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News Archive 18 Oct 07

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13/11/2007 

31-10-07

Tony Brown and Ian White  in their Butler Motorsport run BMW E36 GTR have won the 2007 Dutch Supercar Challenge Title on their first attempt. Not content with just a Class Championship the pair went out last weekend and secured the overall title. 

The top three finishers in the New Leon Cupra Class of the 2007 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship – Jonathan Adam, Fulvio Mussi and Carl Breeze – together with the winner from the Leon Cupra R Class, Harry Vaulkhard, tested SEAT Sport UK’s BTCC Leon at the Rockingham racing circuit near Corby yesterday(Tuesday), as part of their prize for a season of success. Leanne Tander, Tim Macrow and Charlie Hollings to fight out the Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship at Oran Park this weekend

Australian Formula 3 Championship winning outfit Team BRM has confirmed a major expansion of its F3 program though a new partnership with Opes Prime. This follows Opes Prime’s support for the team in 2007. The team will run three Opes Prime / Dallara F307 – Mercedes Benz Chassis in the 2008 Australian Drivers Championship and one F304 car in the expanded National Class competition. All entries will be competing heavily for the Championship Class prize of $80,000 or negotiated drive in the Asian V6 series the following year and the National Class prize of $40,000 or a negotiated Championship Class drive for the 2009 season. The team is also pleased to announce that Irishman Lee Farrell has been confirmed for the National Class entry, whilst there is fierce competition for the three remaining 2008 season drives in Team BRMs new F307 chassis.  The plans complete a major period of expansion for the Adelaide-based team that will once again run several cars in the Australian Formula Ford Championship.  ”We are very pleased to announce our 2008 plans,” Team BRM director Mark Rundle said. “Our relationship with Anthony and Opes Prime in the second half of the 2007 season has produced several wins and podiums and has been very successful – something we are confident will carry on into the next season.”  Opes Prime / Team BRM driver Barton Mawer will race at Oran Park, next weekend, in the final round of the 2007 championship.

Carlo van Dam tested a GP2 car for the first time at Paul Ricard in France. The reigning ATS Formula 3 Cup champion was offered the test by the ATS organisers, after winning the title. Van Dam grabbed the opportunity to do the 85 lap test with both hands. Driving the Spanish BCN Competicion car he finished the day in sixteenth place out of 26 drivers, with a fastest lap time of 1:14.503.

Carlos Sainz and his Volkswagen Race Touareg continue to hold third place overall in the UAE Desert Challenge, final round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. The Spanish driver was third fastest on today's (Wednesday) 277 km special stage, just behind the Mitsubishis of Luc Alphand and Stephane Peterhansel, who have moved into first and second places overall. Sainz and his co-driver Michel Périn might have led both across the line but for time lost while stuck. 'We lost four minutes at the fourth time check, which had been set up in soft sand. We are in for another tough day on Thursday; Friday will I hope be a little easier.' ,said Carlos.   'Carlos had the misfortune to get stuck at an incorrectly placed time check,' said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen, 'and this caused him to lose the lead. Afterwards they moved the time check on to hard soil so that the following vehicles had an advantage.’Giniel de Villiers, in the second Volkswagen, maintains fifth placeThursday's stage around the Moreeb desert bivouac is the longest of the event at 339 km, followed by a 122 km road section.

UAE Desert Challenge provisional standings after leg 3
1, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, 10h 45m 35s
2, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, +2m 42s
3, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, +4m 46s
4, Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Tina Thorner (SWE), BMW, +24m 18s
5, Giniel de Villiers (RSA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (GER), Volkswagen, +26m 9s
6, Yeha Alheli / Khalid Alkhendi (UAE), Chevrolet, +2h 8m 5s

ADR’s F3 team was at Snetterton last week as part of their winter testing program. The aim was to evaluate two young Aussie hopefuls with a view to racing in the UK in 2008. Ashley Walsh and Joshua Scott spent the previous week at Brands Hatch competing in the Formula Ford Festival in the Aussie built Spectrum chassis. Last week both drivers had a seat fitting at ADR’s Silverstone based factory, before moving on to Snetterton. Both drivers settled into their new environment and with the aid of the experienced ADR crew, after a little over fifty laps they were turning out some impressive lap times.  ADR is looking to evaluate more drivers for their 2008 campaign prior to the testing ban which starts 31st December. With many F3 teams heading off to compete in the Macau Grand Prix, the ADR team is in a fortunate position to have its cars and equipment available for testing, the first time in five years.

Five drivers are in contention to take the 2007 Formula MBW Asia Driver title this weekend at the Zhuhai International Circuit in Southern China, while no fewer than seven, including all the Formula BMW Asia Junior drivers, will fight it out for Rookie Cup championship honours. The 4.3km track will be the venue for the final four races of the 22-round 2007 season.

30-10-07

The Goodwood  Festival of Speed will be held on 11-13th July 2008. Its the  16th running of the event at Goodwood House. Next year’s theme is still under discussion and will be announced later this year.  The 2008 Goodwood Revival’s 10th anniversary meeting(and the the 60th anniversary of the Goodwood  Circuit) will be on the weekend of 19-21 September. Dates could change, especially the Festival of Speed, if the FIA move the British GP!

Joey Foster,the winner of the Walter Hayes Trophy in 2003 -5, will return to the event at Silverstone this weekend. Foster will drive a Sheshon Racing Van Diemen RF78 in his first race of the year after his crash in the  German F3 Championship in 2006.

Volkswagen's Carlos Sainz advanced up the overall standings in the UAE Desert Challenge today (Tuesday), ending the second of the rally's five legs in third position overall with his TDI-powered Race Touareg. The Spanish former World Rally Champion and his French co-driver Michel Périn enjoyed a trouble-free day in the Dubai desert: 'While some teams got stuck in the sand we were lucky and finished without any trouble,' said Carlos. 'We concentrated on the treacherous dune crossings because the sand was extremely soft and difficult to judge.'   Sainz has moved ahead both of Mitsubishi's Stephane Peterhansel and South African Giniel de Villiers in the second Race Touareg, who was among those to strike trouble: 'We got stuck and lost a lot of time,' said de Villiers, 'then later we encountered some sudden, very steep slopes and suffered a rough landing. A tyre came off the rim and we had to change it.' de Villiers slipped to fifth as a result, 13 minutes behind Sainz and 22 minutes off leader Nasser Al-Attiyah's BMW.Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen added: 'It's been a long and strenuous day but both Race Touaregs delivered a perfect technical performance. I am expecting a fierce fight for the podium positions over the coming three legs.'  Wednesday's stage is a 277 km loop through mountainous dunes south of Abu Dhabi. The rally, final round of the FIA Cross-Country Rally World Cup, ends on Friday.

UAE Desert Challenge provisional standings after leg 2
1, Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Tina Thorner (SWE), BMW, 6h 55m 49s
2, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, +7m 20s
3, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, +9m 11s
4, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, +11m 32s
5, Giniel de Villiers (RSA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (GER), Volkswagen, +22m 22s
6, Guerlain Chicherit / Matthieu Baumel (FRA), BMW, +1h 25m 16s

Riki Christodoulou produced an impressive pace in the Formula Renault Eurocup series with some decent lap times around the Circuit de Catalunya just outside Barcelona last weekend. Christodoulou set pole position times through qualification and classified second fastest for the second heat on Sunday. The first sprint did not go to plan after an incident saw him veer off the track and hit the wall. He nevertheless recovered strongly and drove diligently to come back from a lowly nineteenth position on the grid to a top ten finish. Starting from second spot on Sunday he ran in third place for most of the race but a rookie mistake on turn three saw him run wide and spin out.  “On the face of it the weekend was a bit of a nightmare,” he said. “However I can take consolation from the fact that I was again on the pace and setting some of the best lap-time even though I had never been to this circuit before. I really enjoyed driving here actually; it was quick and challenging.”

Serious talks are underway between Italian motorsport promoters Peroni Promotion Incentive and Formula Master organisers to secure a national syndication of the International Series in Italy as early as 2008.The Italian version is set to become another national syndication to emerge from Formula Master’s international success this year, following plans for Oceania Formula Master to take place in 2008/2009 with races planned for Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines and New Zealand.Several other national and regional options are being considered, including South America following a recent request from local promoters. “Negotiations are going extremely well for several national series,” said Formula Master Series Director Mauro Sipsz. “An agreement is already in place for Peroni to promote the Series in Italy and talks between MSC, the organisers of Formula Master, and Peroni are now focused on ensuring that the project goes ahead in 2008.”

Andretti Green Racing's Bryan Herta will be on hand for this week's SEMA Show, the premier automotive specialty products trade event in the world, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Herta will be at the show representing XM Satellite Radio, the primary sponsor of AGR's Acura entry in the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series. "It's a place that people use to talk about the season we just had with the Acura and our first season, as well as starting to talk about next year's expectations," Herta said. "There's a lot of motorsports media at the show, and there's always a chance to tie in with them." Last year's SEMA show saw the unveiling of the No. 26 Acura entry with XM sponsorship. This year's event is scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday. Herta finished seventh in the 2007 P2 championship. He won in class at Sebring with Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan, and had two other podium finishes with Marino Franchitti (second at Houston and third at Mosport). It marked Herta's first full season in the Series since 2002.

29-10-07

The British Formula Ford Championship has lost a staunch supporter - Ray Formula Cars founder Bert Ray, who died on Friday (26 Oct) following a long illness.  The company made its first Formula Ford in 1971, and it is Ray's proud boast that it is the longest-established Formula Ford chassis maker still winning races. Bert's death came only five days after his firm's latest triumph, in the Formula Ford Festival, which was won by Ray driver Nick Tandy. "The Ray name has become synonymous with Formula Ford and everyone involved with the championship is saddened to hear of Bert's death," said Sam Roach, director of championship promoter RacingLine. "We extend our sympathy to the Ray family and to all those associated with the company. We will all, I am sure, take comfort from the fact that Bert lived to see another Formula Ford Festival victory for one of his cars."   Bert started his career working for race gearbox company Jack Knight Developments and from there went to Brabham as a mechanic working alongside Denny Hulme (later the 1967 World Champion). Bert left Brabham in 1968 to set up Ray Race and, three years later, his first Formula Ford took to the track in the Formula Ford Festival. Scores of race and championship victories were to follow.

Rookie ELF Renault Clio Cup driver Andrew Herron is delighted to confirm his participation in the upcoming 2007 Winter Championship after agreeing a late deal to continue with JHR Developments squad for the annual four round series

British Formula 3 Champions Hitech Racing has concluded its first post-season test programme with impressive performances at Oulton Park and Silverstone.  The team, and its regular driver Walter Grubmüller, were joined at the Cheshire track on Wednesday and on Monday in Northamptonshire by Mexican sensation Rodolfo Gonzalez and Swede Sebastian Hohenthal as it carried out evaluations prior to next season. Read more

Richard Keen and Tim Bridgman were the winners in the pening rounds of the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn series....full report

tavo Yacamán yesterday(Sunday)  became the youngest driver to win a race if the Spanish Formula 3 Championship when won the second race in Jerez at 16 years, 8 months and 3 days old. The Colombian started from pole, had a intense battle with Bruno Méndez (Emiliodevillota.com) who finish in second. Manel Cerqueda (Tec Auto) completed the podium in a race that leaves the title still undecided until the next round on November 10th and 11th at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Team USA Scholarship winners Patrick Barrett and Joel Miller made a good impression on their peers in the opening rounds of the Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy. The three races were held in miserably wet conditions at Brands Hatch, not a great introduction to European racing but good experience never-the-less…read more

Jimmie Johnson came out the winner at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Nextel Cup and then donated his  winnings to the Red Cross to benefit those who had lost out in the wildfires in his home state of California. "Today is a great day on a lot of fronts, in so many ways. We had a good car today and as Chad pointed out, probably not the fastest, but his pit call at the end was really what put us in contention to win the race and got the job done for us," said Johnson. Carl Edwards followed Johnson home in second  while Reed Sorenson was third after Dale Earhardt, who had held the position, lost a tyre and hit the wall right at the end. Matt Kenseth came fourth with Jeff Burton fifth, Clint Bowyer sixth and Jeff Gordon, seventh. The result leaves Gordon with just a 9 point leader over Johnson in the Chase for the title with Clint Bowyer third.

Fairuz Fauzy’s season ended yesterday(Sunday) at the Spanish GP Circuit in Barcelona with another points finish to round off a great year for the young Malaysian. …read more

NYKJÆR AND BASOV WIN FIA EUROPEAN TOURING CAR CUPS. The 38 competitors of the third FIA European Touring Car Cup delivered two exciting races in Adria over the weekend.  By winning the second, freshly-crowned Danish Touring Car Champion Michel Nykjær clinched the Super 2000 cup. The winner of the first race, Tomas Engstrom from Sweden, took second in the points. Another Dane, Kristian Poulsen, climbed on the third step of the final podium.  Thanks to Nykjaer's and Poulsen's results, the Danish Federation (DASU) won the Nations' Cup. The Super Production class produced an all Russian podium: Aleksey Basov encored his Race 1 victory and claimed the title, from fellow countrymen Nikolay Agapov and Arkadiy Pavlovskiy. The Super 1600 class was won by Jens Guido Weimann in a Fiesta. The first race was a double win for the Honda drivers,Tomas Engstrom winning both the overall race and the Super 2000 class. Secondw as Nykjær's SEAT. The Super Production was another Russian ‘benefit’, with Aleksey Basov's Honda Civic wining from Arkadiy Pavlovskiy's Opel and Anton Markin's BMW. Weimann againwon the Super 1600 class.

James Walker rounded off a successful first year in the World Series by Renault with a strong top ten finish at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona today

28-10-07

William Buller took the laurels in all three T-Car races at Brands Hatch this weekend.  Second in race 1 and 3 was Josh Moffet who also managed a third place in the second race. Daniel Brown claimed that other second place and a third in race 1. Joe Hopkins completed the podium in the third and final race. The Ginetta Juniors had three very close races with James Jefferson winning the first by only 0.141 secs from Nigel Moore with Kieran Vernon equally close in third, 0.324 secs behind the winner!. Vernon  went one better in the second race winning from, once more, Nigel Moore, with Nick Ponting third.  In the third race Nigel Moore wasn't second, this time it was his turn to taste success finally notching up a win . Vernon was second, 0.7secs back with Jefferson third.  The Open Sports races saw John Harrison and Marcus Pye share the spoils, Harrison winning the first race in his Nemesis with Pye second in a Jade  Pye then won race two from Harrison with just 0.4secs to spare..Ake Bornebush was third in both races driving a Radical.  The SAXMAX race was won by Jake Farndon from Chrissy Palmer by only 0.840secs. James Rodger-Edwards was third 3 seconds further behind. Steve Scott took a brace of wins in the Open Saloons, his Escort WRC proving too quick for most of the opposition. Scott Lowther kept him honest in race one coming second 2.052sconds behind in an Escort Cossie with Dave Shelton's BMW Z3M third. Race two saw more of the same, although on this occasion Scott coasted to victory with 13 seconds to spare over Lowther. Third was Andy Thompson in a SEAT Leon.

Will Bratt took his first ever podium finish in Formula Palmer Audi with third place during race two of the 2007 Autumn Trophy at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit in Kent earlier today, but the 19-year-old remains disappointed not to have taken more from the weekend having been the dominant force in qualifying on Saturday

Richard Keen took two wins in the Fomula Palmer Audi Autumn Cup races at Brands hatch this weekend. Tim Bridgman won the third race after taking second behind Keen in the opening race. Jason Moore completed the podium in race 1 while Jonathon Legris and Jack Clarke were second and third respectively in the final event.  Will Bratt, racing in the series in preparation for his McLaren Autosport BRDC Award '˜shoot-out' next weekend managed a third place in race 2, a disappointing result for the Formula Renault front-runner after his two poles in qualifying yesterday.

Jon Lancaster's fifth victory in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup confirmed him as the Championship runner-up to Brendon Bartley of Epsilon Red Bull. The race was a mirror image of yesterday's with the same three drivers filling the podium .  His team, SG Formula's day was complete when Lancaster's team mate Charles Pic 's third place  behind  Jaime Alguersuari (Epsilon Red Bull)  put him third in the Championship.

Bertrand Baguette (KTR) may made the better start but it was Ben Hanley (Prema Powerteam) who had the better race in  the World Series by Renault race in Barcelona today(Sunday). The RDD driver took his second win of the season to make sure of the runner-up spot in World Series Formula Renault 3.5 championship. The third and final podium spot went to Alejandro Nuñez (Red Devil Comtec)..

27-10-07

British Racing Drivers' Club'˜Rising Star' Will Bratt made a stunning start to his first ever weekend in a Formula Palmer Audi single-seater at Brands Hatch Indy Circuit earlier today, the Banbury sensation securing pole position for two of Sunday's three Autumn Trophy races at the 1.2-mile Kent track.

26-10-07

After taking his first victory last week in Estoril, Miguel Molina (Pons Racing) has gone on to set the fastest time in collective testing at the Barcelona circuit. Tech 1 Racing put in a superb team performance with Julien Jousse and Alvaro Parente in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Pacific Coast Motorsports will test Atlantic driver Carl Skerlong in the #29 PCM/DP01/Cosworth/Bridgestone Champ Car at Buttownwillow Raceway on November 28th. Skerlong's rookie season featured two podium finishes en-route to his top-ten result in the 2007 Cooper Tires Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Series Powered by Mazda championship. Recognized as an up-and-coming American standout, Skerlong was named to the Pacific Coast Motorsports JR Team in June, which in turn led to this Champ Car opportunity. PCM Team Director, Tyler Tadevic commented, "We're really looking forward to testing Carl in the PCM Champ Car. We knew when we named him to the PCM JR team that he had the speed and mental ability to succeed in the top level of American open wheel racing. He is a committed young man and I expect he will do very well."

For the first time in Aussie F3  history three female drivers will race in the Kumho Tyres Formula 3 Championship.They may have teamed up in the Bathurst 12-hour production car race earlier this year, but next weekend current championship leader Leanne Tander (#42 Fleetcare TanderSport) will race against both Lauren Gray and Samantha Reid for the first time, in the final round of the Gold Star championship. 20-year-old Victorian Gray will return to the seat of her Scud Racing F301 Dallara to attempt to lock second place in the Kumho National class away, whilst young South Aussie driver Samantha ‘Samy’ Reid will make her second career start in the Scud Racing Trophy Class Dallara. .Tander – a nominee for the 2007 CAMS Motorsport personality of the year award – said that she was pleased to see the increasing number of talented females racing at the top level after being the sole representative at a national level for several years. The  final round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship, featuring a winner-take-all showdown between Leanne Tander, Tim Macrow and Charlie Hollings, will be held over two races at Oran Park raceway next weekend, 3-3 Nov

Brendon Hartley, who will drive for Carlin at the 54th Macau Grand Prix next month, won the prestigious Formula Renault Eurocup championship in Estoril last weekend ahead of the final round in Barcelona. The 17 year-old New Zealander has dominated the season taking eight podium positions and four race wins. Finishing in the points at 10 out of 12 races, Hartley has racked up 119 points over the season and his 41 point advantage over his nearest rival is enough to take the title with two races remaining. The Red Bull driver joins the ranks of Felipe Massa, Scott Speed, Kamui Kobayashi and Felipe Albuquerque, who all won the junior championship before going on to succeed in the highest levels of the sport. Having completed the 2007 Formula Renault Eurocup season, Hartley heads to Macau in November, for his second outing in an F3 car. Hartley made his F3 debut earlier this year at the Zandvoort F3 Masters @ Zolder, taking an impressive fourth place, with little experience of the F3 machine. Hartley follows in the footsteps of Narain Karthikeyan, Takuma Sato, Nico Rosberg, Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel, who have all compete at Macau with Carlin.

Bradley Ellis is eligible to be nominated for the Autosport British Club Driver of the Year award following the fantastic form which saw him seal the 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Championship spoils, alongside teammate Alex Mortimer.  The winner of the Autosport British Club Driver of the Year award will be decided purely by Autosport magazine readers, so Ellis needs readers support to be in with a chance of clinching this coveted award. The likely candidates were revealed in Autosport last week. If you have a copy of the magazine, you need to fill out and post the entry form on page 70. But hurry, because entries close for judging on Friday 9 November. Ellis, aged just 20-years, and Mortimer took the Team RPM Viper to clinch the Avon Tyres British GT3 crown in a championship fight that went down to the wire and the final rounds at Rockingham. In his rookie GT3 year, Ellis helped take the Viper to four race wins, two second-place podiums and two third-place podiums en route to glory.Ellis commented: “It is an honour to be put forward as a likely candidate for the Autosport British Club Driver of the Year award, especially when you look at the calibre of the previous winners. It really puts the icing on the cake after such an unbelievable roller-coaster year. Now all I need is for everyone to complete their voting forms to be in with a chance of winning against some tough opposition.”          

Formula Master Champion, Jérôme D’Ambrosio will claim his prize of a GP2 test with team Campos Grand Prix next week (30 October 2007) following a superb season, which saw the him score five wins.  D’Ambrosio previously took part in Formula 3000 and Formula Renault before choosing Formula Master as the next step in career, leading to his first title in single-seater racing and a chance to impress GP2 team boss Adrian Campos. The GP2 test is scheduled on the first of a four-day official testing session for the Formula 1-feeder series, at Paul Ricard, France and D’Ambrosio has been looking forward to the opportunity since he clinched the Formula Master title at Brands Hatch last month. "This is a very important step for me, as was becoming Champion, and I really hope I can show the team the best of my skills,” said the 21-year-old. “They have seen what I can do in a Formula Master car this year but now it’s up to me to prove I can drive to the same standard in a GP2 car..”

World Speed Motorsports took four drivers last weekend to the Star Mazda Finale at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca. Chris Cumming in his new liveried red and white #46 Inviro Medical Pro Mazda was in the points lead going into the final event, with Patrick O'Neill in a position to win it as well. Cumming out qualified the reigning SFR Formula Atlantic champion and finished ahead of him to clinch the championship.  "Chris has been working hard all year, and really made some marked improvements," stated Team Owner Telo Stewart. "We are very proud of his successful season." Chris was also the highest finishing car in the World Speed Motorsports stable at this event. Dave House and Frank McCormick also participated in the event. House gained enough points to take third in the Star Mazda West Coast Championship in his #86 Credence/Brocade Pro Mazda while McCormick used the weekend as a tune up for this upcoming weekend's SCCA race at Laguna Seca. Taylor Hacquard who came right out of kart racing this season showed glimmers of what he will be capable of when he enters a full season of car racing in 2008. The 17 year old Canadian was immediately into the top ten in practice, and went on to post the second fastest time in group one qualifying

Formula Vee returns to Kyalami, for the final Pro Tour National Championship event of the year, at The Citizen Kyalami Race Day, on the 3rd November. Although there is a small mathematical chance, that he can still lose the title, the expectation is that Alan Holm (No1 Lasersprint Rhema 2) will become the first person in the forty two year history of the category, to win three South African National Formula Vee Championships, back to back

25-10-07

Renault Sport UK is offering a unique chance for members of the public to compare themselves against some of the best racing drivers competing in the UK today, with a track day held in conjunction with the Formula Renault UK and ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup race meeting at North Yorkshire’s challenging Croft circuit…read more

Reigning ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup champion Niki Lanik will defend the title he won in 2006 after registering for this year’s four-round championship. Racing for the Youth 4 Human Rights with SVE team, Lanik continues his association with Colin Stancombe’s squad that brought him three top-12 finishes on the way to 26^th overall in the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup

After picking up his fourth podium place of the season, Charles Pic has moved up to 3^rd place on the Formula Renault Eurocup leaders' board

The final rounds of the Ford Fiesta Championship were showcased in front of the Formula Ford Festival last weekend…Nick Sanderson was there with his Fiesta ST team and both cars had undergone major  preparation work since the last meeting. John Findlay’s ABS sensor which had caused his braking problems was now working and Nick Sanderson’s car was mechanically repaired with some more cosmetic repairs made due to the damage sustained at the last meeting. If anyone chose to inspect the cars closely however it would reveal that both cars had been involved in “close racing” with Sanderson's car showing signs of visiting the tyre barriers. The intention was to have both cars mechanically sound with the full cosmetic overhauls to be done over the winter period. ....full report

Australian James Davison impressed Championship winning Indy Pro Series team Sam Schmidt Motorsports after being consistently fastest over the two day test evaluation. The test evaluated 4 drivers including 2007 IPS race winner Robbie Pecorari, A1GP pole winner and 2007 IPS driver Stephen Simpson, IMSA Lites Champion Gerardo Bonilla and F2000 Champion Cole Morgan.  Davison said “The test couldn’t of been any better. I now understand why Sam Schmidt Motorsports has won the Championship the last 2 seasons. I felt I drove very well and was satisfied to be the only driver sub 58.0. I focused on giving the best feedback possible and was rewarded with a perfect setup. The IPS car has 450hp but is quite heavy requiring a vastly different driving style to that of Star Mazda. The team was surprised at how quickly I adapted to it and the times I set for the first time in the car. I’m very excited by the prospects that lie ahead as my goal is to race IndyCar and ultimately win the Indianapolis 500. My 2005 Formula BMW victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has given me a small taste of what its like to win at the Racing Capital of the World.”

James Davison secured 2nd place in the Star Mazda Championship with a podium finish at the final round held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. After leading both days of practice, qualifying was run on a drying track. A small strategic mistake to wait in the pits cost Davison and lined up 5th. The session was the most competitive qualifying of the year with 15 cars within one second. The start of the race saw Davison move into 4th position. The race then developed into a 4 way battle for the lead with Dane Cameron, Alex Ardoin and Lorenzo Mandarino. Davison was able to move into 3rd place and challenge Cameron for 2nd until the race finished under caution due to an on track incident. “It has been an unbelievable year. We had everything thrown at us with wins taken away, being taken out on two occasions and the setback of an unforeseeable mechanical issue. Winning a championship does require luck and it seemed I didn‘t quite have it this year. It is very sad for me leaving my team Velocity Motorsports, we had an incredible relationship and to finish 2nd with what we went through was an awesome achievement. Congratulations to Dane Cameron on the Championship, he is a great driver and I think after this season we have gained a lot of respect for each other.”

Anders Krohn had a slightly disappointing  first encounter with the Formula Ford Festival, ending up in 11^th. ”The pace was there to be on the podium, but luck just wasn`t on our side this time by I guess.” said Krohn...

24-10-07

SG Formula dominated the latest rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup with driver Jon Lancaster scoring two wins from two starts. His team mate Charles Pic added to the team’s domination with a second place behind Lancaster on Saturday in Round 11.  full report

Joe Waters, 14 from Norwich, will be racing this coming weekend at Brands Hatch at the final round of the T Car Championship. He is using the race to help raise awareness for MacMillan Cancer Support.  Waters, the youngest holder of an MSA Race Licence  will driver for the Norfolk based Advent Motorsport Team. Whilst Joe was excited at the prospect of this one off round which will undoubtedly help hone his fledgling skills he was also keen to use the race to help a charity close to his family’s heart.  His father, Jon, explains “We have lost a number of close family friends in the last year to cancer and during those difficult times we were in awe of the support and dedication of MacMillan so we thought it would be good to help raise awareness of their good work whilst Joe took part in a one off race.”  Therefore Joe has asked his sponsors to make a matching donation to MacMillan Cancer Support.  His car will sport the MacMillan logos alongside stickers from his other sponsors, be it a company logo, personal photo or message.  Silvershield Windscreens have pledged the race entrance fee while Advent Motorsport are adding their support by running Joe below cost and Joe has requested that should further sponsors come forward anything in excess of the running costs all be given to the MacMillan fund alongside all donations.  Their charity endeavour has also been boosted by Brands Hatch’s Jonathan Palmer who has given ten passes for volunteers to attend the race this weekend to collect donations.

SEAT Sport has signed up Rickard Rydell for their assault on the FIA World Touring Car Championship finale in Macau on November 18. Rydell, who help Yvan Muller’s bid for the WTCC crown, is vastly experienced at both the touring car races and with Macau. He won there in F3 in 1992 and in 2005 he was 3rd in a SEAT Toledo.  Rickard Rydell: "I'm really looking forward to joining the SEAT Sport team for the race in Macau. I feel right at home with SEAT and it'll be good to work with them again. My main goals of course are to support the team to win the Manufacturers' Championship and Yvan Muller in the Drivers'. Macau has always been one of my favourites because I like urban tracks, and coming back to one that saw me win an F3 race brings back fond memories."

Alvaro Parente (Tech 1 Racing) may not have had a dream weekend at Estoril, but he did score some precious points to give himself a bit of breathing space over Ben Hanley (Prema Powerteam). The two men will travel to Barcelona this weekend for a final showdown. Mathematically speaking, four men could still take the World Series Formula Renault 3.5 title: in addition to Parente and Hanley, Milos Pavlovic (Draco Racing) and Filipe Albuquerque (Epsilon Euskadi) also have the slimmest of chances. In reality, though, it's a two-horse race. The only man to rival Sebastian Vettel in the early part of the season, Parente has shown remarkable consistency, finishing in the points 12 times in 15 races. With two pole positions and two race wins (at Monaco and Spa), he has also shown ample evidence of explosive speed. Impatience has cost him a few points on more than one occasions, but he will go to Catalonia as the favourite. Ben Hanley, 22 points behind, has it all to do. Even if the RDD driver scores maximum points – which is unlikely, given the reverse grid for race 2 - he still needs Parente to score 13 points or fewer if he is to be crowned champion. With five podium finishes under his belt, including a win at Magny-Cours, he too will have to avoid repeating the mistakes of previous races, as his second place is far from certain.

23-10-07

Kieren Clark (below) will drive for Loughborough’s Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team in this year’s Formula Renault UK Winter Series.

The UAE Desert Challenge, which gets underway in Dubai on Sunday (28 October), provides the Volkswagen team with twin opportunities - the chance to secure the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup for the second time in three years and also a valuable warm-up for January's Dakar Rally

Sebastien Bourdais takes his fourth title in a row in the Champ Car World Series with a second career win at Surfers Paradise, the first driver to win a  second time down under. Rookie Robert Doornbos clinched Rookie of the year title .

Newly-crowned Formula 3 Euroseries rookie champion Edoardo Mortara, who drives for the Signature team, will race at the prestigious Macau Formula 3 Grand Prix on November 18. The narrow and bumpy street circuit contains some of the most demanding corners in world motorsport and is characterised by constantly-changing levels of grip. In total, more than 30 drivers will take the start after two qualifying sessions.  Mortara commented: I feel tremendously excited about this fantastic opportunity to race in such a famous event, and I am very grateful to Signature for making it happen. It will be the first time that I have competed at this level outside of Europe, and this adventure holds several unknown factors for me. But from what I hear of Macau, it sounds like a very unpredictable circuit that should suit my driving style.”

Alex Ardoin passed Dane Cameron on the last competitive lap to win the final race of the season for the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Cameron had already clinched the 2007 championship and was leading the final race when Ardoin slipped by with a few laps to go. Shortly after Ardoin took the lead, a multi-car accident brought out the caution flag. The race was never restarted.  Cameron finished second in the race, followed by James Davison, Nick Haye and John Zartarian.

Holden's Toll HSV driver Garth Tander won a game of survival during the final 27-lap race of the V8 Supercar Challenge to take overall honours and claim a maiden surfboard trophy from the iconic Queensland event. In a bizarre final race encounter in the V8 Supercar Challenge at the Lexmark Indy 300, carnage reined as drivers set a path for victory in the closing 27-lap assault, which made for an entertaining spectacle to close off the 2007 event.  The unforgiving nature of the temporary street circuit brought about numerous caution periods, black flag penalties, spin outs and much more. Although Garth Tander was right amongst it, he hung tough to secure a popular victory for Holden fans. Ford's Team Vodafone campaigner Jamie Whincup appeared to have done enough to take the round victory during the concluding stages, however, while plotting a determined course for the race victory, it all came undone with just two laps remaining. After a second place in Race 2 he was leading the third event for half of the race, before he attempted an ambitious passing manoeuvre and got tangled up with two cars exiting Turn 4, ending his  race with only one lap to go.  Tander meanwhile had fought back to grab enough points to add to his earlier win to take the overall honours, despite an earlier drive-through penalty, Claiming second for the event was Caltex Racing's Russell Ingall while Jason Richards of Tasman Motorsport slotted into third.

MSA boss  Alan Gow tried his hand at the Scottish Mini Coopers on Sunday. After enduring some fairly miserable conditions he managed to finish race 1 in 12th. In race 2 a big spin early on spun him to the back...(pictured right)

22-10-07

Stuart Fraser  took his second consecutive Scottish XR2 Championship yesterday(Sunday) after to measured dfisplays which saw him come in sixth in race 1 and fourth in race2, the final round of the season. Charlie Cope had won the first round when the Red flag came out on lap 9 after mayhem reigned at the bottom of Duffus Dip(SEAT) . Second was Graham Whitehill (pictured left- all Knockhill pics R Pascal 11/56 Motorsport) with Andrew Winchester third. Race two was a much more subdued affair in terms of incidents but it was an exciting race never-the-less. Graham Whitehill led from the off, followed closely by Charlie Cope and Andrew Winchester, the trio circulating as one  for the majority of the race. So close were they that less than a second covered them after 10 laps when, still in the same order, they  crossed the line together, Whitehill winning by 0.2 secs with Winchester only 0.6 secs behind the victor. Scott Fraser came home a lonely fourth to claim the 2007 Championship. Peter Cruickshank was fifth and Scott Morrison sixth, the pair spending the first half of the race locked in a titanic battle with Willie Davidson, Gary Meikle and Geraint Jones.

Andrew Gallacher (pictured)won both the Scottish Saloons and Sports races in his 650+ BHP Ford Focus. Rob Pritchard taking second on both occasions in his Caterham.  Stan Bernard was the winner in both Classic Sports and Saloon races in his 911, although only after Matthew Gordon threw it away on lap 8 whilst leading. He did recover to finish third but it was poor consolation after a competitive drive. Al Fleming's Lotus Elan claimed second on that occasion but had to settle for third behind Gordon in race 2.

Nick Tandy turned the tables on his British Formula Ford Championship rival Callum MacLeod yesterday (Sunday) at Brands Hatch with victory in the prestigious season-closing Formula Ford Festival. Callum, the 2007 champion, finished just ahead of Nick on the road but was handed a two-second penalty by race stewards. They ruled that MacLeod had braked severely while leading under the safety car, causing Tandy to collide with the rear of his Mygale. An appeal from MacLeod's Jamun Racing team was overruled. Ironically Tandy was last year denied Formula Ford Festival victory after he was accused of breaching safety car rules. JTR Ray racer Tandy was delighted with the way things turned out: "The safety car rules are very clear and he was in the wrong. It's nice to be on the right side of a decision like this for once!" British championship regulars filled the top eight places in the Duratec final. The race for Kent-engined cars was won by Ireland's Keith Dempsey.

Provisional results: Formula Ford Festival
Brands Hatch 21/10/2007. 13 laps / 15.58 miles
1, Nick Tandy, UK/Bedford, JTR, Ray, 12m39.469s
2, Callum MacLeod, UK/Northampton, Jamun, Mygale, +0.258s
3, Linton Stuteley, UK/Stevenage, Getem, Mygale, +2.087s
4, David Brown, UK/Glasgow, Mills, Van Diemen, +2.218s
5, James Nash, UK/Newport Pagnell, Mills, Van Diemen, +2.483s
6, Jay Bridger, UK/Tonbridge, Fluid, Mygale, +2.691s
Fastest lap: MacLeod 47.523s / 90.79mph

Jonathan Walker and Philip Broad clinched the two Circuit Driver Caterham Academy championship titles at Brands Hatch on Saturday (20 Oct)

Ken Thirwall won the opening race of the Smartycar.com Mini Cooper Cup on Sunday at Knockhilll  to head into the second race with a chance at the Newcomers Title. Championship leader  Paul Wilson(pictured) was second, virtually guaranteeing him the title. However it all went awry in race two when John Barry was nudged into a spin at the exit of Car Lube(Formerly known as Clark's) on lap 5. As Barry spun into the centre of the track Thirwall and Michael Rowan had to take avoiding action, both hitting the tyre wall very heavily, Rowans car rolling in the process. Neither were hurt, fortunately, but the race was red flagged and their race was run. This left Paul Wilson to take what he thought was  a comfortable victory from the re-start but it was Ken Dryden who was given the victory, moving him up from second after Wilson’s car was deemed to have ‘infringed Technical Regs’ during post-race scrutineering. This also moved Vic Covey into second and Alasdair MCGowan to third. In the newcomer’s Championship Ian Milton took the honours, winning comfortably after Thirwall’s exit. 

Three more drivers have committed to the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup, which gets underway with rounds one and two at Donington Park National circuit on Saturday, 3rd November. Robertshaw Racing will run SEAT Leon Cupra R Class champion Harry Vaulkhard, T-Cars front-runner Joe Hopkins will partner Chris Law at Team Pyro, while Árón Smith continues his career with Mardi Gras Motorsport after finishing 13th in the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup.  Vaulkhard had four wins in 2007 as he won the class title by just four points. He follows Jonathan Fildes and Ben Winrow in making the switch to ELF Renault Clio Cup racing in 2007 with a permanent move in 2008 a possibility with the Whitley Bay-based team.  Hopkins joins fellow teenager Chris Law at Team Pyro and is looking to build on the success he has enjoyed in his debut season in the T Cars Championship. Registering 10 podiums and one fastest lap from 14 races so far, he is in line to finish as vice-champion to Daniel Brown, younger brother of Clio Cup racer, Robert.   Smith, 17, enjoyed a consistent season in his first year of car racing. The Renault Insurance-backed brother of former British Touring Car driver Gavin Smith had a best result of fourth in the penultimate round 11 at Thruxton, starting on the front row of the grid for round 12.   The four-round ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup begins at Donington Park on Saturday, 3rd November, concluding at North Yorkshire’s Croft circuit on Saturday, 10th November. Each meeting will see one qualifying session and two races held on the same day, with the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Winter Cup taking following the same schedule.

Jeremy Ellis (right) and Andrew Thomaswere crowned the 2007 Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge Champions at Brands Hatch on Saturday (20 Oct),

Jimmie Johnson held off a hard-charging Ryan Newman to win Sunday's Subway 500 at Martinsville Speedway, race six in the Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup. The defending series champion led the final 50 laps, fighting with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon in what looked to be a repeat finish seen here between the two in April. However with 6 laps to go Ryan Newman got past Gordon to snatch second place.

The finale of the Northern European Cup Formula Renault 2.0.at Hockenheim saw Finnish Koirainen Bros-driver Valtteri Bottas take his long- awaited first victory before doubling his tally with another win in the final round of the season…

Damon  Hill,  BRDC  President  and  the  last  British  driver  to  win  the FORMULA  1™  World Championship,  was  joined  by  legendary  F1 commentator  Murray  Walker  and  more  than  150 fans on Sunday to cheer on Lewis Hamilton at a private screening of the Brazilian Grand Prix in the BRDC Clubhouse at Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen’s maiden FIA World Drivers’ Championship victory and Lewis Hamilton’s second place in the drivers’ standings completes a remarkable double for the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship. Both drivers made their single-seater debuts in the premier UK national championship, winning the title in 2000 and 2003 respectively

21-10-07

Richard Hay and Clive Richards are the 2007 evo Caterham Eurocup CSR Masters champions. The Colards Motorsport pairing finally clinched the title on Friday (19 Oct) at Brands Hatch   There were no race wins at Brands for Hay and Richards; the victory spoils instead went to Hyperion Motorsport drivers Graham Fennymore and Oliver Bull/Philip Glew, with Michele Tommasi taking a popular maiden win also....Charles Bateman and Chris Bialan shared the Eurocup Superlight Sprint race wins at Brands Hatch, with Bialan also emerging on top in the one-hour endurance race.

Angus Geddes won the 2007 Scottish Formula Ford title today(Sunday) at Knockhill. The Class B runner(Pre-1990 cars) came home 12th to claim the overall title. The Class A Title  for cars made between 1990-93 went to Graham Carroll with Craig Brunton picking up the newcomers Championship.  Both races were won by Rory Butcher who was closely followed by Stuart Thurber in race one, winning by less than a second. Alan Kirkcaldy was third 2.3 seconds adrift. In race 2 Butcher had an easier time breaking free of the pack early on to win by 5 seconds. The chasing trio of Graham Carroll, Thorburn(Pictured leading Carroll) and Kirkcaldy enjoyed a closely fought 10 laps before Carroll broke free near the end to take second and the Class A Championship. Thorburn and Kirkcaldy continued their battle to the flag, crossing the line less than a tenth of a second apart.

James Paterson took his Morgan Plus 8 to victory in the HSCC's 'School Garage' Road Sports race at SIlverstone on Saturday. Dave Randall was second in a Ginetta G4, 2.397 secs behind and Peter Shaw was third in a Lotus Elan 16 seconds off the leader. In the Grandstand Motorsports Historic FFord race Michael Lyons(Pictured left - pic Paul Williams) took his Merlyn Mk11A to victory ahead of the Mk20 Merlyn of Westie Mitchell with 4.4 seconds to spare. Third in a Palliser was Chris Sharples.  Peter Halford (pictured - Pic P Williams) chalked up another win in his Ford Mustang, winning the Bybox Historic Racing Saloons event . Jonathan Gomm was second, 5 seconds behind while Peter Hore was third a further 3.4 seconds down the track. Both were in Lotus Cortinas. 

Sebastien Bourdais takes the win and a fourth consecutive title in Champ Cars at Surfers Paradise with Newman Haas. Britain's Justin Wilson was second fro RuSPORT,6 seconds behind the winner with Bruno Junqueira third for Dale Coyne Racing

Andersen Racing's Jonathan Goring finished where he started, sixth, while Jonny Baker started 14th and finished 13th in the season finale for the Star Mazda Series presented by Goodyear Saturday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. .

Jon Lancaster (SG Formula) claimed his third race win of the season at Estoril in the Formula Renault Eurocup, Brendon Hartley (Epsilon Red Bull) secured a third-place and with it the title.

The Duo Derek Bell Trophy race at Silverstone on Saturday was won by Peter Williams driving a March 761. Mark Dwyer was second in a Lola T400 with aother Lola, a T330/332 driven by Neil Glover,  third. The Guards Trophy race was dominated by Chevrons, the marque taking all three podium places. First was Michael Schryver in a B6(no 49 below - pic Paul Williams), James Schryver was second in a B8 and Robert Shaw was third in another B8.   In the Classic racing cars event Mattew Watts (below - Pic P Wiliams)won in a Brabham BT29 from Tony Keele in a Palliser WDB3 and John Monson's Crossle 19f. In the Motorsportads.co.uk 70s Road Sports Paul Conway took the honours in a Morgan Plus 8, just 0.562 seconds in front of the Porsche 928 of Paul Anderson. Julian barter was third in a TVR 3000M. The Miller Oils Historic Formula Jnr race was won by Michael Hibberd in a Lotus 22, only 0.461 seconds up on Michael Hibberd's Lotus 27 who was less than a second ahead of third placed James Claridge's Lola MK5A  .   

Milos Pavlovic (Draco Racing) won his second race of the year in World Series by Renault at Estoril today(Sunday)...full sto

20-10-07

Graham Fennymore and Rachel Green rewrote the Caterham Motorsport history book this weekend (19/20 Oct), Fennymore becoming the first driver successfully to defend the Superlight Challenge title and Green taking the first race win for a woman at this level

Silverstone Driving Experiences from a festive £99 - British Grand Prix tickets at offer prices for Christmas and New Year ..more

Kazuya Oshima (TOM'S) was fastest driver in the free practice of All-Japan Formula 3 Championship final round at Twinring Motegi for his championship charge.
Hiroaki Ishiura (TOM'S) was the second fastest, competitors in championship, Oliver Jarvis was the third and Roberto Streit was the fourth with a little difference.

Jeff Gordon took polee for the Subway 500 pole yesterday in the NASCAR Series at Martinsville Speedway. Gordon said. "I felt like we had a great car then and that we had a shot at the pole"

Alex Ardoin beat Dane Cameron in the Star Mazda race at Laguna Seca today. Ardoin won by 1.471 secs with James Davison third just 0.190secs behind Cameron.

Nearly 90 000 people (89 948) were on hand today as Australia's Champ Car driver Will Power created Lexmark Indy 300 history in claiming back-to-back pole positions leading into tomorrow's big race. Holden's Toll HSV driver Garth Tander shared in the emotion by taking the chequered flag in Race One of the Aussie V8 Supercar Challenge that produced a thrilling two-lap sprint to the finish

19-10-07

Anglesey Circuit Club are running "Cheap Racing" on Sunday 2nd December. Two races for £150. There is also Testing on the Saturday for £75 which quite simply is the whole weekend for £225.The Libre concept of the Sports and Saloon Car classes is explained in the attached Entry Pack. Basically if somebody has a Saloon Car, or a Sports Car, then they should be able to race it. Take a look at the entry from 2005 (the race wasn’t run last year due to the  building work)to get an idea of the races. Actually it’s a  nything from Historic Imps to a GT2 Porsche…Details  Entry form can  be found at -: http://brsccnw.com/iansmithpage.htm...

The Masters and Top Hat historic racing group is finalising its 2008 plans to visit a great selection of the most challenging and historic race tracks across Europe. Building upon the existing strengths of our current series Masters is announcing plans for 4 new types of racing to add to event programmes during 2008

The British Formula Ford Championship will once again be the major supporting event to the British Formula 3 International Series in 2008, it is announced today….read more

Five of the six drivers that will compete for the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award this year have been announced, the latest to join is Dean Smith. The five drivers were selected from a shortlist which had been compiled following votes from the readers of Autosport magazine, and the sixth slot will be decided by a Formula Palmer Audi shootout race at Snetterton on November 3-4. Dean is honoured to be finalist. Alongside Dean will be former team mate Duncan Tappy(23) who is the oldest driver. Callum MacLeod(19) has put himself in contention for the award after winning the British Formula Ford Title. FBMW race winner Henry Arundel(19) and Formula Palmer Audi runner-up Stefan Wilson(18) complete the list.

Team West-Tec will progress to Class A in the Spanish F3 Championship at Jerez on 26th/27th/28th October with South African driver Sean Petterson taking the wheel of the team's ex-Racing Engineering Dallara F306.The team, the first British-based operation to compete in Spanish F3's history, is making the move in anticipation of running up to four cars in 2008. John Miller, Joint Team Principal: "Sean has raced in British F3 Class A and so it was always part of the plan to race in the same class in Spain. Testing time will be very limited, but we are sure he will do a good job. By the time we get to Barcelona, he will have had a bit of time in the car and we should start to see some potential realised."  Sean Petterson: "I was happy to compete in the team's Class B car which handled awesomely well, although I was always keen to race in Class A so I am really looking forward to Jerez."

Surfers Paradise remains the  only Champ Car event without a repeat winner  Defending Lexmark Indy 300 champ Nelson Philippe makes 2007 debut while Sebastien Bourdais(pictured) looks to clinch unprecedented fourth consecutive Champ Car Championship title

Emerson Fittipaldi will test the new Ferrari-powered A1GP World Cup of Motorsport car next season. The 60-year-old A1 Team Brazil boss is so excited about A1GP's involvement with Ferrari that he has confirmed he will get back behind the wheel to test the contemporary single-seater. Following last week's historic announcement that the Italian manufacturer will supply engines to A1GP next season, Fittipaldi, who never drove for Ferrari in his Formula One career will look to get behind the wheel at the earliest opportunity. 'When I was told about the possibility of Ferrari coming on board I thought it was brilliant,' Fittipaldi said.  “'The Ferrari name alone is incredible and people are going to give A1GP more respect and we are going to be much bigger. When Ferrari's people visited us in Zandvoort they loved our A1GP weekend and they are very enthusiastic to get involved with A1GP. 'Ferrari will help design a beautiful car. I always wanted to drive for Ferrari and now I can! I will at least test the car. I won't race it, but I want to test the car. I'm very excited about it. “

Chip Ganassi Racing announced on Wednesday that the company has signed 2007 Indy Pro Series Champion, Alex Lloyd. The announcement is an exciting one for both Lloyd and Sam Schmidt Motorsports as this caps off the goals set at the start of the year. In a dream, record-setting season, Lloyd won eight races, including the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, en route to winning the championship by scoring 652 points -- 171 points higher than second-place Hideki Mutoh. The only goal left for Lloyd and the team to accomplish was to get a deal put together for Lloyd to move on to a high-profile racing team in the IndyCar Series. With Wednesday's announcement, the team feels a great sense of accomplishment and pride for Lloyd. "Everyone at Sam Schmidt Motorsports is extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish with Alex in 2007," team owner Sam Schmidt said. "We recognized great ability and potential in 2006 when he drove a partial season, and I'm glad that we were able to maximize those talents last year. Of course the championship and multiple records are great, but we are ultimately in this business to graduate drivers to the next level. Alex is the total package, and we have no doubt that he'll be very successful driving to TCGR. " Lloyd will be Chip Ganassi Racing’s "Development Driver," allowing him to take part in IndyCar Series races, Grand Am races, and an extensive testing program.

Scuderia Playteam SaraFree heads to the tenth and final round of the 2007 GT Championship at Zolder in determined mood. Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini have scored points in eight of the nine 2007 races and are currently among six drivers who are second in the drivers Championship, five points behind the leader of the GT1 class. Giambattista Giannocaro, team owner and driver commented, "Scuderia Playteam SaraFree will be arriving in Zolder with the conviction that they have grown and progressed this year. The team is perfectly prepared to do a good job and give their best to help Bertolini/Piccini win the title. They will have the best possibly prepared Maserati MC12 at their disposal. The package is good and with adapted tyre wear for this busy weekend the engineers can build a good strategy with all the best possible cards in their hands. With a bit of luck we can have a really good race. I have personally never driven on this track, but I've had to learn new circuits all year apart from Monza and Adria and it hasn't been a problem. I really hope that the race in Zolder will be the highlight of our season."

Sierra Sierra Enterprises has signed the 2007 Star Mazda Champion, Dane Cameron to drive in the Champ car Atlantic series in 2008. Cameron is only one of two rookies to claim the championship in the 17-year history of the series. “We are extremely pleased to have a driver of Dane’s caliber on the Sierra Sierra team. Having a rookie puts us in the position to compete for both the Championship and Rookie of the Year awards. We have a very strong team and expect this season to be as exciting as 2007”, said Richard Raeder, Sierra Sierra Team Manager.

Champ Car have announced that both the Champ Car World Series and the Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda will return to Sebring International Raceway and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for preseason test sessions in preparation for their respective 2008 seasons. The first open test for Champ Car and Atlantic will be held at the historic Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida beginning on Saturday, February 2, 2008 and running through Wednesday, February 6. The Champ Cars are slated to be on track from February 2-4, with Atlantic testing planned for February 5-6. Sebring's mild central Florida climate and challenging layout provides the perfect setting for drivers and teams to prepare for the rigors of the 2008 season. In March, Champ Car and Atlantic teams will make their way west to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. for "Spring Training" as they make their final preparations for the upcoming season. Testing is scheduled for Monday, March 10 through Friday, March 14, with Atlantic machines kicking off the on-track activities on March 10 and 11, followed by the Champ Cars on March 12-14.

Tomi Limmonen has won Finnish championship on his first F3 season. Limmonen, who stepped up to F3 from FR2.0 this year, secured the title with two second places from Alastaro finals. Another rookie, ADRF's Jesse Krohn, took the pole position and won both races at Alastaro but it was Limmonen who was crowned champion with three points to spare over Krohn. Both Limmonen and Krohn have dominated the season with Limmonen winning 5 races and Krohn 6les.. Rami Räikkönen was 3rd completing all-rookie top 3

18-10-07

FESTIVAL TIME. The curtain finally comes down on the BRSCC season this weekend at Brands Hatch with the 36th Formula Ford Festival. British Formula Ford champion Callum MacLeod is the hot favourite but he will face a stiff challenge from his peers in the national series. There is also a strong contingent from Europe including both the Danish & Benelux Formula Ford champions, Johan Jokinen & Francesco Pastorelli respectively.  The Kent 1600 section of the Festival will also be extremely competitive with the usual strong Irish influence and the leading protagonists from the various regional championships. However, the Festival isn’t just about Formula Fords as six new Caterham champions will be crowned by the end of the meeting, including the evo Caterham Eurocup, the Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge, the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge and the Circuit Driver Caterham Academy. Also concluding their season at the Festival is the www.dees.co.uk Ford Fiesta Championship, the Mill Street Motors Ford Saloon Championship and all classes of the Sports 2000 Championship. The full timetable can be found at http://www.brscc.co.uk/calendar/46.html 

With the Round Twelve of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear season scheduled to take the green flag at 12:30 pm Saturday afternoon at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, this is the last chance to shine this season for the rising open-wheel racing stars of the 2007 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear

The final outing for the Adrian Flux sponsored BMW M3 was last weekend at Spa Francorchamps, Paul White was unable to make it, happy to leave Sarah Bennett-Baggs(pictured) to do the 2 x 1hr races in the highly competitive Dutch Enduro series.  

The rounds of the 2008 ATS Formula 3 Cup season will be held during the course of ten events. Each of the race weekends held from late April to mid-October, 2008, will feature two races. Usually, the races will be held on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Once again, the rounds held within the scope of the Nürburgring 24-Hour Race will represent a special season highlight. After all, this event is expected to again attract a massive crowd of more than 200,000 spectators. At the same time, the rounds held at Assen also will attract huge crowds. At the Dutch circuit, the fastest German single-seater series is going to race twice; in August, in the Rizla Race Day (more than 40,000 spectators) and in September, as part of the support programme for the Dutch ChampCar Grand Prix (more than 70,000 spectators). Furthermore, the Formula 3 drivers may look forward to another special challenge: on the first October weekend, they are going to race at Belgium’s spectacular GP venue - the ‘Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps’

TITLES WON & LOST AT SNETTERTON. The BRSCC East Anglian Centre meeting at Snetterton last weekend brought an exciting conclusion to several championships with joy and despair being the overriding emotions for many. Keith Baldwin headed the Club F3 points table going into the double header but an incident in the first race rendered Keith briefly unconscious. Under doctors orders he had to sit out the restart and second race and watch as Chris Needham took the title. An almost opposite scenario occurred in the battle for the Alfa championship when after crashing out in the aborted first race Phil Donaghy beat a philosophical Neil Smith to the title courtesy of the dropped scores rule.  There were four Mighty Mini drivers in contention before the final two rounds but it was Neil Slark who ended on top of the pile, while Pat Ford held his nerve in the Super Mighty Minis. Graham Heard was another driver who handled the pressure well. Leading the Lodge Porsche 924 championship he recorded third and fifth place finishes which was enough to take the title. In the Formula Jedi Championship there was more drama where Nigel Reuben edged out Brett Parris by two points in Class B after Brett recorded a DNF in the very last race. In Class B, despite winning both races, Trev Stafford couldn’t shake off Freddie Kennedy who came second in each to steal the title also by two points. 

BRSCC ANNUAL DINNER DANCE & AWARDS PRESENTATIONS.  Invitations will shortly be going out to all BRSCC champions to attend the annual dinner & awards presentations. The celebratory evening will take place on Saturday 17th November at the Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon-Avon. Tickets are priced at £48 and are available from Dominic at BRSCC HQ. Call 01732 783141 or email dominic@brscc.co.uk  

The Karting Show at Autosport International, 10-13 January 2008, now boasts its own dedicated website to accompany its status as a stand alone show within the world’s biggest motorsport show at the NEC, Birmingham. The launch of the website coincided with the unveiling of the new official main show site www.autosport-international.com  www.thekartingshow.com features all of the latest show and exhibitor news, competitions with fantastic prizes, driver news and a media section. You can also log on to find the exhibitor manual, exhibitor list and floorplan, stand sales and sponsorship information, travel and accommodation details, and even buy your tickets online.

THE RACE OF CHAMPIONS – BRSCC MEMBERS TICKET OFFER. In a first for London, Wembley Stadium is set to host The Race of Champions on Sunday 16th December giving fans a unique opportunity to see the world’s greatest drivers compete head-to-head. 1,800 tonnes of tarmac will transform the hallowed turf into a race track where 18 drivers – including seven-times Formula One champion, Michael Schumacher - will compete in a series of knockout heats to determine the “champion of champions.”  The gladiatorial event is by invitation only and drivers from F1, World Rally, NASCAR, World Touring Cars and Le Mans are all on the guest list, guaranteeing closely-fought and dramatic racing, with spectators getting a bird’s eye view of every instant of action across the entire race track from every seat. Drivers who are already confirmed include Honda F1’s Jenson Button, Red Bull Racing’s David Coulthard, World Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx as well as the legendary Michael Schumacher. The BRSCC have teamed up with The Race of Champions to offer their members a 20% discount on the £55.00 to £75.00 tickets. To take advantage of this great offer please call one of the following order lines below, quoting reference MRC: For ticket sales of 8 or less call 0870 040 0394.  For ticket sales of 8 or more (Group Bookings) 0207 014 8521  Don’t miss this incredible sporting contest on Sunday 16 December 2007; for more information visit www.raceofchampions.com  

Matt Griffin's debut appearance in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB races was thwarted when his clutch broke after seven laps of the final round of the series at Thruxton on Sunday

MOTORSPORT SAFETY FUND CHRISTMAS CARD. This year the Motorsport Safety Fund’s Christmas card is a reproduction of a painting by John Ketchell called ‘Aston One Two’. The painting depicts the Carroll Shelby/Roy Salvadori Aston Martin DBR1 leading the Maurice Trintignant/Paul Frere DBR1 to an historic one two at the 1959 Le Mans. You can view an image of the card in the publications section at www.motorsportsafetyfund.com The cards are priced at £6.50 for 10, including envelopes, postage and packing within the UK. They are available from: Motorsport Safety Fund, PO Box 200, Sevenoaks, TN15 8WZ.

Stefan Wilson, runner-up in this year’s Formula Palmer Audi championship, has been announced as one of the six finalists for the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. He and four others were selected from a shortlist compiled following nominations by readers of Autosport magazine, with the sixth finalist to be decided in a Formula Palmer Audi shoot-out on 3-4 November. A panel of judges will evaluate the competitors later in November when Stefan and his five rivals will drive a variety of cars at Snetterton - a World Series by Renault single-seater, a DTM Mercedes and a Porsche Carrera Cup car. They will also be interviewed by the judges at the McLaren Technology Centre. The winner will be announced at the Autosport Awards in London on 2 December. The other finalists named so far are Duncan Tappy and Dean Smith, champion and runner-up respectively in Formula Renault UK; British FFord champion Callum MacLeod; and Formula BMW race winner Henry Arundel.

STROKE ASSOCIATION DAY AT CASTLE COMBE.The Stroke Association is promoting a fund-raising event at Castle Combe on Saturday 27th October and is looking for help from leading racing drivers, as well as owners of ‘Dream Cars’. The principle is that the owners and drivers of these cars will drive the circuit and that members of the public can pay to have a passenger ride in a car of their choice. The guest of honour for the day is Anthony Reid, BTCC Champion of Champions and six times Le Mans driver.  The event is completely free to enter for the owners and drivers of the cars involved. To volunteer to take part email dayofthechampions@hotmail.co.uk or call Richard Jones on 07961 565970 for more information.  

After 13 races at 9 meetings, the 2007 LMA Euro Saloon and Sports Car Championship came to an end with 72 different drivers and 24 different makes of car having taken part. Despite the time of year, good weather ensured a fitting end to the 2007 season.

BRITCAR 24 HOUR 2007 SKY TV FOOTAGE.Sky Sports will be broadcasting highlights of the BRSCC run Britcar 24 Hours at Silverstone last month at the following times; 
Wednesday December 5th  -  SS Extra at 6pm
Wednesday December 5th  -  SS Extra at 10pm
Thursday    December 6th  -  SS2 at 10am
Thursday    December 6th  -  SS2 at 3pm
Saturday    December 8th  -  SS Extra at Midnight 

Ollie Millroy will go head-to-head with 19 other young hopefuls looking to impress the judges at the Formula BMW racing centre in Valencia on the east coast of Spain next week. The 17 year-old 2006 British ICA Super One kart champion will be battling for one of four EUR 75,000 scholarships into the new Formula BMW European Championship, which supports no less than seven European rounds of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Four of Australia’s Formula Ford up and comers will contest the Formula Ford festival in the UK on Oct 19-21 at Brands Hatch.  CAMS Rising Stars Ashley Walsh and Joshua Scott, both challengers in this year’s Australian Championship, will drive factory Spectrums in the Duratec Class after competing in last months penultimate round of the British Championship where they recorded results of ninth and 13th respectively.  Currently sitting in second position on Australian Championship with two rounds remaining, Walsh was upbeat about his chances at the festival though he was overwhelmed at the challenge the Brands Hatch circuit presents.“I don’t think winning is totally out of the question, we’ve got some test days lined up before the Festival, so I think by the time we get there we’re going to be on the money,” explained Walsh.“The track is unreal. It’s nothing like it is on TV. It goes up and down, the angle of the corners are unbelievable. It’s by far the toughest track I’ve every driven on,” said  Walsh.  Competing in the Kent Class is regular Victorian FF State competitor Nikki Templer, while 2007 CAMS Victorian Formula Ford Champion Jake Chapman will run a Zetec Van Diemen.

Team Australia driver Will Power has helped officially conclude Hannah and Luke Sinclair’s pet rock charity project with a successful ending in Brisbane today. Team Australia’s offer of the ultimate Lexmark Indy 300 experience has brought Queensland charity Youngcare a brand new transport vehicle.Brett Curtis was present to officially hand the keys of the new people mover, valued at $41,000, to Youngcare Director Simon Lockyer at the Brisbane charity’s head office in West End. Power in turn presented Curtis, who hails from South Brisbane, a framed and signed one-off print of his second Champ Car victory in the #5 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia DP01 in Toronto, Canada, as well as two pit passes to this year’s Lexmark Indy 300.The Australian Champ Car star also showed Curtis the gloves that the Toowoomba-born driver will wear in this year’s race, which will also be given to Curtis post-race as part of the money-can’t-buy experience, that also includes team uniforms, exclusive Team Australia pit tours and the chance to watch the big race from the Team Australia pit area. Curtis is a long-time Champ Car fan and has frequently attended the former race in Vancouver, Canada and also the Long Beach race in California, but amazingly this will be his first time attending the Australian leg of the Champ Car World Series, considered the marquee event in the championship.

Jamie Green (2007 Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) won the exciting finale of the 2007 DTM in Hockenheim and achieved his second consecutive victory in the championship after his first win in Barcelona three weeks ago. “I enjoyed today's win even more than the first one in Barcelona," Green said. "It is something really special to win in front such a great crowd with so many of my Mercedes-Benz colleagues. The car was perfect and I didn't make any mistakes - this was the key for my success today." The Title however went to Mattias Ekstrom who secured the 2007 DTM championship with third. The Audi driver did all he needed to do and that was to keep his championshp rival, Mercedes' Bruno Spengler behind him. Just 0.434 seconds divided the pair at the flag, the Canadian hanging onto Ekstrom's boot lid.

Second fastest lap in race two and a badly dented crash helmet was all Niall Quinn had to show for a highly competitive final weekend of the German Formula BMW championship at Hockenheim last Sunday. After a weekend of strong pace and much promise, the 18-year-old from Dunboyne finished his German season with an overnight stay in hospital following a spectacular crash while dicing for third place in Sunday's 18th and final race in the 2007 series. Quinn's AM Holzer prepared machine was pitched into a series of barrel rolls when his rear wheel was tagged by a driver he had passed shortly before in a trademark daring round the outside move.Luckily the car finished up right despite having dragged upside down through the gravel trap and the Meath driver was soon extricated by the rescue crew before being dispatched to a local hospital and kept overnight for observation.It was a hugely disappointing end to what had been a very encouraging weekend of racing during which Quinn had once again been one of the main protagonists.

Racing Engineering is pleased to announce that they will be entering the Formula BMW Europe Championship for 2008. Formula BMW Europe is a new resulting from the merger of the FBMW Championships of UK and Germany. It will take place over eight rounds, seven of which will be part of the support programme to F1.  Each round will consist of two races, the first to be held on Saturday, the second on Sunday. Racing Engineering are especially proud that they will be the only Spanish team to be entering the Championship, they will be joined by teams from the UK, Germany, France and Italy. Racing Engineering is of course already well known for their encouragement of young talent having won the Spanish Formula 3 Championship on six consecutive occasions. Racing Engineering considers the Formula BMW Europe Championship an excellent opportunity to further their development of young drivers by giving them a chance to compete on tracks that are part of the GP2 and Formula One championships.

16-10-07

ELLIS TAKES HOME THE SILVERWARE.  Bradley Ellis and teammate Alex Mortimer (Stoneleigh) were officially crowned the Avon Tyres British GT Champions of 2007 at the prestigious SRO annual awards ceremony at the Victoria Park Plaza Hotel in London on Saturday 13 October.  The Team RPM pairing clinched the Avon Tyres British GT Championship in sensational style in a thrilling end of season battle at Rockingham on 30 September. After just two weeks for their achievements to sink in, Ellis and Mortimer were proud to be awarded with the stunning championship silverware by Avon Tyres Marketing Communication Manager, Sarah McRoberts. Ellis and Mortimer joined the GT3 category in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship as rookies this season, after graduating from the GTC class where they clinched third in 2006. The youngest pairing on the GT3 grid, 20-year-old Ellis and 22-year-old Mortimer took the coveted championship spoils with four race wins, two second-place finishes and two-third places.After a challenging season en route to the championship crown, the dynamic duo are now exploring opportunities for the 2008 season, so watch this space. – Pic Bradley Ellis (left) and Alex Mortimer (right) proudly collect their championship silverware from Sarah McRoberts, Avon Tyres Marketing Communications Manager

The Aston Martin DB5 of Ian McCallum and John Bussell was the star of the weekend during the final two races for the 2007 Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge at Spa-Francorchamps over the weekend (13/14 October)…full report

Freddy Nordstrom ended his SEAT Cupra Championship with a two  excellent second place finishes at the season finale held at Thruxton. ..report

Successful Queensland businessman and Team Australia co-owner Craig Gore is encouraging all of Australia to get behind local driver Will Power in next weekend's Lexmark Indy 300 on the streets of the Gold Coast. Gore said he would love to see the whole of the country painted in Green and Gold as Power tries to become the first Australian to win a round of the Champ Car World Series on home soil. Power sent the crowd into ruptures when he captured provisional pole on the Friday of last year's event and then clinched the number one starting spot the next day. "This is the biggest motorsport event of the year in Australia and we have a talented young guy who is more than capable of winning it in Will Power," said Gore. "There is so much hype about this year's event already and it is only going to build as this week progresses and I will be doing everything in my power to encourage it. "Paint your dog, house, car in green and gold and start practicing the national anthem, this is going to be one hell of a week."

Team USA scholarship winners Patrick Barrett and Joel Miller should be a little more prepared to tackle the Formula Palmer Audis they'll drive in the UK later this month after successfully completing tests in Andersen Racing Star Mazda Cars at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) last week. Barrett logged 71 laps and Miller completed 74 laps at the road course. Barrett is the 2007 Pacific F2000 champion. while Miller took the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National presented by Mazda earlier this month. The scholarship winners will race at Brands Hatchon Oct. 27-28 and at Snetterton on Nov. 3-4 in the six-race Formula Palmer Audi Autumn Trophy competition. Andersen Racing team owner Dan Andersen was impressed with how both teens adapted to his Star Mazda cars. "I think both boys recognize that the effort required to drive a Star Mazda car, with its bias-ply Goodyears, is more than they are used to," he said. "One of my engineers commented prior to the start of actual testing that they were both clearly mature, polite, even tempered and poised, but he wondered aloud if they were going to be fast. At the end of the test we both agreed they were that too!" Andersen said. "My compliments to the Team USA selection committee, as they have chosen candidates who have the speed as well as all of the other important attributes they'll need to advance in the sport."

Next TV slots for Heritage GT Car Challenge. Schedules for the final round of TV coverage for the 2007 Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge have been  announced. Coverage of the races at Brands Hatch during the World Touring Car Championship meeting will first be screened on Sky Sports 1 during the early evening of Tuesday 30 October, with a total of six repeat broadcasts. 
The provisional broadcast schedule is as follows:
Tuesday 30 October at 17.30 on Sky Sports 1
Tuesday 30 October at 22.00 on Sky Sports Extra
Tuesday 30 October at 23.30 on Sky Sports Extra
Wednesday 31 October at 01.30 on Sky Sports Extra
Wednesday 31 October at 10.30 on Sky Sports 3
Wednesday 31 October at 12.30 on Sky Sports 2
Wednesday 31 October at 14.30 on Sky Sports 2

Ultimate Motorsport’s debut season was topped off nicely last weekend when they were voted the best team in the2007 British F3 International Series. They followed this up by announcing their plans to expand the operation next year....read more

Recently crowned F2000 Series Champion, Cole Morgan, will receive an Indy Pro Series test from Championship winning team Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The 19 year old Floridian will be given the chance to pilot the 450 horsepower IPS car around the famed Sebring circuit on October 22nd. His test will be part of the Indy Pro Series and Sam Schmidt Motorsports "Champions Test", given to various Champions looking to move up the open-wheel ranks. "I am so grateful for this opportunity. Sam Schmidt has built the most dominant team in IPS, and to be able to test with them is a dream come true. It really shows how committed Sam is to open-wheel racing in the US, people as generous as him are few and far between in such a cut-throat sport," said a jubilant Morgan. "I am confident I can adapt to the car quickly and perform very well at Sebring. I know I will be working with the best equipment available and hopefully we will have a very successful test. I think I can show what a great training ground the Hankook F2000 Series is as it has fully prepared me for the next step in my career." Morgan dominated the Hankook F2000 Series scoring 6 wins in 10 races and the 2007 Championship, even after missing the first 2 races at VIR. He won races at Road Atlanta and Mid-Ohio and also swept the Watkins Glen and Lime Rock rounds.

15-10-07

In the final meeting of the 2007 Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship, Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) finally made his New Leon Cupra class title official, while Harry Vaulkhard (Volkis Boozer’s/Triple R) secured the Leon Cupra R class crown with a 3rd place finish in Round 19…full report

The British Formula Ford Championship is to repeat its successful 'sampler day' for prospective competitors at Silverstone. The 5 December event, which is being organised by RacingLine, promoter of the Ford-backed series, is aimed as a showcase not only for the championship but also for teams looking to run drivers in British Formula Ford in 2008. "It was a hugely popular event last year," says RacingLine director Sam Roach. "It's an open circuit for all the teams who took part in 2007, as well as for prospective teams. We want teams to showcase themselves and to invite along prospective competitors to find out about them and what they can offer, and also to learn how we plan to build on the phenomenal success which the championship has enjoyed this season." The championship has exclusive use of the National circuit at Silverstone, and the sampler day will also provide the opportunity for the Fluid Motorsport Formula 3 team to test the 2007 top three: Callum MacLeod, James Nash and Nick Tandy. Drivers with kart or ARDS racing licences who would like to attend are urged to contact RacingLine on 01908 210077 or formulaford@racingline.com

Formula Ford graduate Christian Ebbesvik has made history by becoming the first driver of the Duratec era to graduate to GP2. The Norwegian, who won a British Formula Ford race at Thruxton in 2006, tested for GP2 team Racing Engineering at Jerez, Spain, earlier this month. Racing Engineering team principal Alfonso de Orleans-Borbon said: "Christian did a really good job. He was able to handle the power well and never put a foot wrong. It's clear he has the ability to do well at this level." Ebbesvik has competed this season in the Spanish Formula 3 Championship with Team West-Tec

Duncan Tappy is the 2007 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Champion after winning the penultimate round 19 at Thruxton circuit on Sunday ..full report

Giovanardi wins BTCC Title while Plato goes down fighting. Having been seriously burnt in a filming accident earlier in the weekend, Jason Plato was described as ‘superhuman’ by his SEAT Sport UK team boss Scott Dennis (SEAT UK Motorsport Manager) after ignoring the pain and driving his heart out in a dramatic finale at the Thruxton circuit in Hampshire yesterday(Sunday)…full report

Lars Viljoen won both Club F3 races at Sneterton in his Dallara F302. In the first race Jon gray came second with Chris Needham third. Needham went one better in race two  finishing behind Viljoen with Mark Terry third. Lea Wood  took a hat-trick of wins in the VSR Super Silhouettes. The Tigra VXR racer  led Steven Barnard’s Audit TT  by  over 20 secs in race 1 with Ian Fewings third  in a second Tigra. In race two Wood won by 4.4 secs from Steve Hall in another Audi TT while in race 3 Hall was the runner-up once more , but only by 2.9 secs. Ian Longhurst took third in both races.

Alexander Sims had a strong finish to his season in Formula Renault UK yesterday taking a podium and a 6^th place in the final races of the year at Thruxton….full report

Will Bratt secured a coveted top three placing in the final 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship standings at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire on Sunday, 14th October, during the all-important 19th and 20th rounds of the season...full report

Tony Le May won both the Super Mighty Mini races at Snetterton. The first, run with the www.Motorlawyers Fiat series saw him beat  Phil Hetherington to the line while in the second, this time alongside the Porsche 924 series he headed Patrick Ford. The Porsche race was won by Will Penrose who beat Alastair Kirkham by 6. seconds. Graham heard was third. In the second Porsche race Kirkham was again forced to be the bridesmaid a\nd not the bride, this time behind Matt Davies, Kirkham loosing out in second by only 0.227 secs. Steve Cheetham was third.  Tim Lewis came out on top in the Alfashop Alfa Romeo series race. His Alfasud Sprint winning with 4.7 seconds in hand over second placed Andy Miller’s Alfa 333 with Adie Hawkins third  a further 8 seconds behind. The Riman family took a strong grip on the podium in  the Fiat races with Martin winning and Mark taking third in both events. Second in race one was Sando Proietti while Simon McFie occupied the position in race 2.  Brett Parris and Nigel Rueben won a race a-piece in the Formula Jedi races. Parries took a comfortable win in race one , taking the chequered with 11 seconds to spare over second placed Frazer Corbyn with Rueben third. Race two saw Ruben hold of Adam Saward to win by just 0.7secs with Barry Armstrong a close third 2.5 seconds behind the  leading pair.

A strong performance by A1 Team GBR driver Robbie Kerr saw the team net a superb second place in Sunday’s Sprint Race followed by frustration in the Feature Race when another potential podium was ended by a puncture which led to an unscheduled pit stop. The results put A1 Team GBR third in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport as the teams head for round 3 in Malaysia

Signature Team driver Edoardo Mortara has claimed the biggest victory of his short career by taking the rookie championship in the Formula 3 Euroseries at the final race of the season in Hockenheim. At the end of a hugely successful year, Edoardo has sealed the prestigious rookie title with two wins and two podiums in only his second season of racing cars. He also became the only rookie ever to claim a win in race one on Saturday, thanks to a magnificent victory in Barcelona last month, and he holds the best qualifying record of all the rookie drivers in the F3 Euroseries this year.

Jeremy Metcalfe (pictured right)  had a top five followed by a top seven result during the last rounds of the 2007 Formula Renault UK Championship at his home venue, Thruxton…full report

Clio Cup driver Andrew Herron (below)saw his bid for a top six finish during the final race of the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup season thwarted on the very last lap at Thruxton Circuit yesterday.. After his first podium on Saturday it was a bit of a let down .full report

A1 Team New Zealand took its second A1GP victory of the day in Sunday’s thrilling Feature race at Brno in the Czech Republic..full report

Erkut Kizilirmak was forced to battle the effects of the flu at Thruxton  but it didn’t prevent the Arkas Racing man from scoring enough points to end his first full year of Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship action joint-eighth in the Independents Trophy..full report

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs took his maiden Formula Renault podium when he finished third in the seventh round of the Northern European Cup (NEC) Formula Renault 2.0 at Spa this weekend. The 16 year-old Tonbridge racer backed that up with fourth place in the second race, a remarkable performance on the teenager’s first ever visit to the Belgian Grand Prix circuit…read more

Manor Motorsport’s Yelmer Buurman recorded a welcome podium finish over the weekend, 13th/14th October, at Hockenheim in Germany during the penultimate race of the 2007 Formula 3 Euroseries season.  Full report

David Epton signed-off his Formula Renault UK career with a brace of typically strong raceday performances yesterday at Thruxton..read more

At Rye House, on Sunday, November 25th there is an international charity kart race being held in aid of Cancer Research UK. Some of the biggest names in motorsport are going to battle it out in 100cc two-stroke karts, the diverse line-up includes Jason Plato, Alain Menu, Nicolas Minnasian, Mika Kallio and many many more...Read more

F1 Fan Donald Lugers has had a chance encounter or two with various F1 luminaries …read his story

With his third victory of the season, runner-up Sébastien Buemi (Mücke Motorsport) bows out of the Formula 3 Euro Series. At Hockenheim the 18-year old Swiss won from Edoardo Mortara (Signature-Plus). For the Italian, second place was enough to win the rookie title in the world’s toughest junior race series. Newly-crowned champion Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3) finished third in the 20th season round and the 100th race in history of the Formula 3 Euro Series. Mortara took the lead on the opening lap and retained this position until the 23rd lap. At the hairpin, he failed to hold off an attack from Buemi and dropped back behind the Mücke driver. He retained this position until the chequered flag came out. Thus, the Italian scored four podium finishes in his maiden season in Formula 3, more than any other rookie.

Martin Byford is the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Cup champion after a dramatic round 11 at Thruxton circuit on Saturday, 13th October. Momo UK’s Stefan Hodgetts clinched his fifth ELF Renault Clio Cup victory of the season during round 12 at Thruxton circuit on Sunday,..full report

The Danish Formula Ford Championship is to adopt Duratec power next season, following in the wheeltracks of Britain, Australia and the Benelux countries. Series organiser the Dansk Automobil Sports Union hopes to attract a grid of a dozen Duratec 1.6 cars in 2008 and, as in the UK, will continue to run a Scholarship class for drivers using older chassis and 1.8-litre power units. "We are delighted to welcome Denmark to the Duratec club," said Mike Norton, Ford TeamRS Motorsport Manager for the UK. "The adoption of the lighter and more powerful 1.6-litre Duratec engine has revitalised Formula Ford in Britain, Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium, and we hope that this resurgence will now spread across Scandinavia. "Seven engines are on their way to Denmark already and the club is confident that a 12-car Duratec field can be assembled for the coming season." Bo Nielsen, DASU Director General and Sporting Director, added: "We are very appreciative of Ford's support for our initiative. Formula Ford is part of Denmark's racing heritage, having been adopted here in 1970, and we very much wish to grow the championship again."

13-10-07

Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3, 1.32.805 min) took pole for the 19th round of the Formula 3 Euro Series at Hockenheim. Grosjean  was 0.178 seconds faster than his team-mate Nico Hülkenberg (1.32.983 min)  while third went to Dutchman Yelmer Buurman (Manor Motorsport, 1.33.244 min). With his fourth best qualifying time of the year, 21-year old Grosjean claimed another point in the battle for the title making him eight points clear of his only remaining rival, Sébastien Buemi (Mücke Motorsport, 1.33.359 min).

Eric Freiberg broke into the top-ten of the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear points standings with a solid finish at Road Atlanta during the 10th Anniversary Petit Le Mans weekend at the Braselton, Georgia circuit this past weekend. Driving the #3 Racing For Kids liveried Northwest Autosport Mazda, the series rookie battled challenging track conditions to finish ninth in the 26-lap event.“After raining most of the morning leading up to our race, the storm went away no more than five minutes before our race and everyone was scrambling to adjust their setups,” Freiberg explained. “It was pretty intense out there as the track was pretty slippery from the rain and dirt that had been brought onto the track by the series that raced before us.”Fighting the lack of grip and the surviving a near-miss as another competitor spun next to him, Freiberg was relieved to bring the car home in the top-ten after a string of tough races battling electrical problems. “The car was fast right out of the trailer and while we dropped back a bit during the weekend the setup was right for the race,” Freiberg revealed. “I knew my luck had changed for the better when another driver lost control right next to me but just missed my car and I was just an observer to the accident rather than a participant. It’s been a long road to get up into the top-ten in points so this is a good weekend.” The 21-year old accounting student now turns his focus to the season finale of the Star Mazda Championship in two weeks time at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. “I’m hoping to build on the results we had here this weekend as we finish out the year,” he commented. “The team will spend a day testing at Infineon Raceway and then we’ll gear up for the finale!”

Great Britain’s Robbie Kerr started his A1GP World Cup of Motorsport™ campaign strongly by setting the second fastest time in Friday’s afternoon’s practice session. In a relatively trouble-free session Robbie was immediately on the pace and, apart from a minor issue with front left tyre wear, the team was satisfied with progress and ended the day confident that the former British F3 Champion can maintain the team’s competitive form in tomorrow morning’s final practice and all-important qualifying.

Carlin Motorsport will take a four strong squad to the 54th Macau Grand Prix next month, including a surprise new signing. The British team, who won the event in 2001 and finished second in 2005, will include both familiar and new faces in Macau.....read more

Mexican David Garza has signed for the Forsythe Championship Racing Team for the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season. Garza competed in his rookie Champ Car Atlantic season in 2007 with US RaceTronics. He earned career-best results in each of his first six starts, topped by best finishes of eighth at Cleveland and the first race of the doubleheader at Edmonton. He finished 10th in the Rookie of the Year standings and 17th in the overall championship. As was the case in 2007, Garza's car will carry sponsorship from Monterrey, Mexico-based Axtel, a leading carrier of communications services in Mexico.

In this weekend’s season finale held at the Hockenheim, Jens Klingmann is the favourite for the title in the  Formula BMW Germany championship title. Klingmann has already won nine races this season and his lead over the runner-up, Daniel Campos-Hull is 18 points.  “I think my chances are really good,” he says. “I was able dominate the season so far and apart from a retirement at Zandvoort all my race weekends went really well. This retirement cost me a lot of points but on the whole the season has been quite positive to date.” For Klingmann, it is the top priority to finish the two rounds at the Hockenheim. “You mustn’t make any mistakes,” he says. “It was like that throughout the season, but now the pressure is taken to another level. Now it’s make or break. In the case of a moderate qualifying performance I usually opt for a more conservative attitude in the races and ensure that I’m not involved in any incidents at the start.”

12-10-07

Caterham's novice driver series churns out 40-plus new racing drivers every season, and is always superbly close and exciting: 2007 has been no exception

RENAULT Sport has arranged the ELF Renault Clio Cup champion’s prize of a test in the 330hp Mégane Trophy racer to take place at Paul Ricard circuit in the south of France on Friday, 9th November. The special test pits the UK champion against his counterparts from other European series and also several regular Mégane pilots.

TOTAL Control Racing has confirmed three of its drivers for the 2007 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup. Current racer Alex MacDowall is joined by newcomers Jonathan Ridley- Holloway and Mike Robinson.  TCR, which won the Winter Cup in 2004 with Jonathan Adam and 2002 with Tom Ferrier, expects to add at least one more car to its line-up.  MacDowall, the youngest driver in this season’s Clio Cup has made great progress in the second half the campaign. TCR Team Manager Lee Brookes said: “Alex, because of his age, has taken some time to get to grips with the racing but is now realising what he needs to do and that’s shown in his results in recent races.” 

No fewer than seven drivers have a mathematical chance of taking the Caterham Roadsport class championship honours, with a further four vying for the Roadsport B crown

Caterham's flagship series - for the fearsomely quick CSR 260 model and the Superlight - makes its second visit of the season to a UK circuit, having already been to Hockenheim and Nürburgring in Germany, Spa in Belgium, the French circuit of Val de Vienne and Donington Park.

Ultimate Motorsport fulfilled their commitment to give a test to the highest placed Mygale driver in the Formula Ford Championship when Callum Macleod joined the team at Pembrey in Wales for two days this week

The 2006 Caterham Eurocup Champion, Ben de Zille Butler, is to team up with 2007 title winner Graham Fennymore(pictured) up for an end-of-season tilt at top honours in Caterham's premier championship

British Formula Ford Champion Callum MacLeod has earned the praise of the Ultimate Motorsport Formula 3 team following a two-day test for the squad. Nineteen-year-old MacLeod impressed Ultimate engineer Andy Richardson: "Callum's ability in the car was there for all to see during this test. He has the talent of car control and a great understanding despite this being his first experience of an F3 car.  "His feedback and comments were very, very good - in fact, he is probably one of the best drivers I have dealt with at doing that - and that reflects on what he has achieved in Formula Ford. "During his test he was involved in developing the Mygale car further and so he did not set a competitive lap time. We tried to take the car somewhere new and he helped tremendously, with his feedback, in that process." The test, at the Pembrey circuit, was offered as a prize for the highest-placed Mygale driver in British Formula Ford, one which MacLeod secured easily thanks to his 14 wins in the Ford-backed championship. Another of MacLeod's prizes for winning the BFFC is a free entry and registration for British F3 in 2008. MacLeod's next outing is at Brands Hatch next week (19-21 Oct) where he starts as pre-event favourite for the Formula Ford Festival.

It's been another dominant season for the 2006 Superlight Challenge Champion, Graham Fennymore. He joined in late this year, having missed the Easter Oulton Park rounds, but has been on a crushing winning streak ever since

Fleetcare TanderSport has announced a significant expansion of its racing operations in preparation for the 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship. Co-Owned by Toll HSV Dealer Team V8 Supercar driver Garth Tander and the current leader of the Formula 3 championship, Leanne, TanderSport was formed as a professional racing team half way through the 2005 season and has won two races and scored 11 podiums. Next year the team will expand to a multi-car operation with new premises, a new transporter and more. Team Co-Owner Garth Tander recently took delivery of a Dallara F307 – Mercedes Benz Formula 3 car, from championship winning British F3 team Hi-Tech Racing for contest next year’s Australian Drivers Championship. The team is currently also investigating ta second 2007-spec car for a multi-car effort in 2008 with the team’s current 2004 car entered in the National Class. ”In 2008 we are out to show that TanderSport is a professional multi-car team out to compete with the very best,” Leanne Tander said. ”With our new workshop, new transporter and new cars it’s our aim to be the best in the business and give drivers the chance to win every race they start. We are now looking for drivers – with a suitable budget and the drive to win.”

Ferrari will supply engines in long term A1GP partnership deal as well as consult on design and manufacture of chassis for new car in Season Four and they will also supply engines to new A2GP Series in Season Five  From the 2008/09 season, Ferrari engines will power every car on the A1GP grid, and the chassis will all have had the firm’s input. Although the current Lola Zytek-built cars will remain for the 2007/08 season, behind the scenes, Ferrari will begin work on the engines for Season Four, and start consulting of the design the car that will be introduced at the same time.

Niall Quinn is looking forward to ending the German Formula BMW Championship on a high at Hockenheim this weekend. Quinn's AM Holzer squad have been busy since the last round rebuilding the Meath man's Mygale made carbon fibre Formula BMW car which was badly damaged in a first lap crash in race two at Barcelona. A post race examination revealed a significant hole in the carbon fibre chassis which, fortunately, was repairable. Therefore Niall's trusty monocoque will be pressed into duty once more in Hockenheim where Niall is eager to continue the good work done in Spain. "We made progress throughout the weekend in Barcelona before the race two hassles and the goal is to get on the pace from the outset this weekend and fine tune from there," says Quinn. "We need to hit the ground running so we're not chasing the weekend. It should be fun racing in Hockenheim. It's another new circuit for my CV and one I'm familiar with from TV so it'll be fun learning its particular challenges. Hopefully we can end the championship with a good result which will help set us up for the World Cup in Valencia, the final race of the season at the end of November."

Gillett Evernham Motorsports announced that they have added Patrick Carpentier to their driver lineup for 2008. The Canadian will drive fulltime in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next year as well as select races in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The car number and sponsorship have not yet been announced. Carpentier made his NASCAR Nextel Cup Series debut earlier this season driving the No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge Avenger at Watkins Glen, leading seven laps in the event. Just one week earlier, he had made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. The road course veteran proved to be a quick learner, taking pole and leading 14 laps en route to second place. "We are excited to add Patrick Carpentier to our organization for 2008," said George Gillett co-owner of Gillett Evernham Motorsports. "Patrick (Carpentier) has shown tremendous talent in every series he has driven throughout his career and has a bright future in NASCAR. We are committed to giving Patrick (Carpentier) the best resources and opportunities available to make this transition and we look forward to a great deal of success together both on and off the track."

While Patrick Barrett clinched the Pacific F2000 Championship Presented by Hankook crown with a pair of dominant victories recently at Infineon Raceway, the battle for second place is still finely poised. Three drivers are separated by a scant two points going into this weekend's final two races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas Motor Speedway played host to Liam Kenney's first career open-wheel racing victory a year ago and the Virginia-based stand-out heads back to Nevada this weekend for Rounds 17 and 18 of the Formula TR Pro Series 2000 Championship, Saturday 13th -- Sunday 14th October.

Last weekend at the Virginia  International Raceway, the double-race season finale of the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda took place…

10-10-07

MSVR AUTUMN TROPHY OPEN SALOONS – BRANDS HATCH 28^th OCTOBER & SNETTERTON 4^th NOVEMBER 2007. TWO WEEKENDS OF RACING FOR ONLY £320!  MSVR are holding the final races of the 2007 Open Saloon Series at Brands Hatch 28^th October and Snetterton 4^thNovember. The races are open to any form of saloon car, and the class structure for the race will be determined at the close of entries.
The format for both Brands Hatch and Snetterton is 1 x 20 min qualifying and 2 x 20 minute races. Tyre choice is unrestricted and these events are a great opportunity to get up to four upgrade signatures on your licence, as well as a final chance to race on these circuits in 2007. The entry fee for Brands Hatch 28^th October is £215, and Snetteton 3^rd November is £195. However, if you enter both weekends of racing the entry fee will be only £320! That’s 120 minutes of track time for £320!   The Brands Hatch and Snetterton Meetings are headlined by the first and second rounds of the Autumn Trophy, a mini FPA championship. At Brands Hatch the drivers will be preparing for the Snetterton FPA Shootout on the following weekend. This shootout will decide the sixth and final nominee for the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Young Driver Award. Go to www.motorsportvision.co.uk/opensaloons for more information. Get your entry in ASAP as the grids are filling up! 

Walker Racing continues to ramp up its efforts for the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents the Champ Car Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season as they successfully commenced their second round of testing at Sebring this week with Greg and Leo Mansell

The 10th and final round of the 2007 DTM in Hockenheim this coming weekend will be the 300th race for Mercedes-Benz in the DTM and in the ITC since the brand has officially returned to touring car racing in 1988.

Formula Renault BARC racer Ollie Hancock enjoyed an impressive first visit to Spa-Francorchamps in a one-off historic racing outing at the weekend, taking a class win in the World Sportscar Masters and setting the fastest class lap in the Sports Racing Masters

Lorenzo Mandarino won his second race of 2007 in the Star Mazda series at Road Atlanta.

Joel Miller won the 2007 Skip Barber National Series Championship at the weekend at Virginia International Raceway

Jason Plato has been hurt in an incident during filming for the Channel 5 Fifth Gear programme. SEAT Sport UK’s Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship driver was testing a road-going  Caparo T1 supercar at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground near Lutterworth in Leicestershire when it burst into flames at an estimated 150mph

Romain Grosjean (ASM Formule 3) vs. Sébastien Buemi (Mücke Motorsport), that’s the name of the game when it comes to the battle for the 2007 Formula 3 Euro Series Championship title. This weekend’s season finale, held at the 4.574-kilometre Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, will be the decisive event. Frenchman Grosjean travels to the circuit with a seven-point lead over his Swiss rival. Both young guns are keen on becoming the successor of new Formula One star Lewis Hamilton (the 2005 champion) as well as the two DTM aces Paul di Resta (2006) and Jamie Green (2004).

Matt Griffin has confirmed he will drive an RPM Motorsport Porsche in the final two rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton circuit in Hampshire next weekend. The Cork-born racer has been contesting the 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Championship with Peter Bamford, who will also race at the Hampshire track on October 13/14. "Peter and Robin (Mortimer) offered me a fantastic opportunity to race next weekend and as it doesn't clash with any other commitments, is at my favourite track and is in one of the best cars in the world, well I'd have been mad not to say yes, wouldn't I?" said Matt. "Seriously though, I'd like to say a big thank you to them both for giving me the chance to sign off the British season in style. The championship is great and I love the Porsche, so we'll just have to see what we can do come qualifying and the races." Griffin, the 2003 British GT Cup Champion will not have opportunity to test the car prior to Saturday's 30 minute qualifying session though and admits it will be quite a challenge, not least switching from the Avon tyres favoured in British GT's to the Michelin-shod machine. "It will be totally different running on Michelins; they're around four and a half seconds quicker than the Avons so that should be a challenge in itself, and at the Thruxton track which is one of, if not the, most difficult and challenging track in the country. It's ultra-fast and sweeping and really sorts the men out from the boys!"

Charlie Kimball will drive for A1 TEAM USA in the all-rookie practices Friday for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport event at Brno's 3.36-mile circuit.

The points' situation going into the DTM finale on 14 October at Hockenheim could hardly be closer: With Mattias Ekstrom (Audi/44 points), Bruno Spengler (Mercedes 42 points) and Martin Tomczyk (Audi/40 points), three drivers are still fighting for the title in the most popular international touring car series -- this has not been the case since the DTM made its comeback in the year 2000.

Following Oliver Jarvis's superb Feature Race victory in the Netherlands, Britain's Robbie Kerr is eager to get back behind the wheel and add to A1 Team Great Britain's tally of victories and grab the series lead as the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport moves on to Brno in the Czech Republic this weekend. A1 Team GBR holds second place in the championship after the season opener and the squad is determined to take the title fight to early leaders South Africa. Although Kerr will undertake the team’s driver duties this weekend, Jarvis will also be in attendance flying in from testing his Formula 3 car in Japan to join the A1GP TV crew as a pit lane reporter.

Belmayne A1 Team Ireland have named Adam Carroll as the team’s main driver for the rest of the A1GP season.   Carroll has just finished a good year having won two GP2 races this season,‘I’m a racing driver, so my aim is simply to win races and challenge for championships,’ Carroll said. ‘In A1GP I have the additional motivation of representing Ireland and I’ll be giving it 100 per cent to make sure we get to the top step of the podium.’

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont/Pepsi Impala SS took his fifth win of the season at the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend. Other than one round of green flag pit stops, Gordon spend the majority of the 188-lap/500-mile race running around 35th position to save his equipment and be ready for the blast to the front of the field at the end.  Gordon's win in round four of the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup, race 30 of the 36-race NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (NNCS) season, is the 12th superspeedway victory and 80th win of his career. Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Impala SS was second behind Gordon . The defending NNCS champion is second in the standings, just nine points behind the Gordon with six races remaining in the season.

08-10-07

Arkas Racing and Turkish driver Erkut Kizilirmak can’t wait for their combined return to action at Thruxton just five days from now, 13th/14th October, during the eagerly awaited Finals Weekend of the 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship

Following the season-opener at Zandvoort, which saw South Africa’s Adrian Zaugg storm to a great Sprint race victory followed by Team GB’s Oliver Jarvis win in the  Feature race win, A1GP World Cup of Motorsport heads to Brno circuit in the Moravia region of the Czech Republic for round two of the 10-event series on 12-14 October

At Brands Hatch yesterday  Nathan Coulter and Martin Depper shared the spoils in the Mini Challenge races. Coulter winning the opener from Depper by just 0.392 second with Jason greatrex third. Depper went on to win race 2 from Darelle Wilson by 1.4 secs with Depper completing the podium in third. In the Radical Biduro races Ross Allen triumphed in both events winning the first by over 4 seconds from Rob Wheldon and the second, again from Wheldon, by a mere 4 tenths of a second. Toby Newton was third on both occasions. In the Radical Enduro series the Greaves/Greaves machine won the opening race from Abbott and Dove whilst in race 2 it was the Moseley/Johnston car that came out on top ahead of the greaves pairing with the Ince and Kinsella car third. In the Dunlop Sports Maxx Championship Martin Wallbank and John Thorne monopolised the first two places in both races. Wallbank’s  Astra VXR winning race 1 from Thorne’s BMW M3 by 1.9 secs while race two saw the positions reversed with Thorne crossing the line 15 seconds ahead of his rival. Thomas Robinson won both the Westfield sportcar races but they were close run things. The first saw Robinson cross the line just 0.902 seconds up on Matt Flowers with Didier Prongue third 2.2 seconds behind the winner. Race two was equally close, Robinson winning by only 0.310 secs from Peter Daglish with Flowers third a further second up the road.  Kieran Vernon took two wins in the Sony Playstation Ginetta GT championship with George Richardson and James Jefferson taking a second a-piece while Nigel more came away with two third places.

The Carphonme Warehouse Networks Club FFord Championships were at Oulton Park at the weekend and it was David Franklin who came out on top in the Class C-E race. His Reynard FF89 winning by 2.89 secs from David Bailey’s 89FF. Nigel Thompson(pictured) was third in a Van Dieman 4.5 seconds behind the winner. In the Class A-B race Stuart Gough took the honours in a Ray GRS07 from James Cole’s Van Dieman RF99.by 9.289secs. Third place went to Gary Jones who was barely a tenth of a second behind Cole at the flag. The Uniroyal Fun Cup went to the O’Brien/Ritter pairing who after 105 laps crossed the line just 9 second up on the second placed car of Rose, Harris and Pelle.

The 2007 Supercheap  Auto  Bathurst 1000.race was won by Ford drivers Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes for the second year in succession and marking a great day for the blue oval marque, second place went to Ford's David Besnard and James Courtney with Steve Johnson and Will Davison completing the first all Ford podium since 1988

Formula BMW UK Champion, Marcus Ericsson tested a Räikkönen Robertson Racing Formula 3 car at Pembrey last Friday (5 October), as a prize for landing the Formula BMW title. Ericsson became the first Rookie to win the overall title after dominating the season finale at Knockhill on 2 September. On his 17th birthday he lifted the trophy with an impressive win tally of seven and eleven pole positions. The young Swede is hoping to graduate to British F3 next season and was thrilled with the opportunity to test for one of the top teams. He said: This test has given me valuable experience in a new car and it's been great to work with the guys at Double R." After a full day acclimatising to the car, Ericsson was pleased with his performance and also impressed the team, which ran Mike Conway to the title in 2006 and Stephen Jelley to third in the championship this year. "I thought it would be quite had making the transition from Formula BMW to Formula 3 but its been a lot easier than I expected! I've been able to use quite similar driving styles and I've just been getting quicker as the day goes on." Räikkönen Robertson team manager Anthony 'Boyo' Hieatt added: It was a pleasure working with Marcus. He made no mistakes and adapted well to the car, posting some competitive lap times. He is a superb young driver who looks destined to go far in his career."

The SEAT Leon TDI dominated the FIA World Touring Car Championship race meeting at Monza in Italy today, with Yvan Muller qualifying on pole and winning the first race, while Jordi Gene followed up this 2nd place finish in Race 1 with victory in Race 2….full report

Bill Auberlen and Chris Gleason won their third race of the year in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 in the season-ending Grand-Am KONI Challenge GS Six Hour at Virginia International Raceway Sunday

Dindo Capello and Allan McNish kept Audi unbeaten at Petit Le Mans with diesel power winning by just 0.923 seconds. Capello passed Penske Racing's Romain Dumas at the nine-hour mark down the backstretch and used the torque and power of the Audi R10 TDI to win the 10th running of the American Le Mans Series event at Road Atlanta. It was McNish and Capello’s first overall win for Audi since St. Petersburg in March  "This one meant a lot more to us, partly because we have been very close to winning overall in quite a few of the past races but it managed to slip away," McNish said. "It is one of the hardest races we've had and certainly in my eyes the best race Dindo ever has had. This whole season has been a team effort. Audi has never sat back. This is what we're here to do - win outright."  Capello and McNish also clinched the championship for the second year in a row

Oliver Jarvis (TOM'S)won round 17 and teammate Hiroaki Ishiura round 18 of All-Japan Formula 3 Championship at Sendai Hi-Land Raceway. The podium of both races was monopolized by TOM'S drivers and Roberto Streit(INGING),

07-10-07

Coming off a dominant performance at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California in mid-September, Patrick Barrett is looking to extend his winning ways this weekend, October 12-14 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Barrett, piloting his #3 Alpinestars/Jim Russell Racing Schools Van Diemen, swept both races at the Sonoma circuit to claim the 2007 Pacific F2000 Championship. The 18 year old from Los Osos, Calif., established a new season win total record of seven in Round 10, eclipsing 2006 champion Robert Podlesni’s six wins. “I really want to perform well this weekend since these are the last two races of the year in the Pacific F2000 series. Everyone involved with PR1 Motorsports have given me everything I’ve need to win the championship, and I would like nothing more than to end the season on a high with this team.”

Roberto Streit (INGING) secured his sixth win of All-Japan Formula 3 Championship this year and returned to the top of the championship board. From front row, Streit and Hiroaki Ishiura (TOM'S) did a splendid start and jumped into the first corner, however an accident occurred behind them. Kodai Tsukakoshi (Honda Team Real), Kazuya Oshima (TOM'S), Yuhi Sekiguchi (Hiroshima Toyota) and Takuya Izawa (Honda Team Real) came into contact in sequence. By this accident, Oshima, Sekiguchi and Izawa retired the race in the opening lap, and Oliver Jarvis (TOM'S) who started form fifth grid and escaped from this accident jumped up to the third position. Tsukakoshi and Hironobu Yasuda (ThreeBond) followed Jarvis, however Tsukakoshi received a pit through penalty by his movement in the start.Streit had a minor trouble of his engine, however Ishiura could not exceed him and Streit secured his sixth win of season. Ishiura was the second, Jarvis was the third and Yasuda was the fourth. Tsukakoshi chased after his penalty, but finished the race with unsatisfactory sixth position.

A win and two second-place finishes at the Nürburgring have put Richard Hay and Clive Richardson course finally to win the CSR Masters crown which has eluded them for the last two seasons. For although Oliver Bull and his driving partner Phil Glew took the other two race wins in Germany at the weekend (5/6 Oct), Bull requires a miracle if he is to snatch the championship at the final rounds in a fortnight's time."It's not over just yet," said Olly, "and if there is any chance at all for us at Brands Hatch we will be taking it. We seem to have the momentum now and three wins is our target for Brands." Fifty-four points separates Bull from Hay/Richards, who between them have won 10 of their 15 evo Caterham Eurocup races and have finished second in the other five.In the Superlight division at the Nürburgring, 2006 Caterham Masters Champion Nathan Bell returned to the cockpit to drive Terry Clark's car to victory in one of the sprint races. Chris Bialan won the other sprint and also the one-hour feature race...

Formula Master’s (FM) final race saw local talent Marcello Puglisi claim his first win of the season.

Australian James Davison dominated proceedings at Round 11 of the Star Mazda Championship when he was fastest in both testing and  dominated qualifying with pole position being the only driver to break the 1m 19 barrier. He then led 22 of the 26 laps of the race. Unfortunately a small error of judgment at the second restart cost Davison victory.Davison made an excellent start from pole position leading the field into turn 1 and built up a 1.5 second advantage prior to the first full course yellow. At the restart he again drew away and proceeded to dominate the race until another full course yellow occurred with only six laps to go. At the final restart Davison lost the lead to Lorenzo Mandarino who made a last minute move under brakes into turn 1, loosing momentum Davison was relegated back to 5th position when passed by Devin Cunningham, Alex Ardoin and Jonathan Goring who were bunched together as a result of the restart. A serious accident then occurred when Russell Walker flipped his car resulting in the race finishing under caution, denying Davison the opportunity to regain any of the lost positions.“It is a very difficult result for me to accept given that I dominated everything; testing, practice, qualifying and 90% of the race. To be honest I made the mistake of leaving the gate open at the second restart and Mandarino took advantage of the opportunity. I can only reflect on the race that got away however it has only made me more determined to win at Laguna Seca.” 

Dane Cameron has won the Star Mazda  Championship from James Davison in 2nd, Ron White is 3rd. The Final Round of the Star Mazda  will be r at Laguna Seca Raceway in California on October 20th.

Seventeen-year-old Colombian Sebastian Saavedra gave Chinese team Ao’s Racing it’s first ever Formula BMW Asia victory in just his second race with the series. Saavedra, who is in his second season in Formula BMW USA, fought off a spirited challenge from series leader Jazeman Jaafar (MAS/CIMB Team Qi-Meritus) to take the chequered flag at the Formula 1 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai. Kyle Mitchell finished fourth, the first in the rookie class.

At the finale of the Formula 3 Euro Series at Hockenheim (12 -14 October) Carlo van Dam will drive a Dallara F306 Volkswagen alongside Maximilian Götz entered by the Italian team RC Motorsport, the third Dallara "powered by Volkswagen” is driven by Marco Holzer in the AM Holzer Rennsport team. After four race weekends and eight races the finale at the Baden race track marks the end of a short season for Volkswagen following the premiere of the newly developed Formula 3 engine at the beginning of September at the Nürburgring. Afterwards, the development programme for the near 210 hp two-litre four-vale engine from Wolfsburg will be continued for 2008.

Damon  Hill,  BRDC  President  and  the  last  British  driver  to  win  the  FORMULA  1™  World Championship, was among the first to offer Lewis Hamilton his support on Sunday (07 October) after the Vodafone McLaren driver retired on lap 30

06-10-07

When the Blaupunkt SEAT Cupra Championship rolled into Thruxton in May, it was Jonathan Adam (Total Control Racing) and Freddy Nordstrom (Advent Motorsport) who stole the show, both taking double victories in their respective classes..

Jérôme D’Ambrosio’s fifth win of the 2007 Formula Master (FM) season enabled his team, Cram Competition, to clinch the team title today in an action-packed race at Monza. Despite a poor start which saw the Belgian driver fall from third to fifth, D’Ambrosio battled his way to the chequered flag in a series of overtaking moves worthy of his champion status.Finishing closely behind, Alan Racing’s Pablo Sanchez Lopez fought hard all race, unafraid of locking tyres in his battle for a podium finish, and improved his chances for second place in the driver classification. The Mexican is now nine points adrift of Chris van der Drift with 10 points still available in tomorrow’s race. Team-mate Daniil Move was less lucky; the Russian, guest driving for Alan Racing, qualified on pole but was unable to maintain his lead ahead of the season-long FM racers and eventually finished in sixth place. Italy’s Luca Persiani used his local knowledge, scoring his best finish of the season with a third place. The Scuderia Famà driver spent the majority of the 35-minute race sparring with J.D. Motorsport’s Chris van der Drift and Promotorsport’s Marcello Puglisi, entertaining the fans with breath-taking overtaking moves. Persiani’s team-mate Massimo Torre equalled his best finish of the season with a seventh place having qualified in tenth position, followed by Jenzer Motorsport’s Rahel Frey, who collected the last point-scoring position in eighth.

Roberto Streit (INGING) secured his sixth win of All-Japan Formula 3 Championship this year and returned to the top of the championship board. From front row, Streit and Hiroaki Ishiura (TOM'S) did a splendid start and jumped into the first corner, however an accident occurred behind them. Kodai Tsukakoshi (Honda Team Real), Kazuya Oshima (TOM'S), Yuhi Sekiguchi (Hiroshima Toyota) and Takuya Izawa (Honda Team Real) came into contact in sequence. By this accident, Oshima, Sekiguchi and Izawa retired the race in the opening lap, and Oliver Jarvis (TOM'S) who started form fifth grid and escaped from this accident jumped up to the third position. Tsukakoshi and Hironobu Yasuda (ThreeBond) followed Jarvis, however Tsukakoshi received a pit through penalty by his movement in the start. Streit had a minor trouble of his engine, however Ishiura could not exceed him and Streit secured his sixth win of season. Ishiura was the second, Jarvis was the third and Yasuda was the fourth. Tsukakoshi chased after his penalty, but finished the race with unsatisfactory sixth position.

After weeks of planning, SEAT Sport UK will enter three racing Leons for the 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship finale at Thruxton on Sunday 14th October, as the team aims to win back-to-back Manufacturer titles, the Teams’ title and the Drivers’ title with Jason Plato.

The seventh and final weekend in the season for the Charterhouse Heritage GT Car Challenge will take competitors to one of the finest race circuits in the world with a date at Spa-Francorchamps (13/14 October)

Formula Renault UK front-runner David Epton has the podium in his sights ahead of the final two rounds of the 2007 season at Thruxton Circuit on 13th/14th October, an event which is expected to mark the Apotex Scorpio

05-10-07

Lewis Hamilton will have the support of the nation on Sunday (7 October) when he’ll be going all out to win the Chinese Grand Prix and be crowned 2007 FIA FORMULA 1™ World Champion.

Over 160 competitors will be on hand this weekend at the season finale for the Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) divisions, featuring 12 hours of racing at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. Stars from around the globe who have made their name from the silver screen to various forms of motorsports are hoping for award-winning performances in the twin six-hour races.

SG Formula Shines at Home. Charles Pic is still the best rookie in the provisional championship standings, after he scored more points than any other driver in the French rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.

Will Bratt heads to Thruxton Circuit next weekend, 13th/14th October, aiming to sign off his Formula Renault UK race career in winning style during the 2007 championship finale at the ultra-fast Hampshire venue.

ELF Renault Clio Cup rookie Andrew Herron is relishing the final race meeting of his maiden season in the ultra-competitive category next weekend, 13th/14th October, the teenager from Northern Ireland hoping to fight for his first ever podium finish during the eagerly anticipated championship finale at Thruxton Circuit in Hampshire..

Jeremy Metcalfe is looking forward to a return to his ‘home' venue Thruxton Circuit next weekend, 13th/14th October, for the final two rounds of the 2007 Formula Renault UK season, the 19-year-old racer bidding to end what is likely to be his final season in the series with a brace of podium finishes.

Almost three weeks before the official closing date for entries, the 2007 Formula Renault UK Winter Cup with Michelin has reached its 32-car capacity. This is the first time the championship has reached capacity before the deadline since the two-meeting format was introduced with the Formula Renault 2.0 car in 2000

Bathurst: All four of the Caltex-backed driver combinations in this weekend's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama in Bathurst have recorded times inside the top ten during Thursday's first practice session. James Courtney led the Caltex contingent; setting the fourth fastest time showing he and co-driver David Besnard still have the speed exhibited at last month's Sandown 500, in which they qualified on the front row. Next on the time sheets for Caltex was reigning Bathurst champion Craig Lowndes at seventh, with the new chassis debuted by he and co-driver Jamie Whincup. Nipping at Lowndes' heels was Mount Panorama's most consistent competitor Russell Ingall aboard the #9 Caltex Racing Falcon, with he and co-driver Luke Youlden showing consistent speed and control over the session today to come in at eighth fastest behind Lowndes and Whincup.Closing off the top ten for Caltex was Richard Lyons aboard the TeamVodafone entry, showing promise to place he and co-driver Allan Simonsen amongst drivers such as Mark Skaife, Mark Winterbottom.. Steven Johnson and Will Davison's #17 Falcon was fastest ahead of Rick Kelly and Garth Tander's #16 Commodore and Winterbottom and Steven Richards' #6 Falcon.

Formula Master’s (FM) inaugural championship may be settled with Jérôme D'Ambrosio taking the honours at Brands Hatch, but there is still plenty to fight for as the Series enters its final 2007 rounds at Monza this weekend. The battle for top team is wide open with three outfits in close contention. Current leaders Cram Competition are favourites with 114 points whilst second (J.D. Motorsport) and third (Alan Racing) place are closely matched with 89 and 83 points respectively. All three teams have FM race winners in their ranks and, with a maximum 40 points still available, the title chase could swing in anyone’s favour.

Tony D'Alberto was third fastest after Thursday's practice sessions for Round 6 of the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series at Bathurst today. The 21 year-old Victorian was 'on the money' in both sessions yesterday, trading fastest laps throughout, only to be beaten in the closing stages when competitors fitted new tyres

After a frustrating opening practice session Mark McNally has settled in to complete a solid run in the second session at Bathurst yesterday(Thursday) for Round 6 of the Fujitsu V8 Series. "I had a really good run in the second session," Mark said. "I was able to complete all the laps and get comfortable with the car."To do a 2:13 lap was really good, faster than I have been around here before.  Mark was 14th fastest for most of the session until dropping to 19th when as with D’Alberto other teams used new tyres to improve their times

Formula BMW Asia travels to Shanghai this weekend for two rounds supporting the 2007 Formula 1™ Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix, and a chance for the youngsters to shine in front of motorsports’ most influential figures. The first ever Formula BMW Asia champion, Dutch-Chinese racer Ho Pin Tung who took the title in 2003 and was rewarded for his extraordinary performance with an F1 test, will drive the BMW Sauber F1 car, while former BMW Junior and A1 GP Team member Aaron Lim of Malaysia will be at the wheel of an FB02.  In FBMW Asia, Malaysian teenager Jazeman Jaafar (CIMB Qi-Team Meritus) tops the tiable having had 12 podiums in 16 races, but Indonesia’s Zahir Ali  with the newly-formed Team TARADTM is in hot pursuit. Currently third in the standings, Jazeman’s team mate and arch on-track rival James Grunwell (THA) was upstaged in Round 15, held at China’s new Chengdu Circuit last month, by friend and fellow Thai Jack Lemvard (CIMB Qi-Team Meritus), who made a stunning single seater debut winning from Jazeman. Fourth in the Championship and leading the Rookie Cup is Hong Kong driver Ross Jamison (CIMB Qi-Team Meritus ), who is demonstrating the importance of consistency. Fellow BMW Juniors Kyle Mitchell (Eurasia Motorsport), the first South African in the series, team mate Akhil Khushlani of India and Shohei Shiromoto) are all still very much in the title chase.

04-10-07

Newly crowned British Formula Ford Champion Callum MacLeod will get his first taste for F3 power next week (9 Oct) when he undertakes a full test with the Ultimate Motorsport team

Duncan Tappy and Dean Smith go head to head in rounds 19 and 20 of the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship for the right to win the title claimed by Lewis Hamilton four years ago. Tappy holds a seven-point advantage over his Fortec Motorsport team-mate ahead of the races on Sunday, 14th October at Hampshire’s high-speed Thruxton circuit

ULTIMATE MOTORSPORT ended the season with a bang at Rockingham last weekend when they threw a blow-out party for the entire British F3 field to celebrate their successful debut deason

Multiple championship winning Formula Renault UK team Manor Competition excelled during official testing at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk yesterday, Tuesday, 2nd October, Alexander Sims emerging fastest of all for the New Ollerton squad with the outfit’s three other drivers all finishing inside the top six on combined times

Ganassi have signed 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series Champion Dario Franchitti in a multi-year deal to drive in NASCAR. He will drive the team’s No. 40 Dodge Avenger alongside Juan Pablo Montoya in 2008. Franchitti will become the first European driver in the 59-year history of NASCAR to join the series full-time  Franchitti has 180 starts under his belt between CART and IndyCar Series resulting in 18 wins and 17 poles. Franchitti said,  “I have had 11 great years in open-wheel racing. The time came for a new challenge and this is it. It is going to be a heck of a challenge to learn everything. You know, just sitting here with the experience of zero and I am going to be relying a lot on my new teammates. I have already been quizzing Juan this morning about all of these different things. When I get in the car in Talladega this weekend with the ARCA car it is going to be a big step. I am here to learn first of all.”

Former Indianapolis 500 champion Buddy Rice was thrown in the deep end at Zanvoort in the A1GP.  Driving for A1 Team USA Rice had only two free practice sessions to learn the Dutch trac. Added to wet conditions and the rigours of a competitive A1GP race meeting plus qualifying in front of the world’s TV cameras added he certainly didn’t have it easy

FR2.0 Eurocup: Up to fifty drivers in 2008. The World Series by Renault Organizing Committee has presented the main features of the 2008 Sporting Regulations to the teams. Up to fifty drivers will be able to take part in next year's Eurocup. A Superpole session and a qualifying race will be used to determine the best drivers for the races…

In preparation for its fifth season Formula BMW USA is changing and growing to better meet the needs of young racing drivers in North, Central and South America. To recognize the scope of the championship, Formula BMW USA will add two rounds in support of the Brazilian GP and be renamed Formula BMW Americas. To further strengthen the young driver development program, BMW Motorsport will also increase the Junior scholarship award to $80,000

Andy Priaulx will celebrate his 100th race with BMW in the World and European Touring Car Championships in Monza this Sunday. The reigning World Champion took touring car racing by storm: In only his second full season with BMW he won the 2004 FIA ETCC title and claimed the world title in both 2005 and 2006 for BMW Team UK. With four races to go to the end of this season, Priaulx leads the WTCC drivers' classification, a promising position to be in to win his fourth consecutive title.  "For four years, Andy Priaulx has set the benchmark in touring car racing," says BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. "He represents the BMW brand and he is held in high esteem by racing fans around the world. Talent, ambition and motivation are some of the prerequisites for his unprecedented string of success. I congratulate Andy on his 100th race, and I'm convinced that he will score many more wins and titles for us in the future."

Nelson Philippe, the popular French driver who was the youngest driver to ever start and win a Champ Car World Series race, will return to his former team, Conquest Racing. Philippe will defend his title this month at Surfers Paradise, Australia in the blue and white livery of Australian based Juniper Property Development Group. Additionally, the 21-year-old Philippe will compete in the Champ Car season finale in Mexico City in November. "I'm thrilled to be back, and no better time than now with Surfers Paradise around the corner [October 21]," said Philippe, who earned his first career title in Australia last year. "It's been a challenge to be sidelined this year, but things happen for a reason and right now it's full steam ahead for Australia and Mexico."   Philippe replaces Jan Heylen in the team

Chevrolet Europe has re-signed an agreement with UK-based Ray Mallock Limited to extend the current agreement and WTCC commitment beyond the 2007 season. Under the agreement works Chevrolets will be entered in all rounds of the FIA World Touring Car Championships in 2008, '09 and `10. Since the start of the WTCC programme at the in the 2005 season, the Chevrolet Lacetti's driven by Rob Huff, Nicola Larini and Alain Menu have gone from strength to strength; from just point scorers in '05 to regular race winners this season.  Chevrolet's success on the racetracks is also reflected by the sales figures in the European marketplace. In 2005 the first year of the introduction of the Chevrolet brand in all the markets some 295,000 cars were sold. One year later, a 15.8% increase translated as 342,000 cars, while for the current year to date a 33% increase over the 2006 figures has already been reached.

BMW Motorsport is inviting fledgling racers to take the fast lane to a career in international motorsport with four scholarships for the 2008 Formula BMW Asia season, the proven stepping stone from karting to the world of top-level motor racing.  Anyone aged between 16 and 21, and of any nationality except EU and USA citizens may sign up for the evaluation programme scheduled for 13 to 16 December this year at Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Professional instructors from BMW Motorsport will assess each candidate and those who display the greatest all-round potential will be awarded a cash contribution to the 2008 season of 50,000 Euro (approximately 70,000 USD), which will include a provision of 10.000 Euro for spare parts, plus a full season in the Formula BMW Asia Education & Coaching Programme.  Four scholarships are available, with one earmarked for the winner of this year’s Rookie Cup. The cost of participation is 2,300 Euro (approximately 3,450 USD), and entry forms may be obtained from Formula BMW Asia Series Manager Matthijs Hoitink at Matthijs@motorsportasia.com.

03-10-07

Alexander Sims produced a truly outstanding performance during official Formula Renault UK testing at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk today, the Manor Competition driver totally dominating his rivals after comfortably lapping quickest in both sessions

Will Bratt enjoyed a productive official test at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk today to emerge as the third fastest driver, the 19-year-old utilising the marathon seven hours of track time to prepare for the championship finale which will take place at Thruxton in Hampshire on 13th/14th October

Guillaume Moreau took his first WSR pole position in Hungary, scored his first podium finish in England, and recorded his first race win in France

During the last weekend of the German ATS Formula 3 Cup at Oschersleben, Frédéric Vervisch secured second in the Championship with a great drive in the wet.  The Lola B06/30 OPC driver had mixed fortunes in qualifying, taking ple in race 2 and third quickest in the opening ound.Challenge with race number 2  In the first race he made a good start to lead in wet conditions to win by over 13 seconds from team mate Nico Verdonck. “It was easy to stay in the lead, but I had to avoid unnecessary mistakes. It’s a pity that the race lasted for only 19 minutes, because we were so quick that we could have won with a bigger margin.” Thanks to his victory, Frédéric secured the second place in the overall standings.  Vervisch lost out from pole race two loosing the lead to Van Dam, but was able to follow the Dutchman. A small error later on cost him second dropping him back to third. “I had too much oversteer and got on the dirty part of the track which cost me a second place on the rostrum”, Fred said after the race.

Bahraini racing driver Salman Al Khalifa ended his first season in the British F3 International Series with a flourish, by enjoying his best race weekend of the year. The former Formula BMW Asia champion secured two National Class second place finish in the 2007 finale at Rockingham to clinch fifth in the overall standings.

Sunday 25th November 2007 sees motorsport stars from all over the globe come together for the charity kart race of the year – The Race Against Cancer (TRAC). In aid of Cancer Research UK, TRAC promises to bring together the biggest names from two and four wheels for a frantic and pure racing event in 100cc racing karts. The location of this spectacular event will be Rye House, Hertfordshire, the all day event will play host to stars from a wide range of other motorsport formulae in the first event of its kind in the UK. More entertainment will be on show during the day, with a demonstration by the elite junior drivers in the UK opening the event. After the main TRAC feature race, the day will close with a celebrity race featuring popular icons from the world of motorsport, actors, musicians, sportsmen and a great deal more.The goal of the event is to raise as much awareness and money for future cancer research, as shown by 100% of all proceeds from the event going to charity. Donations will be made to Cancer Research UK, the world's leading independent organisation dedicated to cancer research. They support research into all aspects of cancer through the work of more than 3,500 doctors, scientists and nurses. Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster.co.uk for £25.00 each. With demand for tickets expected to be through the roof as fans of all types of motorsport rush to see their heroes take on other motorsport stars, we encourage you to buy tickets as soon as possible and support this great cause. For more information and to learn how to buy tickets to support this event, please visit the official event website at www.theraceagainstcancer.co.uk

Anders Krohn took a dominant win in the season finale in the Dutch & Benelux Formula Ford Championship, held at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. The winning margin was a huge 5,127 seconds

Australian Champ Car star Will Power has traded the ultimate experience with Team Australia at this year’s Lexmark Indy 300 with Pet Rock kids Hannah and Luke Sinclair in aid of Queensland charity Youngcare on the Gold Coast today. Power arrived in Australia this morning ahead of the Lexmark Indy 300 on October 18-21 and exchanged the package with Hannah and Luke for a 2006 Wallabies jumper signed by the Australian Rugby Union squad at the WPS/WOW Racing workshop.

Motorsport Events trackdays in October now available…

02-10-07

Juno Racing had a trio of action hotspots this weekend with their cars performing in the VdeV, Portuguese Hillclimb and Irish Sport Libre Championships, with good news from all to report!

The long ten month wait for Australia's greatest motor race is finally over. The Ford Performance Racing (FPR) V8 Supercar team is heading to Bathurst's Mount Panorama for the 47th running of one of the world's most challenging motor races, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

British Grand Prix ticket sales off to a flying  start after Hamilton success..

Kieren Clark is to test for the Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team this weekin a Formula Renault UK series car at Snetterton. The test is a chance for Clark to get his first run in a car for the Formula Renault Winter Series, which he plans to  take part in at Donnington and Croft next month.  The Winter Series  runs UK spec cars, alongside the similar BARC Renault cars with out their normal air intake restrictor, as the Clark’s 3K’s Racing team have successfully done this year.  Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team are currently lying 3rd in the F Renault UK drivers championship with Will Bratt. “This is a great opportunity to try out the faster spec car”,said Kieran, “I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with it. I’m hoping that I can put in a good showing and this can lead onto bigger things.It will be strange not having the family team around me for the first time in my racing career, but I’m expecting frequent phone calls from abroad to check up on progress! “

The chase for the 2007 IMSA GT3 Cup by Michelin championship will resume at Petit Le Mans and Road Atlanta, where the all-Porsche series debuted in the spring of 2005. Thirty-eight Porshce 911 GT3 Cup cars are entered for Round 9, a 45-minute race scheduled for Friday, October 5.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs made an impressive debut in the Northern European Cup (NEC) Formula Renault 2.0 this weekend, storming to fourth and fifth places in the two races at the Oschersleben track. The 16 year-old, driving for championship leading Motopark Academy has competed in just two previous Formula Renault races before stepping into the fray this weekend.

András Kittka, was yesterday crowned as the 2007 Bridgestone e-reporter winner, sharing the spotlight on stage at the GP2 prize giving ceremony (30 September) wth German driver Timo Glock (iSport) - as he clinched this year’s GP2 Series title in Valencia

Niall Breen endured a weekend of mixed fortunes at Rockingham to score more valuable points in the final two rounds of the season in the Lloyds TSB Insurance British Formula 3 International Series to finish the season in fifth place and second highest placed rookie. He started both rounds from a lowly 11th place on the grid after both his ‘hot laps’ in the two sessions were spoiled by Sebastian Hohenthal. However, the Bar One Racing/City Waste-backed driver was prepared to fight all the way and he made a brilliant start in the first race grabbing three places on the first lap as he past Carlin Motorsport team mate, Maro Engel, Stephen Jelley and Jonathan Kennard, who crashed out. When Sam Bird retired with a broken driveshaft, Breen was up to seventh and this became sixth when the 21-year old rookie finally took Australian John Martin on lap 10. From then on, Niall closed the gap to Carlin’s Mario Moraes but despite setting third fastest time of the race, he couldn’t pass his Brazilian team mate and he came home in a good sixth place. In stark contrast, Breen made a tardy start for the final race, dropping back to 13th and giving himself a lot to do. His main challenger for fifth place in the series, Kennard, clashed with Asmer, putting the Estonian out and dropping Kennard down the field. Gonzales had the early lead for the first five laps but a drive-through penalty for an alleged jump start saw the Venezuelan back to sixth leaving Engel leading Bird. On the fifth lap, Breen took fellow Irishman Michael Devaney before setting about Jelley but try as he may, he had to settle for ninth place behind Engel, Bird, Hohenthal, Esteban Guerrieri, Mustonen, Alberto Valerio, Moraes and Jelley.

Jessica Hawkins is today celebrating after becoming the Super 1 Dunlop Honda Cadet British Karting Championship runner-up following the final round of the season at Shenington Kart Circuit in Oxford on Sunday, 30th September.  Save for some bad luck earlier in the year, the 12-year-old sensation could well have been crowned Honda Cadet Champion over the weekend but that takes nothing away from her terrific achievement in finishing runner-up to title winner Harrison Scott in her first season at British Championship level

The 19th and 20th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place next week at Monza, the Italian temple of speed, home of the Italian GP since 1922. Since 2003 Alfa Romeo and BMW have equally shared the glory at Monza, winning four races apiece (in 2003 and 2004 counting towards the European Touring Car Championship). James Thompson and Jorg Muller have claimed two victories each. The two races in Monza will mark the end of WTCC's European season before the long trip to Macau for the grand finale.

Peter Hills (Vacuform Rhema 2)  won both races by the narrowest of margins, during the penultimate round of the Pro Tour South African National Formula Vee Championship at Zwartkops World of Motoring

01/10/07

Hay and Richards bid for Caterhan CSR Masters at Nurburgring. Later this week (5/6 Oct), Richard Hay and Clive Richards have the chance to take the CSR Masters championship title in the evo Caterham Eurocup. The three Nürburgring rounds - two 30-minute sprint races and a one-hour enduro - offer the Colards Motorsport pairing the opportunity to clinch the crown with a meeting in hand. Richards and Hay have won nine races and finished second three times in their 12 outings thus far, and arrive with a 49-point lead over their closest title rival, Oliver Bull. If they can stretch that advantage to 60 points by the time they leave Germany the crown will be theirs. Bull is paired at the 'Ring in the Acre Jean/Hyperion CSR 260 with Phil Glew. Michele Tommasi and Sarah Reader will continue their fight for championship third. The Eurocup Superlight Sprint and Endurance titles have already been sewn up by Graham Fennymore but Chris Bialan, Clive Coote, Bill Addison and Terry Clark will all be in action at the Nürburgring to try to settle the runner-up positions.

Richard Walker rather took the edge of new VW Champ Tony Gilham’s day by preventing him from celebrating his championship win with a race victory . The second of the VW Cup race at Rockingham was fought out between Walker and Paul Taylor, with Walker coming out on top…

In atrocious conditions, Paul Meijer won the eleventh round of the NEC Formula Renault 2.0. at Oschersleben, the AR Motorsport driver won from Motopark Academy's Frank Kechele and Synsam Racing's Pierre Selander . On Sunday, Kechele won from Meijer and Valterri Bottas, whose third place for Koirainen Bros. was a welcome consolation after having spun into retirement on the day before

Kieran Clark’s Formula Renault BARC championship continued on Saturday at at Oulton Park circuit for the final round.. After qualifying an impressive second his race didn’t go as planned and he finished a very disappointed 7th …full story

Hywel Lloyd is the 2007 Formula Renault BARC Champion, beating Dean Stoneman by just one point after 12 thrilling races. The Welshman’s victory from pole position in round 12 at Oulton Park Island circuit on Saturday, 29^th September was his sixth of the season and third in succession to complete a stirring revival to end the season

Yelmer Buurman emerged from rounds 17 and 18 of the Formula 3 Euroseries season at Nogaro in France as the highest scoring of Manor Motorsport’s drivers, the 20-year-old’s best result of the weekend coming with a top five finish during Saturday’s first encounter at the FIA GT Championship supporting event

James Winslow earned positive reviews after making his Champ Car debut with the Conquest Racing team in testing at Sebring, and the Briton is now working on securing a ride in the series for 2008. Winslow has his sights set on stepping up for next season, and the two-day outing with Conquest was a taster for both parties, with the Briton getting his first run in the 900bhp Panoz DP01 and the Indianapolis-based team getting a look at his ability behind the wheel. “Obviously, this was a very big step for me,” Winslow admitted, “but I’m very pleased with the outcome as I improved with every session. Compared with others I have driven, the car was a real beast to drive, but it was great fun, although a little more physical than perhaps I was expecting. ” Winslow will join the Conquest team at the two remaining Champ Car races this season – at Surfers Paradise in Australia and the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City – and is hoping that the two parties can move towards working together in the future.

Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer produced a dominant performance  that took the Team RPM pairing to a double victory and a Championship title in British GT at Rockingham…

Carlin Motorsport finished the 2007 British F3 season on a highon Sunday(30 Sept), with a one-two at the Rockingham Circuit in Northamptonshire. Maro Engel led the squad home, ahead of the season's top rookie Sam Bird, who took his tenth podium of the season. Alberto Valerio was the next Carlin driver across the line in sixth, followed by fellow Brazilian Mario Moraes in seventh and Niall Breen in ninth - meaning all five cars finished inside the top ten

Oliver Jarvis got A1 Team Great Britain’s challenge for the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport off to a flying start with a dominant victory in today’s Feature Race at Circuit Park Zandvoort,

Sam Bird ended his rookie year in F3 with a tenth podium place in the final race of the season at Rockingham, coming second to clinch the Rookie title.  Having had 2 wins, 4 second places and 4 thirds, BP Ultimate driver Bird also suffered a number of mechanical gremlins during the latter half of the season, with five non-finishes, making his 4th place overall all the more impressive. “While I am of course thrilled with the rookie title, I am extremely disappointed that the bad luck that has dogged me lately has dropped me from 2nd in the championship. Today I was on course to finish third overall, till my driveshaft snapped in race one. I started from 6th on the grid, and was up to 3rd when it went, causing yet another retirement, leaving me just three points adrift of third overall”. Sam started the second race in third place and was challenging the pole man at the first corner, but had to back off and settle into second place for the remainder of the race. “After a good start, my car was lacking the pace of my team mate and eventual race winner, but it was great to be back on the podium for the final race of the season” he said afterwards.

Carlo van Dam ended the German Formula 3 championship in a glorious way, by winning. At the Oschersleben circuit the new ATS Formula 3 Cup Champion showed once again why he has laid claim to the title. In the first race the Dutchman showed carried out some impressive overtaking manoeuvres  to end up on the podium in third place.  In the second he came out on top once again, scoring his 9th win of the year

The Scuderia Ecosse team took its best result of the 2007 FIA GT season at Nogaro today with a third-place finish for Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell, closely followed by Darren Turner and Tim Mullen in fourth. The team had a tough time in qualifying. Andrew Kirkaldy managed to get the 63 Ferrari up into fifth place but Darren Turner could only manage eighth after a spin. To make things even harder Ferrari 63 required an engine change after suffering an oil leak in the warm up session this morning so that car had to start the race from the pitlane. Today's result is a real boost for Scuderia Ecosse as the team has moved ahead of Edil Cris into third place in the Teams' Championship and now sits just 3.5 points shy of BMS Scuderia Italia in second place.

The Volkswagen team is celebrating its third successive Morocco Rally victory, the TDI-powered Race Touareg of Giniel de Villiers leading home the sister car of Carlos Sainz to record a 1-2 finish. Volkswagens also finished fourth and fifth in what was a virtual whitewash of the fourth round of the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup. Between them, South African de Villiers and Spaniard Sainz won every stage of the event. It was a dramatic end to the rally, with Sainz going into today's 222 km final stage through the Atlas mountains with an eight-second lead over his team-mate. But Carlos lost time with two punctures and opened the door for Giniel who, despite also suffering a puncture, crossed the finish line 3m 13s ahead. 'A tough but great rally,' said de Villiers. 'The last stage held some surprises. We made one wrong turn, later had tyre damage and thought the outcome was decided. But then a little later we saw Carlos on the side with a puncture. We learned a lot here which will be useful on the Dakar Rally.' Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director, was pleased: 'Volkswagen's performance in Morocco was a huge success. Our four Race Touaregs finished first, second, fourth and fifth. We were particularly pleased with the performance of Giniel's and Carlos's cars because they had the latest technical specification for the 2008 Dakar Rally. We are now concentrating hard on our preparations for the Dakar and for the UAE Desert Challenge at the end of October.'

 Morocco Rally provisional final standings
1, Giniel de Villiers (RSA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (GER), Volkswagen, 17h36m35s
2, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, +3m13s
3, Nasser Al-Attiyah (QA) / Alain Guehennec (FRA), BMW, +35m56s
4, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +37m35s
5, Mark Miller (USA) / Ralph Pitchford (RSA), Volkswagen, +1h23m32s 

Graham Fennymore edged to within a few points of claiming his second successive Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge championship title at the weekend (29/30 Sept) thanks to a brace of masterful race victories at Rockingham Motor Speedway.

First Hamilton Book out,

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