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News Archive April 2008 mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk 09/05/2008 FOR RACE REPORTS FOLLOW 'Reports' LINK ON THE GRID above 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 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,
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
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 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 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) 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,
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 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
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
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 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
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.
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
27-04-08 Graham Carroll and Alan Kirkcaldy 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
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.
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
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 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
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 .
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 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
Chris van der Drift 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 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
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 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
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 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 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 Patrick Barrett 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..
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. 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 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 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!" 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.
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 Scir | |
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.”
was
the quickest runner in the weekend’s FBMW Americas test at Miller
Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah. ..
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
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. 
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. 
(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. 
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
Thomas
Erdos and Mike Newton, co-driving the RML AD Group's MG Lola
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 
kicked-off
his German ATS Formula 3 Cup campaign at Hockenheim with a podium
finish.
at
the Autodromo Di Monza this weekend for the 
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..
(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.
will drive in the Australian Mini Challenge at Barbagallo in the
Motorline Mini Garage entry..
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..
with over 30 cars taking part. Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer was
quickest in both morning and afternoon sessions with 
in
their TanderSport National Class entry, can give the team continued
success in both top classes within Australia’s premier Open Wheel
category. 
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. 
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 
has taken over at the head of the Formula Renault BARC championship
race after winning bothr aces held at Rockingham yesterday.
resumes this weekend at Narellan's Oran Park Raceway just outside
Sydney..
will
make his Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series debut in the Bosch Engineering
250 at Virginia International Raceway this Sunday, April 27th.
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.
set a lap of 1:19.823(112.749 mph) for Aim Motorsport in
the Grand-Am Mexico City 250 at the Autodromo 
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…
Alain
Menu's Chevrolet Lacetti was quickest in the WTCC test