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News Archive May 2008 mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk 10/06/2008 FOR RACE REPORTS FOLLOW 'Reports' LINK ON THE GRID above 31-05-08 Augusto Farfus claimed
his and BMW's first pole position of the season at the end of an
eventful session that had been delayed by a half-an-hour for the track
to be repaired after a support race. The asphalt had dried and the
drivers were finally able to set faster times than in this morning's wet
practice sessions. Tim Bridgman won his fifth race of teh season in round nine of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Croft on Saturday (31 May). Nigel Rice (pro-am1) and Glynn Geddie (pro-am2) took category victories.. Darren Turner has given SEAT Sport UK’s Leon TDI its first pole after a dramatic qualifying session at Croft in North Yorkshire. Darren had to sit out half of the 30 minute session after damaging the front of his car, yet will still start Round 13 of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship tomorrow after setting an unbeaten 1:25.825. Jason Plato set his best time on his final flying lap, setting a 1:26.027 with a Leon TDI carrying 36kgs of success ballast.
Daniel Lloyd
 took
his first ever victory in cars at Croft on Saturday afternoon in Round
11 the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship...reportThe Ginetta Juniors have a new race winner today, Daniel Lloyd won his first race by just under 5seconds..
JHR Developments driver Andrew Herron secured his third
front-row start in as many race meetings at Croft Circuit in North
Yorkshire today, Saturday, 31st May, as he aims to add another SEAT
Cupra Championship podium to his 2008 tally. The Brian Herron
Contracts driver lapped with a time of 1m 27.700 seconds
(87.22mph) during round nine qualifying to line-up second on the
grid for the first of tomorrow’s races.During the round 10 session a
time of 1m 27.879 seconds (87.05mph) was still good enough for the
second row of the grid.
Tim Harvey took pole for both races in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Croft today (Saturday 31 May) for rounds 9 and 10. Harvey set the times with just three laps in qualifying...read more
Jon Lancaster will line up on the sixth row for today’s opening F3 Euroseries race at Pau. Driving for ART Grand Prix, he had been on course for a maiden pole position after setting the quickest time in both the first and second sectors of his fastest lap. However a rare error on his penultimate lap cost him dearly as he clipped the barrie, the collision damaged the front left corner of his Dallara F308, ended his charge although he still wound up sixth quickest in his group. “It was just one of those things,” said Jon at the finish. “I’d been quickest in the first sector and was over two tenths up, looking good for pole, when I just clipped the barrier and that was it. It’s disappointing obviously, but we’d been good all the way through, so I still feel fairly confident of having a good charge through this afternoon and hopefully getting a good slot for tomorrow’s race.” Sadly Trackspeed Racing Reigning British GT Champion Bradley Ellis and team mate Alex Mortimer are coming back to the Avon Tyres British GT Championship for rounds seven and eight at Snetterton on 7&8 June. Ellis and Mortimer will once again drive the Matech Ford GT which they won with in Monza in it's British GT one-off 2008 appearance. ..read more Larbre Competition is set for this weekend’s official Le Mans 24 Hours Official Test Day having confirmed its driver line up for the race. The French squad has been granted an entry to the race for one of their Saleen S7Rs which will be piloted by sportscar star Christophe Bouchut and FFSA GT Championship front runners Patrick Bornhauser and David Hallyday. Multiple FIA GT and Le Mans Series champion Bouchut, who took overall victory on his Le Mans debut with Peugeot in 1993, will race at La Sarthe with Larbre for a fourth time, having scored a memorable GT1 podium finish and taken pole position at last year’s race. Bornhauser makes his third Le Mans 24 Hours appearance, all of them being with Larbre. The Frenchman, a four-time FFSA GT Champion, finished fifth in class in the team’s Aston Martin DBR9 in 2007. He has experience of the Saleen and, alongside co-driver Bouchut, leads the French GT championship this year and finished second in class with the team at the opening round of this season’s Le Mans Series in Barcelona. Hallyday, son of legendary French pop star Johnny Hallyday, visits La Sarthe for the third time, but a first with Larbre. He is also currently racing the Saleen in the FFSA GT championship, where he is a former class champion, with the team, finishing second recently at Ledenon, and has Le Mans experience in a GT1 Corvette in 2007 and an LMP Courage C65 in 2003. Daniel Lloyd made a good start to this weekend’s Ginetta Junior Championship race meeting during pre-event practice at Croft on Friday setting the fastest time of all. He was half second ahead of championship rival Thomas Carnaby and current series leader Dino Zamparelli. “Today’s test was absolutely mint for me”, said the delighted racer, “I’m really happy with the way everything went this afternoon. The car felt brilliant, it gave me the confidence to be totally committed and to push all the way through the session. The track was a little bit slippery in places where it was still a bit damp but overall conditions were good Tim Macrow is set to return to the Kumho Tyres Australian F3 Series at Phillip Island between June 13 – 15 driving in the National Class for Scud Racing..read more Tune into Network Ten’s RPM on Sunday from 1:00pm in Oz when the leading motorsport program will have Neil McFadyen’s M3 Motorsport MINI CHALLENGE car LIVE on the set and talk to former Wallaby Ben Tune about his experience as an UBER-STAR CAR driver! ACTION from rounds three and four of the Clio Cup at Rockingham will be shown on Motorsport UK on Tuesday, 10th June. The first airing will be on ITV4 in the early evening, before being repeated late-night on ITV1 and again on ITV4 and Men and Motors. Ben Winrow and Paul Rivett took one win apiece. In the Elf Clio Cup at Thruxton in rounds seven and eight, Lea Wood was nominated as driver of the day for the first race after coming through from 23rd on the grid to 14th on his return after an accident at Rockingham. In round eight, Paul Rivett took the award after a fine drive to second including a great double pass at Village bend in the early stages. Croft will host rounds one and two of the 2008 Formula Renault UK Winter Cup November. Rounds three and four will take place the following week on Saturday, 8th at Rockingham. Both meetings will run alongside the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Winter Cup. 29-05-08
To mark the 50th Anniversary of Lola Cars, Classic Automotive, the voluntary organisation that organises the a “Grande Parade des Pilotes” through the centre of Le Mans on the Friday preceding the race, are using pictures of the RML AD Group MG Lola EX265 to illustrate the official poster for the event..read more PSL Karting will be back in the USA the United States for the Snap-on Stars of Karting Presented by IndyCar ‘Mazda Race of the Americas’ event at the New Castle Motorsports Park this weekend..read more Harold Primat and Pescarolo Sport team are at the official test day for Le Mans on Sunday 1 June. Primat and his LMS co-driver Christophe Tinseau, will be joined by Nissan works driver Benoit Treluyer at La Sarthe tom prepare for the race...read more Round 4 of the Kumho Tyres Australian F3 championship, from Mallala, will go to air on SBS Speedweek this Sunday (June 1st) at 1:00PM.(Oz time). This show will be repeated the following Wednesday on FOX Sports’ Inside Speed. Check your local guides and www.formula3.com.au for details. Round 3 from Oran Park is now available online at www.formula3.com.au. Each race of the 2008 season will go to air as soon as possible following its airdate on Speedweek. Race One is already online with Race two to be uploaded before the weekend – so settle in front of the computer to catch the action from Oran Park. Formula3.com.au has significantly updated our internet video capabilities this year – and had also set up our own You Tube channel – so stay tuned for more. The new Pit and Paddock facilities at Silverstone has had it’s planning application approved by Members of Aylesbury Vale District Council’s (AVDC) Strategic Development Control Committee..read more
Hitech Racing were at Thruxton Wednesday for F3 testing with Max Chilton and Walter Grubmüller Just two days after racing at Rockingham, the team were in Hampshire to prepare for next month’s round of the British Formula 3 Series. Run in the wet, Chilton ended up third quickest with Grubmüller 11th....read more The Bib Stillwell Mini Garage Australian Mini Challenge team will run two cars next weekend at Sandown. The first will be driven by Nick Stillwell while his brother Michael will drive the second ..read more New Zealander
Martin Short The weather had a dramatic effect on the British F3 runners at Rockingham last week with Sam Abay losing places due to spins and minor errors in both races. He did however bring the car home in both..read more Team Aluminos head for the California coast this weekend and Willow Springs International Raceway Park for the third round of the Superkarts USA ProKart Challenge South series with 6 drivers on their ‘books’....read more Charles Pic certainly picked the right place for his maiden Formula Renault 3.5 victory, Monaco. On a track he had never raced on before he not only won but took pole and fastest lap along the way.
28-05-08 The Porsche Club Championship visits Silverstone this Saturday with reigning champion Mark McAleer heading the points table. However it’s Class One rival Ian White who is the man in form, having won two of the last three races in his 964. Class One is the biggest and most competitive class, with the 968 CS having become numerically the most popular model, McAleer using it to become outright champion last year. With White's rear-engined 964 C2 always quick off the line and with classic Porsche layout traction, and the 968s holding the advantage on other parts of the circuit, their battle is usually closely matched. White won at Oulton Park , and was leading the first race at Brands Hatch earlier this month before a moment through Paddock Hill Bend allowed Gary Duckman through to take his first overall win. White won the second race to close on the championship lead, McAleer scoring consistently despite a misfire that slowed him at the Kent circuit. Other drivers to watch for include Ben Demetriou, the evergreen Brian Robinson, and Paul Livesey. In Class Two Chris Dyer is the points leader, though Trevor Lewis won last time out at Brands. An engine problem denied Lewis a strong finish at race one at Brands, and he will be keen to score points once more at Silverstone. Jeremy Clarke found his form at Brands Hatch to win Class Three in both races at Brands Hatch, while Sarah Bennett-Baggs continues to lead the class points table.
Formula Renault UK driver Alexander Sims sees this weekend’s ninth and 10th rounds of the season at Croft as his best chance for his first win of the year. Currently fourth in the championship, he has three podiums to his credit and is still very much in the title hunt. This weekend, the halfway point of the championship is a pivotal time for each competitor with the next 2 rounds just seven days later at Silverstone as support to the World Series by Renault. “I’m very much looking forward to Croft, I feel it’s coming at the right time in the season for us”, said Alexander, “It’s a circuit I enjoy driving at and somewhere we’ve enjoyed good performances in the past. At a time when we really need to kick-start our campaign I think Croft is a circuit where we can go well this weekend.”
The Aston Martin Asia Cup (AMAC) got underway last weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit in China. There were two race both won by Sri Lanka’s Dilantha Malagamuwa . The CR Scuderia Formula Renault team heads to the Croft this weekend for rounds 9 & 10 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship. Adam Christodoulou is leading the Championship and will be looking to extend that lead. All four CRS drivers ran well at the Croft test so are looking forward to the races on Sunday. CRS Team Director, Andrew Kirkaldy: “In previous years Croft has been one of the best circuits for us. The test day recently showed that we had good pace but I am sure it will be very close. We need to go out and try and win the races but more importantly we need to score good points this weekend.” Adam Christodoulou “ I think going into Croft there is a little bit more pressure now the Championship is closer but I've had the pace all year so I’m feeling confident in myself and the team.”
Rain, Rain and more rain hit the Clubmans Cup at Snetterton and it was Daniel Gibson and Howard Payne who overcame the conditions to take a win each after passing each other in the process. . The Speedy Racing Team Sabah will be at Le Mans this coming weekend for the official test day with their new closed LMP2 prototype, the Lola B08/80 Coupé – Judd – Michelin. read more The Performance and Economy Chip Tuning Sports Saloons race at Oulton Park on Monday was stopped after Robert Spencer rolled his car leaving laps with Ric Wood’s V8 Astra in the lead from Alastair Chalmers Caterham R400. Ollie Hancock won his fourth race in a row on Monday at Oulton Park in the Formla Renault BARC Championship.. 27-05-08
Genetic Junior Championship front-runner Daniel Lloyd will have the podium in his sights this weekend, 31st May/1st June, in the 11th and 12th rounds of the season at Croft, his local track. Driving the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship Winner entry, the Huddersfield based 16-year-old achievied his maiden podium in the only his eighth race, Daniel is now third overall in the championship standings. “I have done a couple of driving days at Croft in the Ginetta before so I’m feeling pretty confident we’ll be able to be on the pace quite quickly”, he said, “It’s a good circuit, a proper drivers circuit, so I’m really looking forward to the races which should be a lot of fun. As always, qualifying will be very important but we seem to be getting on top of that a bit more as the season progresses. If I can start both races from the first couple of rows that would be fantastic but even if we’re fifth or sixth on the grid, I’m confident we’ll be able to race strongly for more podiums.” The A1GP World Cup of Motorsport car for the 2008/09 season had its first shakedown at Fiorano in Italy, last weekend. The Powered by Ferrari car was driven by, Andrea Bertolini. Following the first laps the initial feedback was positive. At the test were A1GP Technical Director, John Travis, A1GP General Manager, Technical and Operations, John Wickham, and A1GP Lead Consultant on Electronic Development, Anton Stipinovich, all of whom were delighted with the results. The team will now undertake an intensive test programme at both the Fiorano test track and the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
Ollie Hancock continues to dominate the Formula Reanult BARC Championship winning his fourth race on the trot on Monday 26 May at Oulton Park..report Gary Halcrow and Amit Patel came through the rain and the accidents both take double victories in the Motoring News Caterham Roadsport A and B Challenge races at Castle Combe on Monday..read report Max Chilton took his second podium for Hitech Racing in round eight of the British Formula 3 International Series at Rockingham yesterday..report Jim Guthrie announced on May 23 that he has merged his three-car Indy Lights team with Mile High Motorsports and will run the #54 Mile High Motorsports Dallara under the Guthrie Racing banner. Micky Gilbert, owner/driver of Mile High Motorsports, remains the driver of the car and will join drivers Logan Gomez, Sean Guthrie and Tom Wieringa in today's Firestone Freedom 100. Gilbert is back with the team that give him his first start in the Indy Lights series and will join full-season drivers Logan Gomez and Sean Guthrie, along with Tom Wieringa driving the number 55 car for the Firestone Freedom 100, to compete for the championship.
Mark Turner had a brace of wins at Oulton park yesterday in the 2CVparts.com 2CV Championship. Keith Shoebridge was second in the first race by 0.286 seconds while Wayne Cowling was a distant third, over 205seconds behind. The second race saw Turner win by 0.184secs from the Myatt /Robinson car with Cowling third once again. In the Dunlop Mini Se7en championship Paul Thompson won a very close race by just 0.262 secs from Kane Astin who had Max Hunter and Niven Burge right on his tail. Hunter was only 0.329 secs behind in third while Burge, who came fourth behind Hunter by just 0.009 secs! Andrew Hack won the Mini Miglia encounter from Mark Smith and Ralph Saunders with Paul Thompson fourth, the last 3 names covered by just o.4secs. At Castle Combe Josh Fisher won the Melton Concrete Products FF1600 race in a Mygale SJ03, second in a Spectrum 011 was Ben Norton, 0.363secs behind while third was Felix Fisher driving a Swift SC92 0.7 secs off the winner’s time. In the Savesometax.co.uk Special GT’s Shane Marshall drove his Jade to a comfortable victory by over 20 seconds. Simon Tilling was second in a Radical with Rob Clark third in a Radical Clubsport. Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports drivers Yoshitaka Kuroda, Rio Haryanto, Ryan Booth and Vincent Capillaire endured a tough start to their first season of Formula Asia 2.0 last weekend..read report Menasheh Idafar thought he had everything in place to take his first win yesterday (Monday) in the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Oulton Park but a race marred by three red-flags plus a broken front wing on the final restart saw the Hillspeed driver finish a disappointing seventh..read report
Two championship debutants, David Mayes and Ollie Jackson won the opening rounds of the 2008 Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge at Castle Combe yesterday (Monday)…read report Scott Dixon took the biggest win of his career at the weekend, the Indianapolis 500 "What a day, man," said Dixon, who took over the IndyCar Series points lead. "I just couldn't believe it. You just thought something was going to go wrong. What a day. We seemed to have a good car. We just had to hold on to it and stay ahead of those guys on restarts.The Target guys did a fantastic job." Dixon's main competition early in the race was his Target Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dan Wheldon whose started in the middle of the front row, passed Dixon for the lead three times. Together, the Ganassi cars led 145 laps. After Wheldon's car started handling poorly in the middle of the race, Dixon's stiffest competition came from Marco Andretti and Vitor Meira. Andretti led twice for 15 laps, and Meira took the lead on lap 160 following a restart when he sliced between Dixon and Ed Carpenter heading into Turn 1. Meira led 11 laps before Dixon regained the lead for good on Lap 172. Meira finished second, tying his 2005 finish, while Andretti finished third. Helio Castroneves, a two-time winner of the race, was fourth, and Carpenter was fifth. Aaron Steele’s first podium finish of the 2008 Formula Renault BARC season slip[pede away at the start of the fifth round at Oulton Park yesterday, Monday, 26th May, during a starlijne accident..report Dillon Battistini won the Firestone Freedom 100 at Indianapolis, his second win in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship…read report CR Suderia’s James Sutton and Michael Meadows made the best of the weather at Rockingham over the weekend to finish third in race two, their second podium of the weekend. Luke Hines and Jeremy Metcalfe picked up more points in sixth place while Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin were down in 16th after an early race tyre gamble didn’t pay off. Read report CR Scuderia took another British GT win without having to turn a wheel! The results from round four at Knockhill were provisional and now, after a review of video evidence, the top four finishers and the no.9 Lamborghini have been disqualified for either overtaking under yellow flags or driving standards. This decision means that Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin’s fifth place finish at Knockhill is now a race victory. They were also disqualified as well for overtaking under yellow flags in round three, which they finished fifth. 26-05-08 Ian Parkington
In the Irish Global Lights at Anglesey Keith
Dawson won two out of three races while the third went to Michael
Conway(pictured - pic Paul Williams).
Mark Dryden had an eventful time at Croft in the Smartcars.com Scottish Mini Challenge over the weekend . With both wet and dry races, a bash from a fellow competitor and minor gearbox glitch that cost him two places he finally came away with sixth place in the championship ...read report Jeremy Metcalfe has moved to within just 12 points of the lead in the 2008 GT3 Class table of the Avon Tyres British GT Championship after taking fifth place in the first race at Rockingham yesterday(Sunday) ..read report The new Volkswagen Scirocco GT24
Auston Harris was second on his debut in the USAC Ford Focus Midget event at Anderson Speedway, Anderson, Indiana. the first asphalt oval event. This as after a week delay due to the infamous mid-western May weather which postponed the event from May 14 ..read report Matech Racing have to settle for second in the ADAC GT Masters, the German GT3 Championship at the Nurburgring after a heavy shunt in race 1 plus a considerable amount of success ballast following the twin successes at the last round..read report In the
www.d-and-d-autos.co.uk
Ford XR Challenge race at Anglesey Mark Robinson
Heading into the halfway point of the 2008 SEAT
Cupra Championship season, Andrew Herron has high hopes of making
it three podiums from three events having taken second place at
Thruxton. Rounds 9 &10 will be at Croft this weekend, 31st
May/1st June, and the 19-year-old from Northern Ireland is
feeling rightly confident of continued success.
Croft, of course, was the scene of Andrew’s first
ever win in cars when he led the third round of the 2007 ELF Renault
Clio Winter Cup from lights to flag to take a memorable and richly
deserved triumph on his way to becoming series Vice-Champion.
Currently sixth overall in the SEAT Cupra driver standings, the Brian
Herron Contracts supported racer has enjoyed a particularly successful
run in his 300bhp car of late. “Croft has been a good track for me in
the past and I’m confident we can have some strong results there in
the SEAT next weekend”, said Andrew, “Having been on the podium at
Donington and Thruxton, and with our qualifying performances having
improved too, I’m feeling very positive and can’t wait to get back in
the car.”
25-05-08 It was Patrick's day in Angelsey Neil Slark won both the Mighty Mini encounters this weekend at Anglesey. In the first race, yesterday(Saturday) he just held off Chris Morgan to win by the smallest of margins, 0.166secs! Third , only another 0.5secs behind was James Lyford. Today(Sunday) Slark again only just held on to win, this time the gap was 0.143 secs to Morgan while Lyford again completed the top three 0.8 seconds off the leader. I Graham Carroll Frédéric Vervisch finally got his first victory of the year at the Nürburgring this weekend.The the 21-year-old won the opening rae of the German ATS Formula 3 Cup ..read report  Formula
Renault BARC contender Menasheh Idafar prepared perfectly for the
fifth round of the season at Oulton Park Island Circuit by lapping
fastest of all during unofficial testing on Saturday, 24th May. Ahead
of Monday’s race the 17-year-old was in outstanding form setting
a quickest lap of 1m 22.7 seconds to top the unofficial timings taken
by his Hillspeed team. Commenting, Hillspeed driver coach, BRDC Rising
Star Matt Shawyer said: “Menasheh has driven very well again and
although we didn’t have official timing, we’re confident the best time
we clocked of 1m 22.7 seconds is very accurate.As far as we had it on
our timings, Menasheh was about three 10ths of a second ahead of his
nearest rival which is obviously a great way to prepare for Monday’s
race. He’s driving exceptionally well at the minute, it’s been a good
start to the season so far and the way today’s test has gone we’re
feeling quite confident ahead of Monday’s action.” Hitech Racing’s Max Chilton has the team back up the sharp end of the grid for tomorrow’s seventh round of the British Formula 3 International Series after taking his second successive pole position. Team-mate Walter Grubmüller was also on the pace setting sixth fastest time, Chilton will start 4th for Round 8 while Grubmüller is down in 17th after a spin saw him bog down in a gravel trap..read more 24-05-08 Following reports regarding SEAT Sport UK’s exclusion from Round 10 of the 2008 HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Thruxton (Sunday 18th May), the team would like to make clear that it understands and fully accepts the decision of the race officials. Some verbal comments were made by Jason Plato immediately after Round 10, when the full detail of events weren’t entirely clear to him at the time. SEAT Sport UK wishes to unreservedly withdraw those remarks. Thye acknowledge that the regulations were correctly applied, that the appropriate penalty was imposed and apologise for any embarrassment to the Championship and its officials, or for any confusion, that those initial comments may have caused. SEAT Sport UK will not make any further comment on this subject and look forward to continuing to work closely with the BTCC to develop the growing popularity of Britain’s premier motorsport series
Formula Renault UK team Manor Competition will be at Croft next weekend ( 31st May/1st June) hoping to get one of their four drivers on the podium in both races. With Alexander Sims one of the fastest drivers in testing this year they must also be looking to get their first win as well..read more Coopers Square in Burton-upon-Trent played a role in British Motorsport last Thursday(22 May) when the shopping centre played host to Team Brookspeed’s Ducati 1098R British Superbike and British GT Dodge Viper. ..read more 23-05-08
Speedy
Racing Team Sebah have announced their driver line-up for Le Mans.
SEAT Sport's BTCC team are off to Croft next week to continue their quest for the BTCC title. The track has been good to SEAT who have picked up four one-two finishes at the track. Jason Plato and Darren Turner have both won there and Plato in particular has never failed to score a podium finish there ..read more Will Bratt is looking forward to next weekend's(31st May/1st June) visit of the Spanish F3 Championship to Spa for Rounds 3 and 4. It will be his first ever visit to this world famous circuit in Belgium for the EmiliodeVillota.com Motorsport driver..read more.
The 7th and 8th rounds of the FIA WTCC are at Pau next week, the championship's second visit to the old city on the Pyrenées, home of the Grand Prix de Pau since 1930. Last year, Alain Menu and his Chevrolet Lacetti dominated the first race with a lights to flag victory after taking pole. SEAT Sport's Yvan Muller and his team-mate Tiago Monteiro completed the podium. The second race was won by BMW Team Germany's Augusto Farfus, who completed an amazing recovery after having rolled his car in qualifying at the infamous Monument bend. The Brazilian youngster crossed the line ahead of BMW Team UK's Andy Priaulx and Monteiro. BMW's WTCC
drivers Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller will drive a Super 2000-spec
diesel-powered BMW 320d this weekend in the Nürburgring 24 hours.
The car will be run by the Schubert Motors outfit, while Farfus and
Müller will share driving duties with Scandinavians Fredrik Ekblom and
Stian Sorlie. The BMW 320d s is fitted with the same type of engine that
BMW have been using in the BMW 120d car for endurance racing. A machine
that proved to be very successful in the 2006 Nürburgring 24-hours,
finishing the race in a brilliant fifth place, ahead of many more
powerful cars. Oscar Nogués Farré is the first of the new SEAT Eurocup drivers to be awarded a FIA WTCC drive. The 31-year old Spaniard will race in Pau at the wheel of a SEAT León TFSI run by the SUNRED Engineering Development team. José Manuel Pérez-Aicart won a similar drive in Valencia for having won the 2007 SEAT León Supercópa, finishing both races in 13th and 14th. Nogués won his drive as the best driver in the first round of the Eurocup at Valencia, where he won Race 1 and finished second in Race 2. SEAT Sport's
Gabriele Tarquini
The Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship is rapidly becoming a 'four horse race' between Michael Caine, Tim Bridgman, Tim Harvey and winner last time out, Sam Hancock. Next weekend the battle will continue at Croft with Rounds 9 and 10 before a 6 week break..read more Stefan Hodgetts will race in the
Porsche Carrera Cup GB in rounds n9 & 10 next weekend at Croft (31
May/1 June), his series debut in the pro category. Hodgetts, who has
extensive experience in both single-seaters and saloons, has been
invited to race the PCGB entry and is determined to make the most of the
opportunity to race in the high-profile championship. "I'm really
excited about it and looking forward to driving a 420bhp rear-wheel
drive car," said Hodgetts. "Most of my racing in recent times has been
in front-wheel drive cars, so it's going to be quite a difference. I
want to do the best job I can and deliver a good solid performance. I'm
driving for Porsche and I want to do a good job for them." Joining Hodgetts on the grid at
Croft will be Tommy Dreelan and Bob Lyons
make their debuts in the pro-am2 category. The Scottish racers
will join the championship in their pre-2008 model 911GT3 Cup cars and
will race in the new pro-am2 category. The Aberdeen racers also intend
to contest their home races at Knockhill in August and could add further
Carrera Cup outings to their schedule as the season develops. A
three-car entry is likely for other events.
Bardon/JHR SEAT Cupra driver Robert Lawson will be racing at his home circuit of Croft in the next two rounds of the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship at the top of the table in the driver standings. The Darlington-born newcomer to the series has already won 3 races, only missing out on a top 3 placing once. ..read more The British GT Championship is back this weekend with three days of racing at Rockingham. CR Scuderia drivers Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin are at the top of the leaderboard after some great performances and their win at Oulton Park. The team's other drivers Luke Hines and Jeremy Metcalfe will be out to take their second win of the year and put Michael and Paddy under some pressure in the Championship while the final CR Scuderia pair James Sutton and Michael Meadows are aiming to get their first win of the season . MICHAEL CULLEN: “Neither Paddy or myself have raced at Rockingham before but the circuit is reminiscent of Indianapolis, Daytona and Homestead and we’ve raced at all of those. We’ve seen that the competition is incredibly tough in British GT and so far we have had four lucky races. I hope we can continue to be lucky” LUKE HINES: “I’ve always had good results at Rockingham,. I don’t think this will be the strongest circuit for us, as the Vipers and Porsches will be very fast there, but Jeremy and I bagged our first win at Knockhill and now we want another one.” JAMES SUTTON: “I like Rockingham; I think it’s the only anti-clockwise circuit on the calendar. Michael and I are due a change of luck. A CRS Ferrari has won every weekend so far so now it’s our turn!” 22-05-08
Former Autosport three-hour race winner Jack Sears will be the guest of honour for the 2008 running of the famous race at Snetterton over the weekend of 31 May/1 June…read more A grid of 40 cars is on the cards for the visit of the Heritage GT Challenge to Silverstone next weekend(31 May). The field of sports, saloon and GT cars from the 1960s and 70s should provide a fantastic spectacle..read more Rockingham will hold the next two rounds, five and six, of the 2008 Avon Tyres British GT Championship this weekend and Knockhill winner Jeremy Metcalfe is looking to get back on the top step of the podium..read more MINI in Australia has re-affirmed its commitment to seeing the Mini Challenge racing Series continue to grow despite the decision by Iain Sherrin to sell the company that runs the series, Motorsport Event Management (MEM)..read more Malcolm Jackson claim his first win of the year in the Classic Clubmans at Mallory and in so doing inflicted the first defeat of the year in the championship on Chateris... report
Ginetta driver Tom Dunstan tried his hand atClassic Saloons last weekend and came away with pole position and a fine fourth place after starting from the pit lane....report Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell were seventh in the FIA GT race at Monza last weekend with team-mates Tim Mullen and Tim Sugden just behind them in eighth, in what turned out to be a tricky race ..report
20-05-08 Malcolm Jackson won the Classic Clubmans race at Mallory Park on Sunday by 1.45 secs from Mark Charteris. Both drivers were in Mallock Mk20B’s. Third in a Phantom P79 was Steve Chaplin 6.7 seconds off the winners time. In the Universal Racing Services Formula Ford 1600 race Paul Walton in a Crossle 25f won by just 0,216 seconds from Kevin Davey, drving a Van Dieman RF81 while Steve Pearce was third in a RFG80, only 3 tenths of a second further behind. The Classic FF2000 race saw Lawrence Denne come out on top in his Van Dieman RF82, winning by 7.618secs from thje Reynard SF79 of Clive Wood. Peter Chippindale completed the podium in a Van Dieman RF82 The Classic
Saloons and Touring Cars were also at Mallory
and Jim McLoughlin(pictured)
James Hinchcliffe ‘s return to Forsythe/Pettit Racing for the 2008 Cooper Tires Presents The Atlantic Championship Powered by Mazda turned out to be a smart move when he won in Laguna Seca from Carl Skelong.
Alexander Rossi’s 2008 Formula BMW Americas season began badly with a retirement in the opening race at Laguna Seca due to engine failure. Things picked up the next day however when he finished second in race 2. A team of serving and ex-military personnel are arranging a commemorative charity event set for 5th - 12th June 2009, titled Push to Freedom. ..read more Kieren Clark continued his learning processin the Formula Renault UK Championship at Thruxton with two good finishes in 14th and 10th in rounds 7 and 8 respectively, both places won from the back of the grid. Its Father's day soon and Silverstone has some ideas for gift for Dads ...read more Alex Brundle and his dad Martin, each secured a hat-trick of top ten finishes at last weekend's Formula Palmer Audi Championship meeting -- with Brundle Junior now just three points shy of third place in the drivers' title race. ITV F1 commentator Martin joined Alex at Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium for his first major competitive outing since leading at Le Mans for Bentley in 2001. Alex -- who has already achieved his maiden pole position and three podium finishes so far this season -- scored some solid points towards his championship campaign by taking sixth, ninth and tenth place finishes. He has now collected 109 points in total this season and lies just three points adrift of joint third place drivers Jack Clarke and Ivan Lukashevich. Martin also scored three top eight finishes commenting: "I enjoyed racing this weekend as much as ever. When an FPA car became available, this unique window of opportunity to race against my son at the magnificent Spa track was an easy decision. I was very pleased and even relieved to find that I still have speed and commitment. " Martin Brundle concluded: "I've been really impressed by the young drivers in this year's Formula Palmer Audi Championship. This weekend was good hard racing, these aspiring young hot shoes take no prisoners, they are fully on it. In the third race I had a cracking tussle with Russian Ivan Lukashevich -- even though I'm three times his age! A great experience all round for me" Three Wide Life is US TV show about the people who make the green flag drop week to week..read more Sam Hancock won both races in rounds 7 and 8 of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton at the weekend(17-18 May) and top it off he won 'Driver of the day' as well!. Manor Competition had a torrid time at Thruxton at the weekend, 17th/18th May, but they still managed to come away with a third place still after some good work by Alexander Sims. 19-05-08 Michael Doyle Phil Quaife came away from the Porsche Carrera Cup races at Thruxton with a fourth and fifth place and 26 points Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer were back on the top step of the podium, not once but twice. In the FIA GT3 European Championship at Monza over the weekend the duo won both races in the Matech racing Ford GT. SEAT Cupra Championship driver Andrew Herron claimed hi best result in the series yesterday(Sunday) when he took second place in round 8 at Thruxton . Paul Di Resta drivng an AMG Mercedes C-Class, won the fourth round of the 2008 DTM at the Lausitzring; his first win in the championship in his 14th DTM race. Following the 1-2 victory of Jamie Green and Paul Di Resta in Mugello two weeks ago, it was the second consecutive win for Mercedes-Benz within two weeks this year and 143rd for the brand out of 304 DTM/ITC races since 1988. After four races of the 2008 season, Mercedes and Audi are tied on victories with two each. "I am really happy and I thank my team for a great job throughout the weekend and for a perfect car. Our pit stops were great. The race was not as easy as it might have looked like; I had to stay focussed and another Safety Car period would have destroyed my advantage. After second place in Mugello and my victory here I hope this will continue. Now I look forward to the next race at the Norisring."Said Di Resta. Timo Scheider was second for Audi followed by Mattias Ekstrom and Martin Tomczyk in third and fourth Ben Winrow won his fourth ELF Clio Cup race at Thruxton yesterday to extend his Championship lead to a massive 89 points..report Robert Lawson extended his SEAT Cupra Championship lead at Thruxton with another visit to the podium..read more Million TV
viewers for Carrera Cup GB Jonathan Adam made up for his recent disappointing lack of wins by notching up double victories at Thruxton. In Round 7 Daniel Welch pushed him right to the finish, but in Round 8 the reigning champion cruised out into the lead after a dramatic start and stayed there untested until the end. Current championship leader Robert Lawson didn't enjoy quite as much success despite blistering qualification times yet will leave Thruxton having still stretched his lead a little from his nearest competitors..report Jonathan Ridley-Holloway, driving for Total Control Racing in the ELF Renault Clio Cup over the weekend, 17th/18th May equaled his previous best finish with a strong performance…report. Daniel Lloyd moved up to third in the Ginetta Junior Championship this weekend with a couple of good and consistent results at Thruxton. report Dino Zamparelli
Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk drives Martyn Bell and Erkut Kizilirmak have praised the work of their team at this weekend’s BTCC meeting at Thruxton..read report Max Chilton gave Hitech Racing another fourth place at Monza of the weekend in Round 6 of the British F3 Championship. His team-mate, Wlater Grubmuller had finished in the same position in round 5 on Saturday. Chilton had lead the race from pole slipping back in the latter stages. Sergio Perez put in two outstanding drives to come through the field from 14th to record two wins at Monza in British F3. Alexander Sims produced a very strong drive yesterday at Thruxton in the Formula Renault UK championship to earn himself a podium place after starting way down in thirteenth on the grid. Sims to defend Renault Sport UK Charity Duathlon crown. Over the coming months, Alexander has also confirmed he will race in the second annual Renault Sport UK Charity Duathlon which will take place on Friday, 25th July, at Oulton Park. He won the inaugural event last September which took place at Donington Park. Competitors will cycle one lap of the 2.23-mile Oulton Park Island Circuit, they will then run for a further lap and the third and final lap will see a return to cycling. The event will be held at the conclusion of the day’s official test sessions ahead of the 15th and 16th rounds of the Formula Renault UK Championship on 26th/27th July. Organised with fundraising in mind, participants will each pay a fee to enter the duathlon and all monies will go to designated charity, the North West Air Ambulance. Leanne Tander Matech Racing’s Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer won both FIA GT3 European Championship races at Monza to put the team 33 points clear in the Championship . The Exchange Traded Gold #61 Ford Riley came home in sixth place with Brian Frisselle and Mark Wilkins at Laguna-Seca in Grand-Am. What’s the connection between the Australian Mini Challenge and boating?I Answer Darren Berry and his company – Clipper Motor Yachts – which will rresents his racecar at the 20th annual Sanctuary Cove International Boat Show this weekend, May 22-25…read more Jason Plato took his third win of the season in his SEAT Leon TDI after Tom Onslow-Cole had won the first two races in the BTCC at Thruxton yesterday (Sunday).. Chevrolet Lacetti driver Michael Outzen claimed his first win in a final of a Danish Touringcar Championship round, when he crossed the finishing line seven seconds in front of Sweden's Jens Edman at Ring Djursland. Riki Christodoulou won Round 8 of the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin at Thruxton on Sunday after his cousin Adam Christodoulou, who had led from the lights, was forced to take a drive through penalty after he was adjudged to have jumped the start ..report 18-05-08 J.D. Motorsport's Chris van der Drift won his second Formula masters race of the weekend today in spite of starting back in eighth-place on the grid. Ben Winrow's dominance of the 2008 ELF Renault Clio Cup continued at Thruxton this weekend with a lights-to-flag win in round seven . Alain Menu and Robert Huff Daniel Lloyd lost out on another podium place when he was pitched into a spin at Thruxton on Saturday in teh ineeta Jnrs. He fought back to finish seventh but could only rue on what might have been.
Dino Zamparelli increased his lead in the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship to 83 points at Thruxton yesterday, 17th May, after his sixth win of the season. Adam Christodoulou won Round 7 of the Formula Renault UK Championship with Michelin at Thruxton beating his cousin Riki Christodoulou into second in the process Less than a tenth of a second denied Austrian Walter Grubmüller his first podium finish when he stormed to fourth place in round five of the British Formula 3 International Series at Monza Sam Hancock claimed his first two wins of the season in round seven and eight of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Thruxton this weekend as Tim Bridgman fended off Tim Harvey for second place in race 1 and . John Edwards and the AIM Autosport came away from Miller Motorsports Park yesterday with a clean sweep in Round 2 od the Star Mazda Championship taking ole fastest lap and a win with 14 seconds to spare over Charles Hall Sam Abay charged back into 6th place in the first British F3 race at Monza yesterday after a brief excursion up an escape road saw him drop back to ninth. ..read more 17-05-08 Jonathan Adam and Robert Lawson took a pole a-piece at Thruxton for the SEAT Cupra Cup rounds tomorrow. n round 7 Daniel Welch was second while Andrew Herron was the runner-up for Round 8.read more
Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship leader Adam Christodoulou is back to his best taking two pole positions, for rounds seven at eight, at Thruxton on Saturday, 17th May..read more
John Michael Edwards, the 2007 Atlantic Series driver switched to the 2008 Star Mazda Championship for Round Two at Miller Motorsports Park this weekend and ended up on top of the time sheets after official practice yesterday(May 16)..read more. Michael Caine qualified on pole for both races at Thruxton today (Saturday 17 May) for rounds seven and eight of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB ..read more Erstwhile Formula Renault BARC Championship leader Menasheh Idafar produced one of his customary pace-setting performances during testing at Oulton Park yesterday(16th May). The Bahraini racer, who is second in the title race, lapped the in a time of 1m 37.7 seconds to emerge fastest after three of the day’s four sessions. A water leak on his Hillspeed car prevented Menasheh from running during the final test period and this enabled rival Nathan Coulter to lap a shade faster, 0.1secs. “I’m really looking forward to the next race at Oulton Park, especially after today’s test went so well”, commented Idafar. “Although we were on the full International track today, it was still very good practice and I’m really pleased with the pace we showed again. The car was perfect during the three sessions we were on track. It was a shame we had the small water leak but these things happen sometimes.I’m confident we’ll be able to challenge strongly for the podium.” 16-05-08 The FIA WTCC’s race in Valencia got underway today with Alain Menu’s Chevrolet fastest, with a time of 1:44.440. The Swiss beat BMW's Augusto Farfus who had set a provisional time of 1:44.610 only a few seconds earlier. Robert Huff and Andy Priaulx were fourth and fifth, 0.154 and 0.265 seconds behind respectively. Chevrolet's third man Nicola Larini was sixth, just ahead of the fastest of the SEAT drivers, Gabriele Tarquini. Making their first appearance in the series was James Thompson and his N.technology Honda Accord who were eighth fastest. Local boy Sergio Hernández was the best of the Independents, with a 1:45.860, good enough for the fifteenth overall. Jaap van Lagen came fourth in the Independents' class and twentieth overall; the Dutchman completing his first official test in the new LADA 110. His team-mate Viktor Shapovalov didn’t set a time as his car was finished just minutes before the start of the session and suffered from electric problems. Castle Combe plays host also to rounds 3 & 4 of the Motorsport News Caterham Roadsport Challenge next week on Bank Holiday Monday(26 May), and full, separate grids are expected for both the Roadsport A and Roadsport B divisions.In Roadsport A reigning Caterham Academy Champions Jon Walker and Philip Broad lead the standings, Walker two points ahead of Broad thanks to his twin wins at Croft last month, while in Roadsport B track newcomer Raphael Fiorentino and Magd Mohaffel - who has a year's Academy experience under his belt - head the standings. Fiorentino and Mohaffel each came away from Croft with a win and a second. Mark Fullalove
is to join the Avon Tyres Caterham Superlight Challenge A McLaren M23 is returning to Europe to race in Grand Prix Masters events starting at Brands Hatch on 25/26 May. Now owned and raced by New Zealander Phil Mauger, the M23 was raced in 18 GPs by Denis Hulme and Mike Hailwood during 1973-4, Hulme wining the Swedish GP in 73. Hulme, the 1967 World Champion, ended his F1 career at the close of the 1974 season and was given the M23 as a gift from the McLaren team. He started 112 F1 races and won 8. The McLaren remained in the Hulme family after his death in 1992 until it was acquired and rebuilt by Mauger. The McLaren is not thought to have raced in Europe since the summer of 1974 returning for Mauger to race it at the Masters Racing Festival. Ashley Craig is looking for his first podium of the Ginetta Junior at Thruxton this weekend. Despite rolling out of his last race at Donington Park (4 May), the 16-year old’s confidence had received a huge boost when he finished in 4th place in the previous day’s race, his best result to date. “Rolling the car was a bit scary, and even though it looked very second-hand afterwards, I was fine. We’ve worked day and night to rebuild the car in time for Thruxton, and I’m 100% confident that we’re now able to challenge for podiums. In fact, the crash has motivated me even more because after my performance in the first race at Donington, I really believed that we’d pushing for a top three on Sunday.” Although he’s never raced at Thruxton before, Ashley is looking forward to getting to grips with Britain’s fastest circuit.“Technically it’s my home track, so a lot of my family and friends from Bournemouth are coming to support me. From what I’ve seen of Thruxton, it’s a place that requires lots of commitment through every corner. I’ll need to do well in qualifying to get further up the grid and if I do that, then I think I can put up a challenge for a top three finish.” The Trading Performance Team One of the most significant cars to return to racing in 2008, an ex-Jacky Ickx Ferrari 312B2, will make its debut in the Grand Prix Masters races on the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit next weekend (25/26 May). The Ferrari 312B2 that won the 1972 German Grand Prix in the hands of Ickx has not been raced since the 1970s, but will be back racing in the hands of James Hanson. After spending most of its life in private collections, the car was demonstrated by Ickx at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix in 2006. Ickx's 1972 victory at the Nurburgring was his last Grand Prix victory as the 312B2 struggled to compete with the Lotus 72 and Tyrrells. Now owned by Hanson, the 1971 3-litre flat 12-engined Ferrari has been painstakingly rebuilt over the last 18 months. It was on show at Race Retro in March 2007 when it took pride of place on the Masters stand. "It came as a runner, and it is very original," said Hanson. "But it needed some work before it could be raced again. It will be brilliant to race it and the car should create a lot of interest," he said. Subject to its progress at Brands Hatch during the Masters Racing Festival, it is hoped that the Ferrari will contest other Grand Prix Masters races this summer. Jonathan Walker is hoping for a turnaround in his fortunes at PFi, in the second round of the British Super 1 kart Championship. The AMT driver admits that the Lincolnshire circuit is one of the toughest to get a result at - but is aiming for a podium nevertheless. And he has reason to be confident, as last year he finished in a well-deserved 2nd place to 3-time British Champion, Mark Litchfield. “PF’s one of the hardest tracks on the calendar because everyone tests there and they go well in the racing as a result. I tested there recently and was bang on the pace - one of the quickest on the day – so I think if I’m not in the top 3 in the Finals, it’ll be a disaster. The first round (at Wigan, Lancashire on 13 April) didn’t go to plan” the 19-year old conceded. “I crashed in practice and injured my wrist. Driving the kart was then very difficult and painful. I crashed in the second final which forced me to retire from the race - so my Championship starts this weekend. I’m looking forward to the weekend and want to put everything straight.” David Leslie will be remembered at the third
annual Classic SpeedFair at Knockhill Piccola Scuderia driver Neil McFadyen was quickest in the opening practice session for the Kimho Tyres Australian F3 Championship at Mallala. In the afternoon, in torrential rain,Scud Racing’s Stuart Kostera head the timesheets..read more Sam Edwards is to join the Volkswagen Racing Cup. He will make his debut in the Hankook-backed championship at Rockingham on Bank Holiday Monday (26 May) driving a in a new Golf GTI...read more. The 2008 British Formula Ford Championship reaches its half-way mark at Rockingham next weekend (25/26 May) and despite the loss of points due to his disqualification at Croft Wayne Boyd still has a comfortable elad in teh championship.....read more. Former Touring Car legend John Cleland will join Eurosport as WTCC commentator starting in Valencia this weekend. For eleven years - from 1989 to 1999 - Cleland was a leading player in the British Touring Car Championship, always with Vauxhall, winning 32 races and clinching the championship crown twice, in 1989 and 1995. At 56 Scot Cleland replaces his late countryman David Leslie. Alongside Martin Haven, Cleland will commentate the whole WTCC season for British Eurosport, in the role of a very special expert as he not only knows very well the business, but has also raced against some of the current WTCC drivers like Alain Menu, James Thompson (who was his team-mate at Vauxhall) and Gabriele Tarquini.
The WTCC Race of
Spain was officially launched at Bioparc Valencia yesterday, the
city's modern and spectacular zoological park that was inaugurated last
year. The park spreads over a surface of 100,000 square metres and is
inspired by the concept of zoo-immersion that casts the visitors
straight into the wild animals' habitat. Three WTCC cars - Félix
Porteiro's BMW, Jordi Gené's SEAT and Robert Huff's Chevrolet - where
exhibited near the area dedicated to the savannah wildlife, while a
number of drivers (including the Spaniards: Porteiro, Gené, Sergio
Hernández and SEAT's rookie José Manuel Pérez-Aicart) attended the press
conference that was held in the Bioparc's cinema. Hexis Racing came away from its first outing in the German ADAC GT Masters with a place on the podium and two of its Aston Martins amongst the points. The result should give the whole team a lift as it heads for Monza and the next round of the European GT3 Championship thi9s weekend. This will be an intensive racing weekend for José Manuel Pérez-Aicart, the young Spanish driver who makes his first WTCC appearance, a reward for having won the 2007 SEAT León Supercópa. Besides taking part in the WTCC at the wheel of a SUNRED SEAT León, the Spaniard will also compete in the GT Open series driving a SR21 car run by the same team. More than 150,000 free World Series by Renault tickets have already been requested by fans coming to Silverstone Grand Prix circuit on 7th/8th June. Renault’s free festival was the second-biggest UK motorsport event of 2007 behind only the British Grand Prix, with a World Series record 135,000 spectators. Top International and UK racing comes from Formula Renault 3.5, Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, Eurocup, Mé g a n e T r o p h y, Formula Renault UK and ELF Renault Clio Cup. In between races, highspeed laps in ING Renault F1 Team’s R27 by GP2 race-winner Romain Grosjean will entertain fans in the packed grandstands. Also taking to the track is a range of historic Renault cars such as Alain Prost’s 1983 RE40, one of Renault’s most successful cars of the turbo era. Renault’s rally history is celebrated with the flame-spitting R5 Maxi Turbo, while sportscar heritage is represented in the shape of the 1978 Le Mans 24-hour winning Alpine A442B. Free tickets for the event are still available to request from the dedicated website, www.worldseriesbyrenault.com. Up to four tickets can be ordered per person. 15-05-08 Round 2 of the Cooper Tire
Presents The Atlantic Championship Oliver Oakes has opted to miss next weekend’s (18 May) British Formula 3 Championship round being held at Monza. The decision has been taken in order to catch up on the development of his Eurotek Motorsport-run Dallara/Mercedes in preparation for the second half of the season. Speaking from the team’s Norfolk base, the 20-year old said: “It seems like the sensible thing to do. Not doing Monza gives us time to prepare for the race at Rockingham (26 May). In terms of the Championship, we’re on the back-foot now and I think we’d simply be making up the numbers if we went to Italy.” After an encouraging F3 debut at Croft in April, Oakes is now hoping to be able to compete for victories as the season progresses. “The team did a great job at Croft. I finished 12th from 17th on the grid and beat several of the bigger teams but I don’t want to be aiming just for finishes – I want to be winning.” Touring 70s, the new series for Group 2 Touring Cars of the 1970s started by the Masters Racing Organisation and already looking like one of the best new series around. ..read more The BRSCC Northern Centre has two meetings at Cadwell Park in quick succession next month – on the 14/15th June and again on the 22nd June. At 2.17 miles long Cadwell is not a short circuit and needs a good number of marshals and officials for a meeting to operate efficiently. Volunteers are urgently required so if anyone is racing at either of these meetings and have a friend or member of the family who would like to help please contact the circuit or the BRSCC who should be able to put yopu in contact with the right people. The Porsche Carrera Cup GB
will hold an Open Forum on the evening of Tuesday 27 May, aimed
at teams and drivers looking to join the series. The focus of the event,
which is being held at a convenient central location, will be to provide
information on the Carrera Cup GB to prospective teams and drivers, with
a particular emphasis on the cost of competing in the high-profile BTCC
support race series. The forum will be an ideal opportunity for
potential entrants to learn about the Carrera Cup and the real costs
involved. The
2008 season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship The T-Cars Championship for the 2008 season has been suspended by the BRSCC. Unfortunately only had a handful of drivers committed for the whole season so the sensible choice was to put the series on hold and start building now for 2009. The BRSCC are optimistic that the junior championship, which was the first to offer youngsters the opportunity to go circuit racing, can come back stronger. In April the Club held a track & test day at Rockingham that attracted a lot of genuine interest but all the young karters who attended were already committed to their race projects for this season. There may be a Winter Series towards the end of the season which would give interested drivers the opportunity to try T-Cars with a view to the 2009 season. Details will be announced as and when they are confirmed. BRSCC action over the Bank Holiday weekend is at Anglesey on the 24/25th May, when the excellent NW Club Formula Fords, Mighty Minis and Ford XR take to the track supported by the Irish Global Lights. Following on from the news last month that John Watson had taken over as the Chief Marshal for the BRSCC Northern Centre, word reaches us that John has passed down the title to his son Dean. Like London buses….you wait for ages then two come along. With 83 drivers now registered for the BRSCC LMA Euro Saloon & Sports Car Championship, places on the grid are at a premium with a reserve list of 10 drivers already hoping that they will get a chance to race at the next round scheduled for Brands Hatch on Sunday 15th June. The catch all championship has an eclectic mix of cars ranging from a Fiat Tipo and a Peugeot 306 through to ex-Touring cars, a Marcos Mantis & a number of Lotus Elise versions. After Brands Hatch split grids to allow as many drivers as possible to race are being considered. If you are a registered LMA driver get your entries into us at the BRSCC as quickly as possible so that we can organise the grids to suit. If you are not registered yet and wish to race go to LMA first. For more information about the championship visit www.LMAperformance.com or follow the links from www.brscc.co.uk The Portland Karting Association is preparing for the forthcoming International Kart Federation (IKF) Road Race Grand Nationals at the Portland International Raceway on July 15-18. The four-day event includes 28 classes ranging from 4-Cycle to Unlimited …read more Masters Series competitors had a very successful time at the biennial Grand Prix Historique in Monaco last weekend (10/11 May). Formula Master's testing at
Valencia Alexander Rossi continues to set the pace in FBMW Americas. After topping the time sheets at the two early tests he again set the fastest time last week at Thunderhill Raceway..read more SG Formula Rules Dijon – In 2005 it was Romain Grosjean, twice! In 2006, Julien Jousse and Jean-Karl Vernay, Last year Alexandre Marsoin and Jules Bianchi and now in 2008 SG formula keeps it’s unbroken series of Formula Renault 2.0 victories at the track with Daniel Ricciardo winning twice!. The BRSCC has two well-appointed hospitality suites at Brands Hatch which are available to club members for rental. Each suite comes with an allocation of 28 tickets & 14 car park passes per day and are currently available for all the major car & bike meetings including WTCC, BTCC, F3/GT, DTM and World Superbikes 13-05-08 Formula BMW Americas starts it’s 2008 season this weekend at Laguna Seca and Canada’s Gianmarco Raimondo is looking forward to the challenge..read more Daniel Ricciardo driving for SG Formula won both races at Dijon-Prénois cover then weekend putting him to the head of the table in the West European Formula Renault 2.0 Cup. The Aussie has now won 3 from 4 races in 2008 .
Mondello Park will reverberate once again to the fantastic rumble of Formula 5000 cars as part of its fortieth anniversary celebrations this weekend (May 17th & 18th)…read more MotorSport Vision’s trackday division, Club MSV, is hosting an event at Cadwell Park on 4 June in association with Buell UK , and bike enthusiasts will have the unique chance to sample a Buell free of charge at the circuit nicknamed the ‘Mini-Nurburgring’. Riders who book on to this event will not only be able to ride their own machine on circuit, but they will also have the opportunity appraise a selection of the American manufacturer’s new 2008 range. This is the second Club MSV trackday to have taken place in association with Buell in 2008, with more events set to be confirmed soon. The trackday costs just £99. To book and to take advantage of the chance of a free Buell test ride, or to keep track of future dates, simply visit www.motorsportvision.co.uk/biketrackdays or call 0870 850 5013. Leanne Tander will be back in South Australia this weekend for the Australian F3 Championship races at the Mallala raceway. It was at Mallal in 2007 that Leanne produced one of the great comeback drives of the season, coming from the back of the field to second place in 2007…read more AIM Autosport head for the next round of the Grand-Am series at Laguna Seca this weekend looking for a podium finish are a good run last time out at Virginia International Raceway..read more Top Hat Race Day, Brands Hatch Indy, 24th May . Last Call for Entries! The 2nd Bank Holiday weekend of May is closing in and the Top Hat Race Day on the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit beckons. Pre-66 GT cars, Pre-60 Saloons, Jaguar XKs and 1970s Touring/GT cars will be in action with 45 minute races for: JEC/Vredestein XK Challenge, Cloth Cap, Oldies But Goldies and Stars of the 70s with Touring 70s. There is also an All Comers Race eligible for any of the Top Hat Race Series who can enter the 20 minute sprint race on Saturday. The MSV have invited all Masters and Top Hat drivers to a drinks reception in the Coys marquee on Saturday evening. Spa Summer Classic, 13-15th June The 1st Spa Summer Classic! With the capacity for such a large grid there is plenty of room remaining and the potential for some fantastic racing on the magnificent Belgian circuit. The timetable for the Top Hat race is as follows: Friday 13th: 09.00 - 09.35 Untimed Open Practice (advance bookings available) 10.20 - 10.55 Untimed Open Practice (advance bookings available) 13.10 - 13.40 Qualifying (30 min) Saturday 14th: 15.25 - 16.25 Race (60 min) With other races for a variety of cars throughout the 60s and 70s, those with more than one car in your stable could make the most of the journey. Have a look at their website for more information on eligibility (www.roadbook.be). The timetable and entry forms for both events can be found in the Event Information section of our website www.themastersseries.com GAC has extended its sponsorship of Viktor Jensen for another year. The deal, which began in 2006 when Jensen was in Formula Palmer Audi will continue this year in Jensens’ F3 campaign with Nexa Racing, headed by former Formula 1 engineer Andy Kidby. "I'm thrilled to be driving for Nexa with GAC's backing, and I'm aiming for race wins," says Jensen. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs took a fourth and fifth place in the Formula Renault 2.0 Italia Cup. The 17 year-old from Tonbridge competed in the third and fourth rounds of the series at Hungaroring and now lies in fifth place in the series. Race one on Sunday saw Adrian drive a good opening lap, passing three cars. Running in fifth and on the tail of Genis Olive, Adrian tried several times to pass, but despite posting the races' second fastest lap, had to settle for fifth at the flag. "It was a difficult race really as it's almost impossible to overtake here. Several times I got right up on the back of Olive, but the trouble is when you get too close you end up losing downforce and I had to drop back. I managed to catch him again, and that was when I posted my fastest lap, and the second quickest in the race." In the second race he again moved up the order quickly, running in fourth by the first corner. "Race two was good, I really had the pace and was able to gradually close the gap down, but they were just too far ahead at the end. It was a good weekend though and it's another good points haul." Scott Dixon, has pole for the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500. "It means a lot. You know, it's not just for me. I think Chip and Mike (Hull) and all the guys in the team are adamant on putting up a strong fight for this year's '500.' You know, all the time that they put in back at the workshop and the guys that a lot of time you don't even see at the track, it's a lot of effort from them” Dan Wheldon was second with Ryan Briscoe third.
The Team Aluminos owner Rob Soares
CR
Scuderia and the Formula Renault UK Championship
heads to Thruxton, this weekend. The circuit is a favourite of Adam
Christodoulou’s; all three of his 2007 pole positions were at Thruxton,
one of which was the first ever pole for a rookie in the series. The CR
Scuderia team tested there a few weeks ago and all four drivers ran well
so there could well be a positive weekend of racing in prospect. “Adam
was on pole at Thruxton last year and went very well during the test so
I think he’ll have a good weekend," said CRS Team Director, Andrew
Kirkaldy. "Scott had a good test too and I was pleased to see how well
he did for someone who hadn’t been to Thruxton before. Ryuji was up
there and should have a competitive weekend and Sten will too after
learning a lot at the test. I’ll have my hands full at Monza this
weekend with the FIA GT race but Chris (Niarchos) will be at Thruxton to
support the guys. They know what needs to be done and I have every faith
that we’ll be on top by the end. “ 12-05-08 Andrew Spencer kept his BARC Westfield Sportscar championship defence on course with tow wins from two starts at Pembrey over the weekend. Nick Flowers and Simon Pryke completed the podium on both occasion In the Mini Challenge races at Pembrey there were three winners in four races. Arthur Forster won two, the second and third while Martin Depper won the opener and Jake Pakum the last. In the opening race Depper led Pakum over the line by 2.657 secs with Forster third. Race 2 saw Forster take his first win of the day with Depper second and Jack Stanford third. Forster won the next encounter beating Pakum into second by 0.9 secs while Andy Beever completed the top three, only 3.14secs behind the winner. The final race saw Pakum finally make the top step with Depper second and Standford third. Simon Shaw won the first of two Sports Maxx Cup races at Pembrey at the weekend(10-11 May). His Aastra VXR beating Simon Gusterson by only 0.730 seconds while Shaun Hollamby's SEAT Leon Cupra was just a 'fag paper' or 0.06s further behind in third. In the second race Gusterson came to the fore beating Hollamby by 12 secs while third went to John Allison in a second Astra. In the Mini Se7en Championship Paul Thompson and Kane Astin took a win a-piece. Thompson beat Astin in race 1 by 1.5 seconds with Max Hunter third. In race 2 Astin won by 3.9 secs from Hunter with Ian Deving third. Ralph Saunders and Andrew Hack shared the honours in the Mini Miglias. Saunders winning race 1 with 3.3 seconds to spare over second placed David Edgecombe and Tony Le May in third. Hack took the chequered flag in race 2 ahead of Colin Peacock by 2.728 secs while Saunders took his second podium of the day coming home third. Frederic Vervisch Bardon/JHR driver Robert Lawson is the man to beat in the 2008 SEAT Cupra Championship at Thruxton next Sunday 18th May. Having won 3 out of 6 and only finishing off the podium it won’t be easy…read more A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has revealed the first image of its brand new 'Powered by Ferrari' car for use in season four (2008/09). The CAD drawing was released ahead of the car's inaugural shakedown test. Former F1 driver John Watson, will drive the car for the first time. A1GP Technical Director, John Travis, is overseeing the design, development and production of the car, with Rory Byrne acting as a consultant. Meanwhile the work on the manufacture and supply of the A1GP engine is being overseen by Ferrari's Jean-Jacques His. Speaking ahead of the shakedown and what will be an intensive testing programme for the new car and engine, Tony Teixeira, Chairman of A1GP, said: 'Everyone is very excited about this project and it will be fantastic to see the new A1GP powered by Ferrari car turn a wheel for the first time on Friday. We obviously still have a lot of work to do as this is just the first step in what will be an intense development and testing programme, but I am very happy with the progress made so far. We have a small, dedicated group of people in Bognor Regis and are very lucky to be able to use some well known motor racing companies for certain areas of expertise. I am pleased to say we are on schedule and we will be announcing the date of the official unveiling of the car soon.' Strakka Racing’s
Peter Hardman and Nick Leventis Strakka Racing's debut in the Le Mans Series at Spa-Francorchamps yesterday was rewarded with a fourth place finish in the GT1 class. The team's driver's of Peter Hardman and Nick Leventis had climbed to second in class at one stage of the race before taking a highly creditable fourth at the flag.,,read report Andrew Herron The Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship has seen lap records broken at every meeting so far in, due in part to new bodywork introduced this year. This being the case drivers can expect to break the 120mph barrier at Thurxton this weekend, as in recent testing Adam Christodoulou of CR Scuderia set a time of 1min 10.216s (120.79mph)..read more John Magro will make his 'wings and slicks' debut with Team BRM at Mallala Raceway during round four of the 2008 Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 Championship this weekend. He will have sponsorship from ROCKSTAR energy drink and Unit Clothing. Magro joins Team BRM having contested a majority of the 2006 Australian Formula Ford series with the Adelaide-based team. Benn Simms got his reward in the HSCC’s ‘BP Ultimate’ Classic F3 race at Silverstone. After coming second in the Formula Junior race he went one beeter in his March 803B winning by over 20 secs from Paul Smith’s Chevron B38. Geoffrey Hoodless was third in another March 803. As mentioned earlier, on Saturday Simms was second in the Formula Junior race in his Cooper T59, beaten on this occasion by James Claridge in a Lola Mk5A . Andrew Hibberd completed the top three in Lotus 22. The Grand Touring and Sports Car race on Sunday saw Peter Horsman take the chequered ina Lotus 7 ahead of Ludovic Caron’s AC Cobra while Ian Gray won the Classic Racing car event in a Brabham BT16, leading the BT21B of Richard Kendle over the line just 0.874 seconds ahead. Third was the Palliser WDB3 of Tony Keele. The two Derek Bell Trophy races at Silverstone were won by Richard Evans in a March 79B and John Crowson in a Chevron B40. The former beat Autosport journalist Marcus Pye’s Lola T332 in second with Crowson taking third. Pye was runner-up in race two as well, but only just, he crossed the line only 0.2 seconds behind the winner. Third in a March 712 was David Wild. In the Historic Road Sports James Paterson in a Morgan Plus 8 was the winner ahead of Julian Dodd’s TVR3000M with Martin Halliday third. Neil Wood won the Historic Saloon race in his Anglia 105E, 8 seconds up on Dan Cox driving a Lotus Cortina. Pete Hallford was third in a Mustang. The Historic FFord race saw Russell Love win in a Lola T580 by just over half a second from Colin Wright’s Reynard SF79 while completing the podium places was Trevor Arkell in a Reynard SF81.
Last weekend at Oschersleben circuit the ADAC GT Masters got underway with victories for the Swiss Matech racing on both Saturday and The Ford GT of Thomas Mutsch and Jürgen Von Gartzen winning on Saturday followed by the second car of Marc Hennerici and Kenneth Heyer taking the honours on Sunday.. Reigning CSR Masters champions Richard Hay and Clive Richards showed the way in the Caterham Eurocup at Spa winning the opening two races in dominant style. However in the 2 driver third race it was the Acre Jean team pairing of Kurt Hoffmann and Nick Payne who grabbed a superb last-lap victory. In the Superlights Rob Durrant won the first race with John Barbour winning the next two to move into the lead in the Championship while Peter Young was another double winner in the Roadsports with Dax Humberstone winning tte other…read report Alexander Sims will defend his Renault Sport UK charity Duathlon title during the British Touring Car Championship meeting at Oulton Park in July..read more Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship are this weekend at Thruxton, and Kieren Clark will be there with Apotex Scorpio Motorsport team. Adding a touch of glamour will be one of last years' Miss England finalists Tonya Iasisen. Tonya will be helping to promote the 3K’s Racing Text2Win competition, where one lucky winner gets an amazing VIP day for 2 at the next British Touring Car Championship race. The winner and a friend get free entry tickets, meet the team, see behind the action, as well as having breakfast and lunch with Kieren in the race centre, and all for free! You could get to meet the delightful Miss Oxford as well The HSCC were at Silverstone over the weekend and Callum Macleod was back in action in the Grandstand Motorsport Historic Formula Fords. Driving a Merlyn Mk20A, Macleod won comfortably from Amanda Whitaker's Elden Mk8 by just over 6 seconds. Westie Mitchell was third in a second Merlyn, just 0.7 secs off the gearbox of Whitaker. In the 70s Road Sports Rory Stockbridge won, but only just from Julian Barter. Stockbridge's Lotus Europa crossed the line ahead of Barter's TVR3000M with just 0.033seconds to spare! Alan Harper was a 'distant' third, a 'huge' 1 (yes One) second behind the leaders! On Saturday the Guards Trophy race was won by The Cottingham's Chevron B8 which was over 14 seconds in front of the similar car of Joe Ward while Stuart Tizzard was third in his Lenham Spider. The first of two Historic F2 races was won by Steve Maxted driving a Lola T360. Second in another Lola, a T240, was Bob Juggins , less than 2 seconds behind while third was Bo Warmenius in a March 772. The second race saw Maxted again lead Juggins over the line, however on this occasion Peter Meyrick claimed the final podium place in a March 782. Harold Primat and Christophe Tinseau were running sixth in the 1000km LMS race at Spa when on the very last lap they ran out of fuel! To make matters worse, as they didn't cross the finish line they weren't classified in the final results, loosing them 3 points, points that would have put them 3rd in the Championship . 11-05-08 Mark Robinson won the d-and-d autos.co.uk Ford XR race at Oulton Park on Saturday,. Second, 1.013 seconds behind was Steve Poole while third went to Michael Blackburn. In the Post 89 Race Tom Bradshaw came out on top in his Van Dieman DP08 with over 12 seconds in hand over second placed David Grady in another Van Dieman,a RF02. Third, close behind Grady, was the Reynard FF92 of Josh Benson. In the Pre 90's Carphone Warehouse Network Powering Talk Talk Club NW FF1600 race Stuart Jones won in a Reynard SF89 only 1.89 secs up on Ian Parkington in a Reynard FF94. Third was Bob Wyke making it a Reynard whitewash of the top three places. Kyle Busch driving the No. 18 Toyota won his third race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup last night(Saturday) at Darlington. "Fortunately for me, I've got a great race team with Joe Gibbs Racing and of course Toyota Motors, all these guys, Steve Addington, Chris, Geoff Price, everybody else, Wesley, all the guys on the team that do such a great job in putting these things together every week," said Busch. Carl Edwards in the No. 99 Ford was with Jeff Gordon coming through into third with the No. 24 Chevrolet, a finish that moves him into the top ten in the driver standings. Damien White came out the winner of the third round of the Australian Mini Challenge at Barbagallo inear Perth today(Sunday) after Gary Young (SALTA Constructions) took his maiden victory in the second race.. The results of Australina Mini Challenge race yesterday(Saturday) have been amended after the winner Paul Fiore(Shell Helix Ultra) and Nathan Geier,( Sherrin Rentals) were given the equivalent of a drive-through penalty for passing under a yellow flag, This equated to a 23 second for both drivers dropping them out of the top 10. This means that series leader Grant Denyer (DecoRug Motorsport) is now the winner ..read more Former Wallaby Ben Tune was discharged from hospital in Perth today in good spirits and is looking forward to returning home to Brisbane. Tune was injured in a single car accident when his car rolled over in the MINI CHALLENGE round at Barbagallo Raceway yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. National Manager MINI, Justin Hocevar, today extended his best wishes and those of all the MINI CHALLENGE teams to Ben for a speedy recovery. Mr. Hocevar said the “health and safety of all drivers is paramount to us in MINI CHALLENGE. The race is conducted under the safety rules and regulations of CAMS (the Confederation of Australian Motorsport) to which we fully comply. We do not like to see any accident, but we are all aware that motor racing is a dangerous sport. We are all looking forward to a speedy recovery for Ben.” 10-05-08 LATEST - MINI Challenge driver Ben Tune has been transported to Joondalup Hospital north of Perth late today for preliminary medical examinations following an accident at Barbagallo Raceway. The former Wallaby was awake and alert when transported from the circuit via ambulance. The celebrity driver’s vehicle rolled during the opening race of the third round of the MINI Challenge Series. Tune was treated by medical staff immediately at the track before being transported to hospital.
Paul Fiore Mark Winterbottom won comfortably at Barbagallo Raceway today, racking up his seventh V8 Supercar Championship Series victory for Ford Performance Racing. The 26-year-old led from pole position to chequered flag in the 50-lap race, moving him from fourth to third in the championship standings, within reach of leader Rick Kelly. Team-mate Steve Richards had a thrilling race, jammed between Garth Tander and Craig Lowndes. Despite registering consistently faster laps than third-place Tander, Richo was unable to find a way past the HRT driver but is happy with the result, which consolidates FPR's position as the championship's leading team. Greg Biffle in the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford has pole at Darlington in NASCAR ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jnr and Jimmie Jonhson. "It's the same old Darlington," said Biffle. "It will bite you if you let your guard down.,"when the green flag flies tomorrow night, that will be the first time these cars have gone around side-by-side 10 or 20 deep, so track position is going to be really important." Jordan Taylor on his first visit to Road Atlanta won the first race of the weekend in the F2000 Championship Series Presented by Hoosier Racing Tire doubleheader yesterday(May 9), winning Round Three at Braselton..report The 2008 Formula Master racing season is set to get underway at Valencia on 17-18 May with a grid of 30 cars confirmed. Returning is last years’ runner-up, Chris van der Drift who will drive for J.D. Motorsport once more. "It's great to be back racing with J.D. Motorsport," said the 22-year-old. "Although I drove in the Series last year, by the time we race in Valencia , most rookies will have caught up so the real advantage is how well you know your team. Luckily I know them very well and we are aiming for the title together. That's the only goal this year." Also confirmed as Austria 's Norbert Siedler, joining ADM Motorsport, Italy 's Alberto Costa and Giuseppe Terranova, driving for Cram Competition and Pro Motorsport respectively. England's Tor Graves will once again drive with Team JVA whilst Dominik Schraml will race for Scuderia Famà and rookie Daniel Mancinelli for Euronova Racing. Fellow rookie Octavio Freitas, from Brazil , joins ADM Motorsport as the series youngest driver at 16. Following a decision by the FIA, the Anderstorp race weekend in Sweden will now be held at the renovated Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Imola, on 20-21 September.Formula Master will partner the FIA World Touring Car Championship this year. Reigning British Formula 3 International Series title-holder Hitech Racing heads to the 3rd round of the series at Monza next weekend (May 17/18), hoping for a return to the form that won it the 2007 title. After two rounds the team is currently 9th and 11th in the standings with Briton Max Chilton and Austrian Walter Grubmüller. Now, the team is hoping to get back on track with its first win of the year, but Team Principal Hayle knows that the competition this season is tougher than ever. “We started the season in a very positive mood, having been on the pace right from word go. Then we had the second place for Max along with two third place grid positions and fifth place finish for Walter at Oulton Park. But at Croft we struggled a little bit and were unable to repeat that performance. Now, my hope for Monza is that we can reassert ourselves back into the top six, or even top three. In terms of the opposition out there, looking at the first two races you’d have to say that really any one of ten or 12 people could win. “ SIR STIRLING MOSS was at Cars International in Kensington last Wednesday(7 May). The supplier of high performance, road and racing cars hosted a special evening to review the PLB23, a 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing of extraordinary historical importance and impeccable provenance which until its discovery had been lost from public view for over 30 years. Sir Stirling Moss recalled the car, “PLB23 featured in my book the Stirling Moss Scrapbook 1955. I was photographed driving the car during the preparation period for my Mille Miglia victory in 1955. I’m delighted to find that PLB23 has survived in such fine form.” Sir Stirling went on to enthral the audience with tales of his famous Mille Miglia victory. He shared the stage with TV chef James Martin who is to compete in this year’s Mille Miglia driving his1948 Maserati A6GCS which was sourced and fully prepared by Cars International. Martin was delighted to receive sometips from Sir Stirling prior to the beginning of his adventure. “It was extraordinary to meet Sir Stirling on the eve of my departure for Italy to compete in the legendary race,” commented the passionate car enthusiast who also boasts an F1 car in his collection. PLB23 remains on view at the showrooms of Cars International at Kendrick Place, Reece Mews in South Kensington. 09-05-08 Round two of the 2008 FIA GT Championship takes place next week at Monza, the place where Italians go to worship motorsport. To win at Monza in a Ferrari is a special feeling for a racing driver so the CR Scuderia boys will be going all out to hit the top spot next weekend. Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell got off to a great start at Silverstone a few weeks ago and will be hoping to improve on their second place finish. Rob has already raced a GT2 Ferrari 430 at Monza this season when he took part in the Le Mans Series race there and showed outstanding pace, setting pole position for the 1000km race. Tim Mullen has a new team-mate at Monza as Chris Niarchos has other business commitments that weekend. Tim will be joined by international GT racer Tim Sugden who has competed with many of the CRS team members before.
Glory Team Racing’s s David Turner set the fastest lap of the first two practice sessions in MINI CHALLENGE today at the Barbagallo Raceway He was fastest in the morning’s practice, ending the session 0.1secs in front of UBER-STAR CAR competitor, Leanne Tander, in her first MINI CHALLENGE drive. Neil McFadyen (Scope Signs & Graphics) was third quickest in session one but quickest in the second. Tander’s fellow UBER-STAR CAR pilot, former Wallabies winger, Ben Tune impressed in practice two, finishing 2.4 seconds below the time set by McFadyen. Local driver, Nathan Callaghan (Calmack Smash Repairs) was third quickest in the second practice. The other local hopes, Paul and Todd Fiore had a tentative start to their respective weekends, Todd finishing both sessions in fifth. Paul finished P1 sixth and the second session ninth. Last round winner, Nathan Geier, having switched to the Sherrin Rentals team and carrying an additional 25kg in success ballast due to his win finished the sessions seventh and 11th respectively. Geier’s sparring partner from Wakefield Park , Paul Stokell (DecoRug Motorsport) was on the pace, setting second quickest time in the first session while Stokell’s team-mate and series leader, Grant Denyer had intermittent problems with his DecoRug Motorsport car, however the team is working overtime to have the car ready qualifying tomorrow.
Jonathan Ridley-Holloway heads to Thruxton on the 17th/18th May
looking to reverse his fortunes, after a somewhat tricky start to his
maiden season in the ELF Renault Clio Cup. Six races in and his best
finish to date is 9th, at Rockingham. “It’s been a bit of a
disappointing start to the year really. We’ve had quite a bit of bad
fortune during most of the race weekends which has been frustrating
as, during several of the tests and at Rockingham of course, we had
top 10 pace”, he commented. “There have been one or two niggles with
the car which we think we’ve managed to get to the bottom of and now
I’m just hoping we can have a trouble-free weekend and start to show
the performance I know we’re capable of. It would be great to achieve
my best results of the season at Thruxton, it’s a fantastic track and
the racing should be exciting.” The Bond Oxborough Phillips,
PicoPC.co.uk and A4 Apparel supported racer knows he has the ability
to become a consistent top 10 runner for the remainder of the year and
as such will be looking for two solid and consistent top 10 finishes
next weekend.
Manor
Competitions's Alexander Sims The governing body that controls the WTCC have limited the engine speed of the SEAT León TDI cars. Starting at Valencia the engine speed of the turbo-diesel SEAT cars will be limited to 4100rpm The Bureau have issued two other decisions - reduction of the minimum weight of the BMW 320si car driven by Alessandro Zanardi by 15 kg and the possibility to adjust the weight of the N.technology Honda Accord Euro R car at any moment during the events. SEAT Sport's Yvan Muller set the fastest time in the official test at Oschersleben on Tuesday and Wednesday. With a time of 1:35.227 on Wednesday afternoon, the Frenchman beat Robert Huff's fastest time of 1:35.324 from the previous day.. Huff and team-mate Nicola Larini emerged as second and third fastest behind Muller, only 0.1sec down on the leader’s time. BMW Team Germany's Augusto Farfus and Jörg Müller were fourth and fifth respectively. James Thompson continued to develop the new Honda Accord Euro R car built by N.technology and JAS Motorsport. After clocking up an impressive third fastest time on day one, he focused on the race set up. "With only free practice left at Valencia before we race, it was essential that we focused on assessing the car under race conditions," he explained. On their first appearance Russian Bears Motorsport’s LADA 110 car driven by Viktor Shapovalov completed only 15 laps on Tuesday before being halted due to an engine failure. It was back the track again on day two and Shapovalov managed to improve his lap times, reducing the gap to 2.5 seconds, while his Dutch team-mate Jap van Lagen set a fastest lap of 1:36.476, only 1.2 seconds off Yvan Muller's fastest time of the day. The 5th and 6th rounds of the FIA WTCC will take place at Valencia's Circuit Ricardo Tormo on May 17-18. This is the fifth consecutive visit of the FIA Touring Cars to the Spanish racetrack. Alfa Romeo dominated the 2004event, with Fabrizio Giovanardi and Gabriele Tarquini sharing the spoils. In 2005, the FIA WTCC inaugural season, local hero Jordi Gené started from pole position to give the new SEAT León its first win, while Jörg Müller won Race 2 for BMW. In 2006 Alfa Romeo won again with Augusto Farfus in the first race and Jörg Müller in the second. Last year's event was the Italian manufacturer's last with James Thompson winning both.The Valencian event will mark the beginning of WTCC's European season after the first two race meetings held in Brazil and Mexico. The activities on the track will start on Friday, May 16th, with a 30-minute test session at 3.00pm giving the teams the opportunity to shake their cars down after they were shipped from Mexico. Mike Vincec Tim Bridgman is the 'man to beat' as the Porsche Crrera Cup GB heads for Hampshire next weekend(17-18 May) and Thurxton for rounds 7 and 8...read more The Swiss Matech Racing team will be competing in the ADAC GT Masters 2008, the German national competition based on the FIA GT3 regulations this year as well as the FIA European GT3 championship. The German series starts this weekend at Oschersleben. A Ford GTwill be entered by Matech Racing for 25 year old Marc Hennerici, the ex-world Touring Cars champion (Independents category) in 2005, who has been concentrating on the Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring for the past two seasons. For his debut in the ADAC GT Masters he will team up with Kenneth Heyer, son of the legendary Hans Heyer. Kenneth drove for the team in Dubai (FIA GT3) last year. Ginetta Junior driver Cassey Watson has a new website, www.casseywatson.co.uk This will be updated regularly with pictures and results from each round of the BTCC support championship James Thompson claimed his first podium of the season as he finished third in the Danish Touring Car Championship's Race 1 last weekend at the Jyllandsringen. On his maiden DTC appearance in the Hartmann Racing's Honda Accord Euro R, Thompson finished all the weekend's races in the points: "I was very pleased to get some points and finish all three races, because historically the team has not been strong at this track," Thompson said. "There are definitively some tough competitors out there, and I enjoyed the cut and thrust of it and look forward to the next race." In Race 1, Thompson made to the end in third behind Tom Pedersen's and Jan Magnussen's BMW 320si cars, and then he was classified sixth and fourth in Race 2 and Race 3 respectively. He will continue racing in the Danish Championship when there is no clash with WTCC
08-05-08
Matt
Blyth will race in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB during rounds seven
and eight of the season at Thruxton over the weekend of 17/18 May. The
former Caterham racer has been working hard to raise a budget to join
the series and in recognition of his efforts he has been offered the
chance to race the PCGB entry in the pro-am2 category next weekend Grant Denyer (DecoRug Motorsport), current Mini Challenge leader can forget about a welcome at Barbagallo Raceway this weekend, say the West Australian competitors in the Series. Read more After a two-month lay-offdue to the IRL/Champ Car 'unification,' the Star Mazda teams held a two-day test at Miller Motorsports Park prior to Round 2 of the series next weekend. The test, arranged by Andersen Racing was attended by all of the top teams ran on May 5-6. On Monday 20 cars took to the track with Sebring winner Joel Miller setting the pace for JDC Motorsports followed closely by Andersen Racing’s Charles Hall. Miller’s lap of 1:45.952 was followed by Hall at 1:46.533. Third was another Andersen driver, Tom Gladdis with Ernesto Otero fourth and Valle Maleka fifth. On Tuesday Miller was again fastest with a 1:45.303, followed by Charles Hall at 1:45.720 and Ernesto Otero with a 1:46.186. Billy Goshen was fourth with a 1:46.465 and Tom Gladdis rounded out the top-5 with a 1:46.675. Peter Dempsey was sixth. Round Two of the 2008 Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear will take place at Miller Motorsports Park May 15 -- 17. Dominic Lesniewski has returned to the racetrack after a year long sabbatical to complete his university studies by running in Britcar Daniel Lloyd is looking forward to next weekend(17-18 May) when the Ginetta Junior Championship visits Thruxton for round 9 and 10 of the 2008 season….read more Ginetta Junior racer, Ashley Craig scored brilliant 4th before rolling out of second race at Donington last weeke3nd..report Duncan Tappy will join the Porsche Carrera Cup GB for rounds 7 and 8 at Thruxton next weekend(17/18 May). Tappy, a McLaren/Autosport/BRDC Young Driver of the Year finalist, will race the 911GT3 Cup car entered by PCGB after contesting the Le Mans Series race at Monza last month. Tappy (23) is also one of the BRDC's 'Superstars' and has been involved in Britain's A1 GP team in recent months. Now, he will have the chance to show his pace in the Carrera Cup and has already tested the car at Thruxton. "I work at Thruxton as an instructor, but this is a totally different ball game," said the Surrey-based racer. "It's not as easy as it looks. I want to pursue my single-seater career as far as I can, but sports car racing is certainly an option for the future." By the end of the test day, Tappy was lapping within a second of multiple race winner Tim Bridgman, and hopes to continue moving forward during the race weekend. "I started to get my head around driving a sports car; it's so different to anything I've driven before. But I'm definitely improving After Formula Renault 3.5 Series driver Charles Pic returned from Monza he was off to Spa-Francorchamps for round 2. After picking up a podium place in Italy, Charles was into the points in Belgium when fate intervened to decide otherwise… Millennium Racing's Stirling brothers have all qualified for October's Bridgestone Cup at Lonato - the first time that three members of the same family have done so..
Silverstone based Strakka Racing, formerly EDM Motorsport will make its debut in the Le Mans Series this weekend in the Spa 1000 Kilometres, running an Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 dxriven by Peter Hardman and Nick Leventis..read more. Rhys Lloyd won the LMA Euro Saloon encounter at Castle Combe on Monday. John Hammersley was second after a brief excursion off track saw him drop to fourth late in the race.. 07-05-08
Last weekend turned out just great for Nick Sanderson. After a slow start to the year by Nick’s standards it all came right at Snetterto with a win and a second place including fastest lap Results put Nick jup to oint 2nd in the overall Fiesta ST Championship after Round.
Lola will celebrate it’s Golden
anniversary
Adam Lesniewski entered the Porshce race at Brands Hatch last weekend at the A1GP meeting. On the team’s first run, straight out of the box no testing, the car sadly failed to finish. However it was classified and it did run for 45.70mins of the 50 min race before a few items surfaced that the team hadn’t envisaged. The main problem being overheating gearbox oil. Better luck next time Patrick O'Neill Swept Rounds Two and Three at Thunderhill Raceway Park in the Formula Mazda Challenge while Bill Weaver was victorious in Standard Formula Mazda Category. TW Steel have been named as the Official Timing and Watch Partner for A1GP World Cup of Motorsport in 08-09. Both the series and the watch company are young and growing rapidly, so the three year deal, starting for later this year, will see them continue to do this together. 'This is a very exciting period for A1GP and TW Steel,' said A1GP Chairman, Tony Teixeira, 'We are both expanding at a vast rate of knots and have the same aspirations to be recognised in the four corners of the world for excellence in our own fields - A1GP for providing the most exciting racing and TW Steel the most innovative and desirable time pieces. Timing is an essential element in motorsport, so to have such a young, vibrant company partnering us in this is exciting.' Yann Clairy didn’t waste any time getting on the podium in the F3 Euro Series. The SG Formula driver started the weekend’s second race at Mugello from second on the grid and came home second behinf winner Mika Maki..read more Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer If you are a fan of two or four wheel motorsport are live near Burton-upon-Trent, head down to Coopers Square shopping centre in Burton-upon-Trent on Thursday 22 May for the Team Trimite Brookspeed showcase …read more Kieran Clarke endured a difficult weekend in the Formula Renault UK Championship at Donington but he did make it to the finish in both races..report CR Scuderia's Adam Cristodoulou still stands on top of te Formula Renault UK points table after Rounds five and si when despite not winning(for once!) he picked up a fourth and a fifth place. 06-05-08 The Stars of the 70s
with the Touring 70s race at Donington Over 300 sports, saloons and single-seaters from 1950-80s will be in action when the HSCC organises two days of racing on the International circuit at Silverstone this weekend(10/11 May). With everything from an MG Midget to a Formula 5000 Lola T400 single-seater, the meeting has wide appeal and with adult admission just £10 a day and children free, either day will be a great day out. Adding an international flavour will be the cars in the Historic F2 Trophy, a race that carries a famous title; the International Trophy. Brothers Gary and John Pearson will share a classic Jaguar E Type in the two-driver Guards Trophy race. In the race for historic racing saloon cars, Roger Godfrey is in his Mini Cooper S and could even win overall if the track is wet. Heading the Mustang contingent is Peter Hallford. In the Formula Junior race, the wonderful 1960-vintage Lotus 18 of Jon Milicevic is one of the leading entries. On Saturday, qualifying starts at 9am and the first of six races is at 2pm. On Sunday, qualifying starts at 10am and the first of eight races is at 12noon. Graeme and Oliver Bryant won both the Heritage GT Car Challenge races in their Morgan at Brands Hatch, where the series was part of the support for the A1GP..read more . Sarah Bennett-Baggs and and her Pink Porsche were back on the podium at Brands Hatch in the combined Porsche Open and Club races.. Donington Park
held the Top Hat meeting yesterday(Monday
5th)
Manor Competition’s Kris Loane and Alexander Sims were both on the podium at Donington Park on Sunday, (4th May) in the 2008 Formula Renault UK Championship. Snetterton hosted the BRSCC at the weekend(4-5 May) and the Ford Fiesta’s saw newcomer Sandy Forrest win his first race of the season in the series. Second, only 1.671 seconds behind was Nick Sanderson who found himself in fifth at the end of the first lap, climbing through to take second on lap 8. Third was David Ellesley. In race two the pair reversed their positions with Sanderson gaining the upper hand to win by 2.336 secs from Forrest while Ben Roper was a distant third. In the Super Mighty Mini races Phil Heatherington and Tony Le May shared the spoils. In race 1 the first five cars , led by Heatherington, were less than a second apart. Le May was second just 0.065 secs off the leader with James Young third 0.243 of the winners time. Fourth and fifth, Patrick Ford and Neven Kirkpatrick were only 0.507 and 0.854 secs behind respectively. Race 2 wasn’t as close and Le May duly triumphed with Patrick Ford second and Dave Rees third. The Cloth Cap
race at Donington, held with the XK Challenge, was won by Leo
Voyazides in an AC Cobra, 1.885 secs up on a second Cobra driven Chilles
Jnr. Ingram. Jamie Boot was third in a TVR Griffith. Voyazides then
picked up a second place in the Top Hat 40 lap event in his Ford Falcon,
although he was 20 second adrift of the winner John Young in a Mustang.(seen
leading below - pic Paul Williams) The Alfashop Alfa race saw Adie Hawkins in dominant form at Snetterton winning by over 40 seconds in his Alfa 33 from Neil Smith in second and John Griffiths in third. The Mill Street Motors Ford Saloons was won by David Matthias in race 1 followed by Malcolm Wise in race 2 with both drivers also following the other home for a second place. At Castle Combe Josh Fisher, driving a Mygale, took the honours in the Formula Ford race just heading Ben Norton’s Spectrum 011 across the line with 0.363 secs to spare. Third was Felix Fisher 0.741 secs off his namesake. In the Saloons race for Class C-D Carleton Williams won in a Corsa from the Peugeot 106 XSi of William Di Claudio and the GTi of Nick Charles. In Clas A-B Brian Cox won in a Lancer Evo 6 from Mark Wyatt’s Astra and Tony Dolley’s Peugeot 206. The Castle Combe Special GT’s saw Shane Marshall win comfortably in a Jade. Second and third were Simon Tilling and Rob Clarke respectively, both in Radicals. After running in the top 4 in the Ginetta Juniors at Donington Cassey Watson had to settle for 10th place after she was nudged off the track, similar problems greeted her in race 2 leaving her a disappointed sixth. In the Pacific F2000 series at Buttonwillow over the weekend both Robert Podlesni and Jeff Westphal won a race a-piece. Podlensi taking the glory on Saturday by less thatn half a second from Westphal before the latter reversed the postions on Sunday.. Honda backed Japanese driver Koudai Tsukakoshi got Manor Motorsport their first podium of 2008 in the F3 Euro series at Mugello over the weekend..read more Jamie Green (Salzgitter AMG Mercedes C-Class) won the third round of the 2008 DTM in Mugello, Italy. Paul Di Resta (AMG Mercedes C-Class) came home second. The first win of the year for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class was the 142nd for the brand out of 303 DTM/ITC races since 1988 and the 86th 1-2 victory. After 33 laps, Green took the chequered flag 3.166sec ahead of Di Resta. Bernd Schneider (Genuine Parts AMG Mercedes C-Class) ended up fourth, 9.410sec behind the winner. The Hitech Junior team came close to a points-scoring result in the opening round of the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday…read more The Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup opener at Spa resulted in a 1-2 for SG Formula with Daniel Ricciardo winning followed by Andrea Caldarelli in second . 05-05-08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport will hold it's end of season awards at a glittering Gala Awards dinner tonight in the Hilton Park Lane in London. Everyone involved from Teams to drivers, sponsors and officials will get together honour the achievements of the season, including of course Switzerland's championship,..read Jota Sport's Sam Hancock
Freddy Nordstrom had a pretty bad weekend in the SEAT Cupra Championship held at Donington Park on Sunday. A poor qualifying session, hindered by Technical problems left him in a lowly 13th for both of the weekend’s races. It got worse come race day as the problems got worse resulting in two retirements. Dino Zamparelli won both the Ginetta Junior Championship races at Donington to extend his championship lead to a massivel 75 points Double poleman Josh Hill brought his car home for his first podium. SEAT Cupra Championship
competitor Robert Lawson Jonathan Ridley-Holloway did not have a great weekend at Donington in the Elf Clio Cup. After a difficult qualifying session he finish the first race on Saturday down in 12th. However things got worse on Sunday when he was forced to retire after an incident at Goddards on the opening lap. Daniel Lloyd produced by far his best race performance of the year during round eight of the 2008 Ginetta Junior Championship at Donington Park yesterday, Sunday, 4th May, the 16-year-old securing his first ever podium finish in cars after a terrific drive...read report Phil Quaife Martyn Bell kept Arkas Racing with Sunshine.co.uk in eighth in the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship’s Independents Team Trophy table afte a tough weekend for the team at Donington. Andrew Herron made it to the podium for the first time in the SEAT Cupra Championship in Round 6 yesterday at Donington Park . Will Bratt ket the momentum going in his Spanish F3 campaign by bringing his car home in fourth place at Jarama yesterday to go up to sixth in the championship. Alexander Sims produced a great drive at Donington Park yesterday (Sunday, 4th May) in round 6 of the Formula Renault UK Championship to climb up to third place after starting from sixth on the grid .
In-Tune Racing’s Michael Doyle
SEAT Cupra Championship newcomer Robert Lawson, driving fro Bardon/JHR took 2 wins from 2 at Donington yesterday, stretching his lead in the title chase ahead of Martin Byford to18 points. The Porsche Open runners lead the grid as the Open and Porsche Club Championship fields combined to provide a monster grid to entertain the crowd at Brands Hatch's A1GP meeting. Paul McLean won Saturday's race while Mike Donovan won on Sunday. Gary Duckman and Ian White meanwhile came out as winners in the two Porsche Club Championship races . Jason Plato and the SEAT Leon TDi claimed their first win of 208 at Donington yesterday(Sun and smashed the lap record in the process. This makes the Leon TDI the first car to win with a diesel engined car in the 50 year history of the BTCC. Darren Turner then completed a superb weekend for the team by winning the third and final race. Dean Stoneman scored his first win in the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship at Donington yesterday (Sunday, 4th May) .Startinng from the front row it took him unitl just lap 3 to pass poleman Adriano Buzaid to take a well-deserved win with Buzaid second and Alexander Sims third. Ben Winrow continues to dominate the Elf Clio Cup, winning his fourth race of the season yesterday at Donington Park. He won the race by over 3 seconds from Mike Robinson while Gavin Pyper was third.
A1 TEAM USA’s Jonathan Summerton finished second in the A1GP Sprint race at Brands Hatch, but mechanical problems reduced a top-10 run to 12th on Sunday in the Feature in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Summerton started second in the Sprint and ran there throughout the 15-lap race for the team's third straight podium.finish. However the team's bid for a top 10 placing in the championship went awry in the Feature’s second mandatory pit stop on the 35th lap."We’d been stopped for four or five seconds and the engine suddenly shut off,” Summerton said. “We don’t know why.” Stalled for several seconds before being push started, Summerton rejoined in 16th place and moved up to 12th at the flag. Sadly this left A1 TEAM USA outside the points and dropped it to 12th in the final standings. “It was good to finish on the podium in the Sprint and we were happy for that, but it’s a very big disappointment when it comes down to the car making the final decision on where you finish in the championship,” Summerton said. “We started having gearbox problems, slipping gears, just before the second pit stop and it made it difficult to gain positions. Then, the engine quit and we lost several positions. What can you do? It was the car that caused us to lose our shot at 10th in the standings.” 04-05-08
Tim Bridgman claimed his fourth win 'on-the-trot' in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB today at Donington Park when Phil Quaife was penalised for overtaking under yellows. Quaife had won the race 'on the road' but dropped back to third in the amended results behind Bridgman and Michael Caine. A1 Team Switzerland are the Champions of the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport, after coming home in fourth place in this morning's A1GP Sprint race at Brands Hatch Team GB's Robbie Kerr claim a superb home win with USA's Jonathan Summerton continuing recent upturn in form taking second. In the Feature race this afternoon A1 Team India and Narain Karthikeyan took their second victory of the 07-08 A1GP season just holding off Britian's Robbie Kerr by a little over a second. The result confirms Team GB's third position in the championship ahead of France. India's win moves them into tenth. Wayne Boyd once again dominated in the British Formula Ford Championship, this time at Brands Hatch where the sereis was on the support bill for A1GP. Boyd dealt with a strong challenge from Westley Barber in the first race on Saturday before taking a lights-to-flag victory this morning.. Jon Lancaster endured a troublesome second round of the F3 Euro Series at Mugello. After gearbox gremlins in qualifying left him at the back of the grid for the first race he never really recovered especially as overtaking is notoriously hard at the Tuscan track..read more
Adriano Buzaid won his first race in the Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship after a perfect race from pole position at Donington Park this morning(Sunday).. Tim Bridgman took his 3rd win in a row at Donington Park this morning(Sunday 4 May) in round five of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. Tim Harvey looks destined to always be the 'bridesmaid' in this years championship after he took his FIFTH second place of the year,
Will Bratt drove a great race after being held-up at the start for the first round of the 2008 FIAT Spanish Formula 3 Championship at Jarama yesterday (Saturday, 3rd May) to grab a top five finish . Formula Renault UK team Manor Competition has a great chance of victory at Donington Park today, Sunday, 4th May, after Alexander Sims put his car on the front row of the grid for the fifth round. Having secured his first ever win in cars during the same race meeting last year, 20-year-old Sims looks well placed to repeat the result after a time of 1m 05.737 seconds (107.18mph) during round five qualifying. Team-mate Henry Surtees produced his best qualifying performance in Formula Renault UK with an excellent fifth, a lap of 1m 05.956 seconds (106.83mph), while Kris Loane ended the round five session seventh quickest with a time of 1m 05.984 seconds (106.78mph).Tom Armour continued to make inroads with the 17th best time, 1m 06.764 seconds (105.53mph). Daniel Lloyd will start the first of today’s two Ginetta Junior Championship races at Donington Park National Circuit from seventh on the grid. The Tockwith Motorsport driver achieved a best time of 1m 28.962 seconds (79.20mph) during this afternoon’s 15-minute qualifying period to secure his place at the head of row four for tomorrow morning’s seventh round of the campaign – just three 10ths of a second away from the top four. With each driver’s second fastest qualifying lap setting the grid for round eight, the BRDC Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship winner managed a lap of 1m 29.577 seconds good enough for an eighth position start. Andrew Herron achieved his best qualifying performance in the SEAT Cupra Championship at Donington Parkon Saturday, 3rd May, missing out on pole by just 0.005 seconds. Herron the1.96-mile National Circuit in 1m 14.792 seconds (94.20mph) during round six qualifying for a front-row position alongside JHR Developments team-mate, and current championship leader, Robert Lawson for the second of tomorrow’s races. During the earlier round five session Andrew posted the third fastest time with a lap of 1m 14.950 seconds (94.01mph), just 0.178 seconds shy of the front of the grid. 03-05-08 India's Narain Karthikeyan
Jason Plato qualified his Leon TDI on the front row of the grid for Round 7 of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship today at Donington. Team-mate Darren Turner will line up immediately behind Jason tomorrow on the second row, having qualified 4th .SEAT Sport UK tested a new set-up for its diesel-engined touring car during the morning’s two Free Practice sessions, and with Jason and Darren finishing 4th and 5th in Free Practice 1 and 2nd and 3rd in Free Practice 2 the team carried that new-found knowledge into qualifying. The Holiday Inn backed Leon TDI was particularly quick in the first two sectors around the 1.96-mile National Circuit, and in sector three it could reach 138mph on the long straight under the famous Dunlop Bridge. Rounds 5&6 of the 2008 SEAT Cupra
Championship look promising after qualifying at Donington today.
Robert Lawson (Bardon/JHR) smashed the lap record in a Cupra
around the track with Carl Breeze (Blue Chip/Welch Motorsport) and
Lawson’s JHR team mate Andrew Herron (Brian Herron Plant/JHR) also
beatinh the record to take 2nd and 3rd positions on the grid
respectively. The JHR team clearly know the set-up for this track, their
third driver James Appleby (Hardinge Machine Tools) also running 8th
quickest in Round 5 qualifying and 7th in Round 6. Adriano Buzaid was fastest in qualifying and is on pole position for rounds five and six of the 2008 Formula Renault UK with Michelin Championship during qualifying at Donington Park on Saturday, 3rd May..read more Tim Bridgman (Team Parker Racing) was quickest in qualifying for the Porshce Carrera Cup at Donington lapping more than a second underneath the existing lap record. ..read more A1 Team GB
A1 TEAM USA’s Jonathan Summerton was third behind team China's Confu Cheng ..read more The 17th and 18th rounds of
the 2008 FIA WTCC will be at Imola on September 20th and 21st. It
was announced on Friday . The race will replace the Swedish meeting that
was due to take place in Anderstorp on the same weekend and that was
cancelled by the FIA following a request from the Swedish National
Sporting Authority (SBF), after the Championship and the Event Promoters
have failed to reach a commercial agreement, the Swedes hope to be back
in the WTCC next year. The Change has been approved by the Touring Car
Commission but needs to be ratified by the World Motor Sport Council in
June. Massimo Cimatti, president of GruppoNorman and Formula Imola
said: "Imola is back on track! We are delighted to launch our new motor
sport calendar with a world championship event such as the WTCC. This is
a major reward for all the efforts we have made in these first months of
management of the circuit." Will Bratt was fastest in testing for this weekend's opening round of the FIAT Spanish Formula 3 Championship at Jarama ..read more Before heading to Valencia, some WTCC teams will take part in a two-day official test at Oschersleben, Germany, next week. The test will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 6th and 7th, in preparation for the championship event that will be hosted by the German track later in the season, on August 30th and 31st. The following teams have confirmed their participation, making a total of eleven cars: BMW Team Germany, BMW Team Italy-Spain, BMW Team UK, Chevrolet, N.technology, SEAT Sport and Russian Bears Motorsport. Russian Bears Motorsport completed their first tests with the WTCC LADA 110 car on the Dutch racetrack of Zandvoort. The Russian machine hit the track twice in a few days. On the first occasion Viktor Shapovalov completed only six laps before a visit to the gravel trap prematurely ended this run. The team returned to Zandvoort last Wednesday, and Shapovalov drove for another 25 laps before handing the controls to his Dutch team-mate Jaap van Lagen who completed a further 7 laps. No technical failures were reported and the team will take part in next week's two-day WTCC official test at Oschersleben. "The car is running ok, but we need more time to fine tune it," team manager Dmitry Bernikov declared. LADA are on schedule to make their first appearance in the WTCC at Valencia in three weeks. 02-05-08
Jon Lancaster A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has confirmed the first race of the 2008/09 season to be held at the Mugello circuit in Italy on 21 September 2008 2007 evo Caterham Eurocup champions Clive Richards and Richard Hay will head up the entry for this year's opening rounds of the Championship when it visits Spa next weekend (10/11 May) ..read more First TV slots
for Heritage GT Car Challenge.
Schedules for the TV coverage of the opening races in the 2008 Heritage
GT Car Challenge have been announced.Highlights of the pair of races at
Donington Park in April will first be screened on Sky Sports Extra
during the early evening of Tuesday 27 May, with a further five repeat
broadcasts. The Swiss Matech Racing team took off on a high note at the first round of the FIA-GT3 European Championship in Silverstone, with the Ford GT scoring a double victory. The team managed by Martin Bartek is entering, with the full support of Ford Racing, three Mustang FR500GT3s in the FIA-GT3 European Championship, one will be driven by the Belgian Eric De Doncker and the Canadian Scott Maxwell. The performances of the American muscle cars has improved from last year but the development work continues. Any drivers interested in the Mustang FR500GT3 challenge and want to join a young, dynamic and professional team should contact Valérie Guillon (e-mail: guillon@matech-concepts.ch). The next race is the second round of the FIA-GT3 European Championship at Monza on 16-18 May Australian F3 race winner Leanne Tander will drive in the Australian Mini Challenge at Barbagallo Raceway next weekend(May 9-11) in a second Mini Challenge Uber-Star car in support of the BigPond 400…read more The PSL Karting-supported
Kohilo Racing team Tim Bridgman set the pace in testing for this weekends rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Donington yesterday(Thursday)..read more Andrew Cadell led both sessions during opening practice on Thursday for the inaugural Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup race on Saturday. Cadell, a former SCCA National Champion showed some quick adaptation to the Mustang, which he had never driven before, setting a time of1:36.932-seconds at Road Atlanta. "These are fun cars," said Cadell, “There is a lot more power than I've ever had to work with, but it didn't take much time to get used to it. We still have a lot to learn with the car but this was a great way to start the weekend off. I know the times are going to get closer and closer but hopefully we can stay on top!" Qualifying for Saturday's race is today(Friday) at 1:00 , see www.mustangchallenge.com for more info Competitors in this weekend's Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup at Road Atlanta can win a seat in a Ford Mustang FR500C in the 2009 season-opening Grand-Am KONI Challenge Fresh From Florida 200 at Daytona International Speedway as a Champion's Bonus. The Ford Mustang FR500C that competes in the GS class of the KONI Challenge Series features the 5.0-liter Cammer engine and represents the next step up in the Ford Mustang racing ladder from Mustang Challenge. "We are excited to offer not just a complete competition ladder for Ford Mustang drivers, but to also help reward their success by creating the opportunity to make that next step up with the chance to race at Daytona in the KONI Challenge," said Jamie Allison, Manager of the Ford Racing Performance Group, North America. "The Ford Racing Mustang Challenge is going to be a great place for drivers to hone their skills, and the FR500C has proven to be a highly competitive entry in KONI competition. Hopefully the FRMC Champion can add to the FR500C's long list of wins again next season." A1 Team Great Britain is looking to win it’s home race this weekend at the Brands Hatch. The team plan to push France out of third place in the 2007/08 A1GP World Cup of Motorsport. Team GB currently lies 12 points adrift of they French, with 32 points available in Sunday's races. Robbie Kerr will again lead the team backed by James Winslow as reserve and rookie driver. Kerr will be returning to Brands for the third year in a row for A1 Team GBR having won last year, A1GP's first home race win, in the Sprint event. On Sunday he will have to beat France's Franck Montagny if the Brits are to have any chance of third place in the Championship 01-05-08 Mark Dryden The Porsche Club Championship and Porsche Open series are both at Brands Hatch this weekend in support of the A1GP. On this occasion the 2 series will combine to form one huge grid in what should be an action packed event..read more The 2nd Masters Festival at Brands is nearly here(24-26 May), and with the addition of the Top Hat Raceday on the Indy circuit on the Saturday, this year should be bigger and better than the debut last year - and drier, hopefully! ..read more The second round in the Le Mans Series was at Monza last weekend After scoring its maiden point in Barcelona, The Swiss team, Trading Performance, has done a lot of development work on its Zytek 07S LM P2 prototype, and until Saturday its three drivers were happy with the car. However mechanical problems put an end to their hopes and a broken suspension forced them to retire on Sunday, two hours into the race…read report The first rounds of the Formula Renault 3.5 Series formed part of the Le Mans Series package at Monza and Charles Pic made a noteworthy start with a podium finish in the second race…report Menasheh Idafar Television coverage of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB will be broadcast on ITV1 as well as on ITV4 and the 'Men and Motors' satellite channel. The Carrera Cup will feature prominently in a new 32-week run of the half-hour programme, which started this week. The first Carrera Cup action is scheduled for the programme of Tuesday 20 May, covering the opening races of the season at Brands Hatch. Current scheduling has the programme going out just after midnight on ITV1, having earlier been screened on ITV4 during Tuesday afternoon. A repeat will be broadcast on ITV4 later in the week and the programme will then be shown on 'Men and Motors'. World Champion Wallaby winger, Ben Tune willface a totally new challenge next weekend,May 9-11, when he tackles the Barbagallo Raceway in Perth in the MINI CHALLENGE…read more Mercedes review the next round of the DTM at Mugello in Italy this weekend. Can Jamie Green, Paul Di Resta and co do anything about the Audi ‘Steamroller’..read on Jamie Slone and Slone Racing have teamed up with Molecule Labs, Inc., manufacturer of the Molecule Technical Fabric Care System for the new Ford Racing Mustang Challenge for the Miller Cup. Slone, who won the first race at the NASA's Pot O' Gold Rush at Road Atlanta in March 2008, said "I'm really proud to be affiliated with Molecule," Slone said. "They are doing terrific things for the racers on all levels of motorsports. To be chosen to represent Molecule in the Miller Cup series is special. I am a fan of Molecule Wash and use the product often." ..read more The Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season gets going this weekend at Spa and as is usually the case the there are pleanty of candidates for the title. Four have stood out in the test sessions to date and they are, Daniel Ricciardo (SG Formula), Andrea Caldarelli (SG Formula), Roberto Mehri (Epsilon Euskadi) and Valtteri Bottas (Motopark Academy), the latter having already made an impressive start in the NEC series last weekend with 2 wins. ..more BTCC Championship winning team VX Racing will be at Donington this weekend as they look for more wins in theior quest fro the 2008 Championship..read more
The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily shared by 11/56 MotorSport or any of theGrid team
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Will
Bratt scorched to an incredible debut Formula 3 pole position at
Spa-Francorchamps circuit this morning(31st May), to head the grid for
this afternoon’s third round of the 2008 FIAT Spanish F3 Championship.
The 20-year-old set a time of 2m 17.348 seconds to take his first pole
position by seven 10ths of a second from nearest rival, Frenchman Nelson
Panciatici. Series leader Victor Garcia was ninth. Will said: “It’s
absolutely fantastic to achieve my first ever pole in Formula 3 and even
sweeter that it’s happened at an awesome circuit like Spa. I’m really
looking forward to this afternoon’s race as we obviously have a great
chance to finish on the podium and, who knows, maybe even claim our
first win in an F3 car.”
have withdrawn from the 2008 British GT Championship in light of the
equalisation penalties applied to the Porsche 997 GT3 S which the team
feel unfairly render the car uncompetitive. The Trackspeed Porsche 997
GT3 S, the only Porsche currently in the British GT series, has not been
equalised on the Championship's Avon rubber and as such it is felt the
equalisation penalties currently applied disadvantage the car which is
neither in the interest of the team or indeed the Championship. This is
a decision that has not been lightly taken but is an issue which
Trackspeed feel must be addressed. It is hoped the matter can be
resolved allowing the team to return to what is does best, entertaining
racing. Trackspeed will continue in the FIA GT3 Championship with their
Porsche 997 GT3 S (which has been equalised on the Championship's tyre
manufacturer, Michelin) and the FIA GT Championship in a Porsche RSR.
Coming alongside the row involving the Knockhill races, where the first
4 cars we disqualified for passing under yellows, the series could loose
even more teams in the near future.
Jon
Lancaster is in Pau
will make his Australian racing debut in the 3rd round of the 2008
Genuine Ford Parts Australian Formula Ford Championship at Sandown this
weekend , 8-9 June (it’s a long weekend in Oz). Driving a Mygale, Short
plans to contest the remaining rounds of the series to get experience of
the Australian circuits ahead of an all-out assault on the 2009 title.
"Formula Ford is certainly going from strength to strength with another
huge field at Sandown, and we expect this round to be as hard-fought as
ever," Formula Ford Category Manager Margaret Hardy said. "Interest
levels are at an all-time high and there's increasing enquiry from
off-shore competitors, like Martin Short, so it's very encouraging."
Heading into the weekend’s races, championship leader Paul Laskazeski
has a small points margin over fellow Spectrum driver Ben Morley, with
Nick Percat (Mygale), Brad Lowe (Spectrum) and Kristian Lindbom (Mygale)
all still very much also in the title chase. Other likely front runners
at Sandown include Adam Graham (Spectrum), Daniel Erickson (Spectrum)
and Rob Storey (Comtec Spirit). The first race is on Sunday with two on
Monday.
The
crowd at Brands Hatch last Monday saw FV10’s Jaguar R5 F1
Hillspeed's fifth round of
the 2008 Formula Renault BARC Championship at Oulton Park was not
an auspicious affair. They lost a near-certain podium with Menasheh
Idafar and had a non-finish for his team-mate Ahmad Al Harthy. At
least Michael Lyons(pictured) made it home in 8th.
James
Appleton (right) took a big step towards fulfilling his
ambition of winning a major Kart Championship last weekend when he came
away with a great win in the Stars of Tomorrow series at Rowrah.
As
part of Lola's 50th anniversary celebrations a little piece of the
marque’s history was recreated at Brands Hatch over the weekend when the
first Lola ever produced did a lap of the Indy circuit in under 60
seconds to emulate the same feat first set in, appropriately 1958.
Hillspeed
driver Menasheh Idafar
Gregor
Fisken
TanderSport
James
Walker in a Golf TDI and Jamie Perry, Golf GTi
There
were three winners in the British Formula Ford Championship
won
the Carphone Warehouse Club NW FF1600 race for Pre 90s cars at Anglesey
on Saturday. Driving a Reynard SF84 Parkington held off Stuart Jones;
Reynard SF89 to0 win by just 0.474 secs while Nigel Thompson was third
only 0.7 secs behind the winner. Thompson (pictured right -
pic Paul Williams) got his revenge on Sunday
winning from Parkington by 4.1 secs while Douglas Crosbie was third
right on Parkington's gearbox.
In
the first race Dawson beat Mark Braben and Conway while in race two it
was Peter Drennan second to Dawson with Conway third once again. In the
final race Conway finally made it to the top step of the podium beating
Dawson by 1.753 secs with Drennan third. 
celebrated
a super-successful track debut on Sunday, taking the legendary
Nürburgring 24 Hours by storm to record a class 1-2 and an 11th place
overall finish in one of the world's toughest races. The Scirocco of
Austrian legend Hans-Joachim Stuck and his co-drivers Jimmy
Johansson, Florian Gruber and Thomas Mutsch led the way on the daunting
25 km 'Nordschleife' to claim top honours in the class for 2-litre
turbocharged machines. It finished 11th overall, four places ahead of
the sister Scirocco piloted by double World Rally Champion Carlos Sainz
and his Volkswagen rally team-mates Giniel de Villiers and Dieter
Depping; Stuck also took his turn at the wheel of this car to achieve a
unique feat in finishing in first and second place in class.The works
team's third Scirocco, whose drivers included Volkswagen board member Dr
Ulrich Hackenberg, finished the event also, taking fifth in class and
32nd overall. 'It is a great result for the new Scirocco,' said Dr
Hackenberg. 'The one-two in class and 11th overall in the 24-hour race
underlines the sporting dynamic and reliability of the new Volkswagen
coupe.' Kris Nissen, Volkswagen Motorsport Director, added:
'The racing Scirocco was developed, built and tested in only 75 days. To
complete the distance on one of the world's most demanding tracks first
time out, and without serious problem, speaks volumes for the excellent
performance of the entire team.' The track version of the Scirocco,
which is not due to start its production life until the autumn, is
powered by a 2-litre TFSI petrol engine developing 325 PS and features a
direct-shift transmission system utilising Volkswagen's DSG technology.
A field of 219 cars took the start of the Nürburgring 24 Hours. More
than 200,000 spectators watched the event trackside
won on both Saturday and Sunday. On the first day he beat Michael
Blackburn by only 0.156 secs with Chris Jones a distant third while in
race 2 on Sunday Jones was second, 0.285secs behind and Blackburn was
third, 8 seconds off the winner. pic Paul
Williams
today in the the Super Mighty Minis. Without that name you didn't get a
look in, Neven kirkPATRICK(pictured - by Paul Williams) won
from PATRICK Ford while third was David KirkPATRICK. David Hale won on
Saturday from James Young with 4.7 seconds in hand while third went to
Neven Kirkpartrick. 
(below- pic Paul Williams)did the double at
Anglesey this weekend winning both races in the Carphone Warehouse
Networks powering Talk Talk Club NW FF1600 races for Class A-B. Driving
in his Van Dieman RF90 Carroll beat Neil Patten into second in both
races. On Saturday the gap was 7 seconds with Barry Linley third. both
in Van Dieman RF99s while on Sunday the gap was 4.3 seconds. Martin
Short was third on this occasion
AIM
Autosport and John Edwards (left)only got together a couple
of weeks ago, yet at Miller Motorsports Park last weekend they dominated
the Star Mazda Championship race with a win after taking pole ..
They have confirmed that their regular LMS drivers , namely Xavier
Pompidou, Andrea Belicchi and Steve Zacchia will drive in the 24
hours.
Motors
TV will air the 2008 Firestone Indy lights series, with an option
for 2009. The shows will benefit from coverage on the full network of
the “High Speed Television” and air in five languages. Indy lights is
the final step in the ladder leading to the newly re-unified IndyCar
series running Dallara single-seaters powered by a 3.5L V8 engine. The
shows will be 26’ or 52’ long (for Indianapolis and all double-header
events), and a 2 hours review will air at the end of the season. All
shows will air prime-time on a Saturday evening, starting this Saturday
May 24th with the 1st 2 rounds, held in Miami and St Petersburg. 
ELF
Renault Clio Cup driver Jonathan Ridley-Holloway is looking to build
on the promising performance he put in at Thruxton last weekend when the
championship reconvenes at Croft next week..
will
carry the heaviest ballast in Pau, his León TDI will have 61 kgs of
success ballast, 13 more than Robert Huff, who was the most successful
driver in Valencia. Jordi Gené (39 kg), Jörg Müller (35 kg) and Alain
Menu (34kg) are the other drivers with more than 30 kg of ballast.
Rickard Rydell and Yvan Muller, who are joint seconds in the
championship, will both have 28 extra kilos, only one more than Andy
Priaulx, who is BMW's best placed man in the points. A total of fifteen
drivers will have success ballast in Pau, including the race-by-race
entry Oscar Nogués who will receive 30 entra kilos according to article
79 c) of the Sporting Regulations.
With
4 wins from 4 races of the FIA GT3 European Championship plus a
double victory in the German ADAC GT Masters, the Ford GT built and
developed by Matech Racing has started 2008 in the best possible way.
Enough to tempt quite a few teams to look at the Ford GT for less
than 300.000 € . "As the result of an exclusive partnership with Ford
Racing, the Matech team is able to make substantial savings, which has
allowed us to offer this new price ", Martin Bartek, the head of the
Matech Concepts company comments. “Previously the Ford GTs Matech were
in fact road-going cars which we had to modify. This represented costs.
But now thanks to Ford Racing we have an entirely different baseline to
work from, namely bare chassis and numerous genuine parts." Enough to
reduce the purchase price of the Ford GT, helped by the exchange rate of
the dollar "All this has given us the opportunity to offer the Ford GT
Matech at the attractive price of 297.000 €, excluding taxes ", Martin
Bartek continued. “For this price you will acquire a version similar to
the car that Thomas Mutsch and Ian Khan on the one hand, Bradley Ellis
and Alex Mortimer on the other, triumphed with both at Silverstone and
at Monza, not forgetting the successes of Mutsch-Von Gartzen and
Hennerici-Heyer in the ADAC GT Masters..."
Gianmarco
Raimondo
won
the Hammerite Classic Group 1 race in his Ford Capri. Second in another
Capri
Steve
Primett won the IBIS Packaging Post Historic clash at Mallory Park
in his Ford escort while Andy Davies in an M3 won the Track and Race
Pre 93 encounter. (
picked
up more points in the BTCC Independents Trophy with a good result in
Round 10 at Thruxton., However a spin, brought on by a wheel bearing
failure, pitched him into an advertising hoarding in the second race
and caused overheating problems prompting his retirement for the rest of
the day.
.
won
yet another round of the Ginetta Junior Championship yesterday(Sunday)
at Thruxton. The Championship leader led from the4 start for a
comfortable win, his sixth of the year.
dominated the second race in Valencia, giving Chevrolet a one-two finish
The
fight at the top of the Kumho Tyres Australian Formula 3 championship
table for the CAMS Gold Star is closer than ever after
Leanne Tander and Nathan Caratti each won a race at Mallala raceway
today(Sunday 18 May) 
Formula
Master's got started today with their first race of the year at
Valencia and Chris van der Drift took a a dominant win after
leading the race from lights to flag..
Leanne
Tander was fastest in the first qualifying session in the Kumho
Tyres Australian F3 at Mallala, by over one-second from Nathan Caratti
(Team BRM),. In the second session for race 2 Neil McFadyen(pictured)
topped the timesheets, the fourth time this season. .
at Castle Combe on Bank Holiday Monday (26 May). Fullalove has bought
the Superlight campaigned last season by Sean Nash, attracted to the
series by, he says, its "affordability and close, exciting racing. I am
really looking forward to it and, although I have not had much
opportunity to test, I hope to be near the front during the season.". He
is one of a number of newcomers to the Superlight Challenge along with
Ollie Jackson, who moves up with Piranha Racing after success in the
Caterham Mega-Graduate club series, and David Mayes, who was a champion
in karts and raced in FFord. Leading the 'establishment' is Rachel
Green, last year's championship runner-up and the only female race
winner at this level of Caterham motorsport. 2005 Champion, Will Mitcham,
returns for his sixth straight season in Superlights as does Pat Gormley,
the 2006 R400 class champion and s a multiple race victor in Roadsports.
Triple 750 Motor Club Caterham Champion Peter Ratcliff returns to the
fray also and former Eurocup frontrunner David Knox as well.
finished 5th in the LMP2 category at the Spa 1000 km last weekend giving
the team's morale a welcome boost for Le Mans next month.
on the weekend of 7/8 June. 
ahead of this weekend's opening round of 2008 saw Iris Project's Michael
Ammermüller set the fastest time on day 2 after 
Hillspeed's
Michael Lyons(left) made history in Monaco over the last
weekend by taking part in the Grand Prix Historique – He bacme the
youngest driver, at 17, to race an F1 car in the principality.
won the main event at the ProKart Challenge t the weekend,
in the second round of the organization’s Northern series at
the Infineon Raceway Karting Cente.
claims a fifth and second place despite engine niggles at Oshersleben in
ATS F3 Cup..
will co-drive an Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 with Vitaphone Racing in next
month’s Le Mans 24 Hours. The third driver has been confirmed as former
DTM racer Alexandros Margaritis. Both Hardman and Leventis are business
partners with Strakka Racing as well as on track, where they share
the team’s Aston Martin in the 2008 LMS and the Strakka Racing BMW
M3 GTR in the Peroni Endurance Touring Car Series. Hardman said, “This
year will be my first time back in the 24 Hours after fourteen years,”
admits Hardman, “but I don’t really feel as if I’ve ever been away.” In
2007 he drove a Ferrari 250LM to second, just ahead of Nick Leventis, in
the Le Mans Legends race, and has been a regular competitor in both the
Legends and the Le Mans Classic events since 2000.
AIM
Autosport have signed John Edwards
(Shell Helix Ultra) took his second MINI CHALLENGE win at Barbagallo
Raceway today(Ssaturday), however the incident packed 15 lap race
was marred by a single car rollover involving former Wallaby, Ben Tune.
heads to Thruxton next weekend, 17th/18th May, for the next 2 rounds of
the Formula Renault UK Championship. Currently fourth overall in points
table, Alexander has been picking up points on a consistent basis this
year but so far that first win has eluded him, despite being one
of the quickest drivers in the season so far. “We’re aiming for wins
again, the same way we go into any race weekend”, he said , “During the
Thruxton test last month we didn’t produce our best performance and when
we did try a change on the car, it snowed! Unfortunately that meant we
couldn’t try what we wanted but hopefully we’ll be in a half decent
position for qualifying next weekend and then build from there. Being a
second year driver, if I can’t be on pole position for both races I’m
still confident I’ll be able to fight among the top three and achieve
some good results.” While freely admitting Thruxton hasn’t been one of
his stronger venues, Alexander remains confident of taking the fight to
his main championship rivals during rounds seven and eight. Qualifying
will take place on Saturday, 17th May, at 09.25 and 15.10 respectively.
Both races will follow on Sunday, 18th May, with round seven timetabled
to start at 11.35 and round eight scheduled to get underway at
16.00. Meanwhile, highlights of the second round of the season – which
took place at Brands Hatch in Kent at the end of March – will be
featured on the Motorsport UK magazine programme on Freeview, digital
satellite and cable channel ITV4 at 17.00 this coming Tuesday, 13th May.
has been busy the last couple of months. Not only has he taken
part in the opening rounds of the Stars of Karting series in Utah and
Florida and 'over the pond' racing in Europel, he now has this local
series, the Ontario Regional Karting Championship kicking off this
weekend as well!..
Harold
Primat and Christophe Tinseau
Jesse
Wakeman faces a race against time after his car was wrecked in the 5
car smash during last round. He now has to hope it will be back in one
piece for this weekend's fourth round of the Kumho Tyres
Australian Formula 3 Championship at Mallala Raceway - his home round...
on
the streets of it’s home town of Huntingdon on October the 12. The
highlight of which will be a parade of the company’s racing cars ..
the 2007 Avon Tyres British GT Championship winners, have joined up with
the Swiss Matech Racing Team to drive one of their Ford GT’s for the
rest of the FIA GT3 European Championship, starting at Monza on 17&18
May. 
went to Shaun Lynn’s Cologne Capri(pic Paul Williams)
with by just over 8 seconds. Second place was the BMW 3.0 CSL of Ian
Guest with a second CSL driven by Alex Elliot in third. The Mayday
Mayhem race saw Jamie Boot victorious in his TVR Griffith from Dave
Edwards Camero and Briuce Chapman’s Ford Capri. 
and
in the Oldies but Goldies Richard Posting brought his Austin A40 home in
first place, 1.8secs ahead of Paul De Havilland’s XK150. Adam Ealand was
third in a TR3A. 
The Shaw and Oliver BMW 1800T was third. 
scored
fourth and fifth places respectively in rounds five and six of the
Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Donington Park.
continues to dominate the series winning again at Donington Park
yesterday, Sunday, 4th May, taking his tally to 4 wins from 6 races
this year. He has now extended his lead at the top of the championship
to 18 points over his nearest rival Martin Byford. “This weekend has
been unbelievable, everything has been absolutely perfect but I have to
be thankful to the team really for providing me with the car to be able
to do that”, said Robert after Sunday afternoon’s second race, “We
played it right, we went well in testing on Thursday so we knew we had
the pace. To come out on Saturday and get two pole positions was
fantastic in itself but to convert those into wins was just
unbelievable. I’m very pleased. I’m trying to do the best job I can
behind the wheel but as I always say, without the support of my sponsors
Bardon Aggregates and Bardon Concrete I wouldn’t be able to do this,
they make it happen.”
lost his win in the sixth round of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at
Donington Park yesterday when race officials hit him with a two second
penalty for passing under yellows handing the win to Tim Bridgman.
got
his BTCC championship off the mark yesterday with his first points of
the year at Donington in the Independents Trophy .
Josh
Hill dominated Ginetta Junior Championship qualifying at
Donington Park National Circuit on Saturday taking his first pole
position in only his fourth race meeting. Setting a time of 1m 28.093
seconds (79.98mph) to lead the field for round seven, his second fastest
time was also good enough for pole in round eight ..
Ben
Winrow contiunes to lead the Elf Clio Cup title chase after another
win, this time in round five at Donington Park yesterday. The Team
Pyro driver started from the ELF/Atol pole to win from Robertshaw
Racing’s Derek Pierce and Robert Gaffney who were second and third
respectively 
took pole for
tomorrow's A1GP feature race after Robbie Kerr set the fastest time for
the Sprint tace at the A1GP meeting at Branda Hatch. Kerr will
start the Feature race from the front row after coming second to the
Indian..
topped the time sheets in the second of Friday's practice sessions
at Brands Hatch, the first involving the main drivers. Robbie Kerr set a
time of 1:14.891secs, 0.234secs ahead of second placed Congfu
Cheng of China.
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has spoken of his sheer delight after receiving a special gift from