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News Archive April 2008 mail your news to editorthegrid@yahoo.co.uk 12/05/2008 FOR RACE REPORTS FOLLOW 'Reports' LINK ON THE GRID above 05-05-08
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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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.
sufferred from mechanical woes in qualifying for tomorrow's round of
the F3 Euro Series at Mugello in Italy. During the session his gearbox
decided to 'play-up' leaving the 19 year old back in a very
dispointing 22nd place on the grid. 
,-Idafar-(.jpg)
has spoken of his sheer delight after receiving a special gift from