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News Archive  April 2008

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09/05/2008 

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30-04-08

Patrick Barratt and Mike Forrest finished 10th in last weekend's GT class in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No.16, this despite having lost 2 gears in the first half an hour..report..

A1GP Team USA are looking for a top 10 Championship finish to this seasons's World Cup of Motorsport after their win in China and expect to be challenging for another win this weekend at Brands Hatch..read more

Snap-on Stars of Karting Presented by IndyCar Series Western Division kick-off last weekend up at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. Joey Wimsett and  Bryan Eady(pictured) put Intrepid on the top of the podium four times with two wins a-piece, while leading ICC  driver Jordy Vorrath took two second places  the series’ headline class.  

Freddy Nordstrom heads to Donington Park this weekend for the 5th and 6th rounds of the SEAT Cupra Championship. Freddy will be looking to make further inroads in his debut in his  SEAT Leon backed by www.plumbertraining.com.  As part of the package with the BTCC as the star attraction, the weekend is sure to draw a large crowd who will be looking to spot the Touring Car stars of tomorrow in the SEAT Cupra. Freddy and the Advent Motorsport always welcome spectators to see them on race weekends and the many questions people have on how a motor racing team works. Whatever questions people have this weekend, Freddy will be able to direct them to the answer with AQA (Any Question Answered). By texting your question to 63336 for £1, AQA will find the answer. AQA,  have published a second edition of the AQA Book which lists some of the fascinating, difficult and just plain odd questions they have answered in that time. AQA have 100 FREE copies of the book to be given out to visitors to Freddy’s pit this weekend (subject to availability). For those not attending the Donington Park race, live coverage from Sunday is available on ITV4 from 12.30pm. The SEAT Cupra Championship Brands Hatch race will be reviewed on ITV4 at 5pm on 29th April.

At Buttonwillow Raceway Park in the second round of the SKUSA ProKart Challenge South program the Aluminos team's  G2 pilot Blair Chang earned his first PKC South podium of the year, while S3  driver Marc Elliott  picked up his second podium ofthe eyar..report

Bridgestone, exclusive tyre supplier to the GP2 Series, took all nine finalists of the 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter young journalists’ competition to Barcelona to be part of the official GP2 Series launch event (on 24 April) ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. In 2008,..read more

29-04-30

SEAT Sport UK and FARO Europe, part of the global Florida-based FARO Technologies Inc, have joined forces in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship. FARO is the world leader in portable 3D measurement technology, with its international subsidiaries designing, developing, and marketing software and portable computerised measurement devices. From Donington Park this weekend (May 3/4) FARO will be seen on the side of the SEAT Leon TDI cars of Jason Plato and Darren Turner,  while FARO guests will attend at least three race meetings.  Grant Clearwater, SEAT Sport UK Team Principal, said: “The Fusion FARO Arm is an important addition to our fabrication and engineering departments, as it gives us very accurate measurements enabling our engineers to transfer dimensions very quickly to the CAD for ongoing engineering projects. The new Fusion Arm gives us another dimension in our endeavour of turning out the best-prepared touring cars on the BTCC grid.” Kai Gärtling, responsible for FARO Europe’s involvement in motorsport, added: “By our partnership with SEAT Sport UK in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship we aim to support the team to perfect their race cars and set-ups in order to reach the highest possible quality standard. At the same time, we hope to get from the motorsport scene more inputs for the development of our measurement systems in the automotive sector. We wish the SEAT Sport UK team the very best for the season.”

British single seater racer Jon Lancaster returns to racing action in the second round of the F3 Euroseries at Mugello in Italy at the weekend.  The 19 year-old, who displayed enormous potential in the 2007 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship will drive for ART Grand Prix in the 20-round series. ..read more

Britain's latest intake of new racing drivers made their  debuts on Saturday (26 Apr), in the first round of The Daily Telegraph Caterham Academy, a sprint event at Aintree, Liverpool...read more

Bahraini racing driver Salman Al Khalifa was on the podium for the second time this season in the British F3  National Class at Croft last weekend..report

Alexander Rossi was the quickest runner in the weekend’s FBMW Americas test at Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah. ..read more

After the first 4 races in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, Michael Caine and Tim Bridgman have each won two races while Tim Harvey has picked up second place in each event. So as they ehad for Donington this weekend can Mr Harvey be the Bride this time rather than the Bbridesmaid...read on

Aston Martin will run in the iconic blue and orange Gulf colours at this year’s Le Man 24 hours. The team’ s 2 cars will be driven by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Andrea Piccini  and Karl Wendlinger in the number 7 Aston while David Brabham, Antonio Garcia and Darren Turner will drive the second, no 9

AIM Auto sport's Mark Wilkins(pictured) and Brian Friselle were right on the pace in the Grand-Am race at Virginia International Raceway before a backmarker and a stop-and-go penalty dropped them back to sixth …report

Kyle Busch took his second win of the season at Talladega in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup series, the third win for Toyota. Second was Juan Pablo Montoya with Denny Hamlin third.

RLR/Andersen Racing and their driver JR Hildebrand both won their first Firestone Indy Lights race at the Kansas Lottery 100.

Columbian Gabby Chaves won both races in the BFGoodrich/Skip Barber series at the weekend , held at Virginia International Raceway…

Double win for Tambay in Barcelona. Barcelona was a very good place for BMW Junior driver Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing). He won the first two races in the 2008 Formula BMW Europe. On Saturday he finished ahead of Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational) from Barcelona and Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing). On Sunday he won, Gutierrez became second and Juncadella third. The French 17-year-old scored two extra points for two pole positions.

CR Scuderia's Formula Renault team will be racing  in Rounds 5 and 6 of the Formula Renault UK Championship this weekend.  DriversAdam Christodoulou and Ryuji Yamamoto will be hoping to extend their championship lead with another set of podium finishes  ..read more 

Sam Abay endured a torrid weekend in British F3 at Croft. After battling with fading wet tyres in the first race he was T-boned in the second, roll-on Monza.

28-04-08

Callum MacLeod will join the Porsche Carrera Cup GB for rounds five and six of the season at Donington Park this weekend (3/4 May). MacLeod, a finalist from the McLaren/Autosport/BRDC Young Driver of the Year award, will race the 911GT3 Cup car entered by PCGB and is looking forward to his sports car racing debut. The 20-year old dominated the 2007 British Formula Ford Championship and is working to conclude a deal for F3. The Carrera Cup at Donington will be his first competitive outing of 2008. "I thoroughly enjoyed driving the Porsche during the evaluation for the young driver awards and I think I got on pretty well with the car," said MacLeod. "I've just got to get out there and do as well as I can and I'd like to think that I can run near the sharp end of the grid."   Although F3 remains his prime target for 2008-9, MacLeod is also keen to broaden his race experience. "I wouldn’t rule out some more Carrera Cup races; I absolutely can't wait to get out there," he said.

In the two Dunlop Motorsport News Saloon Championship races at Snetterton Rob Birley dominated in his Escort Turbo(pic Paul Williams) winning the first with 4.7 seconds in hand over Darren Bly’s Nissan Skyline and the second by over 8 seconds from Rodd Kiddell’, Skyline GTR.  Kiddell also picked up a third place in Race one while Bly did the same in race two

SEAT Sport UK believes it is close to matching the power of its TDI race engine with the superb handling characteristics of the Leon’s chassis. The team plans to  use an untested set-up at Donington Park this coming weekend in order to try and find the car’s sweet spot…read more

Jonathan Wright took two wins from two starts in the Radical Club Cup at Snetterton in the Great and British meeting run by the BARC over the weekend.

Will Bratt will make his debut in the Spanish F3 Champoinship this weekend at Valencia for EmiliodeVillota.com Motorsport..read more

Jack Stanford (below - pic Paul Williams)did the double in the Mini Challenge at Snetterton winning two races from three. Martin Depper, who had been second to Stanford in both races finally made it to the top step of the podium in the third and final encounter. Arthur Forster was second while Standford had to make do with third.  All three races were closely fought affairs, Stanford winning by 0.4 and 0.29 secs respectively in the first 2 races while Depper crossed the line only 0.3 secs up on Forster.

The Jonathan Wright/Rob Wheldon SR8 won the first of two Radical UK Cup races by1.820secs after 26 laps of Snetterton from the Derek Johnson/Stuart Moseley car. In the longer second race, held over 44 laps of the Norfolk circuit yesterday(Sunday), Terrence Woodward and Ross Kaiser beat Wright and Wheldon  with Jamie Patterson third.

The BARC Westfield race, held on Saturday at Snetterton, was won by Andrew Spencer from Simon Pryke with only 0.137 secs to spare. Third was Nick Flowers just over 4 seconds behind the leading pair

In the BARC Dunlop Sports Maxx Cup at Snetterton. John Thorne, driving a BMW M3(pictured - pic Paul Wiliams) won both races. In the first he headed Shaun Hollamby’s SEAT Leon Cupra by 5.4 secs while in the second Martin Wallbank was the runner-up in an Astra VXR, 8 seconds behind. Simon Gusterson was third in a Megane in race one while Hollamby completed the top three in race two.    

Leanne Tander is back in the winners circle after taking her first win of 2008 in the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship season at  Oran Park Raceway just outside Sydney

John Quartermaine will sample the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during rounds five and six of the season at Donington Park on 3/4 May. The seasoned saloon car racer is looking at joining the series for selected races this season and will race the PCGB pro-am2 car for his series debut.   "I've loved the Carrera Cup for some time," said Quartermaine, who is supporting current pro-am1 championship leader Tony Gilham and the ReDesign Racing team this season. "I can't do a full season due to clashes with my existing programme, but if I enjoy the Donington weekend it's quite probable that I'll be looking for a pro-am2 car."    If Quartermaine does join the Carrera Cup on a regular basis, the ReDesign team would grow to a two-car operation. "I last raced a Porsche years and years ago," said Quartermaine, who has now been racing for 31 years. "This is an educational weekend for me and I can't say how excited I am at the prospect. I've always liked the Carrera Cup from the outside and I drive a Porsche on the road."  Quartermaine has been racing since 1977 and has enjoyed considerable success, mainly in saloon cars. More recently his son Adam has started racing and now competes in Formula Ford. "I've do so many years of racing; I just love it. It's the ultimate adrenalin buzz!"

The Classic Saloons and Touring Cars were also part of the Great and British meeting at Snetterton over the weekend and Brian Stevens(pictured below - pic Paul Williams) won two races in his Jag XJ12.  He took the Hammerite Classic Group 1 race beating Roger Stanford’s BMW 2002 and Mark Fowler’s Capri  as well as the IBIS Packaging Post Historic event where he led Nigel Garratt’s Doly Sprint over the line with just 0.585secs to spare. Third was Steve Primett in an Escort , 8.6 seconds behind the leader. In the Track and Car Pre-93 race Nigel Philpotts won in a Starion Turbo from Chris Randall’s BMW CSL and Andy Davie M3. The Dunlop Mini se7en race was won by Paul Thompson (right - pic Paul Williams) with Max Hunter second and Kane astin third while the Mini Miglia race saw Tony Le May just beat Colin Peacock by 0.396secs with Andrew Hack third. 

RLR Andersen driver J.R. Hildebrand won yesterday’s April 27th) Firestone Indy Lights Kansas Lottery 100., his and RLR Andersen’s first win in the Indy Lights.  "I'm so happy, for myself and for the team," exclaimed Hildebrand, "a win in only our fourth race together has put us in the lead for the championship. We'll keep going right onto Indy." Guthrie Racing's Robbie Pecorari was second spot with Arie Luyendyk Jr third.

Nick Whale will make his Porsche Carrera Cup GB debut in rounds five and six of the season at Donington Park on 3/4 May. Whale, the dealer principal at two Porsche Centres, will race with Team RPM for his debut in the championship, before handing the car over to Alex Mortimer for selected other Carrera Cup races. Whale has an extensive motor sport history, having started in speed events and has also raced and rallied with great success. More recently, he has concentrated on historic racing in a McLaren M1 Can-Am car as well as historic rallying in his 1974 Porsche 911RS. Now, Whale will sample the Carrera Cup GB and will race in the pro-am1 category at Donington Park. "I like to challenge myself with doing something different. I'm learning about racing on slicks and getting a big kick out of it, and this fits very well with our business activity," said Whale, who is the dealer principal for Porsche Centre Solihull and Porsche Centre Leicester. It is then expected that Alex Mortimer will campaign the car in other races. "I'm a member of the British Racing Drivers' Club and Alex is one of our rising stars," said Whale. "So I'm trying to back someone who also has the club behind them." Although racing is his prime focus for 2008, Whale is also likely to contest one or two asphalt rallies this season, co-driven by Sally Wood. "I married my navigator last summer, so we're going to do a couple of rallies as well."

Reigning Academy Champion Jonathan Walker has made the best possible start to his Caterham Roadsports Championship winning both the Roadsports A races at Croft in the Motorsport News Challenhge series

Hitech managed put in a good recovery drive in British F3 at Croft. After a poor qualifying session by their very high styandards the team’s drivers managed  to climb through the field to record 3 points scoring finished and a fastest lap..

Five drivers from the Aston Martin Asia Cup (AMAC) ran their  Aston Martin N24s into the latest round of the Asian GT Championship as a warm up ahead of the first round  of the AMAC Championship later next month( 23-25 May)

The Northern European Cup Formula Renault 2.0 season started at the "Jim Clark Revival" meeting at Hockenheim over the weekend and Valtteri Bottas got off to a flying start with 2 wins from 2 starts

Thomas Erdos and Mike Newton, co-driving the RML AD Group's MG Lola EX275, were delighted with another fourth place in Round 2 of the 208 Le Mans Series, staged today at Monza in Italy.  The team had endured a troubled two days of practice, starting with a blown engine just two minutes into the first session. From that disheartening low, they'd worked back into contention, and looked set for a possible podium before an horrific accident for Stephane Ortelli in the #5 Team Oreca Courage brought out the safety car, and bunched up the field..

Harold Primat and Christophe Tinseau finished in a superb third place  at Monza in Round 2 of the Le Mans Series , the first petrol powered car home.

Brendon Hartley won Round 4 of the British Internation F3 Series beating Mexican Sergio Perez by just 0.8secs. The Mexican now leads the Championship after having won round 3 earlier in the day .

27-04-08

Graham Carroll and Alan Kirkcaldy were the FF1600 winners today in the SMRC's race meeting at Knockhill. With a record breaking entry(137 cars) at the Spring meeting there was entertainment a-plenty. The Smartycars.com Minis saw Ian Milton win twice with Mark Dryden taking the third race while Andrew Gallacher and Rob Pritchard shared the spoils in the Sports/Saloons. In the XR2 Championship David Sleigh and Peter Cruickshank battled it out over two races, each picking up a win while in the Classics Stan Bernard's Porsche may have been the class of the field but it was the younger Bernard, Adam and Matthew Gordon who entertained.   In the Legends Carol Brown dominated in the first group of races winning the A final  

Wayne Boyd netted a second hat-trick of wins in the British Formula Ford Championship at Croft today (Sunday) wile his team-mate Tim Blanchard was second in the first two races before retiring in race three after clipping a tyre wall..

Frederic Vervisch kicked-off his German ATS Formula 3 Cup campaign at Hockenheim with a podium finish.

A1GP was in London's Regent Street today to make a pit-stop in front of a huge crowd to help promote next weekend's Championship decider at Brands Hatch....read more

AIM Autosport's Brian Frisselle  will start today's Grand-Am race at Virginia International Raceway from the front row afre a superbn qualifying session put the team up front for the second race in a row.  read more

Oxia Carlin driver Sam Abay will start rounds 3 and 4 of the 2008 British Formula 3 Championship from 9th and 5th on the grid, following two frantically fought qualifying sessions at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire .  The youngster, who competes in his second Formula 3 meeting this weekend, put on a mature display in qualifying, despite admitting he wasn't able to make the most of his tyres in the first session.  Eventually Abay secured a respectable 9th place starting position in the highly competitive field of 29 cars.  The second session saw the Australian rookie top the time sheet for much of the 30 minutes of qualifying, finally claiming the 5th grid position, two-tenths of a second away from the eventual pole time. "The window in which the tyres are at their optimum for a quick lap is very narrow.  The approach you have to use in qualifying is quite different from  what I've been used to in Formula BMW. Naturally this is an area which I'll be looking to improve on as we gain more experience, but it's good to start the weekend with two solid qualifying positions." said Abay.

British F3 Qualifying Rounds 3 and 4 -  Croft
RACE ONE (Top 10)
1.  Marcus Eric sson (SWE)           1:12.733
2.  Sergio Perez (MEX)                 1:12.867
3.  Sebastien Hohenthal (SWE)     1:12.937
4.  Michael Devaney (IRL)             1:12.965
5.  Esteban Guerrieri (ARG)          1:12.979
6.  Brendon Hartley (NZL)            1:13.015
7.  Oliver Turvey (GBR)                1:13.077
8.  Ricardo Teixeira (ANG)            1:13.077
9.  Sam Abay (AUS)                    1:13.142
10.  Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)         1:13.222 
RACE TWO (Top 10)
1.  Brendon Hartley (NZL)            1:13.237
2.  Marcus Eric sson (SWE)           1:13.280
3.  Sergio Perez (MEX)                 1:13.446
4.  Oliver Turvey (GBR)                1:13.495
5.  Sam Abay (AUS)                    1:13.502
6.  Atte Mustonen (FIN)               1:13.566
7.  Sebastian Hohenthal (SWE)     1:13.589
8.  Esteban Guerrieri (ARG)          1:13.649
9.  Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)           1:13.720
10.  Alistair Jackson (GBR)           1:13.794

James Winslow has taken over at the top of the Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship after he and Leanne Tander  won a race a-piece at Oran Park  today. In the national Class Chris Gilmour dominated winning both races from pole.

Hitech Racing endured a frustrating day during qualifying for Round 3 and 4 of the British International F3 Championship at Croft. Red-flags, traffic and set-up problems all combined to hamper their efforts..read more

The Volkswagen team is celebrating another resounding rally victory after Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Michel Périn today (Saturday) guided their TDI-powered Race Touareg to a two-minute win on the Central Europe Rally in Hungary. Volkswagens topped the timesheets on all seven legs of the week-long event.  Sainz regained the lead from Mitsubishi's Stephane Peterhansel by a slender margin on Friday and today rammed his advantage home with another stage victory, his fifth of the event.  'I'm incredibly happy about this victory,' said Spanish double World Rally Champion Sainz. 'Recovering more than eight minutes after our problem on the second day in this high-calibre field was a tough job. But exploits like this are always a result of teamwork as well. I have to thank Volkswagen Motorsport, my mechanics and, first and foremost, my co-driver Michel Périn from the bottom of my heart. With all of us working together, we did an outstanding job.' Germany's Dieter Depping was third for Volkswagen, and the customer team Race Touareg of Portugal's Carlos Sousa placed fifth. The other Volkswagens, of South Africa's Giniel de Villiers and the USA's Mark Miller, were both sidelined in accidents. Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen said: 'The Central Europe Rally was the toughest and most thrilling rally we've ever contested. It was great advertisement for this sport and a good start to a new era. With overall results in first, third and fifth place against extremely fierce competition, we're more than happy. They show the potential of the Volkswagen Race Touareg as well as the fact that we were perfectly prepared for the 2008 Dakar Rally as a serious contender for victory.'  The Central Europe Rally, which began in Hungary on Sunday and took in several stages in Romania, featured more than 1000 competitive kilometres in its 2600 km overall distance.
Central Europe Rally provisional final standings
1, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, 11h 18m 8s
2, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, +2m 1s
3, Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk (GER), Volkswagen, +6m 34s
4, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, +7m 28s
5, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +33m 45s

27-04-08

Graham Carroll and Alan Kirkcaldy were the FF1600 winners today in the SMRC's race meeting at Knockhill. With a record breaking entry(137 cars) at the Spring meeting there was entertainment a-plenty. The Smartycars.com Minis saw Ian Milton win twice with Mark Dryden taking the third race while Andrew Gallacher and Rob Pritchard shared the spoils in the Sports/Saloons. In the XR2 Championship David Sleigh and Peter Cruickshank battled it out over two races, each picking up a win while in the Classics Stan Bernard's Porsche may have been the class of the field but it was the younger Bernard, Adam and Matthew Gordon who entertained.   In the Legends Carol Brown dominated in the first group of races winning the A final  

Wayne Boyd netted a second hat-trick of wins in the British Formula Ford Championship at Croft today (Sunday) wile his team-mate Tim Blanchard was second in the first two races before retiring in race three after clipping a tyre wall.

Frederic Vervisch kicked-off his German ATS Formula 3 Cup campaign at Hockenheim with a podium finish.

A1GP was in London's Regent Street today to make a pit-stop in front of a huge crowd to help promote next weekend's Championship decider at Brands Hatch....read more

AIM Autosport's Brian Frisselle  will start today's Grand-Am race at Virginia International Raceway from the front row afre a superbn qualifying session put the team up front for the second race in a row.  read more

Oxia Carlin driver Sam Abay will start rounds 3 and 4 of the 2008 British Formula 3 Championship from 9th and 5th on the grid, following two frantically fought qualifying sessions at the Croft circuit in North Yorkshire .  The youngster, who competes in his second Formula 3 meeting this weekend, put on a mature display in qualifying, despite admitting he wasn't able to make the most of his tyres in the first session.  Eventually Abay secured a respectable 9th place starting position in the highly competitive field of 29 cars.  The second session saw the Australian rookie top the time sheet for much of the 30 minutes of qualifying, finally claiming the 5th grid position, two-tenths of a second away from the eventual pole time. "The window in which the tyres are at their optimum for a quick lap is very narrow.  The approach you have to use in qualifying is quite different from  what I've been used to in Formula BMW. Naturally this is an area which I'll be looking to improve on as we gain more experience, but it's good to start the weekend with two solid qualifying positions." said Abay.

British F3 Qualifying Rounds 3 and 4 -  Croft
RACE ONE (Top 10)
1.  Marcus Eric sson (SWE)           1:12.733
2.  Sergio Perez (MEX)                 1:12.867
3.  Sebastien Hohenthal (SWE)     1:12.937
4.  Michael Devaney (IRL)             1:12.965
5.  Esteban Guerrieri (ARG)          1:12.979
6.  Brendon Hartley (NZL)            1:13.015
7.  Oliver Turvey (GBR)                1:13.077
8.  Ricardo Teixeira (ANG)            1:13.077
9.  Sam Abay (AUS)                    1:13.142
10.  Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)         1:13.222 
RACE TWO (Top 10)
1.  Brendon Hartley (NZL)            1:13.237
2.  Marcus Eric sson (SWE)           1:13.280
3.  Sergio Perez (MEX)                 1:13.446
4.  Oliver Turvey (GBR)                1:13.495
5.  Sam Abay (AUS)                    1:13.502
6.  Atte Mustonen (FIN)               1:13.566
7.  Sebastian Hohenthal (SWE)     1:13.589
8.  Esteban Guerrieri (ARG)          1:13.649
9.  Jaime Alguersuari (ESP)           1:13.720
10.  Alistair Jackson (GBR)           1:13.794

James Winslow has taken over at the top of the Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship after he and Leanne Tander  won a race a-piece at Oran Park  today. In the national Class Chris Gilmour dominated winning both races from pole.

Hitech Racing endured a frustrating day during qualifying for Round 3 and 4 of the British International F3 Championship at Croft. Red-flags, traffic and set-up problems all combined to hamper their efforts..read more

The Volkswagen team is celebrating another resounding rally victory after Carlos Sainz and his co-driver Michel Périn today (Saturday) guided their TDI-powered Race Touareg to a two-minute win on the Central Europe Rally in Hungary. Volkswagens topped the timesheets on all seven legs of the week-long event.  Sainz regained the lead from Mitsubishi's Stephane Peterhansel by a slender margin on Friday and today rammed his advantage home with another stage victory, his fifth of the event.  'I'm incredibly happy about this victory,' said Spanish double World Rally Champion Sainz. 'Recovering more than eight minutes after our problem on the second day in this high-calibre field was a tough job. But exploits like this are always a result of teamwork as well. I have to thank Volkswagen Motorsport, my mechanics and, first and foremost, my co-driver Michel Périn from the bottom of my heart. With all of us working together, we did an outstanding job.' Germany's Dieter Depping was third for Volkswagen, and the customer team Race Touareg of Portugal's Carlos Sousa placed fifth. The other Volkswagens, of South Africa's Giniel de Villiers and the USA's Mark Miller, were both sidelined in accidents. Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen said: 'The Central Europe Rally was the toughest and most thrilling rally we've ever contested. It was great advertisement for this sport and a good start to a new era. With overall results in first, third and fifth place against extremely fierce competition, we're more than happy. They show the potential of the Volkswagen Race Touareg as well as the fact that we were perfectly prepared for the 2008 Dakar Rally as a serious contender for victory.'  The Central Europe Rally, which began in Hungary on Sunday and took in several stages in Romania, featured more than 1000 competitive kilometres in its 2600 km overall distance.
Central Europe Rally provisional final standings
1, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, 11h 18m 8s
2, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, +2m 1s
3, Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk (GER), Volkswagen, +6m 34s
4, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, +7m 28s
5, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +33m 45s

26-04-08

Neil McFadyen claimed pole position for both races in Sunday's third round of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship at Oran Park. ..read more

Formula BMW Americas driver Alexander Rossi, 16, of Nevada City, California., has begun a unique program to increase excitement at California BMW centres. One of this country’s rising young open-wheel racing stars, Rossi will be making appearances in support of BMW Product Launch and Salon shows....read more

25-04-08

The A1GP Season ends next weekend at Brands hatch with two teams, Switzerland and New Zealand in contention for the overall honours, although it has to be said Switzerland only have to pick up a couple of points to clinch it...read more

The Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge will be part of the support for next weekend’s (3/4 May )A1GP at Brands Hatch and it should be a real treat for the fans..read more.

Larbre Competition has taken the difficult decision to withdraw from the 2008 Le Mans Series due to an increasing workload in other championships. The French team has been a strong supporter of the series since its inception, winning the GT1 drivers’ and teams’ championships in 2006, and fielded a single Saleen S7R, which finished second in class, in the opening round of the season at Barcelona this year.  However, after being asked to run Scuderia AC Argentina’s FIA GT Championship programme in 2008, alongside its existing FIA GT and FFSA GT commitments, the decision to leave the LMS has reluctantly been taken. Team Principal Jack Leconte said: “It is with regret that we are leaving the Le Mans Series, of which we have been staunch supporters in recent times. However, our programmes in the FIA GT and FFSA GT Championships provide a number of date clashes, meaning it is no longer viable for us to continue.”  The team will once again be on the grid at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June as part of the ACO family

A huge accident in practice for  round three of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship put the dampers on everyone at  Oran Park today. ..read more

There will be Seven Lola LMP sportscars at the  Autodromo Di Monza this weekend for the Monza 1000kms, round 2 of the 2008 Le Mans Series..read more

As a result of their domination in the WTCC, SEAT’s drivers will be carrying the most ballast at the next round in Valencia..read more

The British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) today confirmed that the Club is on schedule to complete Silverstone's new Grand Prix Pits complex in time for the 2010. FORMULA 1 BRITISH GRAND PRIX. Club President, Damon Hill OBE said: “I am delighted to report that we are close to finalising our plans to build new pits in time for the 2010 British Grand Prix, thus satisfying FOM's pre-requisites to granting us a new F1 GP contract. Silverstone's new state-of-the-art facilities are therefore moving from aspiration towards reality. The BRDC and Silverstone team has achieved an enormous amount over the last year. I am personally both impressed and proud of the commitment shown by the BRDC and by all our team members engaged in this project. In particular, the role played by the BRDC membership has been pivotal in this our 60th Year at Silverstone. Commitment by our members to retain the Grand Prix at Silverstone is as strong now as it has ever been.  The BRDC share this desire and enthusiasm with thousands of British racing fans and we are doing everything within our power to keep the Grand Prix at the home of British Motor Sport. The negotiations with FOM are ongoing and reasonable terms on a new contract will help us to fulfill our ambitions.”

The 2007 SEAT León Supercopa champion Josè Manuel Pérez-Aicart will make his FIA World Touring Car Championship debut in the next race meeting at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo on May 18th. The 26-year old Spaniard will drive a petrol-powered SEAT León run by SUNRED Engineering and entered by SEAT Sport. Pérez-Aicart is the fourth young driver who has been given the chance to race in the WTCC as a reward for the brilliant results achieved in SEAT's own trophy, after Marc Carol (in 2005), Florian Gruber (in 2006) and Oscar Nogués (twice in 2006 and 2007). The young Spaniard had his first drive in the León WTCC last week, during the official test days in Valencia. "It was the best gift I've ever had. I had the chance to complete 45 laps and discovered that the car is fantastic. Everything has been perfect in the test and I hope to have as much fun in the races as I can," he said.

Golden Motors Honda Dealer Team from St.Petersburg, Russia will take part in the WTCC Spanish event at Valencia with two Honda Accord Euro R cars built by JAS Motorsport and run by the Estonian team Artman Racing.  Alexander Lvov and Andrey Smetsky, who were classified first and second in the 2007 Russian Touring Car Championship, will be at the wheel of the two Japanese machines. They had already participated in last year's WTCC round at Anderstorp. Golden Motors have planned to take part in four other WTCC events.

Scuderia AC Argentina made it’s FIA GT Championship debut at Silverstone last  weekend. The team’s GT1 Ferrari 550 Maranello driven by Gaston Mazzacane and Esteban Tuero finished 13th in class..read more.

Singapore driver Melvin Choo completed his first test in the Thunder Asia BMW 320si car that he will drive in this year's Asian Touring Car Series and the two last rounds of the FIA WTCC at Okayama and Macau.During a three-day testing on Sepang's Grand Prix circuit's north course, Choo clocked some encouraging times, including a fastest lap of 1:08.898 that smashed the previous record for Super 2000 cars set by WTCC regular Franz Engstler.  Choo will take part in a few other test sessions before the start of the Asian series, at Sepang on May 18th. "We hope that we will be competitive by the time we make our first WTCC appearance, in October at Okayama," team manager Raja Zaini said.

The Team Aluminos kart racing team will be at Buttonwillow Raceway Park this weekend for the second round of the Superkarts! USA ProKart Challenge South program with  eight drivers..read more

Champion Racing/Intrepid USA are racing in the  Western Division opener at the Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah this weekend with new signing Cody Jolly joining the team..read more

PSL Karting are traveling to Miller Motorsports Park  to support Kohilo Racing with drivers Fritz Leesmann, Josh Schreiber and Jordan Jadallah at the Western Division opener over the weekend…read more .

The stage is set for a thrilling finale to the Central Europe Rally today (Friday) and tomorrow, with Carlos Sainz celebrating another leg win for Volkswagen and his promotion to second place overall, just 22 seconds off the lead.  Sainz and his TDI-powered Race Touareg beat their rivals to the end of yesterday's fifth leg by more than a minute. Overall leader Stephane Peterhansel was only fourth fastest on the day in his Mitsubishi and lost a considerable chunk of his advantage. Sainz was pleased: 'I am very happy with our achievements. We are lying 22 seconds behind the leader and we are in a promising position now. It's maximum attack for the final two days.'  Today competitors face 157 timed kilometres and there is a further stage of 155 km tomorrow ahead of the finish near Lake Balaton, Hungary. Sainz's team-mate Dieter Depping holds fourth place overall after losing time and at least one overall position yesterday with a puncture. The Team Lagos Race Touareg of Carlos Sousa is sixth.South African Giniel de Villiers rolled out of the rally yesterday after his Race Touareg hit an unmarked deep bump. 'Despite somersaulting six times my co-driver and I were completely unharmed, which is a big compliment to the strength of the Volkswagen,' said de Villiers, who had held second position overall.The Volkswagen team has so far won every leg of the seven-day rally, which began in Budapest on Sunday.
Central Europe Rally provisional standings after leg 5
1, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, 7h 29m 53s
2, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, +22s
3, Nani Roma / Lucas Cruz Senra (ESP), Mitsubishi, +2m 38s
4, Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk (GER), Volkswagen, +3m 7s
5, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, +3m 8s
6, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +21m 11s

24-04-08

The SEAT Cupra Championship will be at Donington Park next weekend(3-4 May) and the 2 early front-runners, Robert Lawson and Martin Byford look like the the men to beat. ..read more

Andrew Herron is hoping to get his SEAT Cupra Championship back on track at the next round on 3-4 May at Donington Park, after on picking up 21 points at the first 2 events this year..read more

Todd Wanless will drive in the Australian Mini Challenge at Barbagallo in the Motorline Mini Garage entry..read more

Damien Faulkner, the 2006 Carrera Cup GB champion, and Danny Watts, winner of 10 Carrera Cup races in the same season, will be racing in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup this weekend (26/27 April) as part of the Spanish GP support.  Barcelona.  read more

Aussies stop the lawnmower, put the paintbrush down, grab a cold one from the fridge and mark the halfway point of the ANZAC Day Long Weekend with highlights from round two of MINI CHALLENGE. The stars and their cars come out to play on Goulburn’s Wakefield Park Raceway this Saturday afternoon on the Seven Network from 2:00pm wherever you are in Australia. Be sure to check your local guides!

Manor Competition continued to set a high standard in Formula Renault UK testing at Croft with Kris Loane the second fastest overall during the 2 day test....read more

Jonathan Ridley-Holloway set the 7th fastest time overall in Elf Clio Cup testing at Croft yesterday, while in wet conditions he was in the top 3..read more

Alexander Sims continues to set times at or near the top of the timesheets in testing. At Croft this week he was fastest overall on Tuesday and despite a minor accident yesterday he still managed to go quickest in the third session..read more  

The Volkswagen team enjoyed another successful day yesterday (Wednesday) in the Hungary and Romania-based Central Europe Rally, Carlos Sainz setting the pace to claim Volkswagen's fourth consecutive leg win.Sainz and his co-driver Michel Périn improved their overall placing to fifth. The Spaniard was delighted: 'We made up a lot of lost ground today. It could have been even more, but for a moment my co-driver and I misunderstood each other and we took a wrong turn and lost about a minute. Still, four minutes behind the leader at this point means that everything is possible for us in this rally.'Both Giniel de Villiers and Dieter Depping made useful inroads into the overall lead of Mitsubishi driver Stephane Peterhansel yesterday; de Villiers moved into second place, just ahead of his German team-mate.'Today we can be really happy with what we have achieved,' said Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. 'We reduced the gap to the leader and our chances of winning the event continue to be promising. It was a very good day for Volkswagen.' Today's fifth leg (of seven) involves 157 km of timed competition around Veszprem, near Lake Balaton.
Central Europe Rally provisional standings after leg 4
1, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, 5h 10m 35s
2, Giniel de Villiers (RSA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (GER), Volkswagen, +1m 44s
3, Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk (GER), Volkswagen, +2m 1s
4, Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) / Tina Thorner (SWE), BMW, +3m 35s
5, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, +3m 54s
6, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, +4m 24s
9, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +17m 28s

Chris van der Drift set the fastest time in Formula Masters testing at Magny Cours yesterday with a  time of 1:32.414. just 0.134secs ahead of Fabio Leimer in second...read more

23-04-08

Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship's National Class is very close and just as exciting as the battle for the outright championship. Lee Farrell and Chris Gilmour are heading the title chase at the moment and they're back in action this weekend at Oran Park..read more

Speedy Racing – Team Sabah head for the second round of the Le Mans Series at Monza this weekend after a superb second place in the first round in Barcelona..read more.

Hillspeed’s Menasheh Idafar  dominated officially timed Formula Renault BARC testing at Croft yesterday, (Tuesday), ending the day almost 0.8secs faster than his nearest rival.  Backed in 2008 by Middle Eastern companies Ortolan, Gulf Computer Services and Gulfol, Idafar's quickest time of 1m 20.811 seconds (94.66mph) set in the morning session was over 0.5s clear of his team-mate Ahmad Al Harthy. In the afternoon, he  improved by 0.6secs with a lap of 1m 20.255 seconds (95.31mph). “The Croft test went very well and it was great to be so much quicker than our nearest rivals”, said Menasheh, “It’s been a fantastic start to the season for us so far and we made some great preparations yesterday for the Croft races in July. The team is doing a brilliant job and I have to thank them for all of their hard work.” Hillspeed’s driver coach, British Racing Drivers’ Club (BRDC) Rising Star Matt Shawyer, added: “Menasheh’s times were excellent, he did a fantastic job and ended the test almost eight 10ths of a second quicker than the next BARC driver. I’d be very surprised if anybody can match that speed when we come back to race at Croft later in the year.”

Sports car racer Chris Jolly has been elected chairman of the Masters Racing Club, the competitors' organisation for drivers racing with the Masters Racing Series. Jolly succeeds John Quenby as chairman, although Quenby will remain in the post of club secretary. "I was a grid ambassador last year for Sports Racing Masters," said Jolly. "John, who set it all up, wanted to step down as chairman, but stay on as secretary. So we can carry on calling on his expertise." The MRC achieved a major landmark over the weekend (19/20 April) by organising its first race, the 'Grande Passione' event at Donington Park. which ran very smoothly and was judged a great success by competitors. "Going forward, we're now able to run race meetings such as the Grande Passione, both on our own and in conjunction with the HGPCA," said Jolly. "The Racing Club is designed to give a focus to the drivers and represent them. The commercial side is the Masters Racing Organisation and there is a clear divide between that and the Masters Racing Club." Jolly says that one of the challenges he faces is ensuring that the MRC works well for drivers across the  Masters categories. "We've now got such a wide range of races, from relatively lower cost saloons in Top Hat through to the Grand Prix cars. Being able to cater for all of those people is a real challenge.  "The organisation is sensitive to what the drivers want and focuses on giving them a good experience. "  Jolly has been racing for 10 years, having started with an Aston Martin. He now campaigns a Cooper Monaco Chevrolet in Sports Racing Masters and will share the Chevron B26 of Steve Farthing in the new Proto 70s Series.

Formula Master's began an official two-day test at Magny-Cours yesterday with over 30 cars taking part. Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer was quickest in both morning and afternoon sessions with Tim Sandtler second in the morning and Norbert Seider in the afternoon..read more

It was Volkswagen driver Giniel de Villiers' turn yesterday (Tuesday) to win the day in the Central Europe Rally, the South African following the example of his Race Touareg-driving team-mates Carlos Sainz and Dieter Depping to claim the fastest time of the day.  Sainz topped the timesheets on Sunday and Depping on Monday, and de Villiers was 'truly delighted' to maintain Volkswagen's victory record yesterday. 'That's cross-country rallying for you,' said Giniel. 'On Monday we lost a lot of time due to a minor problem and now we have made up some of the lost ground.' De Villiers has improved his overall position to fifth, just over four minutes behind outright leader Stephane Peterhansel's Mitsubishi.  It was Sainz's turn to suffer problems yesterday: on the first stage of the day the gear lever broke and he was forced to cover more than half of the stage distance stuck in second gear. Carlos was eighth fastest on the day and slips to eighth overall.  German driver Depping maintains the Volkswagen challenge to Peterhansel; he lies second overall, just over two minutes off the lead.
Central Europe Rally provisional standings after leg 3
1, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, 3h 29m 47s
2, Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk (GER), Volkswagen, +2m 8s
3, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, +3m 6s
4, Nani Roma / Lucas Cruz Senra (ESP), Mitsubishi, +3m 36s
5, Giniel de Villiers (RSA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (GER), Volkswagen, +4m 13s
8, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, +7m 52s
9, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +12m 30s

22-04-08

Nick Williamson, driving a Ford Escort, won his third race on the trot in the LMA Euro Sports/Saloons at Oulton park last weekend and now leads Julian Long by 16 points.

TanderSport is looking to team leader Leanne Tander’s consistent successes’ at Oran Park to help them have a strong showing in this weekend’s round of the  2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship. They will also be looking for a good performance from new signing Ben Crighton(right), in their TanderSport National Class entry, can give the team continued success in both top classes within Australia’s premier Open Wheel category. Read more

In the opening rounds of the FIA GT and FIA GT3  at Silverstone last weekend, Trackspeed Racing put in a promising performance on their debut in the FIA GT2 race while in the GT3 series things are also looking good ..

Phil Quaife had his first drive with Apex Motorsport at Silverstone last weekend in the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship. Driving the team’s Jaguar XKRs with Stuart Hall, the pair picked up points in Race 1 and despite a number of glitches in race 2 they were on the pace throughout.

Auston Harris,17, from Hayward, California, has been signed by driver development guru Bob East to participate in 3 races in a USAC Ford Focus Midget.  Harris is scheduled to race on May 14 at Anderson Speedway, May 22 at Mt. Lawn Speedway and May 28 at Plymouth Speedway. "The folks at Ford asked me to test Auston in March last year," said East, and I was impressed by his natural ability but more by his attitude and maturity.  I'm excited that I will now have a chance to see Auston perform under race conditions.  I have a hunch that he is a real talent and now I will be able to confirm that."   "It's such an honour for me to have an opportunity to race with Bob," said Harris.  He is one of the most respected coaches in the business.  Although this is only a 3 race deal, it is an important step in my career and a chance for me to learn from the best." Bob East is no stranger to success or talent.  Over the years, Bob has been a part of multiple USAC race and championship wins with drivers Tony Stewart, Bobby East (his son), JJ Yeley and Bobby Labonte, to name a few. Auston Harris was born on December 11, 1990 and started racing Junior Dragsters at the age of 8 years old.  Since then, Auston has also raced in go-karts, formula cars, sports cars and touring cars.  Auston has achieved many podium finishes and impressed everyone that he has been fortunate enough to race with.

Recently, the Paul Ricard HTTT has been holding the penultimate test for the  Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 series before the 2008 season gets underway at Spa on the first weekend in May.It was the same group of drivers who came to the fore once again with Spaniard Roberto Mehri (Epsilon Euskadi) quickest ahead of Valterri Bottas (Motorpark Arena), Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula), Tobias Hegewald (Motorpark Arena) and Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula). The competition is definitely looking like it will be tight this season!

Round 1 of the 2008 FIA GT Championship got off to an eventful start at Silverstone on Sunday, as the Scuderia Ecosse team made the most of the damp and trying conditions in poor visibility.  The experienced driver pairing of Jamie Davies and Fabio Babini performed well against the odds throughout the two-hour race, ending the day in 10th place. Unfortunately, the team were unable to solve the engine management glitch that blighted running all weekend. However, there was much for the team to take encouragement from, as they look forward to Round 2 of the Championship at Monza next month. Scuderia Ecosse team principal Stewart Roden said immediately after the race “The first race of every new season is always exciting but challenging. More importantly however, is that it provides the team with valuable information that will strengthen our position and improve the performance in the Championship, as the season rolls on to Monza”.

Will Power won the last ever Champ Car race on Sunday at Long Beach after making an excellent start from 4th on the grid to take the lead

Volkswagen driver Dieter Depping followed the example of his team-mate Carlos Sainz yesterday (Monday) to set fastest time on the second leg of the Central Europe Rally in Romania.  German Depping and his Volkswagen Race Touareg completed the 112 km special stage with a time 30 seconds better than that of his nearest rival, BMW pilot Nasser Al-Attiyah. Depping's stage win promotes him to third overall, just seven seconds behind Sainz and 29 seconds behind new overall leader Stephane Peterhansel and his Mitsubishi. 'The special stage suited my driving really well,' said Depping, 'and my co-driver Timo Gottschalk did a fantastic job navigating. We made some suspension modifications during the second running of the stage and my Race Touareg ran even better. This move was certainly a key factor in our success.'  Sunday's stage winner and early rally leader Sainz suffered as a result of running first on the road: 'The stages were extremely muddy and slippery and we were first out on them, which didn't prove to be an advantage. All things considered I am happy; we did not lose much time and there is a long way to go yet.'  The Race Touaregs of Carlos Sousa and Giniel de Villiers hold eighth and ninth places respectively. De Villiers lost time yesterday with a faulty windscreen wiper.  Today the rally heads back to Hungary with two special stages totalling 152 km of competitive action. The event features a total of seven legs and is scheduled to finish on Saturday. 
Central Europe Rally provisional standings after leg 2
1, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, 2h 6m 4s
2, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, +22s
3, Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk (GER), Volkswagen, +29s
4, Luc Alphand / Gilles Picard (FRA), Mitsubishi, +1m 31s
8, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +4m 50s
9, Giniel de Villiers (RSA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (GER), Volkswagen, +5m 14s

As part of the build up to the A1GP season finale at Brands Hatch in just over a week's time (2-4 May), A1 Team Great Britain's Robbie Kerr was in London to celebrate St George's Day and drum up support for his nation. Kerr brought the British A1GP car to St Katharine's Dock by one of London's most iconic venues - Tower Bridge - to gather support for A1 Team GB ahead of his home race. Kerr has already made A1GP history as the first driver to win a race on home soil when he took won at in the Brands Hatch Sprint race in 2007. Kerr said  'It's great to be back at Brands Hatch as we always receive tremendous support from the crowd.  It was wonderful to win on home soil last year and I'm hoping this year we can go one better and win both the Sprint and Feature race.'  Ahead of the final round at Brands Hatch on 2-4 May, A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will make a pit stop in London's West End on Sunday 27 April. Lower Regent Street will be transformed into an A1GP grid with all 22 nations' single-seater race cars lining up. As part of the festivities, fans will be able to purchase tickets for the main event at Brands Hatch the following weekend.

21-04-08

Guest driver  Keith Gent came, saw and conquered ,at Rockingham in the  Performance N Economy Chip Tuning Sports/Saloon Car Championship despite triggering a first corner stramash .

Hexis Racing’s Aston Martins were in the weekend's opening rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship at Silverstone, the Ledenon team taking home an Aston Martin Manufacturers Cup class win on the Sunday.

James Appleton won the the second round of the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Championship at PFi yesterday (19/20 April) and now he's after the title  

Scottish chicken producer Steve Mitchell is aiming to ruffle some feathers in this year’s SEAT Cupra Championship when enters the series at Donington Park. The 41-year old from Letham, Forfar, was won the top novice award and finished 6th  overall (out of 17 cars) on his debut racing season in the 2003 Scottish Mini Cooper Cup, and after five years racing the chirpy 120bhp machines, he has plucked up the courage to race a left-hand drive 300bhp turbocharged SEAT Leon Cupra.  He has already tested his ex-Stewart Whyte car at Mallory Park and at Thruxton, where the speed of the new Leon Cupras exceeded 140mph. Family and business commitments prevented Steve racing at Brands Hatch and Rockingham, but he hopes to make a flying start when he flexes his wings on his SEAT Cupra debut at Donington on May 3/4. The car will be run and prepared by Forfar-based JP Motorsport. Steve Mitchell: “The SEAT Cupra is very enjoyable to drive and racing in the series is going to be a big challenge for us, as the car is a lot different to the Mini Coopers I’m used to. I’d never set foot in Thruxton before, so during testing we were a little off the pace, but I’m particularly looking forward to racing at Croft, Knockhill and Silverstone, because I know my way around those circuits fairly well.  We did a one-off race in the Cooper Class of the main Mini Challenge at Croft last year and finished on the podium, so once we get used to the Leon I think we could have a few good results.

Ollie Hancock has taken over at the head of the  Formula Renault BARC championship race after winning bothr aces held at Rockingham yesterday.

Hitech Racing will be hoping to get back to winning ways this weekend in the British Formula 3 International Series to add to driver Max Chilton's second place last time out at Oulton Park..read more

The CR Scuderia team got their 2008 FIA GT Championship campaign underway at Silverstone over the weekend, taking second and fifth places in the race.

Sarah Bennett-Baggs picked up her 2nd Class Win in the Porsche Club Championship at Oulton Park on Saturday in her distintive Pink Porsche 911SC.

Bradley Ellis and Ed Morris had a tough start in their FIA GT3 European Championship races at Silverstone over the weekend(19-20 April),. They did however climb from 25th on the grid to 11th on Saturday abefore grabbing some poins with a seventh place on Sunday..

Formula Renault BARC competitor Aaron Steele showed considerable pace at Rockingham picking up a good sixth place after a couple of incidents dropped him down the field early on,

Paul McLean won an exciting Porsche Open race at Oulton Park, after battling with Mike Johnson for the lead. Paul Winter claimed third and Class Two honours after Paul Livesey clashed with a backmarker and retired with four laps to go. 

The 964 C2s dominated in the Porshce Club Championshipat Oulton Park, Marcus Carniel tleading early on before Ian White got ahead to claim another win in the series.. The ever-rapid Brian Robinson came through for second ahead of Mark McAleer,

Formula Renault BARC Championship team Hillspeed returned from a wet Rockingham yesterday, Sunday, 20th April, with its 100% podium finishing record still in one piece after their driver Menasheh Idafar claimed to third places.

Howard Payne and Daniel Gibson fought over the lead in the Clubmans Cup at a wet Rockingham yesterday(Sunday) nad although Gibson managed to get in front once or twice it was Howard Payne who prevailed winning by less than a second.

Australian Mini Challenge race winner Nathan Geier will move to the Sherrin Rentals car for the remainder of the season starting at the next round at the Barbagallo Raceway (May 9-11) in  Western Australia.

The Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Championship resumes this weekend at Narellan's Oran Park Raceway just outside Sydney..read more

Patrick Barrettwill make his Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series debut in the Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway this Sunday, April 27th.

Ollie Hancock came out on top once again in round three and four of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Rockingham yesterday. Despite only starting down in eighth place in Round 3, the Apotex Scorpio Motorsport driver took a big lead to win by a massive 35 seconds. Mark Burdett Motorsport’s Johannes Seidlitz did a similarly impressive job climbing from 9th on the grid to second while Hillspeed’s pole-sitter Menasheh Idafar was third.In round 4 Hancock made a late pass on Brett Parris to snatch the win while Idafar was third once again..

The Volkswagen team made a successful start yesterday (Sunday) to the Central Europe Rally, the Race Touareg of Carlos Sainz winning the opening stage and the sister Volkswagens of Giniel de Villiers, Carlos Sousa and Dieter Depping finishing in the top six. Spain's Sainz and his French co-driver Michel Périn completed the 63 km sprint stage between Budapest, Hungary, and Baia Mare, Romania, 41 seconds quicker than their nearest rival, Robby Gordon and his Hummer.  'It was a truly demanding special stage,' said double World Rally Champion Sainz. 'We didn't take major risks but succeeded quickly in finding a good rhythm. Everything went fine for us.'  A fifth Race Touareg, driven by American Mark Miller, was an early casualty when he lost control at a sharp right-hander and the Race Touareg somersaulted out of the rally. Neither Miller nor his co-driver Ralph Pitchford was hurt. Today's second leg features a 100 km special stage around Baia Mare which competitors will tackle twice. The rally ends on Saturday.
Central Europe Rally provisional standings after leg 1
1, Carlos Sainz (ESP) / Michel Périn (FRA), Volkswagen, 39m 56s
2, Robby Gordon / Andy Grider (USA), Hummer, +41s
3, Giniel de Villiers (RSA) / Dirk von Zitzewitz (GER), Volkswagen, +56s
4, Stephane Peterhansel / Jean-Paul Cottret (FRA), Mitsubishi, +1m 02s
5, Carlos Sousa (POR) / Andreas Schulz (GER), Volkswagen, +1m 39s
6, Dieter Depping / Timo Gottschalk (GER), Volkswagen, +2m 12s

Thomas Mutsch and Ian Khan brought the Matech Racing #20 Ford GT home in first place in both races in the FIA European GT3 Championsip at Silverstone.

Eric De Doncker  was back at the wheel of his Ford Mustang FR500C Thermosulit Motorsport 98 for the first race in the European GT4 Cup at Silverstone, The 2007 Champion had an eventful weekend taking home a 5th and 2nd place in the two races.

20-04-08

Menasheh Idafar continued good start to the 2008 Forrnula Renault BARC season by maintaining a 100% record of podium finshes with two third places at a wet Rockingham today (Sunday, 20th April)..read more.

Andy Huxtable won the Universal Racing Services Classic FF2000 race at Pembrey this weekend driving a Van Dieman RF83. Second in a Reynard SF79 was Clive Wood , 5.923 seconds behind the winner. Just on his tail , 5.996 secs off the leader, was Tom Pope in a Van DIeman RF81 with Scott Temple fourth, just half a second behind. In the URC Classic FF1600 race Keith Davey won in a Van Dieman from the Hawke DL11 of Jonathan Davis and Stuart Kestenbaum's RF79.

The Carphone Warehouse Post 89 Formula Ford (NW) Championship encounter at Oulton Park on Saturday was won by Tom Bradshaw driving a Van Dieman DP08. Second, 2.6 seconds behind was Gavin Wills in another Van Dieman, a RF00 with Peter Barrable's Ray GRS05 third.  Also at Oulton Oliver Stirling won the Sports 2000 Historic Championship  race in a Tiga from Nick Johnson's Lola 592F by just 0.l3 secs. Third was Jim McDougall. In the Sports 200 Pinto's Paul Streat won in a Swift DB2 from Paul Tickner's Carbir and once again, Jim McDougall was third.,

Andrew Kirkaldy kept up the winning reputation of the CR Scuderia team at Silverstone yesterday by putting the no.56 Ferrari 430 on pole position for the opening round of the FIA GT Championship. Chris Niarchos, in his first competitive track action for almost eight months, secured tenth place for the sister CR Scuderia Ferrari.
“This is a fantastic result for the team,” said Andrew. “Since last season ended we have worked very hard to get this team up and running and I must say it’s good to be behind the wheel again rather than behind a desk. We have two other teams, in British GT and Formula Renault, and they have both been winning so we are under immense pressure to do well here. There are a few GT1 cars between me and Richard (Westbrook – in the second placed Porsche) so hopefully we’ll have a good day again tomorrow.”“This is a dream start to our FIA weekend,” said Chris. “We came into this Championship knowing that we had the tools to do well but actually converting that knowledge into results is a much harder exercise. Unfortunately for myself and Tim we were on the back foot a little as we were hit in session two and lost a lot of this morning’s track time. I’m starting the race tomorrow and I can’t wait to see how we get on in the race. The guys all deserve a good result as they have been incredible and exceeded all my expectations over the past weeks.”

Formula Renault BARC Championship leader Menasheh Idafar qualified on on pole position for today's(Sunday) third round.  The 17-year-old racer, driving for  Hillspeed, produced a stunning lapt during qualifying to seal his second career pole by  0.263 seconds  with a lap of 1m 18.948 seconds (88.85mph).  During this afternoon session for Round 4, Menasheh qualified on the front row once again and just missed out on a double pole position by a mere six 100ths of a second. Speaking at the conclusion of qualifying, Menasheh said: “Being on pole again is great, I’m really very pleased and I must thank the guys at Hillspeed for giving me a fantastic car. It would have been nice to have taken pole position for both races but being on the front row for race two is obviously good.We’re ahead of the guys who are closest to us in the championship so that’s important and I’m confident we can fight for a couple of podiums tomorrow. We’re not certain what the weather will do, and I’m sure the races will be hard, but I’m looking forward to it.”  read more

American racer Jonathan Bomarito was quickest in qualifying for the  Imperial Capital Bank Atlantic Challenge of Long Beach by taking the  pole position for Sunday's 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda season-opener. Second was Simona de Silvestro with Carl Skerlong third. 

Also at Long Beach the curtain comes down on Champ Car with Britain's Justin Wilson on pole . Second was Alex Tagliani followed by Franck Perera in third.

Danica Patrick has won her first IndyCar Series race at the 1.5-mile Twin Ring Motegi in her 50th Indycar start. She beat Penske's Helio  Helio Castroneves into second with Scott Dixon third. The Andretti Green racer was clearly over the moon, "Finally, this is a long time coming. It was a fuel strategy race, but my team called it perfectly for me. I know I was on the same strategy as Helio and when I passed him for the lead, I couldn't believe it. This is fabulous.  "I want to thank my family," said Patrick. "They have been there for me, supported me and always believed I could do this."

In the DTM at Oschersleben Timo Scheider, Tom Kristensen and Martin Tomczyk clinched grid positions one to three for Audi. Youngster Oliver Jarvis in Audi Sport Team Phoenix's A4 from last year in fourth position ensured that the first two rows on the grid are firmly in Audi's hands

The Formula Renault World Series gets going next weekend at Monza and at the moment it's pretty dificult to pick a winner from the 26 drivers,..read more

19-04-08

Phil Quaife has been signed by Apex Motorsport to race one of their Jaguar XKRs. in this weekend's FIA GT3 European Championship at Silverstone ..read more

Bridgestone,  exclusive  tyre  supplier  to  the  GP2  Series,  has  today  announced  the  nine selected finalists for the 2008 Bridgestone e-reporter young journalists’ competition. read more

Hillspeed’s Menasheh Idafar prepared perfectly for this weekend’s third and fourth rounds of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship during unofficial testing at Rockingham. The 17-year-old championship leader lapped strongly throughout the day’s four sessions and using the team’s own unofficial timings, Menasheh ended the test run with a highly creditable best lap of 1m 19.5 seconds.Importantly, the Gulfol, Ortolan and Gulf Computer Services backed racer produced his fault-free performance using old tyres. Some other front-runners did produce comparable times but only when using new rubber, putting the British-born Bahraini in a strong position ahead of qualifying at Rockingham today. “We couldn’t have prepared for the weekend any better than we have today so I’m really looking forward to qualifying”, said a buoyant Menasheh, “We used old tyres throughout the test and we still set some very good laps times so I’m confident for the weekend. Everything is going really well, the team is working perfectly and the car feels fantastic every time we take to the track. We’re not over-confident for this weekend’s races as we’re sure it’ll be tough but I do think we have a good chance to fight for the podium.” 

Brian Frisselle set  a  lap of 1:19.823(112.749 mph) for Aim Motorsport in the  Grand-Am Mexico City 250 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.  His co-driver Mark Wilkins qualified with a1:19.537 at 113.155 mph to secure the front row position for today's. He would fall just 29/1000ths off pole. "I didn't feel quite right in the car at first" offered Mark. "We made some significant changes from Thursday to deal with suspension issues so it was a matter of getting used to how the car reacted. In the end, we had the setup just right and it looks good for the race."   The Exchange Traded Gold #61 Ford Riley was one of only two cars to get into the 1:19's which reinforces Ian Willis' comments that "We have the car to win this weekend." Mark commented after the press conference: "We are really happy for the team that we put the car on the front row and in just three races so far, we have qualified in the top five. We now have a shot from the front row to bring the #61 Ford Riley to the podium." He continued, "We had a very solid race here last year coming from the back so we are felling pretty good about starting from the front row tomorrow."

18-04-08

Defending Clubman’s Cup Champion Daniel Gibson took the win Oulton park but only after Mike Evans spun on the last lap …read

Richard Kingsnorth, will race 3.2-litre V6-engined Beetle RSI in the VW Cup this year while Irish driver Sam Maher-Loughnan (pictured below) will trade his Vento VR6 for a 1.8-litre turbocharged Polo

In the Performance N Economy Chip Tuning  Sports and Saloons Championship at Oulton Park last month  both Paul Dobson’s Mazda RX7 and the Caterham Vauxhall of Robert Pritchard share the spoils..

Classic Clubmans – Mark Charteris continued his winning ways at Donington last weekend just as he hasd at Thruxton back in March for the opening rounds of the year where he claimed a double win in his Mallock,

Daniel Morad has been kept busy recently testing his Eurointernational Atlantic Swift 016.a and driving at A1GP in South Africa, Mexico and China as A1 Team Canada's rookie driver.  So he is probably pretty pleased to be able to get down to the more serious business of actually racing this weekend in the first round of the Cooper Tire presents the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda this weekend in Long Beach…read more

The 2008 season got underway for N.technology at the WTCC test this week. It was a promising debut for the team's new Honda Accord Euro R that James Thompson will drive from the next race meeting in Valencia next month(May 18th) On Tuesday the team completed 54 laps, working through set-ups and the car's general balance and grip. "We had a lot of work to do as this was our first official test," said Thompson. "We were working hard, completing good runs and making sure we'll be competitive for the race debut. I felt like a kid with a new toy!"
The development programme was completed on Wednesday, with Thompson setting the fastest lap of the session at1:43.500,  eighth fastest overall and only 0.6secs off Alain Menu's best lap. "This week's trackside work has been really encouraging," said the Thompson, "There are a few things that will need working on back at the factory, but otherwise we are really pleased with our progress."

Hitech Racing were second fastest with Max Chilton in F3 testing at Rockingham on Thursday, Chilton was just 0.2secs off the quickest .

Denmark-based Poulsen Motorsport will join the 2009 FIA World Touring Car Championship. This  yeat they will concentrate on the Danish Touring Car Championship and the FIA European Touring Car Cup and three events of the FIA WTCC with four BMW 320si cars. Team owner and driver Kristian Poulsen has been joined by reigning Danish Touring Car Champion and FIA European Touring Car Cup winner Michel Nykjær, 1999 DTC champion Jesper Sylvest, and Irish youngster Emmet O'Brien. ."We have a busy programme for this year, but we have more ambitious plans for 2009 as we intend to take part in the full WTCC season with three cars," declared Poulsen.The drivers for Poulsen Motorsport's 2009 WTCC move are O'Brien, Nykjær and Poulsen himself.

The Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship will be a feature on this Sunday's edition of Network Tens' flagship motorsport program, RPM.  RPM, hosted by Greg Rust, will air a feature detailing V8 Supercar driver Cam McConville's drive of the Transwest Racing Dallara at Oran Park last Monday.
Wired for sound, McConville's car also had several onboard cameras to capture all the action. RPM also chatted to several drivers and behind the scenes personnel within the championship to get the thoughts and views about F3 racing, and the Australian championship, in general. Si if you’re in Australia tune in to RPM, this Sunday, between 1 - 2PM on Network Ten... Don't miss it!

Alain Menu's Chevrolet Lacetti was quickest in the WTCC test this week at Valencia. The Swiss replaced team-mate Nicola Larini on the second day and posted a fastest time of 1:42.886, one tenth faster than Farfus' time on Tuesday (1:42.990), and Jörg Müller's best lap (1:42.994) on Wednesday."I worked mainly on different suspension settings, but we haven't decided on anything final yet. The engineers will take the data home and come up with a good package for the race," said Menu.  Tom Coronel surprised everyone by posting the fourth best time at the wheel of his SUNRED petrol-powered SEAT León. The Dutchman, who took part for the first time in a WTCC official test, completed his best lap in 1:43.335; only 0.4s off Menu's but faster than local heroes Jordi Gené and Félix Porteiro.  Spaniard José Manuel Pérez-Aicart tested the SUNRED car in preparation for his WTCC debut next moth, an award for the winner of the 2007 SEAT León Supercopa.  At BMW, Farfus, Müller and Andy Priaulx altogether completed an impressive 643 laps.

The Aluminos kart racing team go it’s ProKart Challenge North campaign underway last weekend at the Infineon Raceway Karting Center in Sonoma, California.

The International Formula Master season will start in Valencia on 18 May and  Trident Racing will be one of the teams making it’s debut in the series. The team has  two more tests to sort it’s cars  starting at Magny-Cours on April 22-23 followed by Valencia just 5 days before the season gets underway(May 13-14) The team has two confirmed drivers, Kasper Andersen and Harald Schlegelmilch, while talks are still in place for the third ride of the team.

Two-time Le Mans winner Hans-Joachim Stuck and the two-time World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz are leading Volkswagen's line-up of drivers for the 24-hour race at the Nurburgring. The three factory-developed racing versions of the Scirocco, which is making its debut on the race track before its market launch, will be piloted by an unusual mix of seasoned rally and circuit drivers as well as young talent and journalists at the legendary motorsport marathon staged at the "Green Hell" on 24 and 25 May. Alongside Sainz, his rally team-mates Giniel de Villiers and Dieter Depping are part of the line-up as well as Volkswagen Junior Jimmy Johansson and the touring car racers Florian Gruber, Thomas Mutsch and Francois Verbist. Prominent support from the Volkswagen Group will be provided to them by Stuck, who has been the company´s motorsport representative since the beginning of this year, as well as by Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Volkswagen board member for technical development. Other Scirocco drivers are journalists Bernd Ostmann (auto motor und sport) and Matthias Malmedie (Grip - das Motormagazin) .

Will Power is aiming to get a third Champ Car win as the Australian participates in the historic final Champ Car race in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach at the famous seaside beach circuit in Long Beach, California this weekend.  The lateness of the merger created a unique one-off ‘double’ race weekend for Round 3 of the newly unified 2008 IndyCar Series, with existing IndyCar Series teams racing their Dallara IndyCars at the oval in Motegi, Japan while the Champ Car teams will run their 2007-spec DP01 Champ Cars on the streets of Long Beach on the same weekend. The historic event will be remembered for some time, with 20 cars entered for the race. Power is keen to post the win not only to make history by winning the final Champ Car event, but also to score maximum points torwards the 2008 IndyCar Series standings, as both the Long Beach and Motegi events will count for full IndyCar Series points

A fundraising event will take place the week of D-Day 2009(June 1-6th).  An ex-patient of  DMRC Headley Court who has sustained a spinal injury laving him paralised from the waist down, Cpl Lee Cairns is planning to take a hand cycle ride along the beaches of Normandy on the D-Day anniversary to raise money for The Army Benevolent fund, RAFA and the RBL.  He will also be laying a wreath in rememberance of those who have lost their lives and have been injured at each landing point along the coast. Cycling with him will be a range of celebrity guests along with 2 other ex-patients and a small number of cyclists from the RAF team. Celebs include Tom Chilton (BTCC), The Hoosiers and Leon Haslam (British Superbikes) The fundraiser is expected to pan over 5 days and a 'celeb' will accompany Lee and the other cyclists on each leg of the trip. 

17-04-08

Next Saturday is the start of The Daily Telegraph Caterham Academy season. This year's crop of 55 motorsporting novices, ranging in age between 22 and 56, will start their track careers at Aintree, Liverpool, with a sprint event. After more sprint events and a hillclimb they will race for the first time in July at Oulton Park..

Caterham Motorsport is expecting a huge 73-car grid when the  series kicks-off at  Croft next week(26/27 Apr) for the first round in the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge.

Menasheh Idafar is looking forward to this weekend’s next two rounds of the Formula Renault BARC Championship at Rockingham. After a near perfect three-day test run with Hillspeed earlier this week the current championship leader is looking for  a win.

The Le Mans Series Trading Performance Team left Barcelona last week after a very positive weekend where they picjled up,their first championship point. .

Trackspeed will enter this weekend’s FIA GT Championship in the GT2 Class with David Ashburn and Richard Williams in a new Porsche RSR. The pair will also race in the  FIA GT3 European Championship alongside the team’s second cardriven by Andrew Shelley and Phil Nuttall..read more

Could Croft be the track to stop Wayne Boyd’s run of success in the British Formula Ford Championship? One of hios main rivals, Linton Stuteley, things it could be as the track doesn’t seem to suit the Mygale Chassis that both he and Boyd drive…read more

Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk helped support leading charity Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK at Rockingham Motor Speedway last Sunday, (13th April), by opening it’s team garage at the BTCC to several inspirational children who are fighting life-threatening illnesses..,read more

Formula Master has re-launched its www.formulamaster.net website featuring a new dynamic look in line with the Series' 2008 branding as well as new features; such as a video gallery, countdowns to the next race and a streamlined map portal for easier navigation.  "Aside from actually attending the races, the Formula Master website is as close as you can get to being there," said PR, Marketing and Sales Director Monica Bregoli. "All races are streamed live, news and results are updated constantly and our existing photo galleries will now be supported by videos from each race weekend. "We were careful to listen to feedback when it came to adding material and I hope racing fans find everything they need to enjoy our Series."   Official testing continues next week with a two-day test at the French circuit of Magny-Cours on 22-23 April. This will be the first time that the Formula Master field tests at the Formula 1 circuit, chosen for its technically demanding combination of tight corners and long straights.

2007 BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship winner, Daniel Lloyd will return to the scene of many of his karting triumphs this Sunday (20 April), as a guest of the series. Daniel, who currently lies 5th in the Ginetta Junior championship, will be present at PFi, Lincolnshire to talk about his experience of making the switch from karts to cars. He says: “When Carolyn (Hoy) invited me to display my car and represent the Ginetta Junior championship, I couldn’t say ‘no’. I’m having a brilliant time and so far things are going very, very well for me and the team – so I’m delighted to be able to promote the series and talk about it.” He added: “I do miss karting and I’ve got a lot of friends who’ll be at PFi, so it’ll be great to watch the racing and see people.”  16-year old Daniel has impressed many paddock insiders with how quickly he has adapted to sportscar racing and at Rockingham last weekend, the Tockwith Motorsport driver was challenging for his first podium. Daniel will welcome any questions about the championship, the Ginetta Junior itself and the difference between racing karts and cars.  Also on display at the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow race control centre will be fellow Stars old-boy Nigel Moore’s mighty Ginetta G50. pics Chris Walker/Kartpix

Rob Bicknell finally got his all new Bicknell PS7 Sports car on track last weekend in the VdeV Championship at Silverstone. With Ben Clucas and Rachel Green driving the car put in some impressive times and looks like a worthy competitor…read more

The long wait for Team USA to win in A1GP series is finally over. A dominating win from the front row by Jonathan Summerton, saw the 19-year old racer from Florida finish 9.72sec ahead of second place Filipe Albuquerque of Portugal. At the start Summerton jumped ahead of Neel Jani and the two pulled away from the rest of the pack. The Swiss driver's early challenge melted away as the young American kept his cool. "We had a bad start to the weekend, but we had to figure out the problem and work from there. The team did a great job working all last night and also hard today. In the pit-stops they did a great job" summarized a jubilant Summerton. Team and driver's maiden win makes the USA the 16th. nation to win in A1GP. Summerton now looks forward to the series finale on May 4, 'This win is definitely going to build up team morale and we are going to carry that on to Brands Hatch."

Pacific Coast Motorsports are set to debut an All-American Atlantic Line-Up with Carl Skerlong and Frankie Muniz. I f testing is any indication of what's to come, the 2008 season is looking good for the PCM drivers. Carl and Frankie completed nearly 3000 test miles each over the winter and both ran strong throughout. Carl was second quick through most of the pre-season tests, while Frankie hovered close to the top-ten.

The British F3 Championship is back in action next weekend with Rounds 3 and 4 at Croft in Northumberland.

16-04-08

With just a few days to go until the latest instalment of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship, leading entrant Russell Racing is in a positive frame of mind as it aims to build on its solid start to the campaign at Brands Hatch three weeks ago...

Nick Sanderson was back in action at the weekend in the Ford Fiesta Championship at Silverstone. netting 2 good third places in the ST class.

AIM Autosport have sign a deal with Mobil 1 to be their official supplier in 2008  Mobil 1 lubricants will now be used in both AIM's Daytona Prototype (DP) and Star Mazda cars

Aussie F3 team Piccola Scuderia Corse and driver Neil McFadyen set the fastest time of the day at Sydney’s Oran Park circuit (Monday), recording a 1:02.60s on old tyres, a sheer 1.37 seconds under the current lap record. The Piccola Scuderia machine wasn’t upstaged throughout the day, although the team admits that this was not the intention of the session. Amid fluctuating track temperatures, the PSC team took the most from the test schedule to assess a combination of suspension / chassis setups over the course of 82 laps. There is still plenty of margin to improve and it would be too premature to pin-down exactly what speed their F307 is capable of reaching on Australian circuits

Juno got their 2008 VdeV UK Championship campaign underway last weekend at Donington Park, the marque taking 5 of the top seven places

Charlie Kimball began his 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series campaign with a great second place at Hockenheim in Germany this past weekend, April 10-13, 2008. He qualified his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes in 7th in very tricky wet conditions on Saturday morning. After the top-8 finishers from Saturday’s Race 1 were inverted to set the grid for Race 2, Kimball once again started 7th. However underestimating the grip available off the start line, Kimball stalled as the lights went out and was then hit by two back markers, ending his race before it began. Kimball’s Saturday result still leaves him third in the Championship table only 2 points out of the lead.

Viktor Jensen has signed with Andy Kidby's Nexa Racing to race in the International Class for the rest of the 2008 British F3 season.  "I am delighted that Viktor is joining Nexa Racing," said Andy Kidby, former F1 engineer and team principal of Nexa Racing. "With Viktor's experience in F3 and the talent he has shown in the last couple of seasons he can undoubtedly get the results we are both looking for," Jensen said, "I'm thrilled to be driving for Nexa," said the Esher-based driver. "It was touch and go for a long time whether we would actually be out this year, and it's great we have finally put something together. All I want to do right now is get on the track, and put myself back on the map."

The Indy Japan 300 is this  weekend And it will be the sixth IndyCar Series event held at Twin Ring Motegi with p Past winners Tony Kanaan (2007), Helio Castroneves (2006) and Dan Wheldon (2004-05) all in this year’s race.

James Hinchcliffe will kick off his title bid for the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda this weekend with Round 1 of the 11-race series hosted on the famed streets of Long Beach, California at the 34th running of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Friday 18th -- Sunday 20th April. Piloting the #3 INDECK Swift Mazda-Cosworth for Forsythe Pettit Racing, the 21-year-old Canadian returns to the scene of his first-ever Atlantic podium having taken third at Long Beach on his series debut back in 2006, also with the Indianapolis-based outfit. "I'm looking forward to getting the new season started," stated Hinchcliffe. "Long Beach offers one of the best atmosphere's in terms of all the circuits we visit and there's such a rich history to the event as well. This will be kind of special being there for the last ever Champ Car weekend as well. It's a great street circuit, definitely one of the best I've raced at and it offers a bit of everything really. It's challenging but there are some decent overtaking zones if everything's going to plan which is good for the drivers and importantly for the fans watching! “  Round 1 of the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda gets underway in Long Beach at 10:35am (PST), Sunday 20th April 2008 -- www.longbeachgp.com

In round 3 of the South African National Formula Vee Championship,  Peter Hills driving the Rigidek MLS Brokers Rhema2 came away with maximum points after winning both races. 

This weekend (19th/20th April) the BRSCC is organising the FIA GT Supercar Showdown at Silverstone where the coveted Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy will be awarded to the winning drivers in the British round of the 2008 FIA GT Championship. The 103-year-old Tourist Trophy is one of the most significant prizes in British motorsport and has been won by such racing greats as Sir Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Denny Hulme and Derek Bell.  The meeting also includes the first rounds of the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship and GT4 European Cup, as well as the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Europa and Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Europa Coppa Shell, making a full weekend of sportscar action. For more information about the meeting visit; http://www.silverstone.co.uk/php/rm_fiaGTchampionship.html

The BRSCC North Western Centre pays the first of five visits to Oulton Park this Saturday, 19th April, with some spectacular racing in prospect. The Carphone Warehouse Networks powering TalkTalk Club Formula Ford (NW) Championship is back at its spiritual home and another impressive turn out of LMA Euro Saloons will be lining up on the grid. There are eight races in total also featuring  the Sports 2000 Pintos & Duratecs, which includes a race for the Medicom Group Derek Bell Trophy. plus the  Porsche Club Championship -   and the Porsche Open Series .  The full meeting timetable can be found at http://www.brscc.co.uk/calendar/72.html

Tim Harvey was fastest in testing for the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton on Tuesday (15 April). The test was in preparation for next months meeting at the Hampshire tracks on 17/18 May.

Donington Park has asked  all racing drivers to remember to follow the procedure for competitors who want to run with in-car cameras. Requests must be forwarded in writing at least five days prior to the event to Kathryn Taylor at kathryn.taylor@donington-park.co.uk or by fax to 01332 814432. Kathryn will then send out a request form that must be completed and returned. On receipt of that Kathryn will then issue an authorisation form which must be submitted to the race officials at signing-on.

Newman Wachs Racing has signed Jonathan Summerton in the Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda 2008 Season. Summerton took first win in the A1GP feature race at Shanghai last weekend for A1 Team USA, it was’nt just Jonathan's first but also the team's first win. USA .

15-04-08

The Trackspeed Porsche GT3 continues to improve and showed some promise at Knockhill  over the weekend in Rounds 3 and 4  the Avon Tyres British GT Championship .

Mackenzie Taylor took a stunning KF3 victory at the opening round of the British Super 1 kart championship last weekend.

Avon Tyres British GT Champion Bradley Ellis will contest the opening rounds of the European FIA GT3 Championship at Silverstone this weekend, 19&20 April, with the Swiss Matech team. The one-race deal will see the Croydon ace mounting his assault in the Ford GT alongside Ed Morris . “I am delighted to have signed with Matech for the Silverstone European FIA GT3 round,” said Ellis. “It’s been a while since I have raced a GT3 car but I know it won’t take long to get back into the groove.” The race will be the first time Ellis has raced on the Silverstone GP circuit. “I have plenty of experience racing on the International circuit and I have done a number of corporate driving days on the Grand Prix circuit, but those were mainly spent sitting in the passenger seat. At least I have a few flying laps already under my belt as a result, but I am looking forward to getting to grips with the car and the Grand Prix circuit on Friday, when I’ll go out in the Ford GT for the first time.I’ll be giving it my all at Silverstone and hopefully this one-race opportunity may lay the foundations for a strong future partnership racing with Ed and Matech.”

SG Formula were able to celebrate after the  first event of this year's Formula 3 Euro Series.  Yann Clairay camre through for a fine 5th place in race 2, although hsi team-mates faired less well, both Tom Dillmann and Henki Waldschmidt came away empty-handed

Sarah Reader made her debut in the VdeV championship at Donington Park on Sunday (13 Apr) where, after 3 hours of racing, she brought her car home in fifth place

Apotex Scorpio Formula Renault driver Kieren Clark  took another top ten finish in the UK Championship on Sunday at Rockingham.   Clark started well down the pack after finishing 15th on Saturday but a superb start off the grid in Sunday’s race saw him move up 5 places on the opening lap

Matech Racing  sign up Ian Kahn to partner Thomas Mutsch alongside Bradley Ellis and Edward Morris for the FIA European GHT3 Championship, starting at Silverstone this weekend…

Sam Hancock, driving for Jota Porsche in the Prosche Carrera Cup GB netted a fifth and fourth place in rounds 3 and 4 at Rockingham over the weekend,

Phil Quaife held onto his third place in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham despite mechanical gremlins halting his progress in round 3…read more

Robert Foster-Jones, British Open Champion, took another win last weekend  in the British Super 1 Kart Champiomnship’s opening round

Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Attracts Strong Entry for Inaugural Race at Road Atlanta.  Long before the racing has even started, things have gotten off to a fast start for the Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup (FRMC). Series organizers released the preliminary entry list on Monday, with 22 different drivers confirmed to participate in the series' debut race weekend at Road Atlanta on May 3rd. The 2008 FRMC season will see the series, which features the brand-new Ford Mustang FR500S, do battle at seven of North America's most dynamic race facilities starting with the Road Atlanta event in May and ending with a championship double-header conclusion at Miller Motorsports Park in September. The brand-new series, which was co-developed by Ford Racing and Miller Motorsports Park, recently announced a partnership with Discovery's HD Theatre that will see the championship story broadcast in 1080i High-Definition in a three hour-long programs focused on delivering the drama of the battle for the Miller Cup. The stout entry list is ratcheting expectations for a highly competitive championship. "From the moment we announced the creation of the series at SEMA in November, there has been a tremendous amount of excitement surrounding the entire program," said FRMC Series Director Lynda Randall. "To see this many drivers already committed for our first event is really exciting, particularly knowing how many other cars have been purchased or are on order. We have some tremendous partners with Ford Racing, BFGoodrich tyres and Miller Motorsports Park, and they have been instrumental in helping us get to this point. Now, everyone is just looking forward to seeing a field full of Ford Mustangs going racing!"

Jeremy Metcalfe had mixed fortunes in the Avon Tyres British GT seires at Knockhill, winning the first race and retiring from the second

Andrew Herron kept  ninth place in the SEAT Cupra Championship after a couple of hard fought races at Rockingham

Manor Competition made it onto the podium in this year’s Formula Renault UK Championship with Alexander Sims third

14-04-08

Mike Donovan won both the GT Cup races in the MSVR meeting at Donington on Sunday. His Porsche 997 GT3 beat Michael Leonard(Porsche 997 GT3 - pic Paul Williams) and Peter Morris(996 GT3)irst race  by over 6 seconds before he took the second by 3.2 seconds from Nick Whale’s 911. Steven Rance was third in another 997.. Chris Randall did the double in the Lotus Elise (class B-C) race beating Andrew Walsh and Martin Donnelly on both occasions. In the Class A race Michael Edwards won from Marcus Jewell and Paul Quinn

Strakka Racing’s Peter Hardman and Nick Laventis were right on the pace at Vallelunga over the weekend. The team’s BMW started the Endurance Touring Car series race on pole and led comfortably until it’s engine let go during the second hour of the race  …read more

WOW Racing Holden V8 Supercar driver Cameron McConville has called his first experience of a top-level car from the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship “an absolute buzz...read more

Chris Beighton and Jon Finnemore shared the honours with Jackie Cochrane and Andy Rouse with a win a-piece in the  Heritage GT Car Challenge  at Donington Park. …

Adam Christodoulou made it a hat-trick of wins in Formula Renault UK when he won the second race of the weekend yesterday(Sunday), beaking his own lap record at Rockingham in the process.

Jason Moore won two of the opening three rounds of the 2008 Formula Palmer Audi Championship at Donington Park with Richard Plant (pictured -pic Paul Williams)winning the third …report 

Total Control Racing’s Jonathan Ridley-Holloway made it into the top 10 for the first time yesterday in the ELF Renault Clio Cup at Rockingham

Michael Doyle came close to getting his first ever top 10 result at Rockingham in the sixth round of the BTCC yesterday. The Scot had climbed from 20th on the grid into the top ten when he lost it in appalling conditions sliding into the barrier…read more

Volkswagen-powered drivers made a strong start to the Formula 3 Euro Series at the weekend (12/13 April), with one of them, Italy's Edoardo Mortara, claiming a brace of podium finishes at the Hockenheim circuit in Germany. Mortara placed third in both Hockenheim races at the wheel of his Team Signature Volkswagen Dallara F308 and shares the overall championship lead with Finn Mika Mäki, who won the first of the events but who failed to finish the second.  Young Briton Martin Plowman, who was making his F3 debut in an RC Motorsport Volkswagen Dallara, took 17th place in race one but was a disappointed non-finisher in race two. The championship continues at Mugello, Italy, on 3/4 May.

Paul Rivett snatched victory from the winner of round 3, Ben Winrow, with a late passing move in round 4 of the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup at Rockingham International circuit on Sunday, 13th April. 

Alexander Sims finally got on the podium this year in the Formula Renault UK championship at Rockingham on Saturday

The Volkswagen rally team is back in action next week with a five-car squad due to contest the new Central Europe Rally through Hungary and Romania. The seven-day rally gets underway from Budapest on Sunday (20 April).Volkswagen will field TDI-powered Race Touaregs for the four works drivers who missed out on contesting January's cancelled Dakar Rally - Spain's Carlos Sainz, South African Giniel de Villiers, American Mark Miller and Germany's Dieter Depping - with a fifth machine in the hands of the Lagos customer team and its Portuguese driver, Carlos Sousa. Double World Rally Champion Sainz believes Volkswagen has a strong chance: 'The character of the special stages should suit not only the Race Touareg but also the drivers who have experience with sprint rallies. On the other hand, this rally will require total concentration, especially on the co-drivers' part.'

Korea will join in the next  season of A1GP in 2009-9

Television coverage of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB will shortly step up another gear when the Motorsport UK series resumes in late April. In a boost to the original TV plan for 2008, Motorsport UK will be broadcast on ITV1 as well as on ITV4 and the 'Men and Motors' satellite channel. Building on the success of the 2007 Motorsport UK series, the Carrera Cup will feature prominently in a new 32-week run of the half-hour programme, starting on Tuesday 29 April. The first Carrera Cup action is scheduled Tuesday 20 May, covering the opening races at Brands Hatch. te TV package for the Carrera Cup works hand-in-hand with the excellent TV arrangements for the BTCC, which features extensive coverage on ITV4 during a five-hour live programme..

Graham Carroll completed the double on Sunday winning his Second SMRC Formula Ford race at Knockhill. Second once again was Alan Kirkcaldy, 1.33 secs behind with Craig Brunton  a distant third.

Nigel Moore took two wins from two starts in the Ginetta G50 Championship at Knockhill, Frank Wrathall was second and Clive Richards third on both occasions. 

In the Ginetta G20 series at Knockhill Kieran Vernon won the opening race from Spencer McCarthy  by just 0.382 secs with Julian Barratt third. In the second race Paul Sheard came out on top beating Phil Sykes by 3.8 seconds.  Richard Sykes was third, 5.4 seconds behind the winning car.

Sam Bird had a promising debut in Euro F3, finishing in 10th in race 1 followed by an excellent sixth in race 2. Mika Maki won the opener with Renger Van der Zande winning race 2…

Thomas Carnaby  won his second race of the weekend yesterday in the Ginetta Jnr Champioship at Rockingham putting him just 5 points behind current leader Dino Zamparelli in the title chase…read more 

Erkut Kizilirmak took his first top 10 finish yesterday in the BTCC at Rockingham. In appalling conditions, Arkas Racing’s Turkish star put in a top quality performance to lap within half a second of BTCC Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi…

Freddy Nordstrom put in a superb recovery drive after an early spin in Round 4 of the SEAT Cupra Championship to climb back through the field to finish seventh.

Robert Lawson took a superb victory  in the SEAT Cupra Championship yesterday ahead of Martin Byford…

Wayne Boyd continued his impressive Saturday form in British Formula Ford yesterday at Knockhill, winning another two races to take over at the head of the Championship table 

Darren Turner celebrated his birthday yesterday with a second and third place in the BTCC races at Rockingham

13-04-08

The Phillips/Garofall Norma M20F came out on top after 96 laps of Donington Park in the V de V UK race today (Sunday). Second was the Juno SSE of  Fennymore and Bialan with the similar car of Croydon and Mardlin third. In the Classic Clubmans race Mark Charteris brough his Mallock Mk20B home in forst , 13 seconds ahead of Malcolm Jackson, in another Mallock. Just to complete the all Mallock podium was Ray Mallock in third driving a U2 Mallock  Mk18.

CR Scuderia now leads the Avon Tyres British GT Championship with  Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin after a tough time in today's race at Knockhill..read more

At Cadwell park in the HSCC's Histroic FF2000 series Adam Ormandy brought his Reynard SF78 home in first place , 6.1 secs ahead of the Reynard SF79 of Coilin Wright. Third ina Royale RP27 was Andrew Storer. In the HSCC/HRSR ByBox Saloon Car Championship Pete Hallford took the laurels, winning in his Mustang with a mere 0.697secs in hand  over the Anglia of Neil Wood in second. Bob Bullen completed the top 3 in another Anglia 5.6 seconds behind the winner.  The HSCC's MotorsportAds.co.uk 70s Road Sports event was won by Julian Barter driving a TVR3000M. In second, 6.2 seconds behind, was the Elan S4 of Alan Harper with Rory Stockbridge third in a Lotus Europa. In the HSCC's 'The School Garage' Historic Road Sports Peter Shaw's Lotus Elan crossed the line just 0.366secs in front of Dave Randall's Ginetta G4 with Julian Dodd third in a TVR Griffith. The Classic racing Cars race was won by Chris Alford driving a Palliser WBD2. Michael Lyons was second in a Merlyn MK11A with Ian Gray third in a Brabham BT16.

At Hockenheim in the DTM, the race was determined at the start: Mattias Ekström managed to take off a bit quicker than his team colleague Timo Scheider, who had started from the pole position. The Swede had to briefly relinquish his lead only during the two mandatory pit stops. His eleventh victory in the DTM now makes Ekström the most successful Audi DTM driver of all time. Timo Scheider followed Mattias Ekström over the entire race distance like a shadow and saw the chequered flag in second place merely 0.824 seconds behind the title defender. By finishing as the runner-up, Scheider repeated his best DTM result so far, achieved in the 2007 season finale. Tom Kristensen, who had started from position five on the grid, finished third to complete Audi's total triumph.

CR Scuderia's Adam Christodoulou couldn't have asked for more at Rockingham in Formula Renault UK. Two wins,  two poles and two fastest laps.

Jonathan Summerton and A1 Team USA claimed their first ever victory in A1GP today at China's Shanghai International Circuit in the Feature race thisa fternoon.

Summerton and A1GP Team USA dominate Feature race.

Tim Bridgman did the double today in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Rockingham today (Sunday) winning both Round 3 and 4 , his first wins in the series

Thomas Carnaby took a lights-to-flag win in the Ginetta Junior Championship ahead of Dino Zamparelli at Rockingham yesterday(Saturday).

Carl Breeze claimed victory in ound 3 of the SEAT Cupra Championship at Rockingham after beating Jonathan Adam into the first corner at the start yesterday.

Adam Christodoulou and Ryuji Yamamoto made it a CR Scuderia 1-2 in  round three of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Rockingham yesterday (Saturday, 12th April).

Jeremy Metcalfe won the first of the two  Avon Tyres British GT races at Knockhill on Saturday, his first win in the series.

A1 Team Switzerland's Neel Jani put in a perfect performance during this morning's Shanghai Sprint race, dominating the action from pole position to seize his fourth win of the season.

JHR Developments' Andrew Herron took a hard fought fifth place  at Rokingham yesterday despiter dropping back to ninth at the start 

Ben Winrow overcame the weather and his competitors to take pole for both rounds three and four of the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup at Rockingham.

12-04-08

Wayne Boyd won the British Formula Ford Championship race at Knockhill when the race was stopped just short of it's allotted 18 minutes due to a brief snow shower. Second was Linton Stutley with Westley Barber third. 

Graham Carroll won an exciting Scottish Formula Ford race  after he withstood fierce pressure from both Alan Kirkcaldy and Rory Butcher early in the race. Butcher dropped back later on after a spin at the bottom of Duffus Dip handing third place to Craig Brunton.

Jeremy Metcalfe qualified on Pole for Round 3 of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship at Knockhill this afternoon with a time of 51.129secs.  The Christians in Motorsport Ferrari 430(pictured) was even quicker in the second session for Round 4 taking pole with a time 0f 50.806secs  

Championship leader Neel Jani continued his sensational form to qualify the Swiss car in pole position for tomorrow's Sprint and Feature race at the A1GP Shanghai, China.

Tim Bridgman took pole position at Rockingham today (Saturday 12 April) for rounds three and four of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB this weekend. ..read more

The Aston Martin Asia Cup (AMAC) warmly welcomes luxury watchmakers, Graham as the series’ Official Watch Sponsor.  George Graham (1673-1751) is often referred to as the ‘father of the chronograph’. As the inventor of the dead-beat cylinder escapement, the first wall chronograph and the mercury pendulum, it was his expertise and foresight that saw him commissioned by the Greenwich Royal Observatory to create the Master Clock used by astronomers.  Today, the brand boasts contemporary and inventive design, function and finish as they create what is aptly termed ‘wrist machines’. Graham, ‘the British brand handcrafted in Switzerland’, are ideal partners for the Aston Martin Asia Cup which is set to bring Aston Martin’s ‘power, beauty and soul’ to the race circuits of the Far East in this exciting, new Championship. Distinctive and sporty, Graham are set to be a perfect fit for the series. Graham join Michelin (tyres), AMC (media), Racing Logistics International (hand tools) and Dura (workshop systems) as series partners for the Championship which sees its first round take place at Shanghai on 24-25th May. 

11-04-08

A1 Team Portugal's Filipe Albuquerque was the quickest today in both official free practice sessions in Shanghai where the penultimate round of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport takes place this weekend

 Silverstone is celebrating its Diamond Anniversary this year as it is 60  years  since the  first  ever  British  Grand  Prix took place back in 1948. TO celebrate teh circuit is holding the Silverstone Supercar Showdown on 19-20 April,featuring the opening round of the FIA GT Championship plus the RAC Tourist Trophy..read more

Mühlner Motorsport team will run Tom Cloet in this season's FIA GT3 European Championship in their Porsche 997 GT3..read more

Sam Hancock was the quickest driver in today's (Friday 11 April) test at Rockingham for this weekend's Porsche Carrera Cup GB rounds.

Seven teams have confirmed their participation in the WTCC official test that will be held next week at Valencia's Ricardo Tormo circuit, on Tuesday 15th and Wednesday 16th. The three BMW national teams will all attend: BMW Team UK with Andy Priaulx, BMW Team Germany with two cars for Jörg Müller and Augusto Farfus, BMW Team Italy-Spain with two cars for Alessandro Zanardi and Félix Porteiro. SEAT Sport's five drivers - Gené, Rydell, Tarquini, Muller and Monteiro - will take turns on three León TDI cars, while Chevrolet will bring only one Lacetti. The SUNRED Engineering will go to Valencia with Coronel's SEAT León TFSI. They will be joined by James Thompson's N.technology Honda Accord Euro R. For the Briton and the Italy-based team this will be the first serious confrontation with their competitors in view of their debut in the championship in one month time on the very same track. The team will shake the car down this afternoon at Franciacorta test track

The FIA's WTCC Mexican event was a total triumph for SEAT, their cars dominating in both races..read more

The HSCC expect to field over 40 pre-66 GT and Sports cars in the Autosport 3 hours race schedule to run at Snetterton on May 31st. read more

After four races, three men share the leadership in the WTCC's Independents' Trophy on 28 points: Pierre-Yves Corthals, Olivier Tielemans and Stefano D'Aste.  Corthals completed a hat trick in Puebla, setting pole position and winning both rounds 3 and 4. Tielemans - a double winner in Curitiba - collected only two fifth places in Mexico, but these were enough for him to maintain the lead. As for D'Aste, he has yet to win a race but thanks to his consistency has collected more points than everybody else: 30.  However, the 2-point penalty he received (equal to the gap with which he won the 2007 title) placed him on equal points as his two rivals. And it won't just be a three men fight for the crown as there are two other serious pretenders: D'Aste's team-mate, Sergio Hernández, and Franz Engstler. They currently lie fourth and fifth with gaps of 5 and 7 points respectively.

Team Intrepid USA driver Jordy Vorrath leads the ICC standings in the Snap-on Stars of Karting Championship  after taking two second places at the Ocala Gran Prix Karting facility

Carlin’s Robert Wickens set the fastest time overall for the three days of Formula Renault 3.5  testing at Barcelona. Second was Bertrand Baguette of Draco Racing, 0.359 seconds behind…read more

Tom Coronel turned 36 last Saturday and gave himself a great birthday present, managing to reliably finish the whole Mexican event in his SEAT León TFSI run by SUNRED Engineering Development. After he set the third fastest qualifying time the Dutchman scored in both races. He was close to the podium in Race 1 (fourth ahead of SEAT Sport's drivers Tarquini, Muller and Monteiro), and was classified sixth in Race 2.  On Saturday evening, Tom celebrated his birthday in the paddock during a Mexican-style party that culminated in him smashing the traditional piñata full of sweets.

JDC Motorsports have signed Brazilian Ernesto Otero for the rest of this season’s Star Mazda Series.  Having already kicked off the new Star Mazda Championship season in style with a big win at Sebring, reigning champions JDC MotorSports have confirmed that Otero will now contest the remaining 11 races on the calendar. The young Brazilian has bonded with his JDC teammates and the crew and will be part of a multi-car effort, partnering Sebringl race winner Joel Miller, Masters class winner Chuck Hulse and team co-owner Gerry Kraut. Otero was very quick in Sebring and qualified third before being taken out of the race by an over-eager competitor.

10-04-08

Luke Wright was the winner in KF2 at the first round of the Italian Open Masters at Lonato on 29/30 March. JRP, the Italian-based independent team also picked up 4th place in KF3 for new signing Mitchell Hale.

Brazilian Fabio Carbone (Ultimate Signature) ended the day fastest in the World Series by Renault 3.5 tests at Barcelona. Second was Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport),.

Walter Grubmüller and the Hitech Racing Formula 3 team were back up to speed in testing at Snetterton yesterday (Wednesday). The Austrian posted the fourth fastest time of the afternoon while his team-mate Max Chilton was eighth

Fritz Leesmann opened the scoring for PSL Karting with a win in the Stars of Karting series at Ocala in Florida

Dan Rozwadowski has taken the final place in the Formula Palmer Audi Championship. The 17 year old raced in T Cars for the past 2 years and olnly decided to switch after testing in FPA in February.

The first race of the BMW Europe season is on 26th April, part of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona with Adrien Tambay, son of ex F1 star Patrick who won the FBMW Germany rookie of the year in 2007, one of the favourites. “My goal is clear: to become the new champion," says the BMW Junior. He will not, of course, have things all his own way. Dane Michael Christensen and German driver Marco Wittmann are also determined to finish the season at the top of the pile.  Among the drivers looking to build on the experience gained in 2007 are the Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, leading rookie in Formula BMW USA last year, and Jazeman Jaafar from Malaysia, who won the Formula BMW Asia title. There is a rich international flavour to the Formula BMW Junior squad this year, with Christensen and Tambay joined by the German David Mengesdorf, British driver Oliver Millroy and Spanish contender Ramon Pineiro in the class of 2008. Formula BMW Europe races will be included on the support programme for seven Formula One grands prix.

The battle for the 2008 South African National Formula Vee Championship, returns to Kyalami on the 12th April 2008.

Robbie Kerr is in China this week with his sights firmly set on attack, as he aims for maximum points for A1 Team Great Britain at the penultimate round of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in Shanghai. A1 Team GBR lie just 13 points adrift of third-placed Team France, with second-placed New Zealand just five points further off. With 32 points available in each of the two remaining rounds in Chine and Great Britain, the British squad has everything to play for.

The 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series gets going this weekend at Hockenheim in Germany with 30 drovers all bidding for Romain Grosjean’s crown..

VX Racing head for Rockingham and the next round of the BTCC in a confident frame of mind after winning 2  out of 3 races at Brands Hatch in the opening round of 2008.

A1 Team Pakistan are heading to Shanghai in China this weekend for the penultimate round of the A1GP 2007/08 season. Adam Khan will continue in the car as the team hopes to score points in the final two rounds. The team had bad luck in South Africa and Mexico City, retiring from both the Sprint and Feature races. The promising pace shown by Khan in Mexico City failed to deliver any points after suspension failure in the Sprint race and an incident on the final lap of the feature put him out.

09-04-08

Following the recent tragic death of top Scottish motor racing star David Leslie in a plane crash, Scotland's National Motorsport Centre, Knockhill Racing Circuit has announced a special tribute to the amiable, Annan born racer who was held in extremely high regard by his motor racing peers. The Fife Circuit, where Leslie raced so successfully and introduced, encouraged and guided many newcomers to the sport including Scottish stars David Coulthard, Allan McNish and Dario Franchitti will officially name one of the track's trickiest corners after the well loved gentleman
of Scottish motor sport. David's widow Jane, accompanied by their sons James and Graham and David's father David Snr, who is also well known in the motor racing industry, will attend the prestigious Avon Tyres British GT Championship event this Sunday (13th April) to mark the occasion. From Sunday onwards, 'Leslie's' Bend will become permanent on the famous circuit's map and on the commentary.  The left hand corner comes immediately after the track's infamous first corner 'SEAT Curve' and significantly, was the scene of a spectacular roll over crash for David in 1993 when a steering failure on his Ecurie Ecosse Vauxhall Cavalier saw his car disappear over the tyre wall and into the Knockhill scenery.  David walked away unscathed. The Circuit has also arranged for David's 1997 British Touring Car Championship Nissan Primera to be demonstrated on the track on Sunday by his then team mate, fellow Scottish racing driver Anthony Reid. Circuit PR Manager Ray Smith said "We are honoured that David's family and close friend Anthony Reid have willingly agreed to attend this Sunday's race meeting to help everyone who will be here honour a great racing driver, sportsman, gentleman and friend."

Ed Brand won again in the British Super 1 Championship on Sunday at Shenington, So far tis season he has been unbeatable and leads the championship by 39 points..read more

Driving the Luc Alphand Adventures Covette C6.R alongside Luc Alphand and Patrice Goueslard, Guillaume Moreau got his season off to the perfect start on Sunday. The trio won the LM GT1 category of the first race in the  2008 Le Mans Series, the Barcelona 1000kms..read more

Seven additional drivers are expected for the final Champ Car race at Long Beach  in a coupole of weeks time, including Paul Tracy, Nelsopn Phillippe, Antonio PIzzonia and Franck Montagny.

Jeff Westphal totally dominated Ropunds 3 and 4 of the Pacific F2000 Championship Presented by Hankook Tires at Willow Springs International Raceway last weekend.  He not only won both races but took both poles and fastest laps as well

Wheel to wheel action, challenging circuits and fierce determination has made the 2007/08 A1GP championship battle the most hotly contested to date. With two rounds remaining, eight teams are still in contention for the title but will it be the most popular team that takes the ultimate glory?    Now is the chance for fans to really get their voice heard by voting for the 'Best A1 Team'.  Log on to A1GP.com to cast your vote and see your team take the crown at this season's Gala Awards evening to be held in London's West End on Monday 5 May. As well as the official presentation of the World Cup of Motorsport trophy, A1 teams and drivers will be recognised for their skill and development throughout the year.The competition is tight so get behind your team and log on to www.A1GP.com to have your say.

Nathan Freke has had mixed fortunes in the first 3 races of the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights series in the USA. Despite early testing success Nathan has had a torrid time particularly in the first oval race at the Homestead Speedway in Florida where engine and gearbox problems hampered his chances of success together with car setup problems. These problems continued into the first road course test at Sebring and then into the practice for the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg. This meant that Nathan languished near the back in qualifying 22nd of 24 cars. Some changes made the car better for the race and in race one Nathan appeared on for a good finish until minor spin damaged the car and he lost 7 laps whilst the damage was fixed finishing in 20th place. Race 2 however saw Nathan get to grips with the car and the circuit and pull of his first top ten finish of the series with an 8th place and some competitive times. 'The car is still not right under me, but today I have made the most of what I have and with some good luck for a change I have produced a satisfactory result. I am confident that if we can get the car right I can run comfortably inside the top ten regularly' commented Nathan afterwards.

CR Scuderia  will be at Rockingham for the Formula Renault UK championship this weekend and Adam Christodoulou will be looking to add to his win  at Brands Hatch last time out..

Ben Clucas and Rachel Green are set to make their VdeV debut in the all-new Bicknell PS7. The two former Caterham protagonists will be at Donington Park this weekend(2/13th  April.

08-04-08

Daniel Lloyd was back in action  in his BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship-supported Ginetta G20 last weekend at Cadwell Park.

Nathan Coulter set the fastest time during official Formula Renault BARC Championship testing at Thruxton after Al Harthy topped the times in the morning session..

Cassey Watson overcomes mechanical problems to take 4th at Cadwell Park in Ginetta Jnrs.

Hillspeed’s Ahmad Al Harthy set the poace in official Formula Renault BARC testing at Thruxton in the morning seting a time of 1m 14.313 seconds..

Formula Renault BARC Championship leader Menasheh Idafar was also right on the pace ending the test second overall on combined time

The 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be at Rockingham this weekend (12-13 April) with Michael Caine leading the championship after dominating at Brands winning both races…

CR Scuderia Formula Renault UK driver Adam Christodoulou set the fastest time during Formula Renault UK free practice at Thruxton on Monday, 7th April. The 2x55-minute sessions of free practice prior to rounds seven and eight are held now due to local council noise restrictions at the track instead of normally running them on the Friday prior to the race weekend.

Ben Winrow currently joint leader of the Elf Clio Cup with Paul Rivett, set the fastest time in official free practice at Thruxton yesterday(Monday) with a time of 1min 25.012s (99.76mph average) just 0.232s ahead of Rivett..

RML AD Group's Mike Newton and Thomas Erdos, reigning LMP2 champions in the Le Mans Series, had to be satisfied with fourth place in the first race of the 2008 season, but they weren't disappointed. Difficulties in practice and qualifying had suggested that a good result was unlikely in Barcelona for the 1000 Kilometres of Catalunya, so a five-point finish was an unexpected bonuse

The new Lola LMP Coupes made impressive debuts in the Le Mans Series race on Sunday in Barcelona. The Charouz Racing System Lola B08/60, powered by Aston Martin driven by Jan Charouz and Stefan Mucke was on the pace in qualifying and in the race finishing in third

Martin Plowman will be in action at Hockenheim this weekend in the opening round of the F3 Euro Series. Plowman will driver RC Motorsport of Italy-in a Dallara with the new Volkswagen's F3 engine.

Nigel Thompson and David Bailey shared the honours in the Pre 90 Carphone Warehouse FF10600s at Anglesey. Thompson won the opening race in a Van Dieman RF88 by over 12 seconds from Douglas Crosbie, also in a RF88 while in third was Nigel Dolan driving a RF86. In the Pre-90’s second race David Bailey was the winner from Robet Wyke by less than a second. Both drivers were in Reynard 89’s. Third was Douglas Crosbie, 6 sconds of then leading pair. In the Post 89 series Robert Brarrable and Graham Carroll each picked up a win and a second place. Barrable won the first encounter, his Swift SC92 beating Carroll’s Van DIeman FR90 by 6.6 secs. In the second race Carroll reversed their positions to win by just 0.142 secs. Tom Bradshaw was third in race 1 and Barry Linley in race 2.   

Jonathan Summerton and A1GP Team USA have high hopes for this weekend’s A1GP in Shanghai. Recent races have shown that the team has made real progress, whgich was confirmed last time out in Mexico with a third in the feature race and a fifth in the sprint

Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship are at Rockingham this weekend and Apotex Scorpio’s Kieren Clark, the up and coming 19 year old Cambridge based driver, is looking forward to his second weekend alongside the BTCC…

RFM’s Mackenzie Taylor improved on last week’s second place in the British Open Championship by taking a superb victory in the second round of the Winning Series Karting at Angerville, Franceon Sunday.

07-04-08

SEAT cars filled the top-six positions at the end of the second race in Puebla and this result, in addition to the 1-2 obtained for the Spanish Manufacturers in the first race, completed their total domination in Puebla.  Four SEAT men - in the order Rydell, Tarquini, Muller and Gené, are now top of the Drivers' Championship, while SEAT have a solid advantage in the Manufacturers' Championship. Jordi Gene led team-mate Rickard Rydell across the line to win the firstrace.

Larbre Competition scored a fine second place in the GT1 class after a courageous recovery drive from Christophe Bouchut, Patrick Bornhauser and Frederic Makowiecki at the opening round of the 2008 Le Mans Series in Barcelona. Peugeot’s 908 HDi FAP car shared by Nicolas Minassian and local star Marc Gene won the race.

After going quickest in un-official testing 2 weeks ago, Alexander Rossi once again went fastest  on both combined days during first official 2008 Formula BMW Americas test at Virginia International Raceway.

As the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship heads to Rockingham Motor Speedway for the next two rounds, it’s necomers who are setting the pace with Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR) and Martin Byford (AB Glass/Z Speed Racing) winning at Brands Hatch.

Andrew Herron is looking forward to the resumption of the SEAT Cupra Championship this weekend as he endeavours to claim a podium place at Rockingham.  Hopefully none of his fellow competitors will intervene as they did at Brands last time out when he was ‘punted’ off in the opening race.

Richard Antinucci won the Firestone Indy Light's St. Pete 100 Race 2 just over a second ahead of J.R. Hildebrand. After the win he was penalized  10 point for avoidable contact with teammate Ana Beatriz during the race. Logan Gomex was third.  Earlier,  Raphael Matos led from flag to flag to win the first race. For Matos, who earned the SWE Pole, it was his third victory in six starts.  Antinucci was second with  Ana Beatriz finished third, the highest finish by a woman in Indy Lights history.

Aaron Caratti (Parklands on Bertram) won all three of the Carrera Cup races at Wakefield Park, his first win in the series

Manor Competition have signed Tom Armour to race in the Formula Renault UK series, bring the team’s entrants up to four..read more

CR Scuderia will be in Scotland this weekend for the third and fourth rounds of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship… After winning first time out at Oulton Park the team has been testing at the Fife track, that and the local knowledge they can glean from Andrew Kirkcaldy should  make them favourites for a repeat performance 

Jonathan Ridley-Holloway will be looking for a major improvement at Rockingham after the disappointing start to his Elf Clio Cup Campaign in the opening round.

British GT racing team Team Trimite Brookspeed is planning to run it’s very own British Superbike team. On Wednesday 15 April they will officially launch their Ducati British Superbike squad at Festival Place Shopping Centre, Basingstoke , on Wednesday 16 April..

06-04-08

Pete Sparrow won both the 2CV Parts.com Championship races organised by the BARC at Slverstone on Saturday, winning the first from the Myatt/Robertson car by a 'country mile'. In race two the  positions were the same , although this time Sparrow was kept honest, winning by only 8 seconds.  In the Kumho BMW series Ian Hill beat Garrie Whittaker and Richard Mallinson with 9 seconds in hand. In the second race Whittaker made Hill work for his win,  getting to within 2 seconds of the leader at the flag. Mallinson once again completed the podium.

In the Lancaster Insurance MG owners Club races at Silverstone, Gary Smith won the Class B-Z race by 4.726secs from Simon Byrne with David Meller third. All three were in MG ZR's. In the Class A-F encounter Ian Deaves in an MGF triumphed over Paul Naish's similar car with 10 seconds to spare while Stuart Plotnek came in third.  The Rawles Motorsport Austin Healey Club race saw Marc Campfield bring his Healey 3000 over the line first, just 1.16 seconds ahead of second placed Mike Thorne's 100M, Third in a Frogeye Sprite was Paul Campfield. In the Max5 race Tom Roche beat Charles Plumby by over 30 seconds with Justin Newman third.

Harold Primat and Christophe Tinseau got their 2008 Le Mans Series off to a good start with a 7th place overall and a 6th in the LMP1 class, in the first race of the year at Barcelona.

Nathan Geier of Split Image Project Management  won the third race of MINI CHALLENGE today at Wakefield Park when Paul Stokell suffered mechanical woes halfway through the race forcing him to retire.

Kristian Lindbom took the overall honours in the second round of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship at Wakefiled Park today(Sunday). In the last of the Rounds' 3 races Paul Laskazeski won but Lindborn's second place was enough to clinch the overall win after his win and second place yesterday.

SEAT's Jordi Gené set the fastest time in qualifying for today's WTCC race in Puebla, Mexico with a time of 1:40.803. Second was Nicola Larini. 0.173 secs behind, driving a Chevrolet with Gene's team-mate  Tom Coronel  0.258s further back.

A crowd of 200,000 at Dusseldorf's shopping street Konigsallee attended the DTM's start for the 2008 season. The DTM presentation one week prior to the season opener in Hockenheim, the third one in a row in Dusseldorf, attracted 17,000 spectators more than one year ago. For the first time in 2008, all nine Mercedes-Benz DTM drivers introduced themselves to a record crowd. Driving the AMG Mercedes C-Class: Paul di Resta, Jamie Green and Maro Engel drove the racing version of the AMG Mercedes C-Class around an 800-metre long temporary circuit. The pit crew of the Mucke Motorsport team showed precision work and record times in the pit stop competition.

Matech Racing's  Ford GT set the best overall time in its class at the recent FIA GT test in Nogaro, driver Christophe Bouchut was delighted with the cars handling...read more

05-04-08

The second meeting of the FIA WTCC started yesterday in Puebla Mexico and it was the SEAT who topped the time sheets ..read more

Larbre Competition missed Saturday’s qualifying session for the Barcelona 1000kms after a technical problem forced them to change the engine in the team’s Saleen S7R.  Patrick Bornhauser managed just a handful of laps in Saturday’s practice session, without setting a competitive time. Team Principal Jack Leconte explained the situation: “We had a problem around the cylinder head in practice this morning,” he said. “It’s not a major thing, but unfortunately it is something that cannot be fixed here at the circuit. That meant we have had to change the engine completely and it was impossible to do that in time for qualifying this afternoon.” However, with a six hour, 1000km race in prospect , the team is eagerly looking forward to Sunday

Paul Stokell and Grant Denyer scored a 1-2 finish for the DecoRug Motorsport team at Wakefield Park Raceway this morning in the first race of the second round of Australian MINI CHALLENGE

Kristian Lindbom and Rob Storey both took a win the second round of the Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship at Wakefield Park today (Saturday) but it is Ben Morely who now leads the title chase.

The 2008 Heritage Grand Touring Car Challenge gets underway next weekend(12-13 April) at Donington Park in the MSVR race meeting. The series is looking very promising with a full grid of sports, saloon and GT cars of the 1960s and 70s.

The Chevrolet RML team will pay a tribute to David Leslie, the former touring car legend and Eurosport commentator who perished last Sunday in a plane crash. Leslie was a close friend of team principal Ray Mallock and had raced for several years for RML in the British Touring Car Championship.  From tomorrow's first free practice session the three Lacetti cars will sport a right rearview mirror decorated with laurels and the wording: David Leslie, 1953-2008 

Jason Plato will start his 250th BTCC race next Sunday(13 April) when the Championship visit's Rockingham. Co-incidentally it's also his team-mate Darren Turner's 34th birthday  If all goes according to plan, the SEAT team could be having multiple celebrations if either of their drivers (or both!) take the first BTCC SEAT Leon TDi Victory.

As the  A1GP 2007-8 Season reaches the penultimate race the battle for overall honours is still wide open. When the teams arrive in Shanghai next week (11-13 April) there will still be eight teams that are mathematically still in contention for the title 

SEAT Sport team-mates Yvan Muller and Gabriele Tarquini arrive in Puebla as co-leaders of the Drivers' Championship after they won one race apiece in the season's opening meeting at Curitiba, Brazil. "After only one event it is difficult to say that any team is the favourite to win the championship. We have exactly the same chances as BMW," said Muller. And Tarquini agreed: "SEAT won in Brazil but we didn't dominate the races. The BMW was the fastest car. What we did better than the rest was to exploit our car's performance in both the qualifying and the races."  Reigning World Champion Andy Priaulx is currently lying third, only one point behind. "In our last visit here in 2006 we all had to cope with difficult conditions as the track was breaking up. However, I did prove you must never give up as I battled through to seventh position in race two from 18th on the grid, despite a full 80 kilos of ballast. I am confident the organisers have done their best to improve all the facilities," said the BMW UK man.

MEMORY OF DAVID LESLIE. Former Touring Car ace and Eurosport commentator David Leslie perished last Sunday at the age of 54 in a private plane crash in Farnborough, Kent. Leslie was killed along with the two pilots and two other passengers, one of them was motorsport team boss Richard Lloyd.  During his long racing career Leslie was five times Scottish karting champion before winning the British Formula Ford title in 1978. He had spells in Formula Three, Sportscars and Thunder Saloons before establishing himself as a race winner in the British Touring Car Championship at the wheel of Vauxhall, Honda and Nissan cars, some of them prepared by Chevrolet WTCC team boss Ray Mallock.
Later he brought his expertise and enthusiasm to Eurosport and for nearly ten years provided racing analysis co-commentating the FIA European and World Touring Car Championships together with Martin Haven.

Formula Master's official two-day test concluded in Estoril on Thursday with Fabio Leimer once again claiming the fastest time of the day.

James Thompson will drive for Hartmann Honda Racing in the Danish Touring Car Championship, when he will not be racing for N.technology in the FIA WTCC. The team announced that - with the support of Honda Denmark - they have signed an agreement with Honda Motor Europe and their technical partners JAS Motorsport to field two Honda Accord Euro R cars fitted with the newest engine and suspension specifications. With the co-operation of N-technology, Hartmann Honda Racing will run one car for James Thompson alongside that of their regular driver Jens Reno Møller.
"I will not want to make up the numbers in Denmark," James Thompson said. "The guys at Hartmann are very enthusiastic, and I see no reason why we cannot win races or be on the podium consistently."

04-04-08

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport hope to take the series back to the Middle East within three years, so said series CEO, Pete da Silva at the inaugural Motor Sport Business Forum Middle East in the Bahrain International Circuit this week.

In March, French squad Hexis Racing took part in two important test sessions, the first one on the Paul Ricard circuit and the other in Monza. After which the team's Aston Martin DBRS9 racers took part in the first round of the French FFSA GT3 championship in Nogaro. It was following this latter event that the team's bosses announced that they had decided to pull out of the French season. They also intimated that they were considering a switch to the German ADAC GT Masters championship, as part of an ambitious international campaign.

Alexander Sims is delighted to have beenm named as one of the three young drivers to join the prestigious Motor Sports Association (MSA) British Race Elite programme.

Hitech Racing's Philip Eng set the fourth fastest time at the recent F3 test at Croft. The young Austrian Eng set his time yesterday afternoon on the final day of the official test.

Jeremy Metcalfe will be coming north of the border at Knockhill  in Fife next weekend,(12th/13th April), for the next two rounds of  the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT Championship..

DecoRug Motorsport driver Paul Stokell set the fastest time in qualifying for this weekend’s round of the  MINI CHALLENGE at Wakefield Park Raceway in Australia, Stokell’s time of 1:05.6112, was just over 0.1secs faster than second places Nathan Geier

The PSL Karting team will be at the Ocala Gran Prix track in Florida this weekend for the first round of the  2008 Snap-on Stars of Karting Presented by IndyCar Series

Champion Racing/Intrepid USA will be right alongside PSL Karting (see story above) as their get their national championship season underway at the first round of the Snap-on Stars of Karting Presented by IndyCar Series this weekend ..read more

Paul Laskazeski set the fastest time in qualifying for the second round of the  Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship at Wakefield Park today. The Synergy Sport driver set a time of  1:00.5041secs , just 0.043secs ahead of second placed Kristian Linborn  The first 2 races are tomorrow(Saturday) with a third on Sunday

Testing for the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 2008 season took place this week at Spa Francorchamps. Italian Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula) was quickest ahead of Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy), Roberto Mehri (Epsilon Euskadi) and Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula). On Wednesday, despite the wind and cold conditions, the track stayed dry. The Motopark Academy team immediately took the chance to show what they are capable of, with the Finn Valtteri Bottas setting the fastest lap of the morning, ahead of his teammate Tobias Hegewald. Looking very comfortable on a track which is nothing new to their team, the two drivers confirmed their good form in the second session. Bottas setting the fastest lap of the day with a 2'29''615, while Hegewald was back in fourth.Andrea Caldarelli took second place as the session drew to a close, moving ahead of Adrian Quaife-Hobbs (BVM Minardi Team),. Michel Faccin (Jenzer Motorsport) completed the top five..

Scuderia Ecosse carried tyre testing at Knockhill this week in preparation for the opening round of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone later this month

Charouz Racing System will debut their all new Aston Martin powered LMP1 prototype at Barcelona this weekend.

In his first full; season of International Karting Luke Wright  scored an excellent first victory in the opening round of the Italian Open Masters series at Lonato in Italy last week(29/30 March)

The Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda have been hard at work sorting out their calendar after the turmoil brought about by the cancellation of the Champ Car series.

James Calado was quickest in Formula Renault UK test at Oulton Park earlier this week with Manor's Alexander Sims second fastest ..read more

03-04-08

The British Formula Ford Championship heads north next weekend (12/13 April), to the Knockhill in Fife, for the continuation of what is shaping up to be a classic battle for supremacy in the Ford-backed series…

Kieren Clark put in a good performance at the opening round of the Formula Renault UK championship at Brands Hatch last weekend. The 19 year old finished his first race with the Apotex Scorpio team in a respectable 10th place

The Team Aluminos kart racing team kick-off their ProKart Challenge SoCal season at the first round last weekend at the CalSpeed Karting facility in Fontana, Califormnia. Out of the 8 drivers racing in 3 separate categories for the team, it was  Canadian Scott Rossi and Colorado’s Marc Elliot (pictured) who claimed the podium places for the Aluminos squad

CR Scuderia have been testing at Knockhill for the next round of the British GT championship, scheduled for 12-13 April. The team’s preparations were helped by Team director Andrew Kirkcaldy’s local knowledge of the Scottish track…

Fabio Leimer of Jenzer Motorsports was quickest yesterday in Formula Master testing at Estoril .Chris Van de Drift of JD Motorsporsts was second, 0.2secs behind. 

Harold Primat returns for his second season in LMS with French team Pescarolo Sport. Driving alongside Christophe Tinseau in the team's Pescarolo 01-Judd, their season gets underway this weekend at the Barcelona 1000kms .

The Australian Porsche Carrera Cup heads for Wakefield Park this weekend with Craig Baird leading the championship..

02-04-08

The Australian MINI CHALLENGE resumes this weekend at Wakeffield Park and you can expect the battle for the mid-field to be exceptionally tight if the first round at Eastern Creek is anything to go by.

Manor Competitions Alexanders Sims and Kris Loane were back up to speed in recent testing at Oulton Park in Formula Renault UK, setting first and third fastest times respectively 

Nick Williamson did the double in the LMA Euro Sports and Saloons at Snetterton at the weekend taking two wins from two starts

Mark Dryden did not have a good dat at Knockhill in the Smartycars.com Mini Challenge, crashing out in the opening race of the season

The Masters Racing Series is pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Harris as the Series Technical Commissioner, as part of the series’ overall programme of eligibility checking and enforcement for 2008.  Mike and his qualified colleagues or deputies will be in attendance at all Masters European and at Masters Top Hat UK events, with an expanded range of suitable equipment to make all the necessary eligibility checks…read more Tech Bulletin No 2

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport raced into the streets of Durban for a third year in 2008, this time however there was one difference. The patrons of the highly exclusive premium hospitality, Pangaea, were the first ever in  A1GP to raise funds for a charity.

Andrew Herron’s good qualifying position for his first SEAT Cupra Championship races came to nought after he was forced out of race 1 after contact with other cars pushed him into the barrier. In race two, despite a lowly grid position after his DNF in race1, he managed to climb through the field to claim eighth at the flag

Only 2 weeks to go until the full Masters season kicks off at Donington over the weekend of April 19/20 for ‘Grande Passione’.....click here for further info

Sunoco Team Ultra 94 driver Mike Vincec ended the Skip Barber Southern Region series in style with a win and top Rookie  honours

Brooks Associates Racing will be testing at Firebird racetrack, Phoenix, on 3.-4. April. This will be the final pre-season test session before the season starts at  Long Beach on April 20.  Driver Markus Niemela, is looking forward to the test  as he was unable to contribute last time out because of injury.  "I was really disappointed not being able to drive in Houston. But to be fair, I can only blame myself for that,”, he said. “ I did a few laps but the racetrack at Houston was so bumpy it was impossible to drive with the stitches as your heel keeps banging on the car floor all the time. Anyway I'm happy we are instead going to Firebird before the race as then we can do our final tune-up before the season. “

The Molecule Formula Mazda Challenge and Star Mazda West Coast Series kicked-off last weekend at Infineon raceway with almost 50 entries..

Target Chip Ganassi Racing (TCGR) and Integra Motorsports will join up to run Marc Williams in the Firestone Indy Lights Series starting this weekend at the  Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Williams will drive the No. 9 Cool Blue Water Dallara as part of the Chip Ganassi Racing Teams’ driver development program, adding another level of global appeal to its stable of 12 drivers representing six countries over six series.

Carrera Cup Australia will welcome another Kiwi into the fold at its next round at Wakefield Park, with Daniel Gaunt joining the Championship. Gaunt, 23, will step into the Sherrin Equipment Porsche driven by Iain Sherrin at the first two rounds of year, in what will be his Australian Porsche debut. While he'll be new to the Australian Championship, Gaunt knows the Porsche well after a stunning debut season in the NZ Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge. Gaunt stepped into the Porsche after winning the Toyota Racing Series two years in a row and he blitzed the competition in his sports-car debut.

AFS Racing/Andretti Green Racing drivers Raphael Matos and Arie Luyendyk Jr. participated in the Firestone Indy LightsOpen Test at Sebring International Raceway on March 31st. The test was held at the 1.67-mile Sebring International Raceway short course. Matos led the first day with a lap of 57.1938 seconds (105.116 mph) while Luyendyk Jr., was fourth fastest with a time of 57.8757 seconds (103.878 mph).

01-04-08

Former saloon car racer Rowland Bratt wishes to express his, and his family’s, sincerest condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the relatives and many friends of respected racing driver David Leslie who was tragically killed on Sunday afternoon, 30th March, following a fatal air crash near Biggin Hill in Kent….

Mark Wilkins and Brian Friselle  started the Gainsco Grand Prix of Miami in the AIM Autosport Exchange Traded Gold #61 Ford Riley from second but would only finish down in eighth after a caution-filled race plus an unscheduled pit stop played havoc with the team’s strategy

R.D.A driver Cassey Watson was  quite content after her debut in the Ginetta Jnr Championship at Brands Hatch last weekend where she finished a respectabl;e 6th and 7th

Sam Hancock’s chances of a debut win in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB were dealt  a swiftl blow by a spinning Tim Bridgman in the opening race at Brands Hatch..

Motors TV would like to express its deepest sympathy to the family and friends of David Leslie, who was killed yesterday in a plane crash near Biggin Hill, Kent.  Leslie, along with four other passengers and crew, lost their lives when the plane they were travelling in went down shortly after take-off. David was a key member of Motors TV’s commentary team and had provided stimulating, expert analysis for the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2006 and 2007, as well as being one of the voices of the channel’s Le Mans Series coverage. His loss has left his friends and colleagues at the channel devastated.  Motors TV Head of Programming Fred Viger said: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic news of David’s death. He was a valued member of our commentary team, but much more than that, he was a gentleman and one of the nicest guys you could ever have the pleasure of meeting. “All our thoughts and prayers are with David’s family and friends and with those of Richard Lloyd, pilot Mike Roberts and the other two victims of this terrible tragedy.”

The HSCC’s Classic Racing Car encounter at Donington was won by Ian Gray in a Brabham BT16 from second placed John Connell, also in a Brabham, a BT23C. Nigel Bennett came third driving a Chevron B17.  The Historic Road Sports saw Dave Randall win n his Ginetta G4 over 8 seconds up on TVR Griffiths of Julian Dodd while Martin Halliday came home third.(all HSCC pics Paul Williams)

Simon Hadfield was a busy man at Donington Park on Sunday winning not only the Derek Bell Trophy race but the Classic Formula Ford race as well.  In the HSCC’s Derek Bell Trophy Hadfield piloted his McLaren M10  to victory over Mark Dwyer’s Lola T400 with 6.18secs to spare. Third , driving a Hesketh 308E was Michael Lyons less than half a second behind Dwyer…read Michael Lyons report

In the Classic Formula Ford, Hadfield, in aTitan Mk4,(pictured) beat David Wild in a Lola T200 and Westie Mitchell’s Merlyn Mk2.

Julian Barter came out on top in the HSCC Road Sports, his TVR 3000m beating Paul Anderson by just 1.8 secs. Howard Bentham was third. The Guards Trophy race saw Stuart Tizzard take his Lenham Spider to victory  by 4.14 seconds from Gareth Jackson driving a Nerus Silhouette. Third in a Chevron B8 was Ross Maxwell.

Dan Cox won the HRSR Saloons race in a Lotus Cortina, 2.65 secs ahead of Neil Wood’s Anglia 105E. Pete Halford was third in a Mustang

Manor Motorsport did not have a great start to the 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship.  After Alexander Sims qualified on pole, a broken neutral cable on the warm-up lap stymied his chances in the race, although team mate Kris Loane drive a good race to finish fifth

Tickets for the 2008 British Grand Prix are close to selling with  only limited numbers of race0day tickets still available.  Due to the demand Silverstone is adding another 2200 grandstand seats as well as selling single day tickets for both Friday and Saturday…read more

Phil Quaife had a positive return to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB taking twp podium finishes at the first event of the year at Brands Hatch

Ollie Millroy has been selected as one of four drivers on the 2008 MSA British Race Academy Programme. Millroy, who will race in  Formula BMW Europe this year, joins Jack Clarke (Formula Palmer Audi), James Cole (British Formula Ford) and Rupert Svendsen-Cook (FBMW).   “To be acknowledged by the MSA and become a British Race Academy winner is a great privilege and I’m very proud to be one of only four young British drivers to be awarded this,” said Ollie. “2008 has started out to be a great year and being a BMW scholarship driver and now having the (MSA) British Race Academy backing me, I’m really looking forward to the season ahead and getting some good results as the year progresses’.The new-for-2008 MSA British Race Academy is a ‘feeder’ programme to the MSA British Race Elite and will offer all of the same development opportunities, with the exception of the individualised one-to-one coaching that the Elite members receive.Six MSA Race Elite drivers and the four British Race Academy winners will benefit from the programme, which will begin with a fitness assessment at the Department of Sports Development at the University of Bath.The full programme will cover all areas of physical and mental preparation and training, track performance and developments, technical and engineering awareness in areas such as engine, gearbox, suspension, tyres and electronics’. It will also bring in experts to give advice on career management, media and promotional activities, sponsorship and presentation training.

 

 

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