victory by over 40-seconds in race one and by 10-seconds in race two in the revived Chevron GR8 GT. His father, David Witt, racing in the other Chevro, took second place in class two – making it a father and son podium celebration for the Cheshire-based team. This double win in the dry by Jordan’s GR8 GT and David Witt’s Chevrons second place in class has silenced critics who claimed the car was ‘only good in the wet,’ after its win at Brands Hatch in the team’s inaugural GT Cup race in July. With another win and more podiums under their belt the Chevron GR8 is proving to be as reliable as it is successful, and affordable. Jordan Witt commented: “It’s another fantastic result for us, to be quickest in qualifying, take pole and win both races felt easy, even with the ballast and a full tank of fuel on board. We made a few small changes to the set-up after testing on Friday, and then the car was absolutely perfect – the car felt like it was on rails and it’s a great feeling, particularly at the wonderful Anglesey International Circuit, which I know well, and love to race at. Things could not be going better and I’m so pleased, for myself, and the team who worked so hard re-building the car after I got hit at Donington Park. The car is top class. I’m as happy as I can be with it. People have Porsches and Ferraris, but what’s the point when the much more affordable Chevron can beat them all?” David Witt said: “It’s another absolutely fantastic result. Jordan topped the competition again, leading from the start on both races. You know you are doing well in racing, when people start to ask questions about the car. Sometimes, we have to pinch ourselves, when we realize we are beating Porsches and Ferraris, when we didn’t even have a car 18 months ago. We’ve achieved such a lot in such a short space of time.” The GT Cup Championship Sprint (25 minutes) and GT Trophy Endurance Series (2-3 hours) races are designed for GT Cars with both up-and-coming racers and “gentleman drivers,”. The Challenge Car runs mainly the same high specification as Jordan’s Chevron GR8 GT Car, with a re-worked version of the GT’s full aero pack.

Karts: The 26th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Karting was one of the hardest for quite some time primarily due to intermittent heavy rain during the race. Drivers and karts were under severe strain and the victory of the two RTKF teams on Sodi chassis was a great achievement considering all these difficulties. Read report

BTCC: After blazing a trail to the BTCC podium at Knockhill, independent Toyota driver Frank Wrathall and his Dynojet Racing team will this weekend be seeking further glory at Rockingham, venue for the latest rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. The super-fast semi-oval track, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, should suit the powerful Avensis even better than Knockhill, where the Toyota became the first of the ‘Next Generation Touring Cars’ to claim a top-three finish.“We were good at Snetterton and good at Knockhill, and if we can go well at those two tracks then we should be strong for the remaining circuits this year,” says Frank, 24. “It will be nice to get to Rockingham, which is fast, flowing and smooth, as are Brands Hatch and Silverstone; all three should suit the Toyota. Bring it on.” Rockingham is one of Frank’s most successful circuits: he was the outright victor in two of last year’s three Rockingham Ginetta G50 Cup races, which results helped him well on his way to the 2010 Ginetta G50 championship title. “I think I have won more races at Rockingham than any other circuit – it has certainly become one of my favourite tracks…” Wrathall’s recent results have promoted the Lancashire man to 12th place overall in the BTCC driver standings, and to 10th in the Independent rankings. They have also brought him a steady flow of champagne: it has just been announced that Frank is the first driver to win two successive BTCC ‘HiQ Champagne Moment’ awards after fans logging on to hiqbtcc.com voted the Dynojet ace their top performer at Knockhill. He attracted 58 per cent of the vote.

Charity: 52 miles and a few wrong turns later David Pittard, the young racer from Letchworth in Hertfordshire completed the London to Brighton bike ride in aid of Garden House Hospice, and with it raised over £700 for his worthy cause. In an event which required similar training and preparation to that of his race weekends in the Sports 2000 Championship, the Brunel University student battled with changeable conditions, slight errors in map reading and some mammoth hills to complete the 52 mile journey in a creditable 4hrs 50 minutes, and even managed to throw in some racing style overtakes on his competitors for good measure! “It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be!” smiled David soon after event. “In typical race fashion I might have started off a bit too quickly! The start was very hilly, so after the first 10 miles or so I knew I had to pace myself more.” Having settled in to a more sustainable pace, David focused on knocking the miles off his 52 mile journey.“I backed it off a bit, knowing that I would have to save a bit for the massive climbs at the end of the ride! I went wrong a couple of times in London where I missed the signs! Not ideal really but at least it kept me on my toes for the rest of the ride!" Despite his focus remaining on setting an impressive finishing time, David managed to indulge in a spot of sight seeing along the way..."It was really good to ride through all the country side and see landmarks to gauge roughly where I was. I rode under the M25, the Gatwick Flight path and finally spotting Brighton on the road signs, it was a great relief to know I was on the right track!" With one remaining milestone to complete, David knuckled down and pushed as hard as he could towards the summit of the daunting Ditchling Beacon Hill. "Without doubt the hardest bit must have been Ditchling Beacon hill, it was an absolute killer, but I was determined to do it in one and not stop. When I got over the brow at the top I was very relived!” As the clock approached 5 hrs and the 52 miles were completed, David crossed the finish line in his stereotypical fashion, with a huge beaming smile. "It was a brilliant experience and I enjoyed every second of it but I was very glad for it to finish! My favourite bit must have been the down hill in Brighton where my racing instinct kicked in and I could pick enough speed up to over take cars down the hill. I look forward to doing it next year and it was all for a great cause. Massive thanks to Garden House Hospice Letchworth, The Herts Business Support Scheme, my Mum, Dad and Carly for supporting me all the way!"

13-09-11

Formula Ford: Ford yesterday unveiled a bold new 2012-specification Formula Ford car to visitors at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The new-generation Formula Ford cars will use a production-based 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost direct injection, turbocharged engine, limited to producing around 165PS and 220Nm, and mated to a 6-speed sequential transmission with mechanical shift mechanism. The 2012 specification car represents another advance in technology and performance for the formula. Freedom of chassis design, engine build and numerous technical items of specification have always been standout features of Formula Ford and this continues with the 2012 specification car. With only Formula 1 and Formula 3 offering this same level of freedom, it helps drive technical standards to exceptionally high levels from car manufacturers, teams and drivers alike. The different implications of car set-up and each individual chassis variation, create a steep learning curve for drivers in particular, helping to accelerate the development of their abilities to take the next step in motorsport. Car manufacturers will still be able to add that individual touch to their cars though, with only the requirement to keep specific parts developed for aerodynamic equivalence mandated in the regulations. Creating a safe environment is a key concern for Formula Ford, and the new car boasts increased levels of safety including a tubular chassis - the first in a single seat racer to comply with the latest, stringent FIA safety standards - front and rear carbon crash structures, side intrusion panels, FIA specification head restraint system, wheel tethers and an FIA removable seat. FIA compliance will allow the 2012 specification car to be applicable for Formula Ford championships around the globe, especially in emerging markets where alignment to FIA regulations is commonplace.

New race car: As the all-new Focus ST road car makes its global production debut, Ford is giving a European welcome at the Frankfurt Motor Show to a special motorsport counterpart – the race-tweaked, production-based Focus ST-R. Despite its close resemblance to the Focus ST road car, the Focus ST-R is purpose-built for the track by Ford Racing in North America as a fully-prepared competition car. It features a powerful 2.0-litre EcoBoost engine, FIA regulation roll cage, uprated brakes and track-tuned suspension. It will be available to teams soon, starting in North America, to race in a variety of series. The all-new Focus ST-R has been crafted by engineers at Ford Racing – with technical support from Ford’s Global Performance Vehicles group – to allow it to compete in a huge variety of series, including Grand-Am ST, World Challenge TC and Canadian Touring Car Series. Ford also hopes teams will race the car in key European motorsport series and major national events such as the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Star Mazda: Wrapping up one of the most competitive seasons in years, the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear heads to the season finale with the American Le Mans Series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this weekend… and three of the four series titles – Series Champion, Expert Series Champion and Team Championship – still up for grabs. Continuing a battle they began last year, championship leader Tristan Vautier and Connor De Phillippi are the only two drivers still in the hunt for the overall series championship and the 2012 Indy Lights ride that comes with it, a much-coveted prize funded by a scholarship from the Mazda Road to Indy driver development program. Vautier, from Grenoble, France, leads the battle 392 points vs. 354 for Connor De Phillippi of San Clemente, CA. With 46 points available (44 for first, 1 for pole and 1 for fastest race lap), De Phillippi will need not only to drive the race of his life, but will need to have some serious bad luck befall his adversary… but anyone who has been in racing long enough knows that the oddest things happen in the last race with the championship on the line. Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: Tom Sharp is back at the head of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup as the season heads to Rockingham with a new format for the race weekend. When Tom Sharp was taking win after win at the start of the season, it looked as though the IDL-backed driver was unstoppable. After Thruxton on May 1, however, the championship went through a different phase as Sharp could only watch his rivals climb the top step of the podium and wonder why it wasn’t him. At Knockhill, though, he bounced back and took his seventh win of the season, while key rival Carl Breeze (TCR) suffered an engine cut-out gremlin in the final race of the weekend that left him on the sidelines. With races at Rockingham, Brands Hatch and Silverstone to go, Breeze is 18 points back and the championship is set for a thrilling finish. While Sharp may not have been winning, he has done his best to score points and has been consistent throughout the season, while the hugely experienced Breeze can never be discounted, Nor can former Formula Ford champion Nathan Freke who has bagged five wins in his Century Motorsport-run car and he is hunting down Adam Morgan (Ciceley Motorsport) in the fight to be third. It is all to play for in the final all-action races. But there is a twist this weekend. Instead of the usual three-race format, there are two races at the equivalent of 30 minutes. The second will include a mandatory pit stop in which the teams must change two wheels and tyres and acts as a precursor to the new Ginetta GT Winter Cup, Ginetta’s first endurance championship, in November. While the new-for-2011 G55 model, with its 3.7-litre engine, has been the car to watch at the head of the field, the G50 still produces epic racing and the struggle to come out on top of the class is just as intense. Tom Ingram (Plans Motorsport) heads the title race, the Ginetta Junior graduate fending off Jody Fannin (Team Pyro) and Aaron Williamson (FML). On dropped scores, Ingram is 49 points ahead, but given how competitive the class has been this season, he certainly can’t relax.

Formula Renault: Will Stevens is poised to take his Formula Renault Eurocup 2.0 championship battle to France as the penultimate series rounds are staged at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit this weekend. Stevens, heads to Castellet on the Côte d’Azur lying fourth in the European single-seater formula after scoring his fourth series podium and eighth points scoring finish of the season at Silverstone last month to close the gap to third in the table. Stevens has 94 points with championship leader Robin Frijns on 186, Carlos Sainz second on 131 points and Daniil Kvyat 13 points ahead of Stevens in third. With 100 points still available across the four remaining rounds, Stevens still has a mathematical chance of taking the title. A race winner in the opening round at Motorland Aragón, he is fully focused on climbing up the order by way of returning to the top step of the podium in the penultimate double-header race weekend. Stevens commented; “As we head into the most crucial part of the season I naturally want to finish my debut Eurocup Formula Renault year on a high, and I go to Paul Ricard with the same winning mindset. We’ve shown we have the pace and I’m feeling confident. Although I’ve not raced at Paul Ricard before we had a solid two-day test at the start of the year in mixed weather, so we’re ready for any kind of conditions. We know where we’re going to start with the car set-up so we’re well prepared to enable us to attack from the outset and get some good points. Paul Ricard is quite a challenging circuit as it isn’t your standard race track. For that reason I think it could throw up a few surprises and we could see some different front-runners. I like that because it adds another element to the championship fight. We saw at Silverstone how important it was to pay attention to the amount of rubber going down during the World Series races. The nature of Paul Ricard, with lots of medium to high speed corners requiring a lot of entry speed, will mean that’s a major factor once again. Although we’ve been consistent we’ve had our share of bad luck this season. We were leading the first race at Motorland Aragón when a fuel pressure problem put us out of the race and my clutch broke on the start line at the Nürburgring. But that’s racing. I still have a mathematical chance of winning the title, but realistically I’m aiming for second place. Regardless, any changes to normal racing conditions could be a good thing for us and I’m ready to maximise any opportunity.”

BTCC: Following on from a very trying visit to Knockhill last time out, Dunlop MSA BTCC driver Alex MacDowall is more determined than ever to get back on the podium when the series visits Rockingham this coming weekend. Having headed north of the border with a very positive mindset, the Carlisle racer had high hopes of a successful weekend but it soon became clear the normally aspirated cars – of which his Chevrolet Cruze is one – wouldn’t be able to compete on a level footing with the turbo-powered majority. With the addition of some robust contact in two of the three outings, the seventh event of the year ended up being one to forget for the 20-year-old. Even though he fully expects the turbos to again have an advantage at Rockingham, Alex says the Silverline Chevrolets shouldn’t be ruled out just yet.“I think Rockingham should be better for us than Knockhill was”, he commented, “Qualifying will be crucial once again because there are very few areas to overtake. The Cruze is a great car over the race distance and Rockingham is very tough on tyres so I’m hoping we can have a good weekend.The infield section is very tight and twisty, which should favour our car, but the long straight linking turn four of the oval round to the first hairpin will give a big advantage to the turbos. Rockingham is very flat though so hopefully they won’t be able to use their horsepower advantage quite so much. I am more eager than ever for good results after a bad weekend at Knockhill – don’t rule us out yet!”Whatever happens at Rockingham at the weekend the Cumbrian charger will undoubtedly be giving maximum commitment, as he always does, in his bid to secure three consistently strong results and a major haul of points. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography

F2000: It might sound weird, but Nathan Morcom is approaching rounds 11 and 12 of the F2000 Championship Series at Lime Rock Park next weekend as if they were rounds one and two! With no realistic chance of overhauling the series leaders in the four remaining rounds, Morcom, who is third in the rookie standings and sixth overall, will be going all-out for race wins rather than driving conservatively to rack up points. “Actually it will be easier than if the championship was at stake, because I won’t have to decide if every overtaking move could cost me points if it doesn’t stick. Whenever there’s an opportunity, I’ll just go for it!” The 2.4km (1.5-mile) Connecticut circuit will mark his return to the American ‘development’ openwheeler series following an 11-week break. A decision was made after Mid-Ohio in early-July to skip Mosport later in the month to allow Morcom’s Primus Racing team to address issues behind his lacklustre results since he won the opening round at Virginia International Raceway in April. Morcom isn’t blaming Primus boss Jon Baytos, though. “To be fair to Jon, in the first half of this year he had commitments to some long-term projects, one of which was re-establishing Primus Racing as a team in its own right instead of hiring other teams’ equipment and personnel. To do that he had to find and then fit out a workshop, which took a lot of time and energy that normally would have gone into the racing side. I know that Jon has been extremely disappointed that the car preparation this year hasn’t been up to the high standard that he sets for himself and everyone in his team.The car problems we’ve had have been frustrating because they’ve prevented Jon from doing what he’s famous for, which is setting up race-winning cars. This series is so competitive, and the race weekend timetables are usually so tight, that a small problem in testing or practice can make the difference between starting from the front row and midfield. I’ve been close enough to the pace often enough during the season to know that we only need our full quota of track time to be serious contenders.” pic Dennis Valet

DTM: On the eve of the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt Audi presented its new DTM car: After the V8 quattro (1990 to 1992) and the A4 (2004 to 2011) the brand with the four rings has opted to use a two-door coupe in the DTM for the first time. The new Audi A5 DTM, which bears the internal project name "R17" at Audi Sport, conforms to the new Technical Regulations that will come into effect in the 2012 season. The project was premised on three key aims: the safety of the vehicles, reduction of the costs by up to 40 per cent and a spectacular exterior design. IAA visitors will have the opportunity to get a first-hand impression of the new car’s look at the Audi Hall from September 13th to 25th. The Audi A5 DTM appears lower and sturdier than its successful predecessor with which Audi has won four of the last seven DTM titles. Underneath the body, which is completely made of carbon, a new type of chassis features a hybrid construction. The combination of a carbon fibre monocoque and steel cage sets new standards in terms of safety for a race touring car. In addition, the chassis is one of more than 50 components which are identical for all DTM vehicles. "Due to these shared components it was possible to achieve the cost reduction target of up to 40 per cent without compromising on the safety and attractiveness of the DTM vehicles," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, who has been in charge of the new Audi A5 DTM development. Like its predecessor, the A5 DTM is powered by a V8 engine with an output of about 460 HP. The six-speed transmission, is now pneumatically operated using paddle shifters.

Mini Challenge: Title rivals Luke Caudle and Chris Knox battled it out for the victory spoils in the Mini Challenge in gale force winds and rain at Anglesey over the weekend. In the first quadruple header of the year, neither was giving an inch,the pair each coming away with two wins a-piece. read report

GP2: Venezuelan Rodolfo Gonzalez endured a frustrating end to the GP2 season at Monza, last weekend.The feature race on Saturday afternoon saw his race almost finished at the start when he had contact at the first chicane, damaging his car. He elected to carry on but it wasn’t possible to get the full potential after the accident and he could only finished in 19th. Race two on Sunday had Gonzalez starting in 19th place, so any realistic chance of a points finish was gone. However he was determined to finish the season on a positive note for his Trident racing team and he came home in 16th place finish. Pic: Chris Roberts/WiderViewPhoto.com Read report

GP3: British race ace Adrian Quaife-Hobbs brought his GP3 Series campaign to a finish at Monza at the weekend with a stirring performance at the historic Italian track. The 20 year-old took his second pole position of the season on Saturday, after being consistently in the top three in Friday’s practice and in race two on Sunday passed a staggering 18 cars to take sixth, and clinch fifth in the points table. Read report

Ever-improving GP3 Series competitor Thomas Hylkema delivered his best performance of the year during the championship finale at Monza in Italy over the weekend, 10th/11th September – the Dutch driver recording a superb 14th place finish, from 27th on the grid, in the first of the event’s two races. Read report

Radical Clubmans Cup: Not even the remnants of a hurricane could stop James Abbott securing the Radical Clubmans Cup in his SR3 over the weekend at Anglesey. After dominating the first race he had a hard fight in the sesond before snatching the lead ib the closing stages to take both wins and the Clubmans Cup title. Read report

Formula BMW Talent Cup: This weekend at Oschersleben marks the big final of the Formula BMW Talent Cup, where everything will be at stake for the 13 young drivers from seven nations (Germany, Finland, France, Lithuania, Switzerland, Spain and South Africa). Whichever of the drivers – aged 14 to 17 – wins Sunday’s race held against the backdrop of the DTM will be awarded a full race season in the ATS Formula 3 Cup financed by BMW Motorsport. This prize that will allow a young driver to climb up onto the next rung of the ladder en route to a professional motor racing career. To ensure they would be perfectly prepared the youngsters headed for Silverstone, where they put in some serious practice in the race simulator of three-time world champion and 2012 BMW DTM driver Andy Priaulx. Launched in March 2011, the programme offers talented young drivers a systematic induction into professional racing. Thanks to BMW hiring entire circuits, the up-and-coming drivers were able to notch up an incredibly high track time. Identical vehicles were provided by BMW, ensuring that all the drivers were on a level playing field. BMW works driver Dirk Adorf and a team comprising driver coaches and race engineers took charge of small groups and took the youngsters through everything from individual driving style to complete vehicle set-up.

Sportcars: The GT Academy 2011 driver development programme shifted up a gear last weekend (10,11 September) when European winner Jann Mardenborough had his first competitive outing in a 420bhp Nissan 370Z GT4 race car. Racing in the Welsh Sports and GT Championship at Pembrey, the PlayStation® gamer-turned-racing driver recorded two strong third place finishes and a fourth in the weekend’s three races. The GT4 car is a race-bred version of the standard 370Z that Jann and his USA GT Academy counterpart Bryan Heitkotter have been racing as they hone their racing skills in preparation for an assault on the Dubai 24 Hour race in January next year. The pair will have the opportunity to experience the demands of driving the sequential-gearbox 370Z GT4 car over a full 24 hours when they take part in the Britcar 24 Hours at Silverstone next month, albeit without the heat of the Middle East. Jann and Bryan were fairly evenly matched at Pembrey. While Jann was third on Saturday, Bryan was just behind in fourth. But on Sunday, Bryan got the better of his British team-mate taking two second places to Jann’s third and fourth. The GT Academy duo is racing under the guidance of the experienced RJN Motorsport team boss, Bob Neville, who commented: “It was a really good performance from both drivers. Pembrey is a tricky circuit that proves an excellent platform for driver training. This was their biggest test so far, with us posing the question; can they handle the Nissan GT4 car? I was particularly pleased with the way they adapted to the extra power without any difficulties at all. For them both to get podium finishes was an added bonus.” Mardenborough said after the race: “If I step back to look at what I have achieved in such a short space of time, I am really pleased with my progress. Racing the GT4 car was another step forward. It has a lot of similar handling characteristics to the standard 370Z that I was previously racing, but it obviously has more power and a different gearbox. I am getting used to left foot braking now and I keep practising my down shifts, so it’s a case of trying to improve every time I’m in the car.”

ILMC: Inaugural GT Academy winner, Lucas Ordoñez and the team were back in action at the weekend in the latest round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) at Silverstone. His racing education continued when he took on the qualifying and starting role for the team for the first time, producing a very creditable performance before some technical difficulties left the team for too long in the garage. They ultimately finished seventh in class, but still have a chance to take the series win with two rounds remaining. The Nissan-powered Greaves Motorsport team provided the perfect consolation for the Japanese manufacturer, taking a fourth win of the season to leave them very close to clinching the 2011 Le Mans Series title.

In a successful weekend of Aston Martins racing around the globe, DBR9s competed in Beijing; LMP1 prototypes and Vantage GT2s at Silverstone, while in Dijon, V8 Vantage GT4s also took to the circuit. In the fifth round of the ILMC at Silverstone – The Autosport 6 Hours, Aston Martin’s factory team ran a close-to-drama free race with the V12-powered DBR1-2 prototype running faultlessly throughout. Driven by factory drivers Harold Primat (CH), Christian Klien (A) and Adrian Fernandez (MEX); only contact from a GT car during Primat’s stint caused a puncture which required an unscheduled pit stop. Christian Klien crossed the line in ninth position.Official Partner teams, Jota Racing and Gulf AMR Middle East also ran faultlessly in their V8 Vantage GT2s in the six hour special. In the GTE-Pro battle, the Jota Sport V8 Vantage of British trio Chris Buncombe, Simon Dolan and Sam Hancock took 11th place in class in a trouble-free race.It was a similar story in the GTE-Am class for the Gulf AMR Middle East V8 Vantage of Fabien Giroix (F), Roald Goethe (D) and Michael Wainwright (GB) which, apart from Goethe being briefly stuck on a kerb after a spin early in the race, completed the six-hour marathon in eighth place with no further dramas.

GTs: It was in China, where Aston Martin scored its biggest success with a dominant 1-2 win in the penultimate round of the FIA GT World Championship. Aston Martin customer teams reigned victorious throughout the weekend with a 1-2-3 finish in the points-eligible qualifying session, and Young Driver AMR remained ahead throughout the rain soaked race to take the magnificent 1-2 win. The result means that the squad leads the teams’ championship standings with one round remaining in Argentina on November 5/6. In addition, drivers Mücke and Turner are just 11 points behind the leaders in the drivers’ championship race. The latest result is the third championship-race win for the Aston Martin DBR9 in the 2011 GT1 World series.

Meanwhile in France, the final round of the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge took place at Dijon. The one make-race series featuring the Aston Martin Vantage GT4 concluded on the French circuit after having visited Silverstone (UK), Snetterton, (UK), Spa (Belgium), Donington (UK), Oulton Park (UK), and Brands Hatch (UK).The 80 minute race started with a dry track and as the 28 car field, made up of a mixture of prototype and GT cars, from the AvD series as well as the Aston Martin GT4 Challenge, approached the line it was Karsten Le Blanc in the Nicholas Mee Racing entry who led from the outset and crossed the line to take the top step of the podium. The Vantage Racing entry of Tom Black and Alan Bonner finished second with the Aston Martin Lagonda entry driven by Nürburgring Test Centre Director, Wolfgang Schuhbauer and guest journalist, Nicolas Gourdol taking third.

Karts: Matty Graham proved himself amongst the best racers in the 2011 Formula Kart Stars (FKS) KF3 class showdown at Whilton Mill – but for all of his speed, a variety of misfortunes saw to it that the he was denied the champion’s crown. Read report

Other News: This week’s 64th Frankfurt Motorshow will see the EF01, Formulec’s 100% electric single-seater, celebrate the first anniversary of its maiden development run. It has been a year full of learning experiences, with a great deal about the intricacies of electric power units becoming clear. Covering over 1,200 kilometres on race tracks as varied as Le Mans and Magny-Cours, running numerous full scale windtunnel sessions and carrying out development work on the test bench has allowed the EF01 to accumulate invaluable experience that will prove vital in the organisation of future electric racing competitions. This experience has been complimented by various public presentations of the EF01 over the past year. With this experience, the technical team has been able to finalise the specifications for the definitive version of Formulec’s electric single-seater, the EF02, which will take part in international racing competition. The main evolutions concern ease of use for teams, design, cost, weight reduction and, crucially, safety. Technologies onboard the EF02 will define new standards of crash test resilience, as well as technical control during events. As such the EF01 will be present on the stand of Dekra - the European leader in automotive technical control and safety issues - during the Frankfurt Motorshow.

12-09-11

Formula 3: 17-year-old Victorian Formula Ford pilot Lachlan Marshall will enter the F3 Australian Drivers Championship in 2012 and he’s brought in some gun support to help his maiden ‘wings and slicks’ campaign. Marshall, a year 11 student at Braemar College, is the first young driver to commit to the 2012 Forpark Australia F3 Scholarship that awards a young driver a subsidy towards an outright drive the following season. Marshall has bought the F304 Dallara-Renault driven by Tim Macrow to victories at Sandown last year, and has brought the 2007 F3 champion on board to engineer and act as a driver coach in his campaign next year. The pair officially confirmed their plans at the weekends’ round of the F3 Australian Drivers Championship at Sandown and discussed plans for next year. Lockie currently leads the Formula Ford 1600 championship in Victoria and is looking to wrap up the title later this year. Naturally, he is excited to be stepping his career forward next season. “I have worked with Tim before and he’s a great engineer and driver coach – he’ll really help my transition to Formula 3,” Marshall said. “He knows the cars inside and out as well as all of the interstate tracks, so I’m lucky to have him as my mentor in 2012. My new car is great and has had a lot of success so I know it’s capable of being competitive and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel for the first time.” Macrow – currently the senior engineer at Borland Racing’s Spectrum Formula Ford team - said he was looking forward to working with Marshall next season. “It’s exciting to see new drivers coming into the category and I’m looking forward to be working with Lachlan in 2012. With his results in Formula Ford 1600 this year I expect his transition to Formula 3 will be smooth and competitive. “He’s got a great approach to his driving and I expect him to be competing for the Forpark Australia National Class from the very first round.” Lockie and his father, John, will take delivery of the car soon with the young driver set to begin testing later this season ahead of his 2012 F3 title debut.

Ginetta Junior Championship pace-setter Seb Morris has his sights set on more success at Rockingham this coming weekend, where two more victories will push him yet closer to the 2011 title. His record of 10 wins from the first 14 races, evidently tells its own story but the 15-year-old is by no means complacent and knows he will have to fight as hard as possible during rounds 15 and 16 to maintain his healthy lead at the top of the points table. Thus far this year, only Seb’s second season of car racing action, the Marford-based driver has been nothing short of sensational with a remarkable run of results keeping him at the forefront of the championship battle. Even when things haven’t quite gone to plan for the young Welshman, as was the case at Croft in mid-June and during the second race at Knockhill in Scotland just over a week ago, he’s still managed to salvage top results.“I know I’ve still got the pace on the others”, said the Liberty Properties and Legat Owen-supported racer, “I made a mistake in race two at Knockhill and that’s why I finished sixth, it wasn’t down to anyone being quicker than we were. As always, we’ll work hard at Rockingham to get the flow and push as hard as we can for pole positions, podiums and wins.” Seb will arrive at Rockingham’s 1.94-mile International Super Sports Car Circuit later this week 99 points clear at the head of the driver standings but when the championship’s ‘drop score’ ruling is taken into consideration his lead is reduced to 78 points. With every race that passes, so the Hillspeed driver gets nearer to placing one hand on the trophy. That said, with 35 points up for grabs for a victory, along with bonus points for pole position and fastest lap in each race, the championship is far from over just yet.

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup : Oschersleben in Germany will host the penultimate event of the 2011 Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup this coming weekend, and with two races in store Britain’s Daniel Lloyd will be aiming to make the most of the points on offer to retake second place in the table. Although disappointed to have been prevented from challenging for a podium finish during his home event at Brands Hatch just over a week ago, the Huddersfield racer remains highly confident of making a rostrum return during rounds eight and nine of the 10-race season. Daniel hasn’t competed at Oschersleben before but he did have his maiden test in a 2.0-litre bio-CNG powered Scirocco at the north German track back in April so he does have some knowledge to draw on. “We did the qualifying test for the championship and then a couple of other runs at Oschersleben earlier in the year so I do know the place quite well, unlike most of the other circuits we’ve visited”, he said, “It’s one of my favourite tracks, it’s absolutely mega with fast stuff and slower corners – it’s got a bit of everything and that’s what I really like.” Even though the 19-year-old is 59 points adrift of the top of the table, one bad result for championship leader Mateusz Lisowski could massively shake-up the title race. With two outings in Oschersleben, and a maximum of 60 points available for victory in each, Daniel’s hopes of title glory are still alive. “I think this weekend will be really close, everyone knows the track and it’s a double header so where you finish in the first race will be reversed for the grid of the second one”, he added, “I don’t think one person will win both races so it should be really interesting. Obviously, it only takes one bad result for Mateusz and it could all change in the championship. I’m still staying positive and really looking forward to the weekend, we’ll go into it as we always do aiming to do the best we can. I’ll be working on the simulator with the guys at iZone Performance this week so we’re as well prepared as we possibly can be.”

Porsche Carrera Cup GB :With the title battle now incredibly finely balanced between three drivers, the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB heads to the Rockingham Motor Speedway for rounds 14 and 15 of the 19-race season. Stephen Jelley, Michael Meadows and James Sutton will battle for the overall title, the contests in Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2 will be every bit as competitive. In what is proving to be an absorbing contest, the momentum swung towards Meadows in Scotland as he took a win and a second place in his SAS/Redline car. Conversely, after a blistering weekend at Snetterton in August it was Jelley (Parker with Juta) who led the points before the trip to Knockhill, only to slip back after a modest weekend north of the border. Now, Meadows has a nine-point lead over Jelley, but Sutton, in the other SAS/Redline car, is right in the mix and is just three points behind Jelley. With a total of 42 points on offer this weekend, it really is wide open. Then, chasing the top three is Euan Hankey (Parker with Juta) who also took a win and a second in Scotland. A couple of non-finishes earlier in the season mean that Hankey is the outsider just now, but that could all change very quickly. Of course, this is not just about the top four drivers as the field is packed with quality racers all pitching for a place on the podium. Young lions Richard Plant and Sam Tordoff (Team Parker Racing) and Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline) are all chasing hard and when Hetherington took fourth at Knockhill behind Meadows, Hankey and Sutton it meant three graduates of the Carrera Cup Scholarship were in the top four. Away from the overall contest, separate battles are raging in the Pro-Am1 and Pro-Am2 categories. In Pro-Am1, Lithuanian racer Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) has a clear points’ lead but can expect another tough fight from drivers like Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed), Ahmad Al Harthy (Oman Air/Redline) and Derek Pierce (Dextra/JD Pierce by Parker). Both Butcher and Pierce took wins at their home track of Knockhill and now want to win again at Rockingham, while George Richardson (Motorbase Performance) also had a strong weekend in Scotland. In Pro-Am2, George Brewster (Celtic Speed) scored a fine double win on home ground at Knockhill to move ahead in the title race, but with three weekends’ scores to drop in the final Pro-Am2 standings, drivers like Keith Webster (Redline Racing), Richard Denny(Parr Motorsport) and Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance) are all still very much in the hunt.

Chris Dyer will join the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham Motor Speedway (17/18 September) as his prize for winning the 2010 Porsche Club Championship. The Yorkshireman has spent five seasons racing with the Porsche Club and won the 2010 title after an exemplary season in class two Porsche 944 S2. This year, he is chasing the title once more and currently lies second overall to Mark Sumpter before the deciding triple-header round at Silverstone on September 30/October 1. “It’s going to be a big learning curve and it’s certainly a case of in at the deep end,” said Dyer. “I’ve driven a GT3 on the road, but I’ve never raced one. It’s a big step up from my 944 S2,” added Dyer, who will join Parr Motorsport for his prize drive weekend. “I’m definitely looking forward to it and at least I don’t have to learn the circuit,” said Dyer, who made his Rockingham debut earlier in the summer during his Porsche Club Championship campaign.

Formula Renault BARC: Rising single-seater racer Anton Spires will make his Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship debut at Silverstone National Circuit next month, 15th/16th October, having agreed a deal with KG Motorsport to graduate to the ultra-competitive category. The 19-year-old, who studies at the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, competed in the Autosport Young Guns series in 2010 before taking part in two rounds of the rebranded ‘Intersteps Championship’ earlier this season. Seeking an alternative path up the racing ladder, Spires called time on his involvement in Intersteps and instead went on to test an FR 2.0 in readiness for a potential move into Formula Renault BARC which is now being made possible thanks to backing from AA Drivetech.His plan is to get a foothold in the championship during the season finale before then contesting a full campaign in 2012, if the required financial backing can be secured. For now, Spires is aiming to get up to speed as quickly as he can and to enjoy a strong debut in the hugely popular championship.

The Australian Formula Ford Championship will return to the V8 Supercar calendar this weekend for round six of the series at the L&H 500 at Phillip Island in Victoria. It will be the second event in as many weeks for the championship following round four at Sandown Raceway where CAMS Rising Star Jack LeBrocq took his first round win of the season making it four different winners in five rounds so far, but it was the ever consistent Cameron Waters who extended his championship lead. "I had a frustrating weekend at Sandown, we had all the pace in the world but it just didn't come together, so I was surprised to extend my lead in the championship," Waters said."It is nice to have a good buffer with three rounds to go, but it's not over yet, I need to make sure I keep scoring points and finishing near the front. Even one retirement would really close up the championship so I'm focused on that. Phillip Island is an amazing circuit and it suits the Formula Fords really well with the amount of slipstreaming that we do, so I'm sure there will be passing right up to the line in every race." Phillip Island will see five changes to the field with a number of drivers set to make their national series debuts. Tasmanian Callum Mitchell and New South Welshman Jonathan Venter will make their firsts starts, while the series will welcome back state Rising Star Jon Collins and Team BRM driver Tom Goess who both haven't raced since round three at Eastern Creek. "I'm really looking forward to making my debut in the national series, it's going to be a big step up, but we've had some success this year in the Victorian State Series so I'm ready for the challenge," Mitchell said. "It will be good to have my state teammate Jon Collins at the event as well and hopefully we can work with each other to move forward across the weekend. Minda Motorsport has been really competitive in the past few rounds, so I'm confident that the speed will be there." Seven Victorians will compete in the event, while Matthew Brabham will return for his last scheduled outing this season. The Queenslander is running a limited program to concentrate on his year 12 studies but has featured on the podium in each of his two starts so far. In total 21 drivers will make up the gird for the sixth round of the series.

ILMC: Sébastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud combined performance, consistency and reliability to guide their Peugeot 908 no.7 to victory in the 6 Hours of Silverstone, after yet another sensationally fast race. This third race win of the season for Team Peugeot Total, combined with the eighth place claimed by Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin (Peugeot no.8) takes Peugeot one step closer to a second consecutive Manufacturers’ title. Read report

After seeing several strong results disappear due to technical issues OAK Racing has taken its first LMP1 podium with the #24 car of Olivier Pla and Alexandre Prémat securing third overall behind the #7 Peugeot and the #1 Audi at the 6 Hours of Silverstone. The result also saw the duo finish as the the highest placed car in the petrol class. Pic: DPPI / Gilles Levent read report

Andrea Belicchi and Jean-Christophe Boullion with the Lola-Toyota #13 secured fourth place overall in the 6 Hours of Silverstone, a result that was like a gold medal. With this result Rebellion Racing won the race within the race, namely the Le Mans Series 6 Hours of Silverstone and they have taken the lead in the LMS Teams’ Championship. With this back to back win, after their victory at Imola last July, Rebellion Racing have scored enough points to make Lola-Toyota the winners of the LMS Manufacturers’ championship even with one race to go. At the same time Jean-Christophe Boullion and Andrea Belicchi have closed the gap to the Pescarolo (car #16) drivers in the LMS Drivers’ classification, with just one point now between them. The team’s sister car, Lola-Toyota #12 had to retire with just 20 minutes to go and did not score any points. A damaged alternator belt forced Nico Prost to stop the car at turn 8 of the Silverstone circuit, but he was in no in position to fix the problem. In less than 10 days, the team will head to Estoril in Portugal for the finale of the Le Mans Series with the target of winning both the Teams’ and Drivers’ championships. Read report

A near-faultless run in Round 4 of the LMS, the Silverstone 6 Hours, was rewarded with fourth place at the flag for Tommy Erdos, Mike Newton and Ben Collins in the RML AD Group HPD ARXC-01d. A podium looked on the cards, and Ben was holding third when a length of Astroturf became wrapped around the front of the car. The team had to remove the offending fabric during a late splash’n’dash pitstop, adding critical seconds to a very tight margin. Pic Peter May, Dailysportscar read report

Greaves Motorsport scored win number three in the 2011 Le Mans Series on Sunday with a convincing result at Silverstone. Karim Ojjeh, Tom Kimber-Smith and Olivier Lombard drove the Team’s Zytek Z11SN – Nissan to success, with a one lap margin over their rivals, at the home of the British Grand Prix. Tom Kimber-Smith took the lead from the start, having qualified in 2nd position and then the team held the top position for almost the entire race. After the race the Englishman reflected, "The victory at Le Mans this year was obviously the most important for us but this result comes close, being our home race. We deserved the win, as we had good pace all weekend, the result of a fantastic team effort. The race was difficult, particularly during my final stint, with the strong winds creating tricky driving conditions. It was really great to win at Silverstone" Team mate, Karim Ojjeh also felt that the race was one of the hardest of his career. "I found the race very tough with traffic always creating problems and the weather making the race very hard. We saw our main opposition hit problems and this made us double our efforts but I am very happy with the result." Olivier Lombard echoed the story of his team mates, "The race was not easy, the weather and the constant traffic made the job very hard, a mistake could have happened at any time. The car was fantastic; the team did a great job, so we had to do ours. I am happy with my results at Greaves Motorsport, three races and three wins; it does not get any better." The result leaves Greaves Motorsport with a 14 point lead over their opposition with the final race of the 2011 Le Mans Series at Estoril in two weeks. Team Principal, Tim Greaves, summed up the position. "It was very exciting to finish so well at our home track but the points’ position is frankly nerve wracking. However in Portugal we will be racing for the win and not cruising for points. We want to be Champions in the way that we have raced all season."

The 6-hour race at Silverstone saw the two Audi R18 TDI cars of Audi Sport Team Joest finish in second and seventh. From the first lap, the spectators at the fifth round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) witnessed a fascinating duel between the diesel sports cars from Audi and Peugeot. It took Allan McNish in the Audi R18 TDI designated number "2" only eight laps to grab the lead from the Peugeot driven by Frenchman Sébastien Bourdais who had started from the pole position. In the "sister car" Timo Bernhard was putting pressure on Franck Montagny in the second Peugeot before the Frenchman touched another vehicle and spun off the track. Afterwards McNish and Bourdais overtook each other several times at the front until just before the end of the first hour the number "2" car lost any chance for victory when the Audi driver was hit by a GT vehicle. Replacing the front left suspension cost six laps and caused the R18 TDI #2 to drop to the rear of the field. Although the steering wheel was no longer perfectly straight after the repair McNish and Tom Kristensen managed to recover to seventh by the end. All the hopes of Audi Sport Team Joest then rested on Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fässler in the #1 Audi R18 TDI that was fighting a duel for the lead with the second Peugeot. A particularly impressive performance was delivered by Marcel Fässler, who in the third hour made up a gap of over 30 seconds to Simon Pagenaud in the Peugeot and overtook the Frenchman and moved to the front of the field. After the driver change Timo Bernhard defended the lead despite the fact that the rear of the Audi R18 TDI had previously been damaged during slight body contact between Fässler and a slower prototype resulting in a loss of downforce. More serious though was the fact that in the incident the right taillight of the R18 TDI had come off. The regulations required Audi Sport Team Joest to change the rear bodywork of the car at the next pit stop. Although this was done in record time the time loss of more than a minute was crucial for the outcome of the race. At the finish Timo Bernhard and Marcel Fässler were 89 seconds short of clinching victory.

Audi R8 LMS cars will contest the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (MMER) at Sepang on September 17. Last year Frank Biela/Darryl O’Young/Marco Werner celebrated second place at the first run of the Audi R8 LMS in this race. All three drivers are part of the grid again this year, albeit in a different formation. The two former Audi factory drivers Biela and Werner will be supported by the Swiss Marcel Fässler who has won the Le Mans 24 Hours for Audi this year. The second Audi R8 LMS will be driven by another former Le Mans winner, Seiji Ara. The Japanese will share the car with Darryl O’Young from HongKong and Alex Yoong. The Malaysian enjoys a particular bonus at his home round on account of his huge popularity as he is the only former Grand Prix racer in his country. The two Audi R8 LMS cars will be run by WRT. They are competing under the entry submitted by the Belgian Audi Club as part of a factory-supported Audi customer sport programme. The Belgian team headed by the former racer Vincent Vosse clinched the first two 24-hour overall victories of the R8 LMS at Spa and at Zolder.The car that won at Spa will run at Sepang with three European drivers at the wheel while the Asian drivers share the second car from Spa. To make conditions in the cockpit more bearable in view of track temperatures above 30 degrees centigrade both cars have been slightly modified. An electrically operated, air conditioning system conducts cooled air into the driver’s helmet and via a tube in the cockpit toward the driver’s body. Marcel Fässler already tried out the system at the fourth round of the Blancpain series at Magny-Cours and was convinced of its effectiveness.

FIA GT1: Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr finished an excellent third in the FIA GT1 World Championship Race at Goldenport Park Circuit to cap off an incredible day's racing for Nissan in Beijing, and with it retain the no.23 JRM Racing pair's grip on the GT1 Drivers' Championship. The other three GT-Rs in the field also all put in great showings to secure top eight finishes, with the no.20 Sumo Power GT crossing the line in sixth, the no.22 JRM seventh, and the no.21 Sumo Power GT eighth. Read report

GP3: Atech CRS GP brought its 2011 race season to a close in the final rounds of the GP3 Series at Monza this weekend, with Marlon Stockinger bringing his car home in 13th and 19th places from the two races. There was disappointment for Nick Yelloly who suffered a mechanical problem in race one and had his charge through the field in race two, which earnt him two fastest laps, ended in a five-car crash on lap nine. Swiss Zoel Amberg saw his chances of another strong finish brought to a premature finish with a collision in both races, which left him unable to show his improved form of the second half of the season. Read report

GP2: Jolyon Palmer endured a frustrating final GP2 meeting of the season in Monza after being denied an almost certain maiden points finish following his best ever qualifying performance. The 20-year-old, racing in his debut season of the F1 feeder series, arrived at the 5.793km Italian track full of confidence, especially having won twice there in 2010 on his way to becoming the FIA Formula Two Championship runner-up. Jolyon began the weekend promisingly, going 12th fastest of 26 drivers in the opening practice session on Friday before qualifying P11 for Saturday’s 30-lap Feature Race – marking a career best.Overcoming scorching track temperatures, Jolyon made a solid start and demonstrated strong pace but soon had his race cruelly cut short when he became the innocent victim in an on track collision caused by Scuderia driver Michael Herck. “I have no doubt a points finish was lost,” said a frustrated Jolyon after the race. “Herck broke stupidly late going into the first corner and smashed into a few cars. I made the corner but then had nowhere to go at Turn 2 as Josef Kral was broadside across the track and rolled backwards.” Having to start from the back for Sunday’s Sprint Race proved tough for Jolyon but the Arden International driver battled hard, gaining an impressive seven places during the closely fought final race to finish 19th. "I made up a few places on the first couple of laps, then had an off through the gravel at Lesmo 2 whilst trying to keep Davide Valsecchi behind me. From then on it was a long race just trying to catch the group in front." This weekend marked the final meeting of the 2011 GP2 Series with Jolyon ending the year as one of the leading rookie drivers and with a string of top 10 finishes to his name. He now hopes to return stronger to the highly competitive championship next season.

Clio Cup: One lucky Rockingham spectator has just won the prize-of-a-lifetime – a place on the starting grid of the Air Asia Renault Clio Cup at the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (17th – 18th September).Mark Gibbons from Northwood in Middlesex, beat nine other fans following a day of intense assessment with The Racing School (TRS) at Rockingham, and will now go head-to-head with Lewis Hamilton’s brother, Nicolas, at the Northamptonshire circuit.The 38-year-old was selected from ten finalists who were chosen at random from customers who had purchased an advance ticket to Rockingham’s round of the BTCC next weekend. Read more

Karts: Luke Whitworth has reignited his ambitions to secure a top five championship placing in the Formula Kart Stars (FKS) series this year – with double podium finish at Whilton Mill on what he reflected was the best weekend of his career to-date.Having begun karting less than two years ago Luke has made dramatic progress, although his form was somewhat masked by a nightmare weekend at Genk in Belgium that dropped him from fifth in FKS’ Junior Max class points table to ninth, with the consolation the coveted Bradley Ellis ‘Man on a Mission’ award for his charge through the field from the back of the grid to eighth at the chequered flag. Read report

11-09-11

ILMC: Aston Martin Racing has successfully completed the Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone, round five of this year’s Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and round four of the Le Mans Series.The #007 DBR1-2 LMP1-class prototype, driven by Adrian Fernandez (MEX), Christian Klien (A) and Harold Primat (CH), finished ninth overall with no major problems during this afternoon’s enduro at the Northamptonshire venue.The V12 petrol-engined car suffered a brief spin which resulted in losing a rear tyre close to the four-hour mark in the hands of Primat after contact with a GT-class car, but otherwise there were no issues.Aston Martin Racing Team Principal George Howard-Chappell said: “We did exactly what we set out to do today – we ran a consistent, close to drama-free race and enjoyed running the Gulf-liveried DBR1-2 in front of our home crowd again at Silverstone.“We now turn our attention to next weekend’s American Le Mans Series race at Laguna Seca, where Stefan Mücke will join Adrian and Harold.” In the GTE-Pro battle, the Jota Sport V8 Vantage of British trio Chris Buncombe, Simon Dolan and Sam Hancock took 11th place in class in a trouble-free race. It was a similar story in the GTE-Am class for the Gulf AMR Middle East V8 Vantage of Fabien Giroix (F), Roald Goethe (D) and Michael Wainwright (GB) which, apart from Goethe being briefly stuck on a kerb after a spin early in the race, completed the six-hour marathon in eighth place with no further dramas.

Formula Ford: CAMS Rising Stars Racings Jack LeBrocq broke through for his maiden Australian Formula Ford Championship round win at a wet and wild Sandown Raceway today.Although LeBrocq didnt take a race win from any of the three heats, his consistency proved vital, edging out series leader Cameron Waters by a single point.After qualifying a lowly 15th in a wet session, LeBrocq scored two third places and a second in the finale to earn the top trophy."It's a really good feeling to take the win after all the hard work we've put in over the last couple of years," LeBrocq said. "After qualifying I certainly didn't think that this would be the outcome. It's great for our championship, we've got three more rounds to go, and anything can happen." Read report

Formula 3: THE 2011 Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship will go down to the wire between James Winslow and Chris Gilmour after the pair dominated proceedings at Sandown Raceway today. Whilst Gilmour hustled past Winslow on a restart to win this morning’s sprint race, Winslow returned serve in the feature race to close the gap to his Queensland-based rival to just 20 points, with two rounds and six races remaining. There was also a fairytale result in the Forpark Australia National class as Josh Burdon rebounded from a devastating rollover at the previous round to win the major race this afternoon, returning the massive outpouring of support shown by friends, family, sponsors and supporters. pic Dirk Klynsmith / Graphic DAK photos Read report

Marco Wittmann (Signature) won the third Formula 3 Euro Series race at Silverstone today.In spite of a drive through penalty for jumping the start. Points’ leader Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam) took the chequered flag in second place while Wittman’s team mate Carlos Muñoz ended up third. With six races remaining, Merhi’s advantage in the Championship is now 76 points with Wittmann second. Marco Sørensen, driving for Mücke Motorsport crowned his guest appearance in the Formula 3 Euro Series with victory in the second race ahead of the Spanish pairing of Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam) and Merhi. From second place on the grid, Danish driver Sörensen overtook Kimiya Sato (Motopark), who started from pole position, at the start, with Juncadella doing the same later on the opening lap. Sato was also overtaken by Merhi, leaving him classifed fourth. Merhi earlier won the first race 18.773 seconds ahead of Wittmann. Merhi’s team-mate Juncadella rounded out the podium in third place.

FIA GT1: The Young Driver AMR team yesterday took a dominant double one-two in the seventh round of the FIA GT1 World Championship at Beijing’s Goldenport circuit, flying the flag in magnificent style for the Aston Martin Racing customer team. The #7 Young Driver Aston Martin DBR9 of Tomas Enge (CZ) and Alex Müller (D) came out on top in a very wet qualifying race – the first for the GT1 series at Goldenport – with their team-mates Stefan Mücke (D) and Darren Turner (GB) finishing just over a second behind to seal the perfect result.Later in the day, with the weather conditions no better, Mücke and Turner sealed Young Driver AMR’s first championship-race win of 2011 in the #8 DBR9. The result means that the squad leads the teams’ championship standings with one round remaining in Argentina on November 5/6. In addition, Mücke and Turner are just 11 points behind the leaders in the drivers’ championship race. read full report

Following close on the heels of his two victories on the Ordos circuit in China, Maxime Martin travelled on to the Olympic site in Peking to compete, this time around with Bertrand Baguette, in the penultimate meeting of the FIA GT1 World Championship. The Ford GT #41 found itself on highly technical circuit, favouring its power. Consecrated bread for the duo bearing the Marc VDS Racing colours, notwithstanding the 40 kilos of ballast as the result of the two wins clinched at Ordos. Read report

Karts: It had been on the cards right from the beginning of the campaign but to come in the manner that it did only served to make James Singleton’s success all-the-more spectacular, as the talented young North Wales kart racer triumphed in the 2011 Formula Kart Stars (FKS) Championship.From the start of the season, James has been the driver to beat in FKS’ 28-strong Junior Max class, and he headed to Whilton Mill with the title uppermost in his mind. Read report

10-09-11

Formula Ford: Nick Foster fought off multiple challengers to take the opening race win for round five of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Sandown Raceway today, claiming victory from pole position. The Steeline Mygale driver had to work hard to fend off the advances of Sonic Motor Racing Services team mates Cameron Waters and Gary Jacobson, as well as Synergy Motorsport's Liam Sager. The victory follows on from race wins at the previous two championship rounds at Eastern Creek and Queensland Raceway. Read more

Spa 6 Hours: Over the years the F1 Historic & Spa Six Hours has established itself as the top event in the field of classic and historic on the Spa-Francorchamps. On 23-25 September, the F1 Historic & Spa Six Hours will not only have a 6 hours endurance race for pre-1965 GT and Touring cars, on Saturday 16.00 through to 22.00hrs, but also F1 cars from the ‘50s and 60s. The 2011 edition, orchestrated by the Roadbook team,shows the event continues to grow, with the Jaguar Clubs of Belgium and Luxembourg providing more than one hundred Jaguar E-Types.

Formula 3: Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam) set the fastest time in Formula 3 Euro Series qualifying at the Grand Prix circuit in Silverstone with a time of 1:52.868 mins. The 20-year old Spaniard was 0.168 seconds faster than his compatriot and team-mate Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam) who did a 1:53.036. Masters winner Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport) was third on 1:53.444.After the disappointment of the ’Masters of Formula 3’, where Merhi and Juncadealla collided at the start, the two Spaniards were back on top once more. Merhi, points’ leader in the Formula 3 Euro Series, and Juncadella, second in the standings, staged an entertaining battle for the lead, which Merhi eventually decided in his favour. Behind them Swede Felix Rosenqvist, Kimiya Sato were fourth and fifth. Guest driver Marco Sørensen (made a strong debut in sixth place behind Marco Wittmann. Merhi: “After my first set of tyres, with which it didn’t go so well, we made some changes on the car. After that, it was much better and I was able to do good lap times. With a Formula 3 car, this track is much fun, you can enter the corners really fast and you feel at the limit all the time.” Juncadella : “Pole position was my goal, but second place isn’t a problem for me either. My tyre-saving driving style is very good for this circuit, so I am very optimistic for the three races here. In other series, I was never quick at Silverstone and I didn’t particularly like the circuit as a result. Perhaps, that will change this weekend.”

James Winslow has welcomed himself back into the F3 Australian Drivers Championship after superbly taking out a competitive first race at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne this afternoon. After qualifying third, Winslow charged past pole sitter John Magro and points leader Chris Gilmour in the frenetic opening laps to take the race lead. A mistake from Magro on lap two saw him cede second to Gilmour and the driver of the bright red Dallara then set about chasing down Winslow, setting a new lap record in his chase of the flying Briton. By the sixth lap the pair were nose to tail and engaged in a mighty fight for the lead, Winslow twice forced to go super-defensive on the front straight as Gilmour attacked. Winslow did enough to hold on and scored an additional point on the final lap of the race when he re-broke the lap record, re-setting the ten-year-old benchmark to a flying 1m08.889 seconds. Both Magro and Gilmour were both also comfortably under the old lap record. Pic: Dirk Klynsmith / Graphic DAK photos read report

ILMC: Aston Martin Racing will start the Autosport 6 Hours, round five of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, from 12th on the grid after difficult and changeable weather conditions in today’s qualifying session. The team’s Gulf-liveried DBR1-2 LMP1 clocked a best time of 1m52.151s in the hands of Mexican Adrian Fernandez, who will share the #007 car with Austrian Christian Klien and Swiss Harold Primat in tomorrow’s event. With the 25-minute session beginning in damp conditions, Fernandez started on slick tyres to give the team the best chance with changeable weather looming but opted to pit with seven minutes remaining. The team decided against sending the car out due to worsening conditions.Fernandez said: “We went out early because we thought that was our best chance. It started raining so to get a lap in it was better to do it early. My tyres were very cold and I really struggled in the first few laps to get them up to temperature. It was really a short margin because it started to rain harder towards the end. The main thing for us is to drive tomorrow – it’s practice for everybody and hopefully we can have a solid race, be at the end and have a good result.” In the closely-fought GT classes, the Jota Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 of Brits Chris Buncombe, Simon Dolan and Sam Hancock qualified 11th in GT-Pro, with a best time of 2m03.433s, while the Gulf AMR Middle East Vantage GT2 of Fabien Giroix (F), Roald Goethe (D) and Michael Wainwright (GB) took seventh in GT-Am with a 2m06.976s. Meanwhile, in the GT1 World Championship, Young Driver AMR experienced the biggest success in the team’s history at the inaugural race in Beijing. The German Aston Martin team took a double victory in the qualifying race and again in the championship race in very difficult wet conditions. Stefan Mücke (D) and Darren Turner (GB) claimed their first win of the season in a championship race in their Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin DBR9 and came second in the qualifying race, while Alex Müller (D) and Tomas Enge (CZ) won the qualifying race and finished second in the championship race in the Gulf-liveried Aston Martin DBR9. With the dominant performance in China, Young Driver AMR leads the teams’ championship with the final round to come in Argentina.
The Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone starts at 1135 BST tomorrow (Sunday). Radio Le Mans will be broadcasting live race coverage at www.radiolemans.com and Aston Martin updates can be found at www.astonmartinracing.com with additional behind the scenes updates on Facebook; www.facebook.com/astonmartin and through Twitter at www.twitter.com/astonmartin.

Nicolas Prost secured the 5th overall place on the grid for tomorrow's 6 hours of Silverstone, placing the #12 Lola-Toyota at the head of the non diesel LMP cars.Jean-Christophe Boullion and the Lola-Toyota #13 will start from 8th position.Leaving the pit at the early part of the qualifying session, Nicolas Prost had to wait until the 11th lap to set his best time, placing the #12 Lola-Toyota at the head of the petrol powered cars. As the french driver said to his team by radio at the end of the session : « Never give up ! ». He finally found a clear lap and a more or less dry track to achieve his best result, finishing the qualifying session with the 5th best laptime of 1'47''684.nThe session was less profitable for Jean-Christophe Boullion and the #13 Lola-Toyota who secured 8th place on the starting grid. Jean-Christophe took to the track later to try to take the benefit of better track conditions. Unfortunately, the french driver couldn't find a clear lap. He finished the qualifying session in 8th place with a laptime of 1'48''287 less than half a second in front of the Pescarolo car, the main competitor of Rebellion Racing for the Le Mans Series championship.

Rebellion Racing have confirmed their drivers for the 1000-mile/10-hour 6th round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and finale of the American Le Mans Series, the Petite Le Mans. In the #12 Lola-Toyota LMP1, Italian Andrea Belicchi will join Swiss Neel Jani and Frenchman Nicolas Prost, reprising their lineup from the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours edition, (Andrea is a regular driver of #13 sister Lola-Toyota). With just 3 races to go in the ILMC championship, Rebellion Racing and Team Oreca-Matmut are in a close competition with just one point between the two teams.Petit Le Mans will be the third race in a one month period for Rebellion Racing. After the 6 Hours of Silverstone this weekend, Rebellion will head to Portugal for the last round of the Le Mans Series and as soon as the LMS finale ends the drivers and crew will fly to the USA for Petit Le Mans where they will join up with an advance party of team members who travel ahead to oversee the unloading and set up of the third Lola-Toyota and equipment.Bart Hayden, Team Manager : “ We will face a new challenge in Georgia as this race will be our first Petit Le Mans with a prototype, but we are confident with our ability to be competitive there. We can count on fast and experienced drivers to quickly adapt themselves to the Road Atlanta circuit.”

Ginetta GT Supercup: Tom Sharp now leads the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup championship, with just three rounds left, thanks to a successful trip to Scotland’s Knockhill circuit. Sharp won the final race of the weekend along with two second places.pic Chris Roberts/WiderViewPhoto read report

09-09-11

Formula Ford: Variable weather conditions failed to slow the Sonic Motor Racing Services duo of Nick Foster and Cameron Waters, who topped the practice time sheets for Round Five of the Australian Formula Ford Championship at Sandown Raceway today.Second place man in the title standings Foster set the quick time when track conditions improved in practice two, edging out team mate and championship leader Waters."It was a good day, we got lucky with the weather in the second session, and it's really going to be a deciding factor tomorrow," Foster said. "The first session was all about getting the last lap right, we know we have speed in the dry, so it's going to be very interesting." For Waters, ending the day only a tenth of a second behind Foster put him in good stead for qualifying, which will be held tomorrow at 11:10am. "I was pretty happy with the last session in the dry, I just didn't quite get the most out of the car," Waters said. "But I'm confident, the car has a very good set-up for tomorrow." The second session was punctuated twice for red flags following on from small off-track excursions by Daniel Ramerman and championship newcomer Simon Hodge. Read more

Club Sport: Croft Circuit is gearing itself up for a bumper double treat of top club-level motor sport – headlined by the Darlington & District Motor Club’s Northern Sports & Saloon Car Championship beginning this weekend 10-11 September. Eighteen races are in store for those this weekend’s event, organised by the DDMC itself, 8 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday.Some 70 competitors are subscribed for the NSSCC’s races at what is the championship’s spiritual home. Other categories in action include the Equipe GTS – for historic production sportscars such as MGAs, MGBs, Triumph TR3s and 4s, Morgan 4/4s and Plus-4s, Sprites, Midgets and many more – plus four further series for Mazda MX5s (both MK1 and MK3 classes) and MGs. The event is the first of two race meetings at Croft in the next fortnight – the second, run by the BARC is on the weekend of 24-25 September. These two mark the penultimate and then title-deciding final rounds of the NSSCC. In fact the NSSCC now stands as one of the best-subscribed championships to be run by a local motor club anywhere in the UK with 27 marques and 43 different models on the grid across nine different classes. Each class title remains up for grabs with the highest-scoring driver from those then being crowned the NSSCC Champion of 2011. On sheer pace, Jeff Wilson’s Lotus Elise ‘silhouette’ is a firm favourite for victory – he has won every time out this year – but two missed rounds earlier in the season look set to cost him dear as he is back in sixth in the standings. Instead victory in class in all ten races to date mean BMW driver Mike Cutt from York almost has one hand on the trophy already.Class E3 leader Martin Lightfoot (Stockton-on-Tees) is Cutt’s nearest rival in his Striker TR, closely followed by other class B protagonists Ken Hall (Middlesborough) in his mighty MG Metro 6R4 and Mike Williamson (Stockton-on-Tees) in his Mitsubishi Evo IV.After a tough opening to the season, reigning 2010 Champion Paul Moss (Darlington) lies fifth in his Citroen Saxo as the leading class D scorer. And it is class D which appears to be the most wide open with three different winners in the last three races alone and four drivers – Moss, Bishop Auckland duo Simon Gibson and Peter Dixon as well as Jason South (Harrogate) – all in contention for honours. Public arriving at Croft (off the A167 just south of Darlington) in any model of Mazda will receive half-price admission (just £6). Admission for children aged 15 and under is FREE all weekend. Visit the www.croftcircuit.co.uk website or call the circuit on 01325 721815 for more details.

Formula 3: This weekend, the Formula 3 Euro Series will race for the first time in its history at Silverstone. For the second time this year - the first time was the season opener at le Castellet, France - the Euro Series won’t be racing with the DTM but on the support programme of the Le Mans Series, with newly crowned Masters winner Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport) travelling to the UK with boosted self confidence. The 19-year old Swede is determined to take the momentum of his triumph at Zandvoort to the coming races. While Roberto Merhi (Prema Powerteam), the championship leader, travels to Silverstone with a comfortable 64-point lead under his belt, the battle for second position in the championship is extremely close. The gap between Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam), Marco Wittmann (Signature) and Rookie Nigel Melker (Mücke Motorsport) who hold second to fourth is just nine points.While behind them fifth-placed Rosenqvist is gaining ground. Felix Rosenqvist: “To date, I have been at Silverstone just once - on the occasion of the roll-out of the then brand-new Dallara F308. Quite obviously, I’ve set myself the goal to secure as many points as possible, this weekend. After all, I want to work my way further up, in the championship ranking. Following my Masters win I realised that securing one race win attracts more attention than finishing second a hundred times but now, in the remaining rounds of the season, it will be crucial to score constantly and avoid taking any unnecessary risks.”

Formula MRF: Zaamin Jaffer is gearing up for unquestionably the biggest race of his career after confirming he will compete in the Formula MRF support event to next month’s Indian Grand Prix – the eagerly awaited first ever visit of the FIA Formula One World Championship to the 21-year-old’s homeland on 29th/30th October. Marking a huge moment in sporting, economical and tourist terms for the country as a whole, the arrival of F1 in India could also, potentially, mark a major turning point in Zaamin’s burgeoning race career as the global spotlight is turned on motorsport in the subcontinent. Normally competing in the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship, the Mumbai-born driver is delighted to have secured a seat in Formula MRF for the F1 support race and is aiming to make the most of the opportunity by enjoying a successful outing in front of the Grand Prix hierarchy.“Formula One’s arrival in India is absolutely massive for the country”, he said, “The eyes of the world will be on New Delhi and it’s going to be a very proud moment for me to not only race at home for the first time in my career, but to be doing so on a Grand Prix weekend for the first time too. I really can’t wait – it’s going to be huge.” read more

VW Racing Cup: Fresh from its best track showing to date, Europe’s newest racing Volkswagen looks set to end its maiden season of competition on a high note. In only its third weekend of racing, the Volkswagen Racing UK-developed Mk VI Golf GTI sped to its maiden pole position at Rockingham, and only narrowly missed out on a podium finish. Driven by saloon ace Nick Beaumont, the new Golf posted sixth and fourth-place finishes in the latest rounds of the Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants and, says Nick, there is plenty more to come.“The new Golf has been a challenge,” adds Beaumont. “We have been developing the car in front of people at the circuits with nothing to hide. The first time the car ran was the Monday before the Brands Hatch race weekend in June, with very good results from the start - the potential was there to be seen in the car. Then we went to Zandvoort and found some time in the car, but not enough. For Rockingham the team made a very big step forward to make the Golf very competitive right from the first test on Friday afternoon; this was a shock to a few people in the pit lane. From then on we were really able to show the potential that we knew was there from the outset.” The Mk VI Golf differs from the previous model in many key areas, not least the engine, which is a completely new 2.0-litre turbocharged unit which Volkswagen Racing UK has, with the assistance of Superchips, tuned to produce 250bhp. “The new engine has very good torque and delivers the power well and, combined with the chassis modifications, it really is a completely new race car, the next generation of Golf GTI, and I believe it will win many races and, in the future, the championship,” says Nick.Volkswagen Racing UK is now able to offer customer versions of the Mk VI Golf GTI. Dependant on the specification required, pricing of the conversion work required to turn a road car into a track version is around £20,000.The new Golf will next be in action, in Beaumont’s hands, at the end of September at Donington Park.

BTCC: There is now little more than a week to go before the fight for the UK’s premier motor racing championship, the Dunlop MSA BTCC, arrives at the Rockingham circuit (17-18 September).Rockingham is the first of the BTCC’s final three events of 2011 – meaning it is a crucial weekend for those drivers fighting it out for the title. Leading the way and separated by just a single point at the top are Honda Racing team-mates Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal, but still breathing down their necks are Airwaves Racing Ford ace Mat Jackson and reigning Champion Jason Plato in his Silverline Chevrolet Cruze that is prepared by the hugely successful RML team in nearby Wellingborough. Within striking distance of these four is local driver to Rockingham, James Nash from Newport Pagnell in his 888 Racing with Collins Contractors Vauxhall Vectra. The 25-year-old, still in only his third season in the BTCC, might be 47 points off the lead but with a possible maximum of 52 available from Rockingham’s three races alone there is time yet for him to catch his more experienced rivals with events at Brands Hatch, Kent (2 Oct) and Silverstone (16 Oct) to follow. Indeed, Nash is still hunting his first race win in the BTCC and there would be no better place to achieve it than at Rockingham in front of his home crowd.Rockingham is a ‘home event’ as well for sixth-placed Andrew Jordan from Rugby in his Pirtek Vauxhall Vectra, his team-mate Jeff Smith (Wellingborough) and the enthusiastic Chris James, driving a Chevrolet in both his and his small Bedford-based ES Racing.com team’s first season in the BTCC. Notably, both Nash and Jordan are also in the running for the coveted Independent Trophy for drivers racing for privateer teams.

Rockingham’s bumper BTCC weekend (17-18 Sept) features 11 more races for the high-profile Ginetta Junior, Ginetta GT Supercup, Porsche Carrera Cup, Formula Renault and Renault Clio Cup categories that provide the best in saloon, sportscar and single-seater action. Among those fighting for the Porsche Carrera crown is another local, Leicester’s Stephen Jelley who has already won four races this season, while Grantham brother and sister Andrew and Louise Richardson are ‘ones to watch’ in Ginetta GTs. Finally the BTCC makes for the perfect occasion for Rockingham to celebrate its own tenth anniversary in style and the circuit has plenty of extra entertainment lined up for the public to enjoy including: parachute displays, family Monster Truck rides and, for kids, a visit from Roary The Racing Car, fairground rides, wall climbing and even an opportunity for 14 to 17-year-olds to sample driving for the first time with the circuit’s own race school. To purchase tickets at advance rates to see the BTCC on the Sunday (18 Sept) at Rockingham visit the www.rockingham.co.uk website or call the circuit in 01536 500500. Prices also include all grandstand seating with Free admission all weekend for children aged 15 and under.

Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing will move their focus to the Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire over the weekend of 17/18 September in the Dunlop MSA BTCC. Rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the season will run at the Corby track, where the track layout used by the BTCC racers includes a section of the challenging high-speed banked oval circuit. The last two BTCC weekends at Snetterton and Knockhill have been a real challenge for Andrew and his Pirtek Racing team mate Jeff Smith as they battle to match the speed of the latest generation of BTCC cars. Andrew is hopeful of there being a change to the technical regulations ahead of the Rockingham weekend; a minor change to the level of turbo boost allowed by the Vauxhall Vectras could make a big difference to their results. As the team’s prepare for the eighth weekend of the season, Andrew is currently sixth overall in the drivers’ championship, while he is third in the independents’ driver standings. Pirtek Racing lies third in the independents’ team championship, so there is everything to play for over the final three weekends of the BTCC season. At Knockhill, Independents’ leader Mat Jackson had a torrid weekend and that allowed Andrew to close the gap to 26 points. “Hopefully we’ll get some straight line speed back before Rockingham,” said Andrew. “I think we’ll be strong at Rockingham, but then I thought we’d be okay at Knockhill. Rockingham should suit us a little bit more, but it will be hard.” Andrew says that the Independents’ title now has to be his key focus. “After the first half of the season we were looking at the overall title points, but now we need to concentrate on the Independents and just keep trying to get points in that,” he said.

Karts: Bumpy, abrasive, physically demanding are just some of the terms used to describe Whilton Mill near Daventry, which played host to the penultimate weekend of the 2011 Formula One Management backed Formula Kart Stars Championship. On a weekend of unsettled weather the KF3 class made its long awaited return and the paddock played host to Intersteps team Motaworld Racing, representatives from the BMW Talent Cup, iZone Driver Performance and the Heart of the Shires Designer Outlet as well as the usual array of race simulators. Pride of place went to one of Martin Hines’ 1982 Hermatite Zip Shadow Yamaha Twin 250 Superkarts and the Championship paid tribute to ‘Mr Karting,’ one of the founders of the series, with a minute’s silence during Saturday’s driver parade. Read report

The Aston Martin GT4 Challenge will journey to Dijon, France for the final round of the one-make challenge this weekend. The GT4 Challenge has inspired several individuals to take their first venture into GT4 racing including the BBC’s Chris Partridge who hosted a four part series of features on becoming a GT4 racing driver that focused on the Aston Martin one-make Challenge. Commencing at Silverstone in April the series of races saw the Generation AMR car of Mark Poole and Richard Abra take the inaugural first place victory after a hard-won battle against Aston Martin guest driver; Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner. The series then travelled to Snetterton and, after an incident packed session the race was re-started with the Nicholas Mee Racing entry crossing the line to take first place at the hands of Karsten le Blanc and Dan De Zille. A tense battle at Donington resulted in the first win for Chris Kemp, Stuart Hall and Tiffany Chittenden of Stratton Motorsport which led on to rounds five and six in Spa Francorchamps where Karsten le Blanc and Dan de Zille of Nicholas Mee Racing took two further victories. Oulton Park saw Tom Black and Alan Bonner in the Vantage Racing car take their first win of the series while last month, Brands Hatch offered up further excitement with Dan de Zille taking another win.Earning further endorsement as a thoroughbred sports car, the V8 Vantage in both N24 and GT4 guise, has spent another year demonstrating its on-track capability and reliability. The series has continued to offer an exciting first step onto the GT4 ladder.

WTCC : In the previous seasons the World Touring Car Championship had built a reputation of being unpredictable, always crowning its champion at the Macau finale.However, this year Chevrolet has disrupted this tradition, pocketing both the Manufacturers' and Drivers' titles again after the ninth race meeting that was held last weekend in Valencia.The Cruze cars built and run by RML dominated the field while defending the 2010 titles. In an impressive crescendo, Yvan Muller, Rob Huff and Alain Menu have claimed nine pole positions out of nine, 16 race wins out of 18 and 39 podium finishes (including Carlos Bueno's third place at Curitiba) out of 54.Although is worth to point out that sometimes they received some helps from the competitors, like it was the case in Valencia's second race when the four leaders (Coronel, Villa, Michelisz and Nykjær) were are eliminated in various circumstances.Now it's up to the drivers themselves who have to settle the title matter, and it is higlhy predictable that Muller and Huff will keep on fighting until the last race. With Menu waiting to benefit from any false move of his own team-mates.

In a season in which the Chevrolet team are setting new standards for the World Touring Car Championship, Yvan Muller is personally ammassing records on records. 20 RACE WINS - By winning both races last weekend at Valencia, the reigning world champion has become the most victorious driver ever in the championship. With 20 race wins he has now left behind Andy Priaulx (18) and the duo Rob Huff-Gabriele Tarquini (16).
7 VICTORIES IN ONE SEASON - Having already won seven races so far this year, Muller has also wiped out the previous record for victory in one season: 6 set by Augusto Farfus in 2009 and matched by Priaulx (2010) and Huff (2011).
MORE THAN 1000 POINTS - The Frenchman is also leading the scorers' statistic, having pocketed 1044 points over the 128 races he took part in six seasons. He has been the first driver to top the 1000-point mark, a remarkable achievement considering that the others are far behind: Huff (840 points in 148 races) and Tarquini (822 points in 147).

Rob Huff is disappointed, and for very good reasons. After having led the championship since the very first race at Curitiba and built up a leading marging that was as high as 36 points, the young Briton has seen the whole of his advantage eroded by his Chevrolet team-mate Yvan Muller. And finally he was ousted from the lead in Valencia, finding himself with 16 points to recover.However, he is far from giving up. "It's not over yet!" he promised. "The WTCC is a highly competitive championship and I'm not going to let Yvan get his hands on the title without a good fight. I started this year looking forwards, and that is how I am going to continue." Huff is determined to step on the winning podium again, something he already did six times so far in the current season but failed to do since the second race in Porto.

08-09-11

ILMC: This weekend sees Peugeot campaigning in the six-hour ILMC endurance race at Silverstone with the formidable Peugeot 908. Following his bike accident last month, Anthony Davidson will not be able to drive the car at the Silverstone 6 Hours. The British driver broke his left collarbone after he was involved in an accident while training on his road bike. While his recovery has been fast it isn’t complete enough to allow him to race in the best conditions for this weekend’s 6 Hours.“Off course I can only be disappointed as it is my home race,” says Anthony. “It is a difficult decision to make, but it is a wise one. Now I get more time to recover properly and to prepare for Petit Le Mans in October.” Anthony will be at Silverstone to meet his fans, spectators, etc and he will be live on ‘Peugeot Web TV’ (www.peugeot-sport.com) to comment on the race, analyse and help understanding of the race behind the scenes of the Team Peugeot Total. The WebTV coverage will start on Sunday 11th September from 10h35am (UK time)for a race start at 11h35 (UK time).The two 908 cars and their drivers Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais will be lining up to drive the Peugeot 908 N°7, with car N°8 driven by the duo Franck Montagny and Stéphane Sarrazin.

V de V : Despite six cars dropping out a week before the race there were still some classic cars in attendance, including a Porsche 910 driven by Erik Maris. After four-hours of racing victory went to the superb Chevron B36 of American Benton Bryan and Brit Nigel Greensall, after they had endured a prolonged battle with the Lola T 70 Spyder of David Ferrer and Mister John of B. The GT/Touring 4 hour race was won by Raymond Narac and Anthony Pons at the wheel of their Porsche. Sébastien Dhouailly and Vincent Beltoise were th4e winners in the Proto Endurance Challenge while the Single-seaters were dominated by Antonino Pellegrino and his Formula Master. Race report

British GT: As the weather tried its best to intervene at the Rockingham Motor Speedway last weekend (3rd-4th September), Freddy Nordström scored more points towards his Avon Tyres British GT Championship GT4 title goal. Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup : Fergus Walkinshaw will continue to develop his self-built Ginetta G55 as the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup, part of the British Touring Car Championship package, heads to Rockingham on 17-18 September. The next championship rounds at the Northamptonshire circuit, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, will mark Walkinshaw’s third outing in the sportscar series after a three-year study break from racing. The Scottish driver endured a tricky weekend last time out at his homeland circuit of Knockhill, coping with everything from rebuilding his car overnight due to non-fault contact in race one, to parts failure ruining his round 20 chances. The 20 year-old, however, set an impressive pace in Knockhill qualifying, securing third on the grid with his best lap time less than two tenths of a second off pole position. Although hampered with clutch failure in round 19, he scored his best fifth-place class finish to date and eighth overall. Despite misfortune in Scotland, the Oxford Brookes University student is already proving his potential and it’s sure to be only a matter of time before Walkinshaw returns to the podium. For now, the Oxfordshire racer will concentrate on the remaining 2011 rounds with the option of taking up a full season in the series next year. Racing at Rockingham for the first time in his self-constructed 3.7 litre V6 Ginetta G55, Walkinshaw is ready to tackle two 30 minute races in place of the usual three 20 minute Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup events. As a precursor to the Ginetta GT Winter Cup, qualifying and a sprint race will take place on Saturday while Walkinshaw will encounter his first compulsory pit stop and mandatory two-wheel change on Sunday, adding a fresh new challenge to his second outing running with team FML.

Other News: Alongside the successful R8 LMS, Audi Sport customer racing is now offering another attractive customer sport race car: a racing version of the Audi TT RS. The front-wheel drive TT RS powered by an engine with an output of about 279 kW (380 HP) has been developed by quattro GmbH in collaboration with Technical Development of AUDI AG for the SP4T class of the VLN Endurance Championship and extensively tested for about a year. After class victory at the 24-hour race on the Nordschleife in June, the testing phase culminated in an impressive performance at the 6-hour race on the world’s toughest race track at the end of August: the first pole position of a front-wheel drive vehicle in the history of the VLN and overall victory ahead of rivals with higher power ratings. "In the TT RS Audi is making the next attractive customer sport race car available to interested teams," says Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. "In line with the products our customers have come to expect of us, the TT RS is another car that has been designed for a wide range of racing conditions and easy handling. The TT RS perfectly mastered the load at the 24-hour race while being able to prove its exceptionally forgiving handling characteristics at the 6-hour race in the unpredictable conditions of constantly changing weather." As a production-derived unit the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo engine is designed for extremely high mileage. Its power drives the front wheels via a sequential six-speed racing transmission. Paddle shifters allow customers to fully concentrate on the action on the race track. Audi has developed a racecar body that is designed for high aerodynamic efficiency. Audi Sport customer racing offers the ready-to-race TT RS to its customers at the price of 180,000 euros (net). "For this model we also provide optimal support to our customers," says Werner Frowein, Managing Director of quattro GmbH who is responsible for the customer activities at Audi. "They benefit from our experience with the R8 LMS and the extensive testing program we have completed with the TT RS. Customers can look forward to a reliable, easy-to-drive and affordable high-tech sports car plus the Audi service to which they have become accustomed."

07-09-11

Formula Ford: Ford is set to unveil the next generation of Formula Ford single-seater at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week. Full details of the new car are being kept secret until the 13 September unveiling on the Ford stand at Frankfurt, but it has been confirmed that the car will make increased use of road car technologies and will be powered by the latest 1.6-litre Ford EcoBoost engine.Michael Norton, Ford of Europe Motorsport Manager, said: “Everyone within Ford and the worldwide Formula Ford community is so excited that finally we can reveal the future of Formula Ford. the biggest and most significant design overhaul the category has seen in its 44-year history. Since its inception in 1967, Formula Ford has been instrumental in the junior careers of 10 drivers who went on to become Formula 1 World Champions, as well as a host of internationally renowned racers on many other levels of motorsport. The new car will, we believe, add a further chapter of excellence to the Formula Ford story.” Sam Roach, Manager of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, adds: “The unveiling of the new 2012 EcoBoost Formula Ford will mark the next generation of our illustrious championship. We are all looking forward to introducing the car to our drivers and teams. Enquiries are already coming in from those who share our view that Formula Ford 2012 will be the place to race next year.”Further information and images of the 2012 Formula Ford car will be available from media.ford.com and britishformulaford.co.uk on Tuesday, 13 September.

Goodwood Revival: Goodwood’s annual driver tribute at next week’s Revival (16-18 September) will honour one of the greatest drivers that ever raced. On the centenary of his birth, and 60th anniversary of him winning the first of his five World Championships, Goodwood will pay tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio raced twice at Goodwood, with his best result at the West Sussex circuit being second in the challenging BRM V16 P15 on 26 September 1953. This BRM will be just one of over 25 cars that Fangio drove, as Goodwood honours his life and achievements with a daily track parade. Other significant cars forming part of the tribute will include three important Mercedes-Benz racers being sent over especially from the marque’s Stuttgart-based Museum – Fangio’s ex-300 SLR, W196 and W196 Streamliner. His Alfa Romeo Tipo 158/9 ‘Alfetta’, Ferrari 290 MM and 860 Monzas, Gordini Type 15s and 16, Maserati 250F, 300S and 450S, Jaguar C-type, Talbot-Lago Type 26S and Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser ‘Dayton Steel Foundry Special’ Indy car will also form part of the daily parade. Two of his earliest racing cars are also being shipped over specifically for the Revival from the Fundación Fangio in Argentina – his famous 1939 Chevrolet Coupe TC and the 1947 Volpi Chevrolet ‘La Petisa’ – the first time these cars have come to the UK. In addition to Fangio’s famous race cars, several former teammates will be on hand, including Sir Stirling Moss and Hans Herrman, as well as Tony Brooks.and Maria Teresa de Filippis.

ILMC: Aston Martin Racing will be heading to the home of British motorsport on 10/11 September for the fifth round of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup: the Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone. Aston Martin Racing will be returning to the track with its V12 powered DBR 1-2 LMP1 race car. The car will run in the iconic blue and orange livery of Gulf Oil with the famed start number ‘007’. Driving the 007 car will be factory drivers, Adrian Fernandez (MX), Harold Primat (CH) and ex-Formula OneTM driver Christian Klien (A). Klien, who will drive for the first time at Silverstone with Aston Martin Racing said: “I am really looking forward to driving the DBR 1-2. The fantastic V12 engine noise coupled together with the torque out of the corners is thrilling, and having recently tested in Barcelona, I am getting used to the differences in set-up. I am also looking forward to lapping the new circuit at Silverstone which together with the new Wing pit complex will be a fitting backdrop to our comeback.” George Howard-Chappell, Team Principal for Aston Martin Racing said: “I am really looking forward to returning to Silverstone with the DBR 1-2 and aiming to compete with the other petrol cars on the grid. We intend to put on a fantastic show for all our fans.” The Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone will also see Aston Martin official partner teams competing in the annual endurance race with Jota Sport’s Vantage GT2 in the LM GTE Pro class and Gulf AMR Middle East with their GT2 in the LM GTE Am class.

Grand-Am: Audi is preparing the R8 LMS customer model for the U.S. market with a version conforming to Grand-Am regulations. Audi plan to give the car its debut at the anniversary race of the Daytona 24 Hours in January 2012 in the hands of customers. For use in the USA, quattro GmbH is modifying the GT3 race car of which more than 40 units have already been sold in the areas of the chassis, body, engine and suspension. The chassis is stiffened by a roll cage with wall thicknesses being increased to two millimetres according to the regulations. A new front splitter, a modified rear diffuser and a standard Grand-Am rear wing change the aerodynamics of the sports car. The rated output of the engine has to be reduced to a lower level of about 331 to 346 kW (450 to 470 HP) by an air restrictor and the engine electronics. At the same time, the capacity of the fuel tank, which can now be filled on both sides of the vehicle, is limited to 83.3 litres. In the area of the wheels and suspension three-part rims are used. The standard anti-lock system and traction control of the R8 LMS are prohibited as driving aids in the USA. "We’re convinced that we’re making a very attractive offer to our customers in the USA that will meet with great response," says Romolo Liebchen, Head of customer racing at quattro GmbH. "The anniversary event of the Daytona 24 Hours is a perfect occasion for the debut of the U.S. version of the new Audi R8 LMS." Audi Sport customer racing will accompany the entire 2012 season in the USA with a technical crew and provide consultancy to the race teams. In addition, Audi is exploring the possibilities of future uses the Audi R8 LMS at other endurance events in the US.

USF2000 National Championship Dan Wheldon bounced and beamed like a child waiting to open their Christmas presents. "Can I go out now? Are you guys ready? Can I go now?" he asked everyone in sight.Though at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Wheldon wasn't getting ready to race in the Indianapolis 500. He wasn't even hopping into his own car, instead sliding into Spencer Pigot's Cooper Tires presents the USF2000 National Championship powered by Mazda car and speeding down the road course. Read more

Renault 3.5: Team Rossi Motorsports has confirmed that American driver Alexander Rossi will be supported by Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia and his low-cost airline. Alexander is currently the senior driver for the AirAsia Team Lotus Driver Development Programme and AirAsia is now also supporting Alexander’s aspirations of reaching Formula 1 through his participation in the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship, racing for UK based Fortec Motorsports Ltd. Earlier this year, Alexander formed a long term relationship with Team Lotus in his pursuit to reach Formula 1. Since he entered the Team Lotus Driver Development Program, both Team Lotus and Alexander have built a strong relationship and each has proven their intentions and commitment to see him become the next American in Formula 1. Alexander Rossi, “I am very proud of my association with AirAsia and their support for the closing rounds of the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 season. This is an exciting time for me as an American racing driver, with many alignments commercially on the forefront. The continued support given to me by Tony Fernandes, Team Lotus and AirAsia is invaluable in helping me to achieve my goal of reaching Formula 1 in the near future. I have very good relationships formed within Team Lotus and AirAsia. This is another important step forward in my career goals. I’m extremely grateful to Tony Fernandes and AirAsia for their continued belief and commitment to me.” Tony Fernandes, Group CEO, AirAsia added, “Alexander is already a member of the AirAsia Team Lotus Development Driver Programme and is proving himself in World Series by Renault with consistent podium finishes and great race craft. We are very happy to confirm that AirAsia has been supporting Alexander since round seven of the Championship at Silverstone, someone who is proving to be a great prospect at the highest echelons of global motorsport in the future.”

Formula 3: In a display of support from friends, family, local supporters and his team, Tasmanian youngster Josh Burdon will continue his dream of contending for the Forpark Australia Scholarship when he returns to the F3 Australian Drivers Championship at Sandown this weekend. The now 19-year-old – he celebrated his birthday at the weekend – spectacularly rolled out of the first race of the most recent Formula 3 round held at Morgan Park in Queensland. His car badly damaged but with only pride injured, Burdon walked away from the crash thinking it was the end of his campaign to win a $50,000 subsidy towards an outright drive next season – but he has since found himself surprised by the level of support from family in particular that has since emerged.Local media ran the story in support of their home-grown talent – aware that the final round of this year’s championship will be staged at Symmons Plains in November – but it was those closest to him who stepped up to the plate in the end. In fact, it’s been enough to ensure his return at Sandown Raceway, in suburban Melbourne, this weekend. Read more

Facu Regalia was testing in the Italian Formula 3 championship at Vallelunga yesterday prior to the sixth round of the season. The Team Ghinzani driver showed his pace once more on he track where he had been fastest in pre-season. In the morning on low mileage tyres he went quickest before dropping to third in the afternoon despite a set of fresh tyres. Facu explained: “I found comfortable at Vallelunga. In the morning I set the best lap time, 1:31.308, and I was two tenths faster than everyone else. In the afternoon, I was leading but finally two drivers beat me. Anyway I was third, very close to them. My best lap then was 1:31.040”, Facu added, “we thought to keep P1 using just a set of fresh tyres, but we couldn´t achieve it. Anyway it is positive because my rivals used their second set, and we saved it. It´s important to keep it for free practice sessions at Vallelunga”. After Adria last weekend, where Facu didn’t achieve the results he expected, the test was a welcome improvement. “Our test at Vallelunga. We have a good set-up for this track, because my car was just suffering from a low understeer using new tires. It wasn´t to be worried but anyway we will try to solve it. For sure we are cautious concerning our prospects, because we are fast enough in collective testing but then again we have problems in race days. I am confident to try my best at Vallelunga, but I don´t want to become over-confident”.

GP2: Jolyon Palmer is hoping to end his debut GP2 season on a high and secure his maiden points finish during the final rounds of the series this weekend in Monza. The 20-year-old has shown great potential this season as one of the leading rookie drivers in the F1 feeder series with a string of top 10 results to his name. With two races left to play out in the 2011 season, Jolyon hopes to end the year by claiming his maiden points score on the 5.793km Italian circuit – a track he won twice on during his 2010 F2 season. Jolyon will also be hoping to continue the strong pace he demonstrated at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit last month where he produced one of his best drives of his season, making up a remarkable eight places from the back of the field to finish an impressive 14th.Speaking ahead of this weekend, Jolyon, who drives for Arden International, said: “I’m looking forward to Monza this weekend. It’s the final round of the season and on a track I have enjoyed good success on before so hopefully I can get some points and end this season on a high.”

Sports 2000: Having displayed considerable talent throughout his 2011 season, one would have been forgiven for thinking that David Pittard’s trip to Oulton Park would yield nothing less than a win for the Brunel University student but ‘lady luck’ seemed to have other ideas. Read report

Karts: Josh White took another step closer to the championship title following rounds nine and ten of the 2011 British Formula Kart Stars (FKS) series at Whilton Mill in Northamptonshire last weekend. Josh, who went into the latest FKS fixture with a commanding lead in the MiniMax class for 11-16 year-olds, enjoyed another superb weekend, and hot on the heels of his victory seven days earlier in the prestigious stand-alone Gold Cup meeting at Three Sisters in Wigan, he once again set the standard. Indeed he won both finals at 'the Mill - increasing his tally to 1505 points and stretching his cushion over his closest rival to 64-points ahead of the final FKS meeting at Ellough Park later this month. Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net read report

At the end of a summer period that CRG used to add the finishing touches to the preparation of its karts, the Italian manufacturer was ready for its return to Belgium. Jonathan Thonon (CRG-Maxter) triumphed for the 4th time at the World Cup for KZ1, while his team mate Davide Forè took the third place. At the World Cup for KZ2 there were two CRG drivers on the podium, with Yard Pex and Fabian Federer in second and third place respectively. As for the Tiene-Lennox Lamb duo in KF1, they conquered as many as three top 3 places for their team. Read report

On her first participation in the Karting World Cup for KZ1, Beitske Visser impressed more than ever by taking the lead of the final in Genk. With a possible victory on the cards the Dutch karter became the victim of an incident that deprived her of the good result she coveted. Fortunately Beitske could also take great satisfaction from the meeting, one of the most important in the international calendar. read report

Australian Formula Ford : The fourth round of the 2011 Australian Formula Ford Championship was recently held at Queensland Raceway in Ipswich.Catch all the action as Australia's future stars take to the track over three electric races that produced three different winners this Saturday on 7mate. In one of the most even rounds so far this season, can Cameron Waters extend his series lead? Saturday 10 September, 2011 - 3:00pm AEST (check your local guides) on 7mate. The Australian Formula Ford Championship hits the track again on September 9-11, for round five of the series at Sandown International Motor Raceway in Melbourne.

Other News : Lexus LFA Nürburgring Package laps the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:14.64, a new fastest time for regular production cars. The Lexus LFA, equipped with the Nürburgring Package of aerodynamic and handling enhancements, has lapped the famous German race track from which it takes its name with a new fastest lap for a current, regular production car. LFA test driver and professional racer Akira Iida recorded a lap time of 7:14.64 in a fully road-legal car, running on standard specification Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tyres. The result, posted on 31 August during a performance test, demonstrates Lexus’s success in honing its two-seater supercar for track-focused handling, by introducing a range of aerodynamic features and fine-tuning the car’s suspension. Commenting on the result, Iida said: “We are delighted with this achievement. Our on-going development of the LFA and our recent outings at the Nürburgring 24 Hour race have enabled us to continue to tune the vehicle. The result with the LFA Nürburgring Package shows the car’s ultimate performance and agility. This is a first activity of its type for Lexus and the constant effort of the team has brought this fantastic result.” The Nürburgring Package will be fitted to 50 of the 500 LFA that are being built, with customer deliveries from next year. It includes a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) front spoiler and fixed rear wing, track-tuned suspension and custom wheels. Compared to the standard LFA, output from the 4.8-litre V10 engine has been increased from 552 to 562bhp, maintaining the car’s 3.7-second nought to 62mph acceleration time. Haruhiko Tanahashi, LFA Chief Engineer, said: “The LFA Nürburgring Package is the culmination of our extensive testing programme and we have appreciated the opportunities to use the Nürburgring Nordschleife to strengthen and develop the LFA into the vehicle it is today. The development team's obsession, Iida-san's concentration and good course conditions all led to our achieving this record.”

06-09-11

The MG Trophy championship will once again repay their Scottish drivers with a return to Knockhill on the 10th September for two races on the challenging 1.3 mile circuit. Scottish regulars Colin Robertson, Graham Ross and Paul Luti all regularly compete in the Trophy championship travelling many miles down south every time to compete in all the other Trophy rounds. Trophy co-ordinator Pete Macwaters said “ It’s our way of saying thanks to the Scottish guys for supporting the championship in all the southern rounds travelling many miles from Scotland to tracks like Brands Hatch and Silverstone”. Macwaters also made a big point of thanking Robertson for sponsoring the Scottish races once again, this time under his Burnbrae Garage title. “Colin is a true Trophy stalwart and a popular competitor, it’s great that he’s once again agreed to support our championship in this way”. Racer Paul Luti’s father, Brian, a well known local man of Dreadnought Garage fame is also doing his bit with a BBQ for all the Trophy guys and their teams on the Friday evening. “We’re so lucky to have people like Brian associated with our championship” said Macwaters, “Brian and his crew come to all the southern races and give lots of support and help to the other drivers in so many ways”. “These are the final rounds of the MGCC’s premier championship and there’s all to play for” Macwaters added, “with the overall championship title and some of the class places still depending on the outcome of these races there’s sure to be some exciting track action not to be missed” he said. The Trophy championship hope to be able to visit Knockhill again in 2012.

ILMC: After claiming first and second place in the Le Mans Series 6 Hours of Imola in July, the Rebellion Racing team is aiming for another strong result at the 6 Hours of Silverstone on return from the series’ summer break. The post-holiday 6 Hours of Silverstone is part of both the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (fifth round) and the Le Mans Series (fourth round). Rebellion Racing will face extremely strong opposition at Silverstone with regular ILMC/LMS competitors Audi, Peugeot and the Pescarolo teams along with the return of Aston Martin Racing. After very good results since the beginning of the season, Rebellion Racing is in strong positions in both series’ Championship tables. In the LMS, the team’s Lola-Toyota cars are in a position to potentially win the Manufacturers’ Championship after the 6 Hours of Silverstone event. The Swiss team is co-leader of the LMS Teams’ Championship and could secure third spot in ILMC Teams’ Championship classification behind the Peugeot and Audi factory teams.The summer has been a busy time for the team as they have been working on minor improvements and they had to modify the cars to comply with the new regulations, which mandate an increase by 5 mm in the thickness of the “plank” which is under the car (it goes now to 25 mm). This new regulation has required the team to increase the ride height and revise some of the mechanical and aerodynamic settings on the car accordingly.Bart Hayden, Team Manager: “We head into the next race at Silverstone with confidence but also realism, this race could put us into a really strong position for the various Championships. We are currently well positioned in both the ILMC and LMS but we will have six hours of extremely tough racing against very strong opposition to get through first. We have confidence in the pace of our cars and our determination will be high for the best possible results to get closer to our targets. We want to win the LMS Teams’ Championship and we are close to that now with just two races to go and in the ILMC we are targeting to be the best placed private team.”

Formula Ford: Dan de Zille moved up into 5th position in the championship at Brands Hatch this weekend in his fight for the British Formula Ford title after three Top Ten finishes, including a podium for coming 2nd in race two. Qualifying on Friday was incredibly close, with Dan getting closer to pole than ever before. Amazingly, the top 14 drivers were all within 1 second of each other: Dan qualified in 8th position for Race 1, a scant 0.5 off the actual pole sitter. In Race 1, Dan gained a couple of places off the grid, quickly shifting up to 6th place, only to lose a couple of positions through gearbox selector problems till he found a way to drive round the issue, finishing where he’d started, in 8th place. A change of set-up and some sheer determination on Sunday morning resulted in Dan flying from 7th off the start of Race 2, and he was up into 4th spot before daunting Paddock Hill Bend. Dan held 4th throughout much of the race, and was promoted to 3rd when rival Malvern received a drive-though penalty for jumping the start. Once up to 3rd, Dan drove a faultless race, in spite of having to battle an understeering car in the closing stages . On the penultimate lap, team-mate Geoff Uhrhane spun at Clearways, allowing Dan to zip past into 2nd place to take the chequered flag. Another good start in Race 3 elevated Dan from 7th to 5th, where he battled with McBride and Williams. Handling issues meant he struggled to keep Williams at bay, finally slipping back a slot to finish in 8th position overall. Dan commented, “The final race was a frustrating result after this morning’s podium finish. We made yet more changes to the set-up, but it didn’t make the car any better as I was battling with understeer. We have some work to do in testing before Donington!”

British GT: A scintillating lap helped Tim Bridgman and Trackspeed claim pole position for round eight of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Rockingham on Saturday before a mechanical failure put paid to his hopes of a second victory in 2011. On a weekend that saw most of their championship rivals also encounter problems, Bridgman and team-mate Gregor Fisken demonstrated the sort of pace that should have seen them claw back vital points as the season enters its final stages. Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup: It has been a tough last couple of months for Tom Ingram but as the 2011 Ginetta GT Supercup headed north of the border to Knockhill, he banished any bad and regained the top step of the podium after rediscovering his early-season momentum. Read report

A win, fastest lap and 6 laps in the overall lead of the GT Supercup field, until a safety car intervention, summed up a positive weekend for Jody Fannin at Knockhill in Scotland. Read report

HHC Motorsport enjoyed a highly competitive weekend in both the Ginetta Junior Championship and the Ginetta Challenge at the weekend. The Harrogate-based team split itself in two as it ran cars at both Rockingham and Knockhill. The popular Ginetta Challenge raced at Rockingham where the team ran cars for Richard Sykes and Rick Parfitt junior and Rick had his best weekend yet. Read report

Formula 3: Felipe Nasr has won the 2011 Cooper Tyres British Formula 3 Championship after finishing third in this weekend’s final race at Rockingham. With two rounds left in the 2011 season, the young Brazilian has completed a successive hat trick of championships for British team Carlin and Volkswagen power, following in the tyre tracks of Daniel Ricciardo (2009) and Jean-Eric Vergne (2010).The British Formula 3 Championship has a strong record for producing some of the world’s finest single-seater drivers, and Nasr is the 12th Brazilian to win the coveted title. He joins an illustrious list of drivers including Formula 1 stars Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi and Nelson Piquet.In addition to claiming overall victory in the championship, Volkswagen power performed strongly throughout the weekend’s three races at Rockingham, scoring seven out of a possible nine podium finishes.In the weekend’s first race, fellow Brazilian Pietro Fantin scored his first ever race victory in British Formula 3 and was joined on the podium by Carlin duo Rupert Svendson-Cook and Jack Harvey. With a reverse starting grid, Race Two then saw Felipe Nasr claim a hard-fought second place before another podium lock-out for Volkswagen in Race Three. Carlin team mate Kevin Magnussen claimed the race victory ahead of Hitech Racing’s Fantin and Nasr completed the podium with his championship-winning drive in third.

Karts: David Martine, Adrien Bloyet, Maxime et Théo Bidard, four young drivers from Caen, took their maiden win in the Le Mans’ 24 Hours Karting at the wheel of Sarthe RTKF’s n°72 Sodi-Parilla. The local team scored a commanding one-two and repeated its 2009 and 2010 victories, while the Italian entry of Michaël Dauphin, Clément Traglia, Sébastien Bertrand et Alexandre Finkelstein (Cassino-Amobsic / Tony-Rotax) took the Group 2 honours. Read report

The third meeting of the World KF1 Championship held at Genk (Belgium) was not one of the easiest for Nyck De Vries. The Dutch karter found himself at the back of the pack twice, but always managed to bridge the gap to conquer two victories which are very important for the goal he is pursuing: winning the second title of World Champion in a row at the wheel of his Zanardi-Parilla. Read report

Samuel Oram-Jones enjoyed another strong run and took four more podiums during rounds nine and ten of the 2011 British Formula Kart Stars (FKS) series at Whilton Mill last weekend.Sammy, who competes in the MiniMax class for 11-16 year-olds and who also contests the same class in the British Super One Rotax Series, came into the event on a real high, having claimed a victory last time out in Belgium, as well as having secured the Lewis Hamilton ‘True grit’ award again - an accolade given to one MiniMax competitor at each round for making up the most places. Pic Chris Walker / www.kartpix.net read report

Sports 2000 – Mike Jenvey was in action last weekend at Oulton Park in the Sports 2000 Championship. Despite damp conditions at the start he went on to win his first race in the series over 30 asecond ahead of Justin Everitt in second. Read Mikes report

FIA GT: The no.22 JRM Racing Nissan GT-R of Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook followed up their Qualifying Race second place with a strong repeat performance in Sunday's FIA GT1 World Championship Race in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, allowing JRM to claim outright top position in the Teams' Championship standings in the process. Further back in the pack, pit stop problems saw both the no.21 Sumo Power GT and the no.23 JRM lose several places during the pit window to finish seventh and ninth respectively, whilst there was disappointment for the no.20 Sumo Power GT, which retired from the race in the early stages. Read report

The Scirocco R-Cup returned to Brands Hatch last weekend with some top-calibre racing. The deserving winner was Swedish driver Ola Nilsson, who now sits second in the championship, overtaking young Briton Daniel Lloyd in the standings. Former F1-driver Johnny Herbert finished fifth overall and claimed the coveted first place in the hard-fought Legends class with a convincing performance.The race took place on the Indy circuit but was interrupted with a red flag on the first lap. Junior driver Thomas Schöffler, who had started from third on the grid, spun on the exit of Graham Hill Bend, coming to a halt facing the oncoming traffic. In the group that immediately followed, Maiken Rasmussen was unable to avoid a collision. Following the accident, the young Dane was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.When the race was re-started Jann-Hendrik Ubben was initially able to maintain his lead with a strong showing. Over the laps that followed, the lead three cars broke away from the rest of the grid and battled hard for the lead. An impressive overtaking manoeuvre into the notorious Paddock Hill Bend saw Nilsson take the lead from Ubben in the closing laps and he crossed the line first to take his second victory of the season.Behind the lead group, former Formula 1 racers Johnny Herbert, Mark Blundell and Tiff Needell and three-time British Rally Champion Mark Higgins, fought a fantastic battle in the near-275-hp bio natural gas-powered Scirocco. Over the 24 lap race, the British motorsport legends treated the fans to fantastically close racing and some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. In the process, Johnny Herbert was able to take care of some special unfinished business by taking revenge for last year’s defeat to Mark Blundell and deciding the Legends classification in his favour by finishing the race in fifth place overall. Tiff Needell had a strong race, moving forward through the field to claim 12th while Mark Higgins and Mark Blundell completed the Legends classification in 19th and 22nd places respectively.In the overall standings Lisowski (288 points) continues to lead the championship, now in front of Nilsson (247),with Lloyd (229) in third place after finishing his home race in eighth place.The Scirocco R-Cup returns to Germany for rounds 9 & 9 at Oschersleben on 16-18 September 2011. Live broadcasts are available at www.volkswagen-motorsport.com/livestream.

Brands Hatch was the hub of the motorsport world last weekend as a host of celebrities from the racing fraternity descended upon the circuit for the latest round of the DTM series. The series features former Formula 1 drivers David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher and both made their presence felt during the weekend, the former making up several places during the race, whilst the latter finished fifth after a fighting drive. The race was won by Audi’s title challenger Martin Tomczyk, who overturned a seven point deficit into the championship lead over Mercedes’ Bruno Spengler. Present on the grid before the race, 2010 champion Paul Di Resta recalled his win here last year, which kicked off a late charge to the title, beating erstwhile leader Spengler. Also on the grid was 1979 F1 champion Jody Scheckter, who now runs Laverstoke Park, the award-winning organic farm. A supplier to MSV's circuit catering outlets, he was also present to demonstrate the world’s fastest ice cream, which delighted the huge crowd after the DTM race, together with a parade of classic Jaguar E-Types in the car’s 50th year. Recently seen at Snetterton, the 180mph plus van comes complete with working chimes! There was also plenty of entertainment in the supporting VW Scirocco R Cup race. Returning to the circuit after a popular race here last year, which featured several motorsport legends. Johnny Herbert finished ahead of Fifth Gear’s Tiff Needell and rally champion Mark Higgins, whilst former F1 driver and pundit Mark Blundell also took part. Trophies were awarded by former F1 driver and original ‘Stig’ Perry McCarthy. Whilst the DTM race took place in wet conditions, the weather for the busy support bill was warm and sunny. The newly-FIA sanctioned Racecar Euro-Series brought a flavour of NASCAR-style racing to the UK, whilst there was plenty of action in the MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, Elise Trophy, Lotus Cup UK and the Nippon Challenge.

The countdown to the 2012 Paralympic Games road cycling has started with one year to go before Brands Hatch hosts the events. The Kent circuit will become the focus of the Paralympic Games on 5-8 September 2012. Brands Hatch is the only venue in Kent to host an event and the county is busy preparing for the races. This will include an extension of nearby Swanley rail station as 2012 fever grips the nation. For Brands Hatch it will be a return to the circuit’s roots as it started as a cycle venue in the early 20th century. The connection continues as like motor racing, Paralympic cycling has been transformed by technology since its inception in 1984. Originally a sport for blind athletes on tandem bicycles, it is now open to those with cerebral palsy, amputations or other physical disabilities across 12 classes. The original tandem class is still run and is joined by handcycles, tricycles as well as specially modified bicycles, and the colour of the cyclists’ helmets reflects the class they compete in. There are two types of events; the road race where all competitors start at the same time, and time trials, raced against the clock. British hopes include Darren Kenny, Britain’s most successful Paralympic cyclist. An accident in the 1988 Junior Tour of Ireland at 19 left him with serious head and neck injuries, cutting his able-bodied cycling career short and the 41-year old didn’t return to the sport until 2000. He is aiming for five gold medals next year across the cycling events, after winning four at the 2008 Beijing games and two at Athens in 2004. Also expected to compete will be Rachel Morris, who won Gold in the 2008 Beijing Time Trials. Rachel saw the circuit for herself when she attended the announcement event at Brands Hatch in May. The course will utilise much of the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit, with its challenging corners, including Paddock Hill bend, which will be taken in its original uphill direction. The circuit access roads are also used, plus surrounding streets. However the stadium section with its natural amphitheatre and spectator facilities is sure to be popular with the crowds. Tickets for the Paralympic cycling events will be on sale from Friday 9 September and start at £10. For more information, visit www.london2012.com

05-09-11

ALMS: Falken drivers Wolf Henzler and Brian Sellers swept to victory at the weekend’s American Le Mans Series race in Baltimore. Watched by a crowd of over 150,000 spectators, the inaugural street race in Baltimore brought the Derrick Walker-run Porsche its second GT win in the series following the team’s wet weather victory in Mid Ohio. Excellent tyre consistency played its part in the weekend’s success on the challenging street circuit. "At the beginning of the weekend we didn't really know what kind of package we'd have,” says Falken driver Bryan Sellers. “It was a very smooth asphalt and concrete. To be honest we didn't know we'd have a compound soft enough. The tyre turned out to be fantastic.” A first turn incident among the GT frontrunners gave the team mate Wolf Henzler the impetus to climb from fifth to second then eventually taking the class lead after passing Dirk Werner’s BMW M3. After the cycle of pit stops Henzler held third but a further accident between the leading Corvette and BMW gave Henzler the chance to seize the lead, something he would hold onto until the end. Unusually for the very competitive GT class, the Falken Porsche headed its rivals by over a lap at the finish. It also secured the Michelin Green X efficiency and performance challenge, underlining the team’s supremacy and increasing competitiveness against Ferraris, BMWs, Chevrolet Corvettes and other Porsches.

Formula 3: Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series racer Bart Hylkema enjoyed a consistently strong and competitive outing at Rockingham in Northamptonshire over the weekend, 3rd/4th September, which he capped off with an impressive ninth place finish in the third and final race.Round 24 on Sunday afternoon was definitely the event highlight for the 21-year-old Dutchman as he came out on top in battles with Carlos Huertas and Lucas Foresti, neatly underlining the improvements he is making as his debut season in F3 progresses.Starting the wet third race from 15th on the grid, thanks to his quickest time from qualifying, Bart made steady moves up the order and by lap nine – following an early Safety Car period – he was into the points-paying top 10. Passing Foresti for ninth on lap 15, the T-Sport driver fended off the Brazilian and remained there to the finish on lap 24.The first of the weekend’s races on Saturday afternoon, round 22, also went well for Bart as he moved up from 17th on the starting grid into an eventual finish of 12th position, working hard to hold on to the placing while under serous pressure from South American Pipo Derani. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Formula Renault BARC: Hector Hurst left the latest rounds of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship once again clutching the positives from a tough meeting, this time at his local circuit Thruxton. For the third meeting in a row, Scorpio Motorsport’s Hurst was on the receiving end of contact from a rival, taking him out of the first race and leaving him on the back foot for the second. Read report

Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship title contender Josh Webster kept his hopes of claiming the 2011 crown alive at Thruxton on Saturday with a brace of hard-earned podium finishes. ot on the heels of being invited by the British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) to be one of its latest ‘Rising Stars’, the Stowmarket 17-year-old raced brilliantly to third place in each encounter after clutch problems compromised his starts on each occasion. Read report

Rising star Matt Mason produced a superb performance over the latest rounds of the Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship, the MGR Motorsport driver stunning his rivals at the high-speed Thruxton circuit in Hampshire to take second place in Round Ten, Mason’s maiden podium finish in his first season of car-racing. Read report

Ginetta GT Supercup : Kidderminster’s Nathan Freke had a great weekend at Knockhill with two wins and a 2nd place in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup races that support the MSA Dunlop British Touring Car Championship. Pic Chris Roberts/WiderViewPhoto.com read report

Ginetta Jnrs: Declan Jones put in some sensational overtaking manoeuvres and secured his best finish yet in the Ginetta Junior Championship during rounds thirteen and fourteen at Knockhill over the weekend.Declan, who has graduated to the Ginetta Junior Championship for 14-17 year-olds this season and who was recently accepted onto the MSA Academy AASE (Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence) programme, once again had to learn another new circuit, but he put that to one side and overcame a sizable off in qualifying, to comeback to take eleventh in the first race and a sensational fifth in the second. read report

Hillspeed enjoyed a highly successful trip north of the border at the weekend, 3rd/4th September, for the latest two rounds of Ginetta Junior Championship action at Knockhill in Scotland – points leader Seb Morris secured his 10th win of 2011 and rapid rookie Struan Moore sealed a double podium. While Hillspeed’s Ginetta Junior squad was in action in the Kingdom of Fife, some 450 miles south at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire the team’s Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship drivers were competing in the penultimate event of the 2011 season. Read reports

BTCC: Local hero Gordon Shedden was the toast of Knockhill as the Honda Racing driver swept to victory on his home track and moved into the lead of the 2011 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship on Sunday. The 31-year-old scored a third place finish in the opening race of the weekend at the Fife venue and then won the second race. He backed up those results with a fighting fifth position in the final race of the weekend to move to the top of the drivers' standings. He is just one point ahead of team-mate Matt Neal. Gordon ‘Flash’ Shedden, who is the commercial manager at the venue, said that he thought it was mission accomplished over the course of the three races as he overturned a nine point deficit to seize the title advantage. "I knew it would be crucial to get at least 30 points over the course of the three races at Knockhill, and the results went better than I could have expected. I scored 32, and I was able to win a round in front of my home fans which is always special." Shedden said that the key strength of the Civic was its handling over the tight and twisty track, which he said gave him optimism for the remaining nine races in the championship. "We knew we had to exploit our chassis at Knockhill, and that is exactly what has helped us here," said Flash. "Some of the other cars have big turbochargers and were able to have an advantage on the straights, but our car came into its own in the corners. It shows what a great package we have with the Civic." Shedden's team-mate Matt Neal backed up the Scotsman by taking two second places and a fourth to move into the slipstream of the new points leader. He racked up the points despite driving through the pain barrier having fractured a bone in his hand in a martial arts exam in the weeks leading up to the race. "It's funny, it didn't hurt all the while I was racing but it is starting to ache now the adrenaline is wearing off," said the 44-year-old. "We have had some amazing results this weekend and once again we have shown that the Honda is the best all-round package in the series. To bounce back from the last meeting at Snetterton, where I had two non-scores, was vital in terms of the title run in. It is going to be a fight between myself and Gordon now for the rest of the season, but we aren't going to take our eye off the ball. There are so many competitive people in this championship and some really strong cars out there that we will have to keep pushing until the end of the season."

It was a tough weekend in Scotland for Andrew Jordan and Pirtek Racing, with three finishes in the top 10 during rounds 19, 20 and 21 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship at Knockhill (4 September).Andrew and his team mate Jeff Smith battled hard in their Vauxhall Vectras, but the current turbo boost settings within the BTCC are hurting the Vectras. “You can only do the best you can with what you have and, unfortunately, at the moment that isn’t good enough to win races like it was at the beginning of the year,” said Andrew. Read report

Carlisle’s Alex MacDowall endured a highly frustrating weekend of Dunlop MSA BTCC action at Knockhill in Scotland over the weekend, 3rd/4th September, where the power and performance advantage of the turbo-engined opposition made for a very difficult event.At the wheel of his normally-aspirated S2000 specification Chevrolet Cruze, the 20-year-old worked incredibly hard with the RML engineers to try and overcome the lack of parity but the end result was one of the hardest events of the 2011 season so far. Read report

Independent Toyota Avensis driver Frank Wrathall and his Dynojet Racing team produced a stunning performance at Knockhill yesterday to secure a brace of podium finishes in the latest rounds of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season. Read report

Ginetta Challenge: Clive Richards and Mark Davies continued their successful 2011 Ginetta Challenge campaigns by bagging a win apiece at Rockingham yesterday. Read report

Formula 3: Aspiring Formula One racer Felipe Nasr sealed the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series title with six races to spare at Rockingham on Sunday, to etch his name into the history books alongside those of fellow Brazilian winners such as Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna. The South American is the 12th driver from Brazil to claim the prize. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Menasheh Idafar added more points to his Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series total at Rockingham yesterday with a very competitive seventh place finish during round 23. Backing up his ninth position during Saturday’s first race of the weekend, the T-Sport driver was in terrific form in wet conditions on Sunday morning and after a superb start from ninth on the grid he immediately climbed into the top four. Confirming his pace at the 1.94-mile track, the 20-year-old ran within just 1.5 seconds of the soon to be crowned 2011 British F3 Champion Felipe Nasr and looked very well placed for one of his best finishes of the season. On lap three though, Menasheh received contact from behind which dropped him to sixth place.Disappointed but undeterred, he pressed on and although slipping behind Carlos Huertas on lap six he maintained seventh position thereafter to secure his second points scoring finish of the weekend. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Team Ghinzani´s Argentinean driver Facu Regalia had a terrible weekend in the Italian Formula 3 Championship at Adria. He suffered engine failure before the start of Race 1 and although he managed to get it going again and finish eighth. The second race was much worse as a collision with a fellow competitor forced him out of the race. The First race started badly. “I was ready to start after warm lap when my car´s engine stalled, we don´t know why. When the lights were on, I managed to start it. Obviously it was my dream start, and I lost two places”, Regalia explained, who was eight at the end. In race two, Regalia starting eighth on the grid was caught out along with his fellow competitors by rain just before the race got underway. The Argentinean lost two places on a damp track while on slicks. He did however recover to third place – overtaking both Edoardo Liberati and Sergio Campana- but then, when he was in slipstream of the car in P2, he spun. “I was third when I spun, it was raining harder and I made a mistake. I was last, but my lap times were around two seconds faster than leaders. Liberati and Campana, both delayed as a result of incidents, was overtaken by me again. Just one lap later, I overtook Marciello and then I caught Vecchi. He missed the breaking point, I was inside and then he changed his path. Both collided and my car´s suspension was damaged and I had to retire”, Regalia explained, he did however set the fastest lap. Regalia added “I leave really disappointed this meeting. I had big ambitions here, but it was a mess. I was the fastest on track in July, but we have to find out why our car is less competitive in race days”. The Team Ghizani driver has no time to rest with collective testing on Tuesday. “Our test at Vallelunga is important to obtain a good set-up. On the other hand I have to improve my starts, and we are going to train it. Vallelunga has to be a morale boost after Adria”, he said.

Formula Renault BARC: Antel Motorsport’s Dino Zamparelli produced a perfect double race winning performance just when he needed to at Thruxton on Saturday, 3rd September, during the penultimate event of the 2011 Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship. Leading the driver standings by a single point heading into the weekend from Fortec Motorsport’s Josh Webster, Zamparelli’s lights-to-flag victories in rounds nine and 10 of the season mean he has increased his championship advantage to 19 points. Read report

Porsche Carrera Cup GB : A superb performance from Euan Hankey to take a win and a second place topped Team Parker Racing’s weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill.The 24-year-old driver from Taunton in Somerset put in a completely dominant performance to win race two by 4.5 seconds for his third win of the season, the seventh success from 13 races for the Leicester-based Parker with Juta team. pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read team report

Richard Plant enjoyed a competitive weekend on his maiden visit to Knockhill in Scotland, returning home with a haul of points from both Porsche Carrera Cup GB races.Buoyed by his first ever PCCGB podium at Snetterton last time out, it was easy to think Plant would be fighting for victories this weekend. But in truth, this event and the next one at Rockingham were always expected to pose the biggest challenge to Plant as he’d never raced at either circuit. read report

Oman Air Racing Team driver Ahmad Al Harthy made a very welcome return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship Pro-Am 1 podium at Knockhill in Scotland on Sunday, 4th September, with third position in both of the weekend’s races – taking his season’s tally to eight rostrum visits. Read report

Formula Ford: It was a day of mixed fortunes for runaway championship leader Scott Malvern at Brands Hatch - he saw his 13-race winning streak brought to a close in the first race of the day by Jeroen Slaghekke . However Malvern then recovered in the afternoon to take his 15th victory of the season and a new record for the number of wins in a season. With only six races remaining in the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain, Malvern’s stranglehold on the title continues to strengthen. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography read report

GTs: At a time when fathers traditionally receive gifts from their offspring, the Quinn family swapped roles in Round 5 of the Australian GT Championship at Phillip Island on September 3-4! The unusual situation occurred when a major engine problem with Klark’s V.I.P. Petfoods Mosler MT900 during practice threatened to make the championship leader a spectator.Without hesitating, Tony offered to let Klark co-drive his Aston Martin DBRS9 in qualifying and the two 60-minute races at the 4.445km Victorian circuit. The decision paid off handsomely in the first race, in which father and sonl Quinn finished in second place. Unfortunately a broken differential ended their challenge in race two at two-thirds distance while they were running fifth.Although the DNF cost Klark his championship lead, he would have been trailing Mark Eddy by more than 47 points if he hadn’t raced at all.Tony meanwhile has risen from 11th to 9th in the standings after his runner-up result in the first race. Read report

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup racer Daniel Lloyd’s hopes of a home victory at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit were dashed on Saturday, 3rd September, when a tough weekend at the Kent track ended with an eighth place finish in round seven of the season. Although bitterly disappointed not to have been able to fight for the win at the sole UK round of the pan-European series, the Huddersfield 19-year-old still raced hard and managed to salvage a decent haul of points from the re-started encounter to maintain a top three championship placing.pic David Goose / Motorsport-Imagery.com read report

VW Racing Cup: Tricky conditions at Rockingham yesterday (Sunday) were a challenge for the competitors of the Volkswagen Racing Cup with FUCHS Lubricants, but through the rain and spray of race one came James Walker and his father Richard to score a family 1-2 in their Golf GTIs. The weather improved for the event finale, and that suited reigning champion and current championship leader Steve Chaplin as he swept to his fourth race win of the year. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography read report

Star Mazda: Happy to be well clear of all the drama taking place behind him, JDC Motorsports driver Tristan Vautier won his fourth race of the season – all from the pole – in today's Round 10 of the 2011 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at the inaugural Grand Prix of Baltimore. Following him across the finish line, just half a second back, was Andretti Autosport driver Sage Karam. Crossing the finish line third was Juncos Racing driver João Victor Horto and rounding out the podium was Expert Series driver Walt Bowlin who finished 1st in class and 6th overall racing for AIM Autosport. Read report

Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup: Tom Sharp made an overdue return to the top step of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup podium at Knockhill in Fife on Sunday 4th September, with a superb victory during round 20 of the season, enabling him to retake the lead at the top of the driver standings.Unbeatable during the first six rounds of the championship, the IDL racer was thoroughly dominant but after a mid-season slide his points advantage was heavily reduced before then being overturned as Carl Breeze stepped-up his championship bid. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Fergus Walkinshaw recorded his best Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup finish so far, taking his self-built Ginetta G55 to fifth in class in round 19 at the undulating Knockhill circuit on Sunday, September 4.The young Scottish driver, however, endured a challenging weekend at his homeland circuit. Non-fault contact put him out of the running for round 18. After rebuilding the car he took his best class result in round 19 despite suffering from clutch failure. With essential repairs complete just in time for round 20, a split carbon intake then ruined his round 20 chances. Read report

Scotland’s Marino Franchitti rounded-out a highly competitive one-off debut in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup with a fantastic third place finish for Total Control Racing during round 20 of the season at his local track, Knockhill in Fife, on Sunday, 4th September.Despite living in Edinburgh, the successful sportscar ace hadn’t competed at the nearby 1.3-mile circuit for some 10 years prior to the weekend’s action but the ‘guest’ racer quickly got up to speed and adapted to the Ginetta G55 impressively. Read TCR team report

Ginetta Junior Championship front-runner George Gamble capped off a very strong weekend in Scotland with a richly deserved victory during round 14 of the season at Knockhill in Fife on Sunday, 4th September.The TJ Motorsport racer, who finished runner-up to dominant points leader Seb Morris during the opening encounter on Saturday, was in outstanding form throughout the seventh event of the 2011 season and headed the times from the off during testing on Friday. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Scottish teenager Charlie Robertson recorded his sixth podium of the Ginetta Junior Championship season at Knockhill in Fife on Sunday, 4th September, to successfully consolidate his top three placing in the driver standings – but he had to work incredibly hard for it. Delighted to enjoy a rostrum finish on native soil, the 14-year-old from Aberfoyle – who now resides in Whyteleafe, Surrey – raced impressively well in both of the weekend’s action-packed encounters and although disappointed with fifth in round 13, third place in round 14 put a smile on his face. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Seb Morris secured win number 10 of the Ginetta Junior Championship season at Knockhill Circuit in Scotland over the weekend, to take his remarkable podium tally for the year to 11 from 14 races.Concluding the visit north of the border exactly 100 points clear of his closest rival, with just six races now remaining on the 2011 calendar the 15-year-old has taken yet another step closer to his aim of adding the main Ginetta Junior crown to the Winter Series title he claimed last November. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

DTM: Heavy rain resulted into an action packed race in the DTM round at Brands Hatch. With his 2008-spec Audi A4 DTM, Martin Tomczyk became the winner and also toppled Canadian Bruno Spengler (Mercedes-Benz) from the lead in the drivers’ standings. “This was an incredibly exciting race. I really enjoyed the ride. We keep on pushing and will thus make the battle for the title exciting”, said Tomczyk, who was presented with the winner’s trophy by ex Formula 1 world champion Jody Scheckter. For the 29-year old German, it was his seventh DTM win and third this year. Tomczyk’s fellow Audi drivers Mattias Ekström from Sweden and Italian Edoardo Mortara completed the clean sweep of the podium for Audi. Ekström made a brilliant start to move up from fifth to second while Mortara scored his maiden podium finish in only his seventh DTM race. Fourth-placed Briton Gary Paffett was the best-placed Mercedes-Benz driver at his home race. The 2005 DTM champion said after the race: “Too bad that there was so much rain. I was still fastest in warm-up in the morning. In fact, I am usually feeling well in the rain, but today, it didn’t go well. I was able to close up to the driver in third place, but it wasn’t enough to make it onto the podium.” During the race, Ralf Schumacher (Mercedes-Benz) was able to make up two positions and crossed the finish line in fifth place. Pole-sitter Mike Rockenfeller had problems however, the Audi driver eventually scoring three points by finishing sixth. Bruno Spengler came to Brands Hatch as the leader in the points ended up sixth in qualifying and was docked another two positions on the grid due to an infringement of the regulations in second free practice. In the race, the 28-year old only made up one place to seventh. Read report

04-09-11

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Euan Hankey scored a superb lights-to-flag victory in round 13 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill today (Sunday 4 September) as Michael Meadows took second place to extend his championship lead. Meadows had earlier taken a resounding victory in round 12 having fended off Hankey and James Sutton. In an action-packed first race, it was a good day for the Scottish drivers as Derek Pierce took his first Pro-Am1 victory and George Brewster topped Pro-Am2. It got even better for the locals in race 2 with Rory Butcher winning Pro-Am1 and George Brewster won Pro-Am2 once more to complete his double. He also added the ‘driver of the weekend’ award to his tally. Redline Racing won the ‘team of the weekend’ award. read report

WTCC: For the second consecutive year Chevrolet made a clean sweep in the World Touring Car Championship. With three events still to run, the Cruze cars built and run by RML have already secured both the Manufacturers' and Drivers' titles. In what will be a record season for its domination, Chevrolet has built a gap of 304 points ahead of BMW with only 258 still at stake.
As for the drivers, Tom Coronel is currently fourth, but his gap of 175 points means he is mathematically excluded from the fight that remains restricted to the Muller-Huff-Menu trio.
Continuing on the impressive trend of the latest three events, in which he claimed three pole positions and five race wins out of six, Yvan Muller has moved an almost decisive step towards a third WTCC crown. The reigning world champion had arrived in Valencia with six points to recover from Rob Huff and now leaves Spain with a 16-point lead. There is still plenty of opportunities for Huff to reverse the situation once again, however by ousting his young team-mate from the lead he had taken since the first race in Brazil, Muller has delivered a clearly threatening message. Scoring a double victory today, Kristian Poulsen has jumped on top of the Yokohama Trophy, only four points ahead of Norbert Michelisz.

Tom Coronel was given a 10-second time penalty by the Stewards of the Meeting, for causing the incident with Javier Villa while they were fighting for the lead in the second race.This resulted in the Dutchman demoted from fourth to seventh.The other two collisions investigated - Monteiro-Menu-Huff in Race 1 and Barth-Bennani in Race 1 - were considered as normal race incidents by the Stewards.

Star Mazda: After a Friday practice session shortened to 15 minutes by delays in finishing construction on the 12-turn, 2.4-mile Grand Prix of Baltimore street circuit, French racer Tristan Vautier, made full and productive use of today's single 30-minute practice session for the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear; he cut three seconds from yesterday's quick time and topped the time sheets for the final practice with a 1:31.319 (80.421 mph) in the #5 JDC Motorsports / Cecibon / Circuit du Laquais Mazda.Due to the short amount of practice time, grid positions for the race will be determined by championship points; as a result, Vautier – the championship leader - will start from his 5th pole of the year. pic Eric McCombs read more

Ginetta GT Supercup: Nathan Freke made a near-perfect start to the seventh event of the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup season at Knockhill on Saturday by securing an excellent lights-to-flag win during round 18 – his fifth victory from the last nine race starts.Although the first half of the season proved troublesome for theplayer.co.uk/Century Motorsport driver, over the last few race meetings Freke has been able to show the sort of pace and ability which took him to the Ginetta G50 Cup title – the forerunner to the GT Supercup – in 2009. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Championship leader Carl Breeze secured his 11th podium of the 2011 Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at Knockhill on Saturday, with a typically competitive drive during round 18 of the season for Total Control Racing.Climbing into the top three from fourth on the grid, the Kings Lynn racer was able to match the pace of front-row starters Nathan Freke and Tom Sharp but with nothing to choose between the trio the order never changed during the 19-lap duration.force his title rival into a mistake.Even so, Breeze continued to push and ended the first of the weekend’s three races north of the border a mere 0.8 seconds adrift and only 1.3 seconds shy of winner Freke. Although dropping a handful of points to Sharp, the TCR man goes into Sunday’s action with a 26 points lead. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read TCR report

Ginetta Jnrs: Knockhill Circuit in Scotland provided the latest test for the teenage stars of the Ginetta Junior Championship on Saturday, 3rd September, with points leader Seb Morris once again adding to his already substantial cushion with his 10th victory of the year in round 13.On a very strong day for Hillspeed, Morris’ team-mate Struan Moore secured his second podium in as many race meetings with a terrific third place behind TJ Motorsport’s George Gamble – the latter having to mount not one, but two sensational recoveries having originally led on lap one. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Formula 3: Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series front-runner Menasheh Idafar made a welcome return to the points at Rockingham this afternoon, Saturday, 3rd September, after an impressively strong drive to ninth position in round 22 of the season. Pic Jakob Ebrey Photography Read report

Formula Renault BARC : Archie Hamilton suffered extreme disappointment this weekend at Thruxton when a second non-finish after being hit from behind effectively finished his Protyre Formula Renault BARC Championship title hopes. His car had also been an issue with a loss of straight-line speed remaining a hindrance for qualifying and both races. Having qualified in seventh, Archie’s race one was short-lived when he was hit hard from behind on the opening lap, damaging his car too badly to continue. Undeterred Archie managed to make up from eighth to fourth in race two with a tremendous start and taking the opportunity of his home track experience to push harder on cold tyres than the rest. On one of the fastest track in the UK, being low on power was going to be a hard problem to overcome. Archie Hamilton defended as well as he could for the remaining 11 laps and by the time he crossed the line he had held onto sixth place. Archie Hamilton - “It’s obviously been a bad weekend in terms of my championship. Being hit from behind and put out of the race or having a power problem are bad news – but both on the same weekend were really bad luck. The power issue was very frustrating. I could get up to a decent speed with a tow but without I was way down. The data showed I was faster than my teammate through the corners but then down by over half a second over the lap. A big mystery. I’m really disappointed that my hopes for the title are gone but I’m having my best season in terms of learning and improving as a driver.”

03-09-11

Formula Ford : Scott Malvern claimed his 14th victory of the Dunlop MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain season at Brands Hatch this morning, taking what he said was “the hardest win of the year so far” by just 0.088s. pic Jakob Ebrey photography read race report

DTM. The four weeks’ summer break is over and Audi driver Mike Rockenfeller got the first applause when the 27-year old German outpaced the opposition in qualifying for the seventh round at Brands Hatch to take pole position. “I am really happy, because I hadn’t expected this. We picked the right strategy, we gambled a little bit and thus had fresher tyres for the final heat. We are well prepared for the race”, said the fastest man of the day. ’Rocky’ completed his lap of the Indy circuit, the shortest on the DTM calendar, in 42.090 seconds and ended up ahead of Mercedes-Benz driver Gary Paffett, who was second (42.288 seconds). For Rockenfeller, it is the maiden pole of his DTM career. For Audi, it is the first pole at Brands since 2008. Paffett commented afterwards: “Here, it is always very close. The track is really short and one has to be 100 percent committed. I am happy to have made it into second place, particularly in front of my fans here in Great Britain.” German Martin Tomczyk was also happy wiith his 2008-spec Audi A4 DTM, claiming third place on the grid. Jamie Green will be lining up alongside with his AMG Mercedes C-Class in fourth place while Swede Mattias Ekström (Audi) was fifth. Points’ leader Bruno Spengler was sixth, the Canadian Mercedes-Benz driver failed to make it into the final heat and on top of that, he was docked two places on the grid as a penalty for having used an unmarked set of tyres in second free practice on Saturday morning. Now, the 28-year old will try to make his way up into the race from eighth place on the grid. “That isn’t a drama, but eighth place is worse than first. Fortunately, I have 98 laps to improve”, said Spengler. The two times’ DTM champion Timo Scheider (Audi) and Scot David Coulthard (Mercedes-Benz) were also disappointed, Scheider will be starting from twelfth place, ’DC’ ended up 16th. Five DTM drivers are having a home race. Susie Stoddart, Jamie Green, Gary Paffett and David Coulthard (all Mercedes-Benz) and Oliver Jarvis (Audi) make up almost one third of the DTM field.

Porsche Carrera Cup GB: Tommy Dreelan is the latest Porsche Carrera Cup GB racer to benefit from Michelin’s on-going support of the championship by winning a set of tyres this weekend at Knockhill (3/4 September). Dreelan, racing for Celtic Speed, has competed in the championship since the middle of 2009 and is contending the Pro-Am2 category this season. The Aberdeen-based Irishman is a popular figure in the paddock and has helped young Scot Rory Butcher join the Carrera Cup in 2011. Having been the control tyre supplier for the Carrera Cup GB since the championship was created in 2003, Michelin is once more supporting the teams and drivers with the award of a complete set of slick racing tyres at each event. Before the start of testing, a name is drawn from a hat to receive the tyres, with a value of more than £1000.

Michael Caine has sacrificed his own weekend of racing to allow his Motorbase Performance team mate Steve Parish to maintain his Pro-Am2 title bid in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill this weekend. An accident in testing on Friday for Parish, on his first to the Scottish track, looked set to end his weekend early as his car was too badly damaged to race. Then Caine stepped forward to offer his team mate the use of his 911 GT3 Cup car for qualifying and the two races. “It is a measure of the kind of guy he is,” said Parish, who was initially reluctant to accept the offer. “He’s helped me so much in the three years I’ve been racing and as soon as I got back to the pits after the accident he offered me the use of his car.” While Parish is chasing George Brewster for the Pro-Am2 title, Caine no longer has any hopes of the overall title and was ready to hand his car over to the driver he has mentored over the last three years. “It’s more about the team than me,” said Caine. “I would always offer my car to one of the Motorbase drivers in the same situation,” he added. “We go racing as a team,” said Caine. Team boss David Bartrum was grateful to Caine for making such a magnanimous sacrifice. “Michael has a very special relationship with Motorbase and he works with all of our drivers; this gives Steve a chance in Pro-Am2.” Parish’s car was damaged when he ran wide at Clark Curve and hit the car of Keith Webster, which had gone into the gravel a few moments earlier. “I do feel bad for Keith,” said Parish. “He’s out for the weekend through no fault of his own.”

Michael Meadows and Euan Hankey each took a pole position in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Knockhill today (Saturday). In a competitive qualifying session, it was an unwell championship leader Stephen Jelley (Parker with Juta) who lost out with a brace of sixth places as just eight-tenths of a second covered the top 13 cars on the grid for round 12. Jelley’s session included a spin at the chicane and he had to reverse out of the gravel before rejoining. “It was just a messy session,” he said. Jonas Gelzinis (Juta Racing) clinched a double pole in Pro-Am1, while George Brewster (Celtic Speed) topped Pro-Am2 for both races. With the track drying quickly, the best times came in the second half of the session, but with a red flag after Steve Parish (Motorbase Performance) spun off, there was a hectic closing seven minutes as drivers tried to find clear space for a final push. Meadows (SAS/Redline) drove a fine session to be first and second for the two races, while Hankey (Parker with Juta) was second and then first. Ben Barker (Parr Motorsport), James Sutton (SAS/Redline) and Ben Hetherington (Oman Air/Redline) were third, fourth and fifth for both races before Jelley in sixth. With team mates Sutton and Hetherington close behind and points’ leader Jelley back in sixth, Meadows is well placed to win back some of the current nine-point deficit to Jelley. Hankey was equally happy with qualifying. “I used my head to make a lot of room and that allowed me to get a couple of good laps,” said Hankey. Barker was also strong despite a spin and underlined his excellent form of the previous round at Snetterton. “I tried to find a bit of space and that gave me one clear lap,” said Barker of a very busy session. Sutton reckoned that two fourth places was a step forward from his troubled weekend at Snetterton, while Hetherington had one of his best qualifying sessions to date to run right among the leading drivers. The contest in Pro-Am1 is set to be just as competitive as the overall battle, with less than two-tenths of a second splitting Gelzinis, Rory Butcher (Celtic Speed) and Derek Pierce (Dextra/JD Pierce by Parker) for each of the races. “It’s good that my main rival
Rory Butcher is behind me. I expected a better lap time, but it got lost in traffic,” said Gelzinis. “That was frustrating,” reported Butcher. “The red flag broke up the session; I was just onto my second run when it came out.” Pierce was right in contention at his home track. “I’m really pleased with that; the car is very good and I’m pleased to be on the inside of the grid for both races.” Brewster made it a good day for the Scots with both Pro-Am2 poles. “I always seemed to catch someone at just the wrong place, but I’m not terribly unhappy,” said Brewster, who was chased hard by Richard Denny (Parr Motorsport). “Fabulous,” said Denny. “The car felt wonderful and I’m getting a much better feel for the car.” Yucel Ozbek (Redline Racing) took third in Pro-Am2 for both races with local racer Tommy Dreelan (Celtic Speed) next up.

WTCC: Yvan Muller proved to be in a league of his own on Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo. After topping the two practice sessions, the reigning world champion claimed his third consecutive pole position, the fourth of the season for him, and the ninth for Chevrolet in nine events. His team-mate and point leader Rob Huff will line up alongside him on the grid for tomorrow's Race 1, with the SUNRED cars of Gabriele Tarquini and Tiago Monteiro filling the second row.The third Chevrolet man, Alain Menu could not achieve any better than a sixth place, behind Tom Coronel's BMW.It was not a lucky session for the Spanish drivers. Pepe Oriola was the first out of the top ten and missed the opportunity to start from the pole on the reverse grid for Race 2; Javier Villa lost the Yokohama Trophy pole position to Norbert Michelisz by 0.028 seconds. Q1 - Javier Villa opened hostilities with a lap of 1:44.395 early, on then with 8 minutes left on the clock, Tarquini improved to 1:43.907, a time that eventually proved to be the fastest . Michelisz and Tiago Monteiro were able to close the gap to Tarquini with 1:44.047 for Michelisz and 1:44.086 for Monteiro moving them to second and third. However, the Chevrolet drivers broke in to make sure they made the top ten: Alain Menu's 1:43.992 gave him the second place behind Tarquini, and Huff's 1:44.060 enabled him to squeeze into fourth between Michelisz and Monteiro. The usual drama to win a place for Q2 hit local hero Oriola, who was deprived of the 10th position (and pole for Race 2) by Michel Nykjær who climbed to eighth just when the chequered flag dropped. This handed another Race 2 pole position to Franz Engstler, who may now hope to repeat his Oschersleben victory. The following drivers advanced to Q2: Tarquini, Menu, Michelisz, Huff, Monteiro, Muller, Villa, Nykjær, Coronel and Engstler. Q2 - On his first lap Muller stopped the watches on the time of 1:42.985, staking a serious claim on the pole position with none of the other nine drivers looked fast enough to beat him. Then in the late moments Tarquini completed a lap of 1:43.182 that propelled him to second, and immediately afterwards Huff improved to 1:43.105 demoting the Italian to third. However, Muller settled the matter for good posting an even faster lap of 1:42.649. Just before the end of the session Michelisz qualified in seventh position, stealing the Yokohama Trophy pole from Villa.

02-09-11

DTM: David Coulthard returns to Brands Hatch for his second DTM race here this weekend (2-4 September). Ahead of his busy racing weekend, he answered a few questions for MotorSport Vision. Read Q & A

The WTCC Race of Spain was officially launched yesterday at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo in a meeting for the local media. The press was welcomed Luis Lobón Secretary for Tourism and Strategic Projects of the Comunidad Valenciana, Julio García the circuit's General Manager, WTCC promoter Marcello Lotti and Eurosport Events' Director of Operations Jean-Louis Dauger. Later the journalists met a representative of WTCC drivers - Alain Menu, Robert Dahlgren and home boys Javier Villa and Pepe Oriola - and experienced the thrill of a ride in a racing car on board of Menu's Chevrolet Cruze and Oriola's SUNRED León.

Among the guests who enjoyed hot laps on board a WTCC racing car during yesterday's media day at Valencia was the Secretary for Tourism and Strategic Projects of the Comunidad Valenciana, Luis Lobón. After completing a lap in Pepe Oriola's SUNRED León, Mr Lobón said: "It was a great experience! You watch these cars racing on TV, but you don't have an idea of the performance they can deliver until you have the occasion to ride in one of them on a real race track. I was very impressed and I am also very proud that the Comunidad Valenciana is home to the WTCC Race of Spain." Did you know that your driver was only 17-years old? "Actually I did not before getting into his car. In any case he struck me with his confidence and control of the car. Therefore I was not surprised when he explained afterwards that in spite of his young age he has always built five years of racing experience." Track action for the WTCC drivers will start tomorrow, Saturday.The two 30-minute free practice session will take place at 9.00 and 11.30. The 30-minute qualifying session will follow in the afternoon: all drivers will take part in Q1 from 14.30 to 14.50 and then the fastest ten will be allowed to take part in Q2 for from 14.55 to 15.05.The qualifying session will be aired live on Eurosport 2.

ILMC: Allan McNish bids to give Audi’s Le Mans 24 Hour race winning diesel-engined Coupé a début victory on British soil when the Scotsman contests the Autosport Six Hours of Silverstone on Sunday (11 Sep). Audi scored its 10th Le Mans triumph in 13 years but only after Dumfries-born McNish had stepped uninjured from his spectacular accident early in the race, the tremendous strength of the Audi R18 TDI saving him from major injury. Having “only” scored a third (Spa) and two fourths (Sebring and Imola) from the previous four Intercontinental Le Mans Cup races this year, McNish is doubly determined to net his maiden win in the 3.7-litre turbo diesel machine that only made its race début four months ago. “Every time I go into a race I’m looking for a victory and that obviously includes Silverstone – especially so this year after the season I’ve had so far,” confirmed McNish. “I led at Sebring before a collision ruled us out of a podium finish. Spun on the opening lap at Spa then we had a puncture. Led at Le Mans for about 10 metres before the accident which was pretty dramatic to say the least. Meanwhile our last race at Imola was difficult for the Audi Sport team in general.” McNish, who shares his Audi R18 TDI with Tom Kristensen, has already won the corresponding Silverstone race three times (2004/05/08). He started from pole-position last year and led the race only for the former double Le Mans race winner to suffer his first ever mechanical-related retirement in his Audi career. Allan continued: “The Six Hour race will mark the UK competition début of our Le Mans winning R18 TDI. I believe the track, which features a lot of aerodynamic corners, will suit it well. I’ve won the corresponding Silverstone race three times already, twice in the R8 and most recently in the R10 TDI. “We are very focused on getting back on track and getting some good points in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup at Silverstone. The fight between Audi and Peugeot has never been very far apart. Sometimes they have been quicker in qualifying and we have taken the race win and sometimes it’s the other way around. So I think Silverstone will be just another one of those titanic battles between us and our French rivals.” The Six Hour race will utilise Silverstone’s revised 3.666-mile “Grand Prix” circuit for the second time but the new “Wing” pit and paddock for the first occasion. “Competition in the ILMC is hard but we’re out for maximum points although we know it will be a very hard fought race,” continued McNish who, along with Kristensen and Audi Sport’s “reserve” driver Marco Bonanomi, competes in the TriStar111 Triathlon event in Monaco on Sunday (4 Sep). “We raced on the new circuit last year but it’s a bit different again this time around as we’ll be using the new ‘Wing’ pit/paddock complex.” A second Audi Sport Team Joest R18 TDI of Timo Bernhard (D) and Marcel Fässler (CH) also competes, Timo and Marcel being amongst Audi’s winning driver trio at Le Mans in 2010 and ’11 respectively.

Karts: The 26th edition of Le Mans’ 24 Hours Karting will take place next weekend at the famous Alain Prost 1200-meter racetrack. The event is organised by the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest) with KMO as a promoter. The greatest endurance race for karts in the world has attracted 35 teams, with a mix of different chassis, engines and nationalities. read more

Goodwood Revival : With just two weeks to go until the 2011 Goodwood Revival (16-18 September) gets underway, the nostalgic appeal of this race meeting will be augmented by a record variety of rare aircraft to complement the racing and period fashions, both in the skies and on terra firma. The origins of the Goodwood Motor Circuit are based around the perimeter road of former RAF Westhampnett, a key Battle of Britain airfield and the location of Sir Douglas Bader’s final sortie. Hurricanes and Spitfires flew from here, and this year’s Revival will see up to 15 Supermarine Spitfires return to the West Sussex airfield, the highest number since the World War II. Spitfires will take to the air on all three days of the Revival, with all 15 expected to display as part of a memorable celebration on Sunday 18 September. Down on the ground, the striking Supermarine S.6.B – victor of the last pre-war Schneider Trophy 80 years ago, and predecessor to the Spitfire – will form a key part of a fascinating homage to this legendary air race. In addition, the prestigious annual ‘Freddie March Spirit of Aviation’ – an aeronautical concours d’elegance that recalls the style and excitement of flying as it used to be – will be held again with a record entry of 30 pre-1966 aircraft. Freddie March, the present Earl of March’s grandfather, was a keen aviation engineer, as well as an accomplished racing driver and vehicle coachwork designer. This attraction for historic aircraft built up to 1966 – the same cut-off year as all motor vehicles permitted on site during the Revival meeting – is in memory of the great man who had such an influence on Goodwood. A select panel of judges will choose the winner of the coveted Freddie March prize from 30 pre-1966 aircraft, set to include a 1914 Royal Aircraft Factory BE2C, Be2, 1935 Hawker Fury and 1943 Fairley Swordfish. In addition to exciting aircraft, the Goodwood Revival promises an exceptional selection of the best machinery on the planet, with a spectacular array of cars and motorcycles, plus fabulous star drivers and riders to thrill the crowds on all three days of motor racing, as well as the finest period fashions, music and ambience. To order advance tickets for 2011 Goodwood Revival, please contact the Ticket Hotline: Telephone: +44 (0)1243 755055 - Email: ticket.office@goodwood.com Book on-line: www.goodwood.com/motorsport

01-09-11

Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup team Total Control Racing will have Scottish sportscar star Marino Franchitti in one of the squad’s Ginetta G55 cars as a guest entry at Knockhill this weekend. Edinburgh-based Franchitti, brother of multiple IndyCar Series Champion Dario and cousin of FIA Formula One World Championship racer Paul Di Resta, is the latest high-profile name to compete with TCR in the flagship Ginetta series – and he’ll prove a massively popular addition to the grid. Although he hasn’t competed at Knockhill for over a decade, Franchitti aims to get to grips with the track and the 370bhp car very quickly and can certainly expect plenty of partisan support in front of his home crowd. “It’s 10 years since I’ve raced at Knockhill, the track has been widened since then and they’ve had some profile changes on the corners so it will be like learning a new track”, said the American Le Mans Series ace, “Plus, I’ve never driven a Ginetta before so it’ll be a completely new challenge. I’m really looking forward to it all, it’s going to be a lot of fun and a great opportunity to race at home. When I knew I’d be with TCR it filled me with a lot of confidence, my friend Nic Hamilton races with the team in Renault Clios so I know a lot about them. Whatever championship TCR is in, they’re up at the front. I just need to learn as quickly as possible – to get on the podium would be nice but we’ll only know where we stack-up after testing on Friday.” Invited by Ginetta Cars Chairman Lawrence Tomlinson to enjoy a run-out in the Ginetta GT Supercup this weekend, Franchitti’s first experience of his Ginetta G55 will come during practice tomorrow, Friday, 2nd September. Naturally, TCR team principal Lee Brookes is delighted to have been asked to run Franchitti during his debut in a Ginetta on what will also be a key weekend for the squad’s regular campaigner Carl Breeze. Arriving at Knockhill with a 31 point lead in the driver standings, the Kings Lynn driver will be aiming to, at the very least, maintain his cushion as the championship heads towards its conclusion. “Obviously we’re delighted to be running Marino this weekend at Knockhill, he’s going to have plenty of home support and with the fantastic pedigree he has in sportscars we’re certain he’ll get adjusted to the Ginetta in no time at all and be very competitive”, said Brookes. “It’s going to be an important weekend for Carl, we’ve got a good lead in the points but it can all change very quickly so it’ll be essential for him to have three strong results this weekend. As always, we’ll go out there with the best car we can and fight as hard as possible for wins and podiums.”

Upcoming Scottish sportscar driver Fergus Walkinshaw is set to make his homeland race return at Knockhill this weekend as he tackles only his second outing in the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at the wheel of his self-built Ginetta G55. The 20 year-old made an impressive series debut at Snetterton in August with a pair of eighth place class finishes, ranking as the highest privateer entry despite only having finished building his race car in the early hours of Friday morning. Walkinshaw completed construction of his Ginetta G55 in less than 90 days at Ginetta Cars HQ in Leeds to get on the Snetterton grid. The car was finished at 19:30 on Thursday night but a shakedown at the nearby Mintex track revealed a broken oil pump belt resulting in hours more work to save the engine. With the task complete at 02:00, Walkinshaw made straight for the Norfolk track, arriving at 04:30 — just six hours before the start of official practice.Although qualifying didn’t go to plan, a spin on an oil spill ruining his chances and the consequential off-track excursion resulting in more repairs, Walkinshaw was undeterred and his double top 10 result was justifiable reward for months of hard work and preparation. Joining the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup for the remaining 2011 rounds, the son of late sportscar and Formula One team owner Tom Walkinshaw turns his attentions to his first race on home Scottish soil for over three years. Although still getting to grips with his new self-constructed chariot, Walkinshaw joins the Finesse Motorsport team in Scotland with his sights firmly set on scoring a top five finish. “I’m really looking forward to racing at Knockhill again,” said Walkinshaw. “Although I consider it my home track, I’ve only raced here once before and not since 2008. Regardless, it’s actually my favourite circuit on the TOCA package so it feels good to be racing in Scotland so soon after my return to racing. First time out in the new car at Snetterton went quite well. It’s a shame qualifying and race one didn’t quite go to plan but I was pleased with the eighth place finishes on my debut. It’s been a great experience building my own race car in time to join the final season rounds and I’d like to thank everyone at Ginetta Cars who have helped me to get back on track.Racing on home ground for the first time since 2008 with the Scottish flag now proudly painted on the roof of my Ginetta, it would mean a lot to get on the podium. That might be a tall order in only my second race weekend but I’m certainly aiming for a top five finish.” Walkinshaw will take full advantage of official testing on Friday ahead of qualifying for the Michelin Ginetta GT Supercup at 11:35 on Saturday.

BTCC: Major revisions to the cooling system of the Dynojet Racing Toyota Avensis will make it more robust and able to handle the rough and tumble of the Dunlop MSA BTCC this coming weekend at Knockhill. At least that’s the the hope of driver Frank Wrathall who, along with the rest of the team, has been hard at work on the updates in the three weeks since their last highly successful track outing at Snetterton. “We’ve undertaken a complete review of the front end, and in particular the cooling system, since Snetterton because we felt it was perhaps a little too fragile,” says Frank, who scored a memorable podium result in Norfolk with fourth place overall and top independent finisher in round 16. “It’s been a big job, quite complicated and we had a couple of set-backs along the way, but now everything is back together and working well.” Wrathall hopes the improvements will avoid a repetition of the retirement he suffered in the second Snetterton race, when a bump from behind in the first-corner mêlée launched the Avensis into a car in front, damaging the radiator and leading a few laps later to overheating and retirement from a strong third place. The redesigned Dynojet Toyota was given its first shakedown today in a rain-hit test at Rockingham.The 1.3-mile Knockhill circuit, nestling in the hills above Dunfermline, presents Wrathall and the BTCC boys with a unique set of challenges: it’s tight, twisty and more than a little undulating, characteristics which Wrathall says may not wholly suit the Toyota. “We haven’t tested the car there so we don’t really know yet how it will go, but my guess is that we may find it tough. However, the Avensis is so easy to adjust to circuits that I’m sure we will be able to get near the pace.”

Current Dunlop MSA BTCC leader Mat Jackson has been given an extra boost in his bid to win this years’ title thanks to a new technical partnership with wheel alignment specialist Pro-Align.For each of the remaining four rounds of this years’ Championship, his Airwaves Racing Ford Focus ST will undergo several complete wheel alignment checks during the race weekend using state-of-the-art Hunter wheel alignment equipment supplied by Pro-Align. By carrying out the four wheel alignment checks during race weekends, the team expects to improve their performance through fast and reliable measurements which in turn, will allow them to make accurate and repeatable adjustments and fine-tuning to the car’s set-up between races. Airwaves Racing Team Manager Oly Collins said: “Because we work to such tight tolerances and high performance levels, it’s vital we have complete faith in the equipment we use. There are no margins for error, so it’s great to have Pro-Align on board providing the very latest Hunter equipment.”

Honda will compete in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship in 2012 with a race-prepared version of its all-new Civic hatchback. Two brand new race cars are being built by Honda’s long-standing BTCC partner, Team Dynamics, to meet the latest NGTC regulations.The Honda Racing Team will contest the championship as a full ‘works’ entry, hoping to repeat the success of 2010, when it won both the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles.“We are delighted to enter the new Civic in next year’s BTCC, and hope to build on the success we’ve already had with the current model,” said Dave Hodgetts, Managing Director of Honda (UK).“We’ve made significant improvements to the new road car, and we’re confident those changes will make for a competitive race car too.The Civic is the perfect model to compete in British Touring Cars, as it has been born and bred in the UK. The new car has been tested on more UK roads than any other Honda, and it will continue to be built exclusively in Swindon.” Honda Racing Team driver, Matt Neal said: "We are all looking forward to 2012, and from my point of view it is very exciting to have the prospect of driving the new Honda Civic. “The team’s development of the car is already well underway, and the new Civic will fit the BTCC's 'Next Generation Touring Car' regulations. I'm sure it will keep Honda at the front, and in the winner's circle, both off and on track!" Drivers and sponsors for 2012 will be announced over the coming months.

‘What drives a racing team’ film released - Honda has also released the first of four documentary films on what drives the Honda Racing Team to achieve success in the British Touring Car Championship. The first short film focuses on the way the entire team works together over the course of the season. The second film, which tells the story of the two Honda Racing Team drivers, will be released on Thursday, 15 September. The first video can be viewed on Honda’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUZH7uU_DJk

Karts: The British Historic Kart Club enjoyed a record setting weekend at the recent Silverstone Classic meeting with nearly 100 karts from the 1950’s, ‘60’s, ‘70’s and ‘80’s blasting around parts of the famous British Grand Prix venue in a series of thrilling demonstration runs over the course of the three day bonanza. As usual with the British Historic Kart Club it was the machinery that starred with Graham Loakes’ newly restored Barlotti/Villiers and Alex McMurray’s stunning collection of pristine Parilla engines attracting a lot of attention from karters and non-karters alike. Read report

Sodi is one of the best represented makes in the CIK-FIA U18 World Championship, with as many as 8 chassis in the race for the title. The French karts did wonders in Normandy: Anthoine Hubert won a thrilling final, Léo Roussel climbed to 4th and Henry Easthope finished 6th. Pic KSP Read report

The Australian Formula Ford Championship will return to the Shannons Nationals calendar next weekend for round five of the series at Sandown International Motor Raceway. The last round at Queensland Raceway saw Cameron Waters extend his championship lead over teammate Nick Foster with another round win, but it was Jack LeBrocq who impressed, taking his first national Formula Ford race win. "Our weekend started slower than we would've liked in Queensland, but it was an awesome feeling to have all the hard work come together and get my first win in race two. It's a real confidence boost as we know we've worked so hard this year and the team had been feeling so close to more and more positive results and I'll be looking to continue that run at Sandown," LeBrocq said. "The whole team has been improving each week and I think I'm ready to take my first round win next weekend. We've been quick at Sandown in the past and it's a circuit I know well, so there is no reason why we can't be at the front again.The points from last round moved me into third in the championship and I'm focused on trying to chase down the Sonic Motor Racing guys up ahead. They have a good gap, but there is still a long way to go in this championship." One driver who missed round four of the championship is Rookie of the Year leader Jessse Fenech(right). The young Victorian had a funding shortfall with Borland Racing Developments, but has secured a new deal that will see him race for Evans Motorsport. The team change also means Fenech will now drive a Mygale. "Luckily we were able to use a state series round for me to get used to the car and working with the engineers and things have clicked straightaway. I'm still getting used to the car as it is quite different to what I am used to, and I'm really happy with the progress we're making," Fenech said. "It's disappointing to not be able to continue with BRD, but I'm focused on trying to secure the Rookie of the Year award, so hopefully I can finish the season off strongly." Seven Victorians will compete in the event, including championship leader Waters, while Elliot Barbour will return to the championship following a one-off run in a V8 Chrysler Charger at the Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek this weekend. In total 17 drivers will make up the gird for the fifth round of the series. The Australian Formula Ford Championship will take to the track for the first time on Friday morning ahead of races on Saturday and Sunday.

Formula 3: Facu Regalia will be back in action this weekend in the second half of 2011 Italian Formula 3 championship, driving a Team Ghinzani´s Dallara-FPT Racing. Wth the summer break over he heads for one of his favourite tracks, Adria, near Venice, for the fifth round. “After summer beak, when I tried to gather strength, we approach the second half of the season. In my opinion our experience in previous meetings – Franciacorta, Misano, Imola and Spa-Francorchamps- will help us to become stronger and more competitive. The problems which we had before, they look to be solved now and I´m sure we are in good shape for Adria”, Regalia said. He was the fastest man on track during official testing at Adria a month ago seeting a time of 1:11.647, more than two tenths faster than anyone else. “We will try our best during this meeting. I have got a good feeling with Adria, because both my team and I were very fast in July. I know what to do to make things right. I got experience in wet conditions during our last meeting in Belgium, and it was a step forward for me too. For 2012, it´s important to achieve good results to catch the eye of potential sponsors, and it means more motivation for me”, Facu commented. Free practice sand qualifying are scheduled on Saturday with both races on Sunday

Formula Renault: Jordan King said, ‘we’ve got nothing to worry about pace-wise or on the racecraft front’ and that ‘the speed we have now is good enough to start winning races once everything comes together’, after claiming an overdue podium finish in the Formula Renault Northern European Cup at Most in the Czech Republic. Having been on the pace during his debut in the championship at Oschersleben and having been unlucky not to stand on the podium at Zandvoort, Jordan travelled to Most looking to make it third time lucky – which he duly did. pics Essay Produkties Read report

The Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme will be run for the fourth time in 2012 and will provide an ambitious young driver with £80,000 towards their racing budget for the Carrera Cup GB. Created and run by Porsche Cars GB, the Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme will select the most promising driver to receive this major cash injection, which is designed to be a significant element of their budget for the 2012 Carrera Cup GB season. To enter the scholarship, drivers must be aged between 17 and 22 at 1 January 2012, already have a National A race licence and have not previously raced in the Carrera Cup GB. They must also be able to demonstrate that they can secure the balance of the required budget for a full season of racing. There is no charge for drivers entering the scholarship. The aim of the scholarship is to assist another talented young driver to make the step up to the Carrera Cup GB and have the opportunity to follow in the wheeltracks of former Carrera Cup racers like Richard Westbrook, Damien Faulkner, Danny Watts and Tim Bridgman. In 2010, the Scholarship winners were Euan Hankey and Michael Meadows, who were selected from more than 50 applicants. This season, both drivers have built superbly on their Carrera Cup Scholarship season to win races and challenge for the title. Meanwhile, 2011 Scholarship winner Ben Hetherington is having an excellent season and is now chasing his first podium finish. Applications have now opened for the 2012 Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme and will close on 30 September. Four finalists will be selected for assessment at the Porsche Experience Centre at Silverstone, including driving the latest 911GT3 Cup car. The winner, to be selected by an expert judging panel, will be the driver who shows the best mix of natural talent, potential, presentation and people skills and overall drive and commitment. Any driver wishing to apply for the Carrera Cup GB Scholarship Programme should send a C.V. to carreracupgb@porsche.co.uk, along with the reasons why they think they should be selected. Applications close on 30 September 2011 and the four finalists will be evaluated at Silverstone during October. The 2012 Carrera Cup GB Scholar will be announced in early November.

Donington: As the first full-season of competitive action back at Donington Park nears its end for the year, the Leicestershire venue is delighted to announce the launch of its completely redesigned website - www.donington-park.co.uk, specifically built to help race fans and visitors get more advanced information for everything that happens at the legendary circuit.

Electric Vehicles: Silverstone, the home of British motor racing, is no stranger to innovation on the track but is now taking it into the car park with the help of engineers from the electric vehicle (EV) and infrastructure specialist Arup1. Silverstone has installed two of the most advanced EV charging points currently available, one in the public car park adjacent to the main circuit entrance and one outside its new innovation centre - a move that will enable race-goers and business visitors travelling to the venue using low carbon vehicles to replenish their batteries free of charge. Speaking at the unveiling of the new charge points, Managing Director of Silverstone Circuits Limited Richard Phillips, said: “This is one of the first steps in our plan to become a focal point for showcasing EVs and educating the public about the capabilities of electric cars. The introduction of these charging points means that EV drivers within a 60 mile radius of Silverstone can attend some of the premiere events on the racing calendar and should they prove popular we intend to install many more.” The points are manufactured by Chargemaster Plc2 and can each support two cars simultaneously - enabling EV drivers from cities including Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Oxford and North London to drive direct to and from the venue for events such as the Grand Prix, Le Mans Series and Moto GP without the need to re-charge en route. Visit the Chargemaster website www.chargemasterplc.com to learn more and see locations of charge points.

Toyota Motorsport set a new lap record for an electric vehicle (EV) at the legendary 20.8km Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany. The Toyota Motorsport EV P001, with 100% electric powertrain and Jochen Krumbach at the wheel, set a new lap record of 7mins 47.794secs to beat the previous lap record, which stood at 9mins 1.338secs, by a very substantial margin.Using two electric motors, the Toyota Motorsport electric car has a top speed of 161mph. The motors 800Nm of torque help the car achieve impressive speeds on the extremely challenging Nordschleife track, which includes significant elevation changes and lengthy flat-out sections.The new lap record was completed on road-legal tyres, using the complete Nordschleife track. It was verified by independent lap timing. Toyota Motorsport’s target prior to the 29 August record run was to become the first electric vehicle break the eight-minute barrier and this was achieved comfortably on a day when the notoriously changeable Nürburgring weather stayed fine, although track temperatures were relatively low. Such performance shows Toyota Motorsport’s electric powertrain is ideal to power any future single-make electric motorsport series and Toyota Motorsport will begin commercial sales of this technology in 2012. Toyota Motorsport continues to advance its electric vehicle capability for motorsport applications with in-house development of the electric powertrain and ongoing investigations into alternative chassis solutions.

Genesis of FondTech’s ‘Formula REV’ concept, its vision for a new all-electric formula Industry-leading aerodynamic consultancy firm and wind tunnel laboratory FondTech can today unveil details of the world’s first purpose-built all-electric powered single-seater racing car: the E-11. The battery-powered racer is the result of three years design and development work carried out by renowned aerodynamicist Jean-Claude Migeot and his team at FondTech’s state-of-the-art Bologna headquarters in Italy. E-11 is also the first example of the company’s Formula REV concept; its vision for a new all-electric racing formula. Read more

The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily shared by 11/56 MotorSport or any of theGrid team

Home	^News	^Features	^Calendar	^{News Archive}	11/56 MotorSport
Home	^Reports	^Gallery	^Links	^Classified	11/56 MotorSport